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24th June 2015, 07:35 PM
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 Note to self. Figure out how to give a fellow mod an infraction for telling someone to stop posting reviews.  bizarre_eye@Cult Labs and fuzzymctiger like this.  |
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24th June 2015, 08:02 PM
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24th June 2015, 08:05 PM
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 Demdike@Cult Labs and fuzzymctiger like this. |
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24th June 2015, 09:52 PM
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COMBAT SHOCK – Figured I'd check this out again after I sort of dissed it the other day. Actually, I only moaned about it not quite being as much of a downer as many seem to claim, as otherwise it stands up fairly well as a low rent indie with a slightly 'encrusted' feel about it. You know the score – eighties New York, economic depression, flea ridden pads, junkies, poverty, mutant babies. Mutant babies? Well this guy comes back from 'Nam, where he presumably took a liberal dousing of Agent Orange... it seems that both his job prospects and his chromosomes are up shit creek on the evidence available here. I did enjoy the mix of brutal realism and grotesque fantasy (cue – mutant baby, again). Maybe that's where 'Combat Shock' gets it a little wrong, though. One standard audience response to 'Combat Shock' is that it is a very dark, disturbing, nearly traumatic film which leaves its viewers thoroughly dejected and slightly hopeless for the future of humanity. I don't think so. To do justice to such a heavy theme – actual combat shock, the imprint of war's brutality, clinical PTSD, whichever angle you want to look at it from – you need really bring it home on a human level, whether you're being subtle about it or not. And that probably means doing away with lots of stylistic devices, whether these be B-movie standards or arty flourishes, both of which are in evidence here (the drama around the gangs, that mutant baby (yet again), dream sequences, weird edits). You need to get to the emotional core of something, elicit empathy, or the opposite. 'Combat Shock' is in some ways too conventional to get to that level. I might be being unfair though, because it's not clear that the filmmakers were really coming from that direction. Back in the seventies, the NYC electro-performance act 'Suicide' recorded an infamous song called ahm 'Frankie Teardrop', which Buddy Giovinazzo has identified as the blueprint for his movie. And yes, that song is about the same psycho-social apocalypse featured in 'Combat Shock', but it's also very theatrical – like 'Combat Shock'. So, for me, it stands up more as a down and dirty piece of pulp mock-journalism more than anything, a tabloid of the under-psyche. Not something which depresses us with a truth we can't bear to look at, nor as a particularly extremist work. In some ways it reminds me of Jim Van Bebber's films – the same rawness, the same grasping after intensity, but also the same slight clunkiness. I do like 'Combat Shock', although I didn't really click with it all that much when I saw it last night. For harrowing social realism set in decaying eighties America, something like 'Out Of The Blue' works better. As for the diminishing effects of war on the human psyche, I watched the super Brit indie 'In Our Name' recently on Netflix, a really dour, bleak exploration of trauma set in the north east, a film much more disturbing than 'Combat Shock', but also more poignant.
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24th June 2015, 10:44 PM
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Nice reviews Fuzzy,  Although very personal reviews always show how people enjoy films on different levels, which is why no one should ever read a review and say, ok they thought it was shite so i won't bother watching that.  People have different tastes, thats why Cult labs is so great, we all have different viewpoints, but somewhere we all meet in the middle with our love for that sexy celluloid stuff.  I too really like a lot of de Palmas films but just can't get on with Body Double at all. I have tried though.  Also i absolutely love Blood for Dracula, it's Udo Kiers bizarre performance i love, the cheesiness and mental new york accent of the handyman, the strangely sympathetic and downbeat nature of Dracula, which i do feel is a drug reference with his withdrawal symptoms, the crazy Polanski cameo and to top it all the blood drinking vomiting and final line of ' he's a vampire and he's no good to nobody' or something like that as udo is dismembered. People seem to favour Flesh for Frankenstein but i prefer Blood, for some reason it just amuses me.  Also Black Sunday is great, and Bava is a genius for lighting alone, let alone kicking off Giallo's and slasher films. My favourite part of Black Sabbath is the Wurdalak segment, a total change of pace for one of my favourites the great Mr Karloff. Although this is different from most peoples views. Then i also think viewing a film is very dependent on how the viewer feels at the time, sometimes we contemplate and appreciate stuff that other days we would miss. So many films i dismissed on first viewing i have grown to love, likewise some films i loved first time have diminished in my opinion on repeat viewings. So ignore me, we all have our own opinions,i'm just at that rambling drunken post stage again.  So there you go, who knows. I certainly don't that's for sure.  This whole worlds wild at heart and weird on top. Anyways keep up the good work.  
__________________  MIKE: I've got it! Peter Cushing! We've got to drive a stake through his heart! VYVYAN: Great! I'll get the car! NEIL: I'll get a cushion. |
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24th June 2015, 11:32 PM
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fuzzymctiger and nosferatu42 like this. |
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25th June 2015, 12:17 AM
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The Elephant Man (1980) 100/10  |
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25th June 2015, 05:16 AM
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Blast of Silence (1961) - My 4th must see masterpiece of the past few months (see also No Way Out, Patterns and The Breaking Point). This is the tombstone at the end of the classic Flm Noir era, a distillation of alienation and angst. If this sounds heavy, it isn't , in fact it's sheer pleasure. A hitman is off to his hometown at Christmas for a job accompanied by the voice in his head. Lionel Stander, who I found irritating in Cul-De-Sac is perfect as the narrator, the writing is beautiful. Lovely contrast between the festive setting (Xmas gives our guy 'the creeps' ) and the work at hand. An obese gun dealer with a room of pet rats appears as does possible romantic salvation. You feel as if you are there on an a bitterly freezing morning in New York circa early 60s. Jazzy score mixed with carols - perfect. Ending - perfect. I loved it greatly.
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25th June 2015, 12:57 PM
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Had quite a busy day today, so these came a little later than expect sorry. New earphones arrived off eBay today after my last pair got brutally ripped in two by a hand rail at the train station. Despite being the same model, they rocked up being a woman's model (just because I pick aqua for a headphone model advertised as genderless, don't assume I want a women's model!). As a result, they were way too small, but the rubber quality was also tough, and the sound sounded like a fart in a tin can! Sure enough, a strange Russian factory slip fell out of the box, so I'm returning the awful wrong product fakes, and had to trudge around a local shopping centre with a gift card from my birthday to find a good pair. Only problem was going back and forth across 3 stores on complete other sides of the centre to contemplate what to choose from very poor selection. Came home with a nice sony pair though. Anyway, thank you all for your fantastic comments, some quite humorous as well. It's always good to hear different opinions on the films I watch, which as Nosferatu(42) said, emotional reviews always allow for. One thing I've always liked about this forum is it's very much a community rather than randoms shouting a single comment then leaving, like others feel like (ahem blu-ray). Thank you very much for your support. Without further ado, the final part of 31 reviews, 8 pages and 5,300 words of reviews later. I need to make sure I write these more often to lessen the load. We're The Millers - 7/10 I have never felt so uncomfortable watching a movie. I give it a good score because ultimately it's a very well done comedy based around a clever idea, is very funny, and all works, but it suffers from American Pie syndrome, in that it is extremely heavy in cringe worthy scenes and second hand embarrassment, but ultimately the humor is less crass than those movies, which is why it works. Citizen Toxie - 8/10 I feel like this is the dark horse in the Toxie franchise. Made many years after the last few, there's a lot different about this one to last three, to the point where beyond characters, it could almost be a standalone film. Characters all look different, a myriad of new characters are introduced, the tone is wildly different (from slapstick violent super hero comedy, to extremely crass and poor taste). Ultimately, it still manages to be quite funny and pull off a great Toxie story, but my god it is all in so poor taste, the humor is as Un PC as you get and quite disgusting at points, but also very very very funny. The hospital hallway massacre in particular is a great scene. If you're a fan of Toxie it's a fantastic watch, but just be ready for a shift in tone and negative levels of political correctness. Inherent Vice - 10/10 Saw this in cinemas on release, and I loved it. For the most part I had 0 clue what was going on, but it started to make sense in the final half. It takes a hell of a long time to understand, but everything is weaves together so intricately and perfectly that it all actually does make sense, it just takes some time to put the pieces together. PTA's cinematography and direction is master class here, with nearly every shot and element being perfectly constructed to create a prime aesthetic and honest portrayal of the period and the people in it. Everyone in the movie gives fantastic performances. The thing that tops it all off, like a cherry on top, it's the humor. It might be subjective, as none of my friends laughed much at all, but I was in hysterics, in particular the scene in the golden fang building and the following car ride. This is one to give a watch and then rewatchs, to soak it all in and have a great time. Focus - 7/10 Will Smith stars in this strange little movie about a con artist and an aspiring one he tutors. Less about the con, and more about the romance. An elaborate con is pulled during the Super Bowl, leaving a Chinese business quite poor, as a result of what appears to be an honest bet. Lots of interesting twists and you think this is what will drive the second half of the film, revenge or something. Nope. Many years later, the old flame he left behind is back interfering with his new con, involving a race car algorithm. Quite an old little film, which had a lot of advertisement for something that felt very very small scale. There's nothing really big or overly dramatic in this movie, and the romance isn't massively sappy or anything. It's a charming con/romance, with lots of nice entertaining twists in the plot along the way. Faust: Love of the Damned - 5/10 Part of the Arrow boxset, Jeffery Combs plays an artist who gets possessed to get revenge (similar to Retribution), however when he is possessed, he turns into a superhero like character with massive claws that is impulsed to kill. This film showed so much promise in the first part. A ****ing kick ass soundtrack, and some really cool action, but it just gets stupider and stupider as it goes and then the ending is just awful. Which was a shame, because the idea was really cool, it had Jeffery Combs, and the metal soundtrack had Machine Head and Fear Factory in it! Hollywood Shuffle - 9/10 Watched this on a local international channels streaming app. An aspiring actor is auditioning for the role of a jive talking pimp in this scathing criticism of the the few roles offered for black actors in the 70's and 80's. The story is interjected with little vignettes, including fake ads for black acting schools starring the fantasy successful main character, and a Ebert and Siskiel parody called Sneakin into the Films, filled with parodies of other successful films of the time. It's charming and wholesome, taking a stand for improved roles and telling a heartwarming story about what's really important, success or self respect and representation for you and your people. Quite an underrated and unknown film really, and well worth a watch, as it's still quite relevant in this day and age. Princess - 8/10 A 2006 Danish animated film that really is very adult and mature, and quite dark and sad. The animation quality is quite average, as I believe it was animated in Flash, and I'm not sure whether the version I watched was uncut or not, as there are heaps of different run times on various websites. It follows a former pastor whose sister, a famous pornstar, dies and leaves a child in his care. Shocked and disturbed at the product of the corrupt lifestyle the child is, confused about what is normal, reclusive, and showing signs of abuse, the brother goes on a rampage intending to remove every shred of his sisters career from the planet. There's a lot to talk about with this movie. It's quite minimal, with a low key score, mostly quiet dialogue, and some quite tender scenes. This is interspersed however with occasional quite seriously brutal scenes of violence, and live action camcorder flash back scenes of how the sister got into pornography. The faults of the movie come from the sadly unrealistic nature of some parts. Despite it being an animated movie, it wants to be very real. However, the main character has unexplainable perfect fighting abilities, as well as shooting and combat abilities. He also somehow manages to perpetrate some serious serious violence and damage, to the point it becomes a tad odd how little is done by police. The ending is very sad, and the movie will leave you quite empty, but it's touching in a way, and a great criticism in my opinion of the toxic pornography industry. See it. Turkey Shoot - 8/10 The Australian classic, also from the streaming service. This goes back a very long way now, probably about 4 months. Quite an enjoyable exploitation, pretty brutal and fun. I remember a lot about what happened but very little on how I felt about it. So there you have it. Now that that's done I'll make sure to post my purchases of the last few months over the bought thread tomorrow. This has been quite fun
__________________ This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. Fuzzy's Sale/Trade Thread! - Blu, DVD, Boxsets (TV/Movie), Anime, Manga |
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25th June 2015, 01:36 PM
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Awesome stuff, fuzzy. These are my (brief) thoughts on the ones I've seen, and a couple of the ones I haven't: We're The Millers I recorded this from Sky Movies and enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. Citizen Toxie Easily my favourite of the Toxic Avenger sequels because, as you said, it is so politically incorrect and out there. The commentary by Lloyd Kaufman is superb and definitely worth a listen. Inherent Vice I'm a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson and I don't even think this was at the cinema (Cineworld), so I missed it. I have bought it on Blu-ray so I'm really looking forward to watching that. Focus Your write-up was interesting as most reviews I saw dismissed it as silly, implausible rubbish, so I'd love to add it to my Lovefilm rental queue, but it's not available. Faust: Love of the Damned It's been far too long since I watched the films in the Fantastic Factory Presents boxset, but I quite remember enjoying this, so will give it another watch over the weekend. Princess Sounds great, and also now trying to find it at Lovefilm or on Netflix. Turkey Shoot Like other 'Ozsploitation' films, I really like this one and should watch it much more frequently than I do.
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