Last movie watched...

[Colin YNWA]

3:10 TO YUMA
A bit of a sausage party (the only women are mothers and whores) but cracking performances from Russell Crowe, Christian Bale (these two doing the opposite of each other) and Ben Foster deliver a pretty satisfying western.

Interestingly my son and I caught the original a couple of weeks back, or the last 45 minutes or so and the boy child loved it. i mean its a black and white movie and a western two things (which aside from loving the Dollars ''trilogy' sound track he has no interest in but the compelling drama of it all utter engaged him. I was a very happy pappy.

[Tiplodocus]

Similarly our Grandson (2 and a half) has taken to THE INCREDIBLES recently. Nearly two hours long and about a man's midlife crisis... But compelling storytelling is compelling storytelling.

[pictsy]

Friday the 13th Part 2

That was closer to what I was expecting.  This franchise is already weird.  Jason was living in the woods whilst his mother thought he was dead.  Why?  Well, who cares, we're into proper dumb now.  I can see why many hated it at the time, it is a weaker copy of the first and if that's all the context you have it's very much the inferior film.  It still isn't particularly bad.  The weird endings continue, however.  Also, I think the end of the film dragged on again with plenty of fake-outs.

I did like the Jason of this film for the sole reason that he actually seemed terrified of a chainsaw and wasn't 6'2" with a wrestlers build.

Next up, What is this?  Mighty Ducks!?  In 3D?!?

[Colin YNWA]

Ben

Well this does exactly what you'd expect a film about a young boy, this rat and the murderous actions of the rat's army of the night and the local authorities, from the early 70s to do. It doesn't really hold any surprises, doesn't really hold up to modern scrutiny, but at the same time has a curious charm and is always entertaining. Its basically Lassie, if Lassie was a warlord rodent with an army of sweller dwelling manchompers.

That said the work done to give Ben, the murderous rat king - mind he's only looking after this ratty people - character and to express emotion is quite wonderful and uses some very clever direction / editing. Also it does a good job of not hammering home its message - why can't we all just get along. It allows it to play out naturally, well until the end. Yeah really enjoyed this...

...oh and I say no surprises, there is one doozy. I was genuinely amazed to learn this is the source of Michael Jackson's early smash hit 'Ben' I mean who'd have thunk such a sweet song would originate from a curious 70s minor horror piece about a warring rat overlord?!? Amazing!

[I, Cosh]

Ben
...
Its basically Lassie, if Lassie was a warlord rodent with an army of sweller dwelling manchompers.

Never heard of this but it sounds utterly bonkers. Weirdly, I did know that the Jacko song was about a rat but I guess I thought it was one of his pets.

[Funt Solo]

Ben (1972) - Official Trailer (HD)

1. Kid bugging you for a pet hamster.
2. Show kid the trailer for Ben.
3. No more requests for pet rodents ... but you do have the nightmares to contend with.

[pictsy]

Friday the 13th Part 3D

More like Shitday the Shiteenth Part Shit.

What a bunch of wank.  Got that lovely Conservative moralising bullshit thrown in to a dismally boring, idiotic and badly made piece of trash.  I sincerely hope this is the lowest point of the franchise because this was without merit.  Sure, Jason gets his mask and more screen time with a machete and super human strength (for some reason) but it's utter trash.  Annoyingly awful.  This is really what I thought the first film would be.  It's hard to believe that seven films and a remake followed this dumpster fire.

But Pictsy, you may say, what about that fantastic yo-yo action?  I mean you don't get 3D spectacles like that just anywhere!  Honestly, I thought the in-your-face 3D gimmick would be the downfall of the film, but no.  The film is shit regardless.  Does it escape the curse of weird endings at the very least?  No.  But it is the worst of the weird endings so far.

Next up, And I would have got away with it too if it weren't for that pesky kid!

[pictsy]

Friday the 13th The Final Chapter

This was better than part 3D.  I think they knew that film was a stinker.  I didn't bring up the really irritating recap shite all these sequels do, but here it is relevant because they used very little footage from part 3D.  Anyway, it's a rehash of part 2 with a family added in and some oddball hunting Jason or something.  It's a mixed bag of unlikable characters, truly awful moments and entertainingly awful moments.  My favourite being the "he's killing me" delivery.  So dumb.  As a final chapter it's fine.  They aren't going out on a high note, but it's satisfying to end things on an improvement over part 3D.

It also continues the weird ending tradition.  Why did Corey Feldman cut all his hair off?  Did he watch Part 2?  Regardless it doesn't make sense, but I think it paid off well with the demise of Jason.  So it wasn't a long franchise and it wasn't great.  The first film was certainly the best of the bunch and it really didn't have any ideas to sustain itself for more than two movies at best.  The fact they got four out is astonishing.

Next up,  A Friday the 13th where Jason isn't the murderer?  It's so unprecedented!

[The Mind of Wolfie Smith]

philomena.
written, produced and starring steve coogan. and not a trace of partridge in sight.
really moving movie about the mother and baby orphanage and adoption scandal in ireland, but very prescient in terms of what we now know. coogan plays former newlabour spin doctor, martin sixsmith, with a brilliantly confused intelligence. judi dench is as perfect as ever - in that you always forget that she's judi dench. definitely worth a view, but full of triggers. only watch with someone on for a big chat afterwards.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Is it bad that for *years now* I have been unable to read the name "Judi Dench" anywhere without substituting "Judge Death" in its place? It has made film posters quite amusing over time.

SBT

[The Mind of Wolfie Smith]

she would do a brilliant job ...

[Tiplodocus]

Mrs Gunderson.

I always think Dame Judi Stench after an awkward moment where someone farted, someone else said "That's a bit of a Dame Judi" and someone else, who didn't understand how rhyming slang works helpfully added "You mean Dame Judi Stench!"

[milstar]

Next up,  A Friday the 13th where Jason isn't the murderer?  It's so unprecedented!

Now that film is utter shite. As if F13 aren't B movies already, but this one looks like a C movie, full of cringe and creepy characters.

Kelly's Heroes

Mildly entertaining war caper. I like to imagine it as a movie that inspired to write The Adventures in the Rifle Brigade. Humor is so-so, and it mostly comes from Don Rickles and Telly Savalas character. Donald Sutherland is often off the mark, thanks for his pre-hippy antics and Clint Eastwood is... Clint Eastwood. For my money, the weakest link in the chain. There are some well made set-pieces, despite the plot being preposterous. The assault on the village takes too long to set-up, and the runtime could've been a little trimmed down. At least by 20 minutes.

[Funt Solo]

Phobia, Nausea ... and Stench!

[pictsy]

Friday the 13th A New Beginning

It was OK.  It's messy, contrived and stupid.  The opening was good with Feldman back playing young Tommy.  Older Tommy has the moves for a beat down that don't come in useful at all.  It was engaging, though.  I found most of the characters fine.  I even liked some of the characters, which is a step up from The Final Chapter. 

The film doesn't pull off the "who is it?" thing very well.  I don't think it works as an explanation for why Tommy should be the new Jason.  The pacing suffers from it's failures here and it struggles to justify it's existence with it's plot.  But it isn't as mean spirited towards mental health as many horror films that choose this route tend to be.  In the end it was more fun to watch than the previous two.  Especially part 3D, which is still the worst.

Next up, Frankenstein's Monster Lives!