Recently Watched Films

Had never seen this before. Interesting fact: Kathryn Beaumont, the actress who voiced Alice, is still alive.

Here's a rarity: a 1950s movie that holds a 15 rating in the UK even today (almost everything pre-1960 is rated PG in the UK, with a few scattered 12 certificates). And its easy to see why. This one delves into the kind of subjects most films of the age steered well clear of. It also serves as a cautionary tale, making it's villain sympathetic to the viewer, as they are forced to watch as his cries for help go unheeded by those with the power to get him the psychiatric he actually knows he needs. 

And the Three Stooges:

Not their strongest short. Not their worst either. The second act is better than the first.

Guy Ritchie's latest. Getting middling reviews, but this was a solid 8. Would even be a 9 if some parts weren't so confusing (it does all come clear though, unlike that total mess of a film he made called Revolver). 

Chaplin drops (most of) the slapstick and turns to black comedy drama. The condition of the film on this one isn't as good as some in the set, with some visible artefacts, but the film itself is really good as usual. 

not quite what I expected

Fucking hell, Ricky from Trailer Park Boys can really act!

Another sports movie, based on a true story. There's a big focus here on the issues leading up to the fixed series, and the consequences afterward. The actual baseball action is pretty good too, with most of the actors having reasonable real-world skills, particularly John Cusack and Charlie Sheen.

Not seen this in a lot of years. That was really entertaining! All the 80s yuppie bullshit seemed to be spot on. The only scene I don't like is the chainsaw scene. As a chainsaw owner, I know damn well a chainsaw wouldn't do that (won't elaborate - possible spoiler).

This has to be the most visually stunning movie I've seen in some time. 

Well, that's a wasted hour and a half I'll never get back Mila Kunis is rightly ashamed of this movie. William Shatner won't be, because he's long past needing to feel shame for anything and really wouldn't give a fuck. It has only the most tenuous link to the original American Psycho, and Bret Easton Ellis has publicly denounced it.

This was really quite good. An ill fated offering from Hammer released onto a world that didn't know what to do with it, marketing it as a horror movie (it's a period drama about smuggling with some horror undertones, none of which is supernatural) and paring it as part of a double feature with some odd choices of movie including a neo-western and a Cold War thriller. It also later got paired with Hitchcock's The Birds, which it isn't that suited against either. While perhaps fairly described as a B movie, it does have Hammer mainstay Peter Cushing and is a bit of a hidden gem. Second movie from my four film Hammer boxset.

This was solid darkly comic psych drama.