What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore - watched this when it first came out but found it on Netflix. Depressed woman gets her laptop stolen and joins up with weirdo neighbour to track it down and then gets involved in a bizarre hunt for the people responsible. I love this sort of black /deadpan humour set in a detective type scene.Its a well observed qurky little story with some great moments .Its slight but perhaps its its slightness that I find engaging .The other world awkwardness of its main characters dominates the film , its well observed, a little poignant and in its own way quite charming.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Koma - a Russian sci-fiish movie about a world created from the memories of coma patients. A bit Inception-esque. Only saw the first three-quarters so far so can't comment further.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
I Care A Lot
Rosamund Pike as a dodgy legal guardian who rips off her clients and their families... until she gets involved with the wrong family! Quite nicely done, RP is mostly very good and Peter Dinklage is always worth a watch. Sadly the script is often poor and there are too many occasions when you think 'why the fuck would you do that?' and 'but you just said you were going to do the precise opposite thing!' Pleasant enough if a little frustrating.
Escape Room
I fancied something nice and trashy and this got decent reviews. Or so I thought. Turns out there is a film called Escape Room released almost every year now and the one I got wasn't the well reviewed one from 2019, but one from 2017. One of two from 2017 but, again, not the one that got half decent reviews. There was a promising start when I realised the woman in the shop was Sean Young, but that promise rapidly faded as she had to deliver some of the daftest lines ever and looked thoroughly embarassed doing so. The first death was okay but everything else was pants.
Rosamund Pike as a dodgy legal guardian who rips off her clients and their families... until she gets involved with the wrong family! Quite nicely done, RP is mostly very good and Peter Dinklage is always worth a watch. Sadly the script is often poor and there are too many occasions when you think 'why the fuck would you do that?' and 'but you just said you were going to do the precise opposite thing!' Pleasant enough if a little frustrating.
Escape Room
I fancied something nice and trashy and this got decent reviews. Or so I thought. Turns out there is a film called Escape Room released almost every year now and the one I got wasn't the well reviewed one from 2019, but one from 2017. One of two from 2017 but, again, not the one that got half decent reviews. There was a promising start when I realised the woman in the shop was Sean Young, but that promise rapidly faded as she had to deliver some of the daftest lines ever and looked thoroughly embarassed doing so. The first death was okay but everything else was pants.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Shiva Baby - It is one of those cringe making embarrassment comedies (not really my favourite genre TBH). It's a very well made film and as a debut feature does show that the director has some real talent. But I have to say I don't quite see why it is getting such rave reviews. There really is very little characterisation indeed, ok yes the stereotypes are knowing stereotypes but that does not get around the problem. I'm usually a fan of keeping things short and tight but in this case a extra 10 minutes might have helped. The Maya character is the most interesting one and a little more of her would have helped the film. Overall interesting enough and with some funny moments but somewhat flawed.
Reno
The In Kraut
A Quiet Place 2. The first one is maybe the dumbest horror film I've seen, entirely relying on the characters making all the wrong choices to get the attention of the very CGI looking monsters (the design of which is ripped off from Stranger Things, which executed its monster better). This one isn't quite as bad, but I still wanted the strangle the teenage boy, who does exactly what he was told not to do with predictable results. I don't get the acclaim for these, they are watchable enough but not even I am prepared to suspend my disbelief to this extend.
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platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
No Sudden Move - maybe I’m thick but I needed to look up the plot afterwards.
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Hancock. Strange film.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Vicious Fun. A new horror-comedy-thriller about a young man who accidentally gatecrashes a a gathering of serial killers.
It is genuinely a very enjoyable film of the genre. I am very fond of horror-comedy films and am happy to overlook a degree of not-so-good a plot, or acting, or whatever. But this turned out to be not just adequate but a lot better than I had expected, and as satisfying a late night entertaining film as one can hope to find.
It is genuinely a very enjoyable film of the genre. I am very fond of horror-comedy films and am happy to overlook a degree of not-so-good a plot, or acting, or whatever. But this turned out to be not just adequate but a lot better than I had expected, and as satisfying a late night entertaining film as one can hope to find.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Happy End
In the past, I've quite liked Michael Haneke's films. But this is nonsense. Full of unlikeable characters, and instead of "show, don't tell" the director has decided to go with "don't show or tell". All sorts of things happen for which there is no explanation. And I'm not missing it because my French is poor - my wife is French and had no idea either.
I can't recommend it, even if you like Haneke's other work.
In the past, I've quite liked Michael Haneke's films. But this is nonsense. Full of unlikeable characters, and instead of "show, don't tell" the director has decided to go with "don't show or tell". All sorts of things happen for which there is no explanation. And I'm not missing it because my French is poor - my wife is French and had no idea either.
I can't recommend it, even if you like Haneke's other work.
Idris2002
canadian girlfriend
Hearts of the West
An absolute cracker of a wee film, featuring Jeff "El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing" Bridges as a naive midwestern farm boy who tries to make it as a writer in Hollywood, only to find that he's better suited to the life of an extra in b-movie westerns. I'd never heard of it, but it popped up on TG4 friday and I'd recommend it to anyone. Also features Alan Arkin as an irascible director, and Donald Pleasence as an eccentric mogul with ze cherman accent. Lovely cinematography to.
Millions Like Us
Wartime feel-good propaganda among the UK's Rosie the Riveters. I last saw this back in the 80s. Still stands up. Features a cameo from Charters and Caldicott, who were the comic relief in The Lady Vanishes. When I say "feel-good", that's feel-good for 1943, when victory wasn't yet certain, and the casualty figures were still pretty high . . .
The Scarlet and the Black.
Gregory Peck as real-life Irish priest and Vatican high flyer Hugh O'Flaherty, who rescued a lot of Allied POWs and Italian Jews from a bad fate at the hands of the Gestapo. This was made in 1983, well before all the Ratlines revelations. O'Flaherty was a hero, though. According to the end credits, he later converted the Gestapo chief he'd tangled with - by then in the nick for war crimes - to Catholicism (this is a very Catholic flick).
"O'Flaherty - is that Irish?" "As Irish as McGinty's goat".
You see the problem.
An absolute cracker of a wee film, featuring Jeff "El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing" Bridges as a naive midwestern farm boy who tries to make it as a writer in Hollywood, only to find that he's better suited to the life of an extra in b-movie westerns. I'd never heard of it, but it popped up on TG4 friday and I'd recommend it to anyone. Also features Alan Arkin as an irascible director, and Donald Pleasence as an eccentric mogul with ze cherman accent. Lovely cinematography to.
Millions Like Us
Wartime feel-good propaganda among the UK's Rosie the Riveters. I last saw this back in the 80s. Still stands up. Features a cameo from Charters and Caldicott, who were the comic relief in The Lady Vanishes. When I say "feel-good", that's feel-good for 1943, when victory wasn't yet certain, and the casualty figures were still pretty high . . .
The Scarlet and the Black.
Gregory Peck as real-life Irish priest and Vatican high flyer Hugh O'Flaherty, who rescued a lot of Allied POWs and Italian Jews from a bad fate at the hands of the Gestapo. This was made in 1983, well before all the Ratlines revelations. O'Flaherty was a hero, though. According to the end credits, he later converted the Gestapo chief he'd tangled with - by then in the nick for war crimes - to Catholicism (this is a very Catholic flick).
"O'Flaherty - is that Irish?" "As Irish as McGinty's goat".
You see the problem.
purves grundy
ambient clown remix
Phantom Thread
On the iPlayers. Daniel Day Lewis as a rather highly-strung and unaccommodating designer / dressmaker in the 1950s... ah you've probably all heard of it and know all about it but I hadn't. Thought it was magnificent.
On the iPlayers. Daniel Day Lewis as a rather highly-strung and unaccommodating designer / dressmaker in the 1950s... ah you've probably all heard of it and know all about it but I hadn't. Thought it was magnificent.
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Violation
A movie that takes the phrase 'revenge is a dish best served cold' quite literally. Two sisters and their partners go on holiday, something happens so that they fall out and dont talk again for years, until the older (slightly psycopathic) one comes back for some kind of family thing and the violating event is revealed. A very explicit (but not at all gory) revenge is then put into action, following a quite magnificent cinematic distraction technique (the like of which I have never seen before in any 'mainstream' movie). The depiction of the event and the different people's version of it is superbly done, entirely believable and entirely horrific. Slowly and in great detail we see the plan unfold and there is a fear about what she is going to do next. Finishing off with a neatly ambiguous ending that various reviewers have taken in quite different ways.
It has tpoo many shots where the camera lingers in close up of a mundane piece of action or on a bit of nature, that dont really serve any purpose, but thats a minor criticism of a very well put together film, well worth a viewing.
A movie that takes the phrase 'revenge is a dish best served cold' quite literally. Two sisters and their partners go on holiday, something happens so that they fall out and dont talk again for years, until the older (slightly psycopathic) one comes back for some kind of family thing and the violating event is revealed. A very explicit (but not at all gory) revenge is then put into action, following a quite magnificent cinematic distraction technique (the like of which I have never seen before in any 'mainstream' movie). The depiction of the event and the different people's version of it is superbly done, entirely believable and entirely horrific. Slowly and in great detail we see the plan unfold and there is a fear about what she is going to do next. Finishing off with a neatly ambiguous ending that various reviewers have taken in quite different ways.
It has tpoo many shots where the camera lingers in close up of a mundane piece of action or on a bit of nature, that dont really serve any purpose, but thats a minor criticism of a very well put together film, well worth a viewing.
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
Night in Paradise via Netflix: gory, grim, slightly over-inflated S Korean crime drama with a bucket of unexpected charm and interest. Junior gangster has to leave town for peaceful, tranquil Jeju Island; mayhem predictably ensues. It's all VERY Korean - melodramatic and maudlin emotions, explicit and matter-of-fact extreme violence, corrupt police, lots of double-crossing, looks amazing and is gratuitously, selfconsciously 'cinematic' at times. There's also a lot of eating, moody smoking, heavy drinking and a fair bit of rhapsodising about seafood. Some decent character acting and a nicely-turned script (with plenty of swearing, vividly subtitled - whatever the Korean is for 'you useless cunt' it gets used a LOT.) Might not be the most original thing you'll ever see - in a lot of ways it reminded me of Takeshi Kitano's Sonatine, though a bit less absurdist - but it does grip throughout. Both lead actors have plenty to work with but my main big gold star goes to Eum Tae Goo (or Uhm Tae Gu depending on which Romanization system you use) who must surely break internationally big before long - an amazing face which can go in an instant from 'hopeless dork' to 'unbearably gorgeous man' to 'no-mark villain'. Not a masterpiece but worth your time if you have a strong stomach.
krtek a houby
Merry Xmas!
Godzilla Vs Kong
Mindless fun. Kong is the most fully fleshed out character, so make of that what you will. Needed more Hollow Earth stuff.
Mindless fun. Kong is the most fully fleshed out character, so make of that what you will. Needed more Hollow Earth stuff.
Reno
The In Kraut
Testament from 1983. One of three TV movies about nuclear holocaust which made waves around the same time, Threads and The Day After being the other two. This was produced by PBS but considered good enough to get a theatrical release. I'd never seen this one but I remember it being highly acclaimed back then. It's the most low key of the three, concentrating on a suburban family in California, who try to carry on as they succumb to radiation poisoning one after the other. This was considered powerful in the 80s, but it now comes across as a little mawkish and repetitive, its roots as a TV movie show. For all its attempt at being restrained, there is something exploitative about watching a film about a mother who has to watch her children die. All it has to say is that nuclear war is a bit rubbish and should be avoided, which was no news to me. The main thing it has going for it is Jane Alexander's understated performance as the mother, she got an Oscar nomination at the time. She was one of many great actresses who came along in the 70s, who never had the career in film they deserved because there weren't that many good lead roles for women at the time. It also features Kevin Costner and Rebecca De Mornay as a young couple, just before they got famous.
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krtek a houby
Merry Xmas!
Tenet (again). Still can't figure out what's going on but the better half and this self can agree that Robert Pattison is lovely and will make a great Bond.
Watched first 2 eps of Tales from the Loop. Unusual and reminds of the Twilight Zone, in parts. Philip Glass soundtrack a bit overwhelming, but will persevere.
Watched first 2 eps of Tales from the Loop. Unusual and reminds of the Twilight Zone, in parts. Philip Glass soundtrack a bit overwhelming, but will persevere.
krtek a houby
Merry Xmas!
eta: ep 3 really reminds me of the 80s Twilight Zone, and after checking, there was an ep from 1985 that rings some bells. Which is fine, as loved that series. Also a bit of Roadside Picnic vibe going on, with all the discarded high tech artefacts lying around.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Found this film Deadlock on Prime ( also on Mubi). A German Spaghetti Western. Curious so watched it. Its a superior take on Sergio Leone Westerns. Three men fight over a suitcase of money in an abandoned mining town.
Good use of the desert location. Which gives the film a surreal not of this world feeling.
The director Roland Klick wrote and directed this. A talented German director who never made it big. This Mubi article says he was overlooked due to not fitting into the New German Post war film industry.
mubi.com
Bit of the find this. Would like to see his other films.
Music for film is by Can. Didn't know them. Well known German band of the time.
Good use of the desert location. Which gives the film a surreal not of this world feeling.
The director Roland Klick wrote and directed this. A talented German director who never made it big. This Mubi article says he was overlooked due to not fitting into the New German Post war film industry.
Roland Klick: Celebration
It's time for film culture to embrace German director Roland Klick.
Bit of the find this. Would like to see his other films.
Music for film is by Can. Didn't know them. Well known German band of the time.
imposs1904
Thread Killa'
Rewatched Midnight Run . . . again.
I honestly think it's a perfect movie.
I honestly think it's a perfect movie.
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Nice piece from BFI on Get Carter locations 50 years on.
What's strikes me the most is how much more greenery there is now. I know Hodges probably shot in such a way to emphasise the dirt and grime, and that the modern shots seem to have been shot on a lovely sunny day, but all the trees that you can see now that weren't there 50 years ago.
What's strikes me the most is how much more greenery there is now. I know Hodges probably shot in such a way to emphasise the dirt and grime, and that the modern shots seem to have been shot on a lovely sunny day, but all the trees that you can see now that weren't there 50 years ago.
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