FilmFincher

January Scream Parallel Mothers Nightmare Alley Belfast Licorice Pizza February Jackass Forever Death on the Nile Uncharted Belle Dog March The Godfather The Batman - IMAX The Batman - IMAX X Ambulance The Lost City April The Worst Person in the World The Northman The Northman The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent May Everything Everywhere All At Once - IMAX Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - IMAX Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX June Men Happening Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX Jurassic World: Dominion The Black Phone Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX July Elvis Thor: Love and Thunder Top Gun: Maverick - 4DX August Bullet Train Nope - IMAX Nope - IMAX Beast Nope - IMAX September E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - IMAX Three Thousand Years of Longing Casino Royale Bodies Bodies Bodies See How They Run Jaws - IMAX Avatar - 3D HFR October Smile The Woman King Halloween Ends Black Adam The Banshees of Inisherin The Thing (1982) November Barbarian Black Panther: Wakanda Forever The Menu Bones and All Total: 55

I loved Bones and All, it's exactly what you want from a Luca Guadagnino road trip movie that happens to feature cannibals. A very tender (pun intended) film about living in a lonely world. Great score as well. Even though they don't quite fit in the box, Bones and All and The Menu cap off a banner year for horror cinema. Truly one of the best.

Saturday evening at the BFI IMAX all booked! It's the earliest we can all squeeze in this 3-hour behemoth. It's gonna feel like a long wait to watch it even though it's just a day later.

A lot of great things in that Cameron GQ article. So it looks like even him and the studio are looking at this thing to do $2B+ to be a success. I was a little bit worried that Cameron's older age and self-described 'mellowing out' would make him less of a perfectionist but I think this article puts that to rest.

I saw Black Panther: Wakanda Forever last night and have a lot of complicated feelings about it. I appreciate that I could walk out of this film and have actual thoughts rather than “Yeah that was fun” and moving on with my life. Coogler was trying his hardest to make this so much more than your typical Marvel movie. My audiences reaction to it really made me uncomfortable in a way I wasn’t expecting, especially the credits scene. There’s a way in which Marvel have been training their audience to watch their films. And I think Wakanda Forever often butts heads with that by having actual scenes with real human connection and confronting reasonably complicated ideas/morals while also trying to do the Marvel thing. It’s at war with itself and it doesn’t help that the film doesn’t have a clear central character for it’s first two acts which makes it feel scattershot and unfocused. It’s really forced me to take a look at what I want/need from these movies. I wanted the Ryan Coogler movie that was hiding in there. My audience didn't want that and I'm fairly sure that's how we got to Russo’s Tiki-Tok Hercules.

I reckon they have a carefully chosen date for it going up as part of the lead up to The Way of Water.

What's a realistic multiplier for this? I mean it's gonna be a $100M+ opener, is now a franchise property, and the state of cinema-going is very different. We just got Top Gun: Maverick which blew all expectations out of the water for this kind of thing and that was without Christmas legs as well. The Way of Water has literally no competition and basically free reign as well. I'm having a hard time judging where it falls. It's gotta have at least Force Awakens legs right? You don't get more anticipated than that and I don't see Avatar opening as big which gives it room to grow. I'm stealing this table (under spoiler tag) from a reddit post I found when looking this up of $100M + openers sorted by multiplier. Note - Some of these multipliers are inflated because it's only using Friday-Sunday gross as the opening statistic.

You left off it's truly iconic appearance in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

That's a higher shutter speed you're seeing, which is not abnormal and gives a jittery/stuttery feeling by eliminating motion blur. Often used in action sequences in other films, you'd crank it up just a little for a fight scene or something. But you are correct that it could be a result of HFR scenes because if you shoot HFR you should accordingly increase the shutter speed as well to avoid too much motion blurring (some previous HFR films have failed to do this in some spots).

Avatar Quaritch crushing his own human skull is pretty metal

OCTOBER It’s the spooky season! So a lot of horror. Movies Current Releases The Banshees of Inisherin - 8/10 - I preferred In Bruges but this is still one of the films you should check out this year. I thought Kerry Condon was particularly mesmerising. The Woman King - 8/10 Smile - 8/10 - Brings an air of reverence back to what usually turns into a trashy teen horror movie. It does go how you expect, a bit of It Follows meets The Ring but it’s properly refined in it’s technique. Rosaline - 7/10 - Very cute, Kaitlyn Dever is star. Put her in more stuff Hollywood. Wendell & Wild - 7/10 Black Adam - 4/10 - Mind-numbing, poorly edited and The Rock is at his least charismatic. Brosnan and some of the JSA stuff was neat but this is as generic as you get. The Invitation (2022) - 3/10 Halloween Ends - 3/10 Grimcutty - 2/10 - Watched this because it had a big old practical entity in the trailer. There’s a weird focus on ASMR and Youtubing as part of the main character’s journey that I found more disturbing than any of the actual scares in the film. Older Releases Some Like It Hot - 10/10 - A constant barrage of laugh out loud moments. Truly timeless. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - 10/10 - Has anyone explored what revenge means better in cinema than Park Chan-Wook. Memories of Murder - 10/10 The Blues Brothers - 9/10 - The repeating Carrie Fisher gag killed me, and what an ending. Trick ‘r Treat - 8/10 - So playful and fun. Great practical effects as well. Little Shop of Horrors - 8/10 The Meaning of Life - 8/10 - The most Gilliam-esque of the Python films, reminded me more of Brazil! than anything else. The Empty Man - 8/10 - A killer opening prologue that might be some of the best modern horror content you’ll ever see. The Brood - 8/10 - Cronenberg's Marriage Story. The House of the Devil - 8/10 John Carpenter’s Vampires - 7/10 The Crazies (1973) - 7/10 Creep (2014) - 6/10 - Logic falls apart in the last half in a frustrating way but a creepy central performance from Mark Duplass make it worth watching. Without a Paddle - 5/10 Friday the 13th (2009) - 3/10 Gamera: Guardian of the Universe - 6/10 Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion - 7/10 Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris - 8/10 I have no nostalgia for Gamera like I do with Godzilla but this series won me over as it went. All of them are of a significantly higher quality than a majority of Godzilla films. The performances are stronger, production is great, characters repeat across the trilogy which creates a real connection and sense of continuity. Each one sets up a mystery to uncover that’s genuinely intriguing. They largely feel set in the real world (outside of an anime style subplot in 3) and there’s an effort to shoot the monsters in a more grounded way that does it’s best to avoid devolving into two guys in suits wrestling each other awkwardly. Baahubali: The Beginning - 7/10 Baahubali 2: The Conclusion - 8/10 At first ending the first Baahubali with a flashback to characters we don’t know as well seemed like an odd choice, only there to give us a big battle scene. Little did I know this would end up being the most compelling part of the story. The whole thing is a historical/fantastical epic with Game of Thrones levels of betrayal and manipulation while also being an unashamed 80’s style action film culminating in two shirtless hulking men duking it out. What more could you want. TV Andor - 9/10 House of the Dragon - 8/10 - Some stellar dragon action in that final episode, the season lost me a little in the middle but once the time jumps settled down again I was back in. The Rings of Power - 8/10 - Puts out positive, hopeful vibes that I’m into. Cabinet of Curiosities - 8/10 The Midnight Club - 8/10 - A sincere, heartfelt meditation on death and living your life. Stronger when it’s not trying to be scary and unfortunately sets up an unnecessary second season. Werewolf By Night - 7/10 She Hulk - 7/10

January Scream Parallel Mothers Nightmare Alley Belfast Licorice Pizza February Jackass Forever Death on the Nile Uncharted Belle Dog March The Godfather The Batman - IMAX The Batman - IMAX X Ambulance The Lost City April The Worst Person in the World The Northman The Northman The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent May Everything Everywhere All At Once - IMAX Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - IMAX Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX June Men Happening Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX Jurassic World: Dominion The Black Phone Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX July Elvis Thor: Love and Thunder Top Gun: Maverick - 4DX August Bullet Train Nope - IMAX Nope - IMAX Beast Nope - IMAX September E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - IMAX Three Thousand Years of Longing Casino Royale Bodies Bodies Bodies See How They Run Jaws - IMAX Avatar - 3D HFR October Smile The Woman King Halloween Ends Black Adam The Banshees of Inisherin The Thing (1982) Total: 51

Man this was a riot. Absolutely unabashed raucous horror fun and it's so playful with audience expectations. I loved it, what an experience.

I'm 4 episodes in so far and enjoying it, it's a little overwritten at times but I'm a sucker for short horror stories and there's a nice variation to them. The David Prior episode is my favourite so far though, I just watched The Empty Man a few weeks ago as well. Looking forward to the rest of the episodes.

Yeah, just got back from 'The Thing' and was a surprising turnout for a re-release. Also wonderful to see it on the big screen. Will be seeing Barbarian tomorrow night which has been plopped on the smallest screen (which is fair since it didn't look it was selling that many seats over the weekend). I would have thought Prey for the Devil would have attracted the teen horror crowd looking for Halloween scares though.

This is the exact direction I wanted them to take. Someone Creed left behind in his past before getting taken in. That and the LA setting/lack of Rocky make this a proper standalone Creed film. Maybe we'll find it's lacking something because of that but I'm excited by the prospect. I think Major's gonna kill it as well. Big Tom Hardy energy.

I very much enjoyed my time with this show. A few quibbles and some awkward moments scattered throughout for sure. But it was cinematic, I liked all the storylines and was happy with the pace. Galadriel is amazing and I live for the Durin/Elrond friendship. It's hopeful and wears it's heart on it's sleeve in a way that reminds me what I love from the movies. The long wait for season 2 is the only thing annoying me at the moment.

I second all of these. I just watched Vampires for the first time earlier this week and had a really fun time with it.

This might be the worst thing I've gone to see in theatres in a while. I appreciate Green being able to take a big swing and there's some nice ideas but the film is unbelievably messy. It's trying to do so much and undercooks all of it. 70% of the film I was just going "What the bloody hell am I watching". It's more Christine than Halloween. Take '18 as the resolution to this particular venture and forget the other two happened.

The first season is perfection. You can feel Joy and Nolan spent years thinking about the construction of it, everything is so thoughtful. It's kind of diminishing returns from there, even with big gaps to work on it between seasons it's never as tight or surprising as that first season. Personally I thought season 2 was fantastic and as good a follow up season you could expect. It also might have the two best episodes in the entire show. Season 3 feels rushed and the ideas aren't fleshed out enough. It feels like they got their episode count cut at the last minute. The production is still great but this is the weakest season and the writing is noticeably sloppier. Season 4 was a big improvement on 3, it loses it's way towards the end but I was happy with it overall. What's good about Westworld is the seasons are pretty self enclosed plot wise. So you can get off the ride at the end of any season and most of the goals that season will be wrapped up.

I struggled with the same thing with that first one but I never quite got over the hill where it all clicked. Watching it in the middle of the day probably didn't help! I've been thinking of giving it another shot recently.

The shopping mall finale is absolutely outstanding!

The Jackie Chan Watch Recently I caught up on a lot of Jackie Chan films. The man is truly a master of action cinema so it was about time. Quickly I realised how little I’d actually seen. With the only Hong Kong films I’d been exposed to being First Strike and Who Am I airing on Channel 4 which now only exist as vague childhood memories. Initially I wasn’t going out my way to cover a huge chunk of Jackie’s filmography, checking out the few that were available on streaming. But after getting hooked, I ultimately committed to purchasing a good chunk of them which had really loving and faithful remasters/releases from Eureka and 88 Films. They’ve really made me a stickler for seeing some of these films in the best way possible. My white whale is Drunken Master II which doesn’t seem to have a decent UK release; at least for the original Hong Kong cut. My personal standouts were the unofficial Three Dragons Trilogy (think Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy) which is made up by Project A, Wheels on Meals, and Dragons Forever. The common element across these films are that they star childhood friends Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Sammo Hung in the leading roles, all of whom have electric chemistry together. Especially amazing is the final fight between Jackie and Benny ’The Jet’ Urquidez in Wheels on Meals, possibly one of the greatest one-on-one fights put to celluloid. The comedy and martial arts are really at their finest in this set of films. The other standout was the Police Story Trilogy, basically Jackie Chan's answer to western 80’s cop action films. The safety of that structure allows the plot and stakes to have greater importance than some of the more comedic/slapstick heavy Jackie Chan films (Don’t worry there’s still some hilarity to be found). Police Story 3: Supercop was my personal favourite and features some of the best action and stunt work you’ll ever see. It’s got the biggest variation in set pieces (branching out from largely martial arts focused action), the final act alone has cars, motorcycles, trains, helicopters all taking part. It puts most Hollywood films to shame in terms of sheer spectacle. You’ve also got Michelle Yeoh going stunt-for-stunt against Jackie, and absolutely stealing the show. A Jackie Chan film is a pretty sure bet of a guaranteed good time. I’ve found that even in some of the lesser Jackie Chan films the action is always pushing itself to be more inventive. You get refined, big-budget versions of gags found in his earlier work and entirely new ones as well. You can see how much work him and his team are putting in to give the audience the most entertaining film experience possible. My current ranking of all Jackie Chan films I’ve seen: Amazing Police Story 3: Supercop Wheels on Meals Police Story Dragons Forever Project A Great Rush Hour Armour of God II: Operation Condor Drunken Master Project A Part II Very Good Crime Story Shanghai Noon Police Story 2 Rush Hour 2 Miracles: The Canton Godfather Mr. Nice Guy Decent Shanghai Knights Armour of God The Foreigner The Fearless Hyena Meh City Hunter Rush Hour 3 The Karate Kid Stay Clear Around the World in 80 Days The Protector Hopefully some titles get better releases in the future and I’ll have a mini-run of Drunken Master II, Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike, and Who Am I? But for now I’m pretty happy with the journey I’ve taken.

SEPTEMBER Movies Current Releases Bodies Bodies Bodies - 7/10 - Very funny throughout, not quite as horror focused as I would have liked. Ends on an amazing note. See How They Run - 7/10 - Charming, especially Saoirse Ronan. It’s a film that does exactly what it says on the tin; nothing more, nothing less. Three Thousand Years of Longing - 7/10 - Pretty amazing and magical for the first two acts, becomes muddled in the final one. If it stuck the landing might have been on my favourites of the year. Pinocchio - 4/10 - Absolutely lifeless, Zemeckis has lost all energy as a storyteller. Older Releases The General - 10/10 - Filmmaking, visual storytelling and stunt work at it’s finest. Malcolm X - 9/10 - A straight up epic, Denzel is mesmerising Dark Water (2002) - 8/10 - Very emotional, especially the ending. A precursor to films like The Babadook. Hocus Pocus - 7/10 Halloween H20 - 7/10 - One of the better Halloween films and I could happily take this as a finale for the franchise, let’s see if this new one can top it. Dead Silence - 5/10 The Great Wall - 4/10 TV Andor - 9/10 - Impeccably written within an inch of it’s life, and has just as strong visuals to go along with it. House of the Dragon - 8/10 - Continues to deliver, I am finding myself wishing for more scope, not just to the story as a whole but also the locations. The Rings of Power - 8/10 - Very much sold on this show. I love the world, the visuals and Galadriel. Playing guess the Sauron every week is fun. All or Nothing: Arsenal - 7/10 - Good inside look, I am finding myself pretty aware of the formula as I watch and wanting something more. She Hulk - 7/10 - Another fun Marvel show, this one has an edge of understanding it’s a TV show and not a 6 hour movie. I've also been catching up on a lot of Jackie Chan films lately which I'll share my thoughts on when I reach the end of my run.

January Scream Parallel Mothers Nightmare Alley Belfast Licorice Pizza February Jackass Forever Death on the Nile Uncharted Belle Dog March The Godfather The Batman - IMAX The Batman - IMAX X Ambulance The Lost City April The Worst Person in the World The Northman The Northman The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent May Everything Everywhere All At Once - IMAX Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - IMAX Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX June Men Happening Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX Jurassic World: Dominion The Black Phone Top Gun: Maverick - IMAX July Elvis Thor: Love and Thunder Top Gun: Maverick - 4DX August Bullet Train Nope - IMAX Nope - IMAX Beast Nope - IMAX September E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - IMAX Three Thousand Years of Longing Casino Royale Bodies Bodies Bodies See How They Run Jaws - IMAX Avatar - 3D HFR Total: 45