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SMB Film Thread 2025

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Monty Pigeon said:
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962) 9/10
Always great to find an overlooked classic. I think this one qualifies. A terrific WWII film from an unusual perspective: William Holden as a Swedish businessman working undercover for the Allies in Nazi Germany. Perhaps a tad too long, but the authentic locations make up for that.
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I think Willuam I a fantastic, much underrated and overlooked actor.
 

Finally tonigh payed homage to one of the greatest of all time with a fine bottle of red Gene Hackman, started with French conection 8/10, moved on to Unforgiven 9/10 and as i type this currently watching Mississippi burning in my top 5 of all time favourites and another 9/10 and for me his finest performace.
As a corection to my above post after watching for about the 10th time i honestly can see no faults in Mississippi burning and up my rating to 10/10 😆😆
 
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Black Bag (2025) 7/10
Very stylish spy movie from Steven Soderbergh, though it's too contrived for my liking.
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The Outsiders (1983) 9/10
Francis Ford Coppola creates the Brat Pack. Stunning cast of young actors in career-making roles. An equally amazing list auditioned for it but didn't get roles: Sean Penn, Nicholas Cage, Mickey Rourke, Val Kilmer, Dennis Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall. I watched the 2005 extended version, which is more faithful to the source novel and features a soundtrack of contemporary 1960s music.
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Two for the Road (1967) 7/10
Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn as a couple making a road trip to the south of France, with flashbacks to previous trips they've made on the same route throughout their ten years together. Hepburn is brilliant as ever, but Finney is often charmless and misogynistic, and wheels out the dodgy Humphrey Bogart impression that he later used as the basis for his performance in Gumshoe.
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The Night of the Generals [1967] 6/10
Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Donald Pleasance, Tom Coutenay. Could have been very good if there was a tighter focus on the murder investigation and been 45 minutes shorter.

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Alien resurrection - remember this being shit when I first watched it and it’s even stupider and shitter than I remembered. Bloody awful.
 
Clerks. 7/10.
I’ve started watching this one a handful of times but nivver got to the end for various reasons. A home made day in a store clerks life is a simple basic cheap idea to film and it has some great moments. I liked it. Kudos for its DIYness obviously.

Righteous Kill. 7/10.
Better than expected tbh as I remember the dissapointing reviews it received on release. The hype concerning Pacino and DeNiro was impossible to deliver on. They’re two NYPD murder squad detectives partnered up for years and there’s a serial killer on the loose. Brian Dennehey is their gaffer.
 
A Complete Unknown was a bit of a letdown. I expected an interesting biopic of Bobby Z but it didn't really know what its central premise was. Joan Baez, folk festival or biopic, seemed to fall between the 3. I would have been interested in the Baez link or more detail about his early years and writing songs but the focus on the folk festival was just plain dull. 5/10 purely for the music
 
The Room Next Door (2024) - 6/10 - Found this a strange little movie. Not the subject matter (Martha is dying and wants her old friend Ingrid's support). It felt disjointed but maybe that was the intention? Odd musical score which didn't really go with any of the scenes - sounded like some 50's thriller and I kept expecting some dark twist. There was a reference to a David Hockney painting same then suddenly some external shots are lit in a similar fashion. There were some scenes which fell like they were inserted just to break things up (Martha flashback to her work as a war journalist, Ingrid at the gym, etc). Then they had Tilda Swinton (Martha) play her daughter which seemed unnecessary. Decent acting from both Swinton and Julianne Moore (Ingrid) but there was something missing with this one.
 
Kborom said:
A Complete Unknown was a bit of a letdown. I expected an interesting biopic of Bobby Z but it didn't really know what its central premise was. Joan Baez, folk festival or biopic, seemed to fall between the 3. I would have been interested in the Baez link or more detail about his early years and writing songs but the focus on the folk festival was just plain dull. 5/10 purely for the music
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Thought it was brilliant solid 8/9 for me.
 
Falling Down.
Likely last watched this when it was released at Blockbuster.
Watched on Netflix and found it abit ploddy and dated. Skipped through some parts.
5/10.
 
Exterritorial (2025)

Jeanne Goursaud is in the US Embassy in Frankfurt. Her son vanishes and there is no record of him having been there. Dougray Scott is a head of security trying to get her to calm down and consider PTSD-fuelled memory issues.

Drivel. There are obvious influences with the hostage/corruption/gaslighting angles, but everything feels cheap and undercooked. The story beats don’t knit together, character motives are clunky, and the pacing is sporadic. The whole scenario and characters involved don’t sell themselves as believable, even in the logic of the story. Fight scenes are serviceable, but you can really see the joins.

3/10
 
The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) 9/10
Brilliantly atmospheric police procedural set in Cairo. A singer is murdered at the Hilton, the evidence points to a well-connected businessman, the cover up begins. But one cop doggedly pursues the truth. Based on an actual case. (Bradshaw only gave it 3/5, but he seemed to think it was a satire - rather than a no holds barred expose of Egyptian corruption.)
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The Four Seasons (1981) 6/10
Recently remade as a Netflix TV series. Alan Alda writes, directs and stars in this account of three couples who get together four times in the course of a year. In the episodic structure, I think he was heavily influenced by Same Time Next Year, the play/film he starred in in 1978.
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Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) 7/10
Burt Lancaster as a general framed and imprisoned for trying to expose US corruption re the Vietnam War. On release, still trying to get the story out, he takes over a nuclear silo and threatens to start a war unless his demands are met. A bit silly, but a good supporting cast, including Richard Widmark as Lancaster's nemesis, Charles Durning as President, Joseph Cotten as Secretary of State, and Cliff Clavin out of Cheers as a soldier.
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Monty Pigeon said:
Black Bag (2025) 7/10
Very stylish spy movie from Steven Soderbergh, though it's too contrived for my liking.
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The Outsiders (1983) 9/10
Francis Ford Coppola creates the Brat Pack. Stunning cast of young actors in career-making roles. An equally amazing list auditioned for it but didn't get roles: Sean Penn, Nicholas Cage, Mickey Rourke, Val Kilmer, Dennis Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall. I watched the 2005 extended version, which is more faithful to the source novel and features a soundtrack of contemporary 1960s music.
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Two for the Road (1967) 7/10
Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn as a couple making a road trip to the south of France, with flashbacks to previous trips they've made on the same route throughout their ten years together. Hepburn is brilliant as ever, but Finney is often charmless and misogynistic, and wheels out the dodgy Humphrey Bogart impression that he later used as the basis for his performance in Gumshoe.
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I found Two For The Road to be a bit boring iirc. Which is bizarre for any film with Audrey Hepburn in it.
 
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