Member Secret Executioner Posted December 25, 2015 Member Share Posted December 25, 2015 (edited) From here to Eternity (USA, 1953) Hawaii, 1941. A soldier named Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) arrives from the mainland following a not-so nice and calm transfer. His captain Dana Holmes and other soldiers soon turn his life into a living hell because of his refusal to join the platoon/company (not sure the exact term, but it's essentially the army corps under the control of the captain) boxing team for the championships set for mid-December. However, he also has good relations, notably with fellow private Angelo Maccio (Frank Sinatra) and Sgt. Warden (Burt Lancaster). In romance subplots we find that Captain Holmes's wife Karen (Deborah Kerr) is being neglected and a romance quickly blooms between her and Warden, while Prewitt has fallen in love with a worker at a "social club" named Lorene (Donna Reed). As you can tell by this summary, this Fred Zinnemann film is more of a drama/romance set in an army setting than a proper war film. And it holds up very strongly, the characters are interesting and very investing with some development that always appears relevant and is brought up at needed time (some mystery is kept on Prewitt's background and his motivation for quitting boxing through the first half or so, but it's for the better), you get a nice mix of tension (the soldiers - notably Prewitt - getting in constant trouble), drama (the backstories of our female leads) and bits of comedy (notably courtesy of Maccio) that flows very well and doesn't seem too schizophrenic (though at times it seems as though Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift are each in their own movies as they rarely appear in the same scene). Throw in great cinematography, a solid and investing story that keeps you wondering what will happen to these people and a big game changer towards the end (spoiler alert: Japanese plane bomb the area about 100 minutes in*), and it makes for a great movie though the bitter ending is kind of a downer (then again it ends in late 1941/early 1942 at best, so right after the attack on Pearl Harbor occured).I'm not too trusty of the whole Awards things, but in this case, I guess you can trust its glorious gathering of 8 Oscars, including best picture, best director for Zinnemann, best supporting actor (Frank Sinatra) and actress (Donna Reed) for they are perfectly deserved seeing how great the performances, the cinematography, the story (both also awarded) and the overall movie are. My call ? A definite recommendation. Footnote:* Since I brought it up, the only war-related stuff happens in the last 15 minutes. You get five minutes of bombings with the American soldiers trying to fight back (with Burt Lancaster supervising the operations, hell yeah !!) as what I guess must be stock footage is shown with planes, building and ships being destroyed in air raids. Following this, Hawaii is under curfew. Edited December 25, 2015 by Secret Executioner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted December 26, 2015 Member Share Posted December 26, 2015 Nothing like The Thing on Christmas...someone must know I needed some Kurt Russell today. This is a powerful, well acted / written, intense film. And Kurt is just so good... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Morgoth Bauglir Posted December 26, 2015 Member Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) The scene where Kurt Russell has the flamethrower pointed on everyone, and then the blood test scene. Movies don't get any better than that. So intense! ive been watching a lot of Christmas movies lately. I have one more that I've been putting off, and I'm gonna put it on tonight to cap off Christmas. It's called A Collection of Christmas Classics. It has a bunch of weird stuff on it like Santa and the 3 Bears and The Alpha-Bots Christmas. I got it last year and it wasn't very memorable, but I'll give it another shot. Edited December 26, 2015 by Morgoth Bauglir 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted December 26, 2015 Member Share Posted December 26, 2015 Oh yeah, the blood test is amazing. I love Kurt's monologue there... "When a man bleeds, it's just tissue. The blood from one of you things won't obey when it's attacked. It'll try and survive. Crawl away from a hot needle say...." Lots of good-great scenes though, subtle little hints of who was infected and who wasn't. I get so vested in this and care about more than a few members of that team. And Rob Bottin's FX no longer make me cower, (they actually make me laugh which is all the better because they're so delightfully crazy.) The gloopy, out-there transformations are still awesome. And you really get a sense of how high the stakes are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted December 27, 2015 Member Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) Nice to so much appreciation for Black Adder. That's a great comedy series I grew up with. Every Christmas I always try to have a Charles Bronson double bill. This year I re-watched Death Hunt & Mr Majestyk, two of my all time favorite action films with equally great supporting casts. Al Lettieri is superb as the short tempered and nasty mob hit man in Mr Majestic. Edited December 28, 2015 by DragonClaws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted December 27, 2015 Member Share Posted December 27, 2015 Nice to so much appreciation for Black Adder. That's a great comedy series I grew up. Every Christmas I always try to have a Charles Bronson double bill. This year I re-watched Death Hunt & Mr Majestyk, two of my all time favorite action films with equally great supporting casts. Al Lettieri is superb as the short tempered and nasty mob hit man in Mr Majestic.Can't go wrong with those two Bronson films, DragonClaws. I remember Mr. Majestyk more than Death Hunt... but Charles Bronson always delivered the goods. Just finished viewing The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) for the first time in a long while. Still a very powerful anti-nuclear war / war film and rather creepy (human nature and some of the concepts.) Michael Rennie does look like he could have been an alien from another world. Gort and the space ship are wonderful designs. This is my favorite 50s SF film, so I was glad to see it again this morning. Klattuu Barrata Niktu... (Is it any wonder Ash can't get that right? ) I really got sucked into the story and cared about Rennie's alien and the Earth woman who helps him. This almost feels like something Rod Serling would have written (no zinger at the end I know...but it's very smart and a little unnerving at the same time.) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted December 28, 2015 Member Share Posted December 28, 2015 I watched The Maze Runner last night. I thought it was pretty good. Had sort of a Lord of the Flies feel to it. I thought the f/x weren't too bad. It didn't have the life and death intensity I was expecting until the end, but it worked. Looking forward to the sequel.I ended up really liking the first one (the second I was more ambivalent about though I will see the third to find out what happens). The Lord of the Flies aspect was definitely there, but I like the whole idea of rats in the maze feel. It was one of those movies where if I think logically I can probably find a bunch of holes (there is a youtube video on it, though even that gets some aspects wrong), but kept me interested throughout. It builds on the life and death aspect so I thought that aspect was fine as well (though maybe too much of an abrupt change at the end, which sets up the second film but has such a tonal change like watching From Dusk Till Dawn and only knowing the robbery aspect of the movie -- the damn trailers to that should never have shown the vampires :D.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted December 28, 2015 Member Share Posted December 28, 2015 Can't go wrong with those two Bronson films, DragonClaws. I remember Mr. Majestyk more than Death Hunt... but Charles Bronson always delivered the goods. Just finished viewing The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) for the first time in a long while. Still a very powerful anti-nuclear war / war film and rather creepy (human nature and some of the concepts.) Michael Rennie does look like he could have been an alien from another world. Gort and the space ship are wonderful designs. This is my favorite 50s SF film, so I was glad to see it again this morning. Klattuu Barrata Niktu... (Is it any wonder Ash can't get that right? ) I really got sucked into the story and cared about Rennie's alien and the Earth woman who helps him. This almost feels like something Rod Serling would have written (no zinger at the end I know...but it's very smart and a little unnerving at the same time.)Death Hunt is one of his last classic films in my opinion. He spent the 80's appearing in some entertaining films but none of them matched the quality of his 70's work. Did you know Bronson was Leone's first choice for the man with no name character?. He turned him down twice before accepting a role in Once Upon A Time In The West. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted December 28, 2015 Member Share Posted December 28, 2015 ...Just finished viewing The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) for the first time in a long while. Still a very powerful anti-nuclear war / war film and rather creepy (human nature and some of the concepts.) Michael Rennie does look like he could have been an alien from another world. Gort and the space ship are wonderful designs. This is my favorite 50s SF film, so I was glad to see it again this morning. Klattuu Barrata Niktu... (Is it any wonder Ash can't get that right? ) I really got sucked into the story and cared about Rennie's alien and the Earth woman who helps him. This almost feels like something Rod Serling would have written (no zinger at the end I know...but it's very smart and a little unnerving at the same time.)One of my favorite 1950 sci-fi films. Have you seen Forbidden Planet (1956) another of the sci-fi A films of the 50s (so many sci-fi B-films that decade)? Are you a sci-fi film fan in general? As soon as I saw that title I was wondering if you were going to write the Ash/Army of Darkness reference. I liked this film so much more than the remake which I watched once. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted December 28, 2015 Member Share Posted December 28, 2015 I watched the 24-episode inaugural season of the anime series Shokugeki no Soma aka Food Wars. This is a hilarious series revolving the crazy antics around a high school culinary academy. A young restaurant worker, Soma Yukihira, is given a chance to attend the Totsuki Culinary Academy, where only 10% of the class graduate each year to hone his culinary skills. He makes a group of friends in his dormitory, but also finds an enemy in some of the elitist of the school. They have recently announced a Season 2 and I can't wait!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted December 29, 2015 Member Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) One of my favorite 1950 sci-fi films. Have you seen Forbidden Planet (1956) another of the sci-fi A films of the 50s (so many sci-fi B-films that decade)? Are you a sci-fi film fan in general? As soon as I saw that title I was wondering if you were going to write the Ash/Army of Darkness reference. I liked this film so much more than the remake which I watched once. I have, yes. I like Forbidden Planet (okay the Robot) but that doesn't hit me the way The Day The Earth Stood still does. For me, SF is like Horror. It depends on the film. The DTEST remake felt very empty and flat to me. As most films these days sadly do. It's too bad given that this remake was Scott Derrickson's first foray into big studio work. I tend to like Derrickson's output too. Death Hunt is one of his last classic films in my opinion. He spent the 80's appearing in some entertaining films but none of them matched the quality of his 70's work. Did you know Bronson was Leone's first choice for the man with no name character?. He turned him down twice before accepting a role in Once Upon A Time In The West. I did not know that DragonClaws, thank you. Awesome. I suppose Bronson saw how successful the three Eastwood films were and went to Italy (like many American actors at the time.) Bronson's subplot with Henry Fonda was amazing (my favorite element of the film along with the patented Argento reveal of their history together. You can tell Dario Argento wrote that.) Edited December 29, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted December 29, 2015 Member Share Posted December 29, 2015 I have, yes. I like Forbidden Planet (okay the Robot) but that doesn't hit me the way The Day The Earth Stood still does. For me, SF is like Horror. It depends on the film. The DTEST remake felt very empty and flat to me. As most films these days sadly do. The original still resonates on a lot of levels. It's too bad given that this was Scott Derrickson's first foray into big studio work. I tend to like Derrickson's output too. I did not know that DragonClaws, thank you. Awesome. I suppose Bronson saw how successful the three Eastwood films were and went to Italy (like many American actors at the time.) Bronson's subplot with Henry Fonda was amazing (my favorite element of the film along with the patented Argento reveal of their history together. You can tell Dario Argento wrote that.) Your right, Bronson said he regretted turning Leone down after seeing how much success Clint Eastwood had with the role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member masterofoneinchpunch Posted December 29, 2015 Member Share Posted December 29, 2015 I have, yes. I like Forbidden Planet (okay the Robot) but that doesn't hit me the way The Day The Earth Stood still does. For me, SF is like Horror. It depends on the film. The DTEST remake felt very empty and flat to me. As most films these days sadly do. It's too bad given that this remake was Scott Derrickson's first foray into big studio work. I tend to like Derrickson's output too. ... Bronson's subplot with Henry Fonda was amazing (my favorite element of the film along with the patented Argento reveal of their history together. You can tell Dario Argento wrote that.) While that film felt flat I will reiterate what I wrote elsewhere here is that there are always good films coming out of Hollywood (and non-Hollywood of course) There are always surprises, some indies (just because it is indie does not have it good with the sometimes overboard of mumblecore), some Hollywood that does not get the press and even some that does. There are certain Hollywood directors I always look forward to like Christopher Nolan, David Fincher (its funny I was a bigger fan of Tarantino many years ago, but I digress), some indie directors like Wes Anderson and of course other like Johnnie To and John Woo and many others. Reminds me I need to still see Sinister.Once Upon a Time in the West is such a great western (probably in my top 10, I know at least in my top 20). I know Fonda was initially against it, then decided to want to use contacts and facial hair which Leone stated no (Wiki has this, but I've heard this in an interview with Fonda as well.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted December 29, 2015 Member Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) The Peanuts Movie (USA, 2015) In this animated movie based on the famous Shultz' comic strip, we see our hero Charlie Brown trying to give a good impression and succeed at something in order to impress the new girl in the class as he felt in love at first sight (even though said girl is only referred to as "the little red-haired girl" and has no proper name). Meanwhile, Snoopy fancies himself a writer and mixes various events happening around him (along with WWI air battles) in a novel of his own. I'm not that familiar with the Peanuts (I know some of the names and character traits of these kids, but that's about it*), but I found that the movie does justice to the source material - the animation is CG but looks very close to the strips and the animated movies based on them, the characters are very well designed and the personalities are clear-cut, and you have some trademarks like the adults talking in "wah wah" sounds or Snoopy making Lucy freak out by kissing her. The story is nice too. Sure the "loser trying to do right" may be an old clicheed comedy story, but it works really well with Charlie Brown (you get references at past failures of his like the ugly little tree he picked for Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas or the football routine) since it's pretty much his persona. It flows nicely and you really think he's gonna make it. That said, what makes this movie really fun to watch (and it also includes what I consider the funniest bits of the film) is the scenes involving Snoopy. Interestingly, the animation style for him and the Woodstock birds is slightly different, the facial features look much more cartoony and are thus often funny when Snoopy makes OTT faces (which happens a lot) - actually, a lot of things Snoopy does are crazy (and often hilarious). His subplot is based on a fantasy so you get air battles (with Snoopy having his dog house as a plane) thrown into the story, and there's some hilarious stuff happening when you see the consequences of his fantasies in the real world. Overall, you can tell from the very start the people who made this not only very respectfully recreated these kids' universe and personas but also had a ton of fun making this and throwing in references to stuff like an overly capitalistic Sally (whose only knowledge of her I have is her wanting cash for Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas) that obsesses over Linus, Schroeder being very fond of Beethoven... My call ? Even though I was a lonely 27 years old guy sitting in a theater where most of the other people were parents and their kids (about 20 people in that theater, while the biggest theater was packed like mad for Star Wars), I really enjoyed this. Hell, some of Snoopy's whacky actions are probably the funniest stuff I've seen on the big screen this year**. So I'd clearly recommend it if you like the franchise, good animated movies or simply if you want a movie for your young kids - it's very tame and doesn't have disturbing stuff (except for some Snoopy psycho faces, though they're more funny than threatening) or things that may make you uncomfortable if the kids ask you about them. It also teaches positive lessons such as being tolerant to others, being honest and having self-esteem even when others put you down or when you feel down. Between the respect of the material, the quality of the film itself and the message, it's definitely a good one I'd recommend if you haven't seen it yet. Footnote:* All I know about Peanuts is a few strips I've read and the Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas that I used to have on my old computer.** This and Roy Andersson's A Pigeon sat on a Branch reflecting on Existence are the two movies that made me laugh most this year (though for VERY different reasons), with Ant-Man coming third. Edited December 29, 2015 by Secret Executioner 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted December 31, 2015 Member Share Posted December 31, 2015 The Peanuts Movie (USA, 2015) In this animated movie based on the famous Shultz' comic strip, we see our hero Charlie Brown trying to give a good impression and succeed at something in order to impress the new girl in the class as he felt in love at first sight (even though said girl is only referred to as "the little red-haired girl" and has no proper name). Meanwhile, Snoopy fancies himself a writer and mixes various events happening around him (along with WWI air battles) in a novel of his own. I'm not that familiar with the Peanuts (I know some of the names and character traits of these kids, but that's about it*), but I found that the movie does justice to the source material - the animation is CG but looks very close to the strips and the animated movies based on them, the characters are very well designed and the personalities are clear-cut, and you have some trademarks like the adults talking in "wah wah" sounds or Snoopy making Lucy freak out by kissing her. The story is nice too. Sure the "loser trying to do right" may be an old clicheed comedy story, but it works really well with Charlie Brown (you get references at past failures of his like the ugly little tree he picked for Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas or the football routine) since it's pretty much his persona. It flows nicely and you really think he's gonna make it. That said, what makes this movie really fun to watch (and it also includes what I consider the funniest bits of the film) is the scenes involving Snoopy. Interestingly, the animation style for him and the Woodstock birds is slightly different, the facial features look much more cartoony and are thus often funny when Snoopy makes OTT faces (which happens a lot) - actually, a lot of things Snoopy does are crazy (and often hilarious). His subplot is based on a fantasy so you get air battles (with Snoopy having his dog house as a plane) thrown into the story, and there's some hilarious stuff happening when you see the consequences of his fantasies in the real world. Overall, you can tell from the very start the people who made this not only very respectfully recreated these kids' universe and personas but also had a ton of fun making this and throwing in references to stuff like an overly capitalistic Sally (whose only knowledge of her I have is her wanting cash for Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas) that obsesses over Linus, Schroeder being very fond of Beethoven... My call ? Even though I was a lonely 27 years old guy sitting in a theater where most of the other people were parents and their kids (about 20 people in that theater, while the biggest theater was packed like mad for Star Wars), I really enjoyed this. Hell, some of Snoopy's whacky actions are probably the funniest stuff I've seen on the big screen this year**. So I'd clearly recommend it if you like the franchise, good animated movies or simply if you want a movie for your young kids - it's very tame and doesn't have disturbing stuff (except for some Snoopy psycho faces, though they're more funny than threatening) or things that may make you uncomfortable if the kids ask you about them. It also teaches positive lessons such as being tolerant to others, being honest and having self-esteem even when others put you down or when you feel down. Between the respect of the material, the quality of the film itself and the message, it's definitely a good one I'd recommend if you haven't seen it yet. Footnote:* All I know about Peanuts is a few strips I've read and the Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas that I used to have on my old computer.** This and Roy Andersson's A Pigeon sat on a Branch reflecting on Existence are the two movies that made me laugh most this year (though for VERY different reasons), with Ant-Man coming third.For someone whose read and seen so little, you know a lot about the Peanuts, Secret. Thanks for posting this review, sounds like the Peanuts I still enjoy (and there are many times when the authority figures more mature than me sound like ("Wah, wah, was, wah.") I'll have to rent this when I have some down time from classes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Lady Jin Szu-Yi Posted December 31, 2015 Member Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) Finally getting around to watching the extras on Arrow's What Have You Done to Solange? 2 disc set. Excellent. I can see I'll be rewatching the interview with Fabio Testi. He had lovely things to say about Enzo Castellari (no surprise, but Fabio saying he'd love to remake The Big Racket was a big surprise - granted this interview is almost 10 years old now... but still. And I can't help but wonder which Castellari film Testi was talking about in which their script was incomplete. If it was the Heroin Busters well that would solidify my OTT love for that movie even more. ) In additional to talking about Enzo, Testi brought up an interesting revelation about Lucio Fulci, which blows my known conceptions of Fulci out the window. And in Sergio Sollima, Testi brought up martial arts, but I think Testi meant the discipline that comes with MA training rather than Sollima actually being a practitioner. Fascinating stuff. And that voice... (swoons...) On opposite end of the spectrum, actress Karin Baal who played Fabio's wife in the film was not too kind - well it was somewhat sleazy. Even so, pretty funny. This is the first batch of interviews / extras I've seen from Arrow and I'm really impressed. I've seen a lot of interviews with Italian genre film casts and crews over the past 17 years and it's great to hear and learn something new. I had to stop myself from watching the movie again... but the print looks amazing. If you're into giallos, this is one to definitely pick up. It can be quite unnerving and full of pretty people (as most Italian movies were back then. ) Edited December 31, 2015 by Lady Jin Szu-Yi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted December 31, 2015 Member Share Posted December 31, 2015 To cap off the year, along with watching the The Force Awakens on Christmas, I re-visited the entire Star Wars saga and reviewed them onmy blog. http://worldfilmgeek.wordpress.com 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted January 1, 2016 Member Share Posted January 1, 2016 The Peanuts Movie (USA, 2015) In this animated movie based on the famous Shultz' comic strip, we see our hero Charlie Brown trying to give a good impression and succeed at something in order to impress the new girl in the class as he felt in love at first sight (even though said girl is only referred to as "the little red-haired girl" and has no proper name). Meanwhile, Snoopy fancies himself a writer and mixes various events happening around him (along with WWI air battles) in a novel of his own. I'm not that familiar with the Peanuts (I know some of the names and character traits of these kids, but that's about it*), but I found that the movie does justice to the source material - the animation is CG but looks very close to the strips and the animated movies based on them, the characters are very well designed and the personalities are clear-cut, and you have some trademarks like the adults talking in "wah wah" sounds or Snoopy making Lucy freak out by kissing her. The story is nice too. Sure the "loser trying to do right" may be an old clicheed comedy story, but it works really well with Charlie Brown (you get references at past failures of his like the ugly little tree he picked for Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas or the football routine) since it's pretty much his persona. It flows nicely and you really think he's gonna make it. That said, what makes this movie really fun to watch (and it also includes what I consider the funniest bits of the film) is the scenes involving Snoopy. Interestingly, the animation style for him and the Woodstock birds is slightly different, the facial features look much more cartoony and are thus often funny when Snoopy makes OTT faces (which happens a lot) - actually, a lot of things Snoopy does are crazy (and often hilarious). His subplot is based on a fantasy so you get air battles (with Snoopy having his dog house as a plane) thrown into the story, and there's some hilarious stuff happening when you see the consequences of his fantasies in the real world. Overall, you can tell from the very start the people who made this not only very respectfully recreated these kids' universe and personas but also had a ton of fun making this and throwing in references to stuff like an overly capitalistic Sally (whose only knowledge of her I have is her wanting cash for Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas) that obsesses over Linus, Schroeder being very fond of Beethoven... My call ? Even though I was a lonely 27 years old guy sitting in a theater where most of the other people were parents and their kids (about 20 people in that theater, while the biggest theater was packed like mad for Star Wars), I really enjoyed this. Hell, some of Snoopy's whacky actions are probably the funniest stuff I've seen on the big screen this year**. So I'd clearly recommend it if you like the franchise, good animated movies or simply if you want a movie for your young kids - it's very tame and doesn't have disturbing stuff (except for some Snoopy psycho faces, though they're more funny than threatening) or things that may make you uncomfortable if the kids ask you about them. It also teaches positive lessons such as being tolerant to others, being honest and having self-esteem even when others put you down or when you feel down. Between the respect of the material, the quality of the film itself and the message, it's definitely a good one I'd recommend if you haven't seen it yet. Footnote:* All I know about Peanuts is a few strips I've read and the Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas that I used to have on my old computer.** This and Roy Andersson's A Pigeon sat on a Branch reflecting on Existence are the two movies that made me laugh most this year (though for VERY different reasons), with Ant-Man coming third.Growing up in the 70's in the US we watched the Peanuts seasonal cartoons(Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Xmas) religiously every year, of course there wasn't much else on back then lol but you have me interested in giving this a watch.Haven't had much time to be on the forum so reading up I have to agree that blood test scene in The Thing is pure genuis, man Carpenter and Russell was on one hell of a role there with Escape from NY, BTiLChina and The Thing.Watched a couple movies I'll have to get back to when I get some time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted January 3, 2016 Moderator Share Posted January 3, 2016 It was just there sitting on the shelf looking at me so I decided to re-watch one of the best crime dramas from the early '80s. Cidade de Deus aka City of God."If you run, the beast catches; if you stay, the beast eats" For those who are into crime dramas & haven't seen it then it is a must watch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator thekfc Posted January 5, 2016 Moderator Share Posted January 5, 2016 Sicario The movie surrounds an FBI agent "trying" to help get rid of a drug cartel who killed members of her team. Emily Blunt plays the FBI agent, who joins (actually her help was requested) up with a CIA operative (Josh Brolin) to get the job done. The movies belongs to Benicio del Toro who (at first) plays a mysterious Colombian cartel member whom they teams up with. Don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it.......it is worth a watch and for me a purchase. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted January 5, 2016 Member Share Posted January 5, 2016 1 hour ago, thekfc said: Sicario The movie surrounds an FBI agent "trying" to help get rid of a drug cartel who killed members of her team. Emily Blunt plays the FBI agent, who joins (actually her help was requested) up with a CIA operative (Josh Brolin) to get the job done. The movies belongs to Benicio del Toro who (at first) plays a mysterious Colombian cartel member whom they teams up with. Don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it.......it is worth a watch and for me a purchase. Read a lot of praise on that one, but didn't watch it - I have a feeling it's not really up my alley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted January 6, 2016 Member Share Posted January 6, 2016 Quentin Tarantino's The hateful Eight (USA, 2015). More in the matching thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Bus Posted January 7, 2016 Member Share Posted January 7, 2016 Monster Squad, Dog Soldiers, and Dope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted January 7, 2016 Member Share Posted January 7, 2016 I finished the first season of another anime series, Free! based on the novel High Speed. It's about four high schoolers who form the first swim team for Iwatobi High School in years with one little catch: the four high schoolers are boys who have girl names?! When a former friend turned rival of the top swimmer of the group arrives to challenge him, as the series progresses, the reasons are explained. The team manager (who is the sister of the frenemy who just happens to have a boy's name) goes nuts when she sees swimmers and they get advice from the new teacher of the school, who is an ex-gravure model and the former manager of the kids' old pool, who is now a pizza delivery man. The first season is on Crunchyroll with English dubbing. I have yet to see the second season, Free! Eternal Summer but just saw Funimation's Youtube channel has it so I'm gonna check it out at first chance. And last month, a feature-length movie, Free! High Speed! was released in theaters in Japan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted January 7, 2016 Member Share Posted January 7, 2016 Last Cannibal World AKA Jungle Holocaust (Italy, 1977) In this Ruggero Deodato cannibal movie (that precedes Deodato's more famous Cannibal Holocaust by 3 years*), we see a groupe of Westerners landing in the middle of a jungle on the isle of Mindanao (Philippines)**, only to find their camp has been deserted by the crew who was in charge. They quickly realize the camp was attacked by a stone age kind of tribe and decide to leave ASAP. However, circumstances will lead to them staying longer than planned and to them being lost in the jungle. The movie then focuses on a man named Robert Harper (played by Massimo Foschi) and his encounter with a local tribe. And much like its more famous "sequel", this movie tries to pass off the story as real through disclaimers at the start and at the end... Personally, I don't believe it and think it's only an attempt at manipulating the audience so that the movie has a bigger impact. Where to start with this ? Well, the first third is rather quiet and has a slow build-up. You also have some random inserts of animals in the wild, including a scene with a snake eating a monitor lizard. But when Robert (who's the main character here) becomes the focus and gets captured, things get ugly - a guy is being put through some harsh torture, animal violence (abuse against a hornbill, an eagle, a snake I think is some kind of python and a crocodile***), some mistreating inflicted to our hero... The last third is lighter with some nicely set tension and suspense (as well as a rape scene, a strange scene with a tribe woman giving birth - what she does afterwards is both intriguing and kinda disturbing - and occurences of cannibalism). Hurray for the uncut version I guess... Concerning the effects and the looks, it's a very well-done movie. The tribe people (unlike in other movies) look dirty and pretty threatening - I'm pointing it out because some cannibal movies have cannibals that seem to take good care of their skin and hair (how do you do that in a jungle ? I mean, sure you can be remotely clean if there's a river nearby, but women with nice perms or clean-shaved guys may be a bit too much), and there's even an Italian cannibal movie where you can see the guy playing one of the cannibals is wearing sneakers (!!). The cannibals here seem very primitive (there are several mentions of "stone age tribe" in the film) and they don't seem to have a language per se, they essentially use gestures and grunts to communicate. That said, they still have tools and weapons, and are able to light fire. The middle third explores their culture as we see it through the eyes of the main character. Speaking of our lead, the evolution of his look (beside the fact he spends more than half the movie naked) is also pretty neat, as you go from a well-dressed, clean-shaved dude with a nice hair cut to a dirty guy with a thick beard and slightly longer hair. Much like the cannibals, it tries to look authentic rather than having a strangely clean and not too bad looking fellow for someone who spent a while in the middle of the jungle. My call ? Not a bad film, but better be warned it's pretty strong and some parts may make you cringe. Footnote: * Stating the obvious here, but the alternate title Jungle Holocaust is an obvious cash-in on the popularity of Cannibal Holocaust ** Before the South American rain forrest, South Eastern Asia looked like the top spot for cannibals. Umberto Lenzi's Man from deep River (Italy, 1972) also takes place in this area (technically it's set in Thailand or Burma, not Philippines though) and IMDb mentions this was initially to be a sequel of sorts to Man from deep River. *** The abuse against the animals is mainly glanced over, you don't see much of what happens to the snake (it's killed on screen, and that's it) and the two birds (both seem to get hit badly, and one is fed to crocodiles apparently). However, the crocodile abuse is pretty much right in the middle of the movie and the scene is long and brutal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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