Last movie watched...

[Hawkmumbler]

Yes but I've seen the original and I didn't like that either.

[Mardroid]

Last film watched: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Second to last: Planet Terror.

One was rubbish but in an interesting intentional amusing way.

One was just rubbish. (Decent effects though.)

Which was which? No prizes for guessing correctly.

I also recenty saw Silent Hill Revelations. Not great but interesting enough. I've often thought the first rather underrated, and this, while lacking the atmosphere of the first, expands a bit on some of the ideas. Emphasis on 'bit'.

[TordelBack]

Yes but I've seen the original and I didn't like that either.

http://youtu.be/VwIIDzrVVdc

I'm intrigued.  While I rather liked its side-scrolling silliness, what the heck does that scene have to do with the book?  In the manga, Goto's just a weirdo who spent ten years doing cock push-ups and now sleeps on the floor of his pal's bar: he ain't Marv.

[Frank]

http://youtu.be/VwIIDzrVVdc

I'm intrigued.  While I rather liked its side-scrolling silliness, what the heck does that scene have to do with the book?  In the manga, Goto's just a weirdo who spent ten years doing cock push-ups and now sleeps on the floor of his pal's bar: he ain't Marv.

He kind of gets his arse handed to him there, doesn't he? He's just the fightingest guy in that room, and doesn't give up when he's had a tanking, like the hired goons do. His moves aren't slick and professional,  and the action choreography is just as gleefully shambolic and amateur, which is because Park Chan Wook is more interested in the ludicrous extremes characters go to for revenge than he is in living up to preconceptions concerning Asian cinema.

The film and the character are mainly played for laughs, which maybe doesn't come across in that scene when presented in isolation. The sex, the octopus, the villain's ludicrous motivation and method of revenge - everything's played for a juvenile mixture of giggling at how silly it is and squirming because of how horrible it all is. I haven't read the comic, but in terms of page to screen adaptations, the tone and sensibility of Oldboy is more Adam West than Chris Nolan ... mixed with Lynch/Anderson-when-he's-funny.

[TordelBack]

...the octopus...

The manga's depressingly uneven, and as it's full of virgin nymphomaniacs just waiting to give their special treasure to a middle-aged amnesiac a poor memory might be seen to be self-serving, but I honestly don't remember an octopus...

[Frank]

The octopus is Oldboy's best pal, and they go around together solving crimes. Like the fight in the corridor discussed previously, the song and dance numbers in My Fair Lady, and the slo-mo sequences in that film about the guy with the big helmet,  the octopus was something intended to compensate for whatever else was lost in the translation from one medium to another. In the case of the octopus, it was something the director came up with on set - the actor said its tentacles were squirming all the way down.

[Frank]

I'm going to watch The Raid 2 a week ahead of its UK video release by downloading it from iTunes tomorrow (Monday 4th of August):

bit.ly/1rLUihE

I enjoyed the first one, and I've only heard good things about this film - except for the box office.

[JamesC]

I've seen loads of films this weekend - I should probably get out more!

Guardians of the Galaxy.

I really enjoyed this - definitely one of Marvel's best. All of the characters were interesting and likeable in their own way and the designs were excellent.

Revenge of the Sith.

Everything has probably been said about this already. It's by far the best of the prequels in my opinion but it still has huge problems. I just can't buy Annakin as Darth Vader and CGI Yoda is always a disappointment. The Emperor is pretty good though (a real smarmy shit bag!) and I think that younglings in the Star Wars verse must sing funny songs about Mace Windu falling out the window.

Need for Speed.

I enjoyed this. The characters and plot weren't much to write home about but the racing was very entertaining and there were some good stunts. I'd quite like to see a sequel with a bit more from the bonkers Michael Keaton (they could make him the same character he plays in Herbie:Fully Loaded for some genre clashing craziness).

Solomon Kane.

This was much better than I was expecting. James Purefoy was great and he reminded me of a West Country version of Hugh Jackman. It was pretty standard swords and monsters fare really but it was very competently done, had good actors and plenty of charm.

The Flashpoint Paradox.

This is one of those DC Comics animated films. It's much better than any of the live action films they've managed lately. I've not read the Flashpoint comics but the story was pretty simple sub-Butterfly Effect stuff and told quite concisely over an hour and twenty minutes. I liked the Thomas Wayne version of Batman and the weedy Superman but Captain Marvel was seriously under-powered and the whole thing was surprisingly violent. It was free on Amazon Prime Instant Video so if you have that service you may as well check it out.

[von Boom]

Solomon Kane.

This was much better than I was expecting. James Purefoy was great and he reminded me of a West Country version of Hugh Jackman. It was pretty standard swords and monsters fare really but it was very competently done, had good actors and plenty of charm.

Solomon Kane is a more accurate rendition of a R. E. Howard character than Conan has been on film. Purefoy is great as Kane and we need more films like this one.

[Mardroid]

Amazon were providing the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy for 13 quid on Blue Ray recenly so I chalked it up despite owning 2 of the films (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) on DVD. (I'll likely sell the DVDs on ebay.) Worth it for a high res tranfer at that price I think.


Anyway, I watched The World's End for the first time yesterday.

Very enjoyable it was too.

Only thing I wasn't keen on was the resolution. But it was good.

[Keef Monkey]

Yeah, I rate The World's End pretty highly, I've already found myself going back to it more than I did Hot Fuzz, seemed to resonate a bit more round my bit.

Last movie for me was Guardians Of The Galaxy in IMAX last night. Oh boy did I love that.

[Richmond Clements]

Only thing I wasn't keen on was the resolution. But it was good.

Well, [spoiler]the clue is in the title![/spoiler]

[I, Cosh]

The other week I spent a sunny day in the very pretty lakeside town of Neuchâtel sitting in various darkened rooms for their Fantastic Film Festival.

Didn't see everything I wanted to, but Blind was the definite standout. A Norwegian film about a woman trying to adjust to losing her sight, it starts with obvious seeming things like hearing a noise and thinking someone else is in the room then quickly shoots off down some interesting psychological avenues I'd never thought of before. Not being able to gauge whether are smiling in acknowledgement of your joke or even looking at you (or shaking their heads at yet another overlong and dry review post) must take some adjusting to.

The first scene establishes the ground rules for the rest of the film. She describes trying to visualise a walk in the park with a dog but, unless she concentrates hard enough, the word dog can signify any number of breeds, it can be aggressive or passive, running ahead, sitting in a tree, etc. Throughout the rest of the film, objects, scenes and characters shift and change constantly (continuity on this must have been a nightmare) and it expands into a fantastic, in whatever sense you like, exploration of the way we all construct a skewed view of reality through the prism of our own faulty perceptions and anxieties. It's a lot more fun than that sounds though and features funny shagging and an excellent use of Sonic Youth's Kool Thing.

Kung Fu Divas was an agreeably absurd change of pace. Two finalists in the local beauty pageant find themselves hunted by evil ninjas and under the protection of a man who speaks only by arching his nipples. If I had to boil it down to an elevator pitch it's the Shaw Brothers' Strictly Ballroom crossed with the Shaun of the Dead. The training montage is great and there's a very favourable ratio of actually funny to strangely inappropriate humour. My Filipino colleague seemed somewhat bemused when I tried to talk to him about it on Monday.

The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji is from the cartoonish Takashi Miike of Ichi the Killer and Gozu. Early flashbacks use an entertaining animation style to show how our hapless cop hero doesn't take any shit from perverts. Your enjoyment of the rest of the film will be based on your tolerance for gleeful bad taste and OTT violence, although I'd defy anyone not to laugh at the titular vocal performance. It's just occurred to me that Miike would be the perfect choice to bring Garth Ennis' work to the big screen. Or possibly some sort of collaboration where he handles the slapstick violence and ridiculous villains while Takeshi Kitano fills in the manly stoicism and bonding.

[JamesC]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

I hadn't seen this for years and I really enjoyed it. It's a far better film than I had remembered.

I've always had a bit of a soft spot due to nostalgia about my dad taking me to see it at the pictures and getting the StMichael Annual for Christmas but that was somewhat eroded by my older brother constantly asserting that it was rubbish compared to Raiders.

The film does have its faults - mainly the annoying Kate Capshaw. I was surprised by how tolerable I found Short Round though. I think Short Round is quite an interesting character actually. It makes sense that Indy may team up with a street kid to get information/local knowledge etc (much like Sherlock Holmes with his Baker Street Irregulars. Did we ever find out what happened to him? I've read quite a few of the comics but none featuring Short Round). He made for a good contrast to the Maharajah and the slave kids too.

The opening scene of the film is masterful and has always been my favourite part. I love the way the odds are constantly getting longer and longer and then it climaxes with the punchline of 'Lao Che Air Freight' as Indy thinks he's escaped.

The Temple itself, along with the Thugee ceremonial chambers and catacombs are a great setting and the main chamber looks absolutely hellish with everything bathed in red light. There's some fantastic production design.

Mola Ram is a decent baddie with shades of Baron Samedi and it's still shocking when he pulls that guy's heart out.

All in all this probably vies with Raiders as my favourite Indy adventure. It's certainly more fantastical than Raiders and has more comedy (which I think is what my brother objects to) but it has some cool set pieces (the meal scene is still great and the mine cart sequence is ridiculous fun) and I don't think the films ever looked better.



I now have an urge to play the old arcade game. It was rock hard but the graphics and sound effects were great, as was the cabinet art.

[SmallBlueThing]

The Temple of Doom game had a sound effect that we were absolutely convinced was one of the Thuggee Guards saying "Body-poppin's good for you!". My friend and I still sometimes say that to each other even now, for giggles.

Also, if anything hits us, or knocks us, we HAVE to squeal "ARGH, I've been hit! (deep voice) by the Infanto-Ray!". We are married men in our mid-forties.

SBT