Film

[Carnage]

That takes me back. All crap from 4 on, but the first 3 had their moments.

[Sworntothecans]

Police Academy 1-4 are solid gold, once Mahoney fecked off in a balloon the rest of the movies suffered. Check out the behind the scenes documentary about the franchise (should be on YouTube), it's a great watch, cast all genuinely got along and had the craic.

There was a terrible remake pitch/script a few years ago but thankfully Warners abandoned it.

[jpm4]

The second Academy film is actually pretty good, love Zed and Sweetchuck

[StoutAndAle]

'Clerks' is definitely a 'you had to be there' sort of a movie, it hasn't aged well obviously. I watched it recently and didn't find it funny or engaging whereas when I was 19 it was the dog's bollocks. The whole '90s 'slacker' schtick.  Of all the Smith movies that I would watch now it would probably be 'Chasing Amy' or 'Dogma'. Having said that 'Clerks 2' wasn't bad at all but the third one was awful, could have been so much better. Bizarrely enough, I still have a soft spot for 'Mallrats' which was almost universally hated at the time.

Christ - I still love "Mallrats". I even bought one of the Brodie t-shirts when I went to Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in New Jersey.

I still think that "Clerks" is great, it blew me away back in 1995/96 (whenever it came out on Artificial Eye video) - I watched it again only a few months ago - but at this stage I guess that it's like a well worn pair of boots - pure comfort even with all the creases and faults. I read a review of it in Empire magazine and ordered it from the "Mr Benson's Video Emporium" sheet in the back of the same magazine. This was before the internet so one could only go on reviews etc. There wasn't much info on Smith or his film and so it was a bit odd that, about a week after I saw "Clerks", "Mallrats" was on Sky Movies one night when I got back from work.

The stand out thing from "Mallrats" (besides Jeremy London's so-bad-it's-almost-perfomance-art acting) is the butchering job in the edit. I've seen the deleted scenes though and apart from filling a few plot holes - it's a better movie in its original theatrical form. Haven't stuck on the DVD in a while - gonna do that this weekend.

"Chasing Amy" is probably Kevin Smith's masterpiece (even though I prefer "Clerks") but it's as close as Smith will probably ever come to a perfect indie movie in terms of tonal balance/acting/writing. It played in an arthouse cinema in Cork for a week or two so I got to see all three films in a relatively short amount of time.

"Dogma" is still very enjoyable. Fell into it about 15 mins in when I was flipping channels in a hotel recently. Watched it to the end.

I didn't mind the "Clerks" sequels. Found myself getting emotional at the end of the third one - think it was cos I watched it on my own with a few cans. And I had dust in my eye. 

"Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" is probably atrocious now but I thought that it was hilarious at the time.

Snoogans. 

[leatherface]

Jason Lee is quite the actor for a non actor, he was a professional skateboarder prior to all the Smith movies if I am correct.

[Sworntothecans]

Jason Lee is quite the actor for a non actor, he was a professional skateboarder prior to all the Smith movies if I am correct.

Yeah. And a Scientologist when he was making My Name Is Earl along with a bunch of the cast and did the whole "Suppressive Person" gimmick on his wife. Apparently he's out of the cult now.

[StoutAndAle]

"Above The Rim" - if a film is set in a US inner-city area and features 80s/90s (pre-R&B) rap/hip hop then it's usually going to be worth a watch. Throw in basketball and you're coasting towards a solid 3/5 watch before the opening credits are done.

Never seen this one before though I'm sure my brother had it on video way back when. It's really enjoyable with some great basketball scenes (forgiving that fact it's obvious that they're playing with rims at 9 foot height max!), the soundtrack is great and it moves along fast enough to forgive some ropey performances.

When I messaged my brother to say I was gonna watch this film last night he told me it's part of a trilogy starting with "New Jack City", "Sugar Hill" and finally "Above The Rim".

Never seen "Sugar Hill" so I'm going to seek it out. Also realised that I don't think that I've seen "Menace II Society" or, if I have, I don't remember it at all.

[Ollkiller]

'Clerks' is definitely a 'you had to be there' sort of a movie, it hasn't aged well obviously. I watched it recently and didn't find it funny or engaging whereas when I was 19 it was the dog's bollocks. The whole '90s 'slacker' schtick.  Of all the Smith movies that I would watch now it would probably be 'Chasing Amy' or 'Dogma'. Having said that 'Clerks 2' wasn't bad at all but the third one was awful, could have been so much better. Bizarrely enough, I still have a soft spot for 'Mallrats' which was almost universally hated at the time.

Christ - I still love "Mallrats". I even bought one of the Brodie t-shirts when I went to Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in New Jersey.

I still think that "Clerks" is great, it blew me away back in 1995/96 (whenever it came out on Artificial Eye video) - I watched it again only a few months ago - but at this stage I guess that it's like a well worn pair of boots - pure comfort even with all the creases and faults. I read a review of it in Empire magazine and ordered it from the "Mr Benson's Video Emporium" sheet in the back of the same magazine. This was before the internet so one could only go on reviews etc. There wasn't much info on Smith or his film and so it was a bit odd that, about a week after I saw "Clerks", "Mallrats" was on Sky Movies one night when I got back from work.

The stand out thing from "Mallrats" (besides Jeremy London's so-bad-it's-almost-perfomance-art acting) is the butchering job in the edit. I've seen the deleted scenes though and apart from filling a few plot holes - it's a better movie in its original theatrical form. Haven't stuck on the DVD in a while - gonna do that this weekend.

"Chasing Amy" is probably Kevin Smith's masterpiece (even though I prefer "Clerks") but it's as close as Smith will probably ever come to a perfect indie movie in terms of tonal balance/acting/writing. It played in an arthouse cinema in Cork for a week or two so I got to see all three films in a relatively short amount of time.

"Dogma" is still very enjoyable. Fell into it about 15 mins in when I was flipping channels in a hotel recently. Watched it to the end.

I didn't mind the "Clerks" sequels. Found myself getting emotional at the end of the third one - think it was cos I watched it on my own with a few cans. And I had dust in my eye. 

"Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" is probably atrocious now but I thought that it was hilarious at the time.

Snoogans. 

We watched Jay and silent bob pissed a few weeks ago. It was hilarious tbh. Childish as hell but good crack. Agreed on the end of clerks 3. First half of that film wasn't great but second half was cool.

Remember seeing clerks when it came out on video. Fucking loved it and still do. The contractor piece about the death star is a work of genius. Just a fantastic film. Really liked chasing Amy too.

[Sworntothecans]

"Above The Rim" - if a film is set in a US inner-city area and features 80s/90s (pre-R&B) rap/hip hop then it's usually going to be worth a watch. Throw in basketball and you're coasting towards a solid 3/5 watch before the opening credits are done.

Never seen this one before though I'm sure my brother had it on video way back when. It's really enjoyable with some great basketball scenes (forgiving that fact it's obvious that they're playing with rims at 9 foot height max!), the soundtrack is great and it moves along fast enough to forgive some ropey performances.

When I messaged my brother to say I was gonna watch this film last night he told me it's part of a trilogy starting with "New Jack City", "Sugar Hill" and finally "Above The Rim".

Never seen "Sugar Hill" so I'm going to seek it out. Also realised that I don't think that I've seen "Menace II Society" or, if I have, I don't remember it at all.

They aren't a trilogy, just that Hollywood saw money in the hood.

Sugar Hill was pretty good from what I remember.

New Jack City is deadly and Menace II Society is excellent. Great soundtrack too. I've Above The Rim on a hard drive somewhere must dig it out.

[open face surgery]

Psycho
Hadn't seen it since I was a kid. Great movie. Prefer the other Hitchcock movies I watched last year.

Hitchcock
Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock around the time of making Psycho. A fluff piece really but worked nicely after watching the original.


Manhunter
Saw Red Dragon but never saw the original. Enjoyed it
 
The House of the Devil
More Ti West and coincidentally had Tom Noonan from Manhunter in it. Don't think I ever saw him in anything before and then twice within a few days. Enjoyed this as well although it takes a good while to get going. The ending would suggest a sequel but also good if there isn't.

[StoutAndAle]

They aren't a trilogy, just that Hollywood saw money in the hood.

Sugar Hill was pretty good from what I remember.

New Jack City is deadly and Menace II Society is excellent. Great soundtrack too. I've Above The Rim on a hard drive somewhere must dig it out.

Apparently the guy who wrote "New Jack City/Sugar Hill/Above The Rim" calls them his "Harlem Trilogy". Doesn't seem to be any connection between them really - other than the locale.

I re-watched "New Jack City" for the first time in 20-odd years recently. It's still good - not as good as "King Of New York" though.

I also watched "Juice" a few weeks ago - like "Above The Rim" it's another solid film with a great Tupac performance and is probably a better film overall.
 

[Mooncat]

Watched a fucking mental anime called Wicked City. I'm sure a bunch of people on here have seen it already, but it was new to me. About some cops essentially that guard the human world from the demon world. Clearly very inspired by The Thing, and a lot of the demon transformation moments and fights were awesome.

It's also some nerd's wet dream though    I don't think there's a single female character in it who doesn't get nude and/or fucked. Pretty much softcore hentai in parts.

Overall though loved the style of it, that neon cityscape thing. The fight in the airfield at the start with the plane taking off in the background was pretty epic, and some of the characters (spider lady!) were super creative. I'm not an anime guy, I've probably seen less than 10, but that's got me in the mood to check out a few more.

[Sworntothecans]

Watched a fucking mental anime called Wicked City. I'm sure a bunch of people on here have seen it already, but it was new to me. About some cops essentially that guard the human world from the demon world. Clearly very inspired by The Thing, and a lot of the demon transformation moments and fights were awesome.

It's also some nerd's wet dream though    I don't think there's a single female character in it who doesn't get nude and/or fucked. Pretty much softcore hentai in parts.

Overall though loved the style of it, that neon cityscape thing. The fight in the airfield at the start with the plane taking off in the background was pretty epic, and some of the characters (spider lady!) were super creative. I'm not an anime guy, I've probably seen less than 10, but that's got me in the mood to check out a few more.

It's one of the classics for sure. Recall Channel 4 showing it in the late 90s when they had a Manga Films season and it was all the 18 cert stuff.

[Carnage]

Going to see Star Wars on the big screen for the first time tonight. I could probably quote the dialogue from start to finish at this stage but I can't fucking wait*. The Empire Strikes Back next week and Return Of The Jedi the week after. Hooray!


*Just a shame that it'll be a remastered/'special edition' version and not the original, but it's better than nothing.

[Mooncat]

Going to see Star Wars on the big screen for the first time tonight. I could probably quote the dialogue from start to finish at this stage but I can't fucking wait*. The Empire Strikes Back next week and Return Of The Jedi the week after. Hooray!


*Just a shame that it'll be a remastered/'special edition' version and not the original, but it's better than nothing.

I remember they did the first remaster and re-release of them in the late 90s and getting to see them all in the cinema as a teenager. Holy fuck it was amazing. The scene with the two suns on Tattooine, all of Hoth, the Luke/Vader lightsaber fight, absolutely epic on the big screen. Enjoy!