What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Satan un Bouche Coin.

10 minute short, avant garde film from the late 60s that plays with transgression but never gets beyond a flaccid penis! That said the penis is cross cut with a child's face to startling but somewhat humorous effect. Other delights include light whipping, nude rolling in wine and a man removing his glass eye! The ideas are there but the lack of artistic talent shines through making it feel like Doris Wishman thought she could make some cash after reading about but not watching Kenneth Anger. It's on YouTube for those who like this sort of thing. Recommended.

[nosferatu42]

Hugo Stiglitz appears to have a really limited range of facial expression. He generally looks really serious or intense. Either that, or he looks pained in a manner I can't quite describe, but which makes it seem like he's midway between taking a constipated dump and stabbing a rapist.

This made me laugh my tits off Frankie, great review as always.

[nosferatu42]

I disagree Dem, I like "Batman Begins" for many reasons.
Treating the batman character as a real person and giving him some depth, but as a Batman film i think it fails because he isn't actually Batman hardly. The Scarecrow is great but hardly used and i kind of find Raz a guhl(?) a non entity villain.
Also Katie Holmes is shite.
Dark Knight is the stand out film from the Nolan trilogy and i honestly can't think of many flaws, apart from being slightly too long. Also if we're being picky the Joker doesn't really display many Joker traits, but as a performance it is great.
In my opinion Jack Nicholson is the closest film joker in spirit if not looks, and probably the best screen representation i've seen is from the batman Arkham games.
Also i think Tommy lee jones Two face is absolutely appalling, he comes across as just another psycho on nitrous oxide, laughing like a purple twat.
I'm sure in the comics he had a green half face,can't even get that shit right.
Nolans two face was i agree kind of irrelevant but at least he had the coin/fate thing going on.
I do think that "Batman and Robin" is enjoyable in a 60's throwback, Plan 9 kind of way, so i'll give you that.
Oh and also Nolans films are too realistic to be comic book, which is bizarre, i mean you're either going to make a comic book film and go with it or don't bother.
Nolan's films seem slightly embarrassed by it's comic origins.
"Batman Returns" is still my favourite, although even there the villains aren't true to the comics, although i actually prefer Burtons take on the Penguin and Catwoman.
Returns has a weird carnival hyper-real but dark atmosphere that suits batman in my opinion, a twisted world where you feel these heroes and villains could actually exist.

[keirarts]

Legacy of Dracula

Aka Fear of the Ghost house. Directed by Michio Yamamoto for Toho studios this is the first of three unconnected films dubbed "the bloodthirsty trilogy" for their attempt to make horror films more thematically connected to European gothic horror than traditional Kaidan Eiga pictures that focused on Japanese folklore.
A young doctor, Sagawa, heads out into the country to visit his sick girfriend Yuko . Arriving at her family's european style mansion in the midst of a thunderstorm he encounters Yuko's mother and her mute butler. Yuko's mother reveals that Sagawa is too late and Yuko has passed away. Stricken with grief he agrees to stay the night and later that night is called outside to Yuko's grave where he encounters her stood in the cemetary.
The film then cuts to Sagawa's sister concerned over her brothers disappearance so heads out to the mansion with her boyfriend to investigate and they begin to unravel the mystery of Yuko leading to a horrifying conclusion.
Legacy successfully manages to capture the gothic horror popularised in European cinema. The set design is magnificent, the plot is lifted from The facts in the case of M Valdemar and the bloody conclusion hits the spot. The only real problem is the occasionally overdone exposition but overall its a solid slice of Japanese Gothic.

Lake of dracula

The second bloodthirsty film, this one opens with a beautifully shot dream sequence where the main protagonist Akiko chases her dog through a cave and then some woods and stumbles upon a rundown gothic mansion. Confronted by a sinister old man she manages to avoid him and enters the mansion to pursue her dog only to encounter the corpse of a woman propped up at a piano and a golden eyed vampire.
we then cut to the older, grown up Akiko who is an artist and is haunted by the dream of the old mansion. Her dreams soon begin to manifest into the real world when a truck delivers a coffin to a local house and soon women begin showing up drained of blood. Like Legacy this is successful at creating a gothic atmosphere. The opening dream sequence is worthy of Directors like Mario Bava for its visual style and the ressurected victims of dracula manage to be genuinely creepy.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

I disagree Dem, I like "Batman Begins" for many reasons.
Treating the batman character as a real person and giving him some depth, but as a Batman film i think it fails because he isn't actually Batman hardly. The Scarecrow is great but hardly used and i kind of find Raz a guhl(?) a non entity villain.
Also Katie Holmes is shite.
Dark Knight is the stand out film from the Nolan trilogy and i honestly can't think of many flaws, apart from being slightly too long. Also if we're being picky the Joker doesn't really display many Joker traits, but as a performance it is great.
In my opinion Jack Nicholson is the closest film joker in spirit if not looks, and probably the best screen representation i've seen is from the batman Arkham games.
Also i think Tommy lee jones Two face is absolutely appalling, he comes across as just another psycho on nitrous oxide, laughing like a purple twat.
I'm sure in the comics he had a green half face,can't even get that shit right.
Nolans two face was i agree kind of irrelevant but at least he had the coin/fate thing going on.
I do think that "Batman and Robin" is enjoyable in a 60's throwback, Plan 9 kind of way, so i'll give you that.
Oh and also Nolans films are too realistic to be comic book, which is bizarre, i mean you're either going to make a comic book film and go with it or don't bother.
Nolan's films seem slightly embarrassed by it's comic origins.
"Batman Returns" is still my favourite, although even there the villains aren't true to the comics, although i actually prefer Burtons take on the Penguin and Catwoman.
Returns has a weird carnival hyper-real but dark atmosphere that suits batman in my opinion, a twisted world where you feel these heroes and villains could actually exist.

Are you replying to me or just arguing with yourself here, nos?

[Cinematic Shocks]

I consider 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight' to be both great films. I rank the trilogy in the order they came out. BB is one of the greatest comic book superhero origin stories ever filmed and TDK is one of the greatest sequels ever of any genre. BB just edges it for me though.

'The Dark Knight Rises' is merely pretty good and therefore disappointing when considering the quality of the first two films. I think Christopher Nolan got lazy with that one and was on autopilot just wanting to get it over with. Nolan paid careful attention to detail with the first two (there's some plot holes in the TDK) but there's so many flaws in TDKR you could play a game pointing them out...

My ratings of the trilogy:

Batman Begins ****1/2 out of *****

The Dark Knight **** out of *****

The Dark Knight Rises *** out of *****

[Mojo]

EARLY DAVID CRONENBERG
I for one am glad that these early Cronenberg shorts have been given their own blu ray release, as I missed out on the original VIDEODROME set and have wanted to see them, ever since reading about them way back in HOUSE OF HAMMER magazine.
We're not talking blockbuster entertainment here, but it's fascinating to see nods to his upcoming full length features SHIVERS and RABID. Indeed, if he hadn't been able to find his feet with these experimental films, SHIVERS may not have turned out as brilliant as it was - who knows?

THE FIRM
Gary Oldman gives a fantastic performance as the leader of a bunch of middle class London based football hooligans, who are in constant battle with another 'Firm' to see who can be top dog.
This BBC play was censored before it was broadcast, but this bd set from the BFI includes the original director's cut, which includes the ( still shocking ) scenes of violence.
There is a slight dip in quality with these scenes, but it does not detract from what is a powerful piece of television.

[gag]

Originally Posted by Mojo

EARLY DAVID CRONENBERG
I for one am glad that these early Cronenberg shorts have been given their own blu ray release, as I missed out on the original VIDEODROME set and have wanted to see them, ever since reading about them way back in HOUSE OF HAMMER magazine.
We're not talking blockbuster entertainment here, but it's fascinating to see nods to his upcoming full length features SHIVERS and RABID. Indeed, if he hadn't been able to find his feet with these experimental films, SHIVERS may not have turned out as brilliant as it was - who knows?

THE FIRM
Gary Oldman gives a fantastic performance as the leader of a bunch of middle class London based football hooligans, who are in constant battle with another 'Firm' to see who can be top dog.
This BBC play was censored before it was broadcast, but this bd set from the BFI includes the original director's cut, which includes the ( still shocking ) scenes of violence.
There is a slight dip in quality with these scenes, but it does not detract from what is a powerful piece of television.

Watched Firm recently as much as its a good film, didnt think it was as violent as made out to be and if it wasnt for odd scene here and there you wouldnt think it was about football violence more about two people who have a vendetta against each other. And found it was a tadge short for a film as well.

[Make Them Die Slowly]

Originally Posted by Mojo

EARLY DAVID CRONENBERG
I for one am glad that these early Cronenberg shorts have been given their own blu ray release, as I missed out on the original VIDEODROME set and have wanted to see them, ever since reading about them way back in HOUSE OF HAMMER magazine.
We're not talking blockbuster entertainment here, but it's fascinating to see nods to his upcoming full length features SHIVERS and RABID. Indeed, if he hadn't been able to find his feet with these experimental films, SHIVERS may not have turned out as brilliant as it was - who knows?

THE FIRM
Gary Oldman gives a fantastic performance as the leader of a bunch of middle class London based football hooligans, who are in constant battle with another 'Firm' to see who can be top dog.
This BBC play was censored before it was broadcast, but this bd set from the BFI includes the original director's cut, which includes the ( still shocking ) scenes of violence.
There is a slight dip in quality with these scenes, but it does not detract from what is a powerful piece of television.

I love The Firm, excellent stuff. Nick Love's trainers and tracksuit fetish remake is pretty good too, taking the same storyline but making it into a rites of passage tale that works quite well.

[nosferatu42]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Are you replying to me or just arguing with yourself here, nos?

Bait of both, i think.