films we just saw

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:19 pm

One of the problems with Four Flies is that it's Paramount and they're not that interested in licensing out their stuff - and they're also not that interested in releasing it themselves. We soundtrack collectors are used to Paramount's reluctance - so many scores mouldering away in their vaults because it's easier, and cheaper, for them to say "no". (Disney and Universal are the same, for film scores at least.) Sadly Four Flies just isn't a big enough title for them to bother with. Something like Star Trek is, because there's huge amounts of money to be made from it.

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:47 am

Untraceable nearly almost unwatchable & unlikeable and with plot holes galore unfeasable.but apart from all that its not bad,yes like others have mentioned there is a social commentary going on,about death and the way we view it,you only have to hear the latest grim reports about youtube to see where this is coming from,but it could have been done in such a more cutting and stylish way than this.
There must have been some telepathy between the the grandmother and mother,as they hardly spoke a word,but would just stare at each other and try and express themselves facially,and the worst thing ever that just ruined it for me was the car,don't ever go back to a car,and if you check the back seats properly,(movie cliche 1003) she's a sodding FBI agent.
still inventive deaths none the less,if i had paid full whack for that movie i would want half back,still it was a half price night so not bad.

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:18 pm

So many films...Since the last bulletin, and in approximate order of non-cackiness:

Worst by far is Obituary, which only has a 12 and was probably made for TV. An obituary writer starts getting notifications of deaths before the people have died (or, more accurately, are murdered). Could it have something to do with a Thuggee cult of Kali-worshippers? Or the momunetally ugly old boyfriend? Since the villian is obvious from frame one (might as well wear a T-shirt with "I Am The Killer" on it), none of it works. Dull

Better is the second-best non-genre movie of the week, Spy Game, in which Brad Pitt gets captured by the Chinese and nearly-retired Robert Redford looks back over their careers in a high-level CIA meeting. It's a bit long but I did enjoy it; generally involving and a lot less frenetic than the usual Tony Scott migraines.

A very talky, worthy and non-judgemental look at schoolgirls exploring s3x with the inevitable consequences in the British drama from 1963, The Yellow Teddybears (which LoveFilm mistakenly classified as an 18 rather than a 12). Once you get past the cut-glass diction that everybody speaks in, it's actually a fascinating look back at attitudes of the time (some of which are still relevant today, such as children growing up too fast, the use of s3x in advertising, the hilariously Whitehousian moralising old bags).

Kung Fu Hustle is a broad martial arts comedy action pic with a lot of CG effects in the vein of The Mask (which I hated), in which a variety of eccentric characters have huge fight sequences when the Axe Gang (a large gang who all carry axes) target a downtrodden slum village. It's very cartoonish and quite entertaining.

Back on the horror and I really enjoyed Pupi Avati's The House With Laughing Windows which isn't that scary but it's involving, engrossing and generally well done. Somewhere in rural Italy in the 1950s, a man comes to restore a fresco on the church wall and stumbles on a series of killings and long-buried secrets. I have to say I liked it.

Best non-genre movie of the week is easily O Brother Where Art Thou, which I'd never seen in the eight years since it came out. I think I went off the Coens after The Big Lebowski and just didn't make the effort - but I'm catching up after really enjoying No Country For Old Men. OBWAT is a bizarre relocating of Homer's Odyssey in the Deep South in the 30s, and is just a huge amount of fun.

My favourite movie of the week, though, is not really fun: it being brutally violent, s3xually graphic, generally implausible and oddly fascinating. It's Lucio Fulci's The New York Ripper, in its 18-certificate version (though frankly I can't feel that cheated at the 20-seconds or so cut by the BBFC as there's more than enough blood and depravity left over); I can well understand why it upset the wussy James Ferman. If nothing else, I love the way it looks and feels for the most part like a standard American New York cop thriller - just one with savage slashings of naked women spliced in. It's nasty, but it works, and it surprised me that I liked it as much as I did.

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:22 pm

Inspired by the gone to pieces doc,i caught up with Rosemarys killer,interesting and still good to watch,dated in many ways,but the deaths are outstanding work by Tom Savini.
Still a rather short film in its running time,and some things dont add up,which makes me think it was longer.
still interesting bit of trivia the guy in the wheel chair is played by Laurence Tierney aka Joe Cabot from reservoir dogs,who really did resemble the thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Tierney
another return to slashertastic fun,is Happy Birthday To Me,some pretty good kills for this overly long horror film,still not bad at all,last time i saw this was in 82 and yes it was on my birthday.
and finally out of my rental triple bill,Home Of The Brave,theres some noble ideas afoot in this film with Samuel Jackson,50cent aka Curtis jackson,and Jessica Biel,in this tale of US soldiers surviving their tour of duty and coming home to America and adjusting to civilian life,some of them carry mental scars some physical injuries,made by Irwin Winkler of Rocky& Revolution, its pretty dull stuff,and it may be a noble effort by these stars to show what its like for those soldiers who do come back.
my problem with this isnt the sentiment its the message of it and the way its delivered,if you have ever seen Over There? this was a series that was cancelled after one season,and was really good and showed lots of promise for the next season.
rent that instead of home of the brave,& you will soon be watching episode after episode.

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 4:00 pm

Control,it never made it to cinemas locally,so was pleased this turned up today,just loved it thought it was superbly done,Samantha Morton & Sam Riley,were well deserving of all the accolades,but Toby kebell,was equally as deserving as well,for playing Rob Gretton,he had me laughing so much as the manager of the band,not sure his performance was meant to be comic,but it was played so well.
its a superb film,one i will watch again

trixybella · Post by **trixybella** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:17 pm

Hebrew Hammer

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!!!

It's hysterical in a really really bad way. Dangerous Jamie, you'll love it

Following a plot where the son of Santa Claus, Damian is planning do destroy Hannukah, the Hebrew Hammer (Adam Goldberg) is enlisted by the Jewish Justice League to stop him.

Me and my flatmate didn't stop laughing from beginning to end with this one. If you want something daft, ridiculous and ever so slightly religionist (not a word but I like it) then this will hit all the buttons.......

ghouldrool · Post by **ghouldrool** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:23 pm

Fragile
The story would fall apart if a 5 year old wanted to pull it apart, one for the PC police to frown over is the only character outright killed by the villain is the only black character (!), and the spanish girl is very irritating. But this was quite an ok little movie despite not fulfiling its potential or making decent enuff use of the wonderful sets. Some good performances also -plus a coupe of bad ones.
It also has the most horrid and creepy looking villain for years. Really nasty

Flight of the Living Dead
Ha, the movie Snakes on a Plane could have been. Not perfect of course but a great laugh. the Nun was amusing but the gummy Granny Zombie and the zombie still strapped into his chair are more bizarre.

Vantage Point.
Much much better than i thought it would be. The trailer got me rolling my eyes as yet another TV star moves into a pot boiler thriller ala The Sentinel. Its a stong well formed cast, with a (risky for mainstream) structure that doesnt really annoy and adds alot to the tale, and a quite exciting car chase all very well filmed too.
Yes its still a pot boiler but the contents of this pot are alot more palatable than normal, even if i did work out who the villain was from the trailer/casting.
And it seems to have quite a good message/pay off that shows no matter how well things are planned theres no accounting for every single variable.

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:13 pm

Two pseudo-Hitchcocks revisited this week after some 20 years. Brian DePalma's Body Double really isn't in the same league as Dressed To Kill or Blow Out (or Raising Cain either); it's a straight mix of Vertigo and Rear Window, the mystery villain is obvious and hero Craig Wasson (whatever happened to...?) is a blank - but it has some nice touches and a terrific, sadly unreleased, Pino Donaggio score. More se.xually graphic than BdP's usual.

I don't think Argento's The Cat O'Nine Tails is derived from any particular Hitchcock, but it has a feel of late Hitch about it, especially the crypt sequence (like the body in the potato truck in Frenzy) and the nice bit with the barber shaving James Franciscus while talking about newspaper reports that the mad killer might be a barber. It's also got some more camp/ga.y characters: not as much comic relief as in Plumage and Four Flies, and another lift-shaft scene (before Deep Red and Trauma). Also the picture is extremely dark in places. So maybe it's not prime Dario but good to see again after all these years.

scrobble · Post by **scrobble** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 6:39 pm

Not horror, but saw Be Kind Rewind in the cinema yesterday and loved it...much more of an adult film than you'd expect from Jack Black - I think the adults got it far more than the kids they'd taken with them.

Also finally saw Brick on DVD - well worth checking out. Chandler-esque with a high school twist, very unusual.

Satans Puppy · Post by **Satans Puppy** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:51 pm

Stephen King's The Mist.... not to be confused with The Fog because Mist and Fog, they're kinda the same thing... aren't they?

I really liked it once it got past the first 20 minutes of introduction, then it pretty much played out like Cloverfield/Feast with Beasties within The Mist, grabbing citizens as they fight for survival in their local Supermarket.. Usual Stephen King fair with many nods to Religion being a bad bad thing....

Nothing but trouble.....

Great stuff...Really enjoyed it especially the ending.. although to be honest, the end was full of holes with the actions taken and the way they were taken.

puppysbitch · Post by **puppysbitch** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:59 pm

I took a friend to see Diary of the dead the other night, nothing remarkable there I hear you say.
Made me laugh when I looked on the "what's showing when" board outside and it was billed as " Diary of the dead man". You'd have thought a cinema showing the film would have known what it was called lol.

Was Odeon by the way, so I'm presuming Odeons up and down the land have the same mistake on their posters....

sherbetbizarre · Post by **sherbetbizarre** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:10 pm

Lol, maybe this is a chilled-out longer cut - "Diary of the Dead, man"

puppysbitch · Post by **puppysbitch** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:07 pm

sherbetbizarre wrote:Lol, maybe this is a chilled-out longer cut - "Diary of the Dead, man"

Selects the Stone Roses on the Ipod as someone passes a joint....

Bearded Avenger · Post by **Bearded Avenger** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:37 pm

The Odeon in Bracknell had the name correct. May be the most expensive film I've gone to see at the cinema for (especially for a second time) as I got flashed by a speed camera when I was driving in lost circles around all those stoopid roundabouts.

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:41 pm

maybe it was the dude working there,you know the dude, el duderino,his
dudeness, not lebowski,you know the dude everybody knows hes the dude!