:cool: I long time fave that. I used to love all these conspiracy flicks like "China", "Missing" and "Silkwood".

Last night I watched

Vinyan: Lost Souls - Quite good, it was trying a little too hard to be creepy and different though. The final scene was rather controversial, surely it was illegal to film that, I don't know. I mean no one would be allowed to film a group of 8-10 year old girls rubbing some guys cock, surely.

Music & Lyrics - This was one I watched with my partner (Kelly.) It wasn't too bad to be honest. Hugh Grant played Hugh Grant and Drey Barrymore played Drey Barrymore. Had some good one liners. Hugh sang and played piano and was surprisingly good too. Good one to watch to keep the girlfriend happy after she said "Films are only good to you if they are subtitled", I tried to prove a point.

District 13 - Now this is more like it. Fast paced, energetic and just down right fun. Oh and yes it is subtitled. Kelly instantly fell asleep on my lap just as I pressed play. This starts off with this awesome free running scene that leaves you breathless. Then an incredible fightscene which was a cross between a Jackie Chan and Tony Jaa film but pumped with steroids. Loved it. Looking forward to seeing the sequel, District 13: Ultimatum.

Same here. Excellent film with top notch performances and a brilliant white-knuckle ending. Lemmon was a very underrated serious actor (Missing, Glengarry Glen Ross, Days Of Wine & Roses etc).

As 42nd says, Meryl Streep's Silkwood is another excellent conspiracy thriller.

Watched a few today:

Run! Bitch Run!: A modern take on the rape/revenge scenario, but played out and shot in a '70s grindhouse style. Pretty good, and I think it would of worked much better with a bigger budget. Ticks all the exploitation boxes, but still feels a bit lacking in places.

Death Ship: A nice little survival on a supernatural ship horror; a very typically deranged '80s horror - this was great fun IMO. Plus, George Kennedy as the Captain was particularly good; although, I couldn't help but imagine him in a Naked Gun context... :biggrin:

Evil Dead Trap 2: Hideki: A very strange sequel to the brilliant Evil Dead Trap, this was a very intense, sometimes confusing assault on the senses, which took the form of a deranged supernatural slasher / love triangle... :dizzy: Good, buit nowhere near the original in terms of both the gory action and the plot IMO.

Noble! ;) I especially like the use of the word "tried"! :nod: :thumb:

one actress i dispise is Meryl Streep, but i may check it out, as for conspiracy thrillers i realy like Capricorn One and a french film called Tell No One.

Is Silkwood the one with Kurt Russell in, if so i will defo check it out.

Yep, that's the one. Also stars Cher, Fred Ward and Craig T Nelson. The Mail On Sunday gave one away a while ago (same widescreen print as the Prism DVD) and it should be cheap & easy to find.

I'm no fan of Meryl Streep either.

Just finished watching Thriller: A Cruel Picture with a mate. Always a great film although it does go along slowly. Not for the weak hearted :laugh:

I too was perturbed by this scene, as it was a lot more graphic than similar scenes in both Don't Torture The Duckling and Malena. surely this scene would never be allowed in the UK as it would fall foul of the OPA

I agree any film with Moira Chen in is worth 90 mins of anybodys time. I am going to wath the italian Stormovie dvd of Black Emanuelle followed by the Mya release of The Real Emanuelle tonight as the wife's going out :embarassed:

Yup that scene was really surreal and disturbing.
It is out uncut in the UK though.

Well I just saw it on the Blu-ray version, unless there's an uncut version of the scene I saw. Don't know :ohwell:

Watched AWAY DAYS last night and I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was.
Fine performances from all concerned,and it was nice to have a football hooligan tale with characters that make you care about them.
It was also nice to have a bit of a story as well.:nod:
Recommended.

Which scene in "Duckling" are you referring to Alex?

Yeah I've seen Vinyan but didn't get passed the first 20m. There must be a very good reason why the BBFC passed the scene which would otherwise have been illegal under the protection of children act.

Taxi Zum Klo (uncut)

Watched due to the film's notoriety and history of censorship problems. Graphic, explicit and basically unwatchable for anyone other than its target audience. :ack:

re: What films have you seen recently?
 

watching Dead and Buried, it was on film 24 they are showing a few decent films at the moment

Yeah, I noticed that was on last night. Really cool film.

re: What films have you seen recently?
 

have not seen it for years

Nope there is only 1 cut of the movie out worldwide as far as I know so you saw the uncut version.
Not sure if it was cut anywhere else, but in the UK and US its uncut.

Grizzly Park

Nowhere near as good as Grizzly, also ridiculousyly tame. Incredible that it was rated 18. 12 would be more like it. Not a film you could take seriously for 2 seconds.

Snowbeast
Jaws on the slopes...a badly acted, poorly made, thin storied TV monster flick from the late seventies. I liked it! :lol: It has made me want to get hold of a copy of Shriek Of The Mutilated!

Blood Creek
You know, Joel Schumacher is an odd director with a very varied career. He is mostly pretty dreadful having put his name on films inane (The Lost Boys, Flatliners), toe-curling (his two Batman films, Dying Young), tedious (The Client, Veronica Guerin) and just plain bad (8MM - one of the worst films ever made IMO). Yet, he is also responsible for bringing us the excellent Falling Dawn and Phone Booth. He is hard to predict.

I was hoping for another fluke Schumacher winner as I put on Blood Creek. I didn't know much about it, and Schumacher's name did concern me, but I was intrigued. But I watched it and I watched it all. It's...OK. No, it's actually a bit better than OK. It's no Falling Down, but also, it is certainly far from an 8MM! It is competent in all respects and interesting without ever fully catching fire. Watchable, likeable even, but it just falls short.

It's well worth a viewing if in the mood for a Hollywood horror flick, being better than most of that ilk, but there is something unfulfilling about it. A shame, and possibly a lost opportunity, but, for Schumacher, not bad.

The Innocents
I hadn't seen this for years and then had only seen panned and scanned BBC screenings. Film 4 recently showed a fully 'scoped print of pristine quality, which I recorded. Finally caught up with it last night. Exquisite. One of British cinema's horror highpoints, it is damned near impossible to find anything even resembling a flaw in the production. The photography in particular is sublime - more so when one can actually see the full frame - and the use of sound is easily the equal of the visuals. Even though I have seen it before and know the story well, it is still creepy and wonderfully atmospheric. A masterpiece of the genre and essential viewing.

Ah I too luv Snowbeast! It's a great little film - when the yeti bursts into the room - that was brilliant!

Nice choice to DA! Killer Nun is a great film - and that music is great!


Just finished watching Urban Legend 2: Final Cut for the first time. Been putting this one off for quite a while but finally sat down and was really surprised. It's a very fun and enjoyable film - lots of great GREAT scenes in there and that very last twist of the film made me laugh.

As far as slasher sequels go this one is excellent!

I think I'll have to check out the third one now.

It was never banned by the BBFC. It appeared briefly on the original DPP 74 list of video nasties but was removed when the list was whittled down to the official 39. The Redemption video was cut (the facial needles/scalpel scene) and later waived for the Shameless release.

Ceremonia Sangrienta/ The Legend Of Blood Castle
With the girlfriend out for the night, I have the chance to watch some films that she is unwilling to sit through! This includes badly dubbed costume Gothics of the 60s and 70s, so I have not yet had a chance to see Jorge Grau's 1973 take on the Bathory legend.

I rated it; a most enjoyable film. It's not without its problems - some of the editing decisions are clumsy and/or odd, and the narrative gets very confused in the last thirty or so minutes. But what is good about the film outweighs this: it looks amazing, really evoking the period with superb costume and set design; the performances are great, especially the haunted looking Lucia Bosé in the lead; it's crawling with an atmosphere of mystery and dread which is sustained successfully throughout. And it's a decent story well told! Furthermore, surely the lovely Ewa Aulin has never looked lovelier than her doe-eyed, ginger-haired appearence here?

It's not as assured an effort as Grau's famous Living Dead At Manchester Morgue, but it's nonetheless a great period horror, more like Merino's The Hanging Woman.

Watched House By The Cemetaryb for the first time - I know I'm late.

I was surpised. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.

It's creative enough but it's insanely poorly executed. It doesn't make sense. It's a mess. The character's are incredibly stupid. The acting is laughably bad. Literally burst out laughing at Bob a lot of times.

It was weirdly likeable and kind of enjoyable, but really is one of my less favourite Fulci movies.

Arrow did a ****ing good job of the dvd though.

The scene Where Barbera Bouchet strips naked in front of a child in an attempt to seduce him.

There is a similar scene in Malena where Monica Berlucci strips naked in front of a child.(this scene is only available in the italian and korean dvd's)

SPOILER ALERT

Vinyan

at the end of the film Emanuelle Beart stands in the middle of a group of children clearly topless while the children around her rub mud on her torso. the majority of hands concentrate on her naked breasts and thier is clear contact between the hands of a number of 8-10 year old children and Emanuelle's breats.

This week I are been mostly watching........
 

Antichrist (Blu-Ray) - Ok, now this has split the audience right down the middle but I am definitely and firmly placed on the positive side. This was awesome, I loved it. It started off absolutely stunningly and beautifully shot and it didn't get any worse throughout the film. The cinematography was sublime, every shot was like a postcard.... in HD. I could not stop gasping at how beautiful everything looked, it seemed to be just one long dream sequence to me. As I'm sure you have heard some scenes are rather brutal but I feel they were necessary to portray the collapse in the human mind. The acting was nigh on perfect, when Charlotte Gainsbourg cried it completely sank my heart, the emotion that was poured into that performance was breathtaking. You could feel everything she was feeling with the pain and turmoil her character was going through.
Okay I won't carry on and bore you but I really, really loved this. (Thanks Kelly for picking this up for me :D)

Thirst (DVD) - I managed to pick this up in Tesco for just £7 so if you haven't got it already, buy it, but it right now. Wow! What a cracking film, another amazing film I got to see in the same day. I heard great things about this and none of them were wrong, this film just blew me away. It started off a little confusing, trying to figure out who was who and what was going on. The thing is, it worked. It kept me intrigued, I wanted to engross myself to figure it all out. I may have to say that this is probably the best Vampire film I've seen. It's so original, so dark yet so comical too and it doesn't at all become silly. It's incredibly gorey but not in a squeemish way but in an "Awesome, did you see the way the blood poured out" kind of way *big grin*. It was so much fun and if you haven't got it, go get it. Tesco stores, £7, nuff said. An absolute steal!

Pontypool (DVD) - I know, you're gonna get bored now. ANOTHER awesome film (you must think I'm easily pleased.) This was really tense. It was set entirely in a radio station, bar the first 2 minutes say, and believe it or not it really didn't get boring or tedious. I think what engrossed me was Stephen McHattie's voice, it was so friendly on the ear and his character Grant Mazzy was quirky and fun. He was so cool that you wanted to sit there and listen to what he had to say. This film may not have worked with someone else playing that role, except maybe say Morgan Freeman. Good cast all round and oh so original, I wont say anything about the story because I might spoil it but as you know it's a zombie film with a difference. Well I can tell you that basically a zombie infestation breaks out in the quiet town of Pontypool and the radio station have to witness it unfold via listening to people calling in from their mobiles. Watch it, I don't think you'll be disappointed, I certainly wasn't and I'm a huge zombie fan. Enjoy!

I did see another 3 films but I actually can't remember what they were. They weren't bad though. I'll try and remember then get back to you. :tongue1:

i have finally gotten around to seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey nearly 15 years since i originally saw it and being 11 years old i hated it, 15 years later i can confirm that this is one of the greatest films i have ever seen, mystical, symbolic and shot so magnificantly by kubrick, for a film made in 1968 you would think it was made in the late 80s early 90s, and i finally think i understand it. A Truely breahtaking Experience....

I'm not really a sci-fi fan but this is one of my all-time favourite films.

I fully agree - it's a masterpiece.

Since the BBFC have examined the film twice it's clear the scene perhaps surprisingly does not in anyway breach the child protection act otherwise it would have been cut. I'll recall the DVD to have a look.

I can't see the scene in Duckling having any problems as the woman and the child are only fleetingly seen together. The BBFC will be looking for shots where the child and the adult are clearly in the same shot eg Private Lessons.

The scene in Get Out Your Handkerchiefs where the boy looks at the naked Carole Laure in bed was also cut at one time, though the cuts were later waived.

I'm a keen SF fan, and I rate this as more than just 'The Greatest Film of All Time' - it's a genuine Work of Art. (Excuse use of caps, but I think it's that important.) Never understood why some people think 2001 is "boring"!
:confused:

I'm so into this (and Clarke's SF in general) that I published the definitive fanzine about it... see here.
:biggrin:

Have you seen 2010 yet? That's a different style of movie, admittedly, but still one of the very best SF sequels ever made... I always hoped they'd do a movie based on Clarke's novel 3001, but it didn't happen and now the author's dead.
:ohwell:

i have litterally just finished watching 2010, very good and yes it is one of the best sci-fi sequals i've seen.

Dial: Help

This is a weird film on many levels. It's structured and filmed like a Giallo but has an over-riding supernatural element to it. The story is concluded but not really explained. Charlotte Lewis swaps freely between acting ineptitude and moments of genuine dramatic achievement. She also looks like a rough hefty docker one minute then one of the most voluptuous and stunning women you have ever seen the next. It is an odd film.

This oddness is compounded by the utter absurdity of the story - some kind of poltergeist force becomes obsessed with Lewis's character and stalks her from a deserted Lonely Hearts switchboard via the telecommunications system causing much death and mayhem. Really.

But here's the truly odd thing: Ruggero Deodato pulls this off so intensely and straight-facedly that it actually drags you in! What should end up a complete turkey works...somehow! You find youself buying animated telephone handsets and Pit And The Pendulum-esque ceiling fans and a payphone capable of murdering a rapist by shooting coins from its coin return slot despite the ridiculousness of the propositions before your eyes!

Somehow, some way, I liked this film. It drags occasionally and is so very, very 80s to look at (Giorgio Armani telephone handset, anyone?) but is enjoyable and pretty much unique!

Recommended if you are not in a hyper-critical mood and fancy something...odd!

Frontier(s)

NAZIS! CANNIBALS! CAR CRASH! CHICKS WITH GUNS! EXPLOSION! BLOOD! DEFORMITY!!!

For a film containing all the above, Frontier(s) is quite a sombre and mediocre film. One can't help but wonder just at what, exactly, the writer/director was trying to get. It fails in making a political point by being too exploitative, it's a bit too political to work as exploitation. It takes far too long to get going and is possibly too dreary to work as a downbeat horror exercise. It's all a bit lost.

There are moments of real power therein - particularly from the lead actress (Karina Testa, who is superb) - and some scenes really do grab you, but as a whole lot tries to do too much (feeling overlong as a result) and tries to use a succesion of onscreen atrocity rather than narrative to motor along.

Not a total disaster, but quite the disappointment in light of other recent French offerings.

Rats - Night Of Terror

Surprisingly well shot for a Mattei flick, this is, nonetheless, absolute crap. I bought it expecting a "so bad it's funny" experience, and although there are moments of that, it was largely just a very bad film.

A bunch of post-apocalytic biker types (who consist of a bunch of extremely camp men and some women resembling a third rate Hot Gossip tribute dance troupe) stop at an abandoned set of buildings to scavenge for food and shelter. Many white rats badly dyed black and grey (many are still visibly wet from the process) are thrown at and onto them to create the illusion of attack. Mayhem ensues.

The characters are such a loathsome bunch that you want the rats to keep coming, I defy anyone but the most clinical murophobe not to be on the side of the rodents. There is very little imagination to the plot and the set pieces are so clumsy as to defy belief. Then, just as you are about to snatch the disk out from the machine in a complete rage at having wasted money on this mess, the end comes along...

...it damn near saves the film! I had an inkling all along that they would try to end it how they do, but even so when it happens you find yourself laughing, your mood lifts and you suddenly feel less harshly towards the production!

NB: there are many genuine rat corpses used within the film, and real rats are repeatedly struck, thrown and in one case set on fire, making several scenes quite distressing to see.

A stupid and bad film, but ultimately oddly likeable in a pitiable way.

Crap, but yes...Strangely compelling. But still a huge drop from his glory days for Deodato. Nice exploding stomach (if memory serves) though.

You have to LOVE Lewis' bath scene!

For me 2010 wasn't a patch on 2001 but, for a new 'generation' film it was very entertaining. The original was so typical of the 60's that it was impossible to retain that atmosphere 16 years later though it was good fun all the same (even if the end was a bit too literal). Scheider & Mirren were superb.

Did you spot Arthur C. Clarke and (an illustrated) Stanley Kubrick? :cool: