Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi
Thankfully my brother paid for my tickets.
I'm not going into the plot(s) to much. The first order are chasing the remnants of the republic down and destroying them.
Where The Force Awakens was played safe with by JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson decided to take it off the rails and really made it feel off. The humour felt rather awkward and unnecessary. This for me was underwhelming and despite not leaving the cinema annoyed. It just felt disappointing.
6/10

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Decemberdike
 

December 21st - Ghost Story (1974)

Dire British supernatural effort from director Stephen Weeks of the equally dire I, Monster (1971). Seemingly a wannabe MR James style story but lacking any sort of supernatural atmosphere, with a Withnail like star in Murray Melvin and cameo appearances from Marianne Faithfull and Barbara Shelley. It's not scary, it's not chilling, it's certainly not funny, it's just dull.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Second film in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, the middle of Middle Earth so to speak, and this was even better than first installment An Unexpected Journey.

A film which barely pauses for breath, this is action all the way, and in featuring the breathtaking Dwarves river escape from the Wood Elves lair in ale casks whilst being pursued by Orcs - has probably the best action set piece i've seen this year.

Whilst the final underworld battle with the dragon Smaug is a bit drawn out it's but a trifling muttering in a so far terrific film series.

I actually thought this wasn't that well received when compared to Jackson's Lord of the Rings films but i'm loving it just as much.

One final thought. Is it wrong for a human to fancy an Elf girl? Because Evangeline Lilly is bloody gorgeous!

If anyone else has seen this i'd love to know what you thought of Ghost Story.

I have the Ghost Story dvd, but saw it a while back so can't remember the details but i remember thinking it was fairly decent, but nothing spectacular.

The dvd is good, lot's of extras but i won't be watching them as it seems a waste of time being a film i wasn't keen on and a film maker even less so in Weeks.

I'm just watching 88's Aerobicide dvd. It's interlaced, not badly but it's clearly there for all to see. Picture would have been fine otherwise.

A poor show in my opinion from 88.

I like aerobicide, tbh I was hoping 88 were gonna release deadly prey instead but ach well

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P2 (2007)

On Christmas Eve, Rachel Nichols is terrorized by the looney security guard of the office tower block she works in.
Quite good chiller shot almost entirely in the underground car park.

Truth is, the sight of Rachel running around in THAT dress is what made me watch the film. Sue me !

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Good film. I bought that on region 1 dvd as soon as it came out. Only watched it the one time as well. Totally forgot it was set on Christmas Eve.

Decemberdike
 

December 22nd - Killer Workout (1987)

Aka Aerobicide - Killer knocks off members of an aerobics class one by one using a safety pin. Cue overlong scenes of aerobics with an ever decreasing class.

Not exactly a highlight of 80's slashers.

Sounds like a Murder Rock (1984) rip-off.

Brawl in Cell Block 99

Vince Vaughn as you've not seen him before. I landed on this as just something to watch, did not expect much, more of a spare time filler. Really enjoyed it, very violent and I love a good prison film. Whilst the plot is not Mensa territory it did have a touch of originality about. There are a few actor and actresses who need to break away from picking up easy pay cheques starring in Romcom tosh and walking through roles without being stretched, Jason Bateman is another prime example in Ozark on Netflix (which I would highly recommend) he is fantastic in this. Vince Vaughn, though I am not a big fan of his, will be seen differently by myself after this role.

Some of the violence scenes ( and there are many ) were graphic and bloody great, head stomping, arm snapping and the camera does not shy away.

Vince has to work his way into Prison to kill someone to get himself out of a very sticky situation. How he does this is great, emotionless graphic scenes ensue.

I had not heard much if anything about this film so had no expectations, which is always a good thing. If you like violent / prison movies and you have not seen this give it a spin, well worth your time.

solid 7/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfAExhHTMM

Mother of Tears is actually very entertaining. Any Argento film which pretty much opens with a woman being strangled by her own intestines is worth checking out imo. :) It's much better than Giallo and Dracula.

I'm looking forward to checking this one out as the directors previous film Bone Tomahawk is superb.

The trailer does not do the film justice J.

Unlike most films today where the trailer is better than the movie, this one under sells it.

The only downside is the naff title (although it makes sense after viewing it) with a little imagination they could have come up with something a bit more......imaginative?

Sadly it's not a patch on Fulci's film.

I saw Vince Vaugn interviewed on Jonathon Ross a few weeks back. They showed some clips then, given I'm not a particularly big fan of Vaugns edgy nervous laugh style of acting he looked awesome in this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KInYGO7KWo

Its official now , its Christmas. 10/10


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrlMYIYt-SI

Great fun filled movie, thanks to the the legend that was the late great Robin Williams. The 4k picture quality is excellent with bright/bold colours and level of detail is impressive as is the sound. 8.5/10


now watching more Williams in the form of Hook.

Gremlins 2
This time set in New York; Billy and his bird are working for Clamp Corporation and are trying to get on with their lives. Unfortunately gizmo is in the lab within the clamp tower, and is freed but gets hit by water letting gremlins out.
The sequel knew it couldn't be better than the original so they made it self aware. It doesn't make a difference: this is still a great film with a lot of laughs.
8/10

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TOBRUK (1967)

The Special Identification Group (German Jews serving with the British) a Canadian Major and a team of British commandos encounter various obstacles on their way across the desert to blow up Rommel's Afrika Korps fuel base.
A traitor in the team leads to more problems and it all leads up to an explosive finale as the commandos reach their goal and the RAF begin bombing the gun emplacements along the shoreline. Good stuff. :cool:

Feeling festive I stuck on Requiem For A Dream.
A horribly beautiful film. Four interlocking perspectives on addiction. See this one. Would make an awkward double bill with The Refrigerator :hohoho:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQR5zsLHbYw


Not heard of this one so didn't know what to expect,what I got was a very good buddy movie with Ryan Gosling as an private eye and Russell Crowe as an enforcer whos paths cross and investigate a girl who has gone missing, wonderful 70s look and feel and director Shane Black is great a writing dialogue and character's. 8.5/10

Liked The Nice Guys. Rewatch imminent!!

Watching Absurd. The longer dubbed print. Looks quite crisp so far ... and sounds quite punchy for a mono track. :xmasjig:

Would love a sequel reminds of all those great buddy movies of the 80s.

Who knows ... it's a possibility?

Liked that War On Everyone as well. They're the not so nice guys :xmaslol:

We (my flatmate and I) watched the German BD of Showgirls this Christmas evening, it was my first viewing ever and his first in over 5 years. To say we loved it is an understatement, I haven't enjoyed a film so much in ages :lol: I audibly gasped when Nomi pushed Cristal down the stairs :xmaslol: I recommend the disc as well, the sound and image are fantastic.

Started swamp thing , dear god I can't believe this is a Wes Craven film , even his poorest films had something to offer but not this.

Bright.

It's ok. Nothing extraordinary but worth a watch. It struggles to set up it's world in the running time of the film. If you took out the fantasy elements it wouldn't be that much different than end of watch. It seems highly pleased that it's come up with an original premise so no one show them shadowrun books, RPG or videogames!

Gave up on swamp thing, so either going to watch the babysitter or a knights tale.

Absurd was grotty fun. :xmasjig:

Jaw dropping in places isn't it??. A genuine guilty pleasure :xmaslol:

Crying shame you weren't a fan in the 00's. The reasonably priced region one box set is a thing of beauty. Complete with playing cards, shot glasses, a blindfold, tasseled nipple pasties and much more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qCqrODw1nM

Wasn't expecting much but what I found was a enjoyable film that doesn't take itself seriously, basic story is a young boy finds out his baby sitter is a Satanist. All quite tame compared to a lot of horrors, but there was more gore than I was expecting. Film works as then young lead is likable and not the usual spoiled little brat we see nowadays in films. 7.5/10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH6U5y086hw

Who would of thought a film that combines medieval jousting and rock music would work, granted those expecting a historical accurate film will be disappointed, but it works as the film is so much fun and the cast relish there roles giving us likable characters and a true boo hiss villian. Paul Bettany is great as Geoffrey Chaucer. 7.5/10


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RBA0xoaWU

A film that proves that not all remakes are a bad idea, while it might not be on the same level as the original, it's still a well directed and acted film were the leads have chemistry with each other , it's also beautifully shot with some lovely scenery that looks truly gorgeous in 4k. 8.5/10

This and Godless have put me in the mood for more westerns, so might make January, a western themed month.

Re watching the Scream films, the first is still amazing, watching Scream 2 and it still strikes me the same as it did the first time I saw it, too clever for it's own good, the cast look like they should be in a sitcom. Trying to see what everyone thought was so good about number 2 when it first came out but its just not grabbing me!

Well we watched Scanners 3: The Takeover & Evils Of The Night for Boxing Day. Went well enough even if EOTN was considered a tad sluggish. Ho hum.

Just watched Romero's Season of The Witch (the extended cut with SD inserts) and really enjoyed it, right from its very interesting avant-garde opening sequence.

Glad I asked for Between Night and Dawn for Christmas after all, as though everyone, including me, would have liked to see Martin in there, I have to say I actually enjoyed Season of The Witch a little bit more than Martin.

The sequence with Donovan's Season of The Witch playing over has to be one of my favourites in any Romero movie in fact, both for the combination of the song and cinematography.

Gets a 8/10 from me.

What do you guys think of this film?

Had a hard time deciding what to watch and was browsing Netflix when I noticed Kuffs, which I enjoyed but it has been donkeys years since I've seen it so will be interesting to see if it still holds up.

I like Jack's Wife aye Buboven. Haven't seen this 'new' print though ...

It is great, the 4K scan of the original 'Hungry Wives' theatrical cut is amazing, really brings out the cool and avant-garde cinematography from the opening sequence to scenes like when our main character goes to a witch store to the music of Donovan. The SD inserts of the extended Jack's Wife cut are obviously a lot rougher looking but give more useful context to scenes which I would have missed if I had just watched the 4K remastered 'Hungry Wives' print without them.

Get on it man!

Jumanji. Welcome to the jungle.

I promise to get back to reviewing stuff more regularly. I've been a bit out of sorts since July. I thought I'd get more done but seem to have been doing less. I've been far too absorbed with Youtube, Facebook. But I'm aiming to get my shit together...

Ok, I'll admit with this one my sole reason for going to see this was Karen Gillen in crop top and shorts. I'm a sleaze. I admit it.

Ahem.

Actually its not bad. Its mainly aimed at teens, the character development does follow the 'breaking out of your mould formula'. However its all done in a reasonably witty and fun way with enough 90's references and videogaming homages to make the grown ups not sit there bored as shit. I actually found it perfectly watchable.