What did I just watch? They managed to actually end it with…

This is on Netflix under its original title of Calm with Horses:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/calm_with_horses

It’s a really good little film. Probably better than Tomorrow War from the sounds of things.

Yossarian wrote:

This is on Netflix under its original title of Calm with Horses: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/calm_with_horses It’s a really good little film. Probably better than Tomorrow War from the sounds of things.

The Shadow of Violence? What an awful alternate title. I really liked it too. How depressing/pathetic that they must think 'shit, people might think it's a nice film about horses, we better give it a generic tough guy title instead'.

Tomorrow War. Relax and Enjoy. Glorious, preposterous nonsense.



At one point I thought that for maximum nonsense value.

Kow wrote:

It's a great film. Really like Barry Keoghan. He's pulled himself out of a shitty place that's tough for so many to get out of.

He's fantastic. What a performance in The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

(was jokes innit)

Currently watching RoboCop the remake and and I can't put my finger on it but something's not quite right is it? I mean it should work, it's a stellar cast and there are one or two memorable set pieces - but did they really think they could eclipse the original in any way shape or form? I mean really, what was the point of even trying?

It's far from the worst of these attempts and Jackson is amazing as the TV guy. Gentle digs at corporate speak don't really have a chance against the original though.

From what I remember of the Robocop reboot it lacked the violence and cursing instead went for a done it 10000000 times theme of "but what is hew-man?"
Just awful shite. It added nothing.

Tomorrow War
Lol this was dumb fun. It made a certain amount of sense until the back half of the movie. At which point the stupidity ramped up something fierce. Astounding stupidity on show.

Robocop tv show?

You know, for kids.

Scout wrote:

Still have heartbreaking memories of buying 'Robocop 4' at the local market on VHS only for it to be an episode of the Robocop TV show. "Go on, Robocop, shoot him in the balls like in the first movie!" Ah, no, you've chosen instead of shoot the chandelier above him so it crashes down on his head instead...

Did you buy it for a dollar?

I liked yer man in the new Robocop but the whole point of the original is a commentary about excess on the 80s. The reboot could have looked at this in the modern era but focused on IS ROBAT MAN ACTUAL HUMAN

jdanielp wrote:

You know, for kids.

regmcfly wrote:

Well Annette feels like something we have to get a babysitter for.

It looks like it'll be quite the thing. The cast or the director would probably be enough to sell it alone, but Sparks make it irresistible for me.

Anyway, some films that I've watched...

The Sisters Brothers

Two Wild West hitmen brothers are sent off to dispense with a chemist who has wronged their boss - though it probably doesn't pan out quite how you'd imagine based on that synopsis. This sort-of Western follows the titular brothers from one adventure to another, seemingly always one step behind their quarry. It's a film about a lot of things - the quest for a better life, the cost of greed, love, family, servitude etc - without ever quite settling on what it wants to be.  That's matched in its tone as well, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes thrilling (ish), sometimes sedate.

It all results in a beautifully shot and performed piece that none the less never quite managed to land with me.  It's clearly the product of a great deal of love, but it never quite passes that enthusiasm on.

Saint Maude

I suspect I'm the last one here to have seen this, but still...  A palliative care nurse becomes convinced that God has placed her on this Earth to save the soul of her patient. This is one of those films where I can appreciate the quality whilst simultaneously failing to be swept along by it.  Generally speaking these sort of slow burn psychological horrors elicit little more than a shrug from me on an emotional level for some reason (see also Black Swan, Midsommar etc) and this left me similarly unmoved. 

None the less, as I say, it's an incredibly well made film.  Morfydd Clark is superb, and there is admirable restraint in the build up to the finale.  Definitely worth a watch if you're not quite as dead inside as me.
Cam

After watching this my wife asked me what she knew Madeline Brewer from, so we looked it up on IMDB (Handmaid's Tale).  As a result I then fell down a rabbit hole of reading user reviews, and being reminded that, once again, I'm largely out of tune with the rest of the world. Based on those reviews it's a film aimed at teenage boys that doesn't have a proper ending, doesn't make any sense and is a waste of 90 minutes.

Whereas I really liked it.  This is maybe all the more surprising given that I guess it technically also sits in the "slow burn psychological horror" column.  It's a film about a cam-girl who finds that her identity has been stolen by an apparent online doppelganger. The film does a good job of establishing "Lola's" world, and is that rare instance of a movie in which a sex worker is depicted as, well, a normal human being. (Rather than either a criminal or a victim.)

I genuinely don't understand complaints that it makes no sense, and if anything I would have preferred it to make less sense. 
Ultimately it's a film about identity and self determination as much as it's a film about sex workers or creepy doppelgangers. It's cleverer and more thoughtful than it appears at first blush - though I appreciate I may be the only one who thinks so.