What Films Have You Seen Recently?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Gran Torino (2008)

Clint Eastwood plays a war veteran who finds his Detroit neighbourhood seemingly overrun by immigrants and gangs. As much in conflict with his family as he is the neighbours, Eastwood gives an excellent performance as the grizzled racist veteran who slowly befriends South East Asian refugees now living next door whilst trying to defend his property and prized 71' Ford Gran Torino from local thugs.

I've seen this a few times now and it never loses it's impact. This feels like a sister film to 1992's Unforgiven with his Walt Kowalski a modern day William Munny, but whilst this is clearly a study on racial tolerance, friendship and redemption there's plenty of drama and humour along the way to make this thoroughly entertaining.

[MrBarlow]

City Ninja. 1985.

A skilled tournament fighter gets involved with mobsters while trying to find a lost pendant.

A prime example of the Hong Kong film business trying to match up with Cannon films by throwing out low budget movies by advertising them as the greatest action movie and falls flat on its face. The acting is never the best thanks to the crappy dubbing even from a American actor that was a bit comical, the lead character never seems to get anywhere with this lady friend and when the occasion arises he is cock blocked. The fight scenes are worth the watch with the usual HK movies sound effects. I may come back to this just for the laughs.

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[gag]

Red Hill, had this for a while on blu-ray but somehow Never watched it, Shane is new in town and on his first day a part of the police force, apart from the guy at the desk the rest aren't exactly welcoming or willing to make his job easy for him, and Shane proves by end of the film he no soft arse or pushover that the Sherrif was expecting him to be, Set in a small Australian town in the middle of literally nowhere that resembles an old-style western style look.
Patrick Hughes first film director behind Expandable 3, and like a lot of directors it's very impressive, the music score scenery etc are top notch, cue escaped prisoner Jimmy Conway, and the whole town is out on red alert due to the fact he coming back for Revenge, some nice action scenes that don't go overboard or silly, Jimmy doesn't utter a single word until right at the end when he speaks to Shane, he just on revenge and wants the ppl responsible behind him being in prison, by the ending of the film when you realise why he wants revenge and what happens you feel sorry for Jimmy, a film with no happy ending of winners or losers, recommended.

[MrBarlow]

The Deadly Angels. 1977.

After a high stake robbery and a murder, the police select a small group of women to go undercover in a cabaret bar and bring out information on the crime syndicate.

A somewhat rip at the tv show Charlie's Angels done in Hong Kong style that shows women can be as deadly as men in a fight and able to give the guys a run for their money. I will say that some of the film can be a bit too much talky and stretching the running time to the point it does become boring but the fight scenes do make up for and the big finale storming of the mansion with guns, rocket launcher and sling shot with a few small bombs. The dubbing isn't exactly all over the place, it is noticeable but worth checking out .


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[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Gran Torino (2008)

Did you cry at the end even though you've seen it before? I was sobbing I'm not going to lie.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by nicholasrope

Ruthless People

Danny DeVito plays a man who is planning to kill his Wife, played by Bette Midler. However before he can, she is kidnapped by incompetent, Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater. BTW, his Mistress wants to blackmail him with her idiot Boyfriend (Bill Pullman) lot's of miscommunication and mishaps occur.

OMG, I haven't seen this before and had the DVD for ages and I'm trying to work out why I never watched it before today. IT'S ABSLOUTELY HILARIOUS, everybody is suitably casted and had a whale of a time. There are so many funny moments from DeVito's reaction and smile when he realizes that somebody is about to do him a huge favor, Middler ridiculing her Kidnappers, DeVito's battle with a Dog, a Mugger who stumbles in a Police Sting and Pullman's reaction when he realizes that Policemen are at a ransom drop, when he's trying to steal the money.

I thought that seeing it's a 1986 Film, it would be outdated, it's not.

I remember this being in the video shop back in the late 80s and I wanted to watch it but being too young, still never seen it but I want to check it out all over again

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Did you cry at the end even though you've seen it before? I was sobbing I'm not going to lie.

I won't lie either. It still brings a tear to the eye and a wobble to the lip but i wasn't outright in tears.

[MrBarlow]

Return Of The Street Fighter. 1974.

Sonny Chiba returns as the mercenary karate master, this time a ruthless American mafia want to take charge of the fighting dojos for a front for business, Chiba is offered money for help and goes against the mafia and helps protect the other karate schools. This seemed to be toned down a bit from the previous film but the makers obviously wanted a more or near family orientated film that relies on good action and fight scenes. The acting is decent as is the dubbing is a bit better than the previous morning films, there done tend to be one or two plot holes in this or did I miss something?? Either way still a good film.

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[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Saw 3D (2010) aka Saw The Final Chapter.

When your film opens with a continuation of something that happened both six films and six years ago and continues that story strand as well as continuing the plot from the previous four films not to mention a whole new one with an alleged survivor of the Jigsaw killer you'll be as thankful as i was that i watched these films back to back.

However this also works as a stand alone film because Saw The Final Chapter excels with it's ingenious traps. The traps are tremendous and bone shatteringly gory at times. There's no way this film would have escaped censure in the early eighties. Most of the situations are highly effective utilizing tightly gripping set pieces, some of which had me on the edge of my seat with anguish and the beautiful thing about it all was the sheer amount of them. Just like infamous 80's slasher Don't Open Till Christmas had a murder every other scene, The Final Chapter has a trap every other scene.

Finally,as the series ends in the exact same place it began, in the last words of Jigsaw. GAME OVER!!

I've thoroughly enjoyed watching this series of films every Friday night for the last seven weeks and i've really looked forward to each bloody installment so it's quite sad that it's come to a satisfying close. However seven years later more was to come in 2017's Jigsaw.

[Frankie Teardrop]

EVE OF DESTRUCTION - It's always nice to take a jaunt back to the days of the clamshell with a movie that captures the essence of your local early nineties video shop. Did I ever clock this one on the shelves? If I didn't then maybe I really should've. It's basically a 'Terminator' rip-off with Rene Soutendijk doubling as a computer scientist and her android replica; Gregory Hines runs around with a walkie-talkie, mostly looking angry. Well, I like my rip-offs badly made and preferably Italian, but this is more upscale, modestly budgeted and tastefully done, pinning its aspirations to sweeping pans and an orchestral score. It even strikes a slightly thoughtful pose with its theme - if you could live out your fantasy life in the form of a killer cyborg, what would it be like? It doesn't have the imaginative wherewithal to go anywhere with even that dubious idea and also, despite a couple of nice set-pieces, falls short of being gritty or kick-ass enough for my liking, but it still has all the charm I hope for in B-movies from its time. Solid.

DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY - Luis Javier Henaine's 'Disappear Completely' follows the descent of a cynical photographer hobbled by a curse that, little by little, strips him of his senses. Reviews have framed it as a kind of paranormal 'Night Crawler', though it lacks the reptilian brilliance of that film and is going for something very different anyway, being less a character study in icy detachment than a rehash of 2010s-style supernatural tropes that just happen to befall a fairly wretched camera wielding opportunist. It's very smooth and well done, with lush cinematography that tilts its visual atmosphere towards the spectral, plus a central conceit that's pretty fascinating and scary in its own right - the slow ebbing away of the self as it thrashes around, grasping at the straws of any potential recue. For me, a couple of missteps might include an exorcism and a backstory exegesis that played a bit clunky set against the bleak tone, dissipating the energy and the vibes with their awkward contrivance. But overall, 'Disappear Completely's rendition of ghostly trappings is convincing and immersive and gets fairly intense at the end. I wasn't quite as won over as the many who've been singing its praises, but this film is more than solid and well worth a watch.