What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demoncrat]

Steak (2007, Quentin Dupieux)

Going for broke, this was more like it. Absurdist to the nth degree, this one defies description. We meet quite a few folk along the way. Some aren't very nice but that's life I suppose. 73 min again!!
On the surface it has a veneer of genre cliche, but that doesn't really take hold. I know it sounds like I'm being willfully obtuse here, but it's for the best really as they are best witnessed unspoiled imho. Then afterwards if it all just seems a tad trite, well, that's life also.
Ahem.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Bus Stop and Niagra (I think) both have out of print blurays. It’s crazy she’s one of the most famous people from that era and is so poorly served on home media. I always mean to import the films that aren’t in that box set. Maybe some day.

I really want Niagara and also The Misfits.

Bus Stop and River of No Return would also be lovely.

[MrBarlow]

Close Range. 2015.

A former soldier tries to protect his sister and niece from a drug cartel and a corrupt Sheriff.

Scott Adkins plays Colton who rescued his niece from a Mexican cartel and steals a USB stick that may have a lot of info on it that can bring down a empire. His brother in law and the Sheriff seem to have a link or more like a good paying job with the cartel and the family were leverage. The dialogue is questionable, the camera work does seem a bit amateurish, the fight scenes are brilliantly choreographed. Adkins isn't scared top take a beaten and knows how to dish out a beating or two. Isn't not perfect but a decent late Saturday night flick.

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[Frankie Teardrop]

THE VAGRANT – Uptight yuppie Bill Paxton finds that his new house comes with an unwanted freebie. Who is the neighbourhood’s mysterious tramp, and why does he seem so portentous? ‘The Vagrant’ is by eighties fx maestro Chris Walas, who also did ‘The Fly 2’. There’s an element of gloop, a little, but it’s more in the lineage of those eighties absurdist black comedies about social mobility fears, where office types find their mundane worlds tested to the point of downfall – ‘After hours’, ‘Something Wild’ etc. Pretty good and definitely interesting and enjoyable but, as much as I’m nowhere near as brassic as ‘The Vagrant’, I doubt I’ll be upgrading.

THE SPECIAL – Indie horror about what appears to be the bj of a lifetime; the owners of the brothel where hapless Jerry gets his rocks off certainly think so, that’s why they call it The Special. But the facilitator of The Special resides within a small box with a hole in it next to an arrow and a message that reads ‘insert dick here’. I don’t think I’d be up for it, but if nothing else it’s an interesting spin on that old device, “the mystery of the locked container.” ‘The Special’ (the movie) contains an amount of, to use that fast-becoming hackneyed term, ‘body horror’, but mainly near the end; I wouldn’t call ‘The Special’ restrained necessarily, but it doesn’t really push either the sleaze or the slime. Microbudget stuff these days looks so slick and well made, and that’s definitely true here, although the other drawbacks of this kind of cinema creep in – a certain flatness perhaps, a slight obviousness of tone. But ‘The Special’ gets a lot of mileage out of its yucky central idea, and there’s enough flow, momentum and strangeness to make for an absorbing watch.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR – One from Franco’s glory days. There’s a seriousness of tone – even the zooms seem a little grave – about this tale of a woman’s attempts to break semi-incestuous ties with her obsessive father, now deceased. Forgoing some of the delirium of his more out-there stuff opens up a more affecting side; I’d never accuse Franco of being the sentimental type, but Emma Cohen’s performance as doomed jazz waif Ana carries a real air of melancholy. And that’s only one side of the mirror. On t’other, we get visits from dad in the form of spectral Howard Vernon at the end of a rope (he’s a reflection), and these interludes are dreamy and claustrophobic. Probably one of his best on a pseudo-objective ‘cinema’ type level, though I do prefer it when he just throws together something wonky and bizarre.

[MrBarlow]

Riot. 2015.

Cop Jack Stone, mourning the death of his wife stages a bank robbery owned by a Russian mobster and is sent to prison. The Russian mobster Ballan who runs his empire from prison wants revenge on Stone just as Stone wants revenge on him and meets a prisoner called William who gives Stone inside information.

This may not be a blockbuster hit but certainly entertaining, Matthew Reese is the cop now turned new inmate who doesn't take well to the new rules he has to follow and creates a new enemy with Semyon who is the cousin of Ballan played by Chuck Liddell. Dolph Lundgren plays the prisoner and general cleaner who looks and plays a simpleton but has other agenda's. Lundgren does look old in this but certainly is still able to pack a punch. The acting is decent and fight scenes are brilliantly choreographed and everyone isn't scared to take a punch. Worth checking out.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Something Wild [1986]

Melanie Griffith plays a free spirited girl who meets yuppie Jeff Daniels at a New York diner and half kidnaps him for the weekend as they embark on a road trip from the city through Pennsylvania in order to go to her high school reunion where she comes across ex-husband Ray Liotta and things quickly turn dangerous.

Definitely a film with tonal twists. The first half is fun all the way as Griffith's Lulu larks about with Daniels having kinky motel sex and robbing liquor stores as the film has a playfully breezy vibe even though for Daniels it's kind of a yuppie nightmare.

The film then moves up a gear with Liotta in proper crazed mode as he kidnaps them both, violently beating Daniels in the process before the three head into Virginia.

Jonathan Demme's film confounds the viewers expectations with all the wild turns it takes but remains a clever anarchic black comedy with Griffith in brilliant form.

Unpredictable, quirky and charming - and that's not just John Waters cameo as a used car salesman.

[nicholasrope]

An Eye For An Eye

Chuck Norris is a former Detective who resigns after the Murders of 2 friends by Drug Traffickers. He goes after revenge with the help of a Reporter. Christopher Lee co-stars in a Film that I hadn't seen before and it falls into the category of I've seen better but if I had seen it in the 80's, I would have loved it.

Renfield

Nicholas Hoult is Dracula's Assistant which means he has to do his bidding along with getting Victims. Nicholas Cage is outstanding as the very demanding Dracula along with great performances from Hoult, Akinfenwa and Ben Shultz in a very funny and gory Film. I believe it's my favorite Film of 2023 so far, the Trailer gave me Vampire In Brooklyn vibes and it felt that way watching the Film.

Slap Shot 3: Junior League

Straight to DVD Sequel which sees a group of Orphans trying to save their Home from a dirty trick playing Developer by winning a Junior Ice Hockey League. It does have a connection to the previous Movies by being based in Charlestown and having The Hanson Brothers in a substantial role, not a quick 30 second cameo. It's basic but I found it tolerable.

[Demoncrat]

Extra Ordinary (2019, Mike Ahern/ Enda McLoughman)

Irish horror comedy.
Liked this now. A driving instructor whose real talent has been hidden due to past trauma finds that that talent is needed if love is her true aim.
Will Forte pops up as the antagonist. Not a showy thing at all, the performances carry it along assuredly.

[MrBarlow]

Virgin Mountain. 2015.

A soft drama from Scandinavia about a over weight 40s something guy still living at home, collects small models and work as a baggage handler at the airport. He starts going line dancing and realises life can throw challenges at him.

Gunnar Jonsson plays Fusi is quite a likeable character facing perils in life that everyone faces and at times you can feel sympathy for him when things look up for him his dreams are shattered then picks himself up and things go down. The pace is slow but that goes with the tone of the film especially at the start then it can go fast then slow. There is some points where it can go in one direction then switches to the other even though right at the end you can help but smile with the character. May not be for everyone but certainly worth a glance if you don't mind subtitles.

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(this is known as Fusi)

[MrBarlow]

Security. 2017.

Former military captain takes on a job as a night security officer at a shopping mall, when a 12 year old girl appears and says people are after her, the staff make a stand to protect her.

This was a low grade B movie that went straight to dvd and it must have been a blow for Antonio Banderas and Sir Ben Kinsley as this was actually decent. You got Banderas as the ex military, a guard who has turned up for their shift hung over, one who is in the job for the excitement, one who is in the job till a better paying job and a stuck up guard who thinks he is "the boss"...sounds like people I have worked with.

Ben Kingsley has always been a great actor to watch and leads a team to track down a girl who is due to testify and they want her out the way from their employer. The night shift staff do think on their feet on what can be used as a make shift arsenal even though it might seem a bit far fetched but what they use can be done. Another entertaining flick.

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