films we just saw

[ghouldrool]

I miss the old thread where we got to bitch slap or praise films we have just seen

today i went to see Transporter 2 at PCC for £1 and it was fantastic... amazingly over the top .... then that was followed by the superior sequal Underworld Evolution...

The film neatly follows on from the first and walks a fine line between gothic soap opera and confusion... its a simple tale these films tell but complicated by piss poor scripting... yes beckinsale gets her kit off but no naughty bits are shown ..and the werewolves this time are much better thn those cat looking things from the first .. the film obviously has a bigger budgert and the plot revelations are obvious.... thankfully a certain terrible actor left over from before doesnt run the risk of ruining the film like he nearly did first time round... i dont know where a 3rd film would go though and i get the feeling that the story would have worked better as a seasonal TV series with a Lost style narrative....

and in one hour the second episode of MOH...

[soulmining]

I saw Underworld: Evolution last night... not really sure why since I loathed the first one, but hey, it was something to do on a chilly Sunday evening.

It's a better film - but that's not saying much. Yes, there's more explosions, more blood (it's an 18 cert) and the CGI wolves are surprisingly good... but the whole plot is just ridden with cliches and doesn't offer anything different. Still, quite entertaining if you've nothing better to do for a couple of hours.

[Alex Kidd]

I went to see Underworld as well, didn’t like the first one at all but couldn’t resist going to see this. Apart from the truck/fight sequence I thought it was terrible, I didn’t even really understand what was going on, and there were way too many flashbacks, they just got annoying after the first couple of times and then they just kept coming. I don’t know why I thought it would be good after how bad the first one was.

[rawshark]

Saw a preview of An American Haunting with Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek..

Not a great script admittedly, but some good visuals and one or two genuinely jumpy moments... Rachel Hurd-Wood is good, Sutherland hammy.

[Alex Kidd]

Just been to see Munich, it's really good, but not quite as good as I thought or hoped it would be, it's wasn't as tense as the trailer leads you to believe and I found it just a little bit too long. But the acting is great and he's nailed the 70s look of the film. Well worth going to see.

[STun]

I just saw a late night screening of Ghostbusters at a local cinema.

Was great!

Theres so many innuendos! And very very funny.

Stay Puft marshmallow man scene looks great on the big screen.

Totally didn't remember the whole dan aykroyd dreaming about getting head off a ghost scene when I saw the movie as a child though. Hehe.

And also saw Cache (Hidden). Very good. Kept thinking something really bad and nasty was goin to happen, even though nothing did most of the time. And then there was that scene... Everybody in the cinema went 'urrrrrggghhhh!' including myself. Loved the last shot of the movie. A mass debate ensued afterwards with my mates about the ending.

[soulmining]

I saw Hidden (Cache) last night... good, unsettling film and was worth the price of admission to hear the collective audible gasp at that certain moment! Also saw Munich at the weekend which I thought was very good, Spielberg's best work for ages...

[Alex Kidd]

Don't know if anyone else knows about this but just found out that the Tate Modern has been running a season of Italian B-Movies through January, the best thing is the screenings are FREE!

There's only 3 films left now, I only found out yesterday and managed to get down there to see What Have They Done To Solange?

They have a decent sized proper cinema there and the films are a mixture of prints and DVD projection.

The films still to play are:

Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine - Saturday 4 February 2006, 19.00

Planet of the Vampires - Wednesday 8 February 2006, 18.30

The Cursed Medallion - Friday 10 February 2006, 19.00

I'll be going down for the final 3, wish I'd know about this from the begining, would have loved to see all of the films.

Here's a direct link to the website with more details



http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/eventseducation/film/italiankingsofthebssecrethistoryofitaliancinema194981.htm

[sergio]

as i said before in MOH thread, at the theaters there is nothing but utter crap, i had just watched Alone in the Dark, Doom and Aeon Flux in a row, well i have never been what i would called a balanced person but after this mind attack i am losing last few remaining bits of sense. Fave scene- hammy Christian Slater and blonde love interest are hiding in a room then crappy monster starts banging the door to which slater cries out loud, lady lock the door!!!

[STun]

Has anyone seen Hills Have Eyes remake?

I really wanna see it.

Trailer looks very good.

[rawshark]

yup - saw it last week...

I'm still in two minds about it. Yes, it's good, but it's not great.

As a huge fan of the original (especially Beast), the remake is very very similar especially in the first hour. It gets a little different towards the end, but essentially (as Zomblee wrote in our review of the film on EMB) it's the same tune played with different instruments.

But, it is definitely worth seeing. Aja's direction is good, the kid who plays Bobby is excellent, and there's a cracking first 3 minutes.

I suppose expectation outweighed final delivery for me (the director of Switchblade doing Hills Have Eyes!!!), but if you don't expect a classic, you'll enjoy it...

[Alex Kidd]

I got to see it last week as well, I really enjoyed it, it's nothing you haven't seen before, but it is done very very well. It looks great and has a fantastic soundtrack. For me it certainly the best of the recent horror remakes.

[soulmining]

Hey guys, I'm out in Bangkok covering the BKKIFF so have been catching a load of new films out here...

Have seen GHOST OF VALENTINE, the new film from the director of BUPPAH RAHTREE which was okay, but rather uneven in tone - needed to be more serious and lose the comedy moments.

Went to the premiere of INVISIBLE WAVES which is a moody thriller by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, lensed by Christopher Doyle... got to meet Tadanobu Asano (ICHI THE KILLER) and Rufus Sewell (DARK CITY) at the after-show party.

On Saturday I saw a good South African ghetto drama called TSOTSI, very much in the same vein as CITY OF GOD... also went to a Q&A with Terry Gilliam.

Yesterday saw a Thai drama called 3 FRIENDS starring Mamee from the Thai horror ART OF THE DEVIL 2 which I'm seeing later this week... also went to a Q&A with the legendary Christopher Lee.

More films this afternoon and a Q&A with Oliver Stone this evening... will let you know if I see something I think is ideal for FF in August!

[soulmining]

Me again...

Since my last post I've seen another batch of films here at BKKIFF... on Monday it was the Chinese drama STOLEN LIFE which looked like it might veer into LADY VENGEANCE territory but pulled its punches, then a surreal Japanese fairy tale THE BURIED FOREST starring Tadanobu Asano which made no sense whatsoever!

On Tuesday I started with ART OF THE DEVIL 2 which avoided the usual Asian horror / ghost themes and really delivered some nasty images despite a slow start - I'll be recommending this one to the guys for a possible August screening. I also caught GHOST OF MAE NAK, an effective update on the Thai legend of Mae Nak from Brit director Mark Duffield, and later LADY VENGEANCE which has been my favourite film of the festival so far.

Yesterday I started with a Danish thriller MURK which reminded me a lot of INSOMNIA... a little slow-paced but engrossing nonetheless. After a romantic interlude of DEAR DAKANDA, I then went to a preview screening of the latest Thai horror, DORM followed by a Q&A with the director - it's a good film, however despite its marketing is actually more of a coming-of-age film about friendship which just happens to feature a ghost.

I also went to a press launch of BLACK NIGHT the latest Pan-Asian horror anthology movie, following the success of the likes of THREE EXTREMES, and have also had lunch with Paul Spurrier who's been working on a Thai epic called END OF EMPIRE. He also reports that Anchor Bay have picked up P in the UK, so hopefully that will get a release later this year.

Right, I'm off to a second screening of ART OF THE DEVIL 2... more reports later!

[iomega]

Hey soulmining

I appreciate you keeping the Frightfesters up to date with you trip to Bangkok and the BKKIFF. It sounds like you are seeing loads of films and I was pleased to hear that Paul Spurrier's film ‘P’ has been picked up for UK DVD distribution. It is interesting you saw Lady Vengeance. It is just out here. By miles this is one of my favourite films of the year so far. I look forward to seeing you on the 18th when you can tell me more of your trip.