The solo Marvel movie I've most been looking forward to. Ultimately it was OK, with some very good aspects, and some not so good. The latter was mostly the humor which came across as way too forced and is going to date this movie more than anything. Cumberbatch who initially was my ideal casting choice was unfortunately playing yet another variation of Tony Stark. On the plus side the much lauded effects were indeed fun and I like the atypical (for a Marvel film) Star Trek type ending.
The 3D was a bit underwhelming too.

Competently made B grade cop vs psycho killer yarn. One thing in it's favor is that there is really only one sensational 'jigsaw' killing, and it's even committed off screen prior to the start of the film. The killer is also ID'd pretty early on so the film eschews most of the usual cliches of this genre.
This was a movie I used to like to rent in the VHS era due to having the hots for Michelle Johnson who plays alcoholic cop Chad Everetts daughter. Fun to see it again in a dedicated HT environment.
Bonus points for giving the psycho one of the most purposefully laughable "rugs" in cinema history.

First version I ever saw of Cain's iconic material. Once i saw the original Garfield/Turner classic a few years later though, this version got resigned to a gimmicky also ran in my imagination and I hadn't watched it since.
I'd been tired of watching Jack be Jack for a while, and the much publicized explicitness actually played a lot tamer on a 25" screen. By contrast the original had a sensationally charismatic Garfield playing a mostly sympathetic noir chump opposite Lana Turner at the pinnacle of her allure- and the chemistry between the two was electric. It's been my got to version ever since.

That might change now as I really enjoyed seeing this version again. In a lot of ways it's much more faithful to the source (especially in regards to the doomed husband Nick, played pitch perfectly by John "Baltar" Colicos). The production design and period detail is also first rate and captured beautifully by Sven Nykvist. While they lacked the combustible chemistry of the original stars, both Nicholson and Lange essay their parts very well. Nice to see Jack tamp it down, and Lange is legitimately very good. This was two years before the industry legitimized her with two AA nominations in the same year. At this point in her career she was still mostly known for being a former model whose only real claim to fame was as the lead in the King Kong remake.
But you can clearly see here, she had the chops.

The first rate presentation of the Bd definitely upped my appreciation of it all around.

I'm 0 for 2 on this set. At this point, I don't even think I'm going to bother with Stromboli. Journey to Italy didn't do it for me, despite my love for George Sanders. And with this one, I could barely keep my eyes open- and didn't even bother to try for long stretches.
I know it's highly regarded, and at one point in my life I would have prided myself on exploring material like this (and maybe even have enjoyed it).
But watching this last night was a real struggle, and by the time the curtain fell it seemed like all it had to offer was academic pretension.
With so much backlog to get through, as well as a ton of things I honestly love and want to watch again, I can't see ever revisiting these.
I think I'm just gonna sell off the set.

which was every bit as laughably bad as I remembered it being. Packed to the point of bursting with every genre cliche you can think of, but delivered with such po-faced solemnity that you can't help but imagine the filmmakers thought they were the first people to discover them. Nearly every 'surprise' is artlessly telegraphed in advance and the only thing the gritty NYC location work brings is disappointment that it's wasted on such weak material.

Some movies are charming enough to get away with so blatantly recycling the same old same old, but this is the second time this one has rubbed me the wrong way.

Ok, this was more like it. A superior film in every conceivable way, with richly delineated characters with relatable philosophies careening through a compelling series of events. Fascinating to watch in light of our Commander -in-Chiefs off-hand comments last year about being able to shoot someone in the middle of the street and not lose his supporters.

Can't believe this didn't click with me when I first saw it, because I was fully riveted this time. Great performances all around with some especially affecting work from Heard.