WhyNow review :read:

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A terrible era for film begets a film that is so bad it's...well, laughably bad. Or, as the producers might say, Laughable Bad 2. (they don't know an adjective from an adverb, do they?) Enough time has passed to where we can start embracing...erm, rather, enduring the grade-z mush that filled the VHS shelves at the end of its cycle. Welcome to a world where a 6-star rating is equal to a 1-star rating. It depends on your tolerance for camp. Recommendation: life is short, watch something else.

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City AM review :read:

Black Adam review: A slick but forgettable superhero romp

The latest DC spectacular is a film conjured by the internet, with Dwayne Johnson linked to the role by eager fans since at least the mid-2000s. The former wrestler’s armour has been slightly dented by the failures of Jungle Cruise and Red Notice last year, can Black Adam put him back on top?

Set in the fictional country of Kahndaq, Johnson plays Teth Adam, a former slave bestowed with superpowers who is imprisoned for 5,000 years when he uses those gifts for vengeance. Awakened in the present day, he has little interest in being the saviour of his home, but protects the mother and son who released him as they are terrorised by a military force. With superhero team The Justice Society looking to imprison him on the orders of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Teth Adam must decide if he is the world’s reckoning, or its guardian.

The character is linked to the Shazam films, but clearly intended to reinvigorate the stuttering DC Universe. Disappointingly, there’s little here that distinguishes itself from the many comic book movies already available. There’s more magical items, more mythology to digest quickly, and another vaguely foreign city to save. Director Jaume Collet-Serra plays it safe, delivering a story that has explosions in all the right places, but nothing distinct.

The central moral conflict, where we question whether the Justice Society are actually the good guys, feels reminiscent of Marvel’s Falcon and Winter Soldier, but nowhere near as nuanced. Being content with formula means that the script’s insistence that this is a new kind of hero feels laughable, particularly when the film reportedly cut some R-Rated deaths intended to establish the character’s vindictive streak.

Like Henry Cavill in Man of Steel, Johnson is better than the film that surrounds him. The most electrifying personality in Hollywood is muffled by a deadpan persona in the first half of the movie, only warming up as he bonds with likeable young co-star Bodhi Sabongui. The Justice Society give it their best, with Pierce Brosnan the standout as Dr Fate.

He may get hammy toward the end, but noone can accuse the former 007 of not taking his role seriously. Newbie heroes Atom Smasher and Cyclone (Noah Centineo and Quintessa Swindell) are a sweet duo, while Sarah Shahi is the film’s heart as a resistance fighter who uncovers Adam’s prison. Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman is burdened with a lot of moralising dialogue, but gives the film purpose in between CGI battles.

Black Adam is a standard superhero movie, executed sleekly and designed to bring the most bang for your buck. However, despite the best efforts of Johnson, it may be a film that’s only remembered for its explosive mid-credits reveal.

James Luxford

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City AM review :read:

A surprise hit internationally, Barbarian has come out of nowhere to become a modern cult favourite. Set in Detroit, Georgina Campbell (Broadchurch) plays Tess, a woman in town for a job interview who has booked herself a rundown Airbnbstyle property.

Upon arrival, she finds Keith (Bill Skarsgård) is already there, a double booking from another app. With a storm coming and few options, Tess chooses to stay with this mysterious stranger, who turns out to be the least of her worries after she makes a discovery in the basement.

It’s difficult to discuss Barbarian in too much detail as its appeal lies in subverting your expectations; every horror movie convention is soon torn up and thrown away by director
Zach Cregger.

As with many of the best horror films, the premise prods at real life societal problems – in this case, the everyday safety concerns facing women. The parallels becoming less subtle as the film goes on, and while most of the plot holds together the final act goes a little over the top on
the allegory front.

Barbarian overstretches, trying to wrongfoot you every step of the way. However, Cregger’s invention and timely themes make it a shocking breakthrough hit for a promising new name in horror.

James Luxford

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WhyNow review :read:

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WhyNow review :read:

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Warning, This contains Male Sexualty and Nudity. If You didn't like "Brokeback Mountian" or the New Film "Bros" then this Is not for You. You should check out His other Film "Don't Worry Darling"

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WhyNow review - 23/10/22 :happy:

★★☆☆☆
Dwayne Johnson has been teasing Black Adam for years and it’s finally here, but it turns out to be mostly a dud.

There was a time when superhero films were the exception. They were new, exciting, and at their very best, were playing with genre conventions and doing something unexpected.

Not anymore.

Now, we get several superhero films a year, not to mention countless TV shows on various streaming platforms. They’ve become the rule, not the exception, which almost automatically makes them less exciting. At the end of the day, most of them follow the same old formula of a hero’s journey; they struggle with their powers and encounter a powerful enemy that nearly defeats them until ultimately tapping into something more profound to save the day. Ta-dah!

Jaume Collet-Serra’s Black Adam, on the surface, tries to offer something different. It’s been a passion project for its star, Dwayne Johnson, who promised that the anti-hero’s arrival would ‘change the hierarchy of DC’. Unfortunately, Black Adam succumbs to the genre’s worst tropes and isn’t aided by the baffling, near-incompetent editing.

The story takes place in the fictional land of Kahndaq. After a brief prologue that explains how Teth Adam (he’s not called Black Adam yet, but patience, dear reader) was born, the action moves to modern days. Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) is looking for a mystical crown that once divided the people and is incredibly dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands.

Adrianna manages to awaken Teth Adam from his slumber, but boy, is he pissed. Teth Adam has no problem killing anyone and everyone in his way, which sends the Justice Society – Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher and Cyclone – to Kahndaq, where they clash with Teth Adam. Obviously.

First things first, there is a lot to like in Black Adam. Dwayne Johnson is impossibly likeable and has a magnetic screen presence. Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman are also compelling, especially Brosnan, who brings a sense of esteemed and renowned dignity into the film.

But Black Adam feels incomplete; it’s rushed, narratively messy and badly edited. Director Jaume Collet-Serra struggles to find the right balance of tone and story beats to focus on and Black Adam often feels like one continuous action sequence and that’s not a compliment. The action, too reliant on CGI, tries to imply violence without fully committing to it.

Black Adam has been posed as a more violent, darker entry into the post-Zack Snyder DCEU, but if anything, this feels like a return to Snyder’s style of filmmaking. There’s his signature religious imagery, a lot of the action is played in slow-motion, and the greyish colour palette, meant to evoke angst and seriousness, comes across as dull. Visually, Black Adam might be one of the ugliest films of 2022.

What makes it even more frustrating is the infinite amount of potential the film has. Black Adam’s best scene is when Adrianna tells the Justice Society off for storming into her homeland and kicking up a fuss now that Teth Adam is causing havoc, but they haven’t done anything in the past 27 years that the country has been in conflict.

It would have been a meaty angle to write your film from, but it’s quickly abandoned. Collet-Serra, an outstanding director when working with the right material, struggles to let his style bleed through, but there are some strong individual moments here. More than anything, Black Adam seems to just set up the future of the DCEU, but I must say, it doesn’t look very good.

Words by: Maria Lattila

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Very emotional dramatization of Chile's own 9/11 in 1973. A valid demonstration of political extremes from both sides destroying innocent people, as seen through the eyes of children, to illustrate the point. Throughout most of the film, the story is told effectively, although near the end Gonzalo returns home and stares at the renovation going on in his home - which conveniently provides a broad contrast to the horrors he just witnessed by Pinochet's military. I didn't feel it was necessary to make such an obvious conclusion about the social class division, particularly at such a crucial part of the film. That critique aside, Machuca is a moving story that takes place during a tragic episode of Chilean history, putting the spotlight on an event that is rarely addressed (and was actually more horrific than the film reveals.)

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I imagine this was an effective thriller in 1960 for drive-in audiences, as well as the kids on Saturday afternoon matinées. Two dinosaurs and a caveman are awoken from a sleep state in the Caribbean Sea by construction workers on an island. One dinosaur is kid-friendly, the other a bloodthirsty Tyrannosaurus Rex, while our Neanderthal is mostly played for laughs.

The dinosaurs are fairly effective on their own -- much more convincing than Godzilla several years prior - but when those dinosaurs have to appear onscreen with humans, the difference in film stock make the rear-screen projection look ridiculous. Not that there's any shortage of absurdity in the screenplay, like little Julio's conversations with the endearing Brontosaurus, or love interest Betty singing to our hapless troglodyte, or the clumsy lighting that casts massive shadows in all the night scenes.

Yet for all its faults, Dinosaurus! still manages to entertain. It isn't so poor that you can't turn off your brain and just go with it.

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Still hot after all these years!

Every now and then I come back to watching movies like this again, if I haven't seen them in a while, and they never disappoint...

...In fact, they seem to get better with time when set in context of the movie industry progressively getting, well, if not worse, certainly more formulaic. And I do have a penchant for the movie adaptations of stage plays: A handful of actors in a room or few rooms, hashing out the issues between them (this is why, I suspect whodunnits, submarine movies, spaceship - based horrors and the like works so well... now with added humans! :)

Perhaps the quintessential Tennessee Williams set up, of big old country house in the South, every body hot, bothered, sweaty, and therefore more likely to pop a fuse or two around hitherto unspoken issues bubbling away inside them... result: It all erupts, dialogue, argument, fights, drama!

Centring around Paul Newman's: Brick, and wife: Maggie "The Cat", returning back to be with his Brother and "family" at the family pile to welcome home "Big Daddy" after investigation into his "Spastic Colon" at the hospital... A surface of big house family unity disintegrates slowly under the tension between a temporarily disabled, and steadily more alcoholic Brick (after he hurts his leg trying to relive glory years late at night on the track, while drunk), his wife Maggie, who is trying to keep him on beam for appearances sake, if nothing else, and the tension between them, and his brother's family, and both brothers and their families simultaneously trying to disguise issues in their families, keeping it all from the master of the house, whilst also trying to undermine each other.

The vultures are circling Big Daddy and most specifically, his vast estate.

...But he may have ideas all his own as a consequence of his recent illness.

It is actually, more of a Father / Son "Daddy issues" movie at it's heart, with other attendant family dramas in the periphery, but it all plays out superbly with a bang on cast, making for an all time classic.

If you've not seen it before, It's a max recommendation... If you have, might be worth watching again.

Along with The Hustler, my favourite Paul Newman film.

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I never thought Tom Arnold was very funny. I gave all of his stuff a chance, but not until True Lies did I ever see his shtick work. Despite that, I expected "The Stupids" to be what most people think it is anyway: stupid.

I was dragged to the cinema to see it by a couple of friends. One of them thought it was just OK, the other thought it was the worst film he'd ever seen. The latter friend, however, still laughed because during the movie, one man in the back of the room laughed hysterically at every joke, every gag. It was a great, infectious laugh and forced you to laugh along with him. Oh, there was only one other person in the theater...yes, it completely tanked at the boxoffice. Me, I thought the whole affair was brilliantly...stupid. That's kinda the whole point, which goes over most people's heads.

My tastes rarely align with the folks who listen to bland pop music, watch reality shows, read People magazine, or wear the latest fashions. If you're one of the Joneses, don't expect to get much from this under-appreciated John Landis satire. If you color outside the lines, however, you might wanna give this one another try, if only for "I'm My Own Grandpa".

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Yeah, not bad, surprisingly chucklesome! The big guy seems to be getting the hang of this!

OK, not perfect and surprisingly violent at times for this genre but really enjoyable. 8/10

:happy:

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Sinbad of the Seven Seas is an entry in the Sinbad series of films which includes the enjoyable and much better film Golden Voyage of Sinbad. They are knockabout family friendly action adventure films.

Seven Seas was produced by an Italian company and directed by Enzo Castellari who is better known for his excellent violent crime films and spaghetti westerns. I know he is a talented director, but this film is mediocre at best.

Terrible acting from Lou Ferrigno who looks absolutely jacked, but doesn't bring much charisma to the role. Stefania Girolami Goodwin is good looking and wears skimpy tops as the princess, but it's an underwritten and boring role. John Steiner is however fantastic as Jaffar, the evil wizard. He really hams it up and makes the film much more fun to watch.

The set design is decent with some truly weird setpieces like hot air balloons flying machines like something out of a steampunk novel. The special effects are truly terrible even for 1989, they would even be considered bad for an ABC TV movie.

This film wasn't the success Cannon was hoping for at kick-starting the Sinbad franchise again and it is a low point of both Enzo's and Luigi Cozzi's (the screenwriter) otherwise largely excellent careers.

The film has gone onto obtain a campy cult status. The UK Blu Ray has an absolutely superb print, sadly only 2.0 sound. The zombie having its arm ripped off is intact which raised the film from a PG to a 12 rating. Other than for John Steiner's hilarious acting I can't really recommend it.

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I just watched this film last night and being born and brought up in North Belfast I can categorically state that this movie is totally and utterly inaccurate in it's depiction of not only the areas involved but historical inaccuracies are rife throughout the movie. Me thinks that Mr. Brannagh has spent too much time in England. One of the opening scenes had the army coming down the street with a Tank, there were never Tanks deployed in Belfast or anywhere else in Northern Ireland and the first armoured vehicles deployed by the army were the infamous "PIGS", it wasn't until a few years after that they deployed Saracens with machine guns mounted on the top but absolutely never ever were there Tanks on the streets of Belfast. There's also in the opening shots a newsagents at the end of the street which said General Store, Tobacconists and Off Licence. Alcohol sales in Northern Ireland were very much restricted to Pubs, Clubs & Off Licences, normal ordinary everyday Newsagents would never have been allowed to sell Alcohol unless it was under the counter. There was also a shop owned by the "Singh" family, there were absolutely no shops in Belfast owned and run by the Indian community, in fact, you could've probably counted the number of Indian families in Belfast on one hand. It wasn't until the mid 70's that Chinese Takeaways started to open. On one of the Bus Stops the word "Omnibus" appears, again this is another inaccuracy, the word in relation to Transport just didn't exist. For me the biggest travesty of this film is the use, or should I say, the overuse of Van Morrison on the soundtrack. Van Morrison was somebody who didn't figure on the music scene here at all, he was regarded by many a complete numpty and I never knew a single person who had any of his records. The music soundtrack to Belfast of the late 60's and early 70's was very much either Pop music or in my case Progressive Rock and Psychedelia. In our circle Van Morrison was the epitome of "Uncool", he was a grump Extraordinaire who never missed the opportunity to rubbish Belfast. Peter Sarstedt and the Archies were cooler than Van Morrison and in my crowd it was more about Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, Captain Beefheart, Traffic and The Beatles. If anybody is looking for any historical accuracy in this film or even thinks that it's anywhere near accurate they are sadly deluded. For me it gets the big Raspberry, the hype surrounding the film was better than the end product and Kenneth Brannagh really needs to research his material before committing anything to film. Total Rubbish

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One of my perennial favourites.

Henry is a high flying lawyer, living the life with a beautiful wife and their young daughter in the swanky part of town, until a chance encounter in a convenience store which is being held up, sees him get shot in the head.

In an instant his, and especially his family's life is turned upside down, as Henry is returned to an almost child like state, as his former self is all but destroyed... no longer able to perform for his firm, and pay the bills in the process, what with his family being placed now in the position of carers for him, and to assist in rehabilitation, in so far as they can.

As the story unfolds, truths about the relationships within the family are revealed, and it turns out the family's life, beneath the surface, was not quite the bed of roses they presented to the world, and that Henry himself, was not exactly a nice guy.

Basically, Henry has to learn to be the new person he has now become, at the expense of the person he once was, and his wife and daughter learn to adjust, what with the impact this has on them.

It's a fantastic character study, which allows Harrison Ford to get some of his best acting done alongside the ever solid Annette Bening.

Although a very sensitive portrayal of the frustrations that people in such situations as his, perhaps due to stroke, or returning injured from war and the like must surely recognise and sympathise with, it is not without the occasional comedic moments that arise from such situations, as well as being a very warm and poignant family film...

(Movie about family, as opposed to one to sit down with the kids and watch, if you get my drift)

...And a long with Witness, one of Harrison Ford's best films outside franchise movies.

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City AM review :happy:

WEDNESDAY 17 AUGUST 2022 6:06 PM

In the five years since his debut film Get Out, Jordan Peele has established himself as a new Master of Horror. The promotional material for his latest work suggests he knows how popular he’s become, too: his own name is highlighted with equal prominence to the film’s title: Nope.

Taking place on a California ranch, the film follows two siblings, played by Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya, as they struggle to sustain a horse wrangling business following the death of their father. While facing the prospect of selling the ranch to local entrepreneur and former child actor Jupe, played by Steven Yeun, they notice an odd presence near the farm.

Suspecting it might be extra-terrestrial, the pair seek to get the “Opera Shot” Edit 22/04/23 - Having just seen the film, that should be "Oprah"! of the UFO that will make them famous. However, the pursuit of evidence puts them in the path of danger.

Nope examines our fascination with tragedy and celebrity. Peele mentioned the pandemic as an inspiration, and these themes give the story depth which, combined with a witty script and old-fashioned filming techniques, makes for a spooky story that’s a lot of fun to follow.

It’s all gorgeously shot. There are a number of memorable images, such as a field of inflatable sporting mascots (get tickets and you’ll see) which send a chill. Occasionally, Peele’s narrative threads bump into each other in a way that feels too chaotic: a subplot involving Jupe’s survival of a tragedy culminates in a horrifying flashback, for instance, but these can distract from the main journey.

But with a cast this impressive, there’s no harm in hanging around. One of the best stars around at the moment, Kaluuya’s first post-Oscar role is another example of the British actor’s range.

His character, the reserved OJ, is miles from what Kaluuya’s played in the past, but feels authentic and allows him to convey a film’s worth of emotions in just one look. Palmer serves as the other side of the coin as fearless sister Em, stealing many scenes with her quick delivery and there are memorable supporting turns from Yeun and Brandon Perea as UFO enthusiast Angel.

Nope may be one of the best acted films since, well, Get Out. A popcorn movie with a brain, Nope shows Peele has an ability to hold a mirror up to society while still being thoroughly entertaining.

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Joon: "You're out of your tree"

...Sam: "It's not my tree"

(One of my favourite lines in any movie :)

One of those movies that over the course of time, has unintentionally become one of my all time favourites...

...By virtue of the fact that I just keep watching it, when I want something light, fun, enjoyable, and warm to look at.

It's bit of a silly, absurdist comedy overlaying a more personal, poignant story of a brother (Benny- Aidan Quinn) who has raised, essentially, and is looking after his little sister Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson) in the wake of losing their parents to tragedy.

Benny wants a life outside of being a mechanic, and looking after Joon as best he can, but is resigned to his responsibilities , but Joon has grown and is now a young woman, who's PTSD based (+ unspecified schizophrenic condition) mental health issues make her increasingly hard to cope with.

Benny has the world in the condition he wants it, and can just about handle, when Joon accidentally wins the simple, uneducated Sam (Johnny Depp) in a poker game.

Sam is a bit zany, and has a thing for Buster Keaton, and Joon, being a young woman, despite her issues, is more than a little taken with him, naturally.

...So Benny now has to take him home, and the change in this household dynamic begins to shake his fragile family world apart.

There are some quite big issues here around mental illness, such as taking care of someone who has them, especially if you are struggling a bit yourself, and whether it is the right thing, or better for them to be "in care", but these are background, or contextual themes in the movie, lightly, and deftly handled, so as not to get in the way of the funnier aspects of mental illness, and the comedic moments that come of it, and it doesn't overdo it, or sermonise on the issues... it assumes an intelligence in the audience, and allows a lot to be a given, or understood.

That said, Mary Stuart Masterson gives one of the most sensitive and underrated performances ever here, as someone has is suffering with such things and she deserves much more credit for the performance than she gets. Mostly, this is because of Depp's Keaton style physical comedy performance largely overshadowed it...

(And is probably why people often misunderstand the titular characters of this to be her and Depp.)

There's another early performance by Julianne Moore as Benny's possible burgeoning love interest, waitress and former minor movie "Scream Queen", and is where The Proclaimers 500 Miles song really got brought to the wider world.

And a special feature is a novel way to make toast :)

[YouTube Video]

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Certainly one of the most inane thrillers of our time. Still, I can't get enough of films this bad, especially when the incompetent filmmakers appear to have had no idea what a turd they were creating. Some of the most embarrassing acting to ever disgrace the screen from folks like Charlton Heston, Karen Black, Sid Caesar, Myrna Loy, Erik Estrada, Gloria Swanson, Susan Clark, and even F-Troop's Larry Storch! Some performers manage to save some face (Efrem Zimbalist, Dana Andrews, Roy Thinnes - all wasted). The best line in the whole film -- and there's a lot of competition -- is delivered by Linda Blair, who plays a sick teenager en route to receive a kidney transplant. As her mother tries to convince her to get some rest, she explains how difficult that task is because "People are so interesting!" And don't even get me started on Helen Reddy's singing nun...

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Mostly enjoyable fun thrill ride Spy caper in the style, and with a feel of a Mission Impossible or modern Bond movie, but with the odd Marvel elements thrown in.

Falls a little flat towards the end, I feel, and doesn't quite hit the mark.

...Mainly, I think, because I was expecting a Marvel movie... more Superhero elements (which are in here, but not to the extent you'd anticipate) rather than spy movie... but also because even as a spy movie, it borrows too much from those kind of films, and you've seen it all before, and better from the likes of Bourne, and those other two franchises I mentioned... except watered down a bit for this audience, and a little diluted, and the impact lost by the addition of those occasional fantastical super-hero elements.

Cast is great though, Florence Pugh steals the show a bit, and probably the weakest is Winstone... not that he is bad, it's just his character is a paint by numbers villain that doesn't impress much (still, nice easy pay day for our Ray!).

The only other gripe, is a seemingly small thing, but an odd choice, nonetheless:

Johansson's widow wears mainly White! (?)

They've spent all these years building an identity for this character based around that slinky black business, then when she gets her own movie.... white.

....eh?

White Widow?

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Death Wish V is undoubtedly the worst in the series, but it's also much better than many action films of the 90s.

Charles Bronson returns as Paul Kersey for a paycheck. He looks considerably older than he did on the last Death Wish film and is nowhere near as sprightly; that said he still exudes the tough guy persona that made him so famous.

The plot involves Bronson's girlfriend, fashion designer Olivia (the gorgeous Lesley-Anne Down) being threatened by Irish mobster and ex-husband Tommy O'Shea (Michael Parks).

Unlike previous entries the violence is considerably toned down. It's also the first film in the Death Wish franchise to be re-classified as UK 15. There are no doubt some violent death scenes, but it is more in-line with 90s films like True Lies, Batman Returns and Darkman, in that it is more fantastical and more about the spectacle than the gore. This makes it worse for me; it's pretty much what separated it from films like Lethal Weapon in terms of action. There's no rape scenes in this one which is a good thing.

Bronson is still bad ass in this. I thought Parks looked incredibly cool as the bad guy, but he feels a bit like a PG-rated pantomime baddie than a nasty piece of work like The Giggler or Nirvana.

Overall it's a pretty solid popcorn action film and is recommended for fans of the series. Allan A. Goldstein has always been a mediocre B-Movie director, but this is one of his better films and the direction is really solid.

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Somewhere there's an interesting documentary to be made about the bizarre 70s Naziploitation genre.

This is NOT that documentary, in fact it's barely a documentary at all, merely a collection of trailers introduced by a tattooed stripper.

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Excellent animated comedy, could easily have been a King Fu Panda franchise entry.

Originally intended as a Blazing Saddles sequel - see Richard Pryor co-writing credit - there are many references to the latter dotted throughout.

I watched this on Cable and there was a parental lock on it, so it's not all fluff! There's a bit of violence there but literally of the cartoon variety.

The humour is very good, not as unsubtle as I might have expected.

8/10

:happy:

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Absolutely Batsh*t crazy brilliance!

The title is apt, in that it seems to be a collage of a movie, made mostly from bits and pieces of scripts and ideas, all stitched together to make something new and highly original...

... Like, all those things which might have been rejected or culled from other movies, have all been chucked in the pot, given a stir and this gloriously weird movie came out the other end.

In general, I've gotten off the "Multi-Verse" bus already, as it just seems like the latest lazy device used by Marvel and the like as a convenient way of rebooting, or prolonging a franchise and some bankable characters. Just as they used to use (and continue to use) time travel:

("Oh no, we've used up our one idea fort this character arc... quick... do-over! / reboot / time travel this franchise, so we can wring more cash out of it for another decade!")

The "multi-verse" / "many worlds" idea, just the latest one movie makers have latched on to from desperate, aptly named theoretical physicists who invent this crap as a way of plugging holes in their knowledge; Not actual science, or in any way, scientific..

But here, it's put to good use, and is very self aware of the ludicrousness of this concept, and doesn't try to sell it by taking itself too seriously.

It's an idea only, used to tell a story, and make it's point, about the real story.

And that real story is this probably the only time I can think of that has addressed what's going on in the real world around us right now:

The growing gulf, and schism that exists, between generations, with those of previous generations (up to, and including my own) feeling like the younger generations (millennials, gen-z-ers etc.) are increasingly alien, and incomprehensible, while they themselves, increasingly feel themselves dis-inherited culturally, and socially, and falling into a nihilistic despair... the chasm, this creates leading to an inter-generational warfare of sorts... here, actually realized.

As Michelle Yeoh, a mother in a family consisting of a very sweet, and optimistic husband (Short-round, from Indiana Jones!), staunch traditionalist Chinese father, and a young angst ridden gay daughter, struggles to balance these opposing forces and tensions within her family all the while, trying to keep the laundry business afloat, and deal with the taxes.

So there's a strong thread here that any struggling mother will recognise too.

But it's at the tax office, where it all goes completely sideways, and absolutely nuts... as, in the face of a gruff tax official (Jamie Lee Curtis, being brilliant :), her family members' consciousnesses are commandeered by other versions of themselves from other universes, in order to recruit her to help save the multi-verse from a malevolent omni-versal being, who is intent on destroying everything.

It's a martial arts movie, a sci-fi, a family drama, a social and cultural commentary, and a deeply personal story of a mother and her daughter with hot-dog hands (you must see to believe!), stick on googly eyes ("Google-eyes"), weird unsettling, even disturbing events (not for kids) that ends in the middle, and then keeps going until it's finished!

This is the kind of thing Philip K. Dick was great at writing... a wild apparently incomprehensible mess, from which the strongest and most powerful impression and idea is lodged in your mind, in a way more conventional writing fails to do, and for the life of you, you can't figure out how they did it.

I might mention Charlie Kaufman, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and the kind of movies they make, to give you an idea of what you are in for, but nothing will prepare you for this...

(Russo brothers produced this - Avengers Infinity War / Endgame directors)

...But once you start watching, you will be sat riveted on the edge of your seat, open mouthed, until the end.

But that's not to say it's all swirling dazzle, there's real substance, and warmth, heart, and bags of that pathos stuff.

I feel have seen something refreshing, and entirely new here, in a way I haven't since Spiderman: Into The Spider-Verse, which knocked me cleanout of my shoes!

Although still early, it's easily the best film of the decade so far.

(They'll have to go some way to bettering this in the coming years)

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Die Laughing - Below average slasher

Sam Coex (Steve Munroe) is a stand-up comedian who just can't get a break. After a rival comedian is murdered in what must be the only nightclub in town, Sam takes his place and goes on a prostitute and stripper killing binge.

The Comic has lofty ambitions, but it is hampered by a small budget and bad acting. Steve Munroe lacks charisma in the lead role and his Christmas cracker jokes are poorly delivered. In an odd design choice he also sports dyed, day-glo orange hair like a clown wig.

Any commentary about a dystopian society are hampered by an insipid script. This is not A Clockwork Orange or 1984 level of atmosphere. It's bizarre. The brutal guards look like weedy men and people get about in horse and carriage for unknown reasons.

For exploitation and horror fans there are some surprisingly nasty murder scenes with a fair amount of blood. Also a few long sex scenes.

This film has gone onto gain a bit of a cult status due to VHS tapes doing the rounds in the 90s and screenings at horror film festivals. It's a mediocre at best film and one wonders what the intended vision was had the budget been into the millions. The Blu-ray from Arrow has a sharp print, good sound and English subtitles.

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Gross-out comedies are not usually my cup of meat but, for some reason, this one grabbed me right from the off! So much so that I was worried it might burn out and just decay into an extended sketch!

Even now, a day after watching it, I can't put my finger on why I enjoyed it so much! It was my first SBC film and I have another recorded. Can't wait!

9/10

:happy:

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In general terms this film is a load of rubbish.

BUT time has been kind to it. The 80s synth soundtrack, the wooden performances, the shots of pre-mass tourism Barcelona - It's dum fun.

It's not for everyone but if you are a fan of trash horror then that's certainly what it is. If you are a gorehound however then you might find it a bit tame. There's not a lot of genuine horror and it has a very TV Movie feel.

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What on earth is this!?!!

I found the DVD of this, quite by accident, at a boot fair this week, and recognised it as being one of those: "You must see it before you die... or your life will have been in vain!!!" titles, that keeps appearing in various lists of this type...

... And so I watched it.

The version I have is on Artificial Eye, and is two discs, with only and hour of part one on the first disc, then you have to switch for the remaining hour and a half for part two, and that's once you've navigated the subtitle menu, sound set up screen and managed at last to play it.

First impressions are, that it's a bit of a misnomer to call it science fiction...

...Yes, the pretext is that a meteor crashed somewhere in "The Zone" and then, within this "Zone" is a room, where, if you journey to it, and visit the room, your greatest wishes will come true... but you never see any meteor, or anything "Science-fiction-y" at all, as this is purely a film following two guys on their journey there, led by a third man... a "Stalker", who is like a wiseman / chosen one / guide type of thing, who takes people into, and across the "Zone" to the room. And all this does is follow these guys as they speak of the mythology of the meteor and room, philosophise, and have conversations and arguments as they go.

Other than the Stalker's wife and child, oh, and the barkeep in the intro, there are no other people in the film, and this set -up I've described is the entirety of the substance of the film, from beginning to end.

So if you are waiting for Something to happen... it doesn't.

I can see why opinions become mixed about it, as if you are expecting a landmark in epic sci-fi, based on whatever preconceptions that term brings to mind, you won't find it here, but if you see, as I think I did, that this is, instead, a kind of parable, or allegory, like a fable, or Canterbury Tales type of journey, then you might be better served.

But there are couple of things to be said otherwise than the plot, or story, and which are truly remarkable:

First... that cinematography!!!

Holy shit!

...The first say, twenty minutes / half hour, are most strikingly shot set of masterpiece images I've ever seen, shot in a weird mix of Black and white, around a brown / sepia mid tone, and with a very definite Pink haze or mist for everything in the middle to far distance... and every shot is like some artwork painting... I mean, every one!

In fact, it gets so it's hard to look at, and coupled with the extremely long glacial silences, and inaction, or total lack of anything happening at all... dialogue, movement anything, it starts to feel odd.

...But al of a sudden: BANG! ......COLOUR!

And this really knocks you backwards.

These rich, lurid greens of the forest and the grey concrete remains of old buildings is strange to see, and every so often, the light either shifts back to that black/white/ brown / sepia arrangement, or the pink mist of the distance, invades, or impinges on the green foreground of the colour shots.

Over all, I'd say this is more of a moving video art installation than it is a movie... very, very arty.

But is there anything more to it, substance wise?

And secondly, I think there is, but it's not for me consistent with the aims, ideas, or objectives of science fiction, but more - Remembering this is a Soviet era made film- a veiled and deliberately obscure commentary of perhaps, a more political, religious, and artistic nature, in a way, I suspect, that could perhaps, not be pinned down by censors etc.

(I think the sci-fi set up was more to do with Mr. Tarkovskiy being able to say: "a political critique of the state of our country and the world?.... Noooo... don't be ridiculous... look, it's clearly a science fiction!")

I might, and indeed, will have to watch it again, when I muster the courage to do so, but initial thoughts are, it's the height of bleak pretentious artiness,, way too long, being stuffed with unnecessarily long shots which could have made the same points more concisely and effectively if some of them were significantly cut down, or even cut out all together, and to the extent that this could easily have been a movie short, or half hour episode of weekly TV play kind of thing.

(I also got the feeling Tarkovskiy is slavishly trying to capture some kind of Kubrick-ness in how he shoots his movie... and over-cooking it somewhat!)

So unless your ready to settle in for long, bleak, almost mesmerising bout of depression, I'd give it a miss, as contrary to those lists, and the opinions of film critics and the like, you won't really be missing out on anything that hasn't already been said... and better.

...You certainly do not need to "see this before you die"... nor in fact, any time soon.

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The last of it's kind.

(And, in a way... the first)

In that this, on the face of it, taps into the kind of movie prevalent in the nineties that looked at the life and lifestyle of the hit-man, from an alternate point of view... whilst doing so in a way that makes for a very cool film... and presents the lead character as a very cool dude.

For this reason, you will see a lot of movies like Leon, and Grosse Point Blank in it, and it certainly deserves to be seen if you like those movies.

However, it differs from those two, in that it's made by Jim Jarmusch, which may or may not, speak for itself...

...It means this is not going to be a conventional rendition of those kind of movies, and not loaded with relentless, fast paced action, or adrenalin fuelled set pieces, in the way they do. Instead, this is a more contemplative, philosophical, mood driven piece, and philosophy is in general, the subject matter as well.

For Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a lone hit-man, living on a rooftop next to a pigeon shed, with his beloved feathered, and for the most part, only friends, and conducts his profession according to his chosen belief system... The way of the Samurai.

On one particular job, which he conducts on behalf of a mobster who once saved his life, a small detail is out of place... the presence of a girl, who witnesses him in the act, and so the "mafia" that this guy works for, decides (ill advisedly, as you might imagine) to have Ghost Dog "whacked", to tie up loose ends.

This whole movie has a very dream-like, lo-fi quality to it, that just rolls slowly along, and is peppered with surreal, dream-like moments, and often, very funny ones, too!

The frequent Whitaker narrated text quotations from the Samurai text that appear on the screen act like chapter headings, or presage the principles of the segment that follows.

after a few watches, you realize this film is actually saying more in it's message though, as the underlying theme seems to be about the changing times, and how old fashioned ways can either help, or hinder life... The rather antiquated, and satirically rendered mafia guys are basically cartoons of the kind of scuzz-bags depicted in movies like Goodfellas and such... being hopelessly lost in a modern and changing world that has no place their kind any more... comically bigotted, racist, diagrams of proto-Godfather Italian American gangster stereotypes...

... And it's that juxtaposition of generations, that gives the giggles, like the mafia boss who likes dancing around his bathroom, whilst singing to Public Enemy :)

...This, undermining, or satirical message is overtly emphasised by the frequent scenes of people watching TV, and in which, every single one is watching an old, zany Loony-Toons style cartoon... so these "serious" men are sat watching Woody Woodpecker, or Betty Boop.

It's also, because of this, about a lack of understanding of the world around us, and how this can make some people fearful, and strange, in how they deal with that... In fact, this is said on more than one occasion by the gangsters: "The world around us changing"...

...They can't deal with it, but Ghost Dog, who's only other non-pigeon friend, his "Best friend", is a French speaking ice cream van owner, he plays chess with, can... Ghost Dog doesn't speak French, and the other guy doesn't speak a lick of English... but they accept each other, and get along.

So a low burner, with bags of unique atmosphere, strange juxtapositions, who's surreal products makes for a very, very cool film.

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