Review Roundup - Catching Up

THE (SORT OF) 2017 CATCH UP -- PART 2

With most of the mainstream releases out of the way it's time to look at a few oddball features from the past year. So it's off to Netflix we go to take a look at what is out there on the fringes. It's been a strange year in which it feels like there have been more Stephen King adaptations than anything else but at the same time releases like Okja have appeared out of nowhere to even out the levels of weird. It has to be said, I'm pretty happy with that sort of mixture.

Super 70s Sunday - Highway to Hell

SORCERER (1977)

After a long wait William Friedkin's adaptation of The Wages of Fear finally got a restored release in 2017 so we can all enjoy its bleak diesel powered suspense in pristine condition. For one reason or another this is never discussed as often as The Exorcist or The French Connection, despite it being up there with his best features. Perhaps this is due to it being a remake, perhaps it's the title, or maybe the impact of a movie called Star Wars coming out at the same time is still being felt. Cinema was dead, and blockbusters were in. But make no mistake this is an edge of your seat thriller that mixes both the nail biting vehicular action of Popeye Doyle's hunt for drug runners with the disturbing existential dread of Father Karras battling the infernal. It deserved to be a hit then, and it needs to be seen today.

HCF Review - Watch the Skies

PHOENIX FORGOTTEN (2017)

While subjects like the supernatural and other horror staples have often been the subject of found footage movies, science fiction tens to crop up less frequently. I guess this is because it costs more, or maybe it’s a just less effective way of providing a quick and easy source of sinister camcorder atmosphere. When it does happen films like District 9 and Chronicle branch away from the horror genre, or cross into standard documentary visuals. Perhaps it’s just because getting scares from an inherently silly idea like UFO sightings just isn’t that simple.

 

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Review Roundup - Catching Up

THE (SORT OF) 2017 CATCH UP

It's that time once again, when the hangover begins to subside and the biting winter winds can be felt. An icy realisation sinks in... it's January again, yuck. I'm cold, penniless, and even worse I've watched a bunch of movies and forgotten to talk about them at all. New Year, New Memory Loss. There are a variety of things I wanted to write up and probably many more that I have yet to digest. It's never going to be as comprehensive as I would like, but that's often the way of things. There are always more to enjoy, endure or suffer through, but here are just a few.

Scorecard

DECEMBER

FILM OF THE MONTH Odd Couple (1979) ☆☆☆☆
Dunkirk (2017) ☆☆☆☆
The Villainess ☆☆☆☆
Project A ☆☆☆☆
Terminator 2 ☆☆☆☆
A Muppet Christmas Carol ☆☆☆☆
Batman (1989) ☆☆☆☆
Ben-Hur (1959) ☆☆☆☆
In Bruges ☆☆☆☆
Pinocchio (1940) ☆☆☆☆
Pumpinkhead ☆☆☆☆
Star Wars: The Last Jedi ☆☆☆☆
The Naked Gun ☆☆☆☆