What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[RuMoore]

11 hours ago, Miguel Sanchez said:

Men in Black (1997) The Fresh Prince leaves school and gets a job being a policeman for aliens. The aliens are everywhere. Hilarious, and surprisingly good CGI for the time. This might also be the first time I ever saw Tommy Lee Jones on film, and I'm going to guess he's looked like this his entire life.

 

Ghostbusters II (1989) This film starts with some of the Ghostbusters going to a children's party as entertainers. The children are unhappy at this. A bit ironic, given this is almost certainly purely a children's film. It's alright. It's also an example of the internet ruining things, because when you watch this as an unconnected child you think Vigo might actually be real. It's a letdown to find he isn't.

 

Cape Fear (1991) A Scorsese adaptation of the Simpsons episode where they join the witness protection program because Sideshow Bob is stalking them. The one thing I always find with Scorsese films is they're just inherently watchable. There's nothing fancy going on with the picture, you just sit and you're drawn to what you see and what the people are doing. In contrast, this film has a distracting musical score (which admittedly I can't take seriously because of the Simpsons), Robert De Niro with a silly voice and loads of random zooms and camera movements that look like something from one of those Bollywood scenes that goes on forever. I think the ultimate problem is there was no real sense of threat from the stalker. The scene in the school was creepy, the rest was just silly.

 

Quantum of Solace (2008) I like this film. I think it's good. Well, one time I watch it I'll think it's good, the next time my mind will wander and I'll be online after half an hour. The opera scene and the plane fight scene are great. The villain is good because he's not a typical Bond villain. The girls are interesting rather than just window dressing. Even the theme song sounded alright this time. This is a very 2023 assessment, but trying to present an inherently political plot in an apolitical way leaves it a bit unclear. Do you know what this film is about? Do I, having finished it twenty minutes ago? Of course we don't. 

 

This version is better IMHO. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

1 hour ago, RuMoore said:

 

This version is better IMHO. 

This was actually funnier than I was expecting, well done.

[MSU]

161 Mob Land -- We're in RURAL AMERICA here, which can only mean one thing, and good ole family man, Shelby Connors (Shiloh Fernandez, who I kinda liked in Evil Dead) is down on his luck and out of a job and unable to support his lovely wife and daughter when his brother-in-law, Tre (Kevin Dillon) has an idea to rob the town's doctor's office which is pushing oxy like they're going out of fashion. Unbeknownst to either of them, the operation is run by the N'Orlins mob and they're less than happy about being robbed so send their fixer guy, who definitely isn't ripped off from No Country for Old Men, to get the cash and make those responsible pay. The fact that John Travolta is miles ahead of anyone else in this stupid movie tells you everything you need to know. Meanwhile, Fernandez and Dillon, along with Stephen Dorff as the fixer, are asked to say some horrendously bad lines out loud to each other and put zero effort into making them sound any more acceptable, while the movie creeps towards its predictable end. All of this, for no discernible reason, is filmed by the shakiest-handed cameraman they could find. You know, sometimes a tripod is your friend. And I'm getting a bit tired of Alabama being used as shorthand for oxy addiction, unemployment, and crime. 2/10

162 Heart of Stone -- The opening sequence is probably as good as it gets, all because someone had the idea of using a parachute canopy with a light inside it against the snow, so at least it looked interesting. Sadly, that someone seems to have called in sick for the rest of the shoot. I don't remember much of Wonder Woman, but I don't recall Gal Gadot being as wooden as she is in this Dollar General version of Mission: Impossible, and absolutely no one else cares enough to help her out with a decent supporting role. 3/10

163 Blood Simple -- What a debut from Joel and Ethan Coen. Phenomenal lighting, great cinematography, an effective score, incredible performances, and a deliciously noir storyline where after the first half hour or so, nobody has a clue what's going on. I don't recall it being so funny in places too, and I loved how Ray living on a cul-de-sac was worthy of a callback. A timely reminder of what the Coens would go on to produce but an outstanding movie all on its own. Love it. 10/10

164 The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! -- This movie is so old now that all of the bad guys have died -- Colonel Gadaffi, Ayatollah Khomeini, Queen Elizabeth II -- but there are still an awful lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Leslie Neilson, George Kennedy, and Priscilla Presley all do incredible jobs keeping straight faces while the nonsense carries on around them. Honestly, though, it's not quite the consistently funny joke machine I remember, and the baseball sequence goes on a bit too long, and it's not quite at the Airplane! level, but all things considered, it's aged better than I imagined, and still knows how to make me giggle. Nice beaver. 7/10

165 The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear -- Pretty much as funny as the first one but with a better-paced and more enjoyable story. 7/10

166 Strays -- Poor Reggie, voiced by Will Ferrell, is a lovable mutt who doesn't realize that his owner actively hates him. So when he's driven three hours for a game of fetch and abandoned in the city, his first instinct is to get home to his beloved Doug. But when he meets fellow stray, Bug (Jamie Foxx), he learns that owners aren't always all they're cracked up to be, and along with Hunter and Maggie (Randall Park and Isla Fisher), they decide to track down Doug so Reggie can enact his bloody revenge. There's an awful lot of swearing, an awful lot of poop jokes, and pee jokes, and while I'm sure there's a bit more to it than that, it's been a couple of hours and I can't quite remember what that might be. Homeward Fucking Bound seems to be as good a description as any. It is funny, though. I did laugh quite a bit, and the voice talent is very effective, but it feels utterly disposable and, evidently, forgettable. Like Ted, but with dogs. Or Sausage Party, but with dogs. 5/10

167 Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult -- Maybe an insult too far. A lot of the gags in this one feel a bit like SNL skits, and no one laughs at SNL skits. Like, I'm not sure that the previous movies would've spent that much time riffing on Thelma and Louise. Also, the bending over in the shower jokes, and Anna Nicole Smith supposedly being trans kinda felt awfully stock. It's still funny in places, but I don't think many people can say that the series went out on a high note. 4/10

168 Jules -- Ben Kingsley is Milton, a slightly curmudgeonly old, widowed, man who has gone that sort of weird way that slightly curmudgeonly old, widowed men tend to go. His daughter is worried about his failing memory but all he cares about is turning up to town meetings to complain that the town motto is ambiguous. His life should be turned upside down when a UFO crashes into his backyard but despite an initial shock, he bonds with the alien inside, feeds it apples, explains how his remote controls work, and takes it in his stride until two widows in town discover his secret. I really loved this. Ben Kingsley is brilliant in the lead role but Harriet Sansom Harris and Jane Curtin are the perfect foil for him as Sandy and Joyce. The alien, played by Jade Quon, is silent throughout and it's questionable how much it understands of the situation or conversations that happen around it, but some of the delight comes from how easily the trio open up to it. The peril in Gavin Steckler's script is mild to say the least as the alien is kept from authorities, but Jules isn't that kind of alien movie. Instead, it's far more interested with Milton's strained relationship with his daughter, and his non-existent relationship with his son. It's more interested in the loneliness that sometimes accompanies old age, so there's comfort in these three finding each other through these strange circumstances. It's very much a movie with an alien rather than a movie about an alien. I thought it was funny throughout and brilliantly so in many places. It mostly manages to avoid too much shmaltz and there were many cheese-laden places that director Marc Turtletaub could've taken us towards the end, but thankfully he avoided them all. He's delivered a pretty perfect wee package here. I loved it. 9/10

[mathematics]

The Way of the Dragon

This was a favourite of mine as a kid. Back then I thought that Bruce Lee was as fast as lightning with his king fu fighting.

Watched it again last night, it’s pretty sketchy by today’s standards but the final fight scene with Chuck Norris (first movie) is still tremendous.

[JustOneCornetto]

(63) Don’t Tell a Soul (2020) – Netflix

Not a bad thriller with 2 brothers carrying out a robbery on an empty house but then they are rumbled by a security guard. Difficult to explain what then happens without giving away spoilers or the main premise of the film but there are a few twists and turns and overall, a pretty good watch. 6.5/10

(64) Watcher (2022) – Sky Cinema

What you would call a paranoia thriller done very much in a Hitchcock style with an American woman, played really well by Maika Monroe, moving to Bucharest with her husband and while he’s at work she starts to suspect a man is watching her from an apartment across the street. News about a serial killer who decapitates women adds to the paranoia as well as her not understanding the language. A lot of suspense which builds up to a very dramatic ending. 7/10

(65) The Elephant Man (1980) – DVD

David Lynch’s near perfect film about the life of John Merrick is so profoundly affecting every time I watch it. Fabulous cast with John Hurt giving the performance of his life and incredibly strong support with Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, Freddie Jones, John Gielgud and Hannah Gordon all excellent along with quite a few other well-known faces. Filmed in black & white makes it so effective for the time period and overall tone with a great soundtrack which Lynch always seems to get spot on.  9.5/10

(66) Stromboli (2022) – Netflix

Sara, who is a Dutch woman recently split up from her husband and fallen out with her teenage daughter, travels to Stromboli to get away from all her problems. Somehow, she ends up at some New Age therapy centre with a bunch of people who all have their own problems and Jens, the Guru, slowly ekes out Sara’s traumatic past. The film is based on a book and I imagine the book gives more depth to all the other characters but the film focuses on Sara with some of it working but at times a bit clunky with her over exaggerated behaviour. 5.5/10

[Miguel Sanchez]

Walk the Line (2005) Man becomes famous musician so he can meet and marry his childhood celebrity crush. Absolutely remarkable singing all round and very watchable.

Ali (2001) The Fresh Prince gets a job as The Greatest. I had seen this before a long time ago and had the vague recollection that it was a mediocre film with some very good performances in it. I was right. I don't think it's possible to make a film about someone like Muhammad Ali with the social backdrop of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King being assassinated. There's just too much stuff to put on screen, and this suffered from trying. Even just a word or two on screen about names, dates, locations. That or a guidebook handed out in the cinema. 

Heat (1995) Is there any other film that has as many people in it doing as many different things that manages to be as engrossing and sympathetic to all of them as this? I don't think so. My favourite part of this film is the setting - LA barely gets a look-in with all the Acting going on but this oppressively endless backdrop of lines of blue lights seems like a cage keeping everybody in line as they try to fight against what's keeping them in place. I feel like this film is also something rare - a thing from the 90s with an unquestionably 90s aesthetic (Moby covering Joy Division, come on) that hasn't aged a day. I look forward to watching it again in another five years and having a similar reaction.

Skyfall (2012) Bond does some advertising work for Caterpillar construction equipment, Volkswagen and Macallan whisky before doing a bit of Home Alone cosplay. You forget how highly stylised so much of this film is. For a film series that's been defined by showing you exotic locations it's impressive how this manages to maintain that in an age of the internet. Silhouetted hand to hand combat atop a Chinese skyscraper with a giant blue jellyfish on a screen in the background was my highlight. Actually it wasn't, the highlight was obviously the various scenes where assorted Scottish hills and valleys dwarf everyone moving through them. Again, while I'm hardly an authority on Bond I don't think it's a stretch to call this the best one. Posts about Spectre and No Time To Die will be following in the next few weeks, and although I've seen them both (once) before I think Skyfall is a bit of a watershed moment, where "yes we know he's old but he's still relevant" goes from being a subtle yet measured depiction into ludicrous self-parody. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 

[MSU]

169 The Life of Emile Zola (#10 in Best Picture series) -- I guess for the early batch of Academy Award-winning Best Pictures, it's perfectly fine and Paul Muni is pretty good in the role of 19th century French novelist, Emile Zola. The story is a worthy one about the Dreyfus Affair, which I confess I knew little about, a scandal about an antisemitic miscarriage of justice and when a Jewish French officer was accused of treason. It's just told in a weird sort of roundabout way and it failed to grab my attention. In the end, my mind wandered to Sunday dinner and it didn't really venture too far away from that until the movie ended. 5/10

170 Kill List -- I was disappointed in Ben Wheatley's Meg 2 so came back to Kill List to, oddly, cleanse the pallet. I was blown away by this the first time and it definitely bears a repeat viewing as there are a few neat bits of foreshadowing that might be missed. Kill List moves quite seamlessly through drama, to thriller, to outright horror although there is at least a horrific undercurrent running throughout. The dialogue is crisp and believable and the leads' performances are spot on. It really delivers throughout and feels a million miles away from the one with the big shark. 9/10

171 Enys Men -- After watching Kill List, I was reminded about this experimental Cornish folk-horror piece from last year that I'd never gotten around to watching. A woman, The Volunteer, is alone on a rocky island, making daily observations on the condition of what I presume to be a rare flower, and every day she drops a rock down a mine shaft. This repeats. This repeats quite a bit. In amongst all this, there are visions of a young woman, who may or may not be a younger version of The Volunteer, a man, who may to may not be her lover, and some miners and milk maidens, who probably don't exist. There's also a stone pillar in memory of lives who were lost at sea, and this may be a metaphor for her, and maybe the woman *is* the island. It's filmed like it's an old 1970s PSA film, and it reminded me an awful lot of The Owl Service and a bit of Skinamarink, and it's a very unsettling experience either way. Is it about loneliness and grief, or is there more to it? It feels like it depends on the viewer, making it something more to be interpreted or solved, like a work of art or a puzzle, more than necessarily enjoyed. 6/10

172 Final Destination -- Somehow, I've seen bits and bobs of this series but I don't think I've ever sat down and watched a Final Destination movie all the way through. This was pretty entertaining and beyond the enticing concept, it still rides on the coattails of Scream a little bit and is more fun than terrifying or gory, and certainly enough for me to get the sequel onto my watchlist. 7/10

173 Gran Turismo -- Archie Madekwe, who I've somehow managed to see in five other things without really trying, is Jann, a Welsh Gran Turismo player who gets a chance to race for Team Nissan for reals, where his fellow competitors and pro drivers and his pit crew and family are praying for him to fail. It's impossible to describe how much Jann's family suck here and as this is based on a true story, they must be feeling the burn pretty hard right now. Some of the race scenes are quite exciting, and there are neat visual effects like when Jann was racing at home he imagined it being real and this played in reverse when he was actually on the track, but because motor racing is generally pretty boring, all the drama that needs to get added to a race to make it watchable also makes it unbelievable. Add to this extraordinary scenes of exposition, like when one character explains to another that the Le Mans race that's about to start lasts for 24 hours, which is bad and bad enough until you remember that the character having this explained to them is putting on their helmet as they're about to be in the actual race. David Harbour as an e-Sports Mr Miyago shines amongst a fairly wooden cast that somehow includes Orlando Bloom and Ginger Spice. 4/10

[Hedgecutter]

The Menu (tonight), and Boiling Point (last night).

Two films involving mentally unstable chefs. Probably preferred Boiling Point tbh, just because I found it more gripping and realistic.  Recommend both though.

Eta: also saw 'They Live' for the first time yesterday morning, on YouTube.  "Hey, what's wrong baby?!"

Edited August 27, 2023 by Hedgecutter

[Soapy FFC]

Currently watching "For a few dollars more". It puts modern CGI filled movies to shame.

[scottsdad]

8 hours ago, Soapy FFC said:

Currently watching "For a few dollars more". It puts modern CGI filled movies to shame.

Now I have the Smokie song of the same name stuck in my head. 

[FifeArab]

Top Gun, released in 1986 starring Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer and Tom Skerritt.

I was probably one of the few people on the planet not to have seen this film till about 2 weeks ago. Really enjoyed it. I like my action movies and there was plenty in this along with just enough emotion and romance that doesn't go too far and make you role your eyes. I liked how they portrayed flight school, they made it look so cool and real. 

7.5/10

 

 

[accies1874]

32. The Quarry - Prime

Watched this a couple of Fridays back expecting something pretty trashy and definitely not expecting something Uruguayan. It has a 20-something woman meeting up with a couple of old friends at a quarry and, despite bringing her boyfriend, gets up to no good. It opens with that dirty business which then forms the basis of the boyfriend's paranoia for the rest of the runtime, paranoia which is actually quite funny - not sure if intentionally so - due to his masculine ego being torn down and him being completely helpless to stop it. It's the kind of relationship that makes you wonder how it started rather than why it's falling apart, and the process of it all unravelling is definitely stronger than the payoff. 

The film has the look of something like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in that its rural location is quite grimy, with specks of dirt on the camera lens, but it tries to contrast that with ways to make the scenery look appealing by, for example, having the water of the quarry really glisten through the dirty lens. That seems to be a depiction of the whole 'going back to your hometown' scenario playing out. 

33. Lie with Me - Cinema

I thought this was just mega competent without doing much to grab my attention except the 5-10 minutes in the middle where it becomes really funny out of nowhere. The ending almost tied it all together emotionally as it has this tragedy of a man who felt forced by society to hide his happiness because it was with another man, and he was never able to shake that tragedy, but I don't really have anything else to say about it. It's just a bit meh imo. 

34. Barbie - Cinema

I waited a month to see this which, based on the very few reprobates in the screening, was a wise choice, however I picked the worst possible screen to see it in. The screen itself had dark marks all over it which wasn't good for a film with this much brightness, and the projection constantly flickered for the entire runtime. Absolutely brutal and meant I was never truly immersed in it.

The film itself is weird. The structure is the first thing that stands out as being quite bizarre as it seems to rush through almost everything. I thought at first that they were just trying to get Barbie into the 'real' world to get up to their shenanigans there, but then they rush through that to get back to Barbieland/Kendom where it settles down a wee bit before rushing through what you'd assume would be the climax of the film. I think it's much more interested in its worlds, characters and ideas than its narrative which, tbh, is fine by me, but it did make for a jarring experience. 

The depiction of the 'real' world is a bit jarring too, but I think I understand it more now. I mentioned a while ago on another thread that I was expecting it to play out like Elf - and it did when they first crossed the threshold with all of its fish out of water stuff - but it becomes clear that it's really just another offbeat, stylised world which lessens the impact of their nonsense but is a good contrast between the two locations. Barbieland is this zany, fantastical place that is completely out of touch with reality - and women rule the world! - whereas L.A. has a lot of the same zany characters but is mostly just the L.A. that we all know - and men rule the world! I think that's a clever juxtaposition to convey its message, even if Greta Gerwig runs away with herself a wee bit in the execution. 

Barbieland is obviously where all the fun is had. Everyone's said it and it's absolutely true. The production and costume designs are just delightful and the whole thing is a fun and creative place to set your film. It feels like a pantomime, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as it has all of the fun of a pantomime while still having a pretty nuanced script when it comes to its conflicts; again, it tries to use a male's experiences to tell a very female story. Sometimes that nuance can overexplain itself in the final act but there's usually a solid punchline at the end of it. I did find the comedy to be at its best when it's poking fun at masculinity, although I wouldn't say its jokes had a good hit rate for me. Most things with Robbie, Gosling and Simu Liu (who I hadn't seen in anything before) are funny just due to great delivery or physicality; everything else was a bit iffy, especially Kate McKinnon whose comedic style I just didn't enjoy.

I don't want to end on a negative, though, so I will say that Greta Gerwig is firmly in Watch Whatever She Makes territory, not only because they're good but because they all* have really quite interesting takes on polarised issues. f**k knows how that will manifest itself in a Narnia film, but I'm all for it. 

* not seen Nights and Weekends, and didn't even know it existed until just now

[scottsdad]

The Meg 2

Utter nonsense from start to finish. Complete suspension of disbelief needed. 2 dimensional characters you don't care about. Not even sure how many were in the first one. 

I really enjoyed it. 

[Miguel Sanchez]

On 27/08/2023 at 01:44, MSU said:

169 The Life of Emile Zola (#10 in Best Picture series) -- I guess for the early batch of Academy Award-winning Best Pictures, it's perfectly fine and Paul Muni is pretty good in the role of 19th century French novelist, Emile Zola. The story is a worthy one about the Dreyfus Affair, which I confess I knew little about, a scandal about an antisemitic miscarriage of justice and when a Jewish French officer was accused of treason. It's just told in a weird sort of roundabout way and it failed to grab my attention. In the end, my mind wandered to Sunday dinner and it didn't really venture too far away from that until the movie ended. 5/10

170 Kill List -- I was disappointed in Ben Wheatley's Meg 2 so came back to Kill List to, oddly, cleanse the pallet. I was blown away by this the first time and it definitely bears a repeat viewing as there are a few neat bits of foreshadowing that might be missed. Kill List moves quite seamlessly through drama, to thriller, to outright horror although there is at least a horrific undercurrent running throughout. The dialogue is crisp and believable and the leads' performances are spot on. It really delivers throughout and feels a million miles away from the one with the big shark. 9/10

171 Enys Men -- After watching Kill List, I was reminded about this experimental Cornish folk-horror piece from last year that I'd never gotten around to watching. A woman, The Volunteer, is alone on a rocky island, making daily observations on the condition of what I presume to be a rare flower, and every day she drops a rock down a mine shaft. This repeats. This repeats quite a bit. In amongst all this, there are visions of a young woman, who may or may not be a younger version of The Volunteer, a man, who may to may not be her lover, and some miners and milk maidens, who probably don't exist. There's also a stone pillar in memory of lives who were lost at sea, and this may be a metaphor for her, and maybe the woman *is* the island. It's filmed like it's an old 1970s PSA film, and it reminded me an awful lot of The Owl Service and a bit of Skinamarink, and it's a very unsettling experience either way. Is it about loneliness and grief, or is there more to it? It feels like it depends on the viewer, making it something more to be interpreted or solved, like a work of art or a puzzle, more than necessarily enjoyed. 6/10

172 Final Destination -- Somehow, I've seen bits and bobs of this series but I don't think I've ever sat down and watched a Final Destination movie all the way through. This was pretty entertaining and beyond the enticing concept, it still rides on the coattails of Scream a little bit and is more fun than terrifying or gory, and certainly enough for me to get the sequel onto my watchlist. 7/10

173 Gran Turismo -- Archie Madekwe, who I've somehow managed to see in five other things without really trying, is Jann, a Welsh Gran Turismo player who gets a chance to race for Team Nissan for reals, where his fellow competitors and pro drivers and his pit crew and family are praying for him to fail. It's impossible to describe how much Jann's family suck here and as this is based on a true story, they must be feeling the burn pretty hard right now. Some of the race scenes are quite exciting, and there are neat visual effects like when Jann was racing at home he imagined it being real and this played in reverse when he was actually on the track, but because motor racing is generally pretty boring, all the drama that needs to get added to a race to make it watchable also makes it unbelievable. Add to this extraordinary scenes of exposition, like when one character explains to another that the Le Mans race that's about to start lasts for 24 hours, which is bad and bad enough until you remember that the character having this explained to them is putting on their helmet as they're about to be in the actual race. David Harbour as an e-Sports Mr Miyago shines amongst a fairly wooden cast that somehow includes Orlando Bloom and Ginger Spice. 4/10

I'd give you a green dot for going to see Gran Turismo but you said motor racing is boring, so I'm not.

[Mark Connolly]

Just watched The Flash again.

Keaton really is magnificent. Fully in favour of a live action Dark Knight Returns, or Batman Beyond with the best Batman in the role again

[The Naitch]

Greatest Days (Amazon) - Latest in the line of jukebox musical films. Ach, it was ok but there are much better in the genre out there.

[Miguel Sanchez]

Ready Player One (2018) The year is 2045. All of America lives in slums comprised of containers perched on top of one another. They spend every waking moment inside an extremely realistic version of the Metaverse, where they can be and do anything and they all compete for Coins to be able to do things. The guy who created this sets up a Willy Wonka style egg hunt to find an heir to the empire, and one nerd does this with the fate of the world coming down to him. For some reason this is presented as a Spielberg family-friendly action romp, rather than the detached dystopian horror it clearly is. I watched this a few years ago and it was one of the few films I've posted about in here. I called it Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for arseholes with no attention span. If anything it's worse than I remember. Have you ever seen Pixels? It's like that only more obnoxious, and this film doesn't have Adam Sandler in it. What an achievement. 

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) You know that thing Will Ferrell does where he yells and it's really funny? Of course you don't, because that's all he does and it's about the most irritating thing in the world. I wanted to watch something I knew I'd hate. Even though several scenes were wasted on me because I'm already familiar with them as memes, it was contemptible. 

Spectre (2015) Doesn't watching James Bond films nowadays just make you fellas want to drink a nice, cool, refreshing Heineken? Drink Heineken and you too can make the most attractive woman in the world, Lea Seydoux, fall in love with you after three days. Drink Heineken and you too can throw Dave Bautista off a train. Drink Heineken. HEINEKEN. LOOK HE'S DRINKING A HEINEKEN. IT'S A BEER. BUY IT. CONSUME. I'd seen this once and was really underwhelmed by it. Now though, I enjoyed it quite a lot. Lots of classic Bond on offer - Blofeld, locations, a giant and largely mute henchman to fling him about a bit. It's let down by the main bad guy being Ant & Dec and largely being a rehash of Skyfall's "you're obsolete Bond", but the rest of it's alright. I think the biggest problem is it doesn't do enough to be its own film. I don't know that any Bond (actor) is as betrothed to his previous stories as Daniel Craig, and the result is you just have the feeling that the previous film was better, and nothing's really going to get resolved now and you'll have to wait. The song was terrible too. 

[MSU]

174 Final Destination 2 -- Ah, so this is the one that made sure I would never drive behind a lumber truck ever again. It's a pretty decent sequel for the most part and I was probably enjoying it more than the original for the first half or so. The elaborate build ups leading to incredible simple deaths was a bit of a joy and the choreography of the Route 23 Pile Up is an astonishing achievement. For me, the movie dips quite a bit in the second half, mostly down to the re-introduction of buzzkill Clear Rivers, not helped by the acting of a seemingly disinterested Ali Larter, which is a real shame because Final Destination 2 really takes the story in an interesting direction and delivers some satisfying kills. 6/10

175 Final Destination 3 -- 5/10 feels pretty generous and most of that is due to the fact I like Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Final Destination movies have never been blessed with a bucket load of likable characters but this bunch is just despicable. I kinda get that this supposedly makes watching them die more entertaining, which is true, but there's an awful lot of the movie where no one is dying and that's a bit tougher to put up with. Some entertaining kills, mostly done practically as far as I can make out, but I'm not sure the franchise is aware of its own rules anymore. 5/10

176 The Final Destination -- Urgh, well, this is a definite low point. I mean, I'm not entirely against digital effects but these are just so woeful it's almost like it's deliberately trying to look like a cartoon and I swear I heard some cartoony clang noises in here too, so maybe that was the goal. Introducing NASCAR to the franchise was never going to set the heather alight (remember, motor sport is very boring) but I am somewhat curious to know if Chuck Palahniuk's got paid for the hat-tip to Guts. Points are awarded purely for the soundtrack to Racist Carter's demise which gave me a chuckle, the opening credits that show x-rays of better kills from previous movies, and for the fact that, like all the other FD movies, it didn't demand much in the way of my time or attention before being done. Kinda like a betta fish. 3/10

177 Final Destination 5 -- Wow, it really goes to show what a good intro credit sequence can do for a movie. The James Bond-esque theme tune really raised my weary spirits as I went into what I expected to be another example of diminishing returns, and I ended up really quite enjoying this one. It's helped along by having characters that are more likable, and even the horrible sexist doofus guy is passable, and his eventual demise is rather satisfying. Digital effects get in the way again but the opening sequence on a Vancouver bridge is breathtaking and I imagine the scene in the gym is what got people talking back in 2011. All of this and a rewarding sting in the tail make this probably my pick of the bunch, which I didn't imagine happening when I hit play. 7/10

178 We Have a Ghost -- Happy Death Day director, Christopher Landon, is quite good at these PG-13 "horror" movies, although this one isn't really trying to scare anyone. Teenager Kevin and his family move home thanks to dad being a loser, only to discover that the attic is haunted by a ghost named Ernest. The two of them bond and while Kevin attempts to find out more about Ernest’s backstory, his dad sets about making some coin from the situation which attracts the attention of the CIA. So a bit like ET but with ghosts. Overall, I enjoyed it. David Harbour is silent as Ernest the ghost and Jahi Di’Allo Winston is very relatable as Kevin with Isabella Russo providing the chuckles as the next-door neighbor kid who gets caught up in it all. And it’s Tig Notaro as the villainous CIA agent, and Jennifer Coolidge as Jennifer Coolidge. I guess my issue with it is the tone is mismatched all the way through so I don’t really know who this is aimed at. It’s a little too gritty at times to be a family feature, but it’s too lame at other times to be entirely Young Adult, and it’s at least 20 minutes too long. That said, it made me laugh a few times, and whenever I felt it was getting too schmaltzy it would pick up again, and like Happy Death Day, I think it’s got a lot of spirit. Ba-boom tish. 6/10

179 Bottoms -- High School lesbian best friends, PJ and Josie, inadvertently start up a self-defense fight club as a way to lose their virginities and score with the popular girls. The club proves to be such a hit that it threatens to take attention away from the school football team and their upcoming rival game, and soon the pals realize they've bitten off more than they can chew. Really, though, it's like Fight Club meets Pitch Perfect meets Superbad with lesbians, and there's not one thing I dislike about the sound of that. I mean, throw in a "meets Paddington 2" and this might just have been the greatest movie ever made. Emma Seligman directs and writes along with Rachel Sennott, who stars as PJ, alongside Ayo Edebiri as Josie. Both actors are in their late-twenties, but don't let that spoil anything for you. The writing is just perfect and has an incredible tone that manages to match and satire high school politics in a really refreshing way. There's a slight lull around the transition from the second act into the third, which is to be expected in this kind of movie, but apart from that, I really laughed out loud all the way through as time and again it continued to surprise me. There felt like there was quite a bit of improv and riffing allowed in the scenes, giving it a very natural flavor, and something that was confirmed by the (perhaps unnecessary) blooper reel at the end. As good as the main actors are, the success of the movie for me is helped greatly by the rounded characterization of the supporting players. I thought Ruby Cruz was wonderful as Hazel, as was Marshawn Lynch as the girls' teacher, Mr G, all of which contrasted brilliantly with the bland emptiness of the football players, all of whom are constantly in uniform, and one of whom is kept in a cage for everyone's safety. It feels rare to rate a comedy as highly as this, but honestly, along with Past Lives and Aftersun, this was one of the few times in the last couple of years that I left a movie absolutely dying to turn around and go watch it again. 10/10

Edited September 7, 2023 by MSU

[accies1874]

I think I've seen all of the Final Destination movies and 3 was pretty much the only one I liked. It might be because it was the first one I saw, but it stands out as being the most cohesive and having most memorable set-pieces. All in all, it actually felt like a film which I couldn't say for the others. 

On Bottoms, you're spot on about high school teen movies being all about the supporting cast. Every single one lives and dies on that aspect. 

[MSU]

8 hours ago, accies1874 said:

I think I've seen all of the Final Destination movies and 3 was pretty much the only one I liked. It might be because it was the first one I saw, but it stands out as being the most cohesive and having most memorable set-pieces. All in all, it actually felt like a film which I couldn't say for the others. 

Yeah, seems like the consensus is that FD3 is the pick of the bunch. I don't think my opinion was helped by watching all of them in a week.