DVD's and Films You Have Watched Recently

[Mr. Seven]

Harsh Times

 

"So there's this guy right, and he was in the Gulf War and he killed lots of people so he's like, totally fucked up and shit, so he's a real loose cannon and just totally out of his mind dude, you feel me? Anyways, he gets rejected by the LAPD because he's just so fuckin' crazy and he's got this friend right, who's clearly an ex-gang member even though his character is completely underdeveloped to the point where he's just a Latino stereotype, and yeah, he's like the devil on this dude's shoulder, cuz this guy just wants to straight, but his psycho army-veteran buddy just won't let him. And yeah, chaos like, totally ensues."

 

Sorry about that, I just imagined myself as the writer/director giving the pitch for his movie. What's shocking about David Ayer (aforementioned writer/director and the writer of the much overrated Training Day) is that he's not 14, because I was sure this piece of shit was helmed by a teenager. From the stupid whizz-bang camera trickery to the just awful dialogue to the paint-by-numbers characterisation, this is just a fucking mess of a film. I can see why Christian Bale took the role, he clearly wants this to be his Travis Bickle, which is a shame, because his character just isn't interesting. He's a mood-swinging scarred by the war asshole, and all attempts at infusing him with something of a character just fail utterly. He's not likeable, not even in the "not meant to be likeable" sense. It's just annoying watching him. It's not even a great performance by the usually excellent Bale, but to be fair, he doesn't phone it in, he does capture what little character there is, and he does make Jim genuinely scary, but it's not enough.

 

There's flashes of a good movie here, and there's some strong themes flirted with, such as men ruined by devotion to their country, man's inhumanity to man and the notion of loving something but needing to rid yourself of it. Jim is the devil on his best friend's shoulder, but his friend is not an asshole anymore, he's trying to make something of his life but can't close the door on his friend, who is absolutely terrible for him. The really annoying thing here is that if you take away the terrible script, the cartoon characters, the dreadful cinematography and the general feel of the film, there's actually a decent story to be told, it's just delivered in a really immature and poor manner.

[Vito]

I often feel as though I should be paying to read Mr. Sevens movie reviews.

[Egg Shen]

on the subject of Dirty Harry again, i watched Magnum Force again last night...love that movie, the car/bike chase at the end is a classic, you dont wanna get into a chase with Harry.

[stylesclash05]

The History Boys

 

This is about a bunch of young lads trying to pass the Oxbridge exams to get into universities there.

 

Being a sociology student I liked the look of this as I thought it would be a light hearted look at something we had learned about in the education module.0

 

However, the film is all a bit dull and it reminded me of one of those shite ITV dramas. The attempts at humour fail and I found it a dull way to spend 2 hours. Not one to go out of your way to see.

[bAzTNM#1]

Didn't want to start a new topic about this, but somebody in Leicestershire thinks they are Freddy Krueger...

A man obsessed with the horror film character Freddie Krueger used a home-made bladed glove to slash his sleeping friend.Jason Moore, 37, of Bulwer Road, Leicester, was jailed for life by a judge at the city's crown court.After taking a sleeping pill, John-Paul Skamarski woke to find himself being attacked by Moore in August 2006.A Leicestershire Police spokesman said they were pleased with the conviction in this "extremely unusual" case.Jailing Moore for a minimum of four-and-a-half years, Judge Michael Pert said: "You are an extremely dangerous man."You are obsessed in particular with the Freddy Krueger figure in Nightmare on Elm Street."What you were fascinated with was using that glove to kill someone. The person you chose was your friend who was asleep and had no reason to expect an attack."'Damaged individual'Krueger was a serial killer character who appeared in the Nightmare on Elm Street films. He was able to attack victims from within their own dreams.Actor Robert Englund became famous for his depiction of Krueger, who wore a fedora hat and was armed with a metal-clawed leather glove.The court heard Moore had watched Nightmare on Elm Street 20 times. He watched it just before the attack in August.Moore and Mr Skamarski had been drinking cider together at Moore's home in the early evening of 30 August 2006 when Mr Skamarski fell asleep on the sofa.He woke up to find Moore slashing at him with the glove and a 10in bread knife.During a 10-minute struggle, Skamarski suffered four cuts to his face, cuts to his hand and a 1in stab wound to his chest.Moore said he could not remember the attack and said although he had made the glove, he never intended to use it.Philip Gibbs, defending, said Moore had accepted he was a dangerous man."He has only ever wanted to understand his actions," he said. "He is a very damaged individual."He fashioned the weapon - said to be a "labour of love" for Moore - from a leather gardening glove with four "cut throat" blades welded into brass housings.Speaking after the trial, Det Sgt Gary Rogers from Leicestershire Police said the glove was one of the most frightening weapons he had ever seen."A lot of skill has gone into creating that glove. I have seen some horrific weapons in my life and that is probably the most horrific I have seen."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicest...ire/6526129.stmAnd heres the claw that he made..Very creepy. Edited April 4, 2007 by bAzTNM

[Vito]

That article deserved its own thread.

[tiger_rick]

Didn't know what to do with this, we don't really have a @bargains' thread. Anyway, Tesco deal of the day, Starsky and Hutch, 47 episodes,

[Egg Shen]

yeh i got a few bargains over on hmv.co.uk by taking advantage of them mcdonalds vouchers, i got:Die Hard Collection (6 disks) -

[stylesclash05]

Invincible

 

This is the true story of Vince Papele, a bartender who gets a trial with the Philli Eagles.

 

I really enjoyed this, even if you are not a sport fan the story is really good and the football scenes are fantastic. It's well worth getting hold of.

[Mr. Seven]

Sunshine

 

In which a crew of seven fly to the sun to attempt to reignite it and save the world, but get sidetracked when they stumble across the previous crew's ship, and fear turns to absolute terror when things start to go very wrong.

 

There's been a strange reaction to this film from a lot of journalists. Most seem to be taking shots at the film and Danny Boyle because of the genre. Most have called the film derivative and void of originality. Well, it is a space movie. How original can one be when making a film set in space anymore? For the record, there are no aliens, so that's something. While yes, it is possible to watch this film and mentally check off other space films it borrows/lifts/steals from and pays homage to, such as Alien, Event Horizon and 2001: A Space Odyssey, it's hardly a hack director making a pointless film. These criticisms seem harsh and strange, especially when taking the film on it's merits.

 

It's tense, claustrophobic and very atmospheric, with some absolutely stunning visuals. Danny Boyle might just be capable of making any film. He's proven himself to be a very versatile director and has now made his mark in this genre. The film takes a little while to get going, but that's very deliberate, as we're introduced to our cast of characters. Cillian Murphy (with his impossibly bright blue dead eyes, impossibly brighter and deader than ever before) is arguably the lead, playing Capa, the scientist responsible for the completion of the mission. He's the most important member of the crew, carrying the largest burden and is haunted by nightmares of burning up in the sun's atmosphere. It's another excellent performance from Murphy, but very understated. There's no grandstanding here, or from anyone really. The closest we get to scenery chewing comes from Chris Evans, who shakes off his pretty boy tag with a great performance as Mace, the opportunistic, all about the mission presence who clashes repeatedly with Capa. This isn't to say that the other actors and characters are simply background, everybody has a part to play and the acting is impressive all-round.

 

Again, most reviews have pointed out that the film goes off the rails a bit in the final act, and while it certainly does go a little mental to the point where certain things become unclear, it doesn't damage what came before. Some have called it anticlimactic, but I disagree.

 

Overall, I loved it.

[Surf Digby]

Last night I watched See No Evil. I've not seen a decent horror in ages, and a girl at work said she had to turn this off because it was upsetting her. I think that's what she said, 'cos she's got really big jugs and I tend to zone out after a couple of sentences. Especially if she's recreating how she jumped throughout the film. Anyhow.....All in all, it's not too bad. It's hardly original, and the "derelict building out in the middle of some remote sandy location" setting means that a lot of it has that orangey/yellow hue that a lot of horror films have at the mo, but the plot's coherent and easy to follow, without being overly too dumbed down. There's some neat special effects in it too.Kane is actually pretty good in it. Aside from the obvious menace his size gives, he gives the monster some character. He's twisted and evil, but there's an underlying conflict and confusion that occassionally comes to the fore.The only problem is that I can't see him as anything other than Kane, and I like Kane. This, coupled with the fact that one of the hero types, Michael, is thoroughly unlikably, means that I was quite happy when Kane started bouncing his head off walls. Enjoyable, but nothing groundbreaking.

[KFR42]

Watched Ichi the killer for the first time this evening. I liked it. Some bits were squimishly gory and other bits were laugh out loud funny. And only for a fiver, not bad.

[Murtz]

Has anyone seen any of Tyler Perry's movies?.. His 'Madea' collection are awesome.. Id recommend watching Diary Of A Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion.. Hilariously awesome films.

[ukedge87]

I caught Starsky & Hutch on TV the other night, and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I still find Owen Wilson slightly irratiting and Ben Stiller was sticking to his usual routine of gags, but it was a really fun light flick. Plus the 70s style to it was really effective.

[Egg Shen]

Mr. Seven i just saw Sunshine aswell and i completely agree with your write up...i thought it was fantastic. It's definatly not a movie for the masses, it aint an Armageddon-style cheese-fest (which i guarantee alot of people will be expecting to see). The movie is very Alien like in feel, very isolated and as you said claustrophobic.

 

Its a movie you definatly need to go in watching knowing as little as possible about...cause some shit goes down which i did not expect at all, you could argue it goes a little silly towards the end but it just went off on a route i didnt see coming, which i liked.

 

its a very well made, unsettling movie...dont expect a hollywood blockbuster.

 

*spoilers below*

 

favourite part without doubt was when the crew first enter the other spacecraft, the little subliminal crew pics that were flashing up...that was some creepy fucking shit.