366 Days of Film. Day 194 - Mannequin. After watching Brats, I’m trying to better understand what happened to McCarthy’s career after St. Elmo’s Fire & Pretty in Pink. It might have something to do with being a dummy & choosing projects like this. The actors give their all but the script is a dud.
366 Days of Film. Day 193 - Brats. Docutherapy session as McCarthy bemoans his career to more successful actors. I truly hope this helped, but the poster says it all: McCarthy sat in back like a ghost, zero control, as Demi is at the wheel, driving towards one of the biggest movies of all time.
366 Days of Film. Day 192 - Longlegs. An FBI agent has an innate ability to know where the bad guys are. Or does she? A thread not pulled in this beautifully shot, wonderfully scripted horror featuring a Nic Cage performance that’s otherworldly. Shame that the makers thought they needed jump scares.
366 Days of Film. Day 191 - Alice (2022). Not wanting to spoil anything as it’s good to go in cold, this film acts like an allegory (and it is) except then you find out this is based ON A TRUE F—ING STORY! Keke Palmer is always great. As Pam Grier she’s sublime. Shame the poster gives the game away.
366 Days of Film. Day 190 - Monkey Man (2024). Indian John Wick is spelt Dev Patel, and he’s a force to be reckoned with both in front of and behind the camera. Reminded me of the first time we were introduced to Gareth Edwards’ The Raid: visceral, raw, bloody and beautifully choreographed. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
366 Days of Film. Day 189 - Farmageddon. An alien takes a joyride to Planet Earth and bumps into Shaun the Sheep. E.T. hunting govt are soon on their tail while the town and the farmer catch UFO fever. More complicated than the original, but a strong B-story for the best character, the farmer's dog.
366 Days of Film. Day 188 - Inseminoid (1981). "Can't is a word I don't understand, now do it Gail... You can't give up now!" Amazing films always spawn horrendous copycats, and Inseminoid is like the negative print of Alien: bad set, bad acting, bad script, bad soundtrack, bad everything. I can't.
366 Days of Film. Day 187 - Alien (1979). As good today as it was on first release (I imagine). Okay, so some of the sets wobble a little, but the tension generated from a minimal cast confined to a tin can floating through deep space, with an unknown quantity stalking the vents is incredible. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
366 Days of Film. Day 186 - Kinds of Kindness. The characters in Lanthimos films are often cold & disconnected from what they say do or feel. This is his warmest film. It also, sadly, feels thrown together, made from a notebook of unused ideas. Gratuitous in parts, desperate to shock in others.
366 Days of Film. Day 185 - The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. All the Wes traits are here in his 4th arguably grandest feature, incl. an amazing cast (some already regulars) all having a blast on the high seas as they hunt for a rare shark (for Steve to fight!). Fans of Cousteau get extra flavour.
366 Days of Film. Day 184 - Videodrome. “Death to videodrome. Long live the new flesh.” A cult classic, and the SFX for 1983 are impressive and inventive. Now that we’re truly jacked into a world of tech with sex and death at our fingertips, maybe ripe for a remake? Debbie Harry is impressive.
366 Days of Film. Day 183 - BHC: Axel F. Hollywood once again insisting aging actors go back to a dry well. Don't they know, it makes the audience intrigued enough to watch feel old as shit too?! And with this one everyone's back to make you feel ancient, including Reinhold, Ashton, even Pinchot...
366 Days of Film. Day 182 - The Stranger. Orson Welles directs himself and Edward G. Robinson as a war crimes investigator on the hunt. The plot has holes you could drive a truck through, but Orson Welles gives a virtuoso performance as the Nazi hiding in plain sight.
366 Days of Film. Day 181 - Inside Out 2. Riley’s turned thirteen and puberty is all the rage. This was never going to reach the heady heights of the joyful original, a couple of new emotions have little to do, but it packs a punch by the end. Pixar did it again. Meanwhile Disney are making Mufasa…
366 Days of Film. Day 180 - The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon (2023). A dying man, a fugitive and scourge of the underworld is disappointed when he discovers he’s only the third most wanted man in Taiwan. A premise ripe for dark comedy but this is played serious, like a noir western. Loved it.
The Bear is back and there’s really nothing much better in the TV universe than when a showrunner is given carte blanche on how to present their story.
366 Days of Film. Day 179 - Blazing Saddles. Mel Brooks writes 10 jokes a minute. Half are puerile, a few dated, but 2 or 3 are solid if not lol. By that calculation Blazing Saddles is a 200 joke film, and every actor delivers them to a tee. Be warned tho, disturbingly high count for the n-word too.
366 Days of Film. Day 178 - LA Confidential (1997). A near perfect LA noir directed by Curtis Hanson from a James Ellroy novel, with weaving plots & fantastic character interplay. Guy Pearce in his greatest role, Russell Crowe in one of his + Danny DeVito, James Cromwell & Kim Basinger to name a few
366 Days of Film. Day 177 - No Way Out (1987). They don’t make ‘em like this anymore. They don’t make ‘em like this enough. Kevin Costner, Will Patton, Sean Young, and Gene Hackman is the cherry on top in this thriller with an unbeatable twist.
366 Days of Film. Day 176 - Easy Money (1983). I’m sure this one has a special place in some people’s hearts, but for a first watch, this is a mean-spirited, joke-free snooze. Worth it only for the curiosity of seeing actors in an early career low like Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joe Pesci & Jeffrey Jones
366 Days of Film. Day 175 - Past Lives (2023). An understated drama about how first love never dies and unrequited love dies last of all. The three leads are very believable, and nice to see Greta Lee outside of The Morning Show (where she's also excellent).
366 Days of Film. Day 174 - Inside Out (2015). This really was peak Pixar. Can't wait to see what the sequel is like, considering their previous peak was with Toy Story 2.
366 Days of Film. Day 173 - Week-end (1967). A couple who secretly have plans to kill each other embark on a road trip littered with wrecked cars and actors monologuing.
It’s surreal, but the only reason I kept watching was the unpredictable nature of the film. Mostly I was just irritated!
366 Days of Film. Day 172 - The Long Goodbye. Elliott Gould is the gumshoe sneaking around LA, flanked by bad men and beautiful women. Sterling Hayden was up for the role of Quint in Jaws, presumably off the strength of his performance as a drunk, burned out writer. He's the only weak point imho.
366 Days of Film. Day 171 - Good Time. Rob a bank, break brother out of hospital, what could go wrong? A darkly comic scenario from the Safdie brothers, with Robert Pattinson in top form, a cameo from Jennifer Jason Leigh, and a strong supporting cast of relative unknowns. A good time was had.
366 Days of Film. Day 170 - Bloodsport (1988). Yes, it's a rip off of Enter The Dragon and has none of its gravitas, but it has its charms. Tank-shaped Bolo Yeung makes a good baddie, Van Damme does the splits every five minutes, and Donald Gibb seems to be having a blast.
366 Days of Film. Day 169 - Alps (2011) One of Yorgos Lanthimos’ more inscrutable films: a group of people are employed to stand in for the recently deceased, wearing their clothes and reading and repeating scripts of things they said, like living reborn dolls to help with the grieving process.
