What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Straw Dogs (2011)

In all honesty i can't remember what the reaction was to this remake of the Sam Peckinpah classic, i'm guessing as with all remakes it was mixed. Two years down the line i decided to give it a go and absolutely loved it.

I own the original Hoffman / George film on dvd but have only watched it twice, i also loved this on both occasions. Rod Lurie's 2011 effort set now in Mississippi rather than Cornwall, certainly isn't a re-imagining and is most definitely a remake.

During the early stages i wasn't at all impressed by the two leads - James Marsden and Kate Bosworth as the newly married couple moving back to her childhood farm, but felt they grew into the parts. The locals, a hastily drawn bunch were more successful though. Alexander Skarsgård was clearly going to be the main protagonist, and the always watchable James Woods, seen here in shouty mode, the chief motivator. Other less successful characters were two brothers played by the excellent, but wasted here, Walton Goggins and Dominic Purcell as his mentally handicapped sibling.

The film skirts round issues such as child molestation, yet never actually says so and also the thorny subject of who is actually the predator and the prey. Once this is out of the way though we are into the films main siege at the couples farm. This was well staged and an exciting set piece and i was gripped by the tension which had been slowly buiding up as the film progressed.

Despite loving the film i always had that nagging feeling that whilst the film was called Straw Dogs it clearly wasn't the Straw Dogs i knew previously. The infamous rape scene is much tamer in this film for a start. Had it been titled The Siege of Trencher's Farm like the book it was based on it may have dispelled these notions in what was a thoroughly entertaining viewing.

[Rik]

I'm yet to see this one myself, despite seeing it cheap in CEX everytime I'm in there. I seem to remember the usual pissing and moaning when it was released (as always happens with remakes to be fair), not sure if that was on here or elsewhere though.
Might give it a shot next time I'm in CEX, it's only £2.50 on BD

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

I'm yet to see this one myself, despite seeing it cheap in CEX everytime I'm in there. I seem to remember the usual pissing and moaning when it was released (as always happens with remakes to be fair), not sure if that was on here or elsewhere though.
Might give it a shot next time I'm in CEX, it's only £2.50 on BD

I'm interested in seeing if i'm on my own here in liking the film.

At £2.50 its surely worth a shot.

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Originally Posted by keirarts

There was little wrong with JJ abrahams Star Trek films. They injected some much needed mainstream credibility into the franchise without trashing the established continuity. Unfortunately for some people Star Trek should always be the Next gen take on the setting and anything that deviates from that is unacceptable. They don't seem to realize that until these films came along the franchise was dead in the water (barring some kickstarter funded dvd project) the continuity was bogging everything down and scaring off new fans and frankly Trek had long since become stale. The rot for me set in with the god awful deep space 9, I remember switching over to Babylon five and getting depressed at how much better the young upstart show was.

I quite liked DS9! In each of the Star Trek series I have at least one episode that is my favourite, one that sticks with me, 'The Inner Light' TNG is a prime example but with Voyager, although I liked the series, not a single episode stood out for me beyond a scene of two usually involving Robert Picardo!

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I'm interested in seeing if i'm on my own here in liking the film.

At £2.50 its surely worth a shot.

I don't think you will be, I'm pretty certain there's a couple of fans on here

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

I don't think you will be, I'm pretty certain there's a couple of fans on here

Well Bizarre_eye gave the post a "like" which suggests i might not have been talking complete bollocks.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Well Bizarre_eye gave the post a "like" which suggests i might not have been talking complete bollocks.

Unless it was a sympathy like i.e "Poor Demdike had to suffer this tripe"

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

Unless it was a sympathy like i.e "Poor Demdike had to suffer this tripe"

He tends to be more brutal than that.

[Rondadoronron]

Originally Posted by Rik

I'm yet to see this one myself, despite seeing it cheap in CEX everytime I'm in there. I seem to remember the usual pissing and moaning when it was released (as always happens with remakes to be fair), not sure if that was on here or elsewhere though.
Might give it a shot next time I'm in CEX, it's only £2.50 on BD

I did alot of that while I watched the film,but then again I had diarrhea.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Well Bizarre_eye gave the post a "like" which suggests i might not have been talking complete bollocks.

I haven't seen it, I just thought it was a well written review.

I've heard mostly negative things about it, and how tame it is compared to the original. It's not near the top of my to-watch list if I'm honest!