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Welcome to the human race...
You kidding me? The background PA announcement that the airport had been evacuated didn't seem just as trite to you? Plus the moment at the beginning when Captain's jaw drops when Scarlet Witch throws the bomb into the bldg. He should have just turned and winked at the camera. "We heard you twitter".
Oof, you win that round.
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I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Gangster Rap is Shakespeare for the Future
Just watched it this afternoon (after spotting it in your post) and I liked it a lot too, Mark! Worked perfectly for me as a hang out film with an undercurrent substance to it (due to some great character interactions). Tyler Hoechlin was especially great in this, I think.

Glad to see you enjoyed it as well!
Still haven't seen this but I'm pumped, it looks like it hearkens back to early Linklater which was my favorite!
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Mubi



A system of cells interlinked
The Philosophers

Huddles, 2013





I liked the discussion sequences in the first half, but then this goes right off a cliff with bad melodrama. The two leads were weak, as well.
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Little White Lies (Guillaume Canet, 2010)

Sheik to Sheik (Roy Mack, 1936)

Dr Lucille: The Lucille Teasdale Story (George Mihalka, 2001)

Flesh+Blood (Paul Verhoeven, 1985)


During the plague in 16th-century Italy, mercenary leader Rutger Hauer kidnaps the fiancée (Jennifer Jason Leigh) of the son (Tom Burlinson) of the commander (Jack Thompson) who reneged on giving him and his band of cutthroats their loot.
Bruce Lee, the Legend (Leonard Ho, 1984)

David Copperfield (George Cukor, 1935)
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Battle Ground aka Forbidden Ground (Johan Earl & Adrian Powers, 2013)

Clear and Present Danger (Philip Noyce, 1994)


CIA analyst Harrison Ford is aided in Colombia by black ops leader Willem Dafoe in his attempt to expose a Washington conspiracy.
Glitter (Vondie Curtis Hall, 2001)

Early to Bed (Jack King, 1941)
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The Plainsman (Cecil B. DeMille, 1936)
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Where to Invade Next (Michael Moore, 2016)
+

The CEO of an Italian motorcycle company tells Michael Moore that his workers deserve their good benefits, vacations and lunchtimes for their hard work.
A Viking Saga: The Darkest Day (Chris Crow, 2013)

Hollow Man (Paul Verhoeven, 2000)

Triple Cross (Terence Young, 1966)
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Elvis & Nixon (Liza Johnson, 2016)


Elvis Presley (Michael Shannon) meets with President Richard Nixon (Kevin Spacey) in 1970 in the Oval Office to discuss becoming an federal undercover narc.
The Last King aka Birkebeinerne (Nils Gaup, 2016)
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Running Target (Marvin R. Weinstein, 1956)

Elstree 1976 (Jon Spira, 2016)
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Lunacy (Jan Svankmajer, 2005)


The Marquis de Sade (Jan Tríska) by way of Poe and Svankmajer means plenty of sex and lunacy with lots of off-putting images of meat and tongues between the mostly-human actors on screen.
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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



Care for some gopher?
M (Fritz Lang, 1931) -

Phantom of the Opera (Arthur Lubin, 1943) -
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"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room."






I have been watching soooo many kids movies this year. I can't wait for fall. This trailer absolutely killed every time I saw it in the theater, and my crowd was just as into the movie. So families are going to be eating this up. The first five minutes is good, and is basically the trailer. Then it turns into standard animated adventure fare. If you have kids, they will love it.
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Letterboxd



Care for some gopher?
Stachka Strike (Sergei M. Eisenstein, 1925) -
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Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson/Kelly Asbury/Conrad Vernon, 2004) -
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Only my second viewing, but God knows when I saw it last. If I had watched this 100 times as a kid there is no doubt I would have the appreciation for it others do. It is fun and funny. My seven year old really enjoyed it, so I think repeat viewings are probably in my future.




Seen this more than a couple times before but it has probably been a decade. Tony Scott makes my particular taste in testosterone fueled blockbusters. This is the type of movie that makes me know without a doubt there is a conversation to be had about objectivity vs. subjectivity. That is because objectively this movie is garbage. It couldn't be more derivative. The score, while great, is as manipulative as it could possibly be, and also derivative. The movie makes you suspend your disbelief to the breaking point of any mature human. Yet, I love the hell out of it. It is very watchable and I enjoy almost every scene for what it is. Plus I am pretty sure I would watch Robert Duvall if he was heading up a Melrose Place reboot.



A system of cells interlinked
Faults

Stearns, 2014





Mary Winstead is great in this indie film about the attempted deprogramming of a cult member. Leland Orser is also good as the cult specialist.


Martha Marcy May Marlene

Durkin, 2011





Another flick about a cult member. This time around, Elizabeth Olsen turns in a fine performance as the titular character, who takes off one misty morning in an effort to escape the cult she has been a part of for the past few years. She gets away fairly easily and calls her sister, who comes to pick her up, letting her stay with her and her husband in rural Connecticut. Escaping the damage the cult has done to her psyche is another story. I knocked a bit off the rating for an ending that was a bit too abrupt. I understand what the film maker was trying to achieve with the ending, but I am not sure it was entirely successful.


The Sound of My Voice

Batmanglij, 2011





It must have been cult weekend! This was pretty good, but could have been stronger with its narrative. However, I found Brit Marling's performance to be a bit haunting and I was sort of drawn to the actress, which has inspired me to seek out her other work.


I Origins

Cahill, 2014





This film appeared on HBO this month and happens to star Brit Marling, so it was up next in her body of work. She didn't write this one, but she is one of the three leads. Not a perfect film, but I loved it. It definitely takes a few shortcuts dramatically, as characters jump from one situation to the next a little faster than they would, realistically. Alas, I found the concepts in the film compelling and I loved the characters, even if they were just sort of archetypes used to make certain points. Cynical science guy vs spiritual girl etc.. Meanwhile, Brit Marling is awesome, and I will continue to check out the rest of her work as soon as I can find time.


El Orphanato

Del Toro, 2007





Chilling horror for Del Toro. Not his best work and lifts a bit from The Others, but was definitely well done. A strong entry to the director's catalog.



Care for some gopher?
Meanwhile, Brit Marling is awesome, and I will continue to check out the rest of her work as soon as I can find time.
Look forward to Another Earth. I love this movie! :-)



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Call It a Day (Archie L. Mayo, 1937)
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Dating: Do's and Don'ts (Ted Peshak, 1949)
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Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (Jay Oliva & Gary Hartle, 2008)

Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
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After several run-ins with technology and the law, the Tramp (Charles Chaplin) takes a job as a night watchman at a department store and almost breaks his neck when he skates blindfolded where a guard rail is down.
Broken Blossoms (D.W. Griffith, 1919)

No Home Movie (Chantal Akerman, 2016)

Primary (Robert Drew, 1960)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Nicholas Meyer, 1991)
-

After all he went through in this installment, Captain James Tiberius Kirk is happy just to give a simple order.
Roller Boogie (Mark L. Lester, 1979)

The Carpetbaggers (Edward Dmytryk, 1964)
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The Wild (Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams, 2006)

Vice and Virtue (Roger Vadim, 1963)


Virtuous Justine (Catherine Deneuve) and her immoral sister Juliette (Annie Girardot) get involved with sadistic Nazis at the end of WWII.
It Always Rains on Sunday (Robert Hamer, 1947)

Stunts (Mark L. Lester, 1977)
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On Approval (Clive Brook, 1944)

Valentin (Alejandro Agresti, 2003)


A little boy (Rodrigo Noya) from a broken family, raised by his grandmother (Carmen Maura), tries his hand at matchmaking.
Boy (Taika Waititi, 2010)

Lafayette Escadrille (William A. Wellman, 1958)

Wayne’s World (Penelope Spheeris, 1992)
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Miles Ahead (Don Cheadle, 2016)


”Don’t call it jazz, call it social music” - Miles Davis.



Class of 1984



A music teacher's sent from a more prestigious high school to a much rougher one. There's violent gritty punk culture and a piano playing prodigy named Stegman, a senior with his gang of misfits who are into prostitution, drug dealing, and gangfighting. Sounds like it could be cheesy but it's handled well. Underrated cult film.

Rating
:
8.0 / 10

The Howling (1981)



Aside from some effects shots here and there, turned out to be an average movie despite seeming like it could be cooler.

Rating:
5.0 / 10

Night of the Creeps (1986)



Aliens inject a deadly science experiment into space and it lands on earth and infects people's brains in the 1950s. Flash forward to the 1980s where two college kids want to pledge a fraternity, and on a hazing dare to find a dead body break into the science lab and release the infection on the college campus. As crazy as it sounds it's pretty unique and goofy and fun, what a movie should be.

Rating:
+ 7.5 / 10





Ms. 45
(Abel Ferrara, 1981)

Imagine 70's-era Scorsese, only dirtier, rawer, more feral, as if Scorsese was living in a piss-stained cardboard box in the corner of a filthy NYC alleyway with a syringe hanging out of his arm and an ugly constellation of herpes blisters decorating his skin, and you get a good idea of what to expect from Abel Ferrara's films. From what I've seen of him so far -- Bad Lieutenant (loved), 4:44 Last Day on Earth (hated), The Driller Killer (liked), The King of New York (meh) -- Ferrara is maddeningly inconsistent as a filmmaker; but even when unsuccessful, his films are always interesting and regularly loaded with a surprising level of subtext and symbolism beneath their sleazy veneer. I've watched Ms. 45 twice in a two-week span, which is highly unusual for me, but it speaks to the film's magnetism. Sure, the film might exist in the gutter, but to dismiss it as trash is to turn up one's nose to great filmmaking. This is low-budget exploitation in its leanest, meanest, most powerfully compact form. Every scene operates at the highest level of efficiency. No wasted frames. No fat to trim. For a rape-and-revenge film, Ms. 45 never relies on cheap sensationalism or shock tactics. It's far more nuanced and psychologically complex than typical entries in the genre. Provocative, yet restrained.

Despite being reminiscent of many other films -- the psychological probing of the first act alludes to Repulsion, the scum-infested streets feel imported from Taxi Driver, the mute female vigilante, as well as the slow-motion death scenes in the climax, draw comparisons to Thriller: A Cruel Picture -- Ms. 45 never feels derivative, a testament to Ferrara's vision. Zoë Lund, still a teenager at the time and forced to act mostly with her eyes, does a magnificent job silently portraying the inner turmoils of her character. Her transformation from a meek, plain, put-upon young woman to an "angel of vengeance" is mesmerizing to behold. I love how she eventually wears lipstick and eyeliner like a crime fighter's mask. The violence is cathartic, yet thematically complex, slowly evolving from acts of self-preservation to righteous vigilantism to something far darker and more terrifying. The gender roles are fascinating. (Notice the murder of a man in drag immediately followed by the phallic-like penetration of the final kill; not to mention the constant male gaze and the male boss's treatment of his female employees and the guy next door banging his secretary and the suggested sexual assaults in every man's eyes -- understandable given the perspective of the film and what our protagonist has endured. For a genre so often labeled misogynistic, this is a film where the opposite could easily apply.) There are so many memorable scenes: the dismemberment in the bathroom, the confessional at the park bench, the dream-like nature at the party. The score is minimal, yet effective. Ms. 45 obviously isn't for everyone, but it's potent cinema that has left an indelible mark on me as a viewer. I can easily see it becoming a new favorite. One of the best exploitation films I've seen.



The Baytown Outlaws
(Barry Battles, 2012)

Southern-fried, Tarantino-inspired action/comedy that sees three rednecks accept a job from Eva Longoria to rescue her handicapped son from drug-dealing Billy Bob Thornton, only things don't go quite as planned and the brothers find themselves on the road fending for their lives from various groups of assassins hot on their tail. The movie fits my sensibilities well. It's violent, crass, foul-mouthed, unpretentious fun. There's a bar fight against a gang of biker chicks dressed as hookers. A Mad Max-style showdown on the highway set to the tune of "Free Bird." A bloody gunfight with a Native-American gang where every member looks and dresses like Machete. Travis Fimmel, so magnetic on the television show Vikings, shines brightest in the cast. The movie is consistently entertaining, but I found myself constantly wishing that it was a little less derivative, that the humor was a little funnier, the action a little more exciting, the dialogue not so cringe-worthy.


Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS
(Don Edmonds, 1975)

Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, my first foray into the swastika-wearing section of grindhouse cinema, definitely lives up to its notorious billing. There's an assembly line of butts, boobs and pubic bushes to go along with golden showers and syphilitic injections. Not to mention various methods of sadistic torture and more sex than a late-night skin flick. Throw in some genital mutilation, a little bit of electrode penetration, a few withheld ejaculations, and what we've got here is a glorious slice of exploitation at its sleaziest, smuttiest, trashiest, most tasteless, morally-debased finest. What's most surprising, however, is that Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is surprisingly feminist. Dyanne Thorne, the bad-ass bitch with mountainous breasts and an unquenchable sexual appetite, essentially spends the majority of the film reaming chauvinistic attitudes with a 12-inch strap-on (in a metaphorical sense) while literally chopping off dicks and pissing on her commanding officers. She also proves in various experiments that women are more capable than men at withstanding extraordinary levels of pain. Too bad the feminist angle is almost entirely undone by the lone American who defeats her with his sexual prowess. (That's right -- we Americans are capable of conquering Nazism with our red, white and blue balls. Heil Schlong!) The novelty of this being my first Nazisploitation film probably kept the cycle of sex and torture from feeling overly repetitive. The gore is disturbing despite the many appearances of bright red paint. The accents are awful but hilarious. The final act features a few nice spurts of action. And I'm pretty sure everything that happens in the film is 100% historically accurate. Schindler's List pales in comparison to this fine piece of art.


Frankenhooker
(Frank Henenlotter, 1990)

That age-old tale of the boyfriend who accidentally dismembers his girlfriend with a remote-controlled lawnmower and then decides to rebuild her using body parts from exploded prostitutes while occasionally drilling into his own brain to numb his guilty conscience. I'm pretty sure we've all found ourselves in that situation at some point or another. Frankenhooker cleverly mines the comedic potential of its absurd premise while providing some nice moments of body horror to go along with the frequent laughs. The special-effects are markedly fake. At times I longed for more splatter, yet I think the director made the correct choice to avoid gross-out effects since they might have diluted the charm of seeing obvious mannequins explode without bloodshed. There's some imagery in the last act, however, that's straight-up nightmare fuel. Former Penthouse model Patty Mullen is a delight as the titular character. I loved her mannerisms and facial tics. She displays a real knack for physical comedy. I'm disappointed to see that her filmography contains only one other credit. At 85 minutes, Frankenhooker is the perfect length for a film of its type. Highly amusing and consistently entertaining, this is a B-movie that delivers the goods -- and by goods, I totally mean re-animated purple nipples.


The Visit
(M. Night Shyamalan, 2015)

I can't believe people are referring to this as some sort of return to form for M. Night Shyamalan. While The Visit doesn't quite reach The Last Airbender's historic level of suckitude, it's just as terrible as The Happening and After Earth. M. Night's strength is behind the camera, so I never thought the found-footage technique was distracting or limiting like in most other found-footage films. Instead, my issues with the film lie mostly with his shortcomings as a writer. M. Night writes dialogue as if he's never actually listened to human beings communicate. That problem becomes even more glaring when he's putting words in the mouths of teenagers. There's no level of precociousness that excuses the vocabulary that the two kids use. And it's been awhile since I've encountered a more annoying character than the wannabe-rapper little brother. I felt a strong urge to cram his ass into a wood chipper every time he performed for the camera. The twist is so telegraphed that I question the awareness of any viewer who doesn't figure it out in the early stages. I wanted to laugh at most of the "scares," like Nana scratching at the walls with her bare ass hanging out, and there's definitely a comedic feel to some scenes ("Yahtzee!" for example), but I was too restless and annoyed to allow myself to be humored by anything onscreen. At one point in the film a sh!tty diaper is smeared across the face of one of the characters. After watching The Visit, I felt like M. Night Shyamalan had done the same thing to me.



Other Movies I've Seen Lately But Am Too Busy Hosting the Ellen DeGeneres Show to Write About

Bull Durham (Ron Shelton, 1988)


Kill the Messenger (Michael Cuesta, 2014)


It Lives Again (Larry Cohen, 1978)


Team America: World Police (Trey Parker, 2004)


Red Scorpion (Joseph Zito, 1989)


The Beguiled (Don Siegel, 1971)


The Tale of Zatoichi (Kenji Misumi, 1962)


Multiplicity (Harold Ramis, 1996)


The Boxtrolls (Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi, 2014)


Wrong Cops (Quentin Dupieux, 2013)


Tomorrowland (Brad Bird, 2015)


Jimi: All is By My Side (John Ridley, 2013)


Texas Chainsaw 3D (John Luessenhop, 2013)


Triangle (Christopher Smith, 2009)


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A system of cells interlinked
@ Nostro

Class of 1984!

I sneaked into this flick when I was a kid and it scared the **** out of me. Definitely a cult classic!

Also: While I don't think The Visit was a return to form for MKnight, I thought it was entertaining and pretty funny. Not great, but not terrible. No way was it as bad as The Happening.



Care for some gopher?
Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven, 1992) -

Ai no korîda In the Realm of the Senses (Nagisa Ôshima, 1976) -
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Blanche (Walerian Borowczyk, 1972) -



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.

Sabata (Frank Kramer [Gianfranco Parolini], 1969)

American Idiots (Richard Taleghany, 2013)

What Planet Are You From? (Mike Nichols, 2000)

King Rat (Bryan Forbes, 1965)


In a Malaysian POW camp, British Lieutenant James Fox is attracted to the way American Corporal George Segal uses his chutzpah to deal with the Japanese even if it is against military regulations.
Half of a Yellow Sun (Biyi Bandele, 2014)

Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation (Laura Archibald, 2013)

Blaze You Out (Mateo Frazier & Diego Joaquin Lopez, 2013)

Keanu (Peter Atencio, 2016)
+

After the Allentown Boys pull a hit on a drug kingpin and his gang, his cat escapes and ends up with two regular guys (Jordon Peele & Keenan-Michael Key) who bear a striking resemblance to the hitmen and proceed to get themselves and the cat (dubbed Keanu) involved in violent drug activities.
In Old Santa Fe (John Howard, 1934)

The Country Cousin (Wilfred Jackson, 1936)
+
Victor and the Secret of Crocodile Mansion (Cyrill Boss & Phillipp Stennart, 2012)
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Warcraft (Duncan Jones, 2016)


The realm of the video game takes place where orcs are beginning an invasion of the human world of Azeroth.
The Drownsman (Chad Archibald, 2015)

The Dark Horse (James Napier Robertson, 2014)
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Boots and Saddles (Joe Kane, 1936)
+
The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988)


When her abductor (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) contacts him, a young man (Gene Bervoets) finally learns what happened to his lover (Johanna ter Steege) who disappeared on their vacation three years earlier.
Home in Oklahoma (William Witney, 1946)
+
The Horse with the Human Mind (Harry W. Loud, 1946)

Springtime in the Sierras (William Witney, 1947)

I Don't Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman (Marianne Lambert, 2016)


Experimental auteur Chantal Akerman reminisces about her life and films and tries to explain how her style and technique are different from, say Hitchcock, whom she adores. Gus Van Sant also explains what she means to him.