Be Excellent To Each Other

Second this opinion. Loved the trailer, first few minutes set the bar high, then... OK. Made me laugh in places.

Bad Boys Ride or Die - the fourth one and also the worst. Everything feels really close up giving it the feel of a made for TV movie. None of the humour lands.

Bird Box Barcelona - I enjoyed it more than the first one. The horror elements are a bit light but the overall story wasnt what I expected and worked in its favour.

Outbreak - the old Dustin Hoffman pandemic thriller. Is alright.

A Quiet Place: Day One - while it's not a bad film if you're looking for a twee indie film about a pizza, cats and cancer, it is pretty rubbish if you were hoping to see the monsters tear up a city.

We watched The Lone Ranger (Johnny Depp). I remember this getting pretty bad reviews at the time but I thought it was reasonably good, light-weight fun. The kids really enjoyed it.
We did have to pause part way through to make dinner, as the kids were hungry and we had lost track of time, and it's quite a long film. The end action scene was exciting although for me it did veer a bit too much towards the mega-OTT cartoon style ridiculousness of some of the PotC action scenes. I didn't care much for the 'jumping back' story telling method of using an old man retelling the story to a young kid.

It looked amazing through, the scenery in the desert and the set design of the wild west town, and I thought Tonto's make up was cool.

Overall a decent watch for a low effort Sunday evening.




Is that the one where someone puts their hand into a running centrifuge (that has no lid or safety interlock) full of infected blood samples? Cos I recall that scene from one of the 90s pandemic films and it annoyed me even then.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F was good fun, I liked it.

I honestly don't have much to say about it, as it really wouldn't stand up to much scrutiny or critical assessment but I don't think it's intended for that sort of viewer anyway. It looked, and sounded, good. An 80s style film with a modern touch.

The Abandon. Basically Cube with even less of a budget and less of a horror angle to it. Not bad.

Cellphone. There have been horror films recently that did interesting things with phones but this isn't one of them. It can't work out if it's a horror film or a drama about PTSD and in the end you won't know either. Has pretty much the worst lead actress. The main supporting actor guy was actually good but his character was annoying to be fair. It was already a bad film but the ending was extra terrible. Decent production values but otherwise awful.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Hmmm. It starts out really flat. There's a whole sequence at a hockey match that leads to a car chase and it was surprisingly unexciting. Then it just becomes a remix of the first film with Eddie doing an okay job while the others look like spectres from the attic. It does get better as it goes along but ultimately feels like a film you'll only ever watch once. Also LOL at Eddie playing a deadbeat dad and then having his redemption. I'm sure Mel B (C?) loved that.

Double Blind. Decent little medical horror film. Eight test subjects stuck in a lab while the medication they are on does bad things to them. The horror is sometimes a bit weirdly out of place (the film relies on hallucinations) but the story is pretty good.

Agree, it's not a film that will leave a lasting memory or a long term impression, it was entertaining enough, nothing to regret, but ultimately not impactful. A bit like like a T-shirt from Next or a Nandos meal on a Friday night.

The general point though is really interesting. I wonder how many people watch the same film multiple times, and how they choose. For me, most films are a one-time thing but there are some that I can watch, and have watched, over and over again.

I wonder this when I see something like a £25 UHD Blu Ray of something starring Gerrard Butler. Like Greenland.

The way I see it, nobody can love Greenland. It just exists. It's not as thrilling as other end of the world films, nor is it particularly spectacular. Gerrard is standard Gerrard in it. Not great, not bad. The film doesn't present any big revelations or anything. It's just a less exciting version of 2012 or whatever. And that's also a film you don't need to own.

I've watched some films easily a lot more than 50 times. Aliens, Enter The Dragon, Repo Man, Terminator, The Thing. They're classics, they're favourites. Rewatching them makes sense. But did I do a lot of that because I had a limited collection of films on VHS when I was young? I mean you could put Romancing the Stone in that group for example. I've watched it countless times but not so much in the last 20 years. But I had it on VHS, well my dad did, and so maybe that's why.

These days with streaming and piracy, in my case - can't lie, you've got more options. So maybe rewatching films is less common now generally. I've rewatched It Follows a couple of times and I rewatch The Thing (2011) now and again. But there are great films from the last ten years that I've only watched once. In fact, I've only watched Memento once and I owned that on DVD!

Trap - pretty icy the definition of a mediocre film.
Didn’t cost anything as we have an unlimited pass and it’s not overly long but not one I’d rush to see again.

Went to see Deadpool and Wolverine last night. Funny and filthy take on the classic odd couple buddy movie. Probably my third favourite of the trilogy but has some very enjoyable set pieces and oneliners.

Favourite line:

The Sense of an Ending - 2017 starring Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling

WTF did we just watch?

Rotten Tomatoes said, "Anchored by a strong starring performance by Jim Broadbent, 'The Sense of an Ending' proves consistently gripping even as it skims the narrative surface of its literary source material."

And it never stopped gripping, but there was no satisfactory conclusion, which is a shame, as I enjoyed it right up to the end credits when Mrs W and I both went 'What?'

The story, told through Tony Webster's memories, and those of his friends, explores the imperfection and selectivity of memory, and the different recollections of past events, depending on the observer and the time since the event. Elements of the plot are used to compare the perhaps impossible problem of obtaining a definitive objective view of history with the similar difficulties involved in personal memory.

Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Awful. Lumpen dialogue, conversations that don't even make sense, slow, then slower still, and some execrable 'banter'. Maybe if I'd had six pints beforehand it would have worked (because then I'd have been asleep). Action's okay, but delayed by




really weird gaps in the dialogue that replace actual acting.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Well. That was a mindfuck.

My main issue with the film was the entire lack of jeopardy throughout. It was like they were all playing on God Mode with people just able to kill nazis from anywhere, at anytime, with anything. It was just all too easy.

Oh yes, I had a line about superheroes prepared, but at some point decided that people probably did act like they were bulletproof, and the lucky ones carried on to talk about it. In light of everything else, I let them off - and preferred it to the predictability of 'the sad bit where one dies'.

Lady T told me that this weekends family film was going to be 'The Peacemaker', starring 'the Rock' (yes, was my reaction). What she actually meant was that the kids had chosen The Pacifier with Vin Diesel.

It's an entirely predictable film, you know exactly how the story arc is going to go as you've seen it before in other films and probably more than once, but there are a couple of little detours on the way that I felt showed a bit of heart, especially in the 2nd half of the movie where it seemed to me like it really warmed up and became far more alive. It was better than I was expecting, and we all enjoyed it.





Oh, I had forgotten that I'd seen that too, it was one we watched in bed one night.

While I don't disagree with any of the things you've both raised, I also didn't mind the film - it wasn't great, nor was it even really good, but it was fine and reasonably diverting but throw-away entertainment.

47 - Twister. Never thought much of it back in the day and only saw it once before now. Yeah it's good. Very '90s. Big action, great cast. I miss seeing Helen Hunt in stuff. 4/5

48 - Alien Romulus. A remix of the first four films (mainly Resurrection) with stupid fan service, young actors playing characters you can't even name after you've seen it and with the aliens relegated to third place behind some excellent facehuggers and [whatever the fuck that was]. 3/5

49 - No Way Up. Part plane crash movie (nowhere near as effective as Final Destination some 24 years later) and part shark survival movie (where you don't see many sharks but at least it's not The Meg). Reasonably effective but a bit lacklustre. 3/5

50 - Twisters. Good, solid film that's super old school and not played for laughs at all. Glen Powell steals the show as the charismatic charming cowboy guy. Lead actress has no star power at all. She's no Helen Hunt, that's for sure. Fun but not as good the original. 3.5/5

51 - Hit Man. Glen Powell again. Enjoyable dark comedy that is let down by being a bit slow and not always working towards anything. Glen is watchable in anything though. 3.5/5

Kneecap was a whole load of sweary fun. When I first saw the trailer I didn’t realise it was a real band with the members playing fictionalised versions of themselve, but they were great.

Trap - M. Night's new one. I have to say this did keep me interested throughout and the setting/premise worked well enough. It only loses points because, as ever, the director coaxes out such weird, off-putting performances from his actors. Josh Hartnett does his best, and clearly has fun with the role, but there are times where the acting is comically bad. The story also relies on a lot of coincidences and leaps of faith. Reasonably enjoyable though. 3.5/5

53 - X-Men: Days of Future Past. Specifically the Rogue Cut which adds a load of extra Anna Pacquin shit into the mix. The future stuff is hot garbage but the '70s stuff is still brilliant. Especially Quicksilver's scene. 4.5/5

54 - Longlegs. Pretty much Silence of the Lambs meets The Omen. It's okay but a bit slow and artsy. In fact it felt more like the SotL tv show than it did the film. All lingering shots of mid-western nothingness. Nic Cage plays the titular badguy. I'm a huge fan of his but he's A BIT MUCH in this one. 3/5

55 - The Wendigo. Blair Witch but shorter and with more horror elements. Which is probably a good thing. But of course the characters now are all dickhead streamers and the budget appears to have been 10p. 3/5.

Also tried Gods of the Deep and Hanky Panky. Both of which were too shit to get past 10 mins on.

I watched Borderlands yesterday...and I can report it's fine, not bad, just fine. A pleasant way to spend an evening and given the circumstances round its development and production it is better than it has any right to be. So in summary, it's fine.

I might give it a go if I'm at a loose end some time. I'm sure it's not great but the initial reviews did feel like a bit of a pile on.

I can understand if some were disappointed with it as there are the bones of a good film hidden in there and I understand if some were upset about changing the lore from the game but the reaction to it seems very silly indeed...but it seems everything has to be the bestest thing or the worst thing ever.

I watched 999

I thought I had seen this before, but I had not.

It stars,
Falcon (captain America),
Soliman Northrup (12 years a slave - you racist fuck), .
Daryl (Waling dead),
jessie Pinkman (Breaking Bad),
Wonder Woman,
Robert Ford (The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford),
Omar (The Wire)
Rose (Titanic)

If that's not enough talent I don't know what is!

You can't fool me, 999 starred Michael Burke

Buerk, you heathen swine

The insult "berk" was right there, man

We've watched the first two Transformers films as some of our recent weekend family film viewing.

I know a lot of people view them quite harshly but honestly I think much of that is undeserved (although, some is) and I enjoy them for what they are. Our 11 year old was super into it and I tried to spend some time watching him enjoy it, as those are precious moments.

The rapid-fire-quick-talking style hasn't aged all that well. I still find some of the baddies hard to tell apart. It's quite exhausting viewing too, for an old git like me, with the rapid cuts and dizzying camera work. I still can't remember exactly which ones I've seen and haven't seen because after the memorable first instalment they all seem to blend into an indistinct lump.

I really like the first one.

Yeah, Transformers the movie is great.

What you did there. I see it.

LOL.

I liked Transformers when it came out. Yeah it was a SHAKY CAM MESS but there was a bit where Bumblebee transforms and takes a fighting stance against [evil police car robot] and I felt like the 10 year old version of me was seeing something they could have only dreamed of. Like I had a physical feeling of awe and joy in the cinema. The film was like a 7 overall but even so. Pretty good.

The next one (something Fallen something?) was fucking AWFUL though. It felt like a Power Rangers thing. Just so bad.

The third one (something Dark Moon something?) was good. They stopped all the shaky cam shit (presumably because it was a 3D film) and the action sequences were really good.

I don't think I even finished the next one (the one with Marky Mark in it).

I think I liked the Bumblebee one. Not seen it since, mind.

I remember loving Transformers 2007 the first time. Recent rewatches have reminded me how much of the Witwicky family is in there though. The second one is so much worse, with Sam's relationship issues seemingly overiding the literal earthkiller plot.

Third one I barely remember aside from another focus on Sam's struggles with women (after landing himself a literal supermodel girlfriend).

The Marky Mark one? I think I gave up after about 30 minutes of his family drama (and the bizarre focus on his under age daughter's sex life???) when there were no giant robots hitting each other at all.

If there's a second Marky Mark I haven't seen it.

Bumblebee was fucking ace! Perfect in fact!

Rise of the Beasts made me so sad. They made Optimus a petty racist, FFS!

I stand by my previous review of Transformers 3:



From back when I used to do fun things: viewtopic.php?p=705643#p705643

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was decent, a solid 7/10.

Beetlejuice was only in the original for about 15 minutes. He's neck and neck with Lecter for "most impact in the shortest time".

Surely the T Rex from Jurassic Park would have them both beat?

John Wick's dog?

That was more “impacted”

Dinosaurs in general in Jurrassic Park - when you think back on that film I bet you remember it being chock-full of dinosaur scenes, but for 108 out of 127 minutes there are no dinosaurs on screen at all.

Absolutely... When I first saw it, I must have seen a different cut because it was nothing but dinosaurs!

Obligatory

This weekend we watched.... surprise.... wait for it.... Transformers: Dark of the Moon. This is number 3 in the series. Helpfully (genuinely), the Paramount Plus app displays this number on top of the thumbnail for the film, as I just can't remember which order they come in.

This was the first one without Megan Fox, but it did have another pretty young lady, as well as the handsome doctor (Lady T's description) from Grey's Anatomy. The fight scenes seemed a bit easier to follow this time round, less wild shaky cam. I don't hate these films, they are a visual spectacle and quite exciting, but they are clearly very silly movies and are definitely declining in quality each time. It was 2hr30 long, which is kind exhausting, and 2 out of the 3 kids fell asleep in it.

The kids liked the bit where Bumblebee got to kick some ass, that was cool.

56 - The Fall Guy. An impossibly dull first hour gives way to a pretty good, but very stupid second. I've never liked Ryan Gosling in anything but he's pretty good in this and the action sequences are impressive. 3/5 (but the wife thought it was a 5/5 so YMMV)

57 - 8 Found Dead. A horror thriller that is fairly interesting and original but shows everything in a stupid Tarantino-esque order that kills all the suspense. The two villains are great though. 3.5/5

We rewatched and LOLed at the The Hangover 1 & 2.

Then we watched The Hangover 3.

Dog shit.

I did the same a year or so back. The drop off in quality to 3 is alarming

There’s not even a hangover!

58 - Devil. First time rewatching. Still effective. I really like it and it's genuinely pretty scary. Being based around a tower block makes it feel like an 80s thriller. And the cast is pretty good. Especially that guy who isn't Tom Hardy. (4.5/5)

Lee, with Kate Winslet as Lee Miller was excellent. I didn’t know much about her at all but it was fascinating stuff

Very happy to hear it, I'm a huge fan of Lee Miller and was anxiously hoping it wouldn't be a duff stodgy biopic. I've read The Lives of Lee Miller (written by her son) and have two of her photobooks, so I'm not sure I'll learn anything new from the movie, but I know Winslet will do her justice.

Her photo of torn gauze in a desert shack window is one of my all time faves.

By contrast I knew very little and it was all new. It starts in the 30s, so skips all her earlier life, and frames the story in a slightly odd way that only becomes clear right at the end.

Andy Samberg from Brooklyn 99 plays Dave Scherman and does a great job with a serious role which was a pleasant surprise.