What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Always a good addition to a film
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
If you liked that, check out Le Mif - sort of a French version
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Cheers, will do!
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Review here:
La Mif review – remarkable teenage care home drama
A cast of non-professionals give exceptional performances as fact meets fiction in this compelling drama with shades of The Class and Rocks
Reno
The In Kraut
The Mephisto Walz, 1971 knock-off of Rosemary's Baby starring a high profile cast but poorly written and terribly directed. Where Rosemary's Baby was so effective because it approached its subject matter with utter realism, this goes for filter and fish eye lense overkill to constantly make things look spooky and weird. The film is so hyped up that has nowhere to go and as a result it is never remotely scary. Characterisation is terrible, when the Jaqueline Bisset's young daughter gets bumped off by the Satanic baddies, it barely registers with her. She carries on as usual and starts flirting with Bradford Dillman.
A similar premise was dealt with far more successfully in the underrated Skeleton Key from 2005.
A similar premise was dealt with far more successfully in the underrated Skeleton Key from 2005.
Reno
The In Kraut
Les Girls, 1957 musical with a Cole Porter score and directed by George Cukor. This has a Rashomon-like structure where the entanglements of three showgirls with Gene Kelly's dancer result in an apparent suicide attempt and a libel case and are told from three different perspectives in court. Not the greatest MGM musical, but still good fun and a fine showcase for the British actress Kay Kendall, a gifted comedienne who sadly died a couple of year later. Some good production numbers as one would expect from MGM but the Cole Porter songs aren't his best. It does however feature Gene Kelly in this get up and that's worth it alone:
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Currently on iplayer
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Finished a sextet of Preston Sturges films (from the Melbourne Cinematheque season). All great and worth checking out the combination of slapstick and wit is just great.
Sullivan's Travels - Joel McCrae is the Hollywood desperate to making a picture with meaning. Despite perhaps being Sturges most famous picture I don't think he quite manages the change in tone in the last third/quarter but there are some great gags. Plus it has Veronica Lake.
The Great McGinty - Mad silly and top notch, Brian Donlevy (yeah I'd never heard of him either) is great as the cynical crook who's one nit of morality breaks things up.
Christmas in July - While the two stars are fine this movie is really stolen (in a good way) by the members of Sturges 'company' (he often used the same supporting actors in films). William Demarest is great as the stubborn Bildocker and Raymond Walbourn absolutely top as the company director.
Hail the Conquering Hero - Still very good but probably for my money the weakest of the films. There are some excellent gags but I'm not quite sure about Eddie Bracken in the lead role.
The Palm Beach Story - Joel McCrae again giving a good performance as the straight man in this screwball comedy. The train scenes with the 'Ale and Quail Club' are a particular treat.
Unfaithfully Yours - How is this not better know, it is magnificent. Rex Harrison is a conductor who begins to suspect that his wife may be unfaithful and while directing three pieces of music imagines three different ways of handling the situation, none of which stand up to reality. Harrison can be someone who overacts but here is performance works with the craziness of the film. The final piece of the film as really over the top slapstick but done with such a deft hand that it works. Stunningly good.
Sullivan's Travels - Joel McCrae is the Hollywood desperate to making a picture with meaning. Despite perhaps being Sturges most famous picture I don't think he quite manages the change in tone in the last third/quarter but there are some great gags. Plus it has Veronica Lake.
The Great McGinty - Mad silly and top notch, Brian Donlevy (yeah I'd never heard of him either) is great as the cynical crook who's one nit of morality breaks things up.
Christmas in July - While the two stars are fine this movie is really stolen (in a good way) by the members of Sturges 'company' (he often used the same supporting actors in films). William Demarest is great as the stubborn Bildocker and Raymond Walbourn absolutely top as the company director.
Hail the Conquering Hero - Still very good but probably for my money the weakest of the films. There are some excellent gags but I'm not quite sure about Eddie Bracken in the lead role.
The Palm Beach Story - Joel McCrae again giving a good performance as the straight man in this screwball comedy. The train scenes with the 'Ale and Quail Club' are a particular treat.
Unfaithfully Yours - How is this not better know, it is magnificent. Rex Harrison is a conductor who begins to suspect that his wife may be unfaithful and while directing three pieces of music imagines three different ways of handling the situation, none of which stand up to reality. Harrison can be someone who overacts but here is performance works with the craziness of the film. The final piece of the film as really over the top slapstick but done with such a deft hand that it works. Stunningly good.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
After Yang - it had good reviews but I'm more than half-way through so far and it's so terribly boring. Might finish it tonight, might not bother.
Perhaps it's the Colin Farrel effect.
Perhaps it's the Colin Farrel effect.
Reno
The In Kraut
What's the Colin Farrel effect ?After Yang - it had good reviews but I'm more than half-way through so far and it's so terribly boring. Might finish it tonight, might not bother.
Perhaps it's the Colin Farrel effect.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
That he seems to be some guy who just wandered on to the set during a comfort break, and started saying the lines, and the other actors and crew just roll with it for the lolz, and that the real movie with the actor who was actually cast to play that role is out there somewhere and might be quite good.
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Bus Honeygun
This week the score draws are plentiful
We watched this DVD of a US TV drama about the mafia, set in New Jersey. Only watched the first couple of episodes, but it's quite gripping and very original. It's called 'The Sopranos'. One to check out, I reckon.
Reno
The In Kraut
Nonsense, he's a great actor. In In Bruges he gives one of my favourite comedy performances and he's equally good at the other end of spectrum in something like The Lobster or The Killing of the Sacred Deer. He's matured from pretty boy leading man into a first class character actor over the years and is equally good in blockbusters and art house fare.
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platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Responsible Child - BBC TV movie about a child accused of murder, based on a true story. Great camera work etc - I was surprised to see the director hasn't made any feature films before.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
2003 film directed by Tsai Ming-Liang. An old cinema on its last legs is showing King Hu's martial arts film Dragon Inn to an audience in single figures on a rainy evening in Taipei before closing for good. Shiang-chyi Chen plays the woman running the ticket office and generally doing most of the jobs around the place and she spends most of the film trying to leave some kind of a cake for the projectionist as a gift, while Kiyonobu Mitamura is a gay Japanese tourist who has picked a really hopeless cruising spot. And that's about it really. It took me a while to get into this, it's a incredibly slow sequence of scenes with very little plot, the camera never moves, there's hardly any dialogue - I think the first proper line is halfway through the film - but once I got used to the style I found it totally brilliant. It creates so much atmosphere, something about the stillness and the quiet draws you into the environment which is visually stunning and with fantastic sound design and lighting. Great subtle performances from the cast as well, watching Shiang-chyi Chen stare gloomily at her untouched gift for several minutes while the unseen projectionist's cigarette slowly burns down on the side was weirdly captivating.
It really helped that the overall melancholy tone has some moments of comedy, Mitamura's character has some genuinely funny scenes. Probably one you need to be in the right mood for but I thought it was excellent, will definitely try and watch some more of Tsai's work.
2003 film directed by Tsai Ming-Liang. An old cinema on its last legs is showing King Hu's martial arts film Dragon Inn to an audience in single figures on a rainy evening in Taipei before closing for good. Shiang-chyi Chen plays the woman running the ticket office and generally doing most of the jobs around the place and she spends most of the film trying to leave some kind of a cake for the projectionist as a gift, while Kiyonobu Mitamura is a gay Japanese tourist who has picked a really hopeless cruising spot. And that's about it really. It took me a while to get into this, it's a incredibly slow sequence of scenes with very little plot, the camera never moves, there's hardly any dialogue - I think the first proper line is halfway through the film - but once I got used to the style I found it totally brilliant. It creates so much atmosphere, something about the stillness and the quiet draws you into the environment which is visually stunning and with fantastic sound design and lighting. Great subtle performances from the cast as well, watching Shiang-chyi Chen stare gloomily at her untouched gift for several minutes while the unseen projectionist's cigarette slowly burns down on the side was weirdly captivating.
It really helped that the overall melancholy tone has some moments of comedy, Mitamura's character has some genuinely funny scenes. Probably one you need to be in the right mood for but I thought it was excellent, will definitely try and watch some more of Tsai's work.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
The Apprentice. Had to come up with a baby food, one team called theirs First Time Dies 
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Reno
The In Kraut
You are watching this on DVD/Video ? That's commitment !The Apprentice. Had to come up with a baby food, one team called theirs First Time Die
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
No idea, it was just 'on tele' so I watched it, same way as you watch cars crashing.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
surreybrowncap
“Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand"
The next Bruce Willis film….
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Turning Red. Enjoyable growing up as a red panda animation.
John Wick. Enjoyable computer game type violence, elevated by Keanu Reeves' angular melancholy. I particularly liked the almost complete absence of any law enforcement or other emergency services as Reeves crunches his way through Russian bad guys, expensive cars and high end nightclubs like a one man wrecking ball - an impressive commitment to the unreality of it all that really worked.
John Wick. Enjoyable computer game type violence, elevated by Keanu Reeves' angular melancholy. I particularly liked the almost complete absence of any law enforcement or other emergency services as Reeves crunches his way through Russian bad guys, expensive cars and high end nightclubs like a one man wrecking ball - an impressive commitment to the unreality of it all that really worked.
Tbf by time they get to #9, it's quite likely the franchise has seen better days.
(Waits for someone to come along with examples where #9+ were the best of the bunch...)
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
It’s not just compared just with the previous instalments though. It is so preposterous it makes Sharknado feel plausible. I am only half joking as well. A three year old would be embarrassed by the suspension of disbelief required.
Aside from that, it is flat, boring, predictable and even the comedy relief moments are about as funny as an endoscopy. Just indescribably shite.
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