films we just saw

Payne · Post by **Payne** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 12:30 am

lupogirl wrote: Almost forgot there's a character who half looks like Payne!

hock:

ghouldrool · Post by **ghouldrool** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:23 am

El Topo

The seats at BFI South Bank are really really uncomfortable and this is a long slog of a movie. OK its 2 hours but its not an easy 2 hours as El Topo feels like 3 shorter movies all strung together.

This is a surrealist -allegedy- western that begins very much like a gory mix of the Dollars trilogy and Lone Wolf and cub. it soon however roly poly's into something much more bizarre and dream like.

Topo leaves his naked 7 yr old son with some Monks they have just rescued, goes off to the desert with some slapper who demands he kill 4 master warriors to impress her, she then turns on him with some random woman leaving him for dead - he is promplty salvaged by an underground commune of inbreds who rever his comatose form as some kind of messiah.. he is then tasked with digging them a tunnel so they may start a new life in the nearby town, the newly "reborn" El Topo then sets of to do that very thing with ...depressing results

an impressive looking display of 60s gore opened the movie with a slaughtered village and the subsequent avenging of it...then we go into an amoral series of events that end up being a kind of spiritual journey for El Topo while he kills each of the aforementioned master warriors- a great fairy tale like sequence featuring bizarre imagery galore - a man buried under his pet rabbits, a crucified goat, a dead body being used by bees as a hive, a man with no arms strapping a man with no legs to himself

considering the fate of the underground dwellers, El Topos grief at killing the masters, and his own crispy fate... its grim message seems to be that sometimes enlightenment is not a pleasent, peaceful state and that your spiritual journey may only exist to further someone elses journey- exampled by Topos own son (who returns two thirds into the movie as an adult) supposedly taking up the reigns of wandering gunman

i would recommend that you see this film if you can, i cant guarentee you will like it (i did) but it is worth seeing.

ghouldrool · Post by **ghouldrool** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:41 am

is no one else actually watching any new films recently????
Gets boring not getting to read other FFers views on whats on release

The Reaping
Movie Executive:"Hmmm, how do i make an effective scary movie based on the ten plagues, a spooky child, an evil cult and an a list actress? Answer? I cant so ill make The Reaping instead.

well thats how i imagine this film starting out. Everything is all present and correct here. Spooky child, overly earnest performance from leading lady, supposed shock twist ending and feeble illogical cod Wicker Man set up-it even throws in that old Comedy Relief Black Best Friend.
It starts out really really well (Swanks back story is exceptionally grim though possibly a bit racist-which is prob why a black man got cast as her God believing friend) but collapses at it tries to throw in twists and turns that make no sense..was the girl really evil after all? Why if God sent her to smite the evil cuLts then did he allow Swank to get knocked up with some kind of Satanic baby? and why not just kill all the first born straight away?
This stuff was done better in Dean Koontz's Servants of Twilight.
There was one really impressive scene however where Swank explains the original Ten Plagues.

is there an actress in hollywood without one of these films under their belt now? Maybe Jolie

Sheitan
The mis adventure of Bart the unlikeable Chav really did not live up to expectations. Well again its starts well enough and the end was ok i spose, but the criticisms aimed at it in the FF06 threads are totally valid. The only thing worth watching this for is Vincent Cassel- who is totally insane. his devious turn is the only joy to be had in this film other than the droolsome leading woman Eve. The sight of Cassell as his own bullbeast looking sister was quite an eye opener...now.. where is Bart

Decoys 2
2 fit alien girls plus an assortment of Babestation reject alien girls impreganate men. Men freeze. Bad CGI tentacles all over the place. Tobin Bell appearing obviously just to pay for his Double Glazing- Dina Meyer in it for a sandwich. But this was bright breezy fun which just wasnt as good as its original movie. Plenty of giggles to be had this time intentional as American Pie meets Species.

Sarah of the Dead · Post by **Sarah of the Dead** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:52 pm

I can't remember if I've posted on this thread recently. So...

Roman - not as good as May. Angela Bettis was on the wrong side of the camera, I think. Pity.

Nightmare City - dreadful mess.

The Wicker Man (2006) - HOW'D IT GET MADE? HOW'D IT GET MADE, HOW'D IT GET MAAAAAADE?

Dead Birds - pretty but ultimately so derivative there was just no point.

The Messengers - see above.

Couldn't face The Reaping. Just... couldn't.

Night Junkies - British vampire low-budget indie movie that's actually great. Doesn't look cheap; looks gorgeous. Yay!

Laymonite · Post by **Laymonite** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:14 am

I must stand up for The Reaping I thought it was quite good. A bit convoluted perhaps but it was decent enough.

ghouldrool · Post by **ghouldrool** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:43 am

Sarah of the Dead wrote:

"The Wicker Man (2006) - HOW'D IT GET MADE? HOW'D IT GET MADE, HOW'D IT GET MAAAAAADE?"

i think it was made to show how a man would re act in a PG13 horror flick.. rather than frown and pout and scream a man would dress up as a bear and drop kick everyone!

xLeft For Deadx · Post by **xLeft For Deadx** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:32 pm

ghouldrool wrote:Sarah of the Dead wrote:

"The Wicker Man (2006) - HOW'D IT GET MADE? HOW'D IT GET MADE, HOW'D IT GET MAAAAAADE?"

i think it was made to show how a man would re act in a PG13 horror flick.. rather than frown and pout and scream a man would dress up as a bear and drop kick everyone!

My girlfriend's sister tried to tell me how good a film the wicker man remake was, and that is was "much better than that shitty seventies version, which I couldn't even be bothered to watch the end of". I had to refrain from slapping her for the sake of family.

jimbo · Post by **jimbo** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:04 pm

xLeft For Deadx wrote:My girlfriend's sister tried to tell me how good a film the wicker man remake was, and that is was "much better than that shitty seventies version, which I couldn't even be bothered to watch the end of". I had to refrain from slapping her for the sake of family.

Jesus. You should have put her in a giant wicker effigy and burnt her, while singing weird pagan folk songs, wearing a wig and dress. How the hell could she think it was better? She's dead to me now, your girlfriend's sister, I've ALWAYS said she was trouble.

Haven't posted many reviews on here cause there hasn't been a lot worth watching - didn't want to go near The Reaping, or The Raping as I always think it says when I catch a glimpse of it, and there's not been much else out that I fancy... Give us decent movies, movie-people!

Sarah of the Dead · Post by **Sarah of the Dead** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:28 pm

jimbo wrote:Give us decent movies, movie-people!

This is precisely how I feel.

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:16 pm

CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS, SO THERE.

Curse of the Golden Flower is magnificent. To look at, that is, as the insane levels of production design and costuming within the palace make it visually breathtaking, but it's vital to remember this is NOT a martial arts movie. More like Shakespeare than anything else (plus some flying ninjas in the third act, which would have enlivened The Taming Of The Shrew no end), but so beautifully shot it's unbelievable. Not really up there with Hero or even Flying Daggers, but absolutely worth seeing.

Wild Hogs is staggering as well, but for a different reason - it's quite funny. I laughed several times (way more than during Talladega Nights wherein every single comedy moment was down to support Sacha Baron Cohen and none of them were down to star Will Ferrell) although it's fairly juvenile in parts. But there's a big name cast including Ray Liotta, William H Macy, Travolta (comedy's not his thing, I feel), Marisa Tomei, and it's generally quite good-natured, hard-to-dislike entertainment.

Because of the Will Ferrell connection, I'm passing on Blades Of Glory. Life's too short. But I did see the vaguely similarly-titled Days Of Glory, a French-Algerian-Belgian-Moroccan coproduction about the North African soldiers who fought for France in the Second World War and were royally shafted for their trouble (no pensions for the veterans, little or no official recognition), making you wonder why they bothered. Comparison with Saving Private Ryan is inevitable, particularly as the last act takes place in a similar locale, and it even has an epilogue at a war cemetery, but it's a lot better than the Spielberg movie. The one thing that surprised me about the screening was that it was digital, and it looked absolutely stunning. Though I suspect that's because it was beautifully photographed on film and then transferred to a disk for easier distribution, I'm all in favour of it if it means we can get a few more quality pieces out beyond the M25 and major metropolitan centres, with sufficiently good picture quality. I saw it in Milton Keynes.

I thought the great Ned Beatty had been dead for years, but he's in Shooter, a big action movie with Stumpy Wahlberg as a super-ultra-mega-marksman framed for an assassination attempt (similar to Most Wanted, which came out some years ago with . Despite the world and his aunt out looking for him though, he seems to move about the place pretty easily. Shooter is pretty soulless stuff - there's nothing emotional going on under the slick surface - but it's enjoyable enough bangbang stuff. Another big-name cast, including Elias Koteas and Danny Glover no less.

The Reaping is largely a dud; a pretty formulaic horror movie with occasional interesting moments, directed by Stephen Hopkins who did the fifth Elm Street movie (which no-one but me seemed to like). I do tend to get a little more scared at devil movies (particularly The Exorcism of Emily Rose as few years ago) but this didn't do anything. Maybe Hilary Swank feels that she can do an easy junk movie without jeopardising her A-list credibility much like Samuel L Jackson did with Snakes On A Plane. But Snakes was fun and this ... isn't. I like Hilary Swank, but she can do a lot better than this.

I sort of liked Sunshine, but mainly for its production design and setting, which is inevitably going to echo Alien and the like. It's okay, but overall it's nothing special and I much preferred Event Horizon. I didn't buy the plot at all. For one thing, if Cillian Murphy designed the bomb thing (he describes it as "my bomb" in the opening voiceover), then why wasn't he on the first ship? The look of the last third actually reminded me of the through-the-mirror sequences in Prince Of Darkness (!) although the intruder wasn't the devil, but just a bloke who'd gone mad.

I do like a good courtroom thriller, but I was mystified by Fracture because I couldn't see what the title referred to. I was also mystified why the superhotshot DA couldn't spot the big twist when I got it an hour earlier and my legal experience adds up to one week's jury service and a few Fixed Penalties. And who are we supposed to be rooting for - presumably DA Ryan Gosling, but he's cocky, overambitious and arrogant, yet dull at the same time? Or Anthony Hopkins, who it's safe to say without spoiling anything is a cold-blooded murderer? But it's fairly engrossing stuff.

And The Messengers is great, the best film I've seen all year and a 5-star must-own when it hits DVD. Scary, innovative, imaginative and dazzlingly original ... no, sorry, my mistake, it's a bollocks knock-off of Cold Creek Manor (which also starred Kristen Stewart) and The Amityville Horror, lamer than a one-legged horse on a trampoline and containing nothing, absolutely nothing, that you haven't already seen 4,073 times before in movies which by comparison were so terrifying they had to be rated PG.

soulmining · Post by **soulmining** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:10 am

First up tonight for me was The Reaping... agree with the comments already made, it's nothing special, a DVD watch at best. I like the idea of the ten plagues but it was as if the studio had taken that element and didn't know what to do with it - so losing the plot completely as it spiralled into Wicker Man territory, which was a shame. And the SFX department went a bit crazy at the end. Then there was poor David Morrissey, a hugely talented television actor (State Of Play, Holding On) failing miserably to pull off a convincing American accent - and on the back of this and Basic Instinct 2, he really needs to have words with his agent. On the plus side the cinema was empty save for two other poor souls, which allowed Rich and I to have a long whispered debate as to whether it's considered a bit weird to fancy Hilary Swank.

Next up was Fracture which was a decent little thriller... Ryan Gosling was very good, and it's always a delight to watch Anthony Hopkins, especially when he gets all the good lines - the speech about his "dick" made everyone laugh. It's a well written film, if a little slow at times, which credits the audience with an ounce of intelligence, doesn't have to spell everything out, and doesn't rely on a nonsensical shoot out at the end! On the minus side we had the texters in the cinema, and The Laughing Man who must have been on a day trip to the seaside.

Going back to last night I attended a test screening of Day Watch... liked it a lot, it held my attention throughout and doesn't let up on the action at all. Some really cool scenes! If you liked Night Watch then you'll like the sequel. My only worry was that we got a dubbed version... I think they were testing a subtitled print this evening, so hopefully the feedback they get will favour the latter...

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:43 am

soulmining wrote:On the minus side we had the texters in the cinema, and The Laughing Man who must have been on a day trip to the seaside.

That's strange, because I got Laughing Man as well! Either he's got a brother, or the distributors have a warehouse full of Laughing Mans and they send one out with each print.

lupogirl · Post by **lupogirl** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:38 pm

soulmining wrote:
Going back to last night I attended a test screening of Day Watch... liked it a lot, it held my attention throughout and doesn't let up on the action at all. Some really cool scenes! If you liked Night Watch then you'll like the sequel. My only worry was that we got a dubbed version... I think they were testing a subtitled print this evening, so hopefully the feedback they get will favour the latter...

Ditto the comments. I did get a bit confused. Do want to see it again with the those disappearing misty subtitles like in Nightwatch

AndyJWS · Post by **AndyJWS** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:21 pm

Anyone know if it's been shredded for international release like Nightwatch was? Pretty as the subtitles were, would have been preferable to see standard subtitles with the full length version of the film...

Muffy St. John · Post by **Muffy St. John** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:02 pm

OK.... so I scare easily!! Watching The Reaping I ended up squeezing myself so tight, I got pins and needles.... 3 times. A truly awful movie, but not without it's scares! See it on the big screen, the only way it can possibly work!