What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Tony EH

Faith+1 wrote: »

You should review movies online! That was so well written!

Thanks!

pixelburp

Train to Busan (2016)

Energetic and nerve jangling stuff, and definitely one of the stronger monster-oriented horror films of 2016. The confined environs were used to great affect, with some truly tense set-pieces set aboard the titular train, while the zombies themselves moved at a near relentless pace, not unlike those seen most recently in the sub-standard adaptation of World War Z. Unlike that film though, which overused CGI for its maniacal undead, 'Busan' instead used what I presume to have been contortionists and acrobats, making them seem like demented puppets, all dislocated joints & only adding to the sense of the unpleasant and uncanny.

Equally enjoyable was a cast not entirely made up of idiots: there were some little vignettes that gave the stranded characters more intelligence that is often seen in this genre. Once the threat established itself, most people adapted fairly quickly & didn't overly panic. That said, the actual characterisation left a lot to be desired, and was either utterly absent or else ramped to to an absurd level of cliché. The business man being the prime example of the latter, whose scenery chewing dickery felt like it came from another movie entirely. Even the main character we were ostensibly following didn't really have much of an arc, despite the film at pains to suggest as much in the opening 10 minutes.

The only other minor quibble was the frequently inconsistent speed of the zombies. On more than one occasion, and despite demonstrably running at constant breakneck speed, the zombies conveniently failed to catch our heroes, who included among their number a pregnant woman & two ageing sisters. It broke the spell a little, but not enough to ruin enjoyment mind you.

Hollow Point 2016 A very cool indie flick with Ian McShane, Patrick Wilson, Jim Belushi and John Leguizamo. Small town dealing with mexican cartels bringing bullets over the border. Its a small story, low budget, but engaging well directed and brilliantly acted. McShane and Belushi make it and Leguizamo is chilling. One or two great moments.

ScumLord

Just watched interstellar.

Is it just me or did all the problems people faced in the film just go away for no good reason?

They want to leave earth because all they're food is dying. So they find a way to make their space ship, go live in space, and somehow the plants are happy to start growing again because they're on a space ship?? How was going to another planet ever going to cure the food problem? They just went to other barren worlds.

The whole thing seemed like they had an interesting premise but couldn't find an ending so just resorted to mysticism and things that don't make any sense.

jcsoulinger

ScumLord wrote: »

Just watched interstellar.

Is it just me or did all the problems people faced in the film just go away for no good reason?

They want to leave earth because all they're food is dying. So they find a way to make their space ship, go live in space, and somehow the plants are happy to start growing again because they're on a space ship?? How was going to another planet ever going to cure the food problem? They just went to other barren worlds.

The whole thing seemed like they had an interesting premise but couldn't find an ending so just resorted to mysticism and things that don't make any sense.

It's been a while since I've seen it but, Was it not that the atmosphere on earth had become so polluted that it was impossible to reverse the damage and all the plants started to die?.

Del.Monte

"Red Dawn.2." (2012) on YouTube.

Another movie for the times we're living in. North Korea invades the USA...

Entertaining enough if you leave your brain outside. 5/10.

Hande hoche!

Underworld: Blood Wars (2017).

Despite only having seen about one and a half films of the series, found myself watching this on a rainy day. Competently shot and with only a few ropy CGI effects, it's bearable. The backdrop of wherever they filmed (Czech Republic?) is pleasing and there were a handful of actors that would be familiar to Game of Thrones fans. The redhead vampire, she had an impressive tongue. Won't be rushing out to buy a box set of the previous efforts but okay to pass the time, still preferred it to Assassin's creed. 6/10

Sad Professor

ScumLord wrote: »

Just watched interstellar.

Is it just me or did all the problems people faced in the film just go away for no good reason?

They want to leave earth because all they're food is dying. So they find a way to make their space ship, go live in space, and somehow the plants are happy to start growing again because they're on a space ship?? How was going to another planet ever going to cure the food problem? They just went to other barren worlds.

The whole thing seemed like they had an interesting premise but couldn't find an ending so just resorted to mysticism and things that don't make any sense.

Earth was blight-infested and all attempts to cure/adapt to it had failed, so they took plant samples from a blight-free quarantine at the NASA base and planted them in a new, blight-free ecosystem, thus no blight, problem solved. This wasn’t possible anywhere on Earth anymore because the blight had destroyed the natural ecological balance.

While I suppose they could have tried creating a huge quarantine on Earth, the risks of contamination would be extremely high, and since the environment would eventually be rendered uninhabitable anyway... they might as well leave.

Harry Palmr

The King of Comedy 1983 Dir Marty Scorsese

At the time a massive flop, hard to overestimate how badly this did at the box office (1.5m gross in North America) but hey what do the public know? Robert De Niro is fantastic as the deluded Rupert Pumpkin who's brilliant career is mapped out in his own fevered imagination, he never stops - constant dialogue and twitchy impatience as Pumpkin attempts to shape reality to meet his fantasy.

When we get to the pay off scene it turns out that Pumpkin isn't half as bad as we'd all feared (in my opinion) and that Jerry Langford is in fact a complete bastard if understandably traumatised by Sandra Berhard's seduction scene.

Heckler

A Streetcat named Bob

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3606888/

Being a cat lover I thought I was gonna get the warm fuzzies over this one but nah. Must be very hard to film a cat though. It was all nice and fine but couldn't really connect at all. Cat people will tell you how affectionate cats are but that never translated between the actor (who was great) and the cat (who was being a cat).

The Young Offenders

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4714568/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Probably biased being from Cork but I loved it. Hit home so many times. Found the leads endearing. Had pathos but when it could had fallen into schmaltz it went pure Cork instead.

shazzerman

Harry Palmr wrote: »

The King of Comedy 1983 Dir Marty Scorsese

At the time a massive flop, hard to overestimate how badly this did at the box office (1.5m gross in North America) but hey what do the public know? Robert De Niro is fantastic as the deluded Rupert Pumpkin who's brilliant career is mapped out in his own fevered imagination, he never stops - constant dialogue and twitchy impatience as Pumpkin attempts to shape reality to meet his fantasy.

When we get to the pay off scene it turns out that Pumpkin isn't half as bad as we'd all feared (in my opinion) and that Jerry Langford is in fact a complete bastard if understandably traumatised by Sandra Berhard's seduction scene.

For me, this is both Scorsese's and De Niro's best work. However, I've often wondered if Zimmermann should have made Pupkin's actual routine a little less funny - "comedians" in America have become household names with less talent, as far as I can see. Perhaps the writer and director thought that America wouldn't be taken in by a complete moron. Still, it remains the best work De Niro has ever done: the earlier scenes, where it cuts back and forth from Rupert's drab real-life to his fantasies (where he sells the smooth, egotistical star to a tee), are De Niro at his very best.

Gwynplaine

The Girl on the Train. Not my kind of thing, found it a 2 hour long snore fest. Nothing happens in it.

Tony EH

'Rollerball'

5/10

Hideously bloated at a mind numbing 2 hours and 5 minutes, 'Rollerball' only gets going when the actual game of Rollerball in being shown. For the rest of the time the viewer is treated to a distictly mid 70's style "past future" that's supposed to be 2018, but feels very much like the year it was shot in. Outdoor scenes showing the likes of the BMW headquarters in Munich lend a "this is what the future will look like" vibe to the 40 year old film, but it's terribly shackled to its own era, as are a lot of the "futuristic" films from the same time. Fashions and women's make up too are also a complete giveaway. All the heavy eyeshaddow, lip gloss, and straight 70's hair, coupled with tight (slightly flared) trousers etc, just anchors the production even more.

It's story, outside the Rollerball arena, is a very typical 1970's distopian future setting, with a quite prescient account of a world run by huge golbalist corporate structures. In the future of 'Rollerball', there is no war. The ultra violent "game" of the title, with rules that are subject to change on the whim of the powers that be, takes care of that part of the Bread and Circuses approach to salve the masses. The masses also want for nothing in other areas. Everything seems catered for, except knowledge (historic and otherwise), which has to be accessed via books condensed and summarised into data through a central computer by the corporations that run the world. Unfortunately, while that sounds very interesting and probably a good subject for a film in its own right (a kind of Fahrenheit 451?), 'Rollerball' doesn't really go anywhere with it.

The main thrust of the story has to do with Jonathan E, Rollerball hero and the longest serving squad member of Houston's Rollerball team, who is being forced into retirement - with lavish benefits, fresh concubines and the offer of an even more comfortable life - by Mr. Bartholomew, head of the global energy corporation that sponsors and runs Houston. This might be fine as a central story line, but the film never explains why he must retire or why E would be against it. Society simply has to respect the ruling corporate decision.

'Rollerball' boasts some good performances from the likes of John Houseman, who smoothly completes another "evil suit" character with great ease and James Caan - still enjoying the stardom that 'The Godfather' allowed- as Jonathan E. But its weak story and woefully dated atmosphere drag out the experience, making it average on the lower end of the scale.

Harry Palmr

Lovely classical music in Rollerball and I bet it's still a better film than the remake.

Tony EH

True...Bach, Shostakovich and the pieces by Previn sort of suit the film in an odd way.

And although I've never seen the remake, I can well agree that it would probably be much, much worse.

david75

Tony EH wrote: »

'Rollerball'

5/10

Hideously bloated at a mind numbing 2 hours and 5 minutes, 'Rollerball' only gets going when the actual game of Rollerball in being shown. For the rest of the time the viewer is treated to a distictly mid 70's style "past future" that's supposed to be 2018, but feels very much like the year it was shot in. Outdoor scenes showing the likes of the BMW headquarters in Munich lend a "this is what the future will look like" vibe to the 40 year old film, but it's terribly shackled to its own era, as are a lot of the "futuristic" films from the same time. Fashions and women's make up too are also a complete giveaway. All the heavy eyeshaddow, lip gloss, and straight 70's hair, coupled with tight (slightly flared) trousers etc, just anchors the production even more.

It's story, outside the Rollerball arena, is a very typical 1970's distopian future setting, with a quite prescient account of a world run by huge golbalist corporate structures. In the future of 'Rollerball', there is no war. The ultra violent "game" of the title, with rules that are subject to change on the whim of the powers that be, takes care of that part of the Bread and Circuses approach to salve the masses. The masses also want for nothing in other areas. Everything seems catered for, except knowledge (historic and otherwise), which has to be accessed via books condensed and summarised into data through a central computer by the corporations that run the world. Unfortunately, while that sounds very interesting and probably a good subject for a film in its own right (a kind of Fahrenheit 451?), 'Rollerball' doesn't really go anywhere with it.

The main thrust of the story has to do with Jonathan E, Rollerball hero and the longest serving squad member of Houston's Rollerball team, who is being forced into retirement - with lavish benefits, fresh concubines and the offer of an even more comfortable life - by Mr. Bartholomew, head of the global energy corporation that sponsors and runs Houston. This might be fine as a central story line, but the film never explains why he must retire or why E would be against it. Society simply has to respect the ruling corporate decision.

'Rollerball' boasts some good performances from the likes of John Houseman, who smoothly completes another "evil suit" character with great ease and James Caan - still enjoying the stardom that 'The Godfather' allowed- as Jonathan E. But its weak story and woefully dated atmosphere drag out the experience, making it average on the lower end of the scale.

Tony. That was a far longer review than that film deserved

Looper007

Heckler wrote: »

The Young Offenders

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4714568/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Probably biased being from Cork but I loved it. Hit home so many times. Found the leads endearing. Had pathos but when it could had fallen into schmaltz it went pure Cork instead.

No I have to agree with you, not from Cork but from Dublin. It was a hugely enjoyable film especially thanks to the two young leads who were massively likeable (if they cast them wrong it wouldn't have worked). It did go OTT a bit in it's third act (PJ Gallagher nail gunning drug dealer) but you let it slide cause the characters were likeable. Great to see it getting rave reviews on it's U.K Release this week. Got to say Irish cinema had a great run in 2016 with homegrown films like Sing Street and A Date For Mad Mary.

Looper007

Chaplin (1992)


Richard Attenborough fantastic biopic on Charlie Chaplin, with Robert Downey Jr amazing performance with spot on English accent (still his greatest performance to date), and Oscar nominated to boot. Not afraid to go into Chaplin's problems with women and his own mother's mental breakdown (played brilliantly by Chaplin's own daughter Geraldine Chaplin), it's a loving letter to his work in front of the camera and what made him tick. Great attention to detail and a great cast (Dan Aykroyd, Diana Lane, Marisa Tomei, James Woods and Anthony Hopkins plus a pre X-Files David Duchovny) but the stand out is Kevin Kline as Douglas Fairbanks, funny but heartbreaking too. Well worth checking out for Downey Jr's performance alone but probably Attenborough's best film imo.

Heaven's Gate (1980)


The film that bankrupted United Artists, that ruined Michael Cimino's career, that many called the biggest flop ever and ruined the Director as total ruler period that ran during the 70's. Watched the 3hrs 37min cut of this, and even though at times he could have done with better casting, a stronger actor in place of Kris Kristofferson lead (Jeff Bridges would have been a better choice but may have been too young at that time) would have helped, also Isabelle Huppert was miscast.

Some scenes could have done with cutting down and made it a stronger film. Although you got strong performances from Jeff Bridges and Christopher Walken in there, a fantastic score, beautiful cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond and amazing set design. It's not a perfect film even in it's over 3hr version, but it's still a strong film but a very uncommercial one even for it's time, even after Cimino won a lot of Oscars for Deer Hunter and it's box office success I'm surprised Untied Artists went along with it. Check out the documentary "Final Cut" on YouTube, which goes into the whole background of Gate's making of and critical reception, hearing stories from the cast and producers is mind blowing at how out of control Cimino was.

Del.Monte

"The Patriot" (1998) on YouTube

Steven Seagal vehicle.

In the USA a mad right wing militia group release a deadly virus in the local town, but Doctor Seagal saves the day with an old Indian cure and a small amount of his trademark martial art violence.

Dreadful muck - 3/10 - Avoid.

gucci

Gone Girl (2014) – Netflix

I hadn’t seen this before or read the book, but David Fincher movies are usually quite good. Enough time has passed since the trailers for this being at saturation point on the TV (If I recall correctly) so I kind of started the movie off on a blank slate.

A solid movie but I think it could have done with a little more refined editing as I found it slightly a chore to hold in for the end! Though there is plenty of good performances on display, and a nice bit of humour to keep momentum. Rosmund Pike was very good

as the modern day bunny boiler!

Interesting, yet exceptionally over the top that the plot is, the blurred lines between the media hype, the police and the actual truth and evidence was well tied in together to have you trying to figure out what way it would all pan out.

briany

Recently saw The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980).

This film is a comedy about a Kalahari bushman named Xi who finds an empty glass Coca-Cola bottle that had been thrown from a low-flying plane. He decides this object he found must have been sent from the gods and take it back to his tribe. At first, his people find it to be a wondrous thing with many different uses, but possessiveness over it upsets their peaceful way of life and decide the bottle must be taken to the edge of the world and thrown, and they task Xi with this since he had found. Along his travels to the edge of the world, he comes across different strange (to him) people like a biologist working in the bush and African militants.

Enjoyable film. Not quite as madcap or as eventful as I was thinking it would be, though. It's really more different interlocking stories than focusing on the protagonist of the film, Xi, as it spends as much time with each. Also, because it was a film that featured strong South African accents, a couple of the characters had their voices dubbed over. Personal thing, maybe, but I find dubbed voices take me out of a movie and would usually prefer to have a choice of the original voice plus subtitles.

BattleCorp

briany wrote: »

Recently saw The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980).

This film is a comedy about a Kalahari bushman named Xi who finds an empty glass Coca-Cola bottle that had been thrown from a low-flying plane. He decides this object he found must have been sent from the gods and take it back to his tribe. At first, his people find it to be a wondrous thing with many different uses, but possessiveness over it upsets their peaceful way of life and decide the bottle must be taken to the edge of the world and thrown, and they task Xi with this since he had found. Along his travels to the edge of the world, he comes across different strange (to him) people like a biologist working in the bush and African militants.

Enjoyable film. Not quite as madcap or as eventful as I was thinking it would be, though. It's really more different interlocking stories than focusing on the protagonist of the film, Xi, as it spends as much time with each. Also, because it was a film that featured strong South African accents, a couple of the characters had their voices dubbed over. Personal thing, maybe, but I find dubbed voices take me out of a movie and would usually prefer to have a choice of the original voice plus subtitles.

Jaysus, you've brought me back years with that film. I don't remember much of it now but I really enjoyed it at the time.

Tony EH

david75 wrote: »

Tony. That was a far longer review than that film deserved

You're probably right.

Sugarlumps

I watched a doc called Command and Control, about this 9 megaton missile sitting in a silo in little auld Arkansas. They were doing maintenance, just kids, used the wrong tool, nut falls, causes a rip in the fuel tank.

Just so happens that there have been thousands of near misses, down to human error apparently, you wouldn’t believe some of the shít that went down.

Mainly just kids in the base. That bomb was more powerful than all the bombs used in WW2 and the two atomic bombs combined.

limnam

Margaret

I remember hearing a huge amount of hype regarding this when it came out and it's been on my watch list almost 5 years. I have to say I was really disappointed to the point I was very close to turning it off a number of times.

There was a short 5 minute period at the start that was very emotional and really well shot and it was downhill from there. Strange use of some really good actors.

The protagonist could very well be the most annoying person I've ever watched on film. If that was the point, good casting.

I'll need a film buff to advise me on what I'm missing here

Mizu_Ger

Boy and The World
Brazilian animation about a young boy who goes off into the world alone to find his Father who has left home in the countryside to find work in the city.

The story is told from the boy's point of view and what we see is what he makes of the word and the events at home. It's a very melancholic story, with him trying to understand the world and what's going on around him, the absence of his father and plight of the workers. It gets a little intense when depicting the industrialised city, but I watched it with my 7 year old and he wasn't upset by it (though he did understand what was going on)

The animation is beautiful. All hand-drawn with pencils and ranges from almost blank white screens in the countryside setting to huge, busy scenes in the city.

There's almost no dialogue.

Well worth a watch.

Del.Monte

Falklands War - The Untold Story (1987) directed by Peter Kosminsky.

A thought provoking documentary with plenty of graphic newsreel footage and interviews with combatants from both sides. Controversial when it came out, it remains as good an anti-war movie (?) as you will come across.
No re-spawning at the last checkpoint here.! 10/10

Chain Smoker

limnam wrote: »

Margaret

I remember hearing a huge amount of hype regarding this when it came out and it's been on my watch list almost 5 years. I have to say I was really disappointed to the point I was very close to turning it off a number of times.

There was a short 5 minute period at the start that was very emotional and really well shot and it was downhill from there. Strange use of some really good actors.

The protagonist could very well be the most annoying person I've ever watched on film. If that was the point, good casting.

I'll need a film buff to advise me on what I'm missing here

I think Margaret's great but you definitely misread the attention it received if you thought it was hype. Widespread curiosity for sure but most people were expecting a dog.

The film was pretty much finished in 2005, by one of the most promising emerging figures in US film with a very strong cast. Due to a dispute between him and the studio over the final cut and Lonergan having serious issues trying to edit it to be within the length the studio wanted, it was shelved for five years.
The initial reaction on release was actually pretty negative, it's a mess of a film and after that length of a wait it was honestly just a bit weird to watch all these actors abruptly turning back the clock.

Since then it's gained a lot of traction as being a bold experiment that almost works. The rating on rotten tomatoes around the end of 2011 was 59% iirc, more recent reviews have been a lot more favourable. The even messier director's cut goes a decent way towards clarifying at least what it was trying to do.




Krisha
Whoa, the guy who made this could be very, very good a few years down the line. Basically watching a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown for 80 minutes, shot and edited in a way so you're very much in her head. For a film that seemed to have no budget whatsoever, it carries off some bold filmmaking brilliantly. There are bits where it's quite debut filmy and trying too hard but when so much works it's hard to complain about that.
Looks like his next film is a mid budget horror, which is also the perfect next step for this guy.

It's only 80 minutes so get on it.

david75

Hidden figures.

Just fantastic. This should be getting the hype la la land is getting. It's a far better film. Well worth seeing.

bbari

Guys,
Any recommendation on movies about World War, Russian, German/European history please ? TIA