What are you watching?

[Matt H.]

V/H/S/85 - The latest in the series could've been called V/H/S/MIXTAPE. It's uneven, of course, and too long at 112 minutes, but it's easily the most ambitious and experimental installment yet. There's some really interesting stuff going on here among the usual boredom and clutter. I kept thinking about Twin Peaks S3 while I was watching it. It's going to be a divisive entry in this series for sure.

[Jason C]

One Shot (UK-USA, 2021) 7/10 **
The last film I bought with Scoot Adkins on the cover, Zero Tolerance, was a bait and switch that he was barely in. Thankfully he is the star of One Shot and gets the majority of the screentime. First off, the film appears to be professionally made with no signs of low-budget jank. The “one continuous take” aspect to the film is very intriguing and works surprisingly well. There are many scenes that are a bit heart-wrenching. I felt something for most of the Seal Team member’s deaths, and the scene with the young solider chosen as a suicide bomber is hard to watch and lingers for some time. The action is well done. Its slightly more grounded than many Adkins flicks. Considering the way the story was handled, it found the perfect balance of realism while still keeping firefights/knife-fights/wrestling exhilarating without being cartoonish. Adkins and his team of Seals were badasses amongst badasses but so you were thrilled by their exploits and it still felt believable enough. The film does play on our sympathies for the terrorist side and villainizes some the Western heroes but it didn’t cross the line. The heart-pounding action mixed with the gruesome deaths of so many characters that meant more to me that just fodder, made the film is a bit exhausting. With the exception of the final fights, the film isn’t “Fun”. Its never boring and consistently compelling. Its one of the reasons to keep firing on Scott Adkins films even when there are some stinkers.

[Dom D]

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny: this is more than two and a half hours long. The longest Indy by more than half an hour.

It's starts well enough. Indys stealing treasures from Nazis in the 40s and it feels like youve wandered into a 90s Indy film that youd somehow missed. Walking in on it halfway through though, not at the start. Indy movies set scene better than this. Amazing work on the deaging, looked next to perfect to me.

Then you're onto Indy as an old man. And there's not too much wrong with all these scenes either. The issue is I just cant find a way to get into it. This territory has been covered, its done, and we're just doing it again but much more slowly and at much greater length.

I switched it off at the 2 hour mark. I figure that's enough Indy and if they'd done the sane thing and cut it down to that I would have seen the whole thing. So me not seeing it all is on them.

[Jason C]

Extraction (USA, 2020) 9/10 **
I couldn’t be more surprised by how amazing this film is. I rarely like action films with the child sidekick. And I don’t care for Bangladesh or Dubia as locations much. There is a “been there, done that” feeling to those dirty, brown streets. But nothing really held this back. The action is some of the best since John Wick. The fight choreography is some of the best ever. The set-pieces are thrilling to the point of exhaustion. Chris Hemsworth is perfect in his role. He’s cool and so imposing with his large frame. The story danced the line of making him sympathetic and explaining why he’s so fearless without crossing the line into too much unneeded drama that it took focus away from the action or hurt the character’s mystique. I even found the young Indian boy to be charming and better yet, he never got in the way. There is a terrific scene in a tight corridor where after Hemsworth takes out a dozen fows, the camera switches to the young boy in a chase scenario. It worked great and how it circled back to Hemsworth was thrilling. One of the main antagonists, an ex-Indian Special forces operative played by Randeep Hooda was exceptional as well. I hope to see him in more. There was a sniper (Sam Hargrave) that I would have liked to seen more of. The film managed the slow parts, to allow the viewer time to breathe, very well. If I wanted to pick nits there is one thing I did not care for about the ending and I don’t like it when a film shows the final moments in the opening as a flashback. I was fully engaged from beginning to end and for the first time I am looking forward to seeing more Netflix action flicks.

[Dom D]

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning: Part 1: Bond slaloms wildly from boom to bust. Every Skyfall counteracted by a Quantum of Solace. Meanwhile, Mission Impossible continues to deliver solid 8 out of 10 entertainment with every installment.

In the shadow of Barbenheimmer this took a hammering at the box office but it's damned good blockbuster entertainment. It's silly as all hell but how can it not be when it's following the adventures of the Impossible Mission Forces? The name alone can't be said with a straight face. That's a tricky one to overcome as a screenwriter but McQuarrie leans into it more here than even in the previous instalments. This is barely played with a straight face. It's not a farce either though.

It's walking a desperately fine line between real action sequences and comedy and it does it expertly. This is funnier than any Bond. It also has better action than any Bond. It lacks Bonds glamour and 'je ne sais quoi' but it's working hard to make up for it.

Another very solid installment from the best action series of modern times.

[Randy G]

The original Martin novella of Nightflyers is a sf/horror adventure classic. Very well constructed, I'm sure that tight plotting was the first thing they jettisoned in the tv series and film. I only watched the first episode of the tv series and sensed it wasn't going anywhere. Clearly should have been a mini-series at the most.

Rewatching The Flesh trilogy with Heather Drain's commentary right now.

[Dom D]

Wasn't there a shitty Netflix version of this story?

Indeed there was. It was unwatchable and so I watched all of it and was pretty pissed off when they cancelled it leaving me with no closure at all on the 8 or so hours I pissed away watching that piece of shit.

[agent999]

Nightflyers (1987)

I was unaware of the existence of this movie until i was watching it. It disappeared at the box office back in 87 and I suspect it has never been legitimately released on dvd/blu- though a dvdr does seem to be doing the rounds. This despite being based off a George R Marting story. I am a sucker for haunted house/spaceship films so I gave it a crack.

There's some very messy storytelling in this. Its mostly interesting now in terms of looking at its place in sci fi film history. It is very clearly influenced by Blade Runner and Alien and i wonder if it played any part in the creation of Event Horizon. For the man with the right set of eyes, its a bit of fun but in no way can it be called good.

Wasn't there a shitty Netflix version of this story?

[Dom D]

A Futile And Stupid Gesture: I think there's a bit in this one for the crowd here. It's a Netflix "biopic" about Doug Kenney one of the creators of National Lampoon. I didn't know this story at all outside of having seen the movies so it was all new to me and, frankly, I suspect it's take on its subject is loose enought that it will 'be all new to most. It's not as wild as the recent Yankovich film but it will definitely recall that film for you. Anyway, it's an awful lot of fun. Pretty much every line out of our heroes mouth is a deadpan one liner and most of ém are pretty good. I think you'll dig it.

[Dom D]

Nightflyers (1987)

I was unaware of the existence of this movie until i was watching it. It disappeared at the box office back in 87 and I suspect it has never been legitimately released on dvd/blu- though a dvdr does seem to be doing the rounds. This despite being based off a George R Marting story. I am a sucker for haunted house/spaceship films so I gave it a crack.

There's some very messy storytelling in this. Its mostly interesting now in terms of looking at its place in sci fi film history. It is very clearly influenced by Blade Runner and Alien and i wonder if it played any part in the creation of Event Horizon. For the man with the right set of eyes, its a bit of fun but in no way can it be called good.

[Dom D]

The Thomas Crown Affair: One of those I just never got around to. I actually recall hiring it from the video shop a couple times back in the day and not watching it. This is because I figured it was a heist movie. Not that into heist movies. Turns out it is in fact a Battle Of The Sexes movie. I love '60s/70s battle of the sexes movies, 10th Victim and Frightened Woman being all time faves. This doesn't quite reach the heights of those two for me but it's still damned good. Very stylish direction throughout and you've got FayeDunaway seductively stroking McQueens bishop. It's a good time in front of the tv.

[Matt H.]

Cold in July - *SPOILERS* I watched this for the third time last night because it's a film that I find both fascinating and frustrating. My opinion hasn't really changed since my initial viewing: there's so much good stuff in it but it also leaves me with many questions. The story opens with family man Richard discovering an intruder in his house and shooting him dead. The police tell him that it was a bad dude that he shot and he should just move on. Turns out that the dead guy's father (just released from prison) finds out who killed his son and starts threatening Richard and his family. So far, so good. The film starts getting messy once Richard discovers (via a wanted poster in the police station) that the man the police claim he shot is not the same man on the poster. It turns out that the first third doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of this story. There's lots of stuff that's either unclear or far-fetched, but the one thing I find super confusing is the police using Richard as a patsy in the first place.

Can anybody explain this convoluted set-up? So we're to believe that the police were just waiting for somebody to break into a random person's house and that the homeowner would shoot the intruder dead? Seems very unlikely that this scenario would play out exactly as they hoped. Is it explained better in the novel?

[Matt H.]

Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Hype - This is a somewhat amusing horror parody from 1980 starring Oliver Reed. It's for people who can tolerate silly shit. It has a couple of inspired gore gags. The thing that really stood out watching the Scorpion BD is just how colourful and stylish the whole thing is. As it progresses the lighting gets more extreme and by the last half hour it looks like CREEPSHOW. It's highly possible that Michael Gornick was inspired by it, particularly the blues and reds that dominate the climax. It's worth watching just for the visuals.

[Dom D]

Ant Man-Blu ray

Somehow I had never seen all of this. Wow much better than I expected.

Shang Chi-Blu Ray

Another first viewing. Good until the ending were it is too much CGI.

I think the first Ant Man is the best, or close to, of the Marvel movies. The concept allows for some fun effects, it's light. Generally a good time in front of the telly.

Shang Chi's last act is awful. These huge concluding battles that go for the better part of an hour are no fun. I'm curious whether the core Marvel fanbase enjoys them or if they nod off during them too. Up till then it was okay. Too much effects work in the combat though. If I'm watching martial arts I want to see real athleticism not sprites.

[Newt Cox]

Ant Man-Blu ray

Somehow I had never seen all of this. Wow much better than I expected.

Shang Chi-Blu Ray

Another first viewing. Good until the ending were it is too much CGI.