What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Buboven]

Watched Dr Strangelove (1964) for the first time on Netflix last night when I couldn't get to sleep. Can't believe I waited this long to see it, probably because Kubrick's other films I have seen, apart from The Clockwork Orange, namely The Shining and 2001 haven't quite lived up, for me, to the huge praise they get as landmarks of cinema, especially 2001.

Absolutely loved Dr Strangelove though, gets a 10/10 for me, now I can see why some call Kubrick a genius

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Buboven

Watched Dr Strangelove (1964) for the first time on Netflix last night when I couldn't get to sleep. Can't believe I waited this long to see it, probably because Kubricks other films I have seen, namely The Shining and 2001 haven't quite lived up to the huge praise they get as landmarks of cinema, especially 2001.

Absolutely loved Dr Strangelove though, gets a 10/10 for me, now I can see why some call Kubrick a genius

quite recently a radio announcer in all seriousness referred to it as Kubricks Dr Strange Glove.........

[Buboven]

Anyone else think that general Ripper would make a better President than Trump?

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Buboven

Anyone else think that general Ripper would make a better President than Trump?

certainly could not be any worse,I wonder how Trump is doing for fluids?

[Buboven]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

certainly could not be any worse,I wonder how Trump is doing for fluids?

Well he sure does like Golden Showers I have heard

[Demoncrat]

Watched that there The Girl With All The Gifts. Was it me, or did the ending look very silly, or just silly? Please no spoilers of course.
May read the book cough....

Also perused Under The Shadow again, as T**** have it for £8 at the moment. A great wee film. Hopefully not to be remade with Naomi Watts cough. Recommended!!!!

[Cinematic Shocks]

Death Race (2008)

**1/2 out of *****

Death Race 2 (2010)

*** out of *****

Death Race: Inferno (2013)

*** out of *****

[Cinematic Shocks]

The Killer Must Kill Again (1975)

***1/2 out of *****

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Hacksaw Ridge

Mel Gibson's Hollywood rehabilitation is a success of sorts in this film about real World War II hero, conscientious objector Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who wanted to enlist as an Army medic on the condition he would not be required to touch, let alone carry, a gun, which doesn't go down well with the army or his father.

It is a film of two halves, with the first hour or so devoted to his childhood and troubled relationship with his alcoholic father, attraction to, quote above, and subsequent marriage to Dorothy, a nurse. This then blends into the second half in which the army want him to quit or be subject to dishonourable discharge because of his refusal to carry a weapon – even branding him as a coward or unfit to serve on psychiatric grounds. This part is almost like the first half of Full Metal Jacket, only with Vince Vaughn as the army sergeant trying to whip the men into (psychological and physical) shape as R. Lee Ermey did to the 'maggots' in Kubrick's Vietnam war movie.

Once the action shifts to Okinawa, Mel Gibson's propensity for extreme violence and gore pays dividends because the movie is suitably bloody, loud, frenetic, and conveys the carnage of fighting the Japanese on their own soil extremely well. However, there are some parts where things slow down and there is almost messianic score by Rupert Gregson-Williams which feels a bit too ham-fisted and sentimental. This is one of the major problems of the first half, which is too long and too saccharine – I just wanted things to progress a bit quicker and to see Doss do the things which made him a war hero.

It is occasionally visually brilliant and when the explosions from artillery shells thunders through the speakers and into your body it makes the cinema experience worthwhile. However, the 'Hallmark' element is possibly something which plays better in the US and I thought it was a bit too much, wanting Gibson to get the visceral storytelling of Apocalypto (still his best film) without overemphasising why we should care about the central characters. Hacksaw Ridge is worth seeing, but I'm not sure why it is so well represented at the Oscars (I'm surprised Andrew Garfield was nominated for this and not Silence, which also missed out in the Best Picture and Best Director categories).

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Interesting review, Nos.

I can do without the saccharine, it's what ruined The Pacific for me. Also i can do without Vince Vaughn f'in and blinding for an hour. It's one of the reasons i don't watch Full Metal Jacket very often. Ermey soon begins to grate when you've seen it once already.

I doubt i'll bother with it now.