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Member	Movie		Comment / Review
YankeeDisc SUBS 16th Nov 2023		The Second Woman (1950)	Also known by the title Ellen.
Dr Doom SUBS 15th Nov 2023		Zuma Beach (1978)	As someone said over on Letterbxd - 'Imagine JAWS without any shark' - Zzzzzzzzz
Magic Marmalade 12th Nov 2023		Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)	Rated 8/10 Great movie... ...Tom Cruise knows how to entertain, and make the kind of action / intrigue movies people want to see. Although a little long, mainly because it's a mite draggy in spots, it otherwise just goes and goes like a runaway train :), from the off, until it's done. A lot was made of the "big jump" off a cliff on a motorbike that Tom did for real (ish) in the promotion for this, I actually thought there were a couple of sequences more noteworthy even than this, and should probably be regarded as just as memorable: Firstly, the Car chase through Rome in the little yellow super car is hilarious, as well as thrilling - making a usually intense and frowny - serious action sequence that you often find in movies with car chases, underscored by an inspired comedic element in the shape of this tiny little super bug of a car is just brilliant! ...And secondly, the sequence in Venice as brilliantly shot and executed, giving a real atmospheric, modern take on the kind of: "The Third Man" style, film noir espionage movie. The central plank of the story, of an all pervading rogue super AI is not a new idea, for although this has long been a fear of those speculating about the future of technological progress, it of course, is increasingly in the public consciousness as a topic of debate, as it is seemingly now on our doorstep, not in some dim and distant future, usually the in the realms of outlandish sci-fi... ...However, this rather nebulous concept of a villain would make it difficult, on it's own to sell, but sensibly, they have put a human villain in the story (brilliantly portrayed) to be the physical expression, focus, and repository of our fears about this "Entity" - here he is the Entity's acolyte, and minion, as well as the object of Cruise's ire. The moments where it does slow down a notch, are where it feels laggy, by way of contrast tot he full on pace until those points - especially in the night-club scene, which, while given very strong John Wick vibes (I kept expecting to see Keanu creaming the henchmen in the background! :) - it lingers a llittle too long I think. And also, the final scenes, and climax with the train has a repetitive quality about it, due to the same moment of jeopardy happening again and again... and again, which does slightly kill the impact of it. But overall, a proper piece of solid, dependable entertainment, perfect for a Saturday night's night in with snacks and such. With films this good in this genre now, can someone explain to me why we still need the flaccid, and stately James Bond movies? (They feel antiquated by comparison). ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 12th Nov 2023		The Marvels (2023)	Review Independent review :read: ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 6th Nov 2023		Hanna (2011)	Rated 8/10 Will have to watch this again, but I remember being really impressed with it, and thoroughly enjoying this... It is your basic super assassin Jason Bourne style premise, except here it is a young girl, stolen from the facility that created her by her father, into the wilderness to escape the evil clutches of the programme overseers. They get found out, and must split up, leaving Hanna to fend for herself in the big bad world she is not accustomed to, and all the while being pursued by the evil sleeze we commonly associate with this kind of programme. Where this differs form the usual movie of it's type, is that Hanna gets in with a normal family out travelling, and tastes a normal life, such as we might know, and sees what she has been missing, in terms of a normal young girl's life... ...In addition to which, the story is framed as a modern Grimm's fairly tale, with her being the innocent (ish) young girl wandering in the wilderness, pursued by the big bad wolf - the excellently slimy wicked witch type portrayed by Cate Blanchett, who is determined to stop at nothing to recover Hanna, in spite of Woodsman style character dad, Eric Bana's having prepared her for such an eventuality. This framing makes for an at times dreamlike, fairy-tale atmosphere, in an otherwise fast paced, brilliantly choreographed fight fest, every bit the equal of any movie in this genre, and all excellently contrasted against the every day normal family lifestyle reference points of Hanna's new friends, whom she at once endangers through her presence, but also learns from, what it is to be a "Real Girl". And all carried along by a very memorable score by The Chemical Brothers. What more do you want in a movie? :) 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 4th Nov 2023		Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)	Rated 5/10 Yeah... this ain't good...really. It feels like Transformers syndrome all over again, in that it doesn't know what audience it's pitching to: Very dark subject matter, and quite adult themes, totally undermined by the adolescent dialogue "bro!") and often painfully embarrassing... er... skits that the unfortunate cast here have to perform. The "fourth wall" here is broken, not in the traditional sense of people talking to camera, but by me, the viewer, feeling embarrassed for the actors, because of the feeling that they themselves are embarrassed at the handling of this material by new addition to the pantheon of moronic movie making "directors": Emerich / Bay / Snyder, in the shape of James Gunn. (This dude is now in charge of DC movies, beginning with a new Superman film... Oh oh.... brace for crushing disappointment, and the day hastened of the absolute demise of comic book movies!) What's weird about this, is the total lack of spark, energy, and whipcrack humour in a kinetic movie experience as in the first two instalments, instead feeling flat, lifeless, draggy, and uncomfortable. The humour, which is the essence of those two previous outings, would be misplaced anyway, given this deals centrally with animal cruelty, experimentation, and Eugenics, but is made worse by the phoned in performances of the principal actors who have clearly had enough of these roles, and are bored with them (and it shows). James Gunn doesn't know how to make a movie, putting aside whatever he knows about comic books, their characters, or what the comic-con crowd want to see... I mean he has zero timing as a director, either dramatically, or comically.... ...Each shot last waaaaaaaay longer than it should, to the extent that they feel like one of those hugs, or a handshakes that has just about tipped over what the recipient would feel comfortable with, and you begin to feel really awkward, and overly aware of the moment. (You could lose 20 minutes of this epic runtime, just by virtue of chopping the extra flab off these shots alone!) Another thing, is that the admittedly emotional climax to Rocket's story comes when there's still half hour and more of the movie to go, which seems odd, as this is the basis of the story. The guards of the giant curly space anus... station... thing, sporting the cheapest, most ridiculous costumes you can conceive of, that are essentially the crudest spray painted foam blobs that make them seem like overgrown waterbears, and this is symbolic of the entire feeling of cheapness on all costume design, sets, pitiful cartoon animals, we are supposed to care about, rather than snigger at - and even the unconvincing CGI scenes, all shot in a very weird manner, that seems to emphasise the fake-ness and studio-ness of the whole affair. The great tragedy of this is that it has a great idea at the centre, and a potentially brilliant and devastating story to tell, but handled by an artless, clueless meme of a director, who's previous successes don't prevent this, and his Suicide Squad movie exposing him to being found out, as the cinematically dad dancing movie mogul wannabe he really is. This should have been game changing for this franchise, and comic book movies in general, in adding real depth, and lasting impact, in the manner of say, Watership Down, or Bambi... ... Or if not, it could have been a joyful final outing for these characters.... ... instead, it's crass, painfully slow, dull embarrassing, and cheap feeling. >There is, however, one plus side, or positive..... (And what a truly huge positive it is too!) ... and that is the villain character, and the actor and his performance of it: Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, is as good a villain as I've seen anywhere, and the towering performance by Chukwudi is simply astounding, in all the best traditions of all the best villains, he steals the entire show, and make this bum cake of a movie worth watching just for him. This guy (not a movie regular, it seems, but more a stage actor), is a blooming Superstar! If I was in Hollywood studio decision making land, I'd sign this guy up for everything and anything I could get him in< Net result: This is too dark for kids, too juvenile for more mature audiences, which together make a movie too insulting to anyone with intelligence to handle, given the subject. A flat, weak, wet fart of a movie that goes on way too long to be endured in any confined space in which you watch it. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
alexlincs 3rd Nov 2023		The Witch Who Came From The Sea (1976)	Proper title screen added from Blu-Ray. This film does suffer from archive damage so about as good as it gets.
alexlincs 3rd Nov 2023		Three Into Two Won't Go (1969)	Upgraded title screen now added
Tailspin 2nd Nov 2023		All The Cats Join In (1946)	[YouTube Video] All The Cats Join In
Magic Marmalade 31st Oct 2023		Me, Myself & Irene (2000)	The scene with the cow still has me rolling about with laughter :)
alexlincs 29th Oct 2023		House Of Whipcord (1974)	Title screen from Blu-Ray now added
Dr Doom SUBS 29th Oct 2023		Arthur? Arthur! (1969)	Apparently never given a Cinema release - it's certainly very obscure!
Dr Doom SUBS 29th Oct 2023		Focus On Glamour (1984)	Not on IMDb but (minimal) details are on other film websites John Kelly was a London based Glamour Photographer
Magic Marmalade 27th Oct 2023		Slipstream (1989)	Yup, still fun, and quite a good premise, if a little dated effects wise, and occasional shonky acting. But ye Gods! ...Look at that cast!!! (I got, what I assume to be the first issue of this on DVD from Amazon second hand, and it is not the greatest print, and while the aspect ratio is given as 4:3 on the packaging, it was still a little squashed in the preview page when I ripped it in Handbrake... went to 5:4 or thereabouts to rectify it.)
Magic Marmalade 27th Oct 2023		Split Second (1992)	Rated 7/10 Global warming based, detective buddy cop, serial killer creature feature. Not that bad actually! It does reek of: film-makers who know what they are doing, but are on a very limited budget, in terms of production design, sets, and affects... But overcome this by use of carefully selected locations, use of lighting to create mood and atmosphere, using the camera well, and most tellingly, the: "Don't show too much of the creature" choice, which works well, as even when you do finally see it, it is fleetingly, and selectively shot (Great, in that they basically borrowed the design wholesale from Alien's Xenomorph) But a very short hour and a half movie, that jumps straight in to the action, wasting no time with set-up, electing instead, to tell bits and pieces of back story as it goes. ...And so it is, we jump straight in with Rutger Hauer's broken obsessive hard-bitten loose cannon cop going into a nightclub to stop an apparently deranged serial killer from striking again - one that he has been tracking ever since the killer murdered his partner. Regarded as a nutcase in his police department, he is saddled with an Academic type, fresh faced policeman as partner, who shadows him as he hunts down the maniac in question. ...So you have the old stereotype maverick cop with a past, joined by the stereotypical nerd as great juxtaposition of character types, for stereotypical "odd couple" buddy cop set up. It transpires that the killer may not be entirely human, but rather something (inexplicably, and unexplained) thrown up from the largely flooded London city scape, submerged (quite astute in the foresight here, given when the movie was made!) in the risings from the sewers. It's incredible how many people you know and recognise in this, given how cheap the production seems, and maybe the climax is let down somewhat by some less than spectacular effects, but it is short-ish, rattles along for the most part at a very brisk tempo until then. ...And with a quite light and snappy use of humorous dialogue (A little overdone at times, and preposterous) and script writing, makes for a fairly enjoyable hour and a half for those who like fairly cheapo sci-fi / horror flicks. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Magic Marmalade 22nd Oct 2023		Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)	I remember almost nothing of this except two things: First, how punishingly dumb it was, that it made my head hurt, and I couldn't wait for the ordeal to end... ...And second, only the bubble wrap suit being genuinely funny, and sparing my rating this as an absolute zero.
Royco2 22nd Oct 2023		The Card (1952)	See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Card_(1952_film) and if you see: https://www.discogs.com/release/14635166-Original-Cast-The-Card then i see some mistakes -- I was looking for info about 'The card - Petula Clark' and did find differant information, i think the first link is the correct info. See also: https://www.discogs.com/release/7033191-Petula-Clark-The-Polygon-Years-Vol-1-1950-1952 So i hope some can give the correct info about the componist (i tink is 'William Alwyn, Morris' William Alwyn with Len Quartet ? And who is 'Morris' ? (think the songwriter)
Magic Marmalade 18th Oct 2023		The Cell (2000)	Yeah, maybe one that is more "art installation" than substance, but boy those visuals worked on me!
Magic Marmalade 18th Oct 2023		Running Scared (1986)	Ah, that's sad to hear. Maybe one of those that hasn't aged well. I like to find these titles on DVD when I can, in the charity shop... (Although I have caved in a little recently and got a couple of titles used and cheap from Amazon, which I haven't seen in donkey's ear, and which I will be writing something about when I have set aside some time to watch: Slipstream, and Split Second (Rutger one). All I remember is the quite sparky, energetic vibe around Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, but with a dramatic climax, and good atmosphere to it. (might check that Freevee thing though :)
Dr Doom SUBS 16th Oct 2023		Team-Mates (1978)	James Spader's film debut (Middle photo)
Dr Doom SUBS 16th Oct 2023		A Beautiful Way To Live (1971)	A surprisingly positive and non-sensational short TV documentary about communal living Can be watched free on BFI player
Graham7 15th Oct 2023		Running Scared (1986)	Magic Marmalade, regarding your comment, you may be pleased to hear that it is currently showing for free, in the UK at least, on Freevee. Wonder if you'll do one of your comprehensive reviews. I just watched it, not having seen it in decades, and found it not as funny as I remembered. Though there remain some classic lines.
Magic Marmalade 15th Oct 2023		The Accused (1988)	Rated 9/10 A very tough watch, and not one to watch for enjoyment, or entertainment's sake, but a very important film to see, concerning the issues of rape, and in particular, being believed within the justice system. The rape scene itself is very difficult to look at - be warned. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
alexlincs 14th Oct 2023		江湖情 (1987)	This has a sequel called Tragic Hero and was screened as a double bill (despite Tragic Hero coming out first). These films have been compared to The Godfather.
zabadak 13th Oct 2023		Repo Man (1984)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
Magic Marmalade 12th Oct 2023		The Craft (1996)	Rated 7/10 Mean Girls for goths. In fact, take away the light, bubbly, witty satire of Mean Girls, and instead, go angsty, a whole lot darker, and disturbed, and you essentially have the same story... New girl at school falls in with three friends in their own clique, in who's company she at first finds comradeship, before they become the enemy, from who's company she must seek to extricate herself, for the sake of self preservation. Indeed, the more I think of it, the more remarkably similar the story seems! (Surely Tina Fey and Co. were merely "Inspired" by this?) And aside from the witchy business, replacing the mall-Barbie aesthetic, and better clothes in place of the festival of valley girl chic, there is not much here to choose between them. (If, indeed, you see a difference in the first place :) But this film also oozes nineties feel movie too, in how it looks, acts and moves. A well chosen soundtrack of passable covers of well known classic songs (Some surprisingly good choices too!) Slotted nicely into the kind of vibe of the time that gave us movies like The Faculty, and the Almost-Eventually-Final Destination- franchise.... thing. Having not seen it in a good few years, I wondered how well it would hold up, and pleased to say it fairs quite well, albeit the darker elements / themes of the story seem more prominent now to me (perhaps, more relevant than ever?), and it is a very enjoyable movie. Would good for fans of Mean Girls, goths, and also fans of nineties movies in general. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
zabadak 10th Oct 2023		Mirai (2018)	Trailer :happy: [YouTube Video]
JLC135 6th Oct 2023		The Giving Tree (2000)	Title for "Shaded Places" name variant added.
Dr Doom SUBS 5th Oct 2023		Attentatet (1980)	This one seems to be impossible to track down. The screenshot used probably isn't even from this film but it'll do for now
alexlincs 4th Oct 2023		Detainment (2018)	Proper title screen from Amazon now added.

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