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

[wordsfromlee]

12 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Either that's the general blurb for the film or you've Tildeguy'd Mark Kermode.

Weirdly, after posting that I went onto YouTube to watch his review and saw that he’d said basically the exact same thing. Great minds and all that. 

Although I'm pretty sure we’re not the only ones to make the same connection. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by wordsfromlee

[DEF]

I've just finished The Beast Within (1982). I'd assumed it was a Werewolf movie however it really only is abit. It shares the same DNA for sure but it's also part monster and part possession movie.

17 years after his Mum is attacked and raped by a monster in the woods, teenage lad Michael becomes sick in more ways than one. Murder ensues.

The possession angle makes the whole thing both hard to follow and nonsensical but it's still pretty engaging.

The third act is when they finally pull out the full practical effects transformation and its pretty spectacular. Not quite American Werewolf or Howling spectacular but still a gooden. It's also the point when it fills in most of the narrative blanks and I came away pretty satisfied rather than just plain befuddled.

Plus it has Ronny Cox from RoboCop, Beverly Hills Cop and Total Recall in it.

As usual the Arrow Blu-ray is super. The picture is really solid and the features are ace.

Edited September 1, 2019 by DEF

[Devon Malcolm]

Yeah, I've seen that, it's enjoyably weird for the most part but it also felt like it had big chunks cut out of it. Decent twist on the werewolf film though.

[DEF]

13 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Yeah, I've seen that, it's enjoyably weird for the most part but it also felt like it had big chunks cut out of it. Decent twist on the werewolf film though.

I thought it might have had some heavy handed editing too but they mentioned in the doc on the disc that they condensed shooting some stuff to save time.

The director also points out a few shots whilst looking through the storyboards that weren't shot that would have helped make it that little bit more coherent.

Still though I feel like they fill enough of the blanks in the third act that it's retroactively satisfying.

[chokeout]

Bad times at the El Royale popped up on sky over the weekend. It really wants to be a Coen Brothers movie, but it's not quite there and has a few massive plot holes. But the cast is great and the scene where Jeff Bridges talks about his failing memory once again shows that it doesn't matter what material he's given, he's just amazing.

[Scott Malbranque]

Watched The Perfect Host last night. Starts off fantastic and then disappears clean up it's own bollocks, with what must be the laziest, most horrifically generic final third I've ever seen, given what preceded it.
I actually enjoy Clayne Crawford and sans-facial hair he looks like somebody face swapped Michael Shannon with Gavin Rossdale.

But yeah, a fucking terrible ending to what could have been a cracker.

 

[Devon Malcolm]

21 minutes ago, chokeout said:

Bad times at the El Royale popped up on sky over the weekend. It really wants to be a Coen Brothers movie, but it's not quite there and has a few massive plot holes. But the cast is great and the scene where Jeff Bridges talks about his failing memory once again shows that it doesn't matter what material he's given, he's just amazing.

I loved this film, thought it did pretty much everything really well. Already seems to be getting a better reputation since its cinema run, which I'm pleased with.

[Onyx2]

In a mood to just see some entertaining fluff, I watched Now You See Me for the first time last night. I've not been so angry watching a film since Ocean's Twelve. 

The central conceit is decent - magicians pull heists - but has the sensation of being rewritten thousands of times. There's a Robin Hood vibe, weird FBI stuff, baffling Paris angle, deception of the audience and all round intelligence insulting. It starts so well, with the 'getting the crew together' trope which I always enjoy. The characters are just starting to be defined. The tricks themselves are familiar but decent. Then they chuck it all in the bin and do magic with CGI instead. And Michael Caine appears to have enough about a third of the way through and disappears from the film. 

I wanted to do a spoiler here in tags, but if like me you haven't seen it just don't fucking bother and stew on this spoiler ok? 

The big reveal is Mark Ruffalo, the key FBI agent grumpily pursuing the magicians throughout, turns out to be the son of a master illusionist and has concocted a master plan all along to imprison Morgan Freeman. So... this guy has buily an entire career to get to a senior point in the FBI, all to ensure he can set up revenge over one person in a very specific situation? 

Christ, what a waste of time. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

19 minutes ago, Onyx2 said:

In a mood to just see some entertaining fluff, I watched Now You See Me for the first time last night. I've not been so angry watching a film since Ocean's Twelve. 

The central conceit is decent - magicians pull heists - but has the sensation of being rewritten thousands of times. There's a Robin Hood vibe, weird FBI stuff, baffling Paris angle, deception of the audience and all round intelligence insulting. It starts so well, with the 'getting the crew together' trope which I always enjoy. The characters are just starting to be defined. The tricks themselves are familiar but decent. Then they chuck it all in the bin and do magic with CGI instead. And Michael Caine appears to have enough about a third of the way through and disappears from the film. 

I wanted to do a spoiler here in tags, but if like me you haven't seen it just don't fucking bother and stew on this spoiler ok? 

The big reveal is Mark Ruffalo, the key FBI agent grumpily pursuing the magicians throughout, turns out to be the son of a master illusionist and has concocted a master plan all along to imprison Morgan Freeman. So... this guy has buily an entire career to get to a senior point in the FBI, all to ensure he can set up revenge over one person in a very specific situation? 

Christ, what a waste of time. 

I was expecting complete popcorn fluff. I knew it was going to be completely over the top and farcical so I enjoyed it. The sequel is worse though

[Devon Malcolm]

52 minutes ago, Onyx2 said:

In a mood to just see some entertaining fluff, I watched Now You See Me for the first time last night. I've not been so angry watching a film since Ocean's Twelve. 

The central conceit is decent - magicians pull heists - but has the sensation of being rewritten thousands of times. There's a Robin Hood vibe, weird FBI stuff, baffling Paris angle, deception of the audience and all round intelligence insulting. It starts so well, with the 'getting the crew together' trope which I always enjoy. The characters are just starting to be defined. The tricks themselves are familiar but decent. Then they chuck it all in the bin and do magic with CGI instead. And Michael Caine appears to have enough about a third of the way through and disappears from the film. 

I wanted to do a spoiler here in tags, but if like me you haven't seen it just don't fucking bother and stew on this spoiler ok? 

The big reveal is Mark Ruffalo, the key FBI agent grumpily pursuing the magicians throughout, turns out to be the son of a master illusionist and has concocted a master plan all along to imprison Morgan Freeman. So... this guy has buily an entire career to get to a senior point in the FBI, all to ensure he can set up revenge over one person in a very specific situation? 

Christ, what a waste of time. 

It's fucking awful. I go mad at films that stick together a cast like that and totally waste them. Louis Leterrier has been a dead loss since Transporter 2.

[Loki]

One of the few films I've turned off before the half hour point.  Irredeemable shit.

[Onyx2]

1 hour ago, Loki said:

One of the few films I've turned off before the half hour point.  Irredeemable shit 

Mrs Onyx and I stopped after about 45 minutes and said, 'this is utter crap right?' Luckily we both agreed but I was incensed enough to gut it out on the off chance it redeems itself with a clever ending. 

SPOILER it doesn't. Like Devon said, such a brilliant cast who aren't phoning it in - even Maurice - pissing away their time on such pointless shite is really frustrating. 

There's a third one in the works BTW. 

2 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

I knew it was going to be completely over the top and farcical so I enjoyed it. 

But how? What was there to enjoy? Do you get off on being twatted with a stupid stick, being fleeced by a film studio, or was the sweet and salty distraction enough? 

[Hannibal Scorch]

2 minutes ago, Onyx2 said:

 

There's a third one in the works BTW. 

But how? What was there to enjoy? Do you get off on being twatted with a stupid stick, being fleeced by a film studio, or was the sweet and salty distraction enough? 

I think it’s well known I’ve been twatted with a stupid stick.

But I literally just wrote it off as a silly little film, similar to The Fast and Furious series really. Just switch your brain off for trying to make it logical. As a popcorn flick I thought it was fine. Not great, not amazing, just passed the time. That said, I’ve never had the urge to rewatch it, just like Oceans 12 in that regard. I doubt the 3rd will get made, and after seeing the 2nd (we had nothing new to watch on Sky Movies) I won’t be bothering with it anyway. 

Thankfully Jessie and Woody are reunited in Zombieland Double Tap soon and having rewatched the first one in preparation for my Halloween Horror Nights trip, I could rewatch that film many times. Maybe I watched NYSM in a really good mood and that’s why I didn’t detest it? 

[Loki]

It was the bit where the giant holographic computer suddenly appears and offers them a job, that was where Mrs Loki and I checked out.  Switching your brain off for F&F is one thing, but a heist movie you're meant to be trying to work out the heist cleverness, not constantly spotting problems with the plot and the reality of the film.

[Chest Rockwell]

I thought it was garbage but I watched the whole thing and kind of enjoyed it even though I knew it was shit.

I think it was a combination of coasting on the goodwill I had for the cast, the concept and the start of the film that didn't suck.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Chest Rockwell