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

OG godzilla mine died the other day. He mentioned in an interview how when he did suit work it was still looked down o as not proper acting. Today of course computer enhanced gollum brings all the awards to the yard
I hadn't realised that he'd died last week. RIP Haruo Nakajima :(
 
A bit of catching up from the last several nights

Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer (2016) - IMDb
Richard Gere stars as Norman who is a fixer, mainly dealing with American-Isreali business and politics. It's not very exciting, but there's some good bits. 6/10

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) - IMDb
Different spin on a very old tale, that was better than I was expecting. 7/10

Shot Caller (2017) - IMDb
A couple had already mentioned this so I gave it a go purely based on what people had said, and they were right, a well good gritty prison film starring that guy who plays Jaime in GoT. Surprised they didn't make a bigger deal out of this, but seems a small studio and budget, deserves to become a cult classic. 8/10
Yup, really enjoyed Shot Caller. I think the actor who played Shotgun was in The Walking Dead.
 
It is a major cult film.
It was a new one on me.

Anyway, the other night I watched New Zealand family drama Mahana.

Temeura Morison is the patriarch of a sheep-shearing Maori family in 1950s Poverty Bay, Aotearoa. He rules the clan with an iron fist, but his teenage grandson is on the verge of standing up to him, and this will involve the airing of the big family secret. . .

I'd give it 9/10.
 
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A couple to catch up on

Wakefield (2016) - IMDb
Bryan Cranston stars as a bloke going through a mental breakdown and becomming bitter about his home life. Decides to pretend to go missing and lives in the adjacent (but part of their property so a bit far fetched) attic so he can still keep an eye on them. Months pass, we see flashbacks to why he does this and how he got together with his wife. I really, really, liked this film. I think the dark side of me would actually enjoy doing something like this and going off the grid and seeing how people cope. It's a bit weird I know. I also sort of related to a few things. Make of that what you will. Obviously a point comes when you then have to decide to go missing forever or just turn back up, which was also good. 7/10

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) - IMDb
Yeah I know, 20+ years old, and I had never seen this. Starts off as pretty much any Tarantino film, and then goes all crazy with the vampires. Sure pretty much everyone has seen this. Enjoyable. I'm not a fan of feet but oh my, I would loved to have had a beer/wine whatever it was poured down Selma Hayek's leg and drink it from off her feet. Yummy. 7/10
 
A couple to catch up on

Wakefield (2016) - IMDb
Bryan Cranston stars as a bloke going through a mental breakdown and becomming bitter about his home life. Decides to pretend to go missing and lives in the adjacent (but part of their property so a bit far fetched) attic so he can still keep an eye on them. Months pass, we see flashbacks to why he does this and how he got together with his wife. I really, really, liked this film. I think the dark side of me would actually enjoy doing something like this and going off the grid and seeing how people cope. It's a bit weird I know. I also sort of related to a few things. Make of that what you will. Obviously a point comes when you then have to decide to go missing forever or just turn back up, which was also good. 7/10
It might sound far-fetched but that's what John Darwin did, albeit with the collusion of his wife. His sons didn't know though.
John Darwin disappearance case - Wikipedia
 
Just watched the first half of episode 1, downloaded from Syfy - does it get better as it progresses or should I ditch? DotCommunist - did you persevere?
no. It fails in attempts to mix humour ad grindhouse level violence to a good conclusion. I gave up 4 eps in. One of the things it can't do is profanity of epic levels and sex. So you just get the bloodsprays and that. It fails to make any points about anything and is literally just leaning on the idea of 'cars you feed people to lol'. Its not even mad max enough although some of the car runs are admittedly fairly cool. Its cheap shit (cheap in meaning, it probably cost lots of money to do) with no heart and no humour.
 
no. It fails in attempts to mix humour ad grindhouse level violence to a good conclusion. I gave up 4 eps in. One of the things it can't do is profanity of epic levels and sex. So you just get the bloodsprays and that. It fails to make any points about anything and is literally just leaning on the idea of 'cars you feed people to lol'. Its not even mad max enough although some of the car runs are admittedly fairly cool. Its cheap shit (cheap in meaning, it probably cost lots of money to do) with no heart and no humour.

Cheers for that - deleted
 
The penultimate episode of The Sopranos. Should have watched the last one tonight but shes having a weird "no it cant end, its the greatest tv thing ever, id go so far as to say its even better than The Wire, its so fucking great. No. Please dont let it stop" reaction to this situation.
 
Self/Less - average sci-fi actioner: Rich man seeks immortality through some program for rich folk, only to discover the new body he has attained is not what he first thought...then the film becomes a cat & mouse chase film, with various punch ups, car chases, explosions and nothing especially original.

Sicaro - Not the masterpiece it thinks it is, but a decent couple of hours viewing. It wants to be a much deeper and meaningful film, but on the whole it's a smart, action film filled with some great performances, especially from Emily Blunt, vut also Josh Brolin, and Daniel Kaluunya. I wasn't so keen on Del Toro's performance. Thought his character was a bit cartooonish. Beautifully shot bu Roger Deakins (who, shockingly, has never got an oscar despite 13 noms!)
 
Arrival - really enjoyed. Good to see a film where the aliens didn't wanna fuck us up, and we, at least to begin with, attempted to some peaceful communication.
 
A few to catch up on again.

The Dark Crystal (1982) - IMDb
Had never seen this, and my sister loves it, to the point she has tattoos of it. So thought I better give it a spin. What surrpised me was how dark this was for a Henson production and something aimed at kids. If I'd watched this when I was 6 I would have been terrified, and quite possibly would never have watched Labrinyth. But thankfully that never happened, and now I'm 37 and can appreciate this! 7/10

Dead Space: Downfall (Video 2008) - IMDb
The video game is one of my favourites of all time, so thought I'd give this animation film a go. It basically tells the story of what happens before the first game. Although they kinda did this also with a Wii game, but this seemed a completely different story. 6/10

Dead Space: Aftermath (Video 2011) - IMDb
Couldn't quite work out where this one was set in terms of the games, seemed more of a follow up of the above film. Loads of nods here to Alien, which is kinda what the franchise is based on anyway, a character called Ripley, and a ship called the O'Bannon. Pretty sure they use the sound of the proton packs booting up from Ghostbusters too. Enjoyed this one more. 7/10
 
The Handmaiden (extended version)

The Korean adaptation of Fingersmiths, I think the ending works better here, it's certainly more satisfactory. And, blimey, but it is a little bit raunchy at times.
 
The last episode of The Sopranos. I knew roughly how it ended, who didnt given all the coverage it had at the time & since, well ms starfish for one, she didnt have a clue & had a "Huh what.. what.. is the TV broken. What is that it after all that thats it? Seriously, thats how they... oh it was actually quite perfect really. Yes im glad thats how it ended" reaction to it.
 
Columbo Goes to College

A late episode from The Master, that beers towards the slightly silly in places, but such a beautifully done reveal, you gotta live it.
 
Death Note

It starts in the visual and scripting feel as a sort of Final Destination style film, then there isn't enough death. This kid gets a notebook from a demon ( a japanese death god according to the manga). You write a name in it, that person dies a mousetrap/final destination style death 48 hrs later. But its more complicated than that cos you can make the person do your bidding. Its crap really but watchable as the demon is good, the acting competent and the deaths quality (although there are not enough)

this film has attracted some vocal complaints about whitewashing by moving it to an american setting and having the lead as white american. Its also not a very good film. One for the high and bored night.
 
Death Note

It starts in the visual and scripting feel as a sort of Final Destination style film, then there isn't enough death. This kid gets a notebook from a demon ( a japanese death god according to the manga). You write a name in it, that person dies a mousetrap/final destination style death 48 hrs later. But its more complicated than that cos you can make the person do your bidding. Its crap really but watchable as the demon is good, the acting competent and the deaths quality (although there are not enough)

this film has attracted some vocal complaints about whitewashing by moving it to an american setting and having the lead as white american. Its also not a very good film. One for the high and bored night.
I'll probably give this one a look, as I've seen the anime series and the live action films.
 
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016). Father and son perform an autopsy on an unidentified corpse and things turn out not to be as they seem.

Starts off as an above average straight-to-dvd effort but, like Brian Cox's accent it loses its way fairly quickly. The 5-point-something it has on IMDb is probably a fair reflection.
 
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