Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Speaking of films about lone survivors amidst a zombie apocalypse... 28 Days Later follows Jim (Cillian Murphy), a bicycle messenger that awakens from a coma only to find himself in the middle of deserted London after a disastrous zombie outbreak. As he realizes what has happened, he has to learn to survive but also whether to trust others. Eventually, he is joined by Selena (Naomie Harris), and then Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and her daughter Sarah (Megan Burns). But can he trust them? Can they trust him?

It had been a while since I had seen this film, but it was certainly nice to revisit. Director Danny Boyle has a great eye to capture certain iconic shots, especially during the moments where Jim explores the deserted streets of London. He also does a great job of combining long shots and pans, with more frantic, handheld camera movement for the zombie attacks. And speaking of zombie attacks, this is one of the first instances where "fast zombies" are featured, and the result is definitely intense and nerve-wracking.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

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"He knows the drill." Nice.
Look, you're right on all counts, of course, particularly the "What the dickens" dialogue and the "why is he painting this poor dead girl like a hooker", but this is a movie where I just let go of everything and take the ride. It has a maggot cannon. Literally.
I like this one a little bit more than The Beyond, significantly more than Zombi, and a whole helluva lot more than House By The Cemetery. And I actually like all three of those.
By the way, it's Savannah, Georgia. So good guess.

that was creepy me and my friend was just talked about this movie 2 hours ago lol 😐

They will take an almighty battering, but it's worth it.

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Police Story

I've been on a Jackie Chan tear recently and revisited this 80s Jackie Chan classic. The Retro vibe of the film never gets old and adds layers of charm to an already charming film. The action and spectacle are as impressive and surprising as they were the first time I saw the film. I'm a big fan of Indiana Jones so the brief double-decker bus chase gives me Raiders truck chase vibes in the best way! Jackie's signature blend of action and comedy is on display here with hilarious moments including one where Jackie pretends to fight an unconscious man. While there are some Jackie Chan movies out there that become bloated with characters, all of the characters here are interesting and serve the story.

10/10, I was debating if I should go for 9 or 10, I'm usually generous with movies that gave me a great time

By Publicity material from movie distributor © 1999 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (US, Canada, Bahamas and Bermuda); © 1999 Village Roadshow Films Limited. (All Other Territories), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3664863

The Matrix - (1999)

I never got around to watching Matrix Reloaded or The Matrix Revolutions like a lot of people did - the poor reviews and word of mouth actually put me off - so vociferous was the backlash, and I was just starting to get super wary of sequels by this stage of my movie-watching life. Recently, I bought the trilogy on DVD and decided I'm going to watch them - but I hadn't seen the original film since it came out. I jumped in this time, soaking everything in the film up - carefully paying attention. Some of the effects have dated badly, but the central conceit and concept is still really good, and it's still a rip-roaring action film - it changed the game, and there have been so many imitators and so many aspects have been used endlessly that you have to remind yourself that this film was revolutionary at the time.

On Letterboxd I wrote : "Philosophical action movie - and that's why it kind of shattered barriers and ushered in a whole new style of moviemaking, with it's effects and world-within-a-world style departure from anything holding back the imagination. It seemed anything was possible - but unfortunately that included disappointment. Anyway, The Matrix still stands as a cinematic triumph that leaves a lasting impression after you walk away from it. Life would surely be awful if we lived in a green-tinted artificial world."

8/10

28 Weeks Later kickstarts with what is probably one of the most intense openings in any horror film; one where those questions are crucial, as we see the cost by which Don (Robert Carlyle) manages to survive the original zombie outbreak. 28 weeks later *wink, wink* as London is recovering, he reunites with his two children, Tammy and Andy (Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton) in a quarantined section of the city led by a NATO force. But obviously, there wouldn't be a film if the ***** didn't hit the fan.

What I like most about this sequel is how relentless and full of despair it is. From that kickass opening, it is as if the film just won't let go, and that desperation oozes through the screen. It's a bit of a stretch that the main focus of this rampage falls on one character, but the actor sells it well. Jeremy Renner has a supporting role as a sniper with a conscience that tries to protect the siblings, but my attachment to them wasn't as strong as with, say, Jim and Selena in the first film.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

I ended up ordering it on cable. Liked the first half, second half, not so much.

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings follows the titular character (Simu Liu), who know goes by the name of "Shaun", as he is forced to face his past and his true identity when his father Wenwu (Tony Leung), the immortal leader of the Ten Rings organization, draws him and his sister out on his search of a mysterious mythical village.

At the end of the day, Shang-Chi might be an entertaining and satisfying film, but it just can't run from the past and traps of the MCU formula. As it is, it falls within the same "low floor/high ceiling" standards that the whole franchise has established. If it weren't for the performances, this would probably be a notch lower.

Grade:


Full review on my Movie Loot

I found the third act unbearable. Enough that I can't imagine enduring it to ever see the first two acts again.

I kinda tuned out a bit, but to be honest, I didn't find it any more unbearable than many other "bombastic" MCU third acts. To me it was just the usual stuff blowing up, stuff flying around *yawn* ok, let's get to the end.

Black Phone (2022)


My expectations were fragile going into this, considering I thought the trailer was average, and the the plot itself seemed pretty generic. The Ethan Hawke transformation was startling undoubtedly, but I came away a little underwhelmed as many on this forum have stated.

By Steve Johnson FX, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2941032

Species - (1995)

This was big enough to have had what a lot of sci-fi/horror movies don't - creature designs by H.R. Giger, and a bumper cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker and that lady from C.S.I. - Marg Helgenberger. I have no problem watching a movie with an ensemble like that! Especially if it involves horror, with an escaped alien/human hybrid trying desperately to mate and propagate her species. The problem with Species is it's ending - which should have been an epic battle, but ended up being a CGI disaster in some rock caves leading off a sewer. There's a kind of procedural feel to the film, with each member of the team hunting "Sil" (played by Natasha Henstridge) using their specific skill sets. For me, Whitaker gets the best role, and manages to give the most memorable performance as a kind of telepathic "empath" who can sense what people will do in any given situation. The alien effects are interesting, and Cronenberg-like. Overall it's a little trashy and messy, but I loved the cast (Kingsley struggles a little with his accent) and the story - at points this fast-growing alien pulls off some genius moves to stay undetected. With a better ending it would have been great.

6/10


By MGM - Movieposter.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5734458

Species II - (1998)

Same budget - same level of effects - a few less famous famous, and a considerable amount of stupidity. This sequel to Species is dumb, and has obviously been written by morons. It opens with a manned mission to Mars where contamination from the red planet (which just coincidentally happens to be the same alien material from the original film) infects the astronauts, causing trouble at home. Only Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger and Natasha Henstridge return from the first film, and the only notable additions are James Cromwell in a small part and an uncredited Peter Boyle in a cameo. There's some really decent horror, but it's in service to an awful screenplay and neverending "wait...what?" moments. In this the search is on for astronaut Patrick Ross (Justin Lazard) who is running around, raping ladies and having alien babies while Eve (Sil part 2 - the second clone, the making of which was sure a bone-headed decision) escapes again and we have the possibility of the two meeting up. The film failed at the box office - it's silly and not very good.

4/10


By http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/u...LBNDSvcUvQ.jpg, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5735172

Species III - (2004)

Despite the failure of Species II this turned up - and straight away you can tell the budget is not on a level anywhere near the first two. This time, only Natasha Henstridge comes back - and for a cameo at that. The rest is poorly acted and poorly scripted hoo-ha with various mixed-breed aliens trying to mate with second generation Sara (Sunny Mabrey) - and various professors and students unethically messing around, hoping to earn a Nobel prize for shifty alien biology. (I don't think you get Nobel prizes for doing really bad, unethical and illegal things that risk human life and create problems, while at the same time burying all of your esteemed colleagues in a swamp.) Again, there's a bit of nice, practical effects horror - but for the most part this is low budget hell - and at a crazy 112 minutes the longest Species film, when it should have been the shortest.

3/10

I didn't go on to watch Species : The Awakening.

It is memorable. I watched this with some friends when it first came out and we still talk about the scene where Whitaker walks into the hotel room which looks like an abattoir. The place looks wrecked and there's blood and viscera on the walls and the curtains. That's when Whitaker's world class psychic utters the line, "Something bad happened here."
I watched it. You made the right call.

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The Haunting of Julia (1977)

Ahh yes - (to be fair, one character retorts "no shit" to that - but Whitaker does seem to be saying it with such sincerity, enough to make it a funny moment.) It's a scriptwriting hazard - in Titanic, after learning that the ship is taking on so much water entire cabins are flooding in seconds Jack turns to Rose and seriously suggests that, "This is bad." The one thing I'll say about the Species series though - it's not the most intelligent set of movies out there.