What have you watched recently?

Tony EH

A great film, which gets better with subsequent viewings. It's refreshing in it's take on the subject, I thought and leaves a lot of western movies on the same subject piddling about in the sand.

The music is by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also played Captain Yonoi.

Sad Professor

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

I'm ashamed to say I'd never seen this before. I was very pleasantly surprised by just how funny it is. Given that it was banned in this country up until 2000 or whenever, I was expecting a really gruesome and disturbing horror film, which I guess it was for its time, but it's also a wicked black comedy. The last 30 minutes are hysterical.

Syferus

Sad Professor wrote: »

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

I'm ashamed to say I'd never seen this before. I was very pleasantly surprised by just how funny it is. Given that it was banned in this country up until 2000 or whenever, I was expecting a really gruesome and disturbing horror film, which I guess it was for its time, but it's also a wicked black comedy. The last 30 minutes are hysterical.

It's a twisted satire - which is probably one of the film's weakest elements - but despite the comical weirdness of the family the over-riding emotions in the final act are foreboding terror and horror at the depravity of the family, not black humour.

Tony EH

The "black comedy" is one of the worst things about the original, although it's still light years ahead of the 2003 remake and there are some truly wretched characters in it, like "Franklin".

But, there are a number of excellent bits throughout the film, like Leatherface's first appearance :eek:, the chase through the woods and the end chase.

BTW, it ends so abruptly because they simply ran out of film! accidentally creating one of the best endings to a horror film ever.

Renn

TCM never really did too much for me but as you said, when we first catch a glimpse of Leatherface it's definitely a WTF moment. Brilliant scene.

Cantona's Collars

Underworld Awakening: It won't win any awards but better than the last movie even if it's all set up for a sequel.Besides Kate Beckinsale looks lovely in skintight pvc.

Rabidlamb

The Grey
Liam Neeson & a bunch of cannon fodder vs Wolves.
Actually a lot better than I expected, Neeson is really making a groove for himself lately, ever since Taken.

J Edgar
Slow in the beginning but Di Caprio puts in a good turn here as the FBI's most famous leader.
Focused a bit too much on allegations of homosexuality but it gave the character some empathy.
Bit of a comeback for Eastwood after that terrible Hereafter.

Technocentral

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Merry Christmas, Mr Lawerence - of all the great Japanese filmmakers, I don't think there are any that come close to being as cynical about their homeland as Nagisa Oshima. The man sure likes to deconstruct his society!

I've only seen three of his films to date, but I'd rank this below Sun's Burial and Night and Fog in Japan. Still a largely engaging piece of work though, albeit one that feels somewhat meandering. Some great moments throughout that capture an interesting dynamic between British POWs and their Japanese captors. It's slightly more willing to engage with the culture clash than most films would be, and hits Oshima's favoured themes of repressed sexuality and the casual cruelty of social groups. Some damn good performances too - even though some of the Japanese cast seriously struggle with their English dialogue requirements, there's still some expert interplay between the cast, including David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano. Cool theme tune too, which must have inspired a lot of Joe Hisashi's later work. Also loved how 'blue' nighttime was. An odd thing to pick up on :pac:

It does kind of flop around for short periods - including

two or three repetitive and awkward seppuku scenes, none of which pack any of the force of, say, the 'wooden sword' bit in Kobayashi's superb Hara-kiri

- and it's hard to tell what exactly the tone is meant to be at times. Still, well worth a watch, and Naked Youth and In the Realm of the Senses (the latter of which I've always been meaning to get around to) are due a viewing ASAP.

One of my favourite films, probably because I seen it a few years after it came out and loved the music in it, speaking of which Sakamoto said that when he first seen his performance on the screen he fainted because he was so bad! He wasn't great in it alright, still, a quite emotionally affecting movie.

johnny_ultimate

Technocentral wrote: »

One of my favourite films, probably because I seen it a few years after it came out and loved the music in it, speaking of which Sakamoto said that when he first seen his performance on the screen he fainted because he was so bad! He wasn't great in it alright, still, a quite emotionally affecting movie.

There was just something lacking in the film for me, despite its many strengths. I don't necessarily agree with his review, but Roger Ebert gives an interesting perspective on the clash of acting styles in the film: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19830916/REVIEWS/309160301

I was totally expecting Joe Hisashi to be credited with the music for the film. Merry Christmas Mr Lawerence predates A Scene at the Sea, but the former strongly reminded me of the latter. Other way around now, I guess

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKtCfTJ9sxs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkWjsT_SJNI

krudler

Sad Professor wrote: »

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

I'm ashamed to say I'd never seen this before. I was very pleasantly surprised by just how funny it is. Given that it was banned in this country up until 2000 or whenever, I was expecting a really gruesome and disturbing horror film, which I guess it was for its time, but it's also a wicked black comedy. The last 30 minutes are hysterical.

its mostly bloodless which I couldnt believe the first time I saw it years ago, I was expecting a gorefest but its not. it is darkly funny though like Grandpa trying to hit her with the hammer. I didnt realise for years that in the episode of the simpsons where Bart and the lads take the car on a roadtrip that the hitchhiker they pick up was a parody of the guy from TCM "Bart can we stop for icecream?" :pac:

Paddy Samurai

SafeHouse
Good film,Denzel is a great actor and is in top form as usual.He has great screen presence.Really enjoyed it.

No suprises really,reckoned Gleeson was the bad guy

Judgement Day

"Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) again tonight - and it hasn't dated a bit! Another Sergio Leone masterpiece. Jason Robards gives one of his best performances ever. Henry Fonda in his blackest screen role as a gunman without a shred of morality and his nemesis - Charles Bronson - is perfectly cast in 'the man with no name' role, while Claudia Cardinale says little but smoulders her way through the movie. The haunting theme by Ennio Morricone stays with you forever once heard. Another to see before you die.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNGQ1hUyx-k

johnny_ultimate

The Third Man - a shameful long-time dweller on my 'must see' list until tonight. What is there to say? An utterly unique noir identity. Brilliant interplay between light and shadow. Performances that are timeless, and a tone that's cheekier and more playful than most films of this type. Iconic images and moments throughout. One of the great 'city' films, too.

But you knew all that already though, didn't you?

Duggy747

Was dying sick yesterday so took a half day from work, went home and slapped on Close Encounters With The Third Kind since I'd been meaning to watch it again for months.

Not one of my favourite Spielberg movies but still enjoyable and where he was settling into his prime as a director.

The musical communication with the spaceships is still a great and long sequence, made all the better with a proper sound sytem Love the old-school special effects with models and that special glow of the lights you only got in movies in the late 70's / 80's.

Goon - Very average. Did the job of killing an hour and a half, though.................and I don't think I can ever shake off the idea of Stiffler, no matter how hard Sean William Scott tries.

jcf

E.T. - Believe it or not I didn't see this movie from start to finish before.

Great film , they don't make them like that anymore - but I noticed they have ruined some of this film with redoing E.T. in CGI :mad::mad:

Renn

Ha, when I watched E.T. for the first time last year I made sure I watched the version without the walkie-talkies

Related - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hat

Renn

Ha, when I watched E.T. for the first time last year I made sure I watched the version without the walkie-talkies

Related - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hat

bnt

I'm not one for going to see the big Summer Blockbusters, so I only got to see Iron Man this evening. I liked it - great balance between (a) high concept philosophising and (b) men in power suits knocking seven bells out of each other. Downey Jr. was very good: it's only right that Iron Man be slightly manic. Give me that much power, I'd go a wee bit overboard too. Plus, I actually like Gwyneth Paltrow a lot - she's never annoyed me the way she annoys some folks, and seeing Pepper Potts trying to run in high heels was a nice distraction from all that hardware. :pac:

That_Guy

Tyrannosaur:

Really excellent film by Paddy Considine. Didn't have a clue about it before I bought it. Bought it purely on a recommendation from a film podcast and just got around to watching it last night.

It's quite a grim and dark film but very compelling. Olivia Colman is absolutely fantastic in it. Very talented actress.

FLOOPER

James T Kirk wrote: »

Drive comes directly from Bullitt, and lands squarely in Michael Mann territory.

Ryan Gosling is channeling Steve McQueen, and the film riffs off Miami Vice, Heat, Collateral, Grand Theft Auto and, bizarrely, Halloween. In other words, it's "too cool for school".

It's a pretty cool film. As cool as an L.A. breeze, dude.

Loved Drive but it's a complete remake of Driver with Ryan O'Neil.

From the opening scene - pretty much identical, to the low key lifestyle and the smouldering slightly tainted girl to the end sequence where

we see the protagonist show real face though violence

.

Driver's pace is a little more stagnant than the excelently consistant intensity and tone of Drive but overall it's not as good as the latter.

Gosling xerox's O'Neil to a tee. A complete homage!

Renn

Not a complete remake at all. Has elements of a few different films but entirely stands on it's own. Influences include Melville, Hill, Friedkin and Mann imo.

Mickeroo

Apparently Michael Mann's early movie Thief bares a lot of resemblances to Drive going by what a few folks said on the netflix thread. Ain't watched it yet myself.

Mickeroo

Mickeroo wrote: »

Apparently Michael Mann's early movie Thief bares a lot of resemblances to Drive going by what a few folks said on the netflix thread. Ain't watched it yet myself.

There are some slight similarities but Drive also has some similarities with Heat and a dozen other films. Thief is well worth a watch, one of the all time greats and it features what is in my opinion one of the finest moments in the history of cinema.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfetsPmDWAk

Bassboxxx

Mickeroo wrote: »

Apparently Michael Mann's early movie Thief bares a lot of resemblances to Drive going by what a few folks said on the netflix thread. Ain't watched it yet myself.

+1 on this. Seen the 2 of them quite close to each other not aware of any possible similarities. To say there's some slight similarities is imo, a bit of an understatement. Apart from the stories running nearly parallel, some of the set up of the scenes in Drive look to be taken directly from Thief (or other films like it). Didn't see Driver (yet) so can't comment on that.:(

Loved both of them by the way.

Finneen

Continental divide - John Belushi visits a woman in the mountains who's studying eagles.

mikhail

FLOOPER wrote: »

Loved Drive but it's a complete remake of Driver with Ryan O'Neil.

Sure, and The Passion of the Christ was a remake of The Matrix Revolutions.

Stinjy

I know this isn't new but just watched Notting Hill, and it is actually my new fave. film..

also saw the Descendants, its alright, think it could have the potential to be a lot lot lot better, but it was good as is

Stinjy

Stinjy wrote: »

I know this isn't new but just watched Notting Hill, and it is actually my new fave. film..

You'd best watch more films if that's the case.

sporina

50/50 - watched it last night - my god - had such potential and i liked the main actor but jesus, the psychologist character??? what was the script writer thinking of????? terrible!!

krudler

sporina wrote: »

50/50 - watched it last night - my god - had such potential and i liked the main actor but jesus, the psychologist character??? what was the script writer thinking of????? terrible!!

shush, she's ****ing adorable