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SMB Film Thread 2025

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Doogie Hauser said:
Little Caesar (1931)

Edward G Robinson’s Rico wants a slice of the underworld big league, but his former partner in crime Joe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr) doesn’t want a bar of it.

Rightly heralded as a classic and a game-changer, this is a tight, brisk crime film with a lot of quality that still has an impact today.

On the minus side, I did find the direction slightly stagey in dialogue scenes, and a real hangover from the silent era. Actors are slow to deliver their lines, and there’s long pauses between speaking and reaction, with facial expressions being too theatrical. Most of the acting is wooden. The cop is pure caricature.

Flipping to the good stuff, we have the exception: Robinson himself. Everything he does in this film is leagues above everything else. His line delivery is snappy, precise and dripping with menace, and you can see that he’s living this character. Everything is delivered with conviction. Even the aspects of this performance that have been mimicked and done to death over the years, that have become a stereotype, are still excellent because of the honesty of Robinson’s turn. He’s a top tier actor and shouldn’t be forgotten about by modern audiences. Every time he’s on screen, you can’t take your eyes off him. That’s screen magnetism, and it proves that you don’t have to be a suave ponce or a jacked up pretty boy to lead a film so comprehensively.

His character is also a complete winner. This isn’t about Robinson taking something unremarkable and making it remarkable. Rico is a genuinely interesting character. He’s remorseless, savage and has near-zero empathy with the people in his sphere. He’s ruthless and doesn’t care about norms and underworld etiquette - a truly unhinged loose cannon who has his goal and doesn’t let any nuance get in the way. I laughed out loud on several occasions at his callousness and carefree aggression. He doesn't give a shit, and makes for a fantastic, iconic turn.

Then we have the injection of empathy you feel at the end. When he realises that he can’t suppress all of his weaknesses, and we realise that he’s not entirely bad. I love his last line, delivered in third person. It’s like he’s disassociating himself from his weakness by reporting on his own failure - like he can’t face the fact that he didn’t have what it took to be truly number one. Magnificent.

As a film, by modern standards, it will be far too dated for many people. Too wooden, too basic, too much of a cliche. I get that. Which is why I watched it fully immersed in an understanding of its contemporary significance, looking for its impact and seeing stereotypes as products of this film, and not a reason to knock it.

In some respects, this film would be a 7/10. It has a lot of era-product faults. That’s like knocking an old novel for antiquated language, though.

EGR and his character raises its score significantly. He produces a modern performance that still works now. A blueprint for a psychopath. Not bettered, I think. Equalled, but not bettered for its sheer crazed single mindedness. I can overlook the 1930 new-to-sound acting of the others, and the stilted direction (although there is some very good camerawork and cinematography at various points that’s proto-noir). This is a great film, a classic, and Robinson deserves the utmost respect for changing cinema.

8.5/10
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Why did I read this review in the voice of Patrick Bateman?
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Just the thought of all the boardroom executives suggesting "improvements" makes me homicidally angry
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For a start “we’ll call him Ken, it’s much better than Kaneda and also keeps us relevant due to the Barbie movie…then, let’s use real Harley Davidsons, we can make a ton of money with product placement.

Let’s not have giant toys either, we want the kid audience and that would scare them. Instead, let’s just have a dream sequence with a talking AI teddy bear”
 
Fetch Fletch said:
For a start “we’ll call him Ken, it’s much better than Kaneda and also keeps us relev toant due to the Barbie movie…then, let’s use real Harley Davidsons, we can make a ton of money with product placement.

Let’s not have giant toys either, we want the kid audience and that would scare them. Instead, let’s just have a dream sequence with a talking AI teddy bear”
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Btw this was linked at the bottom of the Waititi Dredd news on the Grauniad:

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Wrong again Pete
 
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The Cotton Club (1984) 8/10
Jazz Age gangster movie directed by Coppola. Bad reviews when it came out, and was a box office flop - probably why I avoided it. Much better than I expected with a great jazz soundtrack.
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Shadow of a Doubt (1942) 10/10
Easily in my top three Hitchcock films. The arrival of Joseph Cotton's train, casting a shadow over the platform, is one of the great moments in cinema. A perfect movie.
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The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 9/10
Not the best Thomas Harris/Hannibal Lecter adaptation (Manhunter is better), but still pretty damned good.
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Threads (1984)
Canny horrific. Like an omnibus episode of Coronation Street crossed with Chernobyl. Must have scared the shit out of people back in the 80s.
8/10

Adaptation (2002)
Nicholas Cage playing himself and his twin brother as he tries to write a script for a film adaptation of a book about a rare flower. He goes a bit crackers, writes himself into the story and the film basically becomes the one that he’s writing. Never heard of it before but would recommend.
8/10

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

Possibly the worst thing I’ve ever seen in the cinema. Bad acting, bad plot, just generally bad. Hated the characters and there’s no payoff at the end. Just bizarre plot holes all over. I think there was an attempt at being woke/a “modern” (feminist?) take on the slasher genre. The dialogue was so bad it was funny. Like the sort of shit films you see on Netflix. Avoid at all costs.
2/10

I think the only film I’d ever give a 1/10 would be the Cats musical from a few years back. The one with James Corden as a fat, camp, CGI cat. It made me and the wife feel physically sick and we had to turn it off halfway through and go to bed.
^ didn’t mean to write Nicholas Cage plays himself - rather he plays both the main character and his twin.
 
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EDEN.... gonna see if I can finish this, this morning. Will be my third installment. Not sure how to rank this one. Unless Ana Di Armas gets those cannons out again it could be low. Pretty good cast, just nothing really happening uptill now....
Nice to finally see Jude Laws todger x
Canny ending I guess. Based on a true story. 4 outa 10. Bonus point for Judes British hog.
 
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Solo for Sparrow (1962)

More cheap and cheerful Edgar Wallace shenanigans. This time with have a detective on annual leave deciding to do some off-books sleuthing after an elderly jewellery shop assistant is accidentally killed after being kidnapped by a gang.

Solid cast, with Glyn Houston, Anthony Newlands and Allan Cuthbertson, but the main draw is an appearance by Michael Caine. Engrossing at the time, in the typically concise, basic nature of these films.

6.5/10


Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

When I watched this a couple of years ago, it was a 5/10 at best. I’ve reappraised it. I liked it far more this second time. Some of the things I found annoying and offputting about it last time - Wanda’s arc, the various Strange incarnations, Raimi’s direction and horror touches - turned into strengths this time. Olsen does well with some pretty basic material, and Cumberbatch plays the roles with more panache than I originally credited.

The story makes more sense than I first thought (as much as a nonsense piece of sci—fi/fantasy fluff about the multiverse and magic and possession and shit can make sense in its internal logic) and the horror elements are pretty refreshing in the MCU. I first thought them shoehorned in, but they’re actually more legitimate than I thought.

Even though it’s just a load of fan service, I liked the Illuminati bit. It’s a better film than I thought.

6.5/10
The Flash (2023)

The DCEU has a certain rough grubbiness that I’ve always struggled with. This is no different. Some of the visual effects are utterly horrible. I don’t know if it’s a stylistic choice, or a technical thing, but they were really jarring. The whole visual design of the film is depressing. Not in a cool noir way. Just dull. Even the colourful moments feel dreary and half-arsed.

Miller is fine as the lead. He plays his roles with a distinctiveness that makes them feel like separate people, so he clearly does a good job. Both performances have a handle on Barry Allen, but are different enough to be unique. Keaton is very decent indeed and adds some much-needed weight to proceedings.

I didn’t really mind the story. But the film as a whole is pretty average. It just felt like this weird portmanteau of ‘reserved’ and ‘overblown’. I can’t quite put my finger on it - it just doesn’t feel like a film that hangs as a cohesive whole.

5.5/10
 
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Flow (2024)
An animated cat barely survives a massive flood and basically has a horrible time for an hour and a half.

Not really sure what’s gone on, but there’s nee people anywhere, loads of boats floating about, and there’s a moment where I think he meets God, who may or may not be a giant white bird.

Quite bleak, but nice animation.
Probably worth a watch if you hate cats.

6.5/10
 
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Brighton Rock (1948)

This is so good. It’s just so f***ing good. It’s considered a classic for good reason.

Richard Attenborough plays Pinkie Brown, who has taken over a gang of hoodlums in interwar Brighton. His predecessor was killed after an article in a newspaper detailed gang issues in the area. Pinkie is made aware that the author of the piece, played by Alan Wheatley, is in town as part of a newspaper promo wheeze. He hunts him down, but it sets off a chain of events that throws him into deeper and darker troubled waters.

This is an absolutely fantastic film that hits all the right notes. The cast are excellent. William Hartnell is great as a gang member with more of a moral compass than his leader, Carol Marsh is quietly effective as a naive Catholic woman who falls for Pinkie despite his murderous insanity. Hermione Baddeley is loud and dogged as an intrepid truth seeker who wants to know the truth.

The main attraction, though, is the headline star. Attenborough is a colossus in this. From the off, he’s all seething, quiet menace and subtle twitches that you barely notice, but form part of the overall nastiness. His character is a remorseless lunatic, without a care for anyone except himself, and the way Dickie plays it, you believe it. He’s not over the top or loud - he’s just carefully-measured evil. I thought I might find it tricky to see him as a Cagney-esque swine, but by the end, you totally believe that he’ll stop at nothing to save his skin. The way he treats his gang members is ruthless, and the manipulation of Rose is brutal. I gasped when he started the disc recording - he’s just vile. It’s the best I’ve seen him, yet he’s a character without sympathy or empathy, even to the bitter end. He’s way over his head, and he stops at nothing to try and free himself of problems, even when it weakens his own position.

Another thing to mention is the direction. It’s tight, efficient and creative. The circular pan in the pub, the movement on the pier, the angles in every scene - it’s all superb. I loved the use of angle and reflection after the Spicer/stairs moment. The pace of the cuts and atmosphere of the camera placement is highly economical and effective.

The cinematography in general is first rate. Rain, thunder, silhouettes, distortion and shadows are used amazingly well. I loved the street shot with the silhouetted train above it, and even simple shots like the visit of Pinkie and his mate to a non-paying protectee showcased the careful use of camera placement - their hats visible through the frosted glass above the door. Wheatley on the deckchair visible through the human ‘frame’ of Pinkie, Dallow and Cubitt (behind) looked great as well. All these angles, carefully arranged and thought out, created a visual narrative aspect to the scene. Excellent stuff.

I won’t hesitate to give this a 9/10, and it’s mighty close to a 9.5.
 
Watched two 70s classics recently
The Godfather 1972 all time classic gangster film exceptional cast Brando , Duvall , Cavan , Keaton and Pacino , Got is hooked now as i want to watch 2 and 3 again. Might also read the book as there's lots of bits didn't make the film.

The Exorcist 1973 - Thought it was a bit dated to be honest and not as good as i remember though the scene where the priest pulls up at night in a taxi , The mist and the street lights with Oldfields Tubular Bells playing in the background is excellent.
Another one where i might have to read the book as i've heard it's excellent.
 
Superman (2025)

Not really into the whole superhero thing really, but I quite enjoyed this. Total nonsense of course, but didn't seem to take itself too seriously and was good fun. Never seen the lead actor before but he was pretty good, and had good chemistry with the excellent Rachel Brosnahan (who I've had a soft spot for since watching The Marvelous Mrs Maisel).

Was relatively short for a superhero blockbuster type thing which was refreshing, and it definitely benefitted from not having tediously long, dull fight/battle scenes.

7/10
 
Ice Road Vengance,Liam Neeson gets the bus from Kathmandu to Everest (That’s when I stopped watching) 2/10 if your going to make a film at least make it a tiny bit realistic.
 
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