What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

briany

Bulworth (1998)

Very entertaining film starring Warren Beatty as stuffy white Senator Bulworth who, due to exhaustion and a disillusionment with politics and big interest, starts rapping, hanging in the 'hood and telling it like it is. Recommend this highly if you're in the mood for a comedy/satire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0SgQKpWGD4

Wichita Lineman

ror_74 wrote: »

In the Bedroom

Unassuming and riveting drama set in a small town fishing village in Maine USA, directed by Todd Fields. Recommended.

Aftershock

Awful Chilean film from the Eli Roth school of horror, only worse.

I liked 'In The Bedroom', Tom Wilkinson and Marisa Tomei were very good in it.

Wichita Lineman

'Backdraft' - Ron Howard directs Kurt Russell and William Baldwin who are brothers in the Chicago Fire Dept. Co-stars Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro and Rebecca De Mornay.

Ruu

Wreck-It Ralph, a baddie game character that wants to go good. Had a few retro vg references which made me smile.

mrmorgan

Andy Dunne11 wrote: »

'Backdraft' - Ron Howard directs Kurt Russell and William Baldwin who are brothers in the Chicago Fire Dept. Co-stars Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro and Rebecca De Mornay.

Great Movie,

watched the devils advocate again the other night, its a great movie

Tipsy McSwagger

Andy Dunne11 wrote: »

'Backdraft' - Ron Howard directs Kurt Russell and William Baldwin who are brothers in the Chicago Fire Dept. Co-stars Donald Sutherland, Robert De Niro and Rebecca De Mornay.

That's nice but what did you think if it?

Wichita Lineman

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

That's nice but what did you think if it?

I enjoyed it but like most Ron Howard movies it was a little longer than it needed to be and could have been made much tighter and more thrilling. Stunts / fire scenes were pretty good and Kurt Russell is very believeable as a macho fireman. William Baldwin was awful imo. It wasnt 'Rescue Me' by any means but watchable.

PandyAndy

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

Griff The Invisible

Loved it. A customs liaison officer is also a superhero. In the same vein as the recent heroes-sans-powers films, one in particular but I don't want to say as it's a bit of a spoiler. Griff is a likeable guy, sort of dude I'd wanna be best friends with. Well acted and directed. Made me cry manly tears of happiness towards the end. Fairly good upbeat soundtrack, too. Recommended to people like me, who wanted to be a superhero when they were a kid, and still do.

Just watched this based on what you wrote and would have to completely agree with you. Brilliant movie.

Anyone else who hasn't seen this should watch it.

Bipolar Joe

PandyAndy wrote: »

Just watched this based on what you wrote and would have to completely agree with you. Brilliant movie.

Anyone else who hasn't seen this should watch it.

That's really great !! I always feel kind of dumb posting in here, because I often watch awful shite and love it, then feel paranoid because I'm not posting about how great Ingmar Bergman is. Thanks to Tindie for being the guy who doesn't care what people think, I wouldn't have bothered.

Not to say the film is awful, because it's really not. Just terribly happy to see someone watched and liked a movie I recommended! If you haven't already, check out Special with Michael Rappaport and Defendor with Woody Harrelson. Special, in particular, is a real favourite in the genre.

Couldn't sleep so I watched two movies tonight.

Fermat's Room

Four mathematicians get called to a party in the middle of nowhere by another dude. Think Saw but with no gore and more logic based maths, or Cube or something. Probably Exam would be a better example. I dunno. Any ways, everything goes bad and the four of them have to make it out of the room or get squashed. The ending really, really let the film down. It actually kind of annoyed me and felt lazy. Up to the point where resolutions start happening it's a pretty good thriller, then it just seemed really stupid, and that's without the glaring plothole. If you were to watch this, and want to see something better but still similar, I'd recommend Exam. Same kind of deal, only instead of mathematicians in a shrinking room, it's unemployed professionals in a room full of murder.

Tony

Genuinely unnerving film. Serial killer flick, sort of an homage to Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, but incredibly English. Reminded me of the short My Wrongs #8245–8249 for it's fairly unassuming main character, the sort of dude you might see about and for a brief second wonder about him before they're completely forgotten. It meanders along in a really good way, but it does seem to be a little clichéd. I don't think you're supposed to sympathise with Tony, or wonder why he does it, you're just supposed to watch what he does and what he does in-between doing it. One moment had my entire body tense up, and even when I relaxed after realising it, I'd find myself unconsciously tensed up again seconds later. There's not much in the way of gore, it's not that type of flick, so don't expect Adam Chaplin or whatever. Recommended to people who like Chris Morris (Who has nothing to do with the film, it just feels like the sort he might enjoy), The The and Lazarus (Who supplied the OST). Fairly short at just over and hour long.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

This is the film that got me interested in science fiction when I was a kid. I feel like it shaped the way I try and live with other people. In case you've just discovered movies and dunno what it is, a space traveller named Klaatu and a robot called Gort come to Earth. They're greeted by being pretty much immediately shot. During his efforts to have his reasons for visiting heard by Important People, he befriends a young boy, his Mom, and a scientist. A man hunt (Alien hunt?) ensues, looking for Klaatu. Beautifully acted and shot, the moody moments are still as great as the first time I saw them, but that might be nostalgia ! If you managed to not see this somehow, do. It's a film that I think will always be relevant.

delbertgrady

Apart from recent cinema visits to see Mud (slightly overlong, but justifiably praised) and Star Trek Into Darkness (IMHO a topnotch marquee blockbuster), I also rewatched Rolling Thunder, a cult seventies classic from a story by a post-Taxi Driver Paul Schrader, which turned up on the MGM movie channel.
Local hero William Devane arrives back in smalltown America after years as a POW in Vietnam, only to have his efforts to reconnect with his wife and son thwarted, with tragic consequences. A decent revenge thriller with Tommy Lee Jones, and a favourite of Quentin Tarantino, presumably partly because his old acting coach, James "Roscoe P. Coltrane" Best appears as one of the villains.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

Not to say the film is awful, because it's really not. Just terribly happy to see someone watched and liked a movie I recommended! If you haven't already, check out Special with Michael Rappaport and Defendor with Woody Harrelson. Special, in particular, is a real favourite in the genre.

I saw Defondor a while back and loved it. I think I saw it around the same time Kickass was out? I liked it more than Kickass, it seemed more believable in some ways and a lot darker. Harrelson was brilliant in it too.

Bipolar Joe

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I saw Defondor a while back and loved it. I think I saw it around the same time Kickass was out? I liked it more than Kickass, it seemed more believable in some ways and a lot darker. Harrelson was brilliant in it too.

Defendor is a great flick. Not that I don't like fantastical elements, but the notion of a realistic person doing realistic things is far more entertaining to me. I always wanted to be a superhero, so these films bring me back to my youth. Kick Ass is a good film with a lot wrong with it (I do like the comics though). Kick Ass gets thrown in with the same lot as Super and Defendor, but you can't compare them. It's really just a hyper violent Batman with a pseudo Weapon-X. Special, Griff The Invisible, Defendor and Super are just regular dudes with an average budget. Defendor mail orders spy-kits for kids so he can do his heroing!

That's what separates the two types of hero films, I think. It takes the average amount of bullets or punching to stop Harrelson, and Rappaport only gets by because

he's delusional, so fuck knows how else he's being effected

. It makes me want to don the ninja outfit again even though I'm a short, frail gangly bloke with smokers lungs. They make me actually feel something other than just thinking "That was a pretty cool explosion / roundhouse kick / impracticable spinning death slice." Go out, learn free-running, stop the bad guys, help the average people, call myself a fancy name to protect my alter-ego! It doesn't hurt that I'm probably kind of insane and still a little upset I'll never be a fireman, the closest you can get to real life super heroes for me.

If you liked Defendor, definitely see Special and Griff. I hope you all shed at least one Manly Tear (I straight up blubbed at the end of Special).

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

Defendor is a great flick. Not that I don't like fantastical elements, but the notion of a realistic person doing realistic things is far more entertaining to me. I always wanted to be a superhero, so these films bring me back to my youth. Kick Ass is a good film with a lot wrong with it (I do like the comics though). Kick Ass gets thrown in with the same lot as Super and Defendor, but you can't compare them. It's really just a hyper violent Batman with a pseudo Weapon-X. Special, Griff The Invisible, Defendor and Super are just regular dudes with an average budget. Defendor mail orders spy-kits for kids so he can do his heroing!

That's what I liked about Defendor, it felt like a real person in the real world trying to be a super hero. Kickass was all right for what it was but it still felt a lot like a comic book movie. I never felt like I was watching something that could really be happening in the world I live in. Defendor was very much rooted in the real world though.

Will try and check out those other ones you mentioned.

McGrath5

Memento

A very written fim from Christopher Nolan, who as usual, treats the audience with plenty of respect.
I enjoyed this film a lot, cant believe I haven't seen it before. A perfect example of how a well told story can really elevate a film.

Wichita Lineman

'Wreckers' is an interesting 'indie' movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy as a married couple who have moved back to his home town. They are doing up an old house and hope to start a family but his brothers unexpected arrival sees their seemingly idyllic marriage tested to it's limits.

I enjoyed this even though it's not by any stretch of the imagination what you would consider a happy movie, well put together and some interesting twists keep you guessing at whats going to come next and whether things will work out or not.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

A Royal Affair

Danish drama based on the true story of King Christian VII of Denmark, his young English wife and her affair with the King's personal physician.

It's sort of billed as a love story between Alicia Vikander's Caroline and Mads Mikkelsen's Johann, and it is, but it's also kind of a love story between The King and Johann. Everyone starts out with the best of intentions but circumstances and meddling Dowager Queens intervene and everything goes south.

It's a beautifully shot film, and fantastic acting from all 3 leads makes it really absorbing. I barely noticed the 2 hour running time.

Alicia Vikander is stunning. Speaking as a 100% straight lady, I have to say she is ridiculously beautiful. Now, this might sound a little shallow but I thought it odd that they cast Mikkelsen to play her love interest, he's a great actor but not much of a looker, sorry Mads, but it works so well. I guess it kind of emphasizes the fact that they're drawn to each other because of their ideals and beliefs, it's a deeper connection than just lust.
I have noticed that a lot in European cinema, they do seem to cast for talent more than looks, as is often seen in big Hollywood films, but I digress...

As good as Vikander and Mikkelsen are I have to say the guy playing King Christian is fantastic. He walks the line between crazy, sad, lonely, happy, cruel, loving and angry so well. I never got the impression that he was actually crazy, just lost inside himself and in his role as King, which has mainly been usurped by the council at the start of the film.

So yeah, a very interesting film, highly recommended.

cursai

Star Trek: Into Darkness.......otherwise known as The Wrath of Sally Fletcher.
Great special effects, very good.....and thats the good.
Horrible weak soap opera script, which ripped off the original film, attempting to reverse it and attempt to gain some sympathy for a particular character. Spock contacting a particular person was a cheap ploy and pointless to the story, actually making the story more ridiculous.
The acting was atrocious from some of the lead actors. Especially the 'daughter'. and Orruru...... spelling? The original storyline was much better.
Am so annoyed, after seeing die hard the other night and now paying to see this. im losing enamel on my teeth.

Wichita Lineman

Ride the High Country is a western from 1962 directed by Sam Peckinpah. It stars Joel McRea and Randolph Scott. An aging former US marshal Steve Judd (McRea) takes on a job transporting a gold shipment through dangerous territory. He hires an old partner, Gil Westrum (Scott), and a younger sidekick, Heck to ride with him. Steve doesn't know, however, that Gil plans to steal the gold. While on their way to the mining camp they meet Elsa, a pretty young woman anxious to leave her religious domineering father.

I enjoy westerns and this was a pretty good one. The leads are strong and the story is interesting. Quite menacing and lots of action as you would expect from a Sam Peckinpah movie. Randolph Scott was 64 by the time this was made and he was one of the very best at playing stoic upright cowboys, surprisingly this was his last film.



My Best Friend French movie starring Daniel Auteuil as a ruthless art dealer whose colleague Catherine challenges him to introduce her to his best friend. He is surprised to find that in fact he doesnt have one but enlists the services of a cheerful taxi driver to help him find one.

Auteuil is brilliant actor and in this one he is equally obnoxious yet likeable. Worth a look.

Andy Dunne11

Andy Dunne11 wrote: »

Randolph Scott was 64 by the time this was made and he was one of the very best at playing stoic upright cowboys, surprisingly this was his last film.

Both Scott and McCrea retired from acting after the film. McCrea came back and did a few more films but Scott never did. He felt that he should get out of acting while he was ahead and he was never going to give a better performance. Oddly enough but when first cast, both men were playing the others role and neither felt it fit so went to the producers looking to quit. The roles were reversed and one of the most iconic westerns of all time was the result.

If you like Scott check out his 7 films with Budd Boetticher. They're some of the best B films ever made. Each one clocks in around the 78 minute mark and Scott plays a variant on the same role, either a wronged man out fir revenge or good man with a troubled past stepping in to save some innocent. You'll be hard pressed to find as good a nights entertainment.

SouthTippBass

Watched King of Kong last night, very entertaining. Hard to believe some of those guys really exist, they're such characters!

nicklauski

SouthTippBass wrote: »

Watched King of Kong last night, very entertaining. Hard to believe some of those guys really exist, they're such characters!

Some character

This weekend sees the release of two new features, in which Paul Walker is involved in all manner of vehicular mayhem. The first and most note worthy of these films is Fast & Furious 6, the latest in the long running franchise that has gone from strength to strength since Justin Lin took of direction dutites. The second any by all means the lesser is the South African set Vechicle 19.

Released direct to disc, Vehicle 19 is the kind of low budget, high concept B movie that Larry Choen once deviled every other month. Opening in the middle of a high speed pursuit the film quickly kills all momentum by jumping back to earlier in the day where a haggard looking Walker has just arrived in South Africa and found himself at the center of a mix up with his rental car agency.

Walker's Michael Woods is another in cinemas long line of recovering alcoholics, recently paroled and searching for a second chance at life. Breaking parole, Woods has flown to Johannesburg in order to make amends with the love of his life, which is going to be considerably more difficult then he anticipated given the gun under his seat, the bound and gagged woman in the boot and the corrupt police force hot on his trail.

There's nothing original here but there's an urgency to proceedings that helps paper over the thin plot and complete lack of characterisation in the script. Vehicle 19 is another in the long line of action films that uses sex trafficking as a plot point and says absolutely nothing of note about any of it. The clumsy plot exists solely to drive us from one set piece to another and it's obvious from the beginning that every cliche in the book will be trotted out. Two moments early on stand out, the first is the shot of Walker crashing into a bag man pushing his cart of cans across the road. It's the kind of ludicrous moment that spoof films have been making fun of for decades. The other telling scene involves Walker being approached by a kid selling phone chargers at a traffic light. It's obvious from how the scene plays out that a phone charger will play a vital part later on in the film and sure enough tension is created through the second half of the film through the repeated low battery warnings on his phone cultivating in the thrilling scene where his phone is on the verge of dieing and Walker frantically scramble s about looking for his charger as life saving information is being imparted to him. The scene exists to heighten the tension but sadly all it really does is highlight just how poorly written the film is. If Walker had the charger all along then why not simply plug it in after the first warning.

The most striking aspect of Vechicle 19 the manner in which it plays out. Director Mukunda Michael Dweil decision to never allow the camera leave the car is a brave and inspired choice. It offers a sense of claustrophobia and creates tension early on but as the film progresses it becomes something of a hindrance. Much of the intend thrills are lost due to the invasive nature of the cinematography and the quick edits intended to heighten the excitement only result in confusing the viewer. It must have looked thrilling and innovation on the page but in action it quickly becomes tiresome

Vechciel 19 is one of the more ambitious direct to disc releases in awhile but sadly it simply isn't all that thrilling. There's a lot to commend here but the limitations of the script and the shooting style rob proceedings of the edge of the seat thrills that it so desperately needs. At the end of the day it's a diverting enough time filler but it'll all be forgotten as soon as you hit the eject button.

PandyAndy

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

That's really great !! I always feel kind of dumb posting in here, because I often watch awful shite and love it, then feel paranoid because I'm not posting about how great Ingmar Bergman is. Thanks to Tindie for being the guy who doesn't care what people think, I wouldn't have bothered.

Not to say the film is awful, because it's really not. Just terribly happy to see someone watched and liked a movie I recommended! If you haven't already, check out Special with Michael Rappaport and Defendor with Woody Harrelson. Special, in particular, is a real favourite in the genre.

Watched them both and both were very good, would maybe pick Defendor out of those two, Harrelson did a great job I think. Out of all the three you mentioned I'd say Griff the Invisible was my favourite, and Maeve Dermody is such a babe in it :pac:

cherryghost

Lars and the Real Girl. Wasn't sure what to make of it halfway through but it pulled itself together decently at the end. Really don't know how Gosling kept a straight face during that film.

Blood In, Blood Out. 3 hour movie about 3 mexican brothers who grow up to be very different people - one an artist, one a cop and another a gangster. A few imperfections but a powerful, well directed and well acted true story movie with a lot of familiar faces around in smaller roles. Highly recommended!

Looper007

In My Father's Den (2004)

The movie has many twists and turns and I promise to ensure this review doesn't give away any of the crucial secrets. Even so, it's the warmth of the central characters which made this such an enjoyable experience. The central characters of the film are Paul Prior played by Matthew MacFadyen and Celia, played by Emily Barclay.

MacFadyen's character is a world renowned photo-journalist who is brought back to rural New Zealand by the death of his father. Barclay's character is the daughter of an old schoolfriend of MacFadyen's character. Through a set of circumstances - the interview she conducts with him for school is hilarious - they become friends, connecting through their love of books and through MacFadyen's character's desire to ensure Barclay's character has the chance to achieve - like him - all of her potential.

In the background to this, we're given an insight into life in a small rural community in New Zealand where the teenagers are bored and the adults are divided amongst those who enjoy life locally and those who admire those who have left.And there's something about the Patty Smith soundtrack to the movie which evokes the isolation and desperation you might feel.

While the subject matter of the film is fairly grim - the disappearance and death of the young girl - the movie demonstrates great warmth and humour. And for all of the reasons above, I'd highly recommend it to you.

All The Real Girls (2003)

David Gordon Green's 'All the Real Girls' falls on the lines of 'Blue Valentine' and '500 Days of Summer'. The story is set in some Southern town in Appalachia and it pretty much centres around a young couple, Paul and Noel. Their relationship is complex but their feelings of affection for one another are no doubt real. The small-town setting appears to look quite authentic and it's captured well by decent cinematography.

The pacing, especially in the first half, is quite slow but this also allows one to see how the relationship between Paul and Noel build up. I felt that sometimes the writers and directors were trying too hard to make the film quirkier and, as such, a few sequences look forced or seem out of place. Even the humour is sometimes forced.

Zooey Deschanel steals the show as the vulnerable Noel. Many seem to comment that she can't do anything outside playing quirky. Well, this is one of her less quirky roles. One may draw parallels between Noel and Summer (Zooey's character in '500 Days of Summer') mostly because of the similar storyline even though the characters are almost completely different. Paul Schneider does a decent job. There are certain sequences where it's hard to tell whether he's being funny or was that not the intention. But he has good chemistry with Deschanel. Shea Whigham provides good support and Patricia Clarkson is outstanding.

krudler

SouthTippBass wrote: »

Watched King of Kong last night, very entertaining. Hard to believe some of those guys really exist, they're such characters!

there's another doc called Chasing Ghosts that's a good companion piece to King of Kong, its about the Twin Galaxies crew and a lot of the same people are in it, who'd have known video game playing could be so political.

cursai

The Best Offer. Fantastic!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1924396/board/?ref_=tt_bd_sm

McGrath5

A Royal Affair

As recommended by a previous poster, I really enjoyed this Danish drama, which is intriguing and very elegantly shot.

Safety not guaranteed

Another enjoyable film I have watched of late, this one is full of great laughs, yet not a single cheap one, and cap's it all of with a perfect ending!

missingtime

The Cabin in the Woods

Watched this for the first time and really enjoyed it. It's written by Joss Whedon and he puts a really good twist on the cheesy horror genre with some great one liners and genuinely funny scenes.