Movies you've just watched

[Skykid]

Casino Royale (2006) is my favourite Bond film hands-down, the sickly dialogue between Bond and Vesper in the latter third aside, and I'd have preferred more of its brutal ilk. Mads Mikkelsen is a better antagonist than Bardem upon repeat viewing of both films, far more believably evil. But I do appreciate what they did with Skyfall. It's a throwback to the more fantastical Bond films that still maintains a more than sensible distance from the inanity of Moonraker and Die Another Day. A compromise for sure, but not the worst one.

Sounds like we're on the same page.

Good old Skykid, being offensive again, probably without realizing it. Look we may not agree on the merits of these films, but to imply that my opinion was swayed by flash instead substance is just to insult my intelligence. You've made quite clear that you only care about a Bond that is a strict adaptation of Flemming's Bond. I do not. I care about entertaining, well made films and I think I've done well enough to justify my opinion on Skyfall. You don't have to agree, but don't need to be insulting either.

No Bond movie has ever been a strict adaptation of Fleming's character, but some have been closer than others. From Russia With Love and Casino Royale particularly: two movies which you also found entertaining, most probably for the same reasons. Entertaining doesn't need to mean unrealistic, underwritten, flawed.

What's amazing about Skyfall is it's thin on the most integral Bond ingredients, albeit while managing to tell an engaging story.
Breaking it down:

Bond Villain: approx 10 mins of screen time
Bond Girl: approx 5 mins of screen time
Espionage: 3/10
Intrigue: 4/10
One liners: 4/10
Theme music: 2/10
Raw Grit: 4/10

It's perfectly entertaining in a kind of TV Drama matinee way, and the relationship with Q was the film's best theme and M probably the best new character. It's a much better 'film' than most of Moore's carry-on, Brosnan's superman and Dalton's feeble stand-in, and for that reason it's in the upper end of the spectrum - but in terms of a Bond film, I just can't believe the hype.

[xbl0x180]

Judy Dench annoys me to no end, so if she plays an integral part in the new Bond movie, then I can wait for it to pop on video or on teevee. The new Casino Royale was good, but Judy Dench, the intro, and the hack dialogue with Vesper drove it down for me. It had some good action sequences and the villain was excellent.

I don't see why the Sir Roger Moore stuff gets such a bad rap, though. They usually have a great music score, beautiful girls, and decent choreographed action and chase scenes

[Randorama]

I re-read Moon Raker, and I think that it would make an excellent Bond movie, if adapted verbatim...well, they would need Drax to be someone else than a Nazist.

As per Bond's character in the movies. I am pretty sure that some member of the Broccoli clan conceded that, after From Russia with love, they decided to mangle the character, and turn the series into a zany technopop style of movie. They knew that a faithful rendition of the character wouldn't have survived long, since Bond is a pretty dark, immoral character in the books, and people did not want that.

To an extent, Casino Royale was an exception to the rule, in being a Bond movie with an actual Bond in it, more or less.

For the shit & giggles part: I will be giving a lecture (1 hour, really) on Bond and other spy novels and movies, within a literature course in my department. The particurlarly bizarre part is that I am a linguist within an English department, and yet it turns out that I know more about this topic than everyone else. To say nothing about my lecture on Lovecraft and fantasy novels...

[njiska]

For the shit & giggles part: I will be giving a lecture (1 hour, really) on Bond and other spy novels and movies, within a literature course in my department. The particurlarly bizarre part is that I am a linguist within an English department, and yet it turns out that I know more about this topic than everyone else. To say nothing about my lecture on Lovecraft and fantasy novels...

I'd be interested in your lecture on Lovecraft.

[CMoon]

For the shit & giggles part: I will be giving a lecture (1 hour, really) on Bond and other spy novels and movies, within a literature course in my department. The particurlarly bizarre part is that I am a linguist within an English department, and yet it turns out that I know more about this topic than everyone else. To say nothing about my lecture on Lovecraft and fantasy novels...

I'd be interested in your lecture on Lovecraft.

Will you be doing it in English? I look forward to your podcast.

[CMoon]

It's a much better 'film' than most of Moore's carry-on, Brosnan's superman and Dalton's feeble stand-in, and for that reason it's in the upper end of the spectrum - but in terms of a Bond film, I just can't believe the hype.

When you said this it made me realize our opinions were still quite a bit closer than it might seem. Skyfall isn't a perfect film, with a few scenes that don't make the most sense, and some missed opportunities. I hear that criticism, and I really do think it is up to the bond fan whether they buy into what's going on here or not. For me, it works very nicely, but yes, the plot is shallow and the attempt to make the villian somehow horrific doesn't really work...he's far too distilled (I like to think The Joker in TDK is somehow distilled from Se7en and Silence of the Lambs), and that just doesn't leave enough to really grasp. Probably it is the wrong direction. Probably the villian shouldn't have been horrific at all, but another Bond in every way, except having gone rogue.

So, I don't mean this film couldn't be better, or that it is even representative of Bond, but I think its a good film and holds up better for me (even as a bond film) than the vast majority of Bond films (all those stinkers you mention above.) So ironically, however different you think our opinions are, it's probably just shades of grey.

[system11]

Underground - 5/10

It had some good shocks and gore, but this one is pretty unoriginal and the script and direction in the early stages is woeful. Some of the editing seems nearly random too. Nasty creatures living in bunkers basically, at least the creature makeup is good.

[Skykid]

It's a much better 'film' than most of Moore's carry-on, Brosnan's superman and Dalton's feeble stand-in, and for that reason it's in the upper end of the spectrum - but in terms of a Bond film, I just can't believe the hype.

When you said this it made me realize our opinions were still quite a bit closer than it might seem. Skyfall isn't a perfect film, with a few scenes that don't make the most sense, and some missed opportunities. I hear that criticism, and I really do think it is up to the bond fan whether they buy into what's going on here or not. For me, it works very nicely, but yes, the plot is shallow and the attempt to make the villian somehow horrific doesn't really work...he's far too distilled (I like to think The Joker in TDK is somehow distilled from Se7en and Silence of the Lambs), and that just doesn't leave enough to really grasp. Probably it is the wrong direction. Probably the villian shouldn't have been horrific at all, but another Bond in every way, except having gone rogue.

So, I don't mean this film couldn't be better, or that it is even representative of Bond, but I think its a good film and holds up better for me (even as a bond film) than the vast majority of Bond films (all those stinkers you mention above.) So ironically, however different you think our opinions are, it's probably just shades of grey.

Yes, I agree with this appraisal and also agree our opinions are pretty much aligned. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't unwatchable - I enjoyed it, as a sum, and I don't regret the theatre ticket: I just felt like there was plenty of unfocussed wavering into non-Bond territory. Then again it's completely wishful thinking on my part that a scriptwriter might be inspired by Casino Royale to write something of some real value, as opposed to a nice glossary of self-referential material, tied in a supremely thin narrative masquerading as an intelligible plot.
Bardem's underuse, waify backstory, and even waifier demise was frankly unforgivable, considering his ability as an actor and Mendes' alleged talent as a director.

I re-read Moon Raker, and I think that it would make an excellent Bond movie, if adapted verbatim...well, they would need Drax to be someone else than a Nazist.

As per Bond's character in the movies. I am pretty sure that some member of the Broccoli clan conceded that, after From Russia with love, they decided to mangle the character, and turn the series into a zany technopop style of movie. They knew that a faithful rendition of the character wouldn't have survived long, since Bond is a pretty dark, immoral character in the books, and people did not want that.

To an extent, Casino Royale was an exception to the rule, in being a Bond movie with an actual Bond in it, more or less.

^ Your general take here sounds spot on, in which case I think your lecture will be very interesting. Good luck with it!

[neorichieb1971]

Demons 2.

I love the fact people lock themselves in places they can't get out of over and over. Demons 2 has a weird angle on things from time to time. To the point where your thinking "Is this really the direction the movie is going?"

I'd say too much cheese to be taken seriously, the gremlin things are just too silly and the way the zombies are introduced is just kinda "out there".

[BIL]

^Utterly cheesy film - the bit at the end where the protagonist's wife is giving birth to the backing of a wailing hair-metal solo is unfortunately hilarious. Fun enough b-horror movie though, and I actually did like the freaky concept of how the "demons" can apparently travel through broadcast images. "Pizza trash," I think one of its producers referred to the movie as.

The original is much the same if you've not seen it, but marginally less trashy and with less ridiculous monster designs.

The third one is pretty interesting, apparently it was never meant to be a sequel at all and it shows... at any rate it's slow and surreal moreso than fast and cheesy. Some memorable scenes in that one, even if it's not the best movie either.

[Randorama]

Will you be doing it in English? I look forward to your podcast.

Of course I will, I can't speak Swedish (I am currently at Stockholm Uni).

I don't know if I can share the powerpoint, and no podcasts, I don't record my own lectures.
If nobody arrests me, I'll share the glory of the powerpointsz000rz, though.

I had two martinis after dinner, tonight. Shaken, not stirred, pace Bond, by the way.
I think that I'll read Casino Royale again tomorrow, and see how to insert Rolling Thunder in the lecture, while looking like I completely make sense.

Speaking of Skyfall, I had a literature colleague who observed that the resemblances with the Dark Knight second movie stem from the use of a foil as a main antagonist. To cut a long theoretical rant short, any text which involves character vs. foil will have very limited narrative moves to develop in.

[CMoon]

Damn, I should go back and read some of the early bond books. Its been so long.

[trap15]

Just watched Bulletproof starring Gary Busey.

Holy shit, I wouldn't have lasted through the whole thing without my trusty bottle of vodka. Fucking hilariously bad.

BUTTHORN!!

[GaijinPunch]

Was he as big of an absolute nutjob in the movie as he is in real life?

[trap15]

Was he as big of an absolute nutjob in the movie as he is in real life?

Abso-fucking-lutely, haha. We had a drinking game where we would take a drink every time he did something completely insane, or said 'Butthorn'. I was fucking wasted at the end.

[system11]

Storage 24 - 7/10

Low budget survival horror with a little humour thrown in. Some of the CGI is ropey but good for the most part. There's nothing special in here but unlike a lot of films, it actually held my attention and I didn't hate any of the characters. Worth checking out, quite graphic in places considering the 15 rating.

[Skykid]

Mad Max 2: Road Warrior

Just came back from seeing this at the Prince Charles Cinema on an original grainy, crackly film reel grinding out 1980's grit to compliment the torque, oil and gasoline fuelled apocalyptic road war of the movie itself. Truly a hi-octane thematic spectacle of the highest order, 100% Hokuto no Ken, 100% mad: an exhaustingly entertaining opera of violence and automobile carnage. They sure don't make 'em like this anymore.

[GaijinPunch]

Damn, nice. Raod Warrior is on my Wish List at Amazon. Maybe Santa will bring it to me. Nice to see it in the theater... I don't suppose anyone screamed an anti semitic epithets did they?

Innocence

I can't really give this a rating I guess I'm not exactly what the fuck just happened. Kind of love and hate. Artistic expression done well, and some really impressive stuff. The whole idea of questioning what consciousness is is interesting, although not sure if there is anything to add on from the first GitS. CGI is not seamless, and there's way too much of it. I'm also curious if anyone (including the director) would have known what the fuck happened in about 3 key scenes had the character not literally spelled it out for the viewer.

I'd watch it again though.

[system11]

Don't Let Him In - 4/10

Low budget slasher film - what a mess this one is. In fact 4 may be generous and it earned it in the final scene.

Innocence

I'd watch it again though.

I love that one, it does improve with repeat viewings. In fact I love everything in the entire GITS list.

[GaijinPunch]

Don't Let Him In - 4/10

Low budget slasher film - what a mess this one is. In fact 4 may be generous.

You shouldn't have let him in!

[system11]

Mad Max 2: Road Warrior

Just came back from seeing this at the Prince Charles Cinema on an original grainy, crackly film reel grinding out 1980's grit to compliment the torque, oil and gasoline fuelled apocalyptic road war of the movie itself. Truly a hi-octane thematic spectacle of the highest order, 100% Hokuto no Ken, 100% mad: an exhaustingly entertaining opera of violence and automobile carnage. They sure don't make 'em like this anymore.

I'm jealous - are they still showing it? Where is it?

I've got the BRs of the first two Mad Max films, they're acceptable - have to be careful with the first one though to get the version with the original audio intact. Some parts of the second have a very poor picture - especially the night time scene with the boomerang kid.

[GaijinPunch]

I assume some of that noise in the dark is hard, or impossible to get rid of.

[mesh control]

Mad Max 2: Road Warrior

Just came back from seeing this at the Prince Charles Cinema on an original grainy, crackly film reel grinding out 1980's grit to compliment the torque, oil and gasoline fuelled apocalyptic road war of the movie itself. Truly a hi-octane thematic spectacle of the highest order, 100% Hokuto no Ken, 100% mad: an exhaustingly entertaining opera of violence and automobile carnage. They sure don't make 'em like this anymore.

Hell yeah, brother.
Watching Mad Max right now.

[CMoon]

[Skykid]

Mad Max 2: Road Warrior

Just came back from seeing this at the Prince Charles Cinema on an original grainy, crackly film reel grinding out 1980's grit to compliment the torque, oil and gasoline fuelled apocalyptic road war of the movie itself. Truly a hi-octane thematic spectacle of the highest order, 100% Hokuto no Ken, 100% mad: an exhaustingly entertaining opera of violence and automobile carnage. They sure don't make 'em like this anymore.

I'm jealous - are they still showing it? Where is it?

I've got the BRs of the first two Mad Max films, they're acceptable - have to be careful with the first one though to get the version with the original audio intact. Some parts of the second have a very poor picture - especially the night time scene with the boomerang kid.

Prince Charles Cinema in London, but it was a one-off (like most stuff they show.) I'm sure it will be on again though. I somehow managed to forget to mention all theatre tickets came with a free bottle of beer and a slice of pizza! Truly awesome.

Although I understand preservation by way of Blu-Ray and DVD, I honestly can't get enough of the original film stock, no matter how worn out. It was like a time capsule to the 80's, and the audio was terrific.

Hell yeah, brother.
Watching Mad Max right now.

Amen!

[njiska]

Prince Charles Cinema in London, but it was a one-off (like most stuff they show.) I'm sure it will be on again though. I somehow managed to forget to mention all theatre tickets came with a free bottle of beer and a slice of pizza! Truly awesome.

Although I understand preservation by way of Blu-Ray and DVD, I honestly can't get enough of the original film stock, no matter how worn out. It was like a time capsule to the 80's, and the audio was terrific.

A: That is awesome. All movies should come with free beer
B: Blu-Ray is no means of preservation. Pure 4K, 8K (correct relevant resolution for size of film) transfers are, but yeah, I love film too if it's watchable. I can remember watching Army of Darkness in a little shithole theatre about 5 years ago and it was great, but the film had deteriorated to the point where some scenes were more dirt than picture.

Remins me the local cinema has a one night only showing of Quadrophenia that I should check out.

[drauch]

Hell yeah! Mad Max shaped my life more than most things. Still need leather pants, though. A local theater of mine is showing some stuff this upcoming month: Ghostbusters, Poltergeist, Terminator, Smokey and the Bandit , Gremlins, and a few others, if I recall. Caught a showing of Robocop a few years back. Was glorious to see on the big screen. Same thing when some random dude found a copy of Damnation Alley and brought it to the local indie theater. This was back when the hopes of a DVD weren't even fathomable. Easily a highlight of my drab existence. Wish they could do this stuff more often.

[drauch]

Speaking of, I guess I watched some stuff today:

All Dogs Go to Heaven - Haven't seen this in a long time. Don Bluth before he totally went to shit, although you can kinda see the mediocrity slowly slip in. A fairly fun, sometimes dark flick that is sadly marred by some horrendous musical numbers (usually really out of place) and some blatant morality lessons. Still, a well animated movie, just not Bluth's best. The last film by child star Judith Barsi. Released posthumously after her father murdered her and her mother, then shot himself and set the house ablaze. Odd.

Expendables 2 - Saw it in theater again before the DVD release. My thoughts have already been expressed.

Maximum Conviction - DTV with Steven Seagal, Steve Austin and Michael Pare. Woooooooooooow, Seagal is probably at his fattest. He wears a do-rag/hat, large vest and tactical goggles almost the entirety of the movie. He kinda looks like Bugs Bunny from the 1941 short Tortoise Beats Hare. I'll put a picture at the bottom just so you have the right perspective. Lots of silly action. Typical DTV stuff, although this one is probably more fun than most. A few interesting kills and some mouthy dialogue from both Seagal and Austin make it at least worth a Redbox.

[Skykid]

A: That is awesome. All movies should come with free beer
B: Blu-Ray is no means of preservation. Pure 4K, 8K (correct relevant resolution for size of film) transfers are, but yeah, I love film too if it's watchable. I can remember watching Army of Darkness in a little shithole theatre about 5 years ago and it was great, but the film had deteriorated to the point where some scenes were more dirt than picture.

There were a few scenes that were getting there! When the film stock switched between scenes, there were a few minutes that had really started to lose their clarity, but for the most part it was clear and vivid, at least underneath all that grit and a little juddering. I forgot how beautiful colours look on old film actually, it was surprising.

[lilmanjs]

The Wings of the Kirin. A good mystery movie that is a the second one based off of the Japanese drama series Shinzanmono. The movie was great, so I would have to assume the book its based off of, would be as well. Good story and even gets you thinking that the killer died. Good twist in the movie and I'm not sure if it was just a dvd only release or actually in theaters in Japan. Either way, if you like mystery movies, this is one to check out.