Rate the Last Film You Watched

31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXIV: The Invisible Man (1933, James Whale)

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One of the original Universal monsters from the 1930s and a film that’s held up reasonably well, especially some of the effects. It’s also darkly humorous the way the main lead messes with the townsfolk. 3.5/5
 
31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXV: Child’s Play (1988, Tom Holland)

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Since I got the Shout Factory release recently I figured I’d watch this again. It’s a decent film overall as long as you suspend your disbelief with the ending. The sequels weren’t great until Bride and then Curse of Chucky and I still need to watch Cult. 3.5/5
 
31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXVI: Deadbeat at Dawn (1988, Jim VanBebber)

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A film made very much independently and with a low budget, this is a grindhouse like film with a gritty and gory aesthetic. The characters are vitriolic and in likeable and the plot isn’t amazing but the film is a curio and an intriguing exercise in independent filmmaking. 2.5/5
 
31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXVII: The Fog (1980, John Carpenter)

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Another John Carpenter film for the month and another that was a very good slow burner. Once again the direction was acting was great and the concept works well too. 4/5
 
Dolemite is My Name (2019)

Eddie Murphy is on great form as Rudy Ray Moore in this biopic about his journey from struggling night club MC to blaxploitation movie star via his creation of Dolemite, his swaggering, rhyming alter-ego, but despite all the foul language, this is actually a rather gentle, feel-good sort of film. It’s a fine watch and provides some amusing moments as Moore commandeers a derelict hotel to shoot the Dolemite movie (with Wesley Snipes all but stealing the show), but it feels romanticised and it’s not as cheekily entertaining as one of Moore’s real films.
 
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1.Host
2.Personal Shopper
3.Cat O'nine tails
4.Pet Semetary (remake)
5.House That Jack Built (recommend)
6.Resident Evil 2
7.We Need To Talk About Kevin
8.sinister
9.zombie flesh eaters
10.The Cabin in the Woods
11.Black Death
12.tales of terror


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7/10 Get it.
 
31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXVIII: Nightbreed (1990, Clive Barker)

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A film that got a disappointing recut when released but now has a proper director’s cut, Nightbreed is quite an inventive film with some great effects and a fun climax. Seeing David Cronenberg in front of the camera for a change was interesting too. 4/5
 
Casino (1995)

My journey through gangster films made by guys who don't like cape movies continues, mostly in anticipation of The Irishman, which I'm rather annoyed won't be coming to cinemas near me. I’ll have to hijack someone’s Netflix. While I'm familiar with Goodfellas of course and have even seen the now rather ancient feeling Mean Streets, this is one Scorsese mob flick I'd never got around to seeing, but I'm glad I did. It might as well be Goodfellas Part II, it follows more or less the same formula and manages to pull it off just as well in my opinion.

There's no shortage of places I'd like to be a time tourist, and while I don't even count gambling among my vices Vegas in the '60s and '70s is one place and time I am a bit sad I'll never be able to experience in all its Fear and Loathing glory. And Robert De Niro's character perfectly sums up in the last five minutes of the film why I'm not remotely interested in visiting today. But seeing the decline of the town the mob built through the eyes of those who were there, albeit in a fictionalised form, is probably the closest I'm going to get and that alone was enough for me to enjoy Casino immensely.

De Niro, Stone and particularly Pesci are all on fine form and it's nice to see Frank Vincent play a larger role here, the guy had a great screen presence that he'd later get to put to good use as Phil Leotardo (once again) in The Sopranos. I’m starting to run out of gangster media now, which worries me. I’m two seasons deep in Boardwalk Empire and after that I don’t know what I’m gonna do.

Dolemite (1974)
They're likely pushing it into people's recommendations on Amazon Prime due to the Eddie Murphy biopic, but I also totally independently happened to watch this with a friend last week (this post has sat in drafts for a while). We were just looking for something daft that could kill a couple of hours and raise a smile, and it certainly managed that. The direction, editing (those goddamn cuts) and most of the acting is absolutely terrible (that final scene that lasts all of about ten seconds had us in stitches through the credits) but you're right about Moore's charisma shining through, particularly in the scenes where it seems like he's allowed to just relax and be himself. He's not a guy I really knew anything about going into the film, I happened to jokingly comment "this is how Dolemite invented rap" before being a bit mind-blown to find out afterwards that he kinda did.

Going back to the Scorsese debate, I think the existence and success of films like Dolemite proves there's always room for films that, despite being pure entertainment and far from high art, manage to connect with their audiences. Roll on the sequels.
 
31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXIX: An American Werewolf in London (1981, John Landis)

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A quintessential horror-comedy film from the 1980s with some amazing effects by Rick Baker. Arrow did a good job cleaning it up for the new Blu Ray. 4/5
 
31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXX: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (Producer’s Cut) (1995, Joe Chappelle)

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Considerably better than the lacklustre version that plodded into cinemas back in 1995. This adds a lot of removed content though lacks a grizzly death scene or two. Personally I think this is the best Halloween film besides the original and III, and I love the ending. 4/5
 
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31 Days of Halloween!

Day XXXI: The Exorcist III: Legion (1990, William Peter Blatty)
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One of my personal favourite films and one worthy of being watched every Halloween. Whether it’s the sturdy direction from the author of the original Exorcist or the standout performances from George C. Scott, Jason Miller and Brad Dourif, or even that infamous hospital scene, Legion always finds a new way to impress me-even if it doesn’t do a lot for others. 4.5/5

And with that I have now completed my 31 days marathon. For those who are interested here is the complete list of titles that I watched:
Day I: Tales of Terror (1962, Roger Corman)
Day II: The Haunted Palace (1963, Roger Corman)
Day III: Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998, Don Coscarelli & Phantasm V: Ravager (2016, David Hartman)
Day IV: Ringu (1998, Hideo Nakata)
Day V: Rasen (1998, Jōji Lida) & Ring 2 (1999, Hideo Nakata)
Day VI: Ring 0: Birthday (2000, Norio Tsuruta)
Day VII: The Changeling (1980, Peter Medak)
Day VIII: The Horror Story (AKA House III) (1989, James Isaac & David Blyth)
Day IX: House IV: The Repossession (1992, Lewis Abernathy)
Day X: Nosferatu (1922, F.W. Murnau)
Day XI: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003, Marcus Nispel)
Day XII: Blood Bath & various versions (1966, Jack Hill)
Day XIII: Dark Water (2002, Hideo Nakata)
Day XIV: Lisa and the Devil (1974, Mario Bava)
Day XV: Brain Damage (1988, Frank Henenlotter)
Day XVI: Joker (2019, Todd Phillips)
Day XVII: Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (1920, Robert Weine)
Day XVIII: Leprechaun (1993, Mark Jones) & Leprechaun 2 (1994, Rodman Flender)
Day XIX: Leprechaun 3 (1995, Brian Trenchard-Smith)
Day XX: When a Stranger Calls (1979, Fred Walton)
Day XXI: Spider Baby (1967, Jack Hill)
Day XXII: Prince of Darkness (1987, John Carpenter)
Day XXIII: Scalpel (1977, John Grissmer)
Day XXIV: The Invisible Man (1933, James Whale)
Day XXV: Child’s Play (1988, Tom Holland)
Day XXVI: Deadbeat at Dawn (1988, Jim VanBebber)
Day XXVII: The Fog (1980, John Carpenter)
Day XXVIII: Nightbreed (1990, Clive Barker)
Day XXIX: An American Werewolf in London (1981, John Landis)
Day XXX: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (Producer’s Cut) (1995, Joe Chappelle)
Day XXXI: The Exorcist III: Legion (1990, William Peter Blatty)
 
Iron Man

As Phase 3 part 2 box set comes out next week decided to do a full MCU rewatch. This movie is awesome, always has been but I've never cried watching Iron Man. But in light of Endgame when Tony said "I shouldn't be alive unless it was for a reason." It broke me. It broke me hard. I've always enjoyed the MCU films, then I loved them and now I'm so happy I've got to experience several at midnight on their release in a cinema full of fans.

If anything this film is better in hindsight of what it lead to. 9/10

Scorsese saying the MCU ain't cinema is laughably absurd. And his assertion there isnt any emotional danger is just a lie. The MCU or superhero films dont have to be your thing but dont be petty and mean about something because its popular, especially when you havent tried it.
 
I love em too. Phase 1 & 2 were 50/50 between great and mediocre but Phase 3 was consistently great imo. Most movie franchises fall flat after 2 or 3 movies (Terminator, Aliens, Star Wars? Etc) but MCU still going strong after 23. :)
 
I love em too. Phase 1 & 2 were 50/50 between great and mediocre but Phase 3 was consistently great imo. Most movie franchises fall flat after 2 or 3 movies (Terminator, Aliens, Star Wars? Etc) but MCU still going strong after 23. :)
Totally agree. Though I would still say the 'bad' ones are still better than people give them credit for. But yeah they really raised the bar with phase 3.

Civil War is probably the one I've watched the most times. It never gets old and it's always emotional and exciting.
 
Us (2019)

I enjoyed Parking Pataweyo's Big Adventure Get Out well enough though I am of the opinion it showed its hand far too early with regards to the "hypnotism" angle but man, I didn't expect Us to be quite this good - I really wish I'd been to the cinema to see it now. Peele is clearly a director who loves movies, but rather than leading him to resort merely to homages and derivative ideas (which is probably what would happen if I ever tried to make a film) that love has translated into a fantastic understanding of cinema. This is an excellent, excellent film in all regards. I do particularly love a director who can dabble in allegory and allusion without having to beat people over the head with a golf club about it. I very much try to stay away from audience interpretations and creator's elaborations on the meaning of films until after I've watched them, and I’m sure this is going to be an interesting one to see people’s reactions to.

What else to say, really? The cinematography was great, the music was great, the acting was great and I think we’re definitely seeing the emergence and refinement of a Peele “style” here - Very sinister but with flashes of his comedy background breaking the tension. It certainly works for me, and I think this is a film better just experienced than hearing anyone else ramble about.

Plus Lupita <3, so psychotic Lupita <3<3<3 This goes some way to making up for JJ turning her into a shrivelled dwarf granny in Star Wars, which might actually be the worst travesty of the ST.
 
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With some remarkably efficient use of my time I've already finished phase 2 of my MCU rewatch! I'm not going to review every film but figured now was a good time to put down some thoughts before phase 3.

The Iron Man trilogy is amazing! And is massively elevated by knowing Tony's story in phase 3. I've always thought the first Captain America was improved by its sequels in hindsight. As without the first one the sequels dont work but the sequels are better so as a whole it's a great package. Well it's similar here. Tony's story cant be decoupled from the Avengers films, perhaps moreso than anyone else in the MCU. Iron Man 2 is vastly underrated. And this rewatch has easily been the most I've ever enjoyed IM3. A film I already enjoyed.

Also want to touch on Age of Ultron which at the time was criticised for having an eye on future films rather than getting on with its own story but I have to say in a very similar way, now knowing the ending of phase 3, it makes coming back to this and seeing all the hints and clues much more satisfying. Like IM3 this is the most I've ever enjoyed watching this one. It also fits very well in to the Avengers story. It's a story born of a fear created from the events of the first Avengers and those fears then come to pass in Infinty War. With Endgame serving to close it out.

I dont know how much Kevin Feige had planned from the start but it's all come together to make it seem like a lot.
 
Completed my MCU rewatch yesterday. 23 films in essentially 8 days is prett mad but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Phase 3 is incredible. Visually the technology has reached an astounding level. The deageing on Samuel L Jackson in Captain Marvel is impeccable. The crazy visuals in Dr Strange, Guardians 2 and Ant Man and the Wasp are all astonishing. Though a special mention has to go to the Mysterio scene in Spider Man Far from Home. It's so so good!

Almost all the villains in this phase are interesting and varied. Zemo, Killmonger, Hela, Vulture, Mysterio, Ego and of course Thanos.

Civil War, Infinty War and Endgame are all masterpieces of the genre as far as I'm concerned. The amount of feels I get in Endgame is absurd. I think it's the 7th time I've seen it and still cried like a baby.

Theres a bonus disk with the box set with some extras. Havent gone through it all yet but theres a half hour round table discussion between some of the directors that was super interesting to watch.
 
Crawl 2019
5 stars

I rather enjoyed the film and like the idea and story of it as well. It's not really for everyone but I think it's worth seeing and trying it out.
 
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