Films Recently Watched

lol

Yeah, Evil Dead 2 is amazing.

Also, I have a soft spot for the 2013 remake. It's fucking vile and I love it!

Actually, this pretty much sums up my feelings for it...

  On 7/25/2017 at 11:53 PM, Godwin Austen said:

Godwin Austen, on 25 Jul 2017 - 10:53 PM, said:

 

 

  On 7/24/2017 at 7:41 PM, cwmbrancity said:

cwmbrancity, on 24 Jul 2017 - 6:41 PM, said:

 

Int it, the corpses piled behind the one village you get the barest of glimpses of, that droning recon (acoustically unnerving as fuck), the paratroopers in the woods, the rape of that magnificent blond, the marshes (<<<<<big ptsd trigger) jesus christ its full on and thats b4 the SS-Regiment even arrives in town, from there it gets even better. I read once Kilmov (sp?) wanted to call it Kill Hitler.....it might've even been on the dvd extra disc bits, interviews with cast & crew that in itself was immense given the politics of the SU at the time. Something to be watched every 5 years or so as a reminder that cinema isnt all super-hero bs and also because its designed to lurk in your psyche for periods afterwards. Watching it should be part of every school curriculum somewhere.

 

If you love this and havent tried The Ascent yet, its equally evocative but more metaphysical, asks so many unanswered questions and leaves you with the fate of these 2 partizans and all their hopes at the intersection between terror and transcendental rapture, not quite as muscular as Come And See, but just as visceral and haunting.

 

I'll definitely check The Ascent, it looks interesting. I like Soviet films, so you're welcome if you have any more recommendations. You probably heard about Mikhail Kalatozov? Not exactly as unforgiving as the above mentioned, but nevertheless excellent storytelling.

1 of me Soviet-era favourites includes Kalatozov's "The Cranes are Flying", seems ageless & if you consider the political climate it defies explanation how some of these ever got made/released

From the same region, Sergei Parajanov's "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (1965) is utter perfection. Proper *mind-blown*. Its got tragedy, comedy, Georgian/Caucus myths, mint characters, a spellbinding story, surreal technical angles of filming (wait for the falling tree!) that make you wonder at its age. Absolutely indispensable. You can see these influences, eg the agricultural melee/anarchy of squawking geese etc, in later works by folks like Kusturica in the Balkans, specifically "Time of the Gypsies" (twelfty/10) & "Underground". Would recommend Parajanov's "The Colo(u)r of Pomegranates" (1969) too, but check Shadows first as its such a rewarding work. *Kusturica factoid - Borat ripped Goran Bregovic's soundtrack from TOTG

What Come And See did for war films isn't too far away from what Zulawski's (ok Polish but Soviet era nonetheless) "Possession" (1981) did for the genre horror, ie elevated to completely immersive experiences. Seen it mentioned here a couple of times, but like a large dollop of lysergic acid its not for the faint of heart, although Isabelle Adjani is @ her schmokin hot best.

the room - instantly memorable

first viewing of the room in 2017???

Watched the third monkey movie (really enjoyed the first 2). Thought it was amazingly dull and bored me close to tears. Maybe I was in the wrong mood? Because it seems to be universally praised.... 

3/10

The aping of Apocalypse Now also rubbed me up the wrong way...

  On 7/27/2017 at 9:12 AM, beerwolf said:

The aping of Apocalypse Now also rubbed me up the wrong way...

The Net 2.0

Are there really two ape movies that rip off Apocalypse Now this year?

Under the Shadow, an Iranian horror flick. It's based in the 80's during the Iran-Iraq war and does a good job of making you feel sympathetic towards the Mother whose career as a doctor, standing in society as a woman and family are all being undermined by the political climate at the time. Unfortunately for her, all the fear and torment she's facing is exacerbated by the supposed arrival of something else in her life. Low budget and outside of a couple of forgivable CGI sequences this actually did a really good job at building suspense and genuinely creeped me out more so than the babadook which people seemed to enjoy (thought it was decent). Really enjoyed this one.

8/10

  On 7/27/2017 at 9:12 AM, beerwolf said:

Watched the third monkey movie (really enjoyed the first 2).

Twelfth is my favourite.

no, i don't apologise.

couple of docos: Black Tar Heroin (1999) and White Light/Black Rain (2007), both by Steven Okazaki, both excellent. 

Black Tar Heroin is apparently quite acclaimed, I've only just heard of it and seen it for the first time. later I found Tracey's youtube account and sent her a short message of support to which she replied within an hour - so surreal seeing a Chrome notification pop up from someone whose life I was watching disintegrate onscreen just earlier. glad she's doing well, she's a drug advisor with a Masters degree and a family now.

White Light/Black Rain on the other hand I had heard of quite some time ago in a roundabout way, from a post by Mogwai around 2007/08 about their music being used for it. always meant to check it out but forgot about it til now. a confrontational and honest look at the after-effects of the bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki. that the survivors had to return to a desolate wasteland and scavenge to live whilst being stigmatised and rejected by their own people... that's the true horror of life. great use of music by Mogwai and Brian Eno.

Ken Russel's "The Devils" never gets old and Oliver Reed was a beautiful madman

thats up there among the best British films ever made, its flawless & relentless with it, Derek Jarman did the city set designs & if yer a certain age there are so many British character actors in it the cast cant fail

when Vanessa Redgrave gets that burned bone.........ewwwwwwwwwwwww

Ken's got a mixed spectrum, Altered States gets all the attention but check "Mahler" if you have time & a series of documentary style productions under the "Monitor" moniker, composer profiles & among his best works. They're fairly restrained in comparison to The Devils & the music is aloud to breathe.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071797/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_45

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259792/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_55

edit for div theres fkn loads on youlube

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ken+russell+monitor&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVmfu8oK3VAhWsIcAKHdeiB7gQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1366&bih=636

  On 7/29/2017 at 2:38 AM, cwmbrancity said:

thats up there among the best British films ever made, its flawless & relentless with it, Derek Jarman did the city set designs & if yer a certain age there are so many British character actors in it the cast cant fail

 

when Vanessa Redgrave gets that burned bone.........ewwwwwwwwwwwww

 

Ken's got a mixed spectrum, Altered States gets all the attention but check "Mahler" if you have time & a series of documentary style productions under the "Monitor" moniker, composer profiles & among his best works. They're fairly restrained in comparison to The Devils & the music is aloud to breathe.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071797/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_45

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259792/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_55

 

 

edit for div theres fkn loads on youlube

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ken+russell+monitor&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjVmfu8oK3VAhWsIcAKHdeiB7gQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1366&bih=636

Oh I have! He was one of the great visionaries...as uneven as his films are. The Monitor stuff is all insanely excellent, especially for a music buff. His Debussy film is probably my second favorite behind The Devils.

I actually have the Monitor works DVD's on their way from Ebay. Ordered them yesterday, which prompted me to clean off my old bootleg of the unedited Devils. 

i had never watched this until yesterday. kinda cheesy but with some good (and occasionally) bad makeup and effects. story is rather confused: a husband and wife move into the husband's old house. turns out the wife was having an affair with the hubby's brother, who just so happens to have escaped from the chap on the cover (and his buddies) who live in an alternate dimension (hell?). he's now basically, walking human tissue without skin and muscle and he's reappeared in their attic. one guess how he gets muscle and skin back

7 split human chest cavities out of 10

Be sure to watch the sequel as well. Surpasses the original in terms of batshit insanity and production design. 

Jesus wept.

Nebraska, first Hellraiser is best imo. Auditor makes a good point about the second one, but it doesn't match the creepiness and terror of the first one at all to me. It's interesting though, and definitely has some great moments. 

Avoid anything else called Hellraiser though. The rest are varying degrees of rank shit.

I agree, the first one is better as far as story and atmosphere. The sequel is like slamming back a good cold beer after the main course. They actually go really well together as a double feature.

Also agree that all other Hellraiser-related anything is garbage

The one with the dude from Nightbreed is decent, although not great. Avoid the rest.

well, netflix has only the first 2 so... i was just going to watch those and call my hellraiser viewing: done.

i also watched:

i hadn't heard of this, but shout factory just released the blur-ray and as soon as i saw judy landers and dyanne thorne, i removed my underwear and immediately began watching.

judy landers plays the teen daughter of lynn borden (take some time to laugh and judy landers playing a teen because her and her mom look the same age) who witnesses her mom being murdered by silk (ray 'i hate hiv' sharkey). she runs away, has an accident and gets amnesia. 

in order for the goons who hired silk to get some bank statements (?), they take judy sanders to a sanitarium run by mary woronov who just so happens to be doing some no good stuff and using the dames at this place for those various experiments. boobs, fights, robert z'dar and the bad guy from cruising all come together to make a b-movie that's (to put it mildly) mental.

8.5 crazy topless babes fighting in the shower out of 10

there are about 1000 films more worthy of anyone's attention than any hellraiser

Hellhole sounds fun

Hellhole 2: Hellholier