What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by pedromonkey

i have finally gotten around to seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey nearly 15 years since i originally saw it and being 11 years old i hated it, 15 years later i can confirm that this is one of the greatest films i have ever seen

I'm not really a sci-fi fan but this is one of my all-time favourite films.

[Rob Strange]

I fully agree - it's a masterpiece.

[Angel]

Originally Posted by alex s

The scene Where Barbera Bouchet strips naked in front of a child in an attempt to seduce him.

There is a similar scene in Malena where Monica Berlucci strips naked in front of a child.(this scene is only available in the italian and korean dvd's)

SPOILER ALERT

Vinyan

at the end of the film Emanuelle Beart stands in the middle of a group of children clearly topless while the children around her rub mud on her torso. the majority of hands concentrate on her naked breasts and thier is clear contact between the hands of a number of 8-10 year old children and Emanuelle's breats.

Since the BBFC have examined the film twice it's clear the scene perhaps surprisingly does not in anyway breach the child protection act otherwise it would have been cut. I'll recall the DVD to have a look.

I can't see the scene in Duckling having any problems as the woman and the child are only fleetingly seen together. The BBFC will be looking for shots where the child and the adult are clearly in the same shot eg Private Lessons.

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by Angel

I can't see the scene in Duckling having any problems as the woman and the child are only fleetingly seen together.

The scene in Get Out Your Handkerchiefs where the boy looks at the naked Carole Laure in bed was also cut at one time, though the cuts were later waived.

[Pigasus]

Originally Posted by pedromonkey

..2001: A Space Odyssey ... one of the greatest films i have ever seen

I'm a keen SF fan, and I rate this as more than just 'The Greatest Film of All Time' - it's a genuine Work of Art. (Excuse use of caps, but I think it's that important.) Never understood why some people think 2001 is "boring"!


I'm so into this (and Clarke's SF in general) that I published the definitive fanzine about it... see here.


Have you seen 2010 yet? That's a different style of movie, admittedly, but still one of the very best SF sequels ever made... I always hoped they'd do a movie based on Clarke's novel 3001, but it didn't happen and now the author's dead.

[pedromonkey]

i have litterally just finished watching 2010, very good and yes it is one of the best sci-fi sequals i've seen.

[Gojirosan]

Dial: Help

This is a weird film on many levels. It's structured and filmed like a Giallo but has an over-riding supernatural element to it. The story is concluded but not really explained. Charlotte Lewis swaps freely between acting ineptitude and moments of genuine dramatic achievement. She also looks like a rough hefty docker one minute then one of the most voluptuous and stunning women you have ever seen the next. It is an odd film.

This oddness is compounded by the utter absurdity of the story - some kind of poltergeist force becomes obsessed with Lewis's character and stalks her from a deserted Lonely Hearts switchboard via the telecommunications system causing much death and mayhem. Really.

But here's the truly odd thing: Ruggero Deodato pulls this off so intensely and straight-facedly that it actually drags you in! What should end up a complete turkey works...somehow! You find youself buying animated telephone handsets and Pit And The Pendulum-esque ceiling fans and a payphone capable of murdering a rapist by shooting coins from its coin return slot despite the ridiculousness of the propositions before your eyes!

Somehow, some way, I liked this film. It drags occasionally and is so very, very 80s to look at (Giorgio Armani telephone handset, anyone?) but is enjoyable and pretty much unique!

Recommended if you are not in a hyper-critical mood and fancy something...odd!

[Gojirosan]

Frontier(s)

NAZIS! CANNIBALS! CAR CRASH! CHICKS WITH GUNS! EXPLOSION! BLOOD! DEFORMITY!!!

For a film containing all the above, Frontier(s) is quite a sombre and mediocre film. One can't help but wonder just at what, exactly, the writer/director was trying to get. It fails in making a political point by being too exploitative, it's a bit too political to work as exploitation. It takes far too long to get going and is possibly too dreary to work as a downbeat horror exercise. It's all a bit lost.

There are moments of real power therein - particularly from the lead actress (Karina Testa, who is superb) - and some scenes really do grab you, but as a whole lot tries to do too much (feeling overlong as a result) and tries to use a succesion of onscreen atrocity rather than narrative to motor along.

Not a total disaster, but quite the disappointment in light of other recent French offerings.

Rats - Night Of Terror

Surprisingly well shot for a Mattei flick, this is, nonetheless, absolute crap. I bought it expecting a "so bad it's funny" experience, and although there are moments of that, it was largely just a very bad film.

A bunch of post-apocalytic biker types (who consist of a bunch of extremely camp men and some women resembling a third rate Hot Gossip tribute dance troupe) stop at an abandoned set of buildings to scavenge for food and shelter. Many white rats badly dyed black and grey (many are still visibly wet from the process) are thrown at and onto them to create the illusion of attack. Mayhem ensues.

The characters are such a loathsome bunch that you want the rats to keep coming, I defy anyone but the most clinical murophobe not to be on the side of the rodents. There is very little imagination to the plot and the set pieces are so clumsy as to defy belief. Then, just as you are about to snatch the disk out from the machine in a complete rage at having wasted money on this mess, the end comes along...

...it damn near saves the film! I had an inkling all along that they would try to end it how they do, but even so when it happens you find yourself laughing, your mood lifts and you suddenly feel less harshly towards the production!

NB: there are many genuine rat corpses used within the film, and real rats are repeatedly struck, thrown and in one case set on fire, making several scenes quite distressing to see.

A stupid and bad film, but ultimately oddly likeable in a pitiable way.

[42ndStreetFreak]

Originally Posted by Gojirosan

Dial: Help

This is a weird film on many levels. It's structured and filmed like a Giallo but has an over-riding supernatural element to it. The story is concluded but not really explained. Charlotte Lewis swaps freely between acting ineptitude and moments of genuine dramatic achievement. She also looks like a rough hefty docker one minute then one of the most voluptuous and stunning women you have ever seen the next. It is an odd film.

This oddness is compounded by the utter absurdity of the story - some kind of poltergeist force becomes obsessed with Lewis's character and stalks her from a deserted Lonely Hearts switchboard via the telecommunications system causing much death and mayhem. Really.

But here's the truly odd thing: Ruggero Deodato pulls this off so intensely and straight-facedly that it actually drags you in! What should end up a complete turkey works...somehow! You find youself buying animated telephone handsets and Pit And The Pendulum-esque ceiling fans and a payphone capable of murdering a rapist by shooting coins from its coin return slot despite the ridiculousness of the propositions before your eyes!

Somehow, some way, I liked this film. It drags occasionally and is so very, very 80s to look at (Giorgio Armani telephone handset, anyone?) but is enjoyable and pretty much unique!

Recommended if you are not in a hyper-critical mood and fancy something...odd!

Crap, but yes...Strangely compelling. But still a huge drop from his glory days for Deodato. Nice exploding stomach (if memory serves) though.

You have to LOVE Lewis' bath scene!

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by pedromonkey

i have litterally just finished watching 2010, very good and yes it is one of the best sci-fi sequals i've seen.

For me 2010 wasn't a patch on 2001 but, for a new 'generation' film it was very entertaining. The original was so typical of the 60's that it was impossible to retain that atmosphere 16 years later though it was good fun all the same (even if the end was a bit too literal). Scheider & Mirren were superb.

Did you spot Arthur C. Clarke and (an illustrated) Stanley Kubrick?