Movies you've just watched

[system11]

Sweetwater / Sweet Vengeance (2013) - ***

Lovely camera work, a solid (if simple) story and a collection of strong performances. A film that looks back at the days of spaghetti westerns with a tale about a woman, a preacher and a sheriff. It's a very relaxing film to watch and very engaging, Ed Harris was a joy to watch as the sheriff - highly recommended!

[lilmanjs]

Sound City.
I didn't really know a whole lot about the music studio other than Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty recorded there. Was an interesting movie and that huge recording console has gotten a good home. I find it worth watching if you haven't see the documentary yet.

[KAI]

The Return of the Living Dead
A fucking masterpiece.

[EmperorIng]

Black Cobra, starring Fred "the Hammer" Williamson.

This low-grade Italian knock-off cop movie was surprisingly entertaining. The action scenes were fun to watch, and there was enough funny dialogue in the down-time to make things enjoyable - "The only time you should be opening your mouth is to fill it with the food I made you!"

It was charmingly cheap, with dodgy camera work, and unlike most B-movies, there isn't a half-hour stretch where nothing happens.

Black Cobra is really fun, with a great surprise twist at the end!

[blackoak]

fairly active film life these days...

the conversation: Hadn't seen this in a long time, so good. Showed it to a friend who has previously confined his artistic ventures to genre stuff (admittedly the better stuff, like lovecraft, howard, dunsany, tolkien). He really liked it, giving me hope for a new dimension to our friendship.

blow-up: This I had never seen, though I'm familiar with Antonioni through L'aventurra. I didn't care much for the ultra-stilted dialogue and interactions... I have no priggish attitude toward the avant-garde, but this just didn't come off for me. I tend to find narratives that circle around the doubting of reality to be quite boring. See: On Certainty for the succinct critique. The ending is 5 stars though.

I was born, but... : Older Ozu silent film. Not bad, certainly lighter than Tokyo Story. Though the soundtrack was kind of "meh."

Man with a Movie Camera: Surprisingly I'd never seen this. Excellent, optimistic, and in terms of aesthetic the clear antecedent of stuff like Koyanisquatsi. I really liked the second half with the very lyrical scenes of athleticism and leisure. I saw it with the Nyman soundtrack, which was a kind of "phillip glass lite" thing... I felt it struck a fitting aspirational tone for most of it.

After Earth: hah, went in for a laugh but it wasn't that bad. I mean, this was a stupid movie for sure, but not Battlefield Earth level as I had heard. M Night Shyamalan wants so hard to write meaningful movies but he can't examine anything except in the most comic book-y way. I've heard him say thats all he wants to do with his films, but it sounds like fake-modest bullshit given the way he "arts" up every other scene and whacks you with the HAMMER OF SYMBOLIZM.


...regarding Into Darkness (can someone explain that title to me? anyone?), I don't disagree that its "good" for a brainless space action flick. That's sad to me for two reasons though: one is just the general degredation of sci-fi generally. I'm hoping Game of Thrones, flawed as it is, inspires some more intelligent excursions in sci-fi too. But I doubt it. GoT is good because it injects some maturity into what is essentially a character drama in fantasy trappings, but science fiction is the genre of change, speculation, and progress. Hmmm... I wonder why we don't see much thoughtful sci-fi... heh.

Second is seeing Star Trek specifically brought down to that level. Not that Star Trek had a great track record since DS9 went off the air, but it always stood in counterpoint to the many dystopian scenarios of the future with its optimism and generally humanitarian tone. TNG especially... I watched Night Terrors and The Drumhead episodes last night and just ruminated sadly on how stories like these would never get made in today's climate. Sure, Into Darkness has its "drones R bad" nod, but the central conflict is really just about comic book good guys and comic book bad guys dukin' it out. And it has some disgustingly negative things to say about people, like the idea that a father would just murder hundreds or thousands of people to save his daughter. I guess there's a terrorist inside us all, guyz.

I don't like to tilt at windmills--but they just keep building them.

[boagman]

Not that Star Trek had a great track record since DS9 went off the air...

And now, I can safely ignore everything you say...

If DS9 is the bar, dude: that's about the lowest possible standard out there.

[CMoon]

Just saw Iron Man 3. Honestly thought it ruled for what it was and what it was trying to be. Not fine art, but some damn good popcorn. Far and away better than the previous two films which were actually pretty good. Feeling like these Marvel films are on a tear ever since the Avengers. I hate to say it, but was even mildly taken it by the dumb-as-shit Thor 2 trailer which looked to be dumb on a level I might really appreciate.

Speaking of trailers, saw the teaser for Catching Fire and either I'm failing to remember the book properly or the film isn't following the book. ???

[CMoon]

Not that Star Trek had a great track record since DS9 went off the air...

And now, I can safely ignore everything you say...

LOL; dude spends the first half of his post talking about classic cinema and art house films and you write him off because he mentions DS9. LOVE IT!

[CMoon]

After Earth: hah, went in for a laugh but it wasn't that bad. I mean, this was a stupid movie for sure, but not Battlefield Earth level as I had heard. M Night Shyamalan wants so hard to write meaningful movies but he can't examine anything except in the most comic book-y way. I've heard him say thats all he wants to do with his films, but it sounds like fake-modest bullshit given the way he "arts" up every other scene and whacks you with the HAMMER OF SYMBOLIZM.

I like how this is (at a minimum) the second film by Shyamalan that they've concealed who the director is. Trust me, I think he's a failed director, but the strategy of giving him money but hiding who is directing it seems pretty weird to me.

[blackoak]

Do you mean Avatar? I think every over movie he's done has his name upfront... I saw Avatar, but it came pre-lubed with Forgettableness and slipped gently from one ear out the other.

re: DS9, I'm not saying its a masterpiece or anything. I really like Star Trek but I've no problem admitting that every iteration is flawed, even the best ones. DS9 had an awful lot of fluff'n'filler, but I liked a lot of the stories and what it was trying to be in response to TNG. It also resisted becoming purely a "war" show like Babylon 5 did about halfway through.

[system11]

High Fidelity - *****

Watched again tonight, I love the script in this film and the casting was absolutely perfect. I've yet to read the book, I don't see any way I could enjoy it more than the film. I used to be involved in running a music night, I know a few people like Rob who have an encyclopedic knowledge of music and vast collections of vinyl, and the character is spot on.

[Ixmucane2]

Star Trek: Into Darkness

A reasonable story (except for the Klingon war issue), but an excessively hasty treatment: too much action and too little talking. Giving much of the dialogue to the bad guy or to secondary characters (Uhura, for instance, speaks about 60% more than she should) doesn't help. Plot twists are beyond predictable, maybe intentionally.

Spoiler: Kirk and Spock do not kiss each other. Maybe next time.

[Moniker]

Spoiler: Kirk and Spock do not kiss each other. Maybe next time.

It is so gonna happen eventually. The overcompensation is a giveaway.

[lilmanjs]

Thieves
A Korean movie that takes place in Macau(sp?). Two teams of thieves from Korea and Hong Kong are roped in to do a job to get a diamond called The sunshine diamond. A good look at Hong Kong through korean eyes and was impressed that this was not only flashy, but the plot made sense and was well acted. The dvd says its the best selling move in korea.

[PlanetHarriers]

High Fidelity - *****

Watched again tonight, I love the script in this film and the casting was absolutely perfect. I've yet to read the book, I don't see any way I could enjoy it more than the film. I used to be involved in running a music night, I know a few people like Rob who have an encyclopedic knowledge of music and vast collections of vinyl, and the character is spot on.

High Fidelity is a great film. Its a long time since I read the book, but its set in London and I remember enjoying it immensely.

The last book I read of his was 'A long way down', which has suicide as its main theme, but quite comedic in places. Highly recommended!

[Ixmucane2]

House at the End of the Street

The protagonist is Elissa, an implausibly attractive high school student (Jennifer Lawrence, very good but implausibly attractive) move to a town in a place which might be Pennsylvania with her implausibly attractive mother (Elizabeth Shue, very good but implausibly attractive).

They have a nice house in the woods (at the edge of a national park, but despite the number of outside scenes no animals are ever seen) and in the house at the end of the street (ridiculously close to theirs, 100 to 200 meters of wild forest), an orphan lives alone and goes to college: a few years ago his sister, as seen in the prologue, has murdered both parents and escaped to the woods.

Elissa falls in love with him, and an amazing amount of time is dedicated to traditional high school drama (a female friend, a male jerk, a band, etc.), small-town life (mainly complaints about how the murders harmed house prices), familial relationships (Elissa's mother has just divorced and tries to be a better parent than before). It seems a non-horror film with a peculiarly depressing character who stands out.

This idyll is replaced by a more traditional fight against someone dangerous in the latter part of the film, after a couple of rather sudden transitions; there are genuine plot surprises, like an apparently important character dying prematurely and a rather unexpected aggression causing the final crisis, but also flatly obvious non-twists (e.g. how the deranged killer became mad: clearly implied, including details, as soon as his/her identity is confirmed but "saved" for the very last scene).

Many of the traditional mistakes horror characters never seem to avoid are committed, on both sides: carelessly leaving evidence around, checking whether someone is dead by getting close and taking their pulse rather than with a handgun, not recharging flashlight batteries, leaving keys in the wrong places, etc.
Deserving of a special mention: Bill the lonely policeman, who works by himself, never calls for backup, and appears to be the only cop in town (someone calls him on the radio, briefly, once, but it might be a civilian).

On the whole, a nice thriller in the non-supernatural class. Distinguished by a very short transition between complete peace and a final battle to the death, without scaring and threatening and losing sanity, it compensates with realism the lack of horrific situations.

[neorichieb1971]

Superman : Man of Steel

Already had a warning before going in about too much action. 1st half of the movie is really good and holds up well against 10/10 material. 2nd half of the movie the storyline became non existent and took a back seat to an hour or more of never ending explosions.

I don't have anything against action as it does have its place and quite often or not becomes the highlight of the movie. However, in this and certain other movies its done a bit too much. Remember the 3rd Matrix movie where neo and Agent Smith do this 20 minute scrap at the end, causing all kinds of digital mayhem? Well multiply that by 3 or 4.

S :MOS just doesn't offer enough variety or varying pace in the 2nd half. Zack Snyder just got lots of ideas from the Matrix 3 and All of the Transformers movies and rolled it into one. It went on for so long you thought to yourself "how is this going to end? Superman has done everything to kill off his foe". Then it comes... And when it does, your just relieved there is no more action. You will go home, check your ears for partial deafness and have visions of flying through just about anything in the first perspective.

Another slight criticism is the close up action. If your going to spend a gazillion $ on action effects at least let the audience get a perspective. Quite a few scenes are way too close up. The music of John Williams was so missed as well.

Its a long movie and the 1st half deserves lots of credit, but I am afraid the last half doesn't do justice to the 1st. 7/10.

[lilmanjs]

The Last Stand
Arnold doesn't provide the best performance of his career in this movie, but there is a story that makes sense, and the action is balanced out quite nicely. Johnny Knoxville is a good comedy escape and actually I found him for the first time to actually have talent in acting. Overall its not the greatest movie, but I enjoyed it and its one of the better Arnold movies. Though I could easily tell the director of photography was Korean by many of the shots, especially with some of the car chase scenes. Giving it a solid ***.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yep, I liked The Last Stand's high-speed chase scenes (especially the one inside a corn field of all places to have one -- ain't nothing like driving full throttle & blind with loads of ears of corn smashing into the driver's windshield) between a modded 2012 Corvette ZR-1 and a 2012 Chevy Camaro (could be mistaken for a red colored Bumblebee/Cliffjumper character in disguise hinting at the upcoming newest Transformers flick sequel)...priceless. The stunt driving scenes with the ZR-1 was impressive, especially with some of the advanced drifting skills for a rear 2WD car -- it's easy to wipeout with all that insane horsepower under the hood, indeed. Sure, TLS is a homage to those old-school action films of the late 80s and into the early 1990s.

The high-speed car chase scenes in To Live And Die in L.A. are insane...the upcoming Vehicle 19 with actor Paul Walker (of the the Fast and the Furious franchise fame) with it's multitude of high-speed car chases looks to be a fun romp.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Skykid]

Man of Steel

DO NOT PAY FOR THIS PIECE OF SHIT MOVIE.

Half directed, complete non-commitment from its cast, horrible acting (can you call it that?) And seriously, no shiznit, the WORST DIALOGUE EVER. EVER.

It's so atrociously written it was like a never ending stabbing sensation to the ears. "He did it," says the man, stating the obvious. "Get away from here, it's not safe." advises Superman after an entire city block has been annihilated. "Where do I tinkle?" asks Lane, in an unnecessary sarcastic tone. "There's a bucket in the corner, " replies man, in an unnecessary sarcastic tone.

God, shoot that script writer in the fucking face, I don't care if he is four years old.

Lois Lane: worst casting ever. Icy bitch who can't act + zero charisma.

When Kevin Costner is the best actor in your movie, alarm bells should start ringing.

Who were the bad guys? Some generic dicky all American alien asswipes on a ridiculously implausible crusade, talking waffle about inane stupid shit no-one cares about.

What happened to the Clark Kent fun? The identity hiding? The phone booth flashing? Ditched, for a film with no plot, no sense, no integrity, no character. A sloppy, fractured, depressingly flat tone with nothing but yawn inducing special effects. For real, by the time they'd killed a million people, aped Independence Day, and trolled through every hackneyed bullshit cliche possible, I was begging for it to end. But it didn't. It just carried on ruining Superman by robbing the character of all his character for about 45 more minutes, reducing him to another load of ABC Hollywood garbage.

This film is trash. Fuck Zack Snyder, fuck that scriptwriter, and pre-emptively fuck anyone who says they thought it was an "ok movie."

Gah, to bed!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Hell Comes to Frogtown.



Why do I think they had a good time making it?




As if everybody had been into it. A labour of love.

[jonny5]

So I went and saw World War Z last night. I can honestly say I haven't walked out of a movie that disappointed in a very long time. They pretty much stripped out everything that made the book interesting. To make things worse, they showed pretty much all the best sequences in the movie in the previews, so there really weren't any surprises. Oh, and no blood or gore; like, not just limited blood and gore....none.

As far as great books turned into movies go, this was on par with Battlefield Earth....really. It honestly felt like watching the cut scenes from a game strung together for a movie. They even had whole shots(the aircraft carrier) that were pure CGI, including the people, so it totally looked like a game cut scene.

My biggest fear at this point is this had a $125mill budget, so if it tanks, we probably won't be seeing any more big budget zombie flix for a very long time.

So disappointed

[Acid King]

I haven't seen Man of Steel, but I can believe it being pretty awful. This sums up my feelings about Superman. http://twitchfilm.com/2013/06/destroy-a ... erman.html

Also, for those of you with taste in the Los Angeles area, there's a showing of Le Samourai coming up in July.
http://www.cinefamily.org/films/the-gre ... film-club/

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Went & saw World War Z in digital 3D format...it was interesting. It's not your typical zombie movie if you're a horror film fan with the given PG-13 rating. I'm sure the "unrated" version of WWZ has the usual visceral gore and blood to sate the horror fans.

Actually, the production budget was at clocked at $190 million USD to make World War Z and it was originally planned to have been released on the big screen six months ago but was delayed to add more new scenes/ending. The first cut screened didn't gel well with the crew, so the film crew went back and re-shot some all new scenes with an all new alternate ending in place (instead of the original ending that was shot). So overall, a new 40 minutes of filming were done which contributed to the overall bloated budget.

Max Brook author of the book that the WWZ flick was based on, is Mel Brook's son indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Raytrace]

there is a double bill of Terminator and Streets Of Fire in a cinema in Dublin in October - I might venture out into the world for that one

[EmperorIng]

If it's close by, Terminator+Streets of Fire sounds like an awesome double-feature.

My older brother, upon watching Blade Runner for the first time with me (or rather, he lost interest and drifted in and out), called it slow, dull, and boring. How can I put up with such clear lack of taste?

[chum]

Some greats I saw the last month or whatever, that's recent enough I guess

Trains Are for Dreaming (dir. Jennifer Reeves) 2009
Wendy and Lucy (dir. Kelly Reichardt) 2008
Dragon's Return (dir. Eduard Grecner) 1968
The Human Condition trilogy (dir. Masaki Kobayashi) 1958, 1959, 1961

Really taken with these, but nothing I would put on a top 50.

[blackoak]

How was the Human Condition trilogy? I've been thinking about starting it, but its so long.

[drauch]

How was the Human Condition trilogy? I've been thinking about starting it, but its so long.

Yeah, same here. I'm glad they got a re-release a couple of years ago. I remember when blokes were shelling out $50+ just for one part of the trilogy. Tatsuya Nakadai is such a phenomenal actor. I really need to just buy the damned thing.

[drauch]

If it's close by, Terminator+Streets of Fire sounds like an awesome double-feature.

My older brother, upon watching Blade Runner for the first time with me (or rather, he lost interest and drifted in and out), called it slow, dull, and boring. How can I put up with such clear lack of taste?

You'd be a fool to miss such a double-feature! I'm certainly jealous. Nothing ever like that around these parts.

How can you put up with such clear lack of taste? And of all things, Blade Runner!

You don't.