Rate the last film with your terrible opinions

Salem's Lot (the new one)

Not great, especially after the superb Midnight Mass. It moves at a ludicrous pace, and is in some aspects reminiscent of those 80s monster movies we grew up on. The story hasn't really been modernized at all and that's probably for the best. But that does mean you have to suffer through the various King tropes including the small town full of one dimensional characters and twee dialogue. Not as good as the recent IT movies, and not as scary as I remember the original Salem's Lot miniseries being.

Ah didn't realise it was a remake, interesting. Not sure I can be bothered seeking it out. Is the ending involve everything going to plan?

Yes 😳

How does the remake end then? Do they all live happily ever after? Boooooooo.

As happy as it could be considering the circumstances

Joker: Folie a Deux. The first film wasn't perfect, but it certainly was a singular piece that stood out amongst the usual comic book movie crowd (even if it did owe a lot to Taxi Driver/King of Comedy). Sequel doesn't disprove that.

Someone said a page or two ago they walked out during it. I wouldn't say it was that bad and at least looked good, much like the original, but it was a bit rubbish. Some have moaned about it dipping its toes into the world of musicals, but personally thought those moments were the highlights, as it actually sparked to life a little more at those points. The rest was pretty dreary and plodding.

One of the things I liked about the original was that there was an ambiguity about it. It is all from Arthur's perspective and we are shown on multiple occasions that he is deluded and prone to fantasy. We can't take what we see on the screen at face value and my head cannon is still that the final riots are exaggerated and that he doesn't create some kind of movement. With a sequel, any kind of ambiguities are naturally gone and we have to assume everything we saw happen did actually happen, so the sequel actively makes he original a lesser film.

As for the plot here, it takes too long to get to the court case and the court case itself ends up being all very silly. It is very at odds with the gritty, realistic portrayal it is going for. The romance between Fleck and Quinzel never feels in any way believable, either in an actual relationship kind of way or in a two deluded people acting out the performance of a relationship kind of way. Again, the musical fantasy sequences bring some life between them, but outside of those it is very flat.

Some nods to the ending below, but nothing specific.




We also have a big explosion during the end, something that the original consciously avoided. That would be fine if the explosion transported us knowingly into the comic book world, but it doesn't and we just plod along with much the same.

Can't make up my mind if the final sequence was WB insisting they need to make sure that this version of the Joker doesn't impede on the rest of the franchise or if it was a "fuck you, I'm not doing any more" from Todd Philips, but either way it isn't a satisfying end for the audience, as it comes fairly out of nowhere.

Possibly a 5/10 because it did look quite good and Phoenix is still pretty good in the role. Certainly no more than that though.

V for Vendetta

It’s aged pretty well. Just a good two hour well paced punchy film which is now also good for actor spotting. Shout out to John Hurt who I think is really enjoying himself here. Delight to watch.

Only thing that hasn’t aged to well is a couple of fight scenes where it goes a bit matrixy, kind of looks a bit naff and the sound effect are something. Completely forgot it was adapted by the Wachowski’s and oddly, the director hasn’t gone on to do anything else. Surprised how they kind of got the tone/feel of England down too, feels like it’s a British film and could be watched alongside Brazil or the like.

4.5/5

Folie a Deux is turning out to be cinematic marmite.

Seven Samurai 4K release - Broadway Nottingham.

Hadn't seen in 20 years or more so it was a great chance to take my youngest who enjoyed GoT.

For a movie weighing in at 207 mins it positively flies by. Some of the acting may feel 'theatrical' but the major characters are really well realised, with some nice interplay and moments of comic relief.

Other than a stifling screening room I thoroughly enjoyed it again. 4K release on disc/streaming might be worth picking up if you missed it and fancy it.

The metacritic score is low, but the spread is currently fairly even between those who gave it a positive review and bad reviews, and quite a lot of middling scores in between. (32/42/26). So maybe not marmite. Hummus?

Some critics have taken to it though. Was watching the Mark Kermode review where he thinks it’s probably a better film than Joker, but probably isn’t the film that fans of that film will want.

I was made to watch the previous version by my daughter and really enjoyed it! It wss way better than I expected.

Knox Goes Away/A Killer's Memory (Prime)

Michael Keaton directs Michael Keaton as a hitman with aggressive dementia and he sets about getting ready to "go away".
A movie of 2 halves. Any scenes with Keaton and Al Pacino are great and really fascinating to watch. Anything with the cops is massively wooden and clunky. Definitely worth a watch.

6/10

The general consensus from people I know who’ve seen it hasn’t been great - I think the user reviews seem to reflect that too.

I just thought it was interesting reaction so far. Funny you mentioned Matrix: Resurrections as I saw an article somewhere the other day about how the critics had got it all wrong on that film and it was actually the best in the series. That’s their opinion and I applaud them for expressing it. (Although it’s categorically wrong.)

I will see Joker FAD (as no one is calling it) at some point but I’m going in preparing for it to be pants. The aspect that worries me is that for a kind-of, sort-of musical, no one has had anything to say about the music.

I guess that’s the problem with comparing aggregate review scores - if they work on two different metrics they’re only really comparable for things with universal acclaim or dislike. But 33% and 45% isn’t great no matter which way you cut it.

Of course what really matters is whether it’ll be a hit or not. I reckon word of mouth will start showing in the second and third week’s takings, but I might be wrong.