What have you watched recently? 3D!

Mr.Nice Guy

Since I enjoyed a rewatch of The Edge recently having not seen it in over twenty years, I decided to do the same for another late 90s film: Con Air. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid and I recall enjoying it at the time. Having watched it again, I need to have a word with my younger self because this movie is fecking woeful. And yet, I burst out laughing at several moments and got a kick out of its awfulness.

Nicolas Cage's performance was something else even for him. Did he even have a coach for the southern accent, or did he just wing it on the day? There is a moment that had me in hysterics as he tries to evade an oncoming explosive collision by running in the most nonchalant manner possible. I have seen chaps running on a treadmill showing more emotion than Cage did facing the prospect of imminent death.

John Malkovich's Cyrus is about the only worthwhile character in this movie but still managers to have one of the most ludicrous lines probably in cinema history when he kills someone. If you know it, you know.

So many actors are wasted. Ving Rhames is playing a one-dimensional character that never interests me. Dave Chappelle is funny but his time in this is way too brief. Colm Meaney is in the cliched role of annoying, stubborn officer.

The most bizarre use of actors in the film for me was John Cusack and Steve Buscemi. Cusack's role seemed OTT and I couldn't figure out why his character was given this much screen time. I think you could cut his stuff out and the movie won't suffer. It's almost like they tried to give Cusack stuff to do in order to keep him on board. Buscemi's role, though, is particularly weird. He is built up as this deranged serial killer - even the other prisoners are wary of him - and he spends most of his screen time having a tea party with a little girl, who for some reason is left totally unsupervised.

Also there's a camp, transvestite prisoner who is there for some cheap laughs and wears a dress. Good to know some of America's worst criminals are very supportive of gay rights!

And the music: despite this being from 1997 it sounds like something from 1990 with the twangy guitar riffs, yet they also manage to shoehorn 'How do I live without you' by LeAnn Rimes' in some cringe moments, reminding us how often that song used to be played.

The ending just descends into outright madness. In the final scene...

we see Buscemi's serial killer character gambling away in a casino as the upbeat sound of 'Sweet Home Alabama' plays in the background. As Wikipedia describes it: "The only criminal unaccounted for is Garland Greene, who is seen gambling at a casino, now apparently reformed." Yeah, because it's not like Vegas casinos have lots of security or CCTV, and sure why would anyone recognise one of America's worst serial killers - who apparently is now a good guy!

Oh, and I forgot to mention there's a bunny rabbit toy important to the story (which brings out an amazing line from Cage at one point).

Genuinely awful movie, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't entertain me. As such, I'd have to regard it as a guilty pleasure and I'd probably watch it again if I was looking to laugh at some mindless nonsense over a weekend or something. I'd say this would be especially great fun to watch with family or friends.

pixelburp

Se7en (1995)

Caught this before it left Amazon; hadn't seen it since its original home release. Oof!

Should we create a genre for movies like this, call then "pre-apocalyptic"? Films where, if the world hasn't exactly fallen apart yet, it feels close, like a breath away from total collapse. That if a shambling zombie turned up in a scene I don't think I would have blinked (heck one of the victims looked exactly like one).

Fincher nailed the balance of mood so well, moribund and misanthropic but never wallowing to the degree imitators would indulge; while the one good, pure soul in Gwyneth Paltrow reduced to tears by the nameless city's opressive vibe. And I couldn't help it, couldn't resist thinking of this against Joker; a latter-day attempt at charting civic decay within a Lost City. Yet while Se7en's slum pulsated with bad energy from the pavements up, Todd Phillips instead threw some trash bags around, added some sickly colour grading and called it a day.

And after 2 hours of incessant rain, the first time the sun comes out, the film hit its dark, infamous and memorable crescendo.

budgemook

I have a buddy who meets his brothers every July 14th to watch Con Air together :pac:

Heckler

pixelburp wrote: »

Se7en (1995)

Caught this before it left Amazon; hadn't seen it since its original home release. Oof!

Should we create a genre for movies like this, call then "pre-apocalyptic"? Films where, if the world hasn't exactly fallen apart yet, it feels close, like a breath away from total collapse. That if a shambling zombie turned up in a scene I don't think I would have blinked (heck one of the victims looked exactly like one).

Fincher nailed the balance of mood so well, moribund and misanthropic but never wallowing to the degree imitators would indulge; while the one good, pure soul in Gwyneth Paltrow reduced to tears by the nameless city's opressive vibe. And I couldn't help it, couldn't resist thinking of this against Joker; a latter-day attempt at charting civic decay within a Lost City. Yet while Se7en's slum pulsated with bad energy from the pavements up, Todd Phillips instead threw some trash bags around, added some sickly colour grading and called it a day.

And after 2 hours of incessant rain, the first time the sun comes out, the film hit its dark, infamous and memorable crescendo.

Probably my most watched film. Absolutely love everything about it.

Just watched I Care A Lot. I never wanted someones face skinned off so much as Rosumund Pikes. Went a bit south for the last half hour. 7/10 as a movie. 9/10 for her performance. Rarely hate a character so much. Have an elderly parent and elder abuse does not sit well with me to say the least.

El Gato De Negocios

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Sinbad the sailor battles a cyclops, a dragon, a two headed bird and pits wits against a nefarious magician that has shrank his betrothed to the size of a doll. Featuring the legendary stop motion work of Ray Harryhausen this is tremendous fun from start to finish, a thrilling adventure that can be enjoyed by anyone.

8/10

I tried to watch the new Justice League thing but I gave up after about 40 mins or so.

Currently doing my favourite rewatch - Hell or High Water.

flasher0030

Clovehitch Killer
The Frozen Ground

Couple of seriel killer movies. Would recommend both. Not too gruesome and both are interesting.

Apollo 13
Never saw this before. Nice to get a history lesson as well.

santana75

pixelburp wrote: »

It's definitely a Carpenter film that gets less praise than it's due. One of the first horror movies I saw that left a palpable sense of dread and unease in me after watching it. Had seen plenty of things that shocked or surprised, but Prince of Darkness left a cold sweat that haunted me for days. I've wanted to go back and re-watch it but been sceptical if it could hold up to that first viewing - and if it had aged as well as the version in my memory. I can see parts that are probably way cheesier now than intended in '87, but also elements that may still creep me the F out.

As Tony EH said himself, those VHS visions were .. unsettling, and like him can't put my finger on the why.

Same here. Saw it when I was a kid and it proper put the hook in me. Its a film I never forgot, there was just this nasty sense of dread about the whole thing. And those vhs images are terrifying for whatever reasons.

buried

The Dead Zone

Fantastic stuff. Christopher Walken gives a brillant emphatetic performance in one of the best Stephen King adaptations for the screen. Martin Sheens bat$hit crazy shenanigans towards the end the ultimate Highlight. 9/10

Bringing out The Dead

Hasn't aged well at all at all. Seems like Scorcese was attempting to make a sort of future Spike Lee type film. The world and characters just don't seem believable at all for a Scorcese work. 3/10

Con Air

Absolutely ridiculous but fantastic craic. The sequential editing is completely off the wall but done with hilarious skill. Was literally falling out my seat laughing at the very end. 8/10

12 Angry Men.

Fantastic classic film and now strangely seems like a modern internet forum row between a bunch of people on a thread. 9/10

The Godfather Part III Coda

If you can get over the small segments with the two loodramans playing Michael's kids then this thing is highly enjoyable and well crafted with some great set pieces thrown into the mix. Always loved the way FFC incorporated the shady Vatican bank gangster workings in this film, half the reason it was critically hammered when it was released IMO 8/10

Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves

Classic 1990's Hollywood fluff but its an enjoyable caper in fairness, the world on screen is believable enough even if the historical aspects within it are totally off the wall altogether. Alan Rickman and Micheal Wincott the obvious standouts but the comradery between Costner and Freeman was enjoyable too. 6.5/10

Archive - 2020

I quite liked this Sci-Fi effort with an AI and consciousness-after-death slant - I imagine that anyone who liked Ex Machina would take to it. Also certainly has an element of black mirror to it. It's not perfect by any means and some may well have a problem with the denouement but that part didn't bother me overly.

6.5 / 10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6882604/

McDermotX

santana75 wrote: »

Same here. Saw it when I was a kid and it proper put the hook in me. Its a film I never forgot, there was just this nasty sense of dread about the whole thing. And those vhs images are terrifying for whatever reasons.

Last watched it a couple year back, but while not my favourite Carpenter, its still a film I've a real fondness for.
I think its just a mixture of handheld (found-footage before it was a thing) with just about perceptible audio (almost like those EVP yokes) that sells those sequences. Plus the fact you're basically earwigging on someone's dream. Really effective given what it supposedly being shown to you.
Far more so than if they were just conventionally shot sequences, and they probably only constitute say 30 seconds to a minute in total ?

flasher0030

glasso wrote: »

Archive - 2020

I quite liked this Sci-Fi effort with an AI and consciousness-after-death slant - I imagine that anyone who liked Ex Machina would take to it. Also certainly has an element of black mirror to it. It's not perfect by any means and some may well have a problem with the denouement but that part didn't bother me overly.

6.5 / 10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6882604/

Saw that some months back. I was surprised by it. Enjoyed it more than I thought. And I liked the ending. Wasn't expecting it.

Homelander

Was a fan of Archive as well. Lovely design and super effective in its simplicity.

ARQ, Spectral and I Am Mother are decent enough ways to kill 90 mins or so.

barrymanilow

COMING 2 AMERICA

Bit of a let down. Lacks the charm of the original. Some individual parts made me laugh but taken as a whole its kind of limp and really tries to boost off the glory of the first film. The best think about coming to America the original was the African Princes trying to figure out New York and dating etc. This one is set more so in a fantastical unreal Africa and doesn't work so well.


5/10

shrapnel222

barrymanilow wrote: »

COMING 2 AMERICA

Bit of a let down. Lacks the charm of the original. Some individual parts made me laugh but taken as a whole its kind of limp and really tries to boost off the glory of the first film. The best think about coming to America the original was the African Princes trying to figure out New York and dating etc. This one is set more so in a fantastical unreal Africa and doesn't work so well.


5/10

very generous. i'd give it a 1 (and that's only for nostalgia reasons)

KilOit

Gave Upgrade a go today and really enjoyed it, it's been on my watch list for ages but was well worth the wait, it's up there with the best scf fi films past 10 years imo

flasher0030

Deleted User wrote: »

ARQ, Spectral and I Am Mother are decent enough ways to kill 90 mins or so.

I watched Arq and Spectral this week. Saw I am Mother before.
Arq is very interesting and the time loop notion just about works without it becoming too repetitive.
Didn't like Spectral. I know it's very basic, but lead actor was just terrible. Put me off it. And I thought the story was silly. Didn't do it for me anyway.

Snake Plisken

Was watching Chris Stuckmann discuss a movie called The Empty Man which is a play on the slender man ring type movies, it was made by 20th Century fox with a fairly big budget but got little promotion and the studio tried to cut down the runtime. The Writer/Director David Prior worked a lot on making of documentaries for David Fincher movies like Zodiac and you can see Finchers influences. Anyway I tried to see if it was up on any of the streaming services and couldn't find it on Netflix Amazon prime etc and had to find alternative means.
So the movie itself was interesting the first 20 minutes before the credits I found quite unsettling and the rest was pretty good. I can see it being a you either love it or hate it movie but I did enjoy it, anyway something different from the normal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJoNE2JChY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60QuLtmFb94

steve_r

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Was watching Chris Stuckmann discuss a movie called The Empty Man which is a play on the slender man ring type movies, it was made by 20th Century fox with a fairly big budget but got little promotion and the studio tried to cut down the runtime. The Writer/Director David Prior worked a lot on making of documentaries for David Fincher movies like Zodiac and you can see Finchers influences. Anyway I tried to see if it was up on any of the streaming services and couldn't find it on Netflix Amazon prime etc and had to find alternative means.
So the movie itself was interesting the first 20 minutes before the credits I found quite unsettling and the rest was pretty good. I can see it being a you either love it or hate it movie but I did enjoy it, anyway something different from the normal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnJoNE2JChY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60QuLtmFb94

That film is on my list to check out - apparently has quite a cult following now

bnt

For some reason I was reminded of L.A. Story (1991) and thought I would watch the opening again, but ended up watching the whole thing. I think it's one of Steve Martin's best films, and he apparently worked on the script for seven years. It's not all Steve all the time, with strong support from Victoria Tennant (his wife at the time), Marilu Henner Richard E. Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB2VJp0aSUE

dubstepper

Hadn't heard of that The Empty Man before it was trending on twitter yesterday. Looks interesting.

gmisk

Save yourselves!

Blurb below
A young Brooklyn couple head to an upstate cabin to unplug from their phones and reconnect with each other. Blissfully unaware of their surroundings, they are left to their own devices as the planet falls under attack.

Random little hipster sci fi comedy quite enjoyable I have to say. The two leads are really good in it.
7/10

dubstepper

gmisk wrote: »

Save yourselves!
...
Random little hipster sci fi comedy quite enjoyable I have to say. The two leads are really good in it.
7/10

I have it ready for viewing. 7/10 is not bad. Might put it on after various matches over today.

buried

The Empty Man.

Starts off well enough with a very Raiders of The Lost Ark type beginning but that was about the best of it. The next half a hour after the opening credit was decent enough but then too way way too much is shoehorned into the thing to make it in any way coherent to keep your attention. It is shot very well, very much in a 'Hereditary' style and looks very nice, but again there was way too much thrown into it in such a limited time frame, it just seemed messy as hell. It even breaks into comedy at parts. I think this would have made a better 6 part mini series than a 2 hour film, just to flesh out the plot in a more slow burn which could have worked out very well. Wouldn't be returning to this at all. Sorry Snake, but thanks for the heads up, I enjoyed the visuals 4/10

Bad Trip

Netflix Candid camera road trip buddy comedy. Works really well, some right laughs in this thing, especially with the lunatic sister character aggressively confronting total strangers on the streets. How much was staged and what was actually candid is up for debate. But the thing works well, good chemistry between the two lads for a road trip movie, which is what you need for this sort of old fashioned road trip caper, candid cameras or no. 7/10

Jason & The Argonauts.

The classic version from 1963. Really enjoyable, seen it years and years ago on RTE 1 some Sunday afternoon, can remember the Skeleton soldiers scene from back then and it came straight back to me when they emerged again. Fantastic craic, the dialogue and delivery is laughably bad in places, but I think that was in some way intentional because of the nature of this sort of fantastical story taken from the ancient Greek myths. Really well shot for the time, must have been amazing to see this thing back when it was released and see what were at that time, the most craziest and well crafted special effects on the big screen. Would have also been feicin great to see Nancy Kovack on the big screen writhing around the statues Temple of Hecate too! Great afternoon couch slouch watch 8/10

el Fenomeno

Watched The Friend with Casey Affleck and Jason Segel recently. A really nice film, definitely had something in the back of my throat towards the end.

Homelander

Synchronic with Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie. A simple but thought-provoking sci-fi that doesn't overly rely on special effects or spectacle, and while I usually dislike Anthony Mackie but he's pretty decent in this.

Directed by the guys who made "The Endless" (available on Netflix) which is a stunning low-budget, high-concept movie. I'd say Synchronic is a bit more "mainstream" but it's a solid movie.

Decuc500

Calm With Horses

A quite decent Irish film which is always a cause for celebration as there’s so few.

Not exactly an original storyline but the script was well written and the whole thing moved along at a nice pace until the final third which turned a bit melancholic.

The lead performance of a punch drunk boxer played by Cosmo Jarvis started to grate after a while but Niamh Algar and Barry Keoghan were as good as always.
Keoghan has an intensity and charisma that should see him as a bigger star.

briany

I'm not sure if this truly qualifies as a film or not because it's technically 12 short films and was first shown on TV, but when I saw it, it was all 12 vignettes consecutively, but anyway,

Les Documents Interdits or 'Forbidden Files' (1989)

Psuedo-documentary styled short films which each proport to detail a (fictional) mysterious or paranormal event in a dry documentarian type of way. Mostly shot in black and white with dual French and English audio tracks on certain items.

If you like your horror in a found-footage/mockumentary style that's low budget and is more about what you don't see than what you do, then this'll be right up your street. Probably one of the earliest examples of the genre as well.

El Gato De Negocios

Shocker (1989)

One of the few Wes Craven movies I'd never seen in its entirety, its pretty poor fare. Felt like he was trying to recreate another monster to rival Freddy but it falls terribly short. Where Elm Street has a bona fide horror icon, Shocker has an extra ham and cheesey bad guy in Horace Pinker. The climax is mind bogglingly bad, like even as a late 80s horror b movie it absolutely stinks.

Craven really did have more piss poor efforts throughout his career than classics. Other than Last House on the Left, Hills have eyes, Elm Street and Scream, his catalogue is pretty dire.

One for completists / masochists only.

3/10