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SMB Film Thread 2026


Compulsion (1959)

Two rich lads kidnap and murder a kid. Orson Welles is asked to defend them.

Fascinating and quite nasty in terms of subject matter. One of the leads relishes the power he wields over ‘inferior’ people. Based on a real case where two killers believed that they were Nietzsche’s ‘supermen’, that their superior intellect meant that the law didn’t apply to them, and that the world was their plaything to see how far they could push things.

Dean Stockwell is indulged and weak - he constantly cedes to Bradford Dillman’s lunatic friend. He aims to please and impress only his friend, and often this overrules his sense of morality. There’s homosexual undertones that are suggested, but never referenced. EG Marshall is the DA trying to find the truth and secure a conviction. Edward Binns stars as well.

It’s a great cast. Apparently Orson was pissed off that he didn’t get to direct, and I could detect a vein of that anger in his performance. He still puts in a good turn, but it lacks the screen-hogging power of his other efforts. The director does a fine job, with some smart and creative lighting and camerawork.

It’s an accomplished, quality film. I am very confused about the message. Is it about the unfair demonisation of the rich? Does it tacitly show that the rich are a law unto themselves and how they need to be made an example of? It’s set in 1924 so I can understand this angle. Is it about mental health and disorders? Is it about some people being irredeemably evil? Or a combination of everything?

Certainly made me think, as well as entertained.

8/10
 
Three from David Mamet, long before he became a pro-MAGA Zionist hardliner.

House of Games (1987) 8/10
The author of a best-selling book about obsessive behaviour is drawn into the world of conmen - but is she being taken for a ride? Mamet basically wrote the film for Joe Mantegna to make up for Al Pacino getting his role when the play Glengarry Glen Ross was made into a movie.
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Things Change (1988) 8/10
With a higher profile cast, this would have been a mainstream mafia comedy. Don Ameche as a shoe repairman persuaded to take the rap for a Mafia murder. Joe Mantegna is the henchman assigned to look after him ahead of the trial. They go to Lake Tahoe, where Ameche is mistaken for a Mafia don...
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Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) 9/10
A bunch of salesmen struggle to make sales against a looming deadline. Brilliant ensemble piece.
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Cockney Mackem said:
Just rewatched Magnolia recently, absolutely loved it. One of these days I want to get hold of a copy of Robert Altman's Short Cuts
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Short Cuts has really held up - tremendous film. In his commentary for Glengarry Glen Ross, Jack Lemmon says that the longest take of his career was in Short Cuts. Nine minutes. In final edit it was intercut with other shots, but Altman wanted Lemmon to do his monologue unbroken.
 
Fuze (2025). The final 20 minutes are a fuck up. Very odd as was a reasonable thriller until then. 3/10. Maybe they ran out of money? Most incoherent ending I've seen for ages.
 
Monty Pigeon said:
Three from David Mamet, long before he became a pro-MAGA Zionist hardliner.

House of Games (1987) 8/10
The author of a best-selling book about obsessive behaviour is drawn into the world of conmen - but is she being taken for a ride? Mamet basically wrote the film for Joe Mantegna to make up for Al Pacino getting his role when the play Glengarry Glen Ross was made into a movie.
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Things Change (1988) 8/10
With a higher profile cast, this would have been a mainstream mafia comedy. Don Ameche as a shoe repairman persuaded to take the rap for a Mafia murder. Joe Mantegna is the henchman assigned to look after him ahead of the trial. They go to Lake Tahoe, where Ameche is mistaken for a Mafia don...
You must be logged on to see media items

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) 9/10
A bunch of salesmen struggle to make sales against a looming deadline. Brilliant ensemble piece.
You must be logged on to see media items




Short Cuts has really held up - tremendous film. In his commentary for Glengarry Glen Ross, Jack Lemmon says that the longest take of his career was in Short Cuts. Nine minutes. In final edit it was intercut with other shots, but Altman wanted Lemmon to do his monologue unbroken.
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Absolute madness that you can't get it on Blu Ray or streaming in this country
 
Drexl said:
Backrooms (2026)

It does a brilliant job of creating anxiety. The concept is excellent. Some genuinely creepy moments which are more rooted in the style of Kiyoshi Kurosawa than traditional jump scare horror. It leaves you with more questions than answers.

7/10
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Just watched it

It is very very good and very original. If you have worked behind the scenes in a big shopping complex you will recognise the strange, windowless architecture, the spaces which make no sense, the improbable shifts of level, and the unexpected christmas trees.

But there is so much more going on. Queasy, anxious, disturbing. Might watch it again tomorrow
 
Over your dead body (2026). Seem to remember the original was ok-ish? This is a pile of excrement. Samara Weaving opened her mouth a few times in the first ten minutes to massacre a British accent and perform like a woman whose father got her into the industry. Turned it off. -10 out of 10.
Lankester Merrin said:
Just watched it

It is very very good and very original. If you have worked behind the scenes in a big shopping complex you will recognise the strange, windowless architecture, the spaces which make no sense, the improbable shifts of level, and the unexpected christmas trees.

But there is so much more going on. Queasy, anxious, disturbing. Might watch it again tomorrow
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Your reviews are spot on so looking forward to seeing this. Have you seen Obsession as that is getting good reviews?
 
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Hot Cars (1956)

John Bromfield is an honest used car salesman, and it costs him his job. A competitor is impressed, so offers him a position. Turns out that he’s an outlet for stolen motors that have been given the chop shop treatment. Bromfield wants to resist, but his baby son is ill, so he reluctantly agrees to go along with it.

Low key crime film with a very brief runtime. Enjoyed it. No frills and straight to the point.

Joi Lansing also stars.

6/10
 
Obsession - 10/10

Feel like it’s been ages since a great horror movie has come out. Or one that is genuinely unsettling and unnerving anyways, which touches on real life issues which add to the horror brilliantly. Also some good comedy in it as well, very self aware of what it is.

For a film that was only made for $1M too, it absolutely blows these utter garbage horrors that are coming out the past 20 or so years with big budgets. Inde Navarrette fully deserves to be nominated for an Oscar, best performance in a horror since Toni Collette in Hereditary/Florence Pugh in Midsommar.

Blumhouse struck gold getting attached after the film was made like because they’re renowned for having pretty rubbish horrors with their name attached. Fully deserves the hype, also a brilliant homage to Pulse (Kairo) - 2001 with two scenes.
 
Down Three Dark Streets (1954)

Broderick Crawford is handed three cases and asked to find a connection to the killing of an agent. Ruth Roman is one of the cases - she is being blackmailed.

Curious procedural which is oddly satisfying to watch.

6.5/10
 
Calpricorn said:
Obsession - 10/10

Feel like it’s been ages since a great horror movie has come out. Or one that is genuinely unsettling and unnerving anyways, which touches on real life issues which add to the horror brilliantly. Also some good comedy in it as well, very self aware of what it is.

For a film that was only made for $1M too, it absolutely blows these utter garbage horrors that are coming out the past 20 or so years with big budgets. Inde Navarrette fully deserves to be nominated for an Oscar, best performance in a horror since Toni Collette in Hereditary/Florence Pugh in Midsommar.

Blumhouse struck gold getting attached after the film was made like because they’re renowned for having pretty rubbish horrors with their name attached. Fully deserves the hype, also a brilliant homage to Pulse (Kairo) - 2001 with two scenes.
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Keep meaning to drag myself out on a day off too see it but don't do it. Can't wait for Backrooms too!
 
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