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Member	Movie		Comment / Review
Magic Marmalade 1st Dec 2024		Ford v Ferrari (2019)	Rated 8/10 Usually I find motorsport boring and tedious, but this story of odd couple Matt DAamon and Christian Bale as Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles building a car (Ford GT40) under the auspices of automotive monolith Ford, in order to unseat the perpetually reigning Le Mans Champions Ferrari was very energetic and thrilling... ...A bit of a "Top Gun" style movie, and even the mechanics and engineering elements were engaging. The central relationship, between Shelby and Miles is the focus of the story, and what propels the movie along, about hanging it all out there on the line for each other, and trusting each other to come through. If you like cars, especially those of the period, such as these Ferraris, Fords, AC / Shelby Cobras, or even if you don't, it's a great movie to keep you entertained for an evening watch. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 1st Dec 2024		Along Came Jones (1945)	Rated 7/10 This was a great, fun pastiche / satire of the western tropes of the times, with the hapless, bungling Gary Cooper spoofing the traditional "tall dark stranger / hard-bitten / super-tough / man of few words" type... ...Can't handle a gun for toffee, bit of buffoon, but with a good heart, who gets mixed up in the affairs of a tough outlaw, and mistaken for him, which he tries to use to his advantage, and probably wishes he hadn't... luckily, he's got his ald friend at hand to help him out various fixes, and beautiful prospective love interest / femme fatale who is entirely in control of the whole situation, being smarter than the lot of them! :) Really enjoyed this western prototype of a kind of Forrest Gump kind of movie. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 28th Nov 2024		Gremlins (1984)	Independent article :read:
zabadak 28th Nov 2024		Wicked: Part 1 (2024)	Review Independent review :read: ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 28th Nov 2024		Gladiator II (2024)	Review Independent review :read: ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 28th Nov 2024		Conclave (2024)	Review Independent review :read: ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 25th Nov 2024		Slap Shot (1977)	Rated 9/10 Are you not entertained!?! Yes sir, very much I am! If you go into this expecting a pretty standard Hollywood, inspiring underdog sports movie, you may be disappointed, as although the elements are there, this is not what this movie is about... not really. In fact, it is only superficially a sports movie, let alone an Ice Hockey one. ...You could almost call those elements a "Macguffin", as this setting only serves to set the stage for a cynical, acerbic, bitingly satirical piece of social commentary. In tone, and what's clearly under the surface here, it is to Ice Hockey and sports, what M.A.S.H. is to war movies, and it has the exact same satirical humour and sensibility about it, so if you liked M.A.S.H. for those reasons, you'll like this. And what it is satirical of, is a trend, particularly in American culture of the time where they were on the cusp of becoming more sensationalist, shallow, superficial, and indeed cynical, in moving away from the purity of ideals to chase the Yankee dollar by pandering to an ever more shallow and fickle public. A small industrial American town, discovers that the local mill, around which it's existence is essentially built, is being closed down, and with the it, the local half-assed hockey team, pretty much the only other thing the town seems to live for, to make their lives there in any way bearable, is to fold too... ...The over the hill player / coach, senses shenanigans regarding some background, higher up exploitation and manipulation of the situation, and begins to manipulate the situation himself, to combat these predetermining forces. He does so by abandoning a more straight up, pure form of the game, and opting instead, to wind up his players, and turn it more in to a violent spectacle, (The acquisition of three semi-psychotic brothers really helps this plan!) tapping into the local frustrations, to satisfy the more basic elements of the crowd's nature... and make the team so popular that the dark financial and economic forces can't shut them down. And so this, appropriately enough, has Paul Newman playing his patented "Hustler" role again, working the angles, playing everyone against each other, almost attempting a sport set "Sting", albeit, for the locals own sakes, and resorting to dirty tricks to do so. This is, naturally, very cynical (the point), very violent (The necessary means to the point), and is decidedly un-P.C... (This last point may be taken at face value by some, regarding the litany of homophobic slurs all throughout the film as the product of a "less enlightened time", but they couldn't be more wrong, as this is entirely self aware, even though it does these things deadpan, and never offers a hint that it is doing so as part of the cynicism, it is proven in the sublime and brilliant finale) ...I can only conclude that this has probably never been more relevant than now, and not just regarding sports, but even in the worlds of economics, and (heaven forbid :) politics. This will chime more with a modern audience than the audience of the time when it was released, and it is an audacious, witty, acidly funny, subtle piece of pure brilliance. Not just an Ice Hockey movie. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 22nd Nov 2024		An Angel At My Table (1990)	Rated 8/10 The unfortunate child. This is a brilliant bio of Writer and poet Janet Frame, which depicts an odyssey of a young, talented girl who's gifts and general disposition render her odd, in the eyes of the conventional world around her, in Austere pre-war New Zealand, and basically crushed by those conventions, which constantly seem to persecute her for being born different. And while she has a loving family around her, tragedy is always present. No greater tragedy threatens her life than the fact she, being crushingly shy, and awkward, begins to believe that there is something wrong with her, as the world she lives in convinces her that this is so... to the extent that she is committed, on the strength of an autobiography she wrote, to a psychiatric institution under the mis-diagnosis of schizophrenia... her great suffering in this period of her life sets this fragile and unprepared (now) young woman out into the world where she learns a few things about herself. It's a long movie, divided into three parts, as the subtitle: "A trilogy" denotes, based, as it is, on a trilogy of autobiographies Janet Frame herself wrote... ...But it is thoroughly engrossing, if, at times, a hard watch... but this journey of self discovery and affirmation will resonate with many, I'm sure, who feel they have been made to believe such things about themselves because they may happen to look, think, or feel different than the rest. And on the strength of what I heard in this movie, I think I want to seek out some of the real Janet Frame's work now, it seems truly brilliant. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 21st Nov 2024		Wicked: Part 1 (2024)	Review .. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 20th Nov 2024		Metoroporisu (2001)	Rated 8/10 Somewhere in time and place... ...Although it's difficult to place exactly where and when. It seems equally inspired by older older sci-fi classics, as it seems to have inspired others that came after... ...From the off, this tale of city populated mainly by robots who are eliminated when they step out of their allocated zone, gives very heavy Blade Runner vibes, as does the depiction of a grimy, beaten up, decrepit looking cityscape, albeit through some truly stunning background art, as well as use of the old-time jazz score, interspersed with a more frenetic noodly, avant-garde jazz... It even ends with a head-scratching, yet wonderfully effective use of the Ray Charles song: "I Can't Stop Loving You". And all this seems couched in a broader context of a Fritz Lang Metropolis social commentary and world design, with the grimy futurist industrial layers and zones of social hierarchy, from the highest level, or zone, where some robots intermix with human society, before gradually going deeper underground to progressively more slave robot exclusive levels. There also seems to be a little of the old Sam Spade detective trope in there too. On top, and indeed, even beneath this, there is a lofty human political faction battle for the rule of the city and the world, while down below, a robot uprising threatens at any moment to break out... and through all this, the adopted jealous, and zealous human son of Duke Red, head of one of the political factions, relentlessly hunts down his adoptive father's greatest creation: A Robot designed to save the world, by taking the throne of the city. And although the world depicted is grimy looking, it is also, by turns, lurid, neon, and eye popping to look at.. I can strongly feel The Fifth Element in this regard, both in the vibrant look, but also that weird jazzy score, as well as the general eccentricity and eclecticism of the designs. This is a really bizarre mix of earlier CGI animation, overlayed with traditional animation of a seeming mix of styles, form Tin-Tin-ish basic animation, to more Akira-Manga style, through to Ghibli. It is not exactly pacy, more meandering and bobbing and weaving in the story telling, but it certainly is engrossing, captivating even, and you eventually fall into it's world, and immerse yourself in the mood and vibe. All of which, would have gotten a rating of about a seven from me, but for the last half hour, where it really pays off, tying all those threads together, and raising it's game to a degree where it is bordering on brilliant, worthy of the eight. It's like a Sci-fi smoothie: Little bits of everything chucked in there, blended up, and what comes out, shouldn't really work on it's own, but does. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 20th Nov 2024		Planet Terror (2007)	Rated 7/10 The other half of that Grindhouse double feature, along with Tarantino's "Death Proof"... ...I didn't really go much on that one, it being a little too creepy and tedious for me. And while this still is creepy (In light of the whole We----ein / McGowan thing), it is, at least, bags more fun. A great, super gross-out, gory, absurd, ridiculous slapstick-ish zombie action festival, following the best tropes of the old Romero Dawn / Day Of The Dead, and some cool practical effects like in The Thing, and so on. And more a great sequel to From Dusk Till Dawn than it is a companion to Death Proof. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 17th Nov 2024		The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)	Rated 8/10 One of those that I'd always put off watching, because it was always around. (If that makes any sense) ...Which is to say, that what with a mountain of movies to be seen, some, I see, seem always to be on TV or turning up on DVD etc. so I get to prioritise others, and never seem to get around to this one, which is perpetually knocked to the back of the queue. So anyway, I finally decided to bite the bullitt... er sorry, I meant bullet (chuckle), and give it a watch. And it turns out it's a brilliant prime slice of ultra-cool McQueen-ery, every bit the equal of Bullitt. Very groovy split-screen late sixties set up credits, with cool jazz score and the immortal "Windmills of your mind" song, which then gives way to the tale of the bored millionaire playboy type (McQueen) who knocks over banks purely for kicks, being hunted by, not only pretty sharp police detective, but also the ultra-sharp, and super seductive bank insurance investigator (Dunaway), who quickly takes up with him, and a tale of cat and mouse ensues. ...But which is the cat, and which the mouse? It's essentially what every super-cool hustle / heist movie since has clearly been inspired by (Ocean's 11, etc.), except this is has more of an effortless cool about it, as well as the sexiest game of chess ever committed to screen. Excellent stuff. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Bgray1 14th Nov 2024		Black Death (1992)	AKA: Quiet Killer.
zabadak 11th Nov 2024		Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)	Behind the scenes - Sony article :read:
zabadak 10th Nov 2024		Heretic (2024)	Review Independent review :read: ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 9th Nov 2024		Paddington 2 (2017)	Rated 9/10 Independent review :read: ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 8th Nov 2024		The Counselor (2013)	Rated 6/10 The world's longest set up for a movie that never plays. This is another I picked up from the charity shop on the basis of having a somewhat bad reputation that put me off, but intrigue compelled me to see for myself. It seems to be Ridley Scott's venture into the kind of tonal world that Sicario, or No Country For Old Men conjures, or inhabits... A simultaneously seedy, yet sophisticatedly lo-fi awfulness world of cartels and too highly polished, deluded sophisticates being too coolly criminal for their own good. Michael Fassbender's "Councelor" is involved with some distinctly nefarious types, and wants a piece of action on the side for himself, to set himself up with new fiancé (Penelope Cruz) involving him with yet more seedy characters, and of course, a downward spiral into the quagmire ensues. I could also mention movies like Scarface, or any Michael Mann style movie, to give you an idea of what this intends to be, but there is something distinctly lacking here... it's too monotone, too dull, even. And on top of that, it's too subtextual for it's own good. I usually appreciate, and pick up on such things well, but this is way too abstract, and many, if not most, will get to the end thinking like I was: "I think I got it at one point, but then.. no. In fact, what the hell just happened?!" It feels like some of those aforementioned movies where there's lots of threads set up at the start that you don't get, and are not really supposed to, in order to be bowled over by the gradual unfolding of the plot by way of little deposits of key information, leading to s sequence, or even one revelatory twist that leaves you breathless... except, here it never arrives, like the movie after this, if it were made, would be what this were leading to. It's not a bad movie, as as such, it just ain't great, or even really good. The plot, as said is too abstract, like an in-joke that all the characters are in on, but being an outsider as a viewer, you feel like: "...What?", and Ridley is too tuned into the more naval gazing aspects of the story to worry about the audience. Much of the more philosophical leanings are a bit much to be expected in reality from such low life characters, and feel a bit naïve from a director who doesn't get this kind of world. I suspect, as this is based on a Cormac McCarthy novel (Much as with Elmore Leonard), the more subtle stylings and subtextual elements would be more apparent in the reading, or rendered by some other director as a movie, but here, it just feels obscure, and lacking the kind of charisma that say, a Tarantino would offer. It's a shame, as the performances from all the central cast are excellent (if you can get over Bardem's hair!), especially Cameron Diaz's suitably convincing icy snake-lady, and they are all doing their best, it just doesn't really come together the way those others do. An intriguing, at times fascinating watch, even engaging at times, just a bit too random, and dull to really hit home. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
mikewn 4th Nov 2024		Drácula Contra Frankenstein (1972)	Mary Francis is Paca Gabaldón
zabadak 2nd Nov 2024		Terrifier 2 (2022)	Review Guardian review :read: ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 1st Nov 2024		Hausu (1977)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 1st Nov 2024		Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 1st Nov 2024		Barbie (2023)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 1st Nov 2024		Stop Making Sense (1984)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
zabadak 1st Nov 2024		Nope (2022)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
Magic Marmalade 28th Oct 2024		The NeverEnding Story (1984)	Rated 8/10 Still completely wonderful! I have not seen this since I was made to go and see it at the cinema with my mum's co-worker, who took me and her - as it turned out - not only sickly, but terminally ill son when it came out... (Let's see... I would have been nine years old at the time) ... And as if this fact was not bummer enough, there are some emotionally stretching moments here that for children of that age, as anyone already familiar with this movie will know, can be devastating to younger hearts and minds. And for both of these reasons, I've wilfully avoided watching it since. But now, as the nights draw in, and I feel exhausted watching new (to me, at least) movies, I feel I'm in the season where I need a little nostalgia, and something cosy and familiar, as well as being prompted by the urge to see if itwould still "get me" the way it it did first time around. And while I do come to this now, with adult mind and soul, a little more objectively, this wonderful, magical fable of the relationship between fantasy and reality has lost none of it's imaginative potency, and still elicited a tear or two... or maybe there was just something in my eye. While one particularly devastating scene (You know the one!) didn't quite reduce me to a blubbering mess the way it did when I was nine, it still made me go: "Ooh, that's a bit heavy to handle for kids!". But the tale of a magical book, discovered by a bullied child who has lost his mother, and can't connect, or be sympathised with by his matter of fact father, and which causes him to escape into the world of magical fantasy still resonates to this day... more so, perhaps, in such all too real times as these. Great practical effects, animatronics, and puppetry, well shot, and the story well told, in the finest traditions of the most earnest, un-cynical and non-meta fairy-tales of old, and time immemorial, still help to push aside the self referential, cynical , or all too real times in which we live. So if, like me, you may be older now, or not having seen this for a good long spell, or think, even, that maybe you've grown out of this kind of thing a long time since... I'd urge you to revisit it again, perhaps for old time's sake, or even Auld Lang Sine. Consider it a guilty pleasure, or even a much needed, long neglected treat. Go on!... you deserve it! :) (It maybe that you need it too :) 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 28th Oct 2024		Lawman (1971)	Rated 9/10 Absolutely brilliant! Those of us in the UK who were only familiar with Michael Winner being on the telly often, and principally known only (it seemed) for those God-awful Death Wish films, would never suspect he was capable of making anything like this! This, on first impressions, seems like it's going to be pretty standard western fare... a vehicle for established Hollywood star to be the hero... roll into town, clean up the bad guys, before riding off into the sunset after a job well done... ...Except here, they've turned the whole thing on it's head, the titular "Lawman" is more the bad guy than the supposed baddies. Subsequent research reveals that the inspiration for the script for this was a quy read a quote to the effect that: "The only real hired killers in the west were the Lawmen" (paraphrased / misremembered), and that they often caused more trouble than they solved, if not actually were the source of the trouble in the first place. It jumps straight in with the incident that causes all the hoo-ha from then on, as a bunch of cowboys get drunk in a town, shooting all over, as is the common trope and an old man gets accidentally killed during this incident. But then we get to the ranch owner played thoughtfully, meditatively, even philosophically by Lee J. Cobb, who contrary to the usual pure evil overlord type you see in this role, is perfectly willing to make reparations to the townsfolk, for what his ranch-hands have done, as are the, again, counter-to-trope cowboys in his employ - all fully fleshed out characters, and proper humans, as opposed to the ye-ha! types we usually see here, and it even seems the townsfolk are willing to go along with it to. All very reasonable, so far. ...Except, then Burt Lancaster, who gives an excellent performance as a coldly indifferent "lawman" shows up to see the law has it's pound of flesh. - He is all, and exclusively duty, and by the book, and is deaf to all other considerations, even if it would defuse this whole situation from the outset, and he is constantly advised to do so by all and sundry, but nothing is going to dissuade him. The whole thing spirals out of control, with the Townsfolk deciding to do something about him administering the law, even at the expense of justice, and even the local Marshal (Played brilliantly by Robert Ryan) tries to talk him out of making a mess by pursuing this course, but Burt ain't having none of it... he's almost like the Anti-Terminator, fighting for what he sees as the good, ruthlessly relentlessly, and without a grain of compromise. In the end, it's a tragedy, of how being too "by the book", and un-merciful can see justice, in the true sense, fall by the wayside. A real Winner. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 23rd Oct 2024		Smile (2022)	Independent review :read:
zabadak 23rd Oct 2024		The Wild Robot (2024)	Independent review :read:
zabadak 23rd Oct 2024		Team America: World Police (2004)	Independent article - 20 years on :read:
zabadak 23rd Oct 2024		The Apprentice (2024)	Independent review :read:

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