VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Scott Malbranque]

On 10/30/2021 at 7:00 PM, Devon Malcolm said:

 

Old 

More Shyamalan shite. Another great idea flushed down his bog as he fucks about with camera positions and another terrible twist ending. Vicky Krieps needs a new agent. Did you like this one, @Scott Malbranque?

 

Absolute pile of gik, D-Mal. Was mildly interesting for about 20 minutes. That last third though...wow. Just when I though Shyamalan couldn't waste any more of my time, he went and did that. Muck.

Lads, if yiz want any "Begorrah begobs, sure isn't it all bejaysis in anyway" Oirish nonsense, watch Wild Mountain Thyme. I've never seen anything like it. I genuinely thought it was a lampooning comedy until I realised that Blunt, Walken, Hamm and Dornan were actually serious. 
I wouldn't know whether or not to pee in John Patrick Shanley's drink or shake his hand if I ever came face to face with the lad.


 

[Devon Malcolm]

22 minutes ago, Scott Malbranque said:

Absolute pile of gik, D-Mal. Was mildly interesting for about 20 minutes. That last third though...wow. Just when I though Shyamalan couldn't waste any more of my time, he went and did that. Muck.

That's the thing with ALL his movies. They always start so intriguingly and have great ideas and then he just so rarely takes them anywhere of interest. I reckon if someone else worked with his scripts I'd think so differently of him. I'd like to see someone work with a script by him and filter out his bullshit to see what happens.

[DavidB6937]

Baffles me how M Night still brings these movies out and people want to work for him. He's either got a lot of shit on people or there's a lot of people that just haven't bothered looking at his work post-Sixth Sense and assume he's a genius.

[Chris B]

Last Night In Soho

Found this frustrating - I really, really wanted to like it. It's generally well-made, I really like all three leads, and the atmosphere is pretty spot-on. It's clearly influenced by Giallo stuff too (in terms of colour, unexplained psychic/ghost stuff, and the melodramatic acting) which should be right up my alley, and I'm a sucker for 'London's well-scary and the past is drenched in blood' kind of stuff, but it's not as good or as smart as it thinks it is. Characters are paper-thin and it never convinces, which means the final act really doesn't land in the way it should.

On the other hand, if it wasn't Edgar Wright, I think I'd have gone in with lower expectations. If I'd seen this from a fairly new film-maker at a horror festival, I'd be coming out more impressed and thinking there was some real promise there. But it's Edgar Wright, and his first three things were Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz. They're a hell of a thing to live up to, and they're the reason the film has the budget it has. But blimey, he really peaked in those three, didn't he?

[Lorne Malvo]

1 hour ago, Scott Malbranque said:

 

Lads, if yiz want any "Begorrah begobs, sure isn't it all bejaysis in anyway" Oirish nonsense, watch Wild Mountain Thyme. I've never seen anything like it. I genuinely thought it was a lampooning comedy until I realised that Blunt, Walken, Hamm and Dornan were actually serious. 
I wouldn't know whether or not to pee in John Patrick Shanley's drink or shake his hand if I ever came face to face with the lad.


 

 

Spoiler

Dornan's character thinking he was a bee or some such bollocks was one of the most out-of-nowhere leftfield turns I can remember.

 

[Scott Malbranque]

Spoiler

Yep. He thinks he's a bee, and Blunt asks him to sting her in what genuinely plays like a scene from Darby O' Gill. Just madness

42 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Dornan's character thinking he was a bee or some such bollocks was one of the most out-of-nowhere leftfield turns I can remember.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Scott Malbranque

[Hannibal Scorch]

2 hours ago, Scott Malbranque said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Yep. He thinks he's a bee, and Blunt asks him to sting her in what genuinely plays like a scene from Darby O' Gill. Just madness

 

Having only seen the trailer for this, and only recently seeing Darby O’Gill for the first time recently, I’d rather watch that again. Also Darby maybe the only film I’ve seen where Sean Connery pulls of an accent that isn’t his own.

[Devon Malcolm]

Army of Thieves (Netflix)

I think it's a decent idea to take a franchise and pull it away from its main genre - but in just its second film? Nah. About as dull as Army of the Dead, probably because of Zach Snyder's involvement, but Ruby O'Fee is great even if nobody else is. Worth a shot, but nah.

Herself

This is coming soon to Prime but I watched it via nefarious means. Irish drama about a single mum escaping an abusive marriage and deciding to literally build herself a new home. Ticks most of the boxes you'd expect from such a film but it covers some serious issues maturely and the acting is great.

Flashback

I'll watch Maika Monroe in anything, and Dylan O'Brien is pretty good too, but this is one of those films you know will make no sense after a while and it doesn't. Kept afloat by its lead stars and a decent atmosphere.

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse (Prime)

Big meaty men (and Jodie Turner-Smith) slapping meat action-thriller. I'd rather Amazon stopped trying to make Tom Clancy happen again but this is mostly harmless, predictable, sturdy action stuff.

The Harder They Fall (Netflix)

Lots of people are fuming that Netflix haven't publicised this more, but they never do. It's their loss anyway because this is a cracking neo-western with a fantastic almost all-black cast with Jonathan Majors bloody great in the lead. More traditional in storyline than you'd expect, it's pretty long but it zips by.

Jolt (Prime)

This feels like it wants to be Crank on a couple of occasions but it's never brave enough to go for it. Largely boring aside from a scene in a hospital. Beckinsale looks great as a blonde. WARNING - Jai Courtney's in it.

No Sudden Move

Steven Soderbergh's latest is surprisingly great considering it's not a crime comedy and he's largely shit at everything else. It is a crime film though - a really thickly plotted one with a BIG cast (Bill Duke!) that demands full attention but rewards it in spades. Uncut Gems' Julia Fox steals the show again, man she's great. Probably the best non-caper film Soderbergh's ever made.

[pitseleh]

Seeing as a cinema near me was doing a screening of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, I decided to check out A Fistful Of Dollars. Basically Sergio Leone ripped off Kurosawa's classic movie and ended up reinventing the western genre. I had a lot of fun with this. Clint Eastwood played his role perfectly and he might just be the coolest motherfucker put on film. I won't bore you with the technical details that made Leone's westerns so innovative at the time, but the film is a right looker. The final scene had me at the edge of my seat. 

I've always struggled to get into Kurosawa's films, but Yojimbo might have finally flicked the switch for me. A lone samurai comes to town and tries to play two rival factions against each other. Watching the Leone film beforehand helped me with following along with the plot, as I was starting to feel lost at time. It wasn't until an hour in that this film got it's hooks in me. I was gripped watching Toshiro Mifune trying to escape death and save the day. I might have to make the time and give Seven Samurai a go again... 

[WyattSheepMask]

Silenced has just been added to Netflix.

“Based on real events, this film depicts the story of a school for the hearing-impaired where young deaf students were sexually assaulted by the faculty members over a long period of time.“

I watched it last year and despite its horrendously grim subject matter it’s a very good film. There are a couple of scenes that are incredibly uncomfortable viewing, I’m genuinely surprised that it’s actually made it’s way to a mainstream streaming service

[TildeGuy~!]

12 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said:

Silenced has just been added to Netflix.

“Based on real events, this film depicts the story of a school for the hearing-impaired where young deaf students were sexually assaulted by the faculty members over a long period of time.“

I watched it last year and despite its horrendously grim subject matter it’s a very good film. There are a couple of scenes that are incredibly uncomfortable viewing, I’m genuinely surprised that it’s actually made it’s way to a mainstream streaming service

It’s directed by The Squid Game director, they added a few of his movies last week.

I watched it a few years back and it really is a heartbreaking 2 hours.

[WyattSheepMask]

20 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said:

It’s directed by The Squid Game director, they added a few of his movies last week.

I watched it a few years back and it really is a heartbreaking 2 hours.

I didn’t realise it was the same director, figured it was more of a “Korean stuff is the in thing, here’s a load more”.

Still though, a very good film but as you said, heartbreaking. I’d recommend putting on Paddington afterwards to bring yourself back up, which probably makes for the most bizarre Double Feature possible 

[Keith Houchen]

I’ll give that a go, thanks for the recommendation. I thought “Silenced” was the name of some comedian or others new special about how you can’t joke about things anymore. But then they’d have been on every tv show promoting it. 

[WyattSheepMask]

26 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

I’ll give that a go, thanks for the recommendation. I thought “Silenced” was the name of some comedian or others new special about how you can’t joke about things anymore. But then they’d have been on every tv show promoting it. 

I don’t think that John Cleese doc has been on yet, so you’ve got that to look forward to.

[Mr_Danger]

6 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

I’ll give that a go, thanks for the recommendation. I thought “Silenced” was the name of some comedian or others new special about how you can’t joke about things anymore. But then they’d have been on every tv show promoting it. 

The Netflix film sounds funnier tbf.