What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Guilty 2011 Harrowing French film about a man and his wife accused of raping children and molesting their own. True story, and apparently one of the biggest ever scandals in French legal history. Compelling viewing.

Fysh

I caught John Carpenter's Prince Of Darkness recently upon realising that I'd somehow never seen it (shamefully this is also true of Dark Star). It was...ok. I won't lie, I was a bit disappointed - there was a solid attempt at creating tension of the sort that worked so well in AoP13 and The Thing, but due in part to the location and the slow buildup, the sense of isolation needed for it to really work didn't seem to be there. Some very nice moments along the way, though, and Alice Cooper was a great casting choice.

I also saw Tommy Lee Jones' The Homesman last night, which was a solid Western peppered with strong performances. Jones turns in a good performance as the taciturn drifter and ne'erdowell Briggs, and Swank is similarly convincing as Cuddy, a single woman frustrated by the social conventions of the time and additionally burdened with a loneliness that becomes apparent over the course of the film. The mission of mercy that Briggs & Cuddy undertake is gruelling and, if anything, even more challenging than the frontier life both are already enduring in Nebraska, and the film does a good job of not romanticizing the frontier in that regard. As far as character-oriented Westerns go, I thought this was very good.

policy75

without sounding too Happy! I suggest watching Happy!. It provides sex, violence, drugs, and yet it it is a total load of fun. If I were to compare it, well I suppose Tarantino but just wittier. Well worth a watch. Normally you don't have a blue unicorn in your face as you try an deal with the amount of drugs living in your body but Happy is a Happy unicorn :-)

Tony EH

Fysh wrote: »

I caught John Carpenter's Prince Of Darkness recently upon realising that I'd somehow never seen it (shamefully this is also true of Dark Star). It was...ok. I won't lie, I was a bit disappointed - there was a solid attempt at creating tension of the sort that worked so well in AoP13 and The Thing, but due in part to the location and the slow buildup, the sense of isolation needed for it to really work didn't seem to be there. Some very nice moments along the way, though, and Alice Cooper was a great casting choice.

It grows on you. I've always liked it and it has a brilliant subdued score.

I always thought that the Catholics holding "evil" in a basement of a church in California was great. :pac:

One of the last great Carpenter films...unfortunately.

ButtersSuki

Deleted User wrote: »

Guilty 2011 Harrowing French film about a man and his wife accused of raping children and molesting their own. True story, and apparently one of the biggest ever scandals in French legal history. Compelling viewing.

Netflix (can't check, in bed)? DVD/BR? TV?

ButtersSuki

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Netflix (can't check, in bed)? DVD/BR? TV?

None of the above. Theres a site that has a huge catalogue of movies, but don't think I can post it here

buried

Ghost Stories (2018) This is alright, really well shot, good use of editing in parts but still reliant on the jump fright move that is literally everywhere in modern horror films, a move that is now just boring and tired. The parts where the film just showed the various landscapes of the place was far more creepy than the noisy jump scenes of creatures flying or screaming at the camera. I liked the mood and visuals of this whole thing, really felt like a modern live painting of a M.R. James collection of short ghost stories or something. The main protagonist could have been better written from the start, he just seemed boring and uninteresting which did not help the whole thing. Would be interested to see the stage show this film was based on. The grim bleak landscape shots of various parts of Britain itself were the main creepy draw for me in this whole thing. There is definite potential for someone to utilise this vision in a good modern, non jump scene, creepy motion picture work. 6/10

Harry Palmr

The Funhouse 1981 Tobe Hooper.

Not much fun.

TomSweeney

Gladiator

Now thats a f*ckin MOVIE!!!!

Extended edition on BluRay too - fantastic!!
I felt I needed a good film after that pile of sh1te Logan ...

CrankyHaus

Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Entertaining with some very funny and sharp comedy lines, particularly from Diane Wiest. Chazz Palminteri gives an excellent performance as the murderous mob enforcer who gradually reveals a talent for playwriting. A lot of the other characters, and the actors playing them, are less interesting. 7/10.

Welcome To Collinwood (2002)
Soderbergh and Clooney produced this caper comedy film, a genre which has really fallen out of fashion since then. Good acting from a lot of familiar faces, Clooney, Sam Rockwell, Luis Guzman, William H Macy, fails to elevate this above the level of a mildly diverting but slightly flat film with some very funny scenes. 6/10.

Dig! (2004)
An engaging study of the music industry, just before the internet changed everything, and the conflict between artistry and commercial success. Two bands start as friends in a West Coast scene in the late 90's but gradually fall out as the more career-focused one becomes a moderate success off the back of their song being in a mobile-phone ad while the one centred around a tortured genius sabotages itself with drugs and infighting. 8/10

Sugarlumps

Detroit - Garbage.

Avengers Infinity War loved it

Suburbicon didn't enjoy this one

Gwynplaine

Green Room. Only okay, very gruesome.

ButtersSuki

Get Me Roger Stone on Netflix despite saying I'd finish my Kubrick boxset before I watched another movie I watched this last night for shall we say "technical reasons". Mother of God, where to start? It's like having the worst dream you ever had, being woken up by a bully and then forced by him to watch a car crash.......and yet is utterly fascinating. If you don't know who Stone is, he's a political strategist/lobbyist of the worst kind, and he's by far the worst of them. An utterly disgusting individual and yet strangely compellingly interesting. He's so repugnant Bertie Ahern looks like a nice and honest man compared to him. If you have any interest in politics, you'll enjoy it; even if you don't you likely will too. 8.5/10 - I even considered giving it a 9, which for me is off the scale!

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IPyv4KgTAA

policy75

While i enjoyed Happy! Well Westworld is a class apart from any TV series I have ever watched. Simply riveting. I suppose when you mention the fact that Anthony Hopkins lowered himself to act in a series it has to be a simply fantaatic series. And Westworld does not disappoint. Its just beyond wow and think it is, to use an american expletive, awesome. And while the americans use that expletive lightly, i do not in this case

TerrorFirmer

Watched 'Only the Brave' last night. Great film, especially for viewers not familiar with the incident it's based on, or the incredibly dangerous role 'hotshot' firefighters play on the frontlines of wild fires.

Great cast as well. Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connolly, Jeff Bridges, Taylor Kitsch along with a fair slew of recognizable faces.

fin12

Rampage:

Enjoyable film, if u like Dawyne Johnson and disaster films like San Andreas and 2012, you will enjoy this.

Gwynplaine

Molly's Game. A good film, but if you're not familiar with the ins and outs of poker and gambling, and the American law system, you'd need a 20 minute tutorial before you start it.

Mrcaramelchoc

Game night.well bloody hell going by all the reviews i was expecting a laugh a minute.not the case.a few laughs here and there and not much of a movie.And what Sharon horgan was doing in it ill never know she was ****e in it she didn't add anything to it.

delbertgrady

Almost Famous (2000)
"I'm always home. I'm uncool."
The Deer Hunter (1978)
"Every time he comes up, he's got no knife, he's got no jacket, he's got no pants, he's got no boots."
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
"WNEW, plays all the hits!"
The French Connection (1971)
"I'm gonna check on this address in the Bronx and if they don't know you there, it's your ass!"
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
"Can you dig it? I knew that you could!"
Se7en (1995)
"Voices made me do it, my dog made me do it, Jodie Foster told me to do it..."
Zodiac (2007)
"Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches, Bobby, what are you doing?"

johnny_ultimate

The Whispering Star - I've seen more than a dozen Sion Sono films, and - allowing for the obvious differences between individual films - outside maybe Land of Hope it has to be said he doesn't deviate from his typical tone and approach a whole lot. The Whispering Star is perhaps is most radical departure from his style to date: a quiet (literally), meditative story about an android delivering packages to a few of the remaining humans scattered around the galaxy. The planets themselves are eerily shot on location in abandoned areas of Fukushima - marking at least the third time Sono's explored that devastated landscape.

Shot in stunning black & white, this is without question Sono's most visually assured work (although Love Exposure remains his magnum opus). It's sometimes slow and uneventful to a fault, but this is mostly a long overdue experiment - at its best, this is a genuinely poetic piece of work, about one isolated robot, and the things she learns from her ever-so-short encounters with humanity.

As an aside, also was pleased to discover Sono's TV series Tokyo Vampire Hotel is on Amazon Prime. Watched the first episode and it's more familiar territory for the director - outrageous, gory, ridiculous and fantastically entertaining

Tully - Agh! For a good chunk of its running time, the latest Reitman / Cody / Theron collaboration (after their superb Young Adult - certainly the best thing the former two have ever done, and well up there for Theron) is a pleasingly unromantic but sympathetic portrait of motherhood, middle age and suburban life. But things start swaying a bit with the arrival of the titular Tully (a 'night nanny' - basically a hippie Mary Poppins). Everything feels just a bit off about the story from that point. But it doesn't fully derail until the last act.

A late film twist which feels like the cheapest, laziest way of saying what the writer and director want to say. It's a revelation that is ill-considered and under-explored.

. What Tully has to say is actually really interesting, but the way it says it is maddening.

The Old Dark House - this is an absolute blast. James Whale's re-released 1932 effort seems like the standard 'creepy house in the woods' film, complete with Boris Karloff as a mysterious, ominously mute butler. But, in an inspired touch, Whale plays everything for laughs as much as scares. It's a hoot: as the house fills up with guests one outrageously rainy night, it's clear dark secrets are going to be uncovered, but everyone has an immense amount of fun along the way. Pitch-perfect production design; superbly witty performances; and endearingly cheeky in its Pre-Code sort of way... It may be the guts of a century old, but modern horror/comedy could still learn a thing or two from this wickedly vintage Universal genre piece.

barrymanilow

Valerian and the city of a thousand planets

From Luc Besson director of the fifth element. This film was slated at the box office . There are lots of things wrong with it, the plot is a mess , it's badly cut and the casting is woeful but I couldn't take my eyes off it , the visuals , style and costumes are amazing and a lot of the scenes and ideas are very imaginative and original. Kind of like a very messy Harry Potter set in space .Don't take it to seriously and enjoy the fireworks on a big screen or projector..

7/10

Wombatman

Mrcaramelchoc wrote: »

Game night.well bloody hell going by all the reviews i was expecting a laugh a minute.not the case.a few laughs here and there and not much of a movie.And what Sharon horgan was doing in it ill never know she was ****e in it she didn't add anything to it.

Yup. Waste of a couple of hours for 3 or 4 mildly amusing situations\gags. Might appeal to teenagers of low intellect.

4.5/10

Good Time 2017 Skillfully directed low budget flick with Robert Pattison as the older brother of mentally challenged Nik. After robbing a bank everything goes to **** and Pattison spends the night trying to fix everything. Really enjoyable fast paced thriller.

The Last Recipe 2017 Japanese film about a chef who can recreate any meal he tastes, who has lost the motivation to cook and spends his time cooking 'last meals' for big bucks. He is hired to find the greatest banquet recipe ever created and cook it as a last meal. Pretty outstanding film especially if you are into food. Suffers as most Japanese films does in my eyes with those self indulgent additional scenes that make it about 15 minutes longer then it should be but overall a great story with lots of twists and turns.

branie2

Deadpool 2 at the cinema this evening. It was very funny.

Yester

Just re-watched There's something about Mary on Rte2. It is such a fun film. I don't think I have laughed out loud so much a any other film. Plus Cameron Diaz is magnificent.

fin12

Yester wrote: »

Just re-watched There's something about Mary on Rte2. It is such a fun film. I don't think I have laughed out loud so much a any other film. Plus Cameron Diaz is magnificent.

Ya the scene when he’s in the police station and the cops think he’s a serial killer is hilarious.

El Duda

The Blind Side - 7.5/10

A great choice of a film for a Sunday evening in with the Mrs. The Blind Side is the true story of Michael Oher's journey to NFL stardom as he is picked up by a caring, middle class white family. A cynic might see this as a privileged white persons way of patting themselves on the back for embracing Black culture, but i just think its a very pleasant story told in a family friendly manner.

Sandra Bullock plays a stoney faced, selfless Mother who strives to improve the lives of those around her. Bullock almost pulled herself out of the project ass she was concerned at the quality of her acting. She persisted and was rewarded with an Oscar.

Quinton Aaron gives a fairly muted, gentle portrayal of 'Big Mike' but the real life Oher was less than impressed with the simplistic way in which he was portrayed.

This heartwarming drama is at its strongest during the first hour, although it maybe a tad too sentimental for some.

El Duda

El Duda wrote: »

The Blind Side - 7.5/10


. Bullock almost pulled herself out of the project ass she was concerned at the quality of her acting.

Freudian slip?

Hector Savage

Alien Covenant

I did see this last year in the cinema, but wanted to watch again on BluRay.

As a standalone film it's decent and a lot better than Prometheus - but it's destroying the myth of the original Alien movie and where they and the space jockeys came from.

It's time for the franchise to end I think - at least in the prequel direction.

Maybe Blomkamp can do something interesting.