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What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)

Watched Kill List yesterday also, I loved it. One of the darkest I've seen for some time but no less enjoyable for it.

Away We Go. Lovely, quirky, funny, touching film with a great cast and some touching dialogue. Highly recommended.
 
Party Girl! (1995) jesus nooooo! not a chik flick eh! Another hour an a half wasted of me life i thought ta meself! feck me! it turned out ta be pretty darn good. One of those little gems from the 90s ya find ya self watchin that turn out ta be pretty good. librarians and the early (NY) rave scene about sums it up.
 
Trollhunter...I enjoyed it, it was daft. I've not done much of the 'found footage' genre but got the idea it wasn't taking itself as seriously as the stuff that's meant to be scary, Blair Witch/Paranormal Activity etc. The bits where the trollhunter was explaining how knocked down trees and power lines happened was like the kind of stories you'd tell kids to wind them up and there were bits with trolls farting.

Also if the idea was to get me to want to go to Norway it worked, some really beautiful locations.
 
Recent viewings include:

The Greatest Story Ever Sold - perfectly decent and reasonably entertaining account of product placement.
The Guard - reasonably amusing lightweight bit of old guff.
Bridesmaids - better than expected fluff, despite the unworked out ending.
The Trotsky - a schoolboy believes himself to be the reincarnation of the great Russian revolutionary leader, with hilarious consequences. Pretty rubbish, you'll be shocked to learn.
Senna - absolutely magnificent, would move even someone who couldn't give a fuck about F1 to tears. Superb.
 
Donnie Brasco. Depp is only shit under burtons direction it seems.

pacinos turn as the slightly pathetic old wiseguy= good stuff
 
Tony Gatlif's Latcho Drom

No need for subtitles. A musical journey of Romany music from its origins in ancient India to present day Spain.

Vibrant, colourful, energetic and a pleasure to behold.

 
Saint (aka "Sint"): Dutch horror film about the murderous "real" Santa Claus of legend let loose in modern Amsterdam. Return to the horror genre by Dick Maas, director of cult horror films Amsterdamned and The Lift and this is similarly loopy fun, even if the budget isn't always up to the ambitious special effects requirements. A rotting monster Santa galloping across the roofs of Amsterdam on a zombie horse and killing children after snatching them through the chimney is pretty cool though.

I let myself be talked into upgrading to Sky the movies package for a reduced price by some call centre drone and have watched a lot of mainstream dross I've missed out on. Last night I got sucked into watching the Cher/Christine Aguilera vehicle Burlesque at 2am, a film aimed at the gay audience that gave Showgirls a second life as a camp cult hit (me!). I have a vague awareness of Aguilera, but couldn't tell you what any of her hits are and this apparently is her acting debut. She sure can belt out a song and the film is oddly entertaining in a bad movie way. It's somewhat let down by the star's lack of charm and acting ability and her character comes across as a strident bitch when she's supposed to be loveable in a "you go girl!" sort of way. Cher's now completely immobilised face looks like bad CGI and has moved into the uncanny valley. Educational.
 
The Dogs Of War - Christopher Walken. Pretty good but very 1979.
Unknown - Liam Neeson gets very angry and punches people. A lot. Plot stolen from Bourne Identity, action from Taken. Unoriginal, uninspired, but entertaining.
 
Horrible Bosses. After watching Captain America, Kill List and The Guard then HB is the best of them...and I hate to say it.

Plenty of bad language, filth and nastiness with a goofy blanket and tongue in cheek performances from all involved (Spacey and Farrell particularly) delivers a much better film than The Guard, which is the best of the other lot.

Not knowing who was in it...I thought Jennifer Aniston was Demi Moore. heh
 
Melancholia...I found it very relaxing, but once I got the premise I kind of lost interest. Very surprised my Mrs sat through it as so little really happens.
 
Submarine - very good, very funny and very warm.I was thinking at one point how English it all was with the references to Open University but then thought it could easily be set in America.

Best bit was when his mother explained that she only gave her lover a handjob to relax him.
 
Project Nim - great documentary about a chimp who is taught to sign and all the different things that happen not only with the chimp but with the people who are raising him. The sheer richness of the backstory is what sustains the film. It's all true too.
 
magneze said:
Yes, but you have to keep reminding yourself of this. Arguably more incredible than Rise of the Planet of the Apes. :eek:
Click to expand...

I actually prefer Rise of the Planet of the Apes as a piece of film-making but it's startling how similar the films are in many ways. I wasn't keen on Nim as a documentary. The way it blends archive footage with re-constructions, the way it has been edited and scored struck me as unnecessarily manipulative and even fraudulent. It's such a fascinating story, it didn't need the embellishments. I have no such problems with Rise, because never pretends to be anything else than a superior Hollywood blockbuster.
 
Reno said:
I actually prefer Rise of the Planet of the Apes as a piece of film-making but it's startling how similar the films are in many ways. I wasn't keen on Nim as a documentary. The way it blends archive footage with re-constructions, the way it has been edited and scored struck me as unnecessarily manipulative and even fraudulent. It's such a fascinating story, it didn't need the embellishments. I have no such problems with Rise, because never pretends to be anything else than a superior Hollywood blockbuster.
Click to expand...
The parallels are quite striking - I imagine the scriptwriters for Rise must have known about Nim's story.
 
magneze said:
The parallels are quite striking - I imagine the scriptwriters for Rise must have known about Nim's story.
Click to expand...

I doubt that it was a major influence. Parallels like that happen in films all the time. Rise is really a loose remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and features a prison film scenario common to many films.
 
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