Rate the last movie you've seen

[Neil]

Annihilation - First 90% of the film, beautiful & great. Last 10% of the film, WTF? 'A Quiet Place' Relatively entertaining, if some what stupid in places, post-apocalypse nonsense that passes 90 mins by harmlessly enough. 'A Quiet Place' centres its story on a family as they survive in a world dominated by creatures that locate their prey by sound. They're swift, brutal and pretty scary. The film, rightly, resists the temptation to explain them, too, and instead drops the viewer into the mix, as we follow the family in their attempts to remain intact and as silent as they can. This is helped by the fact that the family are made up of people we care for, as their parts are well acted, convincing and they feel real, even when the script has them do stupid things. Special mention goes to deaf actress, Milicent Simmonds, who conveys her character's emotions well, without making a sound and the technique of using absolute silence when she's the focus of attention was a good one, even if it is forgotten about here and there. Elsewhere there's a fine turn by Noah Jupe and the always great Emily Blunt. John Krasinski does well too. Plus, he's shown that he's not too bad behind the camera either. The "gimmick" of being quiet is very well handled and aids the film immensely. The tension really does get ratcheted up because of it. But, the monsters are kind of irregular in their activities and into the bargain, I was continually perplexed at the notion of where they went to, in their own down time. They couldn't be far away, because we can see that one loud sound can bring them barrelling along in seconds. I was also slightly irritated that nobody in the family thought of setting up some sort of sound system a couple of hundred yards from the house to distract the monsters, should the shit hit the fan. They have working electricity (with a super quiet generator, I presume???), so it would have been possible to string cable out to a speaker of some description. But, they did have an emergency fireworks system...so... All in all though, this was quite enjoyable and I'd recommend it. There are at least a couple of well handled, tense, scenes that actually had me very excited. But, one has to keep in mind, that it is a horror movie. So a certain forgiving attitude may have to apply to its more sillier parts and an ending that left a little to be desired. 8/10 I enjoyed it, BUT why didn't they just hang up loud speaks high in the air between trees? Done!

[Geordie9]

Summer Camp Nightmare (1987) 4/10

[bassman]

Demolition Man If I were to make a list of my favorite films of the nineties, this one would have to be somewhere in the top ten. After many viewings over the years, it still gives me the big belly laughs. The barebones Blu ray looks surprisingly good, too. 9/10 for the cheesy funnies. Atomic Blonde Good suspense actioner set during the Cold War. Lots of great fight choreography and direction from David Leitch, who also did Deadpool 2 after. Knowing that while watching AB, you can pretty much see how this film was his reference papers to hand to Ryan Reynolds. 7/10

[MinionZombie]

Demolition Man If I were to make a list of my favorite films of the nineties, this one would have to be somewhere in the top ten. After many viewings over the years, it still gives me the big belly laughs. The barebones Blu ray looks surprisingly good, too. 9/10 for the cheesy funnies. Atomic Blonde Good suspense actioner set during the Cold War. Lots of great fight choreography and direction from David Leitch, who also did Deadpool 2 after. Knowing that while watching AB, you can pretty much see how this film was his reference papers to hand to Ryan Reynolds. 7/10 1) Yeah, I love Demolition Man, as well. First saw it on ITV in the 1990s IIRC. Such a fun flick! 2) Another good flick. Leitch also co-directed John Wick, so the dude knows how to handle an action set piece. A very stylish movie what with the 1980s Berlin vibe. I must re-watch that one some time.

[JDP]

Scarecrows - 1988: strange part-zombie, part-demon movie. The "scarecrows" themselves look like zombies (they resemble the decayed undead in Ossorio's Blind Dead movies and Bianchi's The Nights of Terror), but they are more like demons as they appear to have some "supernatural" powers, while their human victims become reanimated cadavers that do their bidding, so they are zombies. Getting a better idea of what exactly the "scarecrows" actually are is not possible since the movie is rather short on explanations. They appear to have been devil-worshipers of some kind who, for totally unexplained reasons, became those "scarecrow" zombie-demon creatures. Another thing that's not clear: can they be killed? In two scenes two of the "scarecrows" seem to have been "killed", but the whole thing is left as ambiguous as possible. It is not clear whether they can only be temporarily put out of commission or if they can actually be permanently destroyed.

[MinionZombie]

My Friend Dahmer I was really blown away by the quality of this one and how deftly the subject manner was handled. The film examines the last two years of high school in the life of Jeffrey Dahmer and is based on the graphic novel by one of Dahmer's high school friends John 'Derf' Backderf. It's not about the killing that came after, it's about the final descent towards his first kill - so we see his troubled home life with warring parents (Anne Heche and Dallas Roberts), his experimenting with dissolving road kill in acid, the struggle with his emerging homosexuality, his alcoholism, and general social outcast status (which is illustrated really well in a few scenes showing Dahmer cutting this line between the popular kids and the bullied kids in this sort of liminal space). Naturally, it's not about excusing the killing that eventually came, but it's about understanding how that started - how so many warning signs were missed (albeit at a time, the late 1970s, when such warning signs weren't really seen or understood), how this young boy couldn't understand his own mental problems and so on. I'd never heard of this Ross Lynch guy (who plays Dahmer), but apparently he was previously best known as being in various happy-go-lucky Disney TV shows and the like - but he absolutely nails the part and shows off some considerable acting chops, shedding that safe Disney image with aplomb. Those who are familiar with the story of Dahmer will get a little more out of the film than those who don't, so subtle moments - like his father giving him lifting weights - strike more of a chord if you know their significance (Dahmer committed his first murder with lifting weights, and he himself was killed in prison with gym equipment), but this flick is well worth watching no matter how much you know about the Dahmer story. Apparently Dahmer's home seen in the movie was Dahmer's actual real-life home. Indeed, a good companion follow-up view to this would be the film "Dahmer" starring Jeremy Renner, which is set during his time becoming a killer and descending deeper into his particular brand of madness, and is a similarly sensitive portrayal of shocking events.

[Neil]

2010: I just love this sequel to 2001... Nicely written characters. Clever story. Solid scifi.

[shootemindehead]

/\ Part of me prefers it to 2001.

[Neil]

/\ Part of me prefers it to 2001. I do... At least as a film just to sit down and watch and enjoy.

[MinionZombie]

Deadpool 2 The theatrical version (I'll watch the "Super Duper Cut" soon). I really enjoyed it and laughed out loud on numerous occasions. Yes, it's bigger, yes it's more of the same (why that surprises anyone is beyond me - it's a sequel FFS ... it was like when people moaned that Sin City 2 was "more of the same", what an asinine and pointless criticism) ... ... anyway, it was nice to see it expand a little and benefit from the original's box office haul. Good characters, good jokes, good action - a lotta fun. Bring on X-Force and DP3! There was a bit of a storm in a teacup regarding one aspect of the movie - but as usual it's one of those 'few people make a big, loud, utterly disproportionate stink' things...   It got a bit of flack for killing off Vanessa in the opening from a bunch of Twitter warriors and such, but not only do they ignore the fact that personal tragedy is core to the character of Deadpool and his stories, they also forget that it drives the entire plot of the movie - it's the inciting incident and causes DP to branch out and find a 'family' of fellow mutants - but they also forget every single time in a movie where a male character who is important to another male character dies and propels the plot forward (very selective criticism and rather silly as killing someone important to the protagonist is a legit and oft-used storytelling tool that's been used for as long as storytelling has existed), plus they make a joke about that very action in the opening credits ... annnnnnnnd these Twitter whingers also must have forgotten the closing credits sequence where DP uses the time watch to undo Vanessa's death!

[bassman]

^ I hadn’t seen those reviews that you mentioned in the spoiler, but as you pointed out, that’s really funny considering that the film addresses and literally makes fun of those kinds of reactions IMMEDIATELY after! Which reminds me, I absolutely adored the opening credits and the popular series they reference! Point Break The original, of course. I still haven’t seen the remake, though I hear it’s not worth the time. This one is classic action, in my mind. 7/10 The Rock Again, it’s a classic, as far as I’m concerned. Michael Bay gets a lot of sh*t for his style, but for what he does, he does it extremely well. 8/10 Solo: A Star Wars Story I’ve liked this one more and more upon every viewing. It’s been treated unfairly due to several production reasons, but I think it’s one of the top films of the series since the original trilogy. The biggest thing going for it is that it’s FUN. Harrison Ford can never be replaced, but if you can let that issue go, Ehrenreich does a good job. As I mentioned, this film brings the fun back to the series, which was lacking in the last several entries. Abrams’ film is probably the closest in terms of fun. 9/10 To Kill A Mockingbird One of my absolute all-time favorites. Atticus Finch is my top hero of any film in history. This time was a particular joy as I upgraded from the previous DVD release, which in itself was great, up to the remastered Blu Ray. It was one of the films Universal focused on for their 100 year anniversary restoration and preservations and it’s downright incredible. If anyone here hasn’t seen this classic, please remedy that immediately. 10/10

[MinionZombie]

^ I hadn’t seen those reviews that you mentioned in the spoiler, but as you pointed out, that’s really funny considering that the film addresses and literally makes fun of those kinds of reactions IMMEDIATELY after! Which reminds me, I absolutely adored the opening credits and the popular series they reference! Point Break The Rock To Kill A Mockingbird 1) RE: DP2 - yes! Those opening credits were a lot of fun. I'll be digging into the extra features shortly. Loved the blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo for "The Vanisher", too!!! 2) I re-watched Point Break not too long ago - yep - a classic from the 1990s. A great action thriller, Bigelow on top form. 3) I love The Rock. I'd say it's easily Bay's best film - and back when he was making good movies that were comprehensible, too. It's pretty relentless, but it works so well with all the elements combined - from the flashy camera work to the score to the propulsive performances. The whole thing plays out like a symphony in the way that the best action movies do (e.g. see Terminator 2). The way these sorts of films cut together with all the elements - visuals, dialogue, sound effects, score, editing - everything gels together superbly with no wasted air or stumbled moments. It's a balls-out actioner with a great sense of sardonic humour and a lot of fun sprinkled in along the way. 4) An all-time great. We studied TKAM in English Lit in high school and part of that was watching the film version. It has stuck with me ever since. I watched the movie version again a year or two ago. Such a great performance from Peck.

[bassman]

I also first read and watched Mockingbird in high school. Loved Harper Lee’s book, but when we watched the film version I was SO enthralled. While most other students were talking and goofing off, I was zoned in on that old tube tv at the front of the class! Teared up during “stand up, your father’s passing” and everything. Loved it ever since and watch it at LEAST once a year. - - - Updated - - - BTW Minion.....I didn’t feel like it deserved it’s own thread, but I just recently saw that there is a continuation of the Critters series on the way. Thomas Lennon has signed on. http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/n...web-series-288

[MinionZombie]

BTW Minion.....I didn’t feel like it deserved it’s own thread, but I just recently saw that there is a continuation of the Critters series on the way. Thomas Lennon has signed on. http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/n...web-series-288 Ooh, I didn't know that. I'd seen that he was in the new Puppet Master movie (I've not seen any of that series yet, though), so obviously the dude really loves his B-Movie horror, hehe. IIRC the Chiodo Bros are not involved in the new series. I think it was mentioned on the Post Mortem with Mick Garris podcast when they were in attendance for a Critters 2 30th Anniversary episode, but still, fingers crossed it'll be good. I really hope it is because I love that franchise. There was a short film done a little while ago (possibly by the same folks doing this web series, come to think of it), which was quite good as I recall.

[shootemindehead]

I also first read and watched Mockingbird in high school. Loved Harper Lee’s book, but when we watched the film version I was SO enthralled. While most other students were talking and goofing off, I was zoned in on that old tube tv at the front of the class! Teared up during “stand up, your father’s passing” and everything. Loved it ever since and watch it at LEAST once a year. Yeh, I love that picture. Watch it frequently myself. Always thought Mary Badham was brilliant as Scout.