What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Just started watching and there is even a blood disclaimer at the beginning for the bloody snowflakes, I'm surprised with political correctness running amok it wasn't dubbed out!

I'm not surprised about the disclaimer because it is a word which many find very offensive, so if you don't know about the film, events or the people depicted, it's possible to cause shock and discomfort with its use, particularly in a scene when people are jumping around shouting it in celebration.

I like this quote I found on a Dam Busters blog from Steven Baxter: ‘I think there was a time when it was acceptable to use words like Paki or nigger or sambo, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t offensive, or hurtful, or wrong.’

If a society is to evolved and embrace difference, whether it's gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability or whatever, I don't see why people shouldn't, if it is possible, recognise the impact of language and try to avoid causing offence.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I'm not surprised about the disclaimer because it is a word which many find very offensive, so if you don't know about the film, events or the people depicted, it's possible to cause shock and discomfort with its use, particularly in a scene when people are jumping around shouting it in celebration.

I like this quote I found on a Dam Busters blog from Steven Baxter: ‘I think there was a time when it was acceptable to use words like Paki or nigger or sambo, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t offensive, or hurtful, or wrong.’

If a society is to evolved and embrace difference, whether it's gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability or whatever, I don't see why people shouldn't, it is possible, recognise the impact of language and try to avoid causing offence.

I'm with you on this one. I'm on the side of no, it shouldn't be dubbed out because it's a testament and record of its time, but it is an offensive word and there is nothing wrong in recognising that fact before the film starts instead of just dubbing it out with another name and pissing off the fans of the film in the process.

Calling people snowflakes and SJWs is just as irksome in my opinion, I'm not offended by everything, far from it but I can be tolerant of another persons attitude and beliefs at the same time

Anyway, funny enough, I've finished my studying for the day and I'm going to watch The Dam Busters

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I’ll get us back on topic

I watched Highlander last night for the first time in years, not as good as I remember it from being a kid, in fact I think it’s a bit shit tbh, especially the awful accents by Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert

The music by Queen is by far the best thing about it

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

In this sequel to 2015’s Jurassic World, Isla Nublar is about to be destroyed by an eruption on its huge volcano, and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) has founded the Dinosaur Protection Group, an organisation with a self explanatory name. The situation on the former site of Jurassic World has raised an ethical issue: should the world stand by and let dinosaurs become extent again, or treat them as any other endangered species and do something about the situation on the tropical island.

In his very short appearance at the beginning of the film (he also briefly appears near the end), Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) opines that nature should take its course and humans shouldn’t intervene, but Claire things they should rescue the dinosaurs and take them to a new island built by Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell), a former business partner of John Hammond, and seeks the assistance of Owen Grady (Chris Pratt). In a separate plot line, Hammond’s assistant, Eli (Rafe Spall) who is working with a group seeking to weaponise dinosaur DNA for military use.

My ability to properly critique this film was somewhat hampered by the cinema as the sound quality in the first 20 minutes was appalling, with the frequency too high to properly here what people said if they shouted. The sound then dropped out altogether and a couple of people alerted cinema staff. The problem was solved and film was taken back 10 minutes, but not after I was suitably narked.

Anyway, the film has many different tones and allusions depending on location and characters; it sometimes evokes a haunted house film like The Haunting, sometimes The Island of Lost Souls, and sometimes a good old monster movie! I was largely underwhelmed by Jurassic World at the cinema, though a second viewing at home left me surprisingly impressed. This was the opposite as, the sound issues aside, I really liked what I saw and heard; I’ve really liked what JA Bayona has done previously and thought this had a very strong characterisation, moral dilemmas and scares – the move to concentrate more on the horror aspects and there are some scenes which, because of the lighting and framing, have a real Gothic sense to them, making the dinosaurs much more frightening than in most of the previous films in the series. I’d like to go watch it again at the cinema, hopefully without any sound issues!



The Incredibles

After The Iron Giant (a film I really like) was a relative flop at the box office, Brad Bird began working on a homage to the superhero and spy films and comics of the 1950s and 1960s. Following 2003’s Finding Nemo was a tough ask, but Bird had the luxury of developing this with his own staff and not being part of the Pixar ‘system’.

The premise of the film is a relatively simple one: superheroes are real and part of everyday life because they use their powers to stop crime. However, when the balance of the harm they prevent is outweighed by the collateral damage they cause in the course of crime prevention, they are no longer wanted by society so are given secret identities and mundane jobs. One of the superheroes, Bob Parr, someone with superhuman strength is incredibly bored at processing insurance claims every day so, unbeknownst to his wife, Helen (a woman with an elastic body), he goes crime fighting with his best friend, Lucius Best (a.k.a. Frozone, someone who can freeze any moisture) under the pretense of bowling or some other social activity. When Bob is fired for losing his temper and punching his boss through a series of walls, he is contacted by a mysterious woman who offers him a lot of money to destroy a machine on a remote island. Once again becoming Mr Incredible, Bob completes his mission and is offered more opportunities to use his powers, opportunities he seizes with both hands because he loves the adrenaline rush.

Unbeknownst to him, Bob has been part of research by someone called Buddy Pine, someone he encountered when Buddy was a child and wanted nothing to do with his enthusiasm for all things super. Now grown up, Buddy is a genius inventor who wants to use his gadgets to become a superhero called Syndrome. Unbeknownst to him, on his latest mission, Bob’s new costume sends out a distress signal and Helen, plus their two superhuman children, fly to the island and battle between the Parr family and Syndrome commences…

I’m not sure why, but I really didn’t like this at the cinema and it’s a film which has grown on me over the years to the point where I consider it Pixar’s second best film (behind Toy Story 2) and one I really enjoy. This latest viewing only confirmed my previous thoughts because I had a blast and can’t wait for the sequel.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

The Demons

I’m not sure when I last saw this Jess Franco film, but it must have been many years ago because when watching this BD from Nucleus Films, I was struggling to remember any of the plot details or what was going to happen later in the film.

As with most period ‘nunsploitation’ films, this moves between scenes of torture and those with a more erotic (I use the word advisedly because, and it might just be me, there’s not much here I found titillating). It’s difficult to watch this and judge it on its own merits because of its similarities to Ken Russell’s The Devils, a superior film in every respect, but there is something fascinating about the historical aspects of how and why sexually repressed nuns were thought to be possessed by Demons and horrendously tortured.

I think the reason why Russell’s film is so brilliant is because he avoided the temptation to have a third of the running time comprised of naked women writhing on beds while masturbating. It’s far more interesting to look at the corruption and hypocrisy in the Church which, in the same way as they dealt with the medical knowledge, permitted overt sexuality from men but used it as a way to subjugate and punish women. It is interesting to note that though this story is mostly concerned with the Spanish Inquisition, one of the main characters is Lord Justice Jeffries, the infamous ‘Hanging Judge’, whose bloody jurisdiction never extended beyond England!

The picture quality on this disc is superb, as is the French PCM track. I sampled the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio one, but found it was not as focused or clean as the uncompressed option. If you like the film, this is a really good release.



Adult Fairy Tales

Because I enjoyed the 88 Films DVD release of this film, an oddity from Full Moon, I upgraded to the Blu-ray release some time ago but it was only this week when I decided to watch it.

Taking all the characters from the classic fairy tales (it was released in the US without the word Adult and the opening has the title Fairy Tales), this follows a prince who, now 21 years old, most find a woman and produce an heir or forfeit his kingdom. What follows is, for the want of a better word, a quest as the Prince encounters Little Bo Peep, Jill (and a clearly homosexual Jack), Snow White and a host of others as the action moves between what the Prince is doing and the old woman’s shoe, a house where almost anything goes!

This is, as I said earlier, an oddity with some scenes which wouldn’t be out of place in the Russ Meyer film and others which have work somehow because of their offbeat humour. It’s a film from the brain of Charlie Band and the credits are notable because the director of photography was none other than Daniel Pearl, the cinematographer best known for his work on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre! It’s not the greatest film I’ve ever seen, but the humour somehow works and it could be because I’m a fan of Russ Meyer’s films and others from Charlie Band but I find this really enjoyable and will probably return to it in the not too distant future.

[nosferatu42]

"It’s not the greatest film I’ve ever seen, but the humour somehow works and it could be because I’m a fan of Russ Meyer’s films and others from Charlie Band but I find this really enjoyable and will probably return to it in the not too distant future."

.....And the tit's.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

The Demons

I’m not sure when I last saw this Jess Franco film, but it must have been many years ago because when watching this BD from Nucleus Films, I was struggling to remember any of the plot details or what was going to happen later in the film.

With this one, you could start the film again now and still struggle to remember any plot details.

Great reviews again, Nos.

[Justin101]

Well The Dam Busters was excellent, perfect Sunday afternoon viewing I watched the 1.75:1 version and it feels so perfectly framed I don't think I'll watch the full screen version again.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Well The Dam Busters was excellent, perfect Sunday afternoon viewing I watched the 1.75:1 version and it feels so perfectly framed I don't think I'll watch the full screen version again.

I watched it in it's original aspect ratio. Rather than pandering to the widescreen crowd and losing picture info top and bottom. Makes a lot of difference on those bombing raids.