Last Movie You Watched? Mark 9

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Last Movie You Watched 8

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Not what I'd call a 'mostly throwaway cast', they were all well known at the time, in England at least. Perhaps you mean you haven't heard of them. Incidentally, Suzan Farmer, the winsome blonde, was married to Ian McShane, but he burnt through her in three years.

FWIW, the full Prince of Darkness is on Daily Motion, but the audio sync problems are too great to bear.

I probably overstated it.  I like Shelley and Farmer, but Matthews comes off as a bit dry.  It's really the film itself that I find mostly "throwaway", because of the script.  The cast is given little, at least in my opinion.  I've seen Barbara Shelley in other films where I liked her more.  I did like her post-bite in this.

I watched DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE today.  I enjoy the film more than PRINCE OF DARKNESS, and the characters are somewhat more interesting.  Fairly entertaining.  I look forward to seeing TASTE THE BLOOD tonight or tomorrow.  I recall it being my favorite of the later sequels, though since finding out that Vincent Price was replaced by Keen I'm not sure if I'll be a bit frustrated.

Taste the Blood of Dracula is my favourite of the non Cushing Dracula's though the cheaper production values do make it a harder sell, AD72 and Satanic Rites get a lot of shtick but for me Cushing makes all the difference. Kiss of the Vampire is one to catch up on too despite the lack of big names it is probably third in my ranking of the Hammer Vampire pictures (after '58 Dracula and Brides).


The Bourne Legacy

I probably enjoyed this as much an any Bourne to date, certainly on a par with Identity in that the characters engage enough for you to care about the action around them. Legacy is weakest when it tries to sound clever in terms of its core concept and also the few throw backs to Greengrass' style (one fight was particularly inpenetrable and the final chase is over long and jumbled to its detriment). All in all I was quite content having no Bourne and would be happy to catch another Bourne-less Bourne sequel.

7/10

ZODIAC (2007)

I've always liked this well enough but I don't really buy how Jake Gyllenhaal goes from Captain Aspergers to a gumshoe.

Jack Wade wrote:

ZODIAC (2007)

Zodiac is the Fincher film for Guardianistas too afraid of Fight Club's subtext.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Jack Wade wrote:

ZODIAC (2007)

Zodiac is the Fincher film for Guardianistas too afraid of Fight Club's subtext.

What would that be, apart from Fincher's fetishised nihilism?

Largo's Shark wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Jack Wade wrote:

ZODIAC (2007)

Zodiac is the Fincher film for Guardianistas too afraid of Fight Club's subtext.

What would that be, apart from Fincher's fetishised nihilism?

Male disenfranchisement and alienation: men lost in a new world that thinks emotion is superior to rationality.

FIGHT CLUB has a lot of anger, but not a lot of smarts.

Much like Santa on a good day.

Harmsway wrote:

not a lot of smarts.

Perhaps you could elaborate on that thought? In English.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

not a lot of smarts.

Perhaps you could express that thought in English.

This ain't no term paper. Colloquial English will do me just fine.

In that case, fuck off, you little shit.

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES (2013, directed by Derek Cianfrance). An extremely well-acted, stylish and compelling drama marred only by something of a dropping of the ball towards the very end that takes matters into relatively hackneyed, heavyhanded and less than credible territory. On the whole, though, this is most impressive stuff.

What I mean is that while FIGHT CLUB justly seethes with outrage at a corrosive culture, it does a poor job of identifying the diseased heart of the contemporary Western world. It's impossible to build an effective cultural critique when you start with such a puerile understanding of masculinity.

I don't think that Chuck Palahniuk claims to understand masculinity. He just thinks that contemporary society is emasculating.

I find it hard to disagree with that conclusion.

I find it easy to hate that flaccid XTC cover.

Largo's Shark wrote:

I find it easy to hate that flaccid XTC cover.

I find it hard to disagree with that conclusion as well.

Clearly my attempt at humour failed...

Erica Ambler wrote:

Clearly my attempt at humour failed...

With your love for 'bands with bints as lead singers' I thought you were being serious.

Well, I have a soft spot for Nouvelle Vague's 'Too Drunk to Fuck'.

Erica Ambler wrote:

I don't think that Chuck Palahniuk claims to understand masculinity.

Maybe not explicitly, but his portrayal of society's emasculation is manufactured on an implicit (and, IMO, misguided) understanding of masculinity and male psychology.

Hmmm, well, what it is to be a man might make an interesting debate if this place still has the inclination. However, I realise that such matters are far less important than Star Fleet deployments.

Gremlins (1984)

Picked this for movie night with a friend, always enjoyable. One little detail I only just noticed now that I watched it on a 60 inch screen. In one scene, the father who invents things that never works goes to a invention convention and we see all kinds of stuff that were from other movies such as Robby the Robot, and even Jerry Goldsmith in a cowboy hat, strangely. This time I noticed that the time machine from the 1960 film is in the background at the right. A few cuts later, suddenly in the same shot it's disappeared, with smoke and frantic extras looking around. I got a good laugh out of that. Always like those kind of touches in Joe Dante's movies.

The Sweeney (2012)

awww wight yooo slaaaaags...

Abysmal doesn't quite cover it mind, in fairness the action is pretty decent - a couple of shoot outs and car chases spark with some energy but gah everything in between is dire, the characters poorly developed, the story plainly stupid, the dialogue inept.

Props to the gorgeous Hayley Atwell (so much sexier than in Capitan America here) for somehow keeping a straight face during gratuitous sex scenes with Winstone's ageing grizzled lard ass, and the only actor present not to be profoundly cursed by short tongue syndrome. Winstone and Ben Drew as Reagan and Carter are totally miscast imo while Damian Lewis, who might have made a terrific Reagan, is relegated to clichéd support.

The best part of the film was recalling the 'Top Gear' teams assistance in developing the final car chase - I so wanted Clarkson and Hammond to appear in the final moments.

3/10 (mainly for Atwell)

Hot on the heels of weekend viewings Wonder Man, Bullitt, Beginners and Cruel Sea came The Hunt for Red October.

Still a fine movie and still some delight in Richard Jordan's performance as Jeffrey Pelt. August 30th marks twenty years since his passing. Great shame.

ELYSIUM (2013)

Ultimately hollow, tedious and uninteresting. Quite disappointing.

The Lovely Bones

Surprisingly effective - afterlife sequences, like dream sequences, are something I disapprove of usually, but they made it work.

The Lovely Boning

Surprisingly effective - double penetration sequences, like bukkake sequences, are something I disapprove of usually, but they made it work.