What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I really fancy watching it now. I still have the Anchor Bay dvd in it's nice digi pac packaging which still looks as new.

However the next viewing will be via a shiny new Blu-ray disc.

Think Shudder has it, may take a look for it later for a weekend watch.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Always a pleasure, Frankie.

Bad Day (2010)

Claire Goose plays a cop deep undercover working for a taxi firm run by a London mob. When her daughter is brutally murdered she blows her cover and goes after those responsible. Meanwhile a couple of fellow detectives (Donna Air and Anthony Ofoegbu) attempt to bring her in before she herself is killed by the gang.

A terrible, terrible British indie film and very low budget. The acting, aside from Goose, is dire and the script inconsistent at best, all over the place at worst and yet somehow i couldn't take my eyes off it. The violence is frequent and brutal and scenes are more often than not wracked with tension, making it a real oddity. It felt like watching something from a Mill Creek fifty movie box set. Over lit and under photographed and yet despite it's clunkiness i rather enjoyed it. I didn't think shit like this got Blu-ray releases.

Oh and Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding made her screen debut in this as a filthy mouthed woman who is strangled to death in her second scene.

[Rob4]

Poor Things (2023)

Emma Stone plays a pregnant suicide who is ressurrected by Willem Dafoe when he transplants the living brain of her unborn child into her body. And yes, this movie is as gloriously bonkers as that sentence sounds.

Essentially what we have in this variation on the Frankenstein story is Emma Stone playing a child in a woman's body and following her experiences as she gradually matures and learns the harsh realities of the world, all of which she soaks up with childlike enthusiasm. Of course this includes sexual experience which becomes very transgressive when Mark Ruffalo, playing a brilliantly over the top cad, lures her away from her scientific 'father' and shags her across the continent.

Set in a steam-punk world and littered with queasy operation imagery, explicit sex scenes and clever comic wordplay, you get the feeling the makers are trying to make a point about freedom of expression and being your own person. However, it can also be enjoyed just on a superficial basis as a bit of a romp

I'm thinking some people might find it marmite if they veer to more formulaic entertainment but I loved it. And it was the first film I've seen in a long time that got a round of applause at the end in the cinema I watched it in.

Recommended.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Excellent review, Rob.

We demand more from you.

[Demoncrat]

Dead & Buried is just one of those films I've found. A wee gem.
As you were ...

[Rob4]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Excellent review, Rob.

We demand more from you.

If only I had the time Dem, if only...

[Nordicdusk]

Alien_movie_poster.jpg

The crew of the Nostromo are on their way home from a routine job when they are awoken from their slumber early when then receive a distress call from a near by moon and under the crews contract terms they must investigate or forfeit their entire pay. when a rocky landing damages the ship they are stuck doing repairs while some of the crew investigate where the signal is coming from in the mean time the ships computer mother deciphers the message and its not a distress signal for help its a warning but its too late to warn the others and one of them is attacked by a strange life form and is brought back to the ship for further analysis. Its nit lone before this decision becomes a big mistake when the life form escapes into the ship and the crew is at its mercy.

Its always hard to so a write up of such a classic film that everyone knows because what new can you say really. Alien remains an intense ride all these years later the sets look amazing all the little details of the ship the decor the sounds of the doors the tools the sounds from the screen when they are talking to mother are all so familiar to us now but in an uncomfortable sort of way its like associating something from a traumatic childhood experience years late if you hear it or see it it brings it all back well thats how i feel with this.

Still has the same impact on me all these years later which shows why it is such a highly regarded piece of cinema.


Now lets talk about those bonuses baby.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Village of the Damned (1995)

John Carpenter's take on the John Wyndham story The Midwich Cuckoos and also a remake of the 1960 British film of the same name.

Sadly Carpenter's film lacks the subtlety of the original movie. There's not really the same sense of rapid growth and maturity in the children in fact Carpenter gives us no real clue of passage of time and although there are a couple of nicely crafted set pieces the chilling atmosphere and general sense of unease is also missing.

As with 1992's Memoirs of an Invisible Man this feels like Carpenter is merely a hired gun director rather than the movies chief creator,with the score, usually a Carpenter strong point, the same. Although Carpenter wrote it it's not a typically memorable electro rock piece that graces classic Carpenter films in fact it's utterly forgettable.

As for the cast? Most including stars Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alley seem ill suited to their roles with only Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski coming out with any credit, and the less said about Mark Hamill's priest the better.

Despite all these issues Village of the Damned isn't a poor film. It's efficient and slick and moves at a rapid pace. It entertains even if it doesn't particularly thrill. However the end result when alls said and done the next time i decide to watch a take on The Midwich Cuckoos it won't be this one.

[Justin101]

I haven’t seen that in years. It’s a film I like but don’t love. I want to give it a watch soon though. I might go digging through my boxes.

[nicholasrope]

Slugs

Spanish Horror which sees bigger than normal Slugs start devouring the locals. It follows the usual template of how these Movies go but it's how they do it and it's a decent little effort, short and gory with the Slugs looking the part.

Dubbing isn't great and this was from Arrow (When they did Films that I'm interested in lol)

One Life

True Story of Nicholas Winton, the Man who helped evacuate Children from Czechoslovakia when The Nazis start to take over. Poignant and well acted. Antony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter star in this Film.

Knockout

After the success of Ong Bak, this is another of the batch of Martial Art Films from Thailand that got released afterwards. This one sees a group of Stuntmen who get duped into facing off against Assassins whilst a group of high rolling gamblers watch on. Not a bad effort, too long for my liking but the Fight Sequences are pretty good.

No Holds Barred

Hulk Hogan is a Wrestler who gets on the wrong side of a TV Producer when he refuses a offer. The Producer then launches a Fighting Competition which sees Zeus become his top henchman. Done at the height of Hulkamania during the late 80's, I believe that this was meant to be a serious Film but all the reports of it being so bad is true, the Acting is either over the top, abysmal or both but the Fight Sequences involving Zeus and it's surroundings were actually not that bad.