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Member	Movie		Comment / Review
Magic Marmalade 25th Jul 2024		The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)	Rated 8/10 All you need is Brains! Just about as good a zombie movie as you'd wish to see. Very simple set up: Young guy gets new job in a cadaver and scientific specimen storage facility, and the older h=guy there showing him the ropes, and bragging a little (oops), tells him about the story behind the original Living Dead movie, and how those pickled zombies are now in the basement, having been contained there by the military... ...Naturally, young guy doesn't believe, older guy, showing off, takes him down to see the "safe as houses" containers, and.... well.... you can guess what from there. Wotsit hits the doodah, and the rest of the movie is just an escalation of events from there. I realise, from this, the essential ingredient in most (although not all, admittedly) zombie movies, over and above keeping the movie tight, economical, and short, is a healthy dose of humour, which this has in spades... (Zombie movies that take the subject, and themselves too seriously are generally an eye-rolling yawn-fest) ...Either satire (social or otherwise) or straight up comedy suits the genre well, and allows you to enjoy the gross -out horror with a big fat grin on your face! This one sits somewhere, humour wise, between the raised eyebrow / knowing satire of those classic Romero movies and Shaun Of The Dead, this latter one being the most obviously influenced by the tone of the humour in this, although this, itself, clearly in feel, look, and tone, feels a perfect fit with those Romero ones. Aside from the mindless fun, this does have a pretty darn impressive thread of zombie lore and bio-logic running through it, which they didn't have to put in there, but is really well thought out, and appreciated, nonetheless. Pretty cool alt / metal / punk soundtrack, a gang of hapless youth-punk / street trash waste-oids, brilliantly pleasing practical horror effects. which are both gross and hilarious, no nonsense, straight in zombie fest. Hugely entertaining, great fun, and and excellent hour and a half all round. (Another tough to find DVD too!) ✔︎ Helpful Review?
alexlincs 22nd Jul 2024		Satan's Slave (1976)	Title screen from 2K restoration now added
Magic Marmalade 21st Jul 2024		The Replacements (2000)	Rated 3/10 A pretty awful movie that feels like it was meant to be something else, but was bodged to get it out the door in some kind of movie shape. Subsequent reading online reveals this story takes it's cue from a true story, about a player's strike in the NFL in the eighties, and therefore replacement players were brought in for the final games of the season... ...And I think this was originally intended to be a straight up dramatic movie about that, but the fact that the names of teams and individuals have been (barely) altered indicates they couldn't do that for some reason. I think, also, the fact that you have Keanu Reeves (fresh off The Matrix) and Gene Hackman in this rubbish is otherwise inexplicable, excepting that they were signed on to the original concept, and perhaps couldn't back out. And there is a serious dramatic thread around the characters they play that strongly suggests the original intent - meaning to make a movie of the more recognisable true story / underdog inspirational tale of the kind that we are all familiar with, and has been done infinitely better elsewhere. ...And outside of that central thread, is where this really goes off the rails: An almost cartoonish set of "comedy" characters of the most basic, unfunny, toe curling, paint by numbers kind, couched in a whacky movie tone totally at odds with the central feel these characters at times give - painful to watch, especially as the absurd comedy idea is done to perfection in: The Waterboy, and makes this look way out of its class by comparison, in respect of this comedy element. Add to that the utterly bizarre soundtrack, which is mostly Euro-dance tunes that even then were at least a decade out of date... Good fit for a quintessentially American NFL story eh? So i get the feeling this started life as something better, and more meaningful, all contracts were signed, people committed, and the movie ready to roll, when the rug was pulled out from under them, and they had to rehash and bodge a brand new movie around it, and from it, which seems like it was either done in five minutes, without any thought or imagination or originality, or entirely spontaneously - on the spot... ...Not, perhaps with even the original scriptwriters, producers etc. But maybe the.... uh... ...Replacements. Artless and dumb. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 16th Jul 2024		The Heavenly Kid (1985)	(I must also mention in passing the disturbing similarities in the two lead actors and James Franco and a miniature Skeet Ulrich).
Magic Marmalade 16th Jul 2024		The Heavenly Kid (1985)	Rated 6/10 The most eighties movie you will ever see. (...And that's some stiff competition!) This is a movie who's name ha entered my consciousness only in the last few months, on account of being mentioned here and there as a tough one to find on DVD... ...And there's a reason for that, as it turns out: It's crap. ......Well, I want to be fair, and say instead: mostly crap (...mostly :). There is the kernel of a fairly good idea and story here, but for the most part it is buried under an avalanche of all the worst stereotypes and trope-oids of the eighties, from the horrifically toe-curling mega-eighties soundtrack, the "kid in school getting bullied" trope with your standard eighties high-school bullies (only played badly), very thin storytelling, wafer thin, paint by numbers characters, God-awful wooden acting which even makes No Retreat, No Surrender doubt it's claim to bad acting, and it seems to have borrowed everything around it at the time to "construct" this movie. There's bullying thing (Karate Kid), The Time Travel (ish) element (Back To The Future), and a plethora of other stuff those familiar with the eighties will spot on sight... but all done waaaaaaaay worse. And actually, for such a short movie (1hr:30mins), it feels long. It does however, somewhat redeem itself in the last half hour, as I felt they finally started making something of their own, and the quality picks up a nudge, earning a couple more points over the 4 out of 10 I was going to give it, as it reveals something of genuine heart, and a poignancy in the relationship between returning from the dead 60's angel rocker type and the love of his life he lost when he died tragically in true "Leader Of The Pack" style stupidity at the beginning of the movie. Most of the chatter I've heard about this mentions that maybe the almost simultaneous release of: Back To The Future at the time is the reason this all but vanished. Yeah... Let's say that's the reason! (Not the fact that the the one note I mentioned aside - everything in this fails on every count). All this said, it is definitely one of those that is in the camp of: So bad it's...erm... well, still pretty awful actually, but you have to admire it's awfulness, which is a kind of charm all it's own. I think, if the budget was a little bigger -say, to the power of one hundred - the effects were anything more than less than amateur, the actors better, the story tightened up, with vastly better dialogue (not written on eighties version of AI, or whatever ape wrote it), you may even have something of a decent, if not great, movie here, as the idea is sound. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 14th Jul 2024		The Ice Road (2021)	Wages Of Fear on ice :happy:
Magic Marmalade 10th Jul 2024		Red State (2011)	Rated 8/10 Unholy Cow! Was not expecting this from Kevin Smith (Clerks / Mallrats / Dogma etc.), as this doesn't look or feel like one of his movies... In fact, it doesn't even look or feel like the DVD cover / poster art would lead you to believe this movie was going to be... ...Because going by that, you may be expecting a Robert Rodriguez / Tarantino-ish type of hillbilly / horror chop up festival of the gross out kind of affair. (Funny, I watched Tucker And Dale the other day, bought among the same batch of DVDs, so was expecting something a little more along those lines) No, this is a more slow burn, unsettling, even serious (in premise) affair regarding a very Waco incident reminiscent movie, with a disturbingly believable religious sect entrapping a trio of horny teenagers who have one trekking on a promise of sex, causing the ATF (think I got that right?), led by John Goodman's agent to lay siege to their estate. The brilliance of the story is that there are no clear heroes in relation to "the villain", as the government orgs are ever more dubious as it goes. Michael Parks, as the cult's leader and religious head, absolutely steals the show as the quietly maniacal, manipulative, and superficially affable and charismatic top nut job, and this whole movie hangs on this faultless and stunning performance. Put the idea of "Kevin Smith movie" out of your head, as well as the notions and impressions that the cover / DVD art may give you, and you will see a very subtly brilliant movie when you watch it. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 9th Jul 2024		American Splendor (2003)	Rated 8/10 The joy of joylessness. I only ever heard of Harvey Pekar relatively recently, and that was through something on tv about this film. A really inventive, original movie about the everyday life of Mr Pekar, and his pursuit of the idea that those everyday happenings would be the perfect subject matter for a comic book - rejecting the idea that they should be the exclusive preserve of superheroes and the otherwise fantastical in nature... His creation: American Splendor, has since become something of a cult comic, and this movie, is about as meta as you can get... ...Paul Giamatti plays Harvey, and Harvey himself appears in this movie, often narrating, sometimes offering comment on the movie rendering of his life, and the actors, as they tell the tale of his development of this idea, and the events it led to, including the now infamous David Letterman show appearances, which then create a kind of feedback loop of life imitating art, and art imitating life, as his creation, detailing the everyday mundane, comes to reflect the un-everyday events in his life that the comic led to. A lot of the real people depicted also appear in the movie, as well as the actors portraying them, oftentimes with moments of great mirth - my favourite being when actual Harvey is talking about sweets with his co-worker on a representation of the set used in the movie, but with Giamatti and and the actor playing the co-worker are seated in the background trying not to crack up at surreal conversation they are having about sweet flavours. In all, it's the story about a man who doesn't buy into the whole fantastical world of comics, and in general, is a pretty glum, depressive type who makes this ordinary world a note of the extraordinary, but also takes a turn when he discovers he has cancer, and this whole experience becomes the topic of a new comic: Our Cancer Year. The occasional comic book cell framing and the general surreal meta meta nature of the movie really makes this stand out... (In particular, when Giamatti's Harvey is watching a stage play rendering of his comic about himself is almost a hall of mirrors experience for the audience) ...Yet has the same sort of vibe as Ghost World, and movies of this sort. A really great, absorbing watch, and likely to inspire those who see it to seek out the original comics - as I am :) 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 8th Jul 2024		The Town (2010)	Anyone else think Jon Hamm would make an excellent casting choice for a new Indiana Jones?
Magic Marmalade 3rd Jul 2024		Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)	Well this is just Bats$%t crazy! I would have rated it a 6, but the last twenty minutes of this are just mental... and it really made me smile. Can't give any better a review than 23skidoo's, so won't.
Magic Marmalade 2nd Jul 2024		The Roaring Twenties (1939)	Notice also, how they have straight up lifted the portrait of Cagney on the cover of the Angels With Dirty Faces DVD for the cover of this DVD.
Magic Marmalade 2nd Jul 2024		The Roaring Twenties (1939)	Rated 9/10 The best of the bunch. This was the last Cagney movie in the box set I have, and not the most well known (to me at least), having no particular notoriety for iconic moments or lines like White Heat, Angels With Dirty Faces, or The Public Enemy, but for me, this one is by far the best, most well rounded movie of them all. Mostly, I think, precisely because it is Cagney's most naturalistic, subtle, and nuanced character and performance - not relying on meme-able moments. This is a complete, and very interesting character - basically a good guy who finds himself winding up in the bad guy business - the hero cast as the baddy. Again, I see huge influence on The Godfather in this regard, but instead of the young innocent Michael Corleone becoming ever more corrupted and lost, Cagney's character slips away somewhat, but ultimately recovers and redeems himself (although the good guy never entirely goes away). Set against the backdrop of the great events of the time, it's a more intimate portrait of a handful of characters as they seek to influence the times, just as they are influenced by them... (setting a personal tale / tragedy against great historical events is always the key to giving it a sense of the epic, in scale, and poignancy in my view, and all the best epic / personal stories do this - acting as a frame for the more intimate story being told) ...From the trenches of the first world war, Eddie returns home to find his job gone, and the influx of returning soldiers and the hardship of the cost of living, he falls into the less than legal activities which are made possible by prohibition, the Wall Street Crash, and finally the repeal of Prohibition, against which, his fortunes rise and fall. And what with the other characters and the shifting dynamics between them over time, there's much more in this movie than those others. Cagney is brilliant here, Bogart is an excellent bad guy, and the story is excellently told. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 30th Jun 2024		Tucker And Dale Vs Evil (2010)	Rated 8/10 Undeliverance. I have a vague memory of this coming out at the time, and being rather dismissive of it, thinking it was just going to be a cheap, throwaway shlock-fest comedy horror... which it is, mainly, except for the throwaway part. As this has actually got a genius concept at it's heart, and does one of my favourite things in cinema: Subvert the audience expectations and preconceived notions. ...Even use them to bamboozle the audience, and lead them down a wrong alley or two. Most recently, Get Out was lauded, and is laudable for having done this very thing to great effect, but this has a truly great spin on expectations, as it uses the trope, the stereotype even of the down south hillbilly redneck types being weird, perverted savages as the basis of a misunderstanding between them who are the good guys, essentially, and the young and innocent college kids who go into their neck of the woods to camping, setting up what the experienced horror fan might expect to become a kind of Friday The 13th / murder on the lake slasher affair - and in fact, the college kids, who have this preconception of Tucker and Dale end up being the cause of the horror (mostly to themselves :), with their intolerant attitude causing them to demonise our heroes, and mistakenly set against them. It's a horror comedy of errors, which actually could be Shakespearian in it's farce of misunderstandings, misconceptions and basically getting the wrong end of the stick (literally, in a couple of cases!). But better than all of this, it's just great fun, and is a deserved modern cult classic. It won't undo all the damage done to the image of our Southern American friends by movies like Deliverance, Southern Comfort, Easy Rider etc. but it must be nice for them at least, not to be on the end of a reputational kicking for a change, with a couple great affable guys in the movie to get behind. Brilliant. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 30th Jun 2024		The January Man (1989)	Rated 4/10 This is a bad movie. ...Not bad in the sense that others are bad - say, Showgirls, The Room, or something, which are so hilariously bad they deserve some sort of attention for their badness alone. No, this is just bad film-making, with a weird concoction of attempted well worn elements shoe-horned into one film and ends up doing none of them well, if at all. On the surface, it's a kind of a quirky, misunderstood eccentric genius sleuth (Sherlock style) pursuing a serial killer who's deeds are menacing a city, except, Kevin Kline's sleuth isn't really that quirky, and the puzzles (when he gets to them) are so simplistic and predictable even a 5 year old could deduce them (no need for a genius anyway). After the opening scene, with the initial murder, the murderer, indeed the whole premise is essentially forgotten about for another 45 minutes - seriously, you forget that there even is one! - and all this time is taken up by giving dubious and contrived backstory his relationship with Susan Sarandon's character, who is in this for some reason, and his brother, played by Harvey Keitel, who is in this for some reason (does absolutely nothing throughout), his new acquaintance / love interest with friend of victim played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who is in this for some reason, while his friend, played by Alan Rickman, who is in this for some reason, tags along... To round things out, you have two heavyweights of the acting world, Rod Steiger, and Danny Aiello, both capable of great subtlety and brilliance, trying to out-Nicholas Cage each other in wild, unnecessary, bonkers shouting and screaming contests, that are totally inappropriate to the given situation. To make matters worse - that is worse even than the attempted slapstick humour, totally at odds with the noir-ish tone of the movie - the finale is, well let's say, so underwhelming as to to give underwhelming a bad name: "You mean I sat through this all the way for that!?!". But it's principle sin, beyond the contrived, "designed" nature of the plot, phoned in performances by an inexplicably stellar cast, and it's general clunky oddness, is that it is boring... tedious, lacking any tension or dynamic, atmosphere or vibe. ...The only reason I watched all the way through was a kind of morbid fascination with it, like: "it's got to be going somewhere with all this, right?", and I was just entranced with seeing how it would tie up, and how this would all make sense in the end... It doesn't. On the plus side. having found this in the Charity shop yesterday, I begin to see why some MGM dvds are hard to find now, or why you have to pay a little more on the open market for them, as possibly some 80% of the movies are, if not, almost but not quite good, then mostly awful (recent years releases anyway), and did poorly in the cinema, sold poorly on DVD etc. and so there are scarce any about, let alone will they ever appear on streaming services on this basis, or be reissued on physical formats by any major reissuer. Still, I can't help but have a growing fascination for MGM dvds because of it. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
alexlincs 28th Jun 2024		The Christian Licorice Store (1971)	The title screen is a projection within the film hence the letterboxing and rare for a film of this age are about 12 minutes in. For anyone trying to see it is available on Amazon in some countries.
Magic Marmalade 27th Jun 2024		The Public Enemy (1931)	Rated 6/10 Having seen Angels With Dirty Faces, and been more impressed than I thought I would be by James Cagney, I found a DVD box-set of four of his films - this amongst them... And it's a curious one to summarise my feelings about really... ...Right away, having seen White Heat just before this, I now see the pattern, dare I say : Schtick that Cagney was about - repeated themes of the troubled archetypal gangster type, what with minor twists and variations on that theme, and also, as an actor, repeated patterns of some of the most over the top, hammy and cartoonish acting ever, among other moments of genuine excellence (subtlety etc.). This whole movie seems to be the same: Moments, indeed whole sections and ideas that are truly inspired and brilliant, among some otherwise generally awful acting, directing, and storytelling. I partly put the "ouch" factor down to the fact that this is in talkies a relatively early attempt at such subject matter, and so a lot of the road maps and practices that would develop later just weren't around at this time, so the movie makers were at once "winging it" in being daring and innovative, but still within the constraints of more traditional, conservative, and even clunky methods. Half the cast here either can't act a bean, or simply were not actors at all... just thought they'd "have a stab at it" - The guy who plays Cagney's brother is mind-bendingly bad, mumbling his way through lines in some stifled monotone, which would suffer by contrast to any other actor, let alone one of the most unique actors ever... (There's a great monologue in this where a woman says to Cagney's: Tom, how strange and unique he is... how different form other guys, and it says better than anyone else can all that needs be said about Cagney himself - in fact, you get the distinct feeling, while watching it, that she is actually talking to him, not his character) ...And James Cagney is certainly that, you may love him or hate him as an actor, or sometimes, as I am both at the same time! - but he most certainly is perhaps the most distinctive, and singular actors ever- presence, and some powerfully compelling quality to him, despite all the cartoonish-ness. The fact that this brother is almost a ringer for Al Pacino in The Godfather can't be entirely an accident though... (He is even a brother of a gangster who joins the marines, and is even called Michael!) ...And this was my prevailing feeling throughout this movie, that I could see so many later movies of this type echoing right through it, that this has clearly been an enormously influential movie, and doubtless is where Coppola (and whoever wrote the Godfather book) Scorcese and countless others have taken huge chunks of inspiration. So because of those later movies, you've probably seen all this before, and better, but this seems to be one to watch to grasp it's cultural impact alone, in terms of sourcing the origins of so much more that came after. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 22nd Jun 2024		Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner (2007)	Rated 8/10 This is a monster of a documentary! (And effectively a movie in it's own right) Running over three and a half hours or so, it is brilliant at tracking the genesis, development and production of the best movie of all time, as well as it's legacy. I'd never actually seen this, as I am actually one of those rare people who doesn't generally like having the illusion of the finished product spoiled, or my own consideration of it tainted by even the creator's realities... (I don't like all the extra "stuff" that comes either on dvds or reissue records - demos, outtakes and the like - just give the final magic trick straight, and don't show me how it was done, and ruin the magic of the experience!) ...However, this is a feature disc that comes with the "Final Cut" version of the dvd, which is why I bought it, out of curiosity, as I'd always been resistant to this latest "cut" - being both sentimentally attached to the original theatrical cut with voice over (which I grew up with), and completely devoted to the later Director's Cut - ...And yup, the "Final Cut" ain't for me. ("I want more life.... F£%*er!" ... Not: "I want more life... Father!" - a minor quibble, but has more impact, and is symptomatic of a litany of things I don't like about this "Last" version) ((Using a lot of quotation mark here, aren't I!?! :)) Anyway, back to our scheduled programming... The great point of interest about this for me, is as it shows the development stage, how there were so many things original intended to be in the story that were opted against, but actually found their way into Blade Runner 2049 - So Villeneuve basically said: "Well, if you ain't gonna use 'em... I will!" Requires a lot of stamina to get through this doc / movie, as if you are a Blade Runner geek, you can't pull yourself away from it, but my ass was numb from watch this, I've got to say, and was peeing like a racehorse after it was over. Great stuff though. (Just got to get my sticky little hands on that dvd box set now, so I can get that original theatrical voice-over cut again - must see it again!) 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 21st Jun 2024		The Rocketeer (1991)	Rated 7/10 Saw this in the cinema at time of release, and really liked it... ...Unfortunately, most of the rest of the world didn't very much, and so, it seems mostly forgotten. It is probably the best "superhero" movie of it's time - way ahead in terms of production values and budget, and I don't think you would see it's like for almost another twenty years when the MCU started up it's epic journey. In fact, watching this again makes me realise that this is undoubtedly the movie that got Johnston the job of directing the Captain America: The first avenger movie - as it plays the old "retro" superhero movie to a tee. As with CapAm, it has a powerful whiff of an Indiana Jones movie in the retro style - perfectly capturing that time period in look and feel, with a slight nod to Metropolis, with all that post Art-deco styling of the helmet and such. ...But this is not surprising either, as Johnston also worked on those Indiana Jones movies as art director, as well as later designing the Iron Giant in the animated feature. It has a prototype rocket pack designed by Howard Hughes, which is being hunted by Nazis, gangsters, a Zeppelin, and Timothy Dalton as a quintessential British baddy, all fighting against the accidental Rocketeer hero, a local pilot who by chance, happens across said rocket pack, and decides to use it. Great rip roaring adventure fun of the old matinee variety, which they just don't make anymore... well, except for the Indiana Jones movies... And that first Captain America movie... and it still looks great, and works well, both in the production, and the special effects, which still work for me. (Incidentally, the DVD I got of this was a German release, which is merely called: "Rocketeer" (dropping the: "the") - not sure of my German , so stand to be corrected, but is this because the German rendering would be: Die Rocketeer (mildly amusing in English, but not exactly what the filmmakers want it to be known as). 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
mikewn 19th Jun 2024		The Real Story Of O Christmas Tree (1991)	This looks to be an episode of The Real Story of... series. On IMDB, in addition to a separate film entry for this title has this as the 7th episode of season 1 of this series here.
mikewn 19th Jun 2024		The Real Story Of Happy Birthday To You (1992)	This video looks to have been the 6th episode of season 1 of this series... The Real Story of... which is here on IMDB... S1.E6 - Happy Birthday to You
Magic Marmalade 18th Jun 2024		Black Swan (2010)	Rated 8/10 Exceeded all my expectations. I am in the mode of picking up dvds of all those movies that have made a dent in the general consciousness over time, but at time of release, I said to myself... meh... not for me. In this case, the whole ballet business left me rather cold. ...But, it turns out, that's only the circumstance, and it doesn't matter if you're into ballet, or like me.... not. As this is more a tale of artistic obsession, and the darker places of both mind and soul this takes someone to. It's actually almost identical, plot wise, to Whiplash, but with the marked difference that here, Portman's character is rather meek, oppressed, self conscious, and a but of a put upon lamb, who's "dedication" to her craft and the opportunity this presents to her, brings something more out her, by degrees... just can't keep it in people, if it wants, and needs to get out! But, thankfully, you don't need to have an ounce of consideration or care for ballet, or that world to thoroughly enjoy the performance Portman gives, or the story told here... Just watch t for the drama, the character study, the tragedy and the psycho-melodrama, and it's really quite brilliant. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 14th Jun 2024		Heaven (2002)	Rated 9/10 This is one of those quirky oddment curios that seems to have become lost to recent memory. ...It blends a serious dramatic subject and tone with an almost sublime, surreal fairy-tale quality (very lightly). Blanchett plays a school teacher who seeks to get revenge on a drug dealer who's been pushing to kids at her school, by planting a bomb in his office... Unfortunately, the explosion kills a child, and she is naturally inconsolable at what she has done... ...Upon arrest, and under interrogation, one of the officers (Ribisi) begins to fall in love with her, and so devises a way to help her escape - but does she want to? It's one that I caught by accident on tv late night once, that I found myself transfixed by, and curious about as it went along. Ultimately, it's become something of a favourite of mine due to those disparate qualities, which seems to make sense when watching it; The gentle pacing, calm, almost glacial feel makes it oddly mesmerising. Great. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 12th Jun 2024		Dune: Part Two (2024)	Rated 9/10 Finally got round to seeing this, and not disappointed at all! While the first instalment moved along in a more considered, and deliberate fashion, being more of an "establishing" piece for this world - it was more intrigue and politics, this has a more open, and free feel to it... more organic feeling, and briskly paced. It's best to consider the two parts as like different phases of a chess game... The first part is the opening moves, positioning the pawns, and setting up the play, and having done that, this is where the real game begins, with the bigger pieces coming into play, with big bold moves, to make all that early work pay off. ...And while it is of course, a continuation of that the first part, this seems to have a tone, and feel of it's own, being, as said, more organic, and open feeling; A movie with more... air in it, more about a general atmosphere and movie environment in which the story takes place. I said in my review of the first part (perhaps imperfectly) that a lot of the heavy lifting, as far as carrying the movie was done by seasoned established actors, in their roles, which allowed Chalamet to play the "scrawny kid" with weight of expectation on him... (His role here, mirroring the character he's playing) ,,,But now it's time for the character to grow, and become what he is meant to be, meaning Chalamet had to pull more presence and a sense of strength, power of person, if you will from himself, in order to foreground the character effectively, and carry this movie himself... Which he does brilliantly. As those previously mentioned actors and their respective characters recede a little into the background of the story. But alongside him. is of course Zendaya, and Austin Butler... ...Zendaya being little more than a general icon of the times to me (everybody seems to think she's the bee's knees for some reason, though I could never figure out why), although here she at last shows she's a genuinely excellent actor, in her role as foil to, and counterpart of Chalamet's Paul. Basically the heart of the story. .....And then, there's Butler, who I thought was just going to be employed here to look menacing and give us a stock psycho villain... but has a more meatier role than expected. Granted, he is a nutter and a chilling menace, but is more prominent in the story than I'd thought, and he does portray his character excellently, giving a general sense of threat throughout. These three are clearly the stars of the show, and I get the feeling, they are going to be the go-to movie stars for a generation to come - they are going to be in everything from now on, I feel, and that isn't a bad thing at all on this showing! As far as plot goes, the first part had a much greater feel of intrigue and politics, and political machinations - more: Godfather than Star Wars, but this shifts the emphasis more to the religious / faith, and philosophy of what these things are, and what they mean, as well as their implications, and the nature of those things in and of themselves - and the tone, therefore, is more mystical as well as philosophical - More: The Last Temptation Of Christ than.. er....Star Wars. You can, of course, go all gooey over the imagery like all the 4k Imax crowd certainly have, it seems, and certainly, that's all here, but the story is strong enough (and the telling of that story by Villeneuve) even before you get to that. A movie to swim in, immerse yourself in, and be swept along by, by virtue of it's expansive look, feel, pace and tone... and truly Epic in every sense. We now await the next part! :) (Oh, and Florence Pugh deserves a solid mention for a solid, stoic performance as the Emperor's daughter, as well, an din particular, Javier Bardem, who gives a multi-scene stealing performance as a true believer, with a dry comic edge.) ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 10th Jun 2024		Nocturnal Animals (2016)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 10th Jun 2024		La Chimera (2023)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 10th Jun 2024		ゴジラ-1.0 (2023)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 10th Jun 2024		Hit Man (2023)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 10th Jun 2024		The Gentlemen (2019)	Trailer (nod to jamieeduardo) :happy: [YouTube Video]
albert 8th Jun 2024		First Blood (1982)	Now renamed as "Rambo:First Blood" on 4K discs, while the second in the series is now called "Rambo:First Blood Part II".
Dr Doom SUBS 7th Jun 2024		Evil Ambitions (1996)	Also known under the much better title Satanic Yuppies

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