What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Frankie Teardrop]

THIEF - James Caan is a safe breaker who wants to go straight, but he's walking a tightrope with corrupt cops and the mob on one side and his own inner desperation on the other. This glides like an 80s Michael Mann film should, big city at night dripping through a neon haze, amplified in this case by the excellent Tangerine Dream soundtrack... beyond its synthetic textures, 'Thief's humanity lies with Caan's tortured portrayal of a man who has effectively had to kill himself in order to survive his own existence.

SHADOW OF A DOUBT - White picket fences give way to vistas of endless unknowing when Uncle Charlie hits town... perhaps instructively, beyond its initial tweeness lies a real darkness. Its imagery still seems luminous after repeated viewings - the 'loss of innocence' moment when Girl Charlie seems about to disappear into her own looming shadow in the library after she realizes her uncle is a killer has never left my mind. A great film.

BLOOD SIMPLE - This is the first time I've watched it. I was surprised. I've never thought that highly of the Coens beyond thinking them really, really good but somehow not special. Maybe this has all changed tonight. 'Blood Simple', besides solidifying whatever 'neo-noir' means / meant, is a really weird film. Maybe I'm being naive, but it seems well ahead of its time for 1983. In fact, it kind of feels a bit like the sort of film a hip young filmmaker maxed out on an imagined eighties would make now. I can see reverberations throughout the thirty years that followed, through Tarantino certainly but also David Lynch. He must've seen this before he made 'Blue Velvet'. It's not just the updated noirishness, but the whole creepy animistic thing... close ups of objects glow with sinister life, signs become portents. Really quite taken with it.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Vampix

The Mist (2007)
I enjoyed this Stephen King adaptation quite a bit, but, man, what a bleak ending! I saw it via Netflix but I'd probably buy it on Blu, if I saw it cheap enough.

Its worth picking up for the black and white version alone.

[Ranarchy]

Blood Diner
Phantasm
The Gate
Popcorn
Night Warning

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

Its worth picking up for the black and white version alone.

Absolutely right. Frank Darabont says the black and white version should be considered the 'directors cut' as it's the one he prefers and I completely agree with him as it feels very different to the colour film – almost like a film from a different era – and is probably more claustrophobic and chilling than the theatrically released version.

[PaulD]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Absolutely right. Frank Darabont says the black and white version should be considered the 'directors cut' as it's the one he prefers and I completely agree with him as it feels very different to the colour film – almost like a film from a different era – and is probably more claustrophobic and chilling than the theatrically released version.

Definitely. It also softens the blow of some of the ropier CGI too.

[jorishorror]

grabbers.jpg

Found it to be mediocre...

[Dave Boy]

It Came From Outer Space (1953)
Earth Vs The Flying Saucers (1956)
The Curse Of The Crimson Altar (1968)
The Pit And The Pendulum (1961)

[ArgentoFan1987]

Originally Posted by Ranarchy

Blood Diner
Phantasm
The Gate
Popcorn
Night Warning

Phantasm's excellent!!! I've always wanted to see Night Warning, but can't seem to find it on DVD.

[mercury]

Originally Posted by Demdike

I only watched it on Friday night and i can't even remember the last scene.

It wasn't him staring at a wolf was it?

I thought the film on the whole was a huge let down. Frozen was a far superior snow / wolf survival horror.

But that's just me.

Yes it was. Everyone in my house thought it was a rubbish ending too. But if you knew you were going to die, would you put up a fight or just let death take you? That's the choice he was faced with and I thought it was great

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by mercury

Yes it was. Everyone in my house thought it was a rubbish ending too. But if you knew you were going to die, would you put up a fight or just let death take you? That's the choice he was faced with and I thought it was great

I really liked the ending (and the whole film) as it tied into his dad's poem and it's much better than any alternatives.