VHS and Betamax You Have Recently Rented

[Factotum]

Isn't one of the reasons he's not in a lot now is that he's a terrible human being? Not much good said about him from those on LOST.

He is sensational in BONE TOMOHAWK though. That film is brilliant. I enjoy all the Zahler films and his books are pretty good as well.

[DavidB6937]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Possibly. I'm rewatching Lost season 1 on Disney Plus and he's genuinely great in it but I remember his character wound people up as the show went on but I think you'd have to blame the writers rather than the actor because he's really fucking good in it.

I saw him in theatre in London and really enjoyed him in that. Much more than Jack in Lost, who just turned into a whiny little bitch. But yeah I guess sometimes it's difficult for people to separate the character from the actors.

[Factotum]

On 3/7/2021 at 10:42 PM, Devon Malcolm said:

Examples?

I watched the original COMING TO AMERICA the other day and it looks great. In comparison the new one, which is brightly lit and looks like a sit-com which we get an awful lot in modern comedies.

I then went on a bit of a marathon of 80s 'comedy' films GHOSTBUSTERS, 48 HOURS, PLANES, TRAINS etc. and they all look like proper movies rather than what we get now. Part of it is obviously that they were shot on film, but even things like the green screen in modern comedies is absolutely terrible. It is no doubt a money saving exercise but it kinda makes me sad.

[LaGoosh]

100% agree. Comedy is always a genre with more misses than hits but I think comedy movies (with a handful of exceptions of course) have been really dire the past decade or so. Especially as most of them seem to stick to the actors standing around saying funny things and improvising rather than taking advantage of the format to be both cinematic and funny and tell a good coherent tight story with proper characters instead of joke telling machines.

Edited March 10, 2021 by LaGoosh

[Factotum]

You're correct. What was the last straight up comedy which looked truly cinematic? It's the last thing thought about in those movies.

 

[LaGoosh]

Palm Springs, Hunt For The Wilder People, Dolemite and The Disaster Artist are fairly recent good comedies that come to mind I would say are genuinely cinematic and look like proper films but there's not too many. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

15 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Palm Springs, Hunt For The Wilder People, Dolemite and The Disaster Artist are fairly recent good comedies that come to mind I would say are genuinely cinematic and look like proper films but there's not too many. 

Game Night, Tag, JoJo Rabbit, bit further back but the Anchorman films, Stepbrothers and Dodgeball. There are quite a few, whether you find them funny or not is another thing. Barb and Star also looked pretty good, but found it disappointing as a comedy. Coming 2 America only had about 3 sets. And even James Earl Jones was greenscreened into it.

[LaGoosh]

I had to turn off the new Bill & Ted movie about 15 minutes in because of how absolutely shitty it looked. Especially in comparison to the originals. Bogus Journey in particular is a beautiful film with a lot of really interesting camera shots in it.

The new one felt like some kind of cheap made for DVD knock off. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by LaGoosh

[Scott Malbranque]

That's exactly how I felt all the way poxy through. I was devastated, but apparently I'm wrong and it's truly an amazing movie. 
At least you were spared the horrific final third.

[Factotum]

While I don't disagree with some mentioned, I wasn't including those comedy/drama films that have come out. JOJO Rabbit for instance  wasn't what I had in mind, but I appreciate that may have been my own vague definition. I was more talking about the classic studio comedy.

@Hannibal Scorch - I think you had it right with Dodgeball and that era of film, WEDDING CRASHERS especially is very well shot.

Also this wasn't me saying I didn't find them funny, just the 'look'

Edited March 10, 2021 by Factotum

[DarloKid]

so, i watched the In Search of the Last Action Heroes documentary yesterday, Really enjoyed, its gave me a few titles to check out but, am also after you guys recommendations you know them films that went straight to VHS. I've over the past couple months been watching a few like the Martial Law series which i thoroughly enjoyed, it also introduced me to Cynthia Rothrock, Jeff Wincott and Matthaius Hues so am hoping to check out more of their films. So, yeah any recommendations from the 80's to 90's or even 2000's Direct to dvd Gems would be much appreciated. Also if you could post any links or where to watch your recommendations that would be awesome as well, i don't want alot do i ha ha 

 

Also in the documentary they said when going to a video store in the early 90's you had the sly and arnie section at the top, seagal and JCVD just underneath and below the direct to vhs action/martial arts films, anyone who got to experience this i really do envy you, this would be my heaven that.

[Lorne Malvo]

Watched some right shite the past few weeks.

Willy's Wonderland is another Nic Cage letdown. Strong premise, terrible execution. With this, Mom & Dad and Colour Out Of Space he's on a really underwhelming horror run. I Care A Lot was really fun. I'd half-read the synopsis and went in expecting some super serious drama about the failings of the care system, so the fact it's just a mad zippy thriller was a great surprise. It does go a bit too mental in the last half hour but I really enjoyed it. Blithe Spirit is dreadful, a comedy that never once raised a smile. It looked really cheap too. Maybe worth a watch if you're an Isla Fisher completist. The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things was lovely. We're in a bit of a golden era for teen movies the last few years and this is up there with the best, I reckon. Good stuff.

And then we come to Music. I wasn't aware of the casting controversy and Sia being a dickhead until after I'd watched this, but even without those things being a factor this was a fucking disaster. Just a terribly misjudged, uneven and offensive piece of shit. Horrendously bad. Just thinking back to it now is making me angry all over again. At one point there's a revelation about Leslie Odom Jrs character that made me want to smash the telly. And Sia has maybe the most self-serving director cameo of all time. The music is shit too. Somebody on Maddie Ziegler's team should have told her to steer well wide of this bollocks.

Dead Pigs didnt really work for me. It always threatens to become more entertaining than it is but never quite gets there, and I just found the last 10 minutes odd. I think I'd have preferred if it had just focused on one of its stories instead of flitting between characters. Moxie is another really strong teen film which emotionally snuck up on me by the end, although I'd have liked a little bit more Amy Poehler. Archenemy is a crap 'superhero loses his powers' film and not worth 90 minutes of anyones time, although Glenn Howerton is fun for the 10 minutes he's on screen.

I thought Coming 2 America was just really bland. Not necessarily bad, but just really phoned in and overly reliant on nostalgia for the first one which I'm not a massive fan of anyway. Lastly, The United States vs Billie Holiday is one of those awards-baiting movies we get at this time of year that have Good Acting but are just really really boring.

I'm on a bit of a bad run at the moment. It seems most good stuff has been pushed back to when cinemas are open again and in the meantime some right dross is getting released. I reckon I've already seen more stinkers this year than I did in the whole of 2020.

[Devon Malcolm]

The Stylist

Despite opting for the most obvious ending possible, this was great. That rare horror film that successfully elicits sympathy for its killer. Najarra Townsend is amazingly good in the lead. It won't stick with everyone but this was a huge surprise.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

I've sadly run out of all Argento's good films now, and this one is as ludicrously fun as him at his best. The killer's a bit too obvious but the murders are great, and as ever, it looks and sounds amazing. Superb.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Devon Malcolm

[patiirc]

11 hours ago, DarloKid said:

so, i watched the In Search of the Last Action Heroes documentary yesterday, Really enjoyed, its gave me a few titles to check out but, am also after you guys recommendations you know them films that went straight to VHS. I've over the past couple months been watching a few like the Martial Law series which i thoroughly enjoyed, it also introduced me to Cynthia Rothrock, Jeff Wincott and Matthaius Hues so am hoping to check out more of their films. So, yeah any recommendations from the 80's to 90's or even 2000's Direct to dvd Gems would be much appreciated. Also if you could post any links or where to watch your recommendations that would be awesome as well, i don't want alot do i ha ha 

 

Also in the documentary they said when going to a video store in the early 90's you had the sly and arnie section at the top, seagal and JCVD just underneath and below the direct to vhs action/martial arts films, anyone who got to experience this i really do envy you, this would be my heaven that.

Showdown in Manila may be right up your street if you havent seen it. Was on Prime recently

Cast list is epic

• Alexander Nevsky as Nickolay (Nick) Peyton
• Casper Van Dien as Charlie Benz
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Aldric Cole
• Tia Carrere as Mrs. Wells
• Mark Dacascos as Matthew Wells (cameo appearance)
• Matthias Hues as Dorn
• Hafedh Dakhlaoui as Ghost
• Don Wilson as Dillon (as Don 'The Dragon' Wilson)
• Cynthia Rothrock as Haines
• Olivier Gruner as Ford
• Dmitri Dyuzhev as Victor
• Robert Madrid as Carlos
• Iza Calzado as Sabio

It's also directed by Mark Dascascos

When you have the leads of Nemesis, Starshitp Troopers, Martial Law, Bloodfistand Double Dragon etc all together you are looking at a bonafide classic. 

Actually it's not horrendous and suffers from lack of a budget, however the story works and it was enjoyable to watch

 

[pitseleh]

I've spent the first half of my day off watching two very different comedies.

First up was Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. It's a mockumentary about an air-headed popstar and it's one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. It chews up every music biopic cliché you can think of and throws it right back at you. The jokes are constant and there are very few misses. Featuring cameos from everyone from A$AP Rocky to Ringo Starr, and parodying such moments as U2 forcibly downloading their album onto people's devices and Macklemore's insincere attempt at showing support for LGBT rights, Popstar is the Spinal Tap for the 2010's.

My first foray into the crazy world of Roger Corman came next as I watched A Bucket Of Blood. Part B-movie horror, part dark comedy, this followed the life of a weird busboy at a beatnik coffee shop. Corman pulls no punches as he takes aim at hipsterdom. After accidently killing his landlady's cat, our main character decides to hide the evidence by turning the body into a sculpture. He shows off the statue at the coffee shop, winning the approval of the beatniks. It's a ridiculous premise and the production values leave a lot to be desired, but Corman wore these flaws with pride. This was just over an hour long and it's up on Youtube, so you got no excuse to give this a watch if it tickles your fancy.