Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted April 20, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2021 Alien - You know you're getting old when John Hurt and Tom Skerritt don't look that old, and Sigourney looks like only a pup. Mental, jarring stuff compared to how I used to perceive them all years ago. Still and all, such a magnificent movie with an unbearable, almost evil tension throughout. I never knew that Veronica Cartwright's character, Lambert, was canonically transgender either, which adds another layer (particularly her death scene) to an already ludicrously layered movie. Aliens is still better though. Mainly because it's the greatest movie ever made. Vanquish - Next to Open Water, possibly the worst movie I've ever sat through. I'm not even being dramatic in saying that. It's fucking poxy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted April 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 22, 2021 On 4/11/2021 at 10:43 PM, Devon Malcolm said:  The Hustler / The Color of Money (pirate) Fascinating to watch these back-to-back, to see Eddie Felson's character development despite the quarter of a century gap between the two. The way he becomes the main character in the latter is great work by Scorsese, and this is one of his most underrated films. The Hustler is the better in terms of emotional investment and performances, but The Color of Money is almost as satisfactory in terms of story development. Newman may be my all time favourite, the man oozes charisma and people have been trying to recapture it for years. I could watch color of money and The Sting on loop forever. I'm gutted they moved away from the original story of him having to face Fats in the sequel as it would have been great to see two past their prime greats with 30 years of hate. Cruise needs to play a prick more. He really has a natural unlikeable quality about him. Oh and Scorsese on coke really loves dolly zooms, doesn't he. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitseleh Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 Despite it being critically panned and having a shocking 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, I had an absolute blast watching House II: The Second Story. The tone is much more consistent than the first one, meaning this was full-on taking the piss with how silly the plot is. The special effects are endearingly shit, but the comedy landed surprisingly well. Add to this one to the pile of sequels than are better than the original. I saw my first blaxploitation film and it didn't see my world on fire. Superfly felt like a shoddily-made remake of Dirty Harry without the charm or engaging plot. The soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield is incredible and the costumes looked incredibly cool. Ron O'Neal portrayal of the cool and charismatic drug-pusher Youngblood Priest was also another highlight, but that's where my praises end for this one. Priest ruining a decent ending by throwing homophobic slurs at our villain killed the mood for me. It was okay overall, but I'm in no hurry to check out any more blaxploitation movies if they are similar to this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2021 13 minutes ago, pitseleh said: I saw my first blaxploitation film and it didn't see my world on fire. Superfly felt like a shoddily-made remake of Dirty Harry without the charm or engaging plot. The soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield is incredible and the costumes looked incredibly cool. Ron O'Neal portrayal of the cool and charismatic drug-pusher Youngblood Priest was also another highlight, but that's where my praises end for this one. Priest ruining a decent ending by throwing homophobic slurs at our villain killed the mood for me. It was okay overall, but I'm in no hurry to check out any more blaxploitation movies if they are similar to this one. Yeah, Superfly is awful. Across 110th Street might be a better starting point as it's a better crossing point between gritty 70s crime and blaxploitation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted April 23, 2021 Moderators Share Posted April 23, 2021 (edited) For the most part though the aesthetics and the soundtrack are the best part of most blaxploitation films. Across 110th street is a real standout out the genre (from what I've seen anyway, I am by no means a connoisseur) Edited April 23, 2021 by Chest Rockwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted April 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2021 Yep, genres be gosh darned. Across 110th Street and Trouble Man are just good crime movies in general. Dolemite is wonderful. It's fucking woeful, but simultaneously joyous and wonderful. I actually got into Blaxploitation through Dolemite, which in turn was through one of my favourite guilty pleasure movie in 'The Great White Hype". I've no idea why 'The Great White Hype' is as maligned as it is. Very quotable, with moments that literally had me creased. His little face, honestly does me every time. I love Peter Berg so much: Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted April 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2021 I watched Moxie last night, having heard good things, and found it absolutely dull as shit and not in the least bit believable. It's about a high school girl finding her place in the world by discovering Bikini Kill and fanzines, and starting a bit of a feminist movement at her school. Which might have worked as a retro story set in the '90s, but for the present day, it just didn't feel believable that this culturally and ethnically diverse group of teen girls would all get really invested in a sub-culture and its trappings from thirty years earlier. It felt like clumsy wish fulfilment by people who did live through that, rather than anything that really reflects the reality of teenagers today. Lots of very clumsily right-on politicking, that if it's meant to seem like the awkward and embarrassing posturing of teenagers might have worked, but it really felt like the film-makers thought they were doing something profound. Also, it's got Arnie's kid in it. A little before that, watched Palm Springs. It is, insufferably, a hipster movie. No one in it is particularly likeable, and everyone is very knowingly smug. Despite that, it's pretty good. It's about two people stuck in a time loop, and I like that they don't really dwell on the how or the why, they just get on with the story. And I really, really like that they never resort to knowing references to Groundhog Day or any sci-fi stories or anything to explain it, like a lesser film of this type almost certainly would. There's some fun bits, and some parts that I thought were really, really cringeworthy. I don't think it's the masterpiece that its reviews seem to suggest it is, but it's good fun in places, if you can put up with the characters for long enough.  It reminded me of Wristcutters: A Love Story, so I dug out my DVD of that and rewatched it for the first time in years. This had a bit of a cult following among my friends when it came out and I leant my copy to a bunch of people, though I can't remember how I ever discovered it in the first place. It's another insufferingly hipster love story - it's set in an afterlife for suicides, where everything is basically the same just more miserable than the world before. The main character, Zia, is just drifting through life until he bumps into an old friend at the supermarket who lets him know that Zia's ex-girlfriend killed herself shortly after he did, so it becomes a road trip movie of Zia, his friend Eugene, and a female hitch-hiker they pick up along the way trying to find Zia's girlfriend. It can be a bit of a slog when it's heavy on world-building early on, but once the road trip gets going, and particularly once they meet Kneller - played by Tom Waits - it gets really good, and increasingly absurd. There's a pre-Parks and Rec Nick Offerman and John Hawkes in good but small supporting roles, and Will Arnett has a significant but fairly small part that is basically an alternate universe version of Gob Bluth. Tom Waits absolutely carries it whenever he's on-screen, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 (edited) Surprised to see you write that about Palm Springs. I was a bit surprised by the 10/10 reviews but I thought above anything else Andy Samberg and Cristin Miloti were completely likeable despite being shits. Edited April 23, 2021 by Mr_Danger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 I watched The Rounders (1965) last night. Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, cowboys, ranches, women, rodeo, boozing - I was always going to enjoy it, but I found myself having an even better time than I thought I would. It's not a great film or anything, but it was exactly what I wanted after a long day. A gentle western comedy with two dependable leads that never outstays its welcome at 85 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted April 23, 2021 Moderators Share Posted April 23, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Mr_Danger said: Surprised to see you write that about Palm Springs. I was a bit surprised by the 10/10 reviews but I thought above anything else Andy Samberg and Cristin Miloti were completely likeable despite being shits. It's impossible for Samberg to be unlikable I think. I want to see him play a completely irredeemable shitbag to test this theory. Milioti was really good in this as well but I've not seen her in anything else apart from that Charlie Brooker 2020 thing. She was one of the standouts of that patchy affair though. Edited April 23, 2021 by Chest Rockwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2021 Cristin Milioti (who, as a sidenote, is delightful) was great in Sleepwalk With Me (good little Mike Birbiglia romcom) and the USS Callister episode of Black Mirror, also easily one of the best Black Mirrors. She's awesome, I hope we get a lot more in larger roles off the back of Palm Springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 She’s an actress that stands out so much that you think you’ve seen her in loads but you haven’t. Reckon she’ll be pretty busy if she wants on the back of Palm Springs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted April 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2021 1 minute ago, Mr_Danger said: She’s an actress that stands out so much that you think you’ve seen her in loads but you haven’t. Reckon she’ll be pretty busy if she wants on the back of Palm Springs. Apparently this new Made for Love series she's done is superb, and also has Billy Magnussen and Ray Romano in it so I can't see how it could fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Chest Rockwell said: It's impossible for Samberg to be unlikable I think. I want to see him play a completely irredeemable shitbag to test this theory. I started Brooklyn Nine Nine with my girlfriend and she didn’t like it because “The main guy is so irritating and unlikeable”. My reaction was thus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted April 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 23, 2021 Graffiti Bridge - Bar a few good songs, this is fucking dreck. Worse than Under a Cherry Moon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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