Saw X releases later this week as a horror movie buff(anyone who has seen my jacket knows how much I love them 🤣🤣) I'm excited for it as the Saw franchise is my favourite
If your planning on watching it just remember Saw X fits in between Saw 1 and Saw 2 in the timeline
OMG! I had no idea about this, Fabulous, thank you 🙏🏻
Watched Barbie, thought it was more than fine for a easy Sunday night movie. Not quite sure why so many people have taken offence by it and why so many people been triggered by the portrait of the male role in the real world. I found Kens discovery of the patriarchy actually quite funny. Alsothe set design and Artwork was quite clever in parts.
I love the MI films. A lot. I worship at the church of Cruise (the man, not his own church). I love him as a filmmaker. And I don't just mean the stunts, which are great fun, but the man knows how to bring other filmmakers together and get them top produce high-quality stuff.
The way the MI films are crafted, particularly the scripts, really appeals to me. Ever since Brad Bird took on the fourth film I think Cruise, and latterly McQuarrie, have figured out an approach that makes them the best action movies of their time.
To me, Fallout is in the top ten all time great action movies, and while Dead Reckoning is in the same vein, it's a little baggier than its predecessor. There's once chase scene that went on for so long that I couldn't remember how it started.
Still, I loved it. I love the tension they're capable of creating. I love the way scenes are written and then subverted. I can see those little twists coming a mile off now as they're very much on brand for the series, but they're just as satisfying as ever.
I think this film suffers a little bit by being a part 1 of 2, and when viewed with the sequel I would imagine it'll be a lot stronger. I've read that people have issues with the way the female sidekick has been introduced, and I can't defend that. There is a rotation of characters in this film that I think is odd.
But fuck it, it's such good fun I don't care.
8/10
i watched Rogue Nation and Fallout in one sitting. I was a nervous wreck by the end.
just boshed the MI films in the last few weeks with a paramount + sub and watching most of them for the first time. Have to say, I'm now firmly on the cruise and MI train. Fantastic spectacles and really fun watches. Got a bit more serious than cheesey in more recent films, but maybe that's just moving with the times.
i reckon the Bourne films forced MI makers go up their game.
No doubt at all
I can throw some doubt in that direction! Bourne definitely had a big effect on action, especially Bond, but I think M:I is the series that ultimately went its own way.
The M:I movies were supposed to be completely different styles each time. De Palma, Woo and Abrams are all very different stylistically. Of those three, only Abrams's M:I3 was post-Bourne and it's way more Abrams than Bourne/ Doug Liman/ Paul Greengrass. After him, Brad Bird came in, and what he set up gave Cruise (who runs the show more than anybody else) the inspiration to keep continuity across the subsequent movies. And I don't think you can see much Bourne in any of those films (unlike Casino Royale which is like a carbon copy at times). The opening sequence of Rogue Nation is a highlight of the series, and it's measured and well crafted. Not from-the-hip, which is what Greengrass has always done. Much to the series' detriment IMO. Liman's Identity was a big shot in the arm for action movies, and Supremacy was almost a fluke given how messy the production was, but it is one of my all-time favourites. At least at the time - some of the fights, most notably the apartment one, are held up today as how NOT to shoot a fight scene.
When Cruise met Christopher McQuarrie for Jack Reacher where he did an amazing job, he took him over to M:I5, and he's been the leading creative force ever since. Meanwhile Greengrass and Damon, who refused to do another Bourne until their own careers were stuttering, screwed the pooch in a massive way with the fourth Bourne movie. Hell, I think they fucked it with the third one to be honest - instead of developing the franchise Greengrass kept repeating himself, as if a Bourne movie had to have the same style of beats in them to be defined as a Bourne movie. Sure, Ultimatum is a solid action movie, but it led to a dead end creatively, as evidenced by the utterly pointless fifth movie (Jason Bourne). The books are shit and really badly written, but at least they have some source material to offer depth to Bourne's life, all of which was ignored by Greengrass and writer Tony Gilroy. Hell, I would take the Jeremy Renner movie (Legacy) over the last two Damon ones. At least Gilroy tried to expand the story in that one. Damon and Greengrass were really dismissive of that, but then made the worst movie in the entire franchise.
Anyway, I think the M:I series owes a debt to Brad Bird (20%), JJ Abrams (20%) and Chris McQuarrie (60%) way more than Greengrass and Damon!
Went to see the creator, story about AI and humans, been showing trailers for ages , its ok, stunning landscapes , and immersive scenary , 6.5 - 7 out of 10 for me, nothing thats not been done before.
If you hate Sci - fi then don't bother, and vice versa.
I love the MI films. A lot. I worship at the church of Cruise (the man, not his own church). I love him as a filmmaker. And I don't just mean the stunts, which are great fun, but the man knows how to bring other filmmakers together and get them top produce high-quality stuff.
The way the MI films are crafted, particularly the scripts, really appeals to me. Ever since Brad Bird took on the fourth film I think Cruise, and latterly McQuarrie, have figured out an approach that makes them the best action movies of their time.
To me, Fallout is in the top ten all time great action movies, and while Dead Reckoning is in the same vein, it's a little baggier than its predecessor. There's once chase scene that went on for so long that I couldn't remember how it started.
Still, I loved it. I love the tension they're capable of creating. I love the way scenes are written and then subverted. I can see those little twists coming a mile off now as they're very much on brand for the series, but they're just as satisfying as ever.
I think this film suffers a little bit by being a part 1 of 2, and when viewed with the sequel I would imagine it'll be a lot stronger. I've read that people have issues with the way the female sidekick has been introduced, and I can't defend that. There is a rotation of characters in this film that I think is odd.
But fuck it, it's such good fun I don't care.
8/10
i watched Rogue Nation and Fallout in one sitting. I was a nervous wreck by the end.
just boshed the MI films in the last few weeks with a paramount + sub and watching most of them for the first time. Have to say, I'm now firmly on the cruise and MI train. Fantastic spectacles and really fun watches. Got a bit more serious than cheesey in more recent films, but maybe that's just moving with the times.
i reckon the Bourne films forced MI makers go up their game.
No doubt at all
I can throw some doubt in that direction! Bourne definitely had a big effect on action, especially Bond, but I think M:I is the series that ultimately went its own way.
The M:I movies were supposed to be completely different styles each time. De Palma, Woo and Abrams are all very different stylistically. Of those three, only Abrams's M:I3 was post-Bourne and it's way more Abrams than Bourne/ Doug Liman/ Paul Greengrass. After him, Brad Bird came in, and what he set up gave Cruise (who runs the show more than anybody else) the inspiration to keep continuity across the subsequent movies. And I don't think you can see much Bourne in any of those films (unlike Casino Royale which is like a carbon copy at times). The opening sequence of Rogue Nation is a highlight of the series, and it's measured and well crafted. Not from-the-hip, which is what Greengrass has always done. Much to the series' detriment IMO. Liman's Identity was a big shot in the arm for action movies, and Supremacy was almost a fluke given how messy the production was, but it is one of my all-time favourites. At least at the time - some of the fights, most notably the apartment one, are held up today as how NOT to shoot a fight scene.
When Cruise met Christopher McQuarrie for Jack Reacher where he did an amazing job, he took him over to M:I5, and he's been the leading creative force ever since. Meanwhile Greengrass and Damon, who refused to do another Bourne until their own careers were stuttering, screwed the pooch in a massive way with the fourth Bourne movie. Hell, I think they fucked it with the third one to be honest - instead of developing the franchise Greengrass kept repeating himself, as if a Bourne movie had to have the same style of beats in them to be defined as a Bourne movie. Sure, Ultimatum is a solid action movie, but it led to a dead end creatively, as evidenced by the utterly pointless fifth movie (Jason Bourne). The books are shit and really badly written, but at least they have some source material to offer depth to Bourne's life, all of which was ignored by Greengrass and writer Tony Gilroy. Hell, I would take the Jeremy Renner movie (Legacy) over the last two Damon ones. At least Gilroy tried to expand the story in that one. Damon and Greengrass were really dismissive of that, but then made the worst movie in the entire franchise.
Anyway, I think the M:I series owes a debt to Brad Bird (20%), JJ Abrams (20%) and Chris McQuarrie (60%) way more than Greengrass and Damon!
Genuinely forgot there were any Bournes after the original trilogy.
Past Lives - story of a Korean couple of their complex history. Saw this at Greenwich picturehouse. The Guardian review gave it 5 stars and rotten tomatoes currently 98%. I can see why, but I'll give it 8/10. Mostly set in Seoul and New York interestingly.
Just watched Reptile on Netflix which has only been available from tonight.
Another film that requires your full attention as lots of characters so lots of questions here ..." Who's that, then ? Have we seen him before ? " etc.
Enjoyable enough & kept us engaged for most of the 2 hours plus. Worth a look IMO.
Really slow start, a lot of back story which dragged, but then your typical Saw, twisted / squeamish. It's decent enough and recommend if you like the rest of the series.
A pub landlord in a previously thriving - but now deeply depressed - mining community in a County Durham village struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise amongst locals when refugees from war-torn Syria are placed in empty houses in the village.
As a director, I find Ken Loach as subtle as a brick but this was much closer in quality to I, Daniel Blake and a big upgrade on the extremely depressing Sorry I Missed You. The two leads (including the ex-fireman) were excellent and it could hardly be more topical, given the rhetoric of the right wing press and Suella Braverman.
Struggling to fit in at Oxford University, Oliver, a young student from an apparently troubled background befriends the charismatic and aristocratic Felix, who invites him to spend the summer at Saltburn, his family’s sprawling estate. From here, we follow Oliver’s attempts to inveigle himself into the family.
The film is quite dark and included a couple of scenes that even I found a little distasteful. On the plus side, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, and Carey Mulligan had some very amusing lines but even they and a good ensemble cast could not, in my view, elevate the film above the average.
It was written, directed and produced by Emerald Fennell, whose first film, A Promising Young Women, was nominated for five Oscars and won for Best Original Screenplay. As a result, Saltburn has a high profile, although I found it an uninspiring choice to open the London Film Festival.
Just watched The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on Netflix.
Oh my. I have just been transported back to my young self who was completely captivated by this book. It was the second Dahl book I read after Danny The Champion of the World.
The Exorcist: Believer. The film is probably the best of the lot so far, since the original which I think will remain unbeatable. Definitely filmed in such a way that it reminds you of the original, half decent story and a few jumpy moments. I enjoyed the twist at the end aka Sophie's Choice. I'd go 7/10
Was a bit spooky in the cinema as there was just me and one other in attendance....
Watched Exorcist - The Believer and The Creator on Sunday. Exorcist was ok - a 15, it wasn't overly scary and it's lost a ton of money based on the $225m it cost to acquire the option to the name and make the first film - only took $50m globally opening weekend. The Creator was excellent. Really smart film. Didn't cry - but it tugs at the heartstrings. Proper story telling.
Tonight I'm off to see Blackberry and Saw X. Am excited to see Blackberry and looking forward to scaring the missus to death watching Saw X :-)
i'm super interested in seeing peoples views on Saw X -
as a massive horror flick fan it both baffles and brings me joy that it is possible to kill off a protagonist in film 3 and still milk 7 sequels out of it without breaking into the supernatural, yet we still can't get a proper Evil Dead 4 movie with Bruce Campbell
i'm super interested in seeing peoples views on Saw X -
as a massive horror flick fan it both baffles and brings me joy that it is possible to kill off a protagonist in film 3 and still milk 7 sequels out of it without breaking into the supernatural, yet we still can't get a proper Evil Dead 4 movie with Bruce Campbell
It's a film, i get your issue and it was odd but i take them for what they are. You know what you are getting and still very clever and twisted. The fact JK died in an earlier sequel doesn't really factor as i take them each on their own.
The Exorcist: Believer. The film is probably the best of the lot so far, since the original which I think will remain unbeatable. Definitely filmed in such a way that it reminds you of the original, half decent story and a few jumpy moments. I enjoyed the twist at the end aka Sophie's Choice. I'd go 7/10
Was a bit spooky in the cinema as there was just me and one other in attendance....
The Exorcist: Believer. The film is probably the best of the lot so far, since the original which I think will remain unbeatable. Definitely filmed in such a way that it reminds you of the original, half decent story and a few jumpy moments. I enjoyed the twist at the end aka Sophie's Choice. I'd go 7/10
Was a bit spooky in the cinema as there was just me and one other in attendance....
Was it the Devil 😈 ?
Would you recommend, thinking of seeing it?
indeed I think it was.....huge empty cinema, Ice cold aircon....
Yeah I enjoyed it....its better than a lot of the follow ups to the Original. Cant say as I was scared though.
Took my 5 year old to the cinema to see PAW Patrol. Actually not all that bad for what it is, obviously not something most adults are going to watch by choice but a few decent jokes.
Took my 5 year old to the cinema to see PAW Patrol. Actually not all that bad for what it is, obviously not something most adults are going to watch by choice but a few decent jokes.
Sounds like the kind of film I used to take my kids to so I could get an hour's or two sleep.
Just back from The Great Escaper. Was very emotional; one of the guys in front of me was in bits. If you don’t know the (true) story it’s about a 90 year old Navy man who was on the landing craft on Sword beach who “escapes” from his care home to independently attend the 70-year commemoration of the D-Day landings. Michael Caine’s last ever film before retirement and Glenda Jackson’s last before she passed away (she was excellent btw). Well worth a look; 7.5/10
Just back from The Great Escaper. Was very emotional; one of the guys in front of me was in bits. If you don’t know the (true) story it’s about a 90 year old Navy man who was on the landing craft on Sword beach who “escapes” from his care home to independently attend the 70-year commemoration of the D-Day landings. Michael Caine’s last ever film before retirement and Glenda Jackson’s last before she passed away (she was excellent btw). Well worth a look; 7.5/10
I didn’t realise it was about yer man who broke out for the D Day celebrations. He popped up on my feed the other day. The photo of him surrounded by all the lovely ladies at the channel crossing. Wonderful 🤩
Took my 5 year old to the cinema to see PAW Patrol. Actually not all that bad for what it is, obviously not something most adults are going to watch by choice but a few decent jokes.
Sounds like the kind of film I used to take my kids to so I could get an hour's or two sleep.
I watched a good number of films at the London Film Festival earlier this month. Of the ones I saw, I thought the following were the best:
The Holdovers(USA, Alexander Payne)
The most entertaining feature I saw at the LFF. Alexander Payne reunites with Paul Giametti 20 years after Sideways. Set in December 1970, Giametti plays a curmudgeonly history teacher at an exclusive boarding school who is forced to remain on campus over the Christmas holidays with a disaffected student whose mother and step-father don’t want him home, together with the school cook/cafeteria manager, whose son recently died in Vietnam. What ensues is an excellent, poignant and very funny comedy.
It is released in the UK on 19 January 2024.
The Zone of Interest(UK/Poland/Germany, Jonathan Glazer)
Based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel, the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), strive to create bucolic bliss and a dream home for their family in a house and garden just outside the walls of the camp. The juxtaposition of banal everyday domesticity with what we know is taking place next-door is chilling.
A very skilfully crafted film, with a discomfiting, discordant score, it won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Interestingly, it has also been selected as the UK entry for the Best International Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards; I think it is likely to be nominated and make the shortlist.
Evil Does Not Exist (Japan, Hamaguchi of Drive My Car fame)
A corporation seeks to push through a ‘glamping’ development near a peaceful rural village which will forever change the community and their environment, not least by polluting the local fresh water supply. A beguiling drama but its enigmatic and sudden ending is likely to alienate a number of viewers.
Winner of the Best Film award at the LFF.
Eileen (USA, William Oldroyd)
In Oldroyd’s follow-up to Lady Macbeth, a shy young prison employee in 1960s Massachusetts (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes infatuated with the facility’s glamorous new psychiatrist (Anne Hathaway). Things take a sinister turn, as the the story veers into a psychological crime thriller, film noir and black-comedy horror.
It is released in the UK on 1 December.
Poor Things (UK, Yorgos Lanthimos; Golden Lion, Venice)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow up to The Favourite is a surreal black comedy set initially in Victorian London. Emma Stone gives an excellent performance as Bella, a corpse brought back to life in a Frankenstein-type experiment conducted by a brilliant and eccentric scientist (Willem Defoe). Initially child-like and naive, she is keen to learn more about the world and runs off with an opportunist lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) to travel across continents, giving full vent to her voracious carnal and other desires. As a ‘woman reborn’, Bella has a liberated mindset, completely free of societal constraints and mores.
A highly original, bizarre, humorous and entertaining film, with impressive cinematography, set design and costumes. I thought it was very good but, for me, it did not quite live up to some of the hype surrounding it. It is released in the UK on 12 January.
Comments
Fabulous, thank you 🙏🏻
The M:I movies were supposed to be completely different styles each time. De Palma, Woo and Abrams are all very different stylistically. Of those three, only Abrams's M:I3 was post-Bourne and it's way more Abrams than Bourne/ Doug Liman/ Paul Greengrass. After him, Brad Bird came in, and what he set up gave Cruise (who runs the show more than anybody else) the inspiration to keep continuity across the subsequent movies. And I don't think you can see much Bourne in any of those films (unlike Casino Royale which is like a carbon copy at times). The opening sequence of Rogue Nation is a highlight of the series, and it's measured and well crafted. Not from-the-hip, which is what Greengrass has always done. Much to the series' detriment IMO. Liman's Identity was a big shot in the arm for action movies, and Supremacy was almost a fluke given how messy the production was, but it is one of my all-time favourites. At least at the time - some of the fights, most notably the apartment one, are held up today as how NOT to shoot a fight scene.
When Cruise met Christopher McQuarrie for Jack Reacher where he did an amazing job, he took him over to M:I5, and he's been the leading creative force ever since. Meanwhile Greengrass and Damon, who refused to do another Bourne until their own careers were stuttering, screwed the pooch in a massive way with the fourth Bourne movie. Hell, I think they fucked it with the third one to be honest - instead of developing the franchise Greengrass kept repeating himself, as if a Bourne movie had to have the same style of beats in them to be defined as a Bourne movie. Sure, Ultimatum is a solid action movie, but it led to a dead end creatively, as evidenced by the utterly pointless fifth movie (Jason Bourne). The books are shit and really badly written, but at least they have some source material to offer depth to Bourne's life, all of which was ignored by Greengrass and writer Tony Gilroy. Hell, I would take the Jeremy Renner movie (Legacy) over the last two Damon ones. At least Gilroy tried to expand the story in that one. Damon and Greengrass were really dismissive of that, but then made the worst movie in the entire franchise.
Anyway, I think the M:I series owes a debt to Brad Bird (20%), JJ Abrams (20%) and Chris McQuarrie (60%) way more than Greengrass and Damon!
If you hate Sci - fi then don't bother, and vice versa.
Another film that requires your full attention as lots of characters so lots of questions here ..." Who's that, then ? Have we seen him before ? " etc.
Enjoyable enough & kept us engaged for most of the 2 hours plus. Worth a look IMO.
Preferred it to dumb money, a lot of effing and jeffing, but thought the story got better and better as the film went on, worth a watch - 7 out of 10.
Forgot to say, some good characters / acting, to the point where you really hate one of the characters in how he treats people.
Really slow start, a lot of back story which dragged, but then your typical Saw, twisted / squeamish. It's decent enough and recommend if you like the rest of the series.
A pub landlord in a previously thriving - but now deeply depressed - mining community in a County Durham village struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise amongst locals when refugees from war-torn Syria are placed in empty houses in the village.
As a director, I find Ken Loach as subtle as a brick but this was much closer in quality to I, Daniel Blake and a big upgrade on the extremely depressing Sorry I Missed You. The two leads (including the ex-fireman) were excellent and it could hardly be more topical, given the rhetoric of the right wing press and Suella Braverman.
Saltburn - 6/10
Struggling to fit in at Oxford University, Oliver, a young student from an apparently troubled background befriends the charismatic and aristocratic Felix, who invites him to spend the summer at Saltburn, his family’s sprawling estate. From here, we follow Oliver’s attempts to inveigle himself into the family.
The film is quite dark and included a couple of scenes that even I found a little distasteful. On the plus side, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, and Carey Mulligan had some very amusing lines but even they and a good ensemble cast could not, in my view, elevate the film above the average.
It was written, directed and produced by Emerald Fennell, whose first film, A Promising Young Women, was nominated for five Oscars and won for Best Original Screenplay. As a result, Saltburn has a high profile, although I found it an uninspiring choice to open the London Film Festival.
Oh my. I have just been transported back to my young self who was completely captivated by this book. It was the second Dahl book I read after Danny The Champion of the World.
Wes Anderson has told & cast it brilliantly.
A joyful hour of anyone’s day.
I’m off to stare at a candle again 🙏🏻
Was a bit spooky in the cinema as there was just me and one other in attendance....
Tonight I'm off to see Blackberry and Saw X. Am excited to see Blackberry and looking forward to scaring the missus to death watching Saw X :-)
as a massive horror flick fan it both baffles and brings me joy that it is possible to kill off a protagonist in film 3 and still milk 7 sequels out of it without breaking into the supernatural, yet we still can't get a proper Evil Dead 4 movie with Bruce Campbell
Would you recommend, thinking of seeing it?
Yeah I enjoyed it....its better than a lot of the follow ups to the Original. Cant say as I was scared though.
He popped up on my feed the other day.
The photo of him surrounded by all the lovely ladies at the channel crossing.
Wonderful 🤩
The Holdovers (USA, Alexander Payne)
The most entertaining feature I saw at the LFF. Alexander Payne reunites with Paul Giametti 20 years after Sideways. Set in December 1970, Giametti plays a curmudgeonly history teacher at an exclusive boarding school who is forced to remain on campus over the Christmas holidays with a disaffected student whose mother and step-father don’t want him home, together with the school cook/cafeteria manager, whose son recently died in Vietnam. What ensues is an excellent, poignant and very funny comedy.
It is released in the UK on 19 January 2024.
The Zone of Interest (UK/Poland/Germany, Jonathan Glazer)
Based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel, the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), strive to create bucolic bliss and a dream home for their family in a house and garden just outside the walls of the camp. The juxtaposition of banal everyday domesticity with what we know is taking place next-door is chilling.
A very skilfully crafted film, with a discomfiting, discordant score, it won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Interestingly, it has also been selected as the UK entry for the Best International Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards; I think it is likely to be nominated and make the shortlist.
Evil Does Not Exist (Japan, Hamaguchi of Drive My Car fame)
A corporation seeks to push through a ‘glamping’ development near a peaceful rural village which will forever change the community and their environment, not least by polluting the local fresh water supply. A beguiling drama but its enigmatic and sudden ending is likely to alienate a number of viewers.
Winner of the Best Film award at the LFF.
Eileen (USA, William Oldroyd)
In Oldroyd’s follow-up to Lady Macbeth, a shy young prison employee in 1960s Massachusetts (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes infatuated with the facility’s glamorous new psychiatrist (Anne Hathaway). Things take a sinister turn, as the the story veers into a psychological crime thriller, film noir and black-comedy horror.
It is released in the UK on 1 December.
Poor Things (UK, Yorgos Lanthimos; Golden Lion, Venice)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow up to The Favourite is a surreal black comedy set initially in Victorian London. Emma Stone gives an excellent performance as Bella, a corpse brought back to life in a Frankenstein-type experiment conducted by a brilliant and eccentric scientist (Willem Defoe). Initially child-like and naive, she is keen to learn more about the world and runs off with an opportunist lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) to travel across continents, giving full vent to her voracious carnal and other desires. As a ‘woman reborn’, Bella has a liberated mindset, completely free of societal constraints and mores.
A highly original, bizarre, humorous and entertaining film, with impressive cinematography, set design and costumes. I thought it was very good but, for me, it did not quite live up to some of the hype surrounding it. It is released in the UK on 12 January.