Randolph Scott, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin… Hell even Charles Bronson and Henry Fuckin’ Fonda… nobody does it like Clint or John. Nobody.

I wish that other genres had such consistently enjoyable offerings, but only comedy gets a free pass from me.

Asteroid City - 7.5/10

Like a typical Wes Anderson movie, weird-ass story to the point of you're not sure what is going on or what it is about.... but it looks so unique and stylish that you don't really care. Gotta hand it to the man to just being true to his "style" and not "conforming"

He peaked at “The Grand Budapest Hotel”.

He will never come close to that magic again. It was written in the stars.

TGBP was possibly the best film released between 2010 and 2020. Only time will tell but it has to be up there.

It built, broke and rebuilt my heart without pandering to my emotions in the least bit artistically. Wes Anderson is an absolute genius at his best, but even at his worst he is still a grand master.

Dunno why but it fills my heart with great joy that Canada's own Saul Rubinek was in Unforgiven AND True Romance--two of the most badass movies you'll ever see. It makes sense in both cases (Unforgiven, especially, due to its subversive nature), but he's such a ham.

I watched Heat recently. Not technically for the first time, but basically for the first time because I hadn't seen it for like two decades and forgot everything aside from broader plot points and the famous diner scene.

TBH I think it's a good sometimes great movie. Very much of its time, and I think they should've just had Vincent Hannah doing cocaine in the movie (the original plan) to offer better context for his spastic beats. I got kind of frustrated with Pacino chewing up the scenery, although many people find his performance to be brilliant.

I'd give it an 8/10 because I enjoy what it does, and the precedent it set. Neil McCauley is very much a primordial Tony Soprano/Walter White. Vincent Hannah is tropey as hell, but you can see elements of, say, Jimmy McNulty in him. Specifically, his objectives are less altruistic and more driven by his addiction to himself and the job.

It took me about a month to finish it--kept turning it off to do other shit--because some of the acting doesn't hold up and it drags. I was still intrigued when I'd come back to it.

Actually started reading Heat 2 because I heard Michael Mann talking about it and he's such a weirdo that I wanted to check it out.

Pacino shouldn't have been in the film. You replace him with a top tier mid 90s lile Fishburn or Denzel Washington and i think that movie would really cook. Its a good film, the screenplay has a ton of depth in its theming and metophors, but it doesnt reach its potential. Leaves a lot to be desired. And its wild when its a genuinely great actor holding it back.

Pacino makes the movie. It’s one of his best 90’s performances. The way he is is pretty prefect in it.

First off him and Deniro do the whole 2 sides of the same coin. Deniro understated everything close to the vest. Pacino’s outlandishness is the perfect foil for Deniro.

In the diner scene, because of the way Vincent Hannah acts he is able to get Neil McCauley off balance and get a key piece of information.

Also Heat would’t be as good or as memorable if you didn’t have Pacino yelling “LA Po-lease department!”, and doing all of his crazy stuff.

He is the straw that stirs the drink.

GIMMIE ALL YOU GOT!

I mean I get what he was doing. Could even see myself appreciating more if I watch it again. In fact, I enjoy reading Hannah's dialogue in Heat 2. I imagine it in Pacino's voice and it works better than actually seeing him do it.

And honestly I know part of the reason people think it's iconic is because of how OTT it is. He commits to the bit. But upon my first (re)watch in a couple of decades, it took me out of the movie more than a few times. Probably because OTT Hooooaw Pacino is such a cliche at this point.

the entire performance is melodramatic. Which is whatever i like some melodrama from time to time but everyone else in the film is playing straight meanwhile Pacino is playing a cartoon character. The performance is memorable for all the wrong reasons.

I think the way you fix heat is you splice in some scenes of Pacino doing cocain throughout the film...and thats less of a joke than it sounds.

I literally already said that you motherfucker. (or a version of that). But yeah it's the only way he makes sense.

I guess you can infer he's on cocaine but eh. That's a bit of a jump despite how ridiculous he is.

I was also 100% serious when I said the cocaine thing, too. The character is supposed to be coked out.

Napoleon 5/10

At best, this film is average. It felt disjointed and unsatisfying, and the love affair story arc between Boney and Josephine was not strong enough to hold it all together. Joaquin Phoenix seems to spend most of the film looking and acting like he is constipated. The only saving grace of this movie is Vanessa Kirby.

Frankly, this shouldn't have been a film. A big budget series on Napoleon would be far more appropriate.

Watched Last Of the Mohicans. 8/10.

Gritty, visceral action scenes. The French-Indian war backdrop was cool, and the interplay/politics was interesting, to say the least. Biggest issue I had was I really didn't connect with the romance between Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeline Stowe. Maybe it was just too pure, and I like it messier.

My favourite part of the movie was Mogwa, played by Wes Studi, the de facto "baddy" native/indigenous. Dude was a badass and despite his methods being brutal, I understood the way he saw things and ALMOST sympathized with him. He was just too bloodthirsty and hellbent on revenge for me to fully take his side. Some good stuff IMO. He also cut out the British Col's still-beating heart and, frankly, I'm about that.

Also caught Sea of Love. 8.5/10. Last of the Mohicans is obviously much "better" as far as scope and cinematography and all that (despite my rating SoL better), but Sea of Love is far more MY kind of movie. It's gloomy, New York has got this gritty, grimy, bluesy aesthetic, the cops are dirty (even though they aren't the antagonists), Al Pacino plays a total hapless drunken loser down on his luck (and is specifically smelly), and Ellen Barken is going to haunt my dreams (in a good way) for the remainder of my days.

Plus, John Goodman is in it in a supporting role and that's fun.

You get to the point where the murder mystery/thriller aspect is superseded by the sordid, fucked up love story and Pacino's addiction/bad behaviours, and it works incredibly well on that level.

I wish we got more Ellen Barkin from that era. Because oh my god. What the fuck. I want her to ruin my life.

I lived with a relative of Dougie McLean a few years ago, he was my lodger.
Never spoke about “The Gael” or Dougie until I got wasted and harassed him about it being the greatest theme tune for a climax ever.

I sucked his weed up with the Hoover once. Fell out for a whole day.

If my uncle wrote the ending to “Last Of The Mohicans” I would never shut up about it.

I liked that Chingachgook was the one who killed Magua (whose name I spelled wrong in the previous post **shrugs**). Seemed to be building to Hawkeye doing it, as he was the main. But it was more satisfying for Chingachgook to avenge Uncas, and also, he needed that one shining moment to justify his presence in the movie outside of being Hawkeye's adopted dad.

Always love a bit of Daniel Day-Lewis and Wes Studi.

I think the reason why the love story arc between Hawkeye and Stowe's character doesn't work is because it isn't given enough time to develop; they're just suddenly in love with one another. They could have spent another 15-20 mins on character/relationship development, and it would have worked better, without detriment to the overall film.

Honestly. Day-Lewis is oozing some hard machismo in that movie. Women in that time were told who to marry, and she's suddenly presented with the manliest human to ever exist who basically turns up and pisses on her like a wolf marking his territory.

Couple that with her other suitor being that shriveling penis of a Major.

You're not wrong, though. A few beats would've helped us as the audience get into them more. But I get why they're into each other on that base level.

Chingachgook is the last of the Mohicans, so it had to be him.

Uncas’ actor later starred in a Tommy Lee Jones Western called “The Missing” where he was the bad guy and nowhere near as handsome. Talented actor that Eric Schweig.

I love the bit where the Englishman is being burned at his own behest, and Natty Bumpoe shoots him out of decency. Madeleine Stowe was so hot back then.

If I was that English dude, I'd have let Natty Bumpoe die for her (or let her die).

Sadly (for him), he got caught on the wrong end of a dick-measuring contest and had to commit to that particular fatal game of chicken.

I'm sure there's some more profound, subtextual interpretation that Michael Mann or the writers would offer--something symbolic about the French-Indian war. Something poetic.

But I'm sticking to brass tax here.

And he basically died due to being the ultimate cuck, mercy killed by the (far manlier, more handsome) man cuckolding him. Now, that's Cinema right there.

brass tax

Tass Brax.

The Ghost and the Darkness 6.7/10

Set in 1898, Val Kilmer plays a Royal Engineer sent to Africa to build a railroad bridge over a river. Shortly after arriving, the work camp is besieged by man-eating lions, and Kilmer and a professional hunter, played by Michael Douglas, endeavour to defend the camp and the workers.

The film is actually good at creating suspense, and it can be quite grisly at times. However, Kilmer's attempt at an Irish accent is naff (not as bad as Titus Welliver's Jimmy-O accent), and Douglas sports a dodgy southern American accent as well.

Leave The World Behind

I give it a meh out of 10. Was enjoyable for a bit tbh but then it just...meh. I don't even wanna talk about it.

The Boy and the Heron
birds/10, was really good, another Ghibli classic

going to see the English dub tonight, can't wait to hear Christian Bale and Dave Bautista in an anime

Charley Varrick - 2/4

It’s a smart film but Walter Matthau chewing gum like he’s eighty years old when he was about forty is the worst thing in the world. If you enjoy repeated instances of loud chewing for no reason then this is the film for you. That’s the tragedy of it, it’s a crime romp that is held back by the director and the star when it should really have been incredible with the right people in front and in charge.

Joe Kidd - 3/4

Clint Eastwood playing a more verbal, more human character. It’s Duvall who threatens to steal the show though. It’s also a much more on-point film with regards to runtime. For every 2-3 hour affair Eastwood and Wayne should have done more Hondo’s and Joe Kidd’s.

I’ve thought about this comment a lot recently and you’re right. He is much more prevalent and necessary in “Unforgiven” but he is superb and more outwardly impressive in “True Romance”. In Googling his character name there, apparently he is tied to the spin off “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” book somehow.

Godzilla Minus One - Probably the best zilla film I have ever seen. Very good - 8/10

The Boy and the Heron - 5/5

Took a bit to get cooking. But once it did, it never stopped. Hard time holding back tears too.

Wall Street 7/10

Everybody talks about Michael Douglas' performance in this film (which they should), but they seem to ignore Martin Sheen's low-key strong performance. He doesn't have much screen time, but he makes best use of what he has, putting Charlie in his place as the lesser Sheen. However, Charlie isn't that annoying in this movie.

Godzilla Minus One: 9/10 It was really good.

Barbie: 4.5/10 It turned out to be kinda bad. Really disappointed in this one after the "hype".

Walden - 3/4

Emile Hirsch is too talented for the material to fail. I was enthralled.
Recommended for Slik.

I see Emile has fully embraced the genre film and is currently grinding out several every year, not quite on the Nic Cage or Bruce Willis level but headed in that direction, he might actually pass Nic going in the other direction fairly soon given his renaissance.

Emile Hirsch is one of my favourite actors of all time so I’ll watch anything that sounds remotely interesting with him in it. I’m pleasantly surprised to see that he isn’t just turning out turkeys, there are clearly worse ways to continue.

Ben Foster is obviously another of my favourite actors and his career has gone strangely since “Leave No Trace” with several egregious bids for critical acclaim in dog-shit prestige pieces. It’s effectively the opposite of Emile’s workload right now.

I think I’d rather be the best thing about a genre film than the biggest disappointment in an outright bad independent film. He has his own production company so this is his own doing.

Dennis Hopper came back from it so hopefully Ben does too.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 6/10

The tonal shift to being grander/darker didn't really make sense to me, considering the previous two outings were fairly breezy.

lol I feel ridiculous for admitting this, but I just watched Apocalypse Now for the first time. I want to say it was the original version (it wasn't Redux) but it coulda been the final cut or whatever. I get all my shit off the ol' firestick now so who knows what's what.

10/10. Coppola pulls this magic trick where he romanticizes without being overly sentimental and diminishing the impact of his topic matter. You see it in GF 1 and 2. There's this wistful, cinematic component to these films working in harmony with the uglier truths he's exploring. It's a magnificent balancing act.

The immediate comparison is Scorcese, but Marty embraces the grit and grime of his topic matter way more.

I think I'm going to watch The Conversation next.

The book it's based on "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad is also good.

Was considering reading Heart of Darkness but late 19th-century prose is typically a slog for me.

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I already hate it.

Similarly, I remember reading a bit of Puzzo's Godfather and was like, "lol fuck this." Heart of Darkness is actually a proper work of literature, though, in fairness. Coppola's Godfather is an example of a fucking master of his craft successfully squeezing blood from a pot-boiling stone.

It's a fucking slog for a while, that's for god damn sure. It also is a venue change, Africa instead of SE Asia.

We had to read it in college and then debate about the depiction of the Congolese and also Colonialism, and all the shit that goes with it.

The entire time we read the story, I wasn't even thinking of that shit, but it made a ton of sense after we were finished and given directions.

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom - 8.5/10

Not as good as the first but another real solid superhero movie from James Wan. I do feel like Amber Heard/Mera was super awkward in it... I know that Wan tells the line that the story was always like that with not a lot of Mera... but when one of your "main protagonists" barely gets time to talk and no story journey in the entry it is just weird.....

The character of her dad (Dolph Lundgren's character) gets more lines/spotlight and even a tiny story arc. So it was super awkward to not even have the mother of his child have no story beat.

Saw Body Heat with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt. A steamy noir thriller from 1981 written and directed by Lawrence Kasden (who wrote Empire Strikes Back, funnily enough).

A purposeful throwback to the femme fatale trope. Hurt and Turner are a couple of animals in the movie and are believable/magnetic in their roles.

It's fun because you basically know the whole time where things are going, but they dangle you along as the viewer as Maddie Walker dangles Ned Racine by his cock.

9/10, would watch again, and am considering entering an affair and murdering my lover's husband.

Also, a Mickey Rourke cameo--he's fucking awesome, especially when he's young and handsome. And a young pre-Cheers Ted Danson is featured, and I found him to be very entertaining.

“The Beast” AKA “The Beast Of War” - 3/4

I have begun a war movie phase and this already stands out as a great but completely forgotten contribution to the genre. I would put my money on the reason being that it is a Russia/Afghanistan war film with Americans playing the Russians and Steven “I’m actually pretty clearly Hispanic” Bauer playing the Mujahideen Khan who takes vengeance against them.
It’s a claustrophobic affair, Russian tank crew pisses off natives by way of war crimes and find themselves trapped in a desert cul de sac surrounded and perpetually hunted by guerillas using discarded Soviet tech and weaponry.

The cast is lead by a young Jason Patric and antagonised by the Tank Commander played by George Dzundza who has never done better character work. Directed by Kevin Reynolds of Kevin Costner association, it is clear that the budget was spent very wisely.

This was a great watch and I thoroughly recommend it.

The Drinker also recommends it. It has both the Seanny and Drinker stamp of approval; I'll have to watch it myself.
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I watched a few of his videos a couple of months ago and to be fair there is some surprising overlap beyond the loud, drunken Scottish parts. I’ll watch that video now because I thought that film was tits and I had never so much as heard of it until last night when I found it on that movie site.

I like how he says it doesn’t glorify or condemn either side when the antagonist is a battle hardened Russian lunatic who habitually does terrible things arbitrarily and the mujahideen are shown to have a deeply moral perspective in their treatment of their enemy even after seeing their enemy commit atrocities.

He’s right about it being a top drawer film at least.

the theatrical cut is really good

Twink Wonka

PASS.Pass

Yeesh. I was curious about it since it was a musical

A Few Good Men. 8 out of 10.

I'm going to qualify this as a "first-time" watch because I've seen this movie in bits and pieces on TV countless times but never saw it whole until yesterday.

Part of me feels 8 is a BIT generous, but the Jack scenes alone, plus some of Cruise's courtroom work really make the movie work. Plus, the overexposure to the "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH" might actually hurt the movie a bit, so 8 is probably fair given how I've SEEN that scene numerous times, it's been parodied to death, and it still FUCKS.

Kevin Bacon absolutely slays too. I enjoy the roundedness of his character. A likeable, charismatic guy, competent at his job. He knows Jessup is a piece of garbage and probably ordered the code red, but he has a job to do. That's my shit right there.

The Verdict is way better, though, as far as courtroom dramas go.

Love and Monsters

Watched this on NYE with some friends while doing other stuff. The opening scene was really neat. Premise didn't feel terribly groundbreaking but it was a fun movie. I kept wanting the main character to be Adam Brody instead. Was good background noise with some fun moments

From the other boards:

Flamin' Hot - 8/10

Was pretty enjoyable. For some reason I want to go buy some Flamin' Hot Cheetos now though....

Guess if tpww is going to survive i can start using this again

I was kinda bummed at the prospect of losing this thread. I only post in it so when i watch something a 2nd time i can pull up my 1st viewing's thoughts...but i really like being able to do that. Its really interesting to see how youve changed or what you take away you didnt before etc.

Anyways...hooray

Take the time now (if you so desire) to use the search feature to nab the relevant posts.

You can copy them into something else.... like chat GPT, which will keep dated logs for you as well, and it's free.

When Evil Lurks - 9/10

Probably my favorite horror movie of the year. Argentinian film about demonic posession infecting a small town. Absolutely NOT a feel good movie.

“13 Assassins” (2010) - 3/4

For a remake of a film that blatantly steals the “Seven Samurai” template, it isn’t half bad. The circumstances by which these assassins rise up against their target are much more personal and cruel than the Kurosawa material and I’d wager that the original “13 Assassins” didn’t have much in that regard either. This is Takashi Miike though so it starts ugly, gets moving into the team building fairly quickly and then you get to watch a forty five minute fight scene that puts this film beyond all expectation for even the most well conceived of remakes. It’s just forty five minutes of wild shit happening at rapid pace and at no point did I think “this is getting boring”.

If you want to see a movie by a maniac that has big ideas and the talent to back it up then give it a go. It’s a lot better than that VHS incest one he did.

Posted this in the back-up forum.

Poor Things - 4.75/5

Iron Claw 8.1/10

Dont Worry Darling (2022) - 6/10

Pretty bad script to be honest. It shows its hand about 20 min in and spends the rest of its run slowly revealing the painfully obvious. That said i could watch Florence Pugh white wash a fence and she's really good in this so its not all bad. If you only focus on her performance its a good time.

Zombie Land 2

Not sure y this movie exists... I remember liking the first one just bc it was fun to see in the theaters. They do more with the text on the screen in this one which is fun, I like when movies do that. The dumb girl inventing the concept of Uber was funny and the bizarro guys were funny... but once again I dont know why this movie was made

I really had a fun time with the first and cant bring myself to give the 2nd one a shot.

It isn’t as bad as I assumed it would be, but I also cannot remember anything about it whatsoever.

The Man from Earth 2007
An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.

8/10

I liked the second one but wasn't as good as the first. Most of you will be pissed when 2029 hits the the third one comes.

Fair Play (2023) - 4/10

Attempts to explore power dynamics of a couple in the corporate structure but doesnt manage to juggle the topic well and ultimately falls into lifetime movie of the week schlock. Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenriech get some mileage out of the material though. Id like to see the premise tackled again with more deft hands steering the ship.

Anyone but you 8/10

Rom com that had Sydney Sweeney in it. She's quite easy on the eyes and her eyes are so beautiful.

Her boobs are glorious.

Runaway (1984) 3.5/10

A Michael Crichton film, starring Tom Selleck as a cop that deals with robots that deviate from their programming and become a risk to the people around them. It also stars Cynthia Rhodes, Kirstie Alley and Gene Simmons (yes, of Kiss). This film is soooooo bad, but not so bad that it becomes good. The script and acting is on par with a porn film (or what I imagine a porn film is like, as I'm not sad enough to watch such things). I expect more from Crichton. Simmons' performance is especially egregious, but I don't know why I should have expected anything different. Given Selleck's popularity at this point in his career, you'd think he could have got a better film than this. However, saying that, his film career never topped Three Men and a Baby in 1987, and that was due to the combined star power of him, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson, who were all at the top of their popularity at the time.


Coma (1978) 8/10

Another Michael Crichton film, starring Genevieve Bujold, Michael Douglas, Richard Widmark and Rip Torn; it also has a pre-Magnum PI Tom Selleck and a young Ed Harris with hair.

Bujold plays a surgical resident at a Boston hospital who notices that seemingly healthy people coming in for routine operations are falling into comas during surgery. As she starts to dig deeper into what is happening and the cause, she finds her life in danger.

I really enjoyed this film, which slowly ratchets up the tension until the end. Bujold is the stand out performance, with the others not given much else to do than to act as obstacles as she tries to discover the truth.

Your reviews made me want to watch the wrong one until I read “Richard Widmark” and the last stretch of my Western binge came flooding back to me.

“Vigilante” - 1.5/4

Robert Forster stars in a very confused revenge film that can’t decide if it wants to go there or not. Forster’s wife and three year old kid are the victims of a very unlikely home invasion which begins with nonsense and ends in bloodshed. The whole film is just a series of stupid decisions from people who are uniformly one dimensional stock characters. Nobody real exists in this dreary 80’s cash-grab, nobody interesting either. The action is not good and Robert Forster looks confused and ashamed, but at least that makes sense…

I’d like to watch this film with somebody who was really looking forward to a “Death Wish” or a “Nobody” type film. That’s the best way to get any value out of it.

“Mr Majestyk” - 2.5/4

Charles Bronson is a melon farmer who gets caught up with the law and the criminals after a series of bizarre contrivances. It’s basically “John Wick” but replace the dog with a shitload of melons. It is a very fun film despite its stupidity because it gives you enough context about Bronson’s Majestyk to bolster the notion that a fruit farmer could not only kick your ass but he could probably shoot you pretty good too.
I enjoyed it because I like Charles Bronson when he gets to exercise that ridiculous voice of his. He had a great look and he really wasn’t bad, he just needed a taller man’s voice.

“Self Reliance” - 3/4

The directorial debut of Jake Johnson, a weird little film about a lonely loser who gets wrapped up in a dark web reality show where hunters hunt to kill him within 30 days otherwise he wins £1,000,000.

It’s as simple as the synopsis and it’s written, directed and performed by an exceptionally funny man so it has a lot going for it. I laughed a fair bit, there’s a great homeless guy in it.

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) 7/10

The oft-told tale of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. The film is around 30 mins too long, but it is kept together by a swaggering performance from Richard Burton and a strong performance from Genevieve Bujold.

Obsession (1976) 6/10

A psychological thriller from Brian De Palma, starring Genevieve Bujold, Cliff Robertson and John Lithgow. Robertson's wife and child are killed in a botched rescue attempt after being kidnapped. 15 years later, he visits Florence and the church where he first met his wife. There, he meets a woman that looks exactly like his dead wife.

I found the film oddly flat and lacking any real suspense. It doesn't help that Robertson's performance is fairly one-note. I also found Lithgow's Louisiana accent annoying.

“The Holdovers” - 4/4

Marvellous. The sort of film that makes you love the art form. Perfect.

Giamatti deserves the Oscar, let him have it.

The Eiger Sanction 6/10

I like the scenery and the climbing scenes are good/credible. However, the story is stupid and the ending is pulled out of its own arse. It gets a 6 for Clint Eastwood and the scenery.

Tightrope 5/10

A lonely cop investigating the murders of prostitutes, some of whom are known by the investigating officer (Clint Eastwood). It seemed more interested in the boobs, than the story, and Genevieve Bujold is wasted as the love interest.

Gattaca 7/10

it needs to go down so yall losers can do something productive in life

Stalag 17 - 3/4

An oddly jovial take on Nazi prisoner of war camps. William Holden was a fine actor in his day.

Dead Ringers 6.5/10

I think Jeremy Irons did a good job of playing the twins; credibly gave them differing personalities. Genevieve Bujold is again fairly wasted in this film. I don't know if she is/was a pain in the arse to work with or she just made bad choices, but I feel she could have had a far grander resume than she has.

The ending is a tad bonkers.

The ending is nuckin futs

Over the last three nights I have seen:

12 Angry Men - 4/4
Sonatine - 3.5/4
Yojimbo - 3.5/4
Ran - 3/4

I’m going to watch a few more Japanese films over the next few weeks, hopefully some of the epics from the 60’s.

Liar Liar - 7/10

Was alright. I don't know why but I always assumed this was a more "serious film" (as serious as it could be with that concept) and not full of Jim Carey pulling faces, acting manic, and doing lots of physical comedy. In retrospect I probably would have really loved it as a kid.

From the other board:

The movie seems to be really getting ripped apart critically and I don't think it really deserves that.... but I am waiting for Destor/Seanny to tell me how I am wrong....

The more I think about it the weirder the big action sequences do get without the ability to have any blood.

Watched The Insider. My favourite '90s Pacino performance. Russel Crowe is great, too. Christopher Plummer knocks it out of the park as Mike Wallace. And I'll never complain about Philip Baker Hall in a movie.

I enjoyed this more than Heat, I have to say. Although Heat's grown on me, I didn't need multiple watches to get through The Insider...I'd even say it was almost (ALMOST) breezy, which is saying something since there isn't a hint of action.

I love Pacino as a grizzled reporter who is passionate about breaking meaningful stories but also doing so ethically and taking care of his sources. I saw him less as Al playing a character, instead seeing him as Lowell Bergman, which really is a testament to a guy who's known as such a caricature these days.

9/10 for a movie that really surprised me.

I watched “Elite Squad” the Brazilian narco-cop film from 2007 last night.

“Elite Squad” - 3/4

Wagner Moura was cool as Pablo Escobar, but he’s just as good when playing the other side of the law.

I might watch it at some point but it didnt grab me enough to go to the theater for it. Critics have def been beating it up though. Im rooting for Cavil so i hope it does well.

I saw the poster a few days ago and I remember thinking “Oh great another shitty action ensemble from somebody who wants to be Guy Ritchie. Then I saw it was by Matthew Vaughn, the world’s leading Ritchie misinterpreter.

People keep trying to make “Lock, Stock” again but all we keep getting is “Snatch”. It’s bad for morale.

I suppose it’s the same as Rian Johnson trying to become Agatha Christie all of a sudden. It’s incredibly gay.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within - 3/4

Not quite as exciting but a worthy sequel with higher stakes and a total lack of romance. Great stuff.

I watched The Fugitive last night. Another one where I've seen bits and pieces on TV but never the whole thing.

8.5/10. A masterpiece of the genre. Ford and Tommy Lee Jones both cooking at a high level. The tension is forever through the roof, and it's cheesy in all the right ways.

This movie's strength is it knows exactly what it is, and it never gets too cute. It's self-serious without taking itself too seriously. A difficult balancing act. The whole premise is preposterous but you're into it as the viewer from the beginning.

A weak final villain isn't enough to spoil this all-time classic for me. It makes sense to me why everyone loved and referenced this movie at the time.

“Night Of The Hunter” - 2.5/4

This is described as a neo-noir thriller but if it was made today you would call it a black comedy. It is very, very funny in ways that Charles Laughton could not have intended. I think it was supposed to have an almost fairytale feel to it - the perspective of good and evil is incredibly childish and the performances can only be excused if the director is creating his own morality tale seen through the eyes of the children.
I have this on blu-ray but never got to see it before my player died, so I stuck it on last night when I was in the Mitchum mood.
Robert Mitchum is fantastic in this, totally unhinged and yet completely buttoned up. The only comparison I have is James McAvoy in “Filth”, truly an incredible performance in an otherwise ridiculous film. Mitchum let’s it all hang out and it is a performance that I was not expecting at all.

Lots of genre films sneak a hefty amount of comedy in between the 40’s and mid 60’s… it can take me out of a picture or it can give me time to breathe. I prefer when John Wayne films would throw a few yuks in, it is more suited to a broader genre. Thrillers don’t need laughs in them.