Rate the Last Film you Watched 2: Electric Boogaloo

[djw180 7,136]

Spiderhead (2022) dir Joseph Kosinksi

 

 

A fairly lame, not-very thrilling, sci-fi thriller set in the present day / near future, in a special prison, called Spiderhead. All the inmates have volunteered to be transferred here from various other prisons, on the condition that they agree to be test subjects for drugs developed by scientist / warder Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth). The main character is Jeff (Miles Teller), jailed for a drunk driving offence that killed his passenger. The prison is very low security with only a a few guards. Although they are in an isolated island location (I think a small Hawaiian Island) and unable to leave, within the prison they have a lot of freedom. There's no actual cells but rooms more like a basic hotel and they are free to go wherever they like within the prison, cook their own food, play video games etc. Also male and females inmates are free to mingle. Each day a couple of them take part in various tests. These are sort of psychological as the drugs, administered from an implant in their backs controlled by an app on Steve's phone, alter their moods, emotions and behaviour. One, for example, is meant to make people fall in love, another makes them find everything funny. Clearly, being a so called thriller, there is more to the drugs than the prisoners have been told, and something obviously goes wrong. I found the script to be quite poor. The thing that goes wrong was very predictable. Although you have allow for artistic license and recognise this is a work of fiction not real life, it's quite ridiculous to believe that Steve and his assistant did not foresee this might happen and take measures to prevent it. Jeff figures out some of what is really going on and it ends with him and fellow inmate Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett) making an escape bid. Here they are pursued by guards and other inmates in quite a comical fashion, I assume unintentionally. The acting is OK but it didn't call for anything special. It does have a good set (I'm guessing a real-life building rather than purpose built) which with the island landscape does allow for some decent cinematography. The soundtrack is nice too, a few songs that can be heard in various versions of GTA! But overall this is one I would say not to bother with, unless you really cannot find anything else on Netflix.

4 / 10

 

Infinity Pool (2023) dir Brandon Cronenburg

 

 

A psychological / sci-fi horror that I nearly didn't watch giving it's warning for extreme, graphic violence and gore. But I'm glad I did because although there are a couple of scenes that certainly warrant such a warning, most of the film is not like that. It stars Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth as somewhat spoilt, wealthy westerners on holiday in a fictitious tropical, island nation (I'm guessing meant to be somewhere like the Seychelles, Bali, etc.) with their respective partners. Although their resort seems great, it's fenced off from the rest of the island and outside the locals, obviously not at all wealthy, have some strange customs. James (Skarsgard) is a struggling author there with his very rich wife. Actress Gabi (Goth) and her architect husband have been here before and are part of a community of other such couples who spend some time each year on this island. Gabi gets to know to James telling him she is a fan of his one-and-only published novel. The two couples go on an unauthorised day-trip out of their resort and on their way back, at night, there's a car accident which they choose not to report, but that clearly leaves a local man injured or worse. Next day the police turn up and arrest James. I can't say too much more on what happens next without spoiling what is a very good, original plot. Lets just say their justice system has some strange and eerie aspects. But the authorities want the tourist dollars to keep flowing, so they allow wealthy visitors to buy their way out of a punishment, taking advantage of a macabre local tradition. This aspect is what makes the film a bit sci-fi / fantasy, and ultimately leads to the horror. James does take advantage of this but then find himself kind of trapped on the island whilst his wife leaves. Like I say, I found this a very interesting and original story. The two main actors are good; as I would expect from Mia Goth. It builds up the tension and horror gradually and has some good special effects. There's a very scary detective Thresh, a very sinister figure who comes across as being very friendly and sympathetic before he then turns on you. Don't be put off by the warnings for the graphic violence and s*x if that's not your sort of thing. There are just a couple of each. But be aware they will happen and be ready to look away / fast forward. This is the only film I have seen by Brandon Cronenburg, who also wrote the script, but based on this I would say he is clearly following in his father (David's) footsteps as talented sci-fi horror film maker.

 

8 / 10

 

 

Edited Sunday at 07:33 AM by djw180

[LimeGreenLegend 4,343]

@djw180 I've had Infinity Pool on my watchlist for a while now, your review just shot it up the running order.  Possessor is the only Brandon Cronenberg I've seen and I thought it was very good.  

What I Watched This Week #180 (June 9-15)

Predator: Killer of Killers

dir. Dan Trachtenberg/2025/1h25m 

The latest film in the Predator series is arguably, in my opinion, the best.  It is an animated anthology film made up of three stories set in distinct time periods - 9th century Scandinavia, 17th century Japan, and the skies of WWII - with a final act that ties them all together.  This is from the same director as the very good Prey, which saw a Native American hunter take on the alien, so he clearly likes these historical settings, and it works.  I can't think of many things more badass than a samurai taking on one of the unique Predators presented here.  But it's more than just cool action and gore - just because it's animated don't think there isn't plenty of that - each of the three protagonists is given emotional depth and a reason to fight and survive, they're not just opponents.  The animation style did take a while for me to get used to, but once I did there are some gorgeous shots to appreciate.  9/10 Lime's Film of the Week!

But I'm a Cheerleader

dir. Jamie Babbit/1999/1h25m 

Megan (Natasha Lyonne), a high school cheerleader, seems to be the only person who doesn't realise that she's a l*sbian, so her parents (indie film legends Bud Cort and Mink Stole) send her off to a "s*xual redirection" camp.  Though it plays hard with obvious stereotypes, this is still a rather nuanced and progressive film that has aged better than I was expecting.  I enjoyed Lyonne's performance, and found her obliviousness about her sexuality always funny, with her at the start assuming she's straight because that's "normal", she even has a boyfriend even though she hates kissing him.  This also stars RuPaul as one of the camp counsellors, Mike, who at one point utters the line "I myself was once a gay" with total seriousness.  If this isn't worth watching just for that then I don't know what to say.  7/10

100,000 Acres of Pine

dir. Jennifer Alice Wright/2020/8m 

This short animated horror stars Sarah Airriess as forest ranger Megan, whose brother Daniel disappeared in the forest years earlier.  As she sets out to understand what happened to him, the forest seems to turn against her.  I like the style here, with the characters being very expressive and the settings evocative, but it feels like it's trying to be Lynchian a bit too hard.  There are moments where it really nails that creeping sense of dread when you're deep in the woods, but not enough of them.  What is really impressive is that this is a student film, the first and only work from Alice Wright, and I hope she's working on something new right now because while this isn't brilliant there is a lot of promise.  6.5/10

Yesterday

dir. Danny Boyle/2019/1h56m 

I like The Beatles.  I like Danny Boyle.  I f*cking hated this.  Himesh Patel plays Jack Malik, a failed musician who's on the verge of giving it all up when something strange happens.  He is hit by a bus, and when he comes round he's the only person on the planet who can remember The Beatles, who now suddenly never existed.  Armed now with a back catalogue of the best songs ever written he becomes a global superstar but fame isn't all it's cracked up to blah blah blah blah.  The one bit of this I even remotely enjoyed was Ed Sheeran getting humiliated in an improvised song writing contest which he smugly thought he'd win.  He comes up with the usual Sheeran crap, then Malik casually busts out The Long and Winding Road.  This is the blandest film you could make with that premise, it does nothing, the characters are all characterless, Patel has absolutely no charisma as a lead, let alone the world's biggest superstar - he never would have made it even with The Beatles songs, he's just a wet flannel of a human being - and the John Lennon appearance at the end was just mawkish sh*t.  1/10

Rebel d*ykes 

dir. Harri Shanahan, Sian Williams/2021/1h22m 

This documentary focuses on the 1980s London culture of the in-your-face, unapologetic, radically political, sexually frank, loud, proud and self proclaimed rebel d*ykes.  That is an LGBTQ rights movement that didn't care about offending anyone, wasn't going to tone anything down, and lived life like they meant it.  While the format here is pretty standard, with talking-heads interviews with people who were there cut with archive footage, there are some things that give it flavour.  That mostly comes in the form of the animated segments, put together like an old school magazine which fits the aesthetic perfectly.  Even though this deals with things like the governments discriminatory laws of the time, the infighting from other groups like the anti-trans l*sbians and the moderate l*sbians who think that you can get equal rights by asking nicely for them, and the AIDS crisis, the overall tone and mood is one of celebration and community and joy in the face of oppression, often just to spite that oppression.  But despite being about such a radical subject, this film often plays it too safe.  If it took a few more risks, both in the structure of the film and in exploring some of the more contentious issues in more depth, this would be a little better.  It is still great though, with engaging subjects and a banger punk soundtrack.  8.5/10

Two short documentaries by Nic Wassell:

Agnes Varda: Filmmaker, Photographer, Instagrammer

2018/12m 

Visions, Dreams and Magic: The Unmade Films of Michael Powell

2024/41m

(no trailer for this so here's a montage celebrating some of the films that Powell did make) 

These two documentaries from Nic Wassell both look at legendary filmmakers in rather unique ways - one as a social media influencer, and one at the films they didn't make.  The first is an interview with the nearly ninety year old Varda as she explains how social media is the natural progression for her storytelling journey.  Her playfulness, which is always evident in her films, is on full display here.  The way she celebrates the way social media democratises art, making anyone able to create and tell stories, fills her with more energy than I've ever had.  The second documentary is longer and more scholarly in tone.  It looks at the films that Michael Powell, one of Britain's greatest ever filmmakers, couldn't make for one reason or another.  Although this is again made up of talking-heads interviews and archive footage, what makes this special is just who they're interviewing.  The main subject is Thelma Schoonmaker, Oscar winning editor who has cut every Scorsese film since Raging Bull.  She was also married to Powell from 1984 (after being introduced by Scorsese, who calls Powell's The Red Shoes his favourite film) until his death in 1990.  This means we get real, personal insight into Powell's process for choosing a project, how he developed it, and his reactions when they failed.  The length and depth of the interviews in the second film make it slightly better than the Varda interview, but not by much because she's so wonderful to listen to.  I'll give these both a 7/10

Edited 1 hour ago by LimeGreenLegend