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i caught this the other day. it was pretty awesome.

^^ that one is surprisingly underrated considering the cast/director pairing and the fact that the movie itself is just pretty sweet all around

Tommy Bunz wrote:

Hacksaw Jim Thuggin wrote:Watched this tonight. Almost made a thread about it, cause I didn't see one when I did a search.

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anybody else seen it? Thoughts?

I bought the Jodorowsky box set a little while ago, still haven't gotten around to this yet though. El Topo though is , been meaning to write in here about it for a while

I have El Topo in the queue, looking forward to it. I might have to look into that box set.

The Lovely Bones, very boring.

Rented 'Julia' and 'Zombieland' over the weekend, really enjoyed both. Tilda Swinton is dope as fuck in 'Julia'. Anyone else seen it? Don't even remember it being released in theatres.

The Collector

8/10



Top horror movie of the year, for me. Had everything. psychological terror, intelligent ways of making you cringe. Had some creative sick ass shit you would never want to see in your life

^I heard this one is by the Saw guys and it's basically the exact same thing?

Scanners and it fucking ruled
Cronenberg is a top-5 Canadian

The Unborn - Any flick featuring Gary Oldman and Stringer Bell getting their exorcism on is worthy of an hour and a half. Stringer pausing to check the kids IDs to ensure they are of the age to be exercised was a welcome touch.
Wheres the dybbuk, String? Where the fucks the dybbuk at, String?
______________

Here's what I watched this week:

Animal Crackers (1930) - I just started watching Marx Brothers films within the last few years and each one has been hysterical. This one is one of their best.
The only bad thing about their films is that there always seems to be a harp playing session by Harpo. It's never intended to be comical, so it just slows everything down.

It Happened One Night (1934) - I only watched this because it was the 1934 Best Picture winner. Trying to watch as many as I can, with a few that I will purposely be avoiding.

Sh

El Topo (1970) - This movie is truly surreal. Very spaghetti western-ish but also seems reminiscent of 60's/70's kung fu. Very stunning visually. Some of the shots they got in this are really really amazing. I thought the film fell apart a bit after he fights his way out of the desert, I didn't really care for the second storyline all that much. Hell of a movie though. I fucking loved the man with no arms and the man with no legs who combined to form a whole person. Demented and brilliant.

Barbarella (1968) - More like Bonerella. I've never had a harder time not masturbating the entire way through a real movie. Goddamn was Jane Fonda a fox. A masterpiece of cheesy sci-fi and sexploitation.

The Exorcist (1973) - Still positively frightening every time. GOAT status.

Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971) - First Bava movie that I didn't really care for. Its a whodunnit murder mystery about a bunch of people trying to gain control of a bayside estate with lots of blood and tits but its not put together in any sort of exciting way. Fell asleep watching it twice.

Fourteen Hours (1951) - Film noir about a troubled twenty-something who decides to step out on the ledge of the NY Hotel skyscraper. They try to talk him down as thousands gather on the ground to watch. Pretty intense and some really great vertigo-inducing shots of New York City.

Quai Des Orfevres (1947) - Clouzot's noir-ish tale of a singer on the brink of stardom, her jealous husband and their friend and how they become intertwined in the murder of a slimey movie producer. The reveal that one of the characters was gay was shocking. "You and I are two of a kind. When it comes to women, we'll never have a chance." Great movie.

hurt locker...it was aiiight. id have to see all the other best pic nominees to determine if it actually deserved it. pretty dope that the big name actors got merked.

Hatchet - Terrible drivel. People go on a 'haunted tour' in the swamps of New Orleans only to be hunted by a deformed killer. It starts decently promising but it falls apart completely when the danger arrives. Each scene consists of one of the people dying, then they knock the killer out and run, only to have him reappear and then the same thing happens, repeat. The only positive thing about this is the old-school latex and silicone gore. This blows. 4/10

Ne Te Retourne Pas / Don't Look Back - Sexiness overload as Belluci and Marceau stars in this Lynchian psychodrama. A womans life alters as everything around her changes, her family, her appartment and even her appearence. Very Euroish in every way and very intelligent, with the typical 'put the pieces together yourself' ending. 8/10

Storm Warning - Aussie backwoods horror that was released to cash in on the sucess of Wolf Creek, the script itself is actually 30 years old. This is how you make an interesting and creative film with a low budget and traditional horrorthemes. Not to mention the gorgeous saturated colors. 7.5/10

Long Weekend - Same folks behind this as the one above. Aussie couple go out camping, only to find out nature doesn't really like them. Very different movie that as a lot to offer to nature and animal lovers, Al Gore would surely approve. Nothing is explained as such, that really enhances the sense of terror. Moving seacows and a vortex forest. Give it a chance perhaps. 6/10

Cannibal Holocaust - Finally bossed up and saw this. The turtle-scene made me physically ill. I try to confront my Wester ways of thinking when looking at this movie, when you consider that monkey brains are a delicatesse to some tribesmen it kinda puts my Lisa Simpson tendencies to a test. Classic movie. 10/10

Croupier - Good flick, don't get me wrong, but the voice-overs are terribly corny and they made me cringe at times. They try way too hard to make Jack cool by making him narrate things like "he didn't care, he was like an immobile redwood watching pine tumble in a storm" to himself. I understand how that underline the nature of his douchey ways but it's damn near painful at times. Fantastic flick otherwise though, I must say. 7/10

Cape Fear (OG) - Mitchum gives one hell of a performance as the tummy-tucking panama-hat rocking Cady. Pecks character is very different from that of Noltes and much of the sexual tension is far more implied. I might just prefer the remake actually. 8/10

If it wasn't for the animal killings in Cannibal Holocaust I would have agreed with those comments. A lot of fans seem to gloss over those scenes with the typical "at least the animals were killed for food" excuse. Sadly, that isn't entirely true with unused footage scrapped just so Deodato could get a another shot (pig shotgun scene) for obvious entertainment purposes. It's the main reason why I generally steer clear from the italian jungle horror genre. Still, CH does pack a powerful punch with a poignant message that still carries weight to this day, not to mention it's part of the camera kills POV evolution that gets done to death today.

Storm Warning is decent, like a lot of modern horror movies it owes a lot to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's dysfunctional family element. The whole city folk tourists vs redneck trash has been done to death but SW keeps it interesting. As entertaining as the bloody and often hilarious finale is, it does spoil the whole build-up from the rest of the movie.

Kind of like Hatchet. The kills are pretty cool.

I would like to see what the animal bodycount was like. Some of it, like the rodent getting cut in the throat, was beyond unnecessary. In theory I do believe that you have to seperate such factors from your critical asessment of a work of art, even if I can't always do that myself.

SW is pure sadovoyeur rollecoaster and I'm a bit gutted it didn't keep the very serious tone throughout. I've rarely seen tension as strong as in the first hour and I applaud it much for that. The skirt-lift was extremely uncomfortable because the viewer (or just me?) is confronted with wanting to see the ass as well, very clever touch.

The Hatchet kills are good but less effective to me because I just didn't care about the characters or the story. I do like a lot of similar flicks though.

Survival of the Dead (2009)

A rogue band of soldiers get caught up in a war of feuding families during the zombie apocalypse. This film is meant to run parallel to the events of Diary and that's not the only thing it has in common - it's just as disappointing. Considering the very low budget, the film is pretty fucking awesome before the main characters land on Plum Island and from there everything falls apart. Romero seems to lose interest halfway through as well as the cast because the acting starts taking a big dip and the serious tone of the film gets lost well before the ridiculous ending. 4.5/10


Zombieland (2009)

Surprisingly entertaining silly horror comedy that works most of the time. Woody Harrelson is great in this and is almost back in Natural Born Killers mode when offing the undead. No idea why the film makers bothered with the romance plot though as it almost dragged the pace of the film to a grinding halt. Things soon pick up again with the explosive big rescue during the finale. Not sure how much replay value this film might offer but it left me with a very good first impression. 7/10

Tommy Bunz wrote:
Quai Des Orfevres (1947) - Clouzot's noir-ish tale of a singer on the brink of stardom, her jealous husband and their friend and how they become intertwined in the murder of a slimey movie producer. The reveal that one of the characters was gay was shocking. "You and I are two of a kind. When it comes to women, we'll never have a chance." Great movie.

love this. the lesbian thing blew me away too, i had no idea. am i crazy or does the detective look like a dead ring for lee van cleef's dad/older brother

Here's what I watched this week:

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1956) - Wyatt Earp and 'Doc' Holliday have had many films made about them and I had never seen any of them, so I had no clue about their lives.
This film features Burt Lancaster as Wyatt (sans mustache, although I honestly never knew he had one until reading complaints on IMDB) and Kirk Douglas as Doc.

The Outrage (1964) - This is an American remake of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. I really liked Rashomon, so I feared this one wouldn't live up to my expectations. I did enjoy it though.
Before watching it I knew Paul Newman was in it, but I didn't know what role he was playing. About 30 minutes in, after the first rape scene, I realized Newman was playing the Mexican bandit. He did a great job and really fooled me.

Giant (1956) - Epic film about a cattle rancher and his family over 25 years. James Dean's final film. Long, but still decent.

Ikimono no kiroku aka I Live in Fear (1955) - Kurosawa's film about a man so terrified of a nuclear holocaust, he desperately tries to convince his family to move to Brazil.

Hour of the Gun (1967) - This is basically a sequel to Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It's directed by the same person, John Sturges, although none of the actors reprise their roles.
Supposedly this film is more accurate about Wyatt Earp and 'Doc' Holliday. It starts right at the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, a battle which lasted about 30 seconds, although in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral film, the fight lasted 6 minutes. So this one stays true to the actual events.
James Garner plays Wyatt (with mustache) and Jason Robards as Doc.
Both films are good, but I liked this one a little more.

Desperate Journey (1942) - Errol Flynn & Ronald Reagan as downed RAF pilots in Germany who dress as Nazi's to try to fit in and escape.
Lots of great action in this.

Nevada Smith (1965) - Steve McQueen plays a half-white/half-Indian hunting down the 3 men who tortured and murdered his parents.
This film was alright, although McQueen was way too old to play the type of character this role was intended for.

The Box



5/10

I usually like movies that take place in the 70s, involve MARS, NASA, Aliens, supernatural etc.. The plot has potential but it fails to capture any type of excitement or purpose. the characters are vaguely defined and it's tough to find commonality with anything in this film. perhaps, subliminally, I thought cameron diaz's box would be featured.

Don't Answer The Phone! (1980)

Underwhelming Dids movie, revolving around a Vietnam veteran prowling the streets of LA looking for women to strangle and rape. The acting is really fucking awful in this particularly the radio shrink with her shitty advice to her callers. There's a comedy style vice bust on a seedy brothel that's straight out of a Benny Hill sketch. It's essentially a T&A movie, with all the victims getting attacked while they're undressing which is enjoyable for sure but there's little else to keep this movie rolling along to it's predictable finale. 3.5/10

The Fourth Kind (2009)

Presented as a factual tale of alien abduction with supposedly real footage and audio clips, I found this complete and utter horse shit. Mila Jovovich was great eye candy though amongst all the Exorcist rip-off scares and fuzzy tape camera work that's been done to death hundreds of times. I really couldn't get into this film at all and found it a chore to sit through and at just 90 mins long it's still felt far too long. One for Mindbender. 4/10

Brothers

7/10



Not as great as advertised. it took an hour to get interesting. especially powerful if you know a cat who went to war and came back a little psycho. worth checking out

Precious

10/10

Absoultely amazing. Monique blew my mind

The Stoning of Soraya M. 2009

From the guy who brought you Passion of the Christ. A Popabitch themed film that explores the sensative relationship of married couples in 1980 Iran. The film explores the religious dynamic between a wife who is accused of taking a nap at a another mans house. if you saw passion of the christ, you can imagine the stonning scene of this women. This film blew my mind, amazed at how real it is. probably the best film I have seen all year

9.5/10

keL wrote:The Stoning of Soraya M. 2009

From the guy who brought you Passion of the Christ. A Popabitch themed film that explores the sensative relationship of married couples in 1980 Iran. The film explores the religious dynamic between a wife who is accused of taking a nap at a another mans house. if you saw passion of the christ, you can imagine the stonning scene of this women. This film blew my mind, amazed at how real it is. probably the best film I have seen all year

9.5/10

Really? I saw a trailer for this the other day (I think while I watched 'The Cove') and it kind of looked good. Perhaps based on your assessment, I'll give this a look.

just watched this on showtime. it was very good.

Positive A wrote: Really? I saw a trailer for this the other day (I think while I watched 'The Cove') and it kind of looked good. Perhaps based on your assessment, I'll give this a look.

HIghly reccomended

The Vicious Kind - plot coulda been pretty aggravating but Adam Scott came through and killed it making it thoroughly enjoyable.

keL wrote:

Positive A wrote: Really? I saw a trailer for this the other day (I think while I watched 'The Cove') and it kind of looked good. Perhaps based on your assessment, I'll give this a look.

HIghly reccomended

I'll watch it too. It's important that filmmakers have the balls to work with this subject.

Straightheads - Rapey-Revengey Brit thriller with Danny Dyer (I like him but he seems a bit miscasted) and Gillian Anderson. We get to see her erect and rather puffy nipples. The film itself had potential and blew it somewhere along the way. It's really short and the ending had me like 'no way, that's it?" There's a cool scene with anal-rape by firearms. 5/10

Audition - I waited far too long to see this. Word of mouth spoiled it for me a bit but it was worthwhile in every sense of the word. I wish I had gone into this without knowing anything about it, it would have been a solid punch in the nuts. Miike says so many poignant things without really saying them and the multiple shots with minimal movement in the scenes have a stoic haiku-type elegance to them. 9/10

Live Animals - I like to watch horror b-movies because they show how far you can go with a good idea and half-empty pockets. This is in the vein of Hostel and actually better in some respects, it's not the better movie though. 5.5/10

Sleepless - Argento chiller from his modern catalogue. Max von Sydow does well and the movie is as sleazy as you could want. Multiple things make absolutely no sense. It's highly affable how signor Dario gives less than a shit about tying plots together, sometimes. 7/10

First twenty or so minutes of Sleepless is fucking incredible and dare I say some of Argento's best work. Found the rest of the film pretty weak however.

^ The start had me thinking it would be a classic flick.

What are the good post-Opera Argento movies? I liked Stendhal much. I've heard terrible things about Card Player, Giallo, Phantom of the Opera and Mother of Tears. Thinking about checking out Trauma and Wax Mask.