Thanks to having a week off work and having little to do (not that much can be done), I got through another 10 films! Aside from gaming and 30 miles of walking, films is all I did on my time off haha.
1) Cure (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1997): This was a cracking mystery thriller horror about grisly murders and the murderers admitting to them, but having no recollection as to why. It got a little obtuse towards the end, so couldn't fully understand what was going on (and i'm a Lynch fan!), but it was amazing to watch. I loved that the director did a film called 'Sweet Home'. Capcom made a tie-in game and it was an influence on Resident Evil!
2) Godzilla vs The Smog Monster (Yoshimitsu Banno, 1971): Film #11 in the Showa series. I have a bit of buyers remorse with the Godzilla boxset as most of them aren't that great, but I have a soft spot for this one as he fights against a monster made from the Earth's pollution. The fight scene went on forever, but it was better than it had any right to be.
3) On The Rocks (Sofia Coppola, 2020): I refuse to do Netflix, so I sure as hell aren't going to pay for Apple TV, so am grateful to be able to see this in the cinema. This was a nice gentle comedy with Bill Murray on fine, dry form. It felt like a Woody Allen film at times and i'm totally OK with that!
4) Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodóvar, 2009): I watched this a decade ago and didn't like it, but now that I adore Almodóvar's work, I tried again. It's not as good as Volver, but this was much, much better than I remember. Again, it's multi-layered and keeps you guessing. Up next is 'The Skin I Live In' which is another masterpiece.
5) The Delta Force (Menahem Golan, 1986): My God, a 130 minute Chuck Norris film with a shit ton of plot. It should be a disaster, but in an incredibly messy way, it was great fun! Of course, the action is where it's all at and the
theme tune being repeated about 20 times added to the fun. It made me PATRIOTIC FOR AMERICA and i'm not even American...
6) Foxy Brown (Jack Hill, 1974): Awesome blaxploitation fun! I love Jackie Brown, so to watch Pam Grier in her prime is awesome. Seeing as the only blaxploitation film i've seen prior was Blacula, this was much better. Great soundtrack too!
7) Rebecca (Ben Wheatley, 2020): This was a well made, well acted, well shot film, but when all I could think about was "I just want to watch the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock version" throughout, then you've kinda failed. It's a shame, because it works very well on its own merits.
8) Urotsukidoji II: Legend of the Demon Womb (Hideki Takayama, 1993): I've watched this before, but thought I should mention it again as I finally have an uncut bootleg (*shhh*). This one is weird, because at the end of the first film, the world is destroyed whereas this pretends nothing ever happened which leads me to think it's an interquel. At any rate, it's not as good as the 1st and quite frankly would never get made today. It's offensive, degrading and downright shocking. I watch film of all genres and tastes, so can understand why people would never watch a hentai (even one with a huge plot like this). I'm not looking to III and IV though. I've not seen them, but know that they are even worse (both in content and how well they are made).
9) Chicken Little (Mark Dindal, 2005): So I just mentioned that The Black Cauldron might be the worst Disney film, but this ties with it. I can't believe $150m was spent on something so soulless. I just said that i'm open to all types of film, but I must admit to a certain level of snobbery when it comes to CGI films. I love Pixar films and believe there are many well made CGI films, but I can't stand ones like this where it is so soulless. The jokes are of the OVERACTING AND SCREAMLING LOUDLY kind which I can't stand, other jokes have aged badly and it just feels so cheap. When you compare it to something out at the same time like Howl's Moving Castle which is such a beautifully animated film, it feels even worse. The last couple of minutes were funny, but this was 82 minutes i'll never get back.
10) The Invisible Man (James Whale, 1933): By golly, this was INCREDIBLE. The other Universal horror films were good, but I felt that they haven't aged well, but this one kept me gripped throughout. Unlike Chicken Little, every one of its 71 minutes was used to great effect here. The special effects blew my mind for something that's almost 90 years old. What a joy to find something new so amazing~!
I checked my backlog and have 175 unwatched films, so must crack on~!