So, I just saw Smile 2... I actually thought that I had seen this year's best horror movie with The Substance, but I'll be damned if "Smile 2" doesn't make a serious play for the throne. I'm not completely sure it manages to get there, but it is fairly close.
It starts right after the events of the first one and quickly gets things underway with a bloody bang, before we are introduced to the new victim to be tortured by the entity, pop megastar Skye Riley, who is already tortured by traumas of the past. Almost every minute of this movie is steeped in tension and unease and a couple of jump scares had me almost out of my seat. And I wouldn't consider them cheap either, they were well earned, in my opinion.
The movie also manages to go quite off the rails towards the end, in the very best way (though not to the level of finale of "The Substance").
I would say that if you liked the first "Smile", you are almost guaranteed to like this one as well, though I guess it could be criticised for not doing anything really new with the formula.
If I may attempt a simile here: If the first one was a delicious meal put together by a young chef, this would be the same chef trying out some new ingredients and putting a little twist on the original recipe; though it is ultimately the same recipe. I thought the second meal tasted even better than the first one, but your mileage may vary. The secret ingredient this time is actress Naomi Scott, who does a phenomenal job in the lead role here. One to watch!
If you like these kinds of movies, do yourself a favour and catch it in a dark theatre with a game audience; this is one of the better ones and deserves a big screen
EDIT: In the interest of fairness, I should add that this is not a subtle film; it is quite camp and the performances are not exactly dialed back, but that's what makes it work so well, in my opinion
@Pizzamorg Yeah, I'm like a kid looking forward to Christmas with that one. I love old, classic movies, and to get to see these on the big screen has me really excited!
Outside of The Wolfman which I didn't love, I watched through a BluRay boxset a couple years back of all of the 30s Universal Movies and the 50s Black Lagoon and was just kinda floored by how well every film in that collection holds up like a hundred years later.
I'm also so glad to hear you liked Smile 2! Kind of surprised to hear Smile 2 is camp though, did you think that about the first one? Cause one of the things that impressed me about the first one is it could have been just a piece of tween throwaway fluff, but explorations of trauma and grief while mostly underbaked still just gave it a little of something extra. I kinda worry a more camp approach might take away that something extra that pushed Smile into the "better than I expected" territory.
@Pizzamorg I wouldn't call the first one camp, and I'm not sure me calling the sequel camp is being entirely fair either. It's difficult to say how you will react to "Smile 2"; you may very well think it inferior to the original due to it being.. i don't know, "more"? Understated it is not, to put it that way. I think it's still quite a ways off from being vapid or fluff, though. Either way, I hope (and think) you won't hate it when you see it
Checked out Godzilla Minus One. This feels like a direct response to the complaints people had with Shin Godzilla. They aren't complaints I shared, so I felt like this was a huge downgrade from Shin.
The one exception here are the special effects, Minus One has effects that are an astounding leap over the oftentimes pretty ropey effects in Shin. But even then, something about how grounded and haunted Shin was made those set pieces work even with the limitations of the effects. Minus One is more like a theme park ride, so the effects are better but the set pieces are weightless.
They also have only one set piece actually set in a populated area and its easily the best moment of the entire film. It also comes in around half way through this thing which is a good two hours, so it just made it a bit of a slog for me. Felt like the movie peaked and then I had another forty five minutes of cheesy melodrama to wade my way through before we had a limp final set piece in the middle of the ocean and a goofy cliffhanger ending.
@PorkChopExpress@Bob_Salat I need to see more of his work; the ones I've seen have been uniformly good. Particular favourites are Rear Window (which made it easy to see why the world fell in love with Grace Kelly) and North by Northwest. Will have to check to see what's available on streaming around these parts.
I just read the Hollywood Reporter interview with 20th Century Studios head Steve Asbell (which can be read here) and he touched on many of the projects they have in the pipeline, including two Predator movies coming next year.
Both are directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who did Prey, and one is Predator: Badlands, which we already knew about, with Elle Fanning and it was confirmed that it indeed will get a theatrical release in November next year.
The other one is shrouded in mystery, however, but it will apparently drop ahead of "Badlands" and may be streaming only. There have been rumours of Amber Midthunder returning to the franchise, which was confusing as "Badlands" was specifically billed as not being a sequel to "Prey". This second, secret project might be a more direct sequel with Midthunder reprising her role, then. Interestingly, Asbell referred to "Badlands" as the "live-action Predator movie", possibly indicating that this other project is animated, maybe?
Anyway, if it's releasing before "Badlands", it probably won't be too long before we learn more about it.
@JohnnyShoulder Same. I'm typically not all that bothered by remakes as long as the original still is readily available to enjoy, but this one rubs me the wrong way, for some reason. It could be a good movie, for all I know, but I seriously doubt it.
Luckily I have the 4K release @LN78 mentions on my shelf
A wounded fawn - avoid.
Strangers Chapter 1 - avoid (although watch Prey at Night if you haven't seen it).
The Well - A fun, splattery, euro horror throwback starring the wonderful Lauren LaVera. Very underdeveloped and oddly paced through, feels like it could have been much more than it was.
The Boy Behind The Door - A difficult watch, but a very well constructed, written and performed film.
@LN78 Such a good movie. I like it doesn't over rely on jump scares, and has this deep unverving feel about it which slowly builds tension until the blow out in the final section.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
"One of the unloveliest and least enlightening aspects of contemporary discourse is the tendency to presume that whatever one disagrees with must be very simple—not only simple, but also simply wrong." - Elizabeth Bruenig
Watched The Man With The Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me this week. Fantastic movies! I think Roger Moore has become my favourite Bond now after having watched these two movies. His portrayal of the character is just superb. Also, both of these movies are at the top of my list of my favourite Bond movies. Both the Golden Gun and Jaws from the second movie are just so iconic. Even the first movie with Moore, Live and Let Die, had Baron Samedi, another iconic villain. It's just great to finally see them after having learned about them from video games such as Goldeneye.
The Boy Behind The Door - A difficult watch, but a very well constructed, written and performed film.
I'm intrigued. Might have to check this one out.
PSN: frownonfun
Switch: SW-5109-6573-1900 (Pops)
"One of the unloveliest and least enlightening aspects of contemporary discourse is the tendency to presume that whatever one disagrees with must be very simple—not only simple, but also simply wrong." - Elizabeth Bruenig
Queen of Black Magic - An Indonesian remake of an Indonesian movie from the 80s. Definitely an acquired taste, I am hardened horror enjoyer, and this one really cut through my armour with its gore and gross out moments. Can't remember the last time a movie made me actually gag to the point where I was almost sick. Only reason I can't recommend this higher, is outside of the gore (which is kind of niche on its own) the rest of this is very underbaked, so if you are looking for a satisfying overall experience, this ain't it.
Kandisha - Described as a French Candyman by some. Kinda tricks you with this idea to begin with and then goes in a different direction. Thought this was just okay. Some good acting. First half is kinda boring. Goes more nuts in the last 20 than I expected. Doesn't necessarily make the film a must watch, but hard to feel super negative about it or really strongly about it in any way.
Candyman remake - The original Candyman is one of my favourites. I thought this remake was absolutely awful. Making a Candyman film with nothing to say, when so much of what made the original Candyman special was just how much it did have to say, is just kinda wild to me. There are some truly awful twists, horrible pacing, all the gore happens mostly off screen or in the distance of the frame so you barely see anything. Just really awful.
Even though the marathon is over, I ended on such a bum note, I am tempted to dust off my Arrow boxset and rewatch the original Candyman to try and end things on a high note.
@Pizzamorg I am relieved to hear that I am not the only one to react that way to the Candyman remake. It is generally well received and I cannot fathom why. Everything it did laid the greatness of the original low and I just wonder at the point of it all.
That Arrow boxset is a thing of beauty, so I say: Go for it!
Forums
Topic: The Movie Thread
Posts 7,561 to 7,580 of 8,954
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic