VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[JLM]

3 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Hope 

Korea has had an issue for many years with its genre films being far longer than they need to be. So when I saw this was 160 minutes long I didn't think I'd bother with it. But in the absence of having anything else to do I went to see it - and it's a fucking blast. Just a great time. Almost never stops for the entire running time, is very funny at times, and the action is fantastic. I didn't care for the very ending but the car chase before that was one of the best for many years. One of the best times I've had at the cinema all year.

 

Spoiler

Yeah the car chase is phenomenal. I don’t disagree that the ending was flat but it had built up so much good will with that spectacular sequence that it carried me over the line with ease. I had got my money’s worth before the ending. The bit where the lights come off the top of the police car got my friend to go “OOHHH!” Really loudly and totally involuntarily. Everyone looked at him, was very funny. 

 

Edited Saturday at 12:24 AM by JLM

[SaitoRyo]

The Dark Wind

The first (and so far only) feature film from the great documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. Adapted from the book of the same now, which was later adapted into the TV series Dark Winds. This isn't as good as the TV series, but it was alright. It's a fairly low-key mystery/drama. Slow pace, but engaging at times (not so much at other times). Lou Diamond Phillips is decent as the lead.

Mr. Woodcock

Wife's choice as we couldn't decide on anything and had seen it before a long time ago, so it was somewhat familiar. Apparently everyone hated this when it was released, including the critics, lead actors and director. I thought it was really funny in places, actually, mainly due to Billy Bob Thornton, who gets to play a real asshole and does it well. 80 minutes, too, which is a bonus.

The Legend of Billie Jean

The poster of this had always confused me and made me think it was some 80s roller derby sports drama or something. It's not. It's a bout a bunch of kids who are accused of doing something they didn't do and run away from the cops, becoming folk heroes to teens throughout Texas. I really liked it and thought Helen Slater was excellent in the title role. 

[gmoney]

De Palma

Really good, simple documentary with Brian De Palma thoughtfully and succinctly talking about his movies chronologically. I really enjoyed him addressing his Hitchcock lifting by saying people claim Alf was an influential director but he's the only one who uses his techniques regularly in his work. Aye Brian, whatever works for you. He is responsible for some of my favourite movies (Body Double, The Untouchables), flawed but super enjoyable films (Phantom of the Paradise), one of the worst films I've ever seen (The Black Dahlia) and all sorts in between. Makes you wonder why there aren't more straightforward director overviews like this out there. 

Obsession (1976)

A gap in my BDP filmography. Beautiful looking, one of the more egregious Hitchcock influenced films. It's really engrossing with some good twists, one you'll spot a mile off, others not so much. Cliff Robertson in the lead though, does as little as I have seen an actor do in a film. It sort of works sometimes, but a lot of the time it doesn't. 

Digger

I'm glad I knew next to nothing about this, I would suggest that's the way to go in. There were points especially early on where I was rolling my eyes, but by the end I was swept away. 

[Dr. Alan Grant]

I’m watching a horror film every day this month, but only ones I haven’t seen before.

Finally got around to watching Night Of The Living Dead after having it on my internal watchlist for about 30 years. Fuck me, it’s bloody good isn’t it? I was worried that its classic status would be too much to live up to, but I loved it. I’m glad Mr Cooper died. Twat. Horribly bleak ending too. Dawn Of The Dead next! 

[Chris B]

2 hours ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

Finally got around to watching Night Of The Living Dead after having it on my internal watchlist for about 30 years. Fuck me, it’s bloody good isn’t it? I was worried that its classic status would be too much to live up to, but I loved it. I’m glad Mr Cooper died. Twat. Horribly bleak ending too. Dawn Of The Dead next! 

I honestly think it's one of the most important films of the 20th Century.

I also saw Digger over the weekend, and thought it was neither a disaster nor a masterpiece. It was fine. You're not missing out that much if you don't see it. You didn't make a mistake if you do see it. I do think it was a brave move to cast John Goodman in the film considering he would have knocked the ball out of the fucking park if he'd played Digger. I thought Cruise was just okay. With Goodman in the role, it'd have cost a lot less money and probably made less. But I'd have liked it more.

[Weezenal]

Lucky enough to see Laika’s latest film Wildwood at the World Premiere yesterday. It’s a stunning, epic, instant classic! Highly recommend seeings it at the cinema when it’s out.

Apparently it took 16 years to make, and has some of the best stop-motion you will ever see.

[BarryOVega]

Picked up Hard Eight last week as it's had a release on 88 blu ray, Boogie Nights is one of my favourite films so always wanted to see it

4 stars on Letterboxd, great acting, especially Gwyneth Paltrow, unless I'm forgetting something obvious she's never worked with PTA again, can't wait to watch with the directors commentary

[SaitoRyo]

17 hours ago, gmoney said:

De Palma

Really good, simple documentary with Brian De Palma thoughtfully and succinctly talking about his movies chronologically. I really enjoyed him addressing his Hitchcock lifting by saying people claim Alf was an influential director but he's the only one who uses his techniques regularly in his work. Aye Brian, whatever works for you. He is responsible for some of my favourite movies (Body Double, The Untouchables), flawed but super enjoyable films (Phantom of the Paradise), one of the worst films I've ever seen (The Black Dahlia) and all sorts in between. Makes you wonder why there aren't more straightforward director overviews like this out there. 

Obsession (1976)

A gap in my BDP filmography. Beautiful looking, one of the more egregious Hitchcock influenced films. It's really engrossing with some good twists, one you'll spot a mile off, others not so much. Cliff Robertson in the lead though, does as little as I have seen an actor do in a film. It sort of works sometimes, but a lot of the time it doesn't. 

I went to see the De Palma doc at the BFI Southbank when it was first released and remember having a really good time with it. I've always been interested by De Palma, even if some of his later stuff is awful. That early 70s to mid-90s era produced some fantastic stuff though. Sisters, Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Body Double, Scarface, The Untouchables, Carlito's Way...

I mean, that's a hell of an output, plus stuff like Phantom, Obsession, Raising Cain and more I'm probaby forgetting. He obviously borrows a lot from Hitchcock in certain films, but he's a great director in his own right and doesn't deserve the 'rip-off' tag imo. 

[Lorne Malvo]

I've been slowly rebuilding my DVD/Blu-Ray collection lately. A few years back I got rid of the lot (reckon I had inbetween 1500 and 2000) when I downsized, so I'm pretty much starting from scratch. I've been picking up a lot of early to mid noughties stuff (anything that I can find for cheap) and it's made me realise that I can enjoy a lot of shit if enough time has passed between it coming out and me watching it. 

Tears Of The Sun - A Bruce Willis war vehicle, it's fine but Antoine Fuqua struggles with the action/shoot-out scenes meaning there's a whole load of build-up for an anticlimactic finish. 

Hostel - I had a memory this was all tits and torture porn. I mean, 90% of it is, but it does a half-decent job of building up suspense and creepiness before it gets to the torture stuff. Better than I remembered, but still pretty cack.

Stealth - A ridiculously stupid Top Gear rip-off that makes no sense at all. I loved it!

Into The Blue - Has anybody ever had a more smackable face than Scott Caan? This was alright. 

SWAT - Christ Colin Farrell is ridiculously attractive. Another one that's pretty daft but I still had a lot of fun with. I think I just really miss mid-budget stuff like this meaning I've got a lot of time for even the most middling ones.

The Exorcism Of Emily Rose - A really interesting horror/courtroom film, unfortunately it runs out of steam around 3/4s of the way through and doesn't wrap up the horror side of things at all. Worth a watch though.

Ultraviolet - Utter shite. A whole movie of early 00s music video visuals, a boring unoriginal 'story' and horrible performances across the board. One to avoid. 

Edited Tuesday at 09:33 AM by Lorne Malvo

[SaitoRyo]

Homegrown

A group of dope growers agree to proceed with a big-money deal even after their big boss is killed. They find themselves in way over their heads and double-crossing ensues.

Eh, this one didn't do too much for me. It's meant to be a dark comedy/crime drama, but it's not funny or dramatic enough. Absolutely mental cast, mind, as Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria, Ryan Phillippe, Kelly Lynch, John Lithgow, Judge Reinhold, Jamie Lee Curtis and Mr. Bovine Joni himself all star. But yeah, this was just sort of there, with a few standout scenes but not really enough to make the whole movie worthwhile. Billy Bob is good as usual, mind.

[FLips]

A Nightmare on Elm Street 1-6

I think ultimately they all have something to offer, regardless of film quality. Even the worst ones have Robert Englund putting in 100% and they experiment with weird camera tricks and practical effects. That being said it really is a mixed bag. 1 and 3 are great films, 2 and 4 are good but the former is too far seperated from the rest of the series and the latter loses all frights in favour of full-on catchphrases and nonsense. 5 and 6 have interesting ideas but are pretty rubbish.

I hear 7 is good, and Freddy vs Jason was good fun from what I remember but our boxset only has the canon films so that’s all we watched.

I’d put em 1342……56

Best kills per film for me:

1. Johnny Depp spraying all over the ceiling
2. Homoerotic towel whipping
3. Puppet guy with Freddy in the sky like Mufasa
4. Guy has a wet dream
5. Lad gets Comix Zoned
6. Nails on a chalkboard (this one is pretty spiteful)

Edited yesterday at 08:57 PM by FLips

[gmoney]

I really like the first one, the second was really interesting and I also think the third isn't bad, but after that they drop way off for me. They get bogged down in lore I couldn't give a toss about and they end up being really grating. New Nightmare is a lot of fun though. 

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Absolutely love Dream Warriors, mainly because Bravo would seemingly show it every Saturday for around a month or two 

The original is still the best Nightmare though, the work they had to put in for the Johnny Depp kill was something else, essentially they filmed it upside down then flipped the footage 

If you can, check out the massive documentary on the series, Never Sleep Again, runs around 4.5 hours and covers everything from concept to marketing to merchandise to the TV series but iirc it leaves out the 2010 remake

[DavidB6937]

The first one still makes me nervous and I love that. The music really sets the scene from the beginning and there's just such a great build up of tension. He's presented as nasty and creepy with a side of wisecracks which is the best balance, rather than them leaning too into the latter with the sequels. It goes from being genuinely unsettling to "ooh I wonder what he'll do next!" in the sequels. A bit like how Saw became all about the traps.

[SaitoRyo]

Always loved the Nightmare on Elm Street films as a kid and the Never Sleep Again documentary is really good, too. Tend to agree about 1 and 3 being the best of the bunch, but I have fond memories of them all. New Nightmare was a good return to Freddy actually being scary again. 

Anyway...

Fire in the Sky

A member of a logging crew is abducted in the Arizona mountains in 1975. The rest of the crew are distraught by what they have witnessed, but the local townspeople suspect murder. Based on a 'true story'.

Where the fuck did this come from? I'd never even heard of it before but loved it. It's more of a paranoid small-town drama with some sci-fi/horror elements, rather than a full-blown sci-fi film, and that's fine by me. Looking at reviews online, people seem bored/irritated by small town stuff and just want to see aliens, but I liked it all. It's got a very effective atmosphere and there's some great performances in there. Honestly surprised it's not talked up more (or at all), outside of one particular scene.

Will definitely watch this one again at some point down the road.