I Just Watched (Films)

[Animalmother]

They Cloned Tyrone
How do I describe this? A blaxploitation comedy with some light sci-fi elements , a bit like Black Dynamite. It really leans into the parody of black American culture. A small time criminal pisses off the wrong guy and gets murdered only to wake up in bed the next morning unharmed. He starts to unravel a weird conspiracy along with a pimp and a hooker. Funny Jamie Foxx is the best Jamie Foxx and he's great as the pimp. Worth a watch but as is the current style the runtime is a bit over long.

[Raid]

Guardians of the Galaxy 3

Damn you Disney, you emotionally manipulative bastards. Curse you for somehow making me care this much about a talking racoon and his cyborg otter girlfriend.

It's the best Marvel film since Endgame. It's a genuine return to form after a dearth of quality, although it arguably doesn't really do much for the MCU's biggest problem in that it doesn't really feel like it's building toward anything. It's a self contained adventure, but it's another fantastically imaginative sci-fi romp which made me genuinely care for its characters. It's a constant string of scenes that made me think "Cool!", from the eyesocket cannon to the final fight where everyone manages to get their hit in and you're cheering every single one, to the space dog that just needs to know she's a good girl. I loved it.

[ManBearSquid]

Visited a mate down in Portsmouth last night and we sat and watched The Brothers Grimsby, a film from 2016 I was previously unaware existed.

Now I do have an very dark sense of humour and can also find very crass/silly things extremely funny - which you absolutely need if you are going to watch it. There is no low bar here, it has been completely removed, the lower and more twisted the humour the greater the likelihood it made it into the film. It is the story of two brothers from Grimsby (unsurprisingly) who get split up as children and live different lives - one is a chav, the other basically James Bond - and are reunited years later. The film is quite an action packed spy thriller one moment then dives headlong into abject filth the next.

Fans of Bottom will feel right at home here.

10/10 (even though it is utterly crass I don't care)

I remember reading this and thinking that it could be a laugh but never got round to watching it. Well, I watched it last night with my partner and my parents...My eyes!

I did laugh a lot, and there was plenty of "what the fuck are we watching?!".

It's an experience.

[Snowy]

Haha it really is quite something isn't it.

[Alan]

Barbie
It’s a weird one. Is a very adult film that’s being flooded with children who mostly seemed very bored and restless. At is core it’s a piss take of men’s rights influencers. It has a lot of laughs, the best one in is first 3mins and I’m very surprised Matel allowed them to do some of what they do! I also found a lot of it incredibly annoying. The jokes that don’t land were grating and a lot of it has an irritating adhd feeling.

I appreciate it and think it was fun enough but not something I’d like to rewatch.

[Achtung Englander]

Oppenheimer

A very powerful film. The ending was chilling. When the credits began to roll, no one got out their seat - stunned by the last sentence uttered. It took about 2 minutes before the usual shuffle to the exit. The film does have its faults, the first 30 minutes felt rushed as we skipped entire decades of Oppenheimer's life to get to the outbreak of WWII.

Definitely one to buy on 4K.

8/10

Nightmare Alley

I loved it. The setting of the film felt very authentic if a little stylistic. I regret not seeing this on the big screen. Made me want to read the book.

8/10

The Batman

I bought this blind on blu ray. I wish I hadn't. Its a 100 minute movie stretched out to an unnecessary 180 minutes. Everything is so dark, literally in the sense that any light was sapped out of it. Patterson's Bruce Wayne did not come across as a charming billionaire heir but as a frustrated emo. The action was good but it was few and far between. I could not even make out the Batmobile. I will keep the disc, but its not a film I will revisit in any hurry.

6/10

All Quiet on the Western Front

7/10 - this is the third iteration of the story i have seen after seeing the one made in the 30s and the 70s and although technically it is extremely impressive, I found the first 2 had greater impact because the scenes in army training and the fact the story never left the main character resulted with more emotionally attached than the new film which broke away to the peace negotiations.

The Defiant Ones 1958

8/10 - brilliant. One of the best films about race relations. A superb script and character building. This was made a year before Some Like It Hot, and you would be hard pressed to think how versatile and underrated Tony Curtis is an actor.

The Cat People (1942)

6/10 - pretty good. The story was not what I expected. It did have some tense scenes and I liked the story. It was a bit nuts.

[Animalmother]

Nightmare Alley

I loved it. The setting of the film felt very authentic if a little stylistic. I regret not seeing this on the big screen. Made me want to read the book.

8/10

Watched it last night, very good alright. Beautiful use of art deco interiors and sets. It's a slow burn and doesn't have the usual fantasy elements from Guillermo del Toro films.

Spoiler

I genuinely thought that everything after a certain point was all in his head as he'd been tricked into becoming a gimp.

Think it suffered the fate of most del Toro films, reviewed well but wasn't very successful.

[Alan]

The original film from the 40’s is great. Visually the new one wins but the old ones much better overall. It’s worth hunting down.

[Animalmother]

https://archive.org/details/nightmare-alley-1947-720p

Seems to be a really good copy of it as well.

[Alan]

It amazes me every day that that site still exists

[Achtung Englander]

many thanks, I will check out the original Nightmare Alley next week.

[Solitaire]

many thanks, I will check out the original Nightmare Alley next week.

AE, every time I glance at your sig, I think to myself, "what, you playin' me, mate?" lol

[Animalmother]

Mimic
A very 1990's Guillermo del Toro horror flick about man sized cockroaches hiding in the New York subway. It has a mediocre review but it's pretty entertaining. The practical effects are great and really gross and the cgi had held up very well. Apparently ruined by Harvey Weinstein's interference who decided on the final cut, despite that worth a look.

[Raid]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Absolutely fantastic. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an obvious fanservice film as much as this. It feels like it was made with genuine love for the source material, and it's the most respectful-feeling use of dead-actor effects I've seen. There's the odd moment that feels gratuitous, but by the time the end-credits rolled with the film's only use of Ray Parker's theme, I was practically cheering it on.

[Sly Boots]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Absolutely fantastic. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an obvious fanservice film as much as this. It feels like it was made with genuine love for the source material, and it's the most respectful-feeling use of dead-actor effects I've seen. There's the odd moment that feels gratuitous, but by the time the end-credits rolled with the film's only use of Ray Parker's theme, I was practically cheering it on.

Glad I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it, seen it taking a bit of grief elsewhere! Me and the kids watched it a while back and good times were had.