SaitoRyo Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 Trackdown A rancher's sister from Montana takes off for LA and finds out very quickly that it isn't the City of Angels she thinks it is, as she is immediately taken advantage of and abused in horrible ways. Her cowboy brother decides to track her down - it's a trackdown, folks - showing up to do the job that LA officials refuse to do. It's a very bleak exploitationer, with a few notable people like Erik Estrada and Anne Archer playing key roles. James Mitchum plays the vengeful brother. He's not the actor his father Robert was, but he really, really looks like him, so that's nice and distracting. It's alright (if not predictable) but, as I said, rather bleak. Sort of like a mashup of Death Wish and Hardcore, though not as memorable as either of those. There's a very nice copy on YouTube, for the curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_gordo Posted October 15 Share Posted October 15 9 hours ago, Dr. Alan Grant said: Notting Hill (first watch) - loved it. Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts at their most Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. A wonderful supporting cast too. I think I may love Gina McKee. 4/5 I love Notting Hill. It's a real comfort watch for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members johnnyboy Posted October 15 Paid Members Share Posted October 15 17 minutes ago, cobra_gordo said: I love Notting Hill. It's a real comfort watch for me. Yes, even Ronan Keating's version of "When You Say Nothing At All" cannot stop Notting Hill from holding a special place in my heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted October 17 Share Posted October 17 Electra Glide in Blue I really liked this. The sort of thing that could only really be made during the American New Wave. It's about a highway patrolman in the Arizona desert who desperately wants to be a detective. He stumbles upon what he suspects is a murder case (which seems farfetched in the moment) and gets his shot but then encounters all sorts of shadiness and corruption. That's what it's about, but it's not really about that. It's mainly about the cop, who is played very well by Robert Blake. There are a lot of scenes of him just doing his job patrolling the highway, which probably could have been cut to help the pacing of the film, but they somehow feel essential and it all builds to an engrossing final fifteen or twenty minutes. Would definitely recommend this for fans of offbeat seventies crime films/character studies. It didn't deserve the critical drubbing it received when it was released and it ought to have more of a cult following now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted October 17 Paid Members Share Posted October 17 (edited) 2 hours ago, SaitoRyo said: Electra Glide in Blue I really liked this. The sort of thing that could only really be made during the American New Wave. It's about a highway patrolman in the Arizona desert who desperately wants to be a detective. He stumbles upon what he suspects is a murder case (which seems farfetched in the moment) and gets his shot but then encounters all sorts of shadiness and corruption. That's what it's about, but it's not really about that. It's mainly about the cop, who is played very well by Robert Blake. There are a lot of scenes of him just doing his job patrolling the highway, which probably could have been cut to help the pacing of the film, but they somehow feel essential and it all builds to an engrossing final fifteen or twenty minutes. Would definitely recommend this for fans of offbeat seventies crime films/character studies. It didn't deserve the critical drubbing it received when it was released and it ought to have more of a cult following now. I watched this last year with friends, posted on this thread too, I think. Bizarrely, Robert Blake died the next week. He was...a fairly problematic person, to put it mildly. Have to admit he was good in this, and I really liked the film overall. It's kind of got everything - it's got that odd 70s arthouse feel, but also got good action/chase scenes, tension, light-heartedness, good cinematography making the most of the Arizona desert (making it look like one of d-d-daz' dinner plates), and they manage to pack a lot of detail into the characters in a really short space of time. They even stick the ending. It's not what I would have gone for, but it makes perfect sense, and rounds the film off well. EDIT: Also, being what would now be considered by modern standards to be a "short king", I really like that they make it a big part of Johnny Wintergreen's character that he's small, but bad-ass and a legit ladies' man. Edited October 17 by Carbomb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted October 18 Paid Members Share Posted October 18 (edited) Alien Romulus Not good. Not good at all. A collection of ridiculous set pieces surrounded by a convoluted, overstuffed and dull story. Characters so forgettable, bland, unbelievable and one note you can barely even call them characters - angry guy, guy who swears a lot, bald girl, pregnant girl, Cailee Spaeny (who deserves so much more than this) as girl who looks sad and mostly cries and David Jonsson as the only character who you immediately form an emotional connection to but then 30 minutes in has a character change and becomes completely uninteresting afterwards. The late Ian Holm turns up via CG effects so bad I have no idea how anyone involved in the making of the film approved it. Some of the film looks pretty good but it's mostly the same grey/orange smudge that seems so popular with filmmakers these days. The aliens themselves barely feel like much of a threat and don't really do anything new or exciting for the most part. It's all so fucking pointless. The past few years of big action/adventure/sci fi films has pretty much convinced me that Hollywood don't really know how to make these type of films anymore and audience standards are so low they're not expecting better. It's a huge shame. I'll give it 1 out of 10. The 1 is for Spaeny and Jonsson doing their best with what they could. Edited October 18 by LaGoosh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted October 18 Paid Members Share Posted October 18 A Different Man (cinema) A close contender (with The Zone of Interest and The Holdovers) for the best film of the year. Challenging but unexpectedly and extremely funny, especially in its latter stages, about facial disfigurement and ableism, it's exactly the film those subjects needed. Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson and my new fiancee Renate Reinsve are all amazing. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (cinema) Nah. About as lazy as you could get. Tim Burton clearly didn't really want to do it and it shows. Winona goes for it and is the best thing here, it somehow wastes Jenna Ortega, but the Jeffrey Jones-related stuff was.... odd. Not good at all. Timestalker (cinema) A really good and unique idea which, in the tradition of many good and unique ideas, doesn't really know what to do with it. It's quite funny but repetitive after a while. There's something here but it never quite finds it. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Mubi) Cute, funny and beautifully acted French-Canadian horror comedy about a vampire who can't bring herself to kill. Sara Montpetit is going to be a massive star. And yes, the title really is what it's about. Long Weekend (1978) (DailyMotion) It took me way too long to watch this. Maybe one of the greatest Australian films ever made, and there's not been much like it since on the eco-thriller / horror front. Mines its tension from the worst couple in the world and awesome sound design. Weird but with justification. The Witch (Tubi) Stands up to a rewatch extremely well. I'd forgotten how bleak it was - so much so that its ending could be considered a happy one. Ridiculous that it's nearly 10 years old, and fair to say Anya Taylor-Joy has lived up to the promise she showed here. 30 Days of Night (Plex) This is still a really strong vampire film, even if you can excuse the piss awful soundtrack. Good concept (remote Alaskan town besieged by vampires during its dark month) and remarkably violent and gory. And Melissa George. The First Omen Not bad at all. Not quite as good as is being suggested because it's too long and too reliant on its death scenes. But its birth scenes and ending are superb and Nell Tiger-Free is really good. Worth a sequel. Lowlifes (Tubi) This is being talked up as the surprise horror film of the year but it's quite shit. It's impressively nasty at times but it blows its one big idea early on and falls back on some awful character work. No surprises, not much going for it. Night Swim Very bad, as reported, but Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon go a long way with me. I had a good time but it's a stupid piece of shit. Afraid Same could apply to this except with Katherine Waterston and John Cho. What were they thinking?! Havana Rose Liu and David Dastmalchian have a laugh with their roles but this is laughably moronic - I couldn't not be entertained by it a bit though. The Final Girls Surprisingly sweet comedy slasher film that should have been a cracking franchise rather than a standalone. Taissa Farmiga is a better actor than her big sister. Yeah I said it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted October 18 Paid Members Share Posted October 18 26 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: A Different Man (cinema) A close contender (with The Zone of Interest and The Holdovers) for the best film of the year. Challenging but unexpectedly and extremely funny, especially in its latter stages, about facial disfigurement and ableism, it's exactly the film those subjects needed. Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson and my new fiancee Renate Reinsve are all amazing.  I'm glad this is good. Adam Pearson is a Croydon local, and a lovely fella. I also saw him guest referee a Kapow wrestling show in Selsdon town hall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Alan Grant Posted October 18 Share Posted October 18 14 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: 30 Days of Night (Plex) And Melissa George. If you haven’t already, seek out Triangle for more Melissa George horror goodness. Dune - I’ve rewatched this in preparation for watching part 2 on the weekend. I wasn’t a fan at all the first time round, but enjoyed it a lot more this time. And I think I know why. The first time I saw it 2 years ago was on a dodgy stream site. The picture was great, but there were no subtitles. As someone who has subtitles on everything I watch, I find that I absorb the story more so when subtitles are present. No idea why. Science, I guess. So with Dune, where there are a lot of strange names and specific jargon terms, a lot of the plot details were lost on me on the first viewing. It made a lot more sense this time. And Rebecca Ferguson is a goddess. 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted October 18 Paid Members Share Posted October 18 8 minutes ago, Dr. Alan Grant said: If you haven’t already, seek out Triangle for more Melissa George horror goodness. I've been posting propaganda about this film on here for over a decade, I think. Great film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted October 19 Paid Members Share Posted October 19 (edited) 8 hours ago, gmoney said: Adam Pearson is a Croydon local, and a lovely fella I used to see him in Black Sheep all the time back in the day so when he popped up in Under the Skin it blew my mind. Thrilled for him. Edited October 19 by LaGoosh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted October 19 Moderators Share Posted October 19 (edited) Oh shit I thought that was him when I saw the trailer! Nice. Edited October 19 by Chest Rockwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHighlightReel Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 11 hours ago, gmoney said: I'm glad this is good. Adam Pearson is a Croydon local, and a lovely fella. I also saw him guest referee a Kapow wrestling show in Selsdon town hall. He’s a regular in my partners friend’s bar Riff Raffs (awful name for a bar). Really nice bloke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted October 19 Paid Members Share Posted October 19 I've seen him in Riff Raffs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beachflies Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 I've just watched The Wild Robot, which is an animation based on a book series I'm a fan of. It's lovely, warm and sweetly funny in places. I also bawled much of the way through it. Take tissues. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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