What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

It’s a film I like but don’t love.

Pretty much sums it up.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Gosford Park (2001)

Director Robert Altman brings together an outrageously grand ensemble cast - Maggie Smith, Clive Owen, Stephen Fry, Alan Bates, Charles Dance, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Derek Jacobi, Richard E Grant, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emily Watson... seriously i could go on... in this black comedy about life upstairs and downstairs during a weekend shooting party at the English country house, Gosford Park, which becomes a murder investigation once dinner is over.

Written by Julian Fellowes, this feels like a dry run in movie form of Downton Abbey (2010-15), and that's no bad thing. Altman brings his unique style of shooting where the viewer drifts in and out of conversations as the guests arrive and get settled in. The camera sweeps round the rooms taking in the guests and what we see may not go hand in hand with the dialogue we hear. It focuses on characters rather than outright story for the first hour in a similar way to his earlier McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) where the viewer feels they are on the edge of conversations listening to snippets as they take in the room.

With such an ensemble cast (Damn i forgot Kelly Macdonald, Ryan Phillippe, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, Eileen Atkins and Tom Hollander) the acting is impeccable, matched by the lush sets and splendid cinematography which create a rich cinematic study of the interwar British class system.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Village of the Damned (1995)

John Carpenter's take on the John Wyndham story The Midwich Cuckoos and also a remake of the 1960 British film of the same name.

Sadly Carpenter's film lacks the subtlety of the original movie. There's not really the same sense of rapid growth and maturity in the children in fact Carpenter gives us no real clue of passage of time and although there are a couple of nicely crafted set pieces the chilling atmosphere and general sense of unease is also missing.

As with 1992's Memoirs of an Invisible Man this feels like Carpenter is merely a hired gun director rather than the movies chief creator,with the score, usually a Carpenter strong point, the same. Although Carpenter wrote it it's not a typically memorable electro rock piece that graces classic Carpenter films in fact it's utterly forgettable.

As for the cast? Most including stars Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alley seem ill suited to their roles with only Crocodile Dundee co-star Linda Kozlowski coming out with any credit, and the less said about Mark Hamill's priest the better.

Despite all these issues Village of the Damned isn't a poor film. It's efficient and slick and moves at a rapid pace. It entertains even if it doesn't particularly thrill. However the end result when alls said and done the next time i decide to watch a take on The Midwich Cuckoos it won't be this one.

The score for the film i love, as well as Christopher Reeve, can't really take Kirstie Alley serious in this. The TV series that came out in 2022 isn't too bad.

[Justin101]

I keep meaning to re-watch Gosford Park, I got the Arrow release ages ago but never got around to it. I haven't seen it since it was on a VHS so I don't actually remember anything about it.

[Mojo]

FOOTPRINTS. ( 1975 )
Florinda Balkan stars as a woman who wakes up one morning, having no memory of the past three days. Trying to retrace her steps, she encounters people who call her by a different name and claim to have seen her before. Meanwhile, strange astronaut figures are on her trail. Is there a connection?
This is often listed as a Giallo, but there’s so much more to this film - it keeps you gripped throughout. Florida Balkan is superb in the lead and the photography ( including the blue tinted astronaut scenes ) look stunning on Severin’s Blu Ray. I’m not saying this is a masterpiece, but it’s pretty bloody close. Highly recommended.

TENDER DRACULA. ( 1974 )
A couple of screenwriters and actresses are dispatched to a castle to try and persuade horror actor ( Peter Cushing ) out of retirement and into their proposed new feature.
A mixture of slapstick humour, gore, sex and , of course, Peter Cushing ( does this guy ever give a bad performance ? ) make this oddity curiously watchable. I really thought I would hate this, but I ended up enjoying it for what it was - a Cushing Curiosity indeed!

[MrBarlow]

Housebound. 2014.

A young girl under house arrest is forced to stay with her mum and step dad in the childhood home that she believes is haunted.

Something different from Australia/New Zealand area, Morgana O'Reilly is the wild child in this who seems to think that rules are merely guidelines to life while disobeying her mum and needs a good smack across the arse. This was a bit of a usual teen thing, someone thinks the house is haunted and no one believes her scenario and decides to investigate what has gone on in the house and area.

Don't expect a big Hollywood block buster masterpiece cos it isn't but the budget is there and well used and does have a vibe of The People Under The Stairs but genuinely this did go one way then another that made it decent to watch. The acting is decent and nobody goes over the top. Writer/director Gerard Johnstone does use the house setting decently and able to almost go for the dark gothic atmosphere on the outside of the house. Seen this a few times and certainly worth looking at.

download (1).jpeg

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Housebound. 2014.

A young girl under house arrest is forced to stay with her mum and step dad in the childhood home that she believes is haunted.

Something different from Australia/New Zealand area, Morgana O'Reilly is the wild child in this who seems to think that rules are merely guidelines to life while disobeying her mum and needs a good smack across the arse. This was a bit of a usual teen thing, someone thinks the house is haunted and no one believes her scenario and decides to investigate what has gone on in the house and area.

Don't expect a big Hollywood block buster masterpiece cos it isn't but the budget is there and well used and does have a vibe of The People Under The Stairs but genuinely this did go one way then another that made it decent to watch. The acting is decent and nobody goes over the top. Writer/director Gerard Johnstone does use the house setting decently and able to almost go for the dark gothic atmosphere on the outside of the house. Seen this a few times and certainly worth looking at.

Attachment 249563

Is this a comedy ?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

Is this a comedy ?

It is, i didn't get on with it at all.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

It is, i didn't get on with it at all.

I had to look twice at the poster to see was the woman on the left actually making a face

[Dave Boy]

Another double bill night..

Spider-7641LB-scaled.jpg

THE BRAIN EATERS (1958)
EARTH VS THE SPIDER (1958)

Entertaining Arkoff double bill here. I like both these movies anyway so watching them one after the other was a good evening with some snacks a few beers.
THE BRAIN EATERS concerns parasites that come from the bowls of the Earth and attach themselves to humans and control them..
EARTH VS THE SPIDER has a young couple discover a giant spider in some caves and the locals set out to destroy it but things don't go as planned..