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Recent Viewings, Part 2

Started by Rev. Powell, February 15, 2020, 10:36:26 PM

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lester1/2jr

#1710
the 16th episode - pretty messy tubi horror offering. a youtube travel crew gets in over their heads in Casablanca. The party in Casablanca was interesting it should have gone on a lot longer and there should have been a lot less of the two AV guys jawing at each other. It badly needed an experienced hand in the screenwriting department. Some okay stuff, though. If you are like Kristen Stewart and find bad movies interesting check it out.

2.75 / 5

Rev. Powell

INTERVISTA (1987): A Japanese documentary crew films Federico Fellini as he films his latest film, a film about a young Fellini visiting his first film set to interview a film star. It's a film about film, specifically a film about Fellini films, and even though it can be accused of being an old man's navel-gazing remake of his own greatest hit, individual scenes still sparkle, and it's still fascinating to see what Fellini chooses ton highlight from his own oeuvre and process. 3.5/5.
I'll take you places the hand of man has not yet set foot...

FatFreddysCat

"Judge Dredd" (1995)
Big budget adaptation of the cult U.K. comic book, with Sly Stallone as the legendary lawman in an ultra-violent future. This is a great looking movie - the set designs (very Blade Runner-ish), costumes, and FX are top notch - but the story is an uninteresting muddle. Most puzzling of all is the decision to saddle Dredd with a wacky comic relief sidekick played by the annoying Rob Schneider. I was pretty disappointed with this when I first saw it during its theatrical run; it's not quite as bad as I remembered, but it's still a pretty hollow exercise.

"Firewalker" (1986)
Chuck Norris and Louis Gossett are a pair of down-on-their-luck fortune hunters hired by a foxy blonde (Melody Anderson of "Flash Gordon") to help her find a hoard of lost Aztec treasure in the wilds of South America. This comedic action/adventure in the Indiana Jones or Romancing the Stone vein is fun for a while - Chuck and Lou make a pretty good team - but the movie starts running out of gas around the hour mark and is just spinning its wheels by the time it lumbers to an end.
Hey, HEY, kids! Check out my way-cool Music and Movie Review blog on HubPages!
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Alex

#1713
Sadako VS Kayako.

In a change from Godzilla versus movies, two more modern big-screen villains go head to head. This came off as a well-made fan film (which it may have been, I don't know) with a few things in it that made me wonder if they were avoiding legal issues (for example, what they see on the videotape is not the same as you get in The Ring). A couple of girls watch the videotape from The Ring (although one is distracted by her phone and misses it). It didn't end how I expected, although I did like how it finished. Most people aren't going to think it is a good film though, but it kept me watching for its run time.

Anyway, if anyone wants to watch it, it is on Shudder.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Jim H

Class Action Park - Pretty entertaining documentary about the dangerous amusement park in New Jersey that led to thousands of injuries and some deaths.  Lets itself get serious at moments too, which was appreciated, but is largely light and entertaining.  Very well paced and put together.  Worth watching for sure.  I do think a bit stronger theme or narrative thread, something, might have wrapped it up a bit better, but I'm not sure exactly how that could have been done.

Venom 2 - I can't remember the proper name.  This is as dumb as the original, maybe dumber.  It's junk and actually bad, but it was never boring.  I watched it at a family member's house where I knew things would be loud and I wouldn't be able to give it proper attention - this is what a film like Venom is made for, as far as I'm concerned.

Encanto - Decent and entertaining children's musical film by Disney.  About what you'd expect really.  I don't know why We Don't Talk About Bruno has exploded so much, but hey, whatevs.  Visually strong, a decent narrative.  Nothing really exceptional, but well-made.

Alex

The Hallows.

A family move to Ireland to carry out a survey on some woodlands in order for them to be cut down and houses built instead. The father discovers some sort of parasitic fungus has infected local creatures, while a neighbour whose daughter disappeared in the wood keeps warning him of fae living in the woods and telling them to leave. Low budget stuff, but competently filmed and acted. Combines myth and modernity quite well.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Alex

Prevenge.

In between maternity visits, a heavily pregnant woman carries out the murders of the seven people responsible for the accidental death of her husband. She hears her unborn baby talking to her, instructing her on how to kill them.

Is her baby some sort of demonic psychopath or is she just suffering from some really insane prepartum depression?
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

lester1/2jr

#1717
Stations of the Elevated (1981) - slight, but for fans of a certain era and style in NYC, enjoyable experimental film. The camera captures some subway cars covered in graffiti and includes a brief conversation among very young graffiti artists pre all the hype over that stuff. rather than hip hop, jazz music plays in the background. One connection the film makes repeatedly is the similarity between the big graffiti pieces and painted on billboard advertising.

only 44 minutes hard to give a rating. it's kind of like they were scouting locations for Wild Style or something.

FatFreddysCat

"We Are Twisted F**king Sister!" (2014)
Dee Snider, Jay Jay French, and the rest of the T.S. gang past and present take you through a lengthy, ridiculously in depth examination of Twisted Sister's ten year struggle to get the hell out of the New York tri-state area club scene and finally sign that ever-elusive major label record deal. Tons of amazing, never before seen videos and photos, classic clips, and hilarious stories. Essential viewing for all SMF's.
Hey, HEY, kids! Check out my way-cool Music and Movie Review blog on HubPages!
http://hubpages.com/@fatfreddyscat

Jim H

Come and See - Pretty effective depiction of the village massacres and burnings in Belarus by the Nazis.  It's kind of out there in the first half, and I'm not sure if I fully understand what it was doing (why is there so much with the boy and girl in the woods?  there's a purpose, but I feel like I'm not quite getting it), but it worked anyway.  I particularly appreciated the montage at the end. 

Let Him Go - A neo western thriller.  Basically an aging couple's son dies, leaving behind a wife and son.  The wife remarries, and ends up getting taken abruptly to the husband's simply awful family.  The couple follows, and intends to get the boy back.  You know this is probably heading towards violence, you just don't know when.  This is a pretty good film, but the script is a little creaky in spots and the climax doesn't live up to the films first two act.  Importantly, there's multiple really good performances that carry the film, plus some very effective scenes of tension.  Lesley Manville as the matriarch of the awful family livens up every scene she's in.

Random trivia, this is a reteaming of Ma and Pa Kent from Man of Steel, once again as an aging rural couple. 

Rev. Powell

Quote from: Jim H on February 03, 2022, 01:29:54 AM
Come and See - Pretty effective depiction of the village massacres and burnings in Belarus by the Nazis.  It's kind of out there in the first half, and I'm not sure if I fully understand what it was doing (why is there so much with the boy and girl in the woods?  there's a purpose, but I feel like I'm not quite getting it), but it worked anyway.  I particularly appreciated the montage at the end. 


All time classic. I think the stuff in the woods is the idyllic calm before the storm. It makes you care more for the kids so that what happens after hits harder. Roger Ebert said " There's a curious scene here in a wood, the sun falling down through the leaves, when the soundtrack, which has been grim and mournful, suddenly breaks free into Mozart. And what does this signify? A fantasy, I believe, and not Florya's, who has probably never heard such music. The Mozart descends into the film like a deus ex machina, to lift us from its despair. We can accept it if we want, but it changes nothing. It is like an ironic taunt."
I'll take you places the hand of man has not yet set foot...

Alex

Viy.

Evidently, this was the first horror film made in the old U.S.S.R. Based on a novel that in turn claims to be based in folklore, it is the story of a young student priest who has it sit for three nights with the corpse of a beautiful young witch. I can't really say more about the plot without giving the story away. The cinemaphotography seems comparable to Hollywood films of a few years earlier. I have no idea if this is typical of Soviet movies of the time or not.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Rev. Powell

Quote from: Alex on February 03, 2022, 02:42:57 PM
Viy.

Evidently, this was the first horror film made in the old U.S.S.R. Based on a novel that in turn claims to be based in folklore, it is the story of a young student priest who has it sit for three nights with the corpse of a beautiful young witch. I can't really say more about the plot without giving the story away. The cinemaphotography seems comparable to Hollywood films of a few years earlier. I have no idea if this is typical of Soviet movies of the time or not.

It's not typical of Soviet films. Movies were supposed to promote Communism and adhere to the dogma of "Soviet Realism." Very few fantasy-type films were allowed to be made, and no horror films. I think visually it's remarkably accomplished, among the best-looking special effects I've seen in any Soviet film. The ending is remarkable. This is a great movie.
I'll take you places the hand of man has not yet set foot...

Alex

Quote from: Rev. Powell on February 03, 2022, 02:51:42 PM
Quote from: Alex on February 03, 2022, 02:42:57 PM
Viy.

Evidently, this was the first horror film made in the old U.S.S.R. Based on a novel that in turn claims to be based in folklore, it is the story of a young student priest who has it sit for three nights with the corpse of a beautiful young witch. I can't really say more about the plot without giving the story away. The cinemaphotography seems comparable to Hollywood films of a few years earlier. I have no idea if this is typical of Soviet movies of the time or not.

It's not typical of Soviet films. Movies were supposed to promote Communism and adhere to the dogma of "Soviet Realism." Very few fantasy-type films were allowed to be made, and no horror films. I think visually it's remarkably accomplished, among the best-looking special effects I've seen in any Soviet film. The ending is remarkable. This is a great movie.

Enjoying it so far, although the dubbing isn't the best. I'd rather watch it with subtitles. I was surprised to see it was a film about priests coming out of that era, even if they are hardly being presented as icons of virtue.
Hail to thyself
For I am my own master
I am my own god
I require no shepherd
For I am no sheep.

Jim H

Quote from: Rev. Powell on February 03, 2022, 09:34:51 AM
Quote from: Jim H on February 03, 2022, 01:29:54 AM
Come and See - Pretty effective depiction of the village massacres and burnings in Belarus by the Nazis.  It's kind of out there in the first half, and I'm not sure if I fully understand what it was doing (why is there so much with the boy and girl in the woods?  there's a purpose, but I feel like I'm not quite getting it), but it worked anyway.  I particularly appreciated the montage at the end. 


All time classic. I think the stuff in the woods is the idyllic calm before the storm. It makes you care more for the kids so that what happens after hits harder. Roger Ebert said " There's a curious scene here in a wood, the sun falling down through the leaves, when the soundtrack, which has been grim and mournful, suddenly breaks free into Mozart. And what does this signify? A fantasy, I believe, and not Florya's, who has probably never heard such music. The Mozart descends into the film like a deus ex machina, to lift us from its despair. We can accept it if we want, but it changes nothing. It is like an ironic taunt."

Yeah, that makes some sense.  I think there's a bit of an "every person" sort of quality to it that made me feel more distant personally.  Like, I can't tell you anything much about the lead character, he's just "a boy".  For some, that probably makes it hit even harder as an avatar for the viewer.  Regardless, the last half is powerful stuff.  I've heard it described as very graphic, which I didn't think it was, but I thought it was better for it.




Today, I watched The Gunfighter.  This is a very good movie, and as far as I can tell is the origin point of the entire sub-genre of "aging gunslinger/badass who wants to hang it up" that continues on into the present day.  It's a bit of a sign of the film's age that he's just thirty five!  Made today he'd probably be over 50.  It's really well written, really well performed, great leads, and a great story structure.  One interesting thing of films of this age, released in 1950, some movies seem to not have quite figured out pacing and others have it just right.  This one felt just right.  It's about 85 minutes and none of it is wasted.