I'm about 5 minutes into Argento's Dracula, thought I'd give it a shot. Expect an update with my thoughts in a little under 2 hours

"who told you you could work with men!?"

SEASON OF THE WITCH - Despite it being pilloried on its release, I found this a fairly diverting mainstream horror effort. Maybe it could've played on the ambiguity of supernature vs psychology a bit more (which was the route I thought it was going to take at first) rather than blowing it all on a special fx climax with demon, but even so, lurking behind the obvious moves and the usual bombast was an interesting line about power and religious 'authority'. Beyond this, the slightly peripheral aspects ie. the weirdly fungal plague appealed more than the 'main course', which was standard but entertaining enough.

MADE IN BRITAIN - From the great Alan Clarke. Tim Roth is Trevor, a racist skinhead whose confrontation with the state apparatus plays out against the ultra depressing backdrop of Thatcher's Britain. Despite and beyond the crazy distortion of Trevor's idiot ideology, there's something to admire about his apparent utter hatred and contempt for authority. However, his hostility is underpinned by an emotional fragility which becomes clear when at the end of the film he imposes himself on his one tentative attachment, a social worker who is about to 'abandon' him for two weeks for a holiday in Corfu. This is brilliant, searing stuff which shows us where the deep well of rage in our society springs from - not from victims like Trevor, but from the banal institutions which dominate our lives. I've seen a lot of horror films, but few of them contain scenes as eerie as the one where Trevor stares through a shopfront window at a family of plastic dummies gathered around a TV in their living room, all wearing price tags.

Didn't make it to the end because I fell asleep, not due to the film I should add. It looks like I'm snowed in today so I'll give it another go at some point

Planet Terror (2007)

Death Proof (2007)

I'm not brave enough to try it out :lol:

On a side note - That's Entertainment have new and still sealed 'ex-rental' copies of Giallo in their 3 for £5 or £1.99 each deal, at least the Liverpool shop had 5 or 6 of them so I expect all the shops have some stock of them.

With you on 'Season', thought it was okay, good enough to sit and watch, Pearlman and Cage make an odd/good combo, CGI at the end is a bit meh tho

Saw Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters again last night, was pleasantly surprised first time but only saw it in 2D and thought it looked like it could have been alot of fun in 3D. It was! And at least it's under 90 mins. Can't understand the slating it's getting, pretty much a modern Sam Raimi film, could have been funnier but overall it's a blast, with some great practical FX (LOVE the troll). Here's my review: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) Movie Review from Eye for Film

Also saw The Paperboy - really strange mix of noir and period drama, touches on loadsa stuff but doesn't really gel, gets really dark towards the end, worth a watch for the excellent performances (even Zac Efron and Macy Gray are great, Cusack and Nicole Kidman are particularly good) but a bewildering experience.

Genuine question.. as I see this a lot.. are less and less people actually watching a film, for better or worse, uninterrupted these days? I genuinely don't understand it, and see "I'm currently watching this.." posted on forums a lot these days.

It's the equivalent of people using their mobile phones in the cinema, only without the distraction to other people of course.

Have we now reached a stage of internet or social networking dependency where we have to update other people on our actions at that very exact time, rather than fully committing and involving ourselves to the activity at hand.

I think it depends on the film, sometimes it's a film you've already seen and you're just passing some time - other times the film is not very good but you've already invested time in it and you want to see what happens at the end :lol: I think the quality of a lot of films available these days means that you're not 100% engrossed by them - maybe if it's that bad you're browsing imdb.com or posting on letterboxd etc you should do something else instead!

If I'm watching films during the day then I'm usually busy doing college work at the same time and use the film as background noise (unless it's a film I haven't seen before, then I give it my full attention)

Ah, I just wondered. I don't really half watch films, as if I'm watching a movie, I'm watching it. One can't help falling asleep sometimes, but that's through tiredness, and I wouldn't be distracting myself on the internet or phone as I'm committed to the movie. Maybe I'm from the older generation that still regards the internet as a tool, not a lifestyle choice. I don't have a facebook or twitter - I'm social network-less and regard it with suspicion. I find the whole dependency on it as a bit depressing to be honest.

I'm not all that young, when I was in school there was 1 PC to go around the whole class :lol: but I've fully embraced technology and having access to information at your fingertips while watching a film is really good. Gone are the days when you're stumped thinking where have I seen that guy before... and waiting until after the film and grabbing your Time Out companion to film book and looking up the actors name etc - now within seconds you can have the full filmography on your ipad screen while still watching the film.

I'm not one for tweeting and facebooking my every movement though and I wouldn't be posting 'i'm currently watching...' unles it was bloody awful and I was bored :lol:

See, that's where I'd say what's wrong with waiting until after the film? ;)

Mind you I don't have an I-Pad, and my phone is old and clunky. So the old Time Out companion works better for me. I do love my reference books. :tongue1:

Me too, I love books :D I haven't bought this years edition, but because I wouldn't know what to do with the old ones :lol:

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Bought 1-7 on BD ages ago and just got round to watching what is probably my favourite of the series.

The bit where Freddy asks Zsa Zsa Gabor on a chat show "who gives a **** what you think?" had me in stitches...I'd completely forgotten about it :pound:

That's one of the best moments in the entire series, always makes me laugh

Shock

There's a drinking game here, surely - take a shot every time Daria Nicolodi has an accident :lol: It became quite comical just how many times her charater gets damaged: cut from razor blades between piano keys, cut from a broken medicine bottle, burned on the coffee maker, stepping on a rake like Sideshow Bob... poor woman :shocked: I also loved that priceless line of exposition from the doctor: "You are in a continual state of anxiety and depression, as a result of having to live with a drug addict. His suicide in the sea, your six months in a sanitorium, and your electric shock treatments, might very well have influenced your behavior..." YA THINK?! :pound:

So yeah, it was all very daft, but had some fun moments peppered throughout . . .

Running Man (German blu-ray, includes a 3d version). Good cheesy fun, although it has aged badly. I must seek out the original French movie which I seem to remember was more faithful to Bachman's story - anyone know where I can find an English friendly version?

I am off to Hamburg tomorrow for Fantasy Film Days, so will have more to say on Monday.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly for me today.

The Good-Kolchak:The Night Stalker, great TV film which is basically a pilot for the TV show of the same name, always enjoy watching this

The Bad-Dario Argento's Dracula, I didn't find it as bad as everyone else (I actually enjoyed parts of it), but it certainly is time Argento retired, sad considering the great films he's given us over the years

The Ugly-Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, brilliant sequel with plenty of gore and a decent performance from Henry Rollins. I'm going to get the other 3 sequels now, if they're cheap and give them a try

Oddly i watched Romero's Season of the Witch two night ago. Until you mentioned the plague at the end of your review i thought you discussing that. I was struggling to remember the demon though and thought you were talking metaphorically at first. :lol:

Talk about one track mind. :rolleyes:

As far as the Cage film goes, i really enjoyed it. I was expecting rubbish due to the critical mauling it received but found it good fun, with some fairly decent set pieces.

Except the demon of course.;)

Do any of you guys actually have a literal 'to watch' pile? Do any of you acually get up to date on stuff?

Yes between 150 - 200 films. Of which around 60 are horrors.

...and, no. I never get up to date. I wouldn't want to really.

Even close? I wonder if im alone in buying far I more than I ever have time to watch...and I don't actually buy much. Not these days anyway. Ive got films upstairs I've bought years ago that I've not yet watched.

*Cough!* The Blake's 7 thread. *Cough!*:)

Today's Viewings
Sorioty Row (2009)
My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) (Watched in 3D)
&
Home Alone:lol:

Death Laid An Egg (La morte ha fatto l'uovo)

Every once in a while a film throws me for a loop and this is one of them. In fact I'm still processing it, as La morte ha fatto l'uovo is one of those films that defies conventions and exists in its own sphere, to which I'm developing (as I say, I'm still processing it) something of a love/hate relationship with it.

Labelled a giallo, this 1968 offering doesn't follow the strict formula we've come to expect from the genre, but takes a rather more arthouse and psychedelic approach - a giallo by way of the Nouvelle Vague if you like. On one hand it's got some striking imagery - almost surgical and surprisingly un-kitch - and the actors are watchable if somewhat morose. The lead is played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, who we saw most recently in Michael Haneke's Amour , as a husband caught in a three way love-triangle with his poultry farm owning wife (Gina Lollobrigida) and her beautiful young cousin (Ewa Aulin). There's plots to kill and mutant chickens involved, but it's often vague - frustratingly so at times. And that's where the problem lies - it's clearly an anti-capatalist film, but for all its revolutionary intentions it can be a slog with its character's cold, stilted delivery and general lack of fun, despite some wry humour and sly pokes at its subjects. Bruno Maderna's score deserves a special mention, as it's been a while since a score made such an impression for all the wrong reasons. It's quite possibly genius, but maddeningly infuriating - a jarring, avant garde composition that often sounds like someone randomly hammering on a piano, while another strums an out of tune guitar - occasionally overlaid by vocals that sound like the mutterings of a madman. It's deranged, which on one hand fits the movie perfectly, but I can't say it didn't set my teeth on edge.

There were moments I hated this film for its dourness, icy impenetrability and irritating score, and others when I admired its complete lack of convention. Either way I can't stop thinking about it. And for all its infuriating quirks, I actually want to see it again.

Nope I do it all the time. It gets pretty compulsive, especially if like me you check HUKD most days where there's frequently something on BD irresistibly cheap.

Sorry HUKD?

Another weird ass movie day!

Cat's Eye: Just like Trilogy of Terror, my favorite one is the last one, where the little Troll thing fights General the Cat!

My Little Pony Adventures in Dreamland: I ain't no Brony. But this original 80s video actually has a fair share of dark imagery. There were plenty of moments where I said this could be the cover of a Black Sabbath album!

Monster High: Not to be confused with the toy cartoon. This piece of total schlock was about a guy named Mr. Armaggeddon being trapped inside a basketball and.....actually even after watchin' it, I'm still a little fuzzy about what the hell is going in it.

Billy and Mandy's Big Boogie Adventure: Loved the show, so I had the movie, my friend really wanted to watch it and we had some laughs

I watched Arrietty and Home Alone 2 last night so a bit of weird one for me as I'd usually settle down to something more horrific :lol:

Arrietty is beautiful as you'd expect a Ghibli film to be, we watched in English because I was too tired and wanted to concentrate on the animation - I was pleasantly surprised to find the voice cast was British rather than 'Hollywood' like on all other Ghibli dubs. It's just a shame that the actual story was too plain for me - since it was based on a childrens book (The Borrowers) it didn't really have the Ghibli subtext and themes that you'd usually find. Some outstanding set pieces and scenes - but a boring story!

I've seen Home Alone 2 before, you all have - it's great.

Kevin McCallister: Howdy do. This is Peter McCallister, the father. I'd like a hotel room please, with an extra large bed, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators you have to open with a key. Credit card? You got it.

Cedrick the Bellman: Do you know how the TV works?
Kevin McCallister: I'm 10-years-old. TV is my life.

~le fin~

Hot UK Deals – it's a bargain hunting website where many discounts and great deals can be found.

I have one which I keep on my computer as a list and I also have the discs more prominently displayed. These are the discs I've bought haven't yet watched, including box sets.

BDs

Animal Kingdom
Argo
The Blue Angel
Brave
Cars 2
Chicago
Exam
Fear and Desire
A Force of One
From Dusk Till Dawn
Gone with the Wind
The Howling Reborn
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Looper
My Bloody Valentine
Paranormal Activity
Peter Pan
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Submarine
TerrorVision
The Tin Drum
The Video Dead
The Warriors
Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter

Band of Brothers
Heroes: Season 3
Heroes: Season 4


DVD

Africa Addio
Around the World in 80 Days
Beast of the Yellow Night
The Best Years of Our Lives
Django Prepare a Coffin
Fear[s] of the Dark
Il Generale Della Rovere
JCVD
Lady Vengeance
Midnight Express
The Motorcycle Diaries
Oldboy
Red Midnight
Scandal
Severance
Sinnthia: The Devil's Doll
Sympathy for Mr Vengeance
The Wolfman

The Woody Allen Collection:
Broadway Danny Rose
Crimes and Misdemeanours
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask
Hannah and Her Sisters
Interiors
Love and Death
Manhattan
Melinda and Melinda
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Radio Days
September
Shadows and Fog
Sleeper
Stardust Memories
Zelig

Beyond the Grave:
Beast of the Yellow Night
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Cathy's Curse
Crypt of the Living Dead
Dead Men Walk
Funeral Home
The Ghost
The Head
House of the Dead
House of the Living Dead
I Bury the Living
King of the Zombies
The Long Hair of Death
The Man with Two Lives
The Night Evelyn Came Out of Grave
Oasis of the Zombies
Revolt of the Zombies
The She-Beast
Teenage Zombies
Terror Creatures from the Grave

Taken 2 for me last night and i thoroughly enjoyed it, right up there with the first one. Highly recommended. :clap:

So have they put the violence back in now it's out on dvd . . . ?

Seemed plenty enough for me, bit tamer than the first one but it still works.:)

I assume they're discs you've yet to watch as opposed to films you've never seen at all?

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recent viewings

I watched Copycat on More 4 last night, I only watched it on DVD for the umpteenth time the other week, but I decided to watch it anyway as it's one of my favourite thrillers from the last 20 years.

Followed it with the Shameless DVD of Torso, first time I've watched it in about 2 years, excellent Giallo with plenty of red herrings, lots of nudity and some great kills

I'm sure I read or heard the DVD and BD contain the 'uncut version', which is why they are rated 15, whereas the theatrical version was a 12A, with most of the severe violence toned down.I've seen most of them, but not all. For example, I've only seen half a dozen (at most) of those in the Woody Allen collection.