What movie did you watch today?

[LilLeftBrain]

happy christmas was a swansbergs spawn showcase and little else though that kid was amusing as was l dunham & a kendrick smoking mad bowls! natch. tend to be a mumbleitis apologist but not this one man, not this one

[Spartan]

Starry Eyes | 2014


A film that's comprised of two very distinct halves; relying heavily on placing everything on the shoulders of its mesmerising lead to link thew two together. Loved the whole Faustian allure with the Hollywood elite. It's flawed (like not knowing when to end) and suffers from obvious low-budget limitations in tackling a film which would have benefitted in highlighting successful douchebaggery, but Alex Essoe's performance is really what makes this so watchable. Would make for a cool double-bill with Maps to the Stars.

[Spartan]

Scorpion With Two Tails | 1982


Worst Sergio Martino film I've seen to date. This was previously a TV mini-series edited down into a feature film, which explains new characters being introduced half way in and how someone can walk about in the next scene after just having a bullet removed from next to their heart. The story about dope smuggling and Etruscan sacrifices sounds great on paper, but this reminded me of a slightly more violent episode of Murder She Wrote for the most part. Whole film has a very noticeable Lucio Fulci vibe about it in terms of sounds and visuals and recycles bits and pieces from The Beyond soundtrack. Elvira Audray was terrible in this and was wearing clothes throughout. Props to John Saxon for fucking off from the film after the first ten minutes; probably went off to act in something better like Tenebre. Awful film.

Until Death | 1987


Not content with pissing on his father's legacy, Lamberto Bava did a TV feature film remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice. To be honest, as mediocre as it was, I didn't mind it. Some decent set pieces scattered about and it did't hurt to have Gioia Scola as the film's femme fatale as she was a highly watchable dime piece.

[Career Over Like Mike(NJJ)]

The story about dope smuggling and Etruscan sacrifices sounds great on paper, but this reminded me of a slightly more violent episode of Murder She Wrote for the most part.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

Hello Ladies: The Movie (2014) - The film wraps up the loose ends from the show in the last 40 minutes, which is a bit boring, but the first 40 minutes is like a very decent extended episode.

As Above, So Below (2014) - Alchemy-themed FF-horror. I thought it was a bit stupid and lame eventhough I like the claustrophobic underground setting. In Darkness We Fall does similar things much better.

You're Next (2013) - This was a very decent take on a home invasion horror with some fun twists. It's a good dumb movie to have a few beers with.

Live Nude Girls (1995) - This is where whoever made Sex & The City got a lot of their inspiration from, I think. If you want to see a movie where mature women talk about dicks for 90 minutes then you will like this a lot.

Society (1989) - A film about how lame rich people are with some 80's punk style. The film gets really absurd during the last half hour. It's a solid cultfilm and I wonder how I never rented this during the 90's since I recall seing the cover in the videostore.

Animals Are Beautiful People (1974) - Very fun docu about the animals of Southern Africa with light-hearted voice overs where the animals are compared to humans. Very good for some light and inoffensive entertainment.

[Spartan]

I kind of prefer the very similar and less self-aware No One Lives over You're Next.

CQ - Top Ten Horror Films of 2014?

[Comedy Quaddafi]

I haven't seen more than 10 or so that's pretty easy.

The Babadook
In Darkness We Fall
Among the Living
Starry Eyes
Dead Snow 2
Wolf Creek 2
The Dead 2
The Station
All Cheerleaders Must Die
The Sacrament

This one won't be out for a while I guess.

[Tommy Bunz]

Not sure where else to put this but I was tired this morning and snuck home for a nap over lunch and had a dream they were playing Footprints on the Moon at my local theater.
Pretty unhappy to realize its not true.

[Spartan]

@ CQ - I really need to see Among the Living and In Darkness We Fall.

@ Tommy - Footprints on the Moon is such a slept-on film.

Wolfcop | 2014


As far as one-note gimmicks go, Wolfcop might be the closest we'll ever get to a beating-Troma-at-their-own-game film since Hobo With A Shotgun. It's nowhere near as good, though. The gory gags were very hit and miss, but when they hit, they struck gold. Got to admit, for a film as silly as this, I was impressed this actually had well realised character arcs and shit. It's worth checking alone for Sarah Lind.

The Guest | 2014


Ever wondered what a psychopathic Jason Bourne film for post-ironic Albert Pyon fans would be like? Director Adam Wingard answers that with his follow-up film to You're Next; dropping the horror element for the most part in favor of an action thriller. I enjoyed this way more than I expected, simply because it was a loving ode to classic thriller clichés from one scene to the next, albeit with a cool synth-pop eighties revival soundtrack. If this was made twenty years ago, I'm pretty sure Van Damme would have been the lead. Realistically speaking, this was riddled with unoriginality, loose ends and obvious flaws throughout, but still fun as hell. Recommended.

[Spartan]

L'Avventura | 1960


First part in Antonioni's White People Problems trilogy, and perhaps even more boring than the second one (hated that one too). Felt like this borefest was seventeen hours long. I really couldn't get into it, tbh; Vitti and the cinematography were cool, but once I realised the whole missing person storyline wasn't really what the film was about, I pretty much gave up on it like that Seinfeld gif. The critics were right to jeer at this initially, before their sanctimonious U-turn. Only recommended for the Icesickles of this world.

Nightcrawler | 2014


Already wrote my thoughts on this in the appropriate thread.

[Spartan]

The French Sex Murders | 1972


Boobies, decapitations and eyeball slicing. Messy and trashy giallo featuring a killer cast of genre borks and a hilarious Humphrey Bogart lookalike. The film rips off the soundtrack to the film in my avatar, btw. Not a great movie, but good fun all the same.

[Career Over Like Mike(NJJ)]

These Final Hours (2013)



We already know that Aussies do the best post-apocalypse movies, right? Turns out they do pretty damn good imminent-apocalypse movies too. Tripped me out seing Gemma from Neighbours/Sky from Wentworth in a movie.

Shit is on GTG.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

Carlos (2010) - Biopic about the terrorist Carlos the Jackal. I don't like movies about famous people but this looked interesting. Unfortunately it's a bit like other movies about famous people, and therefore painfully boring in the third act where the protagonist isn't doing well. I saw the full miniseries and enjoyed it a lot before it lost steam. I'm not sure how the other versions are cut, but all things considered I think this is recommendable for the historical context and quality acting.

[Tommy Bunz]

These Are The Damned (Joseph Losey, 1963) - Loved the shit out of this. An American tourist in England tries to rescue a pretty girl from the clutches of her sadistic biker gang leader brother (a really great young Oliver Reed), and while on the run stumble into a secret government facility. They discover a group of children living in isolation in an underground cave who are the subject of genetic experiments and exposed to radiation to be able to repopulate the earth after a nuclear holocaust. This film is so bizarre that its quite amazing how well it all comes together and has a really great gutpunch of an ending.


Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013) - Thought this was absolutely mesmerizing. This film really took a lot of chances in pacing and in its visuals, which all come together beautifully in establishing an atmosphere unlike anything I've ever really seen before, the end result being one of the most unique horror films in a long time. Really loved Scarjo in this, not just because she puts it all out there on display finally (and she's surprisingly delightfully a bit chunky) but she's just really great and detached from humanity, totally bought her as an alien succubus hook line and sinker. The whole interaction with the elephant man guy was just completely unnerving to me.


Maleficent (Robert Stromberg, 2014) - This was actually really awesome. Seriously. Anyone who is a fan of fantasy films absolutely needs to check this out. Don't let the Disney affiliation scare you away. This is a visual feast for the eyes, with some truly imaginative creature & world design, large scale battles straight out of Lord of the Rings and even a giant dragon scene thats right up there with the Smaug battle in the last Hobbit movie. And Angelina is great in this, its a role she was born to play.


El Aura (Fabien Bielinsky, 2005) - This dvd has been sitting in my watch pile for like 4 years, kicking myself for not getting around to it sooner. An epileptic taxidermist tries to plan the perfect crime to rob an armored truck. He lies his way into a group of criminals and gets in way over his head. A bit of a masterpiece of directing with an Oscar-worthy performance by Ricardo Darin.


The Town That Dreaded Sundown (Charles B. Pierce, 1976) - Thrilled that this cult classic horror film finally got a proper home video release and it mostly lived up to my expectations. It's a slasher at heart but really stands in a category of its own as some bizarre Halloween/Dukes of Hazard hybrid.


Starcrash (Luigi Cozzi, 1978) - Oh man, I don't even have the vocabulary to properly describe this awesomely shitty bork sci-fi adventure. Its like someone read a book on cheesy 60's sci-fi special effects and then tried to use every single one in every scene, and then coat it all in Starburst colors. Completely hilarious, had me in fits in anticipation of what ridiculous shit they were going to do in every new scene. Also shoutout to Spartan's avatar boo Caroline Munro running around half-naked looking fine as hell the entire time.


Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (David Lynch, 1992) - Finally got a chance to devour the entire new Twin Peaks blu-ray set. Rewatched the entire series for the 3rd or 4th time, watched every special feature, even the ones I had already seen on the previous gold box set, and the numerous documentaries. Seriously one of the nicest packages any show has ever received for a home release, even the menus are a thing of wonder. But the real gem was finally getting to see the two hours of deleted scenes from Fire Walk With Me, many of which are truly amazing and hard to believe that they were ever cut out of the film. Between them and the numerous interviews with the cast and the crew, I finally understand pretty much everything that happens in this bizarre but secretly great film. It does suck though that Lynch didn't just go ahead and reassemble the deleted scenes into the film and make the ultimate directors cut, it doesn't seem like it would've been too great of a task considering they are all remastered and scored, and would just need a bit of editing to put together.


Mission to Mars (Brian De Palma, 2000) - Never saw this before. While certainly not a great movie it was better than I thought it would be and there's some interesting stuff in here that reminded me of Prometheus and Interstellar to an extent.


Cool World (Ralph Bakshi, 1992) - Bakshi's attempt at a Roger Rabbit-esque animation/live action hybrid about a cartoonist that gets sucked into the world of his own creation. Stars a really young Brad Pit and a peak era Kim Basinger. Its a shame the studio fucked Bakshi into changing it from a R to a PG rating, as I have a feeling its original design could have resulted in one of his best films. Its still a lot of fun though.


Ender's Game (Gavin Hood, 2013) - Don't have much to say about this. Never read the book but seems like the type of thing that would be better on the page. Decent.


Ghosts of the Civil Dead (John Hillcoat, 1988) - Hillcoat's debut film about a modern hi-tech jail where the prisoners are intentionally manipulated to violence for unknown reasons. This is a surprisingly competent film for a first-time director and is certainly well made. Can't say I actually enjoyed it though.


Galaxy Quest (Dean Parisot, 1999) - Don't think I'd actually seen this the whole way through before. Pretty fun and seems like an excellent spoof of the early Star Trek shows, although admittedly I'm not all that familiar with the show.


Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (Shusuke Kaneko, 1996) - This might actually be the best Gamera movie I've seen in a serious sense. Its not outwardly silly like the earlier iterations and they got rid of the stupid subplot that riddled all the other movies where Gamera has a connection to some dumb kid for whatever reason. Pleasantly surprised at the violence in this, blood splatters and what-not.


Sorcerer (William Friedkin, 1977) - Another film that has been on my most-wanted blu-ray list for a long time and thrilled that I finally got a chance to see this unsung masterpiece in all its hi-def widescreen glory. This takes a while to get going, the prologue scenes that establish the background of each of the characters plods along a little too much. But once they get to the jungle and start the suicidal journey in their dynamite-laden trucks all is forgiven. This is some really ballsy filmmaking, with the insane traversal of the trucks across a rampaging river on a rickety rope bridge conjuring up images of the riverboat scene in Fitzcarraldo. I still prefer Wages of Fear I think, but this is close, and certainly in the upper pantheon of great remakes.


Duck, You Sucker (Sergio Leone, 1971) - Gave the new blu-ray a spin and liked this substantially more the second time around. Still my least favorite Leone western but that's a bit of a misnomer, kind of like saying some girl gave me my least favorite blowjob.


Grudge Match (Peter Segal, 2013) - This was surprisingly a pretty damn fun time. I didn't realize that this was a full-on comedy and its pretty funny overall. I was really skeptical at DeNiro being able to play an athletic role at his age but he and Stallone really went for it and they pull off the aging boxer rif pretty well. Also glad that aside from a few nods here and there to Rocky and Raging Bull, they stayed away from parodying those films. Alan Arkin is the real star of this movie though, he fucking slayed me in every scene he was in.


Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg, 2014) - Another gem by one of my all time favorite directors, with a typically amazing cast led by a brave performance by Julianne Moore essentially doing a modern day imagining of Sunset Boulevard. Crazily this is the first film Cronenberg has ever directed in the US, and his dark, satirical version of Hollywood is wonderfully mysterious and brooding. Sucks that the fire scene was so poorly done though, takes you out of the moment at the worst possible time. Really the only misstep in what is otherwise one of the year's best films.


Birth of the Living Dead (Rob Kuhns, 2013) - Documentary about the creation and filming of Night of the Living Dead. Pretty entertaining interviews of the cast and crew and Romero himself who always seems like a entertaining interview. There's a bunch of really dumb scenes of some retard teaching innercity 9 year-olds about zombies that should have been cut out but other than that this was short and enjoyable. There's another doc on the subject, Document of the Dead, and I have a feeling like maybe I should have watched that instead.


Bad Milo! (Jacob Vaughan, 2013) - Watched this mainly because of the cast, Ken Marino to me is one of the funniest straight men in comedy right now and this also has my boo Britta from Community playing his wife. Marino plays a guy who has a monster living inside of his ass that comes out whenever he's stressed which on paper sounds hilarious but missed the mark a bit too much for my liking. The monster puppet is actually one of the best parts of the movie, its hilariously animated and expressive, looking like a cross between the chest alien from Spaceballs and the baby from Dinosaurs.


Silent Night (Steven C. Miller, 2012) - Always need some killer Santa movies around xmas time. This was actually better than I was expecting, its not as good as the original Silent Night, Deadly Night but its competently made and suspenseful.

[ZiekeFons]

The mazerunner 2014: Horrible horrible horrible movie! Fuck, this one was bad...

St Vincent 2014: This one was nice, although it had some of the hollywood feelgood clichés. Bill Murrays character was dope

Someone marry barry 2014: Meh..

The equalizer 2014: Thought this one was nice, but somehow in the end they managed to fuck it all up.

[alpha]

I love Tommy's long movie posts. Keep it up man.

Gone Girl(2014)-pretty standard stuff you'd expect from Fincher. Score by Trent Reznor. Without spoiling anything, you will probably end up hating and liking both the husband and wife. You're perspective on each character changes a lot throughout. Neil Patrick Harris seemed under-utilized. Emily Ratataouille titties in this too! WARNING: I'd suggest not watching this with your girl if you're having relationship trouble.

[drizzle]

Dope obscure Bakshi but not a lost classic or anything, it kinda deserves obscurity even thought it's pretty good. The topic is NY in the 50s but aside from some good period nostalgia/commentary, literally everything this one tries to do both dramatically and in animation was done better in Heavy Traffic. If you're a fan it's worth a whirl (stream is for rent on amazon for 2.99 rn), but there are at least half-dozen other more essential Bakshi jawnts to watch first if you're not already well acquainted with his catalog.

Most Wanted Man - phenomenal as both a standalone spy jawnt and as counterpoint/companion to last year's Tinker Tailor adaptation. I was initially a bit offput because PSH's character seemed like a fairly stereotypical Le Carre character, but then the end hits and you realize that's kind of the point and everything just comes together so beautifully. Compare last scene of TTSS where Oldman triumphantly returns to the Circus with the last scene here and just shit yourself at how amazing that binary is. One thing though, I'm wondering if the movie was re-cut after PSH's death to give him more screen time at the expense of some other character who feels oddly underdeveloped in a movie that builds details so meticulously.



Had positive memories of this from the early 90s but haven't seen it in ages. Watched it randomly on Amazon and it turned out much better than I expected. There's definitely a fin de siècle feel to it, the era of loose cannons delivering politically incorrect asswhoopings over sweet saxophone licks was nearly over by 1992, but this one squeezed in under the wire. Lee apparently choreographed the action himself and there's more than a little HK influence on display, which elevates things above what you'd normally get from Cannon previously or from PM later in the decade. Add Powers Boothe as a shotgun wielding cop who plays by .... you know, good pacing, and racial stereotypes galore and the results are very very solid.



Fun movie with a great sense of swinging cool (no pun) in its approach, but kinda wobbly as an actual crime thriller. In some ways it's both past it's time and ahead of it, too late for proper noir but also too early to make really good use of its violent antihero protagonist. Still, it does have that great pulpy je ne sais quoi that a few movies capture naturally and many fail to manufacture artificially, and worth watching for that. This is the kind of rarity that Tarantino probably has a soft spot for.

[Tommy Bunz]

I celebrate the entire Brandon Lee catalog. Really need to cop that Legacy of Rage dvd already.

@ alpha, thanks, even though its mostly out of laziness and they certainly suffer for it. Its hard for me to remember all the things I want to say about each one and eventually I just start shortening them because it takes too much time. Just looking back at that last post there's a lot of stuff I wish I said, can't believe I forgot to mention how hilariously demented the dancing-on-the-grave scene in Maps to the Stars was.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

REC 4 (2014) - The fourth and probably last REC-film is a bit rubbish and it came out a few years too late. I didn't see the third but from what I understand it was a decent enough stand-alone entry while this is just generic and uninspired. The plans for this were initially much more ambitious but instead of urban mayhem and zombie-outbreak we get a few monkeys amd a worm on a boat.

Black Mirror: White Christmas (2014) - This was better than most of the episodes from the show. An excellent addition to the Christmas Horror Canon too.

[Spartan]

I've been sitting on my download of [REC]4 for a while now, until i can find English subs. Third one was unfairly hated by just about everyone.

[Spartan]

Amuck! | 1972


Fairly good euro-thriller, but it's true calling is that it features the greatest lesbian scene ever. This film deserves a high def blu-ray release!

So Sweet... So Perverse | 1969

Another genuinely good Lenzi movie with the Doris Day of gialli, Carroll Baker. Real star of the film was Jean-Lous Trintignant, who gives a masterclass in douchebaggery. Opening credits has him cruising Paris in a yellow sports convertible with a sniper rifle in the back seat, which I loved:

[Comedy Quaddafi]

I've been sitting on my download of [REC]4 for a while now, until i can find English subs. Third one was unfairly hated by just about everyone.

http://subscene.com/subtitles/rec-4-apo ... sh/1030925" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[drizzle]

Allow me to geek for a sec, I've been waiting to see this for a while now:




So the legend has this as THE first HK gangster movie, which isn't really true. But I think this was the first to bridge the gap between the old stagey Shaw style and the more lively and realistic New Wave approach to triads/action that would eventually lead to John Woo and Johnie To. So it's pretty influential either way.

The formula is very simple, supposedly inspired by real events but also very much resembling a stripped down version of a 60s/70s Japanese yakuza movie. There is a badass but honorable gang who owns a certain night club, led of course by a benevolent boss and tough as nails second in command. A bad gang wants to take over the club, beef ensues, lots of people get stabbed and axed and one dude even gets assassinated with outboard motors (see second pic above).

The movie doesn't try too hard with dramatic characterization, it's more of a vehicle to let the lead (a notorious kickboxing champion/gangster irl) be a badass and for the director to play around with a Western style of movie making. The result is a great mix of flailing limbs, grit, exploitative nihilism and neon. The copy I watched on youtube is a pretty rough VHS rip, but I'm guessing in proper form it looks like a cross between prime Fukusaku and early Michael Mann with just a drop of Mean Streets, which is pretty fucking awesome. Especially when Fleetwood Mack and Dire Straights randomly pop up on the soundtrack to assist the obligatory synths.

Being first doesn't necessarily make this the best, more polished and complex efforts in a similar vein followed soon with Shaw's Men From The Gutter and Hong Kong Godfather and Golden Harvest's Long Arm Of The Law, and then of course A Better Tomorrow came in 86 and changed the game forever. But still, it's pretty great to see the blueprint for all this (and arguably the next 20+ years of this subgenre) laid down in a low-budget 84min indy production.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

Noah (2014) - This felt like a mix of Lord of the Rings and Valhalla Rising. I'm not surprised that a lot of people hate this movie but I thought it was great. It's very refreshing to see questions of moral and existence put forth without any cynicism or irony in a film for adults. The bleak OT-atmosphere is also expressed very well and Crowe is perfect for the role.

71 (2014) - A tightly knit warthriller which is close to perfect on it's own terms. There's a lot of historical context but little to no exposition so the intensity and simplicity of the film isn't dimminished. The scene where soldiers are confronted by a mob of angry catholics is perhaps the best scene of the year, up there with the best fights in The Raid 2 or the ending of Why Don't You Play In Hell?

The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq (2014) - A fictionalized account of what happened when controversial French writer Houellebecq, who plays himself in this movie, disappeared for some days. If Larry David was a Gallic author and got kidnapped by benign criminals it would probably look exactly like this. Great comedy for people who like literature and understated jokes.

[darkwingduck]

So Sweet... So Perverse | 1969

Another genuinely good Lenzi movie with the Doris Day of gialli, Carroll Baker. Real star of the film was Jean-Lous Trintignant, who gives a masterclass in douchebaggery. Opening credits has him cruising Paris in a yellow sports convertible with a sniper rifle in the back seat, which I loved:

id like to get my hands on this...if you know where i can grab a copy, please let me know.

[jamrage]

The Scribbler (2014) - I'd heard some positive things about this, but what a derivative piece of crap this is. Some really poor writing backed up by mediocre special effects, and poor performances from actors that have done much better work than this (Garret Dillahunt, Michael Imperioli). Wholly predictable, couldn't wait for it to finish. This is the kind of movie that stupid people are going to think is heady. 3 outta 10

Too Late for Tears (1949) - A nice little above average noir that's worth a see if you can find it. A bag of money gets thrown into the back of someone's car by mistake and it predictably causes problems for a happy couple. Fantastic performance from Lizbeth Scott here fataling it up. 7 outta 10

The Trip To Italy (2014) - The sequel to The Trip, Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan continue their travels together and it's pretty satisfactory. Not quite as good as the first one because you know what to expect, but they have a great chemistry that shines throughout. The Michael Caine impressions are back as you might expect. It's a fun little movie to throw on and do your laundry or fuck around on the internet while you watch. 7 outta 10

It's Alive (1974) - A lesser Larry Cohen in my opinion, but still watchable and it has its moments. John Ryan is pretty solid here, he's perfectly cast as the everyman. Simple but effective plot that could have been so much better if they'd had better creature effects. 5 outta 10

The General (1998) - Brendan Gleeson is as good as he usually is (everyone should see this year's Calvary if you haven't) and he carries the film along at a nice little clip. This is the story of an Irish criminal who had some big scores, but ultimately had to deal with both the IRA and police. This is a fun little heist/drama flick from John Boorman. Jon Voight as a cop doing a passable Irish accent (to me anyway) is also a pleasant surprise. 7 outta 10

Locke (2013) - One of those stuck in one location movies that is anchored by a really great performance from Tom Hardy. Don't want to give anything away, but Hardy is so good here that he makes what might have been boring material really compelling. Worth a watch just to see Hardy's talent on show. 7 outta 10

Young Ones (2014) - I started out not liking this movie, but by the end of it I was a big fan which is a rare turnaround for me. Michael Shannon is the patriarch of a family stuck in a dust bowl type area in the future a la Interstellar. Water is hard to come by and life is a struggle. A nice little dystopian piece that has a really great performance from Kodi Smit-Mcphee. There's a lot of social commentary here, and the sci-fi elements are also nicely done. It's a solid film through and through. 8 outta 10

An American Terror (2014) - Some friends of mine worked on this, and it's actually not a bad little film. It's a movie that takes an unpredictable turn in the second act, and it's well done for a movie with an obviously limited budget. Definitely original which is nice for this genre. I found myself not sure who to root for which I also enjoyed. The acting isn't great, but that's okay. 6 outta 10.

The Babadook (2014) - Really wanted this to be great, but instead it's just okay. People were talking about how scary it was, but I didn't really find it terror inducing at all. The effects are done well, and it's a solid concept, but the climax is a huge letdown. That said, it's a really solid debut from a first time feature writer/director. 6 outta 10.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

The Drop (2014) - With a lesser director and lessor actors this would have been a bit shit. But as it stands it's a decent crimedrama. Not a film in the style of Bullhead and not nearly as good either.

Nightcrawler (2014) - I thought this was excellent from start to finish. Comfortably the best American film I've seen this year and definitely in my top 5 for this year as well.

[Spartan]

So Sweet... So Perverse | 1969

Another genuinely good Lenzi movie with the Doris Day of gialli, Carroll Baker. Real star of the film was Jean-Lous Trintignant, who gives a masterclass in douchebaggery. Opening credits has him cruising Paris in a yellow sports convertible with a sniper rifle in the back seat, which I loved:

id like to get my hands on this...if you know where i can grab a copy, please let me know.

Whole film is up on Youtube:



but I copped a bootleg DVD along with the rest of the trilogy from here not too long ago.

[drizzle]

71 (2014) - A tightly knit warthriller which is close to perfect on it's own terms. There's a lot of historical context but little to no exposition so the intensity and simplicity of the film isn't dimminished. The scene where soldiers are confronted by a mob of angry catholics is perhaps the best scene of the year, up there with the best fights in The Raid 2 or the ending of Why Don't You Play In Hell?

Loved this, been looking forward to it and really glad it didn't disappoint. You're right, within the narrow frame it sets out to cover it's nearly perfect. I really dug the father/son theme that ran parallel to the thriller elements, especially because they don't really stress it or draw attention to it until the last scene and then as you puzzle why they didn't cut to black after the debriefing you realize they've been subtly working it all along and it all comes together.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

Awesome. Forgot to write that I really think Jack O'Connell is a rising star. Hes excellent in Starred Up too, where he has a much more interesting character to work with.

Gone Girl (2014) - I don't understand why some people are so eager to pick holes in the story. It all works quite well I think. I'm not a fan of Ben Affleck but the role is perfect for him. Just enough happens to keep you interested for the entire duration as you try to make out what happened and how you feel about the characters.

Thief (1981) - Love this film for the style and score. I wasn't very invested in the story or the characters though. Since I come a bit late to the party it's fun to see this and think of all the movies Mann inspired here.