films we just saw

[Grindhouse]

i picked up PATHFINDER last night,amid bad reviews at the cinema this may well have found its home on DVD,if anything this is wonderfully shot the photography looks lush and its very well lit,but it has its niggles,the film has the vikings talk in their native language,but not the native indian's(why did they not speak a language to their own tribe?) dances with wolves this is not! and we dont see the young character played by Karl Urban growing up amid the tribe.
Clancy Brown reprises his role as the Kurgan from Highlander but the production crew try to ignore this by not mentioning it!
And of all swords used in any film there is only one that really comes to mind maybe its because we see it lovingly crafted, honed. sharpened engraved and finally wielded and used to such effect that CROM himself would be proud! so why during the whole film do i feel that they are using Conan's sword which occupies my mind more than anything else in the film.
The action is brutal and bloody,which can well satisfy a late night bodycount, blood fest.
but ultimately the poor story lets it down and this is another one of those films like the 13th warrior,that you want to be so good but fails to deliver fully but you like it for what it does,but leaves you wanting more.only someone needs to make one of these films properly.
How could Indians vs Vikings go so off course thats a simple formula with all the right components,just not the right chemist to make it work.

The DVD has a good set of extras and this is the same as the US unrated cut i believe.
But Marcus Nispel will hopefully improve on his next outing behind the camera.

[Laymonite]

I thought Death Proof was brilliant. The first scene with the girls in their car was a bit crap, cos they were annoying. But it only lasted about 10 minutes. But once they got the pub and especially once Stuntman Mike came along, I found it all thrilling and very entertaining.

I found the dialogue scenes engaging (especially with the much more likable ((AND NICER LOOKING!)) second bunch of girls). In fact Stuntman Mike disappears for a good portion of the second half and when he re-appears it was a bit of a jolt. I'd completely forgotten about him. Some will obviously see this as a bad thing and that's fair enough.

The biggest plus for the film is Kurt Russel as Stuntman Mike. He hasn't been this cool in ages. In fact I found myself rooting for him towards the end, for shame.

It'll be interesting to see how Planet of Terror compares now. From the trailers I always thought Death Proof looked far better.

[Gungrave]

Getting a bit bored of the critics bashing Deathproof for its wordy-ness. People seem to have very short memories. Tarantino has always loved this kind of over egged scripting....christ, just look at Pulp Fiction, Reservoir dogs....sodding Kill Bill!!! I'm going to ignore Jackie Brown, nuff said.

Auteurs have this integral problem of self editing.....when Deathproof was chopped down for the Grindhouse format it worked a treat; pacey, punchy, svelt. The full version we're seeing is the flabby, bloated full vision of a director/writer with mental dioreah when it comes to dialogue.

But he still does it better than most. And he has the passion for the things we all love as well, a real rarity. It's great to see the look on his face in press junkets when he gets faced with the latest little brat with no appreciation of cinema off the beaten track. He toys with them like a cat with a wounded mouse. Then minutes later his eyes light up and the motormouth kicks in when faced with a journo who seems to have "the passion".

Few directors are willing or even able to take the risks he does within the Hollywood machine....when Grindhouse finally see's release we'll get ur chance to make our points with our wallets. In the meantime let's just support a man who shares our love of weird cinema, who supports new and upcoming talent, and who takes some risks and makes some rough and ready gems of cult.

Rant over. Back to reality. Thanks for your time.

[ghouldrool]

Death Proof

going against majority groupthink here i must say this always looked like it got the exploitation vibe much more than Planet Terror. PT looks far more like a tribute to mid-late 80s campy FX horror.

moaning about a Tarantino movie being heavy on talking is like moaning about a film called Kickboxer having kickboxing in it. QT's only flaw in the dialogue here is just as in Dusk till Dawn the majority of the characters all seem to talk exaclty the same. the wobbly head and "sista with 'tude" mannerisms really grate.

Stuntman Mike is brilliant and it was hilarious seeing his total change in character once someone actually fights back, once he is no longer in control. The sparse use of him reminded me a little of the shark in Jaws. def a case of less is more- and Russell eats it all up especially in the final few mins (his screams of agony are truly painful).

the first bunch of girls are an odious self satisfied bunch. the bar they go to is laughably thin on male punters and QT again proves he must stop "acting".

the final car chase is great and a better set piece even than the killing crash. this must be the most unique slasher movie!

the film retains that false "worn" look though the picture cleans up after a nifty little black and white interlude. the soundtrack is not as cool as other QT movies but ok nonetheless.

[thesavageintruder]

Loved everything about DEATH PROOF, including all the talk, all the girls (my Mary Elisabeth Winstead fetish satisfied for another month, thanks Mr Tarantino!), the music (it made Dave, Dee, Dozy, Mike, et al. seem cool for perhaps the first time), the awesome vehicular homicide, the cameos (love Michael Parks in a recurring Tarantino role), etc. As a big fan of the proper slasher cycle (ie the 80's ones), i also got a big kick out of the wonderful homage to SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE - without giving anything away, the finale of DEATH PROOF plays like an amped-up version of that film's climax with added Kurt Russell and added cars and sassier girls.

[VictorCrowley]

As a HUGE fan of the Silent Hill games (except Silent Hill 4: The Room... played a little over half way and then put it down, never to pick it up again. Strange, I did the same with RE4. Perhaps it's a four thing?) it can only be insanity that has kept me from seeing the film thus-far. Particularly when I had free tickets to see it at the cinema (after a multimedia was cancelled at the last moment when the film didn't turn up). Insanity, or perhaps, intuition?

I got about an hour in and had to turn it off. I felt... insulted. It was way too random and 'wtf is happening?!' plus the rampant CGI was getting on my nerves. And as someone who knows the SH mythology really well I can't imagine how the film came across to people who knew nothing of the games. I may try again with it before I send the rental back but right now I'm so disappointed. I thought Gans would be 'The Man for the Job' after seeing Brotherhood and reading interviews with him. Bah. Just BAH!

[lupogirl]

Gleefully sadistic, outrageously violent, and utterly, utterly, batsh*t mental. Shoot 'Em Up is terrific corpse-strewn blood-drenched entertainment which starts with Clive Owen slaughtering about 50 bad guys (one of them with a carrot) in the first five minutes and proceeds upwards from there. With major league hamming from chief bad guy Paul Giamatti. .).

So agree with the comments. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Some great shoot out John Wooesque moments. Some cheeky one liners which made me chortle. All nicely wrapped up in 85mins.

[JasonMyers]

SPOILERS AHEAD

Saw HALLOWEEN. It's not weak enough to hate it but it's not good enough to get excited about. I don't think it's terrible. But halfway through, the word that came to mind to describe it was "pointless."

I thought the best parts were everything up till Myers escapes from Smith's Grove. That stuff is all Zombie's own thing because it's not in the original and you can't compare the two. But once he gets to Haddonfield, you can't help but compare the rest of it to Carpenter's film because it follows the same events. Zombie's mistake was not making the whole story his own. If he'd come up with something completely different, then you wouldn't think of the original movie.

What I liked: Michael's childhood scenes were all done pretty well. But Zombie made a big mistake in where he introduced the theme music. Michael overhears the school principal talking about a psychological evaluation and he runs out of the school. That was not the right place to play the theme for the first time! It should have started after a major event, like when he puts on the mask for the first time and kills his sister.

What I didn't like: Hands down, THE worst thing about this was the shaky handheld camerawork. I liked the handheld camerawork at the start in the scenes at home, where it felt gritty and real. But it goes completely OTT in the last half during the chases and kills. I couldn't make out what was happening on screen!

Some of the dialogue reeked. "Michael, you've been here 15 years. That's almost twice as long as my first marriage." Loomis is talking to a psychopathic killer and he cracks a joke? I'm a huge fan of Malcolm McDowell but his performance was weak. He just didn't seem to be interested in the character.

I saw the workprint ending on Youtube few weeks ago. I can see why they changed it. In the workprint ending, you're left in no doubt that Michael is dead. The studio obviously wanted to leave a sequel open so in this one, you don't see where Laurie shoots Michael. That way, in a sequel they can say she shot him in the neck or shoulder. I'm not sure which I prefer. In the workprint, I like the emotional moment when Loomis says "I failed you" and the way it ends with the voiceover of Michael as a kid. In this version, it's a more straightforward slasher movie ending.

There were just too many characters in this who didn't get much screen time. Udo Kier is a fantastic actor, so what's the point of having him in the movie for about 20 seconds?! But it was fun to see Mickey Dolenz and good old Clint Howard. And at least there's no rapper saying "Trick or treat, muthafu*ka!"

[soulmining]

Short notice, but Night Of The Sunflowers is screening on BBC Four at 10pm tonight - was only at the cinemas very recently and I seem to remember Paul singing its praises.

[xLeft For Deadx]

Short notice, but Night Of The Sunflowers is screening on BBC Four at 10pm tonight - was only at the cinemas very recently and I seem to remember Paul singing its praises.

I was planning on going to see that at the little indie cinema round the corner from mine this week. Didn't realise it had made it to tv already!

[Grindhouse]

Resident Evil Extinction easily the best one of the three,with milla jovovich back kicking zombie ass,very good zombie effects, well directed ,and keeps you entertained from the start exactly what is needed after the dire apocalypse,and its easily watchable more than once a good job from Russell Mulcahy.lets hope hes on board for the 4th outing.

[Grindhouse]

Of all the films that i had seen trailers of this year The Kingdom was one that i was eagerly waiting for,and this film did not let me down,directed by Peter Berg, he's come a long way from Chicago Hope and his first outing behind the camera,The Rundown to show himself to be a director,who not only can direct action,but sustain tension,and produce emotion from all his actors,surely this is a director who is now confident in his abilities and produces the goods and its all on the screen to see.
While never being a film that plays for US foreign policy nor being anti Islam this holds a balance on the screen that depending on your point of view will be tipped over?
The acting is superb and with a cast that are credible and believable ,the actor playing the Saudi policeman deserves a mention here as he was just superb and i hope we see more of him on the big screen.
At times during the film i felt i was watching a Michael Mann film as the film is that slick,but if your going to copy somebodys style least your taking from one of the best, i am not going to run into plot spoilers for this film but go along and see for yourself only dont expect anything run of the mill and dont forget to take some tissues with you as its a roller coaster from start to finish.

[jimbo]

As a HUGE fan of the Silent Hill games (except Silent Hill 4: The Room... played a little over half way and then put it down, never to pick it up again. Strange, I did the same with RE4.

Same here with Silent Hill, love the games, but SH4 was lame - it wasn't a SH game until the last minute, they decided to shoehorn some SH stuff into it, clumsily. And the movie - yeah, looks amazing, apart from the dodgy CG, but what a mess. You aren't missing anything in the second half, apart from more CG, and a 4 hour exposition scene...

RE4 *needs* to be played though, it's the best of the series. Do it! DOOO IIIIIIT!

Rewatched "Wait Until Dark" the other night, an Audrey Hepburn thriller. Slightly stagey and contrived at the start, but utterly bloody terrifying, Alan Arkin is the devil. Such a good movie. Amazed it hasn't been remade, although it just wouldn't work without Audrey, she's great in it.

[soulmining]

I saw The Kingdom a couple of weeks ago, thought it was okay but nothing special... it certainly delivers plenty of action, but (like Bourne) suffers from far too much shaky-cam. Michael Mann produced, hence his influence on the look of the film no doubt.

Other films I've seen recently: Shoot 'Em Up - good fun but too stupid for its own good. I almost wish there had been less plot to it. Feels like it should have been based on a comic strip, then maybe I'd have been a little more forgiving. Still, Giamatti and Owen were very good and there's always room in a film for a lactating Monica Bellucci; Death Proof - having already seen the leaner cut I always thought it would work fine as a stand-alone film as so it proves. The extra exposition really benefits the characters, especially the second group of girls. Yes, it's very dialogue heavy and QT is starting to repeat himself, but the car scenes are amazing, especially Zoe Bell's stuntwork; Le Serpent - solid French thriller, not quite as good as Tell No One, but still worth a look if it's still showing anywhere; Run, Fat Boy, Run - pretty predictable but likeable British comedy. Slow to start, but good fun once it gets going and the core plot kicks in. Can't go too far wrong with Simon Pegg and Dylan Moran leading the way.

The Night Of The Sunflowers wasn't bad either!

[Gungrave]

HALLOWEEN - Huge disapointment. Expected more from Mr Zombie. Competent but a tad dull and just showed up the glaring flaws of the original but without the rose tinted hindsight and 70's ambience to wash it all down.

DEATHPROOF - Superb. Fun, smart, gleeful and varied with some tasty characterisation. Just made me want to see Grindhouse even more!! Glad I saw this version before GH though, wouldn't work the other way around. Was grinning the whole way through....including the bit where the idiot in front of us complained about the jumpcuts and scratched reel!!!!! Well done Quentin, more of that please.