Movie Tab II

I don't think the characters are important in Full Metal Jacket (though I found the Hartman/Pyle dynamic very compelling), or any Kubrick movie for that matter. Like I said, Kubrick's visual flair is always the star of the show, and I think that was more instrumental in portraying the horrors of Vietnam than any character could be.

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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock

I must dig out a copy of this. I've not watched that in forever.

I really like Cruising... Yes, I mean the film.

This is a bit of a shame, as The Prowler's something I've wanted to see for a couple of years now.

Thanks for the comments HK.

Crimes of Passion looks nice (lots of freaky lighting ala Dario Argento's Suspiria) and Kathleen Turner is ace as China Blue, but the rest of the film is an out of control uneven mess. The film never really gets under the skin of what motivates Turner's character (a successful designer by day) to turn to degrading prostitution at night.

Cruising has a great premise, but the script is muddled and underdeveloped; especially the ending. Pacino doesn't really have anything to do but wear a dodgy perm and the whole thing takes place in semi darkness. Besides I kept expecting those two goons from Police Academy to walk in at any moment On a side note I enjoyed spotting Powers Boothe as the guy who advises Pacino on what the coloured hankerchiefs mean.

As you know I'm not a fan of generic 80's slashers and The Prowler plumbed new depths for me. Good effects work from Tom Savini is the only saving grace. The rest of the movie is just a long string of stupid character decisions and dumb by the numbers plotting. No suspense, just a deputy sherriff who leaves his girlfriend (the one the killer is chasing) alone in a soft top jeep. A dumbell who searches the same house twice; each occassion walking straight past the room with the Prowler in (that has the door a'jar and the light on no less). Slasher fans add another popcorn bucket for some excellent gore, but I thought it was bobbins.

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100 Favourites From The Future: REWIRED

You Can't Take It With You

++

An engaging little charmer of a film; pretty much exactly what you'd expect from Frank Capra. A film full of kooky and goofball characters it's just all so sweet and fun, and all exists in that so very Capra-esque world. It's also a great example of the phrase “they don't make them like that anymore”, and with good reason. If someone tried to make a film like this today the critics would probably crucify it. The story itself is not exactly the most creative, a lot of the time coming across as little more than just a device to get us from one set-piece to another.

James Stewart is, well, James Stewart, and all that entails. It's another of his trademark likable, slightly bumbling everyman roles. And following her delightful showing in Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Jean Arthur is just adorable again and I am very quickly finding myself falling for her, and definitely plan on tracking down more of her work. Oh and I could not believe that the loveable Grandpa was played by Lionel Barrymore, the same guy as the despicable Mr Potter from It's a Wonderful Life. I didn't even realise it until I saw his name in the credits. Talk about two polar opposite roles.

Drive

-

I wasn't sure whether to review this or not, as I really wasn't sure what to make of it after just one watch. Decided just to post some quick thoughts.

While I did enjoy the film I found it to be on quite a superficial, shallow level. I enjoyed it for being stylish, slick and almost painfully 'cool', but not much more. For a film hailed as a masterpiece my some, and as film of the year by many I expected something more. I'm quite willing to admit I perhaps missed the point, and indeed hope that I did. It's certainly a film I want to watch again however.

Leave Her to Heaven

+

For the first hour I just found this a bit too slow for my liking. I'm all for fleshing out characters and building the story, but for me it went too far and was to the detriment of my enjoyment. After that however it does pick up, pretty much starting from the moment where Ellen starts to stalk Danny in the boat. From there it is a tense, nervy experience as we wait to see just how far she will go to get what she wants.

As well as looking pretty damn gorgeous Laura Tierney is great as the unhinged, monstrous Ellen. While you're appalled by her there is also something quite hypnotic and mesmerising about her. Oh and the film also looks fantastic in all its Technicolor glory. For such a perverse, noirish movie about obsession it feels quite strange to be painted in such broad and bold colours, but it works.

I should add a disclaimer though that I wasn't feeling that great when I watched this, which may have hampered my enjoyment of it.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Considering the subject and the story this just didn't come across as powerful as it should, at least until the heartbreaking last five minutes. It comes across as a bit of a shock compared to the rest of the film which is quite gentle by comparison. Or as gentle as a film about a concentration camp can.

It all just feels so very English. It's like an ITV evening drama or something. And most of the elements feel like it. There is nothing particularly bad about the acting, writing, directing etc but there's nothing particularly noteworthy or impressive either.

I do think however it would be a good film to show in schools. I think it can be difficult as a kid to truly get your mind around a situation like the Holocaust; the numbers and the atrocities just seem too vast to really comprehend. This film is able to take a small, personal tale and relate it to the larger picture that is going on.

The film actually reminded me of American Dad. That might sound strange but stick with me. There was an episode outside of the normal American Dad universe, set in the world of James Bond. As usual the villain has a great plan to destroy the world – he wants to make the world cry itself to death. So he makes a film about a young Jewish boy having to hide in Nazi Germany. As if that wasn't enough he is mentally retarded and has an alcohol problem, and the little puppy he has dies from cancer. The boy and the film were called Oscar Gold. It's a film which feels like it was designed just to pull on your heartstrings and to be critically acclaimed.

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The Last Circus (2010)

Directed by: Alex de la Iglesia
Written by: Alex de la Iglesia

In 1937 a happy clown is forcibly recruited to fight in the spanish civil war, he is in full makeup and wearing a womans dress while killing anyone in sight with a machete. I think that right there was a great way to start off such an insane movie. There was a good line in the beginning when the clown asked the general if he could change clothes and the general looked at him and said "No, a clown with a machete, you will scare the Sh*t out of the enemy." I got a huge kick out of that. Skip ahead to the early 1970's and the happy clowns son starts working for a circus as the sad clown who falls in love with an already taken woman. The different characters at the circus are all interesting and the motorcycle stunt guy made me laugh on a few different occasions. The sad clown winds up doing something that causes him to have to go on the run from the police, it is not to far after where things get even more crazy.




I thought this was a beautifully messed up movie, this is not a horror movie but still plenty of gore, I am not sure what catagory I would put this under. There are parts of this movie that will make you laugh and a lot more parts that will have you cringing and just wondering what the hell is going on. I recommend this movie to everyone (unless you hate clowns), this movie is dark and gritty, if you are into that kind of thing then definitely watch this.

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Easy A
Will Gluck, 2010
Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Thomas Haden Church




After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, clean cut high school girl Olive (Emma Stone) sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne's in "The Scarlet Letter", which she is currently studying in school - until she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I'm astounded by how much I enjoyed this. After seeing some decent to good reviews I expected little more than a fun high-school flick I could switch off to. What I got was this generation's The Breakfast Club.

It manages to draw you in a number of ways. The affable, goofy charm of the gorgeous Emma Stone makes Olive incredibly easy to like and we care about her right from the get go. She has star quality in abundance and it shows. Her turns in Crazy, Stupid, Love., The Help and Zombieland make it clear she has a massive future, but this is where she gives her best performance to date, for my money anyway.

The story, whilst simple, feels very fresh in its delivery, and is thickly layered with a brand of comedy that is all at once razor sharp, superbly written and performed with aplomb. It's deceptively smart, too, a quality that is sorely missed in the majority of teen-centric comedy releases these days. Direct reference is made to them in the movie itself, but even before it does I'm feeling twinges of a kind of bright, inventive humour akin to John Hughes' wonderful and iconic youth films of the 1980s, only culturally up-to-date.

The supporting cast was one more thing I found myself really digging. Thomas Haden Church, Lisa Kudrow, Malcolm McDowell, Patricia Clarkson, hell, even Amanda Bynes wasn't completely insufferable. Stanley Tucci was undoubtedly the stand-out, though, as Olive’s liberal dad. He’s hysterical.

I would encourage any doubters to give this a chance. There's a lot more to it than I think a lot of people expect.


From the trade-off tab:

American History X
Tony Kaye, 1998
Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo
Recommended by DexterRiley




Norton's performance is good enough to carry the entire thing. One of the things that struck me as most remarkable was the way in which he portrays Derek in the 'after prison' parts of the movie, the thought that I could feel even a grain of sympathy for a man clearly so despicable is both terrifying and awe-inspiring and a testament to how well performed and how well written the part is. Of course the tirade of hate we see from in the flashback sequences and how committed he is to that is just as impressive.

But I never felt as if the story really lived up to expectations, mostly because it lacked focus. The narrative following Derek's attempt to reform his brother is good but too much time is spent on Derek's own reformation to dedicate the time needed to make the main story pop. Both are extremely well made and acted across the board, but it felt as if I was watching two separate movies roughly sliced together.


and some quickies...

Charlie Wilson's War (Mike Nichols, 2007)

Entertaining, and certainly more fun than it has any right to be. I would watch Philip Seymour Hoffman in anything. Always superb.

The Men Who Stare At Goats (Grant Heslov, 2009)

Wispy nothingness when it comes down to it, but the cast try hard and the wackiness is more charming than annoying.

Just realised I forgot a film from my recent post





I think this is just a deliriously entertaining piece of nonsense. If you want an idea of plot, it's pretty much a gaudy, camp, glam rock take on Phantom of the Opera

Not all of its ideas work, and it's quite dated at points but that just adds to its charm and cultiness. It has a number of truly memorable characters, and a number of wonderful striking scenes; including it's own fantastic take on the shower scene from Psycho.

There are some great performances from Paul Williams (as Swan) and Gerrit Graham (as Beef), but by far the star here is William Finley, who is just excellent as The Phantom. It's got to be some of the best emoting with just one eye acting I've ever seen!

Quite why the film doesn't have a bigger cult following is a bit of a mystery to me. It doesn't even come close to that of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the film you could probably most obviously connect it with. I actually feel that I should be following the example of Mark and others by classifying this with a cult or camp rating.

Just damn good fun. If you get the chance give it a shot. You may hate it, but it could also become one of your very favourites.

Movies I have watched over the last couple of weeks.



Drive (2011) - I really enjoyed this movie way more then I thought I was going to, I thought that Ryan Gosling was just amazing in this film.



Apallo 18 (2011) - I read a lot of reviews about this movie and they were not very nice about this movie at all, I thought this was a great found footage type film and towards the end it was quite intense, thought this was a good sci-fi movie.



The Thing (2011) - I was really wondering what this would be like as a prequel to one of the best sci-fi movies ever made, I was not let down by this. I thought that they did a very good job on keeping with the feel of the original and the monsters looked a lot more like good old fashioned creepy makeup than CGI, I am sure there was plenty of CGI but there was not nearly as much as I was afraid of and they ended it really nice but will not say anymore because I don't wanna spoil the ending for whoever has not seen this.



Spider (2002) - This movie just did nothing for me, but this is just my opinion.



Adventureland (2009) - I really liked this movie, it is not a 5 out of 5 movie but it is funny and serious at the same time, don't know what else to say except if you haven't seen it it's worth a watch.



Irreversable (2002) - This was supposed to be some kind of crazy disturbing movie, I did not see what the big deal about it was, yes there was the rape scene which was messed up but the only thing close to disturbing to me was the way it ended or rather begins. The way the movie was done all in reverse was interesting and even running the credits at the beggining was kind of cool.

Hard Candy (David Slade, 2005)



This is a modern-day variation on the Little Red Riding Hood/Big Bad Wolf Fairytale, tricked out with cyber-stocking, and played out with a combo of suspense and dark humor. Fourteen-year-old Hayley (Ellen Page) begins an internet relationship with older photographer David (Patrick Wilson), and after a quick in-person meeting, she goes with him to his home where flirtatious banter suddenly turns deadly serious. Eventually, Hayley drugs Patrick, ties him up, accuses him of pedophilia and also questions him about a missing girl, although the relationship between this other girl and Hayley is unclear. Patrick denies any wrongdoing, but Hayley increases the psychological and physical torture she's willing to put him through to make him confess to something.

Hard Candy plays out as a small, basically two-character play, but it was written for the screen, albeit by playwright Brian Nelson. It's quite clear that although the subject matter is disturbing, there is a sense of sexual tension up front and the humor maintains itself for most of the running time although I suppose there are some viewers who won't find the subject matter amusing. To tell you the truth, the filmmakers don't go out of their way accenting all the laughs, often leaving them to a tone of voice or the way a 14-year-old might say something she personally knows about sex even if you wish it not to be true. The soul of the movie is the way the young girl is able to bully and abuse the experienced man in ways that make everything seem to play out the opposite of what one might expect in real life. In fact, Hard Candy isn't really anything resembling real life, but it's good drama, with two solid performances and something of a vigilante fantasy for those who are sick and tired of watching the news every day and hearing about another child abuse/pedophilia case tearing apart a school or school district.

Four Lions (Christopher Morris, 2010)
The King of Marvin Gardens (Bob Rafelson, 1972)
Family Plot (Alfred Hitchcock, 1976)
The House of Seven Gables (Joe May, 1940)
Sometimes a Great Notion (Paul Newman, 1971)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt, 2011)
A Safe Place (Henry Jaglom, 1971)
All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
I Served the King of England (Jiri Menzel, 2006)
Salt (Phillip Noyce, 2010)
The Lion in Winter (Anthony Harvey, 1968)
The Flamingo Kid (Garry Marshall, 1984)

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Darkman

Almost the definition of a generic script however Raimi's kinetic camera and visual flair bring it to life in a far more polished directorial effort than Army of Darkness. It's definitely a showcase of his style than anything else and is a great example of how intuitive direction can save bland material, as well as a great Elfman score that accompanies the action very well. Interesting to see Big Dog Neeson in early action role which most people forget about with his 'new' status. Shame because can see how much the role would have suited Mr Campbell.

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This means war (2012) - McG - -

I saw this because the premise of two James bond type characters falling in love with the same women is rife with comedic material. However, the director thought all the comedy lay in using the patriot act and the multi-million dollars resources of the CIA to spy on a potential GF. The sequences are all very short to hide the fact McDLT can't sustain or even create any kind of tension. This film never raises above a live action cartoon

Goon (2011) - Dowse - -
The screenplay definitely needed additional work, you could have thrown out the first 15 minutes and simply begun the film when Doug (Seann Scot) arrived at the farm team. Liked the sweet, dorky romance between Alison Pin (the future Mrs Jay Baruchel) and Scot. Loved Liev Schreiber suggesting, with just his face, the right mix of menace and weariness---he's king of the goons but he knows, he's only as great as his last fight. The ending kind of drifted into extreme hyperbole where Seann looks like he's the last man standing in a slasher film rather than a sports comedy.

Something the Lord made (2004) - Sargent - -
This HBO film is interesting in the way it explores moral blindness. When Vivian puts on the white lab coat he's one of the best and brightest researchist in the room, however, once he takes it off he's just another black man who recedes into the background of society. The film uses a nice religious counterpoint: it's a sin to medically repair something defective, since God made the defect for a reason with infinite wisdom. It's funny how all those white scientists who probe the very limits of medical knowledge and then profit from the so called natural order of life, where they were born at the top of the heap.

Lacombe Lucien (1974) - Malle - -

A Character study. It's interesting is that Lucien never seems to gain any self-awareness about himself or his situation. Too young to join the resistance, he actually throws his lot in with the Nazi collaborators and becomes one of their henchmen---after D-day no less. Lucien discovers this new found power and prestige, but he never seems to know the limits of that power.

Take Shelter
Jeff Nichols, 2011
Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart




Take Shelter is about as tense a movie-watching experience I've had lately. In general it's extremely well made, its locations beautifully photographed, and its story executed very well, slowly tightening its grip, teetering constantly on the edge of fully fledged horror but crucially never falling off. Even in relatively "safe" periods the tension is palpable, the earmark of a great thriller.

Of course it doesn't hurt than Michael Shannon's performance is as courageous and brilliantly realised as it is, the way he portrays the aftermath of the nightmares and the slow mental deterioration is nothing short of astounding. I'm not going to be the guy who says anyone was "robbed" of the subjective awarding of a small gold man, but he would have been on my Best Actor list for sure. The way he and Jessica 'in absolutely everything' Chastain play off one another is fantastic to watch and she gives an individual performance as winning as any of her many appearances last year.

Only the ending made me really question the score I was going to give it. Could it have been more powerful? Thought provoking? Maybe. One viewing doesn't answer that question as definitively as I really want it to.

Judge Dredd (1995) -
Deservedly gets a lot of crap, but I still enjoy it a lot. The cyberpunk-ish visual design could've been put to better use.

Falling Down (1993) -
Sufficiently entertaining, but I honestly didn't find anything particularly special about it.

Save the Green Planet (2003) -
Amazing! Absolutely idiosyncratic flick that knows no thematic, genre or content boundaries. Some of the most fun I've had watching a movie.

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Blue Velvet (1986)



David Lynch's shocking look at the seedy underbelly of small town America is one of the most bizarre and disturbing mysteries I've ever seen- and also one of the best. Unlike "Mulholland Drive", "Blue Velvet" tunes down the surrealism (though there's still plenty of it) in favor of putting a greater focus on the fascinating mystery at the film's core. And Frank Booth is one of the most hideously demented concoctions ever created for the screen, at least to my knowledge.

I find Blue Velvet truly terrifying. Along with Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, it's the most unnerving film I've ever seen.

Definitely a chilling film. What do you think of Mulholland Drive?

I've still not seen Mulholland Drive. Had it on my shelf for about 8 years or more now.

Definitely worth seeing I think it's the best film of its decade, to say the least.

Do it!

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - Surprisingly fun, ugly, hyper violent yet totally bloodless, and just plain weird sequel, with Nic Cage in total looney mode. Could have been better if it were R, but I liked it for what was there, even if the directors' hearts were more in the action parts than in the story.

Dirty Work - Drinking game: Take a shot every time someone says Whore, Hooker, or Prostitute in this movie. Then call an ambulance. LOL! Loved it for it's dark, inappropriate humor and for Norm MacDonald, who is a sorely missed comedic talent on SNL.

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