Rate the last film you watched out of 5

[Vimster]

Watched three films Christmas day, starting with an Andrew Davis double bill:

 

Chain Reaction (1996)

A title so generic I literally forgot it by the end of the film. Scientists Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz, who were part of a team working on a cheap, limitless energy source, are framed for murder and go on the run. Plot has enough pace, thrills and intrigue, Andrew Davis' direction favours telling the story well over flair, and here that's fair enough. Whilst his character was a bit one-dimensional it was good to see Brian Cox on this. Morgan Freeman probably had the most interesting character. Rock-solid yet not particularly memorable in the long run.

 

3.5/5

 

Collateral Damage (2002)

"I'll give you 'collateral damage'!" The wife and daughter of fireman Arnold Schwarzenegger are killed in a terrorist bombing, and against advice he heads to Colombia to seek revenge. It's about as diametrically opposed to Commando as it gets though and this Arnie isn't just walking in armed to the teeth, here he's out of his depth pretty quickly, albeit with some sense and skills from firefighting established early on. Again Andrew Davis eschews flash in favour of tight, plot-led direction which is a good choice for this kind of story. He manages to create a sense of grounded danger, you can feel Arnie's character is walking into a situation he doesn't fully understand and is vulnerable. I would argue Arnie doesn't quite pull off the normal guy thing, he's too buff, too recognisable to suspend belief, especially in a role this far from his action hero days.

 

3/5

 

Rounded the day off with:

 

Carry On Doctor (1967)

Yes it's very dated, the jokes are pretty limp but there is something reassuringly familiar about it all, especially for anyone who remembers these being on the telly constantly. Most of the regulars are here doing their usual turns, although Sid James, Peter Butterworth and Charles Hawtrey seem to merely be making up the numbers. No plot really, just a situation to hang some gags off, in this case a couple of wards in a hospital. Perhaps not quite as cringe-worthily un-PC as some other films in the series. 3 out of 5 because I do like a good double entendre and I had had a few drinks by this point so it just worked.

 

3/5

[Minion]

Review/Score dump of recently watched films:

 

Triangle of Sadness - 5/5 : Definitely the best film I've seen all year, funny, clever and some glorious casting especially Zlatko Burić who you might recognise as Milo from the Pusher series.

 

Decision to Leave - 4/5 : It's Chan Wook Park and hence it's dazzingly stylish but the story lets it down slightly, only slightly mind.

 

The Banshees of Insherin - 4/5 : Another hilarious film but also a serious allegory on 'the troubles' and how stupid and damaging sectarianism can be, Colin Farrell is marvelous. 

 

Official Competition - 3.5/5 : Extremely well shot and acted though the plot was a little obvious for my liking. Cruz and Banderas are always great together.

 

Tar - 3.5/5 : Shot in the European arthouse style which I love and Cate Blanchett is magnificant but a little heavy when it lands it's blows and it seems to get confused with which blows it is landing.

 

Funny Pages 3/5 : Love the way this one is shot, proper grimy and revels in New York weirdos, just falls flat at the end unfortunately.

 

Glass Onion 3/5 : Enjoyable enough but a popcorn flick and not one I'd care to revisit, Janelle Monae is fantastic as always.

 

 

 

[SeanR]

The Two Popes 5/5

 

just brilliant. Watch it.

[Silent Runner]

Underwater

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5774060/

 

A crew of oceanic researchers working for a deep sea drilling company try to get to safety after a mysterious earthquake devastates their deepwater research and drilling facility located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

 

This rips off about 10 other, much better, films - Aliens, The Descent, The Abyss etc. But never really amounts to anything. 

 

Kristen Stewart and Vincent Cassel but in good turns but they can't really save it. The frustrating thing is that it feels like there is the bones of a good film here but it never gets a chance to live. For example, about 30 seconds into the film the disaster hits and from there on it's panic all the way. But if they'd taken a few minutes to introduce characters and the setting I might have cared a bit more when they start getting killed off. And it looks like it has a decent budget - the sets are nice, the character design on the monsters in competent and there's a bit of thought gone into the design. 

 

A real waste of potential.

 

2/5

 

 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Silent Runner

[NexivRed]

Glass Onion

 

I really enjoyed this and thought it was brilliant. And he’d never top it. Just all round enjoyed it. 
But after reading the thread on it I’m wondering if I’m wrong. 

[ScouserInExile]

Glass Onion

 

I really thought this was brilliant. Just a joy to watch from start to finish. Everyone seemed to be having great fun as stupidly over the top, almost cartoonish characters. I liked the whodunit plot, it reminded me of poirot. I even liked the brightly lit paradise Island setting. 

 

Yes, it was decidedly stupid in places, especially the big reveal, but that was part of the fun.

 

5/5

[Couch Corpse]

Halloween Kills - a seasonal 1/7

[PK]

Missing Link - 3/5

 

Never heard of this 2019 stop motion film before watching it on BBC1 today, and according to wiki it flopped. But it's pretty good! Zach Galafianakis voices a Sasquatch who enlists the help of Victorian adventurers, voiced by Hugh Jackman and Zoe Saldana, to take him to Shangri-La. Stephen Fry plays the villainous head of the adventurer's society pursuing them.

 

It's fairly light stuff but it looks really lovely, the script's quite funny and there's some entertaining action in it. There's definitely an Aardman-like quality to a lot of the visual gags as well.

[glb]

1 hour ago, PK said:

Missing Link - 3/5

 

Never heard of this 2019 stop motion film before watching it on BBC1 today, and according to wiki it flopped. But it's pretty good! Zach Galafianakis voices a Sasquatch who enlists the help of Victorian adventurers, voiced by Hugh Jackman and Zoe Saldana, to take him to Shangri-La. Stephen Fry plays the villainous head of the adventurer's society pursuing them.

 

It's fairly light stuff but it looks really lovely, the script's quite funny and there's some entertaining action in it. There's definitely an Aardman-like quality to a lot of the visual gags as well.

 

If you've not seen the other films made by Laika (the animation / production studio) their library is worth a look: Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings.

[PK]

5 minutes ago, glb said:

 

If you've not seen the other films made by Laika (the animation / production studio) their library is worth a look: Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls and Kubo and the Two Strings.

 

Oh thanks very much, not seen any of them!

[Steve McQueef]

Amsterdam (2022)

 

I thought it was hilarious, (especially that scene), and will not apologise. 

 

3/5

[Nathan Wind]

Avengement - Netflix

 

This was great fun. Just what the doctor ordered while I’m lying here full of a cold. A cheesy as hell 90s martial arts flick, except it came out a couple of years ago. Scott Adkins vs Craig Fairbrass and his squad of ‘that’s that bloke from Snatch/Lock Stock’. Set in an alternate reality London where all the prisoners, screws and police know how to do cheese-fu. It’s my first Adkins film and I liked it. I suppose he’s kind of like the Michael Jai White of the UK so I should probably have given him a go before now. Also seems a genuinely decent chap from his YouTube channel. Will watch more.

 

A better than Banshees of Inisherin 3.75/5

 

 

[Nathan Wind]

High Life (2009) - Prime

 

A little hidden gem of a crime dark comedy. Timothy Olyphant is tremendous as morphine addict, Dick, who comes up with a scheme to rob cash machines in the early 80s, alongside his crew of also addicted hapless buffoons. It’s apparently adapted from an award winning play and it does feel very stagey in its writing - really tight and well scripted, and clearly very low budget with that weird TV movie look. Coming in at a lean 76 minutes, it doesn’t waste any time in essentially recreating what usually happens in the co-op heist missions of GTA5. If you’ve ever tried those, you’ll know how they can spiral. It’s a little bit Resevoir Dogs, a little bit Fear and Loathing, a little bit Coen brothers. Excellent stuff. I almost let the 6.0 IMDb rating put me off but I’m very glad I didn’t.

 

4/5

 

 

[Orion]

7 hours ago, Nathan Wind said:

Avengement - Netflix

 

This was great fun. Just what the doctor ordered while I’m lying here full of a cold. A cheesy as hell 90s martial arts flick, except it came out a couple of years ago. Scott Adkins vs Craig Fairbrass and his squad of ‘that’s that bloke from Snatch/Lock Stock’. Set in an alternate reality London where all the prisoners, screws and police know how to do cheese-fu. It’s my first Adkins film and I liked it. I suppose he’s kind of like the Michael Jai White of the UK so I should probably have given him a go before now. Also seems a genuinely decent chap from his YouTube channel. Will watch more.

 

A better than Banshees of Inisherin 3.75/5

 

 

 

I watched that because it was recommended on here years ago by I think @Vimster. Know he loves his B movies. Adkins youtube interview series is legendary and he seems a lovely bloke. He tends to get type cast as the baddie all the time so not many starring roles. I loved Undisputed 2, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Ip Man 4 and Boyka: Undisputed. If you want more Scott Adkins goodness.

[Ry]

RRR - 2/5.

 

Heard nothing but good things about this. I thought it was far too long, bloated, terribly written and some horrible acting. I don't get the praise. 

 

Glass Onion - 3.5/5

 

Thoroughly entertaining.

 

[ZOK]

12 minutes ago, Ry said:

RRR - 2/5.

 

Heard nothing but good things about this. I thought it was far too long, bloated, terribly written and some horrible acting. I don't get the praise. 

 

Glass Onion - 3.5/5

 

Thoroughly entertaining.

 

Did you mix up the titles on these reviews?!

[Ry]

Just now, ZOK said:

Did you mix up the titles on these reviews?!

Nope. 

[Silent Runner]

You won't go wrong with many Scott Adkins films - The Debt Collector and Accident Man are great fun. 

[Loik V credern]

I started watching Accident Man expecting it to be like another film I watched about assassins who devise final destination style deaths, but instead it was horrible, Adkins taunting and mocking a guy as he gloats about the money he'll make from his fake suicide which he will spend on a new motorbike. Then in the very next scene he enters a pub and makes a remark about everyone in there is beneath him then for no reason at all beats them all up. On his way out he notices an old guy lighting a cigarette and iirc punches him too.

 

It was just a charmless severely unlikeable attempt at maybe the kind of coarse humour in Deadpool, or because it's cockney I guess Snatch. The difference being...the characters in Snatch are at the bottom, you're with them because they're the ones being bullied. 

 

I hated it so much I gave up on it, not seen anything be so unlikeable so much in its beginning. 

[Thor]

The Lighthouse. 

 

This was good, but a bit too 'arty' for my liking. However, this is one movie where black and white really did fucking work for some truly striking imagary, and the performances from Defoe and Pattinson were great. 

 

3/5

 

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 

 

Still my favourite, I love it. 'I should have mailed it to the Marx brothers!'

 

I still can't believe so many rate this lower than Temple. You all chose ... poorly. 

 

4/5

[Vimster]

21 minutes ago, Loik V credern said:

I started watching Accident Man expecting it to be like another film I watched about assassins who devise final destination style deaths, but instead it was horrible, Adkins taunting and mocking a guy as he gloats about the money he'll make from his fake suicide which he will spend on a new motorbike. Then in the very next scene he enters a pub and makes a remark about everyone in there is beneath him then for no reason at all beats them all up. On his way out he notices an old guy lighting a cigarette and iirc punches him too.

 

It was just a charmless severely unlikeable attempt at maybe the kind of coarse humour in Deadpool, or because it's cockney I guess Snatch. The difference being...the characters in Snatch are at the bottom, you're with them because they're the ones being bullied. 

 

I hated it so much I gave up on it, not seen anything be so unlikeable so much in its beginning. 

Accident Man has some good action, the fights are well shot at least. I reviewed it saying it was a cheapo Brit John Wick wannabe that couldn't make its mind up what tone it was going for. Adkins' character was pretty unlikeable, the fact he was trying to avenge the death of his wife didn't really change anything.

 

Adkins is interesting. If he'd emerged in the 80s he could have been similar to Gary Daniels, done some quality Hong Kong action films, then maybe got into the lower orders of actions stars in the 90s. In some ways he's 30 years too late, they don't really make the sorts of films he'd be great in, certainly not as routinely as they did in the days of VHS. He does a lot in China though by all accounts.

 

Not knocking him, he takes it seriously, can pull off the moves, has been in some alright films, The Debt Collector is low-key but entertaining, sequel more of the same.

[Vimster]

1 hour ago, Orion said:

 

I watched that because it was recommended on here years ago by I think @Vimster. Know he loves his B movies. Adkins youtube interview series is legendary and he seems a lovely bloke. He tends to get type cast as the baddie all the time so not many starring roles. I loved Undisputed 2, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Ip Man 4 and Boyka: Undisputed. If you want more Scott Adkins goodness.

I can't remember what my review said but on Letterboxd I gave it 1.5/5. From what I remember it was pretty cheap, relied a bit too heavily on tired London gangster cliches, had a bit of alright fighting but the humour was weak. It didn't really chime with me.

[ZOK]

2 hours ago, Ry said:

Nope. 

Check again.

[glb]

Re - Avengement, it’s worth watching for the final brawl alone. Such a meaty dust-up. Good b-movie.

 

And if you want some quick Adkins, his appearances on Corridor Crew are testament to his charm. The Stuntmen React series is really insightful: regulars like Gui Dasilva are hugely entertaining. Stunt work really should have had an Oscar category years ago, and I feel it’s a travesty the industry isn’t represented at Academy level.

 

 

[mexos]

Christmas is a time for old favourites so…

 

Star Trek Generations: 4.5/5

I thought the’d made the perfect TNG film until…

 

Star Trek First Contact: 5/5

It’s still the don. Blah blah Wrath of… this is the shit. Best Trek. 
 

Since watching Generations and seeing Malc do this thing I’m going to pivot to LA in 1983 and watch Blue Thunder next.

[Mr Majestyk]

Glass Onion 2.5/5

Really wanted to like this but apart from Daniel Craig's performance it was a bit flat throughout. Okay for a Christmas watch. 

[Tequlia]

Enemy (Denis Villeneuve) 4/5

 

This film made me feel stupid because I simply took it at face value, but that isn't satisfying due to the surreal content within.  If the internet didn't exist I'd have  invested more time thinking about it, instead just googled it and found lots of different & contradictory "explanations" (which on the plus side made me feel better).

 

Given it 4 though because you really feel like you're watching something decently and smartly constructed, and Jake Gyllenhaal gives a really good performance.

 

Decision to Leave 2/5

 

I know this film has gotten a lot of love.  Tang Wei is brilliant in it, there's some clever and quirky shots, but I just didn't like the drippy policeman which is going to be an issue when he's a central character.  (I'm saying this thinking it went over my head) I don't understand why he couldn't have been pitched as a stronger and more assertive person, which would have made his behaviours and compromise much more profound?  It also really dragged, feeling more like 180 minutes than 139.

[Timmo]

Saint Maud

 

Suffocating, provocative and brilliant. 4/5

[Nathan Wind]

19 minutes ago, Timmo said:

Saint Maud

 

Suffocating, provocative and brilliant. 4/5

I absolutely loved it! That and Hereditary are the best horrors in absolute yonks, I reckon.

[Timmo]

20 minutes ago, Nathan Wind said:

I absolutely loved it! That and Hereditary are the best horrors in absolute yonks, I reckon.

Those two and Mandy for me!