What film are you watching tonight/watched last night???

Sunday morning is cheesy action morning in Chateau Coz, so without further ado may I present.......

Death Race: Beyond Anarchy (2018, US iTunes, via Movies Anywhere)

Coming full circle with this fourth franchise offering, it finally decides to show its true colours - an unabashed Escape from New York meets Mad Max Fury Road exploitationer with lashings of cartoon violence, teen boy gratuitous T&A and having no shame in itself whatsoever, its the new definition of 'guilty pleasure'.

Even Luke Goss has had enough of the franchise by now, his character, cunningly hidden behind a mask so can now be played by any old cheap eastern European stunt man, now the bad guy thanks to some ridiculous plot beats about the Death Race now being illegal even within the now city-sized prison. Cop sent in undercover to kill him, blah, blah, blah. We've seen and heard it all before. And yet I think my penchant for those awful Italian actioners from the 80's have had some lasting effect on me, as even through all the quick cut montages, sub-goth/industrial guitar driven soundtrack and the odd Hollywood star who should really know better (hello Danny Glover!), it scratched a certain itch.

Yeah, we only now get one Death Race thanks to budget, but obviously we now have 'qualifying matches' in the Death Pit (oooooooooo) that offer up no driving skills whatsoever, just some more and crucially cheaper ways of offering up the brutal violence and female nakedness everyone obviously craves; and yeah you have to wonder about a certain walled in prison still being able to produce its own unlimited supply of ammunition, petrol, alcohol and crucially stripper poles when those in charge seemingly don't want it too; and, sigh, yeah, even the last minute 'twist' to enable the franchise to not surprisingly at all continue is obvious from a mile off.........but this knows what it is, is unabashed in its own style and is a decent watch for fans of action schlock.

I liked it.......but as you know, that doesn't mean much around these parts........:smoke:

Mile 22 (2018, US iTunes, also streaming on UK Netflix)

16 Blocks meets Extraction in the latest Berg/Wahlberg team up that thinks its far cleverer than it is.......

Iko Uwais knows where some dangerous irradiated material is and Wahlberg and his crack team need to find out - Uwais will give them the location but only if he is helped out of an Indonesian City which of course happens to be populated with all manner of local militia who don't want him to leave.....cue some very serious people shouting very serious things and taking things way too seriously.

Its lean 90 minute runtime may sound like a blessing, but its pacing is all over the place, with half the film gone before we start on our actual journey - up until then its lots of setting up of this very high-tech covert espionage group and of us hearing far too many erroneous character beats being shoved down our throats to try and give depth to these cardboard cut out characters when the film should have been showing us these through the action and the carnage that was coming up much, much later.

The addition of Uwais is a great choice though, his fantastic martial arts skills bringing some much needed variety to the shooting and explosions, even if Berg tries his hardest to not show them in all their glory thanks to his awful quick cutting around all the cool action stuff. And there's even some decent plotting going on as a strange sub-plot set up at the very beginning and dotted through the film that at first feels very random indeed pays off nicely come the film's conclusion.

And yet the film still insists on showing us how smart it is with a ridiculous framing device that suddenly leaves us with more questions than an actioner like this should do.

When its all guns blazing and punches flying in the second half of the film, its a decent little thriller with some great action beats and a nice sense of scale. But it took too long to get there and it sabotaged itself with trying to convince us its something other than a straight forward action flick.

Decent then, but could have been so much better.
 
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The to and fro between Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone made the film.

Not seen it in years but used to love it. Might have to give it a rewatch :)
 
Sunday morning is cheesy action morning in Chateau Coz, so without further ado may I present.......

Mile 22 (2018, US iTunes, also streaming on UK Netflix)

16 Blocks meets Extraction in the latest Berg/Wahlberg team up that thinks its far cleverer than it is.......

Iko Uwais knows where some dangerous irradiated material is and Wahlberg and his crack team need to find out - Uwais will give them the location but only if he is helped out of an Indonesian City which of course happens to be populated with all manner of local militia who don't want him to leave.....cue some very serious people shouting very serious things and taking things way too seriously.

Its lean 90 minute runtime may sound like a blessing, but its pacing is all over the place, with half the film gone before we start on our actual journey - up until then its lots of setting up of this very high-tech covert espionage group and of us hearing far too many erroneous character beats being shoved down our throats to try and give depth to these cardboard cut out characters when the film should have been showing us these through the action and the carnage that was coming up much, much later.

The addition of Uwais is a great choice though, his fantastic martial arts skills bringing some much needed variety to the shooting and explosions, even if Berg tries his hardest to not show them in all their glory thanks to his awful quick cutting around all the col action stuff. And there's even some decent plotting going on as a strange sub-plot set up at the very beginning and dotted through the film that at first feels very random indeed pays off nicely come the film's conclusion.

And yet the film still insists on showing us how smart it is with a ridiculous framing device that suddenly leaves us with more questions than an actioner like this should do.

When its all guns blazing and punches flying in the second half of the film, its a decent little thriller with some great action beats and a nice sense of scale. But it took too log to get there and it sabotaged itself with trying to convince us its something other than a straight forward action flick.

Decent then, but could have been so much better.

I was well up for this but it took me about 5 goes to watch it as I kept falling asleep. How Peter Berg managed to take a decent concept (nothing particularly original but I normally like this kind of thing) and make it so soul-destroyingly dreary is beyond me.
 
I was well up for this but it took me about 5 goes to watch it as I kept falling asleep. How Peter Berg managed to take a decent concept (nothing particularly original but I normally like this kind of thing) and make it so soul-destroyingly dreary is beyond me.
It’s that ponderous first half isn’t it? Look how smart we are by telling you in minute detail how ‘technology’ works and how we’re all a bit damaged by what we do.......

Easily the worst of their collaborations but I still thought it watchable once you get to, you know, what the actual film is about!!!!
 
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It’s that ponderous first half isn’t it? Look how smart we are by telling in minute detail how ‘technology’ works and how we’re all a bit damaged by what we do.......

Easily the worst of their collaborations but I still thought it watchable once you get to, you know, what the actual film is about!!!!

Part of me was slowly dying during that first half. Second half wasn’t much better but at least we get some action. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t mind films like this not having loads of action if done well. For example, Bourne Supremacy is as good as, if not better (story and execution-wise), than the first one despite not having as much action.

Mile 22 tries to be a bit too clever and a bit too serious. It can work but not in this case. Would have been better being more of a DTV style actioner with Marky Mark being more smartass (like in 2 Guns) and allowing Iko Uwais to just let loose!
 
Part of me was slowly dying during that first half. Second half wasn’t much better but at least we get some action. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t mind films like this not having loads of action if done well. For example, Bourne Supremacy is as good as, if not better (story and execution-wise), than the first one despite not having as much action.

Mile 22 tries to be a bit too clever and a bit too serious. It can work but not in this case. Would have been better being more of a DTV style actioner with Marky Mark being more smartass (like in 2 Guns) and allowing Iko Uwais to just let loose!
I loved 2 Guns!!!!! :cool:
 
I loved 2 Guns!!!!! :cool:

It’s great isn’t it? Lethal Weapon style throwback with plenty of wiseass quippery and bickering between Den-ZEL and Marky Mark. Love it. Bill Paxton is in it as well which always helps. Even James Marsden manages not to be his usual boring self.
 
It’s great isn’t it? Lethal Weapon style throwback with plenty of wiseass quippery and bickering between Den-ZEL and Marky Mark. Love it. Bill Paxton is in it as well which always helps. Even James Marsden manages not to be his usual boring self.
It’s up there with my all time fave B-movie actioner The Way of the Gun.......that opening just makes me laugh so hard........
 
It’s up there with my all time fave B-movie actioner The Way of the Gun.......that opening just makes me laugh so hard........

Funnily enough, although I only have The Way of the Gun on dvd - the BD is hard to get, and also crazy prices - I’ve been meaning to watch it again! Put it on the front of my shelf but not gotten around to it. :D :(
 
It’s up there with my all time fave B-movie actioner The Way of the Gun.......that opening just makes me laugh so hard........
One of my favourite Sarah Silverman roles. :laugh:
 
It’s up there with my all time fave B-movie actioner The Way of the Gun.......that opening just makes me laugh so hard........

B-movie? No way! ;)

Chris McQuarrie's writing/directing debut is a freaking bona fide all-time classic.

Benicio, Ryan Phillippe, James Caan's lack of neck, Juliette Lewis screaming. A. Lot.

It's awesome. Mamet-like insanely quotable dialogue, overly militarised action sequences, it's one of my all-time favourite movies.

"A plan is just a list of things that don't happen."
"The longest distance between two points is a kidnapper and his money."
"Fifteen million dollars is not money. It's a motive with a universal adaptor on it."
"If I wanna hit her I'll hit her. If I wanna miss I'll miss."

And the entire "Have you ever asked 'have you killed somebody?' before? You should." conversation.

That opening scene is such a kick-ass intro with possibly one of the best lines in the history of cinema.

"Shut that ****'s mouth or I'll come over there and **** start her head!"

When McQuarrie started getting involved in Cruise's stuff, I only wish that it didn't come with 12 restrictions on language.

Damn, now I'm not paying attention to Umbrella Academy 2 and just thinking about rewatching Way of the Gun.
 
Unhinged (2020) - Derrick Borte
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20 years (and 20 stone) on from Gladiator, Russell Crowe is back to scowl and grimace his way onto our screens in this mildly diverting psycho-stalker road-rage thriller. Hopes for something as substantial as Crowe's waistline were immediately dashed with the film's opening scenes; an on-the-nose montage of people being horrid to each other worldwide (personified in the film by Crowe's character) followed by the usual trite family set up: disorganised single mom; unreliable absentee dad; and disappointed kid. Caren Pistorious to be fair is very good in the protagonist's role and it's not long before she falls foul of our heavy-set villain. What follows is absurdy implausible but reasonably entertaining hokum with some surprisingly brutal violence and some smashy road chase mayhem that is enjoyable up to it's predictable climax. Crowe brings his gruff presence to the screen but he's essentially a cartoon villain who just sneers menacingly from one victim to the next and there's little or none of the depth of Michael Douglas' D-fens from Falling Down (which this has been erroneously compared to). As a social commentary this is about as sophisticated as sesame street, but as a simple-minded throwback thriller its not a terrible way to dip your toe back into the multiplex. 6/10


A few other throwaway watches (in between insatiably binging a rewatch of Sons of Anarchy).

Annabelle (2014)
Not as good as Annabelle Creation, but way better than the other one (forget its subtitle). 5.5/10

The First Purge (2018)
Complete and utter ****e. 1/10
 
Ringu (1998) - 7/10 - I'd seen Verbinski's US remake but never the original, its a little slow but builds in a creepy enough way and the later scenes are very good.
 
The Way Of The Gun still has one of the great benchmark firefight finale's.
One day it might escape it's criminally underseen tag. It's the kind of film we need something like Moviedrome to come back and highlight so more people can discover it.
 
B-movie? No way! ;)

Chris McQuarrie's writing/directing debut is a freaking bona fide all-time classic.

Benicio, Ryan Phillippe, James Caan's lack of neck, Juliette Lewis screaming. A. Lot.

It's awesome. Mamet-like insanely quotable dialogue, overly militarised action sequences, it's one of my all-time favourite movies.

"A plan is just a list of things that don't happen."
"The longest distance between two points is a kidnapper and his money."
"Fifteen million dollars is not money. It's a motive with a universal adaptor on it."
"If I wanna hit her I'll hit her. If I wanna miss I'll miss."

And the entire "Have you ever asked 'have you killed somebody?' before? You should." conversation.

That opening scene is such a kick-ass intro with possibly one of the best lines in the history of cinema.

"Shut that ****'s mouth or I'll come over there and **** start her head!"

When McQuarrie started getting involved in Cruise's stuff, I only wish that it didn't come with 12 restrictions on language.

Damn, now I'm not paying attention to Umbrella Academy 2 and just thinking about rewatching Way of the Gun.

Also, the lead characters are named after Butch and Sundance: Parker and Longbaugh.
 
2 Guns - Netflix

Lots of fun, Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington do a great job of bouncing off each other.

Some good car chases and shoot outs. Bill Paxton makes a wonderful CIA spook who's very direct 😀

Good story throughout with a few twists and lots of violence 😁

7 narcs out of 10 cartel thugs

Black is King - Disney Plus

After seeing the positives reviews I gave this a go, umm well that was a mistake. Just a big ego fest with bad camerawork from a pop princess.

Not my thing at all, maybe if you looooove Beyoncé then it might appeal.

Certainly not 10/10 stuff, which IMHO means that it's so good it crosses normal genre and personal taste boundaries.

Avatar - Disney Plus

Very nice to see this in all it's 4K loveliness. Always enjoyed the film and it still holds up, the CGI is excellent and Pandora is such is rich visual feast.

9 Jarheads out of 10 Na'vi
 
Finished Knives Out this movie will gives you the next level suspense on the murder mystery or suicidal, and movie will start with a very interesting rhythm but as it gradually advances. highly recommended.
 
Knives Out [Amazon Prime] - We watched Knives Out too, had been looking forward to it and overall it was an enjoyable film. Aside someone being literally led down the garden path, which extended the run time a little, and for me there was a clear tell early on, it managed to keep the mystery going pretty well.
 
The Revenant (UHD BD) - Been looking forward to seeing this on UHD for ages and the wife hadn't seen it.
2nd viewing and enjoyed it even more (if you can enjoy a film like this). Absolutely brutal, hard to watch at times and a tour de force in direction, cinematography and acting. Truly stunning from Leo and Tom and all the supporting cast.
I love everything about the film, the story, beautiful landscapes, the battle and fighting, everything, and my god does it look absolutely incredible in 4K HDR and the HDR is quite subtle here and not in your face which is great. THE reference disc for an OLED!

Incredible film, amazing, stupendous
9.5/10 - oh and the wife said "it was alright but not my cup of tea" :D
 
Avatar - Disney Plus

Very nice to see this in all it's 4K loveliness. Always enjoyed the film and it still holds up, the CGI is excellent and Pandora is such is rich visual feast.

9 Jarheads out of 10 Na'vi

Is it 4k? Last time I looked on D+ it was in HD only, unless there's been a change.
 
Hotel Mumbai - 8/10 - Based around the horrific 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and mostly featuring the storming of the luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel, its a tense, gripping watch and portrays the selfless bravery of the some of the hotel staff very well, harrowing at times but a great film.
 
^^^
Don't suppose thats on Prime or Netflix?
 
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The Justwatch App is very good. :thumbsup:
 

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