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

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[Tex Killer]

Supernatural season 13. Massive improvement over lame #12, only 1 poor episode and it does not really count as it was totally bonkers as brothers enter to Scooby Doo cartoon! Some old threats solved and new dangers uprising...

Thor ragnarok. Great movie but crap humor, very silly liners. Hulk was underused tho, impressive destruction of asgard,

Killers anonymous. Quite clever thriller of killers who gather to share their experiences and traumas. Loses grip tho in the end but for most part was good movie.

[ShawAngela]

I don't remember if I had mentioned it here, but months ago, I watched a spy movie with Ken Clark called Fury in the Orient, and I enjoyed it a lot.

I later discovered that this movie was the third one of a trilogy and I recently got a German boxset release with English language of the three movies.

So, I just finished to watch the two first ones.

Mission Bloody Mary, and Special Mission Lady Chaplin.

This latter was the mos interesting one, because the heroine played by Daniela Bianchi (the James Bond girl from From Russia with love)  was not only intelligent and charming, but also able to do some things that girls usually don't do in these 60's spy movie, in which they are usually shown as just " decoration objects " and " women just there as pleasure objects for the agents ".

The three movies don't have to be ashamed to be compared to the Bond's movies : even if they aren't as much loaded with special gadgets as the Bond's, they have some charming little ones and the action is as good as in the Bond's movies.

In Mission Bloody Mary, I had the surprise to discover our French famous singer Nino Ferrer and a French actor whose face is familiar to me, but I don't know his name. The theme song is sung by Maurizio Graf. I don't know him, but he sings pretty well and the song is very good.

In Special Mission Lady Chaplin, the theme song is very good too, and is sung by famous singer Bobby Solo.

As a conclusion, these three movies are worth watching for those who like the Eurospy movies from the 60's.

[AlbertV]

Cry Havoc - Rene Perez's latest film can be best described as "Death Wish" Meets "Friday the 13th" with Robert Bronzi playing a cop whose search for his daughter leads to him having to face off against Perez's serial killer Havoc from the "Playing with Dolls" franchise. 

Crisis Hotline - A man working for a LGBTQ crisis hotline gets a call from a young man who plots to kill the three men who did him wrong before killing himself. He tells the story and it is very emotional and gripping. 

Tigers Are Not Afraid - Real-life gripping drama, set during the Mexican Drug War, meets supernatural horror. Reminds me a lot of "Pan's Labyrinth" but substitute a goat demon for the voices of the ghosts of past victims. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - It was not the epic ending I was expecting, but it had its moments. I did like the appearance of both Lando and Wedge during the final battle. I wish they fleshed more of certain aspects of the story. It was okay, but not what I hoped it would be overall.

A Room Full of Nothing - A married couple, on the verge of their professional lives collapsing, wake up to find they are the last two people on Earth. It's a fresh take on the concept as we see their marriage being tested on all accounts. 

Butt Boy - from the concept of the film, you would expect a Troma film. However, the story of an ex-alcoholic detective theorizing his sponsor may be kidnapping people by vacuuming them up his butt is actually done in a more subtle manner and the third act is quite disturbing and at times cringey. However, overall, I did enjoy it. 

Nightfire - A short film about 2 CIA agents who are hired to retrieve some chips with information of government money from a military prison in the Ukraine. However, the duo encounter a political prisoner who may be the key to get the chips. It's pretty good, especially Dylan Baker as the prisoner in question. Some intricate twists and turns, I felt this could be a pilot for a potential TV action series.

[teako170]

Mary Reilly (1996) Dark and dreary. Could have been better. Was expecting a little more out of John M. 
 

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[ShawAngela]

Today, I watched Craze, with Jack Palance, and New York calling Superdragon with Ray Danton.

Nice movies. I was afraid to be frightened with Craze, since it was mentioned as a horror movie (and it was my first one out of Shaws' horror movies) but it was ok, and the other movie was as nice as the other spies movies I recently watched.

[DragonClaws]

 

 Hunslett- What happened to you?.

Philip Calvert - I met a wild gypsy girl in the heather.

 

When Eight Bells Toll(1971) - A young Athony Hopkin's, appears in his first ever starring role. In this gritty 1971 espionage action thriller. Set mostly in the rainy, grey, cold north of Scotland. The story was based on Alistair MacLeans eleventh novel of the same name. Maclean was often very critical of his movie adaptation's, though He's credited here as writing this movies screenplay. I personally havent read the novel. Making me unabe to comment on how the book and film versions really compare. Some sources say the book had a more low key ending, that was less gun-ho?. A number of cargo ships and their gold bullion, have been hijacked in the Irish sea. It's upto secret service men Philip Cavert(Hopkins) and Hunslett(Corin Redgrave), to find out whats really happening to the missing vessell's.

Quote

According to stuntman Bob Simmons' 1987 book "Nobody Does It Better: My 25 Years of Stunts With James Bond and Other Stories", he helped Sir Anthony Hopkins slim down and prepare for the lead role of Phillip Calvert in this movie, a character who was a frogman, commando, and Royal Naval officer. - IMDB

Poor box-office stopped this movie being turned into a series of pictures. It's by no means a dud movie, but it some how just misses the mark. It clearly wasn't an easy production, with sixteen weeks spent in the Scottish Highlands filming. Before further scenes were shot at Pinwood studios London. There's some great support from veteran British actor Robert Morely. Who even steals some scenes from the productions charismatic leading man. French born actress Nathalie Delon co-stars alongside Hopkin's, in what was to be her first English speaking role. Not the best 70's spy movie, but well worth checking out if you into Alistair MacLean's work.

 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by DragonClaws

[Takuma]

The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (Italy, 1971) [BD] - 3/5
A pretty good giallo captures the Greece locale nicely, but the story/characterization feels superficial. Charismatic Anita Strindberg was better cast in Martino's later, superior film Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key.

Chato's Land (USA, 1972) [DVD] - 3/5
A group of white men try to hunt down Apache Charles Bronson who killed a racist pig in a pub, only to find the roles reversed in the wilderness. A pleasingly tough chase / revenge film, but there's almost zero character depth to Bronson's character. The miscellaneous bunch chasing him (including Jack Palance, whose character is not completely void of humanity) is actually more interesting. I viewed the uncut Japanese DVD; the PG rated US version is slightly censored in two scenes for violence and nudity.

Fair Game (Australia, 1986) [VoD] – 2.5/5
A pretty tame Aussie exploitationer is more of a bullying film than a human hunt film, with three semi-comical jerks harassing a lady in the wilderness. The famous scene where lead Cassandra Delaney is tied topless on a truck’s hood is cool, but that’s it for the shocks (unless you count the God-awful score). Boring it isn’t however, thanks to the action oriented approach and lead Delaney who is very watchable… and sounds shockingly much like a Japanese anime character!

Sudden Death (USA, 1995) [DVD] – 3.5/5
Competently made “second class” Die Hard clone. Good action, tight pacing (even at 1h 50m), relatively decent production values and a good use of the location (hockey stadium during Stanley Cup finals) make this one of Van Damme's best. Good performances too, both the Belgian and bad guy Powers Boothe.

[Vices of Terror]

Just watched a classic film for the first time last night.

 

Citizen Kane (1941) - 4/5

I barely stream movies anymore, but browsing through a Finnish cable TV channel's streaming service, I found it's been added there for a while. Decided to give it a go, since I've never seen it before but of course I've heard lots. I don't study film yet, and neither am I a filmmaker yet even if I'm aspiring to be one so a lot of things the film gets praised on for didn't appear to me that clearly.  I've read that it's an essential study in filmmaking, as it did standardize lot of stuff we've seen in cinema since. I'm sure with a little more of knowledge behind the making of a film, I could perhaps enjoy it even more.

Despite my shortcomings with understanding the technical side, Citizen Kane was really captivating. I felt like I couldn't even go for a quick bathroom break, as I felt I'd wrongdo the movie. I watched in awe for the unraveling of the mystery, and liked the overall feel and the storybuilding. The characters were really well written and I was truly immersed in the story from the get-go. Even though color in a film is not a must for me, sometimes I find it harder to get immersed into or stay focused in a black & white film - it requires more, sometimes pretty much of self-discipline. Citizen Kane didn't require anything from me, I just stayed captivated for the whole duration.

Definitely recommended, and I'll definitely revisit once I've gained more knowledge of the technical side of things.

[massa_yoda]

There’s a new Netflix docuseries called Home Game.  It’s about unique sports played around the world.  The first episode is about a game played in Florence called Calcio Storico.  It’s like Rugby fight club. It actually reminded me of the game in Jackie’s Dragon Lord.  It’s insane.  

[ShawAngela]

The desert song : a musical action movie which is a great enjoyment.

What a voice Kathryn Grayson had, and Gordon McRae as well !!

[masterofoneinchpunch]

A Brighter Summer Day (1991: Edward Yang: Taiwan): 

I had seen Yi Yi from Yang on Criterion and thought highly of it.  This movie has had such a strong reputation over the years that I really wanted to wait until it came out in a better release.  Criterion released it in 2016 and I finally got to it now (Where did the time go?).  

Based off a real-life story, this takes a patient (four hours) and sometimes elliptical (though you can figure out what is missing) approach of a wayward youth Xiao Si'r in Taiwan during the early KMT (post WWII) period of Taiwan.  He is not a sympathetic soul, he is not a demon, he exists with an influence from both his father and friends which ultimately leads to his downfall. 

Yang’s filming technique is a more restrained Bela Tarr and less adventurous than fellow Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang.  I liked it quite a bit for its depiction of Taiwan, the historical aspect which is similar to the Ah Fei culture of Hong Kong at the same time (and many of the same movies were playing in both areas).  Take note of both the Mandarin and Taiwanese dialect (with the native Taiwanese) being used.   

Interesting to see the American influence (and Japanese as well) on the culture. Elvis is prominent (and that would be so cool if he did send that kid a ring), you can see posters for The Misfits and hear Rio Bravo in one theater.  The cowboy culture of cinema is referenced in several scenes. 

The paranoia of the KMT party was similar to that of the Communist (though a lot less deaths) and is depicted here with the Father’s interrogation.  It is like being caught up in Marathon Man’s “Are you Safe?” where you have no idea why you are being captive.  

The film is heartbreaking (or was to me).  The ending was ultimately devastating and makes you, first be more careful with those who have knives and second be careful with people’s feelings (not saying what the person did what was right, but I have been in similar circumstances and it always pays to be completely cautious, especially when that person has a knife).  

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Heathers (1989: Michael Lehmann): 

Finally saw this or according to several: "What? You have not seen that film yet?"  A phrase that irks me more than most anything else including “Who are you and why are you in my house?” A film that has cult-like appeal. I will be appropriating several quotations from it to use in my conversation -- especially the one about the chainsaw used gently into the night. 

The TV Series The Goldbergs has a direct reference to it when Geoff Schwartz uses "Greeting and Salutations" in an episode "Chorus Lie" imitating Christian Slater who was, of course, imitating Jack Nicholson. 

Interesting that Leonard Maltin, several on Twitter I know (and I’m sure several thousand I don’t know as well as several thousand that I don’t know that will disagree with me) and myself all agree that the film peters off after a bit. It has its moments and dialogue and overall fun-ness (though I would have had a different ending) after the first half, but the first-half has a really good setup. 

"Whether to kill yourself or not is one of the most important decisions a teenager can make. " This quote certainly reminds me of the Japanese film Suicide Club. A film I certainly recommend here – though sometimes it comes off Monty Pythonesque in its depiction of suicide. 

Some of the choice music and camera choices seem a bit amateurish (also making it feel much more like a cult-pick), but I'm finally glad that after years of hearing about this film I saw it nd can finally check it off of several 80s lists.  Winona Ryder and Christian Slater were quite good though. I was hoping a bit more Natural Born Killers or something less convoluted than here.  Plus, I now have several additional quotations to use to make myself more like a hipster Oscar Wilde – more than usual.  

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Valley Girl (1983: Martha Coolidge) 

I was expecting a better film than this.  You have the basic Romeo and Juliet formula here (and even references that play) between two possible lovers (Nicholas Cage and Deborah Foreman) from two different high schools and ways of life (in reality not so different).  Of course, life has to intervene.     

One of the best aspects of the film is Julie Richman’s relationship with her parents.  If her relationship with Randy was better explored than this would have been a better film.  That relationship felt too mercurial (which may be the case in real life, but it was annoying here).   

Obviously one can be trapped in a high school mindset of classism and popularity (and maybe trapped in that for a lot longer than high school life) but I never really felt the split of conscience here and the reconciliation felt too flat (though contrast Randy’s friend, who ultimately is a much better friend, than Richman’s friends (really any of them, but especially Loryn who should have told her about her boyfriend).   

But I was impressed with Cage’s performance as well as his characters attempt to get her back.  He still seems way too cool for her.  Well except for the binge drinking and scurrilous bathroom visit.  Aside from that and probably not a big enough of a meltdown for fans of Cage (remember he is young and still has plenty of demons and vampires (I am a vampire) to exorcise later.  

Seriously good soundtrack though.  Interesting to hear the divide of popular music between the two different crowds.  The preps were much more New Wave (The Psychedlic Furs) based while the Hollywood crowd was more guitar based (The Plimsouls).  Josie Cotton would not have survived the PC crowd today. 

 

[morpheus]

Alain Delon films:

• Le Samourai
• The Red Circle
• Two Men in Town
• Farewell Friend

Still looking for some Eastern European films with English subs. All of them star the late Nevena Kokanova pictured at the bottom

• Perilous Flight (1968)
• Tobacco (1962)
• The Peach Thief (1964)

 

[morpheus]

On 7/14/2020 at 7:48 AM, masterofoneinchpunch said:

Valley Girl (1983: Martha Coolidge) 

I was expecting a better film than this.  You have the basic Romeo and Juliet formula here (and even references that play) between two possible lovers (Nicholas Cage and Deborah Foreman) from two different high schools and ways of life (in reality not so different).  Of course, life has to intervene.     

One of the best aspects of the film is Julie Richman’s relationship with her parents.  If her relationship with Randy was better explored than this would have been a better film.  That relationship felt too mercurial (which may be the case in real life, but it was annoying here).   

Obviously one can be trapped in a high school mindset of classism and popularity (and maybe trapped in that for a lot longer than high school life) but I never really felt the split of conscience here and the reconciliation felt too flat (though contrast Randy’s friend, who ultimately is a much better friend, than Richman’s friends (really any of them, but especially Loryn who should have told her about her boyfriend).   

But I was impressed with Cage’s performance as well as his characters attempt to get her back.  He still seems way too cool for her.  Well except for the binge drinking and scurrilous bathroom visit.  Aside from that and probably not a big enough of a meltdown for fans of Cage (remember he is young and still has plenty of demons and vampires (I am a vampire) to exorcise later.  

Seriously good soundtrack though.  Interesting to hear the divide of popular music between the two different crowds.  The preps were much more New Wave (The Psychedlic Furs) based while the Hollywood crowd was more guitar based (The Plimsouls).  Josie Cotton would not have survived the PC crowd today. 

 

Deborah Foreman was really cute, so I cannot say I remember much of the film contents.

 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Just now, morpheus said:

Deborah Foreman was really cute, so I cannot say I remember much of the film contents.

Yes :D.  It is not a bad film, but it certainly is not memorable.  I've wanted to see it for decades and finally got to it.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Long Riders (1980: Walter Hill) 

While I have probably seen too many films about Jesse James, I still enjoyed this one (I feel the 1939 Henry Hing one is a bit underrated).  This is quite a good streak of Hill’s from his first film Hard Times to this his fourth film.  I still have not seen Southern Comfort which would come after. 

Jesse James, played by a stoic Buster Keaton-looking James Keach (he seriously could have played Buster Keaton) is quite good.  Interesting to see an in-shape Stacy Keach.  I am so used to his later performances that I am not used to his skinniness.  I am not as sold on say Robert Ford’s character which was better done in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. But I like how the various casts of brothers were actually played by brothers. 

There is a hand-to-hand knife fight here which is quite good.  It reminds me of moments in Rebel Without a Cause and The Outsiders scenes what I call (from Rebel) “You've gotta do something. Don't you?” moments.   You can find masculine themes, like John Woo, Johnnie To, Jean-Pierre Melville, in most of his works and even in his lesser films like Bullet to the Head you can find excellent scenes of code and honor.  Even those with less honor like Ed Miller (Dennis Quad) have a certain set of standards (well except Robert Ford). There is some great cinematography like the final gun battle and what the horses have to go through. 

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Mr InBetween. Dark Australian comedy about a thug, collector and hit man reminiscent of Dexter, etc. Nice to his kids, civil to his ex as he can be and a complete double life with his new girlfriend (who is, let's get real, WAY to pretty for him) and absolutely brutal to his enemies, yet at times, surprisingly merciful. I don't want to spoil anything, and if you are in the USA you will most likely have to pirate it, cough, cough. Highly recommended. Also, each episode is less than 30 minutes, so it rarely is stale. Only two seasons, so you'll burn through it in a few evenings, sadly. Most likely going to be renewed though! 

[Duel to the Death]

On 7/14/2020 at 1:48 PM, masterofoneinchpunch said:

Valley Girl (1983: Martha Coolidge) 

I was expecting a better film than this.  You have the basic Romeo and Juliet formula here (and even references that play) between two possible lovers (Nicholas Cage and Deborah Foreman) from two different high schools and ways of life (in reality not so different).  Of course, life has to intervene.     

One of the best aspects of the film is Julie Richman’s relationship with her parents.  If her relationship with Randy was better explored than this would have been a better film.  That relationship felt too mercurial (which may be the case in real life, but it was annoying here).   

Obviously one can be trapped in a high school mindset of classism and popularity (and maybe trapped in that for a lot longer than high school life) but I never really felt the split of conscience here and the reconciliation felt too flat (though contrast Randy’s friend, who ultimately is a much better friend, than Richman’s friends (really any of them, but especially Loryn who should have told her about her boyfriend).   

But I was impressed with Cage’s performance as well as his characters attempt to get her back.  He still seems way too cool for her.  Well except for the binge drinking and scurrilous bathroom visit.  Aside from that and probably not a big enough of a meltdown for fans of Cage (remember he is young and still has plenty of demons and vampires (I am a vampire) to exorcise later.  

Seriously good soundtrack though.  Interesting to hear the divide of popular music between the two different crowds.  The preps were much more New Wave (The Psychedlic Furs) based while the Hollywood crowd was more guitar based (The Plimsouls).  Josie Cotton would not have survived the PC crowd today. 

 

One of my favorite movies. You might appreciate it more if you were a kid in the 80's. The soundtrack is beyond epic. Because of it i discovered the group Sparks and been a huge fan ever since. As well as  Gary Myrick & The Figures and so many more. The song I Melt with You by Modern English became popular again in the mid to late 80's since our local radio station would play it over and over. 
I was obsessed with this movie and Deborah Foreman for many years. Possibly my first movie star crush. 

It is my goal to buy the albums of most of the artists on the soundtrack. One of my other hobbies is appreciating good music and collecting vinyl records. I've acquired half of the records already. 

My favorite 2 songs from the movie are Sparks - Agnst in my Pants and La La La Love You by Pat Travers which is heard when they are cruising into Hollywood. I hear a lot of the buildings they pass are no longer there so that scene is like a piece of history. 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

7 minutes ago, Duel to the Death said:

One of my favorite movies. You might appreciate it more if you were a kid in the 80's. The soundtrack is beyond epic. Because of it i discovered the group Sparks and been a huge fan ever since. As well as  Gary Myrick & The Figures and so many more. The song I Melt with You by Modern English became popular again in the mid to late 80's since our local radio station would play it over and over. 
I was obsessed with this movie and Deborah Foreman for many years. Possibly my first movie star crush. 

It is my goal to buy the albums of most of the artists on the soundtrack. One of my other hobbies is appreciating good music and collecting vinyl records. I've acquired half of the records already. 

My favorite 2 songs from the movie are Sparks - Agnst in my Pants and La La La Love You by Pat Travers which is heard when they are cruising into Hollywood. I hear a lot of the buildings they pass are no longer there so that scene is like a piece of history. 

I was a kid in the 1980s :D.  I knew the soundtrack way before I saw the movie (especially since I just watched the movie).  But I knew of the film when it came out and because of talk about it in school.  Obviously the soundtrack is awesome!  I can see getting all of those LPs from those artists.  I'm a big fan of 80s music, especially New Wave (more toward New Order, Depeche Mode).

Always fun seeing the surroundings.  One of the reasons I like HK films (especially like Sparrow which was made as a love letter to so many buildings that were not going to be around) as well as early Hollywood silents where you know everything has changed (now how awesome is it with films like Vertigo where you can still recognize parts of San Francisco).

[paimeifist]

I watched Hereditary the other day..

 

Definitely an unsettling and creepy movie. No reliance on jump scares, they do a good job of using emotions to get you with this one. Even before the real “horror” elements came into play, I felt pretty uncomfortable.
 

As an example, In one scene a character finds another characters corpse off-screen, and you just hear her screaming, knowing what’s happening without seeing it. You can really feel her torment just hearing the screams and knowing what happened while the camera is focused on another place.

[ShawAngela]

A woman from Hell 1981 : I bought this movie because of Shih Szu, but well...Elsa Yeung is the main lead and plays an evil woman, doing wrong to Shih Szu, he ex husband, their son and all people related to them.

The good thing : Lung Fei and Chen Hung Lieh team up a good inpectors, here !