list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

Henry Plainview wrote:   I saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next and I really didn't like it very much. It was too long and I couldn't help but feel Jack Nicholson got what was coming to him for skipping jail. :/ I guess I'll watch it again.

way to suck at liking a classic- AND one of the best films about mental illness/ the spirit ever put to film!

A Woman Under the Influence (1974) - okay, now this movie blew me away! I had no idea what to expect and I don't recall how this even got in my netflix queue, but sometimes the best way to experience a movie is fresh without any previous knowledge. Anyhow there's so much I can say about this film but really sort of useless to go on about unless I get feedback from others who've also seen it. Some of the most tensely acted scenes I've ever seen, moments that start out rather innocently but eventually decent into stupefying chaos. A lot of the times I was watching with my jaw on the floor, thinking "oh my god! I can't believe this is happening." Stuff that you laugh at, but not out of comedy, more so out of disbelief. Some of the scenes seemed very loosely scripted; as if some of the acting was off the cuff: this along with a lack of a music score added to the believability of the film. The whole movie is actually very sad; a powerful tale about a supposed "crazy" woman her blue collar husband and her expected role as a mother - a simple plot with infinite depth. At first this was an automatic 9/10 yet the more I've thought about it and how expertly filmed, directed and acted some of those scenes were I must give this a 10/10 (which is something I rarely give)

Diabel (1972) - this turned out to be an interesting movie I thought it was supposed to be a horror but it was nothing of the sort...and not to say it didn't have its fair share of blood and gore. Its about a dude that's freed from prison or perhaps an insane asylum by some other guy who wants something from the first dude. As he goes on a journey he encounters much corruption and debauchery which causes him to commit his own acts of "sin" and immorality. There's some really weird and strangely filmed scenes in this movie. The very first scene with him escaping from his imprisonment will stick with you for a while, not that it's bloody or anything, just loud and obtuse and disorderly - it starts off with a big "WTF is going on here?" And if you ever see this you'll encounter plenty more visceral imagery throughout. I've never quite seen a movie like this, but I will say it vaguely reminded me of El Topo. My only problem with this movie is they did a shoddy job with the subtitles; they go by so fast that it becomes hard to keep up with the dialog - the text flashes up and out of the screen so quickly that much of the time you're only able to catch 2 words out of an entire sentence. For now I'll say 7/10, perhaps if I ever spend more time with it and organize the dialog a bit more in my head it might get a higher rating.

a couple of leftovers from Halloween I hadn't gotten around to yet

Brotherhood of Satan (1971) - this was pretty good actually, sh*t acting and lousy sound effects, but lot of cool scenes of Devil worshiping ceremonies and people shouting oaths to Satan. The cult leader is one of the kookiest looking dudes I've ever seen. I'd recommend this to anyone just can't enough Satanic Panic! movies from the 70s, 5.5/10

Superstition (1982) - once again not bad, kind of like a haunted house movie with death scenes similar to Final Destination, the whole thing was kind of a mix of Gothic Horror, early 80s Fangoria mag fodder and an After School special, oh yeah there's a witch too! One of those good 80s obscurities that you'd probably find back in the day in your local Mom & Pop vid store that would go down well with popcorn and soda pop. 5.5/10

Barbara Bach is better than the movie!More Seriously speaking,I went to the movies this afternoon:I saw Der Baader-Meinhof Complex.2h25mn long but I didn't get bored since it's a very nice movie.Actors such as Moritz Bleibtreu or Bruno Ganz did a fine work and the film  accurately shows dangers/traps expecting leftists losing their minds for the purpose of a cause which was good in the beginning.It also deals with the fact that Germany came back to democracy after WW2 without getting rid of nazi administration.The conclusion of the movie:Andreas Baader and his friends were terrorists,that's all.Moreover they ended being even more authoritarian than the people they fought against,quote:"Individuals inside the Group have to change,not the Group!".The director is also clever anough to tell us that democracies can behave very badly,destroying individual freedom.One could say it's a warning:keep thinking,keep reading and don't always trust the government!(10/10)

Laserblast(1978) - this was a fun as hell movie, about a dude that finds n alien laser canon and the use he gets out of it the more he turns in to a zombie, he goes around shooting up the town getting back at people who wronged him all the while being pursued by some stop-motion animated aliens that look like a cross between ET and dinosaurs, the main dude looked an awful lot like Mark Hamill which wasn't a coincidence because during his shooting spree to blows up a billboard with a Star Wars logo on it, funny thing is this movie was also given the MST3K treatment, which I found and watched some of it on youtube, really though...you can watch this without the riffing of MST3K and still get a kick out of this cornball Z-grade Scifi/Horror. 6/10

Przypadek (Blind Chance)(1987) - one of those fork-in-the-road movies, which is basically divided into 3 parts, each showing a radically different path the main character takes after thee fork in the road moment in his life, not bad 6/10

Screamers(1995) - based off of a Philip K. Dick short story "Second Variety", staring Peter Weller, you can tell this was a straight to video release, low budget science fiction movie but I was slightly impressed with the settings which were pretty elaborate some of the special effects were crude and weird sort of neat though, it's a few notches above your average Sci-fi network movie, so not all that great...I was actually with it for the first half but then it just started getting lame and bogged down in boring action sequences I was pretty much just waiting for it to end, I'll have to read the short story cause there wasn't really any signature PKD resemblances that I could detect, 4/10

À l'intérieur(Inside)(2007) - movie was made by the same dude that made High Tension (which I don't really like either), what I don't like is the dude starts off with pretty good atmosphere that has potential, but right off the bat he goes straight into the madcap blood and gore, I guess its an attempt to push the envelope by constantly barraging the viewer with visceral displays of "shocking" murder scenes...its tiring and boring, and its really not that shocking nor realistic, you just can't kill someone that easily with a knitting pin or pin a persons hand to the wall with pair or scissors with one stab - human flesh and bone isn't cardboard...which is how it comes off in this movie, I will say the guy knows how to use the lighting to his advantage - he manages to create some bloody chaotic scenes in a dimly lit room all the while keeping the vivid detail in tact for the viewers to feast their eyes on the gruesomeness, its my opinion this whole new wave of "brutal gore" movies are nothing but a short cut around developing anything truly "horrifying", I wouldn't even call these type of movies "Horror", just Thrillers with an tons of blood and gore, eh I'm sure there's plenty who will love this movie but I'll remain in the :yawn: department 5/10 which is actually pretty generous, but I don't know....I see potential with this guy if he just leaves most of the adolescent sh*t out, its like he can't quite let go of his Cannibal Corpse phase,

Edit: oops, I guess the director wasn't the same that made High Tension, my mistake

Alexandre Aja = High Tension
Alexandre Bustillo = Inside

same first names for both, both French, both fail at Horror


Edited by mithrandir - November 16 2008 at 16:19

BroSpence wrote: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - A semi-late Moore installment in the Bond series.  This was equal to any of the other classic Bond films.  The music was especially awesome.  Q had some great gadgets, Moore was suave, and Barbara Bach was smokin' hot!  This is the first Bond film that had Jaws as the awkward badguy stooge (his second time around the series he switched sides!).  Definitely good.  8/10

Saw this last weekend too, what a synchronicity. Gotta agree, as far as James Bond movies going for huge, preposterous spectacle it's pretty good. I didn't even mind the funky soundtrack. While we're at it: Is it just me, or does Eliza Dushku (of Buffy and Wrong Turn fame) look a lot like Barbara Bach?

Other movies I've watched recently:

Christine
Yep, that movie about a possessed '58 Plymouth. Early on it's a bit boring because the plot and characterization are much simpler than in the novel (which means everything interesting about the first act is missing!) but when the stuff about Christine avenging herself on the bullies that vandalize her it becomes a pretty cool movie largely because of some good acting and Carpenter's entire style. It's got some extremely memorable scenes during Christine's rampage. Even though it could have been better, even for Carpenter-by-numbers adapting King-by-numbers, it could also have been a lot worse.

Species
Yeah, there could have been a good thoughtful sci-fi movie in this - something that it at first appears to be but then quickly throws all caution to the wind and becomes a gloriously sleazy and preposterous direct-to-video SF/horror flick that's like half Alien half Basic Instinct only made with A-list budget and craftsmanship. And taken for exactly that, it's pretty damn awesome... I think why I liked it so much is that it doesn't make any apologies about what it is. All the winking and nudging comes strictly from Michael Madsen's wisecracks, and it certainly deliver all the promised sex, violence and slime. The climax is hampered more than a little by some extremely unconvincing SFX, though. And did the mid-nineties really look that much like the late eighties?

Just finished watching that Journey To The Center Of The Earth that just came out. Good if you want to turn off your brain for a couple of hours and look at a lot of CG. It was pretty much exactly what I expected with the 3D element being abused and the director looking for shots that went strait into the lens - and it really doesn't have the same effect as on the big screen. Story was fairly standard with the hero, the boy who changes for the better and the girl who quickly becomes the love interest. And is it just me or did the actress switch from a 'going for an ice-landic' accent to a British one over the course of the movie? The CG visuals actually looked a lot less cheesy through the red and green glasses than they do in the previews though, I must admit. However, this is a kids movie after all, so what can you expect? I'd say don't bother with it if you're looking for an engaging film, but if you want to see fangly fishes flying at your face and some unnecessary lines that Disney throws in a dime a dozen then go ahead and give it a shot. It's fun if nothing else.

I recently went and watched "Burn After Reading" I had wanted to see it because I usually love the Cohen Brothers films and I thought this looked great from the trailer. I had even been told by friend's who had seen it that it was great...
Maybe all of those reasons was why I was greatly disappointed. Mostly I felt that the story was weak. When I realized it was over I sat there in amazement... "it's over?" I thought. Even though I enjoyed watching it... when it was over it was when I realized they were not going anywhere with the story. I also really disliked the role played by Brad Pitt it was the typical stupid guy role, and quite honestly I felt that having Brad pitt play him was a bad publicity stunt. Any actor we would not have been so familiar with would have done a much better job. Besides that it has been a week and the story was so dull I could not even remember what really happend through out the whole film, maybe because not much happend... it was weird.
I am still worried about my good friend who told me I should go see it. I have asked him what he saw in it and he became more negative sounding... still don't know why he encouraged me so much...

I give it a 1.5 out of 5 stars.

BroSpence wrote: Diamonds are Forever - This is probably my favorite bond film of all time, closely followed by the follow up to this: Live and Let Die.  I watched this for the 4th time ever, last night.  Its still great.  Great bad guys, Bond is stylish and suave as always, and the action was fantastic.  8/10 Quantum of Solace - I saw this an hour ago.  I had high hopes because Casino Royale was so good, and it seemed since this was an extension to that movie it would be equally good.  However, the director chair changed, and apparently the writers got lazy or fired during the plot writing.  It seemed like a bunch of really awesome action scenes (which seemed reminiscent of Bourne Ultimatum sometimes) sewn together by an incredibly unfocused story.   I still think Craig makes a great young Bond.  People apparently still aren't happy about him, but they forget this is YOUNG BOND.  He is still learning how to be suave, and leave his emotions out of the job which is how the later Bond is (minus the Dalton era of cool darkenss).  This Bond is meant to be brutish.  While the action was very exciting, it did not keep me invested into this film.  It was entertaining, but not a very good Bond film.  5.7/10

I saw it before it was released but kept my mouth shut. I have a friend who works dubbing movies into different languages.
I think they`re turning it into a bloody soap opera. C`mon where`s the dry humour and the gadgets and that woman was coyote ugly I don`t care what anyone says. Nothing against Craig. Casino Royale was a nice change of mood but c`mon let`s get back  cartoon Bond. Gotta love when Roger Moore drives the submarine Lotus out on to the beach dangling a fish in The Spy Who Loved Me. Or when Connery climbs out of the pipeline in Diamonds Are Forever straightening his tie remarking to the construction guys that he was just taking his pet rat for a walk. I mean I read all the novels when I was in my teens and the only ones that had anything to do with any of the films was Thunderball and a bit of Goldfinger.



Edited by Vibrationbaby - November 19 2008 at 16:11

Simon Birch - watched this the other day. It was ok, not exactly a tear-jerker because some of the moments which were supposed to be moving came across as cheesy to me, but hey what do you expect from kids. The story itself was nice of course. And the play at the end was great, very funny to watch. would give this a 4.5/10. Good to watch if you're bored.

***Warning: spoiler alert!**

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Also watched this, and quite enjoyed it, despite (or because of?) it's wackiness. But what else do you expact from a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp fare? Johnny as Willy Wonka was quite amusing at times, and I couldn't help but love some of his responses to those awful, bratty, spoiled kids (Roald Dahl being the orginator, and genius of course). Stayed quite true to the book, with changes to allow for artistic creativity of course, but nothing to outrageous. And I thought the addition of Willy Wonka's origins in his childhood was very interesting and appropriate. I really wanted to know how he became so eccentric and obsessed with chocolate...and with Chrisopher Plummer as your father and a fanatical dentist, how could one not? would give this movie a 7.5 out of 10.


Edited by tardis - November 20 2008 at 12:54

Takashi Miike's Demon Pond:
a film (really miminalist- but great costumes!)of a play of the popular old japanese fable of Demon Pond.  It was rather long-winded and overly dramatic (but that is Miike, ain't it?)....but a pretty decent story.  however I found reading subtitles for almost three hours to be tiresome after a while.  It was okay.  A real stray in the Miike oeuvre...  6.5/10