What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[PaulD]

Originally Posted by Wes

This used to screen on Irish TV years ago as I Hate Your Guts! a less delicate title to be sure but effective nonetheless...

Interestingly (or not) one of the alternative titles for I Spit on Your Grave

[Wes]

Originally Posted by PaulD

Interestingly (or not) one of the alternative titles for I Spit on Your Grave

And Fight For Your Life I believe....

[PaulD]

Recent viewings:

Jackass 2 and Jackass 3 - I don't care what anyone says, it is big and it is clever. I much prefer the stunts and pranks to the gross-out stuff but I genuinely can't get enough of these films and can never quite get over the bravery/stupidity of those involved

Taken 2 - y'know I didn't mind this. Sure it's not a patch on the original and it is a fairly cynically made film which eschews the original's bone-crunching violence in favour of mass appeal and larger profits (resulting in some confusing "er...is he actually dead then" moments in the hasty edits) but it was an enjoyable enough film. The premise of the grieving family members seeking revenge on Neeson's family doesn't seem forced at all and actually makes you think of the repercussions of mass body count action films but it could have done with a higher rating and a similar tone to the first one. Still not as bad as everyone is making out.

[Handyman Joe]

I sat, mouth agape, for 94 mins last night watching the Criterion blu-ray of Days of Heaven. I've never been the biggest Malik fan, but, wow, this movie was fantastic. Literally every shot is a gem - only Barry Lyndon competes - Morricone's music is beautiful, the cast is perfect and, the icing on the cake, the transfer is well nigh perfect. Some complain that it's too slow but I've heard that criticism about every great movie from Solaris to 2001 to Once Upon a Time in America - its bullshit, applicable only if you suffer from acute ADD. In summation, If you're amassing Criterions, make sure you don't miss this one.

[Beyond72]

Ghost Story

Dawn of the Dead '78

[PaulD]

Ted - Seth MacFarlane expands his comedic chops by going from writing about a talking foul-mouthed baby, a talking dog, a talking goldfish and a talking sarcastic alien to...a talking foul-mouthed teddy bear. Just how does he do it? Now I'm by no means MacFarlane's biggest fan and happen to think Family Guy has been treading water for years but still approached this with an open mind. I really struggle to find much nice to say about it to be honest. Wahlberg and Kunis are good in the main roles and really work well together and the cgi Ted is a fully believable character but the gags are the typical lazy Family Guy style jokes for the most part - pop culture references, "har har he's gay!" tedium and scenes where character just slag off other films with the same slow in the same drawn-out conversational tone of every Family Guy character. The worst part was a spoof of the disco scene in Airplane. You know, the one THAT'S A SPOOF OF SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Seth Macfarlane doesn't do jokes, he does references and it's clever because people who've seen Airplane can go "Oh, that's a reference to Airplane!" whereas those who haven't (and I suspect this film is largely aimed at this demographic) will just see it as a joke in its own right (and this isn't the first time he's s̶t̶o̶l̶e̶n̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ referenced a joke in Airplane). There's also an awful bit of lampshading where the Ted character denies that he sounds like Peter Griffin as if this in some way excuses the familiar style, tone and delivery of 80% of his lines. Utter rubbish but if you still like Family Guy you'll probably like it (and at least all of the jokes were part of the narrative and not clumsily put-together cutaways)

Jackass the Movie: great stuff!

[Demoncrat]

Watched Piranha, an old VHS copy. The print looked dark and graiiiiiiiiiiny. Me approve. Twas like a shot in the arm , after being spoiled by seeing so many cult films "restored" on dvd. This may seem like madness to the BD crowd. But I felt it all added to this, my favourite "undersea menace" film. Bradford Dillman!! The same "attack" shot repeated endlessly!! Badford Dillman!!


Ahem.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by PaulD

Ted - Seth MacFarlane expands his comedic chops by going from writing about a talking foul-mouthed baby, a talking dog, a talking goldfish and a talking sarcastic alien to...a talking foul-mouthed teddy bear. Just how does he do it? Now I'm by no means MacFarlane's biggest fan and happen to think Family Guy has been treading water for years but still approached this with an open mind. I really struggle to find much nice to say about it to be honest. Wahlberg and Kunis are good in the main roles and really work well together and the cgi Ted is a fully believable character but the gags are the typical lazy Family Guy style jokes for the most part - pop culture references, "har har he's gay!" tedium and scenes where character just slag off other films with the same slow in the same drawn-out conversational tone of every Family Guy character. The worst part was a spoof of the disco scene in Airplane. You know, the one THAT'S A SPOOF OF SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Seth Macfarlane doesn't do jokes, he does references and it's clever because people who've seen Airplane can go "Oh, that's a reference to Airplane!" whereas those who haven't (and I suspect this film is largely aimed at this demographic) will just see it as a joke in its own right (and this isn't the first time he's s̶t̶o̶l̶e̶n̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ referenced a joke in Airplane). There's also an awful bit of lampshading where the Ted character denies that he sounds like Peter Griffin as if this in some way excuses the familiar style, tone and delivery of 80% of his lines. Utter rubbish but if you still like Family Guy you'll probably like it (and at least all of the jokes were part of the narrative and not clumsily put-together cutaways)

Jackass the Movie: great stuff!

Indeed. Felt, that he'd sunk all his attention into this, so the last series of FG suffered. It isn't one thing or the other, much like Devil Hunter (always with the DH!!!)

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop

I saw it via Lovefilm, which of course is great for checking out stuff you simply wouldn't shell out for as a blind purchase. I also have a soft spot for 'Seed', with its stupidly nihilistic sadism.

SEED took me totally by surprise, it's fantastically entertaining yet manages to be as bleak as hell at the same time.

LADY SNOWBLOOD. A wonderful mix of over ripe drama and exploitation essentials. I especially enjoyed the music which leaps from traditional Japanese music to jazz to poppy torch songs then back again in a fairly haphazard way. It destabilises the flow of the film in an interesting way, though I'm not sure if this is by choice or luck. Either way, it added something extra to the film for me and increased my enjoyment of it no end.

[keirarts]

Skyfall.

BIG improvement over quantum of solace (which I didn't hate as much as some people) Great plot, great acting and Javier Bardem playing a total nutter with a weird haircut. What's not to like! Great popcorn fodder!