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Last movie watched...

Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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Mardroid

#8790
Sin City: A Dame to Kill for

Not bad. Not great. The first was better, but it kept me enrapt.

Goaty

Watch Sin City: A Dame to Kill for on Netflix last week, thought it was not really good, as three stories got that weak ending -[spoiler] eh? is that it?  [/spoiler] just best story was opening with Marv.

And I agree with Mandroid that first was much better.

Mardroid

I saw it on Netflix last night.

I actually thought the longer story with Eva Green's character was interesting, [spoiler]although the amount of nudity was ridiculous. I like a nice female figure as much as any heterosexual man but, they showed her that way so often it got a bit silly. But there were some nice twists and turns in the feme fatale film noir tradition.[/spoiler]

As for the story with that other 'dame' played by Jessica Alba... while I guess there's a case to be made for loose ends (the senator being mentioned briefly in the first film) I kind of felt that story was finished in the first film. Leave it there. It also felt like an excuse to find a way to get Bruce Willis back in the film, and I think they could have done something else.

That big guy is always fun to watch though.

ThryllSeekyr

Judge Dredd was on this afternoon, and although I dozed off and missed the rest of the film right up until one of the last pieces of music played during the ending credits.

Can anybody name those two songs, because they are not on the official soundtracks.

Things I love about this film.....

The first part where you are given brief run-down of where this is, when this is and how this is.

The Judge uniform, the ones that guard or patrol the wall and where that jet ship was taking the ex-cons. I thought their uniform was okay. The grey-armour and cape.

The city-scape as what's-his-face was flying over to his apartment. While some parts of it looked more fake than others, all those buildings looks just about right as he flew over them in the flying-yellow-cab-ship. The statue of liberty standing near the statue of Dredd (or is that Fargo!)

The authentic traffic, the future cars and trucks and flyers. The ship that dropped Fergi off and the future taxi that picked him up. That red car that Dredd blew up with his gun.

Dredd's opening scene was very iconic and cool to watch. The camera was kept low on the business end of his Law-Master only and as he parked it and stepped off on his boots and pans upward to reveal the full Judge Dredd. Everything, but the bike and uniform looked good here. 

The street scenes.

The Lawgiver was everything it was in the comic and
a bit more.

The Justice building and Judge HQ.

Judge MacGruder looked every-bit her comic book counter part.

Those Judge-Long-Coats look right.

The A.B.C. Warrior-Robot and Mean-Machine

The view of the city from Cursed-Earth when Dredd and Fergi were looking to get back in.

The sound-track.

Things I hated.

The uniform, although parts of it seemed about right and the fact that he removed his helmet.

The Lawmaster.

Double-Whammi doesn't belong there.

Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Block-War and Cursed-Earth didn't seem epic enough.

Maybe that Stallone and Assante were poorly chosen.

The blue guys, the clone-judges did seem right. I wonder what they were inspired by?

The must have been other things, but hat was it for me.

I thought the later adaption too serious and poorly cast as well.

Preferable Dredds have so often been discussed on this forum. You know who they are. 

Eric Plumrose

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 June, 2015, 01:03:02 PM
Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Just for you:

Not sure if pervert or cheesecake expert.

Zenith 666

The songs playing over the credits of 1995 Dredd are The Cure "Dredd song"(which I always liked) and the band The The can't remember song name and I'm not fast forwarding the tape to find out.

SmallBlueThing

#8796
I've watched quite a bit of late,  during my recovery, but tonight's exploration into the weird is one I really have to talk about.

A Haunting at the Rectory (2015)

I have no idea.  None at all.  Was it the worst film I've ever seen,  or one of the best? Was it an amateur fan film with occasional flourish,  or a modern classic?  Or none of the above?  Or all of them? 

Ostensibly based upon "True Events", I guess it's a story about Borley Rectory.  The only way you'd gather this however,  is because the titles proclaim it to be produced in association with "the Borley Rectory Company", otherwise it's never mentioned.  Not once.

You'd think,  it being the "true story of England's most haunted house" and all,  it would be a horror film,  yes?  Ah ha, well you'd only be half right.  What this is,  is a peculiar drama about a love triangle,  set sometime in the past,  in which some ghosts appear for a bit. 

The film exists in a strange absence of context.  It seems to be some time around the turn of the last century... give or take twenty or thirty years.  No mention is made of world events outside the grounds of the house, no historical context is given,  and the characters exist in a weird limbo in which the three main actors display such varied and contrasting acting styles as to render the whole thing akin to an AmDram stage performance of Agatha Christie. Annemarie, the Lady of the house, seems to think it's a modern piece,  her husband Lionel the reverend uses a naturalism more suited to an audition for Emmerdale's next vicar,  and Frank the supposed Alpha sexpot who so violently upsets their life is played as a Welsh Rhett Butler by way of Uncle Frank from Hellraiser.  I say Welsh, but I think that was just the accent slipping.

The vicar is warned Evil lurks in the rectory, by a woman in his graveyard and sure enough, we are treated to a couple of scenes of low level haunting. There's a literal skeleton in the cupboard,  people are killed, other people are buried,  and it stops.

And it sounds bloody awful. But,  oddly,  it's not.  In fact I'm reminded of the first time I saw The Wicker Man on late night TV and absolutely hated it.  It was only years later, after reading about it,  obsessing about it,  and seeing it with a huge audience, that I came to appreciate the "morbid ingenuities" of that glorious work of genius. And there's something, something,  of that about A Haunting at the Rectory.

Sex abounds,  and is surprisingly grphic for this sort of thing. An example of the dissonance between the acting styles and the tone of the piece comes late in the film,  when Annmarie (in her 10s/20s/30s/40s twinset and pearls) shouts fiercly (I'll use rhyming so as not to incur moderator ire) "YES HE CLUCKED ME! I MUCKED HIS SOCK TOO.  MUCKED HIS SOCK AND LET HIM CLUCK ME UP THE GRASS!" in a scene that quite possibly may become this film's equivalent of "Oh god! Oh Jesus Christ! Oh Christ! Christ!".

And it's shot on video,  so certain scenes look like all "liney" and at one point bannisters look like old fashioned 3D because of the video artefacts surrounding them. But at the same time,  the lighting is superb, and it looks as good as a high end BBC period drama.

As I say,  I dont know what to think and I'd be hugely grateful if someone else who has seen it would share their view. At the moment,  again like The Wicker Man before it that first time,  I'm beginning to wonder if I hallucinated the whole thing.

SBT
.

Dandontdare

#8797
Quote from: SmallBlueThing on 26 June, 2015, 11:09:31 PM
I have no idea.  None at all.  Was it the worst film I've ever seen,  or one of the best?
Quote
In fact I'm reminded of the first time I saw The Wicker Man on late night TV and absolutely hated it.  It was only years later, after reading about it,  obsessing about it,  and seeing it with a huge audience, that I came to appreciate the "morbid ingenuities" of that glorious work of genius.

Quote
As I say,  I dont know what to think and I'd be hugely grateful if someone else who has seen it would share their view.

Whilst I always find your reviews and opinions valid and entertaining, I think you have too much of a hang-up about your opinions vs the "mainstream" - sometimes you seem to go out of your way to praise things that most people think are shit; or to slag off what many people like.

I hope your appeal attracts enough guidance for you to to decide what your opinion should be.


Buttonman

The Gunman which I quite enjoyed.

I liked Sin City 2 but agree some of the ending were a bit strange. First was better but still good entertainment - with boobs!

Mattofthespurs

'The Voices' with Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton and Anna Kendrick
Very dark comedy about a man with a mental illness who's pets talk to him. The cat is a nasty fucker.

I predict it will go on to be a bit of a cult hit.

I enjoyed it a lot.

ThryllSeekyr

Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 26 June, 2015, 01:03:02 PM
Judge Dredd was on this afternoon, and although I dozed off and missed the rest of the film right up until one of the last pieces of music played during the ending credits.

Can anybody name those two songs, because they are not on the official soundtracks.

Things I love about this film.....

The first part where you are given brief run-down of where this is, when this is and how this is.

The Judge uniform, the ones that guard or patrol the wall and where that jet ship was taking the ex-cons. I thought their uniform was okay. The grey-armour and cape.

The city-scape as what's-his-face was flying over to his apartment. While some parts of it looked more fake than others, all those buildings looks just about right as he flew over them in the flying-yellow-cab-ship. The statue of liberty standing near the statue of Dredd (or is that Fargo!)

The authentic traffic, the future cars and trucks and flyers. The ship that dropped Fergi off and the future taxi that picked him up. That red car that Dredd blew up with his gun.

Dredd's opening scene was very iconic and cool to watch. The camera was kept low on the business end of his Law-Master only and as he parked it and stepped off on his boots and pans upward to reveal the full Judge Dredd. Everything, but the bike and uniform looked good here. 

The street scenes.

The Lawgiver was everything it was in the comic and
a bit more.

The Justice building and Judge HQ.

Judge MacGruder looked every-bit her comic book counter part.

Those Judge-Long-Coats look right.

The A.B.C. Warrior-Robot and Mean-Machine

The view of the city from Cursed-Earth when Dredd and Fergi were looking to get back in.

The sound-track.

Things I hated.

The uniform, although parts of it seemed about right and the fact that he removed his helmet.

The Lawmaster.

Double-Whammi doesn't belong there.

Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Block-War and Cursed-Earth didn't seem epic enough.

Maybe that Stallone and Assante were poorly chosen.

The blue guys, the clone-judges did seem right. I wonder what they were inspired by?

The must have been other things, but hat was it for me.

I thought the later adaption too serious and poorly cast as well.

Preferable Dredds have so often been discussed on this forum. You know who they are.

Just some corrections, I was a little too tired when I wrote this the first time.

The Justice building and Judge HQ.

Same place really, huh....

Those Judge-Long-Coats look right.

Not sure if this was cannon, but it seems right for those long cold nights and in al that dust and wind.

The A.B.C. Warrior-Robot and Mean-Machine

I guess every Angel family member bar Hershel "Pa'Angel" Green seemed right  and every time I watch this, I imagine he looks like he might have been the sixth wizard missing from Lord of the Rings with his long-coat, hat and staff. I not sure if that was cannon to the source, but just didn't seem right to me. Otherwise, he might have been good for that role, but I was thinking of any one of elderly, just beyond middle age extras Dukes of Hazard film or one of the Good Ole Boys from the original Blue Brothers film.

Things I hated.

That is too strong a word. Let's just change that to things I didn't like.

Fergie and Judge-Hershey weren't right, I guess. Although otherwise found her nice to look at.

Maybe she was very good for this role....Dianne Lane, because I don't have much of a clue about that character except that she got that distinct female variant of Prince Valiant hair cut....



Maybe that Stallone and Assante were poorly chosen.


Yet, otherwise epic performers in most of the films they both been in. (Notice that I said performers instead of actors with particular reference to Stallone ;))

Armand even brought a bit of humour with his OTT performance, yet that might have been wrong. That part about him being locked up in the Aspen-Prison-Colony on the outskirts of the city. I know that's wrong. Wasn't it on the Titan colony on the moon and didn't he those disfiguring implants  cover most of face. I guess they wanted the villain to look prettier. As much as they think he does.

The blue guys, the clone-judges did seem right. I wonder what they were inspired by?

Is this a nod towards Rogue Trooper or do all clones in Dreddverse look that way at first?
Didn't seem right to me if it was a reference or even the beginnings of a cross-over. However cool that reads on paper.

Eric Plumrose

Quote from: Mattofthespurs on 28 June, 2015, 07:28:39 AMThe cat is a nasty fucker.

Purr for the course in Hollywood.

Buncha dog-lovers.
Not sure if pervert or cheesecake expert.

Famous Mortimer

The 1986 version of April Fool's Day - I have to say that because I discover there's a 2008 remake. One of the best horror films of the 80s, I bloody love it.

Professor Bear

Escape To Victory, which I confused with Escape From Sobibor.  Also Escape From Sobibor.
It would have been fantastic if the England players had all ran across a minefield at the end of Victory as it was a bit too funny for the end of Sobibor, which was doing well in the grim stakes up until it fell apart near the end and turned into the final act of an episode of the Benny Hill Show with a whacky chase and slapstick comuppances for all the b-characters.  Escape To Victory was - for different reasons - a pretty grim watch, too, though I suppose it is to be commended for getting there without having to shoot a baby halfway through.  I gather Victory was kind of the Spice World of its day, only with footballers instead of karaoke singers and it doesn't have the good grace to kill its entire cast in a bomb at the end or have Roger Moore in it, but they are both set against a background of an unfolding atrocity so I'm going to run with that analogy anyways.

pictsy

The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies

My quick review; they should have just made two films.

I enjoyed both the previous films, but this one just does not live up to them.  The battle did not seem to capture the feeling portrayed in the book at all.  I have given these films a hell of a lot of leeway when it comes to artistic license, but my impression is that there was little artistry involved in this aspect.  Peter Jackson can do battles and it is certainly wise for him to veer away from what he did in LotR.  It struck me that it was just decided to veer entirely away from the battle after a lacklustre and samey approach kicking it off.  A different directorial approach would have been sufficient and preferable.  It also went on too long.  For the running time we don't really get much.  Compared to the previous two films, which are content heavy, this is way too light.  My impression is that there was more content for two films, but not enough for three. 

The ending was a disappointment as well.  Somehow Jackson completely failed to pull at my heart strings.  He did it so expertly in RotK.  This was far from a strong final instalment of a trilogy and I am left disappointed.  Even more so because of how much I enjoyed the first two films despite the treacherous abandonment of the source material - which happens to be my favourite Tolkien book.  This film is probably OK if you're doing a Middle Earth marathon, as it forms a decent segway, but as a film on it's own merits it failed to deliver. 

I sincerely hope that The Silmarilion is not on the cards.  It is clear that The Hobbit made many compromises in it's story and it's visuals (the CGI adds very little and tends to be a distraction).  The Silmarilion would just end up being a horrifying mess.