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SMB Film Thread 2026

OOOSH YEAH said:
Pink Flamingos 1977.

Fancied watching this for about 20 years as I’ve always loved exploitation films. This is pretty much the hardest slog I’ve had with one. You have to be really interested in the history of film to get through this one. Clear as day they simply were going to attempt to make a film to disgust you and gain notoriety. I really can’t score this as it isn’t comparable to anything but it is in the US National Film Registry so who am I to argue :lol:

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Sounds absolutely shite that mind

Divine has adopted the alias Babs Johnson, and fled to a derelict mobile home in the woods with her hillbilly son (Danny Mills), her son’s voyeuristic girlfriend (Mary Vivian Pearce), and her mother (Edith Massey), who is described by Waters in Shock Value as “a 250-pound senior citizen who sits in a playpen dressed in a girdle and bra and worships eggs”. These are the film’s heroes.

Its villains are Connie and Raymond Marble (Mink Stole and David Lochary), “a jealous, publicity-hungry couple” who try in vain to prove that they are even filthier than Divine and her clan. The Marbles make a living by abducting teenage girls, locking them in a basement, raping them, and then selling their babies to lesbian couples. Oh – they also peddle heroin to high school children. Just to be clear, Pink Flamingos is a comedy.
 

Kaza-hana (Umbrella Flower) (2000) 8/10
An alcoholic Tokyo salaryman and a troubled bar hostess make a pact to travel to Hokkaido to commit suicide. But the road trip transforms their lives. Full movie here:
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Pacifiction (2022) 9/10
The French High Commissioner in French Polynesia tries to maintain his relationships with locals amid rumours that France is about to resume nuclear testing in the islands. Long, slow, but incredibly beautiful.
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Mississippi Burning (1988) 8/10
Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe both brilliant as FBI agents investigating a triple homicide by the KKK. Based on fact, and more relevant now than ever. Weird to see Stephen Tobolowsky, the insurance agent in Groundhog Day, playing a racist firebrand.
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Song Sung Blue (2025) Based on the true life story of a husband & wife Neil Diamond tribute act. Holy crap, this film put me through the emotional wringer. Two outstanding performances from Jackman & Hudson (9/10)
 
Albay3037 said:
Song Sung Blue (2025) Based on the true life story of a husband & wife Neil Diamond tribute act. Holy crap, this film put me through the emotional wringer. Two outstanding performances from Jackman & Hudson (9/10)
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Fancy this, saw them on Graham Norton before Christmas and they really sold me on what the movie was all about… was that long ago they did the tv chat shows I’d forgotten it would be out by now.
 
errant said:
Fancy this, saw them on Graham Norton before Christmas and they really sold me on what the movie was all about… was that long ago they did the tv chat shows I’d forgotten it would be out by now.
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Saw the trailer when I went to the cinema for the Springsteen film. Lots of oohs and ahhs from the (mostly grey-haired) audience. The wife in the couple behind us said: "Can't wait." Husband: "A girls' night out, that."
 
Knives out 3 - Daniel Craig adding extra ham to his role. Decent addition the first 2. Enjoyable couple of hours. 7.4/10
 
Hamnet

Jessie Buckley was excellent in this……Paul Merscal errrr less so!
Very slow and self indulgent- my missus loved it (but she’s a fan of Shakespeare which helps I think). I on the other hand nodded off at least twice!

4/10
 
Predator Badlands [2025] 7.5/10
I disliked the trailer and was going to give this a miss. I'm glad I didn't as I thought it was great fun. Really liked Elle Fanning and the world-building.
 
The Kidnappers (1953)

Two orphans are packed off to live with their grandparents in Nova Scotia. They are treated firmly, and long for a dog, but when refused, they ‘acquire’ a baby instead.

A very strange film. The location work is stunning, and there’s a good sense of time and place established, with a puritanical home life and tensions between immigrant Brits and Boers very apparent. The whole shebang has an odd, off kilter feel. I found it equally fascinating and irritating.

Acting-wise, the kids vary between decent and nauseating. I appreciate what the film is trying to say, about forgiveness, family, community, second-chances, and the like, but it’s sometimes handled in such a ham-fisted and annoying way that I felt parts to be a real drag.

5/10

The Hypnotist (1957)

Good old Montgomery Tully, king of the British b-picture, writes and directs this story of a man (Paul Carpenter) who keeps having anxiety-based panic attacks and amnesia. He is treated in-house by Roland Culver, at the request of his old friend Patricia Roc. William Hartnell also stars.

Slow paced and a tad clunky in places, this nevertheless held my attention due to the sideways turn about two thirds of the way through. What unfurls is a daft premise, but I enjoyed it.

6/10
 
Cloud (2024) 5/10
Starts strongly: a factory worker quits his job to become an internet reseller, makes enemies along the way. The last 40 minutes is just an orgy of unengaging violence.
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Le Couperet (The Ax) (2005) 8/10
Adaptation by Costa-Gavras of the same Donald E Westlake novel that forms the basis for the new Park Chan-wook film, No Other Choice. An unemployed executive in the papermaking industry applies for a new job and then attempts to eliminate all his rivals for the position. Excellent dark comedy. Jose Garcia resembles a cross between Jack Lemmon and Robert Downey Jr. There's a fleeting cameo by John Landis.
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Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries) (1968) 5/10
Adaptation of a Wilbur Smith novel. Set in Congo, filmed in Jamaica. Very badly dated.
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Monty Pigeon said:
Le Couperet (The Ax) (2005) 8/10
Adaptation by Costa-Gavras of the same Donald E Westlake novel that forms the basis for the new Park Chan-wook film, No Other Choice. An unemployed executive in the papermaking industry applies for a new job and then attempts to eliminate all his rivals for the position. Excellent dark comedy. Jose Garcia resembles a cross between Jack Lemmon and Robert Downey Jr. There's a fleeting cameo by John Landis.
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This might be up my street. I was a little disappointed that No Other Choice wasn't more of a dark comedy.
 
Fletch73 said:
This might be up my street. I was a little disappointed that No Other Choice wasn't more of a dark comedy.
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I think it's instantly my favourite Westlake adaptation. The books are full of dark humour, and Costa-Gavras captures it perfectly. Near the beginning, the protagonist drives past a billboard that wittily references Psycho. You know then that you're in safe directorial hands.
 
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