What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Barna77

Ghostbusters in a packed Cineworld. Deadly.

Arghus

The One I Love-It's weird that I find myself with so little to say on this one. It's so clearly designed to be a thought provoker. It's a relationship movie, it's intense. It has a playful time with some knockabout sci-fi ideas and for a short while it has some interesting, even wise, things to say about what happens to and between people in long term relationships. The movies inventiveness is, during the first half, more or less equally matched with it's ability to get down to some raw truths about the nature of commitment and long term love, but as it begins to get wise to its own schtick it loses that sense of truthfulness that had me initially hooked. What felt like reality now comes across as glib and characters that felt relatable are now reduced to playthings inside an overly schematic screenplay.

I was hoping the presence of Elizabeth Moss would, at least, cancel out any lingering stink that still remained on Mark Duplass after the awful sub-greeting card fiasco that was Jeff, Who Lives at Home. To his credit he does a great job. There's a lot of work for the actors to do, apart from the usual emoting there's also the fact that there is never a scene where they both aren't on screen. Elizabeth Moss can handle the walking bag of barely suppressed neuroses that is Peggy Olsen, so I'd say she's good for any acting job under the sun, but it turns out Duplass is also pretty good, even great in places.

Worth a watch if you fancy it, but let down by it's own sense of cleverness.

Frank- Fassbender. What a man. It's amazing how even with a huge plastic dome covering his entire head he can still somehow pull out a wild, energetic, sad and sometimes hilarious performance. It made me think of how in X Men Days of Future Past so many of the actors who tried their hands at rocking the seventies style of dress looked out of place or, in the case of Jennifer Lawrence, looked like a kid doing dress up with their mums clothes. Fassbender looked like a boss.

The film is a mixture of charming oddity and genuine emotional heft. It's hard not to laugh at the broken down lives of the characters in the movie, at least initially. So many of them seem like outsider music archetypes, all in thrall to the King of Randomness that is Frank. Most of the first act and slightly afterwards is played for a mixture of broad laughs and knowing guffaws at what elements of the rock movie genre they're trying to deflate. This part of the experience is probably what will draw most people in. If you're willing to go along with the movies mix of weirdness and childlike glee you'll have a fun time in strange, new surrounds.

Thankfully though there is more to it than that. It's a comedy of sorts, but more of a meditation on the price people can pay for artistic ambition. The people who populate the film are broken down human beings, too shattered and eccentric to ever be accepted by the masses. That's the point really. There's a high price to be paid for artistic integrity and often the pursuit of the more traditional trappings of fame can leave the more vulnerable and precious chewed up and battered. For a film that has a lot of hilarious moments, it's really quite melancholic and bittersweet.

Aside from Fassbender Domhnall Gleason does his best. He's not helped that he has to play a version of Jon Ronson, a poor mans British Woody Allen. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays an underwritten crazed person who doesn't even get to hint at a heart of gold. Though Scoot McNairy is brilliant. This guy is seemingly turning up everywhere with great character actor performances.

Ageyev

briany wrote: »

The Signal (2014)

A trio of college students come into contact with a mysterious hacker and things go awry when they attempt to track him down.

A great little sci fi movie. Good story, good setting and good acting. Not a movie that I can say a lot about for fear of giving it away. I heard it being criticised for being slow-paced, but I thought it was paced just fine.

I have been looking to see this film. Worth a watch I take it? Quite a few people on this forum have recommended The Machine as a 'great little sci-fi movie' and I thought that was decent.

ButtersSuki

A few that I've caught recently. Shorter than normal reviews as I'm up the walls.

Gone Girl Superior thriller from Mr. Fincher which really engrosses you at the time, though suffers a little when analyzed post-viewing. Still, I'd give it an 8/10.

Catfish, the documentary that spawned the not so brilliant TV show on MTV. I watched this on BH Monday having recorded it from Film 4 a while back. I recorded it more out of curiosity than anything else but was very pleasantly surprised. It's truly a bizarre story of lies, love, infatuation and deceit; and is quite sad in places too, but all the more enjoyable and engaging as a result. A way better than I ever imagined 8/10.

Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones Not as many flying household items as the rest of the PA franchise and works hard to explain some more of the backstory of the previous 4 movies. Still has its shock moments including one scene the likes of which I hadn't seen before and was a real "wow" moment for me anyway - please note I'm saying this in the context of PA movies! Prob. really only one for fans of the franchise or the genre, but in that context I'd give it a 6.5/10.

Ouija Hmmmm. What can I say about this "teen horror by numbers" that feels like a cross between Final Destination and Insidious meets any of another Teen Horror story you can think of? It's very predictable, very lazy and very silly and of course despite how bad it is they leave it open for a sequel in the final scene - there will be no need for that! I've had scarier walks through Dublin City Centre at night. A God awful 2/10.

briany

Ageyev wrote: »

I have been looking to see this film. Worth a watch I take it? Quite a few people on this forum have recommended The Machine as a 'great little sci-fi movie' and I thought that was decent.

If you like slower paced sci-fi movies, then I think it's worth a watch. It's similar in feel to movies like Moon, The Andromeda Strain and Cube, or even the video game, Portal, for me, not necessarily in the content, more in the look and the pacing.

briany

Deliver us from Evil (2014)

Crime/horror. Some demonic evil's going down in the big city, and it's up to one jaded cop to stop it.

Decent 'Possession-horror' type movie. Some nice jump scares. Hard to take a movie like this seriously though, because it totally overblows the whole possession angle. It's trying to be taken seriously, but in it's mission to do so, it ends up becoming a pretty standard popcorn movie.

But I loved when Break on Through by The Doors started blaring during the exorcism scene.

Glebee

X Men: Days of future past.
Never really warmed to the x men films but found this the best of them in my opinion. 8/10 from me. The jumping back and forth in time can get a bit much.

The Black Oil

Watching some of Terminator 2 recently. I was struck by the use of sound. Arnold's leather crinkling, the crunching of the roses he walks on as he takes out the shotgun, the kill/squelch sound during infamous hand into the milk carton scene (poor

George Mason!

).

Typically, the subject being copied is terminated.

The shining last night in the lighthouse. Excellent stuff.

ButtersSuki

Project X on blu ray this evening after buying it this evening in the HMV 2 for €15 sale. Well first thing I have to say is it gave the surround sound system a serious workout - excellent soundtrack and some amazing sound effects throughout. The film itself? I'm kinda torn between wondering was it a piece of under-rated genius a la Spring Breakers and something I'll return to again or a throwaway piece of popcorn fodder; but on a first viewing I think the former and something I'll watch with my brother and a few beers when he returns from Canada at Crimbo. I can see how it would divide people (again, a la Spring Breakers) but I think you could only hate it if you viewed it a little too seriously. If you've ever been to an out of control party that made you wince, watch this and feel redeemed. It'll never win an Oscar but it's a big bundle of WTF fun. Clearly based on this guy from Oz from a few years back I challenge all but the most curmudgeonly amongst you not to laugh at some stage whilst watching it. 7/10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xnXf5bL98E

Schadenfreudia

Oblivion, with Tom Cruise, who doesn't look like a superhero!

Odd, but watchable....

GreNoLi

Days Of Being Wild

Wong Kar Wai's second film compares favourably to his best work, definitely one of the best directors to come out of Asia, his breezily hypnotic storytelling style combined with the cinematography of Christopher Doyle make this piece of cinema a must watch.

Liam McPoyle

Nightbreed - The Directors Cut

This is a movie that is 24 years coming. The original release was cut and edited by the studio and differed majorly from Barkers vision. A few years ago an extended cut was unearthed (all alternate footage was feared lost by Barker) and it got a couple of limited screenings at some horror festivals as The Cabal Cut of the movie.

The directors cut version features 40 minutes of different footage from the original theatrical release - 20 minutes additional footage and 20 minutes of alternate footage - increasing the total run time to 2 hours as opposed to the 100 minutes of the original release.

The story follows a disturbed young man named Boone who is plagued nightmarish dreams of monsters and a hidden world, Midian. His psychiatrist, played stunningly by horror icon David Cronenberg convinces Boone he (Boone) is responsible for a spate of brutal murders. Under the influence of psychotropic drugs, a remorseful Boone tries to find Midian in the hope he will find refuge and escape from the visions.

Visually, Nightbreed is a stunning movie, some of the monsters are fantastic looking and they really cement Barkers status as a horror visionary. Cronenberg is fantastically chilling as Decker, Boones maniacal shrink. He eats the screen when he is on it, his tone of voice never raising, he still manages to be mesmerising.

Its been up on 20 years since I saw Nightbreed in its original form so I cannot compare the 2 but the directors cut is sumptuously put together. When some movies are re-released with previously missing footage, the additional scenes are easily spotted (the uncut re-release of the original My Bloody Valentine and the full edition of The Wicker Man spring to mind instantly) however the new and alternate footage integrates seemlessly and Scream Factory should be commended for this.

While not a classic movie its certainly one that all horror fans and fans of cult cinema should watch.

6.5/10

hardweir

Just saw this aussie end of the world flick and have to say it was excellent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaoF6byFQFU

wandatowell

On Friday night I watched a film called Rampage directed by Uwe Boll

Its about a fella who goes on a murderous rampage but there's a slight twist at the end. Its not your usual senseless violence movie.

A fairly good 4.5/10

Tipsy McSwagger

Corpse Bride
Meh, nowhere near as good as Coraline or The Nightmare Before Christmas but not a bad film either. It just didn't suck me in like those films, 2.5/5*

GreNoLi

Triangle

Psychological thriller which manages to be a real noodle scratcher and, at the same time, an entertaining romp on the uneven seas of a woman's supposedly disturbed psyche played excellently by Melissa George.

ButtersSuki

Two Days in New York on blu ray. I used this to top up an order to get free shipping from amazon but what a treat! Starring Julie Delpy (who also wrote, produced and scored the movie) and Chris Rock, it's a follow up to "Two Days in Paris" from a good few years ago, but superior to it - note, you don't need to see the original to appreciate this, I can't say enough about how much I liked and laughed at this movie - a classic "you can pick your friends but you can't pick your family" tale told through the medium of comedy and the cultural differences between different countries and groups of people. In French and English, it's the right side of arthouse for even the most anti-subtitled viewer to watch and enjoy - even my OH who hates subtitled movies liked it. Delpy is excellent as the flustered Mom, whilst Rock is restrained and all the better for it. Highly recommended. 8/10.

A Most Wanted Man , finally got to see this last night. PSH was his usual self, and Anton Cobijn brings the same style he brought to Clooney's "The American" (and pretty much every Depeche Mode video ever - note: I'm a huge DM fan so I am a bit biased here), difficult as that is with dark and dirty Hamburg. If you like John Le Carré novels and adaptations dive in, but if you don't you'll likely find it overly long and slow a la "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". I quite enjoyed it, but the OH hated it. 7/10 for me.

MJ23

The Black Oil wrote: »

Watching some of Terminator 2 recently. I was struck by the use of sound. Arnold's leather crinkling, the crunching of the roses he walks on as he takes out the shotgun, the kill/squelch sound during infamous hand into the milk carton scene (poor

George Mason!

).

Typically, the subject being copied is terminated.

Brilliant.
The sound the grenade launcher makes as he reloads it. Love it.

MJ23

Tried to watch Gravity today. Terrible film. Turned it off about half way through. 40 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.
George Clooney's smug non stop rambling is pure cringe and annoying.

Mike Litoris

MJ23 wrote: »

Tried to watch Gravity today. Terrible film. Turned it off about half way through. 40 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.
George Clooney's smug non stop rambling is pure cringe and annoying.

Shame. I thought it was a film of two halves. Hated the 1st, loved the 2nd half.

pixelburp

Halloween (1978)

I love John Carpenter's old work, and frankly I'm a bit of a fan boy, but it had been quite a while since I saw his most-famous work, one that effectively spawned a genre. And while it's still a masterpiece in how to slowly turn the screw and ratchet tension up to borderline unbearable levels (it takes about 55 minutes before the first teen is offed), a bit like other defining films such as Psycho, Halloween's beginning to show its age with its somewhat ... quaint and bloodless depictions of the actual violence. I had also forgotten just how terrible an actor Carpenter alumni Nancy Loomis was, who pretty much ruins a pivotal scene with her gurning. My OH burst out laughing and it's hard not to understand why.

As I already said though, the tension is fantastic, and it's still a hauntingly beautiful movie; along with being a Carpenter fan, I am a great admirer of Dean Cundy's collaborations as DoP. In Halloween, his use of the middle to long distance creates a constant sense of unease and creepiness, as if the viewer was Michael Myers himself, present in every scene and watching from across the street. It really shows how much of the emotional legwork can be done with some clever use of shots, letting the camera tell the story for you instead of getting a pneumatic blonde to scream her lungs out.

You could easily take so many frames from this film and use them as still photos; I watched the 35th anniversary Blu-ray transfer and apparently the print was OK'ed by Cundy himself. Still a great film, it's just beginning to age every so slightly.

The Machine (2013)

A British Sci-Fi effort; low budget but makes clever use of its limited funds to create a visually striking depiction of AI and androids (the thin budget only falls apart during the few actions scenes). Some lovely shots abound, with an abundance of reds peppered throughout, coupled with a strong sense of the techno-fetishist; for those who game, it reminded me of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, with its use of gold swapped for reds. The primary story was interesting enough but it all got very muddled halfway through when it tried to wedge in some subplots and notions about the evolution of our species and being superceded by robots. A good central performance from Toby Stephens too. I found it via Netflix and that's kind of the level the film's at: an interesting find amid the rubbish, but nothing memorable.

Sam Mac

hardweir wrote: »

Just saw this aussie end of the world flick and have to say it was excellent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaoF6byFQFU

Oh hey its the guy from Wolf Creek and Snakes on a Plane.

Looks good, must check it out.

Judgement Day

"The Bermuda Triangle" (1978) on YouTube via Wii.

I'm quite a fan of Sci-Fi and Mystery movies and stuck this on last night to wind down to - not expecting much - and I wasn't disappointed! A truly strange movie with a cast of nobodys but there in the middle of it all was the great movie director John Huston!



A boatload of fairly dysfunctional people (and crew) stray too close to the famed Bermuda Triangle and strange occurrences begin to happen. Most of the cast, and director, are Latin American and poorly dubbed in the movie. Problems begin when John Euston's daughter rescues a sinister looking doll from the sea. Huston was 72 at the time and is completely miscast as a father figure - mercifully for him he's washed overboard and drowned about halfway through the movie. Truly a trainwreck shipwreck of a movie. Avoid.

Kylo Ren

Nightcrawler

NIGHTCRAWLER is a pulse-pounding thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling -- where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1uP_8VJkDQ

I got to see this at Odeon's 'Screen Unseen' two weeks ago. I love me some Jake Gyllenhaal and I was so impressed with him in this. He plays the eerie sociopath so well. The cinematography is gorgeous. It's also quite humerous, which I wasn't anticipating. The satirisation of modern media is juxtaposed to the darker elements of the film and it works well. The film is enthralling from start to finish and is on my list of best films of 2014. It might be #1. The ending was a little lacking however.


Memories of Murder

South Korea in 1986 under the military dictatorship: Two rural cops and a special detective from the capital investigate a series of brutal rape murders. Their rude measures become more desperate with each new corpse found.

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

I never watch foreign language films, with a few exceptions (City of God, Cinema Paradiso and The Raid are all that I can think of) but man was this fantastic. Zodiac is probably my favourite film of recent memory and you can see the similarities of the two films. Both are slow burners with exquisite cinematography. Memories takes the detective genre up a notch in excellence and incorpotates dark humour and memorable characters while doing it.

This scene was terrifyingly brilliant.

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

The Grand Budapest Hotel

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune -- all against the back-drop ofa suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fg5iWmQjwk

I have not been a fan of Wes Anderson before this. I thought his last movie was pretty good but it didn't really do much for me. Films can be a treat for the eyes, Anderson's are elaborate feasts with 12 courses. The movie is a chaotic adventure throughout the mind of Anderson and it's a pleasurable one throughout. One of my favourite films of the year.

charlie_says

The Wind Rises (2013)

Just come back from the screening of this in Galway. An animated beautiful bittersweet tale of a young Japanese aeronautical engineer and his life, work and love in Japan prior to WW2. Jiro Horikoshi was the heavily involved with the design of the iconic WW2 Zero fighter aircraft and other famous Mitsubishi projects. This isn't a corporate thriller or even a serious historical piece, it is more of a tribute to the life and dreams of a bright young man whose ingenuity was realised in a form that is elegant as well as deadly.

The animated visual style of the film is typical of Studio Ghibli, almost looking very dated but having an energy of it's own that either makes you concentrate on a few graceful moving parts of the frame silhouetted by a very static background or chaotic (and often fun) movement in every part of the scene. It manages to be wholly ordinary and mesmerising at the same time.

Lads, such a top class movie. even though I haven't seen Frozen I'd gamble that this deserved the animated oscar this time round. Probably my favourite Hayao Miyazaki* film. Although it is PG and definitely suitable for children, it deals with plenty of adult themes including loss, hope and the dual edged sword of technological design.

The storytelling is handled brilliantly with such playfulness, sincerity and melancholy that Miyazki is well known for. It might be a little to sentimental for some, but I loved it.

Also the wind truly has a starring role in this. There is stuff flying about the shop the whole time :-)

9/10

* I might be a bit a fan, so the above might sound somewhat gushing.

Dr. Mantis Toboggan

Wolfcop.

Top class stuff. Great soundtrack, cheap special effects that work, some nice bits of humour, story line that scoots along at a good pace and it defo doesnt take it self seriously. Have to mention the soundtrack again, it's fairly amazing.

Judgement Day

Frustrating night last night as I sat down to watch Robert Mitchum in "Farewell my Lovely" on YouTube only to find the sound ever so slightly out of sync.

Back to my 100+ Full movies saved to watch and, as a curtain raiser, "Bandit Country" a Panorama documentary from 1976 about south Armagh - chilling stuff and but fascinating nonetheless. Followed by "No Man's Land" (1987) starring Charlie Sheen. A rookie cop is assigned to go undercover to infiltrate a gang of car thieves believed to have been behind the murder of a policeman. D B Sweeney is the rookie and Charlie Sheen the affable leader of car stealing operation. As things progress, Sweeney and Sheen become good friends which leads inexorably to a tragic finale. Not very demanding viewing and worth a whirl. 7/10

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I watched Irish director Juanita Wilson's As If I Am Not There today. I absolutely adore her short film The Door (which you can watch on the Irish Film Board website for free, if you like). I'd been wanting to see this for ages, found it in the library the other day, finally sat down to watch it this afternoon.

Set in the early 90's during the Bosnian war it tells the story of a young woman from Sarajevo who goes to a rural village to teach. Not long after her arrival Serbian (I assume) soldiers come to clear the village. The men are shot, the women and children put on buses and taken to a sort of prison camp where most of them are kept in sheds and a few of the younger women are taken to a separate building to be used as "entertainment" for the soldiers.

It's not a very nice story but surprisingly it's not that graphic a film. There is one rape scene and you get a vivid picture of what the soldiers like to do but the director seems to know that one scene is enough to get the point across. It works too because every time I heard footsteps coming up the stairs to the women's room I felt the dread as much as they did.

Like The Door there's not a lot of dialogue and it seems Wilson is of the "show don't tell" school of film making. This works excellently in The Door but that's only 17 minutes long. Here, at 105 minutes, you do become very aware of the lack of dialogue at times. That said Natasha Petrovic, who plays the lead, gives a striking performance and all in all the minimal dialogue works. There isn't really that much to say about what's happening, we can see it, we know it's wrong, what's there to talk about?

I do wonder what Wilson is up to now? It's been 4 years since this was made. Not that I'm an expert or anything but I think she's an extremely talented director and I'm surprised she isn't a more prominent film maker.

castletownman

Warrior

How I waited so long to finally watch this I'll never know. The best sports film I've ever seen. Yeah it captures every cliche known to sports films, but it done so brilliantly. Nick Nolte superb as the recovering alcoholic father looking for forgiveness from his sons. Last five minutes was goose-bump inducing. Would recommend it to anyone (and I wouldn't be a massive fan of UFC/MMA). 9/10