What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by nicholasrope

I remember watching these films during Lockdown, I'm with you, I did really enjoy them back in the day but I think this is a series that you do grow out off

Sorry I missed this comment when you posted it I agree some films just don't grow with you.

[Nordicdusk]

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Lilith a famous and feared bounty hunter is hired to go back to her home planet of Pandora to track down the daughter of the head of Atlas a weapons manufacturer who has been kidnapped but this is no rescue mission and Lilith is faced with an impossible mission that will become much more personal than she could ever dream.

As soon as the first trailer was released the whole gaming community was down on this from the get go I wasn't too happy to see Kevin Heart myself but I was still willing to give it a shot. From the trailer it had the look and it seemed like it might be fun so I was on board. Then came the released it was panned by everyone but the more I investigated it the more I realized from reading from the borderlands gaming community no one was watching the film just review bombing it fine if you don't like something that's all good different strokes and all that but you MUST experience something before you have an opinion. I mean I was pig headed about Lords of Chaos but I never said this film is shit before I saw it and look what happened when I finally did I really enjoyed it. As a massive gamer I absolutely HATE the community it's filled with spoilt brats that moan and criticize every aspect of gaming. Any way enough of that here's what I thought of the film.

I didn't know what to expect going in but I was really surprised at how much I didn't like it not love it I liked it. The casting wasn't as bad as I was expecting Kevin Heart was actually good in it as he wasn't playing Kevin Heart he was playing it pretty straight most of the comedy came from Jack Black as Claptrap and as my favorite character in the Borderlands games this really made me happy he was brilliant and everything was true to the Claptrap character. The film looked the part the color the weapons the Psycho raiders all looked spot on. The film is far from perfect but also it's far from the disaster people have made it out to be. It's watchable it could of been much better and I would of preferred a person who knew the games made the film Eli Roth said he never played the games so that's not the best start and the fact I don't like him anyway but anyway. The only character I didn't like was Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis she was acting really strange Tannis was never an awkward character like that I just didn't understand that all at.

Overall I did enjoy it I could and should of been much much better the worst part is the world of borderlands has so many stories to tell and we will probably never get another one again after this a shame really someone out there could of knocked this out of the park but I think it's dead now.

On a personal note Gina Gershon is still beautiful .

One thing I forgot to say the music used in this was so generic so many of the songs have been in a hundred films at this point and even throwing In The Ace Of Spades I felt was such a generic stupid move.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

A Night to Remember (1958)

Roy Ward Baker's wonderful telling of the 1912 Titanic disaster which features an all star British cast with Kenneth More absolutely brilliant in his role as the ships second officer.

It's impossible not to think of James Cameron's epic Titanic film to begin with as this feels so utterly stiff upper lip British, it's also done in a semi documentary style.

Then half an hour in the inevitable happens and the ship hits the iceberg and the film becomes absolutely riveting viewing. The disparity between social classes at the forefront of the story strands. Characters are brought vividly to life and Ward Baker's direction is exemplary. So much so i was in tears when the band leader Wallace Hartley (Born in Colne, only a stones throw away from me) tells his band mates they can stop playing as they've done enough with the ship almost sunk before starting playing himself one final time... just as his mates re-join him for that last tune.

The way the script brings life to the actual crew and people who were aboard the ship rather than inventing stories and characters to tell it's tale helps no end in making this a genuine masterpiece.

I'll finish by quoting the esteemed New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther who described A Night to Remember as a "tense, exciting and supremely awesome drama...[that] puts the story of the great disaster in simple human terms and yet brings it all into a drama of monumental unity and scope".

[Nordicdusk]

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When the world becomes overly reliant on technology and robots the robots decide enough is enough and they want to live their own lives not just serve humans so a war breaks out between the two sides. With no one backing down and too many lives lost a treaty is signed when all the robots will be sent to an open prison in New Mexico and keeps separate from the humans. Michelle who lost her family in a car crash mets a robot who tells her that her brother is still alive and they both set out to find him but not only is her brother's life on the line but the world is too.

The Electric State is an absolutely amazing looking film all the robots come to life it's actually mind-blowing just how real it looks. The story may be a generic on hidden behind all this amazing looking world but that really doesn't matter one bit because your just there to enjoy the ride and take it all in it really is a beautiful film and the message is pretty strong and one that should be taken seriously. We have lost ourselves to technology and social media people don't communicate people don't realize that the most important thing in life is the person sitting right next to them as they are lost in their phones and obsessing over fake people posting pictures of their fake lives with fake emotions and even faker personalities. People fear that A.I is going to destroy us but we have already destroyed ourselves and maybe it's too late to come back. The art of human contact is almost dead and we only have ourselves to blame. What a great film

Don't expect a revolutionary story but it's well worth your time and Chris Prat is always fun to watch.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Attachment 254935



When the world becomes overly reliant on technology and robots the robots decide enough is enough and they want to live their own lives not just serve humans so a war breaks out between the two sides. With no one backing down and too many lives lost a treaty is signed when all the robots will be sent to an open prison in New Mexico and keeps separate from the humans. Michelle who lost her family in a car crash mets a robot who tells her that her brother is still alive and they both set out to find him but not only is her brother's life on the line but the world is too.



The Electric State is an absolutely amazing looking film all the robots come to life it's actually mind-blowing just how real it looks. The story may be a generic on hidden behind all this amazing looking world but that really doesn't matter one bit because your just there to enjoy the ride and take it all in it really is a beautiful film and the message is pretty strong and one that should be taken seriously. We have lost ourselves to technology and social media people don't communicate people don't realize that the most important thing in life is the person sitting right next to them as they are lost in their phones and obsessing over fake people posting pictures of their fake lives with fake emotions and even faker personalities. People fear that A.I is going to destroy us but we have already destroyed ourselves and maybe it's too late to come back. The art of human contact is almost dead and we only have ourselves to blame. What a great film



Don't expect a revolutionary story but it's well worth your time and Chris Prat is always fun to watch.

I've literally just watched this myself Nord and much like your review of Borderlands I feel like I watched a different film to everyone else. There seems to be a lot of flack aimed at The Electric State, i however absolutely loved it. I'll try and put some together on both films tomorrow. Borderlands was a blast, nothing exceptional but a highly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon with my boy.
The Electric State I can't wait to watch again.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

[Rob4]

Three Nuclear Age Universals?

The Deadly Mantis (1957)
Volcanic eruption on once side of the world releases giant rampaging insect on the other side of the world. The monster works its way south for a final city showdown. Sound familiar? Well yes, but this is a pretty risible walk-through of that earlier classic. The actors are not just battling the Mantis but also a poor script, pedestrian direction, awkward comedy relief and acres of stock footage. There is a couple of decent monster attacks to remind you of the 50s sci-fi vibe you know and love but this is decidedly second tier fair.

Tarantula (1955)
I think there was a recent review (Dem?) that inspired me to spin this again. I?ve seen it many times of course but initially when I was very young when you used to have film seasons on TV, this being a BBC2 season of 50s sci-fis, also including War of the Worlds and Them among others. It always amazes me that I can remember things like this when I can barely remember what happened last week, but I guess this is why we have these obsessions. There?s absolutely no mystery here. The events leading to the rampaging monster are front and centre and economically communicated to the audience. The cast are personable and likeable, the monster effectively rendered with simple background projection, compositing and close-ups. This is how it?s done, and even after all this time I still love this movie.

The Land Unknown (1957)
This was a film that I caught when I was a bit older one Saturday morning. I remember not really liking it at the time - I was being a bit snobby around this time, when I thought that a dinosaur movie had no merit unless it was stop-motion. Recently, I?ve come to like this a lot more. The effects are rendered in various ways with matte paintings, model shots, back projected lizards, men in monster suits and most impressively a puppet marine dinosaur that takes several burning torches to the maw. The cast, including Jock ?Tarzan? Mahoney is serviceable and nicely handle the action scenes. Good Saturday matinee stuff.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I've literally just watched this myself Nord and much like your review of Borderlands I feel like I watched a different film to everyone else. There seems to be a lot of flack aimed at The Electric State, i however absolutely loved it. I'll try and put some together on both films tomorrow. Borderlands was a blast, nothing exceptional but a highly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon with my boy.
The Electric State I can't wait to watch again.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

Look forward to your review I'm seeing so much hate for the electric state since I watched it on its crazy

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rob4

Three Nuclear Age Universals?



Tarantula (1955)
I think there was a recent review (Dem?) that inspired me to spin this again.

Not me i'm afraid. Not watched this in years.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Frozen Ground (2013)

Intriguing and deliciously uncompromising moody fact based thriller stars Nicolas Cage as an Alaskan state trooper on the trail of a serial killer. Vanessa Hudgens plays a young prostitute who escapes the killers clutches following a terrifying ordeal.

Being based on the true story of Robert Hansen also known as the Butcher Baker, and taken from the account of Cindy Paulson, here played by Hudgens, the film sticks largely to fact without feeling the need to have sensational set pieces or added thrills for the sake of it. Set in 1983, the crux of the story is Cage having to convince his superiors he's after the same man who raped and murdered 17 other women in the region throughout the previous decade, whilst also protecting Hudgens from a killer intent on finishing what he started.

Cage is good as the detective, steering clear of the often manic turns that can plague his films and John Cusack is excellent as Hansen, looking very much like a 'normal Joe' in the eyes of everyone. However the star of the show is Vanessa Hudgens. An actress challenging herself as she hit her mid twenties and moving ever further away from the squeaky clean roles of her youth.

There's some great location filming in and around Anchorage and the whole thing has that stark cold feel you'd expect from Alaska, a setting that draws me towards films, which creates a suitably atmospheric air in this uncompromising procedural thriller.

Recommended.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

@Nordy - Someone else has just recommended me Longlegs.

My anticipation levels are bloody soaring now. Easter here we come...only a month to go. Boo!!!