VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[FLips]

If Akira is still showing in my local after payday I'm planning on getting over to seeing it. We also planned to go see Project Hail Mary but then thought about Mario Galaxy instead. When the reviews of Mario came out, we ended up not seeing either!

Watched a couple of films during work yesterday.

True Romance
Thought this was really fun. I knew Tarantino had his fingers in the pie and that was a bit obvious at the start with the Kung Fu love, but then very fucking obvious during the Dennis Hopper/Christopher Walken scene. I think he only wrote this though, Tony Scott directs I believe.
One for that thread we have with big casts, all sorts of people rock up in this one. It said Val Kilmer was in it and I had no idea til the credits ran he was Elvis. I really enjoyed this, thought it was exciting from pretty much start to finish. Weirdly I told my wife later in the evening I had watched it and she said she had been talking to a patient about watching The Sopranos and he recommended it because James Gandolfini is class in it (he is). Odd coincidence.

The Hateful Eight
Another Tarantino one. With a cast like this I expected it to be brilliant, but instead it's something close to three hours of a room full of people calling Samuel L Jackon the N word as many times as they can within the time limit. It's actually somewhat impressive how many times they do it, must easily have been close to 100. Definitely was if you combine this and True Romance. In better hands this could have been a classic as all the parts are there, but Tarantino just couldn't help himself and instead it's just a racism speedrun with gore so over the top it became comedic. There's a bit where one guy gets shot in the head and I'm sure it was just a balloon full of blood with a face drawn on it. A good one to watch if you enjoy prolonged violence agaist women too (I don't btw).

Picked up a few new DVDs at CEX today as well. I originally went because my local one got a copy of Do The Right Thing in which I've been after for ages. Also picked up Dirty Harry, Sicario, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from LA, The Shield full boxset, and the new Running Man which was only £6! Cheaper than a cinema ticket and by quite a margin. 

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Michael - went to see this this afternoon having grew up on MJ and the Jackson 5 and have to say it was absolutely stunning. Jafar really had his uncle’s moves down pat and Colman Domingo is an utter, utter bastard as Joseph Jackson, there’s one scene earlier on that leaves you feeling utterly uncomfortable 

I particularly loved the set ups for the Thriller and Beat It videos and what inspired him to come to the ideas, I could have easily watched another hour or two of it so I’m hoping that the rumour of it having a sequel are true, just to see how they cover some of the 90s and 2000s

[SuperBacon]

8 hours ago, FLips said:

got a copy of Do The Right Thing in which I've been after for ages.

It's the greatest film of all time, so well done.

[Devon Malcolm]

17 hours ago, RIDDUM_N_STYLE said:

Michael - went to see this this afternoon having grew up on MJ and the Jackson 5 and have to say it was absolutely stunning. Jafar really had his uncle’s moves down pat and Colman Domingo is an utter, utter bastard as Joseph Jackson, there’s one scene earlier on that leaves you feeling utterly uncomfortable 

I particularly loved the set ups for the Thriller and Beat It videos and what inspired him to come to the ideas, I could have easily watched another hour or two of it so I’m hoping that the rumour of it having a sequel are true, just to see how they cover some of the 90s and 2000s

Completely ignores the allegations, doesn't it?

[Mr_Danger]

34 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Completely ignores the allegations, doesn't it?

Address allegations? Thats ignorant.

[wordsfromlee]

1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Completely ignores the allegations, doesn't it?

I think the movie ends at 1988 and the first allegation wasn’t until about 1993 I think. 

[Chest Rockwell]

I wasn't fussed about seeing it but now I know that Colman Domingo is playing Joe Jackson I'm interested!

[Mr_Danger]

Seen videos of people getting up and dancing in front of cinema screens. Fuck chancing that.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

45 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

Seen videos of people getting up and dancing in front of cinema screens. Fuck chancing that.

That’s mostly an American thing, much like the clapping and hollering during Marvel films or the whole Chicken Jockey thing with the Minecraft movie

[SaitoRyo]

Silver Bullet

Fun 80s werewolf horror based on a Stephen King novelette.

A bunch of people are horrifically killed in a small town, riling up the locals. A young disabled boy (played by Corey Haim) who rides around in his tricked-out wheelchair (the 'silver bullet') suspects it might be something other than the suspected serial killer and sets out to prove it.

It's pretty good! One of the better King adaptations I've seen (though I can't say I've read the novelette). I'll always appreciate Gary Busey showing up as the drunk uncle, looking like the producers paid him a twelve pack to be in the film.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

10 hours ago, RIDDUM_N_STYLE said:

That’s mostly an American thing, much like the clapping and hollering during Marvel films or the whole Chicken Jockey thing with the Minecraft movie

 

Bohemian Rhapsody from the same lot, had plenty of audience's worldwide singing along and taking part in the "Ay-Oh" Live Aid bits. Including over here. It got so big in Japan they had to have separate screenings, one for the nutters and one for people wanting to quietly watch the film.

[FLips]

The Mummy (Brendan Fraser one)
Really fun action adventure. Brendan Fraser just makes for a really good, charming and funny lead hero in stuff like this. The rest of the cast more than pull their weight and there’s some gnarly special effects.

The Mummy Returns
Took all the magic of the first one and crammed it with CGI. The story is fine, and the cast do their best, but it’s a bit of a mess and their son is crap.

Escape from New York
My mate who is a big Metal Gear fan had never seen this so we stuck it on as part of a double bill. It’s a great film, oozes character and has a really unique premise and atmosphere. Always happy to see Lee Van Cleef in anything

Escape from LA
Almost a beat for beat remake of the first one but with some of the worst CGI this side of The Mummy Returns, an absolutely mad Basketball scene and an even madder surfing scene. Pam Grier is done an absolute disservice in this as some deep voiced transgender joke character that Kurt Russell deadnames for 15 minutes before being burned to a crisp unceremoniously.
This one could be turned into a drinking game that wrecked your liver by taking a shot everytime someone recognises Snake Plissken out loud. It’s mad.
That being said it very easily crossed into so bad it’s good territory and we had a great time with it. My mate popped huge when Jaws showed up and was equally as baffled that this came before Metal Gear Solid meaning Hideo Kojima stole the submarine infiltration scene entirely, alongside all the other stuff.

Do The Right Thing
Brilliant film. When it all kicks off near the end you desperately look to point the blame but realise it’s futile because the severity of it isn’t something you can point the blame directly to. Nearly everyone in the film is either passively or directly antagonistic and then by the time the chaos has settled you realise it was less of a series of connected events that you can attribute blame to as much as it was a timebomb finally going off. That being said in the context of the film, it was hard to feel as intended for Radio Raheem being choked to death when less than a minute earlier he was about to choke Sal to death for smashing up a radio in a confrontation he started. I think the point would have landed better if not for that one small thing.

Dirty Harry
It was just a violent episode of Kojak. I didn’t think much to this at all. The killer is a real slimey piece of work but I thought Harry was a bit of a nob. Had no charm or charisma. Not great this one.

Predator 2
Made me realise that the Predator as a monster is kind of rubbish, and the quality was in the story of having all these macho soldiers get outmatched. This one, where Predator kills a train full of civilians and gets chased about by regular cops just makes the Predator look a bit like a chump. Pretty dull affair.

 

 

[SuperBacon]

23 minutes ago, FLips said:

That being said in the context of the film, it was hard to feel as intended for Radio Raheem being choked to death when less than a minute earlier he was about to choke Sal to death for smashing up a radio in a confrontation he started

But that's the point you make before this, absolutely everyone is at the edge of an explosion over anything, especially the injustice, however small, they suffer.

To Raheem that radio represents his blackness, his freedom and his whole identity. He's willing to kill Sal over it for sure. Sure we think dying over a radio is silly, but is dying for a cause silly? It's a brilliant use of an object IMO.

Everyone is pushed to breaking point in that scene, Aiello in particular is brilliant.

I'm really glad you liked it. I've said it before on here, but that film genuinely changed my life.

[FLips]

2 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

But that's the point you make before this, absolutely everyone is at the edge of an explosion over anything, especially the injustice, however small, they suffer.

To Raheem that radio represents his blackness, his freedom and his whole identity. He's willing to kill Sal over it for sure. Sure we think dying over a radio is silly, but is dying for a cause silly? It's a brilliant use of an object IMO.

Everyone is pushed to breaking point in that scene, Aiello in particular is brilliant.

I'm really glad you liked it. I've said it before on here, but that film genuinely changed my life.

I really thought a strong point was the contradictory nature of everyone which made the racism and the violence even more pointless. Sal minutes before the riot is telling Mookie he’s like a son to him, and how he raised the neighbourhood kids on his food, then as soon as Raheem and Buggin rile him up he’s throwing slurs about like it’s nobodies business. The Koreans are mostly left in peace but then amid tensions are almost caught in the crossfire without a second thought. The one white guy in the neighbourhood despite being born there is immediately singled out.

It’s a very complicated film and I think it walks a fine line between making lots of different points well and making none at all. Even the quotes at the end contradict each other. 

[SuperBacon]

18 minutes ago, FLips said:

The Koreans are mostly left in peace but then amid tensions are almost caught in the crossfire without a second thought.

One of my favourite bits is MLs frustration as he tells the Korean store owner "Me black! Open your eyes motherfucker!" with very real emotion in that scene. You can feel the anger.

18 minutes ago, FLips said:

Even the quotes at the end contradict each other

Yeah, deliberately though. Because there is no right way, or right thing, both approaches of the quotes have validity. And you can see that both approaches are adopted within the last scene with Mookies violent actions and Da Mayor trying to adopt a more peaceful solution. God I love it.

I love Spike Lee. I absolutely rinsed this DVD trilogy of Jungle Fever, Do The Right Thing and Clockers when I was younger. They are all well worth a watch as well. Clockers especially has a fantastic soundtrack, and was another teen Bacon's favourites.