What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

audman

Kill List.

Beginning - Meh, this is kinda slow.
Middle - Ah yes, this is more like it in terms of what I expected from reading the movie synopsis.
End - What the actual fcuk?

crazygeryy

mud

again i was expecting it to be brilliant going by the trailer. it wasn't.
it was ok.that is all.

Judgement Day

Back on the Irish gig tonight with "High Spirits" (1988) on YouTube via my Wii.

A Romantic/Comedy set in a haunted Irish castle - Dromore Castle, Co.Limerick. Peter O'Toole is the castle's owner and runs the decrepit property as an hotel but when the financial pressure comes on he decides to target the US market, rebranding the place as a "haunted hotel". O'Toole and his staff dress up as ghosts but the guests find the experience annoying rather than scary - then the real spooks put in an appearance.
Star studded with a cast which included Daryl Hannah, Peter O'Toole, Steve Guttenberg, Donald McCann, Beverly D'Angelo, Liam Neeson, Ray McAnally, Connie Booth and Tom Hickey.

A strange one to be sure and I won't be rushing off to buy the DVD. That said, I enjoyed it and would watch it again - it was wacky but entertaining. A high quality copy of the full film is available on YouTube below. 8/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTf25FJdGYI

mike65

Telstar - The Joe Meek Story. The unhinged genius knob twiddler from 1960 to his suicide in 1967. Stylistically its a bit frantic at first (any Americans watching would have to hit the subtitles quickly or be left clueless) but settles down to a compelling portrait of man who really wasn't cut out for the real world. He also had no idea for talent spotting - passing on the Beatles, Tom Jones and others who became legends.

Some fine performances esp Con O'Neill as Meek, Pam Ferris as his landlady and JJ Feild as Meeks doomed "pet project" Heinz Burt, while Kevin Spacey's English accent (as The Major) is pitch perfect. Good to see they did not feel the need to change any names or events. The only thing that was altered, unexpectedly was a snippet of the Kinks "You Really Got Me" on the radio. Clearly they didn't get permission for some reason.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Over the weekend I was in the presence of tiny humans and they dictated what was on telly.

First up we watched What A Girl Wants. Amanda Bynes finds out Colin Firth is her father, heads off to London to find him, hilarity ensues. Except it didn't. I wanted to claw my eyes out.

We also watched Ramona and Beezus. What the tiny humans didn't know was I already own this film on DVD because I love it so much! It's a family film about two sisters, the younger being the main character. She's a pest basically but in quite an endearing way. It reminds me of the kind of films that used to be on when I was a kid, it's different from the usual tripe aimed at kids these days. There's some genuinely funny parts, some drama, lots of lessons learned and even some tears. Yes, tears from me. If you have young kids. especially girls, I highly recommend this one.

Duggy747

Beware of Mr. Baker

Documentary on the nutty, incredibly angry and insufferable bastard that is Jim Baker (best known from band like Cream, Blind Faith, etc)

Intriguing film full of musicians giving insights to their experiences with him. Not a good word to be said about his personality from them bar his talent.

Don't have to be a fan of his music to watch this, you'll still end up disliking him. :pac:

Side By Side

Documentary from Keanu Reeves on the subject of Film Vs Digital medium.

It was enjoyable and enlightening though I thought it was a bit odd that IMAX didn't even get a mention, especially since Christopher Nolan and Wally Pfister were interviewed throughout and their love for the format.

Lethal Weapon

Ain't never too old for this shìt!

Loaded Weapon was on TV tonight and it just made me want to watch this so I put it on instead. Hadn't seen it in a long time and started chuckling once I heard the steamy sax / guitar solo music kick in, a million action movies that followed it just came flooding into my head that followed the same cliches.

Though many, many movies emulated it's formula it was still fun to see the odd cops Gibson & Glover interact so well with each other with some naff quips thrown in.

1987 was a good year for action: Predator, Robocop, The Running Man............................American Ninja 2 :pac:

Chareth Cutestory

Gamayun wrote: »

Snowtown (2011)

Do you like unrelenting misery, soul crushing existential woe and viewing the seething black undercurrent of the human condition? If so then you're in luck, this film's for you!

Grim but interesting film based around the true events of killings in Australia.

Saw this in the IFI Horrorthon a few years back. During one particularly disturbing scene a girl jumped up from her seat and ran out with her hands covering her mouth. She looked like she was going to be sick! It is a tough watch, quite disturbing, and unbelievably grim. A good film however and an interesting watch. Don't know if I'll ever be able to watch it again though!

Shiraz 4.99

crazygeryy wrote: »

mud

again i was expecting it to be brilliant going by the trailer. it wasn't.
it was ok.that is all.

I concur with this
98% on RT http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mud_2012/ wtf

Easy enough watching but 7/10 at best

salacious crumb

Watched RED yesterday, as I saw a poster for RED 2 in the cinema the other day, and couldn't remember even hearing of the first one.

It was quite enjoyable. Karl Urban again stealing the show.

Sleepy

Watched Chasing Mavericks last night. Surprised how little attention it got considering Gerard Butler's one of the two leads.

If you've even a passing interest in surfing you'll enjoy it.

the_monkey

Oblivion - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483013/?ref_=sr_1

Decent enough Sci-Fi flick

Dark Skies http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387433/?ref_=sr_6

Dissapointing really, it could have been better - some good jump moments in it tho.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Watched Casting By on Sky Arts earlier.

Really interesting documentary about casting directors in general and Marion Dougherty in particular. She was responsible for casting some of the most memorable roles in film in the 70's. It follows her career up until the 90's when movie studios became corporations and casting the right person became less important than casting a bankable move star. Loads of contributions from directors and actors and others involved in the industry.

A really interesting part of it was the discussion of whether casting deserved it's own Oscar. Many actors were in favour of it, whereas a lot of directors were against it.

ButtersSuki

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo US/David Fincher version. Watched it on Blu Ray at the weekend, having seen the Swedish Versions on release and the extended versions on BR release. Visually stunning and more stylish than the original Swedish version (to be expected given the director and the budget) but it for me lacks the substance of the extended Swedish version. A few subtle and some not so subtle differences between the two versions but both are good in their own ways. Looking forward to watching the Fincher commentary though. Reading online it seems the sequels may not happen or Blomkvist/Daniel Craig will be written out of them which seems bizarre if true. Watched it in surround sound and some scenes really come to life in it with same - I was watching it alone and looked behind me a couple of times :rolleyes:. Great soundtrack too if you like industrial ambient sounds, bought it this morning. So, even though I preferred the Swedish version, this is still a solid 7.5, maybe even a low 8/10.

The Iceman Michael Shannon dominates this movie as a cold blooded mob hit man. Also starring a pony-tailed and mustachioed David Schwimmer (not a good look!), Ray Liotta continuing his bid to be in every loosely-mob related movie ever, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, and small cameos from Stephen Dorff (remember him?!), James Franco and John Ventimiglia (Arty Bucco from the Sopranos - apologies if I misspelt his name) amongst others. Some great scenes and dark, gritty and tense in places, Shannon shines throughout. No great surprises in the movie and a somewhat predictable ending but nonetheless I'd give it a 6.5-7/10.

Gamayun

Ofelas (AKA Pathfinder) (1987)

Norwegian film set circa 1000CE based on a Sami legend (and acted in the Sami language). This is film looks great, is well shot, costumed and has some stunning Nordic scenery. Very enjoyable.

Next (2007)

Action film Loosely based on the science fiction short story "The Golden Man" by Philip K. Dick. With Nicolas Cage, Jessica Biel and Julianne Moore. The FBI try to recruit the future-seeing magician Nic Cage to help them avert disaster. Cage is his usual self, Biel is OK, Julianne Moore uses a slightly less pronounced version of her mad Boston accent from 30 Rock. OK.

Cargo (2009)

Swiss, German-Language, Sci-Fi. An interstellar cargo ship goes on an 8 year voyage. The crew go into stasis, with each person awake for an 8.5 month shift.
Tense and atmospheric but drags in places. Worth a look for SF fans.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

London Boulevard

Colin Farrell stars as a recently released prisoner who decides to start fresh but is inevitably sucked back into the murky underworld of London gangster Gant. He's also taken a job as a live in body guard for reclusive actress Charlotte, played by Keira Knightly.

It's not bad. It might be a bit thin on character development and the plot is nothing new but I was surprised given what I'd read about it that I enjoyed it as much as I did. Farrell's accent aside he's pretty believable as the hard man and as the softer nice guy too. Keira Knightly, who I usually have a hard time with, is actually very good here. Granted playing a world famous young actress who is hounded by paparazzi probably isn't that much of a stretch for her but I really liked her in this. Maybe one of her better performances.

The supporting cast is really excellent. Ray Winstone plays the same part he plays in everything I've ever seen him in, but he does it so well. Ben Chaplin as a useless wannabe gangster is great and David Thewlis as Charlotte's friend (?) Jordan steals the show. Hilariously funny at times.

johnny_ultimate

Eyes Without a Face - deeply peculiar and weird cult horror classic. In one way, it's fairly standard 'evil doctor kills innocents for mad, selfish experiment' material: not particularly original at time of production, and even more familiar these days. But it's the delivery that makes it, flirting with both straight horror and more lyrical content - particularly in its strangely poetic conclusion. Certain plot points do not go the way you'd expect them to at all (the police procedural one especially). It's full of memorable imagery - most famously Edith Scob in her eerie white mask - and lightly tackles themes of identity, freedom and independence. Oh, and a surprisingly explicit surgery scene that has lost little of its icky effectiveness.

Bipolar Joe

Gamayun wrote: »

Cargo (2009)

Swiss, German-Language, Sci-Fi. An interstellar cargo ship goes on an 8 year voyage. The crew go into stasis, with each person awake for an 8.5 month shift.
Tense and atmospheric but drags in places. Worth a look for SF fans.

I've had this for ages now and keep on meaning to watch it. Might get around to it tonight!

briany

Audience of One (2007)

Documentary about a Pentecostal church's chaotic attempt to make a motion picture about the biblical story of Joseph (not that one, the other one).

A pretty entertaining 'film about film making' that features some funny characters ala American Movie but it's not got the charisma of that film. What it's got is a pretty curious look into the power of blind faith and belief and what happens when those things come up against the secular world.

splashthecash

Just back from Elysium and good god it was bad in my opinion...

Found the writing very corny at times, accents over bearing, Jodie Fosters character was just plain boring/predictable, plot holes as big as the sun.

I was very disappointed, I really liked District 9 but this was not following..

.....should have gone to Alpha Papa

salacious crumb

splashthecash wrote: »

Just back from Elysium and good god it was bad in my opinion...

Found the writing very corny at times, accents over bearing, Jodie Fosters character was just plain boring/predictable, plot holes as big as the sun.

I was very disappointed, I really liked District 9 but this was not following..

.....should have gone to Alpha Papa

Jodie Foster was sh*t.
I kinda liked it but still a bit undecided. I liked Sharlto Copley.
I was expecting it to be a seriously good sci fi movie, but it isn't. It's not complete sh*t though

Better than Alpha Papa too :P

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Good Bye Lenin!

East German communist mother has a heart attack when she witnesses her son being arrested for taking part in a protest march. She's in a coma for 8 months, which just happen to be the 8 months where the Berlin Wall comes down and Germany is unified. Told their mother will probably die if she has another heart attack her son and daughter set about keeping the truth from her by recreating East Germany in her bedroom.

For some reason I was under the impression that this was more of a comedy caper than a serious drama. So I was surprised at how serious it actually was. Obviously the basic premise is ridiculous but it was interesting to see the different views of the East/West divide and to see how huge an impact the wall coming down had on East Germany.

It felt very long though and there were a few too many near misses with the mother for me to believe they could keep fooling her. I mean the scene where she gets out and Lenin's statue is flying over her?!? Come on!

kaimera

Pain & Gain - I liked it. Bit long but pretty solid I thought.

Iron Man3 - better the second time round.

ButtersSuki

A few I've watched recently but hadn't posted:
How to make money selling drugs
Documentary on drug trade in the US starting at street dealer level and working up to Cartel boss. Interesting on one level but precious little new info here - or maybe I just know too much about this business (as in read and watched!) :rolleyes: Some interesting people give some interesting views - Fiddy Cent, Susan Sarandon and Woody Harrelson and The Wire author David Simon amongst all the politicians, police and dealers. 7/10 as it's put together so well, but as I said, if you're up to speed on these documentaries there is precious little new here.

Proof
Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anthony Hopkins. GP is surprisingly good in this tale of the daughter of a mentally-ill and now deceased math genius coming to terms with her father's death and her own sanity/insanity battle. It's not bad, but not great either. 6/10.

Fair Game
Naomi Watts' CIA-identity is leaked to the press as a reprisal for an article her husband (Sean Penn) writes criticising George Dubya Bush. Political thriller based on real-life events that ought to have been better than this given the leads, but it just didn't work for me. I can see why this was largely ignored in USAland as it's too political, but thought it would have been more prominent over here in Europeshire. 6/10. I have the lady who Naomi Watts plays book somewhere....I can't even remember her name now. :rolleyes:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

DREAMS OF A LIFE

Documentary about Joyce Vincent who was found dead in a London bedsit in 2003. She'd been dead for 3 years but nobody had missed her or knew she was there.

Talking heads tell the story of her life up until a point and it's absolutely incredible that woman they're talking about is the same woman that ends up lying dead for 3 years without anyone knowing. It's desperately sad really, almost a little hard to believe it's real life.

There's also some reconstructions of her life thrown in among the talking heads and if I'm honest I'm not sure they were necessary, but they're not terrible either.

It's worth a look but maybe not if you're feeling anyway sad about anything at all already

jimmymallet

It came from outer space and then went home again.

Looper007

On a Mads Mikkelsen buzz lately...


After The Wedding- Susanne Bier Oscar nommed film, Mads gives a more laid back performance in this Bier's best film. You either think Bier's films are overdramatic tripe or brilliant character studies but she splits opinion.

Adams Apples- One of funniest and weirdest dark comedies you ever see. Has a touch of the Coen brothers about it, A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest. Mads steals the show as a Priest slightly on the loopy side also the brilliant Ulrich Thomsen as the neo Nazi.

Pusher 2- Still Mikkelsen's best performance for me, His character is a bit of a fool but you feel for him as he's surround by the worse people who just **** on him for their own miserable lives. The scene at the end with the father is some of the best acting you ever see.

firestarter51

Now you see me, good laugh clever film to take your mind off things.
Pain and gain, hmm a bit stupid I was glad when it was over.
The iceman, very good, Michael Shannon. Was very good best acting I've seen from him so far

Hallyington

Looper007 wrote: »

On a Mads Mikkelsen buzz lately...


After The Wedding- Susanne Bier Oscar nommed film, Mads gives a more laid back performance in this Bier's best film. You either think Bier's films are overdramatic tripe or brilliant character studies but she splits opinion.

Adams Apples- One of funniest and weirdest dark comedies you ever see. Has a touch of the Coen brothers about it, A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest. Mads steals the show as a Priest slightly on the loopy side also the brilliant Ulrich Thomsen as the neo Nazi.

Pusher 2- Still Mikkelsen's best performance for me, His character is a bit of a fool but you feel for him as he's surround by the worse people who just **** on him for their own miserable lives. The scene at the end with the father is some of the best acting you ever see.

Have you watched Jagten (The Hunt) yet? Mads is fantastic in it.

Looper007

Hallyington wrote: »

Have you watched Jagten (The Hunt) yet? Mads is fantastic in it.

Yeah, it's a tough watch but Mads gives a great performance. Just love the ending too

You know some of the village still think he's guilty, that scene at his son's party shows a few angry faces in the crowd of smiling faces

. Vinterberg is very good at making people squirm i.e Festen.

Hallyington

Looper007 wrote: »

Yeah, it's a tough watch but Mads gives a great performance. Just love the ending too

You know some of the village still think he's guilty, that scene at his son's party shows a few angry faces in the crowd of smiling faces

. Vinterberg is very good at making people squirm i.e Festen.

It's an uncomfortable watch, due to how easy something like that can happen in real life.

The ending was fantastic, probably my favourite film of 2013 so far.