I've hovered over that a few times on Shudder.  Will give it a look.

34. The Big Short - 29/7
I always find documovies like these where big corps fuck over the little people scary and make me very very angry. Good stuff.
[8]

davyK wrote:

The Blood on Satan's Claw is a British 70s horror flick about rural devil worship and it's actually quite good. The story is hokey but an interesting one and one of the scenes in particular - a ritualised killing - is quite disturbing. This is another one I recorded off Talking Pictures channel which has a triple bill every Friday Night and it's proving an interesting source of content. It can be watched here too.  https://www.tptvencore.co.uk/   Of course I can speed through the ad breaks as I have it recorded.

It's well acted and shot and shows an early example of what Wicker Man, VVitch and Midsommar have subsequently run with. A clutch of British acting talent to look for which is always fun. Worth a watch I feel.

Have heard of that one. Such a good title. Will be sure to watch it at some point

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I'm a bit of a fan of this - have the original on CD (all 5 phases) and the BBC TV series on DVD. I always told myself not to watch this but I was bored shitless and restless last night and thought this might entertain me.

Dear oh dear oh dear. It's a bloody mess.

The assembled cast is actually rather wonderful, as are their performances but it tries to fit the 1st series into one film which really isn't possible, and the changes that were made to achieve it grate. I find it difficult to believe that anyone unfamiliar with the original would know what the hell was going on.

The Vogon's were great, as were the Pythonesque special effects but the good bits make it all the more frustrating as it hints how great it should have been.

The guide animations were soulless and not as good as the old hand drawn originals the BBC did.  Loved seeing BBC Marvin there as an extra in one scene, but that only made this hurt a bit more. Serves me right.

"So long and thanks for all the fish
So sad that it should come to this
We tried to warn you all but oh dear"

35. Solaris (US) - 29/7
Not as beautiful or as good as Tarkovsky’s adaptation, but a good watch and thought provoking nonetheless. Would love to read the book but apparently the translation is shit.
[7]

36. Nomadland - 30/7
Slow to get going but once it does, it is beautiful viewing. Acting was very natural without any melodrama whatsoever which added to the steeped-in-reality feel of the movie. My initial feelings of guilt of living a relatively opulent life have way, after a while, to feelings of fascination and wonder and even curiosity of what such a life would be like.
[9]

68. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Pleased for Gilliam that he finally got his Quixote film made but couldn’t help but wonder how his previous failed attempt would’ve compared to this. There’s some great moments but too much just doesn’t really work for me. Driver and Pryce are thankfully on great form, their performances and chemistry by far the best thing here. Entertaining in parts but disappointing as a whole. [5]

69. The Gray Man
Quite hit and miss. Obviously a fair sized budget behind it but man does it look rough at points. Some poorly shot action sequences in the first half in particular. Someone got carried away with the drone shots too. On the plus side, a great cast shine through and the second half is mostly stronger. Evans hams it up as a great villain, the big set pieces work much better and Gosling finally seems to get some good dialogue. Tainted slightly by a weak ending and plot holes. OTT but enjoyable despite its flaws. [6]

51. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
These films get better and better as the series progresses and this one is a cracker. Some jaw dropping stunts and action sequences, peppered with humour and a great bad guy played by Sean Harris. The entire sequence starting with breaking into the underwater torus and then transitioning to one of the great chase scenes is an absolute masterclass in tension and adrenaline packed action cinema. 9

52. Possum
Another Sean Harris movie, which could not have been more different from the first in this unwitting double bill. A disturbing, weird, minimalist psychological horror that is like being submerged in a tank of 1970s British Public Information films. It's like Hauntology: The Movie as Harris returns 'home' to a dingy, decaying house somewhere in Norfolk - with some horrifying baggage both metaphorical and literal - to be reunited with his oozing, disgusting, belligerent Uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong). Both leads are phenomenal, but it's the destroyed beauty of the locations that really creates the uniquely British atmosphere of oppressive/oppressed hopelessness through which Harris's broken man trudges and tries to rid himself of his past. 9

53. Thor: Love and Thunder
Disappointing. Not as great as Ragnarok and although it has laughs and action aplenty it's a bit too try hard, contrived and silly to be really effective. Crossing the line from action-comedy to try to be comedy-action was a mistake - quite a few of the jokes were real duds and some bits, which were obviously only in there to try and get a laugh, were actively annoying. Zeus was great though. 6

89. Ambulance
I think Zack Snyder and Michael Bay compete to be the worst big budget Hollywood director currently working. This was fucking shit and just all the worst of Bay all the time. Shouting and sweating for no reason, men being Men, action that makes no sense and is impossible to follow and is not exciting at all, terrible ADR throughout, "humour", no story flow, and distracting camera moves that add nothing to the scene. Utter garbage. One point for Gyllenhaal.
[1]

hylian_elf wrote:

35. Solaris (US) - 29/7 Not as beautiful or as good as Tarkovsky’s adaptation, but a good watch and thought provoking nonetheless. Would love to read the book but apparently the translation is shit. [7] 36. Nomadland - 30/7 Slow to get going but once it does, it is beautiful viewing. Acting was very natural without any melodrama whatsoever which added to the steeped-in-reality feel of the movie. My initial feelings of guilt of living a relatively opulent life have way, after a while, to feelings of fascination and wonder and even curiosity of what such a life would be like. [9]

Two splendid films. The US version of Solaris is better than many give it credit for. I've read the book and it really delves into the science of Solaristics. It got a bit impenetrable on occasions but I thought it was fine. I intend to return to it.

Ffs

Controversial but the entire series of Predator movies aren't very good to begin with

Yossarian wrote:

The OG Predator might just be my favourite action film ever made.

I watched Predator 2 once, probably close to three decades ago. Don’t remember thinking much of it at the time, but who knows.

I did quite like AvP, but I know I’m alone in that. I remember enjoying Predators too, although it wasn’t great.

b0r1s wrote:

Predator OG is one of my most quoted action films. It’s a fantastic action film. Though the sequels are all trash. Will watch Prey as a fan of the OG.

Yeah, speak brother!