What movie did you watch today?

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Warewolf freelance reporter Sonny Chiba investigates a case of a female singer who is taking revenge on her rapists via a psychokinetic invisible tiger (seriously.) Chiba never actually full-on transforms into a warewolf but otherwise it's awesomely bizarre and overall a top notch 10/10 Japanese Exploitation banger with the same kind of superior direction and visual style you see in the best examples of the subgenre (Female Scorpion, Zero Woman, Bohachi Bushido, etc). This is the kind of shit we lived for in golden age of CYE.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by blastmaster »

Man, I’ve wanted to see that for a long time. A Wolf Guy/Doberman Cop back-to-back would be fine evening.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Phantom Thread 2017
Exquisite. Not just saying this because the sensibilites of the film but it's really delicately crafted. DDL like zomg. Talk about putting this exquisitely crafted movie on this guy's shoulders. But I mean this is basically a masterpiece

Blade of the immortal: lots of potential

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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The Belko Experiment (2017)
Was a bit sceptical about this movie after being let down by Greg McLean's The Darkness, but this turned out to be really fun. Worth checking out if you're fiendin' for similar style flicks to The Purge movies.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Have A Nice Day - A Chinese animated feature about a looser who steals a bag of cash to fix his gf's botched plastic surgery, and a handful of others trying to either recover the bag or steal it for themselves. It's being marketed as a neo-noir or a gangster flick but it's really more of a pitch black deadpan social satire about desperate people who didn't benefit from China's new prosperity trying to grab at any scraps falling their way. It's great as that, but if you go in looking for pulpy genre thrills you'll be bored to tears.

Chasing The Dragon - Really fun throwback to 80s/90s triad dramas with some modern Hollywood gangster movie polish. Pretty straighforward rise and fall formula here - a tough poor immigrant arrives in Hong Kong, falls in with the gangs, rises to the top of the underworld only to find it lonely and dangerous at the top, etc etc etc. Despite some cheesy wigs and sfx the recreation of 70s Hong Kong is surprisingly effective. There's a good amount of action, most of it rough and tumble brawling, definitely enough to keep you entertained through the episodic and occasionally incoherent plotting. Probably my second favorite Donnie Yen movie in the last 10 years or so (behind Kung Fu Jungle)

Accident Man - The new Scott Adkins jawnt based on some obscure old comic book. Predictably good fights but kinda shitty otherwise. Normally I wouldn't care about writing and dialogue in a movie like this but it purposefully tries to be something like John Wick with Deadpool-like sense of humor, it clearly wants you to care about those things, and it fails at them pretty badly. As juvenile as Deadpool is, this shit makes it look like Remains Of The Day, with 'edgy' jokes that would seem forced and dated coming from a 3rd rate 90s shock jock. This was supposedly Adkins' dream project and he co-wrote the script and he should probably just stick to fighting.

Gotham By Gaslight - A good looking cartoon and I like the idea of Steampunk Batman, but the big plot twist revealing the killer's identity was so idiotic and nonsensical it completely ruined the whole thing. The graphic novel this is based on sounds like a solid Batman-oriented From Hell ripoff, apparently this adaptation rewrites it in the dumbest way possible. Another DC Animated fail after the disastrous Killing Joke.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Veronica (2017)
Turns out there were two horror films from last year with the same title - this is the good one. If you've seen one ouija summoning based movie, you've seen them all, and while this lacked any originality, it was executed remarkably well and remained interesting thoughout. My biggest worry was the usual misgivings over another annoying teen protagonist, but this girl was likeable and somewhat sympathetic. Director, Paco Plaza got unfairly shitted on for straying from the formula with [REC]3, so I can see why he played it safe here - a little too safe, imo; it's still a good film regardless.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Island of Death (1976) - A truly depraved and hilarious Greek piece of island exploitation and softcore. Just about insane enough to keep you entertained even if the film is a complete mess.

48 Hours (1982) - Possibly the best buddycop film. I heard Hill talking about it on the Brett Easton Ellis podcast and that was a lot of fun. Apparently he insisted on having Eddie Murphy in it eventhough the producers thought he was basically incompetent as an actor. Imagine all the classic films we would have missed out on if Hill had not backed the one and only Reggie Hammond.

Fires on the Plain (2014) - After the brilliant Kotoko we get another awesome film from Tsukamoto who might actually be making some of his best films at this late stage. Took forever to find Western distribution but worth the wait. It's a hardhitting war and survival film about a Japanese soldier making his way through the Phillipine jungle.

Happy End (2017) - This is a bit like someone doing an impression of a Michael Haneke film. It might be his weakest film. It's like a mish-mash of Hidden, Amour and The Pianist but without the depth of either. Watchable for fans of his but mostly a less powerful reiteration of earlier films, e.g. rich people are sad perverts, technology is bad and old people have a right to be killed.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Tommy Bunz »

You should watch the original Fires on the Plain if you haven't already. It was directed by Kon Ichikawa (generally underrated compared to his era's peers) and is really great. Criterion put it out on dvd.
Didn't know about the remake, will have to check it out.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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anybody catch annihilation yet?
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Tommy Bunz wrote:You should watch the original Fires on the Plain if you haven't already. It was directed by Kon Ichikawa (generally underrated compared to his era's peers) and is really great. Criterion put it out on dvd.
Didn't know about the remake, will have to check it out.
I'm interested in seeing it. Apparently this version is very different and more similar to the book, from what I have read online.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Casablanca (1942)
Fucking timeless. Crazy how poignantly entertaining an almost eighty year old movie is compared to some of the shit that gets made today. Never noticed how schizophrenic Claude Raines' character was - almost serves as a floating angel and devil on Bogart's shoulders. Kind of funny how As Time Goes By is regarded as one of those all time great romantic songs, but that shit's purpose was largely designed to torture Humpty Hump, word to Bergman's soft-focus eyeballs. While not something I would pick, I totally get why folks would list this as one of their faves.

Ravenous (2017) (Les affamés)
A broody slow burn of a zombie outbreak movie. Oh man, I really enjoyed various elements of this film, but it just didn't work for me overall. Huge shame, because it had that whole 28 Days Later and The Girl With All the Gifts vibe which I crave in more genre movies, but this film had way too many unanswered questions and a lack of a real story to feel invested in, like why the hell were zombies stacking chairs in fields? By the end of the film, I just stopped gave up and found it too pretentious for its own good.

Pandemic (2016)
I feared the worst, but as trashy as this was, this was nowhere near as dull as Ravenous.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Mohawk - An indie action/horror-ish jawnt about a Mohawk girl and some friends running afoul of American soldiers during the war of 1812. Sounds great on paper and it's been getting good buzz and reviews from the usual pundits, but I thought the execution was pretty weak and not up to the hype. The low budget is very noticeable, direction/acting/writing are all over the place with some real rough spots. Things get better in the last act where the turns from a chase to psychological horror, for a few scenes it really comes together, but ultimately it felt unsatisfying. It's a shame, I was rooting for this thing and it does have some interesting ideas going for it, the creators are clearly enthusiastic and bring good energy to the screen, but the final product just wasn't that great imo.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Employee »

Weiner

Fascinating political fodder that will be one for the ages. Entertaining all the way through.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Happy Death Day (2017)
Loved the trailers, but the finished product kind of struggled and forgot at times it was a horror movie while remaking Groundhog Day for tumblrinas. I still dug this movie, mainly because Jessica Rothe's character actually evolved from the archetypal slasher film mean-bitch to a bonafide final girl. Some nice surprises too, but it's missing some of that old school mean-spiritism synonymous with quality slashers. Decent movie, but it had the potential to have been something really special.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Night Of The Juggler - This was fucking incredible, the reputation it has as a lost NY sleaze time capsule doesn't actually do it justice. It also swipes the kidnapping morality play from High & Low, the sewer tunnel thing from The Third Man, has surprisingly great and bizarrely long action sequences where Brolin does Jackie Chan-type car stunts... and the whole thing is built on the premise of Brolin being a Serpico-ish ex-cop whistle blower who's totally cool with NY being a kinda dirty melting pot set against a kidnapper who's mad at rich white developers and an influx of black/brown residents for ruining NY. And that's not even all of it. HOLY SHIT guys.

Gremlins 2 - Never seen this as an adult, wanted to revisit because it seems to be coming up a lot in pop culture convo recently. Turns out I remember the random Gremlin shenenigans very well, but all the social satire went way over my head as a kid. It's basically Ballard's High Rise as a comedic 80s creature feature.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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The Third Man (1949)
Arguably the greatest British film of all time. Personally, I'd pick a few other movies before this, but it's an incredible film regardless. Post-war Vienna isn't just a visually stimulating location, but it also deserves equal billing with Cotten and Welles here. Only just realised Lime's squeeze was played by the same actress who played Miss Tanner from Suspiria.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
Aside from Awesome Welles' dodgy Irish accent, this was a superb thriller. The finale was the high point for me; loved the whole surreal showdown in the fun house and the obvious influence from german expressionist cinema. Word to Dr. Caligari.

In a Lonely Place (1950)
Excellent thriller with Bogart on some Hobo shit as a douchebag Hollywood screenwriter. Dude does himself no favours while being implicated in a murder. While the whole "did he, didn't he?" trope is pretty fucking played out, this is easily one of the better examples of it being executed perfectly.

Thieves' Highway (1947)
Who would have thought selling apples was so fucking ruthless? Enjoyed some of Dassin's other movies, but this didn't really blow me away. I think it was largely attributed to the film's protagonist coming off as very weak when the shit hit the fan - dude even took a massive downgrade with choice in girlfriend.

Blood and Black Lace (1964)
More times I watch this Bava classic, the more I'm convinced this is the pinnacle of giallo cinema. Confident enough to say this trumps Argento's biggies. This shit has everything that I crave in a proto-slasher and it oozes class from every pore, even with its degenerative cast.

Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970)
Who's who of cult euro trash actors, a lounge lizard soundtrack to die for, the coolest looking crib that isn't the one on Tracy Island from Thunderbirds, and yet this felt like a significant step-down for Bava. He's delivered many similar elements found here with better aplomb in his other movies. It's still a pleasant time-waster, but I do think it deserved to be a lot better.

28 Days Later (2002)
One of the best horror flicks of the last decade and fuck you if don't count it as a zombie flick. Danny Boyle's film was a game changer for the genre and that can't be argued with. However, this film looks like shit on blu-ray, thanks to it being filmed with shitty ass digital camcorders. Picture quality is so bad, the film was genuinely a struggle to sit through.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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28 Days Later paved the way for all this shit today. Such a great film.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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third man and blood and black lace are both incredible films
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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The Sword of Doom (1966)
Absolutely loved this. Gloriously violent and easily of the better samurai flicks I've watched so far.

Gilda (1946)
Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford were cool and all, but my interest somewhat fizzled about halfway in.

Brute Force (1947)
Been aching to see this movie again, as it's a personal fave as far as prison flicks go.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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The Mighty Peking Man (1977)
Train wreck of an unofficial King Kong remake from the Shaw Bros, but a really enjoyable one regardless. Questionable animal cruelty and black-facing aside, I got the impression there was a real sense of naivety with the whole production, which lent to some unexpected charm to the overall film, even if it immediately follows the Di Laurentiis movie as an obvious cash grab.

Mute (2018)
Kind of gave up on taking this seriously once it trailed off from focusing on Skarsgård's mute protagonist and switched on to Paul Rudd. Found plenty of other weird choices littered throughout, which really didn't feel like integral elements to the film, but more like Duncan Jones being indulgent for the sake of it. Also, with all the money Netflix make, they could have at least pumped some cash into the vfx department; the obvious Blade Runneresque inspired look to futuristic Berlin is more reminiscent of the Deus Ex games. This is Duncan Jones' strike two for me.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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The Square (2017) - This film is a satire of the two most detestable kind of people: people who work with modern art and Swedes. So it should be right up my alley but I found the film to be a bit dull for the most part and a missed opportunity. Not unlike Ostlund's previous film Force Majeure. Both films are similar in that they are marketed as comedies but there isn't much to laugh at it and they have interesting premises but fail to deliver an enjoyable movie experience.

You Were Never Really Here (2018) - Taken goes arthouse in this sombre thriller with an excellent suicidal Joaquin Phoenix who gets caught up in a conspiracy involving a trafficking ring of girls. The film stubbornly refuses to give exposition on all of the subtext that is introduced, which was a bit frustrating to me. If you're going to litter your film with moody flashbacks then at least give us a bit of context. I did like the film quite a lot however and it's right up there with Raw and Punisher: Warzone in terms of the best ever films from female directors.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Pacific Rim - first time rewatching since I saw it in a theater, thought it held up phenomenally well. It has some flaws for sure, but it's so pure and earnestly excited about giant robots fighting giant monsters that you'd have to be a hugely cynical dick to not be at least a little charmed by it. It's like Speed Racer's lesser but still awesome little brother or something.
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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The Shape of Water

Fucking atrocious story: transhumanism, bestiality, anti-American, Russian spy is the only "bad guy" with a conscience etc.

Richard Jenkins' performance and the superb cinematography and set design are the only things this film should be remembered for.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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I, Tonya

Effing masterwork. Robie embodies everything White Trash to a tee and is a delight to watch in literally every scene. That Janey didn't win an Oscar for her portrayal of the mother is criminal. It is one of the most stellar performances of the new millennium. Searing. Soundtrack is aces.

The chubby dude, the body guard, is the funniest shit ever.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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The Strangers: Prey At Night

Entertaining and pure popcorn fluff. Christina Hendricks is not utilized like she should have been. Otherwise, it's worth watching on Netflix. Would not recommend paying to see it in a theater.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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thread needs more reviews by employee
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by Y@k Bollox »

Comedy Quaddafi wrote:The Square (2017) - This film is a satire of the two most detestable kind of people: people who work with modern art and Swedes. So it should be right up my alley but I found the film to be a bit dull for the most part and a missed opportunity. Not unlike Ostlund's previous film Force Majeure. Both films are similar in that they are marketed as comedies but there isn't much to laugh at it and they have interesting premises but fail to deliver an enjoyable movie experience.

You Were Never Really Here (2018) - Taken goes arthouse in this sombre thriller with an excellent suicidal Joaquin Phoenix who gets caught up in a conspiracy involving a trafficking ring of girls. The film stubbornly refuses to give exposition on all of the subtext that is introduced, which was a bit frustrating to me. If you're going to litter your film with moody flashbacks then at least give us a bit of context. I did like the film quite a lot however and it's right up there with Raw and Punisher: Warzone in terms of the best ever films from female directors.
I really liked The Square, aside from a few things. The performance art piece at the end had me watching through my fingers. Cringing so hard.

A little disappointed by You Were Never Really Here. Found the premise to be totally unbelievable, which is fine if you're watching Taken, but it didn't really work for me here. Felt way less accomplished than We Need To Talk About Kevin. Liked it, didn't love it.

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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where are you people watching You Were Never Really Here
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Re: What movie did you watch today?

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Europe

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Re: What movie did you watch today?

Post by alpha »

The Last Boy Scout-1991

This movie aged really well. Perfect one-liners throughout for Willis as the comedy. Wayans as the straight man is such a weird choice looking back but works well. You got a young Halle Barry as a stripper. Great script overall. Action and explosions galore with a rediculous ending.

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