Top Ten Tuesdays

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I've been meaning to re-watch Sleepy Hollow, it's bee a while since I saw it and I do love it

I try and watch it every October - the perfect time to really imbibe the atmosphere.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Again, no order, this is my top 10 list of films from a trilogy or series which are not the first sequel:

• Wes Craven's New Nightmare – completely changing up the formula which had made the previous couple of instalments feel a bit old and stale, with Freddy as a character jar rather than a scary serial killer, Wes Craven introduced the world to the idea of post-modern meta-moviemaking, something which was new at the time and has changed the horror genre forever
• Halloween III: Season of the Witch – drop the first part of the title and separated from the Halloween franchise, and this would have been box office dynamite. Instead, people expected, and wanted, Michael Myers to go around butchering teenagers so left disappointed. This works extremely well as a stand-alone movie due to the growing paranoia and tension as the conspiracy becomes ever more real and threatening
• Iron Man 3 – Shane Black is great writer and director and although improving on Iron Man 2 wasn't much of a challenge, the exchanges between Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow are funny and engaging, and some of the action sequences are easily the equal of those in Jon Favreau's first film. As such, it is probably funnier and less generic than the origin story, given free reign to explore elements of the MCU and become a great action-adventure movie – the Mandarin character is one of Ben Kingsley's finest roles
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – as someone who loved, and continues to enjoy watching, heat at Ambien, I was overjoyed when Alfonso Cuarón was announced as the director of the next Harry Potter film, thinking it was more likely they would be something which was well constructed, visually stylish, and getting the most out of the child actors Chris Columbus managed with the first two instalments. Thankfully, that was the case and more, with this being, as far as I'm concerned, the first of the series to feel like a film in its own right and the only one which doesn't have any plot holes because it relies on knowledge of the source material (Order of the Phoenix is good, but there are large sections which confused the hell out of me). It's a terrific piece of fantasy filmmaking and an energetic adventure story as the child actors show why they were picked in the first place.
• X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer returns to the comic book franchise which he created and, again, betters the first film in the series thanks to some amazing set pieces, fine acting from everyone from Michael Fassbender to Jennifer Lawrence and Peter Dinklage, and a time loop ending which I still have trouble wrapping my head around
• Toy Story 3 – a wonderful piece of filmmaking with state-of-the-art animation, voice acting on a par as its brilliant predecessors, including Ned Beatty's wonderfully sinister but strangely tragic Lotso and his gang at Sunnyside Daycare. Like WALL-E, this is a Pixar film which often has me in tears, and (figuratively speaking) on the edge of my seat as the gang approach the incinerator
• The Exorcist III – this is on the list because it isn't exactly a sequel to The Exorcist, but ignores the abysmal Exorcist II: The Heretic and follows two of the characters from Friedkin's masterpiece. William Peter Blatty adapts his novel Legion to great effect, more so in the director's cut, albeit one with poor visual quality, and some gripping exchanges between Brad Dourif and George C. Scott and one truly terrifying scene in a hospital corridor. Like films including The Wicker Man and The Magnificent Ambersons, this is a case of 'what could have been', with the director's vision never one which will be seen by the public because it has been lost forever, and only some of it available – in poor VHS quality – on the new Shout! Factory Blu-ray release
• Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller returns to the films with which he made his name over three decades later, and does so with some breathtaking visual effects and something akin to Cirque du Soleil on wheels! I thought the lack of Mel Gibson would prove to be an issue, but Tom Hardy is excellent in the lead role with a typically physical performance
• Before Midnight – as I sat on my first list, I love the 'Before' trilogy and this was like a reunion with old friends. Fortunately, these are not friends who have grown old and boring, but more fascinating due to their absence and the interaction between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy is as real as between any on-screen married couple since Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie in Don't Look Now
• Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade – I don't think it's the best of the Indiana Jones movies, but it is the one I fell in love with as a child and enjoy more than any of the others as an adult. I also love the rapport between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, and several of the action sequences, particularly the one involving the tank

Just missing out:
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors – benefiting from a terrific screenplay by Wes Craven, now back on board with the studio and franchise, and up-and-coming filmmaker Frank Darabont, this is a wonderfully inventive and hugely enjoyable film. It may not be the equal of Craven's original, but it is close.

The Dark Knight Rises – Christopher Nolan's epic conclusion to his Dark Knight trilogy benefits from the all-star cast, many of whom he worked with on Inception, the Tale of Two Cities-inspired storyline and astonishing action set pieces, most of which looked even better on an iMac screen than they do at home

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I'm not a big fan of Aliens either.

It suffers from 'The Dawn of the Dead' effect, where a creepy, atmospheric first installment is followed up by what is essentially an action film with the horror and atmosphere sort of taking a back seat to the various shenanigans.

I think that is something that happens when James Cameron is given a budget! It is also the difference between The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, with the latter sometimes feeling bloated and overlong. Despite their shortcomings and the preceding films showing how effective 'less is more' can be, they are two films which I enjoy.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

[*]Halloween III: Season of the Witch – This works extremely well as a stand-alone movie due to the growing paranoia and tension as the conspiracy becomes ever more real and threatening

Are you watching a different film to me? It's one of the most ludicrously plotted films i've ever seen.

It's about a nutter who plans to sacrifice children wearing his masks, thus bringing about a resurrection of the ancient age of witchcraft. The masks contain microchips, each containing a fragment of Stonehenge that, when activated by a signal in a company commercial, summon a swarm of insects and snakes to kill the mask wearer.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Are you watching a different film to me? It's one of the most ludicrously plotted films i've ever seen.

It's about a nutter who plans to sacrifice children wearing his masks, thus bringing about a resurrection of the ancient age of witchcraft. The masks contain microchips, each containing a fragment of Stonehenge that, when activated by a signal in a company commercial, summon a swarm of insects and snakes to kill the mask wearer.

I didn't mean 'real and threatening' to the viewer, but to the characters – Daniel and Ellie – in the middle of the conspiracy whose lives are at risk.

I agree it is preposterous but, if you look at it rationally, so is the premise of (all versions of) Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which contains some great paranoia-filled suspense and horror.

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Are you watching a different film to me? It's one of the most ludicrously plotted films i've ever seen.

Surely you mean Mad Max: Fury Road,urgh orrible.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade – I don't think it's the best of the Indiana Jones movies, but it is the one I fell in love with as a child and enjoy more than any of the others as an adult. [/LIST]

How does that work Nos? How can you not think it's the best of the series but enjoy it the most??

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

How does that work Nos? How can you not think it's the best of the series but enjoy it the most??

Our Nos can be very odd.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

Surely you mean Mad Max: Fury Road,urgh orrible.

You'll notice in my original post i said 'ludicrously plotted'.

Mad Max Fury Road didn't have a plot. It would also be high up on my list of shittest sequels ever.

[J Harker]

So top ten sequels.

Batman Returns.
Terminator 2
Mad Max 2
The Godfather Part II
The Empire Strikes Back
Maniac Cop 2
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
Gremlins 2
Back to the Future Part II
Finding Dory