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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 6, 2011 10:17:32 GMT -5
New Police Story-A disgraced Police Detective has to get himself sober in order to help his friends still on the squad stop the return of a criminal gang who's actions drove him off the force. One of the more recent Jackie Chan efforts, when he was in Hong Kong after his American career and attempts to revive the genre over there. A bit of a change in watching him be a drunken man all the time, and it certainly has a much more serious tone than what you're expecting to find in one of his movies, yet the action is still the same old, same old here (meaning it's high-energy, innovative and extremely fun, not dull) and the film's at it's best with a series of impressive and exciting action scenes from a crazy kung-fu fight, lots of shoot-outs and even a bus chase thrown in. Throw out the drama, and it's a lot of fun.
Silver Hawk-A masked female crime fighter takes up the fight against a criminal gang who's attempting a series of diamond heists in the city. Not all that bad at all, a couple of rather fun fights here and there (including one of the more imaginative ones I've seen where she fights against five guards while they're on bungee chords dropping down periodically from the ceiling to engage her) and with the henchmen of-course as skilled as the boss, it allows for a lot of rather fun confrontations throughout the film. Just needed a little bit longer set of fights, since most of them are rather short unless dealing with the main boss, and that's just not as much fun when you have one or two minute fights in between a series of bland explanation scenes. Still, not all that bad at all and a lot of fun.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 7, 2011 10:04:27 GMT -5
Double Duty-When a career Marine-Corps woman decides to leave in order to concentrate on civilian life, she keeps getting stuck in situations that force her to utilize her skills to save her clumsy boyfriend and her friends. Supposedly a vehicle for female Kickboxing Champion Mimi Lesseos, in that regard it's an utter disappointment due to the severe lack of actual moments to display that talent, even though the few glimpses of action do seem to suggest there is talent there, but in the end it's mostly wasted. It isn't until the finale where they have to stop a group of bankrobbers from crashing a house-warming party, as despite the lack of gunplay the way it's carried out provides the best example to showcase her talents, and while it's not a real showcase, there is some evidence of talent in some of the kicks and spinning combinations so it's got that going for it. It's actually much better as a comedy, since its about him being emasculated due to her always saving him and trying to feel like he's in charge, which produces some good banter between the two of them and some of the situations are pretty funny. Still, as an action film, this was pretty disappointing.
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Post by Bartwald on Jun 7, 2011 16:02:39 GMT -5
Brian de Palma's first major hit, a pretty solid thriller with his trademark Hitchcock homages / ripoffs, seedy atmosphere, fine performances and nasty plot twists. Only marred by an unsatisfying conclusion. I agree - the ending definitely isn't as impressive as it should be. But I like the weirdness of this movie - starting with the WTF?-introduction As for du Maurier - have you read The Birds, Fenril? A very creepy story and quite different from the movie... Don't Look Now, on the other hand, is pretty close to what Roeg showed us. And I also love her story Blue Lenses - very uncanny, very much recommended!
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Jun 9, 2011 13:00:24 GMT -5
Went to see a sneak preview of "Super 8" Tuesday. It was pretty good. Plot and storyline were predictable, more of a character-driven movie, some pretty good action sequences. Typical JJ Abrams stuff. Also watched The Other Guys w/ my nephew the other night. Didn't really care to watch the rest of it after Sam Jackson and Rock got killed. A few funny moments but pretty blah to me...
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Post by Fenril on Jun 9, 2011 18:25:39 GMT -5
As for du Maurier - have you read The Birds, Fenril? A very creepy story and quite different from the movie... Don't Look Now, on the other hand, is pretty close to what Roeg showed us. And I also love her story Blue Lenses - very uncanny, very much recommended! Oh, yeah, I've read all of those. Actually, I tought it interesting that both versions of "The birds" (the story and the movie) could very well occur in the same universe (so to speak), just one in Corwall and one in Bodega Bay. On "Don't look now" I also liked that the movie is basically an expansion of the story (it's kinda funny that was was a very brief sex scene in the book became one of the longest scenes in the movie). "The blue lenses" is marvellous, as well... in general I think Du Maurier is one very underrated writer.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 10, 2011 10:12:12 GMT -5
Spent the night again with TCM and their Drive-In Monster Mania marathons.
THEM!-Still one of the very best of these kinds of movies, spectacular effects, great mystery, tons of action and a rather fun air about it, like it doesn't appear as one of these low-budget affairs the rest of the night played but more of a serious attempt at making one of these movies, and it's a lot of fun for that reason.
Cosmic Monsters-Man, why does it seem like the only good British horror films come from Hammer? They seem to be the only ones to inject anything close to energy into their films, which is evident here since nothing happens with any kind of enthusiasm or energy, dragging along limply without generating any interest despite appearing to be a quite enjoyable effort with some energetic happenings were inputted. Still, the cheesy effects and lame storyline make it a little more enjoyable in the later half, but it still needs a lot of work.
Tarantula-A classic, one which is especially important on my end as this now allows an uncut copy into the collection. Fixes the pacing issue I had with it previously, the effects are top-notch and don't really look as bad as it sounds, the action is top-notch and the building tension with the attacks is really nice. Really enjoyable effort.
The Black Scorpion-A personal favorite and one I handily enjoy a lot. Creepy build-up, lots of suspense for one of these kinds of films, and a lot of action which makes for a fun time. The scorpions look good when it's the models, though the painted-on ones look really bad, that roar is iconic and the finale is a good time so it's got a lot going for it.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 13, 2011 10:37:27 GMT -5
A Nightmare on Elm Street-When a group of teens find themselves victims of the same recurring nightmare about a deranged serial killer, they realize there’s more going on than their parents are willing to admit and battle him to be able to sleep again. Some good stuff here, with the trips into the nightmare world being incredibly well-done and being far more frightening in concept and execution than expected, including some that outdid the original without much difficulty. Some didn't work, but most did and it worked rather well when it kept itself in that world. The kills were good and bloody, the story kept moving and it really didn't have much wrong with the pedophile angle, which was a nice touch, but it does have some major problems. Freddy really doesn't look as scary as he should've, as for some reason, especially around the mouth and lips, he doesn't evoke a sense of fear and looks more like a skinned pup-seal rather than a burned human. The make-up needed a lot of work, and the fact that the investigation into Freddy occurs so late into the film, making it seem like the revelation of him being a pedophile as a big shocker comes out of nowhere since we don't know anything at all about what's going on at the time, and it's only once we know that when we get into the rest of the backstory that it's really cleaned up, which leaves it a little disjointed. Overall, it's much better than expected, though it still has some flaws.
A Quiet Place in the Country-An artist takes up residence in a haunted mansion in the middle of the country for some inspiration and becomes obsessed with uncovering the mystery surrounding the legacy of the woman supposedly haunting the area. Wow, this might actually be the first Italian horror film to actually suck, as this one was just plain torturous. No focus on scares, no real gore shots, and an extended pace that just drags on and on for no reason other than to show a person going crazy, which is not all that enjoyable nor exciting. The focus on the weird lifestyle they have doesn't make it scary, it just makes it hard to stay interested in what's going on, although the frequent nudity does help a little. Still, this one wasn't all that good at all.
Ice Road Terror-A vicious creature awakens from beneath the ice at a diamond mine in the Arctic and runs rampant through the area, leaving a pair of truckers and a geologist as the only ones to stop it before it destroys all around it. Surprisingly fun and enjoyable creature feature, with an imposing creature, lots of chasing and a pretty nice sense of action. Needed a bit more kills, since it doesn't have a huge amount of potential kills to choose from and the one where it could've gone crazy is kept to mostly off-screen slashings since it's the very opening and they're keeping the creature hidden, but the action scenes are really good, the gore counts when we get it and it's a lot more fun than expected, making it a pretty enjoyable effort.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 14, 2011 10:07:46 GMT -5
Road Kill-While driving through the Australian outback, a group of friends are attacked by a gigantic, mysterious big rig and find themselves chased by the unrelenting machine, which runs on human blood to keep going. Not a whole lot to stay interested in, it's basically about the people going insane while being chased but it's never clear what's doing the chasing. The rig is a central figure but it's not being driven by itself, there's clearly a person operating it but overall, it's just not given anything all that clear-cut to define what's going on. Basically, nothing that happens is done with a clear reason, so you don't know what's going on. It's bloody though, if that matters, but it really needs a lot of work.
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Post by Fenril on Jun 14, 2011 13:19:33 GMT -5
- L'Année dernière à Marienbad [aka Last year at Marienbad]. 1961 dreamlike French film about the complicated triangle between two men and one woman in a giant hotel that defies the laws of time and space.
A fundamental piece of French fantastique and rumored to be an unoficial / inconfessed adaptation of the sci-fi novel "The invention of Morel", by Argentinian writer Adolfo Bioy Casares. This is one of those movies that people either love or hate (it's consistently featured in both "Best films ever" and "Worst films ever" lists) because of its challenging storyline; personally I liked it because of its atmosphere, ominous soundtract and often disturbing implications, but I guess I would only reccomend it to fans of arthouse or just plain weird cinema.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 15, 2011 10:08:26 GMT -5
Pig Hunt-A group of hunters looking for wild boar in the woods come across a deranged family of inbreds targeting them as well as a commune's God in the form of a massive, flesh-eating pig. Surprisingly not as bad as it sounds with all the different plot threads, this one actually has a lot going for it. The scenes of the family hunting down the friends are really good and contain some good action scenes, the wilderness atmosphere is really played up nicely and of course the scenes at the convent are really enjoyable, packed with nudity and the majority of the gore with the pig being center stage for all it's worth. The only problem with it, as if that last line didn't give it away, is the pig is off-screen until the end, not even being a central figure hunting them down on the outskirts of the main plot. In fact, these don't even feel like a horror film at times but more like a survival/hunting film setup and it's only once they get to the end do we get to see the central figure involved, making the beginning really boring at times. Still, not all that bad as it's still somewhat watchable.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 16, 2011 11:24:53 GMT -5
Dark House-A troupe of actors hired to play parts in a mogul's new horror attraction at a reputedly haunted house find the past's grisly secrets coming back to kill them one by one. Actually a lot of fun and manages to have a lot of good stuff about it, as the interactions with the attractions are an absolute blast, the setting is fantastically used and milked for it's worth and the killings start getting pretty bloody when they do strike, since it's pretty late into the film when they do. The re-writing of history is pretty lame and the twist is over-done and fairly obvious, ruining the film pretty badly because of what it does to the previously established storyline that had worked wonders beforehand. Otherwise, this one is pretty fun.
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Post by Bartwald on Jun 16, 2011 11:50:53 GMT -5
I see LDG came back when I was not around - great to see you, LDG!
I just watched "13" (a remake of the shocking "13 Tzameti") and I actually liked it. I only wish Jason Statham's role was a bit more meaty - his was one of the blandest characters in the film, very atypical for Statham, ain't it?
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Post by Fenril on Jun 16, 2011 15:49:51 GMT -5
I didn't know "13 tzameti" had been remade... boy, they'll eventually remake every single movie ever made, don't you think? (even if some of those remakes are ok movies on their own).
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 17, 2011 10:46:30 GMT -5
More TCM Drive-In Matinee's:
Attack of the 50-Foot Woman-A rather one-note story that's stretched out a little further than necessary, especially with the plotline about everyone in the town knowing the husband's a cheater but doing nothing about it, yet it's still a pretty good time. The effects are mostly cheesy and obviously show-off their nature, mostly the stuff where she's superimposed into the scene and noticeably fades away into a transparent-like look, but it's still a pretty good time.
Queen of Outer Space-Goofy cheesefest of the highest order, with the storyline and overall appearance being that of a low-budget film that still has a sense of class about it from the execution level. The women look good, the pace is good and it's not really boring, despite the fact that it falls prey to a pretty irritating habit in the prisoners continuing to escape without punishment from the captors, but that's not really a big deal for it at all.
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Jun 19, 2011 17:19:00 GMT -5
I see LDG came back when I was not around - great to see you, LDG! Glad to be back! Watched Let The Right One In the other day. I liked it but it seemed just a tad bit long. I don't know maybe it was just me. Plus it was dubbed instead of w/ subtitles so that was kind of annoying. Guess I'll watch the remake next, see how it compares.
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