I think it's alot of fun. Really good Lenzi film.

I re-watched The Mist last night. I enjoyed it the first time but loved it the second time. Great mainstream fodder.

just been to see kick ass if u like youre superhero and commedy films then this just is the tonic ...highly amusing in parts and also plenty of action/violence

Had a bit of a tearful one tonight guys, started with The Killing Fields then finished with Marley and Me. Weren't a dry eye in the house. :(

Features the best use of Lennon's Imagine. In the world. Ever.

"Brooklyn Rules"

One of the many "Sopranos" writers penned this rather enjoyable little Mob drama starring Alec Baldwin, Scott Caan and a surprisingly good Freddie Prinze jr.

Nothing remotely new here, full of cliche and sign posted events but it's well made, well acted has some engaging characters (blimey, Scott Caan in 'Mob mode' standing there in a white vest is the absolute spit of his dad), a good soundtrack and is overall a solid piece of work for those into Jersey/NY Mob dramas (and what ****ing douche isn't!?).



"When the Last Sword is Drawn"

Stunning, epic, superbly acted, majestically crafted, deeply moving Samurai drama that, through flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks, tells the moving and tragic tale of Kanichiro Yoshimura a low grade Samurai who, during the turmoil of the collapsing Shogunate and the opening up of Japan (as also seen in "The Last Samurai") gives up his standing, friends and reputation to make as much money as possible to feed his family.

The action and violence are sparse for the most part (the third quarter of the film piles on quite a lot though) but when used it is powerful and effective and the large cast and period detail make for grand spectacle.
An ambush in a town is a superbly edited, directed, choreographed and played set-piece that delivers some exciting action while also pushing all the right emotional buttons.

The drama is sometimes melodramatic but it always works in the context of the piece and is often also just as sublime and always beautifully handled by the cast, Kiichi Nakai as Yoshimura is simply amazing but literally everyone here gives their all.

The wonderful cinematography and set design compliments the tragic drama, the romance, the bloodshed and the sacrifice of the story and some scenes will pull at your heart with a genuine power...for example a night scene, on a snow covered little bridge, as Yoshimura and his 5 year old daughter say their tearful farewells is an avalanche of emotions that completely overwhelms the viewer.

The extended last quarter of the film does perhaps go on for too long and can get quite tiring as what seems like numerous places to end the film successfully continue to play out.
But in the end the patience of the viewer is rewarded with some highly emotional revelations and a deeply moving ending.

"When the Last Sword is Drawn" is a sometimes funny, sometimes violent and exciting, sometimes tragic and deeply moving and always superbly acted and crafted Samurai drama that is truly essential viewing.



"Beach of the War Gods"

The most epic and famous of the great Wang Yu's directorial efforts is basically a semi-remake of "The Seven Samurai" with the Samurai being exchanged for Chinese warriors and their number cut to five and the extended, character essaying, build-up to the big fight removed.

Wang Yu also stars as the driven warrior who chooses a town on the 'Beach of the War Gods' to defend China from the rampaging Japanese invaders by recruiting four mighty warriors to aid him and the townsfolk.

A few minor fights in the first half of the film lead up to the grand battle that literally makes up the entire second half of the film, and what a stunning, truly, truly stunning set-piece it is.......
Wang Yu and his team of choreographers and actors pull out all the stops here as one of the finest, biggest, longest fight sequences ever filmed gives the audience all the superb weapons fighting, OTT stunts, bloodshed, epic battles and stunningly executed one on one skirmishes they could ever hope for.

Often the sequences are filmed in one long take (best shown by two jaw-dropping separate scenes where first Wang Yu (a force of friggin nature in this film) and then the Japanese Commander literally cut, hack and slash their way down a dusty street taking on dozens of other fighters as the camera follows them along their bloody swathe in a continuous tracking shot.
The level of screen fighting skill on show here is simply beyond compare.

And despite the Japanese being the sketched in, out and out, bad guys here (which is fair enough as it's a Chinese film) Wang Yu still ensures that during the fights they (and their iconic swords) are given plenty of chances to shine alongside the Chinese fighters.

The faults with the film are either transfer cosmetic ones (a very distorted soundtrack makes the already rather grating Mandarin dialogue tiring on the ears) or in the fact that having to fit in such a huge battle sequence (split into various components)into the 95 minutes running time means you have very one-dimensional heroes and there is no real emotional connection to the characters for the audience (or indeed between the characters themselves) that you would get in the "Seven Samurai" or even "The Magnificent Seven".

But as a piece of breast beating, epic in scale, mesmerising, violent, stunningly crafted action cinema it's a total must see, a must own in fact, and is worthy of its reputation.

It's also one of the movies that shows that Wang Yu should be remembered with far more respect for the skilled fighter and serious director he was in the industry...instead of being rather discarded as an enjoyable trash movie star thanks to the unfortunate fact that (although it is damn enjoyable of course) the overly cartoonish, delightfully silly and rather trashy "Master of the Flying Guillotine" is the film that seems to define his career in the eyes of too many general movie fans.

Bought macabre last wk never seen it before and just fin watching it.. bit slow 4 my liking

Good review!! I agree its an excellent film. Its one of those which requires you to invest the time and effort into watching it and pays off with some heavy drama, especially towards the end. I would recommend another 2 Tartan DVD releases 'Twilight Samurai' and 'The Hidden Blade' (I think they're by the same director as WTLSID, but could be wrong). Both are very similar in theme anyway :) I think The Hidden Blade is my favourite of the three as that had drop dead stunning cinematography!

Cheers! I shall indeed take a look at the other 2 movies.

Oooh! Me too! I loved When The Last Sword Is Drawn.

Nice one to you both!

May I recommend Yôjirô Takita's Ashura which he made a couple of years after WTLSID? It's wonderfully absurd!

Watched Resident Evil last night (I'm going on a bit of a Resi binge at the mo!)
I don't care what people say about this film, I luv it!!!!! :woot: :woot: It was probably the first zombie film I ever ever saw and I remember watching it over and over and over again!

So what if the CGI looks a bit (very) crap now, it's such a great film!

I love the Resident Evil Films as well.One thing that doesn't get mentioned enough is Marilyn Manson's music for RE1.Great stuff.

Oh yeah, definetly! The music is one of the best parts of the film - really does add a lot.

Have you seen the CGI Resi film, Stevoj?

I enjoyed the RE films too.

Haven't managed to see it yet.Any good?

I dunno. Never seen it! :laugh:

Might have to get it now though.

I didn't like Degeneration (CGI) in the slightest. Much prefer the films.

Why's that Vince? I was just thinking of getting it. :)

It's similar to watching somebody playing the game but without the ability to play it yourself. Gimme the fair Ms Jovovich anyday. :nod:

Mmmm. I guess that's what the Dead Space film is like too. Still, I think I'll get them anyways :laugh: They do have zombies in afterall.

The moment it started playing the goosebumps kicked in and the lump in my throat started up. It really was a wonderful piece of musical timing :'(

watched Bitch Slap last night, odd film but has the most awesome female on female beatdown....wiil pop a review up soon....

Getting punched in the Gonads is better than the Amittyville Remake:ack:

Judge Reinhold will be in BEVERLY HILLS COP 4

When the Mist came out at the cinema, I (and 2 or 3 at work) got a strange case of deja vu..... we were certain we had seen an earlier version of the movie (maybe made for TV). Even though we had not seen the Mist we all could recount scenes in vivid detail from a movie that were almost identical. After searching the tinterweb, there were many other people posting on forums that they too had seen something very similar, but no one could name the original movie or find any link! I have since seen the Mist and it is/was almost identical!!!

Anyone help?????? It's driving me nuts!!! Oh and no, I never read the book.

:ack:

possibly Phantoms, that had the same sort of feel as the mist and a scene featuring winged creatures attacking a police station like the ones that attacked the shopping center. it's got ben affleck and liev shrieber and peter o'tool in it. it's based on a dean koontz story.
here's the link to it on imdb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119891/

just watched Paranormal Activity, that was a pretty decent flick, not very scary but then again i was watching it at home and guess the cinema is the best place to see it. still very cool though and 100 times better than The 4th Kind

Nah it's not that .. kinda similar tho!

I seem to remember a storm at the beginning and a tree falling thru the neighbours boat house, and the grumpy old guy wanting compensation Oh and the lead guy had just moved into town after separating from his wife and the new house wasn't finished ... or have I confused myself with seeing The Mist now!??!?!?

:ack:

Not a movie,but I found the dean Koontz novel,The Taking,very similar to The Mist.

Thanks chief, but was definately a movie ... grrrr! It's driving me nutsssssss!

:mad:

Below, Wilderness and I finally watched all of Pathfinder.

I will try to write some reviews of them.

I enjoyed it the first time I saw it years ago but find it quite hard work today. Too much Moriarty and not enough serpent.

"Dabba, bab, DAB, skat, skat Dab, dabababa DA! DA! DAAA"!

Dam i know what film you talking about but 4 the hell i cant think what it called it willl come to me im sure i got ..lol sorry i couldnt help but yes know what u mean ive seen that film

i watched Walter Hill's Streets Of Fire and Richard Kelly's The Box yesterday. both are very good film, The Box is an od sci-fi thriller that tries to be a Kubrick film but is still entertaining none the less and Streets Of Fire is just awesome, with an amazing Ry Cooder score and some pretty rocking tunes too.

Streets Of Fire is one the coolest films ever made.I'm still waiting on the unofficial sequel,Road to hell,directed by Albert Pyun,being released on dvd.It's been waiting on a release since 2008!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JfmYtoWg4v...oZA/s400/5.jpg

yeah i know, i went to pyun's website and there was the poster for it. although it looks a little too Sin City.

Watched Below some years ago, and it is a very claustrophobic and atmospheric spookfest ... can highly recommend it! came at a time when there was just too many same old same old films out there. Give it a try.

Got the house to myself so it's marathon time!

Black Belly Of The Tarantula, Maniac, Near Dark.

:dog: :chainsaw: