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

[Orang Utan]

The Beekeeper
The Stath goes John Wick on a data mining company that empties his pal Mrs Huxtable’s bank accounts in a phishing scam.
If anyone else had starred in it, it’d be execrable DTV shite but Statham can redeem any old shite just by taking it all so seriously and beating up and killing people so skilfully.
It has a lot of clunky bee/hive philosophy and terrible bee puns in it. Well, it had me buzzing.
Another amusing thing to watch out for is that it’s all shot (or mostly shot) in and around London and Kent. There are extensive exterior shots of an office building in Piccadilly/Jermyn Street and a scene on a bridge that links the Isle Of Sheppey to the mainland. And there’s one ridiculous scene in a petrol station where you can clearly see £s on the price sign. Does Statham now have enough clout to demand the mountain comes to The Stath? Or is it a tax break thing?

 

[krtek a houby]

Blood on the Sun

Ace reporter James Cagney is caught up in spy devilment during 1920s Japan. Drunken expats, secret documents, corrupt cops and American actors pretending to be Japanese abound in this average thriller from 1945.

Cagney rises above it all and gets to throw plenty of judo moves, so there's that.

Sodom and Gomorrah

Trashy biblical epic from 1962. Stewart Granger and Pier Angeli star in the lusty tale of excess, incest and orgies.

Salty and silly.

 

[petee]

"once upon a time in america". i saw it when it came out and liked it well enough. this time i found it interminable and mostly bad to boot.

 

[krtek a houby]

"once upon a time in america". i saw it when it came out and liked it well enough. this time i found it interminable and mostly bad to boot.

Was it the European version, because the US release was butchered

 

[petee]

Was it the European version, because the US release was butchered

it was on Criterion, one of the longer versions.

 

[krtek a houby]

it was on Criterion, one of the longer versions.

The version I saw many years ago was the 4 hour one and it blew me away.

But have always been disturbed by the graphic sexual violence contained within. This is a problem that affects every Leone film have watched over the years.

It's a real shame because otherwise the films are epic.

 

[petee]

But have always been disturbed by the graphic sexual violence contained within. This is a problem that affects every Leone film have watched over the years.

that's is bad. alot of the acting i found stilted and stereotypical too. and the story is improbable in places.

 

[T & P]

The Matrix. First rewatch in probably 12+ years, and continues to be as satisfying. It has aged extremely well, including the special effects bits, and remains not just a fantastically good sci-fi film, but a great film of any genre, from the storyline to the acting, dialogue, pace, production, memorable quotes and characters, and anything else in between. I really do wish I could watch it afresh again.

 

[Elpenor]

The Matrix. First rewatch in probably 12+ years, and continues to be as satisfying. It has aged extremely well, including the special effects bits, and remains not just a fantastically good sci-fi film, but a great film of any genre.

From the storyline to the acting, dialogue, pace, production, memorable quotes and characters, this remains a brilliant, iconic film for the ages. I really do wish I could watch it afresh again.

It’s getting a big screen rerelease soon I think. I remember finding it a bit silly the first time, partly in reaction to some people I knew being obsessed with it, but tempted to see it given when I watched it was on a computer monitor 20+ years ago. The sequels were really shit though.

 

[T & P]

It’s getting a big screen rerelease soon I think. I remember finding it a bit silly the first time, partly in reaction to some people I knew being obsessed with it, but tempted to see it given when I watched it was on a computer monitor 20+ years ago. The sequels were really shit though.

I obviously don’t know how old you are, but as someone old enough to have watched it when it first came out, before the plot became common knowledge, the twist and very concept of the premise was a mindfuck of the most enjoyable kind. And even after you know the twist it remains as enjoyable, at least for me.

And yes, the sequels were shit. Not just shit but spoiling the plot and satisfying ending of the original film so much, I chose to refuse to acknowledge their very existence.

 

[Orang Utan]

Starwars 2: Attack Of The Clones. Really really bad. It doesn’t even look good. It looks TERRIBLE.
Dunno how Lucas manages to get such atrocious performances out of so many great actors. Only Christopher Lee manages to get away with it.
So many pointless scenes that don’t do anything. So many terrible flat lines that someone talented could at least have punched up to give the script some life.
And wtf is the point of Jago Fett and Boba Fett in that film? Why did Jago Fett go all the way to Coruscant and pay another even shitter bounty hunter to do a job he could have done himself and possibly succeeded? I stopped asking such questions after a while as there were just too many nonsensical plot developments.
Worst of all though, was the relationship between Amidala and Annekin. Annekin is well ick in it, employing pick up artist behaviour to woo her and though she bristles at first, she suddenly falls for him. Ugh.

Can’t wait for Revenge Of The Sith.

 

[T & P]

"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."​

Never forgive. Never forget.

 

[krtek a houby]

I obviously don’t know how old you are, but as someone old enough to have watched it when it first came out, before the plot became common knowledge, the twist and very concept of the premise was a mindfuck of the most enjoyable kind. And even after you know the twist it remains as enjoyable, at least for me.

And yes, the sequels were shit. Not just shit but spoiling the plot and satisfying ending of the original film so much, I chose to refuse to acknowledge their very existence.

The sequels were disappointing but didn't ruin the original for me. I never understand those who get so riled up about sequels/prequels/spin-offs/remakes...

The Animatrix is well cool, mind.

 

[krtek a houby]

"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."​

Never forgive. Never forget.

You wouldn't get Paul Atreidies carping about it, that's for sure

 

[inva]

A Girl At My Door
2014 crime drama/thriller sort of thing written and directed by July Jung. A lonely alcoholic police chief (played by Bae Doona) is exiled from Seoul to a grim fishing town on the south coast of Korea populated mainly by older Koreans and brutally exploited migrant workers, and where she finds herself trying to protect a disturbed and abused teenager (played by Kim Sae-ron). Great performances by Bae and Kim, a good little film.

 

[Elpenor]

Milano Calibro 9, a 70s Italian mafia picture

I noticed it was available on Freevee (via prime) but this was a dubbed version so I located an Italian language via other means. A mafiosi is released from prison and his boss suspects him of stealing from a job before he was banged up. He maintains he hasn’t got the missing $300k and has to stay in the gang to prove himself.

Two particularly good sequences at the beginning and end. some of the characters slips into parody. Quite a fun film though. There’s a subplot involving the police debating whether or not they should investigate rich people or focus on left wing anarchists, which is very urban if a little misplaced.

 

[inva]

Jamaica Inn
I was curious to see this as everyone says it’s bad but according to the book I’ve just read about British films of the 1930s it was popular at the time, and also because I’ve not seen many Hitchcock films so I wouldn’t really be watching it in the context of his work and maybe that would give me a different impression of it. Having said all that I didn't get a different impression of it, it’s not very good. The opening scene is excellent and the ending isn’t too bad, in between it just completely deflates.

 

[Sue]

Jamaica Inn
I was curious to see this as everyone says it’s bad but according to the book I’ve just read about British films of the 1930s it was popular at the time, and also because I’ve not seen many Hitchcock films so I wouldn’t really be watching it in the context of his work and maybe that would give me a different impression of it. Having said all that I didn't get a different impression of it, it’s not very good. The opening scene is excellent and the ending isn’t too bad, in between it just completely deflates.

Rebecca is much better if you want a DuMaurier/Hitchcock film.

I really like Hitchcock's British movies like Suspicion and The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps etc.

 

[krtek a houby]

The Lodger is worth a watch, it's one of his earliest (1927)

 

[redsquirrel]

Rebecca is much better if you want a DuMaurier/Hitchcock film.

I really like Hitchcock's British movies like Suspicion and The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps etc.

Stage Fright is also excellent fun

 

[inva]

Rebecca is much better if you want a DuMaurier/Hitchcock film.

I really like Hitchcock's British movies like Suspicion and The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps etc.

The Lady Vanishes is one of the few I have seen, I think I remember liking it. I love the book of Rebecca so that's definitely on the list!

 

[[62]]

Delicatessen.

Loved that film when I was younger. Just checked and it's still brilliant.

 

[Idris2002]

2001: a Space Odyssey

1968's vision of the future. Has it stood the test of time? I'm really not sure. The spectacle was definitely designed for a big screen, so like with Rear Window, it's maybe not such a good idea to watch it on a TV.

What's odd is that it clearly trades in quasi-religious or fully religious themes and imagery. That's odd because neither Kubrick or Clarke were believers.

"Open the pod bay doors, Hal".

 

[krtek a houby]

Meg2 - The Trench

Jason Statham jumps sharks in this silly mix of Deep Blue Sea, Jurassic Park, Piranha, Jaws, The Abyss and many others.

It's not completely terrible but do prefer Ben Wheatley's smaller films.

 

[inva]

Vampyr
Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1932 hypnotic horror fantasy. It seems to bridge the gap between silent and sound films with the dialogue recorded separately and used very sparsely so other than the music soundtrack and brief snippets of speech all the action is soundless, and the acting is also very like silent film acting. I suppose at the time it might have seemed already outdated I don't think it was well received anyway, but from a distance it adds another layer of unreality to the dreamlike style. Some fantastic imagery and camerawork, I think the approach to sound taken allowed for that late silent era movement and fluidity to be preserved. A really unique and enjoyable film.

 

[inva]

Le Trou
Directed by Jacques Becker it's a brilliantly tense prison break thriller from 1960 and Becker's final film before his death. It uses the physical labour of escape and the concrete, metal and earth of the physical environment so effectively in the visual and sound design to build suspense, but where it really excels is in the tight focus on the social dynamic between the prisoners in the cell and within the wider prison and its systems of coercion and exploitation. I knew I would like this and I liked it even more than I expected.

 

[Idris2002]

Here Comes the Navy

1934 - Jimmy Cagney plays an obnoxious dickhead who joins the US Navy to impress a girl - who turns out to the sister of a superior officer. On the box it looked like a musical, which it ain't (the style is catching - why I oughta). Plenty of hijinks and adventures, but this is seven years before Pearl Harbour, so no combat. Also some very iffy race stuff. From Warners Brothers and in their social realist tradition, though I'm not sure how realistic this one is. The running gag about the poor shmo who only wants to buy his Ma a new set of false teeth would be a searing indictment of dentistry in depression-era America, I suppose.

The real life US Navy airship USS Macon turns up in a charming cameo role, if you like airships.

Very occasionally the Irish-American actors let slip a syllable or two that definitely has the brogue of the old country upon it, to be sure, to be sure, begorrah and bejaysus, be the hokey.

And that's why you shouldn't let Irish people into your country.

 

[inva]

Le Corbeau
Henri-Georges Clouzot directed mystery thriller from 1943 about a small French town torn apart by suspicion over poison pen letters signed by 'The Raven'. Plenty of deceit, cynicism and suspense to go round and a really brilliant and well made film. I think Sue recommended this ages ago so thanks!

 

[redsquirrel]

Le Trou
Directed by Jacques Becker it's a brilliantly tense prison break thriller from 1960 and Becker's final film before his death. It uses the physical labour of escape and the concrete, metal and earth of the physical environment so effectively in the visual and sound design to build suspense, but where it really excels is in the tight focus on the social dynamic between the prisoners in the cell and within the wider prison and its systems of coercion and exploitation. I knew I would like this and I liked it even more than I expected.

Becker is top notch. The Melbourne Cinematheque did a season of this films they were all good. I take it you've seen his great Touchez pas au grisbi?

 

[inva]

Becker is top notch. The Melbourne Cinematheque did a season of this films they were all good. I take it you've seen his great Touchez pas au grisbi?

No I haven't, it's on the list though. I think I've only seen Le Trou and Casque D'or by Becker.