I Just Watched (Films)

[Achtung Englander]

Missing (1982)

A very interesting film about a father and a wife team searching for a son/husband who "disappeared" during the Pinochet clamp down in Chile on anyone who did not conform. Its directed very well and the acting is great. A real eye opener on how the CIA backed the dictator to the extent they were complicent in his brutality. Stars Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. I found it gripping and sad. Think The Killing Fields.
8/10

Charley Varrick (1973)

A wonderful crime caper that is not a comedy nor a gritty drama. Starring Walter Matthau it has a lot of comedy moments simply by his extra dry delivery. Superb ending and two hours just flew by I was enjoying it so much
7/10

[Raid]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition

This was a new 4k reprint of the early 2000s edition of the film. I don't think I recognised any real alterations, but the move to 4k definitely gives it a new lease of life.

I really do wish this franchise had produced more science fiction of this calibre, a film on which Isaac Asimov is credited as the scientific advisor. It's unlike anything else they've ever made. It has the most incredible atmosphere, there's this constant sense of awe and foreboding, and I can't think think of another film that's carried so much by its soundtrack (maybe TRON: Legacy?). The primary antagonist for the first half is a cloud, but despite the primitive effects it never drops the consistent feeling of existential dread.

It was maligned on its release as not having the excitement of its contemporary; Star Wars (A New Hope), and it's not difficult to see why - the pacing is absolutely glacial by comparison, and significant portions of the run time are taken up by close-ups of the actors faces staring past the camera accompanied by zero dialogue. But if Star Wars were a comic book, this would be War and Peace. There aren't any X-Wings rolling to evade blaster shots, but the refit Enterprise is in my opinion the most beautiful miniature ever committed to screen, and that five minute fly-by sequence of Kirk gawking at it and from the looks of it having a stirring in his loins is, frankly, entirely justified.

[Lenny Solidus]

Wrong Turn (2021)

I have a bit of an obsession when it comes to a certain genre of movie and I know it's not something especially original, anything that involves groups entering forested areas or caves I am one hundred percent no questions asked don't care for the budget or cast down for. Again a not at all particular surprising take given the success of movies such as The Witch, Ritual, Hollow and Eden Lake, but I love to search out those far lesser knowns too, films such as Backcountry, Yellow Brick Road and even a bit more Netflix orientated like the excellent Calibre.

Nothing too gory you understand, I'm not exactly all in for people getting hacked to pieces or worse I'm much more a fan of something that becomes a psychological battle of wits coupled with inescapable culpability and an honest to god fight for survival, all while an initially carefree but clearly dysfunctional at its roots core group of friends completely fall apart under extreme circumstance. Now that I can ride with all day.

So then, on to a reboot of one of my favourite guilty pleasure movies Wrong Turn 2003. When it comes to a reboot that lacks both Eliza Dushku and one time man crush Desmond Harrington I entered this with a sense of trepidation but seeing as though I paid the princely sum of just £1.99 for it through the google store and I often prefer going with mostly a cast of complete unknowns because there's always a standout star in the making or two to be had, doesn't hurt that Stranger Things star Matthew Modine was part of the cast either. The first half an hour went well with Charlotte Vega especially pulling me in to the experience taking mostly series laned expected steps but then beyond that half hour what is meant to be a reboot of Wrong Turn becomes something unexpectedly different, more along the lines of Midsommar and you know what, I was ok with this.

After what six (?) movies in the series that all followed the same design it was refreshing to get something that suddenly veered off course while still maintaining that what gives others the right to go encroaching in others habitats where you clearly do not belong, to pierce that particular bubble can only have negative consequences. I would say my two pound investment was well spent.

A very surprising 7/10

[Sly Boots]

Wrong Turn (2021)

I have a bit of an obsession when it comes to a certain genre of movie and I know it's not something especially original, anything that involves groups entering forested areas or caves I am one hundred percent no questions asked don't care for the budget or cast down for. Again a not at all particular surprising take given the success of movies such as The Witch, Ritual, Hollow and Eden Lake, but I love to search out those far lesser knowns too, films such as Backcountry, Yellow Brick Road and even a bit more Netflix orientated like the excellent Calibre.

Nothing too gory you understand, I'm not exactly all in for people getting hacked to pieces or worse I'm much more a fan of something that becomes a psychological battle of wits coupled with inescapable culpability and an honest to god fight for survival, all while an initially carefree but clearly dysfunctional at its roots core group of friends completely fall apart under extreme circumstance. Now that I can ride with all day.

So then, on to a reboot of one of my favourite guilty pleasure movies Wrong Turn 2003. When it comes to a reboot that lacks both Eliza Dushku and one time man crush Desmond Harrington I entered this with a sense of trepidation but seeing as though I paid the princely sum of just £1.99 for it through the google store and I often prefer going with mostly a cast of complete unknowns because there's always a standout star in the making or two to be had, doesn't hurt that Stranger Things star Matthew Modine was part of the cast either. The first half an hour went well with Charlotte Vega especially pulling me in to the experience taking mostly series laned expected steps but then beyond that half hour what is meant to be a reboot of Wrong Turn becomes something unexpectedly different, more along the lines of Midsommar and you know what, I was ok with this.

After what six (?) movies in the series that all followed the same design it was refreshing to get something that suddenly veered off course while still maintaining that what gives others the right to go encroaching in others habitats where you clearly do not belong, to pierce that particular bubble can only have negative consequences. I would say my two pound investment was well spent.

A very surprising 7/10

Have you seen The Ritual? It's a decent film within that genre: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5638642/?r ... lmg_act_13

[Snowy]

Wrong Turn (2021)

I have a bit of an obsession when it comes to a certain genre of movie and I know it's not something especially original, anything that involves groups entering forested areas or caves I am one hundred percent no questions asked don't care for the budget or cast down for. Again a not at all particular surprising take given the success of movies such as The Witch, Ritual, Hollow and Eden Lake, but I love to search out those far lesser knowns too, films such as Backcountry, Yellow Brick Road and even a bit more Netflix orientated like the excellent Calibre.

Nothing too gory you understand, I'm not exactly all in for people getting hacked to pieces or worse I'm much more a fan of something that becomes a psychological battle of wits coupled with inescapable culpability and an honest to god fight for survival, all while an initially carefree but clearly dysfunctional at its roots core group of friends completely fall apart under extreme circumstance. Now that I can ride with all day.

So then, on to a reboot of one of my favourite guilty pleasure movies Wrong Turn 2003. When it comes to a reboot that lacks both Eliza Dushku and one time man crush Desmond Harrington I entered this with a sense of trepidation but seeing as though I paid the princely sum of just £1.99 for it through the google store and I often prefer going with mostly a cast of complete unknowns because there's always a standout star in the making or two to be had, doesn't hurt that Stranger Things star Matthew Modine was part of the cast either. The first half an hour went well with Charlotte Vega especially pulling me in to the experience taking mostly series laned expected steps but then beyond that half hour what is meant to be a reboot of Wrong Turn becomes something unexpectedly different, more along the lines of Midsommar and you know what, I was ok with this.

After what six (?) movies in the series that all followed the same design it was refreshing to get something that suddenly veered off course while still maintaining that what gives others the right to go encroaching in others habitats where you clearly do not belong, to pierce that particular bubble can only have negative consequences. I would say my two pound investment was well spent.

A very surprising 7/10

Bone Tomahawk is excellent, although has some indescribably violent scenes in it. Not gonna say another word, as if you haven't seen it it would be much too easy to spoilah!

[Animalmother]

There's stuff in Bone Tomahawk that genuinely unsettling, great film though.

[Raid]

Alita: Battle Angel

This is certainly an... interesting looking film. I know this is a manga / anime adaptation, and it's not a series I'm familiar with, but mixing one CGI character with anime-sized eyes with humans played by real actors was such a strange choice. I don't *dislike* Alita's aesthetic, but it's just jarring seeing her alongside Christoph Waltz. There are other prominent CG characters here, but none of them share Alita's giant eyes.

But honestly it's not Alita's aesthetic that's the most unsettling thing here. The film deals with fairly basic cyberpunk-adjacent trans-humanism stuff like replacement of limbs with robotics and mind-controlling brain chips and the like, and there's more than one character that seems to be entirely robotic (the film doesn't fully explain where or how exactly the consciousness is stored, it's possible they have biological brains somewhere). There's just something though about Alita herself that feels a bit uncomfortable. I don't know how old she's meant to be exactly, at least from a maturity standpoint (her chronological age is part of the plot), but she's described as a teenager, and her body gets... altered fairly significantly multiple times. I don't really get squicked out by graphic cyborg alterations (that shot of a woman who removes her entire jaw in the Cybperunk 2077 trailer for example didn't phase me at all), but there's just something a bit sinister when adult men are doing this stuff to a teenage girl with amnesia.

Spoiler

As if the doctor character apparently replacing her feet with motorised roller blades without her permission wasn't bad enough, at one point Alita literally pulls her heart out of her chest and hands it to the (fully human) teenage boy she's falling for, not as a symbol of her affections, but for him to sell so that he can achieve his dream. And he considers doing it because he's secretly been tasked with acquiring it anyway. It bypasses the metaphoric and proceeds into the literal, and it's fucking weird. And later in the film he gets stabbed, and in an effort to save his life, Alita and another character decapitate him and attach his severed head to Alita's body in order to keep his brain alive. It's like someone took the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope and ran it through a body-horror shredder.

It's a shame really, because there's a lot to enjoy here. The world is quite fun, with a number of really entertaining sci-fi murder-sport sequences, and there's no holding back with the designs of the cyborg bounty hunters who vary from fairly standard robots with human-style limbs to hulking monstrosities with 6 arms, some of which are harpoon launchers. Waltz's character has a rocket-powered scythe/axe thing, which doesn't look even remotely right in his hands, but it's certainly fun. The dialogue ranges from acceptable to absolutely terrible, and the story's passable, with nothing feeling even vaguely realistic, but I guess that's not the point.

Not knowing the source material, I'm only assuming that this was a hugely ambitious film (rather than say an editing massacre), and it's a bit of a mess really, but I largely enjoyed it. It's imaginative and exciting, and while there's a ton of uncanny valley (uncanny chasm maybe) on display, I actually quite like the look of it.

[arqueturus]

Alita: Battle Angel

This is certainly an... interesting looking film. I know this is a manga / anime adaptation, and it's not a series I'm familiar with, but mixing one CGI character with anime-sized eyes with humans played by real actors was such a strange choice. I don't *dislike* Alita's aesthetic, but it's just jarring seeing her alongside Christoph Waltz. There are other prominent CG characters here, but none of them share Alita's giant eyes.

But honestly it's not Alita's aesthetic that's the most unsettling thing here. The film deals with fairly basic cyberpunk-adjacent trans-humanism stuff like replacement of limbs with robotics and mind-controlling brain chips and the like, and there's more than one character that seems to be entirely robotic (the film doesn't fully explain where or how exactly the consciousness is stored, it's possible they have biological brains somewhere). There's just something though about Alita herself that feels a bit uncomfortable. I don't know how old she's meant to be exactly, at least from a maturity standpoint (her chronological age is part of the plot), but she's described as a teenager, and her body gets... altered fairly significantly multiple times. I don't really get squicked out by graphic cyborg alterations (that shot of a woman who removes her entire jaw in the Cybperunk 2077 trailer for example didn't phase me at all), but there's just something a bit sinister when adult men are doing this stuff to a teenage girl with amnesia.

Spoiler

As if the doctor character apparently replacing her feet with motorised roller blades without her permission wasn't bad enough, at one point Alita literally pulls her heart out of her chest and hands it to the (fully human) teenage boy she's falling for, not as a symbol of her affections, but for him to sell so that he can achieve his dream. And he considers doing it because he's secretly been tasked with acquiring it anyway. It bypasses the metaphoric and proceeds into the literal, and it's fucking weird. And later in the film he gets stabbed, and in an effort to save his life, Alita and another character decapitate him and attach his severed head to Alita's body in order to keep his brain alive. It's like someone took the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope and ran it through a body-horror shredder.

It's a shame really, because there's a lot to enjoy here. The world is quite fun, with a number of really entertaining sci-fi murder-sport sequences, and there's no holding back with the designs of the cyborg bounty hunters who vary from fairly standard robots with human-style limbs to hulking monstrosities with 6 arms, some of which are harpoon launchers. Waltz's character has a rocket-powered scythe/axe thing, which doesn't look even remotely right in his hands, but it's certainly fun. The dialogue ranges from acceptable to absolutely terrible, and the story's passable, with nothing feeling even vaguely realistic, but I guess that's not the point.

Not knowing the source material, I'm only assuming that this was a hugely ambitious film (rather than say an editing massacre), and it's a bit of a mess really, but I largely enjoyed it. It's imaginative and exciting, and while there's a ton of uncanny valley (uncanny chasm maybe) on display, I actually quite like the look of it.

It's pretty faithful to the overall aesthetic of the Manga. You're quite right, it's pretty damn unsettling. There are... 8 or 10 manga and she does massively mature through them, this period is very much Alita's childhood and ends with this short story arc. I dislike the large eyes myself, mainly for the points you raise. If you do get a chance to read the Manga give it a go - it's far better than the Anime imo and worth it.

[Lenny Solidus]

I think director Robert Rodriguez may have pushed the visual aesthetic a little far into the realm of Cameron, then again it was a Cameron tied project for so long that is pretty understandable. Robert himself would go on to call it the missing Jim Cameron movie. As for the eyes I get it, but there's no denying that they were a very striking visual draw that for many either blended away as the movie progressed and an empathy path built or remained too prominent and out of place as in freakish looking and overall it doesn't work.

FYI - Even just the one of Alita’s eyes had more visual layers given to them than the whole of Gollum's entire digitally constructed body, that might explain a lot.

[Raid]

I think it's a project that could have worked a lot better as a fully CGI render. I get what they were trying to do, and I can appreciate the technical skill that went into making it a reality, but the fact of the matter is that having characters from two very different art styles sharing a frame is always going to be jarring. I don't have an issue with Alita's look, in fact I quite like the style, but it's difficult to get used to when she's talking to a real person with different facial proportions.

I'd happily watch the sequel that hasn't yet been ruled out, but given the mixed reception this one got, I'd be surprised if it ever saw the light of day.

[Animalmother]

Prey(Predator 5)
Out on Disney+ now. A little slow to get going but once the action kicks in it's pretty good fun. The gore has been toned down compared to other films in the series but as soon as the Predator starts to tear it up limbs and blood go flying aplenty. It relies a little too heavily on CGI and it isn't always great but it does the job and doesn't detract from the enjoyment. The music is fantastic but it feels like it belongs in another and probably better film.

Over all it's a solid film and is worth a look.
7/10

[Wrathbone]

Bad Times at the El Royale

Really enjoyed this Jeff Bridges mystery/thriller. I went in blind and I think that was for the best, so I’ll say no more than it’s a great production all round and absolutely deserves more attention than it got.

9/10

[Rusty]

The Lost Boys (1987)

This hasn't aged well. It feels like a modern film pretending to be an 80's film. I can hardly remember watching it first time round but have a vague recollection that it was good.

It's not.

No story, hammy acting and waaaay too 80's I thought it was a kid's film to start with but nearer the end it got a bit gory.

Good old Amazon Prime.

[Sly Boots]

Ah, I like a bit of the Lost Boys, but of course you have to approach it from the angle of it being incredibly cheesy and often (unintentionally?) funny. Considering one of the first things you see is a near-naked, sweating bodybuilder absolutely beasting a saxophone I have to think it was done tongue firmly in-cheek.

Every time the name Michael comes up at home, I still quote it to my wife in that way Keifer Sutherland says it in the film (seemingly every other word of his dialogue).

[Solitaire]

I think one needs to be an 80s American kid (like me) to fully appreciate Lost Boys. I was never a fan of Kiefer Southerland, so it's always a bit of a hard watch for me, but having now, as an adult, lived in Santa Cruz and seen the boardwalk and areas it was filmed, it's easily added to my list of cool 80s movies to guiltily enjoy. It never gets old watching Jami Beth Gertz, either - I get Michael's obsession, haha