What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

Went to see FROZEN with the kids earlier this evening. Best Disney film I've seen in years. Highly recommended by me, the boy MTDS (aged 6) and the girl MTDS (aged 8).

What a coincidence! I went to see Frozen with my two children today also, along with the
wife I might add. A great time was had by all. Excellent movie.It was my youngest daughter's birthday yesterday, so today's trip to the cinema was a treat for us all

[ArgentoFan1987]

I'm being dragged (very much against my will) to see the new Hobbit film

1. I'm not a LOTR fan (although I did like The Hobbit book)
2. I haven't seen the first Hobbit film.
3. Heard a lot of very mediocre reviews about it

But at least I can go and get pished, celebrate the new year and further all about this film I'm dreading!

[Handyman Joe]

Crawlspace - Another lost VHS relic appears in a pristine transfer - happy days - not quite as delirious (specifically, a lack of t&a) as I remember but not half bad. I know he's a terrible human being but I would watch Kinski reading the entire phone book, you just can't fake his brand of madness. The nazi stuff in here is in glorious bad taste - this is top quality schlock folks, pick it up.

[keirarts]

Well, after losing my job I quickly developed a nasty stomach bug that's laid me up in bed (when i'm not in the bathroom) for the last day or so. I seem to be feeling better now but it has meant that i've actually managed to get some films watched.


Heaven's Gate

Unfairly criticized on it's release it's taken Cimino's underrated classic some time to gain the respect its due but thankfully with Second Sights beautiful looking presentation of the fully restored directors cut it looks like it's finally happened. The film uses a similar opening to the deer hunter, this time showing the main characters Harvard graduating ceremony rather than the drunken stag do of Deer Hunter. It seems to serve the same purpose however as portraying more innocent and peaceful times before the characters Decent into hell.

Instead of Vietnam it's Wyoming ten years before the beginning of a new century and James Averill (played by Kris Kristofferson) heads into the territory only to find himself embroiled in what would soon become the Johnson County war where the local cattle barons created a death list of 125 names. People considered to be anarchists and cattle thieves but who also turned out to be poor Eastern European immigrants some of whom had rights to portions of the land claimed by the barons. Averill falls for a beautiful whore played by Isabell Huppert but soon finds he has competition from Christopher Walken's character who works for the Barons not realizing exactly what it is their planning.

Heaven's Gate is a beautiful and lyrical western made just as the genre was dying out. Its long (216 minutes) but uses every second admirably. Kris Kristofferson has never been better in a film in my humble opinion. Christopher Walken is also excellent as is John Hurt and Isabelle Huppert. We also get turns from Brad dourif, Joseph Cotten, Sam Waterston and an early appearance from Micky Rourke who would later work with Cimino again in year of the dragon. Its a shame that the film entered film history for the wrong reasons as it's a genuine classic and was probably one of the last great westerns (until Eastwood made Unforgiven at least) It's tale of racism seems as contemporary today as when it was made given the stories of armed vigilantes patrolling the borders of mexico and it makes you realize this kind of intolerance is nothing new. If you get a chance please check it out. Criterion have also issued it but The second sight blu is an admirable release and has fantastic cover art.


The Car

More lighthearted than the previous film, the car is a film i've always enjoyed watching. It feels more like a Tv movie of the week perhaps, but one of those really great Tv movie of the weeks that really sticks with you. The premise is simple, a car turns up in a small town one day and begins killing people off. It enters in a storm of wind and sand and disappears as quickly as it arrives. It seems to have purpose as it deliberately avoids R.G Armstrong's evil wife beater and seems to go for innocent people. As the death toll mounts the local sheriffs (including great actors James Brolin and Ronny Cox) begin to suspect there is something supernatural about the mysterious car.
The Car is a superbly shot and edited slice up suspense with some great writing and well developed characters. Director Elliot Silverstein's mission was to deliver 'Jaws on the land' and for the most part he pulls it off. It's a real testament to a film that can deliver great scenes of suspense in broad daylight. Arrow's Blu-ray looks STUNNING. This is not hyperbole as i've seen the film a lot of times over the years and never have I seen it looking so good.

Crawlspace

Cinemas greatest lunatic (both on camera and off) Klaus Kinski plays a demented landlord who in his previous career as doctor in South america had developed a taste for killing off his patients that became a full blown addiction. In his new role as landlord he fills his daily impulses through watching his female tenants from the crawlspace that stretches throughout the house and tormenting them with strange noises and rats. Eventually when things go too far he ends up killing a tenant and has to find a replacement. Each night he takes a bullet, loads a chamber and puts the gun to his head playing a game of russian roulette. When the gun fails to kill him he say's 'so be it' and continues his demented hobby's (and I haven't even mentioned the Nazi fetishism inspired by his war criminal father yet!)

Shot in Italy for Charles Band's Empire pictures Crawlspace is a short but great looking thriller thanks to Sergio Salvati's excellent photography. We also get a great score from Pino Donaggio. The whole package is well directed by David Schmoeller who delivers a great film in what can only be described as 'difficult circumstances'. He also made a short documentary on his experience called 'pleas kill mr Kinski' which turns up on the SF blu-Ray and is an amusing watch though Werner Herzog's MY BEST FIEND is still the definitive look at the torment of working with Kinski. The thing to remember however is that as difficult as Kinski was, if a director could stick it out and complete his film the end performance was always astonishing. Here in Crawlspace it's a large reason why the film works so well. We also get a dry but informative commentary from David Schmoeller and and interview from effects artist John Vulich. It looks fantastic on Blu-ray and is the best presentation of the film to date. Sadly it's all region locked as usual so here's hoping Arrow decide to release it over here.

Lurkers/Die sister, Die!

On to a Scorpion double bill. Here we get two mediocre horrors bundled together. Lurkers is a paranormal mystery in the vein of films like Rosemary's baby, where it seems everyone around the character is involved in a bizarre conspiracy. This one is directed by Roberta Findlay so a lot of people here should be aware of what to expect. I've always had mixed feelings over Findlay's pictures. I genuinely enjoy Tenement and Shriek of the mutilated but I'm not so keen on a lot of her other pictures. Lurkers falls somewhere midway in terms of quality. It has some great scenes but overall feels very lackluster. Looks great however.

Die Sister, Die! is more a thriller that feels like a tv movie of the week. A greedy businessman with a dark secret hires a nurse to assist in her up till now failed suicide attempts in order to get her out of the way and claim the fortune for himself. The nurse has a change of heart and decides to try and save the sister instead. This one feels like a 30 - 40 minute story dragged out over 85 minutes. The story is good and there are some nice scenes but it feels a little overlong and would work better in a twilight zone style TV series rather than a feature.

Overall as a double bill it isn't bad. I wouldn't want to fork out for either film individually but it was cheap enough that they didn't work out too dear as a double bill and both films are obscure enough for a collector to warrant picking them up on that basis alone.


American Nightmare

Actually Canadian, this is one of those films I enjoyed in spite of wanting a long shower straight after watching it. Shot in the seediest locations available to the crew it follows a pianist looking for his wayward sister on the mean streets where she has become lost in a world of drugs and vice. At the same time a serial killer is busy carving up strippers with a straight razor. The film is shot in 4:3 and looks really scuzzy, this adds to the general grimy tone of the film which comes across as Paul schraders Hardcore crossed with the general tone of films like Henry portrait of a serial killer and Combat shock. (though nowhere near as bleak as Combat shock!) It IS a good film, it's well written and has some great acting, especially a small role for Michael Ironside. Just make sure you book time after for a shower.

Body Melt

A firm 90's favorite of mine gets a great release from Scorpion on the Katerina label. This one is from back in the day when most horror had all the gore excised out of it. Somehow Body melt slipped through relatively intact so the teenage gorehound that I was got a lot of kicks from the great effects work. Today i'm pleased to say the film still holds up. The tongue in cheek approach to the proceedings still works and the effects still hold up. The satirizing of gym culture and bodybuilding works well and it's certainly great to see Harold Bishop playing a crazed gun toting doctor!

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by ArgentoFan1987

I'm being dragged (very much against my will) to see the new Hobbit film

1. I'm not a LOTR fan (although I did like The Hobbit book)
2. I haven't seen the first Hobbit film.
3. Heard a lot of very mediocre reviews about it

But at least I can go and get pished, celebrate the new year and further all about this film I'm dreading!

It was fantastic best film I have seen this year, on the edge of my seat ever minute, time flew over didn't want it to end.

[Vipp]

Over the Christmas period we watched a few films but the one i enjoyed way more than i thought i would was Pacific Rim. The acting and script were 'a little bit Danny and a little bit Dyer' but over all it was a great movie to enjoy beer and pizza with. I wanted to buy one of the robots (the Russian piloted one) but apparently Feebay sellers believe every single one of the hundred or so action figures are rarer than rocking horse crap so i may go without for a while yet but if you haven't seen the movie it is well worth a look.

EDIT - I had a nice movie poster to show off the monsters a robots but they are very big so i will leave them out and recommend you Google Pacific Rim and take a look at them.

[Invid Ninja]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Well, after losing my job I quickly developed a nasty stomach bug that's laid me up in bed (when i'm not in the bathroom) for the last day or so. I seem to be feeling better now but it has meant that i've actually managed to get some films watched.


Heaven's Gate

Unfairly criticized on it's release it's taken Cimino's underrated classic some time to gain the respect its due but thankfully with Second Sights beautiful looking presentation of the fully restored directors cut it looks like it's finally happened. The film uses a similar opening to the deer hunter, this time showing the main characters Harvard graduating ceremony rather than the drunken stag do of Deer Hunter. It seems to serve the same purpose however as portraying more innocent and peaceful times before the characters Decent into hell.

Instead of Vietnam it's Wyoming ten years before the beginning of a new century and James Averill (played by Kris Kristofferson) heads into the territory only to find himself embroiled in what would soon become the Johnson County war where the local cattle barons created a death list of 125 names. People considered to be anarchists and cattle thieves but who also turned out to be poor Eastern European immigrants some of whom had rights to portions of the land claimed by the barons. Averill falls for a beautiful whore played by Isabell Huppert but soon finds he has competition from Christopher Walken's character who works for the Barons not realizing exactly what it is their planning.

Heaven's Gate is a beautiful and lyrical western made just as the genre was dying out. Its long (216 minutes) but uses every second admirably. Kris Kristofferson has never been better in a film in my humble opinion. Christopher Walken is also excellent as is John Hurt and Isabelle Huppert. We also get turns from Brad dourif, Joseph Cotten, Sam Waterston and an early appearance from Micky Rourke who would later work with Cimino again in year of the dragon. Its a shame that the film entered film history for the wrong reasons as it's a genuine classic and was probably one of the last great westerns (until Eastwood made Unforgiven at least) It's tale of racism seems as contemporary today as when it was made given the stories of armed vigilantes patrolling the borders of mexico and it makes you realize this kind of intolerance is nothing new. If you get a chance please check it out. Criterion have also issued it but The second sight blu is an admirable release and has fantastic cover art.


The Car

More lighthearted than the previous film, the car is a film i've always enjoyed watching. It feels more like a Tv movie of the week perhaps, but one of those really great Tv movie of the weeks that really sticks with you. The premise is simple, a car turns up in a small town one day and begins killing people off. It enters in a storm of wind and sand and disappears as quickly as it arrives. It seems to have purpose as it deliberately avoids R.G Armstrong's evil wife beater and seems to go for innocent people. As the death toll mounts the local sheriffs (including great actors James Brolin and Ronny Cox) begin to suspect there is something supernatural about the mysterious car.
The Car is a superbly shot and edited slice up suspense with some great writing and well developed characters. Director Elliot Silverstein's mission was to deliver 'Jaws on the land' and for the most part he pulls it off. It's a real testament to a film that can deliver great scenes of suspense in broad daylight. Arrow's Blu-ray looks STUNNING. This is not hyperbole as i've seen the film a lot of times over the years and never have I seen it looking so good.

Crawlspace

Cinemas greatest lunatic (both on camera and off) Klaus Kinski plays a demented landlord who in his previous career as doctor in South america had developed a taste for killing off his patients that became a full blown addiction. In his new role as landlord he fills his daily impulses through watching his female tenants from the crawlspace that stretches throughout the house and tormenting them with strange noises and rats. Eventually when things go too far he ends up killing a tenant and has to find a replacement. Each night he takes a bullet, loads a chamber and puts the gun to his head playing a game of russian roulette. When the gun fails to kill him he say's 'so be it' and continues his demented hobby's (and I haven't even mentioned the Nazi fetishism inspired by his war criminal father yet!)

Shot in Italy for Charles Band's Empire pictures Crawlspace is a short but great looking thriller thanks to Sergio Salvati's excellent photography. We also get a great score from Pino Donaggio. The whole package is well directed by David Schmoeller who delivers a great film in what can only be described as 'difficult circumstances'. He also made a short documentary on his experience called 'pleas kill mr Kinski' which turns up on the SF blu-Ray and is an amusing watch though Werner Herzog's MY BEST FIEND is still the definitive look at the torment of working with Kinski. The thing to remember however is that as difficult as Kinski was, if a director could stick it out and complete his film the end performance was always astonishing. Here in Crawlspace it's a large reason why the film works so well. We also get a dry but informative commentary from David Schmoeller and and interview from effects artist John Vulich. It looks fantastic on Blu-ray and is the best presentation of the film to date. Sadly it's all region locked as usual so here's hoping Arrow decide to release it over here.

Lurkers/Die sister, Die!

On to a Scorpion double bill. Here we get two mediocre horrors bundled together. Lurkers is a paranormal mystery in the vein of films like Rosemary's baby, where it seems everyone around the character is involved in a bizarre conspiracy. This one is directed by Roberta Findlay so a lot of people here should be aware of what to expect. I've always had mixed feelings over Findlay's pictures. I genuinely enjoy Tenement and Shriek of the mutilated but I'm not so keen on a lot of her other pictures. Lurkers falls somewhere midway in terms of quality. It has some great scenes but overall feels very lackluster. Looks great however.

Die Sister, Die! is more a thriller that feels like a tv movie of the week. A greedy businessman with a dark secret hires a nurse to assist in her up till now failed suicide attempts in order to get her out of the way and claim the fortune for himself. The nurse has a change of heart and decides to try and save the sister instead. This one feels like a 30 - 40 minute story dragged out over 85 minutes. The story is good and there are some nice scenes but it feels a little overlong and would work better in a twilight zone style TV series rather than a feature.

Overall as a double bill it isn't bad. I wouldn't want to fork out for either film individually but it was cheap enough that they didn't work out too dear as a double bill and both films are obscure enough for a collector to warrant picking them up on that basis alone.


American Nightmare

Actually Canadian, this is one of those films I enjoyed in spite of wanting a long shower straight after watching it. Shot in the seediest locations available to the crew it follows a pianist looking for his wayward sister on the mean streets where she has become lost in a world of drugs and vice. At the same time a serial killer is busy carving up strippers with a straight razor. The film is shot in 4:3 and looks really scuzzy, this adds to the general grimy tone of the film which comes across as Paul schraders Hardcore crossed with the general tone of films like Henry portrait of a serial killer and Combat shock. (though nowhere near as bleak as Combat shock!) It IS a good film, it's well written and has some great acting, especially a small role for Michael Ironside. Just make sure you book time after for a shower.

Body Melt

A firm 90's favorite of mine gets a great release from Scorpion on the Katerina label. This one is from back in the day when most horror had all the gore excised out of it. Somehow Body melt slipped through relatively intact so the teenage gorehound that I was got a lot of kicks from the great effects work. Today i'm pleased to say the film still holds up. The tongue in cheek approach to the proceedings still works and the effects still hold up. The satirizing of gym culture and bodybuilding works well and it's certainly great to see Harold Bishop playing a crazed gun toting doctor!

Nice to see some Heaven's Gate love, arguably for me one of the great underrated films. Crawlspace sounds like a ton of fun.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Invid Ninja

Nice to see some Heaven's Gate love, arguably for me one of the great underrated films. Crawlspace sounds like a ton of fun.

A definite must buy. If you can play multi-region Blu-ray the Scream Factory disc is fantastic. It WAS released as a double bill by mgm with another great film THE ATTIC but that release is stupidly expensive and there are some European releases on DVD. If you don't have it I also recommend the Herzog/kinski boxset from anchor bay. It's usually piss cheap and every film is a winner. It has the my best fiend documentary included which is the last word on kinski. (though his autobiography is an 'interesting' page turner!)

As for heaven's gate, I've always enjoyed it but this was my first time with the fully restored cut and it finally became the genuine bona fide classic I always thought it could be!

[demonknight]

CREEPSHOW - 1982

Brilliant horror anthology from George A. Romero. Five stories told with tongue firmly in cheek. As to be expected some work better than others, but overall I love the entire package that makes up the CREEPSHOW experience. A great release from Second Sight. Nice looking transfer and the extras are captivating. JUST DESSERTS - the making of, is just brilliant, I loved every minute. Love this movie

[bdc]

A couple of days ago I stumbled into a former co-worker who's a big manga/anime fan.
He knows I used to watch lots of old school anime when I was younger but seemed amused when I told him about my experiences with newer anime shows.

I had him laughing out loud when I told him the first newer anime I watched was Highschool of the Dead (he knows I like horror/scifi).
My liking of Freezing came to no surprise to him as well.

I told him how I had recently finished watching Mnemosyne (which I thought was so-so except for the beginning and end) and FMP? Fomuffo (which was "lighter viewing" and had some fun episodes like the Bunta-kun ones and the deadly virus one)...but that these were not really the type of anime series I was looking for.

He told me I needed more naughtiness!

So I asked him which ones were good as I was basically blind buying.

He told me to come over to his place and there (to my amazement) we watched the first episode of all these series:

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? aka Is This a Zombie?
Girls und Panzer (I asked him specifically to watch this one as it intrigued me)
Rosario + Vampire
High School DxD
Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Girls
To Love Ru
Kanokon

I really enjoyed watching the first episode of all of them (Kanokon was maybe a bit too much though! ) and was able to get a feel of these series now.

For instance High School DxD reminded me in certain aspects of Freezing.

He told me to come over again soon and we would watch some more first episodes (Kampfer is already planned).

My favourites from the bunch would probably be these but they're all enjoyable imho.