DVDs and Films You Have Watched Recently 3 - The Final Insult

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Does it feature real animal death? I really can't stomach that shit.

 

It does, and it's very harrowing.

 

I strongly disapprove of that shit, it's not clever and it's not art, it's just a cheap nasty shock.

 

(haven't seen this film so I'm referring to what are probably similar scenes in Cannibal Holocaust etc)

 

They're not really the same at all. You have to see the film and see the message at the end to understand the context.

 

Ah I see, I put the bit in brackets because there's nothing worse than someone getting outraged about something they haven't seen. Still won't be able to watch it though, if you've got a spare minute and want to spoiler what happens and the message for me that would be good of you. My curiosity is piqued but I really can't watch it.

[Devon Malcolm]

Ah I see, I put the bit in brackets because there's nothing worse than someone getting outraged about something they haven't seen. Still won't be able to watch it though, if you've got a spare minute and want to spoiler what happens and the message for me that would be good of you. My curiosity is piqued but I really can't watch it.

 

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

They go on a hunting expedition hunting kangaroos. You see a few shootings of them. But then the scene ends with them boxing a couple of them, and that's probably the hardest bit to stomach.

 

I looked away at that bit. It was hard viewing. There is a message at the end of the film saying that it was all overseen by a humane association and that these events occurred during a proper licensed hunt. Can't see that kind of thing ever happening these days, though!

 

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Ah I see, I put the bit in brackets because there's nothing worse than someone getting outraged about something they haven't seen. Still won't be able to watch it though, if you've got a spare minute and want to spoiler what happens and the message for me that would be good of you. My curiosity is piqued but I really can't watch it.

 

SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

But then the scene ends with them boxing a couple of them, and that's probably the hardest bit to stomach.

 

 

 

What? SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

As in human vs kangaroo fighting?

[Astro Hollywood]

I went on the Wiki page, because I really want to see this, but can't stomach animal cruelty scenes, so I scrolled down to the Controversy section. Regarding the disclaimer at the end:

 

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

In addition to the film's atmosphere of sordid realism, the kangaroo hunting scene contains graphic footage of kangaroos actually being shot. A disclaimer at the conclusion of the movie states:

 

Producers' Note. Photography of the hunting scenes in this film took place during an actual kangaroo hunt conducted by licensed professional hunters. No kangaroos were expressly killed for this motion picture. Because the survival of the Australian kangaroo is seriously threatened these scenes were included with approval of leading animal welfare organisations in Australia and the United Kingdom.

 

The hunt lasted several hours, and gradually wore down the filmmakers. According to cinematographer Brian West, "the hunters were getting really drunk and they started to miss, ... It was becoming this orgy of killing and we [the crew] were getting sick of it." Kangaroos hopped about helplessly with gun wounds and trailing intestines. Producer George Willoughby reportedly fainted after seeing a kangaroo "splattered in a particularly spectacular fashion". The crew orchestrated a power failure in order to end the hunt.

 

At the 2009 Cannes Classic screening of Wake in Fright, 12 people walked out during the kangaroo hunt.

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();

 

Similarly, I put on Who Can Kill a Child? last night, having never seen it before, because it seemed the most summery of the classic 70s Italian horrors, but it starts with ten full minutes of horrific news footage of various atrocities. Barely seconds in, and there's a lingering scene of a bunch of emaciated corpses being tipped into a mass grave during the Holocaust. Also, most of the dead bodies you see from the various wars and stuff (lots) are children, as it's making some weird, and pointless connection with how children are the ones who suffer the most in conflict and famine. But it's a fun little film, and you'd miss nothing by skipping the first ten minutes, I just felt a bit blindsided and queasy.

[Sergio Mendacious]

I went on the Wiki page, because I really want to see this, but can't stomach animal cruelty scenes, so I scrolled down to the Controversy section. Regarding the disclaimer at the end:

 

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

In addition to the film's atmosphere of sordid realism, the kangaroo hunting scene contains graphic footage of kangaroos actually being shot. A disclaimer at the conclusion of the movie states:

 

Producers' Note. Photography of the hunting scenes in this film took place during an actual kangaroo hunt conducted by licensed professional hunters. No kangaroos were expressly killed for this motion picture. Because the survival of the Australian kangaroo is seriously threatened these scenes were included with approval of leading animal welfare organisations in Australia and the United Kingdom.

 

The hunt lasted several hours, and gradually wore down the filmmakers. According to cinematographer Brian West, "the hunters were getting really drunk and they started to miss, ... It was becoming this orgy of killing and we [the crew] were getting sick of it." Kangaroos hopped about helplessly with gun wounds and trailing intestines. Producer George Willoughby reportedly fainted after seeing a kangaroo "splattered in a particularly spectacular fashion". The crew orchestrated a power failure in order to end the hunt.

 

At the 2009 Cannes Classic screening of Wake in Fright, 12 people walked out during the kangaroo hunt.

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();

 

Similarly, I put on Who Can Kill a Child? last night, having never seen it before, because it seemed the most summery of the classic 70s Italian horrors, but it starts with ten full minutes of horrific news footage of various atrocities. Barely seconds in, and there's a lingering scene of a bunch of emaciated corpses being tipped into a mass grave during the Holocaust. Also, most of the dead bodies you see from the various wars and stuff (lots) are children, as it's making some weird, and pointless connection with how children are the ones who suffer the most in conflict and famine. But it's a fun little film, and you'd miss nothing by skipping the first ten minutes, I just felt a bit blindsided and queasy.

 

It's not Italian, bro, it's Espangnole. I've never seen Who Can Kill a Child?, although that was a decent era for Spanish shockers, outside of the Paul Naschy movies. I didn't bore through the synopsis, as I would like to see it

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

hint, hint

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();, but it sounds like that Brit horror The Children, which I quite liked, along with obviously lots of other killer kids films. Anyone here seen Devil Times Five?

 

I could see the point of the animal killing in Wake in Fright, and it's obviously not as cheap and exploitative as in the Italo cannibal movies (John Morghen and R. Bolla both tell stories about the shit that directors tried to put their actors through to do real animal killings when fake would suffice), but it's very chilling.

[Loki]

Great film and companion piece for...Picnic At Hanging Rock, I reckon.

 

Sold. Loved Picnic - a really enthralling movie. Peter Weir has a really good CV, it's a pity he seems to have stopped making films more or less.

[bAzTNM#1]

Worst bit of animal cruelty I've ever watched, that I didn't expect to happen, was in "Shaft in Africa" of all things. Some guy smacks a dog with a shotgun and it looks awfully real. I must have a strange, very uncut DVD. Nobody else has that version. In other versions, it supposedly just cuts off, then goes to them putting the obviously dead dog into a grave. No way they are faking that in 1974.

[Devon Malcolm]

Great film and companion piece for...Picnic At Hanging Rock, I reckon.

 

Sold. Loved Picnic - a really enthralling movie. Peter Weir has a really good CV, it's a pity he seems to have stopped making films more or less.

 

His last film was only a couple of years ago so there's a chance he'll make another one fairly soon as he tends to pick and choose his projects quite carefully. His run of films from the mid-70s to the late 80s was marvellous.

[Scott Malbranque]

Tried to watch the 2010. Got about 40 minutes into it, and changed over to The Age of Innocence. Put the part with Helen Mirren in the raw on the beach on A-B loop and pulled the stomach out of myself.

Will try again tonight.

[WWFChilli]

Just finished watching the pilot of Twin Peaks with the missus. I absolutely love it. Completely bizarre yet really captivating. Deffo squeezing a few more episodes in today.

[Scott Malbranque]

Twin Peaks is a fascinating show, let down slightly by the Fire Walk With Me flick, but every time I think of the Peaks now, I just think 'This Suit Burns Better. Look' and of course, this summed it up admirably :

[WWFChilli]

Twin Peaks is a fascinating show, let down slightly by the Fire Walk With Me flick, but every time I think of the Peaks now, I just think 'This Suit Burns Better. Look' and of course, this summed it up admirably :

 

Haha, besides it's awesome theme tune, the two Simpsons references are the only things I knew of it. It's a surreal show. Great stuff. Spoiler free please lads

[Loki]

Twin Peaks is a fascinating show, let down slightly by the Fire Walk With Me flick,

 

I'm amazed you're not a fan of that film, considering the extensive seedy sex scenes. My 15 year old self loved it. I actually don't think it was that bad either in retrospect. Less damaging than parts of series 2 anyway.

[Dirty Eddie]

I found that the biggest difference between the series and Fire Walk With Me was that the film lacked a lot of the humour of the series. Some of my favourite bits in the show are the amusing bits of banter and I love David Lynch's portrayal of Gordon Cole. The film is a bit more serious and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the series.

[Scott Malbranque]

I'm amazed you're not a fan of that film, considering the extensive seedy sex scenes. My 15 year old self loved it. I actually don't think it was that bad either in retrospect. Less damaging than parts of series 2 anyway.

Yeah, Series 2 had a few howlers. I'm very fond of Twin Peaks on the whole though, coz when it was first out, I used to watch reruns of Miami Vice and Twin Peaks with me ma.

I must rewatch Fire Walk With Me actually, but the last time I saw it was 15 years ago. They recast Lara Flynn Boyle with Moira Kelly didn't they? Moira Kelly is fucking stunning. Only saw her in The Cutting Edge on MGM the other night.