I will add that why I don't mind the '97 editions there is no way I'll ever buy the travesty's that are EPISODE 1 and EPISODE 2.

Surely the next step is to replace Alec Guiness with Ewan Mcgregor?

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Enough damage has been done already. He needs to stop trying to ruin it Star Wars was just fine the way it was.

What about Episode 3? I thought that was as bad as the other two prequels; hamstrung by terrible writing, woeful direction and teak-like acting.

By doing that with Christensen he HAS to do it with McGregor. Not saying he should, because he shouldn't, but you can't replace one and not the other.

I liked E3, I thought it was really good. Not a patch on any of the original films but much, much, better than the previous two prequels.

He's as much said in the way he talks about the films, that he'll never be done tinkering with them. No harm to the man, but like Clockwork Orange, we'll never see decent versions (the original versions) until he's dead! Unless he stipulates in his will that his family are forbidden from releasing them. Thank god Spielberg has the final say on the Indiana Jones films!

Are the original versions available on DVD?

I really respect that the man had a vision that he could not fully realise with the technology available to him at the time. But now its becoming a joke to keep changing them and releasing new versions every few years ripping us fans off.

As The Phantom Menace has just been re-released in 3D, I'm quite sure George Lucas hasn't quite finished milking the Star Wars cash cow for every cent just yet.

As long as people keep buying tickets to see the films and copies of the 'improved' movies on DVD and BD, he'll keep tinkering!

Financing the films himself when no studio would touch them, he's quite within his rights to do whatever he wants with them, just wish he'd care that some people grew up with them a certain way and those people put money in his pocket. Hell, Spielberg knew the importance of giving fans every version of CE3K, it wouldn't have been unreasonable for Lucas to do the same with Star Wars, but he couldn't care less. Anyway, what have you all been watching recently? :)

All the tinkering he has done and yet not once has he thought about getting rid of the bloody Ewoks?

The man is insane!

:lol:

Dare I ask if Ja-Ja Binks has been removed in the 3D release, or has he'll truly not frozen over?!

I think there's a French dvd out there. Would love to see a US or UK release .

Just turned over to ITV4 and The Enforcer is on again. Oh well, just have to watch it!

Going to change my mind about RUM DIARY here.

Posted that I wasn't so keen but I was barely half-way through it. After finally watching the WHOLE damn movie I actually like it quite a lot.

The best way to explain the film is he's (bruce robinson) approached the book as the 'birth' of hunter s thompson, specifically the birth of his voice as a writer. Consequently the first portion of the movie dosent feel very hunter the way gilliams fear and loathing captured brilliantly, like being trapped in the pages of the book. By the end the film as a whole turns out to actually be rather good and certainly worth consideration.

After that I tried watching brit ghost story awakening but fell asleep (more to do with it being a long day.) It needs to be returned tommorow so i'll leave it for another day. My first impressions are perhaps too much like a tv drama rather than a feature film but I caught at least one pretty decent scare.

THE BUNNY GAME.(SPOILERS)

Banned by the BBFC, condemned on this site before it had ever been seen by anyone, so what's all the fuss about?

Running at 75 minutes, shot in a crisp black and white with a photographer's eye, this is visually a treat to watch, from it's opening shots of urban and industrial decay to the main bulk of the film's extended scenes of torture. Pretty much devoid of plot or characterisation the film works on rhythms created by editing, music, sound effects and camera shots.

Oddly for an underground film of this type there is little in the way of sexual violence other than a very graphic chocking by blow job at the start of the film followed by a couple of rape scenes that by the standards of modern cinema wouldn't even cause the BBFC to blink.

The main part of the film involves the torture of the woman which again is not standard for this type of film as it is more about humiliation than violence. She is stripped naked, chained up and well, shouted at a fair bit. Her hair is shaved off and occasionally she has a plastic bag forced over her head. The scenes with the bag are petty shocking as the bag is put on tight and when the woman screams and panics, all the air is sucked out of the bag moulding it perfectly to her face and head whilst being sucked deeply into her mouth. One such scene goes on just enough to have the viewer panic that she may well die if it carries on any longer. It's intense stuff. There's also the matter of two scenes of branding which look real and are confirmed as real on the making of doc in the extras on the disc. That's it really for shock and offence, the rest of the torture/humiliation which is the main part of the film, is no more offensive than "The Last House on the Left", "I Spit On Your Grave" or more modern films such as "Hostel" and "Martyrs"

I really enjoyed it.

If you've never seen any underground/art/"cinema of transgression"/horror type stuff before, it's not a bad place to start, if you have, you'll know what to expect. I got a warm glow of nostalgia watching it as I thought I'd stopped liking this type of stuff but if anything, it's made me want to wallow in filth more than normal, which can only be a good thing.

Just seen Mimic Directors Cut.
Not seen the Theatrical cut but enjoyed this quite a bit!

i haven't seen it yet :(

I think Lucas should give up pissing around with STAR WARS and direct a dumb 90 min action film starring Van Damme

Lucas is a bit big headed to be honest.
He dont want to make anymore movies after Star Wars.
I think James Cameron is a much better director, Terminator Terminator 2 Aliens and then he has 2 of the worlds biggest selling movies Titanic and Avatar. Yeah titanic sucks but still its a achievement to have top 2 highest grossing movies of all time.

An interesting and informative review there, MTDS. :nod:

Admittedly, when I saw the trailer for this, my initial reaction was: 'this is going to be shite', but understandably the makers are trying to sell a product and targeting the extreme gorehound does prove lucrative, plus certainly helps to boost the 'notoriety' of the film.

My main concern about this one was (and still is); is it just shock for shock's sake, or does it bring something new and different to the table?

Ooooh, I can't agree with that!

Cameron has never made anything as good as American Graffiti or THX1138. Most of Cameron's films have been absolutely awful! One duff trilogy aside, Lucas's other three films are rather good!

I don't rate THX 1138 at all. American Graffiti is the best film Lucas has ever made but, then again, I don't rate the Star Wars films either.

Anyway, in terms of the films I've seen recently, these are the ones I watched in February:

http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/...ryCovers-1.jpg

Wow! You watched Repo Man 3 times?! :shocked:

Also, what did you make of Tyrannosaur? I really want to see that.

Tyrannosaur is very good! Peter Mullan is excellent

Thanks - it's on 'High Priority' on my rental list; I'm really looking forward to it arriving!

I guess you watched half of your unwatched dvd list, nice!

Yeah, I watched Repo Man, then with the commentary and again with the music and effects track. I still need to watch the TV version, melon farmers and every other interesting change from the theatrical version!

Tyrannosaur is a really tough watch, but is a really good film which shows what a versatile talent Paddy Considine is as an actor, writer and director. Both Peter Mullan and Olivia Colman are outstanding, particularly Colman who proves she isn't just a comedic actress. Definitely worth a blind buy.

Not really, no! It did reduce both the number of unwatched BDs and DVDs, but not by half; I don't suppose it helped when eight BDs arrived yesterday.

I have listed all the discs which I haven't seen and try to keep the page on my website updated every day or two.

Unwatched Discs

When you say 'unwatched' I'm guessing it means the disc rather than the film?
(If not, I'd suggest you watch Full Metal Jacket ASAP!)

Out of your unwatched discs, are there any films you haven't seen before? I say this as my eyes were drawn to The Bed Sitting Room on your BD list. If you have indeed never seen it, I'd suggest you move it to the top of your 'to-watch' pile as it's a fantastic British comedy and a real treat to watch.

EDIT: Have you watched Combat Shock yet? I didn't see it on your unwatched list...

But Lucas didnt direct eps 5 & 6 which judging by eps 1-3 is a blessing

Not really, it's more a throw back to Richard Kern's extreme films than continuing on from such films as "Scrapbook" or the "August Underground" series. I thought it was going to be full of extreme gore and torture from the trailer but there's not a drop of blood to be had! I also thought it was going to be more sexually graphic. On the one hand I feel slightly cheated that it wasn't the blood and cum epic I had hoped for but on the other hand, it has a grotty, arty charm of it's own. Worth picking up if you see it cheapish or have an erotic asphyxiation fetish.;)

They were released in 2006 with the original theatrical versions on. Quite pricey now though.

The original versions are taken from the 1993 laserdisc masters and are non-anamorphic too and look pretty damn crappy. Better than nothing of course. I genuinely don't know why, if they can put these out, they still can't do a proper release with good transfers. Lucas can't hate them that much if he released them 6 years ago surely?

Because lucas dosent want you watching them, he wants you watching the NEW versions and buying all the accociated merchandise. Ok, i know thats not provable and just the cynic in me but given the amazing job done on the films in terms of pq for the blu-ray, decent quality versions of the origionals would not be a hard task.

Then why bother release them at all in 2006? Makes no sense. He didn't have to do that.

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE - The Shameless version. Glad I gave it a second chance, as a clearly remarkable one of a kind was revealed to me this time round. That's not to say I fell in love with it - but I certainly succumbed more to its unabashedly weird sense of fantastique. Can't think of many other flicks that would make for easy or direct comparison.
THE MIST - A handsome S King adaption that transits with ease from CGI monsterfest to poised and sometimes poignant social critique. Shows us up for the dickheads we are when we give free reign to our irrationality in the face of the unknown. And the ending - what a downer! Not since 'Threads' have I felt so hollowed out and slighlty weepy!
INTRUDER - Let's stay with the 'terror in Tesco' theme. I bought this when, pissed off my rocker, I drunkenly didn't care that I didn't own a blu-ray player... thankfully, the new package from Synapse includes a standard issue DVD for cave dwellers such as myself. Well, I still think this is an excellent flick, a nice, linear slasher with added quirk - it may not be a masterpiece but it hits some whacky notes with its skewed POVs and camera tricks and, call me undemanding but sometimes this is all it takes to transcend mediocre slasherdom. It also has wit, verve and charm - enough to make it a winner in my book.
LUTHER THE GEEK - Only just transcends aforementioned mediocre slasherdom by featuring a villian who clucks... you'll get it if you know what sense 'Geek' is being used in here... anyway, it works in a direct to video kind of way, so for those who think they might appreciate the combo of late eighties 'units to shift' horror vibe with the added twang of circus geekery, by all means give it a go but understand it will not transform your life in any meaningful way (I'm kidding, of course it will).
KIDNAPPED COED - A real gem of a film, a serene glide through the dark landscape of seventies America, where all communication seems broken and humanity a mere flicker. The director guy did 'Axe', another piece of wonderment - if you agree with my sentiment here, you'll appreciate Kidnapped's similar, dreamily fragmented atmosphere... if you don't think 'Axe was any good, you probably shouldn't bother with this one. It's less of a genre piece, more an art film riffing on exploitation tropes, but some themes and images carry over... oblique silences... grim rural types who just kind of stare... loved it.
GRACE - A mother finds her vampiric-seeming baby needs more than milk... I liked this movie's serious, careful approach and its unusual sensitivity to its theme... a quiet, glacial style benefits it enormously. Could so easily have gone for the schlocky jugular and stayed firmly in B-movie territory a la 'Unborn' etc but stays its course until the punchline ending.
HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 - Could really have done without the hype. I'm sure I'm not the only one here wondering what all the fuss was about - in the transgressive stakes it won't challenge those adapted to the harsher end of the spectrum (yes, I saw the uncut version). At the same time it's plenty grim, tonally more than anything. In fact, the tone would be unbearable if it didn't tip over into carnivalesque grue so readily. I actually really like this film - it works as a mood piece, a silent trawl through a depressing world where everyone's an arsehole (soon to be attached to a mouth). I'm not surprised to find stylistic comparisons to Eraserhead... the monchrome, the blurred, throbbing soundtrack, the 'world full of freaks' etc.
MARTIN - Every time I see it, it simply confirms its position as one of my favourite films. So atmospheric, still enchanting and beguiling.

Just seen the following today:

Exquisite Corpse - Not a new idea, guy who's girl dies and he has been working on a serum to bring dead people back to life. Uses this to bring his girl back to life. As always there are consequences. Average movie with a "twist" at the end.

Elevator - New indie thriller about a group of wall street workers going to a party but end up getting stuck in a lift with a bomb. You can guess the rest...its a bit like Devil without supernatural.

Neverlost - Pretty good indie thriller/drama about this guy who gets married to a girl fast and then marriage falls apart and they both hate each other. When the guy goes to sleep he goes to a dream world where his dead gf is alive. Then this guy responsible for his gfs death is there in dream world and tries to kill him. It starts out to be sort of a comedy but slowly turns into a depressing movie! The end is really a downer.

I went into this flick not expecting much at all, and actually left being surprisingly creeped out! Bravo Troma!

Oh, and the bird in that film....egads! :whoo: