What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by gag

Pulse 2 turned off half way through the film was just a complete mess, felt like they didn't know what they wanted to do with the film or where is was going, didn't make much sense, badly acted and terrible storyline, and made even worse the fake background etc stuck out like a sore, not sure if I want to bother with 3 which is a shame because first one was a pretty decent film,

Part 3 is more coherent and slightly better but still pretty poor quality.

I just watch SAINT. Excellent xmas horror from dick maas, sits nicely next to silent night deadly night, black christmas, gremlins, die hard and bad santa in my ideal xmas movies!

Very bloody death scenes and a real sense of humour as well.

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

Snow White And The Huntsman - 2012 UK/US d: Rupert Sanders

A pretty poor fantasy effort frustratingly made all the worse for having some good elements.

It looks pretty thanks to some fine locations and sets and decent camerawork. Some of the support cast are OK too.

But then...

...Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth (especially Hemsworth and his pointless and nation wandering accent; the man has even fewer expressions than Stewart) are just dreadful actors and asking them to carry a film of this size is preposterous. Had everything else about the film been perfect their presence would still have scuppered it. But everything else isn't perfect. The pacing is all over the place, ponderous then rushed and all points in between. Also so much of it is derivative of things you have seen before (mostly things directed by Peter Jackson...), there is nothing to make you sit up and take notice.

It's not utterly dreadful, it remains watchable and is a good couple of rungs above that other fairy tale adaptation, the risible Red Riding Hood, but it's still a poor film scarcely worth the time.

And I am amongst those who found the way the dwarfs were done rather tasteless and uncomfortable.

I didn't mind Hemsworth but Stewart...Is just too bland! Her facial expression stays the same throughout the movie i.e sullen! The dwarfs were ridiculous, there are enough talented actors who could have filled those roles! Best thing about the movie was Chalize Theron getting covered in a couple of tins of dulux emulsion!

[Gojirosan]

In his way, I think Hemsworth is the male Kristen Stewart. The scenes with just them on screen were painful to behold.

It's only the existence of Hayden Christensen that stops him from being the worst actor working in major film today, IMO.

[Rik]

Decided to watch Evil Dead 2 this afternoon before I headed out to college, nothing more needs saying except Groovy!

[Frankie Teardrop]

AEGRI SOMNIA - Interesting depiction of the disintegration of a spineless nebbish. Some of the scenes which take on an exploration of a kind of self-referrential paranoia are really well done and ooze a close-up pathology that seems almost unbearably intense at points. Elsewhere, this flips over into heavy handedness, and the evocation of a more otherwordly horror (infernal beings with mouthy faces) isn't quite so successful. Still, it made me think of Kafka in places, maybe Ligotti (a little), and is really well cinematographed - 'Eraserhead' was an obvious visual influence, although we don't sink as deeply here. But I certainly recommend fans of weird / surreal cinema to try it out, and I want to find out what the makers do next.

DARK WATER - I'm really glad I checked this one out again (inspired by Goji's review on these very pages). It's a superior Japanese ghost story which deals with neglect of others and of self. Stark and bleak, it crawls with a sense of dread that spreads like a stain. Building a really ominous atmosphere is no easy task, but it's one this film excells in. More than this, I have to say that sadness and sorrow are not emotions handled well by the horror (or any) genre, but the sense of poignancy here is sometimes overwhelming (particularly at the end). The constant presence of rain reminds us of the forgotten tears of a sad child. The hitherto boring substance 'water' reveals its utterly sinister side. This film warns us never to let go of ourselves or the ones around us.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

December 9th

Don't Go in the House (1979)

A disturbed young man, burnt by his controlling mother as a child stalks women then takes them back to his house and murders them by flamethrower. Don't Go in the House was very promising for the first half hour. We had a nice backstory with intelligent build up clearly showing how Donny, played here excellently by Dan Grimaldi, became the almost pathetic, murderous adult. The first kill is a suitably sleazy affair as Donny chains his victim from the roof in his flameproof chamber, strips her then finally burns her alive with a flame thrower.

So far so good, except then the film comes to a juddering halt. There are other kills offscreen but the film then turns into a character study and forgets its a violent sleazy horror picture. The film then cannot decide if it wants to be a zombie film or a rip off of Psycho. Any anticipation comes crashing down and interest levels drop. I found it simillar to Ferrara's Driller Killer in that the film's reputation is solely built on one, albeit nasty murder.


An Education (2009)

Fascinating film about a 16 year old school girl in the early sixties and how her life changes when she meets a wealthy playboy almost twice her age.

Definitely not Cult Labs material, but a brilliant film none the less. Carey Mulligan is superb as the schoolgirl torn between her forthcoming university education and the lessons in life she will learn from the new love of her life, Peter Sarsgaard.

The film is never sordid despite its subject as is marvelously acted, Alfred Molina as her pushy father is a revelation, both concerned for his daughter but happy to marry her off into money.

Whilst it covers a serious subject Nick Hornby's script is very bright and breezy, offering the viewer many laughs along the way.

Best film i've seen in ages.

[Susan Foreman]

This afty, I watched 'Green Street' (aka 'Green Street Hooligans')

It was laughably bad, but at the same time believable and disturbing! In some ways it was better than the similar 'I-D', but in some ways it was not as good

As someone who can remember the 'glory days', when "517" (Portsmouth), "The Mile End Mob/The Inner City Firm" (West Ham) and "F-Troop/the Millwall Bushwackers" (Millwall) ruled the roost, it was not easy viewing!

[bdc]

Viewed since my last "recently viewed" post:

[Pete]

Originally Posted by suziginajackson

This afty, I watched 'Green Street' (aka 'Green Street Hooligans')

It was laughably bad, but at the same time believable and disturbing! In some ways it was better than the similar 'I-D', but in some ways it was not as good

As someone who can remember the 'glory days', when "517" (Portsmouth), "The Mile End Mob/The Inner City Firm" (West Ham) and "F-Troop/the Millwall Bushwackers" (Millwall) ruled the roost, it was not easy viewing!

Nothing glorious about Football Hooligans. Thanks to them us proper fans are treated with nothing but contempt by some who assume we're all the same.

[fuzzymctiger]

Originally Posted by gag

Pulse 2 turned off half way through the film was just a complete mess, felt like they didn't know what they wanted to do with the film or where is was going, didn't make much sense, badly acted and terrible storyline, and made even worse the fake background etc stuck out like a sore, not sure if I want to bother with 3 which is a shame because first one was a pretty decent film,

Just remembered that I've actually seen all of these. The first one is great, the second was absolute garbage, poorly made with a shit ton of green screen, and the 3rd was interesting, pretty good but also a tad boring.