What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

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

Great reviews again, Nos.

Thanks. You are probably right about the plot details of The Demons as it's not exactly a film with a strong narrative and a series of well-developed characters!

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

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.

I've read that it was filmed with the intention of being projected in the widescreen ratio

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I've read that it was filmed with the intention of being projected in the widescreen ratio

Aren't you pleased i hammered you into submission into getting the collectors edition?

It's the only one that has the 1:75:1 presentation.

According to some Blurage members the 1:37:1 version is slightly better than the alternate ratio.

As for the aspect ratio, the 1.37 has far too much headroom as expected, I watched it zoomed to 1.66 and it looked chuffin' fantastic. If the separate 1.75 version is a true centre crop of the 1.37 (as any matted projection should've been) then you may find a few shots that look a touch too tight for headroom like the scene when Wallis is asking for dummy bombs, the other fella gets a bit of a haircut in his close-ups when zoomed to 1.78 (I doubt the extra 0.03 will make much difference). If that's not the case then they may have selectively repositioned the frame for that specific extraction.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Aren't you pleased i hammered you into submission into getting the collectors edition?

It's the only one that has the 1:75:1 presentation.

I am yes
I've not seen it for years (probably on ITV one weekend 20 years ago) and I really enjoyed it.

I think I'm going to frame the poster or the bombers, it looks like it's A3 but I haven't measured it.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

I am yes
I've not seen it for years (probably on ITV one weekend 20 years ago) and I really enjoyed it.

I think I'm going to frame the poster or the bombers, it looks like it's A3 but I haven't measured it.

It's a nice set isn't it. I prefer the image of the dam but as i say that's just personal preference.

I aim to watch the widescreen version in a couple of weeks, the extra material as well.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Some other things I've watched recently:

Sherlock, Jr. – At a little over 40 minutes, this is a relatively short film from Buster Keaton, and his third directorial feature. It follows a projectionist who is obsessed with detective fiction who sets the reels turning on the film and promptly falls asleep, dreaming of clearing his name when a love rival frames him for theft.

The General – Probably Buster Keaton’s most celebrated film, one of the greatest silent comedies and an all-time great, this is set during the US Civil War with Keaton playing a man, Johnnie Gray, whose girlfriend wants nothing to do with him until he is in uniform. When she is kidnapped and spies steal his true love, the titular steam locomotive. Some of the stunts are extraordinary, the story is very engaging and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

Steamboat Bill, Jr. – I would guess that most people know this film because it features one of the most famous stunts in movie history: Buster Keaton standing calmly as a house collapses behind him, leaving him landscape as a window frame passes over his head. The plot is very simple: a young man is just graduated from college tries to impress his father, the captain of a paddle steamer. Not only is he a man in love with his father’s business rival, but his appearance and demeanour is far from that expected by a no nonsense tough guy. The story works, the stunts are astonishing, and some of the sequences (particularly the tools in a loaf of bread) are funny and seem to have influenced the Marx Brothers.



Convict 13 – Wrong place, wrong time. Buster Keaton, playing a crap golfer, accidentally knocked himself out and is spotted by an escaped convict, who swaps clothing with the unconscious golfer, leading to Buster being taken to prison. If that wasn’t bad enough, the number on his uniform indicates he is due to be hanged! This is a really good short movie from one of the Buster Keaton collection DVDs and one of the most memorable.

Day Dreams – Another short from the same DVD, and another film in which Buster Keaton plays someone who needs to prove himself in some way before he can be with the girl he loves. In this case, he needs a job, and stakes his life on gaining employment. Its main achievement is either making attempted suicide funny or the astonishing sequence with Buster Keaton being stuck in the middle of a river boat paddle wheel.

Yesterday’s Enemy – I bought this based on Demdike’s recommendation and found the atmosphere in the Burmese jungle to be palpably oppressive, the central discussion between the opposing British and Japanese officers to be very thought-provoking and moving. It’s really strange to see a film like this from Hammer Film Productions, a studio associated with horror films rather than wartime dramas. With great direction from Val Guest, the man responsible for the Quatermass films, The Abominable Snowman and The Camp on Blood Island, and a superb cast including Stanley Baker and Leo McKern, this is compelling viewing and I hardly second Demdike’s recommendation.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – I’m not a massive fan of the first film, though it is something which makes me laugh and I’m very guilty of quoting from it at times, I watched this with low expectations and found myself laughing, then wondering why because what I’d just seen or heard wasn’t funny. It’s probably the comedy equivalent of jumping when you hear a loud noise, laughing because there’s something completely unexpected rather than because it’s cleverly written and well constructed. I also watched the Super-Sized Version, which seems to use alternate takes from the same sheet and (assuming one excess) the same script, meaning you have exactly the same scene only with different lines. It’s bloated and self-indulgent, but fans of the first Anchorman film may find something to enjoy here.

[MrBarlow]

The Presidio 1988

Detective Jay Austin (Mark Harmon) teams up with Colonel Allan Caldwell (Sean Connery) to investigate a death of a officer at The Presidio Army Base.

This is one of those run of the mills movie's either you like or hate it and laugh at the acting. Sean Connery has been a great lead actor but in this he seems to be wooden like pinnochio. Mark Harmon, yes its Leroy Jethro Gibbs does his best to keep the movie going but it's like he was told to follow people and keep up with things.

The film does start off good then the tension of the thriller does go up and down and hopefully you can hold your yawning, I think the movie was under a tight budget and filmed too quickly, it's good for a first watch but not one you can watch over and over 4.5 out of 10.

[nosferatu42]

A quote from Nos no.1.

"Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – I’m not a massive fan of the first film, though it is something which makes me laugh and I’m very guilty of quoting from it at times, I watched this with low expectations and found myself laughing, then wondering why because what I’d just seen or heard wasn’t funny. "

I feel a lot of comedy can be derived from basic stuff, like facial expressions and timing of scenes.

I watched "Life of Brian" again last night and it is still brilliantly written, but a lot of the laughs come from the facial expressions. For instance-



Sometimes it's best to follow the gut reaction.

You been spending too much time studying the manuals of filmmaking.

A lot of my favourite stuff can be classed as right place at the right time, lightning in a bottle, capture the moment stuff.

I think that's why i love 70's filmmaking, it seemed much more on the fly -

Everything now is over thought, deadening the spontineity...oh shit i've forgetten how to spell again.

Guess i picked the wrong week to stop sniffin' glue.

[Nostalgic]

Watching Den of Thieves, Gerard Butler & 50 Cent star in this remake of Heat, robbers & cops talking a lot so far (it's 143 mins long ffs!), a group going for the biggest heist in history & the team trying to stop them. Looked good but very action lite, sadly this is not very good, I don't pay to see these people talk, I pay to see them jump into the air in slow motion as something explodes behind them! Lol!

Very slow!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I get what you mean, but I think what I was doing was laughing when I was expecting not to find anything funny, so was just surprised by what I heard, rather than anything genuinely amusing. It's like chuckling at a Christmas cracker joke only to realise what was said and think "wait, that isn't funny!"

A prime example was when I laughed during the beginning when Ron Burgundy was doing the vocal warm ups and probably laughed because of the absurdity of what was being said rather than because it's genuinely funny. Great comedies make me laugh all the time no matter how many times I've seen them – I always laugh at the scene you included from Monty Python's Life of Brian, but didn't laugh during the second viewing of Anchorman 2.

Does that make sense?