RE: October Mumblings:
I think I felt the same about Brothers, but it's been almost a decade now since my sole viewing, so I don't remember it too well at this point. Cold Prey and The Wailing have been on my watchlist for awhile. Should make a point to get to them for the horror countdown. Hopeful that I love the latter, since I've heard great things, but that run-time gives me pause. Gomorrah was compelling and well shot, but I felt too distanced from the characters to have much emotional investment.
Hopefully you'll get something out of
The Wailing but it's atypically Korean with regards infusing a little humour and there's one section in particular that I think is much the worse for it. I actually found the sequel to
Cold Prey better tbh, the colour palette in the original just didn't do it for me. I've not yet seen the third and final instalment.
Very happy to see that you're a fellow Jackie Brown fan. My 2nd favorite QT and one of my favorite films in general. Jane Got a Gun was average. Surprised you don't rate Le Cercle Rouge a bit higher. I remember receiving your +rep for my old review, so you already know my thoughts. At the time it featured the best and tensest heist scene I'd ever seen, but Rififi eventually topped it in that regard. You thought much higher of Lights Out than I did, but I admit that it's the type of horror (supernatural, heavily reliant on jump scares, formulaic plotting) that I rarely like. Re-watched Speed not too long ago and was impressed with how well it held up.
Love
Jackie Brown, will never understand anybody that claims to be a QT fan but doesn't. I watched
Rififi well before
Le Cercle Rouge which perhaps had an impact but it's mainly the mixed pacing of LCR that knocks it down for me. What can I say - I'm just a sucker for formulaic supernatural horror that relies on too many jump scares
We feel the same about Castle in the Sky and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (terrible title). I always enjoy seeing The Cage unleashed, as he certainly was in that film. Been years since I watched it, but I still remember that "Shoot him again -- his soul's still dancing!" scene pretty well. We disagree on comedy a lot, so I'm not surprised that I found Weekend at Bernie's much more amusing.
That was my first go at Bad Lieutenant: POC - NO, probably one of the Nic's most enjoyable performances for me; he certainly elevates the rather humdrum material. I dunno, mebbe I just have absolutely no sense of humour? Or mebbe I do and it's just far too sophisticated for most American fare of that ilk
RE: November Mumblings:
Haven't seen Blair Witch yet, but I love the original and think it's still the most effective found-footage horror. Curious to hear how the Chypster feels about it since the original is so polarizing. Wasn't a fan of Deadpool, finding the humor more obnoxious than amusing, and all the winking at the audience made me too aware that I was watching a movie instead of being able to lose myself in it. With that said, I was pleasantly surprised by the sequel. I'm with you on Enough, Gremlins, Mechanic: Resurrection, Mortdecai and Robot & Frank. Not at all with you on Mad Max: Fury Road, which, in my opinion, set a new bar for modern action. It's one of my new all-time favorites. Thought I was on my way to hating Pet, but, as you said, it does a good job of subverting expectations. Its lack of predictability kept me interested, but I think I rated it the same as you did, due to the poor writing
I am so not a fan of the original
Blair Witch Project, I can appreciate it being spectacularly successful with regards it's minimal budget but I got very bored of 'snot-shots' very quickly and the whole hand-held, amateur feel of many 'found-footage' movies just isn't pleasurable for me to watch so I also hold it starting that whole trend/genre blossoming against it. If
Fury Road really does set the new bar for action fillums then I guess it'll be a genre I'll be watching a lot less of going forward - genuinely glad you and so many others enjoy it so much though.