films we just saw

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:05 pm

I'm not all that surprised that no-one's mentioned Mutant Chronicles yet, despite it being trailed at FrightFest. It seems to have been slipped out into the release schedules very quietly - no posters, and not many screens (though curiously both 'plexes in Milton Keynes are showing it). It's just as well because ultimately it's not very good, despite the occasional bursts of enthusiastic gore and the presence of reliables like Ron Perlman and Sean Pertwee. In the future, mankind has won a narrow victory against alien mutants, then later, in the year 2707, a completely separate corporate war (fought in trenches) unearths the Mutant Engine which promptly activates and starts churning out mutants. Irish monk Ron Perlman assembles a handful of soldiers to destroy the machine. It's laden with CGI (including the blood spurts, which is cheating - they should use squibs and blood bags), and it has a highly processed drab sepia look to it, not as pronouced as Sky Captain's but a little along those lines. But none of the characters are interesting, and despite all the monsters and grue it's actually quite dull.

I also managed to catch Righteous Kill as well, which I'd originally tried to watch a few weeks ago at the Trocadero but there was a fire alarm after the first hour. After having to collar a Cineworld drone to complain that they were showing it in the wrong ratio (unless Al Pacino is actually seven feet tall and the NYPD have a fleet of cars with elliptical wheels) I settled back into it and - seeing the whole thing it comes across as slightly better. De Niro and Pacino are sweary New York cops on the trail of a serial killer who may actually be a cop - and even having seen the first hour already, I didn't spot the killer. Pacino and De Niro have reached the stage where they don't need to prove their abilities anymore - they've done their Godfathers, Taxi Drivers and Serpicos so they can just kick back and coast along and have some fun. It's nowhere near Heat, but it's just about okay.

It was directed by Jon Avnet, and he also directs Pacino in 88 Minutes, which is supposedly a real-time thriller in which a forensic psychiatrist must identify a serial killer (another one) whose MO is the same as the killer currently in jail on the basis of Pacino's dubious testimony. It's engaging enough nonsense, with a pretty loopy denouement, but probably better on DVD (it was made three years ago and somehow never got a release until now).

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 2:23 pm

Tsui Harks, The Blade, if you like tales set in ancient china about revenge this is one for you,if you can stand the out of focus camera or somewhat odd direction style,but its not all bad some excellent martial arts.
a man loses his arm by bandits and is helped to recover by a farmer,he discovers a book thats in tatters on kung fu and teaches himself it,and vows revenge on those who killed his father,with his fathers broken sword,hence the blade,its not bad at all,and would suit being remade

Hello Doris! · Post by **Hello Doris!** » Mon Oct 13, 2008 2:59 pm

streetrw wrote:I'm not all that surprised that no-one's mentioned Mutant Chronicles yet, despite it being trailed at FrightFest. It seems to have been slipped out into the release schedules very quietly - no posters, and not many screens (though curiously both 'plexes in Milton Keynes are showing it). It's just as well because ultimately it's not very good, despite the occasional bursts of enthusiastic gore and the presence of reliables like Ron Perlman and Sean Pertwee. In the future, mankind has won a narrow victory against alien mutants, then later, in the year 2707, a completely separate corporate war (fought in trenches) unearths the Mutant Engine which promptly activates and starts churning out mutants. Irish monk Ron Perlman assembles a handful of soldiers to destroy the machine. It's laden with CGI (including the blood spurts, which is cheating - they should use squibs and blood bags), and it has a highly processed drab sepia look to it, not as pronouced as Sky Captain's but a little along those lines. But none of the characters are interesting, and despite all the monsters and grue it's actually quite dull

Mr O and I saw that a while back (there was a half decent dvd rip knocking around) and thought it was okay, but nothing to write home about. the best bit was when watching it Mr O exclaiming "Sean Pertwee must be in this!" and there he was!

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 2:27 pm

Teeth replaced P2 during ff 07 i missed it, at the cinema i missed it and i finally get round to watching the dvd,as the guy outside the titty twister in FDTD they got every kind of p***y even snapping p****,but did they have vagina dentata?
i really didnt expect to like this,but it really picks up pace around 40 mins into it,very squirm inducing for the men,completely fun anyone with a sense of humour,and i loved the end with the girl looking into the camera with the old pervy guy sat next to her,top film

maxmum · Post by **maxmum** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 2:42 pm

I still haven't seen the Substitute darn it!

Notts Pete · Post by **Notts Pete** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 3:34 pm

Maxmum, you're welcome to borrow The Substitute after Grindy. Just give us a shout. Gonna have a mini-frightfest with it this weekend - hope it's decent after all that.

Satans Puppy · Post by **Satans Puppy** » Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:39 pm

Well I watched Disneys Sleeping Beauty on Bluray... and WOW for a 1950s animated picture they've done a SUPERB job, I couldn't fault it.

I'm also going to go off and purchase The Strangers when I get paid because apparently the blu transfer is reference material along with the audio...

Just a Shame, Midnight Meat Train has been buried on Booray/DVD as well by the looks of things

Notts Pete · Post by **Notts Pete** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:16 am

Satans Puppy wrote:Well I watched Disneys Sleeping Beauty on Bluray... and WOW for a 1950s animated picture they've done a SUPERB job, I couldn't fault it.

I'm also going to go off and purchase The Strangers when I get paid because apparently the blu transfer is reference material along with the audio...

Just a Shame, Midnight Meat Train has been buried on Booray/DVD as well by the looks of things

Nice one Puppy. I've got my eye on the Sleeping Beauty BD as well - was reading a good piece on the restoration over on blu-ray.com and it does look stunning.
Also on the non-horror front, I got the US bluray of How the West was Won the other week. Again, the work that's been done on the restoration is incredible - they've even included a cool 'smilebox' version simulating the curved Cinerama screen. It's really great to see movies of this age being so well produced on hi-def and given the respect they deserve. Much better value than paying £20+ for a bare-bones Predator or the like.

Have they announced a video release date for Meat Train? I've seen ads on the back of DarkSide and Gorezone announcing a Cinema release on October 31st .... fingers crossed it's not just a couple of central London screens for a week or so ...

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:52 am

Notts Pete wrote:Have they announced a video release date for Meat Train? I've seen ads on the back of DarkSide and Gorezone announcing a Cinema release on October 31st .... fingers crossed it's not just a couple of central London screens for a week or so ...

Milton Keynes have had posters up for two weeks at least, and have started showing trailers as well. That said, they do have 16 screens.

Notts Pete · Post by **Notts Pete** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:09 am

My best mate couldn't make FF back in August so he was really looking forward to seeing it on the big screen. It's looking good then. Even if MK is the nearest it plays to us, it's not too big a trip. All that'll be missing is the wonderful FrightFest audience...

maxmum · Post by **maxmum** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:01 pm

Notts Pete wrote:Maxmum, you're welcome to borrow The Substitute after Grindy. Just give us a shout. Gonna have a mini-frightfest with it this weekend - hope it's decent after all that.

Ohh, sweet I may well take you up on that thank you! I will see how my cash situation is after the halloween Ica all nighter, may buy it dependant on cash.

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:53 pm

It's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive. Last night I cracked open the big Universal box with the 1931 Frankenstein; I'd seen it before but late on Channel 4 one night and that's hardly the best way to see anything - interrupted every twenty minutes by ugly dimwits shouting about shampoo and vacuum cleaners.

I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'm not that enthused by early cinema as a rule, so I've seen very few movies from the pre-war years, and maybe two or three from the silent era. But this is, if nothing else, an important movie in genre history. We all know the basics of the story: man plays God and loses. Yes, it's a bit stagey (it's actually not from the book, but from a play based on the book) and the acting is a bit hammy when looked at from a 2008 perspective, and some scenes don't really work (particularly the final one). But I did like it and look forward to going through the rest of them. (It does include the scene with the little girl by the lake, and the then-unacceptable line "Now I know what it feels like to be God".)

sherbetbizarre · Post by **sherbetbizarre** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:18 pm

I opened mine the other night too and started with Dracula - very good, and will be seeing Frankenstein next

Satans Puppy · Post by **Satans Puppy** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:39 pm

maxmum wrote:
Notts Pete wrote:Maxmum, you're welcome to borrow The Substitute after Grindy. Just give us a shout. Gonna have a mini-frightfest with it this weekend - hope it's decent after all that.
Ohh, sweet I may well take you up on that thank you! I will see how my cash situation is after the halloween Ica all nighter, may buy it dependant on cash.

Yeah she either pays me on the day or she pays in Kinda.... *picks up a camera and hires a 50 stone beast of a man* Yeah you got him to look forward too and he's gonna be on top!!!

*throws maxi a princess leia outfit* WHAT?!?!? Star Wars Pr0n is major bucks....

Tee hee... *skips off to watch sleeping beauty again to purify his mind*

mamawaldi · Post by **mamawaldi** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:17 pm

Mutant Chronicles - Man, if those scenes they make you sit through when you complete a level on Resident Evil were 90 minutes long they'd look like this. And they'd have Sean Pertwee and Devon Aoki in too. Still, there is some cosy familiarity from watching films in which groups of soldiers are bloodily killed off in (ascending/descending?) order of ethnicity so I was not altogether cold to its weary charms.