Spider Forest (2004).
Haunting, lyrical, South Korean film about which I can't really say much because it would spoil things.
It has a bit of violence and bonking in it if that worries you but it's entirely justified by the surprisingly sweet and melancholic after glow the final piece leaves you with.
It's also takes it's time weaving it's web so if you haven't the patience for that sort of thing best give it a miss.
5 Snaps.
greenpenguino said:
You didn't watch Touch of Evil??
That's a brilliant movie as well. I'll probably watch that when I have the chance. I actually want to take the time to see the extended version (not the restored cut).
Bingowings said:
Magnificent Ambersons has been highly regarded for quite some time
Though it's been regarded highly by film societies and such, I'm not certain many people have heard of it as much as say... Kane. It also deserves more attention. I mean, it just got a DVD release. It definitely needs a BD and proper restoration.
...if anything I think The Third Man (lovely as it is) is a tad overrated.
Ah... :-( To each his own but I really feel that film has heart, emotion, and message.
Bingowings said:
Magnificent Ambersons has been highly regarded for quite some time
Yes. Needs more regards. The most compromised film of all time. (Next to Greed.)
and if anything I think The Third Man (lovely as it is) is a tad overrated.
No. Never. (but I can understand if you think so.)
Take out Welles' very small role and you are left with a thriller that while stylishly filmed is largely unremarkable next to other films of he period.
No. Dear god no. In fact, I once argued with a professor for upwards of three hours that this was truly the first post-modern, post-war film. It is the world's alternative to Kane. One of the great works of art. It is one of the only films that can truly be considered alive and breathing. It knows the game, it knows how the world plays the game, and it is so terribly tired of the whole act of living in our so-called civilized world.
Falcon, that is a nice Welles overload for one day. Adding in TOE might have been the clincher. I remember the first time I saw it was in a film noir festival many years ago. I went in round midday and saw Out of the Past for the first time. Mesmerized. Blown away. Destroyed. Then I immediately went next door and walked into Touch of Evil.
Overloaded!
LMS:
The Getaway (1972)- Peckinpah-lite. I enjoy watching Steve McQueen, but this is just uninspired and drags along at times. There are some nice little touches, well choreographed action sequences, a great subplot-but completely uninspired and overly a dull movie.
2.5 balls out of 4 slaps.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1988 Turner Preview Version AKA Sam's rough cut): IMO The second greatest American western after The Wild Bunch. Dark, flawed, bitter, nasty, sour and achingly human version of the classic tale, where Pat Garrett is forced to hunt down his best friend and hates himself for it. Devastating. James Coburn deserved his Oscar for this film. The film feels real, and it is disturbingly painful. Gut-wrenchingly elegiac. Soundtrack by Bob Dylan (who also acts in the film). Theatrical version was butchered by a vengeful studio. The DVD features an inane edit by a fan/scholar. Avoid this and watch the second disc. Many claim it's only a rough edit, but after careful study, I don't think Peckinpah would have changed anything. Another masterpiece.
4 balls out of 4.
VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader
Uzumaki (2000)
A Japanese film based on a manga series I haven't encountered.
It has some of the mix of comedy, weirdness and menace that Twin Peaks has but it's so joyfully and audaciously silly that it's main effect is one of genuine if grotesque mirth.
It basically the story of the invasion of a town by a meme in the form of the spiral shape.
One of the most unusual fun films you are likely to see.
5 squiggles. @@@@@
K-Pax. Shit I'm late... It has just begun.
To bring this thread to a somewhat less "artsy" level...
Goon was the last movie I've sen. It's a surprisingly good hockey movie. Well, I guess it's more of a movie about fighting than about hockey, but they kind of go hand in hand. I like seeing Seann William Scott in a more subdued, un-Stiffler-ish role. And Alison Pill is adorable.
Hugo was amazing, and probably the single best use of 3D I've ever seen, Avatar included. We watched so many of those old silent movies in film school on small screens, and it was amazing to see them properly in a theater. Especially the color-tinted version of A Trip to the Moon. I just wish they'd had time to show the entire film, but that would've (obviously) ground the story to a halt.
I don't know if I've sung the praises for Attack the Block here yet, but if I have I'm doing it again. Such an excellent movie, tons of fun. I've seen it about a dozen times now and I'm still not bored with it.
The Fright Night remake was pretty good, too. Haven't seen the original, sadly, but I quite liked the new one. Pretty sure David Tennant's role was written for Russel Brand, but Tennant did an excellent job with it.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol was very good. Only one viewing and it's become my favorite of the M:I movies. Wish I could've seen it in IMAX, though.
Super is the demented bastard stepchild of Kick-Ass. Incredibly fucked up, but in a good way.
I'm thinking about watching the Director's Cut of Babylon A.D. tomorrow. Never seen any version of it, but it's my understanding that the theatrical cut sucks really hard and the director's cut is pretty good. Opinions?
I got to revisit Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia tonight.
1. It does not in any way, shape or form deserve it's terrible reputation.
2. Peckinpah makes a movie completely in Mexico with no interference.
3. Warren Oates essentially plays Peckinpah.
4. Candidate for possible best title ever.
5. Insanely dark, gritty and still completely artistic.
This is truly a great film. Powerful, and everything crap like Convoy and the forgettable The Getaway are not. The film pivots on one central single shot. Then it becomes The Treasure of the Sierra Madre from Hell.
4 Mexican balls out of 4 heads in a bag of ice covered in flies.
VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader
The Fan (1996)
Only De Niro's psychotic goofiness saves this film from being "meh". 5.2/11 jersey numbers.
Cross of Iron (1977)
A WWII film that makes you associate with the Germans. Somehow Sam Peckinpah held it together and came up with his last great film. Very good portrait of the day to day experience of soldiers on the Russian front, full of Sam's meditations on violence, and highly recommended. The ending was a bit weird and unexpected but I think it works...
The new Region B Blu-ray looks stunning. I always put off watching the film because of bad DVD transfers, but dang this thing was unbelievably good looking without sacrificing the composition.
3.5 balls out of 4.
VADER!? WHERE THE HELL IS MY MOCHA LATTE? -Palpy on a very bad day.
“George didn’t think there was any future in dead Han toys.”-Harrison Ford
YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies 8/10
Hero 9/10
Easy Rider 10/10
Good Night, and Good Luck. 9/10
Valhalla Rising 8/10
Hugo 9/10
OSS 117: Lost in Rio 7/10
The Last Waltz 9/10
Intolerance 9/10
Do the Right Thing 10/10
^Yay you watched the weirdy Viking flick.
Bingowings said:
^Yay you watched the weirdy Viking flick.
Yeah, oddly enough your review was what made me watch it. I had been considering seeing it because Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) directed it, but I was worried that it would be less like Drive and more like 300, but you said otherwise.
XyZ said:
K-Pax. Shit I'm late... It has just begun.
That was... Well...
I give it one planet+moon, two ringed planets, and one heart mostly for Kevin. Very funny first half most of all.
ÔØØ♥
John Carter (2012)
Just got back from seeing it a little while ago. What a great movie! This was everything the prequels should have been. Best movie I've seen in a while.
It's really weird here in the chateau in regards to that film because of the title.
A friend of my better half and slight acquaintance of myself was murdered in February last year and the killers were recently caught.
When looking this up he found out just how horrible his friend's death was which deeply effected him, we also found out that they seem to be getting slightly off by pleading a lesser charge.
But looking it up became a surreal experience because his name was John Carter.
So he had to weave his way through photos from the film, cinema dates, reviews etc to get to a piece of news which in some ways he wished he hadn't read.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
This is a bad movie to be sure, but hardly one of the worst films ever made. Frankly, for an amateur production, it's pretty well-done. 4/10.
Thor (2011)
Yet another overrated comic book movie with lame story and characters. The only good things about this film were the sets, costumes, effects, and Loki. 5/10.
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
A pretty creepy movie with good atmosphere and nice imagery. 6/10.
Lair Of The White Worm (1988).
Ken Russell didn't have a bean to work with here and it shows but it's rather fun and bonkers and he does manage to squeeze in practically all his motifs.
Snake, Crucifix, nunsploitation, cameo for himself, Christopher Gable.
Amanda Donohoe steals the whole show and has so much fun doing it, she even pulls of wearing giant fangs, blue paint and an elaborately carved strap on, not the easiest of ensembles to wear with confidence.
Totally looney.
Poor Bram Stoker would die again if he was raised from the grave to view this adaptation of his third most famous piece.
Worth watching/listening to for the performance of The D'ampton Worm by Emilio Perez Machado and Stephen Powys alone.
4 white tricorns.
Bingowings wrote: Uzumaki (2000)
Big fan of Junji Ito's manga. Uzumaki (Spiral) has been classified as feminist horror as instead of everyone getting stabbed, everyone gets sucked into a vortex. The movie is relatively lo-fi, a work of admiration. The fun part of it is the computer sfx guys put small spirals thru out the movie in odd and unusual places.
Just got back from "Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1855401/
Good times with a small but diverse crowd. Lots of nervous giggles, some out right laughs, (one guy really dug the death gag) and the old guy in front of me, kept making scoffing sounds before he fell asleep.
Roger Ebert's review's last paragraph is classic: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120229/REVIEWS/120229974
and on the way home saw Louis CK filming the show. Then someone threw up on the train home...
Tobar wrote: Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)
I watched this too because of the IT Crowd connection. fun movie. The next in this actor connection movie watching for me is 'Safety not Guaranteed' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1862079/ because of Jake Johnson. Getting a kick out of his character on It's Jess.
Also watched Kevin Smith's Red State. Not sure why that one got made. Comes off as very thin.
John Carter 8/10
My friends couldn't get over all the cliches (I tried to explain to them about the fact that it's based on a 100 year old book, but, to their credit, they also complained that the dialogue was cliche, and yeah I think they were right about that).
I thought that even though it wasn't perfect, it was thoroughly interesting, enjoyable, and entertaining.
Dead Birds (2004)
Started off well enough, but descended into mediocrity in the second half, coming to a close with a painfully weak ending. 5/10.
The Prophecy (1995)
Walken was ... odd ... as the archangel Gabriel, and Viggo Mortensen was pretty good as Lucifer, but he didn't have enough screentime. Overall, an okay movie. 5/10.
Army of Darkness (1992) - 7/10
Body Double (1984)
The first half was so bad, it was good. However, the second half was so bad, it was horrible. 4.5/10.
SHAME
I'm not good at reviewing films. 10/10 anyway.
The Illusionist (2006).
Should have been great with that cast, The Prestige it is not.
However despite the best efforts of the director and scriptwriter by telegraphing almost every plot development, caking the project with unnecessary not so special effects and deploying an unnecessary voice over during the flashback scenes it's handsomely mounted enough to be visually interesting.
Rufus Sewell is the best thing on offer.
Two dessert oranges.
^ I think I felt kind of same about it. Not awesome, not bad. "Telegraphing almost every plot development" indeed, but they left enough of a surprise until the end to save it. Long time I've seen it though, just my memory.
I guessed it really early on but I'm a bit of nuisance in that regard.
It's the main reason I've never bothered to watch The Sixth Sense.