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SMB Film Thread 2025

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I did a top 10 of films I watched last year.
For anyone who’s interested!

1. The Stranger (1946)
2. The Big Combo (1955)
3. Call Northside 777 (1948)
4. The Woman in the Window (1944)
5. Scarlet Street (1945)
6. White Heat (1949)
7. New York Confidential (1955)
8. The Dark Past (1948)
9. Vice Squad (1953)
10. Black Tuesday (1954)
 
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johnlights said:
Better man.
Surprisingly good.
Excellent scene around Rock DJ.
8.
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The way the Americans went on you'd think Robbie Williams was our only singer-songwriter. One of the best music biopics was Rocketman in my opinion and people said this is just as good. The problem is I hate his music. Elton John fine....Robbie Williams? Sorry, fuck that.
 
So Dark the Night (1946)

Very odd noir. It’s barely a noir, at first. It’s set in Paris. A detective bounces down a street in a very happy-go-lucky fashion. He is told to go on holiday by his boss. He rocks up in a hamlet where the daughter of the inn owners takes a shine to him.

The first half of the picture is twee and borderline drivel. The second half changes direction quickly. The denouement is absurd. Until I thought about it, and rewatched the first ten minutes. Then I spotted the clues and ambiguity pointing towards the ending.

It’s cleverer than I thought. It’s just handled in a hamfisted way. The characters aren’t particularly likeable, and I had very little investment in proceedings. The direction and cinematography are interesting. The former is by the man who did The Big Combo 9 years later. In this, he employs visual trademarks like having objects in the foreground. Some are effective, some are pointless. He didn’t really perfect their use until years later, but it’s fascinating to see the evolution of his style. The 4K print on YouTube is excellent, and there are some great shots to enjoy.

Still… 5.5/10

Not good, but with some redeeming features throughout.
 
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craigypants said:
The way the Americans went on you'd think Robbie Williams was our only singer-songwriter. One of the best music biopics was Rocketman in my opinion and people said this is just as good. The problem is I hate his music. Elton John fine....Robbie Williams? Sorry, fuck that.
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Aye heard it's good but as his music is shite and he's a bellend it's of no interest.
 
Anora, very good ... some nice comedic moments to cut through the intensity of the situation. On the face of it it's a film about a stripper but it has layers. Well acted and directed 8/10
 
Doogie Hauser said:
I did a top 10 of films I watched last year.
For anyone who’s interested!

1. The Stranger (1946)
2. The Big Combo (1955)
3. Call Northside 777 (1948)
4. The Woman in the Window (1944)
5. Scarlet Street (1945)
6. White Heat (1949)
7. New York Confidential (1955)
8. The Dark Past (1948)
9. Vice Squad (1953)
10. Black Tuesday (1954)
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Haven't seen 4 of them - added to my list.
 
The Quick and the Dead (1995) 7/10
Amid all the tributes to Gene Hackman, I saw one US critic cite this as one of his best performances - though the film sank without trace at the box office. Revisionist Western with Sharon Stone as a female gunfighter taking part in a shootout contest. Hackman is brilliant as the charismatic baddie, Russell Crowe is under-used as a gangster-turned-preacher, Stone seems to be cosplaying Clint Eastwood, and Leonardo DiCaprio looks about 12.
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Prizzi's Honor (1985) 7/10
Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner as mob killers for hire who fall in love and marry, but are then each commissioned to kill the other. Not as good as I remember. John Huston's direction seems flat. (Unsurprising, given that he was hooked up to an oxygen tank while he was on set.)
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Mr Lucky (1943) 7/10
Cary Grant as a conman who assumes another identity to avoid the WWII draft, but then gets caught up in the fundraising effort for the war, and falls in love with one of the organisers. Nothing special - except it's got Cary Grant in it.
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Monty Pigeon said:
The Quick and the Dead (1995) 7/10
Amid all the tributes to Gene Hackman, I saw one US critic cite this as one of his best performances - though the film sank without trace at the box office. Revisionist Western with Sharon Stone as a female gunfighter taking part in a shootout contest. Hackman is brilliant as the charismatic baddie, Russell Crowe is under-used as a gangster-turned-preacher, Stone seems to be cosplaying Clint Eastwood, and Leonardo DiCaprio looks about 12.
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I absolutely love this film. Great directing from Sam Raimi and a superb proper old school western score.

MaXXXine
The third in Ti West / Mia Goth's X trilogy is probably the weakest of the three but still decent enough.
Goth is watchable as ever and Kevin Bacon hams it up (pun intended) to good effect.
6.5/10
 
The Presence - horror film shot from the viewpoint of the ghost. Shite 4/10

Wolf man - werewolf film, nothing new and not as good as other similar films. Not much character or story development, slow moving boring plot. 5/10

Not sure what it is but new films just seem to be shite on the whole, every now and again there’s a half decent one. Maybe it’s due to the rise in streaming platforms, films churned out quickly with lower budget, trying to be something new and quirky.
 
State of Grace [1990] 8/10
Hell’s Kitchen, New York. Terry returns home after ten years. He reconnects with Jackie, a childhood friend and member of the Irish mob, and rekindles his love affair with Jackie’s sister Kathleen.

Any mob film that comes out the same week as Goodfellas is probably going to get overlooked. Sadly, this was but it's a gem waiting to be discovered. The cast is top-class - Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright.
On Prime now.
 
Fletch73 said:
State of Grace [1990] 8/10
Hell’s Kitchen, New York. Terry returns home after ten years. He reconnects with Jackie, a childhood friend and member of the Irish mob, and rekindles his love affair with Jackie’s sister Kathleen.

Any mob film that comes out the same week as Goodfellas is probably going to get overlooked. Sadly, this was but it's a gem waiting to be discovered. The cast is top-class - Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright.
On Prime now.
Click to expand...
Hells Kitchen gets such a bad rap in films 🤣 after Tribeca it’s my favourite area of NYC.
 
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