What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

Thor (2011) The Norse god is banished to Earth by Odin his father who in turn is betrayed by his other son Loki. The mischievous god, (who to me is the more interesting character), has an agenda of his own, to destroy Jotunheim and rule Asgard. But Thors journey to redemption stands in his way. With the introduction of the God of Thunder and that of Hawkeye, the Avenger team is now complete. With great special effects and a great score this is one of the better movies in the Franchise although the romance between Thor and Jane Foster seems a little forced and to be honest the Foster character wouldn't have been missed if it hadn't been included.

Dark Prince: The Legend of Dracula (2000) An attempt to tell the story of Vlad Dracula from an historical point of view as a group of othodox priests summon the Romanian ruler to give an account of his life. The movie is somewhat disjointed, years fly by with events quickly dealt with before moving onto the next one. This really is a movie that could have used a longer running time and have had a bigger budget! Rudolf Martin is suitably Dracula like in looks, (he must have been as this was his second portrayal as Dracula, the first being in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 'Buffy vs Dracula' in the same year!). Another nitpick which really isnt just confined to this movie but nearly all historical movies made by eastern Europe is guilty of, is that of the constant neighing of the horses. They sound like an effect ripped straight from an Age of Empires disc! All in all it isn't a bad movie it just needs a stronger treatment and an ending that...

(SPOILER)
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...dosen't degenerate into an attempt at horror!

[keirarts]

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO.

Watching this after midnight MAY have been a mistake, but may also have been a wise choice, Peter Strickland's film concerns a meek and mild mannered sound engineer (played by the excellent Toby jones) heading to Italy in the 70's to work on a film entitled Equestrian vortex. Its not as he expected and he realises he's working on something that sounds like a cross between the traditional giallo pictures and mark of the devil! With the word equestrian in the title he thought it had 'something to do with horses', and the mild mannered brit is unprepared for the violence and sadism he has to watch in order to do his job. With massive culture shock and a feeling of isolation through the languge barrier added to the mix Jones character soon starts to become consumed by the picture and his world begins to fall apart.

I'm going to need to watch this again, basically this is a film that for me pretty much demands a second viewing to gather my thoughts entirely, the final 20 minutes or so becoming a real head trip! That said, my first impressions of this film are very good indeed and anyone whose read anything about film making in italy at that period will probably have a chuckle at the details strickland has thrown in that show a lot of awareness of the films of the period. One nice touch was the projectionist screening the footage wearing black leather gloves, in giallo terms denoting him as the 'killer'. The film is perfectly paced brilliantly acted and offers a lot to us fans but will probably engage even those unfamilliar with 70's italian sleaze!

As a side note, I would LOVE to see equestrian vortex! We see little of the actual film in berberian but its the sort of thing I would 'enjoy' immensly and the opening credits (the one bit we do see) are PHENOMENAL.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by nordicdusk

Whats we need to talk about Kevin like.

It's a mesmerising piece of filmmaking with an outstanding central performance from Tilda Swinton, who really should have been Oscar-nominated. If you have the chance to rent it or pick it up as a blind buy, don't hesitate.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO.

Watching this after midnight MAY have been a mistake, but may also have been a wise choice, Peter Strickland's film concerns a meek and mild mannered sound engineer (played by the excellent Toby jones) heading to Italy in the 70's to work on a film entitled Equestrian vortex. Its not as he expected and he realises he's working on something that sounds like a cross between the traditional giallo pictures and mark of the devil! With the word equestrian in the title he thought it had 'something to do with horses', and the mild mannered brit is unprepared for the violence and sadism he has to watch in order to do his job. With massive culture shock and a feeling of isolation through the languge barrier added to the mix Jones character soon starts to become consumed by the picture and his world begins to fall apart.

I'm going to need to watch this again, basically this is a film that for me pretty much demands a second viewing to gather my thoughts entirely, the final 20 minutes or so becoming a real head trip! That said, my first impressions of this film are very good indeed and anyone whose read anything about film making in italy at that period will probably have a chuckle at the details strickland has thrown in that show a lot of awareness of the films of the period. One nice touch was the projectionist screening the footage wearing black leather gloves, in giallo terms denoting him as the 'killer'. The film is perfectly paced brilliantly acted and offers a lot to us fans but will probably engage even those unfamilliar with 70's italian sleaze!

As a side note, I would LOVE to see equestrian vortex! We see little of the actual film in berberian but its the sort of thing I would 'enjoy' immensly and the opening credits (the one bit we do see) are PHENOMENAL.

With the commentary, I've seen this three times so far and it's just as good on the second viewing as the first. If you're interested, I posted my review yesterday:

Berberian Sound Studio | Blu-ray review | Film 365

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Oh, I'd also love to see The Equestrian Vortex as any film with a 'dangerously horny dwarf' sounds interesting. I'm not sure about the 'red hot poker in the vagina' scene though!

[sawyer6]

[QUOTE=keirarts;
As a side note, I would LOVE to see equestrian vortex! We see little of the actual film in berberian but its the sort of thing I would 'enjoy' immensly and the opening credits (the one bit we do see) are PHENOMENAL.[/QUOTE]

Better not,this would ruin the escence of the film, in other words,the power of sound.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

With the commentary, I've seen this three times so far and it's just as good on the second viewing as the first. If you're interested, I posted my review yesterday:

Berberian Sound Studio | Blu-ray review | Film 365

Great review!

I thought it was interesting as well how Gilderoy started speaking italian as his mind becomes consumed with the film and the alien environment of the studio, I lent the movie to a mate and its kicked off a big debate via text message on the meaning of the films ending ect.

As for the equestrian vortex, well I'd still love to see the film, for the above mentioned dangerously horny dwarf and of course the dead witches rising from the grave!

[keirarts]

also, tell me this is not a fantastic credits sequence!

[Wes]

The Thin Blue Line (DVD, MGM)... It was Philip Glass' score which led me to revist Errol Morris' excellent 1988 documentary which examines the highly dubious conviction of one Randall Adams for his slaying of a Dallas police officer. Morris gathered together the main participents of the case and the witnesses at the trial and builds an extremely persuasive case that suggests the investigation by the Dallas police was seriously flawed from the beginning, a fact which went ignored at the trial as the DA rushed to secure the death penatly for Adams. Much of Morris' filming methods on The Thin Blue Line - the reconstruction of the murder, the locked-down interviews with participents testifying directly to camera have all become staples of modern documentary film making, but perhaps the film's greatest legacy is that is ultimately led to the release of Adams. Highly recommended.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

It's a mesmerising piece of filmmaking with an outstanding central performance from Tilda Swinton, who really should have been Oscar-nominated. If you have the chance to rent it or pick it up as a blind buy, don't hesitate.

Cheers Nos im gonna pick it up today.