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TST Film Review Thread

A few weeks behind but this week I went to see Scrapper. A British film starring Harris Dickinson. Great performances from the child actors as well. The main plot is a 12 year old Georgie is living on her own after her mother passed away and is trying to manage as she can when her father whom she's never met turns up.

It's a wonderful little film.
 
Past Lives

Set over about 20 years as we see friends from school seperated via one family immigrating to Canada. Before reconnecting via Skype about a decade later, and finally meeting up in person for a few days in New York City ten years later.

Just beautiful film making and acting with a wonderful story. Think this marked the 50th film I've seen in the cinema this year and it's the best one so far.
 
It's like Christmas for cinephiles every time Martin Scorsese drops a film - and boy, is his latest Killers of the Flower Moon an absolute monster of cinematic expression.

Right from the start the film captures you with a really unsettling opening scene before plunging you into this crazy, eclectic land where the natives are being bounced between their tradition and ruthless western identity. It's a very calculated film, with every single second of its (well discussed) 3hr+ runtime utterly deserved - in fact, I could have happily watched a longer cut to see more of the subtle romance between the two leads really develop. It's heartbreaking, chilling - at times funny - but always incredible. How Scorsese is still producing films this epic in scale in his 80s is really something.

Watching this in IMAX was crazily immersive as well - probably won't be long before I'm back for another taste.
 
Five nights at Freddys:

One of the most anticipated films this year, I finally took my seat in the cinema today as a Fnaf fan to watch a film that has been in the works for 8 years now. In 2015 it was announced that a Fnaf film was being worked on, now all the way to 2023 and the film has made it to the big screen. I won't go into spoilers as I'm sure plenty of you will go to the cinema to watch it, but I will talk about some good things and bad things without giving too much away.

Positives:
-The anamatronics are absolutely fantastic and without doubt the best thing about the film. So glad they made the decision to make actual anamatronics rather than relying on Cgi
- The general acting quality was decent and I thought the script overall was pretty good
- The film really focuses on the fact that the anamatronics are possessed by the souls of the children that were killed by Afton. It highlights who the real villan is in this film, afterall the children are the victims and Afton is the one who controls the anamatronics and forces them to lure more children in.
Negatives:
- If you're a Fnaf fan and have played the games, you may be disappointed with the lack of jumpscares and general scary moments. Whilst the film captures the idea of Afton being a psychopath pretty well, the lack of scary scenes doesn't enable the audience to truly grasp just how dangerous and downright terrifying the anamatronics are.
- Afton doesn't get anywhere near enough screen time and this is frustrating because the film is mainly about him.

My overall take from the film is that they've included some of the lore and have stayed fairly loyal to the games, but the film feels like a more child friendly version of the games. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though as this film can cater for a much larger audience now. It's a film of highs and lows but overall it was enjoyable to see the anamatronics come to life on the big screen, and as a fnaf fan it felt quite surreal too. Recommend you watch it even if you aren't familiar with fnaf, the story is fairly simple and easy to follow.

I'd give Freddys a solid 7/10
 
Naturally many spooky films have been watched this week. The two of note that were new to me would be....

The Adams Family (2019):
Hmmm. Having grown up on repeats of the series, the 90’s films, and as someone who had a major childhood crush on Wednesday, [I’m still yours, Christina, if you are reading] I was skeptical.

It’s.... not bad. Was interesting to see how they based the art style on the original comics. Nice to see Pugsley get a bit more screen time than in other adaptations.
However....... It really irked me that the antagonist (whatever her name was) suffers no punishment for her downright creepy, illegal, and disturbing [even for an AF film] actions. All is forgiven once her crimes are revealed for no reason whatsoever.

6/10.



Cooties:
One of those films where the whole (adult) cast is “Oh! That’s [thingy] out of [whatsit]!”

Zombie outbreak in a primary school. Teachers must fight for their lives. Am sure certain members in that profession could relate. The virus only affects those who have not yet gone through puberty, so adults won’t turn, but they can still be eaten. And being kids, they are, naturally, fast zombies!
Very entertaining.

[the PE teacher]: I’ve played dodgeball a million times against these little <BLEEP>s. Go for the face, it’s a weak spot.

The ending felt a bit abrupt. Almost as if it was a hook for a sequel that never happened. That aside, me likey.

(For anyone worried that this might involve violence against [undead] children, you see very little, it’s mostly implied through reaction shots. What little you actually see is so OTT that it crosses the line twice and goes back to funny.)

8.5/10
 
Finally released in the UK at the weekend I saw Bottoms this afternoon.
It's a high school comedy were two girls set up an all girl fight club under the guise of empowering females but in reality to try and hook up with cheerleaders.

Utterly deranged and hilarious as it seems to escalate as is goes on. From a seemingly grounded start to a much more hyper version of reality.
Feel from a first watch there's loads of sly nod and winks and sight gags hidden in the background so I'll definitely be re watching it.
 
About a month ago, My best friend had a discord call for his birthday. One of the septics in our D&D group treated him / us a screenshare of a very special film.... “Call Girl of Cthulhu”. (We also play the occasional Lovecraft based game).

Now then, it is important to note that we were all utterly wasted by this point. I honestly don’t remember a single thing about it, other than thinking, “How can you make a Lovecraft film without Jeffrey Combs?”

We were mostly just laughing along and creating our own episode of MST3K by riffing on it. What I do know is that us lads found it bloody funny. Even though we can’t remember why.
.... However... the ladies of the group do not share this opinion. And they are very thick skinned when it comes to gore. They refuse to say why.
I am now terrified to know what the hell this film must have shown‽

Therefore I cannot, in good conscience, reccomend it to anyone. Even if it entertained me.
For legal reasons.
 
Busy few days for film

The Marvels the latest MCU film seeing Brie Larson return as Captain Marvel along side Ms. Marvel aka Khamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau.

I really enjoyed this, goes along at a quick pace. The villains a bit unrememorable but I'll take that for the enjoyable camaraderie between the main trio.

Then onto Netflix for David Finchers newest film The Killer starring Michael Fassbender playing a very meticulous hired Assassin. Dryly funny in parts as almost the entire film is narrated by Fassbenders inner monologue and the way he tries to stick to routine and his training after a hit goes wrong.

Finally this afternoon it was back to the cinema to see Dream Scenario starring Nic Cage. Playing a non descript/boring college professor who suddenly becomes a celebrity when he starts appearing in people's dreams en masse. What starts off as an odd thing before spiralling out of control as it continues. Thought it was a really interesting concept and Cage is great. But it sort of runs out of steam towards the end. Definitely an interesting film though.
 
Just been to see Anatomy Of A Fall which won the 2023 Palme d'Or at Cannes.

Absolutely loved it, basically a man's found dead outside his chalet and is discovered by his blind son. The only possible suspect is his wife who was the only person in the house. So did he fall or was he pushed l?

It then becomes very much a procedural as we see the initial investigation and then the trial itself. Which in the French courts it's very much more accusational than anything I've seen before.
 
Family Switch

From what I saw of it, I didn’t think this was that great, if I’m being honest. If you’ve ever seen Freaky Friday, it’s a very similar sort of premise to that film; you have a family where the mother and daughter and the father and son swap bodies, and the baby and the dog swap as well. There’s also a good dose of Christmas sprinkled in there. I was watching with my parents, and while I was not as offended by it as they were, I just didn’t think it was anything overly great. I’d struggle to necessarily pinpoint why, but… it wasn’t really doing it for me.

I didn’t get to see all of it, however, as my parents found it so awful that they switched it off halfway through. I thought more highly of it than they did, for sure. As one of the characters in the film said “We switch films off halfway through” as part of a motivational speech, my dad said “Yes, what a great idea!”, and turned it off.

We then watched Daddy’s Home… now that is one funny film!
 
Muppet Haunted Mansion on Disney+ is hands down better than the recent remake, and possibly better than the original. And it’s only an hour long - bonus 😁

Gonzo and Pepe go to the mansion to find out the secret of a missing illusionist. Normal muppetry occurs. Perfect.

Chimp prefers it over the Muppet Christmas Carol as she’s been “forced” to watch that in school for the last few years. And having done Haunted Mansion last year at DLP she was interested in some of the effects as they’re a proper nod to the ride.
 
Started the week with a few new films...

First up was Wonka which is a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel showing how Wonka initially came to the fore in the chocolate industry.
From Paul King and Simon Farnaby, the team behind the wonderful Paddington films. King chose to direct this rather than the upcoming Paddington In Peru.
Led ably by Timothy Chalamet who I didn't realise was a song and dance man and a cracking supporting cast, which if your a fan of UK comedy has plenty of familiar faces.
Lovely songs, loads of charm, and just delightful. Plus Hugh Grant as an Oompa Lumpa.

Secondly the film to mark the Disney companies centenary Wish.
Choc full of references to the Disney companies past throughout. Some good songs but other than This Wish nothing that memorable from the lead character played by Ariana Debose. Chris Pine as King Magnifico seems to be having a lot more fun.
Sadly for me it runs short of that Disney magic, the 100th Anniversary showing the history of the company felt more magic to me.
Did like the credits though which payed homage to the past with almost all the Disney animated films getting referenced (even Dinosaur!)

On a further Disney film note if your a fan of the animated films and the history and lasting legacy I'd highly recommend the Disniversity podcast.
 
Wouldn't mind giving Wonka a watch myself actually. The original film from the 70s was one of my favourite films of my childhood so I'm open to give it a chance. I'm older and much more cynical now but I will go into it with a positive outlook and try to go with the flow. Hopefully they've done a credible job and some of the songs are decent. The trailer looks decent.
 
Thanksgiving. Not sure what to say really? I enjoy a good old fashioned predictable slasher, and I'm fully prepared to leave my brain at the door for it.

I like Night of the Living Dead. I like Scream. I find the whole Horror/parody genre fully enjoyable. I'm not snobby. But even for the franchise that spawned this mess, this is a car crash of cinema. Unlike the afformentioned franchises, or the typical 70's and 80's slashers we've all grown up with (those of us old enough anyway), this movie lacks charm. It's trying too hard to replicate them and in doing so you find yourself laughing at the bits that are supposed to be horric, but just tutting and shaking your head at the bits that are trying to be funny.

I'm not sure this genre even works in 2023. But if it does, this movie isn't a good example of it. There's no "so bad it's good" horror here. It just doesn't know what it wants to be. It sets the tone in typical genre fashion by having a premise that is so rediclous that you feel like you can strap yourself in for a thrilling blood bath to laugh your head off to. Then it switches it's self referential tone to just bad film making, before returning to the laugh out loud sillyness and repeats this process throughout. It does this by making the characters so forgettable that you don't even know who they're talking about in the third act when their names are mentioned.
 
Back from seeing Godzilla Minus One. The 70th anniversary of the original movie sees the studio that created Godzilla giving us a new take on the original story.
Starting in the dying days of World War 2 were we see the main character survive a Godzilla attack before he returns to a Tokyo that's been destroyed by war.
The story continues over about 18 months as he struggles with what he saw and how he acted, before Godzilla now nuclear charged reappears and makes for Japan.
A great story throughout were you care about the characters and aren't just waiting for Godzilla to appear.
Brilliant special effects to create Godzilla and his destruction of anything he encounters. Insane it's been made for a reported $15 million dollars.
 
For me, new films are like London buses at the moment... I go ages without seeing one, and then I see two in very short succession!

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
This was actually very good! As a child of the 2000s, the original Indiana Jones films were a bit before my time, but I actually really enjoyed Dial of Destiny! Harrison Ford still holds his own as a great action hero, and it's overall a fun, reasonably exciting watch! The storyline involves time travel, which can sometimes make things confusing and hard to follow (the likes of Interstellar say hello), but I found the story reasonably clear to follow at all times and I don't think it uses the time travel too extensively. Overall, I certainly found this film a fun couple of hours. It's good, reasonably light-hearted entertainment, and for a film that's over 2.5 hours long, the time went by quickly, which I always think is a good sign with a longer film!
 
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

5/10

We start of where we left off, except we don't because Ginger and Rocky are now parents! The new voice actor for Ginger doesn't fit perfectly but it's not horrendous. Unlike the weird Paloma Faith song that plays through the montage of Molly growing up. Eventually, Humans show up and despite the plan to hide and do nothing, unsurprisingly Molly runs off.

Quite why at this point it was decided to introduce a Scouse chicken, I'm not sure but here we are, the movie continues to provide a few laughs, mostly from the rats and physical humour.

There's a few bits of good storytelling but the plot feels so incredibly predictable.

The highlight of the film is the big musical number towards the end

Quite how a certain character was still alive at the end of the film is nothing short of a christmas miracle.
 
Final cinema trip of the year earlier today to see Miyazakis latest masterpiece The Boy and The Heron.

A lovely, and as you'd expect with Ghibli quite bizarre story of the titular boy following a Heron into another world to search for his step mother.
 
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