SMB Film Thread 2026

[Monty Pigeon]

The Magnificent Seven is a 10 in my eyes.
Probably a 2 or 3 in others.
Who cares?

That's a good example. Taken on its own terms, as a mainstream Hollywood Western, it deserves a 10. It's definitely one of the all-time greats within the genre.

However, is it better than the original, The Seven Samurai, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made? And if The Magnificent Seven is worth 10/10, what's The Seven Samurai worth?

IMO, they both deserve 10 within their own context.

But like you suggest, it's very subjective. This is an actual 1/2 star review for The Seven Samurai on Letterboxd. (This reviewer isn't 'wrong' per se. It's his opinion and he's entitled to it - though it takes some balls to slate a film by Kurosawa for 'lousy direction'. I'm sad for him. If you're able to appreciate the full gamut of culture, from Japanese samurai epics to commercial Westerns, life is so much richer.)

"Long. Boring. Bad acting. Crap plot. Crap characters. Lousy direction. Of course, I must be wrong because it's one of the best films of all time. I must have seen something different to what everyone else has been masturbating over. Something long, boring and shite."

 

[Biffo The Bear]

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.

Also, in my opinion, robbed by Argo.

 

[Boinger]

That's a good example. Taken on its own terms, as a mainstream Hollywood Western, it deserves a 10. It's definitely one of the all-time greats within the genre.

However, is it better than the original, The Seven Samurai, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made? And if The Magnificent Seven is worth 10/10, what's The Seven Samurai worth?

That's what I was trying to say ....in a cack-handed way.

 

[Fred Army]

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.

Yeah, this is one I return to every year or so

 

[Drexl]

For anyone who’s interested, I mentioned yesterday Backrooms was on track for an $80 million opening weekend. It’s just been reported it’s hit $118 million. On a budget of 10 million for an original horror that’s unbelievable.

I’ve also upgraded my own personal score for it to 8/10 now I’ve had time to sit with it.

 

[Cockney Mackem]

For anyone who’s interested, I mentioned yesterday Backrooms was on track for an $80 million opening weekend. It’s just been reported it’s hit $118 million. On a budget of 10 million for an original horror that’s unbelievable.

I’ve also upgraded my own personal score for it to 8/10 now I’ve had time to sit with it.

My hot take is that horror movies are going to save cinema

 

[Doogie Hauser]

My hot take is that horror movies are going to save cinema

Pretty much the only genre that I don’t particularly like, bar the classic Hammer/Universal/black and white efforts.

 

[Drexl]

My hot take is that horror movies are going to save cinema

Agreed. Low budget/High ceiling.

 

[Cockney Mackem]

Pretty much the only genre that I don’t particularly like, bar the classic Hammer/Universal/black and white efforts.

Fair enough but they're making films that people are coming out in numbers to see, and some new and different stories are being told. With any luck it will boost the industry and help other types of films to get made. Better than when Marvel was sucking all the oxygen out of the room and leaving no space for anyone else

Agreed. Low budget/High ceiling.

Did this on the pod, but in 2025, for the money they spent on Fantastic 4 they could have made 7 more of the biggest horror films of that year and made 5 times as much money

 

[Doogie Hauser]

Fair enough but they're making films that people are coming out in numbers to see, and some new and different stories are being told. With any luck it will boost the industry and help other types of films to get made. Better than when Marvel was sucking all the oxygen out of the room and leaving no space for anyone else


Did this on the pod, but in 2025, for the money they spent on Fantastic 4 they could have made 7 more of the biggest horror films of that year and made 5 times as much money

Oh, absolutely. I don’t like gore, I’m not fussed on jump scares (with a few exceptions), and get nothing out of shitting myself more that Donnie T, but horror is a fabulous genre and the healthier it is at the box office, the better it is for the whole sector.

I like the older stuff like Hammer Films, Night of the Demon, The Haunting, etc. I like the films that sit on the edge of the genre, like Onibaba and Yokai films in Japan. I appreciate that I have the issue with horror, and I don’t begrudge the genre at all.

I like Marvel stuff too, mind. Feel like the quality has risen a bit after the takings have been snipped.

 

[Cockney Mackem]

Oh, absolutely. I don’t like gore, I’m not fussed on jump scares (with a few exceptions), and get nothing out of shitting myself more that Donnie T, but horror is a fabulous genre and the healthier it is at the box office, the better it is for the whole sector.

I like the older stuff like Hammer Films, Night of the Demon, The Haunting, etc. I like the films that sit on the edge of the genre, like Onibaba and Yokai films in Japan. I appreciate that I have the issue with horror, and I don’t begrudge the genre at all.

I like Marvel stuff too, mind. Feel like the quality has risen a bit after the takings have been snipped.

Agreed, it's not Marvel's fault per se it's American CEOs who think it's good business to kill off everything else in the market place and flog the one thing that's selling so badly that it runs out and no **** has anything left and they don't have any ideas because all they do is buy up other people's

 

[Scorer]

The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)

I liked the first two seasons of the tv show (never watched the third after hearing some less than great reviews) and had a feeling I’d enjoy this. I like that it exists in its own corner of the Star Wars universe. Probably for the best as the majority of the recent stuff has been awful. It’s quite a simple story but then that’s what the tv show got right.

Funny hearing Scorsese turn up in a voice role. Excellent Ludwig Goransson score as usual. Pascal charismatic.

7/10

I don’t think it’s as good as the series, including season 3 but I loved them. It’s still entertaining and different enough to the skywalker arc to be interesting.
Can’t say I like the main villain protagonists speaking with an American accent. That’s not for me and was annoyingly distracting so I’d say 6.5 out of ten.

 

[Drexl]

I don’t think it’s as good as the series, including season 3 but I loved them. It’s still entertaining and different enough to the skywalker arc to be interesting.
Can’t say I like the main villain protagonists speaking with an American accent. That’s not for me and was annoyingly distracting so I’d say 6.5 out of ten.

Still finding it difficult a week later to understand how that was Jeremy Allen White’s voice for the main Hutt involved. Sounded more like David Harbour.

 

[Monty Pigeon]

Three by Joachim Trier:

Oslo, August 31st (2011) 7/10
Atmospheric film unfolding over the course of an afternoon, a night, and the following morning. As always with films about addiction, it's frustrating watching the protagonist continually making wrong choices. (Ends in the house that plays a central role in Sentimental Value.)

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The Worst Person in the World (2021) 9/10
Superb performance from Renate Reinsve as a medical student struggling with relationships.

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Sentimental Value (2025) 9/10
Stellan Skarsgård as a veteran Scandinavian film director who has written a film for his actress daughter (Renate Reinsve), but she doesn't want to be in it. A famous American actress (Elle Fanning) takes the role instead.

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[Speakeasy]

Three by Joachim Trier:

Oslo, August 31st (2011) 7/10
Atmospheric film unfolding over the course of an afternoon, a night, and the following morning. As always with films about addiction, it's frustrating watching the protagonist continually making wrong choices. (Ends in the house that plays a central role in Sentimental Value.)

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The Worst Person in the World (2021) 9/10
Superb performance from Renate Reinsve as a medical student struggling with relationships.

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Sentimental Value (2025) 9/10
Stellan Skarsgård as a veteran Scandinavian film director who has written a film for his actress daughter (Renate Reinsve), but she doesn't want to be in it. A famous American actress (Elle Fanning) takes the role instead.

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I think Sentimental Value is still the best new release I've seen all year long. The performances of both Reinsve and the actor who plays the sister were superb. Must find The Worst Person In The World to stream at some point.


Mon Crime (The Crime Is Mine) (2023) - iPlayer

Light, breezy and whip-crack smart screwball comedy by Francois Ozon
Arse, pressed post by accident!

Mon Crime (The Crime Is Mine) (2023) - iPlayer

Light, breezy and whip-crack smart screwball comedy by Francois Ozon (L'Etranger, The Swimming Pool). A series of hard on their luck woman try to lay claim to the murder of a sleazy film producer in the 1930s, and much silliness ensues!

It's not quite Howard Hawks level, but it's great fun all the same, and has some cracking performances. Isabelle Huppert only arrives in the last third of the film but steals the show with a hilarious performance; she's clearly having a whale of a time!

7.5/10

 

[Cosmo]

BACKROOMS 8.9/10
The Sacrament 8.5/10 it's a horror found footage type film. 3 journalists from VICE visit a hippie type community living in the middle of nowhere to document how they live. Not for the feint hearted.

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[Doogie Hauser]

Killer’s Kiss (1955)

Early Kubrick film about a boxer who tries to skip town with the lass of a wrong un.

Wafer thin story, but compelling and very atmospheric. There’s some brilliant location shooting, creative camera shots, and the mood is busy and downbeat. Really liked it.

7.5/10


The Fearmakers (1958)

Jacques Tournier directs Dana Andrews in a tale of corruption and infiltration. Andrews returns from Korea to find his business sold, and run by a man who seems to be making some very ethically-questionable decisions.

Interesting through the prism of how lobbyists influence government. The Red Scare angle is daft - it should just have concentrated on public opinion and how vested interest groups can manipulate.

6/10

 

[Cockney Mackem]

Killer’s Kiss (1955)

Early Kubrick film about a boxer who tries to skip town with the lass of a wrong un.

Wafer thin story, but compelling and very atmospheric. There’s some brilliant location shooting, creative camera shots, and the mood is busy and downbeat. Really liked it.

7.5/10


The Fearmakers (1958)

Jacques Tournier directs Dana Andrews in a tale of corruption and infiltration. Andrews returns from Korea to find his business sold, and run by a man who seems to be making some very ethically-questionable decisions.

Interesting through the prism of how lobbyists influence government. The Red Scare angle is daft - it should just have concentrated on public opinion and how vested interest groups can manipulate.

6/10

The opening sequence of the boxing match in Killer's Kiss was great - all shot close up inside the ring

 

[xmfd]

The Backrooms (2026)

As close to being on ketamine as you can portray through the medium of film.
One of the most interesting films I’ve seen this year. The director is only 20 years old I believe.
I think it will polarise a lot on here.
7.5/10

 

[TheManFromSunderland]

Backrooms - went to see it last night based on a lot of feedback on here. Very disappointed. First hour was very good, had a lot of potential then just went to sh*t, nearly burst out laughing at the sloth from the goonies type thing, WTF???
5/10 for the first hour, wouldn’t watch again. Reminds me of when Blair Witch was hyped and people dare not say it was sh*te.