• The forums will be unavailable for a few hours on Saturday 6th June, when they do return they will initially be in a degraded state with some features missing, but normal posting/reading will be possible. The main website will not be affected by these updates.
    New user registrations are currently disabled.

SMB Film Thread 2026

Zero Dark Thirty (Amazon Prime).
Long sprawling film about the planning of US operation to take out some old bearded guy in his remote fortified house.
Lost out to Argo (similar kind of film) for Best Fillum Oscar.
Watched it a couple of times, my kind of film. 8/10.
 

leyburnrunner said:
Zero Dark Thirty (Amazon Prime).
Long sprawling film about the planning of US operation to take out some old bearded guy in his remote fortified house.
Lost out to Argo (similar kind of film) for Best Fillum Oscar.
Watched it a couple of times, my kind of film. 8/10.
Click to expand...

When I was watching that in the cinema, it got to the scene where Jessica Chastain and her CIA contact are having dinner in that restaurant in Islamabad and I got so excited thinking "Eeeh I've eaten in that restaurant, look at how that shitty green decor hasn't changed in years...." Then they blew the fucker up
 
Cockney Mackem said:
When I was watching that in the cinema, it got to the scene where Jessica Chastain and her CIA contact are having dinner in that restaurant in Islamabad and I got so excited thinking "Eeeh I've eaten in that restaurant, look at how that shitty green decor hasn't changed in years...." Then they blew the fucker up
Click to expand...
Google says it was the Luna Caprese - the number one Italian restaurant in Islamabad.
 
Recently seen a few good films, some very interesting films Tonite Let's All Make Love in London (1967) and a film of genius The Gold Rush (1925), on a big screen for the first time, a beautiful, luminous print, still funny
You must be logged on to see media items
 
I'm always surprised at the number of 10/10 scores handed out on this thread tbh.

Now I'm not by any stretch a "filum buff", and of course it's all opinion, but I don't believe there is a 10/10 in anything, be it music, filums, tv etc.
 
Boinger said:
I'm always surprised at the number of 10/10 scores handed out on this thread tbh.

Now I'm not by any stretch a "filum buff", and of course it's all opinion, but I don't believe there is a 10/10 in anything, be it music, filums, tv etc.
Click to expand...
Id say its probably your favourite ever films ,music etc ,
Or you're gonna die disappointed
 
If you’re marking out of 10, then the top mark has to be achievable. Otherwise you might as well mark out of 9. Which, presumably is unachievable also.

10 doesn’t mean perfect. You can get a perfect score in a test, or with a series of fact-based questions, but for something as subjective and multi-faceted as film or music, it can’t mean perfection.
 
Capricorn 1.
6.5/10
Kept me interested but doesn't deal with the aftermath of the secret getting out, which would've been more interesting than following three blokes in the desert. Doesn't live up to the interesting premise. (Faking landing on Mars)
 
Doogie Hauser said:
If you’re marking out of 10, then the top mark has to be achievable. Otherwise you might as well mark out of 9. Which, presumably is unachievable also.

10 doesn’t mean perfect. You can get a perfect score in a test, or with a series of fact-based questions, but for something as subjective and multi-faceted as film or music, it can’t mean perfection.
Click to expand...
So scoring is maybe not the right way. Just give it bloody excellent down to bloody crap. I have never given 10/10 coz I'm waiting for perfection. I must be stupid as most new movies are rancid. An example might be Apocalypse Now which is perhaps my favourite film. But isn't perfect, far from perfect. Definitely 9 or a squeaky 9.5. Love Vertigo too. Same score. Stalker...same score. The Ninth Configuration...same again. I should f***ing lighten up!!!
Project Hail Mary.....1....0....no, Can't do it.
 
RossTheNinja said:
Capricorn 1.
6.5/10
Kept me interested but doesn't deal with the aftermath of the secret getting out, which would've been more interesting than following three blokes in the desert. Doesn't live up to the interesting premise. (Faking landing on Mars)
Click to expand...
Very decent though.
craigypants said:
So scoring is maybe not the right way. Just give it bloody excellent down to bloody crap. I have never given 10/10 coz I'm waiting for perfection. I must be stupid as most new movies are rancid. An example might be Apocalypse Now which is perhaps my favourite film. But isn't perfect, far from perfect. Definitely 9 or a squeaky 9.5. Love Vertigo too. Same score. Stalker...same score. The Ninth Configuration...same again. I should f***ing lighten up!!!
Project Hail Mary.....1....0....no, Can't do it.
Click to expand...
For me if its above an 8 it h6as to be mint in every way. It really should only happen every couple of years.
 
Last edited:
craigypants said:
So scoring is maybe not the right way. Just give it bloody excellent down to bloody crap. I have never given 10/10 coz I'm waiting for perfection. I must be stupid as most new movies are rancid. An example might be Apocalypse Now which is perhaps my favourite film. But isn't perfect, far from perfect. Definitely 9 or a squeaky 9.5. Love Vertigo too. Same score. Stalker...same score. The Ninth Configuration...same again. I should f***ing lighten up!!!
Project Hail Mary.....1....0....no, Can't do it.
Click to expand...
Probably not! Scoring just feels like a neat and tidy ‘bottom line’ way of summarising a film.

For it to mean anything, 10 can’t mean ‘perfection’. It took me years to award a 10, because I struggled with the idea for so long, and still do. I think I’ve only got one 10/10 film, and that was after several re-ratings. Does it mean that every shot is perfect? Every line? Every edit? Every note in the music? Not at all. But it’s a film that, despite its flaws, I consider to be outstanding, and ‘peak’ cinema.

Weirdly, if we rated films out of 5, it feels more ok to give a film 5/5 than 10/10. The higher the denominator, the greater the psychological block. Because 20/20 and 100/100 feel even less likely than 10/10.

So, yeah, I think you’re right, and it should come down to words. If numbers out of 10 have to be used, then each one has to mean something. At the upper end:

10 - exceptional/outstanding
9 - excellent
8 - very good
7 - good

If I were to be less restrictive with myself, I would probably award at least a dozen tens by now. Not perfect films (how can they be - it all boils down to personal opinion, and there’s so many separate areas of filmmaking?) but the best of the best that I’ve seen.

Good debate though, lads. 🙂
 
Doogie Hauser said:
Probably not! Scoring just feels like a neat and tidy ‘bottom line’ way of summarising a film.

For it to mean anything, 10 can’t mean ‘perfection’. It took me years to award a 10, because I struggled with the idea for so long, and still do. I think I’ve only got one 10/10 film, and that was after several re-ratings. Does it mean that every shot is perfect? Every line? Every edit? Every note in the music? Not at all. But it’s a film that, despite its flaws, I consider to be outstanding, and ‘peak’ cinema.

Weirdly, if we rated films out of 5, it feels more ok to give a film 5/5 than 10/10. The higher the denominator, the greater the psychological block. Because 20/20 and 100/100 feel even less likely than 10/10.

So, yeah, I think you’re right, and it should come down to words. If numbers out of 10 have to be used, then each one has to mean something. At the upper end:

10 - exceptional/outstanding
9 - excellent
8 - very good
7 - good

If I were to be less restrictive with myself, I would probably award at least a dozen tens by now. Not perfect films (how can they be - it all boils down to personal opinion, and there’s so many separate areas of filmmaking?) but the best of the best that I’ve seen.

Good debate though, lads. 🙂
Click to expand...

I just transfer the ratings I've given on Letterboxd, which are out of 5 (but they allow half marks, so effectively they're out of 10). I'm conscious that most of my ratings are in the upper half of the scale, but that's primarily because I usually check reviews before I select a film to watch, and I don't bother with films that have been slated. I also watch a lot of Criterion Collection films, which usually guarantee a level of quality. My approach to awarding 10/10 is to judge a film on its own terms rather than in the context of the entire history of cinema. If I measured contemporary films against everything that has gone before, a 2026 film would probably have no chance of being a 10/10.

Anyway....

Shock Treatment (1973) 5/10
French body-horror thriller. Alain Delon runs a rejuvenation clinic in Brittany, but the treatments aren't entirely ethical. Lots of people getting their kit off, which is why it was released in the UK as Doctor in the Nude.
You must be logged on to see media items

My Man Godfrey (1936) 8/10
As part of a scavenger hunt, New York socialites have to collect a homeless person. Carole Lombard finds William Powell living in the city dump, takes pity after the hunt, and employs him as her butler. Only he's not quite what he seems. Excellent screwball comedy.
You must be logged on to see media items

The Walk (2015) 7/10
Fictionalised account of Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the twin towers. Not bad, though at times the CGI is very CGI-y. The documentary Man on Wire is easily the better film.
You must be logged on to see media items
 
Doogie Hauser said:
Probably not! Scoring just feels like a neat and tidy ‘bottom line’ way of summarising a film.

For it to mean anything, 10 can’t mean ‘perfection’. It took me years to award a 10, because I struggled with the idea for so long, and still do. I think I’ve only got one 10/10 film, and that was after several re-ratings. Does it mean that every shot is perfect? Every line? Every edit? Every note in the music? Not at all. But it’s a film that, despite its flaws, I consider to be outstanding, and ‘peak’ cinema.

Weirdly, if we rated films out of 5, it feels more ok to give a film 5/5 than 10/10. The higher the denominator, the greater the psychological block. Because 20/20 and 100/100 feel even less likely than 10/10.

So, yeah, I think you’re right, and it should come down to words. If numbers out of 10 have to be used, then each one has to mean something. At the upper end:

10 - exceptional/outstanding
9 - excellent
8 - very good
7 - good

If I were to be less restrictive with myself, I would probably award at least a dozen tens by now. Not perfect films (how can they be - it all boils down to personal opinion, and there’s so many separate areas of filmmaking?) but the best of the best that I’ve seen.

Good debate though, lads. 🙂
Click to expand...
I don't take it too seriously, I just rate something 10/10 if I class it as one of my absolute favourite films of all time.

0 - Bleach my eyes
1 - Terrible
2 - Very poor
3 - Poor
4 - Below average
5 - Average
6 - Above average
7 - Good
8 - Very good
9 - Terrific
10 - All time favourite

It can feel odd to give Back to the Future the same score as, say, Schindler's List, so you can also rate within genres - comedy, drama etc.

Monty Pigeon said:
I just transfer the ratings I've given on Letterboxd, which are out of 5 (but they allow half marks, so effectively they're out of 10).
Click to expand...
Me too.
 
Boinger said:
I'm always surprised at the number of 10/10 scores handed out on this thread tbh.

Now I'm not by any stretch a "filum buff", and of course it's all opinion, but I don't believe there is a 10/10 in anything, be it music, filums, tv etc.
Click to expand...
The Magnificent Seven is a 10 in my eyes.
Probably a 2 or 3 in others.
Who cares?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top