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  #39871  
Old 30th January 2017, 01:04 PM
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Rewatched.....

Joy Division (2007, Grant Gee)
After reading Hooky's book Unknown Pleasures, I felt this needed a revisit. Sobering, if slightly precious...unlike

24 Hour Party People (2002, Micheal Winterbottom)
Which is a laugh, but not exactly factually "correct". Though Considine's take on Rob Gretton is a hoot...


Me FWWM blu came so that will be going on soon.
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  #39872  
Old 30th January 2017, 01:07 PM
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AUDITION – Such a great film, still as wince inducing as ever. Will need no introduction, but just in case it does, a lonely studio executive hits on a sleazy way of meeting the perfect partner and exploits his role in the movie business to host a fake audition. He's beguiled by a charming lady who happens to have a dark past. 'Audition' plays out like a kind of alienated romance for its first hour, and, even before the film blossoms into full on horror, it feels like there's a shadow lurking behind everything. When it finally pops, well, its the crazy torture driven delirium everyone says it is. Very affecting, a modern day classic. Well done Mr TM!

THE ORPHAN – I'd forgotten about this little number from 2009 or thereabouts. It's a good film, surprisingly plush and stacked with nice performances, whereas I was expecting something a bit more 'B'. 'The Orphan' is pretty much classic 'Bad Seed' territory, with a ferocious little mite playing evil and quite often fatal games with her adopted family. Maybe she looks like butter wouldn't melt, but make no mistake, this orphan is a total arsehole, as attested to by the corpses of the good citizens she leaves in her wake and the film's eerie climax with its creeped out undercurrent. Recommended.

DREAM HOME – Interesting latter day HK horror thriller which distinguishes itself by blaming the Hong Kong property market for the innards it spills. We're in the 'economy and social factors push psycho over the edge' genre bracket, which is a bit underpopulated. Who else lives there? 'Driller Killer'? 'K Shop'? Anyway, it makes a nice change from someone getting humiliated on St Swithin's day and then butchering a load of college students twenty years later. So 'Dream Home' follows the plight of a woman who's so obsessed with getting her foot on the property ladder she's prepared to (wait for it) kill to make that happen. And kill she does, in a pretty gory fashion. Maybe it doesn't entirely gel, but the combination of tacked-on social realist drama and excessive bloodletting is pretty attractive. Give it a go, definitely.

JESSABELLE – Latter day horror set in New Orleans, where wheelchair bound Sarah Snook discovers the secret of her upbringing and finds that her life and destiny are intertwined with a local murder. 'Jessabelle' doesn't break any new ground or blaze any trails necessarily, but it's well made and entertaining, and carries some interesting themes along with strong performances. The first hour or so, when Snook discovers old video tapes from her mother in the decrepit ancestral home, is quite atmospheric, and the gradual unfolding of the mystery surrounding her childhood is done well. Doesn't really top 'Skeleton Key' in the New Orleans voodoo / supernatural stakes, but quite enjoyable for all that.

LIGHTS OUT – About a family's attempts to deal with their violent spiritual guest, a being which appears in darkness and recoils from light. We get a back story which involves a young kid with a skin condition who died at a research institute back in the day, now after some revenge from beyond the grave etc etc. 'Lighs Out' is pretty much the descendent of the recentish tendency towards jump-scares at the multiplex. It's not up there with 'The Conjuring', 'Insidious' etc in terms of budget and studio muscle, but it kind of cops the same moves. I do get tired of that whole 'sudden movement accompanied by loud noise' approach, it's more of a challenge to lay down good atmosphere (failing that, I'll take graphic dismemberment). That said, 'Lights Out's attempts to startle are pretty well done, so despite the faint whiff of retread, it's a diverting enough concoction.
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  #39873  
Old 30th January 2017, 04:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Demoncrat View Post
Rewatched.....

Joy Division (2007, Grant Gee)
After reading Hooky's book Unknown Pleasures, I felt this needed a revisit. Sobering, if slightly precious...unlike

24 Hour Party People (2002, Micheal Winterbottom)
Which is a laugh, but not exactly factually "correct". Though Considine's take on Rob Gretton is a hoot...
If you are a fan of Joy Division, the Ian Curtis biopic 'Control' is well worth watching
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  #39874  
Old 30th January 2017, 04:29 PM
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War on Everyone (2016)

I've read some hate from viewers, but I really enjoyed this.

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


Now You See Me (2013)

*** out of *****

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  #39875  
Old 30th January 2017, 05:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan Foreman View Post
If you are a fan of Joy Division, the Ian Curtis biopic 'Control' is well worth watching
Certainly is. It's a terrific film – Sam Riley is superb as Ian Curtis.
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  #39876  
Old 30th January 2017, 09:08 PM
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I watched GHOSTS OF MARS yesterday-better than I remembered.

THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS-A refreshing take on the battered to death zombie film,the central performance from the young girl is terrific.
Cat lovers beware......

REVENGE OF THE BLOOD BEAST-RARO have done a cracking job with this.
Not in the same league as Witchfinder or The Sorcerers,there is early indications of Reeve's superb talent,especially in the opening shots of the bleak countryside.Almost as if a warm up excercise for the later Price classic.

Apparently Price said to Reeves...'Do you know how many films I've made young man? Ninety four. How many have you made?'

To which Reeves replied....

'Three good ones.....!'
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  #39877  
Old 30th January 2017, 11:25 PM
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T2: Trainspotting

Mark Renton returns to an Edinburgh transforming into somewhere unfamiliar as the past is slowly being torn down in the name of Gentrification. As he reunites with sick boy and spud the past begins to creep back and haunts him as he slips back into old habits.
Initially the film threw me a little as it lacked the pace and forward momentum of the first movie. Slowly it dawned on me that the queasy sense of nostalgia for places and people long gone is intentional and the film is drawing me into the head space of the central characters. Certainly as a 37 year old who remembers the film coming out the first time around I felt a strange connection to the film that I suspect 20 year old's who might connect with the original probably would not. As the film gradually became a tale of escaping addiction through creativity it somehow manages to be about the psychological place that Irvine welsh himself must have been in when he initially wrote the book. I was especially pleased they included Trainspotting at leith central station at a place in the film that brought some genuine pathos and humanity to Begbie.
Older geezers like me who have been around a bit will find a lot here in a film where the same creative team are older wiser and probably more talented but the younger audience might need to wait 20 years. The soundtrack is superb and it has some of the best composed shots I've seen in a film for a while.
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  #39878  
Old 31st January 2017, 08:07 AM
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In A Valley of Violence. Ethan Hawke is a loner, bar his loyal dog, who drifts into a rundown little town in the Old West where a jackass picks a fight with him for no apparent reason, only to come off the worse for it. The jackass turns out to be the son of the town Marshal (John Travolta) who sends him on his way with no real hard feelings. But said jackass just can't let it be, and together with his mates ambush Hawke, kill his dog and leave him for dead. As anyone who's seen John Wick will attest, bad idea. Soon Hawke is on his way back to town, and he's not leaving until everyone involved is dead - including the Marshal if he gets in his way... Karen Gillan co-stars in this largely unremarkable but still pretty watchable and entertaining enough Western revenge thriller.
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  #39879  
Old 31st January 2017, 02:35 PM
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Caddyshack (1980)

**** out of *****


The Pit (1981)

*** out of *****

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  #39880  
Old 31st January 2017, 04:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinematic Shocks View Post
Caddyshack (1980)

**** out of *****

I saw Caddyshack for the first time last year...and hated it. I think it must be an 80's thing in that if i'd seen it back then i'd probably enjoy it now.
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