Films thread

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Flashdance (1983)



Criminally underrated dancing drama. I get that it's essentially 90% dance sequences and 10% plot and character development, but I honestly like it that way. The excellent blend of neatly-edited and exhilarating dance scenes and ultra nostalgic 80s pop tunes makes this one iconic. An often sweaty Jennifer Beals is so lovely as the lead character. She's so soft spoken, but break her hard and she's cursing at you like she's Eddie Murphy. Her form is absolutely sublime in this as well. 

Overall this was nice gem of a film. Wouldn't mind having this in my Blu ray collection.

8/10

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

New Cobra steelbook exclusive to HMV coming out in June. Looks pretty cool. I assume it's just the same Blu ray disc that WB released a decade or so ago. Still, wouldn't mind getting my hands on this as it's one of my favourites from the 1980s.

[iank]

Son In Law. The gorgeous Carla Gugino is a midwest farm girl heading off to college in California. Initially overwhelmed and ready to run home after two days, she blossoms when taken under the wing of the oddball RA (Pauly Shore) and then takes him home with her for Thanksgiving to fend off the nuptial advances of her scumbag high school boyfriend, ultimately pretending to already be engaged to him - much to her family's horror! Lane Smith and Tiffani Amber-Thiessen co-star in this early 90s comedy that is to Pauly Shore what The Wedding Singer is to Adam Sandler (ie the only film of theirs I can watch lol). This is a good-natured, funny film and everything you want in a good comedy.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Demolition Man (1993)

In the non-violent future of the 2030s, 90s maniac Wesley Snipes wakes up from suspended animation and begins to cause terror and destruction in San Angeles. The helpless police turn to another 90s tough man wrongly suspended in animation after his failure to save innocent lives from Snipes. This man is Stallone and together with the bubbly Sandra Bullock he attempts to navigate modern society while trying to take down his long-time nemesis. 

This is a sensational science fiction flick and a creepily accurate representation of certain aspects of the world we live in now. I hadn't seen the film in five years so it was nice to revisit it. 


8/10

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Working my way through my Stallone Collection set. Loved Demolition Man, thought Cobra was even better (Neon, Pepsi, 80s. Hell yeah!) and I'm going to get stuck into Tango & Cash tomorrow. Good transfers for all of the films. Warner Brothers generally do a good job cleaning up their films. They really lack in the extras department, though.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Tango & Cash (1989)

Slick detective Ray Tango can't stand hotshot cop Gabriel Cash and vice versa. However when they're both framed for murder by criminal drug lord Jack Palance they put their differences to bust out of a maximum security prison, clear their name and take down the bad guys. Cash does a bit of a flirting with Tango's sister Teri Hatcher on the side.

I don't think I've ever enjoyed this film as much I did tonight. So wonderfully stupid but very entertaining and funny. Stallone and Russell bounce off each other so well. It's also proof that Stallone is very capable of doing more comedy related roles. He's very good at it though I think Russell seems slightly more skillful at delivering one liners. It isn't hard to believe that the film is directed by four different people because the style changes throughout the movie. It's difficult to pin point who directed what, but it's clear certain sections of the film are more visually stimulating that others.

This ended up being the last movie ever released in the 1980s. Pretty good send off, if you ask me (which you didn't, but you really should because I have a lot to say). I think it's worth a look if you're into buddy cop films like Beverly Hills Cop or Lethal Weapon.

8/10

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

The Specialist (1994)

In 90s Miami, Sharon Stone calls on bomb expert Stallone to help her gain revenge on Eric Roberts and his empire after they murdered her family when she was a kid. Unfortunately, Stallone's psycho ex partner is also in Miami with shady plans of his own.

The Specialist is a very pretty movie with toe-tapping latin hits including Gloria Estefan's "Turn the Beat Around." Actor James Woods also gives the most show-stealing performance you'll ever likely to see. He leaves everyone else in the dust with his crazy, scenery-chewing role as a disgraced ex bomb expert. The rest of it is fine and I've come to realize it's much better than I initially gave it credit it for. It's hardly any worse than Seagal's mid 90s outings. 


Maybe the weakest of this excellent set, but still a good time. 

7/10

[iank]

American Ultra. Jesse Eisenberg is a directionless, neurotic stoner (who's still somehow got Kristen Stewart as a girlfriend) who finds he's not who he thinks he is when assassins start to try to kill him. This mid 2010s action comedy is actually a lot of fun with a good supporting cast in Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Bill Pullman and Buster from Arrested Development.

[iank]

Went to the cinema to see The First Omen this afternoon. Thought this was a bad idea from the start, but a bunch of critics practically orgasming over it persuaded me to give it a try. Big mistake. What a load of BS. Boring, trite, predictable, utterly lifeless, indistinguishable from every other supernatural demon movie we've had non-stop for the last 10-15 years, and can't even keep the continuity right with the movie it's supposed to be a prequel to. There was only one YT critic I follow who said it bored him to tears, with the rest apparently having had religious experiences. Utter garbage.
This is why I hate modern movies.

[Ludders II]

Apr 17, 2024 6:28:51 GMT iank said:

Went to the cinema to see The First Omen this afternoon. Thought this was a bad idea from the start, but a bunch of critics practically orgasming over it persuaded me to give it a try. Big mistake. What a load of BS. Boring, trite, predictable, utterly lifeless, indistinguishable from every other supernatural demon movie we've had non-stop for the last 10-15 years, and can't even keep the continuity right with the movie it's supposed to be a prequel to. There was only one YT critic I follow who said it bored him to tears, with the rest apparently having had religious experiences. Utter garbage.
This is why I hate modern movies.

That latest Exorcist film was also total shite. Doubt I'll bother with this one.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

RoboCop (1987)

This movie rocks! Great satire, over the top gore and an emotionally engaging arc for our tragic hero. 

I prefer this to The Terminator. I always have and I suspect I always will. Both are classic science fiction films, but RoboCop is just on another level for me.


10/10

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

RoboCop 2 (1990)

RoboCop returns to take down crime in Detroit once more. This time he faces off against evil drug lord Cain who is being eyed up by OCP to be turned into a more effective cyborg than RoboCop. 

Kind of enjoy this one now. Not a patch on the original, but pretty good visually. I don't think I've ever seen more impressive stop motion work than in this movie. RoboCain completely blows ED-209 out the water. The jerky movements make him quite scary-looking. I actually don't think there are any bad visual effect shots in the film so it beats the original in that department. The cinematography is also gorgeous with a lot of the late 80s neon being particularly nice on the eye. They're releasing a new 4K scan in the US later this year (not here, for some reason) and I can't help but imagine just how fantastic it's going to look. The flaws with the movie are story-related. It's a bit of a mess and there's not really any real arc for RoboCop and sadly Lewis is underused.  I do like the PC RoboCop scenes (which are more relevant now in 2024 than it was back then) and some of the darker scenes with Tom Noonan's Cain. Hob and Angie are nice additions and I don't really understand Roger Ebert's extreme offensive over the former. He's a 12 year old drug dealer who swears, but is it  really all that bad for a RoboCop movie? 

I've come to appreciate this more and more over the last two years or so. It's not brilliant, but it's better than it could have been given how rough the behind the scenes stuff was.  


PS, I love the blue suit! Looks very sleek and cool to me.


7/10

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Thunderbirds (2004)

With the Thunderbirds trapped in space, the evil Hood attempts to frame them on Earth by robbing the bank of London. Thankfully, plucky teen Alan and his friends along with Lady Penelope are on hand to save the day.

Watching this takes me right back to 2004. I remember Busted's theme song always being on the radio all the time. I'm unsure if I actually saw this movie at the cinema, but I do remember watching it to death on DVD. I even took it with me on a caravan holiday in 2005. It's massively flawed but I find it quite enjoyable. I don't actually have much Thunderbirds knowledge so I really have nothing to compare it to. It has that mid 00s summer vibe and even though the story is a bit dumb and relegates the Thunderbirds to the background for the majority of it, I still think there's a lot to like here.  

Guess who my favourite character is in the film. Na, I'm not telling you! You'll have to guess.

Fine, it's Sophia Myles as Lady Penelope. I know, how shocking is that?




7/10

[iank]

I, Monster. Christopher Lee does Jekyll & Hyde. Boringly. This early 70s Amicus flick is about as boring as The First Omen, just mercifully shorter.

[Ludders II]

Apr 21, 2024 0:04:33 GMT iank said:

I, Monster. Christopher Lee does Jekyll & Hyde. Boringly. This early 70s Amicus flick is about as boring as The First Omen, just mercifully shorter.

Unfortunately, it's one of their worst, if not THE worst.
If I'd known I would've warned you. 😉