What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Dempsey

Tony EH wrote: »

'Snakes on a Plane'

I'll never forgive myself. End of review.

Dont lie, you loved it!

LoveLamps

Like the poster above, I just watched Frozen too!!

I found it quite good, I don't think their target audience was 17 year old males so it may be a lot better to other people.

Recommend it though

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

le samourai

loved it, reminded me quite a bit of a bittersweet life in places. not necessarily story wise or anything like that but just how unbelievably stylish everything was. There wasn't a minute went past you wouldn't find 10-20 perfect still frames to be blown up and used as a poster.

i'm not altogether clear on how the bird warned him the police had bugged his apartment. I had a good hearty chuckle at the technological state of the listening devices. The chase sequence through the metro was very well done, I was sat forward in my chair for alot of it, completely taken in.

im also not really up to speed with why he committed suicide at the end but maybe it'll come to me when I rewatch it

all in all, fantastic movie.

Looper007

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

le samourai

loved it, reminded me quite a bit of a bittersweet life in places. not necessarily story wise or anything like that but just how unbelievably stylish everything was. There wasn't a minute went past you wouldn't find 10-20 perfect still frames to be blown up and used as a poster.

i'm not altogether clear on how the bird warned him the police had bugged his apartment. I had a good hearty chuckle at the technological state of the listening devices. The chase sequence through the metro was very well done, I was sat forward in my chair for alot of it, completely taken in.

im also not really up to speed with why he committed suicide at the end but maybe it'll come to me when I rewatch it

all in all, fantastic movie.

You should check out Directors jean pierre Melville's other work's like Bob The Gambler, Army of shadows, The Red Circle (really Melville's best film for me) and le doulos. Le Samourai is probably his coolest and most ripped off film ( John Woo's The Killer and DRive are two that copied off it). But it's still a great film. Alain Delon is a awesome.

charlie_says

Must check out Le Samourai.


Cheers

e_e

Looper007 wrote: »

( John Woo's The Killer and DRive are two that copied off it).

Not to mention Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai which I actually prefer to it.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

e_e wrote: »

Not to mention Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai which I actually prefer to it.

ghost dog popped into my head alright while i was watching it, must give that another go.

Tindie

Tony EH wrote: »

'Snakes on a Plane'

I'll never forgive myself. End of review.

!east you didn't see snake on a Train was in the DVD case of Snake on the Plane.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

all about eve

so long since I'd seen this movie I only remembered the bare bones of the plot and I certainly didn't remember just how ****ing great this movie was. It started off excellent and just got better and better. The scene at the end, and the beginning.. with eve's speech and the camera jumping from person to person after the last 2 hours.. had a good laugh at some of the faces being pulled, margo's especially.

johnny_ultimate

Vagabond - Agnes Varda's portrait of one young woman named Mona, who has opted to live a solitary life traveling across France. Brilliantly played by Sandrine Bonnaire, Mona is a curiously unromanticised protagonist - strong willed and proud to a fault. We certainly feel sympathy for her (and it's hard not to, when the opening scene shows her frozen to death in a vineyard ditch) but it's a refreshingly difficult character at the centre of the film. What gives the film such depth and colour is the situations and people Mona encounters over the nearly plotless film. From migrant workers and transient shepards to creepy truck drivers and a lonely elderly woman, Varda uses the supporting cast to subtly explore all sorts of social contexts and themes, and the various forces (including those of her own making) that help determine Mona's journey through a wintery rural France. Varda, as is her wont, mixes fiction and documentary tools with great skill. An intelligent, engrossing watch.

Thief - Don't you love it when a film comes together? The final moments of Michael Mann's debut are pitched just right - an inspired crane shot that serves as a pulpy, slick punctuation mark that brings the story to a close without so much as a superfluous frame. It's worth pointing out it's a rare pleasure to see a film nail a landing so elegantly.
The film that precedes it is fairly familiar stuff - certainly three decades of similar narratives reinforce that, but even at the time it wouldn't have been particularly inspired stuff. No matter - it's a truly stylish genre effort with a tone of its own (until Drive nicked it). Mann expends an admirable amount of effort on the lengthy quieter and character moments, and while there's few major surprises the story of James Caan's 'thief who wants out, so one more job' is an entertaining and smartly handled one. It's helped by Caan himself, as able to capture the ugly determination of the character as the ass kicking anti-hero side. But really it's a trio of perfectly crafted setpieces that stand out - the almost dialogue-free opening sequence, the centerpiece heist, and a climactic shootout. The middle one I was particularly fond of - there's a brute force and rusty mechanical charm to the hugely destructive robbery that bests the sci-fi gadgetry employed in many contemporary films of its ilk.
A super, dreamily retro soundtrack from Tangerine Dream adds that extra oomph to what's already an example of finest genre kicks.

Nishi-Ginza Station - Before Shohei Imamura kicked off his career proper, he made this disposable little studio film that would probably be best described as a sex-farce with no actual sex. Following one frustrated man's bumbling attempts to get some while his wife is away with the kid, it's an eccentric effort that more often than not feels like Imamura playing a joke on the Nikattsu execs silly enough to hire him to make a film based on a pop song. Indeed, Imamura seems to actively avoid having the action take place at the titular Tokyo train station outside of a wacky fourth-wall breaking & all-singing prologue. It's extremely slight, and only weighs in at 51 minutes. It's fun enough, in its decidedly bawdy way, and Imamura's subversive spirit breaks through in its occasional flights of fancy and lightly anti-establishment ideas. There's also themes and settings present that would be utilised in his later masterpieces. But yeah, this is a film only for those interested in the beginnings of Imamura's work - a seriously minor early effort from one of the late twentieth century's most prestigious directors. Luckily, it was only a few years after this that he came out with the superb Pigs & Battleships, and hence properly commencing his career. Also luckily Nishi Ginza comes as an extra feature on The Insect Woman Blu-Ray, so serves as a worthwhile curio alongside a far better film.

Barna77

Captain America. Winter Soldier.

Bored to death all throughout the movie... Yawn and yawn.
Cinema was packed though.

guinnessdrinker

I watched Safety Not Guaranteed recently on Netflix. I had never heard of the film before but thought it sounded interesting from the brief descripiton and the fact that the idea came from an actual real life advertisment placed in a newspaper about a time traveller looking for a companion to go back in time. I must say I really enjoyed it, for me one of the most enjoyable films I watched in the last year or so. I would highly recommend it.

Funnily enough I had watched another time traveling themed film called Primer on Netfilx a few weeks before that but thought it was quite average.

RayCon

Watched The Borderlands movie last night ... I don't do long, well constructed reviews.


It was sh!te.

tunguska

20 feet from stardom

This was great. I love motown and that whole wall of sound period so the soundtrack alone was worth the price of admission. Some great stories, some sad stories, was actually at its heart a study of the difference between success and, I wont say failure, but the difference between those who became rich and famous and those who stayed in the background. Would liked more of Darlene Love's story as it kind of glossed over what was obviously some serious back story with Phil Spector. Maybe thats a movie in its own right. Won best documentary at the oscars this year and even though I think its a great film I reckon the other documentary I saw at the weekend should've walked away with that award............

Blackfish

Straight from the off I was hooked into this. Was only gonna watch a few minutes as it was late and I was tired but I couldnt turn it off. Amazing film and I dont think I'll ever go back to sea world again. Everbody should see this documentary.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

tunguska wrote: »

Blackfish

Straight from the off I was hooked into this. Was only gonna watch a few minutes as it was late and I was tired but I couldnt turn it off. Amazing film and I dont think I'll ever go back to sea world again. Everbody should see this documentary.

Seaworld isn't the only place that keeps wild animals in captivity.

Gamayun

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Compelling, well made, drama with an interesting non-linear narrative structure. Tilda Swinton puts in a great performance and the child actor playing the younger Kevin also stood out for me.

Her (2013)
I thought this was great, if possibly a tad overlong. It reminded me a bit of Richard Linklater's Before... films at times, which is no bad thing.

Judgement Day

"Edge of Darkness" (1985) complete six-part BBC mini series on YouTube. Conspiracy, corruption in high places and the nuclear industry - one of my favourite themes. I enjoyed this series when it was first shown, bought it on VHS years ago (which I have since mislaid) so I couldn't resist the chance to watch again. Still hits the spot and is a very different animal to the Mel Gibson remake. 10/10



Darius Jedburgh (Joe Don Baker) reaches the end of the road.

johnny_ultimate

20 Feet from Stardom - mediocre documentary enlivened by some likeable personalities and plenty of great music. Pretty much as basic as actual non-fiction filmmaking gets, and it overstays its welcome by seriously overemphasising many of its points in the last half hour. But these 'unknown' backing singers have some great stories (albeit ones told in an overly jumbled manner) and it's an intriguing alternate look at popular music making, highlight an oft-underappreciated aspect of many great songs. It also merrily continues the definitive character assassination of a once beloved Phil Spector :pac:

Tangled - With all the renewed discussion about Frozen, I was reminded to check this predecessor of sorts out as many hold it in higher esteem than its more successful studio-mate. And it's solidly enjoyable affair, achieving a more likeable mix of post-modern sass and old fashioned fairy tale storytelling than anything Dreamworks has managed to produce. It looks good, it doesn't sound as good as Frozen (one or two exceptions aside - I've Got a Dream is a lot of fun), and it is a slave to Disney formula in both positive and negative ways (darn anthropomorphic animals!).
It has two assets worth singling out. Zachary Levi brings exemplary comic timing to the mix as the nontraditional 'prince' charming, and is backed up by pitch perfect animation of his character. And there's a stunning sequence featuring a sky full of floating lanterns that is easily one of the most beautifully realised CGI sequences I've seen.

Offside - Jafar Panahi directs this excellent film about a group of Iranian women attempting to watch a 2006 World Cup qualifying match in Tehran - the difficulty being women aren't allowed attend male sporting events in the country, and so they're arrested by a group of soldiers as they try to sneak in. Obviously this is a loaded subject, and throughout the film Panahi highlights the craziness of this cultural & social hangover in no uncertain terms.
But it's not a dry or overly cynical film - in fact it's tremendous fun. It's full of zest and humour, with both the women and the soldiers emerging as lively, interesting people to spend time with, particularly as they interact with each other. Curiously, the soliders aren't actually represented as villains - more people who recognise the stupidity of the law they're required to enforce, and show an increasing amount of sympathy towards the girls they're tasked with watching in a farcically makeshift 'prison'.
Shot in a rough, pseudo-documentary style, much of the film was actually shot during the match being portrayed, adding a real genuineness and dynamism to the sequences featuring crowds.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Tangled
It has two assets worth singling out. Zachary Levi brings exemplary comic timing to the mix as the nontraditional 'prince' charming, and is backed up by pitch perfect animation of his character. And there's a stunning sequence featuring a sky full of floating lanterns that is easily one of the most beautifully realised CGI sequences I've seen.

It's funny, I never really differentiated between acting and voice acting until I saw Mega Mind over Christmas and was shocked at how bad Brad Pitt is at it. It's a completely different kettle of fish. A bit like singing a pop song and singing on Broadway, or indeed a Disney movie.

Anyway.....

I watched The Black Cauldron, a Disney film from 1985. Someone posted about it on here a while back. It was a box office failure, nearly ruined Disney, I think. You can see why. It's not at all what you'd expect from Disney. Yes, it has the underdog central character, dreams of being a hero, the talking..... whatever Gurgi was but it's extremely dark. The "Horned King" is terrifying. Full disclosure, I was terrified of the hag from Snow White when I saw it aged 3, and aged 4/5 I was terrified of ET. I can only imagine how scared I would have been of this film if I'd seen it at that age. It's not a bad film but it seems a bit flimsy, a bit rushed. There's no back story for Taryn, other than he's a boy and boys dream of being knights. There's no back story for the villain either, he's just downright evil. Although I am a fan of the old style of hand drawn animation this one does look a bit dated.

Duggy747

Thief

A film I put off watching for ages, only remembering to watch it when I was playing the latest Thief game and when johnny_ultimate mentioned it earlier a few posts up.

Fecking hell, how did I miss this film for so long? A fantastic cinematic directorial debut from Mann with a tone so honed in on that just drips cool off so many shots and a great performance from Caan as the bullheaded anti-hero who really doesn't take any shìt of anyone, much to his own detriment. The story of "one more job and I'm out" is one I've seen a million times before but this didn't feel like it and is definitely one of the finest ones.

Was a delight seeing Robert Prosky fire out such a fierce barrage of lines finely sprinkled with swears when I've been so used to him in roles of a sweet-natured old man:

You're one of those burned-out demolished wackos in the joint?

You're scary, because you don't give a fùck. But don't come onto me now with your jailhouse bullshìt 'cause you are not that guy, dont'chu get it, you prick?

You got a home, car, businesses, family, n' I own the paper on ya whole fùckin' life. I'll put ya cùnt wife on the street to be fùcked in the ass by **** and Puerto Ricans. Ya kids mine because I bought 'it. You got 'im on loan, he is leased, you are renting him. I'll whack out ya whole family. People'll be eatin' 'em in their lunch tomorrow in their Wimpyburgers and not know it. You get paid what I say. You do what I say, I run you, there is no discussion. I want, you work, until you are burned-out, you are busted, or you're dead... you get it?

You got responsibilities - tighten up n' do it.

Sublime :pac:

This was the type of movie I thought Drive was going to be and looked utterly fantastic cleaned up in HD, the scene mentioned where Robert Prosky delivers his threat looked like it was filmed less than a few years ago.

I wanna rob something now and escape in a dark car that reflects the colourful street lights and neons against the night to a dreamy synth soundtrack :pac:

ButtersSuki

tunguska wrote: »

Blackfish

Straight from the off I was hooked into this. Was only gonna watch a few minutes as it was late and I was tired but I couldnt turn it off. Amazing film and I dont think I'll ever go back to sea world again. Everbody should see this documentary.

If you found Blackfish upsetting, then you need to see The Cove. Everyone needs to see The Cove, even more so than Blackfish. Be prepared for tears though......


Watched Election last night. A bit disppointing if I'm honest. Full of subtle (and not so subtle) nods to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, it's essentially the story of a high school election gone awry starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. Above average teen comedy, but prob not as good or as clever as I had been led to believe - not that it's bad per se, it's just not as slick as it thinks it is IMO. 6/10.

adox

tunguska wrote: »

20 feet from stardom

This was great. I love motown and that whole wall of sound period so the soundtrack alone was worth the price of admission. Some great stories, some sad stories, was actually at its heart a study of the difference between success and, I wont say failure, but the difference between those who became rich and famous and those who stayed in the background. Would liked more of Darlene Love's story as it kind of glossed over what was obviously some serious back story with Phil Spector. Maybe thats a movie in its own right. Won best documentary at the oscars this year and even though I think its a great film I reckon the other documentary I saw at the weekend should've walked away with that award............

Blackfish

Straight from the off I was hooked into this. Was only gonna watch a few minutes as it was late and I was tired but I couldnt turn it off. Amazing film and I dont think I'll ever go back to sea world again. Everbody should see this documentary.

Both on American Netflix for anyone interested.

Enjoyed both although 20 feet from stardom was very light and overly long I thought. Some decent insight though and the characters helped sustain interest. Very interesting to see some who are clearly exceptional talents, happy to stay out of the limelight, make a good living from doing what they love and be happy with that.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains

Starring Diane Lane and a very young, and strangely handsome Ray Winstone!

Lane plays Corinne Burns, an angsty teen who gets semi famous when she gets fired on live TV when a news crew is reporting from her town. This small bit of fame and her angry attitude gets her, her sister and their cousin on a tour bus with a washed up glam rock band and their support act, an English punk band (Winstone, Paul Simonon of The Clash and 2 of The Sex Pistols). Corinne's band, The Stains, are rubbish but her attitude gets them noticed and hoards of teen girls take Corinne's rants as a call to arms. Soon things take off for them at a rapid pace annoying the other bands.

This was made in 1982 and I'm not sure what was going on with music then so I don't know if this was a satire or just a straight up look at a band's rise to fame. However, 30 odd years later it's bizarrely relevant. The Stains have no real talent, they get famous through the 1982 equivalent of reality TV, the media smell a story and do all the publicity work for them. I even got shades of Lady Gaga and her "Little Monsters" in there. She's saying something to her fans worth hearing but they're hearing something else entirely and end up like tiny mindless clones of her and all the while someone is sitting back and lining their pockets with their money. You could easily make this film today and it would be hailed as a brilliant satire on the music industry and the idea of fame as a whole.

On a side note.. they say "White Stripes" a lot. I wonder is that where The White Stripes got their name from? Or did it just stand out to me because I know the name "The White Stripes"?

upstairs for coffee

The Black Swan

Sublime film with my only criticism being that the editing could have been tighter toward at the finish.

The Blues Brothers

I feel like a philistine because I did not get this movie at all. Completely bizzare. Good songs though.

Alfred Borden

Fargo

Absolutely brilliant film, cant believe i have never seen it before. Masterpiece by the Coen Brothers and leaves me excited for next weeks tv show debut.

Snake Plisken

Just watched Chasing Mavericks based on a true story about surfer Jay Moriarty and his mentor Frosty. Have to say I enjoyed it even Gerard Butler was decent enough in it, rumours of him being Bodi in the Point Break remake! Some great surfing scenes in it and Curtis Hanson co-directed this (had to drop out due to illness)! Sadly Jay died a could of years after the events of the film, free diving in the Maldives! Worth a watch.

mewe

Calvary

I had been lookin forward to this one, partly because it was shot in my home County of Sligo but also because of the talent behind and in front of the camera.

It wouldn't be to everyone's taste but i really liked it. The script is excellent and it looks stunning; really showing off Sligo's landscape. Brendan Gleeson cements his place as Ireland's finest actor, for me anyways. (Ciaran Hinds a close second!)

Sugarlumps

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Just watched Chasing Mavericks based on a true story about surfer Jay Moriarty and his mentor Frosty. Have to say I enjoyed it even Gerard Butler was decent enough in it, rumours of him being Bodi in the Point Break remake! Some great surfing scenes in it and Curtis Hanson co-directed this (had to drop out due to illness)! Sadly Jay died a could of years after the events of the film, free diving in the Maldives! Worth a watch.

I think your being too kind, the thoughts of him playing Bodi send shivers down me.

Sleepy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

]I watched The Black Cauldron, a Disney film from 1985. Someone posted about it on here a while back. It was a box office failure, nearly ruined Disney, I think. You can see why. It's not at all what you'd expect from Disney. Yes, it has the underdog central character, dreams of being a hero, the talking..... whatever Gurgi was but it's extremely dark. The "Horned King" is terrifying. Full disclosure, I was terrified of the hag from Snow White when I saw it aged 3, and aged 4/5 I was terrified of ET. I can only imagine how scared I would have been of this film if I'd seen it at that age. It's not a bad film but it seems a bit flimsy, a bit rushed. There's no back story for Taryn, other than he's a boy and boys dream of being knights. There's no back story for the villain either, he's just downright evil. Although I am a fan of the old style of hand drawn animation this one does look a bit dated.

Showing my age but that was the second thing I ever saw in the cinema (The Jungle Book was my first) and it scared the living daylights out of a 4/5 year old Sleepy!

Gamayun

The Three Musketeers (2011)
Steampunkified version of the classic tale directed by P.W.S. Anderson. I enjoyed this, it's a fun, family-style action-adventure (with a fairly high body count for PG13!). I remember this getting some pretty caustic reviews upon release but I found it to be a fine, light, swashbuckling romp.

Phantoms (1998)
Horror based on a Dean Koontz novel. This started off well with the discovery that the town was abandoned and some mysterious corpses, there's a good sense of tension and mystery, but then it went downhill fast. The second half reminded me of the kind of straight-to-video films you see on The Horror Channel late at night. Pretty poor.