Cult Labs - What Films Have You Seen Recently?

Cult Labs (https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/)

- General Film Discussions (https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=563)

- - What Films Have You Seen Recently? (https://www.cult-labs.com/forums/general-film-discussions/220-what-films-have-you-seen-recently.html)

ANTI-VIRAL: My first impression was - why is this so like a David Cronenberg film? It seemed strange. If I were the affiliate of a more renown voice than my own, I'd try something else. Maybe it's all a labyrinthine joke. Anyway, I liked 'Anti-Viral'. It contains many interesting ideas which intrigue beyond whichever conjuctured point one feels they occur down the Cronenberg bloodline. The affectless characters and environments feel true, although a little familiar. Diseases with computer generated Baconesque faces excite me. Crosses from arthouse to B-movie dynamics midway, but interestingly doesn't go for a Brundleflyesque combine between the two (or something less Oedipal). I'm interested, but where next?

THE KILLING KIND - I really liked this. It may be a follow-on from the wave of 'Psycho' imitators from its time and before, but this really worked for me. John Savage is a fixated man-boy fresh from a rape stretch, pent up but glacial, like the kind of toy his momma would pay with as a child. Leaving the pen, he returns to live with mother in her guesthouse, surrounded by latter-day, post-Hollywood Boulevard chicks who make his mother's blood boil. Needless to say, his relations with the women around him aren't very evolved. Really low key, this film sustains the melancholy found within its theme tune and ploughs ahead with a real downer vibe. Curtis Harrington, the director, should need no introduction here - he was a visionary, sidelined by the system... films like 'Night Tide' are very special to me.

The Incredible Melting Man (1977)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankie Teardrop (Post 322125)

ANTI-VIRAL: It contains many interesting ideas which intrigue beyond whichever conjuctured point one feels they occur down the Cronenberg bloodline.

Eh? ;)

I thought that 'face of the virus' thing was one of the weaker ideas - running a blood sample through a computer and twiddling some knobs makes a photo of a wobbly human face :confused: . . .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slippery Jack (Post 322135)

Eh? ;)

I thought that 'face of the virus' thing was one of the weaker ideas - running a blood sample through a computer and twiddling some knobs makes a photo of a wobbly human face :confused: . . .

No, I thought that was interesting, all the more so for initially seeming extraneous to the plot (unfortunately it becomes part of some kind of computer 'coding' type situation).
Typical of may of the film's notions, which are eventuallly sidelined in favour of more of a 'thriller' type narrative thrust towards the end.

Tonight I made my second visit to the cinema to see the latest in the Die Hard franchise A good day to Die Hard. I went in with some trepidation as the film seems to have received a luke warm critical reception (quite a few one and two star reviews), but I found it to be a very entertaining. The plot is relatively shallow, but this is more than made up with by some stunning action set pieces. There are some nods to the original film including a few teases (the fire hose on the roof in the action finale in particular). More importantly at around 100 minutes the film avoids the mistakes of a lot of recent action films by ensuring that the plot moves along at sufficient pace that the film doesn't outstay its welcome. For me this is a superior film to the 3rd and 4(.0)th instalments and depending on how it holds up to repeated viewings may also challenge Die Harder. Recommended.

The Iron Horse (1924)
Die Nibelungen (1924)
I don't normally make comments about the media used to view movies but these two from 'The Masters of Cinema' series really are stunning. The second part of Die Nibelungen has to be seen to be believed!

http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/memb...tml#post322148

Lincoln (2012)- Final showing at my local cineworld and I grabbed the opertunity over the new Die Hard film, i'll watch that next friday. What can I say? Clearly oscar bate but bloody hell there are worse condidates for that rough title. :nod:

Tonight I saw:

Fire In The Sky - After hearing so many good things about this flick and people calling it the only truly scary alien abduction flick I needed to see it as I am a fan of the genre. This movie stays true to the praise it gets, while it may not be scary to everyone it certainly is very creepy in the flashbacks to the actual abduction. As its from 1993 the alien prosthetics are less convincing but still look creepy and not the usual little grey men. Acting and story are good and overall it is one of the better films in its genre. Next movie to see like this is the forthcoming Dark Skies...lets see if it breaks the recent mould of bad abduction flicks!

Girls Against Boys - This is a new rape revenge flick but its not as violent or disturbing as the likes of Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave. The actual rape is off camera and then the victim gets together with a girl she just met to find revenge on the guy that raped her. The actual "revenge" part is not that great either, when they find the rapist, off screen body part removal so again nothing can be seen. Once thats done the woman she becomes friends with becomes obsessed with her and things turn lame. Wont spoil it for those who want to see it but the last half hour is not good at all as you can tell what will happen. The ending was also cliche so overall its not a great movie. Im not saying I enjoy watching rape scenes but I prefer rape revenge movies with balls and violence. This was a bad effort! I know a lot of people did not like I Spit remake but I did and this movie makes it look like a 5 star flick!