I think the only way to review this properly is to state the basic premise:

Fish out of water "big city type" doc gets stuck in smalltown USA for life re-evaluation experience...

(Not new, or original, perhaps, but perfectly executed)

....And then, perhaps, offer some words, with which an informative word-cloud can be composed:


Wholesome, warm, charming, fun, funny, sweet, witty, 90s, Michael J. Fox, Chesney Hawkes (You know the one! :), Woody Harrelson, Bridget Fonda, Julie Warner, The dude from M.A.S.H, The grandpa from The Lost Boys, Summer Squash, Car, Fence, Judge, Smalltown, quilt.

...Or just watch it, it's awesome :)

(Having now seen: Local Hero, there are striking similarities in plot - but even that is nothing really new - just great).

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Excellent sequel... In fact, Excellent movie in it's own right!

This ranks alongside Blade Runner 2049 in the standard of what a sequel can do, and, if you are going to do it (and accept the baggage of expectation that comes with living up to an original classic movie), should be.

There's a great nod to the original in the opening scenes, looking, feeling and moving like a mere continuation of that first movie - they've really captured the feel of that here, to the extent that it gives you mild chills!

...And the last twenty minutes found me grinning like an idiot with a suggestion of a tear or two in my eyes.

...But everything in between is fantastic in it's own right, and is it's own, well crafted, and engaging story, brilliantly told.

This one gives you a lot of what you'd want from it, a lot you didn't realise you wanted, and sends you away happy as Larry :)

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Had an hour to kill today so I stopped by a cinema and chose "Wish" as I often like a bit of Disney. I didn't really enjoy it for two reasons: it was excessively "cutesie", nearly all its characters, especially the animals and the heroic little emoji-"Star" were insufferably cute. The only characters I found remotely credible were King Magnifico and Queen Amaya until they went downhill and were deemed 'baddies'. Second, the storyline didn't engage me, just as the storyline of "Phantom of the Opera" didn't; I just didn't care what happened to any of them. Pity really, and I was pleased to leave early to meet my friends.

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Not bad, Colin Firth lifts it above the ordinary :happy:

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Getting in with the wrong crowd!


A triumph of economy.

Just got a super-cheapo charity shop DVD copy of this, and watched it again...

...And what struck me most is how lean this is... everything about it, from budget, to script, performances and pacing.

It basically jumps straight in, with a lonely cowboy dude guy noticing a mysterious girl, "wooing" her, getting bitten by her, trying to get home, while noticing he's not feeling so great, the girl's "companions" - vampires by their proper name (never referred to as such in the movie) - decide they don't want him bitten, so catch him in order to kill him, realise they might want him bitten after all, so long as he proves himself a proper vampire, he decides he does, then he doesn't, they don't like this, and decide to kill him anyway, and so chase him down and persecute him while his family (Father and sister) are looking for him, after this initial mysterious disappearance.

...Well, that's the plot taken care of!

But this wastes zero time in set up, back story, origins for each of the characters, there are no "character arcs" (They are what they is), no sets to speak of, no special effects (except the masterfully shot and presented fiery finale. There are no stakes to break the vampires' hearts. no garlic, no crucifixes or holy water, or any of that old jazz...

...This is literally, a handful of actors and crew who have driven through a sparse southern US state at night, looking for moody, deserted locations to grab a shot or film a scene... in the can, and thank you very much!

(The budget appears to have mostly been spent on a smoke machine and a flood light to back light it by - tremendously effective in the otherwise empty nightscapes)

The lack of back story or characterisation works perfectly for these vampire characters, as it gives them the air of the unknown, and and therefore a mystique, which makes them horrifying.

Only their actual characters (Characteristics / personalities) and the occasional line from each, alluding to some origin and story is given, and what these allude to, as well as the implications of how they not only came to be individually, but how they became a group, are, though not explicitly stated, even more horrifying for it.

Bill Paxton is is the real star of the show, hamming it up to the max as a deranged psycho -biker vampire (say that when you're drunk! :), and is incidentally, the only one of them who doesn't even give one clue as to where he came from, or came to be... not one line - which makes him even more terrifying even than the rest!

The most disturbing character is the kid vampire - apparently may be the oldest of the lot, stuck in a child's body, and this character seems to imply things in places we just don't want to go to!

PC it ain't, Twilight it ain't, and these are not swoon-able romantic figures, although they are tragic - but not in a way that elicits from the audience any sympathy for these particular devils...
...No, these are proper monsters, tragic in a pathetic, horrifying way, eliciting only disgust and fear.

Just shows you, with such meagre resources, a great idea, properly utilised, a great, moody horror movie, in the Carpenter-esque style can be achieved.

Bags of atmosphere, all making for an ideal late night watch.

(Would make a great study piece for film students, in this regard).

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The best superhero movie ever made.

...Bar none.

This is how you do it, and this is what superheroes and their movies are supposed to do for their audience:

Evoke the basic feeling of the truly wonderous, within the everyday, in such a way as to allow the viewer to feel that such things are within the bounds of the possible, and so inspire them at the deepest level.

Mmmmmm... Night's genius in this regard is to realise that in order to do this, you've got to pull this kind of movie, and the characters down, out of the clouds, allow the physics of it to be close enough to reality that the audience is willing to stetch their suspension of disbelief out to meet you half way. And then, strip away the fantastical, convoluted, plots that plague more recent cinema superheroes, as well as the primary coloured spandex costumery...

Show us the man...

...The man burdened with extraordinary circumstance, and how he struggles to make sense of it, and already you have the essence of the movie - the drama, the plot, and the wider story taken care of, in a way that allows the audience to sympathise, empathise, even with his exceptional abilities.

Being so lean, and focused, and with the story, along with cinematography, score, performances and direction conspiring to make the everyday grandiose, epic, and significant, while at the same time being the most intimate, personal portrayal, we can believe in the dash of the extraordinary in that everyday as we really want to, until the finale, where we are given that moment of relief of the tension created in the drama in a thoroughly transcendent, euphoric release.

Because it is this very feeling that you evoke in the audience is why they go to the cinema to see superhero movies, and when they work, the feeling that the film-makers tap into successfully, and when they don't, because they have gotten too far away from it, and concentrated too much on the superficial - the dazzle, the CGI, the excessive plotting and knots they tie themselves in to desperately try to sell the ever more unbelievable physics, and fantastical nature of what is shown.

Stripped down to bare wood, this is the purest portrayal of a superhero you will ever see, an ordinary man who is struggling to reconcile himself to the fact he might not be so ordinary after all.

And it's got all the feeling.

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Sweet Jesus!

I know some film-makers gather a reputation through being bold, daring and offensive, in order that we should bow our heads at how little understood they are, and therefore we must bow our heads in reverence... after all, if we don't understand it, it must be genius... right?

And while Dear old Lars certainly has a flair, even a vision in film-making, it feels like he just wants to see how far he can push that unquestioning, and unqualified worship, by being as deliberately offensive as possible.

(I'll never forgive him for putting an image of my sweet, lovely Bjork dangling from a rope in my head in Dancer In The Dark!)

...For this is bleak, grim, and nasty.

I'm sure others will pontificate about the deeper meanings and such, but it seems only to inform us of the perils of home-therapy, in the wake of a tagedy.

(You may be married to a psychiatrist, but that is what Defoe's character comes to realise at his cost, is the very thing that should disqualify him from attempting to fix his wife)

Some truly nasty scenes, and images in this you just don't need in your brain.

Shocking... absolutely.

...art... possibly.

.....Good..... not so much.

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Only mildly amusing, and mildly interesting from Coens, and probably one of their weakest movies.

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This was great, as I remember...

...Very much like District 9 or Monsters, with respect of the quality of the production, and that it is punching well above it's weight, budget wise, and also like them (Although this is horror / creature feature) it has a great story idea to propel it and well told too!

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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).

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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? :)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Turns out they do make 'em like this anymore!

Good heavens!

(Thought I) after having watched this:

"Film-makers are actually still capable of making a real movie!"

For this is nothing less than a work of cinematic art... From the incredible cinematography, the sublime soundtrack mix of easy, lo-fi jazz and cello based classical mood pieces, through the tight an thoughtful stage-play style screenplay, with excellent dialogue delivered very naturalistically by the entire Oscar worthy cast, right down to the subtle camera movements, editing, and the need not to smash the audience over the head with statements about society or as a platform for "activism", despite it's subject matter.

It assumes an intelligence in the viewer, and a certain familiarity with it's themes, but concentrates entirely on the characters, and their interactions, which conspire to create the story:

Here, the story of a young woman who has become pregnant by her childhood sweetheart, and the family drama that ensues when her own family must be informed, as well as her boyfriend's family.

This though, is further complicated by the fact that the boyfriend has been convicted on the suspicion of rape, so she is coping with all this, as the film follows her through a chronological narrative, interspersed with flash backs, all expertly interwoven in a wonderful, seamless mosaic.

The civil rights issues, only serve as a backdrop against which the personal, and very human drama takes place. We can see the issues at hand, and don't need a neon sign style expositions of them, instead, they have bearing only in how they affect the two young lovers, and their soon to be family.

The whole thing just tells this personal tale, as a portrait of the two, and specifically, from her point of view, as the brief overlaid narrations she provides tie the thing together, as the whole movie moves as one perfectly realised whole, gently, easily, and artfully through this juncture of their lives.

I've already used the words: Art, and artful. but could also use the words: Beautiful, poetic, balanced, poignant, thought-provoking, tender, sensitive (at times funny), as well as tragic, sad, and sombre.

Wonderful movie.

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Wow, and indeed, at the same time.... Oh no.

Having mentioned just the other day, how The Matrix sequels really annoyed my by being split on a cliff hanger... this does exactly the same!

Except, with respect, it was marketed this way from the outset, so I knew it was coming.

(Glad I didn't watch it in the cinema for this reason, therefore - I really do resent it, cinema not being the place for TV soap style cliff-hangers in my opinion: "Tune in next year to find out what happens next...." Grrrrrrrr)

But also, I see what they did with this, in order to up the ante: as if the first film was akin to a comic book, excellently paced, well tied up, and perfectly self-contained, this has ambitions to be the equivalent of a graphic novel, in terms of scope, and scale, and so requires the two parts.

That said, the action is frantic, and a blizzard of new characters, action and... stuff, happens all at once, a lot more hectic than the original, so that it's difficult to keep up with, and then you have these other, dramatic moments that, in direct contrast to this, grind proceedings almost to a halt - the personal dramatic moments go on too long - dramatic pauses etc,

Some scenes, and indeed, the art-work / production design are a clear step up even from the original (did not think that was possible!), but this is altogether a more "involved" affair, whereas the casual viewer can enjoy the first, this goes a little bit more into comic fan "lore" land, which may lose a lot of this audience.

If you are into it to this degree, you'll probably like this even more, but if, like me, you are only a casual comic book movie fan, but more of a general movie fan, this won't be as good as the original... just by a shade or two.

The first, beyond the comic book nature of the film, was just good movie making, and story telling in general, this lacks somewhat in this regard, and so is more of a Comic-Con fanbase movie.

But, I will dutifully await the next one, I suppose, and resign myself to the fact that, along with this, and Everything Everywhere, All At Once, this is how movie are going to be from now on, rather than a fresh, exciting, and original experiment, everyone is going to jump on this band wagon, of nutty, frenetic story splat, story telling, which will inevitably become the contrary: Same-y, bland, and unoriginal.

But this was enjoyable, and worth watching for all that.

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Weird, quirky little film.

There are two basic associations to be made in connection with this movie, in order to convey what it is about:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and A Clockwork Orange.

(Not bad company to keep, I'd say!)

But this is basically a three man stage play (with a couple of other peripheral characters), about a troubled soldier, who gets arrested for acting on his mental disturbances, one night, and finds himself farmed off to a country mansion to be experimented on by a Doctor, in order to "fix" him, under the auspices of the military, as part of an experimental project.

He is interred with an equally troubled room mate: also ex-soldier: Ronny Cox...

(Who's wild, brash, charismatic character basically steals the show)

And it's essentially a "talky" movie, which feels like it exists somewhere between the flower power sixties and the seventies, in terms of tone, and subject.

The obvious theme is a direct allusion to the Nazi experimental programmes, and the ideas of free will, and person-hood.

There's a disturbing rape scene, the consequence of the situation acting on Cox's already disturbed mind, but thankfully, this calls things for what they are, which contrary to modern popular belief, doesn't fall into that idea that people back then didn't realize what things were, or think of them other than the crimes they are - "It was a different time..." etc.

...No. this is proof to the contrary.

A weird, sixties "Groovy" soundtrack tune at the beginning, and a little later, quite an intriguing Tangerine Dream style tune... But other than this, it is a fairly flat out, stage play style drama, rather than a "movie", so to speak.

The three central actors here all give very strong performances, that essentially carry the show:

Joss Ackland's doctor, and the two inmates: Walken and Cox.

The only other point of note is the many names this seems to go by for some reason:

As mentioned in notes, as well as: The Happiness Cage, and as the title screen shows: The Mind Snatchers, it also seems to go by just: Mind Snatchers, and indeed, on the packaging of the DVD I watched this from: Mind Snatcher.

Bizarre.

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