What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Anzio (1968)

When the Allies led by US General Lesley (Arthur Kennedy) land at Anzio, Italy, it seems they are unopposed. A war correspondent (Robert Mitchum) and a battle hardened Corporal (Peter Falk) take a jeep and drive to Rome and back without coming across a single German soldier. However when they report to Lesley he dismisses their claims and decides to dig in at Anzio rather than moving on to Rome. When the Germans hear of the landing, their leader in Italy, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, calls in the Panzer divisions from elsewhere and counter attacks.

Anzio is a US / Italian co-production depicting one of the fiercest battles of the Second World War. Filmed in and around Rome itself the location work is excellent as is Riz Ortolani's booming score. Director Edward Dmytryk keeps the film moving so much that it feels like the pace sags whenever there is time for contemplation. There are some strong battle sequences involving German Tiger tanks. One scene as Mitchum and his men try and escape a shelled out house across a minefield as a Tiger approaches from the other side is nail biting stuff. In fact Dmytryk excels in the staging of battles.

Robert Mitchum is the obvious star of the show but Peter Falk runs him close. His dodgy corporal, (based on a real life person) seemingly into anything illegal, in fact he even runs a prostitution ring from the back of an army ambulance. Arthur Kennedy also does well with his portrayal of the timid General whose cautious attitude cost almost 50,000 Allied lives. Kennedy often plays the role where you wish his character dead after five minutes but here you just feel sorry as he's so out of his depth.

Whilst Anzio isn't the best film about the Second World War it is a good one and a film i recommend.

[keirarts]

Mr Majestyk

Charles Bronson plays the titular character, a melon farmer who is thrown in pokey after assaulting a scumbag who is trying to shake him down for the hire of workers to pick his Melons. Majestyk hires mexican day laborers at a fair wage for an honest days work and is somewhat taken aback by the shakedown. On the way to court the bus is hit in an attempt to free mafia thug Frank Renda . Majestyk drives the bus off and attempts to use the hoodlum to barter for the charges to be dopped however things go south when his missus springs him.
Frank ensures that the charges against Majestyk are dropped so he can take personal revenge against him however he underestimates the seemingly peaceful farmer who goes to war against him when pushed too far.
Possibly one of my favourite Bronson movies this has a sparking script from Elmore Leonard that features a lot of the trademark wit and Style including a central character who is smarter than most of the people around him. The final car chase and showdown with Renda is very well orchestrated and the film manages to retain the wit and charm throughout. The signal one Blu-ray is terrific and comes highly reccomended.

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Mr Majestyk

Charles Bronson plays the titular character, a melon farmer who is thrown in pokey after assaulting a scumbag who is trying to shake him down for the hire of workers to pick his Melons. Majestyk hires mexican day laborers at a fair wage for an honest days work and is somewhat taken aback by the shakedown. On the way to court the bus is hit in an attempt to free mafia thug Frank Renda . Majestyk drives the bus off and attempts to use the hoodlum to barter for the charges to be dopped however things go south when his missus springs him.
Frank ensures that the charges against Majestyk are dropped so he can take personal revenge against him however he underestimates the seemingly peaceful farmer who goes to war against him when pushed too far.
Possibly one of my favourite Bronson movies this has a sparking script from Elmore Leonard that features a lot of the trademark wit and Style including a central character who is smarter than most of the people around him. The final car chase and showdown with Renda is very well orchestrated and the film manages to retain the wit and charm throughout. The signal one Blu-ray is terrific and comes highly reccomended.

Dare I say Al Lettieri as Frank Renda nearly steals the film from under the large nose of Charlie Bronson,and Paul Koslo as Bobby Kopas is great in cowardly custard kind of way,top film.

[keirarts]

The Trip

Directed by Rodger corman, The Trip stars Peter Fonda as advertising director Paul Groves who decides to go on an LSD trip. Supervised by his friend John, Played by Bruce Dern. Things start out well enough but then the Trip begins to take Paul to places in his mind that offer some more disturbing visions and into the bad trip he escapes into the night life of LA.
Its pretty difficult to summarise the film based on plot alone, its fairly straightforward in that respect. In regards to it depicting the Timothy leary influenced subculture of 60's America and the actual experience of going on a Trip its actually very well realised and surprisingly experimental. Rodger Corman is well known as a producer of exploitation pictures but the Trip and its sister film X:Man with the x ray eyes prove that as a director he was extremely gifted. The editing (apparantly also supervised by corman) is also incredibly creative and really manages to create a deliberately disjointed and at times dreamlike atmosphere. Once again Signal one deliver a terrific Blu-ray release of the directors cut that avoids the moralising of the AIP enforced chages.

GASSSsss!

Full title Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It, is a tale of the world destroyed through chemical warfare leaving the counter culture youth movement to re-build. Thankfully its cynical enough to be worthwhile but not as well realised to rank as a classic unlike the previous film. Its watched best as satire, with the teens moving into different cliques and the depiction of the whitebread jocks as alpha male rapists is actually pretty funny however its a film that was probably best watched best as the counter culture was at its high tide mark. Now it plays better as a time capsual of another era.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

Dare I say Al Lettieri as Frank Renda nearly steals the film from under the large nose of Charlie Bronson,and Paul Koslo as Bobby Kopas is great in cowardly custard kind of way,top film.

Al Lettieri is terrific and really sells the character!

[keirarts]

Theyr'e watching.

Weird found footage effort that follows a home improvement crew filming in eastern europe and discovering the europe of Chernobyl diaries beset by witchcraft supersition. The film seems to be going more parody without being deliberately goofy but feels a little uneaven and the final 20 minutes feels like someone else made it. Probably woth a punt on netflix or in poundland.

The diabolical

Much more interesting. Ali Larter plays a widowed mother of two whose house is plagued by an appariton that seems to be getting more solid and more disturbing each time it appears. Her science teacher boyfriend decides to intervene and discover whats going on leading to a neat twist. It's incredibly low budget and relies on a neat script and some decent performances as well as a sort of daft but interesting idea for the final third that managed to sell the film for me. again, I'm betting this is either on netflix now or will end up there. Certainly worth a watch.

The pack

Not the 77' Joe don baker/Robert clouse classic but a modern Aussie take of the viscious pack of dogs idea where a farmstead is attacked by a pack of feral muts. Its actually a tightly directed little chiller that for the most part is well crafted but lacks the idea of mans disregard for nature that the 77 film did so well. Still worth a go. Arrow have this out on DVD

[keirarts]

Nightmare weekend


eerrmmm..... It seemed straightforward to start with, two blokes sneaking in some place then a f****** puppet showed up and the whole thing goes haywire. As best as I can summarise this film is that its about some secret experiment using computers to control behaviour. Its entirely watchable for the sheer amount of soft porn, almost as if the people involved kept forgetting what they were making and substituted f****** for plot and character development. If I hadn't seen Night train to terror I'd say this was the most bat-shit insane piece of exploitation that I'd seen from Vinegar Syndrome. You might hate me but I insist you watch it once.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Mr Majestyk

Charles Bronson plays the titular character, a melon farmer who is thrown in pokey after assaulting a scumbag who is trying to shake him down for the hire of workers to pick his Melons. Majestyk hires mexican day laborers at a fair wage for an honest days work and is somewhat taken aback by the shakedown. On the way to court the bus is hit in an attempt to free mafia thug Frank Renda . Majestyk drives the bus off and attempts to use the hoodlum to barter for the charges to be dopped however things go south when his missus springs him.
Frank ensures that the charges against Majestyk are dropped so he can take personal revenge against him however he underestimates the seemingly peaceful farmer who goes to war against him when pushed too far.
Possibly one of my favourite Bronson movies this has a sparking script from Elmore Leonard that features a lot of the trademark wit and Style including a central character who is smarter than most of the people around him. The final car chase and showdown with Renda is very well orchestrated and the film manages to retain the wit and charm throughout. The signal one Blu-ray is terrific and comes highly reccomended.

Love it all around great cast and acting as you sau the final showdown is great with the window scene one of the best ever

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

So far the only stand alone big screen outing for the green giant in the Avengers series. This isn't really an origin story as such more of the story of David Banners introduction into the ranks of SHIELD. It's an enjoyable enough film but together with the film Avengers Assemble goes to show why there will probably be just the single Hulk film. Basically he's un-killable and unstoppable, so who do you get him to go up against that doesn't just play out as a rehash of this film.

The other big question regarding this film is why is it the sole outing for Edward Norton? Norton is impressive here, actually he's always quite impressive and generally lights up whatever he's in. In this film Norton's Hulk ends up fighting Tim Roth's Abomination, a similar creature to the Hulk come the finale and it all ends up a great battle royal in the streets (As do most of these films i've found)

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Seen by many as inferior to the first iron outing, i have to say i really enjoyed it. Robert Downey Jr is again excellent as Tony Stark, the smooth talking, entrepreneur, playboy, and all round genius. The film is at it's best when Downey Jr spars with Gwyneth Paltrow as the lovely Pepper Potts. Paltrow gives as good as she gets and is a genuine bright spark in all the Avengers films she appears in. Also successful i thought was the introduction of Scarlett Johanson's Black Widow. Placed in a secretarial position at Stark Enterprises by SHIELD she too proves a great foil for Downey Jr and comes into her own when she has to infiltrate rival Sam Rockwell's lair and kicks ass as the Widow.

The film also has a secret weapon in Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko (Whiplash i think). Armed with electrified whips the set piece and showdown with Iron Man half way through the film at the Monaco GP is a highlight. Yet for all his psychopathic tendencies Rourke gives Vanko a vulnerability that makes him audience friendly and not so one dimensional as he could have been.

Although not quite as good as the excellent first outing for Iron Man, i found this sequel to be perhaps more important in the grand scheme of things.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

So far the only stand alone big screen outing for the green giant in the Avengers series. This isn't really an origin story as such more of the story of David Banners introduction into the ranks of SHIELD. It's an enjoyable enough film but together with the film Avengers Assemble goes to show why there will probably be just the single Hulk film. Basically he's un-killable and unstoppable, so who do you get him to go up against that doesn't just play out as a rehash of this film.

The other big question regarding this film is why is it the sole outing for Edward Norton? Norton is impressive here, actually he's always quite impressive and generally

Major creative differences i believe. Norton apparently had a lot of unofficial involvement in the script of The Incredible Hulk. He is great in it though, way better than Eric Bana in Ang Lees version i think.