Last movie watched...

[SmallBlueThing]

Cheers, I'll look for the vhs, as I'm not sure what Netflix is, even! 

Now then- yesterday I lied. Or rather I didn't mean to lie- but my kids changed their mind (perhaps worried by the jump to colour horror) and chose THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933, James Whale/ Claude Rains) instead of a Hammer Dracula. In retrospect, I have gained a new appreciation of their developing taste- because The Invisible Man is bloody fabulous.

I'd never seen it. I think I'd never seen it because I'd "done" the story with the BBC adaptation back in the mid-eighties, and- really- how exciting can a story where you can't see the monster actually be?

It turns out the correct answer there is "very exciting indeed" .The '33 version is head and shoulders above most of the other Universals we've been watching lately, and sits at the top of the pile along with Bride of Frankenstein, also directed by Whale. There's a certain approach that Whale took that gives these movies a life of their own, even removed from their original context by the best part of a century. At this point I'd give a working theory that the longevity of the wider Universal Monster cycle in popular consciousness is due to their relationship with the central Whale/ Browning films. We respond to House of Frankenstein because of the echoes of Bride of Frankenstein therein, etc.

Whale populates his movie with some of the most distinctive faces you're ever likely to see- it really is Heaven for spotters of early talkies character actors- the police, villagers, all have the kind of amazing faces and accents that existed nowhere in the world, ever, other than the Universal backlot; homunculi conjured into life by the magic of James Whale. Among them the frankly incredible Harry Stubbs- rubber-faced stalwart of many a Universal picture, and the glorious Una O'Connor; later to play another screechy servant in Whale's Bride, and later still to deliver testimony in Billy Wilder's Witness To The Prosecution. She was fifty-three when she did The Invisible Man, and do you know what- she's lovely, and fast becoming one of my favourite actresses of the pre-war period. A time-travelling me definitely would.

Of course, it's the effects that define The Invisible Man. They would, really, wouldn't they? And here, they're still impressive after all these years. Among all the floating crockery, thrown-bicycles and people being hit by nothing, there's a repulsive unmasking which goes to great lengths to show Jack Griffin's head as an empty, invisible skull, leering at his potential victims- which is then gleefully mirrored in the film's final effect; Griffin achieving visibility again only in death. Whale knew what scared people- and the first reveal shut my two kids up immediately.

Oh yes, the kids. "The best one we've watched so far" said Bram, after seventy minutes of barely-contained excitement, gasps, giggles and squeaks. Bela, silent throughout, proclaimed it "absolutely fantastic!". Remember this film is black and white and seventy-nine years old. They completely responded to its humour- which is as black as pitch at times- and yet were able to appreciate its immediate switch to high horror. Bram had said he hoped it was going to have "less talking and more action" than Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. I don't think he was disappointed. Neither are ready to leave the Universals just yet- given the choice of The Monster Squad, Dracula Prince of Darkness, Poltergeist III or The Phantom of the Opera with Claude Rains for Saturday night... guess which they went for?

SBT

[DeFuzzed]

Rango

A pet lizard gets lost in the desert. Johnny Depp does the voice and for one glorious minute, I thought Clint Eastwood did the voice for The Man with No Name. But alas, credits show it was Timothy Olyphant who is good in Justified (terrible in Hitman, forgettable in Die Hard 4) but is no Eastwood.

Story? Something about water shortage and a snake with a gun for a tail.

More importantly, what is it about Depp and white face paint? Fetish? His films, past present and future, seem to involve a great deal of the stuff.

[Spikes]

THE WICKER TREE

I had no great expectations that Robin Hardy would pull magic out of his pagan pants with his very belated sort-of-sequel, The Wicker Tree- but by crikey he did! As lopsided and celebratory of its absences as the first one, and as reliant on music, comedy, weirdness, mystery and late-coming horror. It's hard to gush about something so new- we'll let it bed-in for a few years, shall we, before we proclaim it a classic, but it's the Wicker Sequel I wanted to see. Nicolas Cage and Neil LaBute- Do you see now? DO YOU?

I should add that, like the original, many will utterly hate it and be slack-jawed at the possibility that anyone could like this piece of shoddy crap- and everyone else will claim to hate it until they meet someone else who liked it for the first time, at which point they will feel relieved and slightly less dirty, and realise they loved it. It's sort of The Wicker Man meets Murder She Wrote meets Songs of Praise meets a Confessions film meets a bit of 28 Days Later, but with some of the really important scenes removed on purpose to make you work harder. Oh, and the end is pure Amicus. Madness, utter madness and strangeness. Christopher Lee even appears in flashback via a painting- probably accompanied by a wibbly wobbly time travel noise. Sheer brilliance from beginning to end.

SBT

As somebody who loves the original, i really need to catch this. Its out on DVD now isnt it?

[SmallBlueThing]

Yep, HMV have the dvd for a tenner ansd blu-ray for thirteen. The blu-ray has a ten minute puff-piece docu and some deleted scenes/trailer. Id imagine it'll go up in price monday, as these things usually do, so try to pick it up this weekend. Or online, obviously.

Hope you enjoy it as much as i did, and more than my wife!
SBT

[Spikes]

Well, just got back from popping into town. Yeah, the dvd is a tenner at the moment - bit of a con that they couldnt put the rather limited set of extras onto the DVD, that would have clinched the deal.
I am hoping to upgrade to Blu-ray soon-ish though.The players are cheap enough now, so ill buy it then.

[DeFuzzed]

This Means War

Fun. So much wrong with it but ignore it and it's fun The chemistry between Tom Hardy and Chris Pine is fantastic, which you'd expect since they tend to have chemistry no matter who they're partnered with, but then why the distinct lack of chemistry between them and Reece Witherspoon? It's not because it's so bromance there's no room for anything else, since Hardy manages lovely scenes with his other female interest.

So you'd think obviously it's Reece's fault, except she's not bad at all. I could have done with less of her best friend, words words so many words, and that cheeto sex was just stomach-turning.

This would have been great as pure Hardy-Pine action comedy without the romance angle, but still, like I said, it's a fun ride regardless of everything wrong with it. And there's a lot, helluva lot. Kinda mind-boggling really, but true nonetheless.

[Mardroid]

I recently ordered Thor and Captain America to prepare for the Avengers film.
Unfortunately there's delays with Asda sending Captain America (they mailed me to apologise).  Thor arrived promptly.


I found it a bit too dark at the start (although that might be an issue with my TV) and I felt that some of the action scenes fell into that usual trap of being way too fast to make out. Strangely I found it difficult to get a sense of scale between the Asgardians and the Jotun at the start. I.e. the latter are meant to be giants yet they seemed the same size as the Asgardians (and humans) to me. It was only later that I could see they were a good deal taller.

These small issues aside, it was a great film. I think it was a good move to play some of the Earth based stuff for laughs. If they'd taken it too seriously it could have gotten corny. Okay, I suppose it did get a bit corny but the humour made it work, if that makes sense.

Oh, and nice post-credits scene. [spoiler]I assume that cube originated in The Captain America film. I remember that being used in a recent CA collection I read, The Winter Soldier.[/spoiler]

[DeFuzzed]

I found it a bit too dark at the start (although that might be an issue with my TV)

It is pretty dark, and I remember people complaining about that when it came out.

Top Gun

Just watched this again after years, possibly decades, and it's still good fun - especially on a big screen with the music deafening. And having seen Taps a few months ago, all puppy fat and nothing like a Hollywood hunk, seeing Cruise in this is amazing. Whoda thunk? Anyway, the 'loving feeling', the upside down stunt, the Iceman oiled up on the beach... - those iconic moments are still as potent as ever

[HdE]

I watched Green Lantern last night... and wished I hadn't.

The way this movie jumps and lurches from one scene or plot point to another is really laughable. I laughed out loud at the bit where Ryan Reynolds waks out of the kid's bedroom, and is immediately seen STEPPING OUT OF HIS CAR! Jeez - those old classic motors must be helluva roomy inside!

Aside form that... yeah. Not a great movie. Way too much in-yer-face obvious CG, a weak set up with the jilted-friend-turned-baddie, and a forgettable turn by Tim Robbins.

Give it another 10 years, and maybe we'll see a decent second attempt, eh?

[SmallBlueThing]

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The first thing to note is that they don't. They do, however, meet Frankenstein's Monster, here played by Glenn Strange, who we last saw in House of Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi as Dracula (who last played the Count seventeen years previously) and Lon Chaney (Jnr), who here completes his cycle of films as Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man.

Abbott and Costello were, charitably, the Laurel and Hardy of their day... or perhaps uncharitably, The Chuckle Brothers. As a kid, I remember liking their brand of knockabout comedy, and thirty-odd years later I was pleased to find it wasn't as excruciating as I feared and was at times pleasingly witty at times. A couple of the set-piece routines are well written and choreographed. Nothing to equal the heyday of Hollywood's comedy double-acts, and you can see why they achieved a certain popularity, and made thirty-seven films over nineteen years.

Kids really liked this one- the last minute [spoiler]"appearance" of the Invisible Man, voiced by Vincent Price- or at least a sound-alike[/spoiler] really made their day. Bought this in a double-bill with ...Meet The Mummy, for £3 from HMV. I have a feeling we'll be watching that one very soon.

SBT

[radiator]

I watched Thor again the other night with some mates - there's something quite 1980s about the film - a sort of Splash/Crocodile Dundee fish out of water vibe.

Really like it.

[Greg M.]

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The first thing to note is that they don't. They do, however, meet Frankenstein's Monster, here played by Glenn Strange, who we last saw in House of Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi as Dracula (who last played the Count seventeen years previously) and Lon Chaney (Jnr), who here completes his cycle of films as Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man.

I have very strong memories of seeing this one as a child, though I haven't seen it for years. I had a general obsession with werewolves at the time, so when [spoiler]the Wolf Man grabs Dracula and jumps off a cliff with him to their mutual doom at the end, I was gutted, and decided to draw a picture of the Wolf Man swimming away to safety[/spoiler]. Can't remember much about Abbott or Costello in it, but who cares about them when you're 7 and there's exciting monsters about? I do wonder if it would hold up to adult viewing for me though.

[SmallBlueThing]

I have very strong memories of seeing this one as a child, though I haven't seen it for years. I had a general obsession with werewolves at the time, so when [spoiler]the Wolf Man grabs Dracula and jumps off a cliff with him to their mutual doom at the end, I was gutted, and decided to draw a picture of the Wolf Man swimming away to safety[/spoiler]. Can't remember much about Abbott or Costello in it, but who cares about them when you're 7 and there's exciting monsters about? I do wonder if it would hold up to adult viewing for me though.

Yeah, absolutely. It's a [spoiler]terrible end for Talbot's story- and makes absolutely no sense. why would falling out of a window into the sea kill the Wolf Man and Dracula? [/spoiler] [spoiler]I reckon your picture is more or less canon- there's no way they didn't just swim off to new adventures.[/spoiler] [spoiler]Somewhere out there in an alt universe is a brilliant 1952 movie where Talbot wakes up in Atlantis.[/spoiler]

And re Abbott and Costello- the revolving wall gag, where Costello keeps coming face to face with the Monster and Dracula, while Abbott remains disbelieving and contemptuous, had my kids in stitches. I think I even remembered it from my last viewing- in about 1978!

SBT

[HdE]

I watched Thor again the other night with some mates - there's something quite 1980s about the film - a sort of Splash/Crocodile Dundee fish out of water vibe.

Really like it.

I saw Thor for the first time about two days before going to see The Avengers. Nabbed it in Tesco, reasoning it might help me to enjoy The Avengers when I saw it.

Never been keen on Thor as a character - but the movie was unexpectedly good fun! I heartily recommend it to anyone who's not yet taken the plunge.

[Radbacker]

Watched Chronicle on the weekend, wow that was pretty damn good for a Found Footage style movie, a style that really just doesn't grab me usually.  Could've been one of the best super movies ever if they had the budget but they still did really well with what they had and the first time they fly while looking a bit cheap is probably one of the best flying scenes in a movie (you really can feel the joy).  Reminds me a bit of Akira in a good way, the main character reminded me alot of Tetsuo.  Certauinly worth an hour or two of your life.

CU Radbacker