MovieMuse
The MovieMuse team has set ourselves the challenge of watching 500 different films between us in 2017. Every new film we watch will be rated and given a short review as part of our MovieViews database.
October’s total was perhaps a bit disappointing following the increase in films watched during September, but with 36 new films viewed, we have now passed the 400 mark and with two months to go, reaching the target is still achievable. As you might expect from the month that ends with Halloween, there were plenty of horror films watched during October, from classics such as Halloween to new releases like IT, Happy Death Day and Gerald’s Game.
Below are the stats for the month, including our picks for best and worst films of the month. You can also scroll down to see the reviews written by each team member for every film watched in October.
Overall Stats
| January - June | July | August | September | October | November | December | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Films Watched | 282 | 39 | 35 | 63 | 38 | 37 | 74 |
| Unique Films Watched | 258 | 32 | 32 | 51 | 36 | 36 | 66 |
| New Reviews Added | 231 | 30 | 30 | 47 | 33 | 36 | 61 |
| Average Rating Given | 3.30 | 3.09 | 3.29 | 3.25 | 3.03 | 3.08 | 3.18 |
| Challenge Completion | 51.6% | 58.0% | 64.4% | 74.6% | 81.8% | 89.0% | 102.2% |
Team Member Stats for October
| Gordon | Mat | Simon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Films Watched | 18 | 16 | 4 |
| Unique Films Watched | 18 | 15 | 2 |
| New Reviews Added | 17 | 14 | 2 |
| Average Rating Given | 2.78 | 3.16 | 3.63 |
| Best Film of the Month | Tears in the Rain | IT | Batman Begins |
| Worst Film of the Month | Fantastic Four | The Take | Passengers |
Gordon’s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk | 2016 | Tries to show the civilian fascination with and trivialisation of war, but fails to get its message across due to its incredibly overplayed pathos, unlikeable performances and tv-movie production. Ang Lee can do much better. | 4 |
 |
Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 | 2017 | This anime scene setter to BR 2049 tells a reasonable story of the inbetween years, but the animated style loses the visual impact and the characters can't quite hold it together. | 5 |
 |
Captain EO | 1986 | A 4D collaboration between Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Michael Jackson for Disney theme parks. What could go wrong? A terrible script, dated effects and a very poor Jacko song are not enough to ruin a reasonably fun and thankfully short film. | 5 |
 |
Churchill | 2017 | Despite its big budget and shiny visuals, this saintly portrayal bears all the hallmarks of a daytime TV biography. The human Winston is completely removed in favour of a caricature of his speech self. | 4 |
 |
Cooties | 2014 | Filled with the very best names on the acting B-list, this horror comedy about a zombie virus that only affects pre-pubescents is a pretty good premise and has plenty of gore and laughs. It is only a shame that it runs out of steam too soon. | 6 |
 |
Dredd | 2012 | A much more violent take on the 2000AD character and whilst I am not a fan of Karl Urban's acting, he pulls off the surly law enforcer without pulling off the helmet. Surely it is time for a sequel? | 7 |
 |
Gerald's Game | 2017 | A sex game goes wrong leaving a woman chained to a bed and in danger in this clever interpretation of a book once thought unfilmable. The biggest issue with the film is the fault of Stephen King's book and its unnecessary serial killer side story. | 7 |
 |
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia | 2013 | Whilst not revealing, this documentary is full of warmth and wit. A fitting tribute to the last lion of literary America. | 8 |
 |
Happy Death Day | 2017 | Touted as Groundhog Day meets Final Destination, the film fails on both fronts and can only barely be called horror. A huge missed opportunity. | 4 |
 |
Kingsman: The Golden Circle | 2017 | Perfectly fun and excitable, but all a bit pointless and silly after the much, much better original. | 6 |
 |
Legend | 2015 | Tom Hardy plays a glamourised Reggie and pantomime Ronnie Kray in a biopic that only excels in the awfulness of its saturated colour palette and from the grave voice over. | 4 |
 |
Paris Can Wait | 2016 | A dull romantic road trip that will make you love the French scenery and hate the French people in equal measures. | 5 |
 |
Seoul Station | 2016 | A low budget anime prequel to superb Train to Busan that has enough to say and suitably satisfying twists to stop it being just another zombie film. | 7 |
 |
Tears in the Rain | 2017 | This short South African tribute to Blade Runner is so self assured that it distills the entire essence of the original film into an incredibly well made 11 minutes of fan service. | 8 |
 |
The Dark Tower | 2017 | Despite expecting a Sci-Fi Western, The Dark Tower is rather straightforward family friendly adventure that contains nothing in its writing, direction or acting to make it stand out. | 5 |
 |
The Fantastic Four | 1994 | When you read the context of the films troubles, then it is more fun than it really ought to be. But watching it in ignorance is absolute torture. | 5 |
 |
The Running Man | 1987 | Despite the dodgy casting and costumes, The Running Man still feels like a believable dystopia in the world of reality TV and ever escalating non-fiction gratuity. | 7 |
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The Transfiguration | 2016 | Billed as a New York tale of Love, Loss and Vampires. It isn't. But it is an interesting drama that does contain a little blood sucking. This is definitely not Twilight. | 6 |
Mat‘s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Big Trouble in Little China | 1986 | One of John Carpenter's more commercial offerings, and as a result the subtlety and suspense of his earlier films is replaced by overblown action, dodgy special effects and a large helping of 80's cheese. Enjoyable, but not one of his best. | 6 |
 |
Escape from L.A. | 1996 | Few directors get the chance to remake their own films, and most of us probably wish John Carpenter hadn't bothered, as this rehash of Escape From New York offers nothing new and features some pretty awful special effects. | 5 |
 |
Halloween | 1978 | The original template for dozens of mediocre slasher films that followed. Carpenter's film is a masterpiece in the art of building up suspense and 'less is more' horror, with not a scene wasted, and perfectly accompanied by his chilling score. | 10 |
 |
IT | 2017 | Not especially scary, but definitely creepy and frequently gruesome, the film's greatest achievement is the perfect recreation of an 80's adventure movie with near-flawless performances from its young cast. | 7 |
 |
Lost Creek | 2016 | It may be marketed as a horror film but this is more like a kids coming of age drama with fantasy elements. The acting is reasonably good and there is a sense of mystery, but the main twist is blatantly obvious from the start and rather spoils it. | 5 |
 |
Mysterious Island | 1961 | Dated in many ways, not least the hammy acting, but the story is still good and both the sets and Ray Harryhausen's visual effects are very impressive for their time. | 6 |
 |
Prisoners | 2013 | It definitely goes on too long and some of the twists are too obviously signposted, but this is still a gripping and disturbing thriller with an intense performance from Hugh Jackman at its heart. | 7 |
 |
Screamers | 1995 | A fairly standard mid-budget 90's Sci-Fi offering, this film has a reasonable story and a few twists, but the ending is rather predictable and the dialogue is often terrible. | 5 |
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Se7en | 1995 | One of the most grim and depressing films of all time, but it's also tense, thrilling, incredibly well acted and superbly shot. Still capable of disturbing the viewer even if you do know how it ends. | 9 |
 |
Spider-Man 3 | 2007 | Proof that you can have too much of a good thing, as Tobey Maguire's last outing as Spidey is bogged down with too many villains, too much relationship drama and some unremarkable action sequences. A disappointing end to an otherwise superb trilogy. | 5 |
 |
The Boy | 2016 | Once you accept the ridiculous premise, this movie offers a reasonable amount of creepy chills, and the twist ending is actually quite surprising, though not necessarily in a good way! | 6 |
 |
The Guard | 2011 | Brendan Gleeson is on top form as the loudmothed anti-hero of this unconventional crime thriller. There's an often uncomfortable mix of depravity, un-PC humour, violence and emotional drama, but they combine to make a truly unique and hilarious film. | 8 |
 |
The Pyramid | 2014 | The inconsistent shooting style is annoying and the characters are mostly dumb, but this is a perfectly watchable horror film, creating a good sense of claustrophobia that allows for a few effective jump scares. | 6 |
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The Raven | 2012 | A stylish thriller with an inventive premise, decent acting and some suitably gruesome death scenes, but the whole thing is rather dull and the ending unfulfilling. | 5 |
 |
The Take (Bastille Day) | 2016 | Aside from some exciting action sequences this is almost instantly forgettable. Several British actors use American accents, but with an abundance of French dialogue used too, this film would never appeal to the US audience it was clearly aimed at! | 4 |
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Wargames | 1983 | The Cold War may long be over but the message of this film is still surprisingly relevant, and it has aged better than most teen adventure films from this era thanks to the serious subject matter and decent acting. | 7 |
Simon’s Reviews
| Poster | Movie | Year | Comments | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Batman Begins | 2005 | The reboot of the Batman series could have been a poor cash in, but with Christian Bale in the lead as the venerable caped crusader it turns out to be an enjoyable and thoroughly watchable delve into the criminal underworld of Gotham. | 8 |
 |
Independence Day | 1996 | The classic alien invasion movie, with a great cast, great action scenes, good humour and America saving the world on Independence Day. What could go wrong? Nothing. | 8 |
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Passengers | 2016 | An interesting concept, overplayed on the Romantic side, not a lot happens but the only thing that redeems this in my eyes is the moral dilemma served up in the story. Worth a look, just. | 6 |
 |
Sully | 2016 | Tom Hanks plays out a real life drama with his usual panache and feeling, and turns a disastrous situation into an enjoyable and emotional experience, if a little flat in the fact that the main action is played out away from the Hudson river. | 7 |