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SMB Film Thread 2025

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The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (2008) 7/10
Korean Western set in Manchuria. Owes a huge debt to Sergio Leone, but doesn't take heed of his lesson that in action sequences less is often more.
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Caught by the Tides (2024) 8/10
Jia Zhangke pieces together outtakes and privately shot footage of the same actors over the course of 20 years to create a portrait of China's rapid modernization and the impact on individual lives. At times it's more like an art installation than a film, but it's quietly powerful.
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For Love or Money (aka The Concierge) (1993) 6/10
Michael J Fox romcom. Very formulaic, but reasonably enjoyable.
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Robert Redford continued...

The Electric Horseman (1979)

A washed-up former five-times world champion rodeo cowboy has become a marketing tool for a breakfast cereal, when he's not too drunk to perform. Until one day something happens that he won't tolerate, and he takes matters into his own hands, risking jail for what he sees as the greater good.

An enjoyable yarn. Redford shines as the cowboy. Willie Nelson as his buddy who you never see after the first half hour, who I felt was shoehorned into the cast probably as part payment for having a bunch of his songs throughout the movie. Jane Fonda as the journalist who wants to document the story of his deed.

Feel-wise, it's kind of like a watered down Smokey & The Bandit made as a drama rather than a comedy. Less anarchic and much tamer in tone, but still essentially "a mostly good guy gets chased by the police and gets the unlikely girl" with a bit of a redemption story thrown in.

It sounds like I'm slagging it off, but I did actually enjoy it.

7.3 / 10
 
Cosmo said:
WIND RIVER - An FBI agent teams with a town's veteran game tracker to investigate a murder that occurred on a Native American reservation. 7.7 IMDB. wow THIS MOVIE IS BRILLIANT.
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Doesn't get as much love as the other two movies in Taylor Sheridan's 'American frontier' trilogy - Sicario and Hell or High Water - but I really like it.
 
The Long Walk (2025) - 7.5/10

I haven't read the book so can't compare it, but it's a pretty simple premise with excellent performances from the two main leads, Cooper Hoffman and David Jonnson. Could be selling them short but I think they'll go on to big(ger) things.

Him (2025) - 6/10

Almost certainly a generous rating but there's a really good film in there somewhere, a lot of well shot uncomfortable scenes and I love the premise of it, but plot wise it's a bit of a mess. Didn't feel like they released the final edit, but if the premise intrigues you, there might be something in there for you. I wouldn't pay to watch it.
 
Mission: Impossible III (2006) 7/10
Still working my way through the series. This is the best so far. Philip Seymour Hoffman suitably menacing as the villain.
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Hampstead (2017) 5/10
Diane Keaton as an American widow in London, Brendan Gleeson as an eccentric Irishman facing eviction from his shack on Hampstead Heath (based on a real person). Typically schmaltzy view of London tailored for an American audience.
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History is Made at Night (1937) 9/10
Genre-bending movie. Screwball comedy, melodrama, film noir, and disaster thriller all in one. Somehow (largely thanks to Jean Arthur's charisma), it works brilliantly.
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Halloween 2 (1981)

Donald Pleasence returns as Doctor Loomis, with the story picking up right where the original left off. There’s a good sense of a town in crisis, although the empty hospital stretches the realms of believability. The scene in which the person on the street is smashed between 2 cars, what the hell?

6/10
 
Good Fortune [2025] 7/10
Funny. All the leads are watchable. The social commentary was a little heavy-handed.

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The Smashing Machine [2025] 7/10
Really good performances from Johnson and Blunt. A shame it bombed at the box-office.

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Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch (1982)

A failed attempt to divert the franchise into an anthology series. A great soundtrack and the seeds of a really good idea executed poorly. Still, a lot to like about it despite it being a below average film. I’ve got the Duffer brothers down as big fans of this, it’s pretty much the first season of Stranger Things.

5/10
 
Another movie onto watchlist but this is simply due to the way they've shot it. That eagle is phenomenal work as shown in the behind the scene clips in the video below.

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Fletch73 said:
Roofman [2025] 7.5/10
Really enjoyed this. Kirsten Dunst and Channing Tatum are excellent.

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Fletch73 said:
Good Fortune [2025] 7/10
Funny. All the leads are watchable. The social commentary was a little heavy-handed.

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The Smashing Machine [2025] 7/10
Really good performances from Johnson and Blunt. A shame it bombed at the box-office.

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Are you going to the cinema to watch these or are they available on demand somewhere? I found "A House of Dynamite" you'd mentioned on Netflix
 
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Fred Army said:
Black Phone 2
Uneccessarily long horror sequel that leans heavily into Elm Street territory.
The fright sequences are good, but it would have benefitted from a much leaner 90 minute cut: less gabber and more Grabber if you will.
6/10
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Ach.
Hatched a plot with my 16 year old offspring to get into this movie at the weekend

"It" doesn't look very 18 yr old still

The strategy may involve them having a ticket for a kids film and accidentally wandering into the wrong screen where it just so happens the Black Phone ticket I also bought is unused

Possibly not the right thread for such devious illegal matters.

We enjoyed the first so still has to be done even if it sounds a bit meh
 
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