What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Fysh

Del.Monte wrote: »

Another truly dreadful Sci-Fi offering from Netflix last night.

The Signal (2014)

One of those movies that you keep watching against your better judgement - in case something actually happens.
Avoid this pile of parrot droppings at all costs. 0/10

Do yourself a favour and just watch this trailer instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwgfeR2pMuE

Aw, I rather liked The Signal - it committed to its premise more than many such films would do, and though I'm a tiny bit "meh" about the final shot (because it feels a bit too close to Shyamalan-style reveal and didn't really feel necessary for the story to conclude), I thought it was neatly done.

Chain Smoker

Del.Monte wrote: »

"Harry Brown" (2009)

Pensioner Harry Brown (Michael Caine) takes on the scumbags on an English Council Estate when his pal is murdered. Charles Bronson eat your heart out. 10/10

Has Michael Caine ever been in a poor movie - save for the original "Italian Job"?

Wasn't too keen on this film, it felt like a film made by an especially mental Daily Mail commenter. An exploitation film that somehow seems to be unaware of the fact, taking itself very very seriously.

hefferboi

duckysauce wrote: »

what film is that ?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2943910/

Watchable.

ButtersSuki

Del.Monte wrote: »

Has Michael Caine ever been in a poor movie - save for the original "Italian Job"?

You've obviously never seen "Water" then, have you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBxA4fQRrhk

Irish Aris

Un Conte De Noel/A Christmas Tale (2008)

The story takes place during the Christmas period where the rather estranged family gather together on the request of the parents, as the mother found out that she suffers from leukemia and doesn't have much to live).

. Although it doesn't break any new grounds, it balances nicely between comedy and drama, and benefits from some good performances, especially from Mathieu Amalric. Not necessarily a Christmas film because of the seriousness of the main plot, it can primarily be viewed as a study on family relationships.

La Ronde (1950)

This adorable film follows a series of characters/love stories - each time one of the two characters in a love story forms a different story with someone else in the next one. These small vignettes are connected beautifully by the constant presence of Anton Walbrook-either as the ringleader of the "circus" or a character in the various scenes. Although the concept is fairly simple, the end result is very appealing. Not a masterpiece per se, but a very heartwarming, nice-to watch again film.
Now I am interested to see some more of Max Ophuls filmography - I missed my chance years ago when there was a retrospective in the Athens International Film Festival.

Sebastiane (1976)

First Derek Jarman film I watched, I was vaguely aware that his style is very experimental. This one was really painful to watch. The dialogue (all in Latin) describes the martyrdom of Saint Sebastiane.
After the provocative opening scene

(a gay orgy of sorts)

, the rest of the film takes place in a remote Ireland where a bunch of soldiers (including Sebastiane) go about doing random things - including Sebastiane's torture. Badly acted altogether, this (the first) Jarman's film is almost like a test for the director-he seems to try various things and see if they would stick together. Supposedly this was targeting a gay audience specifically, I will admit that I can't see the appeal at all (I suppose it was more relevant at its time).
Only for the hardcore Jarman fans, everyone else avoid.

Del.Monte

ButtersSuki wrote: »

You've obviously never seen "Water" then, have you?

Ah, good point and I have quite recently - must have erased it from my memory it was indeed awful. I prefer to remember Michael Caine for Zulu, The Eagle has Landed, Get Carter, Educating Rita, The Ipcress File and the other Harry Palmer movies. He has been around for an awfully long time so I suppose he has featured in some lemons....'not a lot of people know that'.

FloatingVoter

Del.Monte wrote: »

. He has been around for an awfully long time so I suppose he has featured in some lemons....'not a lot of people know that'.

To be fair, Michael Caine is very honest about movies he did just for cash. That "Jaws sequel built me a lovely house" one comes from his autobiography. Worth a read for his time in National Service in Korea (miserable) and doing rep in every fleapit in England (possibly more miserable). The showbiz anecdotes are free.
A major reason for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" was good weather and proximity to a restaurant he rated. And a good script.

Liam McPoyle

I received the stunning Scarlet Box from Arrow Video in the post last week so last night I watched Hellraiser.

Pretty much everyone knows what its about. It follows the story of Frank Cotton, an individual that enjoys life's extremes. He buys a mysterious puzzle box from an oriental street vendor and manages to open a portal to hell where he encounters demons that literally tear his soul apart.

Hellraiser has always been in my top 10 horror list and still is. Its a story of obsessive love, sexual dominance and the power of control. Its a timeless tale and introduced a horror figure as iconic as Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees or Freddy Kruger. While some of the effects are a bit dated (it is almost 30 years old) its still a fantastic movie, the transfer from Arrow is lovely and the stunning soundtrack from Christopher Young has never sounded better.

The disc also contains a much more succinct cut of Leviathan : The Story of Hellraiser.

Ive said it before and I will say it again, Arrow are producing the best packaged blu releases of any company and this set is no different. There is a gorgeous 200 page hardback book with writings about all 3 of the movies, some beautiful postcards aswell as a fourth disc with an encyclopedic amount of extras throughout the set.

It was completely sold out before it was released and Im glad I got mine in the preorder as there are gougers trying to sell it for 3 times its RRP on ebay and Amazon.

Stunning movie, stunning set.

8/10

ButtersSuki

ButtersSuki wrote: »

You've obviously never seen "Water" then, have you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBxA4fQRrhk

Water is just awful. You'll get more laughs laughing at it than you'll ever get from the script. It's like a bad Carry On type movie, with a lot of racial stereotyping and political incorrectness thrown in. It's a real product of its time, it's highly unlikely it could ever be made today without an enormous amount of editing.

I saw it at a childhood friend's birthday party and even for an audience of 10/12 year olds there were zero laughs. It was a huge deal to be seeing an actual movie on a video (ah they were simpler times!) I re watched it in my 20s on TV one night and it was as bad as I remembered, even watching the trailer gives me the shivers.

Tony EH

Business Cat wrote: »

I received the stunning Scarlet Box from Arrow Video in the post last week so last night I watched Hellraiser.

While I've no time for 'Hellraiser II' or 'Hellraiser III' (the only one I actually saw in the cinema) the original film is a fantastic effort, even with its obvious flaws and some very suspect dubbing and that box set looks very nice indeed.

Business Cat wrote: »

Ive said it before and I will say it again, Arrow are producing the best packaged blu releases of any company...

Except when the screw it up, like they did with 'The Beyond' and 'Zombie Flesh Eaters'.

In fairness to them, they did replace the disks in a short time and the customer service is great.

gucci

Jurassic World

I expected this to be average, but at least entertaining. As a 30 something male, the original was one of the defining moments of my early cinema going life.

It was so appalling it was hilarious. The pacing and story were completely all over the place, very poor characters (could the male and female leads been any more cliche or hammy?) I didn't expect Citizen Kane regarding the dialogue, but bloody hell. The final fight scenes / conclusion were so mashed up and all over the place I couldnt really figure out which dinosaur was which

when the T-Rex was brought out.

and in the end I was just glad it was over.

Also

why the kids, Claire and Owen had to more or less stand / lie underneath all the fighting when it was happening.....JUST RUN THE F**K AWAY

I am willing to over look the hilarious mechanical prowess of the kids

Being able to get a 23 year old Jeep going, which didnt even have flat tyres!!!

I tried to think, if I was 10 would I have been impressed by what I seen on the screen, and would I remember this movie in 20 years time out of all the other ones I had seen when I was that age.....probably not. But then again, I guess that's not where the market is anymore. Its all about turn over and going every week rather than having those two or three stand out movies in a year!

Walter E GO

Spot on, Gucci.

Tony EH

gucci wrote: »

Jurassic World...

It's simply astounding the free pass this tripe is getting from some people.

71% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Seriously...71% :eek:

Irish Aris

Tony EH wrote: »

It's simply astounding the free pass this tripe is getting from some people.

71% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Seriously...71% :eek:

I actually found it quite entertaining.
I liked the first film a lot I found the next 2 films rather average, and I thought this one was a return to form of sorts.

I'd say a 6/10 from me.

e_e

Yeah but in fairness holding JW up as the standard is a bit misleading. We've already had 2 great blockbusters this year in Fury Road and Inside Out, here's hoping Star Wars delivers too. Not to mention that a really well-made and smartly written film (The Martian) is ruling the box office at the moment. There's really good and bad wherever you look at the movies now, same as it always was.

Jurassic World is more or less the Transformers 4 of dinosaur movies, which is so disappointing considering where the series started. There's something really dispiriting to me about so many people lapping up a film that blatantly hates its own audience though.

gucci

I see where you are coming from and agree that its probably unfair to expect the fourth part of a movie to have the same heir of originality as the original, but I dont know, I just thought the whole thing was very flat.

It could have been much better by a slightly and I mean only slightly better script or an extra 10 mins calmness at the start or middle to draw in the viewer a bit more and make them give a sh1t about either the humans or the dinosaurs.....

cherryghost

I watched Tomorrowland. I dunno. It's ok I guess. It started off pretty well then just nosedived up its own arse.

Marshland 2014

Spanish film set in I think the 1970's about two detectives investigating the disappearance of two teenage girls from a country town.
It carries that eerie True Detective feel, and is quite dark. Have to say it was very skilfully directed on a slim budget, with some of the location scenes reminding me of movies actually made in the 70's before all the bright sparkles we have now.
Very well acted, and had me saying goddamn son of a bitch as the credits rolled at the end!

BMMachine

Irish Aris wrote: »

I actually found it quite entertaining.
I liked the first film a lot I found the next 2 films rather average, and I thought this one was a return to form of sorts.

I'd say a 6/10 from me.

just better yourself

BMMachine

cherryghost wrote: »

I watched Tomorrowland. I dunno. It's ok I guess. It started off pretty well then just nosedived up its own arse.

yeah, I really thought there was a film in here struggling to get out but it did go quite far up its own arse, especially at the end.
And is being annoying something that is considered a merit for young people? Like the main girl in this, shes extremely annoying and the film plays it off like its a good attribute to have. I did think the robots were cool though

Intacto 2001

Another Spanish film, dealing with the "gift" of Luck.

The always impressive Max Von Sydow takes a peripheral but also quite central role as perhaps the luckiest man alive, while the film focuses on two other men as they attempt maximise their unique but fleeting gifts.

The movie is intriguing and original, and there is a quite brilliant scene in the woods of possibly the most outrageous gamble I've ever seen. Despite being outrageous is still seems real.

Reading up on Max Von Sydow his real name is Carl Adolf, and his father was an expert in Irish history and culture!

Looper007

cherryghost wrote: »

I watched Tomorrowland. I dunno. It's ok I guess. It started off pretty well then just nosedived up its own arse.

I loved it for two thirds of it but once they arrive back on Tomorrowland in the third act it definitely nosedived. But I think it's actually a great adventure film for two thirds, I love the little

girl android, her death scene was touching

although Britt Roberston was probably a little too old to play a teenager she was fine. Clooney was great too. Shame it flopped as it's a good solid film.

Chain Smoker

Kings of the Road
I was just glad the defecation scene happened early in the film, would've spent the whole three hours waiting for it to go by so I could eat my sandwich in comfort.

Duggy747

Return Of The Jedi

Herself never saw the trilogy so we watched the 1st two films close together while this gotten forgotten about for a few months until last night in lead up to the new film.

I haven't seen it in a very long time but still enjoyed it, especially the battle of Endor sequence which still has that blockbuster feel to it.

That musical number is absolutely embarrassing and the added CG characters really put an ugly blotch on the film, the GF was really confused when that scene came about :pac:

Still, an enjoyable if cartoonish end to the original trilogy.

Harry Palmr

Videodrome 1983 Dir David Cronenberg

The last time I saw this satellite, cable and VCR were exciting new delivery systems!

While the technology has aged the basic story story seems as prescient as ever, as cable station owner Max Payne is seduced by something he sees called Videodrome which gets inside his body and brain. To reveal any more would be foolish so I won't. Full of strange apparitions with mordant literal visuals, a brilliantly gloomy score by Howard Shore and an equally fine James Woods who's ability to convey so much with so little makes the whole thing work.

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Videodrome 1983 Dir David Cronenberg

The last time I saw this satellite, cable and VCR were exciting new delivery systems!

While the technology has aged the basic story story seems as prescient as ever, as cable station owner Max Payne is seduced by something he sees called Videodrome which gets inside his body and brain. To reveal any more would be foolish so I won't. Full of strange apparitions with mordant literal visuals, a brilliantly gloomy score by Howard Shore and an equally fine James Woods who's ability to convey so much with so little makes the whole thing work.

Cronenberg and James Woods, what more could a film fan ask for!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Friday Night Lights

Big fan of the TV show, hadn't got round to watching the film.

I liked it and I can see why someone thought developing it for TV was a good idea. I have to say I like the TV show better, and Coach Taylor That's probably just because you get more time to develop characters with a TV show. Also, Mrs. Coach has maybe 2 lines in the film and that's probably the biggest female part in the whole thing! Maybe the QB's mother has 3 lines, I don't know. Another reason to prefer the TV show, although again I know there's constraints when making a film.
The film itself is pretty good though. It has the same feel of the show and it makes it more believable, almost like you're watching a fly on the wall real life film rather than a work of fiction. Definitely up there with the best sport films, in my opinion. That whole world of high school football is fascinating, the good and the bad.

ancapailldorcha

Snowpiercer.

After hearing Johnny_Ultimate rave about it I thought I'd give it a go. Phenomenal watch.

Tony EH

I heard it goes to pieces in the final 1/3?

I have it knocking around. Just haven't bothered watching it yet. Might throw it on tonight.

Looper007

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Snowpiercer.

After hearing Johnny_Ultimate rave about it I thought I'd give it a go. Phenomenal watch.

Has this even got a DVD/Blu Ray release here or even on Netflix. I seen it a few months back, its completely bonkers and a lot of fun (if they got a bigger lead someone like Di Caprio in the lead role would this have been treated with more respect, no disrespect to Chris Evans who was excellent).