What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Has anyone seen or going to see Paul Verhoeven's Elle?

Mark Kermode's review this afternoon definitely brought it to my attention.

[Cinematic Shocks]

Angel Heart (1987)

****1/2 out of *****

[keirarts]

Moonlight.

3 points in the life of an African American youth struggling with his sexual identity.
Its good, beautifully shot, well acted and full of pathos. I will probably never watch it again though.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Moonlight.

3 points in the life of an African American youth struggling with his sexual identity.
Its good, beautifully shot, well acted and full of pathos. I will probably never watch it again though.

Does shit blow up?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

This comedy / satire was a first time viewing for me and it blew me away. The story about a famed Hollywood director tired of making comedy and musical motion pictures hits on the idea of making a socially relevant drama along the lines of the novel O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Dressing as a tramp he sets off out of Hollywood to see where the journey takes him.

The mark of a great film can sometimes be it's unpredictability and director Preston Sturgess certainly achieved that. I genuinely had no idea where the road would take Sullivan, quite brilliantly played by Joel McCrea, in fact i won't go into the events of the film as it's definitely worth discovering for yourselves. All i will say is he meets the lovely Veronica Lake in a roadside diner and a love affair blossoms over the course of the movie. The film is funny, it's also oddly disturbing and proves that in all walks of life men are both kind and decent and throughly despicable too. Although not the same men.

Sullivan's Travels is one of those films where i almost don't feel qualified to discuss it yet but is one of the best new to me films i've seen in months and just know i'll be returning to it time and again in the future.

An amazing film!

[Demoncrat]

Watched

The Thing From Another World (1951)
Taut as piano wire ... nae seen this? Hmmm. Along with Them! The finest of the 50s monster movies...ever seen a flick called Spaceship! ? Lovely wee spoof of a pivotal scene here is a treat. Ahem.

The Delta Force (1986)
Uuuuuuh what a movie. Hair. Blood. Jews. Sweaty. GEORGE KENNEDY. Stunts. The belt scene. Schmaltz. Misplaced soundcues. Blood. Stunts. LEE MARVIN.
A wild ride.

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Has anyone seen or going to see Paul Verhoeven's Elle?

Mark Kermode's review this afternoon definitely brought it to my attention.

Does shit blow up???

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Does shit blow up?

Sadly no. The film made Kermode weep but then most things do. Did nothing for me sadly

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Dream Home (2010)

A young woman dreams of owning a Hong Kong apartment with a sea view at the famous Victoria Harbour. However due to a poor income, no mortgage and spiraling health care costs for her stricken father her dream home seems just that a dream. Until she decides to take matters into her own hands and clear the current residents out of the apartment.

This Hong Kong horror film from producer and star Josie Ho is unlike any mainstream film i've come across for quite a while. It's wicked combination of topical satire and extremely gruesome horror finds itself at home alongside the French new wave of horror such as Inside (2007) rather than your typical Asian ghost story with which it holds absolutely nothing in common.

The film is very good and stunningly brutal but it lacked the full on suspense of the aforementioned Inside (The film i feel it most resembles when it comes to relentless bloodshed in the home) due to it's fragmented structure which cuts away from the horrors onscreen to show us the womans life up to the point where she takes extreme measures. Due to this Dream Home misses the visceral gut punch as it's constantly taking you out of the moment and not allowing you the time to take in what you have just witnessed.

The many flashback story sequences aren't poor, far from it in fact. They prove Josie Ho to be a wonderful actress giving a beautiful scarred performance, running the gamut of emotions whilst allowing the viewer to laugh and almost cry with her as life constantly kicks her when she's down.

I would love to have seen this film recut and allowed to run as a timeline rather than in flashback mode, yes it would have meant an hour of non-violence but i'm sure it would have made the brutality even more hard hitting than it is... and that's saying something. For this is proper Asian extreme cinema. Arteries are opened and guts are spilled in the most gruesome manner. I defy anyone not to squirm as a young pregnant woman is slowly suffocated and a man is stabbed to death whilst fornicating even though the girl he's shagging seems to be loving the extra thrusting as the knife plunges through his torso repeatedly.

I thought Dream Home was brilliant despite my structural misgivings, in fact it's the finest example of Asian horror i've seen in years, but trust me when i say It's not for the squeamish.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Dream Home (2010)

Glad you liked this one, Dem. It's quite the under-seen gem. I have the Network Blu.