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    Probably could have done with some Jason Statham though, right?

    I'm just seeing that Todd Haynes directed Far From Heaven, which has the accolade of being the only film where I've walked out of the cinema in the middle of.

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      To be fair the addition of Statham would definitely enliven proceedings.

      I was actually googling Todd Haynes today cos to be honest I've been labouring under the impression that Safe was directed by Todd Solondz for about 15 years (of whom I've only seen one movie he's directed, Happiness, although it's a pretty bloody memorable one. Very misleading title, I'll say that).

      The only other Haynes movie I've seen is Dark Waters, which is a cool docudrama although nothing too mindblowing.

      What happens in Far From Heaven? Should I watch it just so I can be in awe of how bad it is?

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        Originally posted by wakka View Post
        Very much not a Jason Statham movie man, yeah. This is Safe by Todd Haynes from 1995.
        Mate, he's right there on the cover!
        Maybe you got confused because he did that weird unconvincing American accent?

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          Oh yeah sorry guys it was the Statham movie. To be honest he ain't in it as much as I'd hoped tho. 2 stars

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            Originally posted by wakka View Post
            What happens in Far From Heaven? Should I watch it just so I can be in awe of how bad it is?
            I can find something to enjoy in a bad movie. Far From Heaven, for me, was just absolutely tedious. Looked beautiful - the cinematography was gorgeous. But the story and characters were soap level and so predictable that I just couldn’t bring myself to stay to see it play out.

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              Ah, the worst (and most common imo) type of bad movie. That's a shame. Safe is sort of boring as well, in some ways. But I really like it. There's something about the atmosphere in it that is just brilliantly done. It makes these awesome looking houses feel totally foreboding and claustrophobic. It's really quite sinister.

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                Was in the mood for a bit a Van Dammage so why not revisit Hard Target. Super cheesy and damn that mullet, but for his first Yankee effort it wasn't bad from John Woo. I like how the choreography included both Van Dam's signature kicking style with the gun-fu of Woo. There's some pretty awesome action scenes and gun play. So over the top and so good. Acting is farking terrible except for Lance who hams it up to the max as the bad guy. Love it. Might try and find Broken Arrow next

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                  Only the River Flows (Wei Shujun, 2023)

                  Had wanted to see this film for while and finally got the chance to watch it (am a bit of a sucker for foreign film). If I'm honest, I didn't find it to live up to the hype/rave reviews.

                  Nicely shot on 35mm film to give that grainy 90s feel essential to the plot setting and Zhu Yilong does a solid job in the lead role, but the documentary/noir hybrid style ultimately didn't quite work for me and the clichéd "burnt out detective with home life issues struggling to solve more-than-meets-the-eye murder" increasingly struggled to hold my interest as it s-l-o-w-l-y progressed.

                  Disappointing.
                  Last edited by Nu-Eclipse; 10-02-2025, 11:06.

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                    Spider-Man: Homecoming
                    Still the dullest of the Spider-Man films, bar a few flashes of goodness it's beyond beige

                    X-Men: Days of Future Past
                    The kids were really stretched to sit through another X-Men film but this one quickly pulled them back in. Going back to it, it really is a cut above most of the entries made and the last decent ensemble entry.

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                      The Last Showgirl (Gia Coppola, 2024)

                      Just got back from watching this at the cinema.

                      An undoubtedly vulnerable and engaging lead performance from Pamela Anderson and solid co-star performances from Jamie Lee Curtis and Dave Bautista don't stop the storyline in this from coming off as undercooked with several unresolved character plot points and a lot of that annoying dialogue that comes off as explaining to the viewer to the point of hand-holding. Also, the overuse of the blurry shot focus to overly emphasise the characters might get on nerves here.

                      All of that is a shame, because there are some salient points about the passing of youth/time (read: female aging stigma), self-identity, self-worth and life regrets made here, only to be undermined by said flaws.
                      Last edited by Nu-Eclipse; 11-02-2025, 19:56.

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                        Despite watching Hot Fuzz many times, I've never seen Bad Boys II.

                        I'm currently halfway through it before it leaves Prime, but it's pretty poor.

                        Firstly, Will Smith gets to play the cool, good looking cop with a Ferarri and smart suits and gets all the slow-mo double-gun closeups.
                        Martin Lawrence must be annoyed to be the tubby, pinch-faced loser scared of rats and made to look an idiot througout. He must've been really annoyed with his agent.

                        I think the Beymification is either something you love or roll your eyes at.
                        Personally, I think the stylised look is its greatest asset, but he loves to objectify women, but also makes drugs all sexy when he needs it.
                        There's also a section where they sound gay when listened to out-of-context, which is the worst thing ever, right? Better to have toxic masculinity than be able to share feelings with friends.

                        However, it's the blatant disregard for police procedure that grinds my gears. I'm not even halfway through and so far, they've:
                        Had a highspeed chase in the city.
                        Openly fired automatic weapons from a spinning vehicle.
                        Racist to their co-workers.
                        Bribe a tech co-worker into providing an illegal phone tap.
                        Bribe another co-worker into provided surveillance equipment.
                        Install the surveillance equipment without a warrant.
                        Verbally threaten an informant.
                        Physically intimidate the informant. "This is what we do."
                        Destroy the property of the informant.
                        Racially profile some Haitians.
                        Encourage shooting first without disclosing they're police officers.
                        Use an unmarked Ferrari for a police chase.
                        Chase after a car transporter dropping its vehicles onto a busy freeway.
                        Threaten a DEA officer for not disclosing information they have no legal grounds to know.
                        Discuss using lethal force on an informant.
                        Use the get out clause of being "bad boys" to sidestep the constitution and infringe on civil liberties.
                        They coerce a location from the informant and proceed there without a warrant and kick the door down, guns drawn.
                        Once inside, the inhabitant asks who has broken in and instead of explaining they are the police and are armed, they reply "the devil".
                        The warrantless, undeclared and armed officers proceed to shoot the occupants in what is technically a home-invasion where their lack of procedure means the home owner is within his right to defend the property according to US law.
                        Once they kill everyone except one person, they proceed to kick him and point their guns at him to extract information.
                        Resort to breaking and entering again, this time to find evidence. No Warrant.
                        Ignore the chain of command by ignoring senior officers to pursue their own investigations.

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                          They're a bit more standard buddy cop fare but I preferred the two most recent entries of Bad Boys to the first two

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                            I've had the misfortune of seeing Bad Boys 2 more than once and it is truly a terrible film. Bad story, messily directed action scenes, and so many idiotic moments as you outline QC. The crowning moment has to be the one at the end where they drive an SUV over an entire town, smashing up all the houses, with the sole justification for this being the declaration by one of them that these are 'drug dealers' houses'. Everyone in the town is a drug dealer? Who's buying all the drugs?

                            It's also inexplicably lengthy. I think it's like two and a half hours long for some godforsaken reason.

                            I haven't actually seen the most recent Bad Boys (which is the fourth I think) but the third one is definitely dramatically better.

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                              I finished it off and it was a real slog.

                              Yeah, the bit where they rip off Police Story and drive through a shanty town with the excuse that they're all making drugs is pretty weak.
                              Did they do a risk assessment or confirm this guess?

                              Don't think I'll bother with the other films, despite you two saying they get better.

                              I can see why Nicolaus Angel got frustrated with the film's blatant disregard for proper procedure.

                              Joking aside, you do wonder if films like this shift the perception of the American audience that the police are authorised to do whatever they please on the name of upholding the law.

                              Cringed in the opening credits when it lists Sean "P. Diddy" Combs as the musical consultant...

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                                Boyz n The Hood (John Singleton, 1991)

                                Had to get a rewatch of this in before it left Amazon Prime Video.

                                Still as deep, impactful and as depressingly relevant today as it was back in 1991. Easily the late John Singleton's greatest work, made all the more remarkable by the fact that this was his directorial debut at the age of 23.

                                Strong performances all round from what was a new generation of African-American actors (Ice Cube, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Regina King, Cuba Gooding Jr.) ably assisted by relative legends like Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett.

                                An undisputed classic of that 1990s hood movie sub-genre as well as that of black cinema.
                                Last edited by Nu-Eclipse; 14-02-2025, 22:34.

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