What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

bellinter

Stoker - that cut (if thats the right word, you'll know what I mean anyway) from Kidman brushing the daughter's hair to a corn field the best of its kind you'll ever see. As you say, what style. Thought it was very good myself but never had to urge to watch again. That one scene though, savage.

Mizu_Ger

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Pacific Rim - Very good opening but it becomes fairly boring in the middle. It's too long and the acting is awful, 2/5*

I am having a bad run lately, 3/6 films I saw over the last week were terrible:

I watched Pacific Rim over the weekend and it was terrible. By far and away the worst thing del Toro has made. There's no humour, characters are either bland or annoying and the action nearly all happens in the dark surrounded by rain (at least Michael Bay had his robots fighting in the daytime). Waste of 2 hours.

This is the End: Started off well enough, but descended into the usual type of (unfunny) comedy from this gang. Danny MacBride was funny for a change (except for the bit with the magazine).

Europa Report: Not bad. The atmosphere didn't feel as creepy as I think it should have, and it was a bit slow at times with some unnatural dialogue that I didn't think fitted the found-footage style of story telling, but worth a look.

Hangover Part III: Not particularly funny, but wasn't as bad as the part 2 (very little comes close to that one). There were some funny bits, but the story was too contrived. Todd Philips has made better before getting involved with this trilogy (he must have made a fortune!).

Behind the Candelabra: Thought this was quite good. Douglas and Damon were both very good. It doesn't play it safe with the gay relationship, which, ironically, makes that aspect of the story less "shocking" (it could easily be a heterosexual relationship). It has a good sense of humour too.

Also, watched Transsiberian again, which I like. Woody Harrelson playing a different type of character than usual. The claustrophobic (I-want-to-go-home) atmosphere ramps up nicely as the story plays out.

Nanoc

Watched The Iceman, a brilliant true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man. When finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor daughters have any clue about his "day job"

It's so good to see Michael Shannon in a lead role and not just playing "evil looking mob man No.2" really shows he's a lead man I think. Winona is there too as the wife. She's actually not bad in it even though I don't like her.

Anyway. Definitely worth a watch!

Edit: also keep an eye out for a near unrecognisable Chris Evans

Duggy747

Mystic River Excellent film directed by Clint Eastwood starring Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, and Tim Robbins. Completely forgot Eli Wallach makes an appearance in it to lighten the mood for a short period.

ButtersSuki

Haven't posted for a while but included in my recent viewings were:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Strong cast and great performance from Gary Oldman in particular. I did however find it quite predictable, probably because even at its length (2+ hours) it still feels quite rushed and condensed. Would likely have made an incredible tv series (yes, I do know there was a previous tv version!) had they managed to get that cast do do it. It therefore gets a somewhat disappointing 6.5/10 from me.

The Cooler
William H. Many stars as a Vegas "cooler" (a man employed by the casinos to cool those on hot winning streaks) through passing on their bad luck. Also stars Alec Baldwin as a casino boss, Ron Livingston as the guy who wants his job and the very delicious Maria Bello as a cocktail waitress who falls for the loser. 6/10

Note: Bello gets naked in this if you're interested..........

The Bothers McMullan
I saw this in the cinema in 1995 (I think) and at the time thought this was great (and that one of the female leads Maxine Bahns was the sexiest woman alive). Rewatched at the weekend for the first time since then and though it hasn't aged too badly in that cheap, indie movie style but the clothes, cars, hairstyles etc. do look pretty bad now in hindsight! It's the story of 3 Irish American brothers in NY and their relationships with the women in their lives. Written, directed and starring a young Edward Burns it still raised a smile here and there, though it wasn't as good as I remembered. 6.5/10

bnt

Had one-and-a half eyes on Just Go With It this evening, on TV. One of those dreaded Adam Sandler movies, though it's actually a remake of a 1969 film* and he didn't write or direct this time. Hardly the work of an auteur, but not a bad way to pass a couple of hours. The presence of Jennifer Aniston and Brooklyn Decker didn't exactly hurt, either.

There's one scene that had me in stitches, and also left me in admiration of how well it was written and acted, because it could have gone badly wrong, incredibly easily. It involves a lady being examined for possible plastic surgery after a failure of a breast implant, but the way the jokes are flowing, they find some genuine empathetic humour in an awkward situation and seem to put the patient at her ease.

* Cactus Flower with Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, and Goldie Hawn in the role that put an Oscar on her mantelpiece.

johnny_ultimate

Serpent's Path - a dark revenge thriller from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the director who has consistently proven himself much more than just a J Horror workman. This film predates any of his work in that genre, and its low budget is a big advantage: allowing for a tightly wound, gritty and eccentric drama that makes wonderful use out of 16mm photography and limited locations. It follows an ex-gangster Miya****a (Teruyuki Kagawa) who kidnaps a former associate that Miya****a believes killed his daughter. He's helped by mysterious school teacher Sho Aikawa. This setup continues to escalate in fascinating ways, including some delightfully viscous scenes of black comedy (our two anti-heroes attempting to escape a golf course with an unconscious victim is a highlight). But it's also psychologically disturbing, with Kurosawa taking his characters down increasingly unusual, unsettling avenues. It's a genre film that easily shakes off the shackles that would bind less interesting filmmakers.

Well worth a watch, and I look forward to watching its companion pieces Eye of the Spider over the coming days.

Tony EH

bnt wrote: »

Had one-and-a half eyes on Just Go With It this evening, on TV. One of those dreaded Adam Sandler movies...

I think the wife was watching this as well. I walked into the sitting room, saw Adam Sandler...walked out and went back to Los Santos.

bnt

Tony EH wrote: »

I think the wife was watching this as well. I walked into the sitting room, saw Adam Sandler...walked out and went back to Los Santos.

I have a laptop and a small TV on my desk, so I can switch between them ad hoc. I'll be back on the laptop reading Boards or whatever, but Just Go With It did a better-than-average job of holding my attention - so that's why I talk about having "one-and-a-half eyes" on it. :cool:

bellinter

Runner Runner

It was watchable, but not a lot more. Bog standard story line of Justin Timberlake's character getting in over his head with the bad guys and then the predicatble events happen in the order that you'd expect.

Costa Rica looked well, Gemma Arterton was there (though she looked a bit too 'shiney') and some of the acting was good but never was I in any doubt as to how things were going to pan out, nor would anyone who has ever seen such a film.

5/10

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The Secret Life of Bees

Set in 60's (or maybe the 50's?) in Southern US, Dakota Fanning plays 14 year old Lily who accidentally killed her mother when she was 4 and has been raised by her horrible dad since. She runs away with their coloured housekeeper after she is beaten for trying to register to vote and Lily's dad does nothing to help. They end up finding a place where her mother used to live when she left the family before she died and lots of bonding and what not take place. I suppose this is a family film. By that I mean it touches on some pretty heavy issues but very lightly and never goes too deep into them. The cast is good though and they manage to raise it above your average film of this type. It's a fairly easy watch and I'd say it's a good one for watching with kids of around 12/13 to give them something to think about but not scar them for life like say..... letting them watch Mississippi Burning when they're 10 and them then having nightmares for months after.... maybe that was just me.

Judgement Day

"Khartoum" (1966) YouTube via Wii. Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier. Bit of a classic and it has aged well - I reckon that I last saw the movie in the late 1960's

British General Gordon (Heston) is dispatched to the Sudan as Governor General, charged with the impossible task of evacuating Khartoum before it falls to the Islamic forces of the Mahdi (Olivier). In time honoured fashion the British military are used as political tools by their Whitehall masters and the behind the scenes machinations of British Prime Minister Gladstone leaves Gordon literally high and dry as the Rainy Season ends and the level of the Nile falls. Despite not being a big fan of Heston, I really like him in this movie and he could have been made for the role of the devoutly Christian and highly egotistical General. 10/10

High quality YouTube upload of the complete movie below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HcQ_IveQCI

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I can't express properly how much I loved this. I wasn't sure at the start and then the badger said "The cuss you will!" and I fell in love. It has the underlying feeling of the Roald Dahl story but there's so much more added to it and it's just brilliant.

Barna77

Real Steel.
Was alright. Could do without the dancing. And god the kid is full of himself.

dark crystal

The Way Way Back.

Just when I thought they didn't make films like this anymore, along comes this little gem and brings me right back to the 80's.

Essentially, it's a coming of age story told from the viewpoint of 14 year old Duncan, who reluctantly spends the summer with his mother (Toni Colette) and her dickish new boyfriend (Steve Carrell) at his beach house. Miserable and isolated at first, he soon finds happiness and acceptance in the form of a friendship with carefree waterpark worker/slacker, Owen (Sam Rockwell, hitting it out of the park as always).

Honestly, I can't recommend this film enough. Funny, moving and full of wonderful characters (Allison Janney once again steals every scene she's in), you'll love it.

4.5/5*

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Silver Linings Playbook

Finally got around to seeing this. I'd been looking for it on DVD for a few months and it's still €20 in all the shops. I said on another thread I try my best to avoid buying online but I can't justify paying €20 for a DVD that doesn't even have special features on it! So I got it off Amazon for €7.

Anyway.... I really liked it. It was a great balance of emotion and humor. The characters were all likable and unlike the only other David O. Russell film I've seen I didn't find any of it unintentionally hilarious. I thought the whole cast was really strong but I do have to wonder was that really Oscar worthy from Jennifer Lawrence? Don't get me wrong, I love her, I love the character of Tiffany but.... was it the best performance from an actress in the year prior to those Oscars? That said she should have won it for Winter's Bone a few years before it and she was brilliant in The Burning Plain too so it all balances out, I guess.

I've never liked Bradley Cooper, I hated him on Alias and I don't find him even vaguely attractive but I have to say I really liked Pat. Turns out he's actually a half decent actor when given a good role.

Oh, and as nice and all as Pat's mother was in this I am still terrified of Jackie Weaver. Animal Kingdom has scared me for life.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Silver Linings Playbook

Finally got around to seeing this. I'd been looking for it on DVD for a few months and it's still €20 in all the shops. I said on another thread I try my best to avoid buying online but I can't justify paying €20 for a DVD that doesn't even have special features on it! So I got it off Amazon for €7.

You can get it for €7.99 in Xtravision and HMV. Have to say that since Hilco took over Xtravision the stores have really upped the game pricing wise.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Deleted User wrote: »

You can get it for €7.99 in Xtravision and HMV. Have to say that since Hilco took over Xtravision the stores have really upped the game pricing wise.

I don't have either of those near me anymore. I have been meaning to go into town since HMV reopened but haven't gotten around to it.

The Black Oil

Blade Runner

Secrets. Knowledge. To the point/clinical opening text. A rather assured film right from the get go. Pulls you into its world rather easily.

cursai

The Lone Ranger.
Highly recommend it. Good Saturday afternoon viewing adventure film.
Nods to Once upon a time in the West. Kids should love it and adults too.

johnny_ultimate

Battle Without Honour and Humanity (aka Yakuza Papers volume 1) - one year after The Godfather, director Kinji Fukasaku - future director of Battle Royale - kicked off his epic Battle Without Honour and Humanity series. A saga that spawned four direct sequels within two years, quickly followed by a three film 'new' series, it was wildly popular.

It starts extremely well - the tale of an emerging yakuza war in the immediate aftermath of World War II. It's biting, cynical deconstruction of the state of society at the time (the clues are in the title), and Fukasaku directs with a real boldness of vision. It's ultraviolent at times, but also darkly comic. It's an engaging, well-paced tale, too, covering huge spaces of time with admirably reckless abandon.

Alas, in the middle it all becomes a bit incomprehensible plot wise as the double, triple, quadruple crosses pile up, and the internal politics and relationships become incredibly dense. While it makes for confused viewing, it does in its way serve to sum up the general idiocy and futility of the conflict playing out. The film recovers for a couple of stellar final scenes and setpieces that provide a clear, angry thematic punctuation mark.

Amazing soundtrack:

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

ButtersSuki

Watched The Odessa File from all the way back in 1974 starring Angelina Jolie's dad. Supposedly based on real-life events and heavily influenced by the work of Frederick Forstyhe and Simon Weisenthal. I admit to having an interest in this area and Weisenthal has been severely discredited in recent years for gross exaggerations in much of his work, but it's still an interesting tale nonetheless despite some very dated scenes and "acting". It's not that it's bad, it's just by comparison to other war movies it comes across as light and fluffy. Could really have explored the Odessa a lot more too. Has that real Sunday afternoon movie vibe about it! 5/10.

And finally - after many years of putting it off - watched Lost in Translation. Reason for my procrastination being it stars Scarlett Johanson whom I can't really stand. I don't get the hype around this movie. Apart from some funny scenes with Bill Murray doing karaoke, filming a tv ad and having his picture taken (which I subsequently read were all improvised by Murray) it just left me feeling a bit meh. It's harmless, that's about all I can say about it. 6/10.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Hanna

Saoirse Ronan is quite good, isn't she? Not sure the films all that though. It's quite scant on details and plot really. I understand why they had all the stuff with her and the English family but it kind of dragged a bit there for me. Although the young girl was hilarious. The Chemical Brothers' score was excellent though, really added to the atmosphere, and that little tune the German's were whistling was creepy as fudge. A decent thriller, I'll give it that, it keeps you quite near the edge of your seat if not exactly on it. Visually it's exactly what you'd expect from a Joe Wright film. No complaints there.

salacious crumb

Machete Kills. F*cking hilarious

DazMarz

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Watched The Odessa File from all the way back in 1974 starring Angelina Jolie's dad. Supposedly based on real-life events and heavily influenced by the work of Frederick Forstyhe and Simon Weisenthal. I admit to having an interest in this area and Weisenthal has been severely discredited in recent years for gross exaggerations in much of his work, but it's still an interesting tale nonetheless despite some very dated scenes and "acting". It's not that it's bad, it's just by comparison to other war movies it comes across as light and fluffy. Could really have explored the Odessa a lot more too. Has that real Sunday afternoon movie vibe about it! 5/10.

The book is a country mile better. A lot more gritty, violent and simply better. Forsyth's books (especially "The Day Of The Jackal", "The Odessa File", "Icon", "The Negotiator" and "Avenger") are well worth a look by anyone into reading thrillers. They are fantastic, thoroughly researched and brilliantly executed.

ButtersSuki

DazMarz wrote: »

The book is a country mile better. A lot more gritty, violent and simply better. Forsyth's books (especially "The Day Of The Jackal", "The Odessa File", "Icon", "The Negotiator" and "Avenger") are well worth a look by anyone into reading thrillers. They are fantastic, thoroughly researched and brilliantly executed.

+1, read most of them!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

encino man

yes, pauly shore.
it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

bnt

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

encino man

Also known as California Man on this side of the pond - since most of us wouldn't know where Encino is without a map.

Watched The Adjustment Bureau on Saturday night. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I was left feeling that I'd seen it all before. Hardly the first film about "angels" messing around with human relationships e.g. City of Angels (itself a remake), or A Life Less Ordinary (more funny and eccentric).

Mackman

bnt wrote: »

Also known as California Man on this side of the pond - since most of us wouldn't know where Encino is without a map.

Watched The Adjustment Bureau on Saturday night. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I was left feeling that I'd seen it all before. Hardly the first film about "angels" messing around with human relationships e.g. City of Angels (itself a remake), or A Life Less Ordinary (more funny and eccentric).

I quite enjoyed Adjustment Bureau, I think I was ease rely surprised by it. Not Oscar winning material, but good all the same.

I tried to watch Citizen Kane on Saturday night, turned it off about halfway through. So bloody boring, I'm sure it's technically brilliant for the time and all, but jeez it's a snooze fest.

Saw Rush in the cinema too, that was good, thought Daniel Bruhl stole the show from Hemsworth.

johnny_ultimate

Rome Open City - more academic critics are (almost) united in their acknowledgement of this film as one of cinema's most influential, formative achievements. Most famously, Godard said "all roads lead to Rome Open City". Their enthusiasm is well placed: I sat in genuine awe of Roberto Rossellini's astoundingly rich film, time having diluted none of its dramatic or emotional impact.

It's a thriller, human drama, war story and historical document. It follows a group of individuals involved in the Italian Resistance, and the Nazis searching for engineer / rebellion leader Manfredi. It's a film equal parts traditional and radical, romanticised and proudly unromantic. It spawned the phrase neorealism, and while it is often a fascinatingly raw, honest look at wartime Italy, it's also a decidedly cinematic story, the story critiquing the characters and situations as it goes along. The film was made during and immediately after occupation of Rome - that edgy, desperate energy is still present in every frame

As a thriller it's terrifically engaging, with Rossellini crafting tense and dynamic 'action' throughout. But it's also a film that earns the clichéd expression of emotional rollercoaster - it quickly and efficiently builds its characters up as relatable individuals worthy of our undivided attention and sympathies. Of particular interest is Aldo Fabrizi as Don Pietro Pellegrini, a priest assisting the freedom fighters at great personal risk. They're all to experience gravest misfortune in the film's self-announced "part two", but Rome Open City is a powerful tribute to human endurance and decency. The film does have a dividing line between 'good' and 'bad' guys, but there's also shades of grey: including a scene where one disillusioned Nazi officer devastatingly deconstructs the whole futility of the war machine.

This is simply a "no question" great film, captivating from first frame to last. If you want to feel that rush associated with watching a genuine masterpiece, Rome Open City is a good bet: for me, its decades of acclaim were immediately and thrillingly justified.