Films You Have Watched

[Baseley09]

I remember getting some WHSmith vouchers and ended up buying the Robocop 2 score on tape just because I was a big fan of all thing tin cop man. There's 10 year old me with an orchestral score tape, went on once I think.

Hopefully I'm slightly more cultured now sad I've binned it at some point.

[Finsbury Girl]

re: soundtrack v score great example Dead Man Walking

Soundtrack = Drake no likely

Score = Drake smiley

[randombs]

Coincidentally, I caught Terminator 2 at the cinema on Saturday as part of a 10am oldie film rotation they’re running all year (including Lawrence of Areweabletopeeyet, Alien, ET, 2001 and Ben She/Her).

It’s been digitally goopified by AI, but not enough to affect my enjoyment of what is still an absolute corker of a film.

P.S. both the score AND soundtrack are sublime

Movie 43

This “film” got a bad rap, but I saw one of the skits on YouTube and just had to track the film down.

In short, I flipping LOVED it.

The skits are not all hits, but I liked most of them.

Also, they’re wrapped up in a “film” about a guy (played by Dennis Quaid) trying to pitch said skits to a movie exec at gunpoint.

[QualityChimp]

Anyone got the Kill Bill soundtrack? After all the bangers like Green Hornet, Ironside, Woo Hoo and Battle Without Honor Or Humanity, the album finishes off with a load of sound effects tracks like you're listening to the sound test mode on a MegaDrive game. Bonkers.



I don't have Netflix, so have had to wait to watch Havoc at a mate's house.

Massive Gareth Evans fan here since Merantau, let alone The Raid 1 & 2 and I watch everything he's involved in from V/H/S 2 to Apostle.

I really enjoyed this and it has some great action sequences (as you'd hope), the nightclub being my favourite.
There's a unique "unreal" feel to it like Gotham in Batman Begins or something where you're in a gritty American city, but it's from a graphic novel.

Tom Hardy is a good lead, trying another accent out, naturally.

The final sequence felt like Hard Boiled crossed with the Evil Dead as it's all in a cabin.
Despite making efforts to show where new guns were coming from, it felt a little bit like they had movie size clips and they only killed main characters when the plot called for it, every other shot had Stormtrooper accuracy. Still a good sequence to watch with mates and a few beers.

I didn't care about any of the characters, though, which is a real disappointment as if you had someone to cheer for, the action would have meant a bit more, IMHO.

Still, definitely worth watching if you like Evans' other work or want some stylish and brutal action.

[Baseley09]

Gave the new Snow White a whirl, recall some furore about the dwarfs being CGI but tbh they looked great and were one of the highlights, largely everything else was completely naff. Mediocre singing performances and some very stage show set peices.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)

Watched this last night. Another classic that I'd seen so many short clips of and heard so much about over the years but hadn't actually sat down and watched before.

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The surfing and skydiving scenes are fantastically shot and the whole cast are compelling both in their own right and in how they play off each other, from the super-intense love/hate bromance between Keanu Reeves' pretty-boy FBI agent and Patrick Swayze's charismatic/nihilistic extreme sports adrenaline junkie criminal to the back-and-forth between Reeves and his FBI partner (played by Gary Busey with his trademark madman energy), inevitable love interest (Lori Petty) and even his FBI boss (John C. McGinley). Shootout scenes were also done very well and not over the top like they can be in other films.

A very enjoyable two-hour watch that didn't feel like two hours. Heard the 2015 remake is/was utter garbage so happy to leave it here.

[Finsbury Girl]

I was quite disappointed with Havoc. Cinematography was all over the shop too much shakey stuff, not enough wide shot, tired tropes and Timothy Oliphant literally in it for about 5 mins. Some good stuff in there but mainly very mid.

[Finsbury Girl]

Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)

Watched this last night. Another classic that I'd seen so many short clips of and heard so much about over the years but hadn't actually sat down and watched before.

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The surfing and skydiving scenes are fantastically shot and the whole cast are compelling both in their own right and in how they play off each other, from the super-intense love/hate bromance between Keanu Reeves' pretty-boy FBI agent and Patrick Swayze's charismatic/nihilistic extreme sports adrenaline junkie criminal to the back-and-forth between Reeves and his FBI partner (played by Gary Busey with his trademark madman energy), inevitable love interest (Lori Petty) and even his FBI boss (John C. McGinley). Shootout scenes were also done very well and not over the top like they can be in other films.

A very enjoyable two-hour watch that didn't feel like two hours. Heard the 2015 remake is/was utter garbage so happy to leave it here.

Yeah the OG is a great movie.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Calvin Marshall (Gary Lundgren, 2009)

An indie sleeper that I'd seen the trailer of years ago and wanted to watch but hadn't got around to doing so until last night.

A coming-of-age sports comedy-drama that, while decently shot and acted in its indie context, doesn't actually do the coming-of-age, sports or comedy sides of things well enough (didn't laugh at all during any stage of watching this) and the drama side of it is merely competent at best.

Ultimately it didn't hold my interest all the way through despite not overstaying its welcome at just over 90 mins long. I'd wager that even die-hard Baseball fans would struggle to get much from it.

Forgettable.

[QualityChimp]

I was quite disappointed with Havoc. Cinematography was all over the shop too much shakey stuff, not enough wide shot, tired tropes and Timothy Oliphant literally in it for about 5 mins. Some good stuff in there but mainly very mid.

Can't argue with this.
Strange that Evans has gone from the crazy-long one-takes of Merantau to the shakeycam of Havoc.

I tried watching A Working Man with Stath as it has dropped on Prime, but I couldn't put my phone down and engage, so I'll try again.
It's another normal-seeming beekeeper/foreman gets dragged into busting gangs' heads because he's actually the top military man to have ever served and they picked on the wrong guy.

[Neon Ignition]

Poltergeist III
Very easily the weakest entry, there are a few sprinkles of potential good ideas but they aren't followed through on whilst the film spends its entire run time obsessed with a mirror trick.

Final Destination
Though these are classed as horrors they're very much not as there's no real trope to them other than people being killed one by one, even if its hardwired into the plot. After 25 years I wondered if this would be a hard watch but it holds up as a still surprisingly smartly written film as the scenario is fleshed out enough and remains compelling.

Final Destination 2
The opening scene remains the most famous but like its predecessor, this also remains a great companion piece. Really well thought out sequel that compliments the original.

[Neon Ignition]

Black Panther
It's been a long time since I've seen this one and it's much as I remember, pretty mid. The main issue is that, whilst it's well made, it's also following up on Civil War and so we needlessly have to go through the motion of unmaking and re-originising BP so that the audience can go through Killmongers arc of taking power. That means it feels like the film repeats itself too much just to do the 'evil copy of the hero' thing they do a lot. There's a more efficient film hidden within this one, but otherwise it's still a solid watch.

Final Destination 3
I recall it being a step down from the first two and it is. The film lacks any of the smarts of those scripts and thinks the franchises appeal lies solely in OTT kills. As such, the audience remains five steps ahead of the characters leading to zero suspense.

Final Destination 4
Similar to be honest, characters working out half of the rules means you know the outcome. There's real potential in the set up of the scenario to do just as smart sequels as FD2 did, especially as it left enough room to do some things that could be fairly bold for the franchise. This slips into the standard kill pattern instead though with little characterisation. Also, because it came in the '3D' boom era, it looks more made for TV with some awful shots and effects clearly made with glasses in mind.

[Finsbury Girl]

Can't argue with this.
Strange that Evans has gone from the crazy-long one-takes of Merantau to the shakeycam of Havoc.

I tried watching A Working Man with Stath as it has dropped on Prime, but I couldn't put my phone down and engage, so I'll try again.
It's another normal-seeming beekeeper/foreman gets dragged into busting gangs' heads because he's actually the top military man to have ever served and they picked on the wrong guy.

Yeah I watched A Working Man the other night. I thought it was decent enough. Not his best not his worst. I thought it was better than Havoc. At least I know what I'm getting now from Jason Statham. It's a real pity he is so type cast, I honestly think he's a good actor. He can do so much more & I'd love to see him in more cerebral movies.

[QualityChimp]

Interesting. I finished A Working Man (Prime) and it was a massive slog that took about 3 nights to finish.
I just wanted to get to the end.
The Stath fights were okay, but a long way away from the inventiveness of The Transporter.

I thought Havoc had better action and a more interesting setting and will probably watch again (especially for the action sequences) but I'll give AWM a wide berth.

We also finished The Dark Knight Rises (Prime/ITVX) but took so long to finish, we had to move streaming platforms!
It's got its moments, especially the plane escape opening, but it's all a bit of a mess that makes no real sense if you think about it.
It escalates ridiculously fast from normality to dystopian city of lockdown. Or something.

I still think Begins is my fave of the Nolan Batrilogy.

[Dogg Thang]

I saw the latest Mission Impossible last night.

But maybe I should start by saying I have watched them all over the last couple of months. I had only ever seen the first one. But a few friends and I have watched them all in the lead up to the final one. I was the only one of the group encountering them for the first time, so that was interesting.

My favourite was the one that pretty much everyone else in my group felt was the weakest: 2. The John Woo one for me was the one that had the most flavour and the most fun.

My weakest? 3. Abram’s first movie and I think it showed. It was ugly and pedestrian and shot like television.

4 was where it started to figure out what this series actually was. But even then, it took Fallout to actually get there - that’s the best of the movies who knew what the series is. That’s a great watch.

These final two, they’re enjoyable. I have to admit I was kind of bored for the first half hour or so of this final one. It takes a while to get going. But it’s very cool when it does. Although there is a plane sequence that is total Mr Bean for me. I just found it comical. Actually, there are a lot of comical moments in this final one and I don’t think most are intentional.

Still, very enjoyable. A good action movie.