What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)

The Prince and the Showgirl loses marks as it feels to go on twenty minutes too long and at times is hampered by over long scenes due to it's stage play origins and in truth not an awful lot happening.

Despite this Marilyn Monroe shines throughout and attacks the talky script with good comic timing almost overshadowing the gorgeous tight white dress she wears throughout. I don't know what it is with Marilyn. She's not the greatest actress but she owns every scene she's in, i simply can't stop looking at her, whereas the legendary Laurence Olivier seems subdued. He also directed the film and it puzzles me why he hampered himself with a stodgy Balkan accent and he comes across more hammy Lugosi than Shakespearean great.

English character actor Richard Wattis probably dined out on his role in this film for the rest of his life. Usually seen flitting in and out of British b-pictures, here he has lengthy scenes with Olivier and also escorts Marilyn Monroe to the coronation of George V.

[MrBarlow]

Apartment 143. 2011.

A team of paranormal investigators are called to a apartment to see what is haunting a single father and his two kids and slowly uncover why the teenage daughter appears to recent her father.

This is one of those type of movies that can be a hit or a miss at times and for me to be in the right mood to watch as it;s not one to watch constantly. Michael O'Keefe plays the lead investigator Dr. Heizer with Ellen (Fiona Glascott) and Paul (Rick Gonzalez).

From the first few minutes of being in the apartment there is a good build up to the jump scares that can be predictable but also decent, the acting is good and not like a slow burner and everything that the doctor says about hauntings/poltergeists seems to be brought over like a professional. With it being a found footage movie you only see small things close up and the actors make it believable you are watching a real haunted house programe at times except when it all goes daft in bits.

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[Inspector Abberline]

What Michael Crichton movies proof is that you do not need hi-tech special effects to make a high tech thriller...In fact it seems to me that the movie industry had to catch up with his ideas...All of his better movies were made well before the onslaught of the over proliferation of CGI...And I believe they were better for it... Technology is great,but how come Apollo 13 manage to get back using duct tape,yet most motor mechanics need a science degree to look under a bonnet of a modern car...The Looker,is about the use of computer generated actors,who have to be perfect in every way shape and form,so they can used in commercials to brain wash it's viewer's...So a string of attractive ladies need minor plastic surgery to be the perfect model,and seek the help of plastic surgeon Albert Finney...Obviously this technology can be used for any nefarious use like electing a politician into the White House,or selling fruit of the loom pants,or maybe a new kitchen cleaner...Or what about a light gun that can give the illusion of invisibility by stunning it's victim's... Yeah ok that is a bit hokey,considering it seems alot of effort just so Albert Finney could kick the bad guy in the nuts...It's an interesting story but fails to really explore the subject matter in any real depth,for a more interesting medical thriller I preferred Coma...

[SymbioticFunction]

Decided to give Terminator Dark Fate a fair chance. One of my most disappointing film experiences in a long time. Mainly due to the first 25 minutes or so genuinely being rather good. The film actually becomes risible, I genuinely laughed at a few moments (and not in a good way).

One example is that there's an scene where the augmented character is looking serious and sad when she reveals that her father was killed over a can of peaches - that certainly made me laugh. Apart from the first 25 minutes, there's a very good performance by the villain terminator, some very short amusing interior decor advice by Arnie and a decent final 10 minute confrontation but loads of it is very dodgy.

Mr Cameron, is this the shit that was supposed to knock my socks off? Not much point regaining the rights if you can't produce anything better. I'll just keep Terminators 1-3. Not surprised that Terminator Dark Fate was another box office bomb in this franchise. Very poor.

[Dave Boy]

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THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953)

More fantastic work from Ray Harryhausen in a story based on the Ray Bradbury short story ' The Lighthouse'.
The roller coaster model made by Willis Cook for the finale of the movie is just awesome. Lee Van Cleef gets to kill the beast!

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THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (1972)

Awesome! I remember the first time I ever saw this movie. The end scenes with Gene Hackman hanging from the wheel to cut the steam off.. man, what a shocker. Never ever thought that the main hero was going to be killed off right at the finale of the movie! The scene after the ship capsizes, where some of the guests are hanging from the tables still looks amazing.

[gag]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Decided to give Terminator Dark Fate a fair chance. One of my most disappointing film experiences in a long time. Mainly due to the first 25 minutes or so genuinely being rather good. The film actually becomes risible, I genuinely laughed at a few moments (and not in a good way).

One example is that there's an scene where the augmented character is looking serious and sad when she reveals that her father was killed over a can of peaches - that certainly made me laugh. Apart from the first 25 minutes, there's a very good performance by the villain terminator, some very short amusing interior decor advice by Arnie and a decent final 10 minute confrontation but loads of it is very dodgy.

Mr Cameron, is this the shit that was supposed to knock my socks off? Not much point regaining the rights if you can't produce anything better. I'll just keep Terminators 1-3. Not surprised that Terminator Dark Fate was another box office bomb in this franchise. Very poor.

I feel after first 3 4 films of any franchise their just cashing in on them after that and most times it's not in a good way.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Collateral (2004) ★★★★

It's almost impossible not to compare any Michael Mann film to Heat, one which most people will regard as his masterpiece and a landmark in action cinema, though I personally think The Insider is equally brilliant.

Collateral is probably his fourth best film behind Heat, The Insider, and Last of the Mohicans – it's a brilliant high concept film (a hitman hires a cab driver to help him kill five witnesses in an upcoming court case) and fascinating character study of both the protagonist and antagonist, with taxi driver Max and hitman Vincent being interesting and engaging characters, and the relationship between them is a main reason why this film works so well.

I think it's a visually stylish movie with a great soundtrack, with a perfect use of Audioslave's Shadow of the Sun, and the performances from Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are both extremely good, with supporting roles from Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, and Javier Bardem all noteworthy. It's been a long time since I saw this and had forgotten how much I like and admire it.

[Edgeworth]

Finally watched my copy of In search of darkness. Great documentary on 80's but tbh nothing new I haven't seen from extra features over the years. Quite liked the structure to it as it goes through the 80's horror in chronological order. Definitely missing some key faces tho I look forward to part 2! Expensive disc and expensive aftermath as I ended up ordering a few movies and a shirt one of the interviewees was wearing.

[MrBarlow]

Wer. 2013.

An American lawyer living in France is tasked to defend a man accused of attacking a family on vacation, with the help of two friends one a investigator and a animal expert slowly uncover the truth of her client.

I think after Twilight the Werewolf movies were seen to drop off then came this film that made Werewolves movie come back to the horror genre, this may seem low budget and at times looks like a POV movie don't let that put you off, this movie surprised me at how good it was. A.J. Cook plays Kate who is the defendant of Talan (Brian Scott O'Connor)a Romanian who emigrated to France with his mother and father but may have a genetic disorder that explains his height and bone structure.

The film does start off a bit slow after the family attack and does get better, even though the killings are off screen (except one killing) we do see the after effect of the attacks, the suspense and tension is built up well even at the end it was played out well with different new reports. Recommended.

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[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Edgeworth

Finally watched my copy of In search of darkness. Great documentary on 80's but tbh nothing new I haven't seen from extra features over the years. Quite liked the structure to it as it goes through the 80's horror in chronological order. Definitely missing some key faces tho I look forward to part 2! Expensive disc and expensive aftermath as I ended up ordering a few movies and a shirt one of the interviewees was wearing.

I found it really enjoyable and very frustrating at the same time, each time it panned over the 'poster wall' for each year you see all these interesting films you wish they'd have talked about instead of the obvious ones Still good fun though.