What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[keirarts]

Neon Demon

marmite.jpg

All joking aside, the film falls somewhere between the commercial entertainment of Drive and the arty aethetic of only god forgives. As a result it'll leave some of its audience walking away and scratching their heads. the rest will probably dig it. Essenntially its Refn's f*** you to hollywood, with a plot that uses the fashion industry to skewer a system where true originality is literally devoured by the fake, sycophantic wannabees who desperately aspire to be the same. It looks amazing, has some weird animal symbology, cougars, stuffed leopards and wolves as well as Keanu reeves playing the nastiest bastard of his carrer. Watch it but I can't guarantee you'll like it.

[keirarts]

Lego movie.

wish I'd caught this earlier, probably far smarter and better written than a film about lego should be this one has a genuinely terrific script and some dead on voice acting.

Dracula untold

The last thing the unviersal horror franchise needed was an 'extended universe'. It works for superheros as one would normally be able to pick up a book and see captain america and spider man team forces and it always felt a little sad when hero films were stand alone. Here the creative team not only manage to mangle Unvisersals Dracula series and mutate it into a live action Dynasty warrior clone where vampires that happily die from a bowie knife through the chest can rend there way through entire armies while fighting to retain their identity. I dont regret spending £2 on it and its probably worth streaming just go in with expectations lowered.


Need for speed

Given the beyond-terrible reviews and the career immolation of Aaron Paul this is another one I picked up cheap and went into with the lowest of expectations....aaaaand I actually quite liked it.
Its not a neglected classic by any means, the plot is by the numbers and the characterisations are uniformly cookie cutter from other, better films but the focus here is shit-hot car chases and on this front it delivered enough to entertain me.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Brian is my favourite,so many classic scenes and the added enjoyment of winding up devout christians.
Meaning of life comes next because its so off the wall, love the fishes and the surreal moments, also the grim reaper part is brilliant, the penis song, the liver/ universe song, wafer thin mint etc..., i love it more because it's subversive and more like a great episode of flying circus.
Holy grail has great scenes but it just doesn't do it for me, the ending doesn't help either, just seems they couldn't be arsed to finish it properly.

I'm not sure if I'm just making this up but I'm sure i recall reading somewhere that in the run up to making Life of Brian the whole Python team decided to try and read the bible, and came away with the idea that the film should be more targeted towards organised religion rather than the biblical story itself.

[Dave Boy]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)

When you think of Terence Fisher, one of British cinemas greats in my opinion you should instantly think of his Hammer film catalogue - Dracula, The Mummy, Curse of Frankenstein and The Devil Rides Out - are all part of a significant canon of classic British horror films directed by Fisher. Among all the Hammer was this curio, The Earth Dies Screaming. A science fiction gem that is often overlooked.

Clocking in at a mere 61 minutes the film romps along following a small band of survivors after an unexplained event left the country's population dead. However this disparate group are not alone as alien robots are also stalking the countryside.

Following one of the most downbeat openings i can recall, Fisher throws us straight into a 70's Doctor Who adventure as it utilizes much of the aspects of 70's Who. The sleepy English village, a race against time,walking corpses, Cybermen...but Fisher and script writer Harry Cross gave us this well before Doctor Who even thought of these ideas, making The Earth Dies Screaming something of a visionary piece of British sci-fi.

Cross's script is simple but intelligent. We don't get any answers as to why and how events took place nor who or what the robots are. Like the characters, we just know they did take place. Also the resolution is worked out through guess work and understanding communication methods rather than on an interplanetary scale.

It's not all brilliant, though much of it is. Lead actress Virginia Field appears to play her role in slow motion, especially when pursued and... No, that's about it. The Earth Dies Screaming is actually rather brilliant.

Great stuff. This was filmed not far from me Dem. I go there often. The inside of the pub has changed but not so much as a nut like me can place where things were. The bar is in the same place.

Here are a couple of pictures....

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

I'm not sure if I'm just making this up but I'm sure i recall reading somewhere that in the run up to making Life of Brian the whole Python team decided to try and read the bible, and came away with the idea that the film should be more targeted towards organised religion rather than the biblical story itself.

As I understand it, they wanted to lampoon organised religion, something of which they were all equally distrustful, but couldn't decide how to do it. They all had various ideas, including a sketch where Jesus's cross comes apart because of poor carpentry, and all did read various biblical literature including the New Testament, all deciding Jesus was basically a 'good guy' and the target of the satire (as Arthurian legend had been in The Holy Grail) should be the Romans, the way in which the original religious material has been interpreted by factions which vehemently disagree with one another and, as a backdrop, the New Testament era, such as that portrayed in Ben-Hur, in general.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Also, and I don't know if Blue Crush is as good, but I love Chalet Girl – Blue Crush sounds like a similar type of film.

Yeah Chalet Girl is a bit of a gem.

Have you just seen it, Nos?

Just wondered why you replied to your own post that's all.

[gag]

Thought i post this here,

http://io9.gizmodo.com/you-may-never...e=io9_facebook

Even tho its still impressive i still didnt rate the film.
Felt it was more like a traveling circus that wanted that WOW factor, bigger better louder to amaze their audience, instead of concentrating on a film well just being a film.
This is prime eg of films of just wanting to outdo each other to get themselves noticed,
Sorry

[keirarts]

Don't Breathe

Blimey this is good! From the team that made the evil dead remake this urban thriller gradualy mutates into a full blown horror thriller as a group of young break in artists end up trapped in the house of an old blind man who is no where near as helpless as he first seems and has some dark secrets lurking in the bowels of his house. The sense of space in the house is perfect and a boatload of suspense is drawn out of the burglars trying to remain quiet and outwit the blind guy. Stephen Lang is perfect as the veteran who manages to feel very human even after some shocking revalations in the final act. Its one well worth heading to the multiplex for.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Don't Breathe



Blimey this is good! From the team that made the evil dead remake this urban thriller gradualy mutates into a full blown horror thriller as a group of young break in artists end up trapped in the house of an old blind man who is no where near as helpless as he first seems and has some dark secrets lurking in the bowels of his house. The sense of space in the house is perfect and a boatload of suspense is drawn out of the burglars trying to remain quiet and outwit the blind guy. Stephen Lang is perfect as the veteran who manages to feel very human even after some shocking revalations in the final act. Its one well worth heading to the multiplex for.

I'll be going to see this at the end of the week, I'm looking forward to it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Don't Breathe

Blimey this is good! From the team that made the evil dead remake this urban thriller gradualy mutates into a full blown horror thriller as a group of young break in artists end up trapped in the house of an old blind man who is no where near as helpless as he first seems and has some dark secrets lurking in the bowels of his house. The sense of space in the house is perfect and a boatload of suspense is drawn out of the burglars trying to remain quiet and outwit the blind guy. Stephen Lang is perfect as the veteran who manages to feel very human even after some shocking revalations in the final act. Its one well worth heading to the multiplex for.

One i'd earmarked as a dvd preorder. Your thoughts just make me certain.