What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

dark crystal

Watched Blindness (2008) last night and thought it was a very good film, albeit for a few patchy plot-holes here and there.

Directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God), it takes place in an unamed city, where the population suddenly and mysteriously start going blind. The government just can't fathom where this epidemic came from or how to cure it, so they start herding the victims into quarantined wards, where their humanity, morality and sanity are soon put to the test.

Starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Gael Garcia Bernal, it's a provocative, often bleak and thought-provoking look at what happens when humanity starts to dismantle.

8 out of 10.

johnny_ultimate

Beau Travail - Claire Denis' dreamlike, evocative portrayal of a group of French Legionnaires, with the film's drifting focus mostly coming back to look at a superior's (played by Denis Lavant, easily one of the greatest living actors) strange, awkward obsession with one of his young squad members. How intriguing that one of cinema's most fascinating works about a crisis of masculinity was created by a female director - loaded with underlying violence, physicality and (homo)eroticism. While it's the kind of film that provokes academics to write up lengthy treatises on the male/female gaze (google 'em, you don't need to look very far!), it's also a deeply engrossing film pure in terms of style and delivery - the camera and editing dynamic and exciting, propelled by an almost musical rhythm (literally, sometimes). The whole thing almost exists on a plain somewhere between fantasy and reality - or, more simply, a purely cinematic plain.

It's quite unlike anything else, and so very often exactly what Jarhead wanted to be but had neither the imagination or competence to be.

briany

Craigslist Joe

In America, a documentary film maker sets out to find the humanity in a world where technology is increasingly putting people in a bubble and the fear mongering media tell us all not to trust one another. He does so by seeing if he can survive off the goodwill of people he contacts on Craigslist, which is a bit like the Buy & Sell, for one whole month and prove that if you are an unthreatening looking white middle class male with a camera man in tow and an IMDB listing, people will open their arms to you. Especially if you tell them you're making a documentary about the goodwill of people. Bless.

Pretty good documentary, actually. Kind of predictable but some of the people he meets are interesting and colourful even if the overall setup and message is a bit of a contrivance. Give it a watch on Hulu for free via proxy/VPN/Media Hint plug in if you like indie docs.

Tipsy McSwagger

briany wrote: »

Craigslist Joe

In America, a documentary film maker sets out to find the humanity in a world where technology is increasingly putting people in a bubble and the fear mongering media tell us all not to trust one another. He does so by seeing if he can survive off the goodwill of people he contacts on Craigslist, which is a bit like the Buy & Sell, for one whole month and prove that if you are an unthreatening looking white middle class male with a camera man in tow and an IMDB listing, people will open their arms to you. Especially if you tell them you're making a documentary about the goodwill of people. Bless.

Pretty good documentary, actually. Kind of predictable but some of the people he meets are interesting and colourful even if the overall setup and message is a bit of a contrivance. Give it a watch on Hulu for free via proxy/VPN/Media Hint plug in if you like indie docs.

It has one of the funniest scenes ever in a documentary, he meets the guy who is giving him a lift and the guy says 'do you want to see my cock?', awkward look, guy pulls out a stuffed cockatoo from the back of his van.

mike65

Evil Dead 11 (Dead by Dawn) Dir Sam Raimi 1987. the splendid Bruce Campbell once again goes through hell as the spirits from the Book of the Dead are unwittingly released at a remote cabin in the woods (hmmmm!). Tremendous gusto and fun, with one funny/shocking moment and turbo charged camera movement after another. The soundtrack pounds, the lighting is melodramatic and the physical effects and gore/splatter are "ripper" as the Aussies would say as Ash does battle with whatever comes to hand, minus one of the same. Watch out for the flying eyeball.

4 out of 5.

Josey Wales

I just rewatched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on Netflix. I think I enjoyed this even more on a rewatch and I consider it to be the best in the franchise. The very final scene notwithstanding.

hefferboi

Warm Bodies

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Very good story, well acted and some funny moments. The cgi for the skeletons could have been better.

8/10

ButtersSuki

Watched The Escapist starring Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Damien Lewis, Liam Cunningham, Seu Jorge, Stephen Mackintoshand others (incl. a little unexpectedly, Sheamus - the Irish WWE Wrestler)last night. Cox and Fiennes in particular are excellent in a relatively strong ensemble cast take on a prison escape tale. It occasionally appears on Film 4 so I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it but definitely worth a look. It's not hugely pacey so don't expect non-stop action, but the acting drives it.

I'd give it a 7/10.

Duggy747

Decided to give Netflix another whirl and first up was Troll Hunter.

Seen it before and enjoyed it but the GF hadn't seen it so I slapped it on again.

Still an enjoyable and well made film though the moments where nothing happens and it slows down were more notable but don't really detract from an otherwise better "found footage" film.

The movie was also a great reason for them to show off Norway's beautiful landscape and forestry :pac:

DazMarz

Robert Rodriguez's Mariachi Trilogy or Mexico Trilogy (consisting of El Mariachi [1992], Desperado [1995] and Once Upon A Time In Mexico [2003]).

El Mariachi is the film that propelled Rodriguez and his guerilla style of film-making into the limelight. The film was made on a threadbare budget of approximately $7,000 (or $9,000; depends who you ask). And it has to be said, it does not look like it cost that little. Yeah, it's obviously low budget, but not that low budget. For such a young film-maker and with such a small budget, it is very well made.

The plot is very simple; a drug lord in Mexico tries to kill an old ally of his, named Azul, while he's in prison. Azul kills his assassins and sets off towards the local town with a guitar case full of guns. Azul, despite his name (meaning Blue in Spanish), dresses all in black.

At the same time, a young guitar player (the eponymous Mariachi) arrives at the same town, carrying his guitar. He is also dressed all in black.

Two men in black, both carrying guitar cases... you can see where this is going. Mistaken identity as the drug lord tries to eliminate Azul (none of the drug lord's men know what Azul looks like), Azul tries to take his revenge and the Mariachi tries to stay alive while wooing the local temptress who runs the local bar (but is owned by the drug lord).

A jolly little romp that is easy on the grey matter but is enjoyable and it is staggering to think it was made for so little.

Desperado

While ostensibly a sequel to the above, this is actually a bigger budget remake. Gone are the amateur actors, and in come the likes of Antonio Banderas (as the Mariachi), Salma Hayek, Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Joachim de Almeida, Danny Trejo, Carlos Gomez and in a cameo Quentin Tarantino. The gore is bigger, the weapons are bigger, the action is bigger.

The story is set a few years after the events of El Mariachi. The Mariachi is now living as an outlaw who goes around murdering drug lords and criminals and is something of a legend. He is trying to seek revenge against the new drug lord who leads the gang who ruined his life in the first film.

A lot of the elements from the previous film are in place (the guitar case full of weapons, shootouts in bars, mistaken identity, violence galore) but it is all done on a much grander, more epic scale. It is also not played as straight as the previous film; a lot of it is a bit slapstick and screwball, but it works.

Made on a budget approximately 1,000 times his debut, Rodriguez is having fun he and wants the audience to have the same level of fun. Banderas is cool as fúck as the legendary Mariachi, but the show is stolen by Buscemi as his wise-cracking sidekick.

Great fun and entertaining. Interspersed with good dollops of gore and violence.

Once Upon A Time In Mexico

Rodriguez brings his "Mariachi Trilogy" to a close with this sprawling epic. Gone are the fights with small drug lords; this one features a coup d'etat in Mexico, political corruption, police corruption, the CIA, the FBI, the Mexican Army and of course El Mariachi in the middle of it all.

The cast is once again upgraded, now featuring Johnny Depp, Willem Defoe, Eva Mendes, Mickey Rourke, Reuben Blades, Enrique Iglesias. Banderas, Trejo, Hayek and Marin all reappear as well.

As with most films he's in, Depp steals this one clear out from under everyone else (playing an eccentric and unhinged CIA agent; murdering chefs and shít).

Maybe it's a bit to grandiose and overblown, but it is brilliant fun, like the films that went before. The action doesn't fail to deliver and there are some wonderful set-pieces.

The story is a little off-the-wall (drug lord hires a general to overthrow the government; CIA hires Mariachi to kill the general; Mariachi wants to kill everyone; FBI want to arrest drug lord; etc. etc. etc.), but it is like the others. Good, honest, violent fun. Not meant to be taken too seriously (in all fairness, when an electric guitar can double as an assault rifle and a shotgun, we're through the looking glass here).

Rodriguez gives us fun and violence in equal measure and it is not disappointing at all. Kudos to him.

Wichita Lineman

Miss Firecracker Made in 1989 and I think I may have seen it back around that time but remembered very very little of it so was enjoying watching it again this morning. Holly Hunter is Carnelle, a young woman who enters a local beauty pageant even though every one in town thinks her entry is a big joke. Plenty of well known actors in the cast including Mary Steenburgen, Tim Robbins, Alfre Woodward, Scott Glenn, Greg Germann and Brent Spiner but it's Holly Hunter who steals the show with a bright and perky performance.

PandyAndy

The Hunt

Danish film about a kindergarten teacher who is accused of sexual misconduct with a child.

Superb.

I'm terrible at reviews.

briany

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Watched The Escapist starring Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Damien Lewis, Liam Cunningham, Seu Jorge, Stephen Mackintoshand others (incl. a little unexpectedly, Sheamus - the Irish WWE Wrestler)last night. Cox and Fiennes in particular are excellent in a relatively strong ensemble cast take on a prison escape tale. It occasionally appears on Film 4 so I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it but definitely worth a look. It's not hugely pacey so don't expect non-stop action, but the acting drives it.

I'd give it a 7/10.

Thought that film was a bit too artsy for it's own good. Nothing wrong with an arty film, god knows I've watched a few, but this film never kicks off in quite the way you expect a British 'geezers in prison' type film would.

PandyAndy wrote: »

The Hunt

Danish film about a kindergarten teacher who is accused of sexual misconduct with a child.

Superb.

I'm terrible at reviews.

Have that on queue. Must give it a spin.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

PandyAndy wrote: »

The Hunt

Danish film about a kindergarten teacher who is accused of sexual misconduct with a child.

Superb.

I'm terrible at reviews.

Is that the one with Mads Mikkelsen in it? Was impressed with him in A Royal Affair, must give The Hunt a go too.

Bipolar Joe

The Lords Of Salem

The latest Rob Zombie film. for once, I didn't find Sheri Moon really irritating. A local Boston radio DJ receives a record by a band called The Lords, and bad stuff with witches happens. Pretty good acting all around! Unfortunately, it being a Rob Zombie movie, he can't leave well alone and has to stuff in some crap to annoy you along the way. All of the "Scary visuals" just made me laugh. Instead of letting the tension keep the hairs on your neck up, the bits that I think are meant to be the scare just end up making you laugh because of how ridiculous they are. I dunno if I'd recommend it or not. It's only an hour and a half. If you can find it cheap or for rent, why not.

grohlisagod

Finally got around to watching Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.

Two beautiful films from Richard Linklater. The leads, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have fabulous chemistry which along with some sharp dialogue makes their story an absolute pleasure to watch.

briany

Hot Coffee

A documentary seeking to expose how American corporations took the infamous Stella Liebeck v. McDonalds, a case where a 79 year old woman was severely burned by coffee of temperature exceeding 170 degrees F, amongst others and used it to generate negative propaganda re: tort law. The film goes on to cover how corporations are, allegedly, seeking to influence the American civil justice system through backing of certain judges, lobbying for caps on damages and running well funded smear campaigns against plaintiffs and 'sympathetic' judges alike.

Good film. One of those ones that provokes bitter, long winded debates on IMDB message boards. One side is calling the other a 'Michael Moore sheep' and the other side is firing back with 'corporate shill'. Make up your own mind, but it's a compelling watch either way, I think.

Wichita Lineman

grohlisagod wrote: »

Finally got around to watching Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.

Two beautiful films from Richard Linklater. The leads, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have fabulous chemistry which along with some sharp dialogue makes their story an absolute pleasure to watch.

I appreciate everyone is different but I was so disappointed with these movies and the leads in particular. I've watched some stinkers in my time and for me these were right up there. I'm a glutton for punishment and always watch a movie through but I was wishing these would end very early on. Having said that I'm glad you - like a lot of others I know - enjoyed them both .

Wichita Lineman

'A Very British Gangster' Documentary about the Noonan criminal gang / family based in Manchester made by investigative reporter Donal McIntyre. Quite disturbing how brazen they are and how they are revered and feared in equal measure in their home patch. Interesting but not enjoyable if that makes sense.

GAAman

Andy Dunne11 wrote: »

'A Very British Gangster' Documentary about the Noonan criminal gang / family based in Manchester made by investigative reporter Donal McIntyre. Quite disturbing how brazen they are and how they are revered and feared in equal measure in their home patch. Interesting but not enjoyable if that makes sense.

There was a tv show about them as well I believe.

My own watch tonight was http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077269/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

GAAman

Andy Dunne11 wrote: »

'A Very British Gangster' Documentary about the Noonan criminal gang / family based in Manchester made by investigative reporter Donal McIntyre. Quite disturbing how brazen they are and how they are revered and feared in equal measure in their home patch. Interesting but not enjoyable if that makes sense.

There was a tv show about them as well I believe.

My own watch tonight was The Boys From Brazil a fantastic storyline and fantastic acting from Peck and Olivier, as mentioned in my thread some of it was ruined by external sources but really enjoyed this it is on the uk netflix check it out if you get a chance

PandyAndy

2001: A Space Odyssey

Only got around to watching this the other day. I can't believe I hadn't watched this before.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a long film but it never seemed to get uninteresting or boring in the slightest. You'll be blown away by this.

For a nearly 50 yr old film it has aged very well.

Has anyone seen the sequel to it, and is it any good?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Is that the one with Mads Mikkelsen in it? Was impressed with him in A Royal Affair, must give The Hunt a go too.

Yea, that's the one.

Mike Litoris

PandyAndy wrote: »

2001: A Space Odyssey

Has anyone seen the sequel to it, and is it any good?

I actually went to see 2010 when it came out in 85 I think. It is absolutely nothing like 2001 but as sci-fi movie in itself its pretty good.

pookiesboo

grohlisagod wrote: »

Finally got around to watching Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.

Two beautiful films from Richard Linklater. The leads, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have fabulous chemistry which along with some sharp dialogue makes their story an absolute pleasure to watch.

The third one Before Midnight is getting great reviews. Theyre the only films (and A Midnight Clear)I have liked watching Ethan Hawke in

Looper007

pookiesboo wrote: »

The third one Before Midnight is getting great reviews. Theyre the only films (and A Midnight Clear)I have liked watching Ethan Hawke in

Not even Training Day or dead Poets society?

Looper007

Mauvais Sang

Leos Carax blends the standard genre conventions of the heist film and the disaffected youth film. These generic conventions allow Carax to take a shortcut in providing the basic elements of plot and character so that he can focus on stylistic innovation. The result is a poetic, dazzling film packed with memorable visual touches and camera-work. Particularly exhilarating are the frequent point of view shots, especially the ones that involve characters on motorcycles. A few of the bolder shots, such as one in which the camera spins toward abstraction as it covers the scattered lights of a cityscape at night, would not seem out of place in an experimental film by someone such as Stan Brakhage.

Yet the plot, which concerns a young man's attempts to steal a serum that will help him earn a large sum of money so that he can move to a new town and begin a new life, is actually a bit too perfunctory and becomes bogged down as it spends too much time on a rather uninteresting relationship he forms with one of his accomplices' mistress. Nevertheless, this early effort from Carax hints at the potential that later films such as The Lovers on the Bridge would more thoroughly fulfill as it offers a certain unpolished charm all its own.

The Lovers on the Bridge

After Leos Carax's 1986 film Mauvais Sang ,Juliette Binoche begged her then lover and director to never film her as a Madonna again, and so the seeds for Les Amants du Pont Neuf were sown. Mauvais Sang features a luminous and fetishist Juliette Binoche as a mask like presence, with no physicality. The story is simple, two down and outs meet fall in love, yet despite the harsh realities of life, and love, on the streets they live out an exciting and romantic (in all the senses of the word) existence. This movie is relevant for its amazing visual and tour de force performances. Binoche is simply standout as is the brilliant Denis Lavant who is sadly under used ny everyone except Carax , both seem to live the roles. The film is fabulously directed from the grainy opening sequence to the amazing fireworks scene and the exhilarating conclusion. The film is littered with cinematic allusions from Truffaut Les Quatre cents Coups, to L'Atlante. In terms of context the film is amazing because it juxtaposes harsh realities, the opening sequence and fairytale like fantasy. We are led to question what is actually real, from Binoche apparently committing murder to the street littered with gigantic litter. In the end Les Amants du Pont Neuf is a film which needs multiple viewing and some explaining or knowledge of French New Wave cinema to be wholly comprehended, yet it is certainly accessible for the majority of casual cinema goers! The film, as I always predicted, is only now beginning to get the recognition it truly deserves.

pookiesboo

Looper007 wrote: »

Not even Training Day or dead Poets society?

Havent seen Dead Poets Society, Training Day was....meh

hefferboi

pookiesboo wrote: »

Havent seen Dead Poets Society, Training Day was....meh

Get out..

Looper007

pookiesboo wrote: »

Havent seen Dead Poets Society, Training Day was....meh

Training day is brilliant and Hawke is great
While DPS go out and get it now :P
"Captain my Captain"

McGrath5

All Good Things

An enjoyable thriller based on a true story.

Frank Langella was in good form for this one.
The performance from Ryan Gosling was a little bit flat in my view, he just never seemed to get going for some reason.

The ending was quite frustrating, I thought the film makers could expanded a bit more on their ideas, but it was not to be.

The Invisible War

A shocking yet brilliantly made documentary based on the shameful cover up of the sexual assault epidemic that has been gripping the US military for the past few decades.
It shows a culture that blames the victim, who rarely ever gets justice.

A fantastic and also very sad story about how members of the military have had their lives ruined by the actions of others.