Rate the last movie you watched.

Banshees of Inershin. Overrated. I'm sure critics think it's some brilliant commentary on alcoholism or depression, but it barely scratches the surface of those topics. 3/5.

Pearl, the surprise prequel to X that they shot at the same time. Surprisingly good, I enjoyed X but thought Pearl was much better.

4 stars. Out of however many stars you like.

Really will go and see that "Puss in Boots" as love cartoon movies as a kid at heart at 48. Go figure! LOL!

Ron's Gone Wrong 4/5

A really great take on social media these days.

The Pale Blue Eye - 4.5/5

For me, it's fantastic, with a dark and grim thriller, a mysterious story, with horror dramatic scenes... And the casting and acting are also exceptional.

Watched Casablanca for the first time on Saturday for our movie podcast. It was surprisingly deep, yet easy to follow. It's not the traditional romance or love story you think it might be. Fascinating that it came out during WWII as the story revolves around war refugees. Episode comes out Wednesday.

Before that, we did John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. It's like the filmmakers said, "Remember The Matrix and how cool that was? Let's ditch all the existential bullshit just do the cool shit for a whole movie". Loved it. Can't wait for more.

Check out the show here

All Quiet on the Western Front. 5 stars. Brutal, uncompromising anti-war film. The tank scene will stick out in my memory for a long time. Humans are gross.

The Batman (2022) 4/5

What can I say, it was fine. I don't think 'this' Batman is all that interesting, but the movie does not give you much to go on.

Lets just list the things I liked that or worked:

- Gotham is a believable hell hole, like New York/Chicago in 1970.

- The suit, the bike and the car are believable that one guy with a lot of time could 'hand' build.

- The villains are believable as people, not merely caricatures.

- The Cat woman is alight, she's pretty, athletic, and cool - a good fit for THIS movie.

- The other characters are nicely done.

- This dude being moody and withdrawn for society. I get that and I accept that is what they were going for, it is a okay artistic choice just not one I would have made.

What I didn't like as much:

This can be seen for a certain angle as a more realistic portrayal -maybe. However, it can VERY MUCH be seems as a totally stupid portrayal; of Bat/Bruce too.

"Uh, a bit of an overreaction to your parents dying dude?! Kids lose their parents every day Mr. Wayne. So, fine, fight crime in Gotham (it needs it), but could you CHEER THE FUCK UP?? Its been more than 15 years after the death of your parents? You are a millionaire, your housing, school and social needs were meet, and had butler and a maid who WERE people that cared. So....boo hoo hoo, rich boy." [ Riddler does point this out in another way, but for this series the point that this Batman? Bruce Wayne never got any real psychological help that was obviously needed. Oh, not because he puts on a suit to fight crime, but is such a fucking killjoy in his life as Bruce Wayne.]

Yeah, I liked the movie...it is fine.

Prisoners 4/5

The Whale. Brendan Fraser does an incredible job in the lead role, but the script is kinda weak and the supporting cast are never able to make up for the awkward dialogue. The main performance is powerful enough to carry the thing through to the end, but I wasn't able to identify any coherent point to the plot. It's a bit less fuckey but sufficiently distressing for what you would want out of an Aronofsky movie, and would be largely forgettable without Fraser. 3.5/5.

Oh, I also saw Enola Holmes 2. Aggressively mid with really sloppy plotting. 2/5

It's been awhile since I posted and seen a lot of films since, but I'll only highlight some of the ones I've seen recently.

Orphan First Kill: A really good prequel to the original film. The original actress is just as chilling and the surprise twist during the film makes things interesting until the end. 8/10

Glass Onion: This film got a lot of hype before it premiered in select theaters and Netflix. I watched it on Netflix and fortunately, it does live up to the hype. Daniel Craig does a good acting job outside his Bond roles as a famous southern detective. But the stand out is famous Pop singer Janelle Monae, who once again proves she has good acting ability. All of the cast did a good job in the film, including Edward Norton in a good return to form. 8/10

The Menu: Is a decent psychological horror film that deals with social commentary about classism. But don't for a second think its a "Woke" film for you people who think that stuff is a big deal. The Chef is powerful in his role as well as the rest of the cast, I found the Queen's Gambit girl a little annoying in some parts, however, her character was written that way so it still works. I highly recommend it 7/10.

Finally for now

Hereditary: Is another psychological horror film that focuses on a family that has a long history of mental issues. The wife of the current generation is the main focus after she inherits her mother's house in a small town. However, its made clear that her life is miserable because of her own mental issues, the son resenting her, the detached husband, and her special needs daughter. However, it soon becomes clear that something more evil is happening behind the scenes. This is type of film you have to pay attention to during every scene, because it adds up and makes sense during the climax, like Rosemary's Baby, but not as good. Still, a strong 7/10.

In the Mouth of Madness 2/10

Ex machina

9/10

Confess, Fletch - Silly, smart fun, and Jon Hamm nails the characterization.

"The English Patient" is overrated. While it won multiple Oscars and critical acclaim, I find it slow-paced, melodramatic, and overly pretentious. The movie is also criticized for its whitewashing of historical events and inaccuracies in the portrayal of its characters.

Rewatched Ex Machina again. It had the potential to be so much more.

2/10

Sinister 4/5

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

DISC — for dominance, inducement, submission and compliance. Its a sweet story about people who love each other, any other view is missing the point. What delightful people to know more about. The end of the film that has the "How did this all end up?" that we all ask about stories based on true stories, and this one delivers. Watching the film made me want to read the original Golden Age comics so I bought the out of print Omnibus.

The comic was so tame, I can see what the original comic books was so popular because the stories are total Golden Age camp, but they are so subtle and have a great message - women can be powerful, wise, punny, and witty. You will notice the words dominance, submission and compliance; but the words are used in to highlight good vs bad; lawful vs criminal.

Anyway, I thought the movie was great, even my single white female-bi-sexual roommate was surprised by how the relationship between Prof Marston and his two wives was portrayed. You sense the enduring love in the back story as well as freedom from rigid gender roles the story took.

Coherence 1/5

John Wick 4 4/5

Great set pieces, good story, and new characters really stand on their own. Could've been a bit shorter with some editing. If it was a tighter movie, it would be a 5/5.

Nope 8/10

Another quality Jordan Peele work, where he does his own twist on the UFO abduction movie. Looking forward to what he does next. I could give more details about the movie, but that would be getting into spoilers.

Top Gun Maverick 7/10

I know I'm not alone when I say this, but I didn't like the original Top Gun. I don't like Maverick as a main character, and the cheesiness of the first film grinds my gears.

There is more of this in the sequel. Fortunately, the aerial scenes with the jet fighters are very entertaining and the story overall is better than the first movie, but not by much. If not for how fun the aerial stuff is, I would've given this movie a lower score. Still, fans of the original Top Gun will love it. It is a better movie in every way to the original.

A Quiet Place Two 7/10

It's a good sequel to the original movie where the girl with hearing issues takes over as the main character from the mother. If you liked the first movie, this one is more of the same continuing the storyline. It's clearly setting up for a big trilogy finish, which seems worth waiting for.

@av_gamer:

I've watched Nope recently and do tend to agree. The one thing I wish is that the horror was pushed a little more. There is one character of genuine menace and they aren't the main threat, for example.

Fargo - 8/10

Yeah, I watched it again. What a timeless, dumb movie. I'll never get over how well written it is.

Diego Maradona - 7/10

Another rewatch, this time on a plane. No more new insight but I still enjoy seeing the absolute fear in Diego's eyes when he first steps into San Paolo and is surrounded by a sheer mob of adoration.

Everything Everywhere All At Once - 9/10

Daft, fun and kinda heart-warming. Great performances and a plot that somehow doesn't spiral into complete bollocks.

San Andreas - 6/10

Oof. Paul Giamatti's doing hard work trying to lift this out of the gutter. The Rock and his family have some drama whilst San Francisco periodically shakes from natural disasters. A lot of drama that's all too conveniently tied up whilst the Bay swells to the size of a small ocean. The British bloke and the Rock's Action Daughter have no chemistry but there relationship is formed over two lines of dialogue.

Even the one cool scene where Rock and Wife try to ramp off a tsunami wave in a speedboat is ruined by Wife's new husband being conveniently container shipped out of the script. A shambles.

Oldboy - 8/10

Going in, I thought this was going to be a martial arts movie. It is decidedly not that and I was stunned by how stylish it was. The plot is Eric Cartman's levels of deviousness and I enjoyed every stupid second of it.

Tetris 8/10

It's just fun. I don't know if non-gamers would get the same glee out of it that I did, particularly seeing known figures like Hiroshi Yamauchi and Howard Lincoln, but I think the film as a whole is super watchable and likable to anyone, even folks that actively dislike games. Amazing work done making what was historically a bunch of office meetings into something more akin the a spy thriller. It does lean a little too hard into the "capitalism is clearly superior to communism" stuff in overt lines to that effect, but then again that is sort of period appropriate. Also, I don't think it needed the subplot of "dad neglected daughters recital, redeems himself at the end with big gesture" just because I think it's hokey and barely made sense being there, instead some subplot about his daughter showing interest in the work he was doing would have been better, since she did succeed him as CEO of the Tetris Company. And finally, there was never any car chase. Henk Rogers was breaking laws and was in danger of getting arrested in Russia, but it wasn't actually things like tailing KGB agents or fleeing to the airport. That said, all those embellishments are fine and make perfect sense in getting this movie to be where it needs to be. I start3ed it thinking it would be a cheesy special interest flick, and it turned out to be an engrossing romp.

The Super Mario Brothers Movie

5/5

I always thought for the longest time a CGI Mario movie was something I wanted, but I was concerned how it would be executed. This movie exceeded even my best inspiration for a Mario film. It was excellent!

Smile 8/10

A horror film about a psych ward worker whose life takes a huge turn for the worse after she witnesses one of her patients killing herself. Its another good psychological horror film. I can't go into too many other details without spoiling it.

Black Phone 8/10

The recent horror film starring Ethan Hawk as the movie psycho. It's a lot deeper than that, however, having a Goonies, Stranger Things, IT type of storyline. Its well worth seeing for the many nice twist the film has. Its a lot better than IT Two if you're wondering.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile - 10/10
history of violence is my little hobby , so i knew full Ted's story before i saw this film

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

4/10

Evil Dead Rise: 7/10 (the trailer gave away some of the better bits, still a bloody fun time).

My last flick was All Eyes. What a profound squandering of a promising start.

45 minutes in I was confident I was watching a really well-observed mismatched-buddy flick where two polar opposites find some common ground and learn to respect their differences, amongst an is-it-real-or-isn't-it supernatural B-story.

Then it just... goes to shit, in ways I guess I won't spoil for the curious. The tone just flies right out of the nearest window, the basic plausibility of ANYTHING evaporates, and it becomes clear that everything I liked about the movie's first half was just the obligatory chaff that the filmmakers felt they had to toss in to justify "the REAL fun" of dumb effects and gore.

2 out of 5.

@tartyron: T2 Trainspotting.

A sequel that I totally ignored because I didn’t think it needed to exist turns out to be one of the better examples of a legacy sequel out there. I good showing of the toxicity of nostalgia, the stagnation that some wallow in and the subtle change other evolve to. And a statement of how your friends can both make and break you.

For real, I think no one saw this, dismissing it like I did, but it’s worth a watch, especially if you liked and/or experiences a stretch of life like the first movie and then got older.

4/5

Jackie Chan in Police Story

****/*****

The story is absolute bollocks, but the amazing stuntwork saves it. The shopping mall at the scene is mint

Branded (2012) 1h 46m

This has got to be one of the WORST films I have seen in ten years. Disjointed, filmed with multiple thematic tones is it a thriller, a farce or a mystery - nobody knows. The characters are vague in who they are and what they think. Its filmed in Moscow I think just because some oligarch had money and the three known actors cannot help teh film because the leade actor protagonist is and unknown...who is a really bad actor. So, Max von Sydow, Jeffrey Tambor, and Leelee Sobieski coudl not even raise this film above the muck.

The plot is contrived, the dialogue is stale, and the premise is a bit stupid.

Tombstone

I never seen the entire movie but recently saw it on TV and the cast is really good of Kurt Russell, Sam Elliot, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn, Thomas Haden Church. Would probably give a 8/10 just for the cast alone.

Renfield 6/10

Super Mario Brothers 9/10

The Convert 10/10

Air 9/10

Big George Foreman 9/10

Super Mario Brothers 7/10 (nothing to say about it really, what you see is what you get)

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 8/10. Solid end to the Guardians that is somewhat weighed down by stuff outside of James Gunn's control, like Gamora dying between movies, some bad jokes and cheap artificial pathos. There is enough fun, inventive sets, action scenes and dialogue to carry it though, even if it could stand to be 20 minutes shorter. My least favorite in the trilogy but still quite enjoyable and the strongest MCU movie in a good while. Parents might want to look up what happens in the movie before watching it with young kids because the villain kicks like a thousand puppies.

M3GAN 8/10: Is a nice fresh take on the killer doll horror trope. Is it better than the original Child's Play film with Chucky? No, but its not trying to be. The film was good enough that I will be looking out for the sequel when it happens in 2024.

Missing 9/10: Great sequel by the director who did the equally good Searching film. This time a daughter is trying to find her mother who goes on vacation with a man she is dating and doesn't return. Like Searching, the film has a lot of great twist and a satisfying climax. Looking forward to the next one.

Scream VI 7/10: Another solid entry, but I must say the formula is starting to wear out a little bit. They really need to bring it with the next one to keep the series interesting. The funny thing is that the film series itself have been poking fun at too many sequels with the Stab in-universe movies. This film, while still okay, got very close to being a self parody. And since Scream 4, they have been going overboard with the injuries that should kill, but don't stuff almost like a cartoon.

Book Club 2, Very cute movie!

Fast X. They somehow found a way to make an already-dumb franchise somehow even noticeably dumber. And you know what? It kinda works. I don't like that the crew are separated for nearly the entire movie, but as the setup for a supposedly trilogy, it works. Jason Momoa is the best part of the film. He plays a fantastic over-the-top villain and is clearly just having the time of his life in the role. The action is also the best it's been since Furious 7. The big set piece with the huge bomb ball rolling around Rome is spectacular.

I would say that overall this movie is better than 8 and 9 combined. It's fucking stupid as shit but I had an absolute blast watching it. 9/10.

Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse(IMAX). 9/10

Its hard to describe what a visual feast this movie was. I liked the story and all but the art really steals the show. The whole opening scene was incredible and it never really lets up, save for some slower moments. Its maybe a bit longer than it needed to be but that might just be the fact that the theatre decided no air conditioning for a full house show was acceptable. By the end you could feel a collective sigh of relief when the credits started rolling so we could stop feeling like boiled crabs. I was gonna complain the next day but didn't and now I wish I did. Its not usually like that, thankfully.

It kinda sucks that so many of these movies that go to IMAX are only in it for a week. Missed John Wick 4 because of that.