Fourthy Talks Random Films & Stuff

[Marty McFourth]

Synopsis: Guy lives a seemingly peaceful life as a bank teller. However, an encounter with a pretty but mysterious woman makes him realise that he is a non-playable character in a massive online video game.

This is the most recent film I watched and I absolutely loved everything about it. I really enjoyed how much of it reminded me of The Truman Show. The plot was so much fun and executed perfectly. It's a really fun experience with lots of chaos, comedy and action. All of it done super well. The feel-good and more emotional moments geniunely pulled at my heart strings and made me smile. I loved the romantic parts in this, they felt so geniune of scenes and I was not expecting to tear up a little by the end. Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer had fantastic chemistry.

 

[Marty McFourth]

Synopsis: Jack Dwyer moves to Southeast Asia with his family and gets caught between a political uprising and riots aimed at foreign companies. However, he decides to face the situation for his family's safety.

This was a fantastic experience. The sound design and effects in particular are what I'd choose to highlight first, you really feel every blow, explosion and gunshot. It's certainly one of the more engaging and tense thrillers I have seen in a while. It has a great setting and build-up right from the start. The pacing was really perfect. Owen Wilson is an actor I often forget just how good he is, probably because I don't really associate him with too many serious roles. It is a terrifying situation to imagine yourself in and I really found myself putting myself in the shoes of the characters, it really does a good job making you connected with them in such a short amount of time.

Synopsis: In order to pay for a course, James takes up a job at an amusement Park. He meets Emily, a co-worker, and falls in love with her. But due to some circumstances and misunderstandings, they face issues.

Nice film with great 80's vibes and music. it makes you feel-good and tugs at the heart strings. It's a very well told coming-of-age story. If you enjoy films that feel like a throwback and make you nostalgic, then I think you'll really appreciate a lot of where this goes. This is one of those roles where Jesse Eisenberg really shines as an actor for me, he's perfectly casted here. HIs personality and mannersims just go so well with the character he's playing. Kristen Stewart also puts in a very good performance as well, one of her best by far and a character I really like. She shows a lot of personality in this.

 

[Marty McFourth]

1408 (2007)

Synopsis: A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. As he settles in, he confronts genuine terror.

Many, many rewatches of this film over the years and it never gets old. It's easily up there with the best Stephen King adaptations and is in my top favourite horror films. John Cusack puts in an absolutely terrific performance as his character Mike Enslin starts to unravel and lose his sanity. He dominates majority of the screen time and really carries the film to the heights that it manages to achieve. The pacing is perfect, couldn't be better. The scares are really effective. I've never been able to listen to The Carpenter's the same because of this film, their song 'We've Only Just Begun' really sets the tone well. The scenes with the radio switching on by itself are so eerie and so, so good.

House of Wax (2005)

Synopsis: A group of friends stranded on the way to a football match approach an abandoned wax museum for help. But the events that unfold find them running from the murderous brothers who manage the place.

I don't remember this film being kinda... good? Granted it isn't going to win any awards or wow you in any sort of way but it has aged far better than I expected and sets out what it wants to do as a slasher well. The premise is super fun for a horror film and it has some neat kills. Watching this again really made me appreciate the build-up at the start and how they stumble upon the museum. It sets a good, creepy vibe. The cast aren't half-bad either with their performances. With all that being said, I do tend to enjoy 2000's horror more than the average person and all the cheese that comes with that era.

Unbreakable (2000)

Synopsis: David, a security guard, survives a fatal train accident, only to be tracked down by a man named Elijah Price, who claims that David is blessed with superhuman abilities.

This could be arguably considered M. Night Shayamalan's greatest film. I tend to flip-flop between Unbreakable and Sixth Sense as my personal favourites. This is around the time in which he really found his groove as a director. It has such an excellent, intriuging story with a nice twist on superheroes. It realy pulls you in as a viewer and keeps you guessing about what happens next. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are both phenomenal, putting in some of the best performances of their careers. I always loved the way in which this film opens up, it has a great hook and scene that keeps you watching. It has aged extremely well visually and I'd highly recommend it to those who may have never seen it.

 

[Y2Jayne]

House of Wax aged remarkably well and is quite brutal, I still love Hilton's death.
My favourite Shyamalan movie is Signs I think.

 

[Marty McFourth]

Billy Elliot (2000)

Synopsis: Billy wants to be a professional ballet dancer. But when his father refuses to support his dream, he secretly goes to ballet classes. However, things change when his father sees him dancing.

Really unique coming-of-age film which I feel has aged exceptionally well. It's always one I feel that everybody can watch at least once and be touched by. The premise is wonderful. Jamie Bell is phenomenal in this film as Billy Elliot, he really put his all in to this role. It's one of the best performances I have seen from a young actor at the time. It's a beautifully told story, with fantastic direction from start to finish. The characters are great and all so well developed and are given time to grow. The performances feel real and geniune.

Disturbia (2007)

Synopsis: When a teenager is placed under house arrest, he succumbs to despair and starts spying on his neighbours, hoping to spice up his life. This, however, leads him to witness a serial killer on the loose.

Something about this film is just awesome to me. Like, it really doesn't do anything super original and the comparions to Rear Window are obviously fair, but it's just an addictive watch. To me, it has all the elements of what a thriller should have. Only with some nice comic relief thrown in there at times and a more energetic vibe with it being set around a group of teenagers. I just really like it. I love Rear Window, so when this dropped I was honestly so excited to see another film like it. I loved the concept a lot. Shia LaBeouf is great in this role and David Morse is plenty menacing. The pacing is honestly perfect and when it starts to ramp up in the tension department, it's really damn good. Some great twists and turns to keep your attention.

Red State (2011)

Synopsis: Three teenagers arrange a meeting with a woman. Soon they find themselves trapped in a fundamentalist Church dominated by a fundamentalist preacher, Cooper. Will the teenagers come out alive?

Good film and it was interesting to see Kevin Smith direct something that isn't comedy. He did a great job. This was way out of his comfort zone and you wouldn't notice it by watching the film, he understands what makes horror effective. There's so many scenes in this that make you feel uncomfortable and give you a ton of anxiety. I was thoroughly enthralled by it and really intrigued to see how all the craziness would end. The film just keeps giving with the shocks and twists. The premise is fantastic and it's well-built up by Smith throughout. Highly recommend giving it a watch. Michael Parks was excellent as the cult leader.

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

Synopsis: On their flight to Amsterdam, Harold and Kumar are mistaken for terrorists and are deported to Guantanamo Bay. A series of comedic incidents follow as they try to escape the harrowing place.

I would say that White Castle is the superior movie. It's better written and more consistently funny overall, but this is still a really good movie. If you like the characters, then you'll almost certainly enjoy it. There's plenty of laughs to be had. John Cho and Kal Penn are on top form once again. It's even crazier and more absurd than the previous movie with some of the situations they manage to find themselves in.

 

[Marty McFourth]

She's Out of My League (2010)

Synopsis: Kirk, a TSA agent, encounters Molly, a gorgeous woman, at the airport. In a turn of events, they fall in love but he knows that she is out of his league and must try his best to make it work.

Romcoms are quite an easy sell for me and I always found this movie to be a good time. It's charming, funny and has good characters. Sure the premise is a bit unrealistic and out there, but the cast really makes it a worthwhile watch if you're in to this genre at all. I love Alice Eve, and she's great in this movie. The whole cast has tons of chemistry, especially Jay Baruchel's character Kirk and his group of friends which have a great friendship. TJ Miller really shines. You also have names such as Krysten Ritter in it aswell, who's a really great actress. Very easy watching movie with plenty of funny, sweet scenes and quotable lines.

The Contractor (2022)

Synopsis: A discharged U.S. Special Forces sergeant, James Harper, risks everything for his family when he joins a private contracting organization.

Good action movie that felt very reminiscent of the Bourne franchise. Plenty suspensful in parts, with some good action scenes. The story, while cliched at times, works perfectly fine for this kind of premise. I don't really need anything mind-blowing when I watch something like this, I just want to be entertained. This definitely did a decent job capturing my attention and keeping it. I thought it was paced and structured well, I enjoyed the slow build-up at the start as they develop the core characters. Chris Pine carries it well with his leading performance. Kiefer Sutherland is great too, I'm always glad to see him pop up in anything. Fun watch, and I'd actually watch it again too down the line at some point.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Synopsis: Shikishima, now on a personal mission, teams up with a large group of veterans to finally take down the monster known as Godzilla.

Was surprised to see this is available on Netflix now. One word to describe this movie: Epic. It's an absolutely visual feast with superb direction. The effects are so impressive and it's so exciting and fun to watch. If you're a fan of Godzilla, it is highly worth your time.

 

[Marty McFourth]

Click (2006)

Synopsis: A workaholic architect discovers a universal remote that permits him to fast-forward and rewind to diverse portions of his life. Complexities emerge when the remote begins to override his preferences.

Great movie. The storyline in it always hits super hard, it's surprisingly very emotional for something that was billed as a fun family comedy. I love that you go in at first expecting just the usual Adam Sandler fare and for it to be goofy and mostly for laughs, where it does deliver in that regard. But the drama portions of it are really well-done, so much so that I don't really watch this to laugh anymore actually, I watch it for those moments that are able to move me emotionally and always make me tear up. Before Sandler blew me away in Uncut Gems, this was always the movie that I'd point towards people if they wanted to see one of his more impressive performances. He's so good in it.

Ghost Ship (2002)

Synopsis: A salvage crew discovers a long-lost passenger ship floating lifelessly in a region, and as the crew members try to tow it back, strange things occur. Soon, they discover that the ship is haunted.

Really couldn't remember this movie at all, I just remembered that I thought the opening scene itself was pretty cool back in the day. Watching it again, I was definitely reminded of why I loved the first 5-10 minutes so much. It's so grisly. The movie is pretty fun, albeit nothing groundbreaking and mostly just okay but it has a cool setting which helps to carry it throughout most of it. There's not many other horrors I can think of that are set on a haunted cruise ship, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Decent performances, good scares and some enjoyable music made this a fun watch for me.

Silent Hill (2006)

Synopsis: Rose and her daughter, Sharon, leave their house to go to Silent Hill. On their way Rose meets with an accident knocking her unconscious and when she awakes, Sharon is missing.

This was always one of those surprisingly great adaptations. Great cast with Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell. Normally I don't tend to expect a lot from movies based on games, but this actually got the tone and atmosphere of the games really right. The fog and ambience is pretty perfect. They do change up quite a bit in terms of story and characters, but I don't mind too much because I think the most important thing is the town itself and they get it right.

Scary Movie (2000)

Synopsis: A year after disposing of the body of a man they accidentally killed, a group of dumb teenagers are stalked by a bumbling serial killer.

Growing up, this was definitely one of those movies that used to make me laugh the most I'd say. I remember just having lines of it stuck in my head for months and just laughing to myself thinking about those scenes as a kid. Even now as an adult I still find a lot of the quotes to be really funny. Definitely one of my favourites when it comes to parody films, they did such a good job putting slashers in a funny, goofy light. I especially enjoy a lot of the slapstick comedy in this as I've always quite enjoyed that side of comedy a lot. It's a really good time and easy to shut your brain off whilst watching it.

 

[Marty McFourth]

Time Cut (2024)

I had a blast watching this, tbh. It's definitely got similar vibes to Totally Killer with the time-travel aspects playing in to the storyline and also it's very poppy and vibrant, it's a very easy watching slasher. I think I mostly loved this due to the sheer amount of nostalgia that's in it. Like if you grew up as a kid in the early 2000's, there's so much to love about the music in it. They did such a great job choosing the right songs for the era, I loved hearing artists like Ashanti, Avril Lavigne and Vanessa Carlton. It put a huge smile on my face. Using Olivia Rodrigo to mark the 2024 scenes was smart too and made a lot of sense. It's not perfect, but if you're looking fun a fun movie that doesn't take itself seriously I would at least give it a go and see what you think.

Sting (2024)

I liked this, it was a dope creature feature. Plus I hate spiders, so some scenes were bound to be pretty effective. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the storyline as I wasn't really expecting much from it. It was pretty enjoyable and well thought-out and the characters were fun. The apartment block setting during the snow storm was cool and the way the spider manages to get there was a great introduction. The main character was likeable and I enjoyed the young actress that plays her, she did a great job. It has a good blend between the horror and more dark comedy moments.