What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Bloody Wednesday (1987)

Offbeat psychological horror Bloody Wednesday tells the tale of Harry Curtis, a man who suffers a mental breakdown due to his wife leaving him. This in turn leads him to lose his job and get naked a lot.

He also starts to imagine things and concoct various scenarios in his head believing them to be real. As Harry's madness escalates his fantasies become increasingly more violent until they culminate at the film's bloody finale.

Bloody Wednesday, whilst flawed, is still a fun and engaging enough ride helped along considerably by Raymond Elmendorf as the troubled Harry.

Originally posted here: Nightmare USA Films Discussion Thread

[Mojo]

NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT
It seems that one barely glimpsed blob has invaded the island of Fara ( and quickly dispensed ) in this late 60s sci fi offering. Despite all the nonsense, it's an enjoyable tale, due to the excellent cast who really go for it. Indeed, it has quite an adult tone at times, particularly in the Patrick Allen / Jane Merrow relationship. There's a nice ( if fairly brief ) recent interview with Chris Lee on here too.

HANDS OF THE RIPPER
One of the most enjoyable latter day Hammers gets a Blu-ray release from Network. Although the brightly lit daytime scenes look terrific, some of the darker interior shots look pretty fuzzy. It's almost like half the picture isn't as sharp as the other. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Disappointed with this. Here's hoping Network up their game for their next Hammer BDs.

[keirarts]

ice soldiers.jpg

Almost perfect low-rent straight to video nonsense with Prison breaks Dominic Purcell up in the Artic hunting russian super soldiers from the 60's. Doms mum had been knocked up by one of the blonde uber mensh so the mission is somewhat personal but he's backed by a powerful oil company fronted by michael ironside.

The film is daft, make no mistake. The super soldier enhancements are never really gone into in any detail and no reason has been provided as to why they have sat quietly in the Artic doing nothing until purcell arrives, nor why they have not aged in over 50 years.

That said I didn't come to this film for good writing or logic. I came to watch a trashy action flick and on that score I got what I asked for. It's meaningless fun that is best enjoyed with beer late at night.

[SShaw]

Some recent screenings in the SShaw household:

The Fountain I picked this up along with Noah on Friday as it was the only part of Aronofonsky's work missing from my blu-ray collection. It's a film I really enjoy, but a film I don't fully understand. I think this was probably the fourth or fifth time I have seen the film since its original release and each time I watch it I discover a little bit more and with each step in my understanding I also like it a little bit more. Perhaps after another half dozen viewings I will finally get it. A blu-ray feature which allows one to watch the two interwoven strands separately might really help but, like that feature on the original Memento DVD that allowed it to be watched in chronological order, might destroy the magic.

The Nymph or, under its more literal title, Killer Mermaids. This Serbian film seems to have been uniformly panned by the Fright Fest crowd this year but while I found it to be of average execution and largely unoriginal (a bit of Jaws here, a bit of [insert slasher film here] there) I also found it to be a lot of fun.

Deadman Jarmusch directs Johnny Depp as poet William Blake in, I guess, a black and white art-house western. Fantastic! I can't help but wonder if Depp found his Tonto performance from this film.

[the commander]

Wax or The discovery of Television Amoung The Bees
Nekromantik
Riki-oh

[Make Them Die Slowly]

STITCHFACE. Recommended by Dem and Frankie, this slice of uber weirdness kicks off with new age shenanigans bump starting the apocalypse, sort of...

The first half of the film deals in relationship dynamics and interpersonal shit however due to a detached acting style/lack of acting skills none of this carries any weight especially from Ed Furlong who doesn't appear to have aged since T2 but looks like a bloated child freshly escaped from a celebrity rehab show. Odder still, he still has his adolescent voice.

Anyhow, some minor weird shit happens before the film explodes into full on freaky deaky mode and never lets up...and freaky it is, not unlike the best of 70s freak/art horror directed by a madman with a love of effects driven 80s twaddle like HELLGATE via the trippy scenes from ALTERED STATES. Yep, it is that good. A treat for zero budget film fans with a taste for the strange and a reminded to those who despair at the lack of originality in modern horror that gems can be found if you are willing to wade through the rivers of shit that are the direct to DVD world. Highly recommended.

[JoshuaKaitlyn]

From 1959:
Jet Storm - Richard Attenborough stars in this British picture as a man out for revenge against a driver who accidentally killed his daughter. Directed by Cy Endfield and starring Stanley Baker together they would later make Zulu. Baker even mentions the Zulus a couple of times in this picture.

Operation Petticoat - A typical 50's Hollywood piece of fluff starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis but it did make me laugh a few times.

Some Like it Hot - Great movie, you'd be forgiven for thinking this starred Cary Grant again with Tony Curtis so convincing is the latters impersonation of the former. Also stars Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe and George Raft....playing a gangster!

Sappy Bullfighters - The Three Stooges last theatrical short. The three were long past their heyday here, indeed Curly had died seven years earlier to be replaced by Shemp, an original Stooge, he would last a couple of years before he too would pass away to be replaced by 'Fake Shemp' and then Joe Besser.

Hiroshima Mon Amour - A little slow to be honest. The first 10 or 15 minutes taken up with shots of twisted metal and the effects of the bombing of that city in 1945.

Hercules Unchained - Steve Reeves second and last outing as the Greek Demigod. Again not a great movie but it was marginally better than the first.

Orfeu Negro - Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture in 1959. The picture is wall to wall hip swiverling Brazilians...I was getting sea sick! Not Bad though.

The Diary of Anne Frank - Not a bad movie and it did have a few tense moments.

Carry on Nurse - The second Carry On movie and again one of the better ones.

On the Beach - A bit too soap opera but what a movie! and what a dark ending "There's still Time...Brother!"

Plan 9 From Outer Space - Bela Lugosi's final movie and one that has been called the worse movie ever and I have to agree. Best viewed as a comedy through a pair of beer goggles! Not an angora sweater in sight!

Carry on Teacher - The second Carry On of 1959, this one featuring a young Richard O'Sullivan and in an uncredited role, Boba Fett aka Jeremy Bulloch.

[SShaw]

I watched Noah this afternoon. My second viewing and I am even less convinced. I think this is Aronofonsky's weakest film by a long chalk, but there is still enough in it that I can't bring myself to completely dismiss it.

Much more convincing was Uberto Pasaloni's Still Life which finally made it to my local Programmkino. Eddie Marsden plays John May, a council employee who is tasked with tracking down the friends and family of those who die alone. May is a loner who seems to live through his work, but unfortunately the care and attention to detail that he applies in each case and the respect and dignity he exhibits towards his clients is not shared by the cash strapped council and he is made redundant. The story follows him as he investigates his final case. The film is a wonderfully quiet and patient reflection on the impact that we, no matter how inconsequential we or others might judge us, have on those around us as we live our lives. It's also a darkly humorous film which is occasionally let down by the delivery of some of the (I assume) non-professional actors acting in minor roles and a rather obvious and sentimental ending. But for most of its running time it is excellent and Marsden is quite brilliant. I guess this already played in the U.K. a long time ago (it is almost a year since it featured at Venice), but if you have the chance go and see it. Recommended!

Edit: I just discovered that I am a little bit unfair on my local cinema. The film only recently completed its festival circuit, indeed the film was part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June. Still Life won't have a general release in the U.K. until December. Plenty of time for you to prepare

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

My biggest problem with Noah was the story. I don't know if it would be different if I believed everything in the Bible but, and this may sound strange for someone who loves science fiction and fantasy films, I had an extremely difficult time with the subject matter, which is both weird and laughable.

Part of it is the incest in the back story and which will be necessary to further the human race after Noah and his small family survived the flood. Other niggles include Ray Winston, who acts like an East End geezer despite the antediluvian setting and the sheer weirdness of those rock monsters and sorcery.

[Demoncrat]

Watched They Live with the comm, Piper certainly a larger that life character haha.

The Expendables 2 (Simon West, 2012). Lionsgate UK Dvd.

Far more bloody than the neutered 3rd! Easily the most homoerotic of the 3 as well haha! The Stath acquits himself with the highest personal body count, which made up for.......

The Mean Machine (2001, Barry Skolnick)

Where he plays a "Scot". Easily as awful as Don Cheadle in Oceans 11 .... Twas nice to play spot the slumming Brit actor as well....