Films You Have Watched

[QualityChimp]

It's the first Godzilla film where I didn't want Godzilla to mash up the city because you really cared for these people trying to recover from war.

I went to see Boy Kills World (2024 via cinema) and I really enjoyed it.
There are quite a few parallels with Monkey Man, but it's definitely its own thing.

It's more angled towards comedy, so there are quite a few funny moments, but it's still a brutal and gory revenge actioner.

Bill Skarsgård is really good as "Boy" and a convincing screen fighter with some slightly jerky fights (less pronounced than Monkey Man), but it's easy to track the action and there are some inventive and fun fight scenes, even if the soldiers have had the same target training as Stormtroopers.

Yayan Ruhian is just phenomenal when he fights, though.
He's the guy who played Mad Dog in The Raid and Prakoso in The Raid 2 and you know he'd break every bone in your body before you hit the floor.

[Atticus]

Revisited A History of Violence for the first time since it initially came out. I absolutely love this film. Viggo Mortensen is outstanding. He plays everyman/diner owner Tom Stall in a little cosy town. One night he's required to handle an extreme situation and it draws attention. Hadn't realised the graphic novel was written by 2000AD legend John Wagner.

Also a couple of first-time watches ... starting with The Fugitive. Dunno why I'd never seen it. Maybe I'd seen the trailer 50 times too many on Movies, Games and Videos. But I missed a decent film. A proper wholesome 90s action/thriller with Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones and (almost) Julianne Moore.

Lastly Wake in Fright (1971). It's taken a few years to get round to watching this. Came very highly recommended but there are scenes of animal cruelty that put me off. Having a scan of the forthcoming season of The Evolution of Horror (Nature Bites Back) I thought I'd man up and watch it prior to the pod landing. It's about a school teacher in the outback of Australia, stationed at a tiny schoolhouse in the middle of nowhere with nothing else in sight but a railway line and a tiny hotel opposite. Breaking up for the hols he packs up to head for Sydney to be with his true love. En route he stops off for an overnight stay at a tough mining town called Bundanyabba. It's a little bit 'not from around here' but then it isn't, as they're generally hostipable and he's a bit aloof. It's not an easy watch, and the scenes I was cautious of are prolonged and brutal, but all of the film is brutal. I'm so glad I watched it though because it's such a great film. Really stays with you.

[Neon Ignition]

It's the first Godzilla film where I didn't want Godzilla to mash up the city because you really cared for these people trying to recover from war.

I went to see Boy Kills World (2024 via cinema) and I really enjoyed it.
There are quite a few parallels with Monkey Man, but it's definitely its own thing.

It's more angled towards comedy, so there are quite a few funny moments, but it's still a brutal and gory revenge actioner.

Bill Skarsgård is really good as "Boy" and a convincing screen fighter with some slightly jerky fights (less pronounced than Monkey Man), but it's easy to track the action and there are some inventive and fun fight scenes, even if the soldiers have had the same target training as Stormtroopers.

Yayan Ruhian is just phenomenal when he fights, though.
He's the guy who played Mad Dog in The Raid and Prakoso in The Raid 2 and you know he'd break every bone in your body before you hit the floor.

When I saw the trailer for this it really struck me how much work Skarsgard is clearly doing for the action, yet in John Wick Chapter Four they had him do nothing

[Baseley09]

Humane serviceable B movie, global warming eco disaster lends government to ask people to volunteer euthanise to reduce population, small print chaos ensues. Not half bad.

Unfrosted Jerry Seinfield kellogs/pop tarts dramedy watched in morbid fascination after reviews stated was one of the decades wordt movies. Sure it's propper unfunny arse, maybe 2 laffs to be had, buuut, almost worth tuning in for the sheer number of famous faces crammed in and moments of odd surreal imagery.

[fuse]

Watched a couple of good ones on Mubi lately; Fallen Leaves is this very Finnish rom-com (I use this description reluctantly) that isn't often funny on account of its very sparing use of dialogue, but it is plenty charming in how its two fairly downtrodden leads gravitate towards each other. Perfect Days on the other hand follows a few days in the life of a guy whose job is to clean public toilets around Tokyo, but who is very content with his lot and the routine it allows; the small pleasures he takes moments out for, the cassette tapes he listens to, and so on. He is also not a big talker, but the limited interactions with others are really nice, and it's still very captivating and quite therapeutic. Unforgettable final scene, too.

Then watched Cape Fear for the first time, which is on the iPlayer right now. Not doing it any favours though, I have however had the Simpsons' version of it committed to memory for the past 25+ years, leading to many inappropriate laughs as my brain started running scenes from that in parallel to otherwise serious moments. Honestly don't think this would've worked too well even without this association though - thought the last 15 minutes or so were good, but a lot of its logic before that didn't sit right with me for it to be a convincing thriller. The score was good at delivering the tension, though!

[Neon Ignition]

Casper
Been a long while since I last saw this and we gave it a go with the kids. It holds up surprisingly well overall, I remembered the Ghostbusters cameo but completely forgot about the brief Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson ones. Keeping in mind this was the same year as Toy Story debuted, the animation for Casper holds up well also. It's a very easily dismissed element of the film but he's entirely CG and requires constant transparency effects but what really impresses is that they also make sure that even the transparencies distort and reflect the background behind him, there's a really impressive shot in the attic also where he drifts across the room and god rays through the gaps in the ceiling shine through and reflect through him also. Nice stuff.

The Fall Guy
Reviews are strong for this and I'd say it's good fun, not amazing though. It's more a film that is light and fun rather than funny with Gosling pretty much single handedly carrying the film via a character not too removed from his turn as Ken. I almost expected more action as the mystery isn't anything deep or complicated to work out but, till they ruin it with sequels, it's a solid enough effort on its own.

Godzilla Minus One
Took an age but finally watched this and it's embarrassing to see a film like Godzilla x Kong do so well when this exists at the same time. It's pretty much the definition of what a Godzilla film should be and if I had to pick anything from it that I wasn't sold on it would be the sequel teases, one of which feels immensely unnecessary and the other stretches things G-wise too far but they're very small details in what is overall and excellent film.

[Atticus]

Is Godzilla Minus One back in the cinema then, or streaming? Desperate to see it.

[Neon Ignition]

It's only available via streaming in Japan currently as the US studios have tied it up so that it can't be released in English speaking markets, they don't want it crossing paths with Godzilla x Kong's release in cinemas or at home, so it's speculated that a streaming/home release in those markets won't now happen till late 2024. There are other ways though for those fed up of waiting...

[Yakumo]

The Fall Guy
Reviews are strong for this and I'd say it's good fun, not amazing though. It's more a film that is light and fun rather than funny with Gosling pretty much single handedly carrying the film via a character not too removed from his turn as Ken. I almost expected more action as the mystery isn't anything deep or complicated to work out but, till they ruin it with sequels, it's a solid enough effort on its own.

Thanks for the review. Been thinking to see this one too but I'm still on the fence about watching it on the cinema or waiting for the BluRay.

[fuse]

I heard other complaints about how badly they've fumbled the release of it too -

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[Atticus]

It's madness. The film had all that momentum and they made it go away Why not cash in?

[Neon Ignition]

It wouldn't surprise me if it's a fairly standard agreement the companies have and they were caught off guard by the popularity and success of -1. It'll be interesting to see if such and agreement continues given how short term the renewals for the US version tend to be

[prinnysquad]

It wouldn't surprise me if it's a fairly standard agreement the companies have and they were caught off guard by the popularity and success of -1. It'll be interesting to see if such and agreement continues given how short term the renewals for the US version tend to be

See? We told you it was mint. An excellent film.

[Dogg Thang]

I saw The Phantom Menace just to see it again on the big screen. It has not got any better with age. A big screen doesn’t save it.

[charlesr]

Shark Exorcist. Even as Z movies go, this is pretty poor.