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

[Nanker Phelge]

just picked up the Deer Hunter DVD for £3 in Sainsbury's. I only went in for some milk but had watched a DVD of Apocalypse Now Redux over the Bank Hol which I bought years ago & had never got round to watching & was pretty underwhelmed tbh. The synth soundtrack is oddly dated. That's not a major fault - the fault was that I was sufficiently uninvolved to notice it in the first place. Anyway the DH was the "other" Vietnam film that came out around the same time so hoping this holds up better

Coppola recently admitted he'd gone too far with redux, and has now put out a 'final cut' which screened at the Tribeca film fest last week.

 

[hot air baboon]

The Deer Hunter was great actually - the prisoner scene is still gruelling to watch . Unlike AN it has a heart & soul - which makes "the horror, the horror" actually register with you

 

[belboid]

The Deer Hunter was great actually - the prisoner scene is still gruelling to watch . Unlike AN it has a heart & soul - which makes "the horror, the horror" actually register with you

Shame so much if it is bullshit. That last scene

 

[hot air baboon]

I can't even remember what the last scene was now - was that when he went back to Vietnam ?

 

[DexterTCN]

SpiderMan: Into The SpiderVerse

Wow. I'd heard it was good and obviously it won the Animated Oscar too, but it far exceeded what I was expecting.

Possibly the best animated film I've seen, inventive with the medium, pitched perfectly to appeal to both superfans and casuals, and with a perfect balance of humour and seriousness (some fairly dark and heavy themes for a 'kid's film' throughout).

As much as I love the MCU take on Spidey, they lean a little too heavily on him being a Stark fanboy and almost sidekick, whereas the guys making this film seem to get the character more than any other I've seen, and the various alternate versions were all distinct but still shared the same characteristics.

The voice acting is great (Nicholas Cage as SpiderNoir was inspired casting, to pick out just one example) and the visuals are fantastic, there's desktop wallpapers for days throughout

Brilliant soundtrack too.

Requires a second viewing just for all the references and quick cut moments I think, not to mention the best Stan Lee cameo of the lot

Watch right to the end of the credits, it's worth it

9/10

I've watched it four times now. Can't get over how well it's made, how much love, originality and work was obviously put into it.

Here's a thing

 

[hot air baboon]

oh yeah - I've just remembered it now I actually think they are both pretty bad films in their own way - ooh look how awful it is for us as we go into someone's else's country & fuck shit up before we pack up & go home again. In alot of ways AN's gonzo surrealist naplam drops are alot closer to the military reality - leaving aside all the stuff they don't go anywhere near like My Lai & the industrial scale killings & assassinations they carried out

 

[DotCommunist]

Appaloosa

Ed Harris, Vigo Mortensen and Renee Zelwegger in this western that doesn't go anywhere you'd expect. 7/10.

 

[D'wards]

High Life: after finishing I enjoyed it but thought it was a bit over praised by the critics.
(This is one of those arty films that critics adored and the paying public didn't so much).

But since I watched it I've been thinking about it, it's a very eerie film with brilliant ideas.

 

[krtek a houby]

Gandhi - 1982 biopic about the man and his evolution from lawyer to Mahatma. Obvs, it doesn't deal with his own brand of bigotry and the direction is epic but a bit flat. Still, Kingsley, Day Lewis, Yosser Hughes and Cliff from Cheers in one film. That doesn't happen much.

 

[cybershot]

Tyrel - got it, but as someone used to being the spare part at house parties it didn’t make a great film.

The prodigy - not a bad entry into the children are the root of all evil horror genre.

 

[krtek a houby]

Let's Meet at Walkerhill - 1966 Korean comedy musical. Old Korea meets new when 2 country fellers journey to Seoul to find missing loved ones. Enjoyably silly, full of 60s numbers and ballads and slapstick. Courtesy of the Korean Classic Film collection on that there Youtube.

Korean Classic Film

 

[not-bono-ever]

Mrs NBE had never seen it , so I rewatched Mississippi burning. It’s often factual bollocks - as is much of Parker’s output - but still has impact . Was surprised how good gene Hackman is again . A believable southern popeye Doyle. He really is an overlooked actor

 

[cybershot]

Greta.

Thriller/horror about an old lady who leaves bags on the subway hoping a goody two shoes will return it personally to befriend them.

A bit unrealistic by today's standards but some of the stalking scenes especially were well done.

 

[krtek a houby]

The Man with the Golden Arm - Sinatra and Novak star in this tale of addiction from 1955. Frankie is no sooner out of the joint, having kicked the habit, when his best laid plans to be an ace jazz drummer are put into jeopardy. Great soundtrack and one of Sinatra's finest performances, apparently (only seen a handful of his films). Arnold Strang plays Frankie's slightly annoying sidekick (he's better known as the voice of Top Cat's TC).

 

[hash tag]

Dead Presidents. Saw about it on Mark Kermodes secrets of the cinema. A heist film, a Viet Nam film, a film which explores the AfroAmerican life.
A brutal film, with moments of humour. "one of the great films of the nineties"..
Dead Presidents (1995) - IMDb

 

[The Octagon]

Rock Of Ages

Awful, sub-Glee shite, with a pair of leads you'll want to drown after the first few scenes.

Tonally all over the place, some very weird messages, cringey musical numbers and Russell Brand attempting an accent that I'm still not clear on.

Truly bizarre political subplot with a wasted Bryan Cranston and a wasted Catherine Zeta Jones (at least I assume, from her expressions throughout).

Fair play to Tom Cruise and Malin Akerman for actually bothering to go all-out, their scenes are the only ones worth watching (from a 'I can't believe I'm watching this' perspective).

I judge my girlfriend's sister for recommending it.

3/10

 

[Ming]

These Final Hours. Aussie film about how society would work if it was obvious we had a day to live (asteroid strike). Really good.

 

[trabuquera]

The Terror - telly drama series (10x45min) made for AMC - had to pay for it from Amazon Prime because I'd heard great things about it. A high-star-power cast (Ciaran Hinds, Tobias Menzies, Jared Harris and many more faces you'll recognise) are trying to find the Northwest Passage in the 1840s in a couple of boats not fit for purpose. It's very cold and very dark and really rather scary so far (3 eps in.) Great art direction and script - not really sure where it's all going yet though (much like the unlucky crewmen who're being picked off at a rate of knots.)

 

[DotCommunist]

Grapes of Wrath from 1940. I haven't read the novel although I probably should, the film is out of sequence to the book to give it a happier ending. I'll get the book, probably free now if its old enough.

also Batman vs Ninja Turtles, an animated film from last month. One hundred percent worth it for the batman vs shredder fights (after the inevitable initial misunderstandings and fights between the goodies).

 

[Part 2]

Following - Christopher Nolan's first feature film, only just over an hour. Easy to see how he went from that to Memento. It's on Youtube but has spanish subtitles.

 

[May Kasahara]

The Love Witch. Gorgeously recreated 60s technicolour horror / relationships pastiche.

 

[DexterTCN]

Free Solo.

A bunch of people here had recommended it so I gave it a shot last week. Gave up after half an hour.

My daughter went nuts when I told her, she came around yesterday and we watched the whole thing. When it finished I was surprised to notice that I was covered in sweat.

 

[krtek a houby]

Hacksaw Ridge - Mel Gibson film of two halves. First one feels like a tv movie and second half is blood, guts, gore and pacifism. I remain unconvinced that this was his return to form.

 

[Part 2]

Man Bites Dog....I owned it years ago on VHS and hadn't any recollection of seeing it. It's very funny although there's a few questionable scenes that may have dated more than the film as a whole.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Logan's Run. Enjoyable nonsense.

 

[DotCommunist]

Turbo Kid

Its an oddly charming watch, a kid in a post-apocalyptic landscape with his bicycle, Michael Ironside is the wasteland warlord (ayotollah of etc etc) who he faces. There is a robot girlfriend, absurd violence and synth, a comic book fantasy element. Worth my time 8/10

 

[Ming]

Battleship. Not Loach’s best work.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

The Titfield Thunderbolt.

Now onto to Whiskey Galore.

 

[passenger]

Watched this yesterday I`m a sucker for a good thriller, this film is exactly that
9/10 for me, hopefully others think the same well worth a watch.

The Clovehitch Killer (2018)

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Passport to Pimlico