There have been three or four "Jesus Christ" moments in this film and I

Edit:five

...keep getting caught fully off guard

Jesus fuck... just as I wrote that something that revolted my very instincts occurred.

Crazy... absolutely one of the scariest films I have ever seen.

Absolutely loved Hereditary.

Really good.

The bit with the made me feel primeval terror. A lot can be done in gloomy lighting.

I really liked Hereditary

Toni Collette gave a fantastic performance. Some people expecting jump scares will hate it, it's not that type of film, at all. Production Design/Cinematography on it were fantastic. Good script and well-edited, good acting.

It's not packed with pop-out scares but I jumped several times. The first major scare/shock really stays with me. I was knocked out by it and it kept me uneasy for the rest of the run time.

I watched Dunkirk last night too but I may as well not have bothered because Hereditary blows it out of the water in every way. I spent the entire time re-hashing Hereditary.

The scary thing about Hereditary is the atmosphere. I think it may be better than The Exorcist in terms of tension.

A horror film about a family with issues was always going to ruin me.

Sinemia #7 Robin Hood -5/10 it's not as bad as all the reviews you'll read about it but it's just not good and it's"reimaging" of the story comes off stupid.

I feel like they JUST made a Robin Hood movie.... another one already?

I guess it was 8 years ago, doing some research

Instant Family - 6/10

Exceeded all expectations.

I bought Tix to see Nobody's Fool but opted against seeing it
If I see Instant Family and Bumblebee I'll get a digital copy of all 3 (plus Overlord which is really only what I wanted)

Happy to see another person discovering Hereditary. Tremendous horror film.

My favorite part

Yeah that was just pure, unadulterated nightmare fuel.
I've been thinking about it a lot since I saw it and that was one of the moments in which I was too frozen with fear to scream.

Dave, post that rep you sent me. It's an interesting take on another awesome Toni Collette film.

I thought she was scarier in Little Miss Sunshine.

The Rotten Tomatoes consensus is almost exactly what you're describing you a t. That it's a film that stays with you long after credits stop rolling.

Widows-9/10

Viola Davis and friends plot to steal money to repay a mobster for money their dead husbands stole.

Really good. Davis has such command in her presence. The way she speaks, moves and her overall performanceis the heart of the film. Absolutely loved it.

Double Feature trying to use up some of my free movie tix and my Sinemia movies before end of month

Creed II - 6/10 Was thinking that they should have made a whole movie about Viktor and Ivan Drago and then done a crossover. Honestly was more interested in their story. Was ok movie but predictable.

Ralph Breaks the internet 7.5/10 aside from being a 100 minute shilll fest (especially Disney stuff) it was funny enough to be ok but the first one was a lot better.

2018 I think might go down as one of the best years in film history. There have been so many fantastic films released during the year.

It has been a pretty stellar year.

Just watched Hereditary. I really don't know what to make of the film. I'm kind of... I don't know what to say. My brain feels frozen; unsure what to do with myself right now.
I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.

I'm gonna have to see this film

I'd recommend watching it without any trailers or preconceived notions.

I agree ^^^

It won't be what you are expecting and that's a good thing.

Just picked up Mandy. I waited too long for this one.

Review to follow tonight's viewing.

I was thinking of leaving Mandy until New Year's Eve; usually watch a film or two in the evening to see the new year through.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: 9/10

I'm an hour through Mandy and I think judging by what just happened in the toilet that this thing is about to ante up.

Great stuff. Weird as shit.

They reined him in for an hour and now look :lol: oh Jesus

The Front Runner - 7/10

It was just ok. I'm not really sure who the intended audience for it is, or what it was trying to say. There was potential for a good film, but it ended up being just ok instead. Story arcs set up (daughter & mistress) that didn't get any payoff.

I think if you're going to present the idea that Gary Hart was a good guy who made a mistake...repeatedly...and often then you should probably spend more time showing Gary being a 'good guy' instead of having other characters say it.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) - 10/10

Oh my gosh, so good. :-) Very beautiful and "haunting" and funny. Usually forget like 95% of 95% of movies I watch after a couple of months but this one will def "stick with me."

(New Coen Brothers movie. Six short segments rather than one "full" movie. It was released on Netflix.)

Sorry to Bother You (2018) - 8/10

Enjoyable and relatable... Strange that this "type of movie" was able to be made and released since it's very explicitly anti-capitalist. Started to kinda feel rushed and "go off track" towards the end but still good.

Triple A, what was your initial thought of the twist at the end? I'll be honest, it took me out of it and I didn't really care much for the film afterwards despite liking everything to that point.

Bohemian Rhapsody - 4/5. Good, enjoyable film. Very historically inaccurate, but I went to see a Hollywood film and not a documantatry.

Mandy - 3.5/4

The words "heavy metal acid revenge thriller" may look like a late 90's attempt at optimising search results on an amateur website, but in the right hands they also form a perfect description of a film which gives back to Grindhouse more than Tarantino could ever dream of.
The plot is perfectly straightforward revenge thriller and ultimately twist-free but the act progression is expertly timed, the transitions are well presented and the climax is hands down the most enjoyable use of Nicolas Cage since Bad Lieutenant nearly a decade ago. The dialogue is sparingly given to anybody other than the chief antagonist(an obvious charicature of Charles Manson).The bad dude's motivations are clear and simple, the path Nic Cage chooses to take in response is the only way in or out of the movie and so you sit and absorb a film which follows a simple formula up to a point and which in it's last 1/3rd it rewards you by allowing Nic Cage to let loose, completely unbound by the director in a finale that can only really be described as fucking spectacular.

There is almost no exposition in the film, just about zero other than the character Carothers who pops up to explain something almost as a favour to the viewer for getting so far without asking for directions.

So overall it is excellent and if you like films that bulldoze through tropes and formulas rather than trying to avoid them, you will like Mandy.
An axe shaped like an axe is Nic Cage's ouroboros and when you see it you too will believe in infinity.

How does a thing like this happen?

Me not totally paying attention to what I'm typing and not double checking it :p

Watching "Eastern Promises" and I am not sure if I can overcome the two major obstacles that present themselves immediately.

1. Naomi Watts doing a middle class English accent.
2. Naomi Watts looking dreadful for some reason.

Also the dialogue is so contrived it's very hard to get into. It seems like the sort of supposedly intelligent dialogue you find in literature everybody has heard of but nobody has actually read. The sort of idealised, forced wistfulness over arbitrary non-issues as the world moves around them. It's the sort of thing that kills on Broadway when adapted from a best selling novelist but bares no relation to the coarse hum drum of real life. Every line out of Watts mouth so far just sounds like an actress trying to fit into a pre-existing, moving landscape.
I have to say it's a stark contrast to the other side of the film where Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel feel far more at home, natural apex predators in a world of fierce creatures.

It's always a shame when an actor thinks they are better than they are and I've always thought that was Naomi Watts' biggest flaw. She isn't much of a personality and unless she has her top off there's no charisma.

This is honestly like watching a good film crossover with a fucking shit one.

The narration is mind blowingly bad to the extent that it drives you back out of the movie that Cassel and Mortensen keep pulling you into. Armin Mueller Stahl keeps drawing me into contemplative thoughts about the nature of an ageing career criminal only for the voice over or Naomi Watts and her dreadful mother to haul me right back to the reality of jarring and painful juxtaposition between the sublime and the dreadful.

Trying to think of a performance where she uses an accent besides generic American that doesn't suck ass. She nearly ruined every scene she was in in St Vincent.
I think I went off her when she walked out on Simon Mayo during her promo for that film Diana but I only heard the clip a year or two ago...

I was about to add that there was a complete lack of face melting violence in this Cronenberg picture but then some face melting violence happened and put paid to that idea. Still, when the master finally decides to show his most popular party trick, he does not disappoint. The blood flows quickly and impactfully in a pleasingly kinetic yet realistically sloppy style. This is sort of like watching trained martial artists fight in oil. It's not the grim, graphic but unavoidably cool violence of A History Of Violence, it's actually more like how that choreography should have been done. There's no luck involved, just hard earned honest bloodshed.

I am conflicted by the brilliance of 50% of this film and the infuriatingly abject remainder.

Just watched this. I generally agree with Trips. Movies like this terrify me because everything is so out of control but looks so close to real life. Another example would be Brazil. Just gives me this terrible feeling that everything is fucked and there's nothing to be done. So, other than furthering my current state of existential crisis, :y:

What's going on in your life that "Brazil" looks close to it?!
Do you live near a lot of steam, grime and Rube Goldbergian machinery?

You've obviously never been to Chicago

No but I actually have purchased a coat in Canada for less than $250 so how do you like them apples?

So have I.

Not lately

When did you buy yours?

Tried to watch the puppet movie with Melissa McCarthy (Rosie O' Donell 2.0) and I couldn't. The start of the movie seemed like it could be decent but it went to shit pretty quick and somehow kept getting worse.

Numerous coats over the course of numerous holidays. In fact I am made of Canadian coats.

Ralph Breaks The Internet - 8/10

If there's one movie they should remake...ugh...if there's 2 movies they should remake the 2nd is Brazil (Logan's Run #1)

I'm not a huge Gilliam fan but to remake his most appreciated work would take foolhardy lack of awareness. Only a glutton for punishment would dare.

Creed II - 8/10 maybe. I wasn't thinking that high to begin with, probably not even in the middle of the movie, but then it "picked up" and I actually want to see more of the Drago family's story now.....

Mandy visually was similar to Only God Forgives and The Cell... I'd like to see more films committing to a colour scheme. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover is a fine example of a colour scheme shifting with the mood of a film.

Crimes of Grindelwald - 8/10

I really liked it. It wouldn't make any sense to someone who hasn't seen the first film and maybe a HP film or two. It's definitely a middle-quel, but it sets up lots of things for future films and the twists were rather unexpected. Also, possibly the most visually impressive of all Potterverse films, which is quite an accomplishment.

Creed 2 - 7/10

Tessa Thompson's nails were kinda distracting. Took away from the scenes...dunno.

Widows - 4.25/5

More than your average heist flick.

Sicario 2 Soldado - 3/4

Everybody says it's not as good as the first film and I'd agree. It has less of a focused plot and a lack of characters to relate to, it's guilty of using action sequences too often despite them being very well done and ultimately it becomes slightly predictable. I guessed the ending a mile off but I will avoid spoiling it for those that have yet to see it. With that said the action is still hard and violent and although not as polished or as well placed and paced as the original you can tell it's written by Taylor Sheridan because the characters feel exactly the same. The only downside is the complete lack of Blunt whom you vicariously live through in the first Sicario.
Ultimately I enjoyed it a lot more than some sequels and at least the two leads stayed as committed to their parts as they were in the first film.

Escape Plan 2 was actually good. The score was one long, perfect John Carpenter impression and I loved it. The plot was completely predictable, the acting more restrained than camp but they made up for it with copious one-liners that had to be written by children for a competition.
I don't know why a critic would review it so badly, it's more fun than the original and it's basically a sci-fi film that embraces cliches and macho stereotypes.
It's ham and cheese and I can always go for that.

For all of it's failings as a comic adaptation and as a piece of entertainment in general, 2004's "Punisher" movie has one of the most entertainingly choreographed fight scenes in it. A fight scene with Kevin Nash.
It's not exactly The RAID 2 but it has kept me watching Punisher any time it's on TV for the last fourteen years.

Ralph Breaks the Internet-8/10

Can't say if it's better or not than that first film as they went a completely different direction. Lots of focus on one's purpose in life and wanting more and another's inability to let go and being self destructive emotionally. It's funny, the internet gags are great, that Disney princesses scenes are hilarious and the focus on the characters and not the gags made it a fun for me and my little one.

The Possession of Hannah Grace - 5.5/10

Just a big nope. Meh.

The Man Who Knew Infinity 7.5/10

The Light Between Oceans 8/10

The Girl on the Train 5/10

I forgot to post this but that was my same basic feeling. Ending was lame.

Lion 7.5/10

Poor Indian Boy grows up to become Dev Patel (at which time the movie comes to a grinding halt and becomes rapidly disjointed, but the ending was p emotional so gained an extra .5)

Bohemian Rhapsody - 6/10

Got Ant Man and The Wasp to watch. Hope it rules.

It ruled in almost every way until Michelle Pfeiffer showed up. That's not a knock on her as an actor, I just hated that part of the storyline. It got weird quickly and never turned back. Just that one area of the plot reminded me of Dr Strange. I don't think it needed to go down that route, a bit mystical and ethereal for a film about a super-thief in a size-changing suit.

I love the Ant Man movies. Michael Pena is so much fun. I hope you saw the two post credit scenes.

Oh shit I forgot about them. I'll stick the DVD back in.

:y: Don't go too far into it.

Picked it up today. Can’t watch til Wednesday though.

The credits scenes were pretty predictable in all honesty. Good flick though.

Just received my copy of Kolchak: The Night Stalker the TV show that spiritually preceded the X Files. I mostly ordered it because of Darren McGavin but I hear it is legitimately good stuff.

Anybody seen it before? I'm hoping for a jovial monster of the week type deal with a bit of substance to it. Like a cross between The Twilight Zone and Eerie Indiana.

Are you for real? You were able to predict the first credit scene?

I assumed that

It wasn't hard to predict, it was the logical way to show the timeline and effect of Infinity War on the Ant Man storyline.

Yeah, have to agree. As soon as the scene started I was like “I know what’s gonna happen here”. Still cool though.

Ugh! I can't even with you two right now.

Wreck It Ralph 2 - 8.5/10

Very cute.

Sausage Party 5/10 (I'm being generous)

Don't Breathe 7/10

Robin Hood - 6.5/10

Not sure why they tried to modernize the costumes so much, it didn't help the story and it was really distracting. Decent action scenes but middle of the road, plotwise.

Unless you have Alan Rickman chewing the scenery and practically stealing the movie, a film on Robin Hood is not worth watching.

The Robin Hood film from 6 years ago (or so) was okay, except for Russell Crowe's dodgy accent and anachronistic WW2-esque troop carriers.

Why is Little John black and not huge?

Syriana 6.5/10

Tonight I watched..... The Last Samurai!! After more than a decade of meaning to watch it again.

I will give it a solid 8/10

He is supposed to be Arabian and Islamic bc The Sheriff of Nottingham is funding the Arabs to defeat England in the Crusades.

Just like in the original story.

Arabs are not black, are they?

Still, what about the "not huge" part?

Moor was a term used to describe Arabs, Africans and Muslim Europeans of the time.

So yes, a Moor could be black.

Wait, why are you explaining the word "moor"?

It may go some way to explaining the confusion as to why a character can be black and Arabic.