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SMB Film Thread 2025

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Heretic. 5/10

Actually thought Hugh was hamming it a bit too much first half.

Was okay ish, but struggling to motivate myself to add anymore, so I’ll downgrade from a 5 to a 4/10
 
Talk of Mitchum deodorant reminded me of Semi-Tough 1977.
Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh.

Daft, NFL/flat share rom com, worth a look if you enjoyed Slapshot.

One of my favourite scenes ever, Reynolds on the netty.
 
The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Charts the rise and fall of a bootlegger from 1918 to the early 1930s. The biographical style keeps things rattling along, and it never really feels like a 100+ minutes film. Despite being a criminal, the main character is relatable and you pretty much root for him the whole film. He’s a product of a postwar system that didn’t look after its returning workforce, and a context that encouraged racketeering.

Cagney is magnificent and you just can’t take your eyes off him. Even when Bogart wrestles some of the limelight off him, it becomes a two hander rather than a scene stealer. Cagney shows his range as you start to sympathise with him, and he never loses his base appeal, despite the gang warfare. You kinda want him to do well. He’s the total opposite of White Heat, but on both occasions he totally dominates, despite a very fine supporting cast.

Very nicely filmed and edited. A classic, in my book.

9/10
 
Just put Over the Top on (prime).
Forgot how Stallone basically looks like a child kidnapper at the beginning 🤣🤣🤣 cars piling up…nobody questions him rugby tackling the boy running away from him!
 
Fletch73 said:
All That Heaven Allows [1955] 9/10
Might be the best looking film I've ever watched. The lighting is incredible. If you've seen Carol or Far From Heaven you can tell Todd Haynes is a big fan. Counts as a Christmas film, also.

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Have you seen Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul? A homage to Sirk in general and All That Heaven Allows in particular. For use of colour and lighting, Fassbinder was one of the few directors who could rival Sirk. (All the more remarkable given that Fassbinder would deliver several movies a year and sometimes slip in a multi-part TV series or two as well - astonishing filmography for someone who died aged 37.)

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All My Sons (1948)

Edward G Robinson is a steelworks owner. His son (Burt Lancaster) is his right hand man. Back home, EGR’s wife is suffering. She can’t accept that her other son, Larry, is dead. He disappeared during the war.

Complications arise when Burt starts dating his missing brother’s lass. EGR feels like it dishonours his brother, and that his wife won’t accept it, because it tacitly means admitting that Larry is dead. To add more shit to the manure pile, Burt’s lass is the daughter of EGR’s old business partner, who is in the nick. He’s doing time, because during the war he sanctioned the release of aircraft cylinders that were defective, and led to the death of 21 pilots. EGR refused knowledge of this process, so he got off Scot free.

Based on Arthur Miller’s play, this is a very wordy drama that looks at themes of corporate irresponsibility, wartime pressure to meet contracted obligations, survivor’s guilt, and family dynamics. I’ve probably made it sound complicated above, but it isn’t. It’s a steady watch where the facade of suburbia is gradually peeled away as truths threaten wishes.

Lancaster is good as the son, even though he looks absolutely nothing like his dad. All the rest of the cast are decent. The real star, holding every scene together even when he’s not in it, is Edward G Robinson. It’s another powerful performance, as he flits from loving, warm family man, to cornered aggressive animal, desperate to vindicate his decisions and protect his business interests. He isn’t a showy actor and doesn’t try to take over, but his professionalism and abilities ensure that he does by default. The last 30 minutes of the film showcase his range, and it’s another film where the end is memorable.

8/10
 
Doogie Hauser said:
All My Sons (1948)

Edward G Robinson is a steelworks owner. His son (Burt Lancaster) is his right hand man. Back home, EGR’s wife is suffering. She can’t accept that her other son, Larry, is dead. He disappeared during the war.

Complications arise when Burt starts dating his missing brother’s lass. EGR feels like it dishonours his brother, and that his wife won’t accept it, because it tacitly means admitting that Larry is dead. To add more shit to the manure pile, Burt’s lass is the daughter of EGR’s old business partner, who is in the nick. He’s doing time, because during the war he sanctioned the release of aircraft cylinders that were defective, and led to the death of 21 pilots. EGR refused knowledge of this process, so he got off Scot free.

Based on Arthur Miller’s play, this is a very wordy drama that looks at themes of corporate irresponsibility, wartime pressure to meet contracted obligations, survivor’s guilt, and family dynamics. I’ve probably made it sound complicated above, but it isn’t. It’s a steady watch where the facade of suburbia is gradually peeled away as truths threaten wishes.

Lancaster is good as the son, even though he looks absolutely nothing like his dad. All the rest of the cast are decent. The real star, holding every scene together even when he’s not in it, is Edward G Robinson. It’s another powerful performance, as he flits from loving, warm family man, to cornered aggressive animal, desperate to vindicate his decisions and protect his business interests. He isn’t a showy actor and doesn’t try to take over, but his professionalism and abilities ensure that he does by default. The last 30 minutes of the film showcase his range, and it’s another film where the end is memorable.

8/10
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I saw the stage version of this on the West End with Bill Pullman and Sally Field as the Mam and Dad. Powerful stuff
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Arthur Miller was definitely commenting on the role of dodgy capitalists in American life. Not entirely surprising the Mccarthyists went after him
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The whole HUAC/Red Channels/Blacklist thing is intensely irritating. Massive amounts of talent denied employment because they used entertainment as a vehicle for free speech. People like EGR and Lee J Cobb getting dragged before committees and stuff.
 
Doogie Hauser said:
The whole HUAC/Red Channels/Blacklist thing is intensely irritating. Massive amounts of talent denied employment because they used entertainment as a vehicle for free speech. People like EGR and Lee J Cobb getting dragged before committees and stuff.
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Stoolie iirc. Terrific actor but a stoolie.
 
Monty Pigeon said:
Have you seen Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul? A homage to Sirk in general and All That Heaven Allows in particular. For use of colour and lighting, Fassbinder was one of the few directors who could rival Sirk. (All the more remarkable given that Fassbinder would deliver several movies a year and sometimes slip in a multi-part TV series or two as well - astonishing filmography for someone who died aged 37.)

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I recently watched Katzelmacher. One of his early films black and white. Tremendous.
He was an absolute genius imo.
 
Doogie Hauser said:
The whole HUAC/Red Channels/Blacklist thing is intensely irritating. Massive amounts of talent denied employment because they used entertainment as a vehicle for free speech. People like EGR and Lee J Cobb getting dragged before committees and stuff.
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Exactly. On Arthur Miller in particular they were saying it was Unamerican to say that conmen and corrupt officials shouldn't kill US military personnel with knowingly faulty equipment
 
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