Last movie watched...

[Professor Bear]

I didn't like The Predator. The whole premise regarding the autistic son .. there's nothing wrong with having autism so [spoiler]what the heck was that people with autism are the next step in human evolution plotline all about?[/spoiler]

I enjoyed The Predator because it was hokum, which is also a handy shield against many - but not all - of the criticisms leveled against it (IE: there's no excuse for hiring a convicted nonce).
Technically, the film doesn't actually contend that [spoiler]autism is an evolutionary leap - a character points out that some have speculated as such, but that character - a biologist - does not express any personal faith in the notion, and why the Predator is interested in the child is open to interpretation because it's not seeking him out because of autism specifically, it's seeking him out because he's displayed potentially useful abilities in accessing the Predator's technology[/spoiler].
In the context of a sci-fi b-movie, the idea that autism gives you superpowers has to be viewed as no more reliable or believable a theory than that of climate change being caused by aliens.

As dumb and tasteless as the autism stuff is, I'm also not sure if you want to pick holes in the movie's depictions of mental disability that you should start with someone on the higher functioning end of what is acknowledged to be a very wide spectrum of behaviors, certainly not when there is a literal bus full of mental patients suffering from "hilarious" forms of PTSD right there on the screen - including [spoiler]one suicidal character glamorously topping himself in the final act.[/spoiler]

[Link Prime]

Hereditary.

Very good film. Slow burn in the first hour, but necessary and then loses it's shit (in a good way) in the second hour.

As a seasoned horror fan, for at least forty years, there were four sequences that sent genuine chills up my spine. Compare this to The Sixth Sense where this happened twice.

Has a good 'Rosemary's Baby' vibe to it.

Recommended if you like creepy horror.

7.5/10

I mostly agree, although it seemed a bit muddled at times, but maybe some processing will iron that out. A brilliant performance from Toni Collette plus an unsettling atmosphere from the start make this an overall hit.

Watched this recently too; some of it is horrifying in a way that has seeped into my brain and made me uneasy for days.

These bits were the [spoiler] family's reaction to the awful decapitation though, and the fact that the poor mam had to find Charlie's body in the car[/spoiler].

Things get a little bit silly when [spoiler] people start flying and chalks write on boards though,[/spoiler] and I can't help thinking it would have been better without the supernatural elements at all (in a Kill List kind of way, perhaps).

In a light year for horror, Hereditary has to top most lists.
I agree that it could have been improved- maybe with a little bit of restraint, but I quite enjoyed it.
The re-watch too, only then catching the occult sigil on the specific telephone pole that [spoiler]decapitates little demon Charlie[/spoiler].

[The Legendary Shark]

Hereditary. I liked the look of this film more than the content, especially the way the sets looked like models - as if . Despite finding the story very dull, I did enjoy

[The Legendary Shark]

... [spoiler]the mother hiding on the wall in the shadows before scuttling away noiselessly[/spoiler] behind the young lad - that scene did impress me and will stay with me for a long time. Apart from that, I found it a bit meh. I guess stylish ghost/demon stories just aren't my thing.

Sorry about the split post - some kind of ghost in the machine, I guess.

[Hawkmumbler]

I greatly enjoyed Hereditary, one of the three great horror movies of the year in my books.

Nabbed the blu of The Legend of the Lone Ranger so gave it a whirr this afternoon. It's fun to see the story of John Reid re-imagined for the 80's HBO scene, and utterly worrisome dubbing not withstanding it made for a fun Sunday (or friday, working weekends messes up my leisure time) morning duvet viewing.

[JayzusB.Christ]

I greatly enjoyed Hereditary, one of the three great horror movies of the year in my books.

Can you tell me the other two?  I'm looking for decent horror films to watch on these cold winter nights.  I watched A Quiet Place recently too; with Jimfromtheoffice.  I liked it but didn't think it quite lived up to the reviews.  Though, as I said, Hereditary lost me a bit when the supernatural elements took over, I found it way scarier - I think the mother's reaction to the [spoiler] awful way her son handled her daughter's death[/spoiler] will probably stay with me forever.

[Hawkmumbler]

A Quiet Place was one of them, the other was the utterly bizarre Suspiria remake.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Cheers, HM.  I was wondering if Suspiria was worth a watch - I'll give it a go.  I watched the original years ago; while I can't quite remember what it was about I remember enjoying it.

[Mattofthespurs]

Cheers, HM.  I was wondering if Suspiria was worth a watch - I'll give it a go.  I watched the original years ago; while I can't quite remember what it was about I remember enjoying it.

Argento's Suspiria is in my top 10 horror films of all time.

For that reason alone I am approaching the re-make with extreme trepidation.

[Hawkmumbler]

It's a very different beast than the original, a more muted, bitty horror that gets under your skin rather than dazzle you like Argentos. My vote for best horror remake (even though it's resemblances to the original are minimalist, it's more an alternative retelling of the Mater Suspiriama short story) of the decade.

[JayzusB.Christ]

It's a very different beast than the original, a more muted, bitty horror that gets under your skin rather than dazzle you like Argentos. My vote for best horror remake (even though it's resemblances to the original are minimalist, it's more an alternative retelling of the Mater Suspiriama short story) of the decade.

Cool, think that's going to be my Sunday afternoon hangover viewing.  Probably not a bad thing to deviate from the original; remakes that are too derivative (Psycho with Vince Vaughn, FFS] don't always work.

(Afterthought - except for when they do, like Scarface and Cape Fear.)

[Mattofthespurs]

Just come back from seeing Aquaman

Biggest pile of shite I have seen at the cinema in many a year and I have a Cineworld unlimited card and go to 40-50 films a year.

It's fucking terrible. Awful script, nonsensical story line, terrible acting and just awful.

There are some nice scenes, but not many. The descent into the Kingdom of the Trenches is pretty neat but in a film that run for a million hours 143 minutes these are few and far between.


I have just come home and bleached my eyes. I may not see again. It'll be worth it.

[TordelBack]

Inclined to agree with Matt about Aquaman in every particular. 

Some of the surface sequences in the second act are fun (the Sicily chase, mainly), Momoa has occasional flashes of charm, and I did like some of the creature designs quite  a lot, but if it wasn't for Amber Heard's décolletage I fear I would have fallen asleep more than once.  It managed to be shockingly pedestrian and drawn-out while at the same time wildly overstuffed and more than a little crazy. Or to put it another way, despite excruciatingly long sequences of exposition, no single element ever gets time to be developed (example: in about 20 minutes we get through previously-unseen kingdoms of [spoiler]merpeople, crab people, deep-ocean-trench people and pterodactyls at the Earth's core, without ever getting to know anything about any of them[/spoiler]).  The de rigueur climactic battle that takes up much of the trailer is between King Orme and "The Kingdom of Brine", a bunch of creatures we were never even introduced to - but they went to the bother of hiring John Rhys Davies for the two lines that their single talking representative has.  I won't even comment on Julie Andrews' bizarre contribution, or what the point of casting Dolph Lundgren was supposed to be.  Wasteful, and frustrating.

There's absolutely no point picking holes in any of it, cos it's all holes but but but: [spoiler]Orme sends singulaly unimpressive tidal waves to crash into the world's coasts, specifically including Maine, but when we see the Currys' lighthouse there's no hint of damage - even the rickety landing stage is intact. Ditto all of Sicily. Speaking of Sicily, the map they find there points the way to the deepest ocean trench giving access to the hidden ocean at the Earth's core... in the Med?!? [/spoiler]. Oh i need to stop, we'll be here all night

The de-ageing craze continues apace with what seem like rather gratuitous jobs on Nicole Kidman and Willem Dafoe, and a bizarrely unrecognisable shot at Temuera Morrison.  Actually, Morrison isn't half bad in this.

On the positive front, my wife assures me that Jason Momoa remains a very fine figure of a man, and even on the rare occasions when he is wearing a shirt on it appears to be painted on.  Take that as you will.

The real disappointment is that a film obviously designed to capitalise on Aquaman's surprisingly enjoyable turn in Justice League... doesn't. Everyone around him is so grim and serious all the time that the brief glimpses of that humour seem utterly out of place without other lighter characters to play off.  Oh, and large chunks of the third act are lifted from How To Train Your Dragon 2, but not in a good way. 

[JayzusB.Christ]

I'm just in the middle of watching Disney's 3d animation Christmas Carol.  I'm a sucker for a Dickensian Christmas and they've done a decent job of it.

I can't help thinking, though: I don't know if Brian Blessed has ever played the Ghost of Christmas Present, but if not, somebody's missed a trick.

[TordelBack]

According to IMDB, he played him in the Roland Rat version!

I'm not mad about the Disney Christmas Carol (I'm watching it too!), but it's certainly a faithful adaptation. My go-to's are Muppets, Alastair Sims' and Patrick Stewart's ones, and of course Scrooged.