films we just saw

Team Banzai · Post by **Team Banzai** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 6:39 pm

requiem 4 a dream

(again) watched it with a 1st time viewer who LOVED it!

sensational film making on every level, precision editing, great performances, i adore the moment when the characters literally scream to be let out of both the film and the situations they are in and the film and soundtrack distorts - an astonishing, pure film only (no other medium) moment!

if this film and story was directed by anyone else, even from the same script it would have been totally different.

modern masterpiece!

still disappointed by the fountain tho..

cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellars

Bearded Avenger · Post by **Bearded Avenger** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 12:34 pm

zappa fan wrote:Watched three great films back to back on Friday.

C.H.U.D
Humanoids from the Deep
Blood Beach

Haven't those in a long time.

C.H.U.D. is indeed a great film - along with Street Trash I'd say it's on of the better unhyped 80's horrors.

C.H.U.D. II is available for about a fiver on Amazon, it's OK, but more along the line of Return of the Living Dead.

Humanoids From the Beach - the original which was once shown on the Sci-Fi channel and had a big impact on the 16 year old me (not just the nudity!) or the remake?

Over the weekend I watched:

Inferno - a bit dissapointing to be honest. Looked good, but was it a rush job to cash in on Suspiria?

Sublime - the Raw Feed staright to DVD film with Zach Braff's brother from scrubs. Quite an interesting if slow moving film - guy goes into hospital for a minor procedure and things get worse and worse. As it says on the box: "like a good episode of the Twilight Zone."

Sarah of the Dead · Post by **Sarah of the Dead** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:15 pm

Friday The 13th 3 - wow, Eli Roth has watched this a lot, hasn't he? It's... okay, I guess, as teenagers-getting-murdered-in-cabins films go.

Friday The 13th 7 - I think this was okay, but given that I was more interested in eating pizza than watching it, probably not that great.

Rojo Sangre - I quite enjoyed this, right up until the nonsense ending.

Blue Velvet - yawn. Lynch is clearly not my cup of tea.

voor · Post by **voor** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:44 pm

Blue Velvet -Yawn?

Sarah everytime you say that a dward dies somewhere.

I can understand Adam Mason and Uwe Boll and I can even see where Hostel 2 hatred comes from but this, this is like hitting a puppy...repeatedly.

Sigh

Sincerely yours

Voor

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:04 pm

Lynch I can take or leave; I prefer his earlier movies where there was still some semblance of a story (even Twin Peaks had some kind of narrative going on, and I loved Dune, Wild At Heart and, with reservations, Lost Highway) rather than the random gibberish of his last few outings, the reels of which could be shown in any order and it wouldn't make any difference. He can create a mood of utter outright terror from nowhere, but that's not enough. I've not seen the really early ones; Eraserhead just doesn't sound like *my* cup of tea.

This morning I roadtested my new telly with Dr Moreau's House Of Pain, which features two mad scientists and four mutants in a derelict asylum in 1920s Los Angeles. A boxer and his journalist girlfriend investigate.... It is, as per the title, a sort-of sequel to the HG Wells in which Moreau is brought back from the South Seas to continue his work. In a basement. It's very cheap and not terribly well done, with one mildly arresting gore moment in the opening reel. Directed by Charles Band.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:11 pm

I wish I did better things at the weekend. Watched Friday the 13th, which is good but of the major three series of the 80's is the weakest first entry. I also watched a couple of great Hitchock films in 'Dial M For Murder' and 'Rear Window'. Rear Window in particular was cracking, with the stuffy claustrophobic air perfectly suited to the humidity that made me want to stay at home.

I also made time for Halloween and Halloween 2. I had not seen the second one before (or at least made it passed the first 15 minutes) and was surprised that it was much better than I had expected. Whilst it has many failings it does succeed in building an atmosphere at times. The first one is obviously great, although I'm not so precious about it as people often are. I'm actually more excited about the Rob Zombie directed remake than I have been any film in a long time.

I also watched Match Point again. It's not perfect but I really like this film. Finally, I ended up watching Jackass Number 2 again. I'm a huge fan of wordy comedy but it's sometimes important to be reminded that it's funny to see a guy get hit in the nuts.

Sarah of the Dead · Post by **Sarah of the Dead** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:44 pm

voor wrote:Blue Velvet -Yawn?

Sarah everytime you say that a dward dies somewhere.

I can understand Adam Mason and Uwe Boll and I can even see where Hostel 2 hatred comes from but this, this is like hitting a puppy...repeatedly.

Sigh

Sincerely yours

Voor

Hahahahaha. I'm not saying that Blue Velvet was bad, exactly, but it just didn't click for me. It's well-made and all that, but I didn't find it scary, and I'm not a man so the whole Madonna/whore fantasy getting played out did nothing for me either.

thesavageintruder · Post by **thesavageintruder** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:33 pm

Um, Madonna / whore fantasy?! I must have seen a different, terrifying masterpiece called BLUE VELVET, then...

giles edwards · Post by **giles edwards** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:48 pm

This weekend was Phantasm OblIVion and Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly.

The former was far better than it should have been after the deeply weird, gory, oddly paced Phantasm III. A lyrical, experiemental and ultimately rather moving culmination (?) to the series with some rather nifty editing and a typically grand performance by Reggie Banister, the best ice cream man there ever was.

Kiss Me Deadly is just hard as nails with Aldrich giving a real independent edge to it. Ralph Meeker's character in the movie kind of pre-figures those fantastic blacksploitation outsider characters of cult cinema: sharp, no nonsense, ruthlessly efficient and always ready to play rough to get some kind of justice. Great, quasi-sci fi yarn in places with a astonishig ending. If you're in the slightest bit interested in film noit or films pre-1960, do yourself a favour and track this down.

giles edwards · Post by **giles edwards** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:49 pm

Sarah of the Dead wrote:
voor wrote:Blue Velvet -Yawn?

Sarah everytime you say that a dward dies somewhere.

I can understand Adam Mason and Uwe Boll and I can even see where Hostel 2 hatred comes from but this, this is like hitting a puppy...repeatedly.

Sigh

Sincerely yours

Voor
Hahahahaha. I'm not saying that Blue Velvet was bad, exactly, but it just didn't click for me. It's well-made and all that, but I didn't find it scary, and I'm not a man so the whole Madonna/whore fantasy getting played out did nothing for me either.

You must have liked Dean Stockwell's sing-a-long-drag-show, though?

VictorCrowley · Post by **VictorCrowley** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:31 pm

Finally watched my first Chan-Wook Park feture (after seeing Three Extremes a while back). As per the reccomendation here, I plumped for Oldboy.

Beware! Here be SPOILERS!

*
*
*

Cultural difference aside, what a way to say 'revenge is pointless'! Again cultural differences aside (what is it about the eastern world that makes revenge a thing of honour and worth dying for?) isn't it a film that makes you question your own viewpoint on revenge? Is it ever 'worth it'? Or is the wish for 'an eye for an eye' unavoidable as part of our genetic make-up?

How many of you in Dae-Su's situation would have 'walked away' upon release? Would the burning issues of 'who' and 'why' drive you to action? (Obviously, in his post hypnotic state, Dae-Su's actions were, to a degree, predetermined - but still. Isnt it human to NEED these kind of answers for closure?)

As clear as it was that, as those seeking revenge, both Dae-Su and Joo-Win were in a lose/lose situation (only once the 'truth' was revealed did Dae-Su have anything of WORTH to fight/bargain for. Namely the protection of Mido. That she should not know the truth) I'm apt to think that I would seek answers as to why... and the why would have driven me to want some sort of revenge. Especially if my child was at risk too. Ugh, it's ridiculous that my intellilect can recognise the impotence of revenge and yet my heart would still burn in it's desire for it.

The only part which really disturbed me, though, was the manic grin on Dae-Su's face at the end. It seems to suggest that the real 'monster' was Dae-SU and the one left behind is 'Monster'. Which is highly disturbing given Mido knows him as her lover only and he knows her as his daughter. Anyone else interpret it differently?

jonbly · Post by **jonbly** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:41 am

Sarah of the Dead wrote:Friday The 13th 3

Perhaps the most obviously "made for 3D" movie ever.

Thrill! ...as sticks are slowly poked towards the camera!

Sarah of the Dead · Post by **Sarah of the Dead** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:19 pm

giles edwards wrote:
Sarah of the Dead wrote:
voor wrote:Blue Velvet -Yawn?

Sarah everytime you say that a dward dies somewhere.

I can understand Adam Mason and Uwe Boll and I can even see where Hostel 2 hatred comes from but this, this is like hitting a puppy...repeatedly.

Sigh

Sincerely yours

Voor
Hahahahaha. I'm not saying that Blue Velvet was bad, exactly, but it just didn't click for me. It's well-made and all that, but I didn't find it scary, and I'm not a man so the whole Madonna/whore fantasy getting played out did nothing for me either.
You must have liked Dean Stockwell's sing-a-long-drag-show, though?

Meh. It was just dull, mostly. I think it's a boy film.

zappa fan · Post by **zappa fan** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:22 pm

Blue Velvet - loved that film, got it on DVD about a month ago. Saw it first when it came out on the cinema. A great mood film. Dennis Hopper is mad in it. love the candi color clown bit.

"In dreams I walk with you"

SotD - you should try Wild at Heart one of the ladies?

Sarah of the Dead · Post by **Sarah of the Dead** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:25 pm

Actually, one of my coworkers (a man!) said he didn't care for Blue Velvet either, but thought Wild At Heart was good. So, maybe I'll give Lynch another go.