What have you watched recently?

Mickeroo

Mindkiller wrote: »

Battle Royale

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to take from a movie like this. The premise (for those who aren't aware) is that a load of japanese school kids must murder each other in a contest on a desolate island (which resonates uncomfortably in light of recent events).

Anyway, it just isn't very good. It's like an anime. The gore is extremely fake and overstated. The entire premise is mind-blowingly retarded as well, but maybe there's no realy point in seriously analysing stuff like this.

I always just thought it was a pretty good slightly over the top action movie.

bedrock#1

Martyrs

Crazy French Horror - Decided to seek out the most disturbing movies of all time (morbid curiosity) and this cropped up in a few lists. It's not as gory as the Hostel movies but is way more disturbing - quite an original story too.

(Have 120 Days of Sodom lined up next and by all accounts it's a watch just the once movie.....)

stampydmonkey

Thor

Thought I'd hate it but being too lazy and hungover to find something else to watch I found it surprisingly enjoyable...that was until the end which was kinda drawn out a bit. Still better than I thought it would be

Fishooks12

Mindkiller wrote: »

Battle Royale

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to take from a movie like this. The premise (for those who aren't aware) is that a load of japanese school kids must murder each other in a contest on a desolate island (which resonates uncomfortably in light of recent events).

Anyway, it just isn't very good. It's like an anime. The gore is extremely fake and overstated. The entire premise is mind-blowingly retarded as well, but maybe there's no realy point in seriously analysing stuff like this.

What!? It's just crazy entertaining, never takes itself too seriously either.

One of my favourite films, although the second was terrible

e_e

Mindkiller wrote: »

It's like an anime.

...and?

Mindkiller

e_e wrote: »

...and?

And it has all the trappings of an anime. The lead is an easy on the eye prettyboy who the whole class seems to be wet for. The main antagonist is some arbitrarily evil freak with a fantastic hairdo. Characters know how to wield weapons with pinpoint accuracy with no training and take a torrent of bullets to put down. It's full of little stylistic flourishes but is devoid of any substance.

The one thing that annoyed me the most was Kitano, the teacher. Is the strained relationship with his daughter(?) even at all relevant? Or was it only introduced so that they could try to pass this guy off as compassionate, maybe even caring?

Like I said, there may be no point in seriously analysing a movie like this but I thought it was tasteless rubbish.





I also watched Barton Fink lately. Great movie

Mickeroo

Mindkiller wrote: »

The one thing that annoyed me the most was Kitano, the teacher. Is the strained relationship with his daughter(?) even at all relevant? Or was it only introduced so that they could try to pass this guy off as compassionate, maybe even caring?

I've seen that film heaps and I never copped she was his daughter :eek::o

Mindkiller

I don't know if she actually was his daughter or not. I think the version I watched had subs done by an amateur. A couple of little typos and stuff so some plot details might have been a bit foggy.

Mickeroo

Mindkiller wrote: »

I don't know if she actually was his daughter or not. I think the version I watched had subs done by an amateur. A couple of little typos and stuff so some plot details might have been a bit foggy.

Right, yea maybe, I was always under the impression she maybe reminded him of his daughter and he only had the weird obsession with her because she was the only good student in the class or something.

daveyboy_1ie

Let me in

Watched it last week, was very surprised at how good it was. For a horror, it really had its tender moments. Never saw the original Swedish version 'Let the right one in' although I have read its hard to understand how the director can claim writing credits as its so similar to the orginal movie. Makes me want to see the first one too.

Little bit disturbing on how its essentially a 'love' story between two twelve year olds but still thouraghly enjoyable

nix

daveyboy_1ie wrote: »

Let me in

Little bit disturbing on how its essentially a 'love' story between two twelve year olds but still thouraghly enjoyable

Even more disturbing considering she aint 12 years old or a girl Although having not seen the US version i predict they avoided that aspect completely

I watched Stardust on telly the other night, found it fun and refreshing as far as fantasy movies go, great chemistry between all characters. Particularly found De Niro's character very humorous.

I advise anybody who likes the fantasy genre to give it a watch.

Ash.J.Williams

Mindkiller wrote: »

And it has all the trappings of an anime. The lead is an easy on the eye prettyboy who the whole class seems to be wet for. The main antagonist is some arbitrarily evil freak with a fantastic hairdo. Characters know how to wield weapons with pinpoint accuracy with no training and take a torrent of bullets to put down. It's full of little stylistic flourishes but is devoid of any substance.

The one thing that annoyed me the most was Kitano, the teacher. Is the strained relationship with his daughter(?) even at all relevant? Or was it only introduced so that they could try to pass this guy off as compassionate, maybe even caring?

Like I said, there may be no point in seriously analysing a movie like this but I thought it was tasteless rubbish.

I really enjoyed battle royale but i wasn't expecting it to be Dickens!!

The quirky little things you mentioned there are the reason i watch Japanese movies.

Tony EH

Mindkiller wrote: »

And it has all the trappings of an anime. The lead is an easy on the eye prettyboy who the whole class seems to be wet for. The main antagonist is some arbitrarily evil freak with a fantastic hairdo. Characters know how to wield weapons with pinpoint accuracy with no training and take a torrent of bullets to put down...

Well, it was based off of a long running manga. You might be taking it a little too seriously.

Mindkiller

Tony EH wrote: »

Well, it was based off of a long running manga. You might be taking it a little too seriously.

According to wikipedia it was adapted from a novel. The manga was produced concurrently

krudler

Kung Fu Panda 2, prefered the original but it has it moments, is gorgeous to look at though, and Gary Oldman as the villain just works

Mr Freeze

Aliens - it was due a rewatch after about a decade since I watched it last.

The Thing (1982) - One of my favourite horror sci-fi films, might go see this new one, so had to rewatch this to refresh my memory. Still a classic, the effects in that film are still amazing today, except for the very last one.

Thor - Better than I thought it would be, but still a pretty average comic book movie.

e_e

Mindkiller wrote: »

Characters know how to wield weapons with pinpoint accuracy with no training and take a torrent of bullets to put down. It's full of little stylistic flourishes but is devoid of any substance.

The one thing that annoyed me the most was Kitano, the teacher. Is the strained relationship with his daughter(?) even at all relevant? Or was it only introduced so that they could try to pass this guy off as compassionate, maybe even caring?

Like I said, there may be no point in seriously analysing a movie like this but I thought it was tasteless rubbish.





I also watched Barton Fink lately. Great movie

Well that's just the style of the film, the things you mention aren't solely exclusive to anime though. You could go and say that movies like The Matrix, Kill Bill, Avatar and Inception had all the trappings of an anime too.

ReacherCreature

I watched John Cusack in High Fidelity last night.

I had initially watched some of it a while back but left it middle way through so gave it another lash.

It's quite good. Cusack is excellent in my view, then again I've always liked him. He has great charisma and confidence on the screen: whether portraying a down-in-the-dumps man (High Fidelity) or a contract killer (Grosse Point Blank). I like how the direction went enabling him to break the 4th wall quite frequently. I don't see this much in movies. This is a positive as it allows us to relate to him and fully understand him.

The vinyl shop is a great setting, coupled with the music and the fantastic chemistry of Rob, Barry, and Dick, it works well.

The music is great with a deep style represented and others cast off which is displayed in the clashes of each worker's style. I gave the OST a quick listen and it's good but certainly doesn't represent what the movie had in terms of music, well over fifty tracks. Plus, on the music front, a cameo from the great Bruce Springsteen was fantastic.

Negatives are few and far between. It has a nice flow to it but a little overlong in places and in terms of overall length. Jack Black is in it and he's like marmite for some people - you love or hate him. He's in his typical, slacker, loudmouth role here. But his fun relationships with Dick and Rob make him likeable. Other negatives possibly include the music. While it's fun there's an element of elitism coming across as it's so widespread and vaired but this is preicsely what Louis says to the works so I guess it works positively as we understand the characters more.

The film has a comical/music/drama/romance theme but underneath is a much more complex matter. It's essentially the study of man and his relationships with the opposite sex (it can also apply to the same sex, but the film asks for the comparison to the same). This relationship is personified with Gordon's character (Cusack) as he faces fears, desires, needs, happiness, sadness, borderline depression and how all these relations with women bounce off families and co-workers. It's interesting in movies to look past the glaringly obvious themes and find the sub-themes lurking under the surface. However with High Fidelity, a range of themes -- both above and below ground are evident, and make this film good as a result - maybe even a rewatch is necessary to absorb it.

Fishooks12

ReacherCreature wrote: »

I watched John Cusack in High Fidelity last night.

I had initially watched some of it a while back but left it middle way through so gave it another lash.

It's quite good. Cusack is excellent in my view, then again I've always liked him. He has great charisma and confidence on the screen: whether portraying a down-in-the-dumps man (High Fidelity) or a contract killer (Grosse Point Blank). I like how the direction went enabling him to break the 4th wall quite frequently. I don't see this much in movies. This is a positive as it allows us to relate to him and fully understand him.

The vinyl shop is a great setting, coupled with the music and the fantastic chemistry of Rob, Barry, and Dick, it works well.

The music is great with a deep style represented and others cast off which is displayed in the clashes of each worker's style. I gave the OST a quick listen and it's good but certainly doesn't represent what the movie had in terms of music, well over fifty tracks. Plus, on the music front, a cameo from the great Bruce Springsteen was fantastic.

Negatives are few and far between. It has a nice flow to it but a little overlong in places and in terms of overall length. Jack Black is in it and he's like marmite for some people - you love or hate him. He's in his typical, slacker, loudmouth role here. But his fun relationships with Dick and Rob make him likeable. Other negatives possibly include the music. While it's fun there's an element of elitism coming across as it's so widespread and vaired but this is preicsely what Louis says to the works so I guess it works positively as we understand the characters more.

The film has a comical/music/drama/romance theme but underneath is a much more complex matter. It's essentially the study of man and his relationships with the opposite sex (it can also apply to the same sex, but the film asks for the comparison to the same). This relationship is personified with Gordon's character (Cusack) as he faces fears, desires, needs, happiness, sadness, borderline depression and how all these relations with women bounce off families and co-workers. It's interesting in movies to look past the glaringly obvious themes and find the sub-themes lurking under the surface. However with High Fidelity, a range of themes -- both above and below ground are evident, and make this film good as a result - maybe even a rewatch is necessary to absorb it.

In my all time top five, brilliant book too

Normally hate Jack Black but he's brilliant in this

Scene at the end where with Stevie Wonder's I believe when I fall in love being played over is immense

daveyboy_1ie

nix wrote: »

Even more disturbing considering she aint 12 years old or a girl Although having not seen the US version i predict they avoided that aspect completely

Sure there is that as well. Even MORE disturbing is the fact that the book it is based on has the 'loyal servant' being an actual paedophile whose undying devotion stems from his lust of the main charector who was actually a castrated 12 year old boy who became a vampire and uses Hakan's urges as a temptation to catch his victims in return for some affection

Anyway we digress, I think the movie 'Let me in' was very well made and well worth the watch.

Captain Darling

budgemook wrote: »

The Joyce vs O'Donnell build up videos on YouTube.

Epic.

It brought the phrase 'sh1t in a bucket' into the lexicon of modern day terms of personal abuse. That and the 'king of dog sh1te!'

Riveting stuff!

johnny_ultimate

Battle Royale has much more depth than the hyper gore would suggest. Tackles a load of themes - tradition vs modernity, overpopulation, apathetic Japanese youth - in a vivid, satirical manner. Thats why I love it - was just expecting OTT gore but got lots of interesting ideas instead.

Last time I saw it was in Japanese cinema with no subs. I didnt understand a word, but thought there was an implied sexual relationship between Kitano and the girl. Its been so long since Ive seen the subbed version I may be entirely off base.

Tipsy McSwagger

The Tree of Life - worth watching for the creation scene alone.

johnny_ultimate

Cold Weather

Loved this film. From the beyond underrated Aaron Katz, he mixes his tried & tested mumblecore style with added thriller elements. The result is a very charming and very funny bumbling detective comedy, with a likable brother / sister bonding subplot tying it all together with admirable subtlety. Basically follows what happens when an unlikely trio try to solve a mystery involving one of their ex girlfriends. Cue the least eventful stakeouts, code breaking sessions and car chases you'll ever see in cinema. There's also a priceless segment involving a pipe. A real gem - it is what it is, absolutely no pretensions (barely anything happens for forty minutes, and the film is infinitely better because of it), and despite the expected mumbling performance or two, all the actors do well. And some superb cinematography, which makes a nice change for this kind of low budget film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jji4NM_c0vU

Fishooks12

Captain America


Painful in parts, really couldn't warm to Evans either, terribly wooden. Iron Man 1 was very entertaining, the second was ****e, Thor was watch-able and a bit of a laugh. This was just dull

Tony EH

Mindkiller wrote: »

According to wikipedia it was adapted from a novel. The manga was produced concurrently

Ah, ok. Perhaps the novel was written in this particular style. Either way, I don't think it's meant to be taken too seriously. Besides, the basic premise is absurd, school kids on an island whittling down their numbers because of a population boom? Come on.

I haven't seen it in years, since it's original release actually. So, I may be harder on it now, than I was then.

MagicMarker

Fishooks12 wrote: »

Captain America


Painful in parts, really couldn't warm to Evans either, terribly wooden. Iron Man 1 was very entertaining, the second was ****e, Thor was watch-able and a bit of a laugh. This was just dull

I turned it off after 45 minutes.

Benzino

Fishooks12 wrote: »

What!? It's just crazy entertaining, never takes itself too seriously either.

One of my favourite films, although the second was terrible

Has one of my favourite death scenes though, with the woman with the mad hair in the cage about 30 minutes in. Awesome way to die!

Fishooks12

MagicMarker wrote: »

I turned it off after 45 minutes.

I skipped the "climax" and just watched the bit where they un-freeze him

I reckon the avengers will be ****e, a mixture of average films

ReacherCreature

Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell in Conviction.

Flew under the radar for me and a friend gave me a lend of it. It's quite decent.

Swank trains to be a lawyer in order to get her brother out of jail. She's adamant that he's innocent and sets out to prove so.

What then ensues, being honest, is a fairly predictable, by-the-numbers movie. I saw the ending miles off and the complications were inevitable. However I didn't focus too long on it as the performances were solid. Rockwell has recieved acclaim but I felt he was plain. Swank was much better in my view, she always puts in a good shift.

Central to the film was the theme of sacrifice and devotion. How far would one go to help or protect another? This theme is normally carried out in terms of war films or films that show immediate danger along with medicinal dramas. Conviction takes a different route - a sister studying for years to be a lawyer while the brother must fend off suicidal thoughts to remain alive and hopeful. Waters (Swank) lost portions of her family and her youth in order to try and fight her brother's case. It's a compelling and often startling commentary on how far one would go for a friend, sibling or partner.

So it's recommended. Nothing mindblowing but it's a solid show. The themes above carry it and are ever-present throughout with some good performances.