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

[Chz]

The Creator, which is also pay-for on Prime but I watched the Bluray.

Eh... I mean, if you're an SF fan you're going to like it because there's never enough of this sort of thing. And it looks great, the acting isn't too shabby and the overall plot seems decent enough.
I'm being a bit too particular, I think. It was pretty good. It's just there's one scene in the middle where the guy's friend looks at something for literally 60 seconds and then expounds upon what is basically the central plot point of the rest of the film. Out of nowhere. It irked me as a clumsy bit of exposition is all. It shouldn't sour the overall experience, but it did because I'm a nitpicker that way.

If you like robots and things blowing up, it's really good. Even as an exploration of how we should go forward with AI, it's recommended. Although there's a 30 second long montage at the beginning that made me think "pretty much that, yeah".

 

[krtek a houby]

The Hired Hand

Peter Fonda western from 1971. Not sure how missed this over the years. Beautiful cinematography and soundtrack (the latter courtesy of sometime Dylan musician Bruce Langhorne) are the icing on the cake for this classic, initially pissed about by the studio and regarded by some critic as a hippie film.

It's not Easy Rider, but it does have some similarities like the dissolves and the clash between freedom, friendship and conflicts.

Fonda, Warren Oates and Verna Bloom all shine in this downbeat but beguiling revenge tale.

If you like Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid vibe, it's to be recommended.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Although there's a 30 second long montage at the beginning that made me think "pretty much that, yeah".

The montage at the beginning was one of the best bits of the film. The child actor was very good. The plot is way too lean, but they clearly spent a great deal of time on the world building and effects. It's nice to see sci-fi that's not part of a franchise, but this film didn't really work for me; Good action sequences though, and I get bored by action sequences generally.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

Just finished watching Palm Trees and Power Lines. A feature length version of an earlier short made by the same director. Teenage naivety, vulnerability and older adult (male) danger. That's an insult to how well this was done, but I'm still processing it. It's grim viewing.

Watched this tonight. (It's on Now Cinema.) Excellent film but definitely not an easy watch. Surprised it doesn't have a higher profile.

 

[krtek a houby]

100 Rifles

1969 Western with Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds and Dan O'Herlihy

Occasionally exciting, sometimes dubious adventure in the wild west. 3/5.

 

[The39thStep]

Lucky - Harry Dean Stanton’s last role at the age of 90 . Nothing much happens , on a world scale , and indeed nothing needs to happen on that scale in a muse on life and eventual death. As in life it’s the little things that make this film ,his routine , the people who know him and who he meets, glimpses of his history and of course the the tale of the tortoise .

Poignant.

 

[seventh bullet]

Watched this tonight. (It's on Now Cinema.) Excellent film but definitely not an easy watch. Surprised it doesn't have a higher profile.

It's excellent, I agree.

 

[MickiQ]

Holiday Road, Christmas themed road movie, fluff but enjoyable fluff about 9 strangers who end up sharing a van when their flight from Portland to Denver is cancelled.

 

[Orang Utan]

Holiday Road, Christmas themed road movie, fluff but enjoyable fluff about 9 strangers who end up sharing a van when their flight from Portland to Denver is cancelled.

If it doesn’t have the titular Lyndsey Buckingham song on it, then I’m out

 

[T & P]

It’s a Wonderful Knife. As the title might suggest if you are pressed to hazard a guess from it, it’s a slasher comedy-horror adaptation of the Christmas all-time classic It’s a Wonderful Life, following the same basic premise.

And you know what, as comedy-horror films go, it’s actually a pretty good one. Recommended to fans of the genre, if not necessarily to the wider public.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Les 7 Jours Du Talion

French-Canadian revenge thriller from director Podz, with his 19-2 collaborator Claude Legault as a bereaved father whose guilt and grief drive him into a blood-soaked frenzy of retribution. Not a date night film.

 

[Sue]

Les 7 Jours Du Talion

French-Canadian revenge thriller from director Podz, with his 19-2 collaborator Claude Legault as a bereaved father whose guilt and grief drive him into a blood-soaked frenzy of retribution. Not a date night film.

Not a date night film? No such thing.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Not a date night film? No such thing.

YMMV but I would strongly recommend checking out the Wikipedia summary before committing to popcorn expenditure or calendar-clearing

 

[krtek a houby]

Minder on the Orient Express

Years since seen this one. Iirc, it was up against a feature length Only Fools and Horses, Xmas '85.

Very old fashioned but still, nice nostalgic revisit. Plus great cast include Honor Blackman, Adam Faith and Ronald Lacey.

Best watched with a large VAT, Dave.

 

[krtek a houby]

Waterloo

1970 epic DeLaurentis co-production with the ever reliant Mosfilm. Rod Steiger as Napoleon and Christopher Plummer as Wellington, with notable support from Jack Hawkins, Dan O'Herlihy and in a majestically subdued cameo - Orson Welles.

The battle scenes were filmed in Ukraine with the aid of 17000 Soviet army extras. Forget yer CGI skirmishes, don't know if I've seen more spectacular battles on film before. Apparently, an influence on Peter Jackson when it came to Lord of the Rings.

Bloody epic madness

(Edited because appalling typos)

 

[krtek a houby]

A Fistful of Dynamite, aka Duck You Sucker, aka Once Upon a Time ... The Revolution

Epic 1971 spaghetti western with Rod Steiger and James Coburn as bandit and IRA man respectively. The two become reluctant revolutionaries in Mexico 1913.

As usual, Leone and Moriccone deliver the goods in droves. The humour, the action and shoot outs. But...

I'll let Coburn's ropey Irish accent slip, and even Steiger's overacting. The main problem is at the start of the film, where a woman character is assaulted and humiliated. Sadly, this treatment of women in Leone's films cropped up often enough and does make for uncomfortable viewing. It's an ugly scene in an otherwise engaging film.

 

[Buddy Bradley]

Wife made me watch Highlander (1986). Has to be one of the worst films I've ever seen, don't know how it became a cult classic.

 

[krtek a houby]

Memory (2022)

Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci and the late Ray Stevenson can't save this hitman/cop drama from Bond director Martin Campbell. Avoid.

 

[The39thStep]

The Holdovers (on the Peacock app). I'm a sucker for most things that Paul Giamatti is in and this little story suits him perfectly. Actually, the story itself could be said to be a near brush with being schmaltzy however I'd suggest its got enough going for it just to avoid that. Giamatti's role is pretty similar to the one he had in Sideways stiff, emotionally constrained but with that little bit of playful mishevious sometimes self destructive devilment that he struggles to contain. Its a bonding film at heart but the bonding isn't confined to just him and his pupil and like all bonding films it starts by what pushes apart and concludes on understanding behaviour. Tbh it is probably a Xmas film. Anyway, it made me chuckle and in a couple of places laugh and it restores a bit of your faith in humans.

 

[belboid]

Bottoms

Another gem from Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott. 90 minutes of hilarity as the schools two least popular girls start up a fight club in order to get off with cheerleaders. A late contender for film of the year.

 

[krtek a houby]

Spider-Man: No Way Home (Extended Version)

Didn't really notice the extras, but still the last truly great MCU movie. The action, humour and script brings out the best in the franchise and there's never a dull moment. Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield and Willem Defoe are outstanding support.

In a film so stuffed with characters, you might just think it will collapse under the weight of all those stars... but only Rhys Ifans character feels underused.

A love letter to the Spider-Man films. Fan service done just right.

 

[T & P]

Jules. An offbeat comedy-drama film starring Ben Kingsley and a small assemble of American talent about a man in the initial stages of dementia who has an alien craft crash land in his back yard, and of course nobody believes him.

A very enjoyable film indeed, and a solid 7/10.

 

[The39thStep]

Mulholland Drive - big fan of anything noir and most things David Lynch. Yes had a few but Jesus, one minute I'm on top of the game tbh probably ahead of the script, the next I'm in a cul de sac on my back side.

 

[Sue]

Mulholland Drive - big fan of anything noir and most things David Lynch. Yes had a few but Jesus, one minute I'm on top of the game tbh probably ahead of the script, the next I'm in a cul de sac on my back side.

Forget it...it's Mulholland Drive.

 

[The39thStep]

Forget it...it's Mulholland Drive.

It's good though.I don't mind losing providing I eventually solve the problem or come to a conclusion that it doesn't need solving. I know you weren't taken by it but I might watch Under the Silver Lake again.

 

[Sue]

It's good though.I don't mind losing providing I eventually solve the problem or come to a conclusion that it doesn't need solving. I know you weren't taken by it but I might watch Under the Silver Lake again.

I really like MH. But it does do that switch in perspective which is a little bit .

 

[The39thStep]

I really like MH. But it does do that switch in perspective which is a little bit .

It completely threw me tbh .

 

[krtek a houby]

Loved Mulholland. Wish Lynch would return to film making.

 

[redsquirrel]

I've been binging on the Shaw Brothers collection on MUBI (chronologically)
- Come Drink With Me

• The One Armed Swordsman
• The Boxer from Shantung
• King Boxer
• Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan
• Five Deadly Venoms
• Heroes of the East
• Crippled Avengers
• The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
• Dirty Ho
• Clan of the White Lotus
• Legendary Weapons of China
• Five Elements Ninja's
• The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter

Generally the early ones are the better, with more characterisation, as time goes on there is more and more time spent on stunts and less on plot, script and character.

Come Drink with Me is the highlight, with the strongest blend of action, philosophy, character and plot. I have a soft spot for Five Deadly Venoms, Crippled Avengers and Legendary Weapons of China. I note that most of my preferred films either Gordon Liu is not present, or has a minor role, I don't think that is a coincidence. He's obviously an amazing martial artists but I don't think he's really a great actor and too many of the films he is in are about him showing off.

Still all enjoyable to some extent, and an excellent way to de-stress after a bloody awful term. Even the weakest are watchable.
Not sure what to watch next.

 

[Chz]

Watched Tar. With a funny accent on the a I can't be bothered to find.

I was sort of expecting one of those films where "artistic interpretation" flows solidly into "wank", but I was very pleasantly surprised. Not just an acting tour de force out of Blanchett, but an all-round really well done film. Never once stirred or felt it was a bit long despite being a full 150 minutes. Problem is it's one of those things that hard to sell on the surface of it - asshole of an orchestra conductor suffers downfall doesn't really cover it, but that is the story. Rate it highly, though I still think the critics were a bit over-adoring.