What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

FloatingVoter

Deleted User wrote: »

Being There (1979)

A quite intriguing film starring Peter Sellers as a a guy who lived in the same house all his life and tended to the garden of the owner. He can't read or write and is basically a simpleton. When his employer dies he has to leave to the outside world and ends up with his simpleness being mistaken for genius. The film is a little slow, but ends up being quite rewarding

Possibly some inspiration here for Forrest Gump

...and also some excellent gardening tips. My mother watched this and couldn't fault his tips on when to prune shrubs.
A genuinely quietly hilarious movie that is still on my watch list whenever they repeat it.

johnny_ultimate

Junun

We may be waiting some time for Paul Thomas Anderson's next major fiction film, but he's thankfully been keeping busy. After stepping behind the camera to shoot Joanna Newsom's first music video in years, his latest work is also musical in nature, albeit more substantial than a promo clip.

Junun - which is happily available on Mubi for the next month following its festival premiere yesterday - follows the recording sessions involving frequent Anderson collaborator Jonny Greenwood, Israeli musician Shye Ben Tzur and a large group of talented Indian musicians. The sessions take place in the stunning Mehrangarh Fort - prone to electricity cuts, but one hell of a spot to fly some camera drones.

Unsurprisingly, the film largely ignores traditional documentary form (a few brief exchanges to camera aside). Instead Anderson and his team of camera operators come up with a range of imaginative yet beautifully casual framing ideas to shoot the performances and the performances. What they emerge with is a music docu of uncommon intimacy - while Anderson fans will find much to enjoy in the inventive cinematography (a foray into the digital space for one of film's most powerful remaining proponents), ultimately this is a film about the joy of the music. Greenwood is mostly in the background - the film is not about its most famous participant but instead a celebration of the democracy, collaboration and energy of these sessions, and the many musicians (and their engineers, battling to record when the power's still running) whose inputs and talents are all given equal weighting.

Low-key and understated, few will be declaring this a major work from one of America's predominant auteurs. But how beautifully, lovingly minor it is.

Continuing on my 31 Frights.

The Incident (aka Asylum Blackout) - A dark and moody horror that's all about the atmosphere and in that regard The Incident is a hit. Dark and foreboding, this is a film which makes great use of a striking setting and while the characters who inhabit it may be a little stock, the performances are strong enough to carry the film.

Rupert Evans who you may recall from the first Hellboy takes center stage and his experience is one which the film hinges upon. It's a rather uncomfortable trip through the dark with repeated images of grotesque violence and one of the most startling implications of rape that cinema has produced in a long time.

This is a film which strives to be something more than a simple genre piece and that it largely succeeds is a credit to the script and direction though ambiguous ending may leave many feeling a little cheated.

Higanjima - It's surprising that Higanjima hasn't already been remade as a summer blockbuster as at heart it's a film made for 15 year old boys. Full of over the top blood shed and barely taking the time to slow down between set pieces this is the kind of genre film that just goes with the flow and never lets things like logic or common sense get in the way.

Melodramatic to a fault, there's more teenage angst on display here than you can keep track of and at times you're not sure what's the more violent, the scenes of claret spraying everywhere or the manner in which our heroes let their emotions be known through repeated scenes of teary eyed whining. Out hero is so over wrought with emotion that he even takes time mid fight to mourn over a friend of his who not 30 seconds earlier was about to kill him.

And yet, Higanjima is never less than entertaining. The barrage of over the top action is fun and the finale, featuring CGI straight out of a PS2 game is the kind of gleeful nonsense that we could do with more of. This is a film that will never set the world on fire and could easily lose 20 minutes, yet I really hope that the teased at sequel is a thing as I'd happily spend 120 more minutes on Vampire Island, just give me less emoting and more tearing of flesh.

Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell - Made alongside 3 other sci-fi horrors to cash in on the recent success of Godzilla, Goke is one of the more interesting and out there Japanese genre pictures of the 60s. The dreamlike sense to the film creates an interesting dynamic and the use of cheap FX gives the whole thing a kitsch quality that is rather comforting. The opening scenes are the kind of over the top nonsense that you hope to see more often and the subsequent "big" set piece is amongst the cheapest ever put on screen and yet it works wonderfully in creating a deeply unsettling mood.

Goke is a deliriously demented picture with an emphasis on building suspense through visuals and theme rather than gore. The hookey effects work and cast who are all game work brilliantly together and while the film has little to say on any grand scale, it's incredibly fun and the apocalyptic ending is one of cinemas most striking.

Arachnid - A creature feature so familiar that you can tell how it's going to play out from the second the cast are introduced. The opening scene ranks up there amongst the most unusual and bonkers that you are ever likely to see. An invisible alien space ship creates a tornado in the middle of the ocean, sucking up whales and what not before an American stealth plane crashes into it causing both to crash land on a tropical island. On the ground our pilot stumbles across and alien from that looks like it's cut and pasted in from an early PS1 title before it swiftly gets devoured by a large spider like creature.

From here things get a little more mundane and we follow a group of fodder into the jungle in search of the spiders which have paralysed some random nobody. The fodder is made up of the usual bunch of over the top scientists, gung-ho ex-soldiers and the plucky female lead who gets her top off within the first 30 minutes.

Directed by Jack Sholder who gave us the genre classic The Hidden aswell as A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, expectaions are rather higher for Arachnid that other similar creature features. Coupled with the rather great box art cover one can't help but expect rater good things but alas Arachnid is another in the never ending line of cheap creature features that does nothing of note. The FX ranges from the passable to the downright dreadful and the plastic nature of the giant spider makes it hard to take in any way seriously. There's no suspense or tension to speak of and the cast, some of whom come off really well are saddled with dreadful dialogue that no one could make work.

Arachnid is the most banal kind of creature feature, there's not a single original idea to be found here and it doesn't even work as a good bad film, it's just a poor film that really has no reason to exist.

Interview with the Vampire - One of those revered genre films which really doesn't add up to much. The Gothic horror that it so aspires to is sadly absent from this rather dull and lifeless vampire tale which squanders a great cast and some interesting visuals on a story that never really goes anywhere. Pitt and Cruise are both on top form and Cruise in particular is having a blast and the supporting cast is made up of some game familiar faces though whoever thought that Stephen Rea was a good choice really should be forced to endure his truly dreadful performance on repeat for eternity. He seems to be in a totally different film to the rest of the cast, that the film seems to be a production by The Asylum tells you all you need to know.

There's so much promise here but Jordan seems lost and unsure of the story he wants to tell. What at first appears to be a love story between men throughout the ages is quickly forgotten in order to tell the story of a father and his rather annoying little child who someone really should have ended long before. As soon as Cruise leaves the film it grinds to a halt and while attempts are made to resurrect it, the entire Paris set final third feels like it's been ripped out of a much longer film and just feels tacked on.

The final scene sets up a sequel which could actually be far more fun that the preceding two hours were as it has a sense of fun to it that the rest of the film is sadly lacking.

Liam McPoyle

Turbo Kid

Ridiculously fun throw back movie. Set in the future (1997) after an unknown war ended the world as we know it, a comic book obsessed teenager, ably assisted by a bad ass Australian cowboy and a spunky teenage girl, goes head to head with an evil tyrannical maniac.

A no name cast aside from 80s genre icon Michael Ironside, this is a thoroughly enjoyable, gore soaked ride. Its a cross between an 80s kids adventure and Hobo With a Shotgun.

While not quite as violent as HWAS there is still buckets of blood and guts thrown around throughout and it includes some cheer and laugh inducing kills.

Very much a tongue in cheek affair this is the most fun Ive had watching a piece of cheese in quite some time.

7/10

Sonderkommando

The Whale, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whale_(2013_film)

Very enjoyable film that is be beautifully narrated by the always excellent Martin Sheen. There was IMO a lack of cinematic effects which took a small bit out of the overall enjoyment of the film but still it was a decent watch.

Irish Aris

Cul-de-sac (1966)

One of the early Roman Polanski films.
To a certain extend, I feel that this picks up from where Knife In The Water (his first film) left of: 3 characters (2 men, 1 woman), a confined space (the boat in Knife in the Water, the castle here).
The feeling is slightly different: the introduction of some supporting character bring a bit of openness to the film. Overall they don't offer much to the plot, but they do help in developing the relationship/tension between the characters and in a way explain George's madness (a very impressive Donald Pleasance)

Aidric

Saw '45 Years' today and am slightly bemused at the reverence given to this film by the critics. It's a solid film with good performances by the leads but it never rose to greatness. In fact I found the whole thing quite ponderous.

Mike Leigh directed a film in 2010 called 'Another Year' which had quite a similar theme but is a far superior film.

Harry Palmr

Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975 - Dir Jim Sharman

Musical comic horror pastiche in a dark old house is really nothing more than a trifle - a series of set pieces strung together with the flimsiest of plots, as a result it suffers some longueurs but the cast are very game especially Tim Curry as Frank N Furter (a sight to behold in fishnets!) and Susan Sarandon as Janet. The sound engineering is top draw, full of dynamics, the post synch is at times pretty dodgy the visuals are also decent esp the staging of the RKO scene.

Ageyev

I am marathonning the Saw films and by christ they make no sense. First one was good but the sequels are just ridiculous.

fin12

Ageyev wrote: »

I am marathonning the Saw films and by christ they make no sense. First one was good but the sequels are just ridiculous.

I could never watch any of them, are they really gruesome?

Mike Litoris

Ageyev wrote: »

I am marathonning the Saw films and by christ they make no sense. First one was good but the sequels are just ridiculous.

I really enjoyed the 1st at the time of release but the rest are just cash ins. The 2nd was god awful.

Ageyev

Mike Litoris wrote: »

I really enjoyed the 1st at the time of release but the rest are just cash ins. The 2nd was god awful.

I am flabbergasted at how abysmal the sequels are. I'm on numver 5 atm. The whole series grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide on relatively midest budgets.

fin12 wrote: »

I could never watch any of them, are they really gruesome?

Yes. The first is a competent b-movie thriller but the gore in the sequels is just comical. The "gore" is also very anatomically incorrect which I found beyond ridiculous. A minor complaint in the horror genre but it's just off the wall.

The interlocking timelimes across the films is so confusing it masks the whole flimsy premise

Harry Palmr

The Devil and Daniel Webster/All That Money Can Buy 1941 Dir William Dieterle

Faustian morality play about a desperate farmer who curses his luck and gives his soul up to the devil for wealth. Terrific "they don't make 'em like they used" to Hollywood drama imbued with some sly wit and wisdom. Walter Huston is great value as "Mr Scratch" with everyone else good value esp Edward Arnold as Webster who knows how to deliver the sort of rousing speech that could have been just hammy.

A total flop on release which just goes to show the public have never had trustworthy judgement

marwelie

Deleted User wrote: »

Being There (1979)

A quite intriguing film starring Peter Sellers as a a guy who lived in the same house all his life and tended to the garden of the owner. He can't read or write and is basically a simpleton. When his employer dies he has to leave to the outside world and ends up with his simpleness being mistaken for genius. The film is a little slow, but ends up being quite rewarding

Possibly some inspiration here for Forrest Gump

One of my favourite top 5 movies. Sellers is quite brilliant in it. I may be banned from here for saying it but Forrest Gump is appalling guff. How it on Best Picture, Director and Actor ahead of Pulp Fiction/Shawshank Redemption, Quentin Tarantino/Krzysztof Kieślowski/Morgan Freeman/John Travolta is beyond my comprehension....

marwelie

marwelie wrote: »

One of my favourite top 5 movies. Sellers is quite brilliant in it. I may be banned from here for saying it but Forrest Gump is appalling guff. How it on Best Picture, Director and Actor ahead of Pulp Fiction/Shawshank Redemption, Quentin Tarantino/Krzysztof Kieślowski/Morgan Freeman/John Travolta is beyond my comprehension....

This is why it won best picture!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmajyVNuQL4

omnithanos

I'm going back to the start to re watch my favourite films in order of release.
As lists aren't allowed on the film forum I'll just link my five favourite pre 1910's films which are all available to view on youtube.

Tony EH

marwelie wrote: »

I may be banned from here for saying it but Forrest Gump is appalling guff.

Why? It's a big pile of shite.

omnithanos

I put Forrest Gump on recently but it didn't grab my attention. It's technically very good but I think it's a bit uneven.

johnny_ultimate

Phoenix - the phrase 'I turned it off after 'x' minutes' always causes me to involuntarily tic. As presumptuous as it is to presume how valuable somebody else's time is, for me it's important to commit to a film, unless it quickly transpires it is legitimately awful. Some films need time to rest, and indeed on some occasions it's not until the final minutes that everything fits together.

Phoenix is a case in point. It's not as if Christian Petzold's film is not engaging or anything for its duration, far from it. It's a sombre, melancholic and psychologically slithery take on themes of identity and belonging, like a reverse perspective on Vertigo. It's setting - in the immediate aftermath of WWII, focusing on the repercussions of the Holocaust for individuals - is rather refreshing, given many films take place before, during or long after it. And of course the performances are stellar, led by a remarkable Nina Hoss.

But the closing moments elevate the film to something even more powerful. Without going into specifics, it's the sort of moment that is a perfect culmination of what we've seen up until that point. Not a word is said (although some words are sung), yet the emotions and themes that have been bubbling throughout are given a spine-tingling punctuation mark. It's an impressive example of how a director needs his entire running length to do what he needs to do, and it's the sort of dramatic catharsis that makes a really good film a great one.

NachoBusiness

The Program (2015):
Lance Armstrong story. Was okay I suppose. Expected better tbh, after having read most of the books on which it's based. Expected more regarding how he threatened certain people and went out of his way to destroy them. It did touch on this, but pulled a few punches also I felt. His story is amazing though and I hope another effort is made at telling it.

Regression (2015):
Diabolical.

Solace (2015):
Okay'ish. Better than watching nothing I suppose. I think I forget what I thought about it tbh.

Chain Smoker

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
There were a fair few properly nice moments, the film references didn't grate too much (although their homemade films were absolutely crap) and there were patches I overall enjoyed ...but it had some baffling stuff in it,

the dying girl effectively disappears from the second half of the film asides from dying and making a return after death to save him, Earl was a complete non-entity

and the soundtrack was somehow a bit horrific.

Heaven Knows What
Thought this was fantastic, the Safdie brothers (Daddy Longlegs) collaborated pretty extensively with the lead actress to do a film based around the kind of live she was living at the time (homeless heroin addict in a pretty destructive relationship with an absolute headcase). The comparisons it has been getting to Larry Clark seem pretty lazy to me, I never found the characters in his films near as believable as the group in this and anything which could be considered shocking felt genuine. Arielle Holmes is left with quite a bit to carry and pulls it off with ease.

e_e

Seconding Heaven Knows What, it's a case of a very low budget actually benefiting the film greatly. The lo-fi digital aesthetic, synthy score and jarring editing are so visceral there.

cowboyBuilder

The Babadook ??? someone said this was scary .... some jumpy moments but not that much, I need a good horror movie - haven't seen a really good one since The Others

fin12

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

The Babadook ??? someone said this was scary .... some jumpy moments but not that much, I need a good horror movie - haven't seen a really good one since The Others

what about the grudge? I dont like watching horror films at all, but that's one I've seen. Is the first conjuring scary? or what about the woman in black, Daniel Radcliffe film?

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

The Babadook ??? someone said this was scary .... some jumpy moments but not that much, I need a good horror movie - haven't seen a really good one since The Others

What you looking for in a horror film? Jumpy, supernatural, violent, contemporary, modern? If you liked The Others then The Innocents is probably worth checking out, if you don't mind violence then I'd say You're Next is worth a punt, if you like slashers then It Follows might be good for you, some proper jumpy moments in that

Jude13

We went to see Pan a few nights back. The guy who played Hook absolutely ruined it, terrible acting and voice. His expressions were incredibly annoying.

The rest of the film was pants also. 2/10 The two is for Hugh Jackman.

Kolido

fin12 wrote: »

what about the grudge? I dont like watching horror films at all, but that's one I've seen. Is the first conjuring scary? or what about the woman in black, Daniel Radcliffe film?

The Conjuring is one of the best horrors released in a long time, good old school feel to it. Also Insidious 1 and 2 are decent, the 3rd one not so much.

Looper007

NachoBusiness wrote: »

The Program (2015):
Lance Armstrong story. Was okay I suppose. Expected better tbh, after having read most of the books on which it's based. Expected more regarding how he threatened certain people and went out of his way to destroy them. It did touch on this, but pulled a few punches also I felt. His story is amazing though and I hope another effort is made at telling it.

I enjoyed this more then you did, I thought Ben Foster was great as Armstrong, they showed plenty of him been a nasty bully to people Nacho. How much did you want?. I know a few who said they felt for Armstrong after seen this, I felt the opposite as Foster really made him one of the best villains of the year. A cheat who hid behind his charity, who bullied other riders and teammates, was so cocky he thought he was untouchable and ruined people's lives, I cheered when he was caught out in the end and really wanted to see him serve jail time.

Foster is the reason alone to watch it, O'Dowd is wasted somewhat and Hoffman cameo is just that. And did you catch the cameo from Michael G Wilson, producer of the James Bond franchise as the Doctor who tells Armstrong he has cancer. I enjoyed it a lot.

Ciaran_B

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

The Babadook ??? someone said this was scary .... some jumpy moments but not that much, I need a good horror movie - haven't seen a really good one since The Others

Have you seen It Follows? One of the films of the year for me.

Decuc500

Chain Smoker wrote: »

Heaven Knows What
Thought this was fantastic, the Safdie brothers (Daddy Longlegs) collaborated pretty extensively with the lead actress to do a film based around the kind of live she was living at the time (homeless heroin addict in a pretty destructive relationship with an absolute headcase). The comparisons it has been getting to Larry Clark seem pretty lazy to me, I never found the characters in his films near as believable as the group in this and anything which could be considered shocking felt genuine. Arielle Holmes is left with quite a bit to carry and pulls it off with ease.

I really liked this too. It was shown at the Dublin Film Festival in March and Arielle Holmes was at it. I felt pretty bad for her though as there were only about 15 people there for the q&a.