Last movie watched...

[Keef Monkey]

I know everyone else already knows how good Into The Spiderverse is but I only just got round to watch it and wowzers that was good. Easily the best Spider-Man film out there, and a strong contender for best Marvel film. Such a constant delight to watch.

Watched The Innkeepers and Revenge as well at the weekend and they were both great too, particularly Revenge. As far as movies where a woman is wronged by some scumbags and then turns the tables on them it has to be one of the best out there, and easily one of the most stylish and bloody things I've seen in yonks. The events that trigger the titular revenge are obviously pretty rough to watch and the first act might put many off because it seems very deliberately shot in a leery male gaze - seems like a conscious choice to put the viewer in an uncomfortably voyeuristic or complicit position. There were a bunch of these exploitation rape/revenge movies back in the day and they've never interested me one bit but as far as I'm aware they were all made by men so it could the female writer/director's spin on it that made it so much more gripping and interesting. Loved it and enjoyed the soundtrack so much I immediately ordered the vinyl.

The Innkeepers is an early film by Ti West (House of The Devil/The Sacrament) and has a much quirkier tone and sense of humour than those films had me expecting, with some touching and likeable characters and banter. When it does scares though they're definitely the kind of scares that freak me out a fair bit (I don't handle hauntings very well) so still works as an effective horror for me while feeling a bit different to similar films out there.

[CalHab]

I know everyone else already knows how good Into The Spiderverse is but I only just got round to watch it and wowzers that was good. Easily the best Spider-Man film out there, and a strong contender for best Marvel film. Such a constant delight to watch.

Agreed. It's one of my daughter's favourite films so I must have watched it a dozen times now. I still enjoy it and still smile when she asks to put it on.

I'd say go so far as to say it's the best Superhero movie made. Certainly the best for comics readers.

[broodblik]

Watched Shazam and must say that it is an enjoyable fun movie.  Good the see that DC can also do a light-hearted movie full of laughs.

[The Legendary Shark]

Prospect. Pretty good low-budget sci-fi/western about a prospector and his daughter looking for something like pearls/amber on a forested moon. It looks amazing and portrays a small slice of a fully realised and deep world but focuses mainly on characters. Would not look out of place, or be overshadowed by, being on a double bill with Moon. Well worth your time.

[Tiplodocus]

The boys from Clan Tips right enjoyed Spider-Man: far from home even the bizarrely essential end credit scenes (surely lots of parents with younger kids and weaker bladders missed these?)

Tom Holland is just fabulous - already a National Tteasure - and we thought Peter and MJ made a believable dorky couple.

Not really that big on the comics so not sure if MJ is meant to be girl next door or unachievable prom queen but this version of neither works fine for me.

And apart from knowing Mysterio was... you know... one of them... I know little history but, again, this incarnation seemed believable and a satisfying fit for this universe and a modern audience.

But they really didn't think the Snap/Blip thing through it appears... so do they just ignore it (which this did for the most part) or is there something bigger down the line coming (which would be ballsy!)

[Mattofthespurs]

Suspiria (2018)

I was deeply suspicious of this re-make and consequently ignored it (like most of the public) but a year later up it pops on Amazon Prime so I thought I would give it a chance.

And it's utterly, utterly brilliant. Loved every single second.

Can't wait for the UK blu ray to come out in October.

[Hawkmumbler]

It really is rather brilliant. Going back to the original Three Mothers text and taking a very different approach to Argento's Technicolor fantasy into straight up Eldritch horror, the result is brilliant and I sincerely hope the Matter Tenenbraum teaser means we'll be seeing a rebooted Inferno as well!

[Bolt-01]

THE WICKER MAN.
The original version. I'd never seen this before so approached it with a feeling of trepidation. A really enjoyable film, with Ed Triple-wood playing possibly the most appaling character I've seen presented as the protagonist.

I was actually rooting for the islanders by the end.

I'm not sure how the film went down with audiences at the time - I imagine that we, the audience, were expected to side with the christian despite his awfulness and so feel horror at the eventual outcome with all its pagan trappings.

I loved the disclaimer at the start and was hoping for a similar one at the end wishing Lord Summerisle well with his upcoming harvest...

[Hawkmumbler]

I actually believe Robin Hardy and Ewawoowaa deliberately intended Howie to be an genuinely unlikable, stick up his ass xenophobe who's less a protagonist as a point of view character. We're as clueless as he is as to the mystery unfolding, and as such as in the dark about the fate of Rowan Morris and the culture of the Islanders. There was supposed to be a sequel where he survived and would become a sort of "Quatermass for cultists" but thankfully it was never made.

Don't watch the belated sequel, The Wicker Tree, also directed by Hardy. It's a bit shite.

[Greg M.]

...but do watch Anthony Shaffer's 'Absolution', which is very much the spiritual sequel.

I don't think Howie's religion or the islanders' religion are either endorsed or ridiculed by the film – it just presents us with two very different systems of belief and shows us what happens when they come into conflict. Both Howie and Lord Summerisle make good points at different stages of the film.

I don't find Howie at all unlikable though – he's dogged, moral, sticks to his beliefs, and is genuinely trying to do his duty. More importantly, he's hopelessly out of his depth from the moment he arrives, and I like to support the underdog. Yes, he's uptight, narrow-minded, repressed and hugely judgemental, but equally the islanders are a sordid bunch of dirty, duplicitous bastards who believe in human sacrifice.

[Hawkmumbler]

...but do watch Anthony Shaffer's 'Absolution', which is very much the spiritual sequel.

The Richard Burton flick? Been meaning to see that for quiet some time, looks very much my slice of folk horror pie.

[Greg M.]

Let's just say it has certain similarities of structure and character, and shares at least one piece of key dialogue with 'The Wicker Man'.

[Dandontdare]

I'm still stunned that Bolt has reached his advanced years without ever seeing the Wicker Man!


I remember the crushing disappointment many years later of learning that it wasn't really Britt Ekland's arse.

[Mattofthespurs]

...but do watch Anthony Shaffer's 'Absolution', which is very much the spiritual sequel.

The Richard Burton flick? Been meaning to see that for quiet some time, looks very much my slice of folk horror pie.

A new blu ray of that has just been released.

And the original 'Wicker Man' is utterly sublime.

One of my all time favourites.

[Mattofthespurs]

It really is rather brilliant. Going back to the original Three Mothers text and taking a very different approach to Argento's Technicolor fantasy into straight up Eldritch horror, the result is brilliant and I sincerely hope the Matter Tenenbraum teaser means we'll be seeing a rebooted Inferno as well!

I would hope so too but judging from the look warm (to say the least) reception the film got I'm not holding out for it sadly.