Topic: The Movie Thread

@LN78 Yeah, I remember Witt primarily from Twin Peaks, where she played Donna's little sister and I couldn't understand how she'd manage to outgrow me... then I remembered that I'm fifty and she's a year younger than me
I thought Cage's manic performance here was slightly dampened by the layers of makeup they put on him and that was definitely a good thing. Great use of tension in this movie and not too many cheap jump scares. One of my favourite horror movies this year.

The teaser for Leigh Whannell's "Wolf man" just dropped and I think it looks very promising!

@FuriousMachine It was one of the best things I've seen so far this year - as I mentioned earlier I sort of knew about the twist having overheard a conversation about the movie a while back but that didn't really dampen the experience - it was just really solid from top to bottom. If you haven't seen "The Blackcoat's Daughter" definitely give it look - it's full of the exact same sort of constant foreboding tension without ever once resorting to cheap scares - plus no borderline campiness in the performances to spoil the tone.

@LN78 Yeah, "Blackcoat's Daughter" was good. Haven't seen any of Perkins' other films, but I think one of them currently resides on Netflix, so I'll give it a look down the line.

@FuriousMachine I'll definitely be keeping an eye on him - he has the potential to be a genre writer/director up there with Ari Aster, Eggers or Flanagan.

@LN78 Absolutely! I'm a huge fan of Flanagan, but I'm still a bit unsure on Aster and Eggers, I've only seen "Hereditary" and "Midsommar" of Aster's and while I liked them fine, they didn't blow me away (Hereditary was chuckleworthy due to how batcrap insane it got, if memory serves). As for Eggers, I've only seen "The Witch" and found that slightly underwhelming after all the praise it got. Been meaning to see more of his work, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I typically shun Netflix produced movies as they, more often than not, are completely empty mediocrities that are just void of anything remotely interesting. Some of them are not even bad, just incredibly bland.
So, imagine my surprise when I read a positive review of Rebel Ridge, an action/suspense movie from Jeremy Saulnier that dropped yesterday.
I enjoyed Saulnier's "Green Room" (with Patrick Stewart playing a neo-nazi of all things) so I decided to give this one a chance. And I'm glad I did, as I found it to be an engaging movie that, on paper, reads a bit like a "First Blood" rip-off (an ex-marine runs afoul of a small town's police force), but really isn't.

Apparently, John Boyega walked away from this movie, which took four years (and two shut-downs) to complete and I would say that was his loss. Instead, we get relatively unknown (to me, at least) Aaron Pierre in the lead role and he nails it. Don Johnson and Annasophia Robb fills out the main cast, both doing a fine job and James Cromwell shows up briefly doing his usual thing.

A rare thing this, then: A Netflix movie that entertained rather than bored me

@FuriousMachine @Malaise If you enjoyed "Green Room" (not sure if that's the right word - I have the scene with the box cutter etched into my brain) then have a look a the same director's earlier movie "Blue Ruin". It's equally... memorable. 😉.

@Malaise I've only seen him in Attack the Block and the Star Wars movies and thought he was fine in both. However, he would not have fit in this one, IMO, and the movie is most likely a lot better with Aaron Pierre
@LN78 "Blue Ruin" is on my watchlist; just one of a million movies I haven't gotten around to yet

@LN78 I plan to check out Blue Ruin - just seen its on Amazon Prime in UK, so I've kicked off the download! Green Room remains one of the best horror/thriller films I've ever seen, utterly terrifying in the sense that "this could actually happen" etc.

I saw something recently with a similar level of relentless intensity, albeit not a horror movie at all... moreso a drama/thriller - "Uncut Gems", starring none other than Adam Sandler. If you enjoy movies that are essentially non-stop stress watches, then UG absolutely ticks the bill. A brilliant showcase for Sandler also, who I'd never really considered as a 'credible/serious actor... he shines in this film.

@CJD87 I actually turned "Uncut Gems" off after about an hour - it was so frenetic that it was raising my IRL anxiety levels - which is definitely testament to the quality of the filmmaking. I'm really not a Sandler fan (I think I have "Punch Drunk Love" somewhere) but his performance was really impressive.

@LN78 @CJD87 I too didn't not enjoy Uncut Gems as i found the experience too stressfull. Still thought it was a good film and it is undoubtlely Sandler's best performance I've seen. I can reccomend Good Times by the same directors, the Safdie brothers and stars Robert Pattison.

I can also vouch for Blue Ruin which has a similar vibe to Green Room. I see the latter has just got a 4K release, which i have added to my rental list.

Returning to Flanagan for a moment, I see his next King adaptation, The Life of Chuck is getting some good buzz out of TIFF. The filmmaker is making a big point of it not being a horror movie to avoid those unfamiliar with the source material going in with wrong expectations.
I wasn't a big fan of the novella on which it was based, but I didn't dislike it either, so maybe that Flanagan/King magic combo can elevate the material somewhat.

@LN78 @JohnnyShoulder Yes for sure, UC is an absolute stress-fest of a watch.... I really enjoyed it though, and the 'Good Times' (Robert Pattinson) is also excellent, albeit stressful!
Looking forward to Blue Ruin, thanks for the rec

Hard to believe that anybody ever took "Rambo:First Blood Part 2" seriously (even if the first one is a genuinely good movie with actual things to say). I just finished watching the recent restoration on 4K blu-ray (brilliant picture, lousy sound) having not seen it in decades and needless to say found it hilarious from start to finish - which certainly wasn't the desired effect. Can't wait to watch "Rambo 2: First Blood Part 3" as it wasn't called but probably should've been.

Went to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice yesterday and I enjoyed it. We are so steeped in legacy sequels that simply tries to rehash and remix the original these days that I got a bit confused at first when this one didn't follow the blueprint of the original and sort of went its own way.
Still, they played a few of the hits; that opening with that iconic Elfman score put a huge smile on my face and they also had a "musical possession" bit that was just as entertaining as the "Day-O" scene from the first.
The cast is solid and Catherine O'Hara is a treasure, but I'm not sure the way they handled Jeffrey Jones' character sat entirely well with me. I would have preferred they just mentioned the character's death in passing and be done with it, I think. Shout out to Monica Bellucci, though, who in my mind is the sexiest soul sucking Morticia Addams/Bride of Frankenstein hybrid ever put on screen.
While not perfect, I'd say this was a worthy sequel all in all and without a doubt Burton's best work in many years.

@FuriousMachine I'm giving it a miss. The original is my second favourite Burton movie (after "Ed Wood") but I feel like I should do my best to disincentivise legacy sequels - I'm so sick of them, and Hollywood's reliance on IP in general.

@LN78 Yeah, I get that. Personally I don't mind IP movies so much, but there's no denying that there is a laziness that comes with most of them and the really good ones are few and far between. Luckily, Hollywood's not the only "game in town", as it were, and even Hollywood manages to put out a solid number of "non-IP" movies so there's no shortage.
And "Ed Wood" is easily my favourite Burton movie, as well, it just works so incredibly well.

@FuriousMachine Maybe I'm just in a bad mood because I felt so completely fleeced by "Alien:Romulus" and "Deadpool 3" but I don't think so - I remember talk of a "Beetlejuice" sequel going back years and I was quite enthusiastic about the prospect.

@LN78 Something tells me you won't going to see Gladiator 2 then?