What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MrBarlow]

Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes. 1978.

A group of of scientists band together when normal tomatoes go on a killing spree.

Right from the start when it mentions Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds you know this film will never achieve to be better, even with the title, salute to the 50s B movies that some are better than this, daft, cheesy acting, stupid visual/special effects, i'm pretty sure you see a giant tomato on a trolley improvising that it's moving, yet still found it a laugh.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Charley Varrick (1973)

Excellent crime thriller from Dirty Harry's Don Siegel in which Walter Matthau stars as a small time crook who lands himself in deep shit when he mistakenly steals close to a million dollars from a back woods bank that belonged to the Mafia.

It's a beautifully paced affair with an exciting opening twenty minutes as Varrick and buddy Andy Robinson rob the bank before we get to the main plot as hitman Joe Don Baker is assigned the task by local Mafia boss John Vernon of recovering the money and killing the cunning Varrick.

Siegel directs the clever script with great verve and despite being made in the early seventies it still feels compelling and remarkably fresh to these new eyes almost fifty years later.

I watched this two nights running so smart and intricate was the storyline. Great film and a beautiful looking Blu-ray from Powerhouse Films.

[MrBarlow]

The Keep. 1983.

During WWII German soldiers occupy a part of Romania and make a fortress their base and dismiss the warnings about it and something is released that kills them.

Jurgen Prochnow plays another German soldier (last he played a German Captain in Das Boot) leads his platoon to The Keep and is informed by Caretaker W. Morgan Sheppard to not stay there and ignore the dire warnings. Gabriel Byrne plays the Major who wants to understand what the writing means and brings in Sir Ian McKellen who wants to stop the invasions. Scott Glenn plays the somewhat traveller who wants The Keep closed and the entity to stay where it is or destroy it.

One film that was made on a good budget but apparently it flopped, yet even today it's a classic, I gotta say why isn't this in the 1001 movies you must see before you die list?? It has everything a great movie should have, a dark mysterious plot, good actors that provide everything their characters need to be, tough, ruthless, empathy, and a great demon/monster. Perfect direction from Michael Mann who went on to create other great films and a haunting background score by Tangerine Dream that blends in well with the film.

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Will we ever see the full 3 hours version of this???

[Justin101]

Not a review but more of a question. I watched Witness for the first time the other night, what a film, loved it! Who would have thought a scene with 100 Amish men raising a barn would be so entertaining, I was riveted...

Anyway, as I've never seen it before I just wanted to ask about the German spoken sections, does the DVD have subtitles for those bits or are we as the audience supposed to not know what's being said?? Either way I loved it. Also Harrison Ford at his peak hotness

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Not a review but more of a question. I watched Witness for the first time the other night, what a film, loved it! Who would have thought a scene with 100 Amish men raising a barn would be so entertaining, I was riveted...

Anyway, as I've never seen it before I just wanted to ask about the German spoken sections, does the DVD have subtitles for those bits or are we as the audience supposed to not know what's being said?? Either way I loved it. Also Harrison Ford at his peak hotness

I watched some of that too. It was lovely to see it in HD. There's no UK blu-ray release which is bonkers. I have the dvd but can't remember in answer to your question and i don't actually know where in the film you mean to have a look.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I watched some of that too. It was lovely to see it in HD. There's no UK blu-ray release which is bonkers. I have the dvd but can't remember in answer to your question and i don't actually know where in the film you mean to have a look.

It's right at the start when it's the funeral, and then later after John's been shot and he's in bed, the elders are talking in German to each other.

Thinking about it, there is a bit when Samuel uses a German word and Eli translates it to John, so I reckon no subs

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Not a review but more of a question. I watched Witness for the first time the other night, what a film, loved it! Who would have thought a scene with 100 Amish men raising a barn would be so entertaining, I was riveted...

Anyway, as I've never seen it before I just wanted to ask about the German spoken sections, does the DVD have subtitles for those bits or are we as the audience supposed to not know what's being said?? Either way I loved it. Also Harrison Ford at his peak hotness

I think you are not supposed to know , it's from Ford's perspective I think.


But years since I've seen it.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

The rest of the audience started laughing at that bit when I went to see it. Whether twas nervous tension or whatever, I did think "Why are they laughing? This guy is a flipping monster" ahem.

I also laughed at the Silence of the Lambs dancing scene. Got a few funny looks from other cinema attendees. A friend had leaned over to me and said, "look, it's David Lee Roth," and that had caused it.

[Dave Boy]

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SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

This movie when announced and released seemed to generate a lot of chatter. Mostly who the hell is he? If you are not a comic reader then chances are you have never heard of him. I first read about Shang-Chi in his own comic in the 1970s. Shang-Chi has also been in The Avengers.
So, he's been around for a while. Marvel took a big chance making a movie with a headline character that most of the MCU audience will have never heard of and does not come with a tagline of 'superhero'.
The release of the movie was joint cinema and online streaming which created much of a stir. The fate which also fell to BLACK WIDOW and caused major upsets.
So, the movie did not arrive under the best conditions which is a shame because this is a good film. Plenty of really good choreographed action sequences mixed with some nice humorous moments.
Characters and nods to previous movies, and a mid end credits sequence keep the movie grounded in the MCU.

[MrBarlow]

Return Of The Killer Tomatoes. 1988.

After the war with the tomatoes, Professor Gangreen has developed a way for tomatoes to look human and prepares for a second revolt.

Set years after the war, the jokes in this are far in few and lamer, the humour is daft, yet John Astin makes a decent comical mad scientist as he has developed the perfect way for the tomatoes to resemble human. Anthony Starke and George Clooney play the pizzeria workers and the helpless heroes while trying to save a young lady from the scientist and his daft assistant. May not be for everyone tastes buds.

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