Thought I'd give this another look since I'm much more familiar with gialli than I was before. I really shouldn't have bothered. Other than all the Bond girls and some Bavaesque scenes here and there, it's dull, unremarkable and lethargically paced; even the cop on the case looks half asleep. Throughout the history of film, are there any characters as bitchy, sarcastic and utterly annoying as the waiter at the health spa?
Sin in the Suburbs (1964)
Ilsa and Olga: two titans of exploitation cinema in the same movie! Joseph Sarno's "cult" sexploitation film is a melodramatic tale of bored housewives searching for new thrills by joining a swingers club. Other than the greek tragedy style finale, the only real point of interest in this flick is how Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut borrowed the concept of the mask and cape for his swingers club. Mostly found the film pretty boring and underwhelming, to be honest.
Red, White and Blue (2010)
A thoroughly bleak and disturbing revenge drama revolving around the actions of three key characters and their motives for revenge. Not sure I would recommend it to anyone as it's unflinchingly brutal for most people's palate, and above all, a fairly amateur offering when compared to other revenge movies like The Horseman and Confessions from the same time period.
Jackson County Jail (1976)
Add this to underrated American thrillers of the seventies! A successful mix of legitimate southern discomfort thriller and misogynistic exploitation. Awesome performances by Yvette Mimieux having the worst day of her life and Tommy Lee Jones being a complete badass; loved the chemistry between them and I was cheering for them throughout. TLJ's character practically reminded me of John Marston from Red Dead Redemption; it was like Coley Blake was his great grandson or something:
Spartan wrote:Red, White and Blue (2010)
A thoroughly bleak and disturbing revenge drama revolving around the actions of three key characters and their motives for revenge. Not sure I would recommend it to anyone as it's unflinchingly brutal for most people's palate, and above all, a fairly amateur offering when compared to other revenge movies like The Horseman and Confessions from the same time period.
Writers on every horrorsite was raving about this one but it looked like hidden promo from people who were involved with the movie.
It's weird w/ The Horseman, the director never did anything before and it doesn't look like hes going to make another movie. Cult potential is off the charts in 20 year's time when it gets reissued to hologram-format or whatever.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB
Spartan wrote:Red, White and Blue (2010)
A thoroughly bleak and disturbing revenge drama revolving around the actions of three key characters and their motives for revenge. Not sure I would recommend it to anyone as it's unflinchingly brutal for most people's palate, and above all, a fairly amateur offering when compared to other revenge movies like The Horseman and Confessions from the same time period.
Writers on every horrorsite was raving about this one but it looked like hidden promo from people who were involved with the movie.
It's weird w/ The Horseman, the director never did anything before and it doesn't look like hes going to make another movie. Cult potential is off the charts in 20 year's time when it gets reissued to hologram-format or whatever.
Despite its flaws, Red, White and Blue is not a completely terrible film, it just isn't anywhere near the same level nor as satisfying as the other movies I mentioned.
Would have thought The Horseman achieved cult status long before then; via a Criterion re-issue for the hipster mongs.
Cutter's Way - very very solid combo of 3 70's tropes - neo-noir, allegorical post-Nam character study, and paranoid conspiracy mystery. Yung Jeff Bridges gets top billing as a shiftless marina playboy, but John Heard steals the show as the crippled maniacal veteran. The relationship between them definitely inspired the Dude and Walter in Lebowski, although this movie doesn't have a shred of comedy. Slow moving and purposefully ambiguous, but it pays off marvelously.
Under the Skin - finally saw it, pretty fucking phenomenal, but obv not for everybody. it's actually pretty baffling that this was in wide release AND the theater was still 3/4 full when I saw it, months after release. SCARJO IS FINALLY NAKED IN THIS is a huge troll btw, it lasts like 10 seconds and is far more anatomical than bonerific.
Time & Tide - when I first saw this and didn't really know much about asian action movies, I thought this was an overrated mess. 13 years later, knowing much more about things, it's still an overrated mess. Some great action scenes but I couldn't even enjoy it as action porn, the plot is too incoherent and the characters are barely even 2d. Not even close to classic Woo movies it wants to homage/riff on, nor to the Johnie To movies from around the same time
Drug War - Movie was dope! As always you guys came through with a solid recommendation.
Ravenous - Movie sucked! As always you guys came through with a weird recommendation that didn't pan out form me at all.
ahh when did sparty add that retired. to answer my own apparently back on the 30th. bummer. have had the same two netflix discs since april, should probably cancel that part of it one of these days
Kon Tiki - True story about Norwegians sailing for 5,000 miles on a raft. Cool movie. Looked very nice. Essentially this was the Life Of Pi but with white people. Cool to have seen Loki from Vikings in this.
i don't remember much of that but recall liking it a bit, didn't seth cohen play a rastafari? was also a big fan of bongwater around that era so who knows for taste in those days. that raid: redemption was good like everyone in the world has said, that mad dog was a squirrely mofo
had that same thought. somewhere b/w the mumblecore and jeff nichols maybe (shotgun stories obvs in particular). was directed by dude who was the cinematographer on putty hill/hamilton (still am yet to get to hamilton but it's queued) and think that clearly figures in as well (not just due to location, movies fucking pretty). could toss a little rectify in there as well if i just want to name shit that this had me thinking of. that whole scene in the screengrab above w teddy revealing some truths, "he smoked and he drank and i guess he didn't fuck cause of the cancer but he watched all his favorite tv shows" was top fucking notch (w the most gruesome head shot as a capper). really really liked this
Judex - mildly disappointing. very stylish and good looking but the story is not very compelling, even accounting for it being an homage to very old-timey storytelling methods (fwiw the original serials this movie homages actually felt more lively and exciting). even worse, the titular avenger is not particularly badass or even interesting as a character. the female villain, clearly patterned after the iconic Irma Vep look, steals the show but it's not enough to redeem for the weak lead. the bird mask scene, which produces the movie's most famous image, is indeed incredible - it plays like Batman by way of Last Year In Marienbad - but it's only 3 mins of the running time, and it's at the beginning. the rest of the movie manages some very awesome visuals, but nothing as effective again. not totally mad I watched this, it's very interesting if you're into this kind of thing, but def glad I streamed it instead of blind-buying the dvd.
Gojira (the og) - goofy as fuck as a creature feature, even in the context of the time ('33 King Kong, which is a good 20+ older, shits all over it in terms of special effects and model work). But surprisingly potent as a 'message' movie about nuclear power and science run amok. And you gotta love it for being the og, regardless of all else.
Terror Of Mechagodzilla - awesome, short and surprisingly dark in tone. very highly recommended.
Zardoz - only seen bits and pieces; and due to the enduring image of Connery in the red underwear/bad rep always assumed this was just a badly dated scifi. Turns out this shit was misunderstood and (mostly) unfairly savaged. It's a pretty solid stab at surrealist scifi/fantasy with a social message, but undermined by some poor production choices and a few moment that really are bordering on camp. It still works much better than you'd expect, and the underlying idea is great. I have a feeling this worked much better on paper, but turned out to be very difficult to adapt without occasionally looking retarded.
raid 2 -- pretty titties. was that mad dog back? haven't looked to see but am sure it was and told ya'll three years late that that dog was mad squirrely, that dog hunt, that dog hunt in la discoteca. wouldn't hesitate to say he would even hunt in la biblioteca. ah, a good jawn
The Sacrament (2013) - Ti West's The Sacrament might interest you if you never heard of Jonestown. Gareth Evans and Timo Tajahntjo made the great segment in VHS2 called Safe Haven, I'd recommend that as an example of how you can take a familiar story and make it interesting. The Sacrament however, is just a watered down (compared to real events) found-footage film based on the mass-suicide of Jonestown. It looks ok and moves along well enough but the acting and story leaves a lot to be desired. HotD was a one-off based on all available evidence.
Whether to Jason of Philaflava or John Podesta, I will speak my fucking perspective openly
- MB
The Last Days on Mars (Ruairi Robinson, 2013) - Really enjoyed this although it is Creature-levels of ripping off Alien in just about every aspect. Still, it looks pretty great and the cast is fantastic which helps elevate the movie above the material.
Pompeii (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2014) - How do you lose a shit-ton of money? Give a hack like Anderson $100 million and let him make an original property starring Jon fucking Snow. Its a shame that this bombed as much as it did though, because this is actually one of Anderson's better films and this plays to his strengths, his best skill has always been special effects and getting the money on the screen. Kit Harrington has no future as a leading man, he brings very little to any role I've seen him in and even when he's roided up like crazy like he is here, he still comes off as a giant pussy. The rest of the cast is pretty great though, Adebisi kills shit as Harrington's slave buddy and the god Keifer Sutherland hamming it up as the villain is tons of fun.
The Innkeepers (Ti West, 2011) - Finally got around to watching this, an excellent and understated horror anchored by a couple great little performances by the two leads.
The Return of Sabata (Gianfranco Parolini, 1971) - The first sequel was pretty much ruined by Yul Brunner, he's all wrong for the role, vain motherfucker running around in a open shirt with tassles. For the third Sabata movie, Lee Van Cleef took back the role he's perfect for and rights the ship.
The Train (John Frankenheimer, 1964) - So so good. A classic in every sense. One of Burt Lancaster's best performances in a career full of them.
Robocop (Jose Padilha, 2014) - Surprisingly not terrible. You can tell it suffered greatly from studio interference when they renegged and made Padhilla tone it down for a PG-13 rating. There's a couple of really cool moments buried in here amongst a mostly cliche story.
Prince Avalanche (David Gordon Green, 2013) - Paul Rudd is really great in this, one of his least Paul-Ruddy performances. But overally I didn't care for this even though I really wanted to. I think a lot of this is Emile Hersch's fault, the whole movie is just the two of them out on their own and its hurts the film badly when one of the leads isn't pulling their own weight.
Lone Survivor (Peter Berg, 2013) - Really great intense little movie, Berg has a knack for action sequences (although the repeated brutal jumping off cliffs and surviving sequences were a bit too much). My biggest problem was, why didn't they just wait to release the hostages until after they had successfully radioed for help? Seems like this shit could've easily been avoided.
I, Frankenstein (Stuart Beattie, 2014) - Frontrunner for worst movie I've watched this year. It takes about 20 minutes before a single member of the cast delivers a line that isn't hilariously awful. The gargoyles were pretty cool though.
A Noose For Django (Sergio Garrone, 1969) - Released here in the states under the terrible moniker Hanging For Django. Pretty solid spaghetti western about a group of coyotes making bank smuggling mexicans across the border and then brutally murdering them.
Serenity (Joss Whedon, 2005) - Recently marathoned the entirety of Firefly and the movie again, love it even more the second time around.
Backdraft (Ron Howard, 1991) - Probably my favorite Ron Howard movie, the fire sequences are still unmatched and are truly awe-inspiring. Watching the chemical warehouse fire on blu-ray is total boner material.
Casa de mi Padre (Matt Piedmont, 2012) - Thought this was pretty hilarious but yet still a bit disappointing overall. Ferrell playing a Mexican slays me to no end, but the movie suffers greatly from a lack of direction. It tries to spoof too many different genre conventions at one time, in the hands of a better director this could've been something really special.
Gangster Squad (Ruben Fleischer, 2013) - Loved the living shit out of this, I have no idea why its reputation isn't better besides the negative press it got around the Batman shootings. I think people were expecting this to be more serious for some reason, but this is pure pulp cinema, a violent take on the classic Warner gangster films from the 30's and 40's. You can tell the excellent cast was having a ball making this as well and Sean Penn was pretty much born to play the gangster Mickey Cohen.
Rollerball (Norman Jewison, 1975) - Always thought that this deserved a better following. While it does have cult status to a degree, it really should be regarded as sci-fi cannon. Its one of the best dystopian future movies ever made and the rollerball sequences are truly excellent (they are so good that this is actually the first major studio film where the stunt performers actually received screen credits for their work). And this is one of James Caan's greatest performances, as the understated gladiator who is slowly learning to think for himself and challenge the corporation that is controlling the world's citizens.
Joe
8/10
Liked this a lot. Nic Cage is pretty good in it, and Gary Poulter is amazing. He's a homeless guy that was given the part of Wade, and died a few months after the film was made.
Lone Survivor
6/10
Enjoyable, but pretty silly towards the end. Great action sequences as Tommy says.
Starred Up
7/10
UK prison drama, marred by some shitty acting in places. I'm a sucker for this kind of film, though. Check it out if you enjoyed films like Scum. Ben Mendelson's English accent is terrible, which was disappointing. Well worth a look though.
A Touch Of Sin
5/10
Four independent stories set in modern China about random acts of violence. Really wanted to like this, but lost interest pretty quickly. Been told it's a pretty unique insight into life in China at the moment, but... pfft. I was bored by it.
Raid 2
9/10
Pure entertainment. Preferred it to the first one actually.
Godzilla vs Monster Zero - this is the one sampled all over the King Gheedora album. Kinda goofy and there's not that much monster fighting, really more of a cheeseball scifi about terribly costumed aliens invading than a kaiju jawnt, but a good time overall. The space effects are surprisingly decent.
Really having a ball watching all these old Godzilla jawns, makes me better appreciate the parts that the new movie got right while also more proficiently hate on the parts it tanked. For instance, the amount of monster fighting in the new one was not out of line with the previous movies in the series by any means, but the movie would've been more fun if the 3rd Olsen turned out to be an undercover humanoind trying to harvest Walter White's grandseeds or some such. She already has the forehead and facial features for that anyway, without any makeup.
Divergent (YA, 2014) -- oh you divergent? i'm divergent too. rendezvous in my head we'll do how dauntless do around two
and/or
want to be what the hungry hungry games 3'll be. tho there's still a kravitz here
Battered basterds of baseball or whaetver the fuck that title is, much #fun
Can you recommend some really dope movies to watch? As in absolutely must-see ones. Preferably gangster flicks/westerns or anything else with lots of action.
I really wanna see this btw:
'I suppose everyone has their own limit, but some things you simply can never stop fighting for.'
locke -- got really wrapped up into that, hardy unsurprisingly killed. it's the most obvious thing to say but this is absurdly well written/shits like a play/hardy unsurprisingly killed
Peeped this movie "Blue Ruin" on netflix last night. It's a revenge drama that apparently killed it at sundance and was made for something like 350k. It's pretty good and looks great. If you're into revenge stories, I definitely recommend it.
Blue Ruin is excellent, I think we had a thread for it. 'mumblecore revenge'
Wake In Fright - Dope as fuck but I was expecting it to turn more extreme based on this board's comments. Not that the kangaroo hunt or the ending are mild or pleasant by any means, I guess I just expected more violence or something. Maybe because while the underlying subtext is some heady grim shit about the deceptively thin veneer of civilization, the surface story is just about a tight ass dude who can't handle alcohol that well.
Machete Kills - Would be lying to say I didn't find some entertainment value in it, but yea it's a mess. Even if allowing that the dips into Naked Gun levels of self-parody were fully intentional (which is debatable), the split between 'the mexican part' and the 'mel gibson' part is wildly jarring and the forced push to set up the next sequel totally robs this one of any sense of satisfactory completion. Maybe if the 3rd one is ever made, 2+3 will work together as a pair but I kinda don't care to find out anymore. My biggest takeaway when the credits rolled is that I'd rather see Rodriguez do some sort of Mexican cartel kungfu movie with Zaror rather than another Machete. Danny Trejo is visibly too old for this shit, while Zaror is a hugely talented dude in need of a director to properly break him out ( )
Over the weekend I watched Locke (Really great acting by Tom Hardy, really intense movie), and re-watched Good Will Hunting after a decade. Still a classic.
Going to re-watch Dead Poets Society, then try Monuments Men, and then Snowpiercer today.
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