What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

Chev_Chelios

I watch the original Assault on Precident 13, very different from the remake which I liked, this was good too but very different.

Sugarlumps

Chev_Chelios wrote: »

I watch the original Assault on Precident 13, very different from the remake which I liked, this was good too but very different.

Original is class, recurring music gets stuck in my head. Scene at the ice cream truck always gets me. It was shot ultra quick. Couldn't bring myself to watch the remake, I avoid Ethan Hawke.

Lumpy_Custard

Shoot 'Em Up

90mins of utter insanity - Clive Owen racking up a Robocop-worthy bodycount in increasingly ridiculous ways, Paul Giamatti chewing scenery as the most cartoonish of villains, Monica Bellucci looking fine as hell and struggling to speak a word of English...

Some truly cringeworthy one-liners apart, I forgot how much fun this one was.

Recommended.

7/10

Chev_Chelios

The Last Detail.
Two sailors escorting a third to military prison for theft decide to show the young sailor a good time before he serves his sentence. Randy Quaid is excellent as is Jack Nicholson, well worth a watch.

Fysh

Another couple of EIFF screenings:

Terminal

A very stylised neo-noir about contract killers in the underworld of a peculiar city, this was a lot of fun. Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg and Dexter Fletcher all put in good performances, with some very funny moments and even the occasional badly written line not dragging things down. It's very much style over substance, but made in a k owing fashion akin to Baby Driver, with no illusions (except for some poorly judged repeated references to Alice In Wonderland) about what sort of film it is. It doesn't outstay its welcome, although it does come over all over-expository in the final few minutes. Still, very enjoyable and worth a watch.

Solis
Unfortunately, this is what happens when you're writing and directing your first film and you know what influences you want to acknowledge, but the only way you can think of to do that is to literally take scenes from those other films and recreate them in your film. Oh, and you've decided that you won't bother getting any kind of science consultant to review the script of your theoretically hardish-sci-fi script.

For about half of its running time, it works - it's a mishmash of ideas from other films, but it works (think

All Is Lost

in space, with ideas and elements borrowed from the likes of

Alien, Moon, Sunshine and Gravity

). Then it starts to become aware that it doesn't have enough plot or character material to justify the same amount of time again, and responds by just dragging out each thing that happens for longer and longer, to the point where rather than creating tension in the viewer it creates irritation. And then, it just ends.

Visually it was quite nice, at least until it ran out of ideas on how to hold the viewer's attention. The score was pretty good for the first half, then seemed to devolve into an ever more oppressive mishmash of melodies that felt familiar from other similar films.

Overall, I hope it was a fun experience for the cast and crew and they got to learn a lot from it because they have ended up with a mess of a film. I wasn't expecting to see another writer-director debut with as many faults as White Chamber this festival, but there you go...

Chev_Chelios

The Voices is a pitch black comedy drama starring Ryan Reynolds as a man who's cat and dog speak to him. It's a dark movie which holds your attention as things spiral out of control for our protagonist.

tomofson

Over the last week I have watched,

Lucky number slevin (2006) Never seen it before and have to say I was impressed.

Insomnia (2002), A robin williams movie in which he plays a darker role, it was good and I would recommend.

Death to Smoochy (2002), a dark comedy which stars Robin Williams, Edward Norton and Danny Devito, I would recommend.

The Night Listener (2006) A thriller also starring robin williams that is based on a true story.

Talk Radio (1988), Meh, it is more or less the same film as Betrayed(1988). Only betrayed is better.

Hate Crime (2012), I gave it a 2 on IMDB and that is saying something for me, I try to be very fair with my ratings, but not much good about this particular piece of filmography.

Scenic Road (2013), I suppose it wasn't too bad.

Guess Who (2005). Another meh movie that looks at the concept of reverse racism.

Angel (1984) Quite good, 1980s slasher flick, would recommend

Chev_Chelios

The Hitmans Bodyguard.
An enjoyable action comedy with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson. Their chemistry is good and it's an enjoyable turn off your brain watch.

Del.Monte

aka "The Deadly Game" (2013).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGcg3bk_OMI

Boredom viewing on Netflix late last night and I now regret wasting 90+ minutes of my life. Despite including a couple of decent actors - Gabriel Byrne and Rufus Sewell - the movie fails to spark into life until the very, very end.

A confusing plot and poor direction lost me after a few minutes and I only watched it through to the end to see just how bad things could get. Crooked cops, gangsters, hitmen, blackmail.....A police based film set in London yet we don't see a single uniformed cop throughout, let alone the inside of a police station. Most of the movie revolves around three dodgy detectives sitting around in an obviously brand new, top of the range 4x4 watching people and seemingly not burdened by any actual policing duties whatsoever.

Avoid - 1/10 and that's for the presence of Gabriel Byrne.

Lumpy_Custard

Wind River

New to Netflix, I caught this last night. Perfect lazy Sunday viewing.

A deliberately-paced, character-driven drama punctuated by snappy, visceral action. Not unlike Sicario, with which it shares a writer in Taylor Sheridan.

The odd bit of clunky dialogue aside, the performances are uniformly excellent. The actors bring a gravitas that makes the drama sincere and profoundly sad at times. Jeremy Renner once again is a revelation.

Well worth a watch.

8/10

joombo

The Death of Stalin - would recommend this crazy slice of historical farce to anyone. Surprisingly historically accurate reading a bit more about it. I liked the choice of not doing Russian accents, fantastic mix of actors too. 4/5

johnny_ultimate

The Endless - Upstream Colour has kinda ruined indie sci-fi films for me: it set the bar so improbably high, stuff like Coherence just didn't work for me at all. The Endless, mind, is a pretty good attempt, even if it doesn't reach Shane Carruth levels. It has it all: brotherly conflict, UFO death cults, invisible Lovecraftian entities, strange time & space manipulations... actually, TBH, that's pretty much what it has, but they're good things to have! The visual ambition can't quite match up with the budget, alas, but there's plenty of interesting stuff in this... and a confidently realised central relationship keeps things grounded even during its more convoluted chapters.

Dublin Oldschool - Impressive stuff: not top-tier, but an assured piece of Irish filmmaking nonetheless. It does, like other Irish films, have a tendency towards being overly talky... although not surprising in this case, given it comes from co-writer/star Emmet Kirwan's play. As good as Kirwan is - and co-stars like Seana Kerslake - some of the wider cast can't keep up with things. But generally this is unusually even-handed, respectful examination of Dublin drug culture - from the recreational to the devastating addictions. It doesn't lecture, nor does it glorify.

Set around one long weekend, it's also an engagingly shot and edited film: a pacy series of highs and lows, ups and downs. It's all quite meandering and messy in a way that feels appropriate for the story being told. One late film rave scene feels trite, but otherwise there's a neat buzz to it all. While it doesn't fully shake its stage origins, Kirwan is also clearly a talented wordsmith - his poetic voiceover deployed in brief but impactful snippets (

and, in one particularly clever moment, we hear another character's internal monologue for a few short seconds

). Also: the Dublin geography is dead on from what I can tell, which makes a surprising amount of difference for a film largely spent walking around the city.

Leave No Trace - after an extended break, Winter's Bone director Debra Granik is back with another tale of characters living outside 'normal' society - in this case, a father and daughter living off the grid in the woods outside Portland. This is a more social realist (relatively speaking) take on that idea than the often baffling Captain Fantastic, and this is clearly the superior film. Granik is a canny observer of both people and landscapes - it's never particularly showy, but whether it's a character's reaction shot or a vast woodland the important emphasis is always underlined clearly and effectively. Granik, like The Florida Project's Sean Baker, treats her characters with respect and compassion which is all-important. She also holds back some of the details, only hinting at key backstory... a decision that feels like it was a wise one. A modest film by design, but a thoughtful, moving one at that.

Looper007

Going through a bit of Asian cinema kick at the moment

Raise The Red Lantern (1991)

Zhang Yimou's Masterpiece imo, although I wouldn't argue with anyone if they had named any other film from his early period. Teenage Songlian (Gong Li), whose family has been devastated by the recent death of her father, becomes the third concubine of wealthy Master Chen (Ma Jingwu). She soon discovers that behind the palatial luxury of life in the master's house, she and her fellow concubines, Zhuoyan (Cao Cuifeng) and Meishan (He Caifei), are pitted against each other in a struggle for his affections. The situation inevitably leads to deception, jealous rages and the revelation of each other's darkest secrets.

Another great performance from the always fantastic Gong Li, her run with Yimou is up there with some of the great Director/Actor duo's. Like all Yimou's work it's beautiful shot and at 2hrs 5mins it flys by without ever dragging. It's a downer of a film but don't let that put you off. One complaint, this masterpiece of a film is out of print on DVD and Blu Ray (I don't think it's even got a Blu Ray release on these shores). If you are willing to pay crazy prices to buy American releases it's worth it but I hope they release a Region 2 pristine blu ray sometime soon. 10/10

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Oscar winning Ang Lee's breakthrough film, be warned don't watch this with a empty stomach. One of Lee's more heartfelt and easy going films, Master Chef Chu (Sihung Lung) is semi-retired and lives at home with his three unmarried daughters, Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang), a religious chemistry teacher; Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien Wu), an airline executive; and Jia-Ning (Yu-wen Wang), an employee at a fast-food joint. Life at the family's house revolves heavily around preparing and eating an elaborate dinner every Sunday. The stability of these meals gives them all strength as they deal with new romantic relationships and disappointments.

Great central performance from the late Si Hung Lung (who starred in Lee's three first three films and then Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) also from the three actresses playing his daughters especially Chien-Lien Wu, who plays the middle daughter and who has the most interesting of the stories. It's not quite top notch Ang Lee but it's got a heart to it and probably along with Ride With the Devil, probably Lee's most undervalued film. The film is worth it for the cooking scenes alone. 8/10


Our Little Sister (2015)


I'm sorry to admit this but this is my first taste of Japanese director Hirokazu Kore'eda, shame on me I know. After the death of their estranged father, three siblings (Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho) invite their half sister (Suzu Hirose) to live with them. That's pretty much the whole film, and it is one of the most wonderful film's I've seen in a long while. Nothing major happens and the sister's are welcoming to the half sister, and the half sister like her older siblings you just end up falling for her as she's wonderfully played by Suzu Hirose. The scene at the end above a hillside with her older sister, will definitely make you sob like a baby .

I'm not doing this film justice, wonderful performances from all the actress and just a film with a good heart and a easy going nature. Even at 2hrs 8mins, you wish the film would never end. Just ordered as many Kore'eda films as I could from Amazon, the film made that much of a impact on me. 10/10

bnt

Yesterday I had a bad commute home - bus ride so hot and bumpy I nearly hurled - and I have various movies on the DVR for various occasions. So I fired up Taxi (2004), the remake of the 1998 French film of the same name. The good news is that the (re)makers made some changes beyond the move from Marseilles to New York. The lead characters are mostly women: Queen Latifah is the taxi driver, and the baddies are a quartet of Brazilian supermodels headed by Gisele Bündchen.

As an actor, Jimmy Fallon makes a good talk show host, but the character seemed made for him: a total dork, basically, and quite a bit of mileage is extracted from his psychological hangups about his mother and driving. It's no spoiler that he finally gets sufficiently motivated to do some proper driving by the end.

So: formulaic, clichés abound (dumb man surrounded by smart women), exploitation (slow-mo shots of the supermodel bodies), and more - but after the kind of day I'd had, I quite enjoyed it. Metacritic rating: 27. :pac:

Harry Palmr

Psycho II (1983) Dir Richard Franklin

Self confessed Hitch-ophile Aussie director Richard Franklin who channelled Rear Window with his great debut picture Road Games took a hell of a risk here, in 1983 the idea of making a sequel to the 1960 film was greeted with a mix of scepticism and outrage. Luckily we needn't have worried, clearly the sequel is not ground-breaking in any way shape or form but accept that and it's a well crafted story which riffs on the original while adding a very nifty plot of it's own which I won't outline obviously. Anthony Perkins is a picture of tragic, baleful twitchiness with fine support from Robert Loggia in rare sympathetic role, and a very young Meg Tilly in particular.

Obviously don't watch until you've seen the first film

Tony EH

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Psycho II (1983) Dir Richard Franklin

Self confessed Hitch-ophile Aussie director Richard Franklin who channelled Rear Window with his great debut picture Road Games took a hell of a risk here, in 1983 the idea of making a sequel to the 1960 film was greeted with a mix of scepticism and outrage. Luckily we needn't have worried, clearly the sequel is not ground-breaking in any way shape or form but accept that and it's a well crafted story which riffs on the original while adding a very nifty plot of it's own which I won't outline obviously. Anthony Perkins is a picture of tragic, baleful twitchiness with fine support from Robert Loggia in rare sympathetic role, and a very young Meg Tilly in particular.

Obviously don't watch until you've seen the first film

Always had a soft spot for 'Psycho II'. It's not mind blowing or anything and kind of plays out like a TV movie. But, it remains interesting and has a great ending. I have nice memories of me and the parents sitting down to a video of it in the 80's. Both folks tut tutting that they made a, pffft, sequel to 'Psycho' . But we all ended up liking it.

I recently watched all three Psycho films (yeh, I know, there's more) and as a running story, they're quite an entertaining trilogy. I think Perkins did an ok job on the third one, which is the least of the efforts, it has to be said, but I still like it. There's a nice touch that I never noticed before in 'Psycho III', where the

camera looks around the outside of the Bate's house and stops on the fruit cellar window, where the young lad was killed in 'Psycho II' and his finger marks are still in the dirt of the window. Also, Mary's book, 'In the Belly of the Beast' that she's reading in the second film, is tossed on the grounds of the yard too.

Harry Palmr

I have Psycho III 'on tape' for sometime this week so will resist your spoiler temptation!

Tony EH

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I have Psycho III 'on tape' for sometime this week so will resist your spoiler temptation!

It's not really a spoiler, as such. Just a nice little "reward" for observant eyes.

Have a peep when you finish the film and you'll see what I mean.

branie2

Adrift at the cinema this evening, it was very good.

SimonTemplar

I recently watched both Village of the Damned (1960) and The Innocents (1961). By coincidence, Martin Stephens played the lead child in both which I didn't realize. He was such a creepy presence in both movies.

taytobreath

Lumpy_Custard wrote: »

Wind River

New to Netflix, I caught this last night. Perfect lazy Sunday viewing.

A deliberately-paced, character-driven drama punctuated by snappy, visceral action. Not unlike Sicario, with which it shares a writer in Taylor Sheridan.

The odd bit of clunky dialogue aside, the performances are uniformly excellent. The actors bring a gravitas that makes the drama sincere and profoundly sad at times. Jeremy Renner once again is a revelation.

Well worth a watch.

8/10

Excellent film, based on true events too.

Thank you for the recommendation.

tomofson

Changing lanes (2002) with samuel l jackson, 7/10

The domestics (2018), I see this isn't getting much press coverage but its actually quite fun, 7/10

ant-man (2015) Really fun, 7/10

boy wonder (2010) 6/10.

The Pledge, (2001) 7/10

Just cause, (1995) 7/10

Rising Sun (1993) 7/10

Assault on precinct 13, (1976) 8/10.

Fysh

Trouble Every Day - having repeatedly read good reviews of Claire Denis films in Sight & Sound, I figured I should check this out before it expired on Mubi. And, well, that was a disappointing waste of time. I was optimistic about the runtime, yet the film manages to be dreadfully overlong even at 101 minutes. There are some nice shots in this, but the writing is pretentious dreck, the storyline (such as it is) is underbaked with occasional non-linearity thrown in to try (badly) and establish a mystery, and the sex scenes have all the conviction of something written by a producer hoping the five minutes of boobs and bush on screen might get it an audience. The performances were unengaging, but whether that is deliberate or just the natural result of a bad script is hard to say - the whole film has a feel of something trying very hard to push the viewer away, and frankly I wish I'd followed my first instinct and bailed on this after 10 minutes.

Tl, dr - skip this self-regarding guff and watch

Raw

or

The Transfiguration

instead, it deals with similar themes but crucially is an engaging and well-made film.

Harry Palmr

Sorcerer 1977 Dir William Freidkin

After the double whammy of the French Connection and The Exorcist, the most confident of the movie brat generation decided the world was his and embarked on a madly ambitious version of the new wave era classic The Wages of Fear (a title this version retained outside the USA/Canada). So expensive did the production become from very modest beginnings that two studios ended up funding it on a shared distribution deal but it's fair to say all it did was split the pain of a $22 million flop. It's unlikely Friedkin cared too much he had a vision and he delivered on that and he was still strongly in credit overall (though his next film the equally expensive and unsuccessful The Brinks Job would try the industry once too often and he never got a big budget again). It's easy to why see it failed, Sorcerer is a the film that opened opposite Star Wars and unlike that film this ambiguous epic features no heroes and ultimately no hope. The evocation of the unnamed South American hell hole is superb, you can smell the damp chicken **** and blood in what maybe the wettest mainstream film ever made that didn't feature a sinking ship. While the visual set-pieces tend to get the attention the soundtrack is a star and not just the haunting music of Tangerine Dream but also the sound effects and ambient noises which on this restored print are a crisp joy to listen to.

Looper007

Have got through a few more Asian films, all from South Korea and most Starring Bae Donna. Probably more well known to Western audiences for her starring in most of the Wachowski's projects like Sense 8 and Cloud Atlas. Her best known Korean work is probably The Host and Sympathy for MR. Vengeance.


I would say she's a bit like a South Korean version of Rooney Mara, not a massive star, underused or wasted in the big blockbusters even in Korea but her best work is in more indie and darker fare.


A Girl At My Door (2014)

One of my favourite Korean films of the last few years, turned down by a few studios in Korea and shot on a low budget with none of the actors getting paid. A young police officer is sent to work in a small village and takes in a teenager to protect her from her abusive stepfather.

Bae Donna plays the young police officer and gives probably her best performance to date as her past comes back to haunt her

The reason she was transferred is cause she's a Lesbian, and also as we find out later is a alcoholic.

. But the film is probably stolen by Kim Sae-Ron, the child actresses from the awesome Korean thriller The Man from Nowhere, as the abused and troubled teenager. It's nothing groundbreaking storywise, and you can see where it's going to go but the two central performances are well worth the reason to watch this. 8/10

As One (2012)

For something more lighter, A great little sport biopic about Table Tennis. That's right Table tennis. You'd think it be boring but it's actually far from it, it's in the same ballpark as the likes of Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper film Hoosiers or Chariots of Fire but with a mix of Eddie the Eagle. Plus it's based on a true story from 1991.

Hyun Jung-hwa of South Korea and Li Bun-hui of North Korea form a team and a friendship, then their team is suddenly split up. The two players vow to prove to the world that their team can surpass their nations' painful history.

Bae Donna plays the North Korean and Ha Ji- Won (probably famous for Korean horror Phone and John Woo's recent Manhunt) as the South Korean. Donna is very good in this, as is Ji-Won although both actresses are probably 10 years to old to play the parts but that's Korean Cinema for you lol. It's got a few cheesy moments that will probably make you tut. But you can't help but cheer along, and the last 30 minutes of the film is given over to the final match and it's exciting. 7/10

Padraig Mor

SimonTemplar wrote: »

I recently watched both Village of the Damned (1960) and The Innocents (1961). By coincidence, Martin Stephens played the lead child in both which I didn't realize. He was such a creepy presence in both movies.

The Innocents is seriously creepy (and obviously a big inspiration for The Others) - when you've already got shivers down your spine within the first 30 seconds (which consists solely of a blank screen and singing) you know you're on a winner

SimonTemplar

Rosemary's Baby

I saw this over 10 years but remembered nothing of it so this was like my first time watching it.

It definitely gets under your skin and Rosemary is probably one of the most sympathetic characters in all of horror. The neighbor character is so infuriating. It is great writing - she never says or does anything obviously malicious, in fact she is overtly friendly, but there is something about that Oscar winning performance in that long New York drawl that puts you on edge.

The most uncomfortable part for me was at the very end where Rosemary

comes to accept her baby

.

CrankyHaus

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 1974

A solid performance by Clint Eastwood gets upstaged by a great one from Jeff Bridges, both get shaded by Cimino's shots of the Montana landscape. Great fun to watch. 8/10

SimonTemplar

I watched a few Arnold movies from his peak era. All except Predator I didn't know too well. I'd never seen The Running Man or Commando

Predator - Along with T1 and T2, I consider this a top tier Arnold movie. As a loud, explosive, adrenaline fueled action movie, I can't fault it. It is impressive how each of Arnold's team have their own distinct personalities. When it is pulled off, it seems seamless, but it actually takes a skilled writer to do this. The plot is super simple but it doesn't need any more complexity. The action, characters and dialog really shine with plenty of memorable one liners.

Commando - I know this has become a cult classic but I struggled to enjoy it. There is a strong B movie vibe but not in a good way. Aside from Arnold's presence, there is little about this movie that would elevate above straight to VHS fare. Rae Dawn Chong seems to have graduated with honors from the Kate Capshaw School of Annoying Sidekicks and the action is fairly uninspired.

True Lies - I saw this ages ago and I had forgotten how much of the middle of the movie is taken up with the wife / affair subplot. The villains disappear for a big portion of the movie. So unlike Commando, this feels like a big budget action adventure with a director / writer who is truly cinematic. Arnold's spy agency and his team feel like a template for future Mission Impossible movies. Jamie Lee Curtis really shines in her role and she is clearly having a blast. The special effects for the action with the jet in the finale is genuinely impressive even by today's standards, but that is typical of James Cameron pushing the boundaries of technology. Bill Paxton is hilarious eventhough some of the humour around his character may seem a little dated now. The movie could do with being 10 or 15 minutes short but overall an entertaining movie.

Total Recall - Another distinctive director and this has Paul Verhoeven's trademarks all over it, from the gritty depiction of the future to the hyper violence bordering on parody. The endless chase scenes do get a bit repetitive and I think I'd rather watch True Lies again than this, but the story is very good and Michael Ironside is a great villain

The Running Man - I was a little uncertain about this. It has 63% on RT but 6.7 on imdb so there is a bit of a gap between audience and critics. I must say, I really enjoyed it. Once the game starts, the action is pretty relentless, and unlike Total Recall or Commando, I never felt it outstayed its welcome. It has some genuinely funny moments and the concept of a reality game show seems oddly prescient. A lot of modern action movies claim to be just dumb fun but are rarely actually fun. The Running Man is absolutely dumb fun!

It is funny watching Total Recall and The Running Man nowadays. Both are set in the future with fantastical technology but are still clearly products of their time with large CRT monitors showing blocky 8-bit graphics, and boxy angular cars.

branie2

A small bit of Brothers Grimm on DVD, with the audio commentary on