What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Tony EH

Judgement Day wrote: »

A Hill in Korea (1956) on YouTube.

An unexpected treasure that I came across quite by accident. A star studded cast including some well known faces in their earliest screen appearances – Michael Caine and Robert Shaw, plus some other well known faces such as Stanley Baker, Harry Andrews and George Baker.
A British army platoon consisting of regulars and National Servicemen find themselves cut-off and surrounded on a hilltop during the Korean war. Atmospheric with a believable plot which kept me engaged until the credits rolled. 9/10

* Michael Caine saw action during his National Service in Korea.

If you like this film , you should check out 'The Long, The Short and The Tall' if you can find it. It's another British war film about a unit behind enemy lines, except in Malaya in WWII.

Early Richard Harris role.

Tony EH

tusk wrote: »

sounds great, will definitely take a look. Thanks!

You definitely should. It's a great picture. A real no nonsense British film that they've forgotten how to make.

Connery is probably at his best here and the support cast is great too, especially Ian Hendry as Staff Williams.

Essien

Watched some of A history of violence last night and I feel like I'm missing the joke or something.

It's rated pretty solidly on IMDB, meta critic and RT, a friend (whose opinion on film I value more than anyone's) recommended it too.

I lasted about 40 mins and just had to switch it off, it was like a straight to DVD film. Complete rubbish, terrible acting and dialogue, panto villains etc etc.

quickbeam

Essien wrote: »

Watched some of A history of violence last night and I feel like I'm missing the joke or something.

It's rated pretty solidly on IMDB, meta critic and RT, a friend (whose opinion on film I value more than anyone's) recommended it too.

I lasted about 40 mins and just had to switch it off, it was like a straight to DVD film. Complete rubbish, terrible acting and dialogue, panto villains etc etc.

That's probably where you went wrong, it's not a comedy.

.
.
.
.

I must say I loved it.

Snake Plisken

quickbeam wrote: »

That's probably where you went wrong, it's not a comedy.

.
.
.
.

I must say I loved it.

I'm the same had seen it when it first came out and thought it was a different direction for Cronenberg happened to switch it on last night and watched to the end, the violence portrayed was pretty realistic, found the ending was kind of open ended, but great movie

Essien

I have it recorded so I'll give the rest of it a go, just in case.

Dargull

old hippy wrote: »

Big Wednesday - 70s surfer movie with The Greatest American Hero, the older cop from Point Break and some wooden good looking bloke. What happens? Lots of partaaays, a trip to Mexico in the 60s, Vietnam draft and how to avoid it plus a lot of punch ups. And surfing. Lots of surfing.

The first dvd i ever bought. I love this film.

tunguska

The Grey

This was almost a great movie. It was really good for 75% but then it just seemed to die a bit and fall over the line. It was definitely a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Liam Neeson put in another solid hard mans performance but eveybody else was solid too. Was a good idea for a movie too, like deliverence with wolves. Very atmospheric and some nice photography, just a shame it fell apart near the end.

Mickeroo

tunguska wrote: »

The Grey

This was almost a great movie. It was really good for 75% but then it just seemed to die a bit and fall over the line. It was definitely a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Liam Neeson put in another solid hard mans performance but eveybody else was solid too. Was a good idea for a movie too, like deliverence with wolves. Very atmospheric and some nice photography, just a shame it fell apart near the end.

Thought the ending was brilliant myself, the very abrupt it has to be said.

krudler

Mickeroo wrote: »

Thought the ending was brilliant myself, the very abrupt it has to be said.

We all wanted to see Neeson punch a wolf though :pac:

tunguska

Mickeroo wrote: »

Thought the ending was brilliant myself, the very abrupt it has to be said.

Sorry what I meant was the lead up to the end, not the ending itself, if you understand what I mean. I thought the ending was brilliant aswell.........now Im confusing myself. The film started really well and continued in that vein for a good bit but I thought it kind of sagged in the last 3rd

old hippy

Bridesmaids. Just this morning, perfect antidote to a late night out. And the scene in the bridal shop was hilarious.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the turin horse


if all I had to eat all day was a potato i'd make bloody sure to eat the whole thing.

ButtersSuki

Devil starring Chris Messina (whom I normally quite like). Standard enough mainstream horror which disappointed overall, but had a pretty cool soundtrack/fx and an interesting opening title sequence. It's average at best though, 5/10.

Schadenfreudia

Does the Netflix version of House of Cards qualify as a film?

If so...it's a great film; highly recommended.

The Black Oil

A Hijacking

This is Denmark's version of piracy on the seas. Given that, we have some familiar faces from Borgen/The Killing. The window into this world is mostly through the eyes of three men - Mikkel, the cook aboard the ship, Peter, the CEO of the company and to a lesser extent, Omar. 'just a translator', not a pirate. Compared to Captain Philips, this is a more stripped down film and is all the better for it. I'm not going to call it gritty, that doesn't feel right. It's a smaller vessel. The men are kept in intolerable cramped conditions (Peter's set up in Denmark is pretty small, too), the toilet arrangement is less than desirable and there is no opportunity for lashing out or escape. More importantly, it's a more protracted experience and therefore more troubling film than its Hollywood cousin. There is little to no feeling of a potential resolution on the cards. For those on board, moments of physical and sensory relief are scant and to say one man's spirit is broken is perhaps an understatement.

Very much worth a watch. Connor (advisor bloke) felt real - Google suggests he is, and not an actor. Typical Danish efficiency, just tell the story with believable characters.

charlie_says

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Eternity_(film)

I think you might like this one so, takes an angular look at the Nuclear issue.

I loved that, thank for the heads up. What a trip, what a place!

The slo motion shots inside the poorly lit vast underground complex has me glued to my seat.

ButtersSuki

Man of Steel on 3D Blu Ray. Loud is prob the best thing I can say about it.4/10

The Counselor. Hmmm, not as bad as I had heard, but nothing great either. Fassbender's maniacal grin on display far too often in this -to the point where I was wondering if he was auditioning for the role of The Joker. Stylish in places, silly in others, just a bit meh really which is a shame given the talent on display.
5/10.

Posting shorter than usual reviews as on iPhone and tbh, neither of the above deserved much more than the above!

Psychedelic

A few weeks ago I came across a video of Alan Moore (whom I had previously never heard of) speaking about magick and other stuff, and he sounded really interesting, so I started to look up his work. Rather than reading his books (which I will do eventually) I decided to check out some of the films based on them:

Watchmen (2009)
I had very little knowledge about this other than it was based on a comic strip. I don't usually pay attention to comic book/superhero movies which is why I never bothered watching this when it was released. I think because of that I was able to appreciate this as a film in itself and not just as an adaptation of a comic book, and without any other preconceptions or hype.

I loved it. Everything in this film is so cool, the characters and their world, the dark serious tone, the awesome visuals, and some fantastic use of music (Philip Glass's glorious music in particular). I saw the 3-hour director's cut, and while it did feel its length I wasn't ever bored.

Superb film, 9/10.

V For Vendetta (2005)
Thought this was only okay, I didn't really get into it and it hasn't let much of an impression on me. 6/10

DazMarz

Any Given Sunday 1999

Oliver Stone's controversial, visceral and gritty opus about the daily battle that the modern day gladiators of sport endure.

The cast is star-studded (Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Matthew Modine, Aaron Eckhart, John C. McGinley, Ann-Margaret, Lauren Holly, LL Cool J, Charlton Heston; also featured are former-NFL greats such as Lawrence Taylor, Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Warren Moon and Terrell Owens) and as such the acting is of a high-calibre throughout.

One glaring problem with the film is that the NFL refused to assist the film in any way. Instead, the Associated Football Franchises of America (AFFA) is used instead. The AFFA was imagined as a more successful version of both the World Football League and United States Football League, who both challenged the NFL in the 1970s and 1980s, respectively, but did not last long. The screenplay makes this explicit in a scene where the Mayor of Miami tells Cameron Diaz's character that one of the reasons the city cannot afford to build a new stadium for the Sharks is the local prominence of the Miami Dolphins, a real-life NFL team.

Despite the NFL actively attempting to prevent players taking part in this project, then San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens can be seen playing and scoring two touchdowns for the Miami Sharks. In an ironic moment, an actual NFL player auditioned for a part in the film but was turned down as he did not look enough like a football player!

The story begins in the heat of battle. The once-great football team the Miami Sharks are in a battle to remain at the top of the game; struggling to make the play-offs to get to the Pantheon Cup (the AFFA's version of the Super Bowl) and on a 3-game losing streak.

Tony D'amato (Pacino) has been the Sharks' coach for decades and is fast being accused of having outdated methods and being behind the times. He is under pressure from the team's new owner (Diaz) who inherited it from her father. She favours the new offensive coach (Eckhart) and wants to ditch D'amato and some of his favoured players.

When starting quarterback 'Cap' Rooney (Quaid) is seriously injured, and replacement quarterback Tyler Cherubini (Patrick O'Hara) is injured almost immediately after taking to the field, the Sharks are forced to call upon 3rd string, 7th-choice draft pick quarterback Willie Beamen (Foxx). Beamen is so nervous that he vomits before the first play, something that becomes a macabre trademark of his. Despite the Sharks losing the game, Beamen plays well and grows into his role. He also, however, becomes arrogant and begins to ignore the coaches and calling plays himself.

Also in the mix is the team's unscrupulous doctor, Harvey Mandrake (Woods), who is a stereotypical 'Dr. Feelgood', who risks serious injury to players by doping them up with painkillers and steroids, rather than properly treating their injuries. He also never discloses to players how serious their injuries actually are in order to keep them playing. He brushes off injuries with "You're ok! It's just a bruise," and other platitudes. He treats the team's intern doctor, Ollie Powers (Modine), with disdain, telling him "Bone, muscle, joint: me. Runny nose, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, pink eye: you. Got it?"

The daily struggle of keeping the team on the up-and-up and juggling financial concerns, loyalty to players, winning games and struggling against winds of change in the game are all detailed here. The personal and professional lives of all the players and staff are laid bare. They are all flawed people, all worried and all on edge. It's damning to see these allegedly powerful people with all their weaknesses exposed.

The parallels with any other professional sport could be used; you have to wonder in all other sports (football, rugby, etc.) how much of this stuff goes on. How often to old school players keep pushing themselves beyond the point of physical ruin, just to play the game and to keep going? How often to owners and the board want to interfere too much? How often do old-school managers suddenly find their glory days fading and then they're being derided as dinosaurs and in danger of being scrap-heaped? That's what I find watching this. Especially about rugby, as it is arguably the closest approximation of American Football this side of the Atlantic in terms of the physicality, though soccer would be closer in terms of the money involved and the ubiquitous popularity.

While the film is not without its flaws, it is a personal favourite of mine. It is one of Stone's better films in my opinion. It also, and I'm glad of this, does not have the

ending we'd all expect. The Sharks do not win the Pantheon Cup in some glorious moment of victory

which I think is refreshing.

Birneybau

Get a blog.

Loughc

Birneybau wrote: »

Get a blog.

I'd say his control, c & v buttons are well worn out already!

johnny_ultimate

Keep it civil please.

crazygeryy

Curse of chucky.
****e

Gamb!t

The book thief
7/10

DazMarz

Actually... no... I won't bother....

e_e

I appreciate the effort at least DazMarz. Less of this vague "it was alright/it was ****e" posting on here would be nice.

JP Liz V1

Watched Thunderheart with Val Kilmer which is very good and showed again what are great actor Kilmer is

crazygeryy

e_e wrote: »

I appreciate the effort at least DazMarz. Less of this vague "it was alright/it was ****e" posting on here would be nice.

As opposed to the long winded ego massaging reviews you give is it?

pixelburp

The whole point of this thread is to give our thoughts on recent films, nothing more; some people choose to do this in one line, some prefer to expand their thoughts and give overall critiques. Personally I prefer to read peoples extended feelings on a film rather than a glib 3 or 4 words as the short one-liner doesn't really tell a whole lot; I'm interested to know the why of peoples thoughts, hell I even enjoy hearing the stories of the when and where. Either way those who choose the longer format don't deserve to be insulted for trying to make this forum an expansive, interesting place