Movies you've just watched

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Checked out the horror flick that's aptly titled "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" with a run time of 1 hour & 58 minutes. It's quite scary in it's portrayal of the mysterious being shown quite briefly at times (which does add to the overall suspense and has an awesome sense of pacing to move the story along).

I wouldn't be surprised if a possible sequel to TLVOTD is greenlit/made in the nearby future -- there's more to the chain of events that unfold than meets the eye.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Some-Mist]

the holdovers (35mm). good enough that I want to rewatch it again. I was expecting the hard parts to hit harder, but it's a nice hearty laugh-filled christmas movie to add to the yearly watch list.
the two things that bugged me are
- paul giamatti's lazy eye kept flipping sides depending on if they mirrored the shot or not, so referencing it didn't feel as authentic as it should have
- they only tracked certain days even though it seemed like events throughout the movie occurred on a new day. I'm not sure if there's some deeper meaning there

it's only the 3rd alexander payne movie I've seen following the descendents and nebraska, and I kinda wanna see some others but not sure which

[Skykid]

Evil Dead Rise - Turned it off after 45 minutes.
Renfield - Turned it off after 20 minutes.
Wish Upon - Watched it through. Was ok.

That is all.

[Lord British]

Rocco and His Brothers - 1960 - Luchino Visconti (Italy)



After about 20 minutes into this 3hr movie I was in awe of it.

Ranks very high in these cats:

- Best B&W cinematagraphy
- Best Epic Story
- Best Villian
- Best Supporting Female Role
- Best Boxing Film
- Best Italian Movie (that's very Italian)

The plot involves four brothers (Simone, Rocco, Ciro, and Luca) and their mama from southern Italy moving up north to Milan to live near their oldest brother Vincenzo. They are laughed at by the Milanese locals and called "hicks", and they have little financial opportunity. The second oldest, Simone, reluctantly starts boxing again as a way to make ends meet. Despite early success, Simone's lack of discipline leads him to defeats, and his younger brother Rocco (Alain Delon) starts to take his place after some impressive sparring in the gym. If Rocco becoming a better boxer than Simone wasn't enough of a blow to Simone's ego, Rocco also starts seeing Simone's prostitute ex-gf Nadia, and this is where the fit hits the shan. It's an a amazingly-layered drama that was very thought out years before it was filmed. It's a masterclass in directing and writing. I've seen Visconti's The Leopard too, which also stars Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, also with Burt Lancaster. That is one of the most amazing color movies you can see, but I like this b&w masterpiece more. Watched on Criterion

[GaijinPunch]

Shit - I gotta watch this now. Not even gonna read your summary (past the bullet points). I've gone balls deep on all things Italian (for obvious reasons) and I'm lacking on absobring the films. I do recall a mention of this director though. Probably won't get to it until my next long haul flight, but that won't be too long from now.

[Lord British]

Shit - I gotta watch this now. Not even gonna read your summary (past the bullet points). I've gone balls deep on all things Italian (for obvious reasons) and I'm lacking on absobring the films. I do recall a mention of this director though. Probably won't get to it until my next long haul flight, but that won't be too long from now.

I usually don't do the bullet point thing, this was an exception because the movie was exceptional.

Also, I should mention this has been the year that I've finally got around to watching all the old artsy-fartsy foreign films of the 20th century. I've been going off the BFI Sight and Sound lists and other lists. Even if they look boring I still go for it. But it's been great experiencing all these movies for the first time. Before this year it was getting tough finding things to watch, and now I've opened a lot of doors.

[xxx1993]

Freelance. A pretty fun action comedy with John Cena.

[GaijinPunch]

I usually don't do the bullet point thing, this was an exception because the movie was exceptional.

Also, I should mention this has been the year that I've finally got around to watching all the old artsy-fartsy foreign films of the 20th century. I've been going off the BFI Sight and Sound lists and other lists. Even if they look boring I still go for it. But it's been great experiencing all these movies for the first time. Before this year it was getting tough finding things to watch, and now I've opened a lot of doors.

Glad you did! And keep the reviews coming as you make your way through your journey. I actually ran the title of this one past the woman and she simply replied with "iconic" so it's definitely going in the queue. I would have done that based on the screenshot you chose, to be fair. Looks like it's straight up my alley.

[Lord British]

I usually don't do the bullet point thing, this was an exception because the movie was exceptional.

Also, I should mention this has been the year that I've finally got around to watching all the old artsy-fartsy foreign films of the 20th century. I've been going off the BFI Sight and Sound lists and other lists. Even if they look boring I still go for it. But it's been great experiencing all these movies for the first time. Before this year it was getting tough finding things to watch, and now I've opened a lot of doors.

Glad you did! And keep the reviews coming as you make your way through your journey. I actually ran the title of this one past the woman and she simply replied with "iconic" so it's definitely going in the queue. I would have done that based on the screenshot you chose, to be fair. Looks like it's straight up my alley.

Will do. I also started a Letterbox'd account this year so everything is all organized. The diary is really helpful.

https://letterboxd.com/Von_Jugel/

[Lord British]

Opening Night - 1977 - John Cassavetes



I like a weird movie, I like a smart movie, but this one missed me a bit. I kind of half-watched this while doing some work, that is, my eyes weren't glued to the screen. But a Cassavetes film is typically so dialogue-heavy and loosely structured that you can get away it a bit sometimes, though this time I think I failed so shame on me. We have Gene Rowlands here playing a popular stage actress who, even at the start of the film, is dealing with her alcoholism and stresses about aging. While being mobbed with autograph-seeking fans when exiting a performance, a pretty, young, but mentally disturbed female fan imposes herself on Rowlands, but Rowlands remains cool with her. As she gets in her limo and stars pulling away from the crowd, she sees the young woman fatally struck by a car. This incident pushes her further into her existing issues into almost a state of psychosis. While preparing for her next play, she starts suffering from delusions, and at one point attacking the young women's ghost. This all makes for a great plot that would probably remind you of something like Black Swan, but it's just really confusing and loosey-goosey. I'll blame myself for not giving it my full attention, but its hard to say whether another watch would make me like it more. Sorry JC, I'll give it another try though. Watched on Max.

[GaijinPunch]

Will do. I also started a Letterbox'd account this year so everything is all organized. The diary is really helpful.

https://letterboxd.com/Von_Jugel/

I've heard this mentioned but never bothered. I'll take this as my opportunity. I definitely need to be making a "to watch" list based on tons of shit in this thread.

[Lord British]

Will do. I also started a Letterbox'd account this year so everything is all organized. The diary is really helpful.

https://letterboxd.com/Von_Jugel/

I've heard this mentioned but never bothered. I'll take this as my opportunity. I definitely need to be making a "to watch" list based on tons of shit in this thread.

It's fun to make lists on there too. I followed a few random people on there, so when I look at a movie I see their ratings. That kind of helps prepare you for what to expect for a movie.

[xxx1993]

The Killer, no, not John Woo, but David Fincher. It was okay. The way the titular protagonist kept giving inner monologues reminded me of the main protagonist of another David Fincher movie, Fight Club.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Checked out the 1976 movie of "Sweet Revenge" -- it's one of those stories of a character trying to aim to buy a uber-expensive exotic super car (a Ferrari Dino 246 GTS convertible) but through unorthodox means. How is the gig pulled off in order to attain it? The eventual conclusion is quite something else.

The tagline: There's never been a girl so good at being bad. And now she's planning her "Sweet Revenge".

Actress Stockard Channing (she was in "Grease" & in "Six Degrees of Separation" with actor Will Smith) gets top billing in this film even though she was at age 31/32 at the time of film production shooting. Many scenes take place in Tacoma, Washington (could've easily been set in Los Angeles as the initial background scenery/setting would've been just as good). Be sure to look for the cool cameo scene with the lowrider stylized car with actual "hand lettered" lettering that has the same name as the movie title. A Porsche 356 is featured as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[GaijinPunch]

Fantastic write up, PCEFX. No spoilers. Good factoids. Straight to the point. Makes me want to watch it.

Looking back at Grease, it's hilarious that Stockard Channing was like 37 when she played Rizzo. Although I was too busy making Olivia Newton John deposits in my spank bank to notice.

[Lander]

Another vaguely-defined period of time, another missed classic series in the bag.

Robocop - Great theme, excellent deadpan - Robocop's first shift is filmic gold. Gornographic as they come. Good touches of nature-of-a-man concepts, though possibly not enough room to fully explore them. Surprising cast too - lots of Twin Peaks talent, and highly characterful villains (that fucking laughing guy )
Really enjoyable film - rough edged, but complete and satisfying. Though I'm gonna say it... ED-209 sucks. Uncomfortable janky stop motion, wires everywhere, cheap animal noises... Nah man. All the ripoffs were better.

Robocop 2 - Losing Verhoeven was a critical mistake, as was doubling down on stop motion, making Robocop himself into a joke, and snubbing Poledouris on soundtrack. Left me cold.
The screaming skeleton was alright, but nothing particularly iconic to the series beyond that. Way too much focus on Cain only to strip him of personality halfway through. Technically still a Proper 80s Movie despite coming out in 1990, but at what cost?

Robocop 3 - Expected liquid shite, got a characteristically inoffensive 90s flick where nobody really gets shot*. By hardcore filmie standards this is probably the worst one, but I enjoyed it a bit compared to 2. Proper music is back, but a little late. Sad to see the action figure show up as a diagetic element. Otomo was alright if a bit tropey; better executed than straightforward Let's Do Robot Wars Again, and the mad grin was pretty good.

*

Except Lewis, but that's okay, she's dead and forgotten by the end of the movie. Wait, what!?

Robocop (2014) - Shocking. Absolutely shocking. They managed to hit almost* every referential note you could want from 1-3 without ever crossing the masturbation line, in some cases even making a point of getting right what was previously done wrong. And all while maintaining a coherently-themed story of its own, I haven't been this impressed with a series resurrection since Dredd and latter-day Rambo!

*

Lack of a proper Bixby Snyder showing is the film's greatest failing. The line is present, but the man - and consequently his red-facedly fulgurous delivery - is long gone.

I'm not much for the brief dubstep remix of the original theme, but more or less spat my drink hearing the escalate yodeling of Hocus Pocus by Focus pop up in the soundtrack. A ballsy choice for HARDCORE MAN MACHINE BATTLE ACTION, but it paid off!

And they got Michael K. Williams - a.k.a. beloved stick-up man Omar Little from The Wire - on board to play Lewis a little underused, but an inspired casting choice nonetheless. Bless them for giving Sam Jackson his popoff too; all of his stuff had a distinct MGS4 intro vibe, very slick.

And this time, ED-209 was great. Similar to the film at large, it hit all the right notes - smooth animation, saying the line, falling over because locomotion is hard... Exactly the ticket.

[xxx1993]

I’m actually glad to see someone be positive towards RoboCop 2014 for once. The Internet loves to shit on it, even WatchMojo and the Nostalgia Critic. But I enjoyed it. Anyway, watched the French movie Wingwoman on Netflix… I have no idea what to think about it.

[BryanM]

Which is normal. The first movie was a satire of capitalism (specifically its resurgence under the Goldwater/Reagan movements, which we're still living in. Detroit deserves more than a mere statue, it needs an entire Robocop memorial) while the reboot was basically made by the bad guys from the first movie.

Since the theme from the Gameboy game has been trending, I learned that they released a third Robocop movie last month. Which of course in turn made me aware of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.

... anyone have any opinion macros stored up on that one? Tell me it's boring so I don't have to watch it... I hate movies.

[Lander]

See, I got that capitalist sell your hate back for a tidy profit vibe from the series, but from 2 rather than 2014.
The way it sheds most of the talent that made the first film what it was, loses focus on Robocop in favour of less interesting new faces, and just kind of rolls on as if success is now self-evident. Smacks of greedy corner-cutting.

3 has the whole we hear you! element in bringing back Poledouris and treating Murf with a smidgen more respect (beyond the action figure and sold-separately arm cannon / gyropack), but the loss of 1's artistic soul is a dull throb rather than a fresh wound at that point.

2014 struck me as too incisive to be a product of pure movie mogul cynicism. Some degree of it can't be avoided for anything with a serious budget, but I didn't get the usual vibe; as a rule corpos like to go full blowout on the cartoon evil as a sort of shield from the self-criticism they peddle (see Ready Player One etc,) whereas here it's a more even-handed depiction of manipulative sociopath assholes hiding behind a friendly and enthusiastic facade.

Though I guess jacking the MGS4 / Black Mirror aesthetic for the news show could be seen as cynical; imo that's the closest it got to risking a tone-deaf shot at the original superparody. Dunno if I have enough frame-of-reference to say if it worked or not, since MODERN REALPOLITIK is a circus I stay away from, but it was entertaining to see Sam Jackson chewing the scenery and towering over CEO fella (serendipitous, since you can also view his stature as sly host-enhancing CG from the show's editors!)

I thought it was particularly effective to depict the Robocop project as sleek and well-executed, only to see it fucked into amorally familiar i-have-no-mouth territory by last second executive meddling. You get to see the full potential realized firsthand, and then contrast it with something far inferior. Pretty true-to-life if various industry anecdotes about gimped products are to be believed!

And beyond that, the source material is treated with enough care that I have a hard time simply writing it off:

Little Things

I Want To Die - straight to the Robocop 2 screaming skeleton. This could go both ways, since it cuts right to the heart of the existential horror without any of the original's gradual surfacing, but I get the sense that Robocop 1 needed more space to really nail Murphy's suffering alongside everything else it wanted to do, so addressing it directly from the start was an effective way to dodge that for a one-and-done remake.

The brief look at focus-tested gimmick modes before just make it look tactical; Battle Mode is just a little wink at the original design, but Police Mode with built-in red and blue flashing lights (popular with kids!) strikes me as an acknowledgement that the character was taken as a joke in 2, and as a broadly commercializable product in 3.

Making the directive system more insidious via the machine that thinks it's a man setup; having the computer make choices and retroactively tell Murphy's brain that he wanted to do it, rather than being a set of discrete conscious rules, gave me some effective technophilisophical heebs. Though I think the remake could have done more with that; seemed like an unfired Chekhov's Gun come the end, since it carried the implication that the machine would eventually do something so far beyond Murphy's moral code as to cause a psychotic break.

Directly playing the wife-and-kid angle, which worked as peripheral flavour for the first movie, but ended up a bit overdone in the sequels.

Getting the precinct drama right, since the originals only really used it for flavour. Distinct personalities, corrupt cops, chain of command, all that stuff.
But then, who's going to hire Omar Little and fuck up the police angle? I did want more buddy cop action because of that, but fitting it in would have been difficult.

Getting the ED-209 CG right and doing all of its iconic stuff, since it never got a technically-competent rendering in the OG trilogy. I guess you could argue the inverse and call it homogenized pandering, but I don't have enough fondness for the janky stop-motion version to play serious devil's advocate for it.

Lewis taking a bullet during the finale, but surviving. I see it an an acknowledgement that original Lewis getting ventilated by MacNugget in 3 was pointless; her character may not have been used to the fullest (needed a regret arc to address making the call that got Murphy killed, imo), but she deserved more respect than being a cadaverous revenge motivator.

And more that I'm forgetting, no doubt!

I've not touched it, but what I've seen of Rogue City looks pretty good. Seems to mostly derive from the first film plus some new touches like the goofy punks, and have its tongue lodged in cheek with just the right amount of force. Dunno if we're looking at a full on Batman Arkham situation since it's from a smaller studio, but it has a handle on the series' finer qualities.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (1974) Clint Eastwood buddy roadtrip/heist caper, co-starring a babyfaced Jeff Bridges. Young shitbird LIGHTFOOT rescues fugitive safecracker THUNDERBOLT from his vengeful ex-crew, then accompanies him on One Last Score™! Mirthful crime antics ensue!

Amiably overlong, like many Eastwood pictures greater and lesser. Snuffs the opening's gleeful mayhem with an indulgent 45minute ~BROS ON TEH ROAD~ layover, leaning overly on wacky young Lightfoot - who I'm sure was tres hip n' cool BITD, but is a bit tiresome in these cynical post-Dude days. Pulls up nicely once Thunderbolt's old war buddy/partner in crime RED (an invaluable George Kennedy) and his disarmingly hapless minion GOODY arrive, emphasising the film's stronger black-comedic suit. Red's an unironically great antagonist; equal parts menacing and pitiful, whining about his asthma and hayfever while shamelessly pulling a piece after Clint manfully thrashes him mano-a-mano. The film's best stretch, by far, is watching these beleaguered crooks holding down day jobs, fractiously plotting that Last Big Job™ paycheque-to-paycheque, the climax unraveling with venomous elan.

A heartily irreverent romp in need of a stern buzzcut. Not a bad watch for a patient night. Bonus points for gorgeous landscape photography, and some surprisingly intense off-roading stunts across same. Also a young GARYBUSEY, in the same frame as young Jeff, even!

Never seen this, but I've been told that this was the movie playing at the drive-in the night my parents met for the first time. I'm told they didn't care much for it at the time. Should probably check it out some day for that very reason, and probably only for that very reason.

they didn't watch it because they were busy fucking

[xxx1993]

Gridman Universe. You never cease to amaze me, Trigger!

[Some-Mist]

Opening Night - 1977 - John Cassavetes
I like a weird movie, I like a smart movie, but this one missed me a bit. I kind of half-watched this while doing some work, that is, my eyes weren't glued to the screen. But a Cassavetes film is typically so dialogue-heavy and loosely structured that you can get away it a bit sometimes, though this time I think I failed so shame on me. We have Gene Rowlands here playing a popular stage actress who, even at the start of the film, is dealing with her alcoholism and stresses about aging. While being mobbed with autograph-seeking fans when exiting a performance, a pretty, young, but mentally disturbed female fan imposes herself on Rowlands, but Rowlands remains cool with her. As she gets in her limo and stars pulling away from the crowd, she sees the young woman fatally struck by a car. This incident pushes her further into her existing issues into almost a state of psychosis. While preparing for her next play, she starts suffering from delusions, and at one point attacking the young women's ghost. This all makes for a great plot that would probably remind you of something like Black Swan, but it's just really confusing and loosey-goosey. I'll blame myself for not giving it my full attention, but its hard to say whether another watch would make me like it more. Sorry JC, I'll give it another try though. Watched on Max.

I've had the john cassavetes criterion collection for over a year and I started the killing of a chinese bookie, but 10 minutes in my s/o said, "no". I haven't found a time to try and watch it on my own

[Lord British]

Opening Night - 1977 - John Cassavetes
I like a weird movie, I like a smart movie, but this one missed me a bit. I kind of half-watched this while doing some work, that is, my eyes weren't glued to the screen. But a Cassavetes film is typically so dialogue-heavy and loosely structured that you can get away it a bit sometimes, though this time I think I failed so shame on me. We have Gene Rowlands here playing a popular stage actress who, even at the start of the film, is dealing with her alcoholism and stresses about aging. While being mobbed with autograph-seeking fans when exiting a performance, a pretty, young, but mentally disturbed female fan imposes herself on Rowlands, but Rowlands remains cool with her. As she gets in her limo and stars pulling away from the crowd, she sees the young woman fatally struck by a car. This incident pushes her further into her existing issues into almost a state of psychosis. While preparing for her next play, she starts suffering from delusions, and at one point attacking the young women's ghost. This all makes for a great plot that would probably remind you of something like Black Swan, but it's just really confusing and loosey-goosey. I'll blame myself for not giving it my full attention, but its hard to say whether another watch would make me like it more. Sorry JC, I'll give it another try though. Watched on Max.

I've had the john cassavetes criterion collection for over a year and I started the killing of a chinese bookie, but 10 minutes in my s/o said, "no". I haven't found a time to try and watch it on my own

I liked that one and really liked A Woman Under The Influence. I saw Husbands too and that was meh. Like I said, I have to give Opening Night another watch.

[GaijinPunch]

Paprika

Oddly enough, first time seeing this. A non-nerd, expat friend in Tokyo recommended it to me in... 2008. I think I've had it on my hard drive ever since, and never touched. Anyway, caught a subtitled 35mm print playing here in town. This was a lot to take in, but I suspected it would be. Pretty fun, and thankful for the 90 minute run time. The first half or so, with more mundane Tokyo streets and less mind bending trips gave me some nostalgia. Thought I recognized the main voice actress, but thought, "Nah, no way that's Ranma". Low and behold, Megumi Hayashibara. Checked her IMDB and seems she hasn't slowed down. I kinda gave up on anime in the late 90's in favor of getting laid, so had no idea she went on to be so prolific.

[Lord British]

Get Carter - 1971 - Mike Hodges (UK)



This turned out to be much more of a moody, artsy movie than I anticipated; but still very gritty and violent. At the beginning of the movie a group of gangsters are watching a porno movie (like its something they produced) and I didn't rewind, but I swear you see a lot more than you usually see in an R-rated film. That set the tone a bit. Michael Caine is very cold character here, getting deep into trouble as he seeks to find who killed his brother. Very good film that I should have watched years ago. Watched on Max.

[Lord British]

The Passenger - 1975 - Michelangelo Antonioni



A pretty good Antonioni movie starring Jack Nicholson. He is an American reporter in Chad who, after finding one of his acquaintances dead, decides to steal his identity. The reasons for him doing so aren't entirely clear outside of him being unhappy in his life. He soon finds out that the man he has become is an arms dealer supplying an African civil war, and people start following him as he makes like Carmen Sandiego. Like all Antonioni films, its a quiet, moody piece that requires you to absorb yourself into that world, and that may require you to watch it at least twice for you to fully appreciate it. Very solid, but I'd recommend Blow Up or L'Avventura for your first Antonioni. Watched on a pretty good HD rip on Youtube.

[blackoak]

The Passenger - 1975 - Michelangelo Antonioni

I hadn't heard of this movie and decided to watch it after reading your review. I'm not the hugest Antonioni fan but this was an interesting film, glad I saw it. Some of the "deep" dialogue in the latter half started to veer into latter-day Terrence Malick for me--the writing wasn't too overwrought, but given the overall taciturn script I found those portentous lines a bit jarring; I'd have preferred something more naturalistic and less punctuated. But I liked the monologue at the end about the blind man, it reminded me of Nicholson's powerhouse performance in my favorite film of his, The King of Marvin Gardens. Both feature rather low-key, inhibited Nicholson performances actually.

[Lord British]

it reminded me of Nicholson's powerhouse performance in my favorite film of his, The King of Marvin Gardens. Both feature rather low-key, inhibited Nicholson performances actually.

I'll add that to the watchlist

[GaijinPunch]

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

A gym watch over several days on the treadmill. As most have said here, a pretty fun popcorn movie. I could see myself taking my son to see this... if it wasn't so damn long. The target audience for this is pretty young so anything over a tight 1:40 is asking for it. Too bad it didn't make any dough - maybe that had something to do with it.

[Lander]

Get Carter - 1971 - Mike Hodges (UK)

This turned out to be much more of a moody, artsy movie than I anticipated; but still very gritty and violent. At the beginning of the movie a group of gangsters are watching a porno movie (like its something they produced) and I didn't rewind, but I swear you see a lot more than you usually see in an R-rated film. That set the tone a bit. Michael Caine is very cold character here, getting deep into trouble as he seeks to find who killed his brother. Very good film that I should have watched years ago. Watched on Max.

Great film - interesting to see Caine in a cold, hard role by contrast to his usual chipper cockney everyman, and its depressing rendition of 70s northern gangers was refreshing next to the more usual Yer brown bread, guv! Apples and Pears! - plenty of poetic sting.

For me, the penny drop was the scene where he's on the phone to his girl talking filth while staring unblinking at the lodging house lady; mucky stuff, Jack's certainly no Alfie or Peachy!

Excellent brit gang shit too; You're a big man, but you're in bad shape. With me it's a full time job, so be'ave yerself *WHOPPAH*