What ELSE (other than KUNG FU) has everyone been watching?

[weier78]

Gorky Park, big Lee Marvin fan, always think this film is better than what it actually is.

Edited November 20, 2015 by weier78

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Gorky Park, big Lee Marvin fan, always think this film is better than what it actually is.

What are your favorite Marvin films?  It has been years since I saw Gorky Park.  So many good roles.  Among my favorites: The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, Seven Men From Now, The Dirty Dozen, Point Blank and The Big Red One.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Life Itself (2014: Steve James)
 
A solid documentary from the director of one my favorite films in Hoop Dreams. I probably know too much about Roger Ebert.  I have read his reviews and watched his shows (especially with Gene Siskel) and had even read all of his blog posts.  I watched films from Akira Kurosawa because of Ebert.  I liked that this documentary did not take a hagiographical approach and decided show some of the warts of Ebert from his dying battle of cancer (Ebert would not have allowed this documentary if James did not cover this), his battles with Gene Siskel and his problems with alcohol (he met his wife Chazz through AA) that was overcome in the late 1970s.
 
Since a lot of the focus of the film was discussing his current cancer battle (a hip fracture had landed him in the hospital where it was found out to be caused by metastasized cancer) it did feel like to me it went through too quickly his career as probably the most famous film critic/reviewer of all-time.  The film needed to be longer to cover all that ground it attempted to.  His fight with cancer was one issue after another including multiple surgeries, a near fatal hemorrhage, multiple infections, losing his jaw and the ability to eat. It was horrendous.  If you read his blogs he worked through his pain and issues with his growing web site and web presence.  He loved Twitter.
 
My favorite sections are the ones that dealt with the growing relationship between him and Siskel.  There are some great responses from Siskel’s widow and they are definitely not all positive.  His relationship with the city was handled well.  Ebert loved Chicago. He could have worked elsewhere for more money, but like the director of this film was a Chicagoan.  The city seems to breed acolytes.  I have a friend from there who talks about it constantly.   
 
This film is a nice overview, but to really understand Roger Ebert is to read his copious reviews, essays and his favorite films.  He was a prodigious writer, could write a review quickly (sometimes too quickly because he could be a little sloppy with facts), but his love of film is what will be remembered by most and his influence will continue to grow.

[weier78]

 The Big Red One is my fave. Hell in the Pacific, and Death Hunt also are enjoyable

Gorky Park, big Lee Marvin fan, always think this film is better than what it is actually. 

[DragonClaws]

The Yakuza (1974) 

The Gorgon (1964)

Emperor Of The North (1973)

Homeboy (1988)

 

 

[AlbertV]

Avenged (aka iNumber Number) - Donovan Marsh's 2013 South African answer to films such as Reservoir Dogs and City on Fire. A cop is screwed over on a major reward after a two-year operation and decides to go the gold when he joins a group of gangsters for a major bank heist. The gang has no idea he is a cop, but when his partner/best friend is kidnapped by the gang, they learn there is an informer, but said cop plays both sides. I actually liked this film. Marsh clearly has influences from Tarentino and even Peckinpah, but some of the running chases made my stomach turn at times because of the extremely shaky cam.

Edited November 23, 2015 by AlbertV

[DrNgor]

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth - I picked it up on DVD earlier this year. I'm still bitter that One Million Years B.C. is still not available in Brazil, since that one is the better movie. This one isn't bad, but it's not great. The stop-motion dinosaurs are good, but it's really missing the dinosaur-vs-dinosaur throwdowns (the likes of which its predecessor gave us two). Beyond that, the only other reason to watch this is to see the nearly non-stop jiggling from the female cast and Victoria Vetri naked. But if you're not into that, the impossibly well-coiffed actors making fools of themselves might be a slog to watch.

[Asmo]

Been watching Street Fighter II V lately. An enjoyable anime I first saw in my youth.

[AlbertV]

Love Com: The Movie - a film adaptation of a popular manga by Aya Nakamura revolving around two high schoolers, one the tallest girl and the shortest boy, whom become attracted to each other. Review HERE

 

Key of Life - Kenji Uchida's comedy about three people, one a struggling actor who is trying to find a way to start over; a magazine exec who is hellbent on getting married; and a professional hitman who ends up with amnesia (and gets his life switched by said struggling actor). Review HERE

[AlbertV]

K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces (aka Legend of the Mask)

https://worldfilmgeek.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/review-k-20-the-fiend-with-twenty-faces-2008

 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The City of Lost Children (1995: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet: France)
 
I am sure this happens to you but I am sure you get the recommendation from friends, family, strangers that accost you at the coffee café/bar with that infamous refrain “you’re a movie buff but you have not seen <blank>” stated with a sneer.  Of course you could always reply how many Akira Kurosawa or Wong Kar-wai films to be an ass, but you politely take that suggestion in your mental bank of future watches.  I tend to keep track but not necessarily take action until two or more people or pertinent movie lists I am working on push me quicker into watching something.  This, of course, does not take in account the caustic acquaintance who badgers you into watching a film by reminding you over and over belittling your movie acumen because you have not seen the third Fast and Furious (not a bad film.)  But honestly writing this is a film I have wanted to see for quite a while. For me this was recommended by a patron to a local café (with a slight incredulous response when I stated I had not seen it; my haughty rejoinder reminded me why sometimes I get called an arrogant bastard) I visit which then reminded me that someone on here had also recommended it to me.  Of course it is a great feeling when the film turns out to be good.
 
As a directorial duo these two are most famous for this (reminds me I need to get Delicatessen since it is released on Criterion) while Jeunet is most famous for his witty romantic Truffaut influenced genre-hybrid Amelie.  As an aside I always find it perplexingly annoying here in the States when someone states they will not watch French film for a variety of reasons usually because of not liking subtitles or the stereotype that it is too artsy.  There is so many good films from there since the beginning of cinema especially the fantasy shorts of Georges Méliès which I highly recommend (and another aside I recommend Martin Scorsese’s film Hugo which deals with that director.)
 
This is a beautifully staged fantastical film.  The sets are astonishing, though the CGI is understandably a bit dated (not bad for that time though.)  It is a cross between an alternate universe of Oliver Twist mixed in with a more grotesque version of Terry Gilliam.  I thought of Gilliam quite often when watching this.*  Reading Roger Ebert’s review of this you can sense that even though he gave the film a positive review he really did not like it.  Knowing Ebert’s preferences I can understand that since he tends to hate violence toward children and films with a misanthropic tone – though he absolutely loves Dark City which has a look that is quite similar to this one.  Though I agree with him that the narrative is not particularly strong.  If you have not seen this it is easily worth a look, but it would behoove you not to read too much on this film at least in the way of plot description (if anyone wants to go over individual scenes or characters feel free to post.)  It is basically about a strong man surprisingly played by Ron Perlman (who does not speak French, but learned French for the part though it did not sound like him so I wonder if he was dubbed over) who looks for his kidnapped much younger “brother.”  The film works best with its mise-en-scene than the composition of the whole (a little more work on character and plot coherence) but a fascinating film.
 
Notice there is a scene that is very similar in both the later-that-year and underrated Strange Days in which a victim sees himself being killed by a device planted on his head.  Given the time frame I think this is completely coincidental unless Kathryn Bigelow got an early look at this film. 
 
* Those who have seen 12 Monkeys it was influenced by French filmmaker Chris Marker’s La Jetée.  Cinema is a such a transcontinental art.

Edited December 3, 2015 by masterofoneinchpunch

[Secret Executioner]

That first paragraph reminded me of why I bought Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino - because of some guy constantly telling me about how great it is and how I HAVE to see it (though I could have argued back on his obvious lack of culture on horror movies or on Asian action cinema - yup, he's that guy that has no idea how MA work and call Fu films "Karate stuff").

 

And concerning Jean-Pierre Jeunet, another famous work of his (though not his best I guess) is Alien: Resurrection. 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

That first paragraph reminded me of why I bought Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino - because of some guy constantly telling me about how great it is and how I HAVE to see it (though I could have argued back on his obvious lack of culture on horror movies or on Asian action cinema - yup, he's that guy that has no idea how MA work and call Fu films "Karate stuff").

And concerning Jean-Pierre Jeunet, another famous work of his (though not his best I guess) is Alien: Resurrection. 

I ended up liking Gran Torino quite a bit and thought it was one of the better 2008 films (though Johnnie To's Sparrow was my number one pick of that year; Gran Torino was in my top 10.)  Eastwood had two good films that year.  Given the amount of IMDB votes I would say Alien: Resurrection is his second most watched film :D.  There have been countless films I have watched because of recommendations: most of the time they tend to be decent-to-good but rarely great or truly awful (of course I'm happy with a decent watch over a truly awful watch.)  But yeah hyperbole can spoil even a good film (back to 2008 remember when so many people were writing about The Dark Knight not only being the best film of the year but one of the best films of all-time.)

[Secret Executioner]

Last night, my local movie theater had a special screening of the 1980 classic The Blues Brothers

 

But being my local movie theater, it wasn't JUST a screening. Much like you had a special dinner at the theater's brasserie and a James Bond-themed mini-concert (a little ensemble performing James Bond themes) before the premiere of Spectre (an event I missed because of tight money - and also because of a certain lack of interest in the movie itself from me), there were some surprises. Namely, for the half hour or so before the movie, a local band played some Rhythm N Blues classics in the hall of the theater. The band was actually made up of members of a local association that also works as a music school, and these people were great - lots of energy, the few songs they played were terrific renditions (including "Sweet Home Chicago", one of my fav' numbers from the movie, though they didn't stick to Blues Brothers-related material) and they looked like they had a blast doing this. Must have been strange at first for the people who didn't come to see The Blues Brothers but instead took their kids to see The good Dinosaur (lots of young kids in the hall), but it was an overall nice moment and the place felt very lively - and that sums up the philosophy of the place: offer stuff that's for die hards or snobs, but also stuff for the family and a wide general audience (and why not allow all these groups to get along).

 

As far as the film goes, I got a bit disappointed. I had already seen the film on home video formats, but unlike Creature from Black Lagoon or Once upon a Time in America which were much better for the first (to be fair, the theatrical screening was in 3D so it was shown the way it was indeed to be seen) and even greater for the second (the additional scenes adding a lot to the story and the main character), I didn't think The Blues Brothers gained much being seen in the theater. Sure, the movie has tons of comedy and great lines, memorable characters, very spectacular car stunts (the chase in the mall is probably my favorite car chase ever) and the music is some of the finest you'll ever hear in a movie*, but I found myself overall disappointed somehow - maybe I've seen it so much that it lost its magic or maybe I expected much more out of the film, I don't know. However, I never realized "Gimme some Lovin'" sounded so much better in the movie than on the soundtrack CD - lots more bass, which I always enjoy (especially with songs like that that have great bass lines) - and there was a lot of music that's sadly missing from the soundtrack - the omission of "Can't turn you loose" is an obvious one, but I also got reminded that legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker had a little appearance in the movie.

 

Overall, I think it was worth checking out (especially since I kinda grew up with this film), but it's definitely not the re-released movie that was the most interesting or investing this year (though I guess comparing a comedy-oriented musical to stuff like Once upon a Time in America or Blade Runner isn't necessarly relevant).

 

Footnote:

* Courtesy of all the talent involved, how can you go wrong when the songs in your movie are sung by the likes of Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, James Brown or Aretha Franklin ? And let's not forget the impressive John Belushi who steals the show in a lot of musical sequences. That's actually somewhat depressing writing about this, considering most of these people are now gone.   

[De Ming Li]

Going to watch Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion tonight, it's the first part in the four movie series, have heard many good things about this Japanese exploitation series.

[AlbertV]

Le Chef - Jean Reno as a renowned chef whose about to lose his restaurant and reputation when he comes across an aspiring chef who idolized him and even brings something different in the mix. 

 

https://worldfilmgeek.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/review-le-chef-2012/

 

[Grasshopper Sage]

Finally getting through the Underworld films, just finished Yuki Yuna & am about to finish Knights of Sidonia's second season. Probably gonna watch Fate/stay night next and gonna get my hands on an English dub copy of Kill la Kill.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Escape From New York (1981)

 

"Who are you?! I said WHO ARE YOU?"

 

"Snake Plissken, Duke. The Man sent him in here. Something's going down, we need him..." 

 

My all time favorite movie. It’s super post apocalyptic grindhouse spaghetti western and I still love it. 

 

When I first saw a cut version of this on WPIX around late 1982,  Clint Eastwood and spaghetti westerns had ransacked  my innocent cranium about 9 months prior and I couldn’t believe I ever hated westerns. High Plains Drifter was my new world view,  and then into my young teenaged lap slithers Snake Plissken. Mind frakkin’ blown.  

 

So in a nutshell, in the future (the late 1980s) the crime rate goes way up and the only thing to left to do is turn Manhattan into a maximum security prison. Add a hostage situation in the prison when Air Force One crashes there and our Commander in Chief is taken by the Duke of New York. Toss in a disgruntled, spec ops  world war III vet (Snake Plissken) to save the President and shake hard. 

 

I don’t know how many hundreds of times I’ve seen this movie, of once owning every U.S. release and format, scouting thrift stores for a brown leather jacket like the one Snake leaves in his Gulffire glider (yes I found a jacket very close the one in the film)… but every time Escape from New York is on cable or my trigger finger hits play in iTunes… I just love this movie even more. Snake is still a lot of fun, even if my mindset isn’t as anti-authority or anti-world as when he first slithered into my imagination. 

 

There’s just such an energy, and the entire cast (including a super cool Issac Hayes) is amazing. Everyone is so vested in their roles and just casting Angel Eyes (okay Lee Van Cleef) as Hauk (Hawk) against Snake (Kurt doing a stellar Clint Eastwood in voice and sneer), is just brilliant.  Sure, I would have liked a bit more danger in the prison (heck knows all the extras looked amazing. The costumes and make up were on point.)  And the bout against Ox Baker with the nail studded baseball bats? That's still genius (a hilarious wink to Kurt Russell's failed pro baseball career.)

 

Escape... boasts my favorite score from Carpenter too and it always elicits a smile.  And Dean Cundey’s cinematography is just beautiful. There are Cundey shots which remain frozen in my memory... sometimes these shots flash in my mind like a loop, and I'll stop whatever I'm doing and allow myself to go back to this very dangerous fake take on Manhattan island. 

 

So thank you Snake, for all the good times in your down and dirty world. Knowing me, there will be many more jaunts on Broadway and the Bowery - even if Cabby doesn’t know Manhattan geography to save his sweet bleep. 

 

"Snake Plissken? I've heard of you. I heard you were dead..."

 

(Not in my book...)

 

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi

[DragonClaws]

Escape From New York (1981)

 

"Who are you?! I said WHO ARE YOU?"

 

"Snake Plissken, Duke. The Man sent him in here. Something's going down, we need him..." 

 

My all time favorite movie. It’s super post apocalyptic grindhouse spaghetti western and I still love it. 

 

When I first saw a cut version of this on WPIX around late 1982,  Clint Eastwood and spaghetti westerns had ransacked  my innocent cranium about 9 months prior and I couldn’t believe I ever hated westerns. High Plains Drifter was my new world view,  and then into my young teenaged lap slithers Snake Plissken. Mind frakkin’ blown.  

 

So in a nutshell, in the future (the late 1980s) the crime rate goes way up and the only thing to left to do is turn Manhattan into a maximum security prison. Add a hostage situation in the prison when Air Force One crashes there and our Commander in Chief is taken by the Duke of New York. Toss in a disgruntled, spec ops  world war III vet (Snake Plissken) to save the President and shake hard. 

 

I don’t know how many hundreds of times I’ve seen this movie, of once owning every U.S. release and format, scouting thrift stores for a brown leather jacket like the one Snake leaves in his Gulffire glider (yes I found a jacket very close the one in the film)… but every time Escape from New York is on cable or my trigger finger hits play in iTunes… I just love this movie even more. Snake is still a lot of fun, even if my mindset isn’t as anti-authority or anti-world as when he first slithered into my imagination. 

 

 

 

Cool post Lady Jin Szu, I was only about 12 when I first caught this on late night T.V and I've loved it ever since.

"Whats wrong with Broadway?"

Edited December 9, 2015 by DragonClaws

[AlbertV]

Lifted (Lexi Alexander, 2010) - After making the original Green Street Hooligans and then, Punisher: War Zone, German-born kickboxer turned filmmaker Lexi Alexander decided to take a different route with her third film as a director. The film revolved around a teen, Henry Matthews, whose father is stationed in Afghanistan and whose mother is a recovering drug addict. Henry's passion is freestyle music, a style that his father wholeheartedly supports but is met with prejudice by his maternal grandfather, who is basically a typical redneck-type. When Henry is given a chance to compete in a major teen singing competition, the return of his father inspires him to overcome all the odds, but is everything as it seems?

 

This was actually a very good dramatic and inspiring film. Alexander brought back Dash Mihok from Punisher: War Zone to play Henry's father and he puts on a really good performance. Uriah Shelton, who has a resemblance to Barret Oliver's Bastian from The Neverending Story, really shines as the inspiring Henry. The one character I couldn't stand was Henry's grandfather, but let's just say he gets what comes to him. A major twist in the story changes the mood but only temporarily but with these types of films, one can guess how this will end. Nevertheless, a really good film IMO.

[weier78]

"If You Meet Sartana, Pray For Your Death" starring Gianni Garko, Klaus Kinski and William Bergerr

[weier78]

Robotech, first series

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

2019 After the Fall of New York (1983)

 

I avoided this movie for years and years because I was an Escape From New York purist. And then I watched Enzo Castellari’s absolutely crappy post apocalyptic films Escape from the Bronx and The New Barbarians. “No,” I thought. "I won’t risk watching another bargain zeppole EFNY rip off."

 

And then I got into Sergio Martino’s giallos about 8 years ago and began to appreciate him as a director. But still.. I held off. Eventually, I saw a clip of Michael Sopkiw in 2019's Snake Plissken role (Perceval) and thought, hmmm, he’s cute. Cute lead, Sergio Martino directing… oh hell.

 

The premise is to send Perceval into the wasteland of New York to find the last fertile young woman in the world. This to save mankind. Big Ape wants her so he can have more missing links (kids.) The bad guys want her for the obvious reasons… and Perceval, he just wants off Earth.

 

Sopkiw 100% nails the anti-authority Plisskenesque  character. Sure he looks like he’d be better off in a Duran Duran video, but his limited acting ability and gung ho attitude make Perceval work.  George Eastman (a.k.a. Luigi Montefiore) is hilarious as Big Ape and with these two knowingly saying “Yeah, this movie is low brow bad, but deal with it."

 

And let me tell you, this probably boasts the single lowest budget  Sergio Martino ever worked on. Everything  is so blatantly fake (from the cardboard skyline to the oatmeal style radiation sores make up on people to the 2 lira costumes… but…Martino works with the scrappy budget, goofy story and his cast as best as he can. It sucks he was reduced to working  in these conditions and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a rush job too.  I’m used to be spoiled by Mr. Martino's lovely looking giallos and the ugly sepia of A Man Called Blade, but this is painful to watch in spite of Sergio Martino rising above every constraint thrown at him.  Sopkiw had a lot of potential, but after four films, his budding film career dried up.

 

While I’ve made peace with this Escape From New York homage and can kind of roll with it, a part of me just feels sad after watching because so much talent is not used to the full extent. If you liked Escape From New York and want to laugh at the best of the Italian rip offs, give this one a whirl, but don’t expect much.

 

 

---

 

I love, love, love Gianni Garko as Sartana. He's probably in my top three western protoganists. So much fun. "I. AM. YOUR. PALLBEARER."

 

Um, yes please.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)

 

This is an ugly commentary on abortion and underage sex released right around the time Roe vs. Wade cleared the Supreme Court here in the United States.

Enrico (Fabio Testi) the handsome, and horny Italian teacher at a Catholic school for girls,  is cheating on his icy German wife with Elizabeth a young student of Enrico's. Elizabeth is eager to please, but not quite ready to give up her virginity. While Enrico and Elizabeth are in a row boat getting ready to get it on, she sees the flash of a knife. No sex for you Enrico. Fed up, the teacher relents only to be surprised to hear about the murder the next morning.

 

So unravels a vicious web about one person’s revenge for an abortion gone horribly wrong. Enrico becomes the armchair detective as more of his pretty students turn up dead.

 

The murderer’s Modus Operands is just awful,  stabbing the young girls in their neither regions.  Thankfully, we never see this happen during an attack, but the visual is painful enough shown as an X-Ray (if this was a Dario Argento film, yeah, you’d see it in all it’s unpleasant awfulness.)

 

Why this film works so well is for a couple of reasons: first, the character growth for Enrico’s suspect gone amateur Detective as the murders bring his infidelity into light and force him to face his collapsing marriage.  Second, the killer has a really solid and whacked reason for why they do what they do. And you can’t go wrong with the jazzy Ennio Morricone score either.

 

Arrow’s newly released dual region set is glorious. I’ve owned a couple of editions of this film and am delighted to get my mitts on the Italian dub again.  I haven’t worked my way through the extras, but the restored 2K looks gore-goreous.  I first saw this film as I was working through my first degree in college and now that i am soon to embark upon my second degree, I am watching it again. I doubt there will be any professors as hot, and ultimately, as decent as Fabio Testi’s Enrico was, but hey, a girl can dream right?

Edited December 12, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) A compilation of sketches, this satire doesn't hold up as some other off color 1970s comedies still do. The "commercials" and public service announcements are still pretty spot on and the Enter The Dragon spoof is nowhere near as funny as it could have been. 

 

These bits still made me giggle though:

 

1) the broadcast news announcer who would say something like "Moscow is burning to the ground, missles are heading to New York, film at 11,"

 

2) the sex instructions recording (with the announcer sounding something akin to Barry White)

 

and 3)  a couple of lines from the Enter The Dragon spoof "A Fistful of Yen."  Evan Kim as Mr. Loo isn't a very good Bruce Lee clone, but he does get a couple of really funny lines that still stick almost 40 years later.   To a German Shepard whose bark was not up to snuff, Mr. Loo says, "What was that? This is not a charade. This requires total concentration." Now, if you haven't seen this, just imagine a really bad Bruce Lee voice over, if Bruce Lee had a lisp.  The other line had no audio, but you clearly see Evan mouthing "What the F---" to adversary he thought he put down but no...

 

It's pretty sophomoric, but there are other films from this era that are definitely worth the laughs. 

 

Edited December 12, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi