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SMB Film Thread 2025

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Lankester Merrin said:
His art work is fanatstic. I might try and summon the energy to watch the rest of electric state. I must confess I only got half way through before I dismissed it
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Its utter shit mate don't bother. Some of the worst acting I've ever seen (the humans obviously). Should be an example of how Hollywood repeatedly wastes money and degrades films.
 
craigypants said:
Its utter shit mate don't bother. Some of the worst acting I've ever seen (the humans obviously). Should be an example of how Hollywood repeatedly wastes money and degrades films.
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Do you think it is hollywood or streaming. In the old days movie studios needed to put bums on seats to make money. Streaming services just need people to renew, or at least not to get so sick of them that they cancel renewal.

They appear to care more about having a regular stream of movies featuring recognisable actors in popular genres rather than having any actual quality. Reminds me of the video store days where there would be cash in movies like Fatal Instinct and Basic Attraction, but with a bigger budget
 
Fred Army said:
The play The Shark Is Broken is coming to Newcastle this month. It's written by and stars Robert Shaw's son Ian Shaw who plays his dad, and is about the making of the film.
I had tickets for it's original London run but the family came down with Covid so I couldn't go. Can't wait to finally see it.
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Not a film but wanted to drop this in here. I finally saw this last night. Absolutely brilliant and very funny too. Ian Shaw is incredible as his dad and there times you'd think you were watching Robert Shaw perform as Quint. I think it runs until saturday and would highly recommend going along to see it.
 
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The documentary is excellent. Not so impressed with the film version but take your pick.
 
Dublin Nightmare (1958)

William Sylvester rocks up to meet his mate. Finds out that his friend has been killed in a bank raid organised by The Movement (nationalists). The escape went awry and he was pulled from the wreckage, while one of his accomplices is missing with the money. The dead bloke’s lass isn’t convinced, though. She teams up with Sylvester to establish the truth.

Modestly diverting ‘what happened?’ mystery, with some standard decent performances. The photography is often accomplished, and features some great shots of 50s Dublin. Standard era B-movie. Not bad, but nothing great.

6/10
 
Monty Pigeon said:
Easy to forget just how hard it was to find films to watch before streaming and downloading. VHS was the first big leap forward.

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I know a few people who were trailblazers in this country for importing Asian films (martial arts stuff mainly) and they’ve told me how hard it was to get films over here in the 80s and 90s. Bootlegging was rife, but very risky. Any unsanctioned distribution of unofficial VHS tapes could result in a visit from angry reps from Hong Kong or wherever. Often, you had to meet with studio execs directly, to strike deals where you could repackage things over here for a hefty price. Another bloke went around buying 35mm reels, with his prints being the only known copies in the western world.
 
Doogie Hauser said:
I know a few people who were trailblazers in this country for importing Asian films (martial arts stuff mainly) and they’ve told me how hard it was to get films over here in the 80s and 90s. Bootlegging was rife, but very risky. Any unsanctioned distribution of unofficial VHS tapes could result in a visit from angry reps from Hong Kong or wherever. Often, you had to meet with studio execs directly, to strike deals where you could repackage things over here for a hefty price. Another bloke went around buying 35mm reels, with his prints being the only known copies in the western world.
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When I was a teen in Africa in the early 80s there were shops renting projectors and films on reel. It's how I first saw the likes of The Duellists and Chariots of Fire. The majority of films in those shops were martial arts from Hong Kong. Wonder how many of those films are now lost forever? Unless some ex-rental copy turns up in an African cupboard.
 
Monty Pigeon said:
When I was a teen in Africa in the early 80s there were shops renting projectors and films on reel. It's how I first saw the likes of The Duellists and Chariots of Fire. The majority of films in those shops were martial arts from Hong Kong. Wonder how many of those films are now lost forever? Unless some ex-rental copy turns up in an African cupboard.
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It’s a relatively untapped source. There’s a bloke in South Africa whose father in law owned a cinema. He was given hundreds and hundreds of reels that he’s tried to flog ever since. Some really rare English dubs, loads of trailers, and quite a few very rare films. About 15 years ago a few were transferred to dvd-r and went round the collectors. A film called Game of Death starring Ramon Zamora, a South Korean mid-70s kung fu film called Martial Mates/Black Dragon River, and another one whose name escapes me (maybe Supergirl of Kung Fu). At the time they were the only known copies. He also had an English dub of Big Boss 2. He uploaded 10 minutes to YouTube but wanted thousands for the print. Eventually he flogged it to a cinema in Zambia or somewhere. Thankfully, Severin films found a different print a year or two ago. The South African bloke didn’t just have kung fu reels, he had a load of spaghetti western prints too.

I know that in Ghana there was a booming industry of local cinemas getting dubbed films and creating their own posters for them. Some of the artwork is hilarious. They don’t look like the film at all, and artists simply made stuff up. They are a bit of a collectors’ item now. Many were painted on old sacks and are unique. I don’t know what happened to the film prints, though.

I bought a load of Korean film posters years ago off someone in the United States who got them all from an army projectionist. He toured the military camps, showing films to troops. He kept the posters, but the prints presumably got destroyed.

There’s still loads of films from the East that are relatively modern that haven’t been seen in the West since the 70s.
 
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Doogie Hauser said:
It’s a relatively untapped source. There’s a bloke in South Africa whose father in law owned a cinema. He was given hundreds and hundreds of reels that he’s tried to flog ever since. Some really rare English dubs, loads of trailers, and quite a few very rare films. About 15 years ago a few were transferred to dvd-r and went round the collectors. A film called Game of Death starring Ramon Zamora, a South Korean mid-70s kung fu film called Martial Mates/Black Dragon River, and another one whose name escapes me (maybe Supergirl of Kung Fu). At the time they were the only known copies. He also had an English dub of Big Boss 2. He uploaded 10 minutes to YouTube but wanted thousands for the print. Eventually he flogged it to a cinema in Zambia or somewhere. Thankfully, Severin films found a different print a year or two ago. The South African bloke didn’t just have kung fu reels, he had a load of spaghetti western prints too.

I know that in Ghana there was a booming industry of local cinemas getting dubbed films and creating their own posters for them. Some of the artwork is hilarious. They don’t look like the film at all, and artists simply made stuff up. They are a bit of a collectors’ item now. Many were painted on old sacks and are unique. I don’t know what happened to the film prints, though.

I bought a load of Korean film posters years ago off someone in the United States who got them all from an army projectionist. He toured the military camps, showing films to troops. He kept the posters, but the prints presumably got destroyed.

There’s still loads of films from the East that are relatively modern that haven’t been seen in the West since the 70s.
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and you get beauties like this

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Doogie Hauser said:
I bought a load of Korean film posters years ago off someone in the United States who got them all from an army projectionist. He toured the military camps, showing films to troops. He kept the posters, but the prints presumably got destroyed.
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I used to cadge posters off our local cinema owner. Still have them. There's a framed original of Heaven's Gate on the wall beside me right now.
 
Igby Goes Down (2002) - 6/10 - Kieran Culkin stars as the titular character struggling to make his own way in the world. I hadn't realised before I watched it that it had been compared to The Catcher In The Rye. It does capture the world weariness of Holden Caulfield but that's where any similarity ends I think.
 
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