What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[gag]

But overall it was still watchable, just nothing outstanding. like the pointless Last house on the left remake 68 out of 100.


I didn't mind wes craven remakes and best thing about them is he did the remakes as well as the originals , god knows how bad they would have turned out if someone else had made them , mmmm nightmare on elm st remake anyone !! ERM ........exactly

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Tomb Raider (2018)

Decent reboot of the Lara Croft character and nowhere near as OTT as i thought it might be. Owing far more to both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade than it does the two Angelina Jolie films from the early 00's.

Although generally quite good as Lara Croft, Alicia Vikander seems a bit on the wimpy side to make the action sequences a wow nor does she own every scene unlike Angelina Jolie in the earlier more comic book style films, and at times in the second half she seems secondary to Dominic West and bad ass Walton Goggins. Plus it's a pity that the best set piece comes at the mid way point, yet even that - the rusty plane on the waterfall - owed a lot to The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Despite it's shortcomings Tomb Raider is still an enjoyable romp and far more grounded in reality than it might have been.

[MrBarlow]

The Boondock Saints 1999.

Two Boston Irish brothers become vigilantes in the name of god.

This was a high octane crime thriller with action and a little bit of comedy, Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery play the MacManus brothers who believe they are doing the lord's work with guns and a tone of swearing. Willem Dafoe plays the weird eccentric gay FBI agent assigned to the case but is he with them or against there beliefs. The acting is well done done both leads, and a small role bu Billy Conolly, worth a watch unless your a cat lover. 8 out of 10.

[SymbioticFunction]

Just finished watching the Into The Spider-verse animated Spiderman film. I honestly thought that it was pretty amazing (no pun intended). Easily the best Spiderman film since Sam Raimi's Spiderman 2. Really darn good, the animation was very impressive and the story was excellent. Quite often, I'm disappointed by new films but that's not the case here, I can't wait to rewatch it (which is the sign of a great film imo). Film score - 8.5/10. Highly recommended from me.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Fog (1980)

John Carpenter's ghostly masterpiece is an exercise in creating and sustaining terror.

From Adrienne Barbeau's terrific performance as DJ Stevee Wayne whose sensual tones ease you into the film before becoming more frantic as events unfold, to Carpenter's eerie, rumbling score, and then there's that spooky campfire tale told by old Mr. Machen on the stroke of midnight of the 21st April (I fine tuned this viewing so it began at 11.55pm on the 21st April, then bloomin' realised i should have begun 24 hours earlier ) which immediately draws you into the terrifying possibilities of what is to come.

A fine cast, primitive but great effects and some of the best widescreen 2.35 : 1 photography in horror cinema culminate in one of the best horror films ever!

[trebor8273]

Well this was a huge improvement over Buck privates, which I watched a few months back and was so poor I got rid of the box set. This time the fat little one was not annoying and all the laughs came from him , still don't like the tall one who is just unfunny and comes across as a nasty bully. Some good scenes especially the candle scene. Still not a patch on laurel and hardy. I would skip the opening 10 minutes with the singing in the night club as it was boring and a bit racist with the guy singing me and my shadow.
6.5/10


Doctor in the house (1954)

The trials and tribulations of medical student Simon Sparrow ( Dirk Bogarde) and his fellow colleagues studying to become doctor's. 7/10


Now watching Doctor at sea.

[Deadite]

As Marvel films are currently 2 for £12 i decided to catch up somewhat on the doings of the supers universe. Chronologically, i should have picked up Civil War, Guardians 2, and possibly Black Panther first, but i wanted Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers Infinity War, so i got them instead. Needn't have worried - any 'canon' i missed out on wasn't that important.

I'd heard good things about Thor: Ragnarok so had high expectations. Those expectations were not met, sadly. Looks brilliant, but the producer obviously is more of a style over substance kind of guy. The first 2 Thor films were the 'shakespearian' films of the marvel universe. Ragnarok killed that claim by having more one-liners than perhaps any other film bar the first Guardians of the Galaxy (which is still my favourite). I'm not against it in theory, it's just that the humour employed here isn't that funny IMO. Korg, the gladiator made of rock, and his insectoid sidekick (Mike?), are quite amusing, but even they are a bit hit and miss - the biggest miss coming at the end of the film. Having said all that, the film rollocks along and the battle at the bifrost bridge scored by the Immigrant Song by Zepplin might be the most metal fantasy scene ever put to film and makes the d&d playing 15 year old me squee with joy. But overall, this is a lightweight piece of film-making.

Now onto Avengers Infinity War. Well, this has been what, 10 years in the making? When you've spent that much time setting something up (and invested that must time and money keeping up with it all) then expectations are sky-high. Unlike Thor, i felt that Infinity War largely lived up to those expectations - mainly for the insights into Thanos's psyche and his warped reasoning as to why he is 'saving' the universe. They don't call him the mad titan for nothing but its nice to have an absolutely nasty villain properly explored at last and not feel that his motivation is lacking. There were so many story threads that needed to come together for this film that it was in danger of being swamped in super-hero spaghetti soup. Its to its credit that it doesn't sink under the weight of expectation or the decade of story building that has led to this point. The start is a bit too 'ooh, isn't Thanos hard' where he defeats tough heroes/villains rather too easily (especially when compared to the multi-hero smack down he has on Titan where lesser heroes come close to neutralising him before a certain guardian loses it). However, by and large i think this film succeeds, where in 64 million future versions it could have sunk under the weight of its own back-story.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Tried watching the Suspiria remake. I stopped it around 65 minutes in. Wasn't enjoying it at all, it genuinely felt like a chore to watch. It took 30 minutes before anything remotely interesting began to happen and the cinematography was extremely bland and boring. Round about the time some witches were laughing at a man's exposed penis may have been when I lost any remaining patience for it. Worth noting that I find it difficult to get excited about dance sequences, if I did, I'd probably be a fan of Fame. btw I realise that this will be a contraversial post as everyone else seems to love Suspiria 2018.

Well I didn't love it. Meandering shite methinketh!!

[MrBarlow]

Mountaintop Motel Massacre 1983.

A Motel owner, recently released from a mental institute goes on a killing spree of her guests.

Low budget female rip off style of Psycho, this was not the best slasher movie nor the worst either, the acting is ok, not brilliant and at times its like shut up or hurry up and die. The film does seem to rely on dark lighting before the release of the bugs and other creatures when released into the guests rooms. Anna Chappell who plays the owner Evelyn does have that weird manic look in her eyes as she watches people perish with a very creepy smile. 5 out of 10.

[MrBarlow]

Big Trouble in Little China 1986.

Tough trucker Jack Burton arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown and gets involved in a battle of superstition and ancient evil.

Action, horror, Mystery blended in with a 80s cheesey writing makes this film better than than it sounds from director John Carpenter.Kurt Russell stars as Jack who helps out his friend Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) who's fiancee has been kidnapped by evil lord Lo Pan played brilliantly by James Hong. Kim Cattrall stars along as Gracie, a lawyer.

Like some of carpenter's movies with goes along at a steady pace, that is enjoyable and with some brilliant visual effects, despite this being a flop when released, has been more successful over the years, does this one really need to be remade?. 8 out of 10