What have you watched recently: Electric Boogaloo

The Pursuit of Happyness.

The whole way through I was thinking "Get a freaking job man".

mrmorgan wrote: »

Rise of the planet of the apes

To be honest I thought it was a pointless movie nothing really happens in it

Apart from the bit where

Recently watched ...

Seeking a friend for the end of the world - awful film - really dont like Knightly.

Crazy Stupid Love - very good - worth a watch.

Men In Black III - more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be.

Dark Shadows - OK

!!!!!!Warning: Contains Spoilers!!!!!



'Cabin in the Woods'
Joss Whedon's sarky, tongue-in-cheek, "post Modern", "meta-horror" is the latest cut-n-paste effort that has Whedonites wetting themselves in the usual frenzied way. Not only that, but it's received generally favorable reviews from other areas too and currently holds around 90% positive on Rotten Tomatoes.

I have to say, I find the former tiresome and no less obvious from the Whedonites, but the fact that other critics are writing glowing words about it, makes the latter part nothing short of astonishing. Astonishing, because 'Cabin in the Woods' is nowhere near as smart as Whedon, or his irritating acolytes, think it is.

Although it's directed by Whedon protege, Drew Goddard, Whedon himself has taken his cue from 'Scream' and simply nicked an existing idea, tinkered with it, claimed it as his own, packaged it for his usual audience and marketed it as a revelation in film. A comedy-horror (my most hated genre after the rom-com) that'll have horror fans quivering for decades to come.

Unfortunately though, the film fails on both fronts. It isn't that funny and the horror elements are diluted badly by the attempts at comedy. Each angle is neutered by the other. But the worst thing about 'Cabin in the Woods' is that it's all been done before. The film's central reference, in a film whose raison d'etre is to function as a reference game for genre fans, is Sam Raimi's 'The Evil Dead' and that film did everything better and with better comedy (even though I personally think it's vastly overrated too).

The problem with Whedon's approach (to nearly everything he does), is that the nudge-nudge-wink-wink "did you see what I did there?", becomes tiresome quickly. The endless references to film's, that in the main are vastly superior, gets old. Everything from 'Friday the 13th', to 'Hellraiser', to 'IT', 'The Strangers', 'The Shining', 'Night of the Living Dead' and a whole host of others are mentioned in brief passing. Many of which will go flying over many peoples heads, I'm sure. The viewer needs to be a fan of horror films in order to get 'Cabin in the Woods', without which the film may come across as yet another silly slasher flick.

It's not all completely bad though. In the film's final third, everything goes haywire and there's some fun to be had trying to spot the different monsters that mangle the screen (and the people), but it's too little, too late and by the time the film is over, it's long since outstayed its welcome.


4/10

Chinese Coffee :

Starring Al Pacino and Jerry Orbach. Al plays a struggling writer, down on his luck in life and love, who stops by his friend's apartment late one night to sort out a few personal matters which they then debate for an hour and a half.

Decent 2 man film but a little bit overwrought in it's use of language. Probably deliberate as the fancy themselves as artistic and scholarly, and because it was already a stage play so I'm guessing the script was fully formed at the time of filming but they do take a pretty roundabout way of saying not very much at times. Worth it though because the script is peppered with Pacino's trademark outbursts, er, if you like that sort of thing.

I think High Noon would have been much better if it didn't have that annoying and cheesy theme song running the whole way through it. As it stands, I still find Rio Bravo the better film despite agreeing with the politics of High Noon and disliking John Wayne immensely. Still an important film for its time but now more of a curiosity piece and not very entertaining.

More on topic, I watched The Cabin In The Woods last night, and damn I wasn't expecting it to be that funny. It was almost genius in the way it deconstructed your standard horror fare and ended up being possibly the most intelligent horror comedy i've ever seen by a bit. The only part I didn't like was the very final shot, which was a bit cheesy and unnecessary.

He believed it to be "un-American". Wayne was a supporter of McCarthyism and HUAC blacklisting and felt that the films story was an allegory against such movements.

Wayne and Hawks later made 'Rio Bravo' as an answer to 'High Noon'.

'The Straight Story'

David Lynch's extreme departure from his usual fare sees him concentrating on his most "straight" yarn to date and his choice of the true story of Alvin Straight, who traveled from Iowa to Wisconsin on a John Deere lawnmower to see his estranged brother, who has suffered a bad stroke. Alvin is in his 70's and cannot drive, his own health is in bad form too and his dislikes other people being behind the wheel.

'The Straight Story' has been quite rightly lauded by many and is a very charming film. Somewhat sentimental, but in a wholly agreeable way, it's a quietly warm tale, that's touching and melancholic, but not devoid of humour.

It's central performance by Richard Farnsworth is excellent and I get the feeling the he put an awful lot of himself into the role. Farnsworth, who was terribly ill with bone cancer, leaves an indelible mark on the film and seems to be in great pain in some scenes, that didn't appear to come as a part of his acting.

There's also a brilliant turn by Sissy Spacek as Alvin's daughter Rose, who is completely convincing in her role. If you see the picture, you'll know what I mean.

'The Straight Story' is a "road movie" of a different flavour and it's slow and steady pace may put some viewers off. There's not much action, but along the way Alvin meets various people and has different effects upon their lives and vice versa. Once such moment comes in the form of a moving revelation, when Alvin is relaxing at a bar with another old timer. There's also a strangely funny encounter with a distraught woman who has bad experiences with deers.

Undoubtedly, 'The Straight Story' is not for everyone, but I think that most people would be pleasantly surprised by it, if they're willing to allow it the chance.


9/10

Tony EH wrote: »

'The Straight Story'


Undoubtedly, 'The Straight Story' is not for everyone, but I think that most people would be pleasantly surprised by it, if they're willing to allow it the chance. Or, if showing it to someone, could just omit the fact that it is a Lynch movie, sneakily fast forward past the opening credits.


9/10

I agree that the Straight Story isn't for everyone. It's only for those who like well made films with a heartwarming story. :P

Easily Lynch's most accessible work yet he called it his most experimental film. In any case, it's just a great self contained bit of cinema and I think most open minded people who sit down to watch it with no expectations would enjoy it. Now, for many people, when you say 'David Lynch', you're saying a name that is to viewer expectation what the atomic bomb was to ordinance but if they're fair minded enough to give it 20 minutes I'd say they'd be pleasantly surprised.

Finally got around to watching Sherlock Hollmes: A Game of Shadows last night.

Loved it, thought the chemistry between Law and Downey Jr. was fantastic once again, with the inclusion of Stephen Fry a nice touch.

Not too sure about the ending but overall I thought it was brilliantly done once again, the recreation of old London and Paris was excellent and would highly recommend.

On another note - I can't believe I was unaware of who Jared Harris was until now (for shame on me) - thought he was excellent as Moriarty.

!!!!!Warning: May contain traces of spoil!!!!!




'Dredd'

2000AD's Judge Joe Dredd comes to life and it does an awful lot to exorcise the woeful Stallone effort from 1995. The producers have gone through great lengths to make it known that this is not a sequel, but an independent story with an aim to get things right this time. In a simple story, that unfortunately people are comparing to 'The Raid', the chop-socky nonsense from a few months ago, Dredd has to combat drug lord and uber-nutjob Mama and, with her hordes of equally nutty henchmen in one of Mega City One's huge City Blocks. Along for the ride and rookie assessment is PSI Judge Anderson and together they have to defeat Mama and get out of the Peachtree City Block alive.

The good stuff:

It has a very tight script and there's little flab and its 90 odd minutes go by well. It was a good idea to confine it to a city block too and not burst the budget and the general mechanism of using a kind of "hotdog run" was an excellent way to introduce Anderson. Speaking of Anderson, Olivia Thirlby is spot on and really brings her to life. She's one of the best things about the film and I really hope she returns in any particular sequels. Whoever cast her was right on the money. If rumour is correct and the Dark Judges make an appearance at some stage, then Anderson is a must. Karl Urban has the right jaw, his voice is ok, but threatens to go OTT at times and his Dredd is decent. In fact, most of the roles are carried off very well.

The violence. In a film where "justice" is carried out on the spot and is often terminal, 'Dredd' quite rightly doesn't skimp. The film is incredibly violent and all the better for it. This is not a film for kids. Brains are splattered, bullets rip through flesh, people are skinned and thrown from balconies etc. There's a great non-nonsense approach to 21st Century post-apocalypse Mega City One "justice" and suits the setting perfectly.

There's a nice few bits and pieces thrown in for old fans, like Chopper's tag written on a wall, "Kennywho?" and passing mention of facilities like "Resyk" and "Pat-wagons".

The bad:

It's not 2000AD's Judge Dredd. It's a Judge Dredd, but not the one from 2000AD. It gets close, but no cigar, I'm afraid. I've mentioned the suit before, so I won't go into that again. But, I think it was a very bad call just to basically put Dredd in a bikers outfit. Totally doesn't work for me and I just don't accept the "practicality" excuse. Conversely, the helmet is great and when Dredd is shown from the neck up, it's fine.

Mega City One doesn't look like it should either. It's way too open-plan and not as cluttered as it should be. Mega City One's city blocks should be almost on top of one another, as the Block Wars story showed. It also looks a little too "now", if you know what I mean. It's just not futuristic enough. Although that was probably a limitation of budget, so you can kind of let it go.

The "Lawmaster" looks rubbish. It wouldn't have been that hard to get it a little closer to the comic book version. I understand that there's limits, like the huge silly wheels, but really, it's just a Kawasaki with some bits welded on.

Dredd's "Lawgiver" ain't what it should be either.

I didn't like that way that Anderson was shown as unique. A mutant. She's not. Her psychic abilities are not hers alone and the PSI Division are a firmly established unit within the Justice Department. That angle didn't work and shouldn't have been portrayed in that way...and PSI Judges don't wear their name on their badges.


All in all though, the film works well enough for me to want to see it succeed and produce a number of sequels. There's plenty of existing material for the film makers to adapt too. I'd be worried that some people who have never seen a Judge Dredd story in print won't have a clue what's going on, though and general audiences may not return. I can't see it appealing to the broader spectrum, like Nolan's Batman trilogy


7/10

The book of Eli.

Over all not a bad movie. Mila kunis in it so defo worth a watch

krudler wrote: »

am I the only person who thinks Mendes looks like a tranny?

I'd have you in a minority anyway! :pac: