It's Critter Time!

So the last film I watched was Bend It Like Beckham (2002), mainly because the UEFA Women's Euros is taking place right now and I saw Archie Panjabi was in the cast, who recently appeared in Doctor Who. It's about a teenage girl called Jess who really wants to play football professionally, but her Punjabi Sikh parents don't approve of her interests - her mother wants her to stay away from all those boys and grow up to be a respectable housewife, while her father is still hurt from how he was bullied out of his cricket club by racists and doesn't want the same to happen to Jess. While playing footie with the lads in the park, Jess meets a tomgirl called Jules (played by Keira Knightley, just a heartbeat away from appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean), who encourages Jess to try out for her local team, even though her parents would forbid her. Besides, Jess' older sister is getting married soon and they're too stressed about the upcoming wedding to notice Jess sneaking off to play football...

Here's the thing, though: there is a very strong queer subtext in this film, to the extent that fans have speculated about whether it was originally going to end with the main protagonists starting a relationship with each other. Jess and Jules have significantly more chemistry with each other than they do with the coach they're both crushing on and there's scenes where they're gazing at each other or holding hands. Jules herself gets mistaken for a boy by other characters or a lesbian by her nitwit of a mother. There's a minor character who reveals to Jess that he's in the closet but can't tell his Indian parents and it's impossible not to draw parallels with Jess' own situation. Even Keira Knightley and director Gurinder Chadha have said in interviews that they would have loved to have made a sequel where the leads actually did get together.

It really is a groundbreaking British intersectional coming-of-age film and you don't even have to be a huge football fan to enjoy it.

Okay I entirely disregarded this based on the title anyway but I might have to watch it now that i hear what its actually like?

Beancatte wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 12:21 am Okay I entirely disregarded this based on the title anyway but I might have to watch it now that i hear what its actually like?

Yeah, David Beckham gets mentioned, but he's barely relevant to the story beyond the fact Jess thinks he's a legend (and her parents don't). The title's about how Jess and Jules bend the rules, bend society's expectations, and bend their parents' expectations. (Incidentally, it's on ITVX right now if you want a convenient way of watching it for free)

ichor wrote: Tue Jul 15, 2025 8:50 am on an absolute technicality my diary tells me it's either this Sabrina the Comic short from Eric Schwartz (pretty neat), or a movie-length watch of season 2 of Tim Heidecker's "Decker" (an unending nightmare).

God, Eric Schwartz is an enigma. On one hand, he really did push indie digital animation forward and is a huge foundational pillar of early furry art/animation generally. On the other hand, that Sabrina short is basically “Duck Amuck But Worse.” I ultimately find it extremely charming, but mostly in a “let’s toss this on at a room party and let the warmth of earnest Amiga animation wash over the space”

Also HELL YEAH DECKER — I’m so excited for you to get further into On Cinema, I’m on my second watch-through with my roommate and the sheer scope of the strange little universe they’ve built makes me feel nauseous

The last two movies I saw were:

Friendship, the Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd movie. One of the funniest movies I've ever seen, oh my god. For 2 weeks afterwards, every like 30 minutes I would remember something hilarious from it.

The Amateur, the Rami Malek action movie. This movie has some cool stuff in it, but the pacing is agonizingly slow and that, unfortunately, means it's not as good as I want it to be.

Most recent proper movie I watched was a rewatch of Force Awakens on a whim w/ a friend. Pretty enjoyable, classic Star Wars fun, though the knowledge that a lot of the threads it sets up don't end up paying off is disappointing :/

Setting aside rewatches, the most recent new movie I watched would probably be Dune pt. 2? It and part 1 are both excellent, would highly recommend Absolutely love the visual design work, and the fact that some shots are filmed in infrared blows my mind

Currently, almost at the end of Bunraku, this certainly has been a stylistic trip and has been an absolute blast so far. It's got Gackt AND Ron Perlman.

Lolo De Puzlo wrote: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:33 am
Currently, almost at the end of Bunraku, this certainly has been a stylistic trip and has been an absolute blast so far. It's got Gackt AND Ron Perlman.

I was just talking about how good this movie was in another thread in this forum lol.

Anyway the movie I watched most recently is Ballerina: From the World of John Wick. Amazing action.

Last movie was Speedracer (2008).

Oh my god, the movie is one hell of a sugar rush visually. They really tried to get the anime stylization to translate into a live-action CGI style, but they honestly pulled it off in my opinion! It was visual overload at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly and started to appreciate all the fun stuff they did with the scene transitions and vfx. Its honestly impressive that it can still live up to the standards of today, I think.

High Plains Drifter (1973)



Starts off pretty rough ||(one of the first scenes is the main character sexually assaulting someone)||, but after you're past the first third of the movie and more of the backstory and plot become clear, it gets rather interesting. It's a bit of an unconventional Western, but it's also a very typical Clint Eastwood movie, with all the usual good and bad that comes with it.

Overall enjoyed it, just needs a while to get going.

Enbyeon wrote: Sat Jul 19, 2025 11:03 pm High Plains Drifter (1973)



Starts off pretty rough ||(one of the first scenes is the main character sexually assaulting someone)||, but after you're past the first third of the movie and more of the backstory and plot become clear, it gets rather interesting. It's a bit of an unconventional Western, but it's also a very typical Clint Eastwood movie, with all the usual good and bad that comes with it.

Overall enjoyed it, just needs a while to get going.

This one's been really sitting with us, and I think a bit more knowledge of westerns would help us get it more. Like, it seems to be out to subvert a lot of the typical subject matter. But also, really uncomfortable at points!

Rewatched the original RoboCop again (in 4K UHD) and man, what a good movie. Aged like fine wine. No faffing about. Excellent practical effects. Could watch this every month and not get bored.

Conclave (2024)

Gosh, what an incredible movie. Conclave is a drama film about the Pope dying and the resulting frenzy to pick a new one. During the event known as the conclave, cardinals from across the world fly to Rome to vote on and be considered for the Pope. During this time they are sequestered, unable to access outside media until a new pope has a majority vote. However, the pope kept many secrets, some that threaten to shake the very fabric of the church. The movie is absolutely beautiful; every scene is tense and shot perfectly, and it somehow got me actually invested in a story about the Catholic church.

I got to watch it with our joyfriend during our first time seeing eachother in 4 years, also, so that definitely elevated the movie for me too :P

Got to catch this one when it hit theaters.



Another of Wes Anderson's period-piece comedies that uses a rarely seen approach of using a lot of carefully arranged sets made for panning shots, snappy movements and deliveries, and full of absurdities that kept me really engaged. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the film. I don't know if I consider it better than Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel, but I would be remiss to say it didn't come close. I might change my mind if I give both these movies another watch side by side. The writing for the characters alone was so much fun to follow.

Haven't been watching many movies lately, but I found time last weekend to watch the somewhat famous Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins. It's an unofficial Taiwanese film based on Dragon Ball (or more specifically an adaptation of the first DB anime film The Legend of Shenlong/The Curse of Blood Rubies), which I've known about for years but finally got curious about seeing thanks to some friends talking about it. It's a pretty fun film, the action's a good time in that old school martial arts film style, I was hugely tickled by the way Yamcha faints and runs away at super speeds whenever Blooma's nearby, and Master Roshi's a hoot whenever he's onscreen.

It's a bit weird how the stuff at Roshi's house plays out as an unbroken 25 minute sequence, which stops the brisk pace and globetrotting sense of adventure the movie had managed even if there's a lot of good stuff in that sequence, and it deffo means everything inbetween that and the final major action scene gets resolved very quickly. But I was quite taken in by the movie's charms, enough that I actually fist-pumped at the ending. I just wish I'd an easier time recommending a version of the thing to watch. Most versions I could find are based on the 2007 recut which added a bunch of funny bad CGI effects (including a notoriously skungy sequence shoved awkwardly into Goku and Yamcha's big fight), and while I managed to track down a copy of the original version on YouTube, an issue with the uploader's end made the sound go too off-sync for me to keep comfortably watching.

Still, I enjoyed my time with it and I kinda wanna watch some other martial arts films. Plus it was my first time watching a Taiwanese film, so that's always rad. : )

I watched RoboCop, rewatched Suspiria, and watched House(1977)

Robocop still holds up as a fun satire even if I think the pacing is a little rough, and Suspiria and House 100% fucking rock.

The Bad Guys 2

I thought the plot was a little silly. It is a step up from the first one in most ways, though. Sony Animation worked on it alongside Dreamworks, so it has a bit of their own magic in it that's quite nice to see.

You may want to rewatch the first one before seeing it, too.

Showed off Climax, House of 1000 Corpses, and Martyrs (original) to girlfriend recently.
It was a good time!

Beancatte wrote: Sun Jul 27, 2025 6:41 pm I watched RoboCop, rewatched Suspiria, and watched House(1977)

All 3 of those are 10/10

I really appreciate that both horror films here reach a point where even the furniture on set is like "ALRIGHT!! GET EM, BOYS!!"

I watched High Fidelity a couple of days ago and am still upset at how goddamn bad it was. Do not recommend unless you want to watch the worst kind of gatekeeping music snob act violently misogynistic by treating relationships with women like conquests and never actually learning why he’s a miserable person

Beancatte wrote: Sun Jul 27, 2025 6:41 pm House 100% fucking rocks.

Kung Fu is the baddest bitch in all of cinema. Hell yes.

Kung Fu is SO FUCKING cool.

If im allowed to talk House some more, I love how that film pairs this overly sentimental vibe with its increasing wildness. Great ass film.

Watched V for Vendetta last night. I think the movie was very good, but it is also strange watching it for the first time so long after its cultural impact with the Guy Fawkes mask.

Beancatte wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 10:05 am Kung Fu is SO FUCKING cool.

If im allowed to talk House some more, I love how that film pairs this overly sentimental vibe with its increasing wildness. Great ass film.

It’s achingly sincere!!! It’s fun but has a profound bitterness simmering just under the surface at the horror of war and its human costs portrayed through Auntie. It also just so happens to feature a piano that vores you

Faith wrote: Mon Aug 04, 2025 7:11 am

Beancatte wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 10:05 am If im allowed to talk House some more, I love how that film pairs this overly sentimental vibe with its increasing wildness. Great ass film.

It’s achingly sincere!!! It’s fun but has a profound bitterness simmering just under the surface at the horror of war and its human costs portrayed through Auntie. It also just so happens to feature a piano that vores you

House is absolutely my favourite psychedelic horror flick about abstracting the horrors of war and also piano-based vore

On topic: Checked out the 2001 flick The One last night, and...that was honestly nonsense. But it was also absolutely pure 2001 cheese. Fun if you want to watch Jet Li fight himself, maybe.