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COMPLETE: Tafty's Movies of 2023 • COUNTDOWN, 105 Movies. One year. 2023.

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Tafty³³³ View member profile	9th January 2024, 02:03 AM Post #1
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	Finally seen most of the movies I wanted to see. There are currently 105 movies that had a UK Release Date in 2023. I will be starting this countdown, hopefully tomorrow night. But yeah. What will be victorious? Thanks to my impatient ass last year and watching a couple of movies thinking they weren't getting a UK release and including them in last years countdown, I will be including them in this years due to them getting official theatrical releases over here... eventually! Plus, I actually rewatched them on the big screen and one in particular I had to bump up because it is just TOO DAMN CUTE AND ADORABLE!!!! Another spoiler: Horror had an outstanding year this year for me! Infact, I think 'Scream V' may have been only top 20 this year......... My previous EOY top 5's: 2022: 01. NOPE ★★★★★ 02. FLEE ★★★★★ 03. Everything Everywhere All At Once ★★★★1/2 04. The Banshees of Inisherin ★★★★1/2 05. Scream V ★★★★ 2021: 01. Spider-Man: No Way Home ★★★★★ 02. The Father ★★★★★ 03. In The Heights ★★★★ 04. Promising Young Woman ★★★★ 05. tick.. tick.. BOOM! ★★★★ 2020: 01. Jojo Rabbit ★★★★1/2 02. Parasite ★★★★1/2 03. The Invisible Man ★★★★1/2 04. 1917 ★★★★ 05. Soul ★★★★ 2019: 01. Avengers: Endgame ★★★★★ 02. The Joker ★★★★1/2 03. Captain Marvel ★★★★ 04. Knives Out ★★★★ 05. US ★★★★ 2018: 01. Avengers: Infinity War ★★★★★ 02. Crazy Rich Asians ★★★★★ 03. Love Simon ★★★★1/2 04. A Quiet Place ★★★★ 05. Coco ★★★★ 2017: 01. La La Land ★★★★★ 02. The Greatest Showman ★★★★★ 03. Thor: Ragnarok ★★★★1/2 04. Spider-Man: Homecoming ★★★★ 05. Split ★★★★


Josh! View member profile	9th January 2024, 09:45 AM Post #2
c: Joined: 12 March 2014 Posts: 13,153 User: 20,692	Intrigued to see if Marcell & Pearl make it then! I’m an Impatient ass too xx


Tafty³³³ View member profile	9th January 2024, 07:17 PM Post #3
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	105. THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER Score out of 5: 1/2 [UK Release Date: N/A] This was absolutey dire. Not only the worst movie this year that I have seen, but one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Stick with Doja Cat’s (incredible) new video for her song ‘Demons’ instead. ---- 104. THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER Score out of 5: 1/2 [UK Release Date: 6th October] The original The Exorcist is the only movie I have ever lost sleep over. It terrified 12 year old me bad and I still can’t view pictures of posessed Regan for that reason. This sequel tried to do what Halloween (2018) did and retcon everything in between to do with that movie. But it failed. Spectacularly. This was horrendously boring and whiney! Some of those scenes where the cast had to deliver more than 2 lines just went on and on and on and on… particularly the scenes with Ellen Burstyn! The screenplay and writing is appalling. I will say one good thing though and that’s Leslie Odom Jr. continues to be as wholesome as ever. Between this and the recent 2 Halloween sequels, David Gordon-Green should be blacklisted from ever making a horror movie, ever again. He got lucky with Halloween (2018) and he’s been given a few chances now to know that he should not be touching classic horror properties, let alone horror movies in general, EVER again. ---- 103. FERRARI Score out of 5: ★ [UK Release Date: 26th December] Might just be one of the blandest, boring and monotonous movies I have seen in a long, long time. Just absolute drivel. So essentially Adam Driver in movie form. Penélope Cruz was absolutely the highlight who gave her absolute best with the utter crock of shit she was given. Gabriel Leone was the other highlight for me. Apart from that one scene (you’ll know which one if you are ever unfortunate enough to watch this) this was a complete waste of time tbh. Booooooorrrriiiinnnnnnggggg. ---- 102. THE BOOGEYMAN Score out of 5: ★ [UK Release Date: 2nd June] Really thought this was DIRE. I’m sorry. I don’t mind generic movies, I tolerate them more than most I think, but this just took the piss tbh. Came out of it feeling empty and like the last 90 mins just didn’t happen at all. No effective scares. No tense build up moments. Bland creature design. Horribly generic therapist father tried to do best by his daughters because their mum just died plot point. Just bad tropes overall. The pacing was horrendous too. A MESS. For something that left me feeling so meh, I’ve definitely rambled on. It’s probably not “tHe wOrSt mOvIe eVeR” but I’d rather watch a film and hate it than come out of it feeling nothing. Reminded me of those straight to DVD - possibly written by an AI - movies that would come out the same week as a big Hollywood blockbuster with a similar name to capitalise on that. I’d probably call this A Light Place or something. Yeah. Just didn’t like it I’m afraid. ---- 101. BLUE BEETLE Score out of 5: ★1/2 [UK Release Date: 18th August] Went into this wonderfully optimistic and actually hopeful that this was going to be a bit of a gem and a nice movie for the DCCU. But somehow I came out of this the worst I’ve felt about a movie in the cinema in a long time. It was a mix of emotions for me and that I think I was a bit too hopeful about this going to be a fun, nice little superhero movie that would actually be pretty entertaining. Nope. Got a “Some of the MCU Greatest Moments” but told in the style of an SNL produced movie made for CW. Like it felt like the most generic, superhero movie ever made - and almost like a pisstake kinda in the style of Superhero Movie. Generic plot-points and story beats. Terrible writing etc.. We also got to learn absolutely NOTHING about the main lead? Why should we care for him? His relationship seemed forced. His family had far too much involvement in everything. The uncle was irritating, the granny didn’t feel as wholesome as she should and the scenes she had holding that blaster thing was so cringe! The villain is horrendously cheap and Susan Sarandon was dreadful. Also AGAIN with Warner Bros writing… this only furthered my theory that Warner are using AI for their Superhero movies… A couple of things I did like. I liked the mum (Elpidia Carrillo) she was so warm and sweet. The real heart of the family and for the most part I thought the VFX were well done. But everything else… maybe I set it up TOO much for myself but I just ended up feeling completely EMPTY and actually gutted about this.


Tafty³³³ View member profile	9th January 2024, 07:47 PM Post #4
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	100. AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM Score out of 5: ★1/2 [UK Release Date: 22nd December] At least I don’t have to sit through anymore of this absolute garbage. The only thing I liked was Patrick Wilson. Everything else can get flushed away with the rest of the DCEUz I really can’t wait for James Gunn’s era. This script is truly one of the worst for a superhero movie. The action sequences were abhorrent. The underwater stuff was dire. At least there was a silver lining that there will be no more of this particular universe. Flush. ---- 099. FAST X Score out of 5: ★1/2 [UK Release Date: 19th May] FasTEN Your Seatbelts is what this one should’ve been named. Absolutely DIRE. It’s saved by Jason Momoa’s gloriously OTT and camp af villain though. The most I’ve enjoyed a role of his tbh. But everything else? Jfc. Literal eye roll and facepalm moments, not just once or twice, the entire movie. I can’t tell if it’s just a soap opera or a really bad, SNL piss take movie… it’s just lost everything that made instalments 4-6/7 so good & enjoyable and gone for ridiculousness OTT action over, “yeah it’s still a bit silly but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did happen” kind of action. Everyone just seemed to be fighting everybody and then teaming up with them right after lmao. There’s a scene that was outstanding though. It involves Vin Diesel and a crane. Magical. Chef’s kiss. Greatest scene of all time. Crying. Shaking. This is just as stupid, convenient and as ridiculous as you’d expect. You’re either on board with it’s craziness at this point or you’re not. I’ll ride this out until the end (hopefully it ends!!!) but I can’t even ironically like them anymore. Not them bringing everyone back from the dead too LMAOOOOOO! Also the post credits sequence… stupid. Funny how everyone comes crawling back to things after a box office bomb. ---- 098. MEG 2: THE TRENCH Score out of 5: ★1/2 [UK Release Date: 3rd August] The last 20-30 mins of this movie is exactly the kind of stupid, ott nonsense I wanted from a movie about a huge shark On a mission to cause havoc and eat people etc.. Everything up to that part was really boring, generic human stuff. If the antagonist is going to be a shark (or dinosaurs coughJurassic Worldcough), I don’t want the bulk of that movie to be human conflict with little to no monster stuff. Cringe script and one-liners and just really boring until the last 20-30 mins (to which point I don’t care as much as I should). I liked Wu Jing & Shuya Sophia Cai as they brought heart to the movie but couldn’t care leas about anyone else. Just bullshit. And yes that is with a “b”, Statham. ---- 097. 65 Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 10th March] Not quite as awful as some may have you believe, but this was frustratingly underbaked. It’s so good seeing a dinosaur movie again, where the dinosaurs are the threat. Some of those moments were solid. But the screenplay and lack of story is what ultimately lets this glorified B-Movie down. We needed a kill count. We needed more characters to kill off. Adam Driver and the little girl was not enough of a story for a survival movie. It was all wafer thin. Wasted potential. ---- 096. THE FLASH Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 15th June] I would really, really like to write that I think this would have been a better movie had it been someone else in the lead role but honestly, I don’t think that is the case. It’s just a generic, AI-ified multi-verse mess. Is Barry Allen meant to be as annoying as they portray him to be? First they were incredibly annoying as him in Justice League (both versions) and now this… I assumed he was meant to be this nerdy, likeable and awkward guy? Maybe I’m wrong idk. Even the “big” multiverse cameos were so… lacklustre and underwhelming. Ngl I don’t have the same sentimental or nostalgic attachment to the cameos we did get, but I thought I’d be able to appreciate them. But they just get incredibly contrived and forced into the story… the main plot of the story takes a huge back burner too. Warner Bros really need to hire better writers. I’m intrigued for the future of the DCEU as I am hoping James can make me care about the characters. I just really couldn’t care less about any of them and then the post credits sequence… wtf was that stupid shit? Ugh. Oh and CGI is somehow getting worse and worse with big budget movies. Wtf is happening? I would honestly rather watch Shazam 2 again - at least I got a couple of belly laughs. ---- 095. A HAUNTING IN VENICE Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 15th September] A Haunting In Venizzzzzzzz Bland. Boring. Repetitive. Unoriginal. Annoying jump scares. Tiresome. Just wanted it to end at various points tbh. The cast were good in their roles but they were either underutilised (Jamie and erm… HELLO??? YOU HAVE THEE Michelle Yeoh!) or just poorly written. I’ll stick with the Knives Out movies I think. ---- 094. JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 17th November] I thought this would be a bit more tongue-in-cheek and fun than it ended up being. Ah well. Just a generic take on the Nativity story with contemporary pop/rock-lite songs. Idk… it would have been more fun had it taken itself less seriously and a few of the songs did have a tendency to just drone on and drag. At least some songs SLAPPED though. In My Blood especially. Joel Smallbone put his ALL into that!! Also Antonio Banderas Muse-lite rock banger Good To Be King… incred. Mary’s Getting Married… a BOP!! ---- 093. THE COLLECTIVE Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 4th August] I only bothered with this for one reason and for one reason alone. If I was basing my review on that reason, it would be 5 stars because Mercedes Varnado absolutely NAILED IT. She was “devilishly evil” and “wonderfully nasty” as one reviewer put it. Nikita was by far the most compelling and interesting character. Her action scenes & sequences were great. Her character was the most feared by far “was that the knife girl?…oh Shit!” But my favourite moment was “Have fun bleeding out. Asshole!” As for the movie itself… it’s fun but incredibly generic, cheap and pretty basic. But in terms of it being a “straight to DVD/streaming” movie, it’s enjoyable enough. Will probably watch again at some point (deciding whether to watch tomorrow just to get my 2 days rent out of it aha). But yeah, it’s generic and cheap but fun and enjoyable for what it is. Mercedes Varnado was the big star in this and for her feature film debut, it was a great role! Give me the Nikita spin-off ASAP! ---- 092. THE EQUALIZER 3 Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 30th August] Just so plain, boring and generic. It missed the charm of the first two Equalizer movies for me. Through no fault of Denzel who perfectly encapsulates his character, again. The absolute highlight of the franchise (as he should be considering he is, y’know, the lead lol) But yeah this just missed some of the beats that I quite enjoyed about the other two. Everything was just executed so… blandly and uninterestingly. It’s a “fine” franchise overall but there are definitely better franchises out there who do a similar thing. I just wish Denzel was in them instead! ---- 091. PLANE Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 27th January] Pretty bland, generic and… “plane” (hahahehehahaho) Extremely straight to DVD action movie and that’s fine if you’re into that kinda thing, I guess. But I won’t be remembering this in an hour.


Josh! View member profile	9th January 2024, 11:01 PM Post #5
c: Joined: 12 March 2014 Posts: 13,153 User: 20,692	Ferrari and The Boogeyman were both decent movies for me. They'd be much higher on my list Very harsshhhhh xx Can't argue with those placements for Blue Beetle and Exorcist though. I have no idea what so many people saw in BB. To me it was the blandest that the DC has ever been yet the usual haters seemed to be praising it?


Tafty³³³ View member profile	9th January 2024, 11:50 PM Post #6
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	I'm glad you got some enjoyment from them both! I wish I did </3 I almost get jealous when people love certain movies that I didn't quite get and I fear it may be the same thing when I see 'Poor Things' tomorrow! We'll see I guess 'Blue Beetle' being as well received as it was was extremely baffling to me. Especially when said people probably and likely shit on 'The Marvels' when the family dynamic in the latter was far superior to the cringefest we got in BB


Tafty³³³ View member profile	11th January 2024, 12:41 PM Post #7
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	090. SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 17th March] This was… fine I guess? No worse or better than the first movie. But, just like the first movie I think I’d have preferred it if I was a teen or something? Got a couple of chuckles from me throughout but the comedy wears thin when it’s pretty much EVERY sentence. A big issue for me and a very similar problem I have to Deadpool. In fact this is just a Deadpool movie but for early teens. Generic villains, set pieces & action sequences and it suffers from the big problem of these DCEU movies (before James Gunn hopefully reigns it all in) just really terrible writing. But it’s fun enough for a throwaway, popcorn filler movie. A couple of the kids were annoying af but one of them is either the best part of the kids or just really f*ing annoying… Freddie literally fails to find a balance! It’s odd. Not the worst but not the best. Also Gal Gadot is really awful lmao omg. ---- 089. CARMEN Score out of 5*: ★★ [UK Release Date: 2nd June]* Found myself losing interest quite a bit in this. Pretty disappointing tbh because Melissa and Paul were CHEMMING HARD and they were great together! Need them in a major romance or romcom movie, asap! I’m really not quite sure what was going on in this for the most part tbh so maybe I missed some integral storytelling whilst zoning out but I was disappointed on the whole. ---- 088. ASTEROID CITY Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 23rd June] The thing about Wes Anderson movies is that stylistcally and aesthetically I actually really like his work. It’s always really beautifully shot and the colour pallets & gradiants are stunning. Unfortunately, like everything else he’s done, the rest of it is a big miss for me. I try and try but I just don’t think I get on with his writing style & methods much, if at all. It’s a shame really. But as a creative visionary I respect his work a lot. This was just… uneventfully boring. Nothing happens and when things do happen, it’s just way too dry and boring. Scarlet and Margot are absolute STARS though. Both of them just have that old-school Hollywood actor presence that really reels you into their stuff (ironically, both are Superheroes/anti-heroes too @Quentin xx) ---- 087. NAPOLEON Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 22nd November] You know when a well received movie just isn’t for you? Yeahhh… this is another one of those for me, oops. Aside from the battle sequences (obvz) I was just so bored all throughout that not even Vanessa Kirby’s strong performance could save it. It just never stepped up a gear outside of the battle sequences which kinda felt like whiplash from the drama-free drama stuff, a little bit. It just bored me. I guess I understand why he is called Napoleon ---- 086. ANATOMY OF A FALL Score out of 5: ★★ [UK Release Date: 10th November] I have to emphasise this at the start… courtroom dramas are a REAL MIXED BAG for me. I’m either engaged completely or I find it hard to engage with and end up not caring at all. Unfortunately for me, this is the latter. I just found that it drags on and on and you never get a clear indication of where it ends, which kind of makes me feel like I wasted my entire time watching the 2 and a half hour movie. I get that movies can end where you decide for yourself on how it ended etc… but this just took the piss a little to me. I was getting incredibly restless throughout and could not be bothered to concentrate. The stuff I like is the re-enactment kinda things and this didn’t really do that beyond like a 15 minute scene. I found the little boy to be irritating af and despite a strong argument scene, I just couldn’t care less at that point. If you like courtroom dramas, great. I’m sure you’ll love it. But for me, someone who has the attention span of a child in a history museum… YAWN. ---- 085. MAY DECEMBER Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 8th December] I feel like this never goes as far as it’s story/concept suggests and promises it will/should. Don’t get me wrong, some really strong performances and yes, Charles Melton steals it, especially when his character starts to really realise and assess the sutuation he’s in and how he got there. But for the most part I did find this pretty overrated and a tad disappointing tbh. I feel like it never reaches it’s potential and just when you think you’re about to get somewhere it feels a bit deflating and “oh… ok?” One of those movies that’s more about the acting showcase than anything else. Annoying coz the story is an interesting one. ---- 084. DUMB MONEY Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 18th September] This was good but I’m not sure it needed to be a movie tbh. A one-off TV special or something, sure, but I just felt that this was just a lot of filler with decent performances. I need someone to stop casting Pete Davidson in things though, he just irritates me in just about everything, no matter how much they try to make him the “likeable” side character. Bleh. I’m going to forget this in a day or so but I’m sure there will be people out there who will like it. ---- 083. INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 28th June] This is perfectly fine. A lot of people were saying it was so much worse than the last one and it’s really not. It’s decent. Not one I will go back to at all but that’s fine. I feel like that with this franchise tbh. I like it but don’t love it or care for it.l enough to go back to it. Meh. Not as bad as everyone says it is but still not all that either. OH AND HOLLYWOOD I S2G YOU NEED TO STOP MAKING MOVIES SO LONG JUST FOR THE SAKE OF THEM BEING LONG. Stop this needless trend! Bring back the good 90-110min stompers! ---- 082. WAR PONY Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 9th June] Went into this knowing absolutely nothing about it and it was ok. You can tell it’s a predominantly “non-actor” cast and that it was many of their first times. The lead in this, Jojo Bapteise Whiting started off as being really noticeable with it, I am fairly sure he couldn’t get through a scene without smiling, even at a semi-serious moment! I went on a wild ride with him in particular as I started out not really liking him due to thinking he was just a terrible actor (this was before I had knowledge this was his first role) but throughout the film, I found myself really warming to him and ended up finding him quite endearing and he ended up putting in a very good performance in the 2nd half of the movie. The story was a bit basic to me. I also felt the conflicts and resolutions to those conflicts kinda just happened and didn’t really go anywhere? Very much a one time watch for me. I’m glad I watched it but I wouldn’t really go back to it. I don’t think it was for me but that’s fine! ---- 081. NO HARD FEELINGS Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 21st June] This was meh. Got a few chuckles out of me (especially silly things like when he got scared via the pool table!) but literally about 30-40 mins in it just falls completely flat, becomes too “serious” instead of trying to be comedy and doesn’t really find it’s feet again. I thought Jennifer and Andrew were actually solid leads, I just think the writing and screenplay let them both down. Also, How To Train Your Dragon live action is happening, yes? Can I start the petition for Andrew to play Hiccup? No? Well I’m gonna.


Tafty³³³ View member profile	12th January 2024, 03:37 PM Post #8
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	080. NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 22nd September] This was… fine, I guess. I loved that the aliens were the classic alien designs that we all know. They were effectivey weird and creepy. On the whole though, the gimmick if no dialogue got old really quick and I think it’s largely down to the characters being put in positions where they would speak, but for some reason it was decided that they’d all just grunt and huff and puff (and spit!) at each other. Just a really bizarre choice to go down a no dialogue route. Didn’t make sense to me and it was actually really irritating. Also, some of the story didn’t make much sense to me. Not one I’m gonna go back to. But it was ok at best. ---- 079. GHOSTED Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 21st April] HEvans and de Armas again… already a perfect movie 🥰 This is one of those you’ll never watch again. A straight to streaming, generic action-comedy movie. It’s extremely throwaway. I liked both Chris and Ana in this, but both have done better overall. It’s fun enough, but there’s also a tonal whiplash all throughout. The main flaw for me is the same flaw I have with other Apple TV movies… the writing and script is terribly generic, basic and quite weak, despite a strong screenplay and idea (I even feel similar to award movies like CODA, Swan Song, Causeway etc) it’s so odd coz Apple seem to get their TV shows spot on when it comes to writing, but their movie writers seemingly need more work… Dexter’s directing is a mess too. (Oh and Imma need movies to stop needle dropping generic songs over random action sequences. This trend needs to stop!) But yeah, it’s not good but not bad. It’s… fine. Fun enough for what it is but if it wasn’t for how much I love both Chris and Ana I doubt I’d be interested and I will forget this movie exists in a day or two. ---- 078. TÁR Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 13th January] Better than I had anticipated, but still such a slog and chore to get through & not as good as most say it is. It’s not my thing overall and I was so disinterested in the story that I kept getting distracted throughout and the length didn’t help at all. Cate Blanchett as expected though was brilliant. I have no idea who Lydia Tár was before this movie but thanks to Cate I felt like I had known about her for years. Everything else falls into standard, award bait, biopic drama. Executed well enough but I just found it hard to get interested and engage properly with the story. Probably due to Tár herself being quite unlikeable. Edit: I am so embarrassed… why did I think she was a real person and people had been banging on about her like she was? Omg. ---- 077. RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 11th August] Average. Cute idea and story, but executed in such a cringe way. The script especially was a bit “pass the bucket” cringe. But overall it was a nice, if generic, story. Cute but not essential. I think this will absolutely have it’s fans and I wouldn’t necessarily not recommend it, but it wouldn’t be one of the first I’d think of if I was to recommend a teen-lgbtq+-romcom, for example. ---- 076. THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 17th November] This is… fine, I guess? It’s biggest problem is that it just doesn’t know when it should end. Somewhere at/slightly after the half way point, it just goes on and on and on. The main issue I have with The Hunger Games franchise overall is that they never fully hit with me. It’s like something just prevents them from being better than they are for me and I don’t know what it is. They feel like they never quite get to the momentum I think they should or can reach - despite them being perfectly serviceable as movies. I thought the arena stuff was the best stuff here but not only did that not last long enough, it was actually pretty dull and uninteresting. Meh. ---- 075. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Score out of 5: ★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 19th October] If you’re a Scorsese fan, I am sure this will absolutey be your thing. But for me, I was just bored ALL throughout it. I have the attention span of a toddler in a museum but this was extremely one note and despite the story being an interesting one, I struggled to engage with it fully, despite great performances (particularly from the 2 leads). Unpopular opinion but 9 times out of 10, dramas don’t need to be 20 hours long. If it is, it’s gonna need to be a bit more exciting to hold my interest. I also thought the editing and timeline was confusing me with the constant back and forth. But maybe that’s just me, idk. It’s better than The Irishman though. ---- 074. PRETTY RED DRESS Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 16th June] Who knew Alexandra Burke was actually a solidly decent actress??? I LOVE her as a pop star (seriously underrated!) but I was expecting her to be wooden and cringe when it came to acting, but she was surprisingly good in this! The story was interesting and executed well. Not only was Alexandra good but Natey Jones was really good as the lead. He impressed me. However, a lot of this movie has something that I don’t really like too much from a personal preference point, it has that obviously British-Indie movie aesthetic to it and idk what it is, but 90% of those indie movies just feel really bland, dull and uninteresting to me at times. I just can’t get on with it a lot of the time. But that’s more of a personal preference to stylistic choice than it is anything about the movie itself. I do think this has a lot that people will take away from this. It’s very good. The ending was perfect for the movie. ---- 073. WOMEN TALKING Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 17th February] It’s… good. Nowhere near as boring as I feared it would be, but also, it didn’t particularly draw me in as much as a movie like this should and it was pretty one note throughout tbh. One of those “performance driven” movies. Without the performances of Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley and Ben Whishaw (particularly them 3 - everyone else was solid too) I doubt it would have held as much of my interest as it eventually did. Not one I’m gonna be raving about and not one I will rewatch (and that’s ok!) but I’m glad I saw it and tbh I’m just happy I didn’t find it as boring as I expected it to be. ---- 072. MAESTRO Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 24th November] This was actually somewhat better than I had anticipated. I do think the first half was stronger than the 2nd. The directing was fantastic in the first half, before it becomes sort of generic. Bradley Cooper is such a great actor and this really is no different, although the more this went on, the more annoying I kind of found his performance, oddly. Carey Mulligan was as reliably wonderful as ever! I do think for the most part it’s all “technically” excellent, but I think one component really lets it down for me and I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is. I think it’s probably the writing (well most of it anyway as some of it really is good) and how it just makes it feel like such a drab and dreary story. Like I said, some of that first half direction is especially WONDERFUL and it lures you in thinking it’s going to be quite a unique experience, but then it just crumbles somewhere at the mid-way point into becoming quite a generic autobiographical movie. It’s good but had elements going for it to be better than it ended up being. ---- 071. LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 8th December] In terms of 2023 World is coming to an end movies, Knock At The Cabin felt like it did that better, it’s just unfortunate that that had such a God awful final act. This one though, lots where it worked but a whole lot that didn’t and the pacing was just all over the place. Could have been executed a whole lot smoother for a tighter and more cohesive movie. My favourite shot was right towards the end and seeing that huge DVD collection! PHYSICAL MEDIA FTW!!!!! The little girl & the son were hella annoying but everyone else were great though. I just wish the script wasn’t as droning and wish it was all executed better. Not bad but not one I’ll likely watch again.


Josh! View member profile	12th January 2024, 09:03 PM Post #9
c: Joined: 12 March 2014 Posts: 13,153 User: 20,692	I wanted to see Pretty Red Dress because of the Alexandra connection but never got round to it. Heard decent things though! Lots of awards-y films out in this section!! Some of those were bigger hits than others for me. I'd defo have Women Talking and Killers higher but can't really argue with that spot for Maestro. I was a little disappointed in that.


Chez Wombat View member profile	12th January 2024, 09:52 PM Post #10
The owls are not what they seem Pronouns: He/him Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,133 User: 9,232	I agree with you re: Napoleon, that was pretty directionless and overly simplistic about his life and Joaquin Phoenix was really miscast, I saw it mainly because my sister was in the crew and was in the credits I usually love Wes Anderson and his quirks, but Asteroid City was just a bit too far, it's too abstract and isn't compelling as a story. A few here I really liked though - Anatomy of a Fall was a stunning drama, the emotional intensity building throughout was amazing. May December is quite slow, but the themes are really strong. The unease of the husband is built up slowly and it becomes really tragic. Tar is another one I loved, was always gonna love a psychological drama surrounding classical music I guess x I am a bit tired of the really long Oscar-baity movies so I'm not sure I can be bothered with Maestro, though I did like Killers of the Flower Moon if just cos the back story was interesting and the last part picked up a gear, better than the Irishman. Leave the World Behind was a bit disappointing for me too, some great scenes, performances and tension but the message was a bit too simplistic and felt like it never reached it's potential.


Tafty³³³ View member profile	14th January 2024, 09:08 PM Post #11
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	QUOTE(Josh! @ Jan 12 2024, 09:03 PM) I wanted to see Pretty Red Dress because of the Alexandra connection but never got round to it. Heard decent things though! Lots of awards-y films out in this section!! Some of those were bigger hits than others for me. I'd defo have Women Talking and Killers higher but can't really argue with that spot for Maestro. I was a little disappointed in that. It's definitely worth the watch I would say and I do think she will surprise! It's not a career changing performance or anything but I was pleasantly surprised. The award bait movies... idk what it is, they just rarely ever grab my full undivided attention, despite appreciating majority of them for the works that they are etc.. I'd just rather lose myself in a mindless, fun, Superhero flick over ever seeing those again tbh. Which is why I have a certain movie coming up... ABOVE these eyes (and you're gonna hate it - BUT I HAD A GOOD TIME WITH IT OKAY!!!!!!???? GET OFF MY BACK!!! ) QUOTE(Chez Wombat @ Jan 12 2024, 09:52 PM) I agree with you re: Napoleon, that was pretty directionless and overly simplistic about his life and Joaquin Phoenix was really miscast, I saw it mainly because my sister was in the crew and was in the credits I usually love Wes Anderson and his quirks, but Asteroid City was just a bit too far, it's too abstract and isn't compelling as a story. A few here I really liked though - Anatomy of a Fall was a stunning drama, the emotional intensity building throughout was amazing. May December is quite slow, but the themes are really strong. The unease of the husband is built up slowly and it becomes really tragic. Tar is another one I loved, was always gonna love a psychological drama surrounding classical music I guess x I am a bit tired of the really long Oscar-baity movies so I'm not sure I can be bothered with Maestro, though I did like Killers of the Flower Moon if just cos the back story was interesting and the last part picked up a gear, better than the Irishman. Leave the World Behind was a bit disappointing for me too, some great scenes, performances and tension but the message was a bit too simplistic and felt like it never reached it's potential. Directionless is exactly what it is! Just dull tbh. LMAO at that random but amazing tidbit!! YESSS SIS WOMBAT! GET IT!!! Oh I'm not a Wes fan. I find him way too overbearingly "style over substance" and I think 'Asteroid City' took the piss a bit too much I'm glad to see some people love those movies, but they just didn't do it for me. If what you were saying about 'Tar' is right, then I can't see you not liking 'Maestro' tbh. I think you should try and give it a go, although I do agree, the fact that most of these movies are so much longer now than they used to be is annoying. Thank you both for commenting! I truly appreciate it! <3


Tafty³³³ View member profile	14th January 2024, 09:39 PM Post #12
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	070. JOY RIDE Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 4th August] Hmm… I liked this but also, I lost interest about half way through and I can’t pin point the exact moment it kinda lost me. It’s odd. For the most part it was a fun little comedy, the kinda comedy movie that we need more of nowadays. But then the jokes kinda got old quick and it stuck to the same comedy tropes of majority of the comedy movies that it didn’t feel particularly unique and ended up quite generic. It’s a fun time, but I think I won’t be remembering this in the future. ---- 069. INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 7th July] In terms of closing this particular chapter of the franchise, it was decent. The Red-Faced Demon just creeps me out every time! I hate ittttt lmao. I did feel like I was laughing more than I was being scared or feeling on edge or whatever. Not because it was particularly “stupid” or anything, I just found Chris (I will be keeping a sharper eye on Sinclair Daniel from now!) to be such a nice and humorous character and filled the light-relief role quite nicely alongside the moments of terror where she also excelled! This did feel like it took forever to get to all the interesting stuff though and at times it felt like a different franchise altogether, but once we got into Dalton and the further it was back in full swing. Rose felt incredibly under used in this, which is a shame because she was a big highlight of the first 2. But as an ending for the Lambert family, I enjoyed it and thought it concluded well, but didn’t love it. ---- 068. STRAYS Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 17th August] The humour is extremely juvenile but ngl, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t mind it every now and again. For the most part it really works for this. The thing that gets tedious is the overuse of a single joke. There are a couple in here where they don’t know when to stop so drive that joke into the ground so that it doesn’t become or feel funny anymore. However, I did enjoy this. But a movie with dogs was always going to be hard to turn me against tbh. ---- 067. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 31st March] A cute, fun and funny movie. As someone who has never played the game and know absolutely nothing about it, I thought it worked for the most part. The story just seemed really randomly thrown together and didn’t feel like it had a cohesive plot, but I assume that’s kind of the nature of the actual game? Rege Jean Page was the scene stealer and I am a fan of Justice Smith anyway, but he was also very endearing in this. Not sure I’ll personally rave about it, but I did like it. Good, fun popcorn filler. Enjoyed it! ---- 066. POLITE SOCIETY Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 28th April] This was really random but cute. Well directed and the story is endearingly over the top and bizarre. Which really helped with it’s charm. It has a very flat middle though but it manages to recover itself in time for a thrilling and fun conclusion. ---- 065. KNOCK AT THE CABIN Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 3rd February] I find M. Night hit and miss. When he hits, it’s excellent. When he misses though, it’s some of the worst. This may be his first which makes me feel a bit torn. Excellent performances throughout from everybody, specifically Dave Bautista. The tension was incredibly well done, I thought. And I was really liking it until about 15-20 mins towards the end. He managed to hook us into believing that, for once, in an entertainment piece of horror and thriller, the gays would finally be “right” and they would finally live happily, injured and wounded, but survived. But nope, the religious cult win and were right, obviously. Doomsday prevails and it only took a gay man to be sacrificed to “save the world”. Lol. Idk what is different from the source material and I believe it wasn’t Shyamalan’s intentions for the movie to come off this way, but it’s hard to overlook. It was so good until some time towards the end. Beliefs were being challenged and the classic arc where one of the protagonists starting to believe and question things from the other perspective etc… but the ending sucked and kinda made me feel like I wasted my time. It’s a very good (if repetitive) movie otherwise! I was surprised and was really engrossed for the most of it. ---- 064. GRAN TURISMO Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 11th August] This was solid. I went in expecting what I got, except I wasn’t expecting to be AS invested in the lead as I ended up being. I thought Archie Madekwe was very charming and warm as the protagonist of the movie. David Harbour really does have that “dad role” down to a tee doesn’t he? As much as I liked the movie, it did come off as incredibly dry and kinda “plain”. Geri was as predictably horrendous as expected and Orlando was bad too! But as a whole, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Doesn’t bring anything new but wasn’t a waste of time either. ---- 063. TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 9th June] Generic and clichéd in every way possible. It’s not bringing anything new to the table and doesn’t re inventing the wheel, but in terms of popcorn filler, fun Summer blockbuster… it’s enjoyable. Bumblebee remains unbothered though. ---- 062. JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 24th March] Another instalment of this franchise and it’s absolutely “more of the same”. In every aspect. Even down to the fact that I enjoyed and was interested in aspects of it, but they get bogged down by the story and action sequences just going on and on and on - it really does get exhausting. Donnie Yen and Shamier Anderson and his companion were my absolute favourites in this. I was also pretty impressed by Rina Sawayama on her major picture acting debut. Her action scenes in particular! SOOOO GOOD!! Just like the others though, I’m not sure I’m going back to this anytime soon. It’s just a bit much for me, personally. But it’s fine overall. I think it just frustrates me that I enjoy elements of this but I still come out of these movies feeing deflated and exhausted due to how overdone it all ends up becoming, despite the choreography and stunts being excellent and really appreciating that art. I’m excited for Ballerina. And I hope we get a spin-off of Caine and/or Akira. ---- 061. BABYLON Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 20th January] This is as messy and as bonkers as the trailer had you believe it was. It’s so crazy! Damien Chazelle is probably my favourite director of “the new crop”. He knows what he wants and he will get it. This definitely felt like a passion project for him in the sense that he got to make a movie about the magic of movies and throw everything plus the iamspamspamamisink at it! The direction in this is stunning. Each shot was so beautifully handled and framed etc.. the performances were ok. Didn’t think there was a particular standout, although Margot and Diego were the strongest and their chemistry together was great. Overall though, the story and screenplay were a complete and utter mess! I loved that it’s essentially his love letter to the movie experience (that shone all throughout and it was gorgeous to see it unfold) but the structure of it all was a bit too chaotic and “random” for me to follow completely. He’s such a great director and although this is a Box Office bomb, I’ll always appreciate the movies that are like this and just throw everything to the wall and see what we can do with it. I eagerly await his next project!


JackTheeStallion View member profile	14th January 2024, 10:16 PM Post #13
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 15 March 2006 Posts: 48,139 User: 223	I really enjoyed Joy Ride! By no means perfect but it was still a lot of fun imo


UltraCruelSummer View member profile	15th January 2024, 09:58 PM Post #14
It's a cruel summer. Joined: 26 May 2014 Posts: 35,256 User: 20,947	Babylon and Gran Turismo deserved better x (I hate that I high key stan the latter film but I do oops) Bottom 15 i agree mostly x I’ve seen like ten of them, my fave of those was The Boogeyman but that would also be bottom half in my ranking! The flash cgi was hideous 90-81 oh no x justice for Anatomy of a December Asteroid Fall in the Dial of Feelings Destiny x


Tafty³³³ View member profile	18th January 2024, 01:50 AM Post #15
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	060. COCAINE BEAR Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 24th February] Exactly what you’d expect. It was just silly, outrageous fun. An idea that very much sounds like it could be another Sharknado type B-Movie but was executed in a decent way. The directing and editing was all over the place and a mess, but it helped enhance the viewing somehow. Fun little movie and I will always appreciate a movie like this and one that doesn’t take itself so seriously. I actually can see this being one of those movies I would rewatch and enjoy just as much as the first time etc.. Nothing groundbreaking, but it knew it wasn’t supposed to be and never took itself seriously. Fun movie. ---- 059. THE KILLER Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 27th October] I can’t really fault David Fincher and his directing. Michael Fassbender was absolutely excellent as the lead and I thought it had a really interesting plot. However, it was all a bit one-note for me. It never really feels like it kicks up a gear and I think the choppy editing here and there kinda threw me off with who he was going after and what for etc… so it kinda confused me at times - maybe it was from being tired from working and then doing a double bill of Bottoms and then this, idk. But yeah. I liked it more than I think this score would suggest but the one-note pacing and confusion with elements of the story prevented me from liking it more! At least Mank remains the worst thing he has ever done! ---- 058. THE BOY AND THE HERON Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 26th December] Animation, as ever with Studio Ghibli, FAULTLESS. Absolutely STUNNING piece of work. Really enjoyed the voice cast for the dubbed version of this too. Everything else about this though is quite frankly not only Studio Ghibli by numbers, but a bit of a mess and all over the place. It just feels like they have the most random ideas and decide to just throw them all into a mixing bowl and execute it in the most generically Studio Ghibli way possible. When it worked it was actually decent, but then things change and go a bit too weird at times that it kinda ruins the flow. It’s fine. I didn’t hate nor actually dislike it. I just know I won’t be going back to this anytime soon and will be forgetting about it soon. It’s alright but absolutely overhyped and overrated. From 2023’s animation movies (UK release) Spider-Verse, Puss In Boots, Suzume, Elemental, Nimona & (dare I say it for fear of being lynched) Wish were all better complete packages for me… oops. ---- 057. THE NUN II Score out of 5: ★★★ [UK Release Date: 8th September] To my surprise, this is actually somewhat decent! The first was terrible, but I thought this was fun for what it was and executed it’s scares better than the first did. Still felt a little throwaway though but thankfully Taissa and the addition of Storm Reid was enough to keep this afloat. Also, the magazine scene was INSANELY good and genuinely one of the best executed “I KNOW IT’S COMING…” jump scares in a while for me. Horror still excelling so far this year… WHEW! ---- 056. RENFIELD Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 14th April] A lot of fun to be had. It’s exactly everything the trailer promised it to be. Highlighted by an extremely eccentric and electrifying performance by Nicolas Cage, even if he does feel somewhat underused for the role he has. It can be a bit of a tonal whiplash at times though. But I appreciated how it never really took itself too seriously and the action sequences, although quite messy at times (both figuratively and literally lol - the shaky camerawork was a bit TOO Much imo) were exhilarating all the same. A fun time. ---- 055. OF AN AGE Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: N/A] A queer coming-of-age drama that is largely carried by a stunning set of lead performances by both Thom Green and Elias Anton. It has that indie movie feel to it and it works for the movie. The time jump towards the end hits perfectly. That is when Elias especially excels. He manages to make it feel like you’ve been with him through the 10 years to get to the point they are at. The confidence his character exudes since that night with Adam is wonderfully done. I do think it gets a bit too predictable and “seen it all before”, but it still doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when revelations unfold. Doesn’t go as “hard” as some of the drama usually allows, but it’s not effected by it any less. ---- 054. THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 5th April] This was a lot of fun. I think they adapted the games so, SO well. I especially loved the shots where it it followed more than one character and how it was filmed as if you were playing the games. Little things like that really make me smile. It was funny and charming too. The screenplay was a bit of a mess overall though. Things weren’t as consistent as they should be, but for the most part, there’s so much to this that you kinda don’t really care? It’s effective at the points it’s supposed to be and ultimately the kids are going to absolutely love it. Our screen clapped and cheered at the end of it like it was a Marvel movie or something and that was so cute. This is so much fun. The critics are wrong tbh. ---- 053. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 31st July] This was really good fun! Probably one of the biggest surprise of the year for me. The story is a bit basic and the writing is very Nickelodeon kids friendly, but I will be lying if I said it didn’t make me laugh and smile throughout. It got quite a few laughs outta me and I don’t mean little belly laughs, I mean full hearty laughs. I wish the script was catered a bit less towards kids (but still have it kid friendly ofc) as I think that lets it down slightly. But overall a really fun time and experience with this. I’m ready for a sequel tbh! Not having Shredder in this was a very smart move. Oh and Chris Evans is the superior Chris. Sorry, not sorry! ---- 052. ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 17th February] Don’t get the hate. Perfect? Absolutely not. But it’s fun. Jonathan Majors delivered as Kang and I think I am as biased for Kathryn Newton as I am for the MCU tbh. She was great! The story and plot to me felt like it was ripped straight out of the Star Wars franchise, a bit too obvious at times, but I found it easy enough to embrace and just revel in it. The Ant-Man series is probably my least watched from the MCU. Not because I didn’t like the others, but because I never really felt an urge or get like I needed to see them again at whatever point. This will be the same, but I do think that thanks to Kang, I will be visiting this movie more often than the others in the series. Extremely excited about seeing Kang some more and what they decide to do with him to help build him up as the big bad for the next Avengers movie. His training for Creed III paid off for his battle against Ant-Man lmao! Jeezus those strikes and that damn boot!!! But yeah, I had fun with this. I hate it when big blockbuster movies like this don’t feel fun and over compensate with “stunning visuals” to make up for how weak the storytelling actually is or whatever (and vice-versa). I personally think this finds a nice balance between it all. Not everything is perfect but I don’t care. We shall be forgetting about M.O.D.O.K. though. Nope at whatever THAT disaster was!!! Should’ve just kept him to his armoured look coz… major jumpscare when his actual identity was revealed on camera lmaooo! Edit: Oh and they absolutely wimped out by not making Kang more formidable and a bigger threat when they decided to not kill anyone off. Surely (at LEAST) Janet and Hank were/are disposable at this point?? --- 2nd REVIEW First time I’ve rewatched one of the Ant-Man movies at the cinema and Ik this will probably annoy some people but idk… I still found it fun and think it did a good (not great) job at introducing us to Kang. I wish he had been built more and to make him seem like more of a BIG threat, but we’ll see where they go from here. Jonathan Majors is so, SO good and the PERFECT choice. ---- 051. Wish Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 22nd November] I found this to be a very cute celebration of 100 years of Disney. I liked the little and subtle references to Disney Past. Yes, the story is pretty thin and absolutely not original, but 60% Disney movies aren’t. I thought Ariana DeBose carried the movie. The star was also so SO cute. I thought Chris Pine’s villain was surprisingly strong too. Everything about this movie was the perfect kinda movie to celebrate a milestone in a studios existence. The animation was a bit of a mess, but it actually wasn’t anywhere near as disastrous as I expected it to be. The songs need to sit with me a little while longer, but Ariana’s voice is just so beautiful! Just a cute, charming and lovely celebratory Disney movie.


Tafty³³³ View member profile	18th January 2024, 01:52 AM Post #16
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	OMG AT HOW TERRIBLY MY JNATHAN MJORS STANNING AS AGED!!!! JFC!!!


Tafty³³³ View member profile	20th January 2024, 02:45 PM Post #17
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	050. HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 21st April] A really solid heist-thriller. The thing that lets it down for me is that I didn’t really care for any of the characters bar like 2 of them. I found them to be largely annoying/irritating for the most part. But overall I liked it and appreciated the message it was going for. I thought it was executed pretty well on the whole. ---- 049. COBWEB Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 1st September] An intriguing, well directed and well paced almost psychological horror. I was really impressed particularly with the directing. Extremely well done and some of the shots were beautiful. Lizzy Caplan really stole the show for me. She was fantastic. Really enjoyed Anthony Starr’s performance too but overall everyone was actually really good. It suffers majorly from, just like other horrors of this calibre, the reveal of that dumbass looking “monster”. Gave me major Mama vibes. No thank you. I don’t like the jerky CGI they use to make it look like the monster is really fast, as it really takes me out of horrors when that happens. But apart from that, I actually enjoyed this and did find it really creepy and pleasently gory! I liked to character development. Horror is really excelling this year! ---- 048. AIR Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 5th April] Directed, written and acted very well. A solid, if generic, biopic picture. I feel like Blackberry felt a bit fresher in the biopic stakes this year but this was still a rewarding and satisfactory enough watch. I did find it kind of irritating and annoying that Michael was consistently off screen and that he was distractingly looking away in every shot lmao. Viola Davis was my highlight as Michael’s mum. As ever with her it seems! Just such a beautifully talented woman. I love her. A generically strong biopic that doesn’t bring anything new to the table but works just as well, all the same. ---- 047. DREAM SCENARIO Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 10th November] I actually liked this more than I expected (mainly because I am not a Nic Cage fan) but I thought he was actually pretty good in this. It’s a bit weird and a tad bonkers at times due to how random the story is, but it surprisingly worked well for the most part. I did find that it lost me a bit right around the middle and never quite got me back on board fully. But it was better and more enjoyable than I expected. A pleasent surprise somewhat. ---- 046. ANYONE BUT YOU Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 26th December] Not this actually being… somewhat decent! I actually found it to be funnier than earlier rom-com releases in the year (notably No Hard Feelings). Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney surprised me with their chemistry. I’m not a Sydney fan but I liked her in this. I do think some of the writing was quite “forcefully toxic” just to get a narrative going but the events surrounding their relationship and things like their families getting in between/involved made for really fun if a generic, run of the mill rom-com. But they’re so few and far between nowadays… it really doesnmt matter! I think it could’ve been a bit more emotional in the places it needed to be though. But as I said, it was a really fun time tbh. Whoever did the trailer needs to be sacked though, coz it genuinely looked like it was going to be one of the worst films of the year… I’m glad I’m a movie whore and like to watch as much as I can. ---- 045. THANKSGIVING Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 17th November] 2023 has been a great year for horror and this adds favourably to that growing list! It was pretty much exactly what I expected/wanted from it more or less. Just an all out gory, fun and entertaining slasher with extreme OTT kills and sequences. I will be returning to this one. Just a fun time! ---- 044. M3GAN Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 13th January] Was gonna give it a 4 but my judgement thought better. It’s an absolute RIOT of a movie. It very much is what it says it is and it’s switch your brain off for a bit of mindless fun! Some of the performances were very one-note and dry throughout and the story is as basic as you would be expecting. It’s executed fairly well though. I’m very much here for this being a new franchise tbh. M3GAN is creepy af lol. ---- 043. WHEN EVIL LURKS Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 6th October] Oh this was somewhat of a pleasent surprise! It never really gives the answers you need/want, but the entire premise is incredibly interesting and actually pretty well done! Some incredible and gruesome imagery and horrifyingly brutal moments all throughout but one scene in particular had me with my jaw on the floor for the entirety of that scene… how we saw all of that without any cheap cut away scenes… JEEEEEEZ!!! It shies away from nothing and honestly it all feels purposeful and not for the sake of shock value. It does the silly cult thing at the end (which I always find to be really poorly done) and it does cheapen the finale quite a bit (I just think the whole cult thing is quite a lazy idea and almost always feels like a cop out) however, it’s not too bad in this movie. I would just have preferred for it not to have happened. But a pleasent surprise overall and that dog scene is going to stick with me for quite a long, long time! ---- 042. OPPENHEIMER Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 21st July] This was pretty much exactly what I expected and whenever I hear “character study” in reviews etc… I know to expect a potentially pretentious bore. This wasn’t as boring as I expected it would be though. It’s the kind of movie that isn’t really for me, but I can absolutely appreciate everything/most things about it, especially from the “technical” side of it. Powerhouse performances. Interesting editing and effects. Very nice directing and a strong screenplay. Honestly the thing that lets this down for me, personally, is the script. I just found it extremely wordy and it just felt like random words were being thrown together and throwing me off a lot of the time. It’s definitely a highlight reel for performances though because I can’t think of a single weak link amongst the performances. Even though he was good in this, I do find Cillian to be a bit one note as an actor and find him quite dull most of the time. Great from a technical standpoint but it’s not one I’m in a rush to see again anytime soon and that’s ok. ---- 041. Next Goal Wins Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 26th December] WHISTLE WHISTLE Charming and delightful, even if some (not all!) of the comedy moments do fall a bit flat. It’s not perfect and there will be films I have rated lower in score that are “technically” better but I just found this more enjoyable, personally. I am actually a bit of a sucker for these underdog stories in sports and I think that is largely down to me not really caring for anything to do with sports (apart from wrestling) so I like to root for the underdogs! Say what you (rightfully) will about Taika’s brief moment on screen (that happening at the start really made me say to myself “omg please be better than this??” - thankfully it IS!) but his directing is really strong. He knows what shots work and he knows how to capture the most important moments of his movies, wonderfully. His writing can be hit & miss for people, I get it, but when he hits it… he knocks it out of the park. Fassbender’s final speech was immaculate. I also loved how they told Jaiyah’s story and didn’t make a mockery of her. The heart of this story was beautifully executed and you really end up rallying behind the team. It’s a really cute, fun and nice movie tbh. It actually reminded me of the football version of Cool Runnings a little.


Tafty³³³ View member profile	20th January 2024, 10:56 PM Post #18
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	040. THE LITTLE MERMAID Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 26th May] I actually really quite liked this. I thought they translated it into a live action movie pretty well tbh (well, for the most part - the less said about Flounder’s character design the better! Horrendous.) Halle really did smash it as Ariel. But I didn’t have qualms about her… my main gripe going into it was Melissa. I’m not a fan of her usually, but she ended up giving a great performance as Ursula. I thought Jonah was a solid casting choice as Eric too and the trio of Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina & Jacob Tremblay was great! I think my main issue, casting wise, was Javier. It felt very Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia! I didn’t mind the newer version of Under the Sea. It served it’s purpose. I really enjoyed Kiss the Girl a lot but the new songs didn’t grab me much, if at all. They’re “fine” I guess but don’t match the greatness of the original songs. Scuttle Butt was horrendous. But the absolute highlight for me was Halle’s stunning renditions of Part of Your World. Her voice is INSANE and I’ve been a fan for a while but she still blew me away. It helps that she really became Ariel. My main issues with this apart from Javier and Flounder’s design, is that some of the underwater scenes seemed a bit TOO glossy and “Hollywood” (maybe the green screen effect) but for the most part, it worked better than I imagined. Also… why did she have one outfit for the entirety of the movie? Where was that sparkly dress when Triton gave her her human-ness? Also not sure how I feel about them cutting Sebastian’s fun escape plot! But yeah, overall I enjoyed this a lot. Some of the extra additions weighed the movie down a bit in the middle. But some of it was also cute as I think Halle and Jonah have great chemistry together! Halle has such a presence about her. I was in awe of her. An absolute STAR and I can’t wait for more of her. Was it needed? No. But am I happy with what we got? Absolutely. Whether I opt for this one over the animation will depend on whether I want to hear Halle or not tbh. My 3rd favourite of the live actions I think. ---- 039. BROKER Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 24th February] This was heartbreakingly lovely! Just a really nice “family” road-trip movie (which I didn’t expect so much of at all) that will play with your emotions but gives you hope at the end of it! My favourite moment was the Ferris Wheel conversation between So-young and Dong-soo. That was a really powerful and beautiful moment and actually one of my favourite movie scenes of 2023 so far! Executed wonderfully. The police stuff on the side, I got why it was included, but I don’t think we needed so much of it tbh. But seeing So-young really mull over whether she should turn the Brokers in was an interesting touch. Kang ho Song is so damned likeable in everything. He has such a charm about him that you immediately connect with him and want him to succeed in his mission in all his movies. As the road trip goes on, you really start to warm to the characters more and more and you just get so caught up in their journeys with each of them and the little boy they pick up on the way is adorable. I love the way he connects and bonds with Woo-sung, almost immediately (well all of them tbh but especially baby Woo!) I wouldn’t say it was particularly groundbreaking or anything original though, but that’s ok. A nice little drama movie that grabs the heart where and when it needs to. ---- 038. SICK Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 13th January] This ended up being a lot of fun! Often times it is generic, but it’s still effective. Also felt surreal (and a lil scary in itself - it feels so long ago???) seeing all the COVID stuff in such a recent movie. After the fun opening, it took it’s time to get momentum and move, but once it got there, it was really strong. Impressive for a straight to streaming slasher, where it could quite easily have just been another, boring slasher. ---- 037. CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 8th December] Brighter, bolder and bigger than the original. Just as charming and funny as it too. So everything a sequel usually is. I had a really nice time with this overall. I don’t think it captured the same spark that makes the first so special though, but it really isn’t a disaster in any kind of way thanks to it still keeping it’s heart. The main thing for me is that, although I did find it funny and heartwarming, it felt like it catered a tad too much to a younger audience unlike the original which found a nice balance for both adults and children alike. Still absolutely worth a watch and ofc the animation is incredible. Nowhere near the disaster this could have been! So that’s a WIN, in my book! ---- 036. SISU Score out of 5: ★★★1/2 [UK Release Date: 26th May] Just a simple, fun, wacky action movie. Simplicity is key and this benefits largely from that. It won’t be one I go back to but I’ll definitely recommend to those just wanting a fun, ballsy, gory action movie. FUN! ---- 035. TOTALLY KILLER Score out of 5: ★★★★ [UK Release Date: 6th October] This is an absolute blast! It’s very Do Revenge meets Final Girls meets Happy Death Day in the absolute best ways possible. Just a fun, camp, meta, comedy slasher movie. I’ll be adding this to my watchlist for spooky szn for the forseeable. ---- 034. THE WHALE Score out of 5: ★★★★ [UK Release Date: 3rd February] One of those movies where it’s more about the performances than anything else. Everyone was fantastic in their roles. Particularly Hong Chau who was excellent and it’s easy to see why she is nominated for “Best Supporting Actress” this year. I am so glad that I read from a couple of people on here that Sadie Sink’s character was evil, coz had I not known that and after being a huge fan of her, I think it would have thrown me off completely and I would have hated it coz I think her character was a bit too unnecessarily cruel. Like it wasn’t a subtle few digs here and there it was horrible and even with her arc, it didn’t feel very redeemable to me? She was great, I just think the character was just a bit TOO nasty that by the time it got to the point where you are supposed to be “aww bless her” you just end up continuing to not like her. A story that wasn’t pleasant to watch but it definitely helps drives the story home and hits exactly where and when it needs to. There were definite moments where I could tell it was based on a play though, which threw me off ever so slightly and I think I would have liked to have seen the backstory of Charlie & Alan (I’m more of a visual guy than I am words lol) but as I said, it worked for the movie it’s just a personal preference. Very glad to see Brendan get his flowers. He really deserves them for this performance. An emotionally charged, performance driven movie and it’s easy to see why it’s raved about. Not an easy watch and will definitely have a profound impact on you after viewing. ---- 033. THE BLACKENING Score out of 5: ★★★★ [UK Release Date: 25th August] I found this to be a lot of fun and really, genuinely funny too! It’s nice to see horror comedy can be silly without that part of it being overworked and outstaying it’s wecome to the point it becomes irritating and annoying. Gave me a goofier version of Cabin In The Woods meets Sick/Bodies Bodies Bodies kinda vibes. Will be revisiting this one again in the future as it was a blast and just genuine fun to watch. ---- 032. BOTTOMS Score out of 5: ★★★★ [UK Release Date: 3rd November] This was very fun. It’s actually annoying that there is no official UK release for this! Although it didn’t fall flat as such, I do think it could have been even more funnier because when the comedy hit, it was funny! Reminded me a little bit of Do Revenge from last year. Pretty sharp and surprisingly brutal in parts, but a whole lot of fun! Stop hiding these gems from international territories!! --- 2nd REVIEW Finally got to see this at the cinema as it got released over here! When it’s funny it’s REALLY funny. But there are a couple of parts where it gets a bit too serious a tone and although it doesn’t last for too long, it does bog it down slightly. But this was a romp on a rewatch! ---- 031. BLACKBERRY Score out of 5: ★★★★ [UK Release Date: 13th October] This gripped me way more than I originally thought it would. I thought the The Office-lite documentary shooting style was a nice and unique touch and I think it worked to it’s favour. Good and strong performances from everyone and it was funnier than I expected it to be. The screenplay was well done and the script was well written. My only qualm with it is that it does feel a bit one-note sometimes but it’s interesting enough to look over it for the most part. Really good dramedy. Also, I have missed Jay Baruchel and his endearing and charming awkwardness.


Tafty³³³ View member profile	20th January 2024, 10:56 PM Post #19
I found the love, I found the love in me Pronouns: He/Him Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,457 User: 5,042	35 movies over 4 stars


Chez Wombat View member profile	21st January 2024, 12:08 AM Post #20
The owls are not what they seem Pronouns: He/him Joined: 11 July 2009 Posts: 37,133 User: 9,232	Loved BlackBerry & Sisu too and M3GAN was a lot of fun. How to Blow up a Pipeline was really interesting as well as eco-terrorists are so often demonised in the mainstream media, it's interesting to see a film get made making them more sympathetic. Oppenheimer was one of my favourite cinematic experiences, the sound design in the bomb testing scene had me gripped. Incredible performances and all round style as well. Probably didn't need to be that long, but I was invested for most of it. I really loved The Boy and the Heron, a lot of it was derived from his own childhood experiences which I think really enhanced the emotional heart of the movie. It's weird iyeah but I think it was going for an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland vibe to it which I really loved. I'm interested in The Blackening, I do like horror films that go a bit meta!