What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Liam McPoyle

Irreversible

First rewatch in a number of years, Gaspar Noes revenge masterpiece still packs a punch.

Told in reverse, it's the tale of an act of shocking violence and the reason why it occured.

This is a real tour de force of a movie. It's dream (nightmare) like narrative, frenetic editing and pace (Noe trademarks) grip from the outset.

It's heartbreaking, depressing and rage inducing all at the same time.

The extinguisher scene has aged a bit and the cgi isn't great for it but the other infamous scene is still as gruelling as anything I've ever watched. It's upsettingly realistic and I've no doubt it was an emotional and physical ordeal for Bellucci.

It's neither of those scenes that gave me the biggest gut punch though, it was the final reveal

the fact that Alex was pregnant

before / after the events unfolded that resonated most with me personally.

Irreversible can be described in many ways, its bleak, nihilistic, draining, cruel but is also one of the most memorable and effective movies of the last 25 years.

There aren't enough superlatives out there for me to do this film justice. If you've never seen it, see it.

10/10

ButtersSuki

Rod Munch wrote: »

Irreversible

First rewatch in a number of years, Gaspar Noes revenge masterpiece still packs a punch.

Told in reverse, it's the tale of an act of shocking violence and the reason why it occured.

This is a real tour de force of a movie. It's dream (nightmare) like narrative, frenetic editing and pace (Noe trademarks) grip from the outset.

It's heartbreaking, depressing and rage inducing all at the same time.

The extinguisher scene has aged a bit and the cgi isn't great for it but the other infamous scene is still as gruelling as anything I've ever watched. It's upsettingly realistic and I've no doubt it was an emotional and physical ordeal for Bellucci.

It's neither of those scenes that gave me the biggest gut punch though, it was the final reveal

the fact that Alex was pregnant

before / after the events unfolded that resonated most with me personally.

Irreversible can be described in many ways, its bleak, nihilistic, draining, cruel but is also one of the most memorable and effective movies of the last 25 years.

There aren't enough superlatives out there for me to do this film justice. If you've never seen it, see it.

10/10

+1. An underappreciated masterpiece. Sometime ago I read an interesting piece on the background music leading up to two of the movie's more "famous" scenes whereby they used low frequency sounds to make the audience feel nauseous (and in some cases physically sick) prior to those scenes themselves, which obviously added to those scenes.

Cracking soundtrack too by Thomas Bangalter (one half of Daft Punk).

ButtersSuki

Miss Sloane on paid TV in the US last week. It's very much Jessica Chastain's movie, so much so that the other characters are neglected to a degree where the movie suffers as a result IMO - any movie with Michael Stuhlbarg in it should really be showcasing him more. In places it's very, very good; in others it's weak and a bit silly (I won't spoil it for anyone by listing my reasons for saying that). It seems like it's trying to be a lot of things to a lot of people (a female Michael Clayton meets some Aaron Sorkin TV show) and given that plus the lack of other character development, I think it would have made a much better 10-12 part mini-series than a film. It's by no means bad however, and certainly better than I'd heard; I'd give it a 6.5 - 7/10.

Liam McPoyle

ButtersSuki wrote: »

+1. An underappreciated masterpiece. Sometime ago I read an interesting piece on the background music leading up to two of the movie's more "famous" scenes whereby they used low frequency sounds to make the audience feel nauseous (and in some cases physically sick) prior to those scenes themselves, which obviously added to those scenes.

Cracking soundtrack too by Thomas Bangalter (one half of Daft Punk).

Another Noe trademark, Enter the Voids opening credits were done to disorientate the audience and the use of jarring sounds throughout I Stand Alone serves to keep the viewer on their toes.

He is a scarily talented visionary.

ButtersSuki

Rod Munch wrote: »

Another Noe trademark, Enter the Voids opening credits were done to disorientate the audience and the use of jarring sounds throughout I Stand Alone serves to keep the viewer on their toes.

He is a scarily talented visionary.

Yeah, I've seen all of his stuff....even "Love"!

Tony EH

Rod Munch wrote: »

Irreversible

First rewatch in a number of years, Gaspar Noes revenge masterpiece still packs a punch.

Told in reverse, it's the tale of an act of shocking violence and the reason why it occured.

This is a real tour de force of a movie. It's dream (nightmare) like narrative, frenetic editing and pace (Noe trademarks) grip from the outset.

It's heartbreaking, depressing and rage inducing all at the same time.

The extinguisher scene has aged a bit and the cgi isn't great for it but the other infamous scene is still as gruelling as anything I've ever watched. It's upsettingly realistic and I've no doubt it was an emotional and physical ordeal for Bellucci.

It's neither of those scenes that gave me the biggest gut punch though, it was the final reveal

the fact that Alex was pregnant

before / after the events unfolded that resonated most with me personally.

Irreversible can be described in many ways, its bleak, nihilistic, draining, cruel but is also one of the most memorable and effective movies of the last 25 years.

There aren't enough superlatives out there for me to do this film justice. If you've never seen it, see it.

10/10

I don't know if I'd give it a 10, but it's a great film no doubt.

That scene though...

*shudder*.

bnt

Watched The Ice Storm (1997) last night, for the first time in at least ten years, and this time I read the book first. Some of the differences from the book were distracting at first, before I realised that the first third or so of the movie consists of new establishing scenes that replace the book's reams of exposition on the period. The book is full of little details of people, places and products, down to the interior designers of the houses and the brands of candy the kids were eating - which work on the page but wouldn't work in the movie, which just shows the town and its people in all their authentic 1973 detail.

If I have a criticism, it's that the pacing is a bit uneven: some establishing scenes dragged, while pivotal scenes later on could have used a bit more time. Overall, though, the movie successfully conveys the post-sixties malaise that affected the USA, a sense that something had gone terribly wrong but they couldn't quite put their finger on just what. The book and the movie both manage to convey this message without (much) moral judgment and no sermonising.

For example (mild spoiler), we see Janey Carver (Sigourney Weaver) coming home after the key party, which she left with a young man. The book describes how people in the town speculate about what she did that night, with some lurid detail. In the movie, though she just comes back with a deliberately blank face, wanders about the house a little, then curls up on her bed. The scene is all the more powerful for what she doesn't do: she doesn't check on her kids, doesn't know where they are or what they're doing, which is rather important ...

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Wonder Woman

Surprisingly I really enjoyed this. I am not a fan of the superhero genre in general. It's basically the same movie over and over. And while I guess WW did follow the standard plot layout for such films it felt like some effort actually went into moving the story from standard plot point to plot point. I thought the fight scenes were incredible too, particularly the first one on the beach. First superhero film I've paid to see in the cinema since Man of Steel 4 years ago. Well worth it too.

El Duda

Crazy Heart - 7/10

Jeff Bridges plays an alcoholic country singer whose career is going down the pan.

I was actually really shocked at just how similar this film is to the far superior 'The Wrestler'. It pretty much hits all of the same major beats and plot points. This film was released a year later than The Wrestler which makes me think that the both films were probably in production at the same time and any similarities may just be coincidental.

Jeff Bridges is a very worthy Oscar winner for this performance. His alcoholism feels completely authentic and it's a great physical performance as a lumbering oaf of a man. The stench of his whiskey breath almost comes through the screen.

I'd hoped this would've been better. It plays things far too safe and the ending is just far too pleasant for my liking.

Harry Palmr

The French Connection 1971 Dir William Freidkin

Never gets old, never gets stale, the only quibble is how the **** did they put that car back together again? The NYPD must have a crack team of trim repair experts!

Don Ellis score is wonderful, all discordant descending brass notes and ominous strings. Minimal magic, any remake (shudder) would be buried under an avalanche of bombastic sound and fury signifying nothing.

Tony EH

I may be wrong, but I think the NYPD did actually strip Jacques Angelvin's car, found the heroin, and put it back together again, in order to tail it to the home of Patsy Fuca, one of the Lucchese family's associates.

droidman123

Cold eyes (2013)
Brilliant thriller from Korea (again).it tells the story of a specialist surveillance and tracking unit within the police.they are on the hunt for a gang that have been committing a series of brutal bank robberies.this movie will have you gripped from start to finish,fantastic fast moving action all the way
8.5/10

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

The French Connection 1971 Dir William Freidkin

Never gets old, never gets stale, the only quibble is how the **** did they put that car back together again? The NYPD must have a crack team of trim repair experts!

Don Ellis score is wonderful, all discordant descending brass notes and ominous strings. Minimal magic, any remake (shudder) would be buried under an avalanche of bombastic sound and fury signifying nothing.

You know the chase under the train had no permissions, they just got in and started driving? Friedkin sitting in the back egging Hackman on. The hitting of cars etc all real. Absolute madness, and absolute brilliance!

I wonder are there any filmmakers doing this kind of stuff today or the old tricks some of the greats have done.
Olive Stone wrote a dummy script for Salvador making the army look great, so he got to use the army for free and obviously left the country before they realized what actually happened. Can't beat stories like that!

Harry Palmr

Ah now it wasn't quite like that, Bill Hickman was the main driver though Hackman did do some of the tyre squealing where we see him jump in and take off or stop and get out. A glancing blow halfway through the chase was Hickman being hit by another member of the drive crew who got his timing wrong.

buried

The French Connection is such a brilliant film. The way Friedkin shot the absolute reality of the grey crime infested $hithole reality of New York at that time was absolute genius and I honestly believe that helps the film still stand up tall to this day.

For fans of this film, If ye may have not seen it, this documentary shot by a guy called 'Charlie Aherne' outside his apartment window on Times Square around that time in the 70's is well worth a watch, only about 40 minutes long.

Ipso

Thanks for reminding me I've never seen The French Connection in it's entirety, going to watch it in the next few days.

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Ah now it wasn't quite like that, Bill Hickman was the main driver though Hackman did do some of the tyre squealing where we see him jump in and take off or stop and get out. A glancing blow halfway through the chase was Hickman being hit by another member of the drive crew who got his timing wrong.

Au contraire mon frère!

No permissions, 100 miles an hour! And theres further interviews discussing how they crashed into a random driver and had to compensate him later!

your right about the driver though

fin12

El Duda wrote: »

Crazy Heart - 7/10

Jeff Bridges plays an alcoholic country singer whose career is going down the pan.

I was actually really shocked at just how similar this film is to the far superior 'The Wrestler'. It pretty much hits all of the same major beats and plot points. This film was released a year later than The Wrestler which makes me think that the both films were probably in production at the same time and any similarities may just be coincidental.

Jeff Bridges is a very worthy Oscar winner for this performance. His alcoholism feels completely authentic and it's a great physical performance as a lumbering oaf of a man. The stench of his whiskey breath almost comes through the screen.

I'd hoped this would've been better. It plays things far too safe and the ending is just far too pleasant for my liking.

The soundtrack is really good, have a lot of the songs from the film on my iPod.

El Duda

Oh yeah, definitely. The music was one of the movies greatest strengths. 

I'm not a massive fan of country music, but Fallin' & Flyin' has been stuck in my head ever since I watched it.

Harry Palmr

Apocalypse Now (1979/2011) Dir Francis Ford Coppola

Captain Willard is sent up river across the Cambodian border to kill renegade Colonel Kurtz

All the adjectives that usually get thrown at this film apply - it is spectacular, vivid, dramatic, surreal, and a bit mad. At it's best it nearly matches Blade Runner in terms of combining sound and vision but ultimately comes up slightly short due to being too long, a couple of the episodes could have been lost without any diminution of the story (I'm thinking about the Playboy bunnies and 'bow and arrow' attack scenes, the death of the boat captain could have been at a different moment without problem) while making it more urgent. One aspect that doesn't get much acclaim is the music score by Carmine Coppola (and dad) which is terrific - the use of of big stacked mono synths in a jungle war film is counter-intuitive and works a treat.

The copy I saw has redux at the end and the Miramax company credits despite it being the 2011 restored print of the 1979 general release. Strange.

Syphonax

I just thinking of slapping on Apt Pupil heard it was decent?

Tony EH

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Apocalypse Now (1979/2011) Dir Francis Ford Coppola

Captain Willard is sent up river across the Cambodian border to kill renegade Colonel Kurtz

All the adjectives that usually get thrown at this film apply - it is spectacular, vivid, dramatic, surreal, and a bit mad. At it's best it nearly matches Blade Runner in terms of combining sound and vision but ultimately comes up slightly short due to being too long, a couple of the episodes could have been lost without any diminution of the story (I'm thinking about the Playboy bunnies and 'bow and arrow' attack scenes, the death of the boat captain could have been at a different moment without problem) while making it more urgent. One aspect that doesn't get much acclaim is the music score by Carmine Coppola (and dad) which is terrific - the use of of big stacked mono synths in a jungle war film is counter-intuitive and works a treat.

The copy I saw has redux at the end and the Miramax company credits despite it being the 2011 restored print of the 1979 general release. Strange.

While the original film is damn near perfect, the "redux" version I thought was pretty awful. Bar the extended Kurtz scenes at the end, everything else should have remained cut.

A very big disapointment when I went to see it at the IFC years ago.

shamrock55

Seen the imitation game the other night and thought it was brilliant,i didn't think id like it but how wrong I was,if you haven't seen it then get watching

Nerdlingr

Robocop (1987)

Hadn't seen it in..well years!! Maybe back in the early 90's.
For a film thats 30 years old I think it stills holds up incredibly well. There's a great sense of the world is gone to sh*t : the news bulletins reporting on all the horrible stuff happening round the world/USA. Also the ad for the nuclear battleships game. Detroit City is ruins and full of bums and hobos. Its holds up really well to this day I think. Maybe it even resonates more in this day, where we have big corporations taking over everything, the big guy crushing the little guy, corporate greed, unemployment etc etc. The more i think about it the more I think what a great film it is. Sci-fi, satire, violence, social commentary ..its all there.

8.5/10

Harry Palmr

It's a pity the remake has usurped the original in the TV schedules.

Nerdlingr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

It's a pity the remake has usurped the original in the TV schedules.

Havent seen the remake. Kinda refusing to watch it now. :pac:

Tony EH

It's pretty awful. Lacks everything that made the original one great.

TerrorFirmer

I would disagree. It's nowhere near as good as the original nor will it stand the test of time to the same extent if at all, but it's a solid sci-fi action flick with a decent narrative that captures the whole man/robot trauma quite well despite the neutered rating. I would consider it one of the few remakes/reboots worth seeing - and I do say that as a major, major fan of Robocop who had feared the worst.

Anyway, watched 'Black Butterfly' last night - embarrassingly bad in my opinion despite the lukewarm reviews. Rhys Meyers and Bandares give perfectly decent performances, but the script is just shoddy, lazy and unbearably cliche.

Tony EH

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I would disagree. It's nowhere near as good as the original nor will it stand the test of time to the same extent if at all, but it's a solid sci-fi action flick with a decent narrative that captures the whole man/robot trauma quite well despite the neutered rating. I would consider it one of the few remakes/reboots worth seeing - and I do say that as a major, major fan of Robocop who had feared the worst.

It started off ok and I actually found myself having a little goodwill towards it. But, by the halfway mark I was was done. By the end, I'd forgotten most of it.

It might be worth another spin, but TBH, I've too much on the To Do list.