Pairic

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues: Maybe not enough laugh out loud moments but the constant stream of satire kept an enduring grin on my face. $0 years on all the old classics are there with their wonderful/appalling lyrics. Nigel the lead guitarist now runs a cheese and guitar shop, you can swop cheese for a guitar or vice versa. Lead singer David's wife left him after an epiphany which may have been a misunderstanding. David hasn't spoken to Nigel for 15 years, it takes us a while to find out why. David who composes music for true-crime podcasts and on-hold phone music. Derek the bass player is the curator of a glue museum, he also released a song, Hell Toupee. He feels he is the glue that held the band together. They get together for one final gig in New Orleans but are disturbed by ghost tours in their haunted house. So many of their drummers have died getting a new one proves difficult. There are numerous cameos in the film with Paul McCartney and Elton John in supporting roles. Best not to give too much away. An entertaining comedy/satire. Directed by Rob Reiner, Written by Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. 7.5/10.

The Conjuring: Last Rites: It says that this film is based on a true story, I reckon it has little to do with the reality of the Smurl case but The Conjuring: Last Rites should be judged on how effective it is as a horror film. It opens in 1964 with Ed and Lorraine Warren investigating a haunting involving an antique mirror at a curio shop. The demon involved has already driven one person to suicide and now attacks the heavily pregnant Lorraine, she goes into labour and her daughter Judy almost does. As Judy grows up she increasingly has disturbing visions. 1986, the Warrens continue to deliver lectures but don't investigate cases due to Ed's heart trouble. The cursed mirror turns up again! The Smurl Grandparents buy it as a present for their granddaughter Heather as a confirmation present! (Really? A cracked mirror?!). Immediately weird things occur, trying to get rid of it makes things worse. After it's on the tV news the Warren's sidekick Father Gordon visits The Smurls but is himself attacked by the demon. So the Warrens get involved after all . Some impressive horror sequences and jump scares. Sinks overflowing with blood, people pushed down stairs, levitated, general poltergeist effects suicides. I especially like the battery powered doll being possessed but there are more frightening possessions of humans in the film. Mirrors are also cleverly used on several scenes. The tension is well maintained mostly but the film is overlong. 20 minutes could easily have been shaved from its135 minute running time. Still it's worth watching and there are a few plot twists regarding the demon's ultimate target. Directed by Michael Chaves and Written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. 7/10.

Honey Don't! The second in a "lesbian B-movie trilogy" following Coen and Cooke's Drive-Away Dolls (2024)., variations on a theme or an anthology trilogy depending on how you look at it. Private Investigator Honey O'Donahue (Margaret Quallry) is called to a crash scene, where she finds a prospective client dead in the car. She is pestered by Bakersfield Homicide detective Marty Metakawich (Charlie Day) looking for a date, he can't seem to grasp that she is a lesbian. Honey dresses like a 1940s noir femme fatale but like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe she gets all of the girls. Including local cop MG Falcone (Aubrey Plaza). More deaths occur as the partner of one of Honey's clients is murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. A local exploitative Cult/Church led by Reverend Drew Devlin (Chris Evans) seems to be involved in both cases. The Cult runs drugs for a French mob and their enforcer/accountant Chere (Lera Abova) is in town, we've already seen her at the car crash scene removing evidence. Honey Don't! Is a pastiche of hard boiled PI Noir films but is also an effective mystery thriller in spite of using every cliche including some soap about Honey's sister and niece, Permeated by a dark line in humour which leavens the many brutal killings. Red herrings abound as we hurtle along to the grand guignol finale. Directed by Ethan Coen, who co-wrote the screenplay with Tricia Cooke. 7.5/10.