Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Yes, I think so. Easy enough to torrent though but I'm pretty sure I saw a DVD of it
What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
And you're much poorer for itSo we actually have something in common.I love (some of) Carpenter's films but I wouldn't take much intent away from them bar an intent to thrill and scare.
MellySingsDoom
Decimated by the shrapnel of his rhetoric
I'm happy to criticise films. But I also trust in that old tag line "It's only a movie". I can sort of see why someone might think DMTH is 'racist', but I doubt it was made with that intent and I think the label is OTT. It's no different from Jonathan Harker going to Transylvania and finding the locals a bit odd. I think you have to make allowances for horror films.
As an aside, I saw "Guinea Pig 2" recently, and actually felt like turning it off - sure, it's a movie and not real, but it just came across as a film for sexual inadequates to "enjoy". And as for giallo/porno mashup "Fantom Kiler" (by "Roman Nowicki" - most likely an assumed name for Trevor Barley), that was unbearable and about as erotic as a baked potato.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
So we actually have something in common.
beyond active intention. The whole 'death of the author' concept is about how we view the produce- what we say about it as a piece divorced from biographical information or stated 'active' intent of the author. It was intended for lit crit but applies to film as well, as theres a wide degree of crossover there.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
John Carpenter would disagree with youSo we actually have something in common.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Okay, so someone please reveal the deeper meaning in The Thing, The Fog and Assault on Precinct 13 to me. To my mind, Carpenter's films exist on the surface, which is to say I enjoy them as scare and atmospheric pieces. He's no Cronenberg.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
I thought it was great, more tension in one sextant reading than in twenty minutes of barrel riding. Utterly engrossing. mrs b and I had utterly opposed readings of the ending
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
the thing: plenty of body horror, themes of paranoiac over 'passing' possibly feeds into reds under the bed- the enemy within.
not seen the fog- iss it a straight adapt from James Herbert?
Assault? a voiceless faceless murderous 'urban' (and we know what that means) underclass lay siege to a bastion of decency- the frontierist outpost police station. That ones not even difficult to dig out.
see its possible to tease themes outof art like this and be completely wrong while making a good fist at being wrong. You can also do it and be bang on right if the films subtext is screaming loudly.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
The Thing is about alienation, what it is to be human, and, arguably, AIDS. Several of his films have a gay subtext. The Fog's about postcolonialism and the hypocrisy of US institutions, and Assault is a rather reactionary (if brilliantly made) western
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Nope, nothing to do with the James Herbert book. And you should see it. It's brilliantly atmospheric.
Yes, I know about paranoia in The Thing, etc, but I still don't think there's a lot to debate in Carpenter's work compared to someone like Cronenberg or Lynch. Compare the depth of Videodrome with your average Carpenter. There's no comparison. That doesn't mean Carpenter's films are worse. There's nothing wrong with making a film that succeeds in terms of atmosphere, tension, FX, acting in the way that The Thing does.
But it isn't one of those films you watch and see something new in it every time.
MellySingsDoom
Decimated by the shrapnel of his rhetoric
Yes, I think so. Easy enough to torrent though but I'm pretty sure I saw a DVD of it
Just found that the US DVD release is available on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fight-Your-...57985&sr=1-1&keywords=fight+for+your+life+dvd
Aye my mrs b watched the whole thing without asking a question which is unheard of. We both got the same ending though.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
god, that'd be a luxury! you thought
he died
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Nope, nothing to do with the James Herbert book. And you should see it. It's brilliantly atmospheric.
Yes, I know about paranoia in The Thing, etc, but I still don't think there's a lot to debate in Carpenter's work compared to someone like Cronenberg or Lynch. Compare the depth of Videodrome with your average Carpenter. There's no comparison. That doesn't mean Carpenter's films are worse. There's nothing wrong with making a film that succeeds in terms of atmosphere, tension, FX, acting in the way that The Thing does.
I'll set it to d/l, Carpenter doesn't normally dissapoint.
The only new and interesting thing the re-make (Prequel?) of the Thing brought to the table was how the xenomorph couldn't replicate the metals of its mimicked victims. Otherwise a pointless retread and none of the slaughter scenes come anywhere close to having an open chest cavity grow teeth and eat the coroners arms off at the elbow, or a severed head sprouting spider legs and crawling towards a trapped man. That bit with the spaceship at the end was particularly ill judged. Messy and despite its flashiness- somehow boring. They should have allowed that bit and just had it where the heroine spots the xeno cos he's got the earing in the wrong ear.
MellySingsDoom
Decimated by the shrapnel of his rhetoric
Nope, nothing to do with the James Herbert book. And you should see it. It's brilliantly atmospheric.
Yes, I know about paranoia in The Thing, etc, but I still don't think there's a lot to debate in Carpenter's work compared to someone like Cronenberg or Lynch. Compare the depth of Videodrome with your average Carpenter. There's no comparison. That doesn't mean Carpenter's films are worse. There's nothing wrong with making a film that succeeds in terms of atmosphere, tension, FX, acting in the way that The Thing does.
I personally love Carpenter's work, and rate his films highly. Having said that, I'd agree with you that Cronenberg's themes and obsessions take his films to another level. There's the pre-AIDS permissive panic of "Shivers", the staggering mixture of sexual identity, twisted kinship and medical despair of "Dead Ringers", war against the State in "Scanners", "snuff" and quasi-religious fervour in "Videodrome", medical trauma and pre-AIDS panic (again) in "Rabid", and the nature of mental health issues, a sadness for nostalgia and and obsession with childhood in "Spider". I think DotCommunist had read well the themes inherent in Carpenter's work, but for me personally, Cronenberg's vision is an incredibly strong one, and his films I think are testament to that.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Not seen the remake/prequel. Will probably wait until it's on the telly.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
The difference between a Cronenberg and a Carpenter is that Cronenberg will often have his characters talk about their condition - like Goldblum in The Fly. Cronenberg has a real interest in exploring his characters' conditions and there is proper depth (and ambiguity) to his films. It's all very well to say The Thing is about AIDS (if it is), but what does it actually tell us about AIDS? It tells us as much about AIDS as Philadelphia tells us about shape-shifting aliens. The Thing could be a metaphor for AIDS, but that's about it.
Also I think you can judge a director's interest in a theme by how often it recurrs in their work. But that's probably to state the obvious.
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DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I got the other ending. Not what the director intended. I read that polls of audiences have been almost 50/50.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Cronenburg is far more upfront about his subtexts, but that doesn't mean they're not there in Carpenter
MellySingsDoom
Decimated by the shrapnel of his rhetoric
I'd not considered the Cronenberg/characters talking about the condition thing - that's defintely true in "Dead Ringers", and also "The Fly", as you say. I think the AIDS thing in "The Thing" is about the nature of infection, and about how relentlessly unstoppable that infection can be. As for an actual investigation into AIDS itself, I'd tend to agree with you that Carpenter doesn't really go far down that road.
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Spanking the Monkey. Awkward and very funny.
Awkward and very funny.
jeff_leigh
What happened to Dubversion ?
Wild Bill - Fucking loved it
MellySingsDoom
Decimated by the shrapnel of his rhetoric
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970) - dir. Dario Argento - a rewatch for me of this stylish and well-crafted giallo entry by Argento. The plot involves a guy (Tony Musante) witnessing an attempted murder on a woman in a gallery in Rome. He gets dragged into a web of intrigue, which also involves his girlfriend (Suzy Kendall). Musante's investigations is fraught with danger, and he is threatened by phone by the assumed assailant. Eventually, the suspect is tracked to an apartment by a zoo, and after a fight falls to his death. What seems to have been resolved soon turns out to be the opposite, when it transpires that it is actually the supposed attack victim who is the real criminal, following a sudden memory recall by Musante. After a struggle, the woman is apprehended, and Musante and Kendall then make their back to the USA, having finished with Italy.
Argento's sure hand ensures that his debut directorial effort is an eminently watchable and enjoyable film. The script (written by Argento) is tightly paced and provides tension and drama along the way. The performances are overall satisfactory (with a barn-bound painter providing some lighter relief), and the Morricone score is very good indeed. There's some good use of editing to evoke memory recall moments, and although Argento at this point hadn't adopted his Bava-influenced use of colour, the film still looks great, thanks to the cinematography of Vittorio Storario. The release watched is an Italian language with English subtitles print, and is fully uncut.
Argento's career continues on to this day, and although his quality control has slipped somewhat since the 90's, he still is recognised as one of the key post-war Italian directors. If you've never seen a giallo before, you could do much worse than start here, and this is also a great entry point into the work of Argento on the whole as well.
Argento's sure hand ensures that his debut directorial effort is an eminently watchable and enjoyable film. The script (written by Argento) is tightly paced and provides tension and drama along the way. The performances are overall satisfactory (with a barn-bound painter providing some lighter relief), and the Morricone score is very good indeed. There's some good use of editing to evoke memory recall moments, and although Argento at this point hadn't adopted his Bava-influenced use of colour, the film still looks great, thanks to the cinematography of Vittorio Storario. The release watched is an Italian language with English subtitles print, and is fully uncut.
Argento's career continues on to this day, and although his quality control has slipped somewhat since the 90's, he still is recognised as one of the key post-war Italian directors. If you've never seen a giallo before, you could do much worse than start here, and this is also a great entry point into the work of Argento on the whole as well.
Finished season five of Breaking Bad.
It was ok and so was i. Need to detox from social media for a bit.
You were great, thank you.
It was ok and so was i. Need to detox from social media for a bit.
You were great, thank you.
I'm So Excited - the Pedro Almodóvar film. It got rather lukewarm reviews so I wasn't expecting much, but I enjoyed it. It's a trashy melodrama, but that's what he does and in his hands no bad thing. No Volver, but that's okay. It's subtly transgressive as well which is quite uplifting.
stupid dogbot
Haughty and Superior
Ummm. Wrath of the Titans in 3D.
Visually entertaining, but otherwise, utter toss.
Visually entertaining, but otherwise, utter toss.
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