films we just saw

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:01 pm

You know, I have a lot of respect for pretty well everyone on this board, and I'll usually regard your recommendations and approvals as more authoritative than those of some idiot off the telly or the film page of the Daily Wotsit. When you lot like something, chances are I will too. So it's a bit disconcerting when you all say "Yeah, it's great!", and I go to see it and come out "well, it's okay, but......" Maybe it's me. Maybe I just didn't get it.

I mean, I didn't hate The Cottage. But I just didn't feel it was as good as you said. It was entertaining, plenty bloody, nicely sick, had some laughs, but I just didn't like it nearly as much as I wanted to, or as much as I was expecting. A manic black farce pitched and played at a level of increasing hysteria, but the one thing that annoyed me more than anything else, and rather spoiled the movie, was the swearing.

I'm not getting all "it's not big and it's not clever" (although I don't think it IS that clever - anyone can do it. Arse, bollocks. See?)

But there was just such a lot of it that it became rather wearing after a while, and I don't think I was supposed to want Jennifer Ellison's character to be killed as soon as possible....

I followed it with 10,000 BC, a film I had no high hopes or expectations for, and once you accept that it's got absolutely nothing to do with Planet Earth at all, it's an enjoyable enough if straightforward xerox of Apocalypto, with more money and CGI mammoths. One of the few films to be written and exec-produced by the film's composer (Harald Kloser). Even more interestingly, his musical collaborator, Thomas Wander, changed his name from the original Thomas Wanker because, oo-er, it sounds a bit rude.

imajica · Post by **imajica** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:11 pm

streetrw wrote: But there was just such a lot of it that it became rather wearing after a while, and I don't think I was supposed to want Jennifer Ellison's character to be killed as soon as possible....

Actually, the person next to me had just put in a request for her speedy dispatch just before the shovel incident, so you weren't alone there (and he is a sweary Scouser too, so there you go).

thesavageintruder · Post by **thesavageintruder** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:12 pm

I'm with streetrw on the sum-up of THE COTTAGE. It was fun, had some nice gory bits and good laughs, and i really liked Reece Shearsmith's cowardly comic performance...but it was nowt special, particularly when compared to other recent Brit horror comedies (namely Shaun & Severance). It wasted Doug Bradley and just as it seemed to be really getting going, just ended - and on a fairly throwaway, disappointing punchline to boot. Mark under "good fun but no world beater". In her defence, i maintain that, as an actress, Jennifer Ellison has a fabulous pair of breasts. If you like that sort of thing.

dangerous_jamie · Post by **dangerous_jamie** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:44 pm

I am watching Pet Semetary for the first time since I was 8, I will let you know if it scares the shit out of me like it did then.

I don't remember Herman Munster being in it!

Maybe I will turn it off and just watch the Munsters.

Hm.

/Pointless.

Muffy St. John · Post by **Muffy St. John** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 8:46 pm

Just saw Frontiere(s) at Cineworld, Trocadero. I really thought that it was a great film, great tension throughout, lots of scares & gore. Def. one of the best horror films I've seen in a long time (if not ever). Not sure if it's been shown at any Frightfest event, but I highly recommend it (think it's closing this week??)
Also saw The Cottage, which was a really good laugh, maybe sagged around the middle a little... but who doesn't??
Also saw Awake and Diary of the Dead, both truly appalling, but glad some people are enjoying them!!

Simon (Dark Angel) · Post by **Simon (Dark Angel)** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:14 pm

Just watching a double bill of Witchfinder General and Mark of the Devil!

dangerous_jamie · Post by **dangerous_jamie** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:19 pm

Just to update you, I rollercoastered while watching Pet Semetary. One minute, I was ready to cry. The next I was wincing at the heel scene. Fred Gwynne was quite off putting, I kept expecting a big "Hur hur hur".

It wasn't quite as terrifying as I remember it, but it was flipping good. Just goes to show what happens when King adapts his own work, I just wish he wouldn't force his godawful cameos on us all.

I also watched The Thing tonight, but I won't bore you with the inevitable love-in that occurs every single time I watch the flipping fantastic movie. Oh, the SFX... Bestill my beating off.

mamawaldi · Post by **mamawaldi** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:49 pm

Just got back from watching a new print of Dracula at the local Town Hall. It's the Hammer 1958 version. Jolly good fun what, and Peter Cushing was a great, great Van Helsing. Never mind Hugh Jackman's big leather coat and gadgets, Cushing saw Dracula off with nothing more than a pair of candlesticks whilst clad in a snug fitting tweed suit.

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:00 pm

dangerous_jamie wrote:Just to update you, I rollercoastered while watching Pet Semetary. One minute, I was ready to cry. The next I was wincing at the heel scene. Fred Gwynne was quite off putting, I kept expecting a big "Hur hur hur".

It wasn't quite as terrifying as I remember it, but it was flipping good. Just goes to show what happens when King adapts his own work, I just wish he wouldn't force his godawful cameos on us all.

I also watched The Thing tonight, but I won't bore you with the inevitable love-in that occurs every single time I watch the flipping fantastic movie. Oh, the SFX... Bestill my beating off.

The same cat from Pet semetary turns up in Darkman,and the best thing about that adaptation is the ramones song at the end over the credits,just rock n roll goodness.

dangerous_jamie · Post by **dangerous_jamie** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:12 pm

Grindhouse wrote:
dangerous_jamie wrote:Just to update you, I rollercoastered while watching Pet Semetary. One minute, I was ready to cry. The next I was wincing at the heel scene. Fred Gwynne was quite off putting, I kept expecting a big "Hur hur hur".

It wasn't quite as terrifying as I remember it, but it was flipping good. Just goes to show what happens when King adapts his own work, I just wish he wouldn't force his godawful cameos on us all.

I also watched The Thing tonight, but I won't bore you with the inevitable love-in that occurs every single time I watch the flipping fantastic movie. Oh, the SFX... Bestill my beating off.
The same cat from Pet semetary turns up in Darkman,and the best thing about that adaptation is the ramones song at the end over the credits,just rock n roll goodness.

I do love the Ramones, if only Ari hadn't messed up Vince's chances of starring in I Wanna Be Sedated...

But there was a lot of good stuff in PS. Some of it put me in the mind of Childs Play though.

Darkman, theres a talking point, did it suck? Was it a valiant effort to create a comic book character? Was it the biggest plot hole I've ever seen?

The answer to all these questions and more is yes.

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:12 pm

I browsed my boxes of the banned and took a trip over to New York and revisited Driller Killer,not one of my favourite films or particularly well made or easy to watch,the old vipco artwork was the most shocking images for anybody young who saw it sat on the shelf back in 81/82.
and its even being remade,not sure how this is going to go down,least theres modern advances in power tools and battery life.I always wondered if he had a very long extension lead and how flawed it would be if someone unplugged it.
Not the best advert for coffee is Contamination,still its fun sci-fi horror with a funky disco style soundtrack,inventive expolding chest deaths and funny green alien pods/eggs that make a sound.
Great costumes,a very early 80s alien rip off,still fun though.

soulmining · Post by **soulmining** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:19 am

I've just got back from seeing The Cottage and have to say I was a little underwhelmed by it. I didn't think it handled the switch from crime caper to horror very deftly and it was another film that lacked sympathetic characters. I believe Paul Andrew Williams had written this long before London To Brighton and it certainly felt like a first script... little originality and some sketchy supporting characters (the Koreans), and have to agree with streetrw, a lot of unnecessary swearing. That said, there were a few comic moments (especially around Andrew, Ellison's dim brother) and a couple of the gory moments were quite inspired. Overall though, a step backwards for PAW after his strong debut feature. And we were the only people to stay behind for the post-credits scene, so thanks for the tip off...

Much better, and highly recommended is Lars And The Real Girl which I saw for the second time on Sunday, having previously raved about it in Toronto last year. A story of a loner guy and a sex doll... you'd think it would be a bawdy comedy, but despite some obvious comic moments it's more a sad, heartwarming tale about someone trying to reconnect with other people... and even on second viewing it had me in tears. A real indie gem and well worth seeking out...

Unlike Meet The Spartans... no, don't panic, I haven't actually seen the film, the trailer was more than enough... it opens this weekend and I sincerely hope that all Frightfesters - even those with Cineworld passes - will be giving this one a wide berth. PLEASE, if you go and see it, they'll only make more of them...

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:45 am

My Dario Argento retro-binge continued this evening with a, shall we say, dubious copy of the marvellous Four Flies On Grey Velvet. I say marvellous, because it is, in a decent print with a clean soundtrack, and it looks stunning in 35mm. Unfortunately, the disc I have looks like a second-generation VHS copy from a more than usually battered cinema print (at least it's widescreen); some of the dialogue is lost in the surface noise and a lot of the scenes in darkness just become an indistinct blur in the low-res murk of videotape. Is that his arm? Is it a tree? Is it a midget doing some juggling? Could be anything. A pity, because I really like this film, more than Cat o'Nine Tails. Okay, it doesn't have much in the way of clues to the killer's identity (unlike the great one in Deep Red, which will be next), Michael "Dempsey and Makepeace" Brandon is a bit of a blank, the more dissonant cues of of Ennio Morricone's score are annoying, and the "four flies" clue itself is utter bunk. But they're not important. It's the camerawork, the editing, the suspense scenes, the black humour, the eccentric supporting characters - including a prime example of the comedy homosexual. Please, someone, put a decent legit version out.

Followed it up with Dead End, a nifty little low-budgeter in which a family take the shortcut off the Interstate (the fools) and end up in some infinite forest in a permanent night, apparently haunted by a mysterious woman in white, and a spooky car. There's little difficulty in seeing the resolution coming from over an hour's distance, but there are a few unexpected pleasures along the way.

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:48 am

Muffy St. John wrote:Just saw Frontiere(s) at Cineworld, Trocadero. I really thought that it was a great film, great tension throughout, lots of scares & gore. Def. one of the best horror films I've seen in a long time (if not ever). Not sure if it's been shown at any Frightfest event, but I highly recommend it (think it's closing this week??)

Yes, it was on at the ICA all-nighter last Halloween weekend. Liked it, though I suspect I drifted into sleep mode a few times. And Inside was shown next and blew it out of the water.

thesavageintruder · Post by **thesavageintruder** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:07 am

Frontieres was unfortunately timed last year in the sense that when a movie like INSIDE follows ANYTHING, its destined to blow it out the water. However, I remember thinking just how intense and powerful Frontieres was in its own right, cant wait to see it again. I have to echo the previous poster's comments about Lars and the Real Girl - a surprisingly sensitive movie about a subject that could have so easily been used as the basis for cheap laughs in a "raunchy" R rated gross out comedy. Lovely performances, with Ryan Gosling outstanding playing a socially awkward misfit who wants the doll for companionship, not sex - and is by no means the only lonely, lost character in the story.
Although its not perfect, i always really liked Pet Sematary. Its remarkably dark for a mainstream American horror film - almost everyone's dead at the end, including a little kid, and the violence pulls no punches. It also gave me many childhood nightmares thanks to the horrid images of "Zelda", the deformed cousin seen in flashbacks. (Shudders)