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SMB Film Thread 2026

Doogie Hauser said:
Apex (2026) - Netflix

A grieving woman (Charlize Theron) is targeted by a lunatic in an Australian national park.

It probably means well, but I found it slightly dull. Taron Egerton is just ridiculous. It seems to borrow from a dozen decent sources, yet still feel pedestrian.

3/10
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Shockingly bad. Seemed to be made up as they went along. Doesn't she make some other shite action movies for Netflix (the Old Ones? can't be bothered to search). She gets paid for bollox, clever woman.
 

Doogie Hauser said:
Apex (2026) - Netflix

A grieving woman (Charlize Theron) is targeted by a lunatic in an Australian national park.

It probably means well, but I found it slightly dull. Taron Egerton is just ridiculous. It seems to borrow from a dozen decent sources, yet still feel pedestrian.

3/10
Click to expand...
Cheers - will have a watch after work.
craigypants said:
Shockingly bad. Seemed to be made up as they went along. Doesn't she make some other shite action movies for Netflix (the Old Ones? can't be bothered to search). She gets paid for bollox, clever woman.
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Gets some decent write ups elsewhere tbf.
 
Assault on Precinct 13 - 8/10

A lean, mean, action thriller with added John Carpenter atmosphere. Holds up well with plenty of cool lines and shocking violence.


The Ides of March - 6/10

A passable political thriller that unfortunately puts the least interesting characters/actors front and centre. Needed much more Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti.


Repulsion – 9/10

The devil is very much in the detail with this mid 60’s Roman Polanski psychological horror/thriller. For the first chunk I found the lead to be too despondent and slightly annoying, but as the subtle details slowly add up, the dark underbelly reveals itself and you soon realise exactly why she is like that.

A precursor to the likes of Possession and surely a heavy Lynch influence on the likes of Fire Walk with Me and Eraserhead, this one still packs a punch.


Vera Drake - 8.5/10

This was an absolutely brutal watch, but flawless in almost every aspect. The acting is astonishing, which I'm quickly realising is standard for Mike Leigh. His methods produce some of the rawest performances I've ever seen.

Why not couple this with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days for the ultimate back street abortion double bill? Yeah ok, maybe not.


Cutter's Way – 8.5/10

A real surprise and the definition of underseen gem. It’s another film I’ve watched this year (Da 5 Bloods, Five Easy Pieces) that taps into that post-Vietnam loss of identity. It is beautifully shot through a later summer haze, it has interesting flawed characters, and an intoxicating noir plot.

The big surprise here is John Heard, I had no idea he had range like that.I’m intrigued by a 5-star Guardian review that claims you need to see it at least three times to get a good grasp on it. I’m struggling to see what could be there that I didn’t get from the first viewing.


Bad Influence - 6/10

An aggressively mid tier film


The Bride Wore Black – 9/10

A simple, extremely watchable, Hitchockian, revenge thriller with a standout performance from Jeanne Moreau as the deadly protagonist. You’d think this was the main inspiration for Kill Bill, but apparently not.

In a weird way I feel like I enjoyed this a lot more than I should have, given its simplicity.


God’s Pocket – 4/10

A peculiar little film with a very talented cast that fails to harness their potential. It has a good setting, lots of grit and atmosphere, the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the lead but the script just isn’t up to scratch. The characters don’t react to things in the way they should, they all carry out absurd despicable deeds, a lot of the plotting doesn’t make much sense, and the attempts at black humour fall flat on their face (quite literally in the scene where it bizarrely turns into A Weekend at Bernies).

The lack of depth to any of the characters means that we never get a handle on what motivates them, why they are the way they are, or why we should even care.

Christina Hendricks is absolutely outrageous in this film. I’m not sure that Richard Jenkins is even acting.


The Red Shoes – 9.5/10

A dazzling piece of work from two of Britain finest ever filmmakers in Powell and Pressburger. They say it’s the most gorgeous use of technicolor ever put to screen and it’s hard to disagree. The 15-minute titular dance sequence that comes near the halfway point is utterly mesmerising. It quite rightly got nominated for best editing but how it didn’t win I’ll never know.

It was Scorsese ‘s championing of this that made me fork out for the bluray. Marty knows ball.
 
DJ Doubt said:
Cutter's Way – 8.5/10

A real surprise and the definition of underseen gem. It’s another film I’ve watched this year (Da 5 Bloods, Five Easy Pieces) that taps into that post-Vietnam loss of identity. It is beautifully shot through a later summer haze, it has interesting flawed characters, and an intoxicating noir plot.

The big surprise here is John Heard, I had no idea he had range like that.I’m intrigued by a 5-star Guardian review that claims you need to see it at least three times to get a good grasp on it. I’m struggling to see what could be there that I didn’t get from the first viewing.
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I watched this last year and felt the same about Heard. It's not often Jeff Bridges is acted off screen.
 
Gattaca (1997) 9/10
Interesting sci-fi in which everyone's role is defined by a genetic caste system. Ethan Hawke is lower caste, but borrows the fingerprints and DNA of a higher caste person who's confined to a wheelchair after an accident - Jude Law, in his debut. The legendary writer Gore Vidal has a supporting role.
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Interstellar (2014) 8/10
The second Christopher Nolan film I've recently rewatched in 4K/IMAX. Breathtaking to look at, would probably have been stronger without the Matt Damon sub-plot.
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Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) 7/10
Baseball movie starring Robert De Niro, looking like a Baldwin brother. More an exploration of male friendship than of baseball.
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Falling Down (1993)

Joel Schumacher. Michael Douglas the man who’s reached breaking point, on an odyssey across LA. Robert Duvall the man hunting him on the day of his retirement. It has brief moments of touching greatness but ultimately doesn’t know what to truly direct Douglas’ rage at, falling back lazily on the ex wife. Could imagine Tarantino furiously rewriting elements of pulp fiction after seeing this.

7/10
 
Drexl said:
Falling Down (1993)

Joel Schumacher. Michael Douglas the man who’s reached breaking point, on an odyssey across LA. Robert Duvall the man hunting him on the day of his retirement. It has brief moments of touching greatness but ultimately doesn’t know what to truly direct Douglas’ rage at, falling back lazily on the ex wife. Could imagine Tarantino furiously rewriting elements of pulp fiction after seeing this.

7/10
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Posted last year that I’ve flipped opinions on this film loads, and finally settled on the ‘D-Fens is a villain’ interpretation. The scene where he’s watching the footage of him aggressively haranguing his wife and crying daughter over the horse ride shows him to be predisposed to anger and aggression. All of the incidents in the film are, for me, a clever misdirection that seem to celebrate vigilantism, but actually just show that his attempts to control his nature have collapsed.
 
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