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Loki & Gladstone's Film Club 2: The Quickening


Devon Malcolm

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It's just like the old one except better because it will have more new features and ideas that we will get bored of after a week than the previous one did, and also because me and Loki are even more pretentious than we were a few months' ago.

 

I'll also be keeping a list of all the films we feature in our lists in this first post after a while.

 

THIS WEEK'S TOP 10 (up until Wednesday, anyway, because there's loads of great stuff on this week):-

 

* Goldfinger (1964) - Sat 20th Aug. 15:30-17:35 on ITV1 - "LOOK. LET'S ALL HAVE GOLDFINGER AND THEN PACK IT IN! OKAY?!"

 

* Die Hard (1988) - Sat 20th Aug. 21:00-23:35 on Channel 4 - For me, the sign of any really truly fun film is the fact that you have to watch it every time you see it on the TV. For me, that list reads - Jaws, Die Hard, Aliens, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Friday The 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan. My favourite moments are still the introduction of Johnson and Johnson and "Now I have a machine-gun. Ho! Ho! Ho!" - except in Alan Rickman's wonderful German impression speaking voice, obviously. By the way, a special prize for the first person to correctly crack the Die Hard Code.

 

* Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) - Sat 20th Aug. 22:00-23:40 on E4 - Before Charlie Sheen became a completely boring, ubiquitous flavour of the month irritant after being sacked from some shit sitcom that should never have got more than one series anyway, he was a fine film actor who successfully managed to produce quality performances across many genres of films. Part Deux is slightly better than the original and although it has dated somewhat due to how topical it largely is, it's tremendously and hilariously daft and in it Sheen shows he could well have been the new Leslie Nielsen. Instead, he did Terminal Velocity and The Chase. Tit.

 

* Eden Lake (2008) - Sat 20th Aug. 22:35-00:30 on ITV4 - I had an argument a while back with some Daily Mail reading fanny on the IMDb forums (I'll never learn) who claimed this film should have been banned in the UK. All the more reason to have it around, I would say. I know it's hated in many quarters for one or two admittedly really stupid plot points, but I think it's a genuinely disturbing thriller that really got into my head in particular with its ending, but also with several earlier scenes, with acting of the highest calibre particularly from Jack O'Connell. Put that lad in more stuff. One of the very best British films of the last 10 years.

 

* 28 Weeks Later (2007) - Sun 21st Aug. 23:05-00:55 on Film4 - I know I'm not going to get anyone to agree with me, but here is a rare example of a horror sequel that tops the original. Don't get me wrong, 28 Days Later is mostly a superb film but it slightly lost my interest in the last 25-30 minutes or so. This doesn't do that. Relentlessly grim and nasty with no humour to speak of, and offering seemingly no hope to any of the main protagonists, I absolutely loved it. Any sign of the next one?

 

* Zulu (1963) - Mon 22nd Aug. 12:45-15:25 on Film4 - It's made the list before, and probably will again. Michael Caine, Stanley Baker, Nigel Green and Jack Hawkins - now THAT is a cast.

 

* GLADSTONE'S PICK OF THE WEEK - Hidden (2005) - Tue 23rd Aug. 00:50-02:55 on Channel 4 - Now, Michael Haneke is quite often too pretentious even for me (although I still love him), and I love pretentious, slow moving continental arthouse stuff. But Hidden is exceptionally good in every way. Start with the acting - Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil are almost always brilliant so you could not ask for much more, but even by their standards they put in shifts that will surely be right at the pinnacle of their respective careers when they are done. Auteuil, especially, is amazing. Perhaps even better than that is the fact that Haneke seems to be a bit more playful than he usually is and as such crafts a thriller that keeps you guessing all the way through to a very cheeky ending. It is a masterpiece.

 

* Cronos - Tue 23rd Aug. 22:45-00:30 on Film4 - Another film from Film4's ongoing and excellent modern horror season, this is the one which put Guillermo Del Toro on the map. It's a great little film but I think more than anything, this....

 

* The Devil's Backbone - Wed 24th Aug. 23:50-01:55 on Film4 - ....and this show why I wish Del Toro would stick to making stuff in Spanish and not piddle around with cacky Hollywood horror films and comic book shit that I don't care about. The most remarkable thing about this film, and there are many things remarkable about it, is that the brilliant Federico Luppi is even better in this than he was in Cronos.

 

SHIT TO AVOID:-

 

Dirty Dancing is beloved of women in their mid to late thirties as well as the odd few other soppy twats, but is of course a right load of idiotic shit. Why do people give Michael Bay so much shit when Roland Emmerich is at least 10 times worse, as is evidenced by 10,000 BC? Still, both of them should be given some fucking respect for The Rock and Universal Soldier respectively. Also, Cheaper By The Dozen 2 does have Steve Martin in it and, being as unfunny as he is in it, reminds you of his classic encounter with Dennis Pennis.

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Hidden is such a sexy film, and if I may be pretentious for a moment, has the best music soundtrack of any film in ages, in that it has practically none. Sound design is a real treat. Also, Auteil is a seriously heavyweight contender for greatest screen actor of all time. He's just incredible. The depth of emotion he's capable of portraying through the smallest movements is unmatched even by the great American method actors.

 

I'm not sure I can explain what exactly happens at the end, but it's fucking brilliant anyway.

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What's everyone's least favourite Michael Haneke film? Mine is The Piano Teacher, with Funny Games running it a close second.

 

I wasn't as big on The Piano Teacher as his other stuff, either. In the end it was just about worth it for

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Isabelle Huppert's fanny restructuring

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();.

 

Loki, I'm glad you mentioned the sound in Hidden because it's not something I usually focus on in a film, but with this film I really noticed it. And not just because it's a film almost without music (more films should try it, it works so well on the right type of film). You are obviously more of an expert on this subject than me, how does the sound here rate compared to other great films you rate in that field?

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The Die Hard code is 1,2,3 (4 never really felt like a Die Hard film and although I love 3 McClaine shouldnt have a partner/sidekick unless he is cut down in a hail of evil terrorist gunfire)

 

Good Call on Eden Lake, what was the guys argument for it being banned?

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The Die Hard code is 1,2,3 (4 never really felt like a Die Hard film and although I love 3 McClaine shouldnt have a partner/sidekick unless he is cut down in a hail of evil terrorist gunfire)

 

Good Call on Eden Lake, what was the guys argument for it being banned?

 

Wrong on the Die Hard Code.

 

This guy's theory was that it should be banned in the UK because the type of chav scum portrayed in the film were far too close to the type of scum you get right the way across the country, and therefore it might persuade them to start copying the things in the film. Something along those lines.

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What's everyone's least favourite Michael Haneke film? Mine is The Piano Teacher, with Funny Games running it a close second.

For me it's

 

Benny's Video

La Pianiste

Funny Games

Hidden

The White Ribbon

Code Unknown

Time of the Wolf

Funny Games

The Seventh Continent

71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance

 

I could see Hidden rise on a rewatch, The Piano Teacher certainly did i hated it on first watch.

 

Nope. Nearly, though.

No, for once he's right. Len Wiseman should have his dick cut off for 4.0.

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I'm with Triple A on the Die Hard series, 3 stands up better now than 2 does. Plus, if McClane is to have a partner who better than Samuel L fucking Jackson? Also, Die Hard 4 was fucking horrible & should be regressed/ignored.

 

I really liked Eden Lake. It split critics on its release, I think Empire gave it 4s tars but Total Film gave it 1? I found it scary, well acted all round plus it gets an extra star by just having Michael Fassbender in it who's awesome in everything, liked the ending too.

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