What have you watched recently?

EKClarke

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EKClarke

Vampyr

It's a very odd movie, by Carl Theodor Dreyer and very old. Hardly any dialogue but I saw some similarities between it and Cries & Whispers by Bergman. If you like decent movies done well and with a great atmosphere I'd recommend it.

That_Guy

Boxcar Bertha: Didn't particularly enjoy this at all. The dialogue is pretty awful and has no natural flow.

The final scene is just so over the top and contains over the top and in my opinion, needless violence.

Acting is wooden throughout with characters who have very little depth. In particular the actress who plays Bertha.

Postives: You get to see tits.

Negatives: Everything else.

----

How Empire never hired me to do reviews for them I'll never know. :pac:

Renn

It's a step up from Who's That Knocking at My Door but still poor in my opinion. Packed with religious imagery from what I remember but the story never pulled me in. Barbara Hershey was fine but some poor acting from the others. Actually liked the final scene myself Pretty memorable!

Paddy Samurai

King Kong(2005)

Watched it the weekend with the family.Seen it when it first came out.
Everyone enjoyed watching it,but it is a bit long.2 hours would have been enough.Jackson seemed to pack every saturday matinee action scene into the film.

He dies in the end

:D

krudler

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

King Kong(2005)

Watched it the weekend with the family.Seen it when it first came out.
Everyone enjoyed watching it,but it is a bit long.2 hours would have been enough.Jackson seemed to pack every saturday matinee action scene into the film.

He dies in the end

:D

what annoyed me most about the running time of Jackson's version is that he spends the first hour building all these crew member characters and most of them just vanish before it goes back to New York. its a classic case of a director over indulging themselves, the original was barely 90 minutes long told the exact same store as the 3 1/2 hour version Jackson did. I like the 2005 one overall but its got its flaws, its too much of too much in a lot of places, and it takes waaaay too long to get to the island, we dont really care about the ships crew, bring on the monkey!

That_Guy

Renn wrote: »

It's a step up from Who's That Knocking at My Door but still poor in my opinion. Packed with religious imagery from what I remember but the story never pulled me in. Barbara Hershey was fine but some poor acting from the others. Actually liked the final scene myself Pretty memorable!

The only religious imagery

came from the final scene when they nail Carradine's character to the side of the train.

Each to their own regarding the final scene. I like mindless violence as much as the next guy... Hell Battle Royale is one of my favourite films but it just didn't seem to really do it for me on this occasion.

WHIP IT!

krudler wrote: »

what annoyed me most about the running time of Jackson's version is that he spends the first hour building all these crew member characters and most of them just vanish before it goes back to New York. its a classic case of a director over indulging themselves, the original was barely 90 minutes long told the exact same store as the 3 1/2 hour version Jackson did. I like the 2005 one overall but its got its flaws, its too much of too much in a lot of places, and it takes waaaay too long to get to the island, we dont really care about the ships crew, bring on the monkey!

^^^ What he said... overall, I liked it... but a good hour of it should've ended up on the cutting room floor...

That_Guy

WHIP IT! wrote: »

^^^ What he said... overall, I liked it... but a good hour of it should've ended up on the cutting room floor...

Not a big spoiler but I'll use the tags anyway.

There was a good 10 - 15 minutes when I thought I was actually watching Jurassic Park 4 when they were being chased by the dinosaurs.

Fishooks12

Finally got around to Melancholia. I think my reluctance was due to the rather unpleasant Anti Christ

It's certainly interesting anyway. Loved the soundtrack and the opening stop motion scene.

The first half was brilliant in parts, would have loved to have seen more development of the mother character.

Dunst was a big surprise. Hopefully she'll get more challenging roles like this in future.

Renn

That_Guy wrote: »

The only religious imagery

came from the final scene when they nail Carradine's character to the side of the train.

From a review on IMDB:

"Boxcar Bertha also happens to be surprisingly loaded with religious references, painting Bill as a Jesus-like figure. Most obvious of these is the highly symbolic ending, but there are a number of more subtle hints. A scene somewhere in the middle opens with David Carradine standing before a biblical fresco, and later in the city Barbara Hershey stops to look at a film poster for The Man who Could Work Miracles. The religious angle is something which actually runs through all of Scorcese's work, rarely stated out loud but always under the surface."

Check out this link as well - Martin Scorsese: a biography By Vincent LoBrutto


Kinda backs up what I remember.

That_Guy

Renn wrote: »

From a review on IMDB:

"Boxcar Bertha also happens to be surprisingly loaded with religious references, painting Bill as a Jesus-like figure. Most obvious of these is the highly symbolic ending, but there are a number of more subtle hints. A scene somewhere in the middle opens with David Carradine standing before a biblical fresco, and later in the city Barbara Hershey stops to look at a film poster for The Man who Could Work Miracles. The religious angle is something which actually runs through all of Scorcese's work, rarely stated out loud but always under the surface."

Check out this link as well - Martin Scorsese: a biography By Vincent LoBrutto


Kinda backs up what I remember.

Interesting mate. I guess the only reason I didn't notice any religious symbolism is because the majority of it is quite subtle up to the last scene anyway.

Marty McFly

The Two Escobars: A documentary about Pablo Escobar and Andres Escobar a Columbian footballer who was murdered after the 94 World Cup.

It tells the story of Pablo Escobars rise and murder, while also telling Anres Escobars story of his rise in football to his murder. Neither were related but it shows how much the the drug money in Columbia was a big factor in Columbias rise in the football world, and while not making Pablo Escobar out to be a saint it shows some of the atrocitys he commited it also show the good he done in his own community to help the poor and how after his death Columbia spiralled out of control.

A must watch id say even if your not a football fan or the Pablo Escobar story is of no interest its a story told in a fascinating way showing what life in Columbia was like at the time.

WHIP IT!

luvbulmers01 wrote: »

The Two Escobars: A documentary about Pablo Escobar and Andres Escobar a Columbian footballer who was murdered after the 94 World Cup.

It tells the story of Pablo Escobars rise and murder, while also telling Anres Escobars story of his rise in football to his murder. Neither were related but it shows how much the the drug money in Columbia was a big factor in Columbias rise in the football world, and while not making Pablo Escobar out to be a saint it shows some of the atrocitys he commited it also show the good he done in his own community to help the poor and how after his death Columbia spiralled out of control.

A must watch id say even if your not a football fan or the Pablo Escobar story is of no interest its a story told in a fascinating way showing what life in Columbia was like at the time.

Yes, a very good doc... it's part of the ESPN 30-for-30 series which are, in the main, all excellent... The Two Escobars is certainly one of the best of the lot - quite horrifying but riveting at the same time.

Marty McFly

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Yes, a very good doc... it's part of the ESPN 30-for-30 series which are, in the main, all excellent... The Two Escobars is certainly one of the best of the lot - quite horrifying but riveting at the same time.

Oh right id never heard of any of these until I stumbled across the Two Escobars today, is there any youd recommend?

WHIP IT!

luvbulmers01 wrote: »

Oh right id never heard of any of these until I stumbled across the Two Escobars today, is there any youd recommend?

I've actually watched em all!

Of course, Sod's Law, I can hardly think of any now! There's one called Once Brothers about Eastern European basketball players Vlade Divac, Drazan Petrovic and Toni Kukoc who all made it big in the NBA but who's friendships were torn apart by the breaking up of the Eastern Bloc etc... Petrovic died tragically at 26 when he was becoming an NBA star and he and Divac never made their peace with each other... this is a particularly good one...

Others I enjoyed, there is one about Martina Navratalova and Chris Everet which was surprisingly good.... A couple of excellent ones about Gridiron players who had tragic stories - I found I didn't have to be interested in the sport in question or know anything about the subject, I enjoyed them all.

johnny_ultimate

Underwater Love - pr0n with a plot! A Japanese Pink musical (Pink film being sort of like a Dogma 95 manifesto for softcore pornography), which is bizarre in itself. The plot of an engaged woman being visited by her dead first love, who has been resurrected as a turtle like sea creature called a Kappa, is also a bit odd. Even stranger is that it's shot by in-demand Christopher Doyle, innovative cinematographer of choice to Wong Kar-Wai and has worked on Hero amongst others. So yeah it looks good in more than one way.

There's actually not that much sex in it, and the musical numbers are lighthearted, irreverent and Tongue-in-cheek diversions. But it mostly works. The colours are vibrant, the plot simple but engaging (with a likeable central cast and good natured ending) and there's a good few laughs throughout. Let's just say they came up with some 'inventive' ways to get past Japanese censorship of certain bodily functions.

Good fun all in all, and definitely worth sticking with until the end. Which cannot be said about some of its wider genre mates.

Rainy Dog - moderately interesting Takeshi Miike Yakuza movie. It lacks the mastery of a Kitano film (reminded me of Kikujiro crossed with one of his more violent yakuza films) but has its moments. Slightly awkward in its delivery, though.

Mindkiller

Watched Melancholia. One thing that bugged me.

If Melancholia is so big then shouldn't it take up the entire sky and block out the sun in the final sequence?

The above isn't really a spoiler as it's a foregone conclusion right from the beginning but I thought I'd put it there anyway.

purcela

WHIP IT! wrote: »

I've actually watched em all!

Of course, Sod's Law, I can hardly think of any now! There's one called Once Brothers about Eastern European basketball players Vlade Divac, Drazan Petrovic and Toni Kukoc who all made it big in the NBA but who's friendships were torn apart by the breaking up of the Eastern Bloc etc... Petrovic died tragically at 26 when he was becoming an NBA star and he and Divac never made their peace with each other... this is a particularly good one...

Others I enjoyed, there is one about Martina Navratalova and Chris Everet which was surprisingly good.... A couple of excellent ones about Gridiron players who had tragic stories - I found I didn't have to be interested in the sport in question or know anything about the subject, I enjoyed them all.

Googled this straight after reading your comment and the 30 for 30 series sounds excellent. Did you watch them online or get them on DVD?

WHIP IT!

purcela wrote: »

Googled this straight after reading your comment and the 30 for 30 series sounds excellent. Did you watch them online or get them on DVD?

I bought them all on DVD from the US (it was quite alot cheaper but it did cost a US$18 Customs charge) but it was well well worth it... obviously you'll need a region-free DVD player to play these...

That_Guy

Gamer: It's a fairly decent action film. Acting is awful but it's not a film that relies on witty or intelligent dialogue.

It's a solid enough action film with some nice camera shots throughout the action sequences.

The stereotypes are... well, they're stereotypical.

I will have nightmares of that overweight greasy chap. *shudders*

Was reading IMDB reviews of the film and a few were complaining that the "evil genius" wasn't menacing or threatening enough.

While he wasn't menacing or visually threatening, the clue is in the term "evil genius". He had to use his brain to overcome Butler's well built character somehow.

While it's not the pinnacle of action films, it's a decent enough watch. If you can forgive the awful acting, ridiculous stereotypes and the real WTF moment of

mixing vodka with urine to start a car (???)

it's a good "leave your brain at the door" actioner.

rednik

American Gangster. Bought the blu ray a couple of years ago and finally sat down and watched it. I really enjoyed it, great cast and brilliantly directed by Ridley Scott. The '70s atmosphere was captured very well and at just under three hours it went by very quickly.

tunguska

Saw it several times when it was originally released, was blown away by it at the time. But 10years later and Im not so sure its all that. Richard kelly was only 25 when he wrote and directed the film and it shows. Well I can see things now I couldnt see back then, and Im not even talking about plot holes, thats another debate entirely. It kills me to say so, because I really did love this film, but it doesn't hold up.

That_Guy

The Man With Two Brains: Hilarious comedy with Steve Martin. Probably Reiner's and Martin's finest if I'm honest. If you haven't seen it, I can't recommend it enough.

JiveTurkey

tunguska wrote: »

Saw it several times when it was originally released, was blown away by it at the time. But 10years later and Im not so sure its all that. Richard kelly was only 25 when he wrote and directed the film and it shows. Well I can see things now I couldnt see back then, and Im not even talking about plot holes, thats another debate entirely. It kills me to say so, because I really did love this film, but it doesn't hold up.

After watching Scorsese's genius inception and shutter island i wanted to give my brain another one to wrap itself around. I wanted to like D Darko, but its just doesnt pull it off.

Fishooks12

JiveTurkey wrote: »

After watching Scorsese's genius inception and shutter island i wanted to give my brain another one to wrap itself around. I wanted to like D Darko, but its just doesnt pull it off.

Huh?

Sir Gallagher

Watched Pontypool after reading reviews on here. Have to say that i wasn't too impressed. I thought it started off well, the sense of dread, the sense of not knowing. But it all went downhill as soon as the doctor character came into the fold, i just couldn't help at laugh at that performance the tension was just gone from there on in. Also the premise as to how that zombies were infected didn't wash with me pseudo-intellectual nonsense. It's a shame though because atmosphere and tension in the first half of the film was really good also the actor who played the lead is a pretty cool bloke.

EKClarke

A brilliant Norwegian movie called Få meg på, for faen which translates roughly as give it to me damn it or give it to me for **** sakes.
Just released and it won an award at the Tribecca Film Festival. It can be found on-line as well. It's about a teenage girls sexual awakening. It's only about an hour and ten minutes so well worth the time of checking it out.

psychward

That_Guy wrote: »

The Man With Two Brains: Hilarious comedy with Steve Martin. Probably Reiner's and Martin's finest if I'm honest. If you haven't seen it, I can't recommend it enough.

what happened to Steve Martin ? He used to be funny then the funny went away.

AnnyHallsal

Silent Running.

Other than some annoying folksy tunes, I enjoyed it very much. Neat ideas and effects.