What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Harry Palmr

Very good, its popped up on True Drama channel of all places a couple of time lately if anyone who wants to catch it.

Liam McPoyle

Mila Clumsy Termite wrote: »

Do you mean the tone got silly or the plot? I thought it was fairly strong til the very end, the last twenty minutes or so of a horror is always going to be the trouble spot but this had pretty good follow through, some dodgy effects in

the previous loved ones in the basement

aside. I definitely can't remember the last time I was so invested for so long in whether or not a protagonist escaped/survived. There were a couple of almost slapstick moments towards the finish but I quite liked them



Shall definitely seek that out, cheers!

The tone. Its been a couple of years since I watched it but if memory serves correctly it reached almost three stooges levels of silliness towards the end after been very dark throughout.

Harry Palmr

The Loved Ones is on Horror Wednesday July 15th at 9 PM for anyone interested.

Fysh

pixelburp wrote: »

Jupiter Ascending (2014)
This film has received enough of a shellacking without me adding to it - the plot is needlessly convoluted and pompous, even by modern Hollywood standards - however it's almost worth watching for the sumptuous design and visuals; specifically, I mean the production design. The action scenes were a mess but to me it was clear a lot of imagination and creativity went into the world-building and aesthetics. The scenes set in space often looked gorgeous. I quickly gave up hope about the plot, but kept going just to enjoy the background detail. In places it reminded me of Farscape, of a wild unfettered universe bursting with variation. If there was a half-competent script propelling the story, Jupiter Ascending could have been something special. Instead it's another item of evidence that the Wachowski siblings truly are a one hit wonder.

Watch with the sound off, it'll mitigate the plot trying to ruin things.

I think the script didn't manage the one trick that it needed - which is to make clear in the opening 5 minutes that the film is aiming for a tone like The Fifth Element. If you can put yourself into that headspace the film works much more effectively - I enjoyed it a fair bit as a camp, colourful over-the-top romp with fantastic set design. But the script is a bit of a letdown, alright. A prime contender for a music/sound effects-only score option on the home release, I'd say...

Tony EH

Harry Palmr wrote: »

The Loved Ones is on Horror Wednesday July 15th at 9 PM for anyone interested.

It's well worth a watch. I wouldn't go 10/10 like EB, but it's certainly at the top end of the scale.

e_e

Fysh wrote: »

I think the script didn't manage the one trick that it needed - which is to make clear in the opening 5 minutes that the film is aiming for a tone like The Fifth Element. If you can put yourself into that headspace the film works much more effectively - I enjoyed it a fair bit as a camp, colourful over-the-top romp with fantastic set design. But the script is a bit of a letdown, alright. A prime contender for a music/sound effects-only score option on the home release, I'd say...

I kind of love this film tbh. A crazy, visually beautiful 200 million dollar vision put on screen without any restraint or compromise, plus Redmayne's performance is just amazing.

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

BMMachine

Jupiter Rising is a hot mess alright and takes itself too seriously. It really is like eating too many cheap sweets. Again, the enjoyment garnered by me and my friend from the film was all comedic and accidental. It is a bad film, most certainly, but somehow enjoyable...

I've recently finished watching all of the Dardenne Brothers movies (which I can get my hands on, their work pre-la promesse is hard to find) and was going to write up something about them. I'll get to it soon. If people are interested in some really amazing films then I'd totally check them out. My favourites were Rosetta and Le Fils (The Son) but I wouldnt watch Rosetta as an entry point to their work, probably better with Two Days, One Night or La Promesse (the promise)

edit-
and as for Jupiter Rising, I absolute cracked up at

the crewman on the good guys ship who had the elephant face / genetic splice. Think about it, hes spent years being able to decide what animal he wants to be spliced with. could get wings like sean bean, you could get wolf senses etc. this guy though when they asked him must have been like "ELEPHANT!" and the guys doing the procedure are all "are you sure? that isnt exactly..." - "ELEPHANT!!!!"

e_e

The script was something like 600 pages, wouldn't surprise me if there's a classic space opera in there somewhere. I really liked how overstuffed it was with weird characters and bizarre plot threads that don't go anywhere. It's as if you took a box set of a 60 hour series and skipped ahead every few minutes.

pixelburp

Fysh wrote: »

I think the script didn't manage the one trick that it needed - which is to make clear in the opening 5 minutes that the film is aiming for a tone like The Fifth Element. If you can put yourself into that headspace the film works much more effectively - I enjoyed it a fair bit as a camp, colourful over-the-top romp with fantastic set design. But the script is a bit of a letdown, alright. A prime contender for a music/sound effects-only score option on the home release, I'd say...

Was it though? Fifth Element was camp and damn funny from the very first scene, the script never ever letting you forget it was telling its tale with a smirk on its face. Jupiter Ascending felt like the Wachowskis really, really believed in the guff they were writing, but hadn't any self-awareness or self-deprecation to playfully mock the material. While the scene in the bureaucratic office was intentionally farcical and pretty funny, I never got the impression the script wanted to be funny; if anything that office scene was simply jarring as it was sandwiched amidst a lot of pompous nonsense. The film was really crying out for some Farscape'esque anarchy in its blood.

Mickeroo

I watched Jupiter Ascending recently too and enjoyed it quite a bit (even though the visual side was diminished as it was on an in-flight entertainment system). Redmayne's performance was hilarious.

johnny_ultimate

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders - Love the title, so-so about the film. Quite a few moments of memorably odd occult imagery, but even with a short running time one gets the sense some of them have been overused. Jaromil Jireš does sustain the strange dreamlike / nightmarish tone, and it all comes together in a pleasingly sardonic ending. A curious watch, although maybe lacking the staying power of some other cult oddities.

Uzak - Remarkable. An understated two-hander told in probing long-takes and devoid of romanticism. Nuri Bilge Ceylan's film is all about restraint, and its many pay-offs are so impressive because they emerge quietly and organically.

Faults - Impressive debut from Riley Stearns. It's little surprise Mary Elizabeth Winstead is his wife - they've clearly collaborated closely here, and the role is almost tailor-made for her. She plays Claire, who has been taken in by a cult, with Ansel (Leland Orser) hired to 'deprogramme' her. He's a gloriously miserable and unlikeable character, his troubled personal and professional life given plenty of attention before a fascinating battle of wits kicks off. Winstead is excellent, Claire confidently switching between fragility and dominance with barely an edit's notice. Darkly funny throughout, the film also nails the transition to weirder, darker territory as the film progresses at its unhurried yet tightly wound pace, even if a few of the revelations are a tad obvious. Visually Stearns sticks with close-ups and other claustrophobic angles - appropriate for a film set almost entirely in grimy motel rooms. Also, it features a deliciously histrionic Lance Reddick supporting role, which is always to be welcomed.

Schadenfreudia

Payback (1999), Mel Gibson.

Hadn't seen this before - great movie - highly recommend it.

Fysh

pixelburp wrote: »

Was it though? Fifth Element was camp and damn funny from the very first scene, the script never ever letting you forget it was telling its tale with a smirk on its face. Jupiter Ascending felt like the Wachowskis really, really believed in the guff they were writing, but hadn't any self-awareness or self-deprecation to playfully mock the material. While the scene in the bureaucratic office was intentionally farcical and pretty funny, I never got the impression the script wanted to be funny; if anything that office scene was simply jarring as it was sandwiched amidst a lot of pompous nonsense. The film was really crying out for some Farscape'esque anarchy in its blood.

Oh, I think so. I don't think Redmayne's ridiculously OTT performance makes sense otherwise, for example. Or the ongoing sillines with the family, or the whole "yay, my job is cleaning toilets" thing is presented. But it's certainly nowhere near as good as it needs to be to achieve the same effect; I think I was in just the right humour for it when I caught it, but I'm pretty sure a lot of people at the screening I went to thought it was a poor effort.

It may be that someone can fanedit it to resolve that aspect of things - some judicious trims and maybe music replacement to better suit the tone might work wonders

Del.Monte

"Stand Off" (2011) on Netflix.



Filmed in NI (Belfast & Downpatrick) and billed as something that will appeal to people who enjoyed “Snatch” this movie sucks! Despite some well cast actors it never gets out of 1st gear. I watched it on Netflix but fell asleep for a few minutes halfway through it and it’s certainly not one worth buying.

Colm Meaney is utterly unconvincing as a PSNI detective - a role that he reprises in "A Belfast Story" 2013 with equally poor results. Avoid.

2/10 - it's an Irish film.

Del.Monte

Del.Monte wrote: »

"Stand Off" (2011) on Netflix.



Filmed in NI (Belfast & Downpatrick) and billed as something that will appeal to people who enjoyed “Snatch” this movie sucks! Despite some well cast actors it never gets out of 1st gear. I watched it on Netflix but fell asleep for a few minutes halfway through it and it’s certainly not one worth buying.

Colm Meaney is utterly unconvincing as a PSNI detective - a role that he reprises in "A Belfast Story" 2013 with equally poor results. Avoid.

2/10 - it's an Irish film.

Lol it actually says at the bottom "Will appeal to fans of". Thats up there with 'from the distributors of'

ButtersSuki

Del.Monte wrote: »

"Stand Off" (2011) on Netflix.



Filmed in NI (Belfast & Downpatrick) and billed as something that will appeal to people who enjoyed “Snatch” this movie sucks! Despite some well cast actors it never gets out of 1st gear. I watched it on Netflix but fell asleep for a few minutes halfway through it and it’s certainly not one worth buying.

Colm Meaney is utterly unconvincing as a PSNI detective - a role that he reprises in "A Belfast Story" 2013 with equally poor results. Avoid.

2/10 - it's an Irish film.

From the look on Meaney's face on that poster I'd imagine they took that photo as he watched a screening of "A Belfast Story".

ButtersSuki

Schadenfreudia wrote: »

Payback (1999), Mel Gibson.

Hadn't seen this before - great movie - highly recommend it.

A hugely under-rated and under-appreciated film, one of my all time faves. Effortlessly cool and just oozes style. Worth investing in the Blu Ray for the Director's Cut (different ending) or you can probably track the Director's Cut DVD on adverts etc.

My recent viewings include:

Spy, not my choice I might add! It wasn't as bad as I expected to be fair but it's still not great. A couple of the Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne bitchy conversations were funny and Jason Statham taking the p!ss out of himself was amusing, but that's about it. The slapstick was poor and maybe it's just me but Miranda Hart annoys the hell out of me. If you have to…..it's probably a 5/10.

The Six Million Dollar Conman Documentary screened on Channel 4 recently about a German who impersonated a Rockefeller and moved with varying degrees of success around certain social circles in the US until his alleged murderous past caught up with him. Interesting on some levels but the documentary is very slow and offers precious little of real insight into Ze German that a quick google wouldn't. Could and should have been better. 5/10.

Arkaron

A few recent screenings:


Tokyo Tribe, from Sono Sion
Set in a dystopian Tokyo that must endure the effects of repeated earthquakes, the film is centred on various yakuza gangs that share the control of the city. The latter is reduced to a hallucinogenic cityscape of sex and violence, subjected to the rain and the neon night lights! It’s a crazy world in which the only way for people to exist is to be part of a gang and to be rapping 24/7, gangsta-style, to defend the tribe’s honour. Seriously, everything in this film seems insane, from the fact that it has maybe 5 lines of non-rapped dialogue, to the presence of an Elvis Presley-like mob boss, and through the dominatrix gang, the use of human beings as furniture, and so on and so forth. The film is shot beautifully, with vibrant and striking colours, and Sono uses this universe to transcend any and all notions of spatial and narrative rules. He effectively transforms Tokyo into a modern mythological place where the future can be created for a new generation of music warriors. So yeah, the film can be a wrenching experience for anyone who’s expecting a conventional actioner. But there’s no longer anything conventional about Sono’s cinema, so if you watch it, you better accept the fact that the future will be made of dick size competitions, of peace and love, of martial arts and of insane beats. A genius rap musical (and I usually despise this kind of music): Tokyo Tribe, never ever die!


Yakuza Apocalypse, from Takashi Miike
When legendary vampire yakuza boss Kamiura feels that the end is nigh, he endows bullied thug Kageyama with the curse of the living dead, making him the most powerful member of the gang, as well as a most deadly threat to the international crime syndicate. And thus begins the great war of the underworld! The unstoppable Takashi Miike comes back, all katanas blazing, with this frantic and electrifying actioner in which Yayan Ruhian (of The Raid fame) joins a swarm of unbelievably badass characters and ideas: living vampire heads, a bird-turtle-man mutant thing that smells like sewers, brain leakage and liquefaction, a murderous Catholic priest, and most of all a giant frogman kung fu master that will no doubt become one of the most celebrated characters in history! It’s an unrelenting twist on the journey of initiation, maybe even the most exhilarating urban Western ever made?


Deathgasm, from Jason Lei Howden
Coming from New Zealand, this joyfully delirious gore comedy is a welcome take on how the metal community defines itself to the eyes of the world, and how belonging to such a community can affect people’s lives. Having gone through this phase myself a few years ago, I found the more socially realistic scenes quite touching and spot-on, and the matter certainly deserves more quality films. As for the rest (70%) of the film, it’s a great disgustingly gory experience that falls in line with Evil Dead or Braindead (albeit not as inventive, of course). The situations are funny and include numerous references to metal bands that only fans will pick up, but the general premise (a demon is summoned when an amateur metal band plays a black magic song) can be enjoyed by anyone that likes this type of film. Not a masterpiece by any standard, but a cool movie for sure.


Full Strike, from Derek Kwok and Henri Wong

The director of Gallant sis back with a kung fu/badminton comedy that unfortunately collapses after its first half. I laughed hard and loud during the whole exposition and training acts (jokes, puking, action, play on tropes, more puking), but as soon as the competition starts, it becomes very boring… A shame, but still worth checking out for whoever enjoys Hong Kong comedies.


Black & White – Dawn of Justice, from Tsai Yueh-Hsun

B&W is the most expensive blockbuster ever made in Taiwan. It’s also an adaptation of a popular TV series and probably the most stupid and fun actioner I’ve seen this year. It sort of tries to be a buddy movie, but never achieves it, and feels very derivative from beginning to end. The plot and structure was probably taken directly from HK films such as Purple Storm and 2000 AD, and some scenes felt very much like 1990s set pieces inspired by stuff like Tsui Hark’s Knock Off. The script is filled with inconsistencies and nonsensical situations, as well as hilariously bad dialogue (“Don’t fall off this 100th floor window – you could die!”). The budget shows mostly in the choreographies and pyrotechnics, but the 3D VFX for various scenes (helicopters, missiles, bridge collapsing) are still quite poor. It’s probably gonna be an unbearable watch to those who have no particular affinity for Asian cinema, but the level of deference to old-school blockbusters of the region, and the continuous attempts at delivering more and more outrageous action scenes, have won me over. That’s what I expect to see from a brainless actioner.

Turbo Kid, from Anouk Whissell, François Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissell
Here comes Turbo Kid, the latest 80s throwback ready to take over the world with nostalgia. In truth, Turbo Kid doesn’t contain too many explicit references or nods to particular films, but is rather a loving take on the tropes used by 1980s action movies. We have the post-apocalyptic world, the superheroes, the robots, Michael Ironside, the synthesiser music, and so on. It’s a very fun ride, full of visual gags and graphic deaths. What’s more, the film never relies on cynicism to justify its premise or setting, but rather embraces the tropes and uses them to create a great and inventive piece of entertainment. Highly recommended.

Spermula, from Charles Matton
Basically, aliens from outer space take the form of attractive young women in order to collect the male population’s semen and free humanity from lust. The sperm collection premise had been used one year before in 1975, in Jess Franco’s Female Vampire. Although Spermula does have some sexploitation elements (Jean Rollin’s films come to mind), it’s also a hybrid film that incorporates French New Wave aesthetics and tropes (mise en abyme, voice over, double narrative layer). It also deals a lot with sexual liberation and how sex can help individuals and society to better themselves, either by embracing it or by understanding that it cannot only be a selfish act. Matton was a child of the 1968 revolution, and it shows in this film, especially during overtly transgressive scenes (there’s a bishop who lets himself be abused by naked nymphs…). Although it does contain two or three hardcore shots, Spermula remains mostly erotic and is still to this day one of the most beautifully shot films of the category, with breath-taking images composed with elaborated sets and sophisticated lights. Udo Kier stars in one of his first roles, as a male alien whose purpose goes against that of the women. I found the film’s climax particularly poetic.

e_e

Deleted User wrote: »

Lol it actually says at the bottom "Will appeal to fans of". Thats up there with 'from the distributors of'

This one really takes the piss:

Harry Palmr

Never Say Never Again (1983) Dir Irvin Kershner

The rogue Bond outing, is a re-run of Thunderball's plot made at the behest of Kevin McClory who owned the script having gone to court to stop Ian Fleming claiming full copyright for a novel that was based on an unfilmed script that McClory had co-authored in 1958/9.

The film is a curates egg, elements work well other parts feel needless, the cameo by Rowan Atkinson is a bit cringing. Indeed at times the film is toe-curling in its self knowing nature. As with the original the underwater scenes simply doesn't lend themselves well to action cinema and the climax is unsatisfyingly "cramped". The optical effects are noticeably worse than those of the official Bond films of the same era and the whole thing does look cheaper with regard to set design and stunt work though the villains boat is rather nice. Its also the obviously sexist Bond of the lot if measured by cleavage and arses, while the scene where Kim Basinger's character is being sold off to local Bedouin ruffians wouldn't get past the first script reading now. One for completists in 2015 its fair to say.

Amazingly McClory tried to have a another bite of the cherry in the 90s with Warhead that was intended to start another Bond alumni Timothy Dalton.

JaseBelleVie

Interstellar

Wow. One of the best films I've ever seen. A modern masterpiece. If you haven't seen this yet, watch it. Quite simply unreal.

Looper007

JaseBelleVie wrote: »

Interstellar

Wow. One of the best films I've ever seen. A modern masterpiece. If you haven't seen this yet, watch it. Quite simply unreal.

Watched it again the other day after listening to Hans Zimmer brilliant score on the way home from work, I think it's one of the best films of the last few years, flaws and all. Those scenes in space would even make Kubrick proud, Nolan is really a master behind the camera. Matthew Mcconaughey really holds it all together. It's a film that must be seen on the big screen.

youreadthat

Interstellar - 6/10

I liked things about it, but my gut instinct after watching it is that I don't like it as a whole. Like Gravity it is very good looking, unlike Gravity there is actually somewhat of a plot. Unfortunately like Gravity they employed Anne Hathaway (ergh..). Main gripes are that the world they try to get across to you doesn't feel believable so instantly it's hard to immerse yourself, far too eager to blast off and save costs of near future earth scenes for the space stuff. The relationship that underpins the whole film is odd to me, and it has a wishy-washy narrative because it is a sentimental father daughter story (not a well developed one) in a sci-fi context, except they are constantly struggling to maintain the correct amount of sci-fi and sentiment throughout each stage of the film until the end when they figuratively take an overdose of both. It's not like a good Star Trek episode where it's a human drama that just happens to be in space. The drama and the context are never in harmony. Inception it is not.

Edit: Two Interstellar reviews in a row is a coincidence! Just watched it on my own this evening!

Looper007

Love and Mercy

The recent released biopic on Beach Boy's Genius Brian Wilson, and I have to say it's one of the greatest Musician biopic's I've ever seen. Very poignant especially the scenes involving Brian's breakdown, Paul Dano steals the show as Brian at his pomp in the 60's creating his masterwork's Pet Sounds and Smile, and his relationship with the band (Mike Love is given a far easier ride then expected) and his father. Plus the breakdown is well handled and his breakdown is really a sad but tough watch. The scenes set in the 80's with Brian now played very well by John Cusack, finds himself under the sway of a controlling therapist Dr Eugene Landy (played brilliantly by Paul Giamatti). He meets his future wife Melinda Ledbetter played very well by Elizabeth Banks, who tries to save him from Landy's grip. Atticus Ross delivers a top score but it's the Beach Boy's songs that stick out especially anything from Pet Sounds. Its a brilliant film well worth catching thanks to Dano's performance.

Ciaran_B

I watched Love and Mercy over the weekend. I’m a huge Beach Boys fan but found this a little underwhelming. The studio bits with Paul Dano were superb. Seeing the great songs being pieced together and hearing them through a cinema sound system was a real treat. But the John Cusack parts were pretty weak and had a TV movie vibe to them. A Pet Sounds/Smile era biopic with just Paul Dano would have been amazing.

youreadthat

Lucy - 5/10

I liked the start but it gets pretty silly. I'd disagree that this film doesn't take itself seriously, Morgan Freeman narrates the pretentiousness throughout and the awful stock footage ffs. Even if you accept the silly 10% stuff, and accept the ridiculous abilities she gets, it is still nonsensical in the context of the film on many occasions. We can see she is somehow doing all this stuff (which is poorly explained) yet she doesn't do obvious things that you'd do to aid the situations she finds herself in, for example at one point she changes her hair with the aid of her magic brain powers to blend in and avoid capture, yet the all powerful Lucy doesn't at any point even mimic a human personality which would help her (and the watchability) immensely bled in. She tells us early on that she has no desire, yet the whole film is her seeking stuff out...

At one point when she has light beams coming out of every orifice and there had just been a lengthy car chase and shoot out it felt exactly like a superhero movie, except this is not at all what it's trying to be.

Harry Palmr

They Might Be Giants (1971) Dir Anthony Harvey.

George C Scott is Justin Playfair who has believed himself to be Sherlock Holmes since the death of his wife, his brother wants to section him so to get his hands on the money. Enter psychiatric doctor Mildred Watson....

Effectively a companion piece to another James Goldman scripted romantic drama Robin and Marian They Might Be Giants is a quirky story about loners, the lonely and love. Scott and Joanne Woodward (as Dr Watson) are both terrific esp in the later scenes as the relationship moves to the personal and Watson gives up her rational self for love and imagination.

Liamalone

Interstellar

Another load of balls, stupid nonsensical time travel crap. Avoid.

Schadenfreudia

Liamalone wrote: »

Interstellar

Another load of balls, stupid nonsensical time travel crap. Avoid.

Surely you liked "Back to the Future"?!! :eek:

Sugarlumps

Dracula Untold
Should of stayed untold, 20 minutes was all I could stomach.