Films You Have Watched

[Neon Ignition]

I like the core concept but the execution I just couldn't get on board with, I can see how the characters hold it together but as its pitched as a psychological horror it would have played better with us if it had leant harder into the former given the latter is almost non-existent.

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, I really enjoyed Session 9 too.
I mean I'm not all stalkery about it like someone, naming no names.

There's no monster or slasher, but the whole atmosphere just doesn't sit right and those kind of films seem to be more memorable to me.

Kill List is on Channel 4 this week and I'm contemplating watching it again, but it's just such an uncomfortable watch without really being able to place you finger on exactly why. By the time you're questioning it, it's too late and it reaches its unforgettable resolution.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Saw The Substance at the cinema on Sunday night.

There's a lot to like about the performances of Demi Moore (REALLY brave of her to take the role knowing the perception of her and her looks in real life), Margaret Qualley (also resonant for her with her age, looks and especially given who her mother is) and Dennis Quaid (wonderfully obnoxious) and the film's important underlying/overarching satirical point about the wider ramifications of ageism and impossible female beauty standards being pushed in the modern entertainment industry and popular consumer culture.

Unfortunately, for me, all of that was completely undermined by a combination of the film's need to be ALWAYS visually arresting to the point of ALWAYS being jarring to the point of ALWAYS being disturbing and the need to be a complete and utter gross-out body horror with a farcically OTT last 30 minutes. Gore and grotesque for the mere sake of it by the end of the film to the point of obscuring the message that was trying to be relayed.

[buster_broon]

The Substance
Saw this and Demi Moore was the star, hadn't heard of it before so thought i wold give it a watch

basically its mental, the story is brilliant and i dont really want to spoil anything but its very akin to early Chronenberg Movies

Couldn't stop watching until it had finished, actually alright movie, brilliant story and loads of particle special effects but probably the most mental movie i've seen in a long time, probably since Jacobs ladder

[QualityChimp]

I'm really pleased people are getting to see The Substance.
I stand by what I said that even if you love it or it doesn't work for you, you'll want to talk about it!

[Neon Ignition]

V/H/S
Night Fifteen - naff

The Dark and the Wicked
Night Twenty One, watched early because I'm out when this night rocks around - This was better but again, barely effective. We're gonna steer to traditional ground moving and just avoid anything where Shudders logo comes up at the start

[Neon Ignition]

Resurrection
Not a horror but we've got a plan to re-establish a film for night twenty one so count wise we're fine with TDATW effectively becoming night sixteens film now. Rebecca Hall plays a business woman and single mother who catches a glance of a man she once knew and it sends her in a spiral. The film is middling with a less than stellar ending but Hall's performance single handedly carries the run time.

X-Men: First Class
Still a really sold entry, more grounded in many ways than other entries so the kids wriggled a lot at times.

[Neon Ignition]

The Conjuring
Night Seventeen - Still much the same, highly unoriginal but just efficient.

[Neon Ignition]

Rosemary's Baby
Night Eighteen - When you finally get around to watching a well known film and its astronomically overrated

[Neon Ignition]

Paddington
Paddington 2
Lumping these two together because they're very similar things. Both a very well made, light films but hugely overrated.

The Wild Robot
Shares Puss in Boots 2's visual approach and so looks lovely much of the time. The story is really well paced and another strong modern era release for Dreamworks.

Transformers One
First half is much like the trailers, pretty standard stuff. The second half engages with the canon more and is weirdly decent, possibly the best of the TF films overall which I know isn't saying much but it's a surprisingly decent film.

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
Night nineteen and I'd forgotten much of this one, it's the one with the lazy 'of its era' concept of having a psychic girl that adds nothing of value. A weaker entry.

[Neon Ignition]

Event Horizon
Night twenty and the missus wasn't keen at all, I didn't mind it though on rewatch

[Finsbury Girl]

Next western on the menu was Dead Man - I don't think I've seen this since I saw it in the cinema way back in the day. I loved it then and upon rewatching all these years later I still do love it ; probably not as much as I did back then. The pacing is weird and the way that Jarmusch and Robby Muller frame the shots it feel very static, pans are limited and there are a lot of transitions and cuts that interrupt the flow. Saying that this is a quirky funny western, full of crazy characters, Depp is a fish out of water and he plays it well, his performance grows along with his character's slow realisation of the inevitable. His journey is one of pure strangeness.

The star of the show is Gary Farmer's Nobody. What a character and very well acted. Extremely funny, tragic and poignant. Lance Henriksen is pure mad evil, so funny. The small cameo from Robert Mitchum is also a delight.

This is not a film for everyone, but I think it's a great, quirky, weird, tragic, modern western.

Oh yeah the Neil Young soundtrack is amazing.

[Yakumo]

Die unendliche Geschichte (The Never Ending Story) original German release

This is not the same as the one we got. It contains many extended scenes, scenes completely cut from the international version, different sound track due to Giorgio Moroder's tunes not being in it and yeah, that includes the Limahl track. Different voice for the snail racer guy (still not his original voice) and in areas different voice for The Rock Biter and Gamok (the wolf).

It was very interesting seeing how different the two versions are and you know, I'm sure at some point as a kid I saw the German cut on VHS pirated tape because I remember the school caretaker falling over the carpet which isn't in the International version.

[QualityChimp]

Bushwick (Prime)
Saw this mentioned and it had totally bypassed me.
Think of it as a Civil War prequel, in the style of The Last of Us, but a lot of it in one take (some clever cuts) for an in-the-moment feel.

Getting to really like Dave Bautista's work. Wrote him off as another wrestler-turned-actor, but he's had some varied roles other than muscly guy. Guardians, Blade Runner, Spectre, Knock at the Cabin, Dune and this shows he's got a lot of range.

I genuinely really enjoyed it and recommend it if my description intrigues you.

My son was nagging me to watch The Truman Show (NowTV) and I was happy to oblige.
With a different score, this could absolutely be a horror film.
The lengths they go to control Truman and fill him with phobias is monstrous, but delivered in such an amusing way that it works as a comedy.

Loads of highlights, but still love where he starts realising things are revolving around him and the moments he touches the clouds are phenomenal.

30 Days of Nights (Freevee).
I'm struggling watching a month of horror (and would rather do Woovember), but this is one I've not seen since the cinema.
Amazing setup and a real sense of foreboding, but fizzles out a little towards the end.
Still a thrill ride, but it's pretty relentlessly dark (pun intended) throughout.

[fuse]

Still giddy after The Substance, I saw the director’s debut film Revenge was on Mubi. It’s not as out there or thematically potent, but it’s still blood soaked and plenty gratuitous. Most notably, it is very, very stylish - and owing to that and some tempered expectations, I ended up enjoying it quite a lot. Can’t wait to see what she does next.

My boss stuck Brigsby Bear on my radar a while back, and it seemed like a tone-appropriate thing to watch with the other half, so that I did. Think the set up is best discovered by watching the film (even the trailer I saw managed to hold off on revealing this!), but tonally the best short-hand is to simply name drop Napoleon Dynamite, specifically in its having a central character who is out of sorts with the world. What’s nice is that its laughs are typically with them rather than at their expense, and even where you might expect things to go badly or for people to be mean, instead it goes with passion and kindness. I don’t think it all holds together completely, but it’s quite sweet and charming. Also Mark Hamill!