Skip to content

wackojackosessentialviewing

Or Ramblings On Cinema By A Peculiar Individual

Primary Navigation

  • I’m Thinking Of Ending Things: Netflix’s spooky & cerebral wtf-fest
  • Tenet: Nolan’s most ambitious and nutty epic yet
  • Sputnik: Political corruption and violent aliens in 1980s Russia
  • Unhinged: It’s a B-Movie ‘Duel’ on amphetamines
  • Waiting For The Barbarians: Imperialist with a conscience vs. evil Johnny Depp
  • The Silencing: Kingslayer can’t save weird and lethargic backwoods thriller
  • The Rental: Voyeurism thriller is no masterpiece, but it definitely has chops
  • Palm Springs: Warm & fuzzy, super-smart, batshit time loop romance.
  • The Old Guard: Highlander meets John Wick in mad new Netflix romp
  • The Outpost: Scott Eastwood leads the charge in super-compelling war drama
  • Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga: Why make a great satire when cheap laughs do the trick?
  • Force Of Nature: Bizarre film centred around hurricanes, armed robbery & a deranged Mel Gibson
  • Da 5 Bloods: Spike Lee is truly back in the saddle
  • Becky: The most annoying film of the year
  • The Vast Of Night: Spooky sci-fi mystery mostly gets it right
  • Survive The Night: Breaking into your own house would be more fun than dull home invasion thriller
  • Capone: Tom Hardy mobster biopic is just…weird.
  • Valley Girl: Want a cure for your enjoyment of life? Watch this film
  • Cuck: Millennial Taxi Driver clone is the best unintentional comedy in years
  • Extraction: Video game energy and great performances make first-rate popcorn
  • Fantasy Island: Hilariously awful reboot is a puzzle for all the wrong reasons
  • The Invisible Man: One hour of solid writing and terror, the rest? Nonsense
  • Bloodshot: 1hr 49 mins of dogshit
  • Vivarium: Insanely creepy new suburban horror is timely to a disturbing degree
  • The Hunt: Dreadful new Trump-era satire misses every mark
  • Calm With Horses: Very brutal, very poignant and very Irish crime drama
  • Escape From Pretoria: Radcliffe prison thriller is solid, if somewhat by-the-numbers
  • Superman: Red Son: Finally, one of the more interesting comic narratives comes to the screen
  • The Call Of The Wild: The Ballad Of Harrison Ford & The Paycheck Film
  • Dolittle: No
  • Parasite: Funny, emotive and disturbing satire dissects class in a manner unrivalled
  • Waves: Extremely moving and suspenseful drama is surely this year’s biggest Oscar snub
  • Queen & Slim: 70s-style road movie + topical social commentary = tender, offbeat magic
  • Cats: It isn’t ‘Meow-vellous’. It’s horrendous shite
  • Uncut Gems: Adam Sandler masterpiece is bad news for viewers with high blood pressure
  • Jumanji: The Next Level: Funny, sweet, clever, nuttier than squirrel turds
  • The Lighthouse: Wacky Wanking Wickies Of New England
  • The Rise Of Skywalker: Thoroughly enjoyable bit of nonsense
  • Blue Story: Well-crafted and painful tale about the pointlessness of gang violence
  • Knives Out: Wry Agatha Christie pastiche delivers tenfold
  • The Irishman: Scorcese’s powerful love letter to several wonderful careers
  • Judy & Punch: Weird 17th century comedy-thriller punches above its weight
  • Gemini Man: Will Smith must be stopped
  • Luce: Unsettling new race-relations drama is sure to inspire blunt debate
  • Doctor Sleep: The oddball sequel to Kubrick’s classic
  • Dark Fate: An ambitious sequel that just about cuts it.

Social Navigation

  • Killer Joe (2011): The black comedy that proved what McConaughey was made of
  • Hyena (2014): Why the dearth of British corrupt cop movies?
  • Baskin (2015): The Turkish horror masterpiece you need to see
  • Sweet Sixteen (2002): Painfully coming of age in Scottish gangland
  • State Of Grace (1990): Scuzzy Irish hoodlums duke it out in Hell’s Kitchen
  • Duel (1971): Almost 50 years later, still one of the scariest movies ever made
  • The Firm (1989): Master portrait of the mind of a football hooligan
  • Mr In-Between (2001): Bizarre hitman drama takes a grim view of love & loyalty
  • See The Sea (1997): The terrifying Neo-Hitchcock you don’t know about
  • Cold In July (2014): The 21st Century’s most underrated 80s throwback?
  • Penda’s Fen (1974): You’ll never see British society dissected quite like this
  • Judgment Night (1993): A woefully underrated slice of popcorn absurdity
  • Top 10 Real-Life Psychos Who Need A Biopic
  • My Dinner With Andre (1981): The most moving film I’ve ever seen
  • Made In Britain (1982): The angriest young man ever shat out of Old Blighty
  • Cutter’s Way (1981): The most original murder mystery/social critique you’ll ever see
  • In Broad Daylight: The crazy case of a small-town tyrant’s unsolved murder
  • U Turn (1997): Sean Penn’s wild weekend with the weirdos
  • The Missouri Breaks (1976): Brando & Nicholson’s bizarre Western epic
  • The Internecine Project (1974): Quietly disturbing espionage thriller is a knockout
  • Red White & Blue (2010): The most f***ed-up abduction-and-revenge movie ever
  • You Were Never Really Here (2017): Joaquin Phoenix’s greatest performance
  • Deep Cover (1992): The best cop movie you never saw
  • Something Wild (1986): Quirky romance, cross-country crime & violent psychopaths
  • Pieta (2012): Devastating oedipal gangster masterpiece
  • The Sting (1973): The most charming, thrilling and intelligent buddy film in history
  • The Seven-Five (2014): Stylish, funny and terrifying documentary about N.Y.C’s ‘most corrupt cop ever’
  • Dogman (2018): Mutts, Maniacs & Mayhem All’Italiana
  • A Woman Under The Influence (1974): The most important film about marriage ever made
  • Scars (2006): Astonishing Jason Isaacs docudrama captivates and nauseates
  • Top 10 Crappy Films That I Still Kinda Like, Sort Of
  • The Boys (1998): Terrifying tale of working-class ex-con and his brothers
  • Southern Comfort (1981): My favourite war film of all time
  • Blue Collar (1978): The greatest film ever made about fighting the system
  • Rise Of The Footsoldier franchise: Please, stop making these pieces of dogshit
  • Black Mass (2015): Johnny Depp acts bollocks off in surprisingly excellent mob saga
  • Sea Of Love (1989): Al Pacino’s Brilliant & Bizarre Romantic Adventure
  • This Is Not A Love Song (2002): Bleak chase thriller significantly blurs moral lines
  • Straight Time (1978): Dustin Hoffman struggles to conform in unsung character masterpiece
  • Walking Too Fast: The Lives Of Others meets Taxi Driver in the best film you’ve never seen
  • Top Ten Scumbags In Film: Part 2
  • Top Ten Scumbags In Film: Part 1
  • A Prophet (2009): France’s bitter antidote to Shawshank
  • Nightcrawler (2014): The hero we needed and deserved.
  • At Close Range: Disturbing 80’s gem that needs more love
  • Top 10 Reels For Those Halloween Feels
  • Falling Down, nearly 30 years later: Does it still have anything to say?
  • Joker: Super stuff, but a game changer? Not especially
  • 2014’s Spring and the undervalued Romantic Horror sub-genre
  • Bad Timing & Simon Killer: Knackered Yank Sociopaths Abroad
  • INTERNAL AFFAIRS (1990)
  • HATED: GG ALLIN & THE MURDER JUNKIES (1993)
  • WHIPLASH (2014)
  • OUT OF THE FURNACE (2014)
  • BLUE VELVET (1986)
  • A Reintroduction – The Wire (2002 – 2008) Because why not shows as well?
  • ONE FALSE MOVE (1992) – Underrated film of the week
  • RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER (2007)
  • TAXI DRIVER (1976)
  • STORMY MONDAY (1988)
  • NEAR DARK (1987)
  • TRUE ROMANCE (1993)
  • THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU’RE DEAD (1995)
  • PRIME CUT (1972)
  • THIEF (1981)

Society (1989): Hilariously insane horror provides the most entertaining class commentary ever

Brian Yuzna is a seminal force when it comes to imaginative popcorn horror. Famously beginning his career as the producer … Continue reading Society (1989): Hilariously insane horror provides the most entertaining class commentary ever

The Owners: Ludicrous & tepid burglar horror is essentially pointless

Maisie Williams has engaged in a fair amount of branching out since her breakthrough role as Arya Stark in Game … Continue reading The Owners: Ludicrous & tepid burglar horror is essentially pointless

Locke (2013): Tom Hardy’s greatest performance lies in this minimalist tour-de-force

Good old Tom Hardy. Since his breakthrough performance twelve years ago in Bronson, the Hammersmith native has compelled audiences with … Continue reading Locke (2013): Tom Hardy’s greatest performance lies in this minimalist tour-de-force

I’m Thinking Of Ending Things: Netflix’s spooky & cerebral wtf-fest

”I’m thinking of ending things”. These are the oft-repeated sequence of words in the interior monologue of Jessie Buckley’s Young … Continue reading I’m Thinking Of Ending Things: Netflix’s spooky & cerebral wtf-fest

Killer Joe (2011): The black comedy that proved what McConaughey was made of

I’ve always been fond of Matthew McConaughey. Before his unfortunate typecasting in insipid romantic comedies throughout the 2000s, he had … Continue reading Killer Joe (2011): The black comedy that proved what McConaughey was made of

Tenet: Nolan’s most ambitious and nutty epic yet

I sauntered along to the cinema for my second post-lockdown viewing last Thursday evening, having been graced with the splendid … Continue reading Tenet: Nolan’s most ambitious and nutty epic yet

Hyena (2014): Why the dearth of British corrupt cop movies?

One of my favourite themes in crime cinema is police corruption. The notion of members of society’s frontline safeguard being … Continue reading Hyena (2014): Why the dearth of British corrupt cop movies?

Sputnik: Political corruption and violent aliens in 1980s Russia

Who doesn’t love a good slice of the old sci-fi horror? From Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking 1979 inaugural entry to the Alien franchise, The … Continue reading Sputnik: Political corruption and violent aliens in 1980s Russia

Baskin (2015): The Turkish horror masterpiece you need to see

I love horror films. If you follow my blog it certainly isn’t apparent, as I tend to get a little … Continue reading Baskin (2015): The Turkish horror masterpiece you need to see

Unhinged: It’s a B-Movie ‘Duel’ on amphetamines

After 5 mind-numbingly horrible months, I found myself back in a cinema again this afternoon. I’m not being churlish of … Continue reading Unhinged: It’s a B-Movie ‘Duel’ on amphetamines

Posts navigation

Older posts
Newer posts
Blog at WordPress.com.
wackojackosessentialviewing
Blog at WordPress.com.
Cancel