What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Outbreak was the first of my weekly run of going to the cinema every Sunday afternoon. A run which lasted several years.

For a long time it was my fave of those films we saw.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Mel Gibson's riveting biopic of Desmond Doss, who served at the Battle of Okinawa and became the first man in history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. Brit Andrew Garfield is excellent as Doss especially during the first hour which deals with military training and the army's attempts to make Doss quit. Gibson comes into his own during the second hour with lengthy battle scenes of ferocity and bloodshed. The battles were what made his Braveheart stand out from the pack and Gibson continues in that vein but brings so much more to the proceedings as he gives Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan a run for it's money when it comes to depicting the horrors of war.

Excellent!



The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

Peter Weir's directorial debut is a bizarre, blackly comic story of the Australian desert town of Paris, where the not quite right community survives by rigging auto accidents then living off the profitable aftermath including organ transplants.

Weir explores the community and it's decidedly odd inhabitants including John Meillon and Bruce Spence as wreck survivor Terry Camilleri is integrated into the town. The final stand off between young and old is reminiscent of Mad Max style films with a delightful array of, shall i say, pimped vehicles.

Weird, wonderful and very watchable.

Allied (2016)

An enjoyable if at times slow moving tale of spies during WWII. Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard are decent enough in a film that dreams it had cast Bogart and Bergman instead.

Moroccan and London locations set it apart and Robert Zemeckis handles the brief action scenes well but the talky nature rather than memorable moments suggests this is nearer to SS-GB than it is Casablanca.

Anyone who enjoyed Spielberg's Bridge of Spies could do worse than give this a go though.



The Neighbour (2016)

Fresh from The Collector / The Collection, director Marcus Dunstan brings us a tale of torture porn in the deep south. Very slow moving for the first hour followed by a frenetic last 25 minutes. I was disappointed by this as it wasted Alex Essoe from Starry Eyes in a generic role until the ass kicking finale.

Robot Overlords (2014)

British sci-fi nonsense starring Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson. Robots invade Earth from a distant galaxy and subject the population to a house bound existence. That is until four teens escape.

One of those films that's certainly worth watching even if it smacks of the odd Doctor Who episode. Low budget certainly, but the robots are done well in a Tripods sort of way. There's nothing really new here but it flows with an energy that maintains the interest even though i doubt you'll want to revisit it any time soon.

[keirarts]

Baby driver

Baby driver is an entertaining car chase/heist/musical from Edgar Wright that features car chase scenes worthy of some of the classics like Walter Hills The Driver, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry & French connection. Tonally it feels somewhere between Streets of Fire & Blues Brothers. Either way this is a film that comes highly recommended. Not only does it feature some of the best car chases I've seen in a film in a long while, its incredibly well directed. Wrights close attention to detail and ability to choreograph a scene is very much evident, many scenes are set up like a Hollywood musical including gunshots in time and beat to the music. Overall this is probably going to hit my top ten unless the rest of the year is incredible. Go see it!

[trebor8273]

9/10

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Watched Criterion's STRAW DOGS and BU's DEATH LINE today.
Both look and sound incredible.
Hats off to both labels!

[Justin101]

I went to see Baby Driver yesterday also. By the time the opening credits scene had finished we'd already had a bank heist and an extremely high octane car chase through the streets of Atlanta followed up by a perfectly choreographed/edited sequence of Baby going to get some post-heist coffee for the crew to the sound of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Bellbottoms - I was grinning from ear to ear and didn't stop until the end.

F*ing fantastic film!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Underworld: Blood Wars (2016)

Fast, frantic and largely plotless fifth and hopefully final installment in the Vampires v Lycans series. Kate Beckinsale out vamped by Lara Pulver.

Shit blows up, sabres are rattled and bullet clips emptied but i didn't care.

The Resident Evil finale film was so much more satisfying than this.

[Demoncrat]

Gone Girl (2013, David Fincher)
Spurred on by mate I watched this and The Duel, more of which soon...
Satisfying and Ben Affleck don't often come together in this house. So this made a nice surprise
Based on Gillian Flynn's novel, one day Affleck's wife just isn't there when he gets home ... the events that follow are a tale in themselves ....



The Battle Of Britain (1969, Guy Hamilton)
Near as damn it factual account of the duel in the air that was one of the turning points of WWII. A who's who of British stars of the period stick on the blue hats and have at the Bosch. Stirring stuff.


Showgirls (1999, Paul Verhoeven)
Ahem. Twas a long time coming. Meta metaphor about Tinseltown? Or just some smut that wouldn't look out of place on Eurotrash?
A young dancer lives her dream .... in Las Vegas. At one point I did tut "Oh, Agent Cooper!"
I digress. Easily the most heterosexual film I've seen. Yet again, I may have missed something ...10/10.

[Demoncrat]

Pandorum (2009, Christian Lavart)
SF mystery with Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. Quite effective in places. Less so in others

Death Hunt (1981, Peter Hunt)
You know. The one where Lee hunts Chuck
Top loaded cast fight for attention while Bronson just stands there being ...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Crow: Salvation (2000)

In this second sequel to the classic 1994 film, the crow of the title resurrects Alex Corvis so he can solve the murder of his girlfriend. What follows is a trail of corruption deep into the police force.

Eric Mabius might not be Brandon Lee but in truth he's not too bad as the risen avenger even if he does remind me of Michael Myers at times in his prison boiler suit and shock of black hair. The film actually sports a decent cast for a non cinema movie - Kirsten Dunst, William Atherton, Fred Ward and Walton Goggins also star.

Although not as dark as the original, The Crow: Salvation does have it's moments including some full on gore and well choreographed action sequences. Where it falls slightly is in the atmosphere (There's actually daylight in this film, and it doesn't rain much) and the fact that Mabius doesn't quite nail the part as Lee did.

All in all, The Crow: Salvation is more than watchable.