Movie Record 2022 Edition - The Bear and Badger

Gremill

6. Arrival
Just one of the best sci-fi films of the last (insert period here). 10

Webbins

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

15. Wrong Turn 2021
I'd say it's worth watching if you're into this kind of thing. Webbins.

Ha, cheers Shabs. Aye I'd seen it come up and was considering a watch. I'd seen the OG many years ago but dodged the many sequels. I'll add it to the list.

Webbins

9. For the Sake of Vicious
Is as the title suggests, a home invasion horror that solely exists to showcase vicious violence with little in the way of character, depth, credible premise... not terrible but hard to recommend. 6

10. Till Death
Megan Fox puts in a decent performance as a woman who wakes up handcuffed to her husband as he promptly commits suicide, leaving her to drag his body around a secluded wintery lake house. 7

11. Scream (2022)
Very solid and entertaining 'requel'. Doesn't stray too far from the Scream formula but updates the meta and adds some very nice touches along the way. Hopefully the sequels can remain equally as strong. 8

Gremill

7. A Quiet Place Part 2
Not as good as the first one, too much reliance on cheap jump scares and I actually got quite bored about half way through, which isn't great for a 90 minute film. You can't keep up that level of tension without it getting tedious. Good start and decent end, but a bit meh overall. 6

8. The Suicide Squad
Could have done with losing 20-30 minutes, but was good fun whilst it lasted - and OMFG the body count was spectacular. By far the best DC film so far. 8

davyK

The Killing is a crime / film noire by Stanley Kubrick. It's one of his earlier ones and the pace of it contrasts with his later work. It's a caper. A heist. A rip roarer. The dialogue is hard boiled. Snappy.

But it's Kubrick, and though it's very early Kubrick it's a bit different and has modern aspects to it. He plays with time, he repeats some scenes shown from different points of view. It's great. And it's influential - shades of Reservoir Dogs here.

And because it's Kubrick there's some iconic shots. Even though I have no memory of seeing them some shots are recognisable. The Emmett Kelly mask and the "money shot" at the end. They are somehow burned into the sub conscious.

And it has Sterling Hayden - a fascinating man and a splendid, under-rated actor.

Recommended. I have only one more Kubrick film to see - Lolita. I'll wait a while because being a Kubrick fanboy I hate to think of not seeing a Kubrick film I haven't seen before.

ShabbyMcCrabby

Oh there's more Scream films planned already? I was kind of hoping this was the capstone to finish it off. Works well as that

ShabbyMcCrabby

Surprised you haven't seen Lolita already Davy, it's great. Like the book it must have caused a fair stir at the time

Webbins

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Oh there's more Scream films planned already? I was kind of hoping this was the capstone to finish it off. Works well as that

I made a presumption but there's bound to be. There's a tonne of mileage in Sam's backstory, and they can retain Sid as Sam's guiding hand/occasional heroine.

Regarding Dewey...

Spoiler:

ShabbyMcCrabby

Webbins wrote:

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Oh there's more Scream films planned already? I was kind of hoping this was the capstone to finish it off. Works well as that

I made a presumption but there's bound to be. There's a tonne of mileage in Sam's backstory, and they can retain Sid as Sam's guiding hand/occasional heroine.

Regarding Dewey...

Spoiler:

I think... I hope he isn't dead. I know his 'death' was probably final, but it would be sad to lose Arquette from the franchise. His body was kind of not seen being carried from the hospital, the bodybag could have contained the cop that was also dead in the hospital, and Dewey's nine stab wounds were referred to on a couple of occasions... is he unkillable? I'm reaching here, he looked pretty fucked in that awesome death scene.

Spoiler:

Been meaning to watch that doco on Arquette and his wrestling. Supposed to be good.

davyK

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

Surprised you haven't seen Lolita already Davy, it's great. Like the book it must have caused a fair stir at the time

Surprised myself. James Mason is always worth a watch. I was kind of waiting until I've read the book. Did that a year or two ago now.

Gremill

9. Another Round.
A beautiful hymn to the highs and lows of alcohol, shot through with a heartfelt and often hilarious study of middle aged men and the things that make us the way we are. This may be the best film I watch this year - I can't think what might be better. It's rare that a film can make me cry with joy, but goddamn that final scene is perfect. 10

Moot_Geeza

Hadn't heard of it until yesterday. Will watch tonight.

hylian_elf

Is that the one with Mads?

jdanielp

Mads' dancing skills

davyK

The bit

Spoiler:

Cos

8. Spider-Man: No Way Home
Thoroughly enjoyed this overall despite a few minor grumbles throughout. Another film in need of trimming 20 mins or so and there was an overly sentimental tone at times - too many lingering close ups with mawkish music.

Spoiler:

The rest was a blast though and I found myself grinning through most of it and enjoying all the nods to previous films.

Spoiler:

[8]

Gremill

10. Guns Akimbo
Harry Potter stars as a loser computer programmer who trolls the wrong people and end up on a Running Man style versus deathmatch with a psychotic mass murderer. Very, very violent, very very stupid but tonnes of fun. 7

davyK

Belfast Not sure how to classify this. It's a work of art though. The wee lad is great but the 'oul fella - Ciaran Hinds - as the Grandad steals it for me. You can't take your eyes off him when he is on screen. And given he shares most screen time with Judi Dench that's going some. The cast is great throughout however.

For someone like me there's a sense of nostalgia mixed with a sense of frustration and sadness at the inevitability of it all. Could something have been done at the delicate time of '69-70? We will never know. But something had to be done about the two tier society - and humans don't seem to be able to resolve that without violence and suffering.

Branagh was interviewed on BBC Ulster this week about it. When asked if he was proud of the film he started crying. And I know why. I can't explain that. People from here who don't have the anger that some (likely rightly) have instead feel a deep sadness. This taps into it.

Ken should be proud. This is a wonderful film and a wonderful piece of art.

hylian_elf

5. Avengers Infinity War - 21/1
The Boy (and I) wanted to watch this, our favourite MCU movie, on my 4KTV with Sonos on surround. Glorious! Lovely looking and sounding non-stop action with Thanos stealing the show. Still unbeaten.
[9]

Paul the sparky

davyK wrote:

Belfast Not sure how to classify this. It's a work of art though. The wee lad is great but the 'oul fella - Ciaran Hinds - as the Grandad steals it for me. You can't take your eyes off him when he is on screen. And given he shares most screen time with Judi Dench that's going some. The cast is great throughout however.

For someone like me there's a sense of nostalgia mixed with a sense of frustration and sadness at the inevitability of it all. Could something have been done at the delicate time of '69-70? We will never know. But something had to be done about the two tier society - and humans don't seem to be able to resolve that without violence and suffering.

Branagh was interviewed on BBC Ulster this week about it. When asked if he was proud of the film he started crying. And I know why. I can't explain that. People from here who don't have the anger that some (likely rightly) have instead feel a deep sadness. This taps into it.

Ken should be proud. This is a wonderful film and a wonderful piece of art.

Top actor

b0r1s

hylian_elf wrote:

5. Avengers Infinity War - 21/1
The Boy (and I) wanted to watch this, our favourite MCU movie, on my 4KTV with Sonos on surround. Glorious! Lovely looking and sounding non-stop action with Thanos stealing the show. Still unbeaten.
[9]

The Disney+ IMAX version? It’s wonderful.

hylian_elf

Yep. Beautiful!

poprock

Inside Job
Strong documentary on the role of the US in the late-2000s global financial meltdown. Some surprisingly high profile interviewees, but ultimately it just makes you angry (and rightly so).

ShabbyMcCrabby

Cos wrote:

8. Spider-Man: No Way Home
Thoroughly enjoyed this overall despite a few minor grumbles throughout. Another film in need of trimming 20 mins or so and there was an overly sentimental tone at times - too many lingering close ups with mawkish music.

Spoiler:

The Aunt May stuff was really overdone in particular.

The rest was a blast though and I found myself grinning through most of it and enjoying all the nods to previous films.

Spoiler:

Bringing back the villains from the older films was brilliant. Lots of great moments with Doc Ock in particular and when Garfield and Maguire turned up, almost everything after that was so much fun. It wasn't up there with Spiderverse which did the concept much better but the history of having seen those other characters made a real difference. The whole 'everyone forgets Peter Parker' thing didn't sit right (Happy still knows Spider-Man but not Peter - how does that work?) but really, I was somehow left really impressed that they pulled the whole thing off!

[8]

Spoiler:

ShabbyMcCrabby

16. Speed Racer
I mean it's a nailed on, god-danged mutha fuckin filmmaking masterpiece is what it is.
[10]

17. The Beta Test
Jim Cummings finishes his Fragile Male Ego trilogy in classy fashion. I'll need to read about it some more and think some more to pick it apart. He's excellent at playing that role but I hope he heads in a different direction for his next thing
[8]

hylian_elf

6. Cold Water - 22/1
Troubled rebellious teenagers in love caught on film basically. Shot on a low budget using a handheld 16mm camera, mostly close up shots with lots of tracking and long takes. A good watch.
[8]

7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - 22/1
How did this stuff ever become so popular? Better start getting good soon. At least the kids like it.
[5]

poprock

Promising Young Woman
Breezy but awkward revenge thriller. Or is it a comedy? Either way, I did not expect how dark it got.

b0r1s

Yeah that final scene was fucking uncomfortable. Which I guess was the point.

ShabbyMcCrabby

The third Harry Potter is the one made by Alfonso Cuaron and so the filmmaking quality jumps up significantly and it's the style he added to that film that carries on through the rest of the films.

Doesn't mean they're the best films ever but they certainly feel like better made films

Gremill

11. RoboCop (2014)
This is not as shit as I thought it was going to be. Some great actors and an interesting take on the character make this actually quite a decent movie. It's not trying to be Verhoevens RoboCop and it works quite well on its own terms. 7

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