What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Cosmopolis (2012)

David Cronenberg's near 40 year directing career has been, to run with the old football cliche, a game of two halves. Up until 1999 and eXistenZ , Cronenberg was at the top of the horror directing tree and oneof the most innovative and influential directors around. However the last 17 years or so he's largely avoided horror altogether. That's not to say his output has been better or worse than his horror years, in fact to me his films have been getting better and better. From his schizophrenic Spider (2002) to dysfunctional drama Maps to the Stars (2014), Cronenberg remains at the forefront of stylish and avante-garde film making.

However he's allowed the odd misstep which is what i consider Cosmopolis to be. Similar in style to the French oddity from the same year, Holy Motors (another film i didn't get on with) in that a frankly annoying twat is driven around a city all day. Headed by the expressionless Robert Pattinson, an actor who could seemingly be out acted by a clothes peg - an old fashion wooden one at that.

It's possible that Pattinson never stood a chance though as the theme behind Cosmopolis, Cyber Capitalism, soon wears very thin meaning all you are left with is Pattinson, who is no Gordon Gecko, and some wearingly stilted dialogue. The film barely leaves the limo and i found the confined space definitely didn't help. I'm sure some would love to be stuck in a stretch limo with Robert Pattinson for 100 minutes but i just wanted to get out and walk the rest of the way.

As with all David Cronenberg's recent work, Cosmopolis is very divisive. I'll take 2011's equally conflicting A Dangerous Method over this any day of the week.

[Inspector Abberline]

The Border (1982)
Jack Nicholson stars alongside Harvey Keitel and Warren Oates in an early 80's gritty thriller about the Border police keeping law enforcement on the Mexican border. Nicholson was still actual acting at this point in his career instead of just shouting and doing that Jack Torrance grin he perfected on Batman.While trying to keep his wife happy (Valerie Perrine) Nicholson relocate to the Texas border with U.S. Border Patrol and finds the grass is not always greener.Corruption is rife within the border patrol and Nicholson reluctantly gets in on the act with partner Keitel. Its not until he befriends a young Mexican girl (Elpidia Carrillo) and her brother that Nicholson decides to help her find her missing baby. A slow burner of a thriller and certainly a underrated Nicholson film,it's definitely one of his better performances and one of the better thrillers of the early 80's before all the blockbusters started killing off any intelligence in the cinema by constantly blowing shit up.

Busting (1974)
Elliott Gould and Robert Blake are two vice cops trying to bring down vice kingpin Carl Rizzo but unfortunately, Rizzo seems to have friends in high places. Another in the buddy cop movie genre, Gould and Blake make a credible pair of cops who are both eager to rid the streets of crime yet feel they may just be pissing in the wind.Gould'ss character is especially getting more worn down by the corruption and incompetence of his fellow officers.While not as raucous and over the top as Freebie and The Bean. Busting is still a top notch cop thriller with both Gould and Blake making very likeable characters doing an extremely dirty job in very hostile environment.Gould exudes with his usual laid back schtick that you may be familiar with from his chain smoking Marlowe from The Long Goodbye (1973) although he is bearing a remarkable familiar look of that other undercover cop Serpico.

The Long Goodbye (1973)
Robert Altman delivers a delicious slice of 1970's neo noir,with the ever laid-back Elliot Gould as the sleuth Marlowe,a private investigator who can't even convince his pet cat that the cat food he has bought him is his favourite brand and not the cheap stuff he really has bought. You do have to feel sorry for Marlowe,he is used and abused by pretty much everyone including his so called best friend Jim Bouton as Terry Lennox ,wanted for the murder of his wife and stealing money from gangster Marty Augustine. There is so many cracking scenes in Altman's thriller its is no surprise that Long Goodbye has become the cult hit it rightly deserves . The two scenes that stand out in most people's minds both include Mark Rydell as Marty Augustine,the first is genuinely chilling as Marty proves how ruthless he is when he smashes a bottle into his girlfriends face while explaining "Now, that's someone I love! And you I don't even like! " . The other standout moment has Marty and his fellow gang members stripping naked with the original beef cake Arnold Schwarzenegger making an early screen appearance. Like any good thriller from the 1970's it has a rather nihilistic ending but one which is also satisfying and rather fitting.

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

The Border (1982)
Jack Nicholson stars alongside Harvey Keitel and Warren Oates in an early 80's gritty thriller about the Border police keeping law enforcement on the Mexican border. Nicholson was still actual acting at this point in his career instead of just shouting and doing that Jack Torrance grin he perfected on Batman.While trying to keep his wife happy (Valerie Perrine) Nicholson relocate to the Texas border with U.S. Border Patrol and finds the grass is not always greener.Corruption is rife within the border patrol and Nicholson reluctantly gets in on the act with partner Keitel. Its not until he befriends a young Mexican girl (Elpidia Carrillo) and her brother that Nicholson decides to help her find her missing baby. A slow burner of a thriller and certainly a underrated Nicholson film,it's definitely one of his better performances and one of the better thrillers of the early 80's before all the blockbusters started killing off any intelligence in the cinema by constantly blowing shit up.

Busting (1974)
Elliott Gould and Robert Blake are two vice cops trying to bring down vice kingpin Carl Rizzo but unfortunately, Rizzo seems to have friends in high places. Another in the buddy cop movie genre, Gould and Blake make a credible pair of cops who are both eager to rid the streets of crime yet feel they may just be pissing in the wind.Gould'ss character is especially getting more worn down by the corruption and incompetence of his fellow officers.While not as raucous and over the top as Freebie and The Bean. Busting is still a top notch cop thriller with both Gould and Blake making very likeable characters doing an extremely dirty job in very hostile environment.Gould exudes with his usual laid back schtick that you may be familiar with from his chain smoking Marlowe from The Long Goodbye (1973) although he is bearing a remarkable familiar look of that other undercover cop Serpico.

The Long Goodbye (1973)
Robert Altman delivers a delicious slice of 1970's neo noir,with the ever laid-back Elliot Gould as the sleuth Marlowe,a private investigator who can't even convince his pet cat that the cat food he has bought him is his favourite brand and not the cheap stuff he really has bought. You do have to feel sorry for Marlowe,he is used and abused by pretty much everyone including his so called best friend Jim Bouton as Terry Lennox ,wanted for the murder of his wife and stealing money from gangster Marty Augustine. There is so many cracking scenes in Altman's thriller its is no surprise that Long Goodbye has become the cult hit it rightly deserves . The two scenes that stand out in most people's minds both include Mark Rydell as Marty Augustine,the first is genuinely chilling as Marty proves how ruthless he is when he smashes a bottle into his girlfriends face while explaining "Now, that's someone I love! And you I don't even like! " . The other standout moment has Marty and his fellow gang members stripping naked with the original beef cake Arnold Schwarzenegger making an early screen appearance. Like any good thriller from the 1970's it has a rather nihilistic ending but one which is also satisfying and rather fitting.

Love TLG. One of Tinseltown's bleakest offerings and my favourite Altman to boot.

Watched that new XXX at mates. High grade piffle. Jaa is Tekken personified. Would recommend it more if there had actually been any acting in it. Don't get me wrong ... some jaw dropping set pieces. I just felt it to be far too smug for its own good.

[Cinematic Shocks]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Extended Edition.

**** out of *****

[Rik]

The Void (2016). Extremely bizarre film that's like a cross between John Carpenter's The Thing, Silent Hill, Hellraiser and something from the imagination of H.P Lovecraft!

From IMDb:
"Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures."

4/5

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rik

The Void (2016). Extremely bizarre film that's like a cross between John Carpenter's The Thing, Silent Hill, Hellraiser and something from the imagination of H.P Lovecraft!

From IMDb:
"Shortly after delivering a patient to an understaffed hospital, a police officer experiences strange and violent occurrences seemingly linked to a group of mysterious hooded figures."

4/5

I've had my eye on this one. Looking forward to eventually checking it out.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

I've had my eye on this one. Looking forward to eventually checking it out.

I think it'll divide audiences, but fans of the films I mentioned above, and practical FX should love it. I need to watch it again to fully understand it because it is a bit confusing in places.

It's due out at the end of the month

The Void [Blu-ray] https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N4WDB..._.Ki7ybZ121712

[Demoncrat]

Missing In Action (1984, Joseph Zito)
Chuck wants only peace. But knows that the guy who helmed The Prowler is calling the shots ( no pun intended) so resigned to his fate, our bearded maniac/love womble straps on old faithful and recreates Naaammaaan as some sort of hawkish thrill ride for GOP perverts. Ahem. The sequel is the same kind of ghoulish torture porn. That said both were uproariously funny also, and watching Norris, whose *range is diminutive to say the least, is always value for money *Octagon cough.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Hex (1980)

Hex sums up perfectly why i've completely lost interest in Chinese cinema.

Tonally it's all over the place. The first half deals with domestic violence which is a serious subject but the over acting and constant squawking by the two female characters is at times so irritating it becomes a distraction. Later there's a fight scene which involves a man trying to escape an attacker who's using a large machete but the assailant is shouting wildly as if he's in a Bruce Lee movie with each thrust, again i found myself losing interest. It's a part of Asian cinema i really don't get on with. The constantly screaming girl almost ruins Ong-Bak, but i'm digressing.

In the midst of all this there is what appears to be a decent film. To say it's completely studio bound it has atmosphere in spades and at times comes across all Bava-esq so impressive does it look. In fact a disturbing dream sequence is quite superb.

The more i think about the story the more it appears to be a remake of 1955's Les Diaboliques , well aside from the final 20 minutes which is something else entirely - a erotic exorcism which is both sexy and creepy at the same time. Had it not been plastered all over the 88 films bluray cover and booklet this would have come as a wonderful surprise and might have changed how i feel about the film, but it was so i was expecting it, nay waiting for it and any surprise factor was lost.

[Cinematic Shocks]

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Extended Edition.

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