What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Nordicdusk]

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Finally getting around to watching all the films in the great Hammer Box Set Quatermass and the Pit will be to nights viewing.

[James Morton]

saw UNDER SIEGE 2 and SOUTHERN COMFORT on tv last night
got the latter on dvd, brilliant film from Walter Hill and his homage to Peckinpah was easily seen
the former was a fun action sequel from Seagal, should be released uncut

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

That's the thing that really pisses me off about Gordon et al, they have a genuine passion for Lovecraft but due to commercial pressures, budget etc they just mangle the man's work. Yet at the same time I appreciate the blatant exploitation of the Lovecraft name to make a few bucks. In my opinion outside of CoC, the best Lovecraft films are the ones that don't attempt tell his stories but rather take themes and ideas to create something informed of his work yet also outside it.

I agree... sort of. I think the real danger in adapting lovecraft to the screen is to be far too slavish to the origional text. The best lovecraft adaptations, from beyond, re-animator, and the ressurected (dan o'bannens adaptation of charles dexter ward) take the sort of libertys with the text needed to make the films work as films. Even the recent lovecraft society's whisper in the darkness takes some liberty's with the text.
I find the best way to approach any of these films is not to be to expectant on having the stories told in celluloid exactly the way they are in the written stories.

[Baseball Fury]

Just got back from The Woman In Black. I really liked it! The tension ramping was very well done, there was only one little bit that I thought was shitty. Well worth a watch, 4/5

[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

That's the thing that really pisses me off about Gordon et al, they have a genuine passion for Lovecraft but due to commercial pressures, budget etc they just mangle the man's work. Yet at the same time I appreciate the blatant exploitation of the Lovecraft name to make a few bucks. In my opinion outside of CoC, the best Lovecraft films are the ones that don't attempt tell his stories but rather take themes and ideas to create something informed of his work yet also outside it.

Lovecraft is hard to nail on film not because of any narrative aspects, but because the elements that mark him out ie his hyperinflated prose style and depressing cosmic nihilism, have no real cinematic equivalent. It's difficult to get the feeling of encountering words like 'squamous' or 'cyclopean' or 'eldritch' in the context of a movie. Half of Lovecraft is his style. As for the other half... it's easier to evoke the ontological unease that runs through most of Lovecraft in prose, a medium which lends itself to abstraction more than film. 'Reanimator' probably worked because the story it was based on wasn't all that 'Lovecraftian' in the scheme of things. So I agree, a literal approach to this stuff probably isn't going anywhere.

[Hawkmonger]

Watched Chronicle last night. I would be lying if I said I wasn't pretty bloody immersed. After the genre killer that was Quarantine, Chronicle breaths new life into the home video genre. But wheres't Cannibal Holocaust used it for shock and gore and The Last Broadcast and Blaire Witch used it for scares, Chronicle gives utilized the home recordins system to convey to us the emotions of three very ordinary school kids who are thrust into a situation where they have little understanding of what they are capable of. Interestingly the movie provides some genuinely funny moments in it's first act, followed my some great character building scenes later on. The movie makes a noticeably darker turn towards the end of the movie as one of the characters slips into evil, brought about not through his own misguided action but through the desire to help his mothet get, of all things, a pot of pills that could save her life. One thing I really loved about the movie was how the built up your hate for some characters. The school bullies, the local low lifes, the abusive father (whom, I think was clearly not alright in the head. Thinking he spends money on his kids education and pills for his wife when he clearly only spends it on Beer and Cable TV) all get the medicine soon enough.
But what I loved most where the three main leads, kudos the the three new found actors for making them not just your usual greedy teenagers but genuinely funny and entertaining guys who clearly cared for each other.
Over all, a great movie only occasionally flawed by a sudden continuity error, but they are few and far between, no movie is perfect, but chronicle is a great example of a movie that could well stand the test of time and become a favorite for fans for years to come. ****

[Demoncrat]

Originally Posted by keirarts

went to see chronicle. Actually better than I expected, plenty of cliche as anyone will guess the character arcs in the film but certainly a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. Wisely never explains the cause of the teens power, its just some glowing thing they find in the ground that gives them telekenetic powers and the final 3rd act telekentic rampage is highly entertaining. Not sure if it needed to be a found footage movie though.


And in defence of dagon, sure lovecraft would have hated it, he would have hated the stuff made by the lovecraft historical society as well. Lovecraft despised the medium of film and in all fairness the style of his storytelling, relying on implication and suggestion are not at all suited to the medium. That said Dagon takes the material and creates a very entertaing slice of horror cinema. Could I have lived without the gore? certainly but then that was always more a commercial consideration. Its also worth noting dennis paoli, stuart gordons long time collaborator on his lovecraft projects did his masters thesis on lovecrafts fiction!

well as i cant speak for Howard, im really just speaking for myself here where i thought Dagon was taking the piss out of HPL.
for a start it isnt Dagon! it's The Shadow Over Innsmouth....

Unlike the rather funny The Last Lovecraft: Relic Of Cthulhu (2009 , Henry Saine) which took various HPL themes and grafted a Jay & Silent Bob vibe onto it, NOT for everyone i'd say, but it didnt annoy me as much as the D film.

[Baseball Fury]

My thoughts exactly Hawkmonger, I thought it was incredibly well done. And for fans of The Wire, one of the kids is played by the guy that played Wallace!

[VicDakin]

tonight im looking into my black hole

[sawyer6]

Originally Posted by VicDakin

tonight im looking into my black hole

Be careful