Shame I have been looking forward yo this. 1 was excellent and 2 was better than I remembered.

I enjoyed those 2 as well.

Although the Creepers' Truck in this 3rd movie was kinda fun, the rest was a complete mess.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre the original

Wow. First time I watched this years ago I remember being underwhelmed by the 70s music and acting. This time I was morbidly fascinated and found it intense and creepy. I was surprised how much it glued me to the screen. One of the best of that era I think. I hear part 2 is actually quite good too.

4/5

Alien Covenant

Better than I expected but not as good as Alien, Aliens, or Alien 3. Better than Resurrection!

The first hour in particular is pretty tense and ramps up the horror and tension quite nicely. Second half starts to move more into action. Bit like the contrast between Alien and Aliens actually. But never as well done as either. So here's my ranking:

Alien 5/5
Aliens 4/5
Alien 3 3.5/5
Alien Covenant 3/5
Prometheus 2/5 I think I can't really remember it
Alien Resurrection 1.5/5

Happy Death Day (2017)

Groundhog Day in a horror/thriller setting.
Girl wakes up the same day, over and over, to be killed in many different variations.

Never really scary as you know she will wake up after each kill. Still a bit entertaining. Mosr of a 'who-dunnit' kinda movie. Although my wife was annoyed that I pointed out the killer the first moment they met face to face. (so a bit predictable too, I guess)

5.5/10

The Shining

Utterly engrossing, brilliantly performed, creepy, and tense as anything. Superb stuff.

5/5

Super Dark Times

Well most of it, can't get peace to watch a movie when I have family over.

3/5

The European version is actually much better than the US edition ;-)

I didn't know there were two! Presumably Amazon Video show the European version.

The US version is 24 minutes longer and mainly contain more backstory info on Jack's alcoholism etc. Kubric decided to have two different versions because he didn't think European cinema fans needed the extra explanation and felt that the US cinema visitors wouldn't understand the movie without the extra scenes.

Kubric did not have a favorite version though.

On BluRay the US version is only released for America while the European version was released on all the other continents. Still they are both region free and work on all BluRay players. As a fan of the movies I own both versions but the US edition is kinda dragging (to me) so I never watch that one. That said, the European version is missing a few interesting moments, in particular, much of the dialogue between Lloyd and Jack, and a lot of the 'day to day' moments at the Overlook, and several scenes are cut short like Danny in the bedroom with Jack.

I believe they did the same with the streams. The US version can only be viewed from US services while all other streamings use the European version. So the amazon.com version should be different from the amazon.co.uk version ;)

Lol how to make something simple very complicated! Anyhow I loved whichever the hell version I watched 😂

The Intern (2015)

Feel-good movie with Robert deNiro as a senior intern.

Even my wife found it dragging.

5/10

It 2017

Well I thought it was pretty good, the kids were all very good and there was a suitably menacing air about Derry and all the adults were quite creepy. Pennywise was also very well done. Some new scenes like the floating kids were very good and helped make sense of the line "they all float".

The only thing is... it wasn't really any better overall. For everything that was done slightly better (like the effects) there was something that was quite as good (like Pennywise).

Overall a 3/5 for me. Good but not essential viewing. Will still be interested to see the second one though.

It 2017

Well I thought it was pretty good, the kids were all very good and there was a suitably menacing air about Derry and all the adults were quite creepy. Pennywise was also very well done. Some new scenes like the floating kids were very good and helped make sense of the line "they all float".

The only thing is... it wasn't really any better overall. For everything that was done slightly better (like the effects) there was something that was quite as good (like Pennywise).

Overall a 3/5 for me. Good but not essential viewing. Will still be interested to see the second one though.

a Christmas Horror Story (2015)

5 not so jolly christmas tales. In a way they are connected to each other. Not fantastic or horrible. Fun evening filler.

6,5/10

Yup,I think Tim Curry gave a terrifying performance with his Pennywise. While this one was, imo, never scary.

Unfortunately, the TV movie was just that. Filmed for TV. It looks poor, most of the actors are B-actors at best and there are no decent effects. But in the end Pennywise made that one creepier than the theater version. For me no contest. Old 'It' knocks this one out of the ring. They must try harder with part 2.

Jungle 2017...a great adventure movie.

Logan Lucky

Not as good as Oceans Eleven but a similarly cool take on a speed way robbery. All the cast are excellent. Satisfying ending and some amusing red necks. It's hard to describe but it's like ocean's eleven with lower stakes and fewer stars. Entertaining enough but not essential.

3.5/5

The Last Jedi.

No spoilers...

Argh go on give us a mark out of 5

Star Wars ep VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)

JJ Abrahams set it up, Rian Johnson hit a homerun. Now it is up to Abrahams again to take the victory home.

What a sequel. This is what the Empire Strikes Back was for the original trilogy...

9/10

On reflection...

2.5

It brought balance to the force, I love it and hate it at the same time.

The Last Jedi (2017)

Logan Lucky

Watched it after PanicLord reviewed it.

Fun movie indeed. 7/10

I totally understand the divisive reactions.

*spoilers*
For what it's worth I enjoyed the two times I saw the film but I definitely didn't see a good "Star Wars movie". There were a few hints of old Luke, the scene with R2D2. Stepping out to confront the baddie. But other than that this did not feel like we were in the same universe as Skywalker Star Wars if that makes sense. Even Luke couldn't raise an X Wing out of the water after some training from Yoda but Rey doesn't require any training at all to defeat Kylo Ren and even hold her own against Luke. This type of story telling fits in totally with millennials I feel, who want everything right now and not have to work for it. Ie when you see 22 year old girls straight out of university put "Director" as their job title on LinkedIn because they work as a recruitment agent.

I do not understand how they are going to be able to create a compelling finale to this new trilogy now.
I'd rate this movie a 7 or 7.5 out of 10 but that is not because of the story. Most of it doesn't make sense or even fits with what JJ Abrams was doing with his usual rabbit hole approach in episode 7. It was more like someone poured cement into all the rabbit hole exits here. How did the producers (including JJ) green lit the lack of time interval between Star Wars stories. This never happened before in the previous 7 movies. Madness surely?! We already got a direct movie prequel non time interval handover with Rogue One (and that was better I reckon).

Shame.