Movie record 2020 edition - The Bear and Badger

ShabbyMcCrabby

79. Fellowship of the Ring Extended
I really thought watching the blu ray version would make the film show it's age with the added clarity but it ended up making it look even better. Did they touch it up? Or is it just the strength of the visuals that hold it together? I just wish PJ wasn't so keen on that stupid 'dropped frames' effect, ugh.
[9]

ShabbyMcCrabby

80. Freeway
What the heck did I just watch? Reese Witherspoon was great in this weird dark comedy thing.
[5-8]

ShabbyMcCrabby

Oh man, it's directed by the guy that did Tiptoes. Didn't make anything after that weirdly enough

Dubs

Bride of Re-Animator - More of Herbert dicking about making Frankensteins, albeit with less purpose than the first film. Which is fine but I think I would've been disappointed were it not for Screaming Mad George outdoing himself with the effects towards the end. [7]

Broadway Melody of 1938 - Another putting on a show plot, this time involving a race horse because who doesn't like horses? Lovely to see Sophie Tucker and Judy Garland playing mother and daughter but Eleanor Powell's the headliner and she's great, especially her final routine. I always wonder how much footwork goes to waste when the women wear long gowns so I was glad to see her stomping around in top and tails. She's every bit the female Astaire but with a level of gymnastic ability I'm sure old Fred never achieved. [7]

Brain Damage - There's some good stuff in there but the alley scene put me in a negative mindset. Found it both too silly and too mean, which gave me more appreciation of the way Re-Animator balanced horror and comedy. [5]

When Marnie Was There - Felt like it stretched the mystery too far and needed a more gradual reveal rather than a big info dump at the end. Not the best note for Ghibli to end on, I wonder if Miyazaki will manage to finish his new one before carking it. [6]

Eyes Without a Face - Gorgeous film, that mask is just realistic enough that it catches you out in the middle distance. Not sure if the surgery scenes are particularly effective or if I'm just squeamish with that stuff. [8]

Tempy

They're pretty effective from memory!

ShabbyMcCrabby

81. BlackkKlansman
A rather good film apart from the times that it's got some weird editing and writing choices.
[7]

poprock

Bombshell
Who knew a film about sexual harassment at Fox News could surprise anybody? It’s brilliant. Kidman, Theron, Robbie and Lithgow are all excellent.

b0r1s

Equalizer 2

Enjoyed it more than the first one. It’s all about the presence of Denzel and he carries it well. Nothing amazing story or action wise. Just a solid action film with nothing OTT.

[8]

ShabbyMcCrabby

82. Labyrinth
Still a classic. I'd forgotten how good the puppets and puppetry was in this, amazing work.
[8]

83. Only Yesterday
What a beautiful and beautifully quiet film.
[9.5]

Dubs

Ah, I loved Only Yesterday, it got me good. An instant favourite along with Whisper of the Heart, which is another I hadn't seen until it hit Netflix. Keen to try the dub for Only Yesterday as apparently it's really well done.

Make Way For Tomorrow - Old people are people too. Shouldn't be flippant as I found it genuinely touching. [8]

Hiroshima Death Match - Enjoyed it more than the first one so thanks for the nudge, Tempy. Appreciated the more prominent central thread to latch onto and enjoyed seeing Meiko Kaji as something more than a beautiful Terminator. I was also able to relax a bit more because I wasn't so worried about all the extraneous detail it throws at you. As long as you get the gist of it you can just enjoy the carnage. [7]

Ring - The film's most famous shot still works really well but One Missed Call did a better job of using the paranormal to tell a story about people. [6]

Assault on Precinct 13 - Hey that's Megablast! [7]

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai - You know what to expect and still the seppuku is pretty tough. It's not gory or even that explicit but the performance, sound effects and punishing length of the scene makes it incredibly uncomfortable. Elsewhere, it's pretty good! Looks great, some light skewering of tradition/honour/class and a circular structure which tbh didn't really work for me. [7]

ShabbyMcCrabby

We watched the dub and it was good. Although whilst her voice is very good I don't think main guy voice matched quite as well. Didn't distract too much though.
Need to watch Whisper too. There's a bunch of the non-Miyazaki ghibli that I never got around to.

retroking1981

Dubs wrote:

Ah, I loved Only Yesterday, it got me good. An instant favourite along with Whisper of the Heart, which is another I hadn't seen until it hit Netflix.

They're two of my favourite Studio Ghibli films, From Up on Poppy Hill is another fav that springs to mind.

hylian_elf

Only Yesterday is one of my faves, and Whisper of the Heart is great too! I don’t think my kids will like them so will avoid them in our Netflix Ghiblathon.

retroking1981

97. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey - 6
Weakest of the three but still 'excellent'.

98. The Accused - 7
Engrossing drama about a gang rape. Worth watching for Jodie Fosters performance alone.

99. True Lies - 8
Just about balances the comedy/action, feels bloated in places but is never dull, which for a 140min film shows just how entertaining it is. Tom Arnold and Bill Paxton are hilarious.

100. Hot Tube Time Machine - 8
Modern (Holy shit this is 10 years old!) American comedies often leave me cold these days but I find this hilarious and very rewatchable.

101. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 - 4
Terrible sequel, one of the worst I can think of. No wonder Cusack only made a cameo. Few chuckles at best.

102. The Country Girl - 7
Bing Crosby plays a washed up alcoholic actor who's wife, played by Grace Kelly, first appears to be at the core of his problems. Well worth a watch if your into the Hollywood Golden era.

103. Ben-Hur - 9
One of the true classic epics.

104. Definitely, Maybe - 6
Nice entertaining rom-com. Far from the best but decent enough viewing.

My list

Webbins

98. Pool Party Massacre
2017 tongue in cheek homage to the Massacre films. I liked this, entertaining trash, cheap and cheesey and quite funny in parts. Certainly better than some of the films it has been influenced by. 7

Don't mind the poster too.

nick_md

Breakdown - Enjoyable very 90s dusty California road thriller (which I'm a sucker for) with Kurt Russell searching for his wife who disappears during their road trip. 4/5

Terminator - An all timer, still stands up, lean and mean 5/5

12 Years A Slave - A good but unpleasant watch. Great performances from Ejifor, Nyong'o and Fassbender. Didn't know it was a true story 4.5/5

Insidious - Better than expected spookiness from the Blumhouse machine. Strong Poltergeist vibes from this, kept ratcheting things up throughout. May check out the sequels. 3.5/5

Hush - Surprisingly good, tense slasher-thriller. Small scale, doesn't outstay it's welcome. 4/5

Uncut Gems - Good and tense, but why does everyone have to shout all the time? 4/5

El Camino - Fine but was it really needed? Surprisingly didn't mind Aaron Paul in this. 3.5/5

The Purge: Anarchy - I like the concept of these films but this just didn't land for me, no real characters fleshed out enough to root for, and not as tight as the original and no real chops in the acting to anchor it. 1.5/5

Sinister - Didn't really go anywhere past the spooky-snuff-film premise for me, needed a better final act. 2/5

Lord Of Illusions - Scott Bakula stars, bit of a hot mess from Clive Barker (his directorial debut), but I enjoyed the premise (Barker always delivers on the memorable scenes) and some the effects were v.cool. A noir private-dick/Manson family/fucked-up Paul Daniels a-thon. 2.5/5

retroking1981

Webbins wrote:

98. Pool Party Massacre

Will check that out, got a soft spot for the Slumber party films.

nick_md

A Prayer For The Dying - IRA-hitman-that-tries-to-leave-it-all-behind story that never quite does what it sets out to I feel (convincing redemption story), but I did enjoy Mickey Rourke's hilarious accent and general brooding (he seems to spark a fag whenever he speaks to anyone). Alan Bates was decent as the London gangster kingpin brushing up against Rourke whilst Liam Neeson's in pursuit (rather pointlessly), but Bob Hoskins felt a bit out of place. Directed by Mike Hodges who, along with Rourke, disowned the film due to studio interference. 2/5

1922 - Tight, well acted period horror from a King novella, country farm murder is ahoy, but there's a price to pay. Didn't expect much going in, but was held throughout and the central performance from Thomas Jane was great. 3.5/5

Dubs

Fedora - Part of Mubi's Perfect Failures series. Wilder doing Sunset Blvd again, essentially, but the script lacks the sparkle of his best work and it didn't seem to have anything to add to what he did *checks* 28 years earlier. [4]

Babes on Broadway - Mickey and Judy put on a show for the orphans. "How About You?" is the best number for me, relying on their considerable chemistry and star power in a simple setting. "Hoe Down" comes a close second as it transplants that charm, fully intact, into an energetic production number. Can't imagine how it must've felt seeing Judy belt out a trans-Atlantic back-slap for the British war effort just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbour. Comes off as simultaneously facile and poignant to my eyes but I must say I felt a pang, despite finding modern patriotism queasy at best. I was thinking it was probably the best of theirs I'd seen and certainly the most consistently good. That is until they get to the big show and Mickey's character says "hey how about we put on a minstrel show!?" and just as you scream internally it cuts to "Blackout Over Broadway" and it's pretty hard to watch and goes on for what feels like forever. Just turn it off before that and it's around a [7]

Water Lilies - Sciamma's debut and it's really impressive. Highly recommended if you liked her latest. [7]

Ran - Can't say I was hugely involved in the plot but good golly it's a stunner. Especially the battle about halfway through where practically every shot is a knockout. How are you doing that, Akira? [7]

Our Little Sister - Celebrating simple pleasures, accepting death and embracing family in a beautifully captured small town. Also, lots of delicious food. Loved it, time to plunder Koreeda's oeuvre as I've only seen After Life and remember almost none of it. [8]

ShabbyMcCrabby

85. Horns
Close to a good movie but ruined by a bunch of bad creative decisions like flashbacks with vaseline on the lens and too many songs cutting in all the time. Radcliffe is good though.
[5]

hylian_elf

41. Laputa: Castle in the Sky - 17 May
Kids enjoyed this. I do like it, but not that much. It’s ok I suppose.
[7]

42. Star Wars Ep IV: A New Hope - 24 May
Kids have seen this before but don’t remember it much. As good and fun as it ever was. Looked so gorgeous on Disney+ on BoneX. Who the fuck is McClunkey?!
[8]

Diluted Dante

A new way to annoy fans.

Wookienopants

Underwater

As Mark Kermode called it, it's "wet alien"

Quite enjoyed it, loved the reveal of the big bad.

Spoiler:

poprock

The American
Beautifully shot slow paced Clooney thriller where nothing much happens. An enjoyable ’70s throwback.

Moot_Geeza

I enjoyed The American. Noticed it's on Netflix the other day, might rewatch at some point.

Webbins

99. Triangle
Mildly successful déjà vu/groundhog psychological seafaring thriller starring Melissa George, just lacking tension and bite. 6

100. Tomboy
Surgeon reassigns hit'man' Michelle Rodriguez with beard into Michelle Rodriguez without beard after popping surgeon's bro, our 'Chelle bit put out. Odd and bad, but I could watch Rodriguez all day. 5

101. Crawl
Alligators bother crawlspace imprisoned father and daughter during hurricane in this thrilling creature feature. 7

g.man

Aye, I'd been meaning to watch Triangle for yeeeeaars, as it seems to have somewhat legendary status in the mind-bending timey-wimey dept. Finally got round to it a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say I didn't rate it at all. Disappointing.

Webbins

No, the story didn't quite gel for me. Not necessarily a bad film just lacking.

poprock

Moot_Geeza wrote:

I enjoyed The American. Noticed it's on Netflix the other day, might rewatch at some point.

Aye, exactly that. Can’t believe it’s 10 years old already.

When it showed up on Netflix Mrs Poprock said she’d never seen it, so on it went. I think it stands up really well because it was always a bit out of time. Doesn’t feel dated because it was so retro in feel anyway.

g.man

Webbins wrote:

No, the story didn't quite gel for me. Not necessarily a bad film just lacking.

Yeah, it's a decent idea, but the plot needed a lot more work before they started shooting.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories