What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MrBarlow]

Assassins 1995

Ageing hitman Robert Rath wants to retire but coaxed in for some more hits, he is labled the best, when his last hit is compromised he decides to keep his mark alive, computer tech Electra and take out young hit man Miguel Bain.

This is a highly engaging cat and mouse thriller brought on by the two main stars Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas as the two hitman, Banderas wants to live upto the phrase "out with the old, in with the new" senario.

Written by The Wachowski's and directed by Richard Donner, the pace does start off well and gets better with shot outs, explosions and some mind psych playing by Bain which adds to his menacing persona. Julianne Moore portayal as Electra is wonderful to watch as she has no idea what she is involved with and if she can be trusted as she can have the innocent little girl look to picking up a gun. Only downside i felt with the movie was the ending seemed to be a bit rushed but still a good movie. 8 out of 10.

[nosferatu42]

Oculus

916ZSNm0fVL._SY445_.jpg

I'd heard a lot of good stuff about this film and seeing as i like Karen Gillan i decided to settle in last night and give this the once over.

i thought this was above average as a modern horror film, because it is pretty well acted and shot, but wasn't as impressed as i expected.

I liked Absentia by the same director when i saw it, and this was enjoyable as it played out but i found myself not that satisfied as the film ended.

158627503_50db56.jpg

Gillan is good but seems reserved compared to other stuff i'd seen her in, to me this felt because of the American accent she uses in this film, the idea is interesting and it was nice to see "Battlestar G's" Katie Sackhoff as the mother in a meaty role.

The problem i had was that the past/present blending elements took me out of the story, and although i appreciated that our understanding of events changes the more stuff is revealed over time, i found it a bit forced.

Also the "is this actually happening" aspect made the haunting less threatening somehow.

And the end i saw coming a mile off.

Overall 6.5 / 10

[ArgentoFan1987]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Oculus

Attachment 204916

I'd heard a lot of good stuff about this film and seeing as i like Karen Gillan i decided to settle in last night and give this the once over.

i thought this was above average as a modern horror film, because it is pretty well acted and shot, but wasn't as impressed as i expected.

I liked Absentia by the same director when i saw it, and this was enjoyable as it played out but i found myself not that satisfied as the film ended.

Attachment 204917

Gillan is good but seems reserved compared to other stuff i'd seen her in, to me this felt because of the American accent she uses in this film, the idea is interesting and it was nice to see "Battlestar G's" Katie Sackhoff as the mother in a meaty role.

The problem i had was that the past/present blending elements took me out of the story, and although i appreciated that our understanding of events changes the more stuff is revealed over time, i found it a bit forced.

Also the "is this actually happening" aspect made the haunting less threatening somehow.

And the end i saw coming a mile off.

Overall 6.5 / 10

I'm in the same boat as you here. I genuinely did enjoy it, but it definitely didn't live up the hype. It was decent though.

[keirarts]

Death Wish

Eli Roth remaking Michael Winner's 70's vigilante flick was never going to be popular. The big question is, is the film as terrible as the online reaction to it suggested. Honestly no. Winner spectacularly missed the point of the novel with his screen adaptation but in spite of that the film worked thanks to the location shoots on the mean and filthy streets of New York give it a memorable tone and Bronson was the right age to play the worn out Paul Kersey. For this new film Roth pretty much ignores both the winner film and the original novel. Instead we have a dead eyed Bruce Willis whose spent the last decade screwing over his legacy by starring in junk. Here this worn out, weary as hell old grouch routine works fine. The film has zero subtlety and suffers from the comparison to the original. However if your able to divorce it from the Bronson flicks its actually reasonably entertaining if not more than a little forgettable. Pretty much the epitome of a 5/10 movie if ever I saw one.

Cargo

Possibly the best Netflix original film. That said its not like its really got any stiff competition. However the film, an odyssey where a polite and ineffectual husband plays by Martin Freeman gets bit by a zombie and must make his way across the Australian outback looking for someone to care for his infant daughter. Its like the Arnie film Maggie but actually good, where the stakes are genuinely high and the world is rapidly disintegrating into chaos. Its not a happy film, in fact its pretty tragic throughout. However if you enjoyed Maggie and the dead, both films that have some similarities its definitely worth a go.

City on fire

Ask a lot of film fans about city on fire the first thing they'll say is "oh that's the film Tarantino ripped off for Reservoir dogs". Clearly indicating that either they've only seen the two clips from the entire 100 minute film that have any similarity whatsoever or they read it somewhere and are just parroting the opinion.
City on fire is a lean, mean and hard boiled crime thriller about undercover cop Chow Yun Fat in over his head as an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of jewel thieves led by HK veteran Danny Lee. Naturally things go south and the gang end up turning on each other in a bloody and tragic climax. Structurally it has nothing in common with Reservoir dogs and feels more like a HK attempt at producing a Michael Mann cops and robbers flick. Reservoir dogs probably has as much in common with Joseph Sargents Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 and A Bande Apart. Hell Leone stole way more for fistful of Dollars as did Carpenter with Assault on precinct 13. Anyways. City on fire has hit Blu-ray courtesy of Fortune star and looks great. Certainly worth picking up.

[keirarts]

Solo a star wars story.

Starting off weakly, Solo picks up somewhat as it goes along and by the end is fine. Its held up by some decent cast turns including Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian and Woody Harrelson as a grizzled thief and Han's mentor. If your looking to take the kids to see something bland but entertaining then you could do worse.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Wes Craven presents Mind Ripper. (1995)

A gory tv movie derivative of Alien set in a secret underground lab where scientists are developing a super soldier who obviously breaks loose and goes on a killing spree. Lance Henriksen stars with Giovanni Ribisi as his annoying son (Think Frank from Friends here).

Although it's fast paced it's also deadly dull, it's best scenes usually featuring Henriksen talking, although it almost redeemed itself with a great plane escape finale.

Hands of Steel (1986)

Daniel Greene plays a cyborg assassin who goes on the run when his human side prevails during an assignment.

Again an extremely derivative film but this time from the Italians, namely Sergio Martino. Where this works and Mind Ripper failed is in the characterization. Everyone here is great, Greene as the tortured cyborg, Janet Agren as a watering hole owner and George Eastman and John Saxon as the villains. Several arm wresting sequences (done really well i might add) mean the film is reminiscent of Over the Top (1987) although it clearly doesn't rip it off as this came first, as well as the Terminator films.

Likable characters, fine tension filled direction from Martino, some great Arizona locations and gripping action ensure Hands of Steel is a bit of an eighties gem.

Deadfall (2012)

Eric Bana and Olivia Wilde play brother and sister en route from Michigan to Canada with a bag full of stolen cash. Near the border the car they are in leaves the road, killing the driver, leaving the two stranded in blizzard conditions. Meanwhile Charley Hunnam, a former Olympic boxer, released from prison is headed in the same direction to reconcile with his parents - Kris Kristofferson and Sissy Spacek.

I really enjoyed this snowbound thriller. Basically just a road trip for the first hour before everyone converges on Kristofferson's out of the way retreat including Treat Williams and Kate Mara as the local sheriff and his deputy daughter. Again it's derivative but still nicely written with well thought out characters, the film focusing on family ties as much as crime, culminating in a final half hour of tension packed, gripping viewing.

The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962)

Early Spanish shocker from Jess Franco starring Howard Vernon as Orloff, a sadistic doctor who sends his slave-like, blind henchman, Morpho, to kidnap women in order to repair his disfigured daughters body via skin grafts.

Very Frankenstein like with added nudity and breast groping from Orloff and Morpho. This isn't a bad take from Franco on the classic Gothic horror style. A nicely brooding atmosphere is punctuated with gory violence and sleazy nudity (for the early sixties) all shot in stark black and white. Franco showcases his cinematography skills in shots the likes of Lewton and Whale would be proud of in this prime Gothic run-around.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Solo: A Star Wars Story

I hadn't read any reviews of this prior to watching it (I still haven't read any) and my only information was from the two trailers I'd caught at the cinema, things which left me fairly unimpressed and not exactly in a rush to see the film. So, on a cloudy bank holiday Monday (though one which is now beautifully sunny), I went to a fairly quiet Cineworld to see if the film would live down to expectations or leave me pleasantly surprised.

I suppose the verdict is a bit of both because the pacing is not at all consistent and the film can be very sluggish or quite exciting depending on what is happening and who is on screen, and why. It probably goes without saying that Alden Ehrenreich doesn't have the wit, charisma, or screen presence of Harrison Ford because, let's face it, few actors do. Therefore, it only took about five minutes before I (consciously or unconsciously) decided to treat this as a stand-alone film and not one related to the other Star Wars films, comparing it to films like Serenity, The Fifth Element, and Starship Troopers instead.

It is weaker than all of those and even doesn't stand up with the best films that Ron Howard has helmed over the years. The story is occasionally engaging and the ILM affects are stunning, but the action and 'space chase' sequences are nowhere near as gripping as those in Serenity or even the Guardians of the Galaxy films, probably because I knew the Millennium Falcon was not going to be blasted to bits by Tie fighters or sucked into a fiery black hole during the Kessel Run with Han Solo, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian in the position to tell anyone they did it in under 12 parsecs rather than any major failings in the direction or editing. That said, Apollo 13 was based on real events and that's much more suspenseful! It's telling that perhaps the most engaging and visually impressive sequence the entire film, a robbery on a moving train was good, but less engaging than a similar one on Firefly; I've no idea whether that's down to the filmmaking or characters.

I felt the cast did very well with the material they had, with Ehrenreich as a decent leading man, Emilia Clarke showing she is as comfortable on the big screen as on HBO, Donald Glover is a charming and engaging version of Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson decent enough as Tobias Beckett, the grizzled space pirate who gives Han a chance, and Paul Bettany evil enough as the crime lord and main antagonist. However, I never thought the writing was strong enough, whether in world building or dialogue, and that's a major downfall in the film like this with so much mythology and information to draw on and put into the locations, characters, and events.

Overall, it's a solid, but largely underwhelming film which could, and should, have been so much better.

[MrBarlow]

Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt 2004

19th centuary Spain, a spate of killings is happening which seems to be blamed by wild animals but is it, is a man able to transform into a werewolf of is it just a serial killer who thinks he is a wolf.

Based on the real life story of travelling vendor Miguel Romasanta decendant of the royal family who was tried for 13 killings, i read about him before watching this film, i was expecting it to be a low budget, crap effects movie, i was wrong about that.

This was a decent movie thats close to the historical fact surrounding the story of Romasanta. Julian Sands plays the lead character, that keeps you guessing wether he is a wolf or just a Hannibal Lector type personality, Im still wondering if its a horror movie or just a psychological thriller with added twists and turns mixed with some dark gothic scenario, well worth at watch 8 out of 10.

[nosferatu42]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt 2004

Julian Clary plays the lead character, that keeps you guessing wether he is a wolf or just a Hannibal Lector type personality.

Sounds...er interesting.

Something like this i imagine.

images (25).jpeg

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

Sounds...er interesting.

Something like this i imagine.

Attachment 204937

fooking el dafto, Meant Julian Sands but changed it to Clary, blame my missus she mentioned Julian Clary while i was typing