Rocky (1976)

With the upcoming biopic I Play Rocky due out soon and this film celebrating its 50th Anniversary, it was a great opportunity to see this iconic film.  Weirdly when the BBFC title card appeared it says it was a 12A for 'moderate violence, domestic abuse and mouthed strong language' or strong language as it seems more logical to phrase it. That aside, it was going to be great to see this great film on the big screen. 

The story is a classic underdog story. Stallone plays the titular Rocky who is having boxing matches at his local club when he is invited by Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) to a title match after his original opponent pulled out just weeks before the match. 

Sylvester Stallone is very good as Rocky. It is very hard now to imagine anyone playing the role because he needs to be a convincing underdog and Stallone knows exactly how to pitch it which given that he was the writer of the screenplay makes sense. Talia Shire is also very good as Adrian. She starts off as quite a quiet and shy person but in a very short period of time. I like the dynamic between Stallone and Shire and thing that comes to the heart of the film. The thing about Rocky is that he knows that it's unlikely that he will beat Apollo but he just wants to last the 15 rounds which no one else has done. I think that this is a great bit of motivation and another reason why Rocky is so likeable.

Carl Weathers is great as Apollo Creed. He is the confident antagonist to Rocky. He dresses smart, has tons of confidence and doesn't take Rocky too serious as an opponent. Even during the match, Rocky's entrance is lowkey and Creed shows he is quite the showman. It's hard to totally hate on Paulie (Burt Young). Yes he is horrible to Adrian but like most people who try and bully women or people that don't or won't stand up for themselves is because of insecurity. Paulie is a flawed person and is played perfectly well by Young although Young's best performance comes in Rocky IV. 

As much as many people seem to like Mickey (Burgess Meredith), I have always found it quite hard to like him. He is not very nice to Rocky and is only slightly nice to him once the match is announced. When Rocky is shouting and Mickey can him all the way down the stairs, I thought it was perfectly reasonable. 

Stallone has written a great screenplay. There are some great lines such as "eat lightning, crap thunder'. There is apparently a blooper with the banner of Rocky at the match and Stallone works it into the screenplay like it was planned. I think it wasn't until a couple of years ago that I learnt about the blooper.  The score is great by Bill Conti. It's not the best Conti would do (that would be Masters of the Universe). The theme tune is iconic and the music during the match builds up well until the end of the match. Definitely worth buying if you can. 

I like the fact that Rocky doesn't win the championship because that isn't really what the film is about. The match itself is a slow burner and it's never really referenced that the title is on the line so we can be more focused on the fact that Rocky made it to the end of the match. I think if Rocky had won the championship in this film then it wouldn't have quite had the same effect that it did. 

Rocky is a very good film. It's arguably the best film in the series although  4 is my personal favourite, it's got a great screenplay and is directed very well by John G. Avildsen. The performances were all great with no weak links and it was easy to see why it won Best Picture at the Oscars. It does make me look forward to I Play Rocky and it will be interesting to see whether the two will work as a double feature.

Godzilla Minus Zero (2026)

After really enjoying Godzilla Minus One, we get the highly anticipated sequel which takes place two years after the previous movie. The film follows Shikishima and his wife Noriko along with her daughter Akiko. The new threat starts off as gelatinous blob that by consuming local wildlife turns into a new form and gets given the name Ghidorah. After failing to kill it and once they realise that Godzilla is in fact alive, they decide to let Ghidorah and Godzilla take each other out and hope that the surviving one is weak enough to get picked off by the Japanese. 

Ryunosuke Kamiki is ok as Shikishima. He doesn't have as much presence as he did in the previous film and it's only his connection to Noriko and Akiko that made his involvement have some meaning. Minami Hamabe is the stranger of the two as Noriko. One of the things that bothered me in the last film was that she seemingly died and when it was revealed that she had survived, all she had was a bandage over her eye and not a single scratch which seemed unlikely. That lack of cuts actually forms part of the plot because we learn about the fact that she has some of Godzilla cell would normally be totally ridiculous but in this film it works perfectly fine. I thought that Min Tanaka gave the best performance in this film as Kanji Murakami. He has the most substance to his character because he has some sort of PTSD from the terrible things he saw in the war including family members burnt to death.

I thought that the score from Naoki Sato. There are the classic Godzilla moments but the rest of the score is great to point which I actually thought it was better than the score from The Odyssey. That's a bad one by any means but this one was magical. I also thought that special effects were great. Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Takayuki Ueki and Eisin Okubo all did an outstanding job to make the effects look great, there were a couple of slightly iffy shots but for the most part every effect including the looks of Ghidorah and Godzilla were epic. 

Ghidorah's evolution in the film is rather good. He starts off with just one head and after the epic action scene, he grows two more heads to become the Ghidorah that we all recognise and the effect is very good. He is the main threat and he is an impressive villain to go against Godzilla. When Ghidorah first appears in 1964, the fights never looked entirely convincing because it looked like two people in costumes on a giant set. In this film with the improvement in effects 62 years later are much more awesome to watch. 

One thing that I wasn't expecting was the portrayal of the Americans as the baddies. They are prepared to give the Japanese the planes but won't give them the pilots. There is also the belief that they will weaponise Resonance wave technology and it's quite satisfying when the house has been set on fire. The last time we see Murakami is when he is being arrested by the Americans which suggests that there might be another appearance of him in a future film cause that is quite a downbeat way to end his fantastic involvement in the story.

The only minor issues I have with the film is that it takes a little longer to get into top gear. I was never bored but felt that Godzilla needed to get involved for things to start building up to something. Also there was a lack of Godzilla that always bothers me. It's about an hour before he appears properly but then he starts to fight Ghidorah then I momentarily forgot until writing this review. 

This film isn't as good as Minus One but that was sort of to be expected given how good that film was. It still pretty damn good. I had very high expectations and they were still met which shows how good this film is. I don't think we need another one in this period. The film does end with Shikishima, Noriko and Akiko riding off into the sunset so it's possible that we might get one several years from now. I think we are getting a sequel to Shin Godzilla which is something I am looking forward to because the Toho Godzilla films are better than the Hollywood ones and there is nothing anyone can say to change my mind.

Wild Horse Nine (2026)

Wild Horse Nine was another mystery screening at my local cinema and it was one that I really wanted to see so it was a nice surprise. I really like Martin McDonagh as a director, the only film of his I didn't like was Seven Psychopaths and had I seen The Banshees of Inisherin at the cinema then it would have been my film of 2022. This film follows McDonagh's previous films like In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin and sees two people who have a small conflict between them and they are in an unfamiliar setting.

With this being a mystery screening there were a couple of walkouts within about 3 minutes of the film starting which is about the second quickest walkout after Exit 8. I was planning on seeing this so there was no way that I was going to be For those who gave it a chance they would have seen that the film was about Sam Rockwell (Lee) and John Malkovich (Chris) who visit Easter Island with Lee tasked with finding out where Chris' rifle is that its alleged was used in the assassination of JFK. Lee has other problems with his wife and kids being held captive by Steve Buscemi's MJ to make sure that Lee gets the answer that MJ wants. There is a flashback scene where Lee is instructed by Chris to end Chris' life when the word Arkansas is used and this brings us to the saddest scene in the movie where after a great use of his sniper, Chris is killed by Lee and Lee goes into the distance just as the film ends. I will be honest that despite this film being just short of two hours, I could have done with a bit more. I enjoyed the performances from Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich and thought that their prickly dynamic made it interesting as is up there with Padraic and Colm in The Banshees of Inisherin and Ray and Ken in 'In Bruges'.

Steve Buscemi might only have a couple of scenes in the movie but being brilliant he makes the most of it and there is a running joke about him being a drug addict and when Chris is told that MJ is actually a drug addict he is surprised as he was only joking. Parker Posey has a rather small role as the wife of Lee but with this being a McDonagh character she is a lot more interesting because she 

The plot is relatively straightforward but like in all of McDonagh's stuff it is more about the characters and the black humour that makes the films work.

This film is nowhere near as good as The Banshees of Inisherin but it's typical McDonagh and that is still pretty damn good. I wasn't expecting this film to be better than Inisherin but I still had high hopes for it and they were met quite early on. It's a great script with a lot of humour (especially from Malkovich) and the supporting cast are all really good and I don't think I could name someone who let the side down. The setting of Easter Island was great because it looks stunning and was well used by McDonagh. It looked so good that it makes me want to actually visit the island but sadly I doubt I ever will. If you are a fan of his other work then you will like this film. Great stuff.

Primetime (2026)

Primetime was a film that seem to have gained some notoriety because the guy that the film is based on wasn't happy with how he was portrayed and decided to take out ads to seemingly discourage people from seeing the film. I do like the fact that he was confident to think that people would be rushing to see this film. This film is based on Chris Hansen who in the film is about to launch his show 'To Catch a Predator' and because it is being put up against a little known show called Lost, he decides that he needs a big 'fish' to beat Lost in the ratings. Also he is trying to stop news about his extra marital affairs from getting out (which might be the thing that Hansen is annoyed about maybe???). 

I got slightly excited when I realised Alex Winter was in it. I think because the film was so I thought that the film desperately needed some more strong performances. There is nothing wrong with this film because it's well acted with Robert Pattinson leading. I haven't seen a whole lot of the real Chris Hansen so I don't know how accurate the performance is but I just got the feeling that this was an impression instead of a performance. It's not the best performance from Pattinson this year but it's the one that he seems to be proud of the most. I thought that Skyler Gisondo was very good as Dan Plum who is hired to be an actor in the house with the 'predator' but because he slept in and was late to the house he wasn't prepared when he turned round to the guy who had dropped his trousers and was holding a can of whipped cream.

The ultimate problem with the film is that it feels very surface level. It was about the hour mark that I was wondering what exactly they were building up to. Then they decided to drop in the whole pervy politician because Hansen decided they needed something big because of a scene from Lost. It almost made me want to watch Lost again but then I remembered who downhill it goes after about the third season. They have spent so much time trying to make it feel authentic that they forgot they were making a film and trying to add some depth. The whole of the third act felt rushed to me and after Alex Winter's character killed himself, the film just ends with a mumbling VoiceOver.

Primetime is ok but it does feel like a missed opportunity. It's worth seeing because of Robert Pattinson and Skyler Gisondo but I think it is something that will be watched by most people when it arrives on streaming. I really think that they should have spent a bit more time on the screenplay because the whole infidelity subplot never goes anywhere on screen (the news seems to be broken by his wife on the phone). A bit more attention and I think this would have been a much better film.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

With Pan's Labyrinth celebrating its 20th Anniversary, I thought this was a great opportunity to visit this film on the big screen. I was surprised that this was a very well attended for a 7pm film on a cold Sunday night. Unlike when I saw Casino Royale, I didn't see this film when it came out because it wasn't the sort of film I would like but thankfully my film tastes have improved in the two decades since and I was more than happy to buy a ticket for this film. The film takes place in 1944 where 10 year old Ofelia and her pregnant mother are on their way to live with her new step-father but in an attempt to escape from her new reality, she enters a dreamlike world.

Guillermo del Toro is a master at creating bleak scenarios but still have enough humanity and warmth to make the films accessible. For close to two hours the film flips between the grimness of Captain Vidal and his harsh treatment of anyone that displeases him to the magical craziness of all the creatures and its great that after 20 years, the special effects still hold up. All the sets look amazing and usually filming in woods is quite a boring experience but del Toro makes them interesting.

The performances are all really good. Ivana Baquero is great as Ofelia. She is a rare example of a child actor that is actually good. Nowadays it is fairly common for this to be the case but in 2006 it was still a rare thing. You feel sorry for her because she is being forced to call a horrible man father even though her real father died in the war and she loses her mother. It is nice that Ofelia gets her nice ending even though she dies in the 'real' world. Sergi Lopez is a great as Captain Vidal. He is totally horrible and every time he is on screen I just found myself really disliking him with great intensity. When Mercedes cuts his cheek, I was cheering but disappointed when it wasn't the end. This is how to write a good strong villain.

Maribel Verdu as Mercedes is the mother figure that Carmen can't be because she is heavily pregnant. She is trying to kill Vidal and so she has some interesting moments in the film. She has some personal motivation to kill Vidal and yet she remains connected to Ofelia. It was lovely performance from Verdu. Despite being a monster, Dave Jones played Pale Man brilliantly. I would have liked more from the Pale Man as it is so iconic and is such a great creation. Thankfully he gets more screen time with Fauno and that is a better performance and it the design is brilliant and has aged perfectly in the last 20 years.

Credit has to go to Guillermo Navarro for the cinematography of this film. The film is a very dark film both literally and metaphorically and despite it being dark I could see what was going on which isn't the case with a lot of dark looking movies made today. The one scene where there is some colour I found myself relieved that we had some colour and its looked stunning as well. Javier Navarrete has made a stunning score for this film and made me want to buy it.  The only thing that wasn't great was the idea of screening this in 3D. It added nothing like in all 3D releases and as I am someone who usually wears glasses, it is always annoying to wear two sets of glasses. That gripe aside, Pan's Labyrinth is a beautiful looking film with a great central performance from Ivana Baquero and a story that is well written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. 

Scream 2 (1997)

After the success of the first one, it was inevitable that there would be a sequel which seemed to come out about 15 minutes after the first. The opening scene is quite good as a film based on the events of the first film has been made called Stab and I honestly don't know how we haven't had a Stab film or limited series. It is funny that Jada Pinkett Smith is only in this opening scene and yet she is on the poster. This is one of the few scenes that I can remember from the Scary Movie film (I think the first one, although I only saw the first two). Like Drew Barrymore, Sarah Michelle Gellar plays the famous actress in a slasher film for about 10 minutes and like Barrymore, Gellar’s involvement is perfectly fine and ends in a horrific death. 

David Arquette comes across even sadder in this film that he did in the previous film. When Dewey gets stabbed and is seemingly killed, it's apparently due to the scar tissue that he somehow managed to survive. This is apparently the same scar tissue that didn't save him in whatever Scream film he ends up being killed in. Liev Schreiber plays Cotton who is the one accused of killing Sidney’s mom but is released and is sort of in the background wanting a big tv interview to start his road to redemption and gets his redemption when he shoots Debbie. For some reason I found it hard to believe that Jerry O’Connell is a college student. I don't know how old he was in 1997 but even then he looked too old and doesn't really 

Laurie Metcalfe is good as Debbie Salt. I loved how Sidney recognised who she was even though Gail didn't and the get around was that Debbie had some work done. It doesn't explain how Gail didn't even click that there was something familiar with her. Timothy Olyphant like Jerry O’Connell looked a little bit too old for a college student but gets away with it and gives the sort of performance that Olyphant is known for. 

Also like the first film, this film is almost too smart for its own good. The discussion about sequels and when they list sequels that are better than the original The Godfather gets brought up and as well as Terminator 2 and Aliens but when Empire Strikes Back gets mentioned it is immediately dismissed as being part of a trilogy even though at this point in time Aliens was part of a trilogy and so was The Godfather Part 2 but thats a minor geeky gripe. The references to movies apart from this scene don't seem quite as wink wink as they were in the previous film. 

The twist like the first film is ok. The fact that one of the people involved were related to people from the first was somewhat predictable but I suppose it was inevitable. The first half of the film did feel like a bit of a slow burner which I doubt was intended. Once the action starts then the film picks up but it doesn't fall into that category which they talk about in the film of being sequel that is superior to the first. It's not terrible but its just ok.

Scream (1996)

Back in 2025 (or last year if you are reading this in 2026), my local cinema did a four film marathon which I thought was great. This year they have done a Scream double bill which is fine but it would have been nice to have a four film marathon. It’s fair to say that Scream did reinvent the genre that it was parodying. The opening scene sets up the film with Drew Barrymore ended up being the first victim of the film. It was a great scene that was tense and also very dramatic.

The film is very 90s which might be a stupid thing to say but it has somehow managed to age well. I think people of a certain age will have to be told what a video store is and why they were so busy. The film follows Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) who in the last year lost her mom who was murdered and when the murders start, the media circus comes into town and one of those people are Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox).

The twist that Billy (Skeet Ulrich) killed Sydney’s Mom because she was dating Billy's dad which forced his mom to leave was a good enough motive. It's easy to say now but it was clear that there was something not right about him because he just looks like a psycho. The film does a great job of throwing in red herrings to try and throw us of the sent.

It's always funny seeing Henry Winkler in this film as Himbry because it is such a different type of performance than what he was known for. Being a bit nuts only for him to be killed so soon was obviously the classic red herring but I just thought they could have strung it out a bit longer.

Neve Campbell is quite good as Sydney. She is the right sort of leading lady as she is a strong character but still has the flaws that make her character interesting in this sort of film. Courtney Cox was at the peak of her stardom with Friends only starting a couple of years earlier. The arrogant news reporter who wrote stories on Sydney’s mom cause the needed. Inflict between the two but by the end she has become a nicer person.

David Arquette is good as Dewey although he is never treated as a serious person. He is what constitutes the leading man but he is more of a supporting role to Sydney. He gets a romantic subplot with Gail and it is always going to be amusing that he and Courtney Cox ended up married. Matthew Lillard is funny. There is a reference about the blood used matching what was used on Carrie and then Lillard appears with the TV show Carrie having just been released. Once it's revealed that he is involved in the killings, his performance is somewhat over the top. Somehow Lillard manages to pull it off and it works in this film.

Jamie Lee Curtis is only in this film cause they show bit of Halloween but she is mentioned so many times that it felt like she was in the film and this leads me to the main issue is that the film does come across by today’s standards as a bit to clever for its own good. All the rules and references were ok but it does come dangerously close to be annoying. If your making a film and you are in on the joke then you have to be careful not to be too up yourself.

The film is an 18 which for a film that is 30 years old surprised me but I suppose how much knife crime is an issue in society the 18 certificate is perhaps justified. I also forgot how much blood there is. It isn’t an excessively gory film but there is enough blood that you get your moneys worth. Overall I enjoyed this film. Despite being dated by the 90's fashion and attitudes, the film gets away with it. I didn’t see it at the time but  many years later. It’s an important film in the horror genre but I think if you want scarier films then there are pleny out there but this one should be watched and even when you know the twist it is still fun to watch.