Movies you've just watched

[xris]

I'm a huge fan of death maze movies myself. But, there really aren't many at all.. A couple that fall into the fringe of that catagory -
Triangle
The People Under the Stairs
City of Ember
Saw 2 ( a couple if the saw movies do this theme well, but they're also Saw movies)
Pandorum (mixed in with the three other action horror elements)
Silent Hill

There's got to be more, anybody else got a couple?

Just saw You're Next - a completely fantastic home envasion slasher. Nothing new, but really well made with a great final girl.
The World's End - better than I expected. Was really funny, Simon Pegg was great, and the action in it was alot of fun.

[DEL]

After Earth - On the pure entertainment level - very good.
On the symbolic level - also quite interesting. Not to post any big spoilers but the huge eagle that dies is symbolic of the American Eagle. The aliens are called URSA which of course means Bear. The Bear always means Russia. Line from the movie; "URSA is not contained."
There's more - the boy is called Kitai and his sister tells him; "Its time to come out of the box." Kitai is a Russian name for China.
So we have all three superpowers hidden in this film. Something is set to happen between these three.

[Mischief Maker]

After Earth - On the pure entertainment level - very good.
On the symbolic level - also quite interesting. Not to post any big spoilers but the huge eagle that dies is symbolic of the American Eagle. The aliens are called URSA which of course means Bear. The Bear always means Russia. Line from the movie; "URSA is not contained."
There's more - the boy is called Kitai and his sister tells him; "Its time to come out of the box." Kitai is a Russian name for China.
So we have all three superpowers hidden in this film. Something is set to happen between these three.

Amazing! And what secret messages have the Illuminati put into Rebecca Black's "Friday?"

You would think the overlords of the secret world government would have learned about email, or at least bike couriers by now, instead of messaging each other via multimillion dollar hollywood flops playing in multiplexes worldwide. Imagine the shudder that goes through their spines every time they see a preview that says "By M. Night Shyamalan" and they must resign themselves to having to spend another 2 hours of their miserable lives sitting through "The Happening" for an update on their plant toxin mind-control research.

Or maybe, just maybe, the film makers figured this ego project was box office poison in the US and most of its money would be made in China where a much more talented voice actor would be dubbed over Jaden Smith.

[Skykid]

Or maybe, just maybe, the film makers figured this ego project was box office poison in the US and most of its money would be made in China where a much more talented voice actor would be dubbed over Jaden Smith.

Foreign films in China are all subtitled.

After Earth is perfectly watchable, certainly not as bad as the anti-hype would have you believe. Just also happens to have really terrible decisions in there to cripple it. Like Jaden Smith.

I didn't get the illuminati in it though.

[lilmanjs]

Triangle.
Three directors for this movie, and at times you can tell the different styles of shooting, but this comes out to be a good movie. A heist that goes as planed, but everything after that starts taking a turn for the worst. A nice but somewhat strange ending to the movie though. I really just wish the last scene of the movie wasn't the first thing you see when you finally make it to the dvd menu.

[Skykid]

Dante's The Howling. Again. Can't get enough of the movie, too much awesome.

[DEL]

Mischief Maker wrote:

Amazing! And what secret messages have the Illuminati put into Rebecca Black's "Friday?"

You would think the overlords of the secret world government would have learned about email, or at least bike couriers by now, instead of messaging each other via multimillion dollar hollywood flops playing in multiplexes worldwide. Imagine the shudder that goes through their spines every time they see a preview that says "By M. Night Shyamalan" and they must resign themselves to having to spend another 2 hours of their miserable lives sitting through "The Happening" for an update on their plant toxin mind-control research.

Or maybe, just maybe, the film makers figured this ego project was box office poison in the US and most of its money would be made in China where a much more talented voice actor would be dubbed over Jaden Smith.

lol
What have you been smokin'? I mention the word symbolism and you go off talking about an extinct 200 year old bunch of Bavarians

----------------------------------------

Anyway, back to the real World.

Just seen Sample This. A fascinating history of The Incredible Bongo Band and their track "Apache" which became the Hip Hop anthem. I've seen documentaries about DJ Kool Herc before. About how he took Jamaican Dance Hall to the Bronx, starting house parties and Block Parties and experimenting with extended break beats. But this film shows how he found Apache in a record store bargain bin and noticed how it electrified the people at his house parties.
The history of the band itself is also fascinating. Involving Bobby Kennedy, Charles Manson and the very best musicians in America at the time.
I highly recommend Sample This if you like your Hip Hop.

[emphatic]

Thanks for the tip, DEL!

[charlie chong]

damn that sounds real interesting..i've still got my og copy of the incredible bongo band lp.
i am very interested in the bobby/manson connection to say the least cos i never knew they had links to incredible bongo band and i love bobby's soundtrakc to the kenneth anger film luceifer rising.the amount of celebrity/artist/famous links to manson is a massive web of weirdness that will always blow my mind.

[DEL]

My pleasure emphatic and charlie,

I also bought ICE T's History of Rap DVD a little while back. Couple that with Sample This and you've got a Hip Hop history. I also recommend 80 Blocks from Tiffanys on Youtube if you're also interested in 70s Bronx gangs and the film The Warriors.

charlie - I'm glad the Charles Manson weirdness intrigues you. Me too. One of the members of the Incredible Bongo Band spent time with Manson and his drug-filled cult. Manson came after him with an axe and he hid in the desert for three days.
Then there's the Roman Polanski episode with Manson and the death of Dennis Wilson the Beach Boy drummer also linked with Manson.

--------------------
Against Skykid's warning I just watched Elysium. Damn fine film! The usual dystopian near future with the Elites living La Vida Loca and the rest of us being oppressed by a police state controlled by the Elites. But that's nothing new. The Hunger Games has the exact same regime. The future Elites still using Homeland Security was a nice touch .

[charlie chong]

My pleasure emphatic and charlie,

I also bought ICE T's History of Rap DVD a little while back. Couple that with Sample This and you've got a Hip Hop history. I also recommend 80 Blocks from Tiffanys on Youtube if you're also interested in 70s Bronx gangs and the film The Warriors.

charlie - I'm glad the Charles Manson weirdness intrigues you. Me too. One of the members of the Incredible Bongo Band spent time with Manson and his drug-filled cult. Manson came after him with an axe and he hid in the desert for three days.
Then there's the Roman Polanski episode with Manson and the death of Dennis Wilson the Beach Boy drummer also linked with Manson.

--------------------
Against Skykid's warning I just watched Elysium. Damn fine film! The usual dystopian near future with the Elites living La Vida Loca and the rest of us being oppressed by a police state controlled by the Elites. But that's nothing new. The Hunger Games has the exact same regime. The future Elites still using Homeland Security was a nice touch .

i saw the ice t documentary a while back and while not bad it didn't tell me much i didn't know.I love 80 blocks from tiffaney's tho .i've had a bootleg copy for years(i think it's been rereleased now).if you like 80 blocks you should watch flying cut sleeves as that features members of the savage skulls too and is just as interesting..anyone who loves the warriors should definitely watch those 2 documentaries.

the manson stuff has always interested me because he basically has links to nearly everyone involved with the counter culture(and lots of popular culture) at the time. the beach boys even covered his songs and the manson family were staying with the wilsons till they got thrown out for being pains.
the manson family by jim van bebber is an excellent if quite disturbing pseudo documentary that tells the story through flashbacks of imprisoned members of the manson family.
then there's theories about him being a government plant used to tarnish the reputation of the hippie culture.

[DEL]

charlie chong wrote;

i saw the ice t documentary a while back and while not bad it didn't tell me much i didn't know.I love 80 blocks from tiffaney's tho .i've had a bootleg copy for years(i think it's been rereleased now).if you like 80 blocks you should watch flying cut sleeves as that features members of the savage skulls too and is just as interesting..anyone who loves the warriors should definitely watch those 2 documentaries.

the manson stuff has always interested me because he basically has links to nearly everyone involved with the counter culture(and lots of popular culture) at the time. the beach boys even covered his songs and the manson family were staying with the wilsons till they got thrown out for being pains.
the manson family by jim van bebber is an excellent if quite disturbing pseudo documentary that tells the story through flashbacks of imprisoned members of the manson family.
then there's theories about him being a government plant used to tarnish the reputation of the hippie culture.

Cheers, I immediately watched Flyin' Cut Sleeves. If you listen to the Ghetto Brothers' tracks you can hear the sound of Hip Hop. Its not just the apache track that was the genesis.
I'll PM you a link to the stuff on the Hippie movement. I haven't figured out all the weirdness surrounding Manson - Polanski, Wilson etc. I do know a few secrets about Polanski though, related to why he's protected in Paris.
------------------------------
Saw RED 2 and Fast and Furious 6. Both not bad.
I didn't exactly appreciate the anti Iran propaganda in RED 2, where the Iranian Embassy are trying to buy a nuke called Nightshade.
Fast and Furious 6 is about a tech-bomb that works like an EMP, called Nightshade.
I kid you not.

[Mischief Maker]

Finally got around to watching The Avengers.

Nobody better goddamn try to sell me on "it's a turn-your-brain-off fun summer action movie" for a Michael Bay film ever again, because HERE is a great unrealistic turn-your-brain-off summer action movie and I didn't roll my eyes ONCE! See what a difference a well written script makes vs. the latest CGI skin translucence filter?

(Okay, I did roll my eyes when the superheroes act all righteously indignant when they learn the government is developing weapons to fight off the increasingly common alien invasions that have been killing people left and right in this universe.)

That said, this PG-13 film made me queasy whenever the violence began. There was something really unsettling about having to connect the dots in my head that someone just died horribly offscreen. Like that scene in the German museum where Loki attacks the scientist with some weird device and I had to think, "wait, is he using some kind of mind control device on him? Is he taking an eye copy? Oh, wait, no, he's bloodlessly tearing out the man's eyeball!" Weird how if they had just added a light splat of blood on Loki's face when he started in with that device the scene would have been a million times less disturbing.

And maybe it makes me a misogynist, but I like that after they establish that Scarlett Joahnsen's character is the typical hollywood tough skinny chick who can singlehandedly beat the shit out of a room of ex-special forces dudes while tied to a chair, she was still legitimately terrified when dealing with the Hulk.

[Mortificator]

^ Woman or man, that's the only sane response.

I just watched the next Marvel Studios movie myself, Iron Man 3. SPOILERS:











The producers were so worried about alienating the Chinese audience that we're left with a completely nonthreatening main antagonist.

[null1024]

Oh yeah, that was an problem. I laughed at the reveal, but then I realized that it killed all the menace.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Checked out the unrated Blu-Ray version of World War Z with an additional 7 minutes longer than the original theatrical version...but still retains the same ending as shown on the big screen. It's been said the Universal Pictures Studio spent a whopping bloated overall $190 million dollar budget + an addtional 6 months to reshoot the last 40 minutes of the theatrical version which is all brand new footage (with an all new ending) as they weren't too happy with the orignal ending (which has a huge firefight against the zombies taking place in Russia). Otherwise, WWZ would've been released with an originally planned December 2012 or January 2013 theatrical release date instead for the North American theatrical movie chains. The unrated version does add the appropiate blood splattered effects (even if it's CG rendered) + gore EFX needed to make it an appropiate zombie flick (aside from the super heavily edited PG-13 version released theatrically). But in order for the studio to earn more $$$ at the box office, they decided to tone it down to a more acceptable PG-13 rating to accomodate the teens audience (it's easy to see the logic in going with that business decision in hindsight). It's business as usual, folks.

Also gave the sequel to the original V/H/S aptly titled V/H/S 2 with five all-new short stories within the V/H/S anthology series a spin as well. There are some twist 'n' spins through out, so don't expect the usual horror genre staples with this fine sequel. The gore effects are much better the second time around (and with a bigger production budget ensures that this is so). You might see that some preproduction shots were dated back to June of 2012 for some of the shorts. It seems to me, that it'd likely that a V/H/S 3 sequel would be in the works right now (or wrapping up). Expect the usual tits in a horror anthology series to make an appearance in this 2nd outing, just don't expect as much like that was shown in the 1st one though. It's a given alrighty.

Heard through the grapevine that The Expendables 3 is in preproduction right now and that Bruce Willis won't be returning due to his hefty command fee to appear not being met (in otherwords, he won't be in the 3rd Expendables flick period). So yep, Barney & Co. will be back in another old-school action-shoot em' up genre fest not to be missed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[lilmanjs]

Royal Tramp
I haven't laughed quite as hard as I did in some parts of this movie in a very long time. Stands to reason being that its a Stephen Chow movie. Sure you probably shouldn't be trying to get laughs from thinking of ways to kill somebody, but they sure milked it for all its worth. Tonight its the sequel and I'm sure it won't be as good, but probably still funny.

[Skykid]

Royal Tramp
I haven't laughed quite as hard as I did in some parts of this movie in a very long time. Stands to reason being that its a Stephen Chow movie. Sure you probably shouldn't be trying to get laughs from thinking of ways to kill somebody, but they sure milked it for all its worth. Tonight its the sequel and I'm sure it won't be as good, but probably still funny.

I love Stephen Chow, he's terrific. Is this an old one or a new one?

[lilmanjs]

Royal Tramp
I haven't laughed quite as hard as I did in some parts of this movie in a very long time. Stands to reason being that its a Stephen Chow movie. Sure you probably shouldn't be trying to get laughs from thinking of ways to kill somebody, but they sure milked it for all its worth. Tonight its the sequel and I'm sure it won't be as good, but probably still funny.

I love Stephen Chow, he's terrific. Is this an old one or a new one?

Both movies are released in the early 90s, I think 1994. One of the actors who's in it I have another random movie of that is good as well, but has a different name for his acting credit than in this movie.

[Skykid]

Don't think I've seen that one, I'll need to check it out. Last I saw was Fight Back to School and then CJ7, which were great.

[system11]

I just watched Byzantium, and enjoyed it on many levels. It's worth checking out for the two lead performances alone, even if some parts of the story are a little rough.

[Leandro]

I went to theater after a long while to see "Rush". Movie's good, Niki Lauda was great

[Ixmucane2]

The Bling Ring

A great portrayal of deranged teenagers, disturbing because they aren't particularly abnormal after all (and in their Los Angeles environment they are well-adjusted and successful).
A presumably gay boy (the protagonist) and four girls break into the houses of celebrities to steal from them, and given their nonexistent criminal skills they are easily caught. Adapted from a true story.

The protagonists are petty sociopaths (the same sort who, in a typical crime story, don't have any depth beyond being plausible bad guys) and they are examined with extraordinary sensitivity and attention to details. Many great scenes, and consistently good acting. I find the handgun sequence and the first visit to Paris Hilton's house particularly memorable.
Even predictability becomes meaningful: for example, there is enough context to guess what's in every box of valuables rather easily.

No significant special effects, a lot of loud assorted pop music (including for instance Avicii and deadmau5), overwhelming amounts of lovingly collected bling (a significant portion of which should be credited to Paris Hilton...), excellent photography.

[neorichieb1971]

Kikis delivery service 8/10
The poppy hill one 8/10
Scanners 6/10
The Rocketeer 5/10
Red line (anime) 7/10

I think I picked some decent animation, but some not so good live action movies to watch this week.


Picks of 2013 -

The croods (Dreamworks animation) 9/10
Dredd 9/10

[Acid King]

I watched the new Evil Dead and wasn't all that impressed. The gore was awesome, the nods to the original series were excellent, but....


(Spoilers)


...what drove me nuts was that the guy who started it all by opening the Necronomicon and reading from it doesn't bother to tell anyone about how he opened the book or that all the shit happening correlated with passages from it until half the cast was dead. Who would open that thing up, see all the crazy shit inside, and not immediately say to everyone around them "HOLY SHIT! LOOK AT THIS CRAZY FUCKING BOOK!"? So instead of the original battle between rationality/disbelief in the supernatural that goes on in the original two movies, where the cast is actively trying to figure out what the fuck they should do with all this crazy shit going on, we get a bunch of clueless kids fed through a meatgrinder before anyone fights back, all predicated on the notion that "Oh, girl is just detoxing." What a load of shit. I also thought that using the exorcism/witch burning as the intro to the movie removed any sort of mystery for the viewer as to what the "evil" really was. It would have been much better if that would have unfolded naturally in the plot as the kids went through the cabin. Putting it at the front then making everyone but one character know what was going down and wasting half the cast makes it seem like they were more focused on showing people getting fucked up, rather than regular having to match wits with something beyond their comprehension.

[Skykid]

Blue Jasmine, new Woody Allen film. Still an utterly brilliant director, loved it. And even though Blanchett gets on my nerves, I have to hand it to her, that was a first class performance.

[GaijinPunch]

Blue Jasmine, new Woody Allen film. Still an utterly brilliant director, loved it. And even though Blanchett gets on my nerves, I have to hand it to her, that was a first class performance.

The only Woody Allen movie I can see that I watched and really enjoyed was Sweet and Low Down.

[Ruldra]

Since there's no official Hobbit thread I'm posting this here: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Official Main Trailer

HYPE!

PS: Wtf is Legolas doing there?

[DEL]

Skykid - I also saw Blue Jasmine. Powerful performance by Blanchett.

Anyway, do you guys like Science Fiction?

Of course you do, you fly spaceships in your spare time.

EUROPA REPORT



Nicely done. A 'find life on Europa mission'. It kinda fudges over the huge radiation problem, but it has to, otherwise there'd be no film. Good soundtrack too.

[MadSteelDarkness]

So, under the influence of cold meds, sleep deprivation, and netflix, i found myself watching Event Horizon for the first (and last) time. D:

I was ready for something halfways competent; a by-the-numbers Alien clone. But by the midpoint, all characters have lost any semblance of believable motivation, and the script just throws up it's hands and says,"Shit, why not, let's just rip off Hellraiser!" I can see where a film like this could have put the kibosh on Sam Neill's career, as he would have still been somewhat bankable post-Jurassic Park. At least Laurence Fishburne had The Matrix coming up a couple years later.

Truly both jaw-dropping *and* thigh slapping. Only recommended for those with a high pain threshold, under the influence of high-grade pharmaceuticals.