Movie record 2020 edition - The Bear and Badger

retroking1981

105. The Roaring Twenties - 8
WWI soldiers return home to mass unemployment and turn to a life of organised crime. Classic Cagney/Bogart gangster flick.

106. White Heat - 9
Cagneys best imo and one of the best gangster films ever made. Top of the World Ma!

107. Angels with Dirty Faces - 8
As much a story of morality as a gangster film, love the ending.

108. The Nutty Professor (1996) - 7
Got a real soft spot for this. Eddie Murphy is great but a young Dave Chappelle has the funniest scene in the movie. A rare case of preferring a remake for me.

109. Heartbreakers - 7
Crude harmless funny comedy, maybe a tad to long but I still enjoy it.

110. D-Tox - 5
Got fooled into this infamously bad film as its listed under the title Eye See You on Netflix. Definitely not good, but it was watchable.

111. Vanilla Sky - 5
To be fair, this gripped me as I was watching so it gets an extra point for that, but overall I didn't enjoy it and would rather have the two hours back.

112. Wild Rose - 6
A rebellious Scottish lass dreams of becoming a Country (& Western) singer in the US whilst juggling working class life as a single Mother. Decent film.

113. Girl, Interrupted - 7
Good asylum-movie, with some great performances especially from Angelina Jolie. Worth a watch.

114. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - 9
Powerful stuff. I've seen this countless times now and it still sticks with me long after the credits have rolled. One of the best.

115. Guest House Paradiso - 6
Basically Bottom The Movie, doesn't hit the highs of the series or Live shows but its good fun for Rik and Ade fans.

116. Awakenings - 7
A true story of catatonic patients who are woken by a new experimental drug. Another film that stuck with me.

My list

The Daddy

retroking1981 wrote:

106. White Heat - 9 Carneys best imo and one of the best gangster films ever made. Top of the World Ma!

I watched that one around this time last year after one of my GCSE kids insisted and loaned me the DVD. Great film.

retroking1981

It really is, I should check out some more James Cagney films. I've only seen the three I reviewed above and Public Enemies, loved all of them.

ShabbyMcCrabby

97. The Way, Way Back
A Little Miss Sunshine wannabe that goes alright apart from the parts that don't work so well. Almost could have been proper great but the good stuff is really good.
[7]

98. Rambo Last Blood
For a moment I thought it was going to go back to contemplative war veteran movie mode of the original. And then it doesn't.
[5]

Gremill

19. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Pretty terrible, TV movie standard see Tom run airport novel adaptation. The worst Cruise movie I've seen. (3)

20. Extraction
Opening 45 is some of the most balls to the wall hi octane action I've seen in a long time. It sags slightly in the middle third but is never less than entertaining if you don't think too much about the absolutely astronomical body count. Really enjoyed it. 8

poprock

Inception
It’s a weird one to go back to. Does a puzzle box still hold interest when you know the solution? I dunno. It’s still fun. Still visually brilliant. The ‘James Bond’ snow section still falls flat.

regmcfly

Yes it does and I think the action is outrageously good.

poprock

I love it all except for that third level. The snow stuff just does nothing for me. In a deliberately confusing section, where you’re flashing back to three ‘higher levels’ running at three different speeds, as well as forward to another … it’s just too much to set it with everybody covered head to toe in matching white camo and no visible faces. Who’s who? What’s happening? I just end up not caring. Everything else in the movie I love. Just not that part.

b0r1s

Great film. Enjoy it all

Dubs

Make me.

Grave of the Fireflies - Holy moly I'd forgotten about the shot of the mass grave. Exquisite. [9]

Still Walking - Familial guilt, shame and regret in picture perfect Japanese suburbia. I do love Kiki Kirin's face. [8]

Tomboy (2011) - More tender gender exploration from Sciamma. Always impressed by how much she gets across wordlessly. [7]

Pigskin Parade - Judy's first feature and it sticks to the template (sports film/musical) while supplying plenty of funny lines. Gently trolls fans by having her practically beg to sing, only for everyone to be like "nah it's alright kiddo". She eventually does of course, the cherubic toddler with this huge voice, and her three numbers do a great job of showing off her versatility along with her untrained talent. [6]

Bringing Up Baby - Literally just learned what screwball comedy is despite loving other examples of the genre. This one actually gets a bit stressful with people talking very quickly, loudly and all at the same time but there's a lot to enjoy. [7]

Listen, Darling - Fairly middling little Judy movie, not as sharp as the "putting on a show" films with Mickey Rooney. Starts strong with "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", later a mainstay of her stage act, and her second number is at least as good. [6]

Perfect Blue - Enjoyed being repeatedly disoriented by this until the end seemed to go for a literal explanation. I'd sort of checked out of the mystery aspect at that point, preferring to simply go with the mood. Really refreshing after watching so much Ghibli recently. [8]

Andy Hardy Meets Debutante - The Hardys take a trip to New York to save the orphanage! Andy acts like a total twerp and everyone around him saves his bacon while Betsy (Garland, now clearly not a child) still pines for him for some reason. These live and die on the strength of the numbers and, while they're decent, I much prefer the songs in Love Finds Andy Hardy. [6]

Webbins

105. Pontypool
A language borne virus interrupts a radio station’s day in this Canadian horror. More reliant on describing the action through Stephen McHattie's very good central performance as the DJ than seeing it, this wasn't quite the zombie fest I hoped it would be. 6

106. Daniel Isn't Real
Young troubled Luke locks away his destructive imaginary friend Daniel, only to release him later as an adult to sinister effect in this decent psychological horror. 7

107. Triple Threat
Martial arts heavyweights, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Tiger Chen, Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White showcase their disciplines in this shallow but well choreographed actioner. 6

108. When A Stranger Calls
Bobbins 2006 home invasion thriller remake. The opening 20 minutes of the 1979 original (I've not seen, but it inspired Scream's opening) was expanded into the whole film in this version. Light on terror and tension, the stress instead comes from the constant ringing of the bloody phone. 4

ShabbyMcCrabby

Have you been spying on my to watch list, Webbins?

Moot_Geeza

Aha, Pontypool. Was trying to recall the name of that while watching The Vast of Night.

The Vast of Night

Pontypool meets The Last Picture Show via The Twilight Zone. Also going to mention Mark Jenkin's Bait as they're both pitch perfect paeans for an era. Astonishingly good opening twenty minutes that slow-builds into a quality nu classic B movie. [8]

Moot_Geeza

Law Abiding Citizen

Unless I misjudged the tone and it's actually a spot-on deadpan genre pastiche this was genuinely one of the worst thrillers I've ever seen. [3]

Revenge of the Ninja

Move over The Raid 2 and Kung Fu Hustle, I'm pretty sure I have a new all-time favourite martial arts movie. [10]

Edit: Actually I forgot the first Ninja Turtles film, so RotN goes in at no.2.

Diluted Dante

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Law Abiding Citizen Unless I misjudged the tone and it's actually a spot-on deadpan genre pastiche this was genuinely one of the worst thrillers I've ever seen.

I gave up about a third of the way through the description on Wiki.

Moot_Geeza

Go back in and have a quick look at

Spoiler:

poprock

The Prestige
Nolan’s finest. Jackman and Bale’s obsessive magicians destroying each other over the course of a decade. Bowie as Tesla. Perabo and Johansson as glamorous assistants. Radiohead on the soundtrack. Still fantastic, from start to finish.

Moot_Geeza

My favourite of the Nolans.

poprock

Only Serkis threatens to derail it, and his part is mercifully brief.

Gremill

21. You Were Never Really Here
Great but grim film with a towering central performance from Phoenix. (9)

Moot_Geeza

Skyscraper

The sort of thing I'd imagine The Rock might be churning out in 2020 if he hadn't established his clout as an appealing action chops guy. Not (quite) shit enough to be so bad it's good and nowhere near good enough to be worth watching. [4]

regmcfly

Moot_Geeza wrote:

My favourite of the Nolans.

Also my favourite. Second is Insomnia.

poprock

Snowpiercer
Rewatching this without the initial ‘WTF am I watching?’ shock value reveals it to be extremely shallow and heavy handed with its ideas. Swinton still brilliantly bonkers though.

b0r1s

Yep

hylian_elf

43. Star Wars Ep V: The Empire Strikes Back - 7 June
Easily the best of the lot. Easily. Never a dull moment, an expertly crafted and paced episode. The lightsaber duel is among the best with the best lines.
[9]

44. Star Wars Ep VI: Return of the Jedi - 13 June
This is so dull in many places. The whole Solo rescue, everything on Endor... well that’s most of the film! Saved only by the great McDiarmid and the father son exchanges (spoken and lightsaber).
[7]

45. Star Wars Ep I: The Phantom Menace - 21 June
This was excruciatingly painful to sit through. It gets worse with each viewing (not that I watch often). Jar Jar is the most annoying and pointless and useless character ever. Midichlorians and all that other bullshit. So much happening by chance. So much wrong with this film. Glad to see the Duel at the end still holds up. At least it gets better from here.
[4]

Moot_Geeza

Gremlins 2

As a kid I dismissed this as a Secret of the Ooze level sequel, but I was miles off. It's absolutely bonkers but possibly even more entertaining than the outrageously entertaining original. G1 wins overall, but G2 is an absolute riot. My younger self needed a head wobble.

[9]

hylian_elf

Aw yeah 2 is good, a different kind of film to the first. What was the cute actress’s name? Phoebe Cates? I liked her.

cockbeard

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Gremlins 2 As a kid I dismissed this as a Secret of the Ooze level sequel, but I was miles off. It's absolutely bonkers but possibly even more entertaining than the outrageously entertaining original. G1 wins overall, but G2 is an absolute riot. My younger self needed a head wobble. [9]

As a christmas movie I still prefer the first, but like Alien vs Aliens (a thriller vs an action/fast zombie movie), gremlins 1 and 2 are very different movies and both very good at what they do

LivDiv

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Gremlins 2

As a kid I dismissed this as a Secret of the Ooze level sequel, but I was miles off. It's absolutely bonkers but possibly even more entertaining than the outrageously entertaining original. G1 wins overall, but G2 is an absolute riot. My younger self needed a head wobble.

[9]

I was watching Red Letter Media earlier and Jay was saying something about the director not wanting to do a sequel because he considered it dumb that it would happen again.
He eventually agreed and just made it schlocky and over the top. I think the movie benefits from it.

I saw Gremlins 2 before Gremlins, in fact I didnt see Gremlins until maybe 2010. G2 I rented from the video shop. Watching in that order the first movie is a bit limp.

g.man

Aye, that's a bad order to see them in.

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