What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

Spiral - ah, Spiral/Rasen, "the forgotten sequel" to Ring/Ringu. I had never seen this before, had no idea what to expect.

Well, I liked it. A lot. I think it's a far better sequel to Ring than Hideo Nakata's own Ring 2. It has a very different feel and pace to Ring, and I liked that. It's a Cronenbergian meditation on fear and disease, the story being concerned with matters epidemiological rather than Ring 2's rather clumsy "energy transference" schtick with the water and blotting paper and such.

I also far preferred the depiction of Sadako as a lucid and coherent sexual being keen to seduce and be reborn, rather than the almost disposal zombie, bogey figure she was in Ring 2.

Ring 2 flows more naturally from Ring due to the similarities in style, but I think Spiral has the better story, feels more "grown up", and is the better film.

each to their own, spiral bored me to tears. That said I never really liked the books either. I thought the changes hideo nakata made to the origional ring turning sadako into a more traditional movie monster made for more effective cinema.

I do agree about ring 2 though, much weaker and the water transference stuff was stupid.

[bdc]

Originally Posted by bdc

Stooges in Tokyo (1991)
My first introduction to James Wong Jim or uncle Jim!
Wong Jim - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fun Cat III sex comedy which actually has a bit of a message.

I'll never forget that a "naked hen" brings 3 years of bad luck!

Just finished watching Stooges in Hong Kong (1992)...another Cat III Uncle Jim film!

A bit different than the previous one as this one doesn't follow 3 friends on a business trip but revolves around a late night adult show host and his writer.
It's filled with really bizarre goings-on on top of the silly comedy and...lots of singing!
But it's no musical!

I enjoyed this one but the singing was sometimes a bit much (and the songs apparently were hard to translate so I couldn't follow what they were singing about sometimes)...overall I liked Stooges in Tokyo better.

The taxi ride at the beginning is really something and a must-see,as is Amy Yip!

[antmumford]

Yesterday afternoon I watched the Blu-ray of Gone With The Wind, one of many old "epics" I'd yet to see. There's me thinking it was some kind of sweeping epic romance only to be stunned by a very haunting, dark and depressing piece of filmmaking. Was fooled by the cover image of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. It was really beautifully shot with many shots looking like pieces of art, like oil paintings. Vivien's character was just a repulsive human being and I couldn't help but wish bad things to happen to her.
This one took me by surprise I must say, I liked (?) it but just wasn't what I expected at all.

[Gojirosan]

Originally Posted by keirarts

each to their own, spiral bored me to tears. That said I never really liked the books either. I thought the changes hideo nakata made to the origional ring turning sadako into a more traditional movie monster made for more effective cinema.

I do agree about ring 2 though, much weaker and the water transference stuff was stupid.

If it wasn't clear, I still think the that Ring is the best of them all - a genuine classic modern horror film. I just preferred the approach of Spiral to that of Ring 2 (though I quite like Ring 2, still). Ring stands head and shoulders above them both, however.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Handyman Joe

Don't pass on Lisa and the Devil, I love it and it delivers on the dream like front, definitely in my top 3 Bava with Kill Baby Kill and Black Sunday. Another one in the same vein is Malpertuis by Harry Kumel - the Barrel DVD is fantastic if you can track it down..

Have wanted to check out 'lisa...' for some time, but have been a little put off by its general costliness these days... will keep looking for it though, I'm not a Bava fanatic but it's a film I've always wanted to see. Weirdly enough, my favorite Bava has always been Shock, a movie disregarded by many... it's just that porcelein hand, there's something so wrong about it.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Daemonia

Have you got the Elite R1 DVD? If so, listen to the commentary. It's the best commentary. Ever. Period.

Wishman is on there with her director of photography and every time he tries to say something she tells him to shut up and constantly blames him for all the stinkers she's made. Pure class. Be sure to listen to it.

Damn right about that commentary. Wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her.

[Frankie Teardrop]

Got to grips with ALTERED STATES which features William Hurt as a narcissistic scientist out to unravel the mysteries of self. To this end he subjects himself to various trials involving floatation tanks and psychedelic drugs. Far from reaching a plateau of epic transcendence, he ends up turning into a goat-killing ape man, then a weird maggot-thing before love conquers all. Probably based on the work of 60s psychonauts such as John Lilly. Not as excessive as 'Tommy' etc, but full of satisfying plunges into freaked-out inner space in the form of eighties-style trip sequences (these do tend to be broken up by long stretches of academics shouting at each other). Also watched CARRIE. The older I get, the more harrowing I find this film. Once I would have been slightly dismissive in a 'Yeah, well made mainstream horror but...' kind of way, but what strikes me now is just how cruel it all is (not merely in terms of the events it portrays). Some of the emotional abuse on show is painful to watch - this alongside the manifest slickness of the film-making makes for a decidedly unsettling atmosphere. De Palma is ofen accused of cynicism (or was back in the day), but this was a more penetrating experience than I thought it would be.

[Nordicdusk]

Food of the Gods. How can you go wrong with giant chickens and rats ha ha. Incase some people have not seen it. 3 friends go to an island hunting on horse back when one of them is attacked and killed by a giant wasp. When they go to a local farm for help they find the farmers are feeding animals a special food that makes the grow like crazy.

[sawyer6]

Originally Posted by antmumford

Yesterday afternoon I watched the Blu-ray of Gone With The Wind, one of many old "epics" I'd yet to see. There's me thinking it was some kind of sweeping epic romance only to be stunned by a very haunting, dark and depressing piece of filmmaking. Was fooled by the cover image of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. It was really beautifully shot with many shots looking like pieces of art, like oil paintings. Vivien's character was just a repulsive human being and I couldn't help but wish bad things to happen to her.
This one took me by surprise I must say, I liked (?) it but just wasn't what I expected at all.

Yes Vivien's character was hateful but that was the way girls of her status were grown! Watch 'A Streetcar Called Desire' If you haven't seen yet for a great performance by Leigh

[Gojirosan]

Friday The 13th (2009) - I tried to watch this once before and couldn't get past half and hour or so. For some reason I thought I'd give it another go.

An appalling and utterly worthless waste of time and effort. A truly bad film.

I am wondering of Marcus Nispel might actually be worse than Zack Snyder.