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Last movie watched...

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

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von Boom

Vampires is great! A wonderful mix of action and vampire mythology. It owes a lot to From Dusk 'til Dawn though.

pictsy

I saw Vampires as part of a double bill on TV with Near Dark.  I even recorded them to VHS and watched them as double bills again afterwards.  Nevertheless, Near Dark is the only one I remember anything from. 

SmallBlueThing(Reborn)

If anyone was inspired by my cheerleading a few pages back for Hammer's THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN (1957), The Horror Channel (Sky 317) are playing it tomorrow at 6.50pm, and of course an hour later on +1.

If you fancy a long Sunday indulgence, it's being shown in a double bill with CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954), which starts at 5.20pm (and an hour later on +1, obvs).

SBT

Colin YNWA

Party Girl was a cool film back in the day. When I started being a librarian and had recently discovered filsm by the like of Hal Hartley the idea of cool indie film goddess Parker Posey playing a ... well party girl becalmed by the world of librarianship, well the thought was begiling, the characters cool and kooky. This film just dripped cool.

For whatever reason I've not seen it since then (late 90s) and so was very happy to stumble across it on Amazon the other day... alas time has not done it well... or maybe it just doesn' fit into modern me. The party scene seems a bit forced and false (or maybe just don't remember the best parties I went to honestly?... or would hate them now?) no one master Dewey that quick and easy. For all the 90s indie cool dripping from the movie its story is actually pretty dull and stodgy.

Extreme character finds redemption and a different way to live in an unexpected place. They struggle with their mentor and eventually disaster. They fall onto hard times and suddenly all that effort to change seems lost BUT loe at the end joy is found, mentor / character who changes them forgives them and to a degree their different world learn to co-exist. WAHEY.

Its essentially Kindergarden Kop!

So yeah I found this a bit of a chore and now I worry about watching a Hal Hartley film again!

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: pictsy on 17 October, 2020, 09:19:53 AM
Nevertheless, Near Dark is the only one I remember anything from.

This is the correct answer.
Stupidly Busy Letterer: Samples. | Blog
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Colin YNWA

Sleeping Dogs

Well I never thought I'd get caught up in a 1977 film that apparently launched the new wave of New Zealand cinema... I never even knew New Zealand had a new wave, well outside Peter Jackson schlock horror and The Piano. But apparently this launched it.

Its an interesting movie I stumbled across on Amazon, mainly due to the cool image of Sam Neill in apparently this second movie. Its themes of the raise of a totaliatrian government and one man's attempt to avoid involvement in resistance to it are horribly prescient these days (the fact that New Zealand is so far from this right now is hard to forget as well!) but can't avoid falling into events. Its should be powerful stuff, but as it is its just solid.

These days this would be a 12 part series and to be honest would benefit from that. Its a good story but throws too much in and uses typical cinematic shorthand that sells some of its ideas short - apparently based on a novel that I imagine gives things a lot more space and time to work.

Still a fascinating insight into how bold 70s cinema was, but how so much of it hasn't dated too well.

Rately

Bit off-topic, but seeing as we have mentioned it previusly, Ben Wheatley is directing The Meg 2!

Now, that is going to be a shift in tone from the original!

Tiplodocus

That might be fun.

In other news, I actually enjoyed a rom-com.

JULIET, NAKED is based on a book by Nick Hornby (who I like) and has a really well judged turn from Ethan Hawke as a musician who disappeared and is now the subject of obsessive fan forums - which are a divisive factor in the already crumbling relationship of Chris O'Dowd and Rose Byrne .

No, no, it's much funnier than it sounds with some great visual storytelling (e.g. where Duncan gets the batteries for his walkman). It's well paced, well performed (especially one phone call that doesn't go according to plan) if occasionally predictable but has some great side characters too.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

pictsy

Six String Samurai

Buddy is on his way to Las Vegas to claim the title of the King now that Elvis is dead.  He is accompanied by a young child he saved from savages in this post-apocalyptic world where the Soviets took over the US.  Low budget film with good action, odd sense of humour and weird ideas that is shot really well.

Jaws

Haven't seen this in decades.  It's a fine movie.  The delineation between the first part set on the island and the second part set on the boat was really stark.  It's well made and tells the story it wants to.  Not a lot I can say about it as I assume everyone here is very familiar with the film.

Colin YNWA

A Lonely Place to Die

The good thing about having something like Amazon is you can take a pitch on a movie just based on a trailer and the like and watch things you have no real expectation of and thus be genuninely surprised by a movie. And so it is with A lonely Place to Die. For some reason the trailer hooked me, it didn't even seem that good, just some schlock fun and cos I was in the mood for some schlock fun I watched it and was very pleasently surprised.

Don't get me wrong there is absolutely nothing orginal about this movie. Its Deliverence set in the Scottish Highlands. But it does what it does very very well. The villains are gloriously villainous, just avoiding turning into silly. The action has a very effective build. The heroes die in all the right places. There is little or no surprise as to who does or doesn't . But the tension racks up, the action feels real and thrilling and over all its a very effective thriller, with decent horror undertones.

Its not going to blow you away but its better than most big action movies these days and actually pretty damned good.

TordelBack

#14695
As a long-time non-scrot when it comes to all matters anime, my weeb-adjacent daughter has been marching me through Studio Ghibli these past few months. What a revelation it's been. Currently watching Howl's Moving Castle for the second time, and constructing head-canon that places it as a prequel to Kiki's Delivery Service. Fight me.

(Now if I can just link Totoro to Kaonashi via the soot-sprites...)

Bolt-01

Howls Moving Castle is a sublime film that rewards rewatching.

eg: Nano-bolt tells me that Howl's first line of dialogue in the film is actually a response to an event involving Sophie from later in the film that only becomes clear once you work out Howl's timeline.

I love the book too, even though it is so different is so many ways.

Last night I watched A wonderful day in the neighbourhood and once again marvelled at just how good Tom Hanks is. A very well made film that pushes a lot of emotional buttons. The film was not what I expected it to be.

pictsy

Ooo, I really like Ghibli.  My faves are Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and The Cat Returns.  My least favourite that I've seen is My Neighbour Totoro.  Really cool visuals but it just lacks a particularly interesting story.  There are number of Ghibli films that meander about then abruptly end.  Nevertheless, I'm a sucker for their high end animation.

Oh, and I've only watched Grave of the Fireflies once because it's too depressing and the world is too depressing for me to handle it.

TordelBack

#14698
Quote from: pictsy on 30 October, 2020, 09:09:10 AM
My least favourite that I've seen is My Neighbour Totoro.  Really cool visuals but it just lacks a particularly interesting story. 

My general feeling is that the presence of the Catbus negates any requirement for plot or other such fripperies. More seriously, "just stopping" is definitely a feature of the ones I've watched so far, but I almost prefer that to the tyranny of a third-act resolution. My frustration with the ending of the splendid Nausicaa cannot be overstated, however.

(My beef with Totoro is wondering why the Dad hasn't given the hospital his work number).

Barrington Boots

Quote from: TordelBack on 30 October, 2020, 10:03:46 AM
My general feeling is that the presence of the Catbus negates any requirement for plot or other such fripperies.

Truth. Catbus precludes any need for anything non-catbus, so the everything else about the film is just a bonus.
It's a very low key sweet little story, I think it's my favourite.
You're a dark horse, Boots.