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

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Dark Jimbo

Quote from: pictsy on 25 February, 2022, 09:36:39 AM
Commando

A lot of fun, incredibly dumb.  The pacing in this film is really good and it's very clear what is going on and why it's going on.  Sort of.  I mean, rescuing someone by firing a rocket at them isn't what I'd call smart.  It has a lot of problems.  But it's still fun watching Arnold assault, kidnap, murder, rob, and massacre his way to his goal.

The phone cover we all need:

@jamesfeistdraws

Dandontdare

Fans of Schwarzenegger's 80s and 90s output have probably already seen these, but just in case here are Arnie's greatest movies as musicals:

Predator
Conan
Commando
Total Recall
Terminator 2

milstar

#16637
Raw Deal

I caught this Arnie's film yesterday, I thought I could give it a go, as he was the topic recently in this section. Plus, I haven't seen it recently, I think it was maybe 15 years ago.

Probably the least remembered Arnie's film from the 80s (save Red Sonja). It's not difficult to say why. Why most of his movies from this decade were fairly entertaining and cheesy (the latter certainly being this picture), my main issue is that film never really transcended B film qualities. Though I admit it has some entertaining value.

The script is weak and faintly reminescences A Fistfull of Dollars, and requires a huge amount of suspension of disbelief. Arnie is Mark Kaminsky, former FBI agent, summoned to go undercover in mafia ring under disguise of Joseph P. Brenner (this one has a fairly funny one-liner), secretly undermining their ranks in order to bring down the whole group and find a mole inside. I don't why he blew up oil facility in order to stage his death. Arnie's cover gets blown in a dumbed down manner. There is a rather surreal sequence, which I found rather cringy, when Arnie guns down a group of baddies, hiding in a quarry, while listening - I Can't Get no Satisfaction. Although the film quickly redeems itself by massive, pop-out shootout (not unlike the finale of Commando) that quickly follows, and which basically wraps up the film. Action in general has potent mix of gunplay and explosions, not hackneyed, nor mindblowing. As for the rest of the cast, there are familiar faces; Sosa from Scarface, Sam Wanamaker as the main antagonist, Robert Davi as his right hand and colourful antagonist to Arnie and Kathryn Harrold, serving for nothing more but eye-candy part. There are some funny one-liners here and there (this being after all, Arnie's vehicle).
-"What P. in your name stands for?"
-"P***y."
Or "cow's biggest contribution to the world is s**t."

Overall, I don't think this is the worst Arnie's film, but I definitely would stow it medium-lower category. If anything, the end credits have one of the coolest, badass tunes I've heard.
https://youtu.be/5DmxfOGlPIg

Quote from: Dandontdare on 26 February, 2022, 02:09:37 PM
Fans of Schwarzenegger's 80s and 90s output have probably already seen these, but just in case here are Arnie's greatest movies as musicals:

Predator
Conan
Commando
Total Recall
Terminator 2

Then I feel awkwardly embarassed. How come they skipped Last Action Hero (arguably the most underrated Schwarzenegger film?
Reyt, you lot. Shut up, belt up, 'n if ye can't see t' bloody exit, ye must be bloody blind.

Richmond Clements

The Batman. I really really enjoyed this. Pattinson is great as always and brings something new to the Wayne/Batman dynamic.
I like how it leans into the Dark Knight Detective side of his in a way previous movies have not. Not there aren't fisticuffs. There are and they are impressive, especially one scene lit only by the muzzle flash of guns.
It's not perfect though. My main complaint was with Alfred. To be exact: [spoiler]why was he even there? He's in, what? Three or four scenes and the one scene where he does anything to move the plot forwards could easily have some from elsewhere. [/spoiler]

But my only real groan was, BIG spoiler if you haven't seen it: [spoiler]When Riddler is sent to Arkham and the inmate in the next cell starts talking to him and I thought' No, please don't do the lazy obvious thing'... but they did. [/spoiler]

I didn't feel the long run time and wouldn't mind seeing this again, or this team having another bash at the character.

The Mind of Wolfie Smith

wow. just wow.

quo vadis aida is one of the greatest films i have ever seen. and the central performance is beyond extraordinary - her work in the last 15 minutes almost defies belief.
it's on netflix. there are no aliens. it's real, unfortunately.

pictsy

Sin City A Dame To Kill For

Meh.

Tiplodocus

Having watched ROMEO AND JULIET WITH DINOSAURS last week, I decided to go for ROMEO AND JULIET WITH FIFTIES JUVENILE DELINQUENTS this week.

Steven Spielberg's remake of WEST SIDE STORY is on Disney+ and do you know what? It's rather good. And I say that as someone who loves WEST SIDE STORY.

It seems obvious that Spielberg would be great at musicals but here he genuinely makes the camera dance along with his fabulous cast. Changes? Sure but all for the better. The racism angle is much more explicit and highlighted by having a returning Rita Moreno sing SOMEWHERE.

The tone shift between the first and second half is almost effortless. In the theatre they normally have the advantage of an actual interval but here, going from the rumble straight into I FEEL PRETTY seems quite brutal.

So classic songs delivered well, fab dancing, great cast, great cinematography and Spielberg delivers his best film in a while.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

Colin YNWA

Southern Comfort

To my shame I didn't even know this film existed until I saw Alex Ronald (once of these pastures and the House of Tharg) mention it on Facebook and it looked interesting. A quick google search later and I learn its by Walter Hill - I adore The Warriors - and I found it.

Okay so I can see why it gets compared to Deliverance but this is a better film I think (though fair to say I do need to rewatch Deliverance I've not seen it in a long time). Its tense but relies more on the failings of it central characters, none of whom are particularly likible  and yet we are made to fear for their fates.

The closing scenes in the Cajun Village are just masterful to.

So yeah how the hell haven't I heard about this movie before?

Tiplodocus

Be excellent to each other. And party on!

Tiplodocus

It just dawned on me that there's a new Batman movie out yet here I am posting about musicals. Man, I've changed!
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

The Legendary Shark


Ooh, now I need to watch Southern Comfort again. Love that film, it was probably one of the first videos I ever rented.

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Hawkmumbler

THE GODFATHER PART II

My white whale. An inexcusable blind spot in my cultural experience, and seeing the 4K remaster of the first movie last week was a damn fine primer to finally break into the sequels.

Yeah. Not much more to add that hasn't been said a billion times already. Art.

CalHab

The French Dispatch. You could take any frame from this and it would be instantly recognisable as a Wes Anderson film. Whether that's good or bad. It's an anthology film with a number of short films set around reporters in a fictitious French city. The cast is absolutely incredible, but only some of the films work. The best might be the short cycling film with Owen Wilson, which serves as an introduction to the location. Its a slight piece, but works well. Jeffrey Wright's piece about a police chef is also very entertaining. The del Toro, Seydoux and Brody piece about an artist is good, but is overlong (in a film that is pretty short). I didn't enjoy the McDormand one about student politics. It felt pointless (like the politics). A middling Anderson film, I'd say.

pictsy

Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City
This was actually okay.  I'd say it comes out ahead of the previous run of live action films.  It's got some nice compositional choices that I appreciated.  Easy to follow and pretty predictable.  Very light on substance, mainly because of the large cast of characters and a lack of anything to actually say.  The zombie make-up was interesting.
I think it was pulling heavily from the first two games.  That's my best guess as I haven't played either of them, but know of them through references.  I get the feeling that game-fans might not appreciate the film, but I don't care because it was a fine watch.
Oh, there is sequel baiting as well.  Which I don't like.  Boo to that.

Rara Avis

Dark Waters on Netflix.

A solid legal drama about how the DuPont Corporation poisoned every single person on the planet.

They are finding that shit in the placenta of unborn babies and when they needed to run tests on blood that was uncontaminated with that stuff they needed to use blood taken from US army soldiers during the Korean War**.

**
https://www.environews.tv/122619-dupont-poisoned-99-7-of-americans-with-teflon-chemsicals-erin-brockovich-filmmakers-fight-back/

https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-parkersburg/

https://www.ecowatch.com/teflons-toxic-legacy-dupont-knew-for-decades-it-was-contaminating-wate-1882142514.html