Movies you've just watched

[rapoon]

too much idle time.

Nocturnal Animals - 7/10
Upstream Color - 8
Inherent Vice - 8
Wake in Fright - 7
Dogtooth - 6
The Assassin - 8
Why Don't You Play in Hell - 6
Chunking Express - 8
Bird People in China - 8
Under the Skin - 5
Youth - 9

[Skykid]

If you like the original Terminator I say give "Dredd" a go. Its definitely got that cold, Robocop 80's vibe thing going on. One of the best USA movies i've seen in years.

It's actually a UK movie filmed in South Africa.

I was about to say.

[GaijinPunch]

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095348/

It was pretty funny. I remember seeing part of it eons ago but managed to watch the full film this last week as a friend reminded me how good it was.

Fuck da cup, po it in my hand fo a dime!

Classic as fuck movie. Gotta watch again...
Thanks for the reminder.

*Really*? Wow...I never knew. I've never seen *any* of it due to complete lack of interest by me. Looked all wrong/stupid to me. Perhaps I'll give it a shot in the future.

Not sure of your age. I think I was in 8th grade when it came out. Wayans brothers and pimps? Sign me up. I need to bust it out again. Maybe it hasn't aged as well, but when it came out, I loved it. Just make sure you don't Over Gold when you watch it.

[GaijinPunch]

Poltergeist 1982

Had not seen this in ages. Other than the non-practical effects which haven't aged so well, it made me lament what film making has become. Obviously not everything is shit, but it is too easy to find cliche bullshit in every film. Spielberg may not be everyone's favorite, but he knows how to lightThe and how to compose a shot. The other fun thing was explaining to the GF, who was not around for the first PG-13 films, what flew for PG back in the early 80's. Besides the rather grotesque scenes (peeling the face off, etc.) the show is largely disturbing.

[boagman]

Not sure of your age. I think I was in 8th grade when it came out. Wayans brothers and pimps? Sign me up. I need to bust it out again. Maybe it hasn't aged as well, but when it came out, I loved it. Just make sure you don't Over Gold when you watch it.

I'm just a couple years older than you are (44) so I would have been in tenth grade when it came out. I'll watch for it on the free movie channel(s).

[gbaplayer]

Toxic Avenger II:
Better than the first one in my humble opinion.

[Skykid]

Third, it's well-written, wasting no time for pointless drama and explanations.

Actually I disagree that the remake suffers from common exposition. It definitely has more exposition than Oshii's GiTS, but that's because Oshii is a goddamned fine artist in comparison to Rupert Sanders and manages most of his movies using ideas and suggestion rather than delivering anything concrete.

You have to look at the augmentation of the remake as a double edged sword. On one hand, making the plot more apparent works in its favour; there's an element of interest in where the story will go, and for the most part they didn't force it until the final act where they totally blew it all in a catastrophically poor, highly-misjudged and poorly written finale that cripples almost the entire thing by robbing it of any real credibility. Prior to that, however, it has a level of intrigue at least, and figuring out Killian's backstory is fairly engaging, even if it's a simplistic plot device.

Personally I thought they were going to leave the circumstances of who she was in her past life a mystery, and I imagined her to be a child - around 6 or so - who found her way into a synthetic soldier body. Alas, I'm way more creatively advanced than most Hollywood scriptwriters.

[MintyTheCat]

Toxic Avenger II:
Better than the first one in my humble opinion.

The music is good but I prefer the first one. I like the song though. I have a collection of Troma films and whenever I am having a bad day, watching a Troma film brightens the day

[Ixmucane2]

Third, it's well-written, wasting no time for pointless drama and explanations.

Actually I disagree that the remake suffers from common exposition. It definitely has more exposition than Oshii's GiTS, but that's because Oshii is a goddamned fine artist in comparison to Rupert Sanders and manages most of his movies using ideas and suggestion rather than delivering anything concrete.

Pure exposition is moderate, but whole scenes of the remake are dedicated to insisting on the obvious and/or emphasizing the unimportant: the Major having flashbacks from before her brain transplant that reveal absolutely nothing new; interrogating the garbage truck man in chains and with extreme caution and tension, as if he was a dangerous superhero and not a sick sad victim; Kaze talking and talking and talking instead of letting the Major think for herself; a random bomb with the obvious purpose of telling the story of Bato's artificial eyes; the story of dr. Ouelet; gratuitous firefights; and so on.

[NYN]

Prisoners [2013]
Went for it mostly for Jackman and Gyllenhaal, but the whole cast is a delight. Not a tale about high morale or the American way, which could have been my prejudice before. More of a mirror about the limits of preparation and the mistakes that get made by it.
Two more things didn't hurt either: Seeing Jackman rock-solid in a role that is not bloaty Wolverine and not knowing or half-guessing what will happen 20 minutes in, by omitting sterotype.

I don't plan to see Blade Runner 2049, but after Enemy I got another credit to the name Villeneuve.

[gbaplayer]

Class of 1999:
In the first 30 minutes i thought "what kind of crap is this", but then it got better and the finale was really cool.

[MintyTheCat]

Class of 1999:
In the first 30 minutes i thought "what kind of crap is this", but then it got better and the finale was really cool.

The History teacher is really well acted. That exercise in school room spanking is legendary. Brilliant film.
Sadly, the sequel is no where near as good.

[Skykid]

Third, it's well-written, wasting no time for pointless drama and explanations.

Actually I disagree that the remake suffers from common exposition. It definitely has more exposition than Oshii's GiTS, but that's because Oshii is a goddamned fine artist in comparison to Rupert Sanders and manages most of his movies using ideas and suggestion rather than delivering anything concrete.

Pure exposition is moderate, but whole scenes of the remake are dedicated to insisting on the obvious and/or emphasizing the unimportant: the Major having flashbacks from before her brain transplant that reveal absolutely nothing new; interrogating the garbage truck man in chains and with extreme caution and tension, as if he was a dangerous superhero and not a sick sad victim; Kaze talking and talking and talking instead of letting the Major think for herself; a random bomb with the obvious purpose of telling the story of Bato's artificial eyes; the story of dr. Ouelet; gratuitous firefights; and so on.

Well yes, that's the augmentation I was referring to. The reshaping of plot to be more palatable and simplistic for the simple minded. I just didn't consider it to be an outright failure UNTIL it reached its all paths conclusion, which undermined the general motion up to that point. Kuze was an interesting character until then, and so was Killian. I didn't mind Bateu's eyeball thing, although it was unnecessary depending on how you look at it. But we have to remember, this is the Hollywood version of a Japanese anime; I didn't expect much else, I just hoped it wouldn't completely crap out at the climax, which it did, sadly.

[MintyTheCat]

..I just hoped it wouldn't completely crap out at the climax, which it did, sadly.

Sounds like my ex-wife on our honeymoon.

[BIL]

Class of 1999:
In the first 30 minutes i thought "what kind of crap is this", but then it got better and the finale was really cool.

The History teacher is really well acted. That exercise in school room spanking is legendary. Brilliant film.

Ah yes, John P. Ryan - he was great at playing hardcases with sadistically humorous streaks. Have you seen Runaway Train? He's in fine form there too.

[gbaplayer]

Toxic Avenger III:
Not as great as part I and II, but has some memorable scenes (Toxie tries to kill himself, the Devil´s transformation, Toxies "death").

[MintyTheCat]

Class of 1999:
In the first 30 minutes i thought "what kind of crap is this", but then it got better and the finale was really cool.

The History teacher is really well acted. That exercise in school room spanking is legendary. Brilliant film.

Ah yes, John P. Ryan - he was great at playing hardcases with sadistically humorous streaks. Have you seen Runaway Train? He's in fine form there too.

Hi Bil,

thanks - I will have a look at Runaway Train - I had not heard of that one.

[BIL]

It's quite good - one of the more artistic Cannon productions. Killer premise screenwritten by Akira Kurosawa, with excellent performances from Ryan, Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. Some stunning photography, as well:

Non-spoiler, animated GIF

Spoiler

[MintyTheCat]

Dredd
It was not bad, closer to modern day than 2000AD's world. Missing the wry, satirical humour that is really important to the comic. The drug situation in the film makes sense as far as everyone being addicted to it but why would a 'slo motion' narcotic be something that people would wish to have? Surely, living in a hell-hole like the blocks you would want time to go very quickly or you would want to completely disassociate yourself entirely from the reality of life in a block.

The building design made sense to me with them being highly autonomous and being like little states unto themselves. I think they could have done a bit more to convince us of the scale of Mega City One - after all it is meant to stretch from New York right across the country to Washington. Blade-Runner, I felt, conveyed this sense of scale and size better.

I have not seen the 1995 film and usually I never see films based on comics but this one I felt was not bad.
I have been reading the comic since I was about nine years old and am still a reader of 2000AD. I saw lots of little references to the world of Judge Dredd but it was not thrown at us and overdone. For example, there is a banner that reads "Ch pper" - Chopper which fans will recognise.

The main villain was calm, smart and evil. It got to be a bit over the top especially with them taking out a section of the floor "just to get" the two Judges but then, Judge Dredd has always been over the top as a comic.

I can recommend it, but it is a bit violent.

[Necronopticous]

Dogtooth - 6

I just noticed this! 6? Seriously? I'm so curious, what didn't you like about it? Dogtooth was a perfect 10 for me. I would not change one thing about that film.

[neorichieb1971]

thanks - I will have a look at Runaway Train - I had not heard of that one.

Runaway train is good. But I can't put my finger on why it is good. Its one of those movies where you feel they are making it up as they go along, but in this case it seems done really well. I'd give it an 8/10.

[soprano1]

Lincoln (2012)
It's a shame many of the political related actions taken went over my head, as i'm not American nor do i understand much of it, from a historical point of view.
That being said, it was still very interesting to watch, and Daniel Day Lewis was great as always.

edit:"What will follow? Votes for Women?"
Everyone protests.

[kaicooper]

Dredd
I can recommend it, but it is a bit violent.

one of the best Gems in this generation
a Gift for 80's fans..amazing movie

Dogtooth - 6

I just noticed this! 6? Seriously? I'm so curious, what didn't you like about it? Dogtooth was a perfect 10 for me. I would not change one thing about that film.

i know right..this's at least 9 or 8.5..its amazing fked up surreal movie

[Vexorg]

A couple of recent ones:

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: ***

It's a wonder the film exists at all given the years of development hell it took to make it. HGTTG is one of my favorite book series, but beyond the first 20 minutes or so the movie has very little to do with the books. The cast has quite a few of the more prominent British comic actors in it, but it's kind of hard to overlook just how far the movie deviates from the books. That "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" song is currently stuck in my head...

Kubo and the Two Strings: ****

Very well done stop motion animation. Some parts felt a little too video game-like, but overall it was rather enjoyable, if a bit predictable.

Flubber: **1/2

Late nineties remake of The Absent Minded Professor starring Robin Williams and some sort of weird flying robot thing. Notable at the time mostly for some nice looking CGI work, but feels rather dated now.

[MintyTheCat]

It's quite good - one of the more artistic Cannon productions. Killer premise screenwritten by Akira Kurosawa, with excellent performances from Ryan, Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. Some stunning photography, as well:

Non-spoiler, animated GIF

Spoiler

I watched this film. It was not bad. A bit ludicrous at the end with the warden and the helicopter and it felt more like a film from the 1970s.

Thanks for recommending it, BIL.

[BIL]

I loved the final exchanges between Ryan and Voight - some bitterly intense feeling there, and the very last shot of the latter is truly something out of myth.

Spoiler

"I AM FREE! I am free..."

Cool movie - I'm grateful to the wonderful Cannon documentary Electric Boogaloo for pointing me towards it. Highly recommend watching that too, if you've a love for the studio. An affectionate chronicle of hubris, disaster and dreams.

Also a goldmine of great clips! Mathilda's lovely boobs from Life Force and many, many brutal Norris/Bronson/Franco kills feature prominently.

NINJA ACTION MISCS (animated gif, non-spoiler)

Spoiler

[chempop]

Logan - I don't go out of my way to watch super hero movies, but this one I actually enjoyed a bit. I hope Jackman recovers from his skin cancer, must have been hard playing a character 'at the end of the line' while fighting his own conditions.

[EmperorIng]

The other fun thing was explaining to the GF, who was not around for the first PG-13 films, what flew for PG back in the early 80's. Besides the rather grotesque scenes (peeling the face off, etc.) the show is largely disturbing.

I watched it for the first time all the way through late last year, IIRC. Really enjoyed it, and yes on the disturbing part.

Even more so, when I learned the secret of the terrifying (and awesome) climax which had the dead bursting out of the ground... Spielberg and co. used real human skeletons for all of those scenes! They bought a host of medical skeleton cadavers, because that was apparently cheaper than fabricating the bodies out of latex and plastic.

It definitely gives those scenes are whole new sense of the horrific!

Spoiler

[Zen]

the very last shot of the latter is truly something out of myth.

Yup. Definitely something archetypal about "Manny".

I'm grateful to the wonderful Cannon documentary Electric Boogaloo for pointing me towards it.

Oh wow Gotta check that one out.

It definitely gives those scenes are whole new sense of the horrific!

Always wondered about what those wet actors were "tasting" in that pool shot

[GaijinPunch]

Even more so, when I learned the secret of the terrifying (and awesome) climax which had the dead bursting out of the ground... Spielberg and co. used real human skeletons for all of those scenes! They bought a host of medical skeleton cadavers, because that was apparently cheaper than fabricating the bodies out of latex and plastic.

Pretty eerie that two of the cast members died so young... I never knew Dominique Dunn died right after the film was released. (Read up on her -- it's fucked up!).