Horsemen  Straight to DVD film with Dennis Quaid in the lead. It's an interesting idea - serial killer following a theme a la Seven - but the film is a bit of a shambles and has a highly unsatisfactory ending. At least it has the decency to not overstay its welcome. There's a very good film here - and there's no shortage of talent in the technical presentation and performances - it's just been misdirected and the script needed more work.

And it’s way too long. Almost three hours? If you’re going to do non-stop fight scenes it really should be a tight 90 minutes.

6 Days Solid telling of the Iranian embassy siege in 1980 with Jamie Bell and Mark Strong in the lead and the charming Abbie Cornish as Kate Adie.

I remember the event quite well even though I was only 14 - remember the snooker getting interrupted (Alex Higgins playing Cliff Thorburn in the world final).  It's recreated very well - that original footage is seared into anyone over an age when it happened and saw it unfold on TV.  But there was a great deal going on behind the scenes so it's informative presuming its accuracy.

Good stuff though doesn't set the world alight. It comes across as a bit TV film.

Little Bone Lodge

Some right naughty Scottish toerags get into some bother and wind up at a secluded estate where Joely Richardson is the mum and everything isn't quite as it seems.

Joely is fantastic as the fierce matriarch and it drip feeds clues before ratcheting up the tension. Great ending too.

Asteroid City
In news that will surprise no-one I enjoyed this. It felt a little like Anderson had taken everything that was subtext in his previous films and made it explicitly The Text so that those of us without an A-level in film studies definitely wouldn't miss it this time. That said, it still feels like there's a lot in there to unpack, and I'm quite looking forward to seeing it again. (And whilst the subtext is now explicit, I can see film studies lecturers cursing him for years to come as you can write reams on the details in here.  I can picture 2000 words on "The Significance of the roadrunner in Asteroid City" already.) 

Similarly it feels like it's the Anderson film that's most obviously About Something.  It practically stops to make its point at one stage - and if you still somehow missed it, there's a handy (and lovely) Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley song on the end credits to make sure it lands.  

None of which detracts from the overall Andersoniness of the whole thing. Indeed, again, if anything the dial is turned up to 11, you're just left in no doubt that all the artifice is entirely deliberate. The shots are still immaculately (sometimes literally) staged. His sense of humour is unchanged.  (Not for the first time I found myself the only person in the cinema laughing at some stuff.). I think pretty much everyone he's ever worked with, barring Murray, turns up here, though some for literally seconds - despite the starry cast, the movie's stolen by 3 kids.

I was maybe slightly less amused by this than some of his movies, but oddly found myself more moved, and it's been scratching away at my head since watching it.  I suspect that's purely because I'm a sucker for a bit of existential angst, and this film has it in droves.

65. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom [8]

You know what? This is great. I approached this sequel expecting to be a bit let-down but its a actually brilliant fun with some fantastic set pieces rolling into each other. In fact, i think this is more "Indy" than Raiders which was a bit more serious. Ford is great and while the movie is maybe a bit dark, is it really that much of a change from Raiders? Dont really think so. This is more tongue in check and the violence and darkness feels like it fit perfectly with other mid 80s classics like Gremlins, ghostbusters and Goonies (Go Gs) Its not perfect but it flies by.

Odd thought - there's a big rack of film "critics" who always moan when a woman is shown beating the crap out of some big guy yet I reckon they had no problem with Short round doing likewise in this. 

66. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusafe [8]

Finishing off the original trilogy this should be the best of the three. It has the better balance between Temples action and the more serious aspects of Raiders. It also has a fantatstic comedy turn from Connery which I didnt remember as being so good. Seriously, oscar nomination worthy as a supporting character. 

But even in a movie serious as fantastical as the Indy movies, this does have 2 plot points which really stand out as pure bollocks. The first is the after the boat chase where eveyone just parts as friends - wtf? And the trip to Berlin, while providing a funny gag with Hitler, pushes the plot into farcical territory - whether its the Jones boys just riding in on a bike, finding Elsa in a huge crowd in berlin or being able to sneak onto the blimp with no bother just makes for a sequence which is poor. But the film rebounds with a great ending and the stunt work with the tank is great stuff. Connery though is the real star of it all. 

Overall, really enjoyed the Indy trilogy. Each film brought something new and all stood on their own.

67. Star Wars - Return of the Jedi [7]

Maybe I'm being a bit soft but... this isnt as bad as I expected. Sure, the ewoks etc. but outside of that its a decent enough finale with a nice opener (sure Lukes plan is stupid but it stills is an overall good sequence) and ok middle (the speeder bike sequence overcomes the matt screen effect). Yes, its maybe too focused on Lukes story and yes, its not as well paced or executed as Empire but its still more than fitting as a trilogy conclusion. 

68. Asteroid City [7]

One of the prettiest films I've ever seen, I reckon you could pause it at any moment and you would have a 50s postcard. I know not everyone likes WAs stuff but I still enjoyed this. Quirky, interesing and engaging it might not appeal to all but I'm looking forward to another trip to asteroid city.

69. It Could Happen to You  [4]

So mid 90s new york it hurts. Harmless Nic Cage flick with Bridget Fonda that just trundles along and aims for feel good. Its ok, inoffensive and Cage is quite likable as the do-gooder cop. Not recommending it but if you want something to please a 9 year old, your wife and your polish mother in law, this fits the bill (big up to netflix, they have loads of movies with Polish Subtitles)

davyK wrote:

Indy trilogy  still great. Temple of Doom might struggle a tiny bit with pacing but once it kicks off it's as rip roaring as the other two. SW trilogy still great, if pantomime, entertainment in my book. They are simple Flash Gordon-esque stories on a grander scale with a proper baddy and a satisfying ending. I was a great age to watch them in the cinema so I will always have a skewed view, but I don't get the hate. Maybe because I see them for what they are. The prequels could (should) have been squeezed into 1 , maybe 2 , films.  Rogue 1 is a nice in-betweener , the sequels - tripe - but worse - betrayed the story arc of Star Wars.

I'm not sure Temples issue is the slow pace - it kicks off from the first scene. I've read that they actually had to slow the movie down in parts because it goes from set-piece to set-piece so much.  

I think your annology of star wars is bang on. Its a top trilogy especially if you are young. The world that Lucas and his team created is miles ahead of similar stuff. For me the problem has always been that its held up as something much grander than it really is once you take away the nostalgia (or at least thats my take) 

To be fair, i still rate and enjoy the animated Transformers movie and I know thats not a great flick by any standards but it hits the nostalgia kick for me so I understand the feeling, but I'm not kidding myself that its a great movie by movie standards (it was a 10 all day for me as a kid though and I still get a kick out of)

Dark Soldier wrote:

Little Bone Lodge

Some right naughty Scottish toerags get into some bother and wind up at a secluded estate where Joely Richardson is the mum and everything isn't quite as it seems.

Joely is fantastic as the fierce matriarch and it drip feeds clues before ratcheting up the tension. Great ending too.

Just finished this, top recommend, ta.

Black Mountain Side

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3139756/

Ultra low budget film that reminded me of The Thing (remote, harsh, winter place stuck with workers with nowt around for hundreds of miles). Excavation taking place, find an artifact, shit progressively gets mental.

Due to the budget the acting is a lil bit off at times but it goes impressively gory, had me hooked. IMDB score can get in the bin, solid [3.5]

I yarred it but its on Freevee with ads and some other similar service.

Gremill wrote:

Wtf is Freevee?

Never mind, I can get it via Amazon.

Happy to help Grandad

Is there a late night Channel 5 equivalent? Asking for myself.

80. The Matrix
It's still good! This definitely had me noticing how many new hollywood releases I've been seeing and how soulless and lacking in vision and execution they are. This still holds up because of how much love is poured into it by the filmmakers. You can see it in the framing and the camera moves and the scene transitions and the action sequences. The story is still basic but that doesn't really matter when it all comes together so well.
[9]

32. Dodgeball
Still bloody hilarious, but the D+ version is sadly edited with some of the best cursing taken out. 8

33. Black Adam
Very low expectations going into this, but fuck it - it's Saturday night and family viewing options are limited. However. This was actually a hell of a lot better than I expected! Some great and quite viscous action is sadly let down by a whole lot of exposition that weirdly just confuses matters. It's very derivative and full of cliche but it just about manages to clear the bar of 'half decent DC movie' - they'd do well to retain The Rock in the DCU. Better than expected. 6