What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Detournement]

Blow Out (1981)

Brian De Palma mixes up Antonioni's Blow Up, Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation and some Kennedy brothers lore to create a classic paranoid thriller with a strong dash of his trade mark sleaziness. John Travolta puts in a tremendous performance in one of the few 80s movies he would appear in and John Lithgow plays an OTT villain. De Palma pioneers the same theory that Don Delilo later uses in Libra of a political assassination which begins as a warning but is turned into a murder by extremists within the plot. The ending is as brutal as it comes.

Obsession (1976)

De Palma teams up with Paul Schrader for an initially slow paced noir about grief and love which gets fairly crazy near end. Apparently the studio cut most of the crazy Schrader stuff which will be why the pacing seems off.

The Goalie's Anxiety At The Penalty Kick (1972)  

A goalie in Austria gets sent off and walks out the ground before the game ends then proceeds to act very strangely . You are never really sure whether he has gone mad or he's always been like that. The only things he seems to care about are beer, football, American films and shagging. A very good film which would probably be be better known if it didn't have the worst title in history. 

Halloween (1978)

So basic and so perfect. It's a shame Nancy Loomis wasn't in more films, she was a total babe.

Crimes Of The Future (2022)

Genetically modified humans? Artificial food? A government cover up? A famous artist who is controlled by the Feds? You would think this film was made for me but Cronenberg fails to deliver the Lea Seydoux/Kirsten Stewart hook up that would have made this film legendary. Entertaining and visually interesting but the allegorical parts and the plot never really cohere.

Pretty Poison (1968)

I came to this in a round about way by reading the new Bob Dylan book where he mentions the female lead of this film Tuesday Weld in connection with Robert Kennedy and I knew that Dylan had also painted a still from the film in his series of paintings from films (which he may or may not actually be painting himself) so I had to watch it. I was not disappointed. Anthony Perkins gets discharged from the loony bin and given a job in a lumber yard but for reasons the film intentionally doesn't show ends up working in a chemical plant. He's bat shit mental and convinced he's an undercover CIA agent and he quickly meets Weld playing a high school girl who is nowhere as innocent as she seems. The film is full of blatant conspiracy stuff some of which seems to reference Dylan and it was apparently buried by Fox as it has strange parallels to the RFK murder which happened around the time it was being filmed. The writer Lorenzo Semple was an ex OSS/CIA officer who also co-wrote the Parralax View and Day Of The Condor. It's well worth a watch.

Breezy (1973)

I've been meaning to watch this for a while because it was a plotline in Licorice Pizza. It's a movie about a very young looking 19 year old hippie played by Kay Lenz falling in love with a very old looking 55 year old William Holden which is - bizarrely - directed by Clint Eastwood. The main romantic plot is played pretty straight but Clint has everything else in the movie dripping with sleaze and decay. He also has Kay Lenz get her kit off about 30 seconds into the film and then at regular intervals throughout.  Not a classic by any means but I am definitely going to check out Clint's other early directorial efforts.

Demonlover (2002)

A French film directed by Olivier Assayas about corporate espionage at a French company who are trying to distribute Japanese anime porn to the USA. One of the rare films i've watched where every single character is a villain which has a suitably horrific ending.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Detournement

[ICTChris]

Saw the Banshees of Inisherin on Saturday night, I really enjoyed it.  I've enjoyed his previous films but thought this one was superior.  The performances from Gleeson and Farrell are fantastic, both of them develop their characters through the film, show different sides to them, good and bad.  There are loads of subtle references that the writer doesn't hit you over the head with either - the way the loneliness of both Farrell and his sister is portrayed is really well done, the way they deal with one of the characters being abused really shows the impact of the abuse and the way that the community just ignore it.  The Civil War metaphor is maybe a bit on the nose but it's very much in the background.

Edited November 9, 2022 by ICTChris

[DA Baracus]

Timecop

Errant nonsense, but once again more of the enjoyable kind. Firstly, it's called 'Timecop' for f**k sake. An outstanding title that leaves no doubt as to what it's about, despite being absolutely preposterous.

JCVD stars and we get all the classics; the hair, the splits, the kicks, the dives and the tiny, tight pants.

Jean Claude is, as you'd expect, a Timecop, part of a government agency who travel through time to stop folk abusing time travel for their own gains. His hot wife is Ferris Bueller's bird (incidentally, what the f**k kind of name is 'Ferris Bueller'?!).

But SURPRISE, she's killed off early on after a violent assualt on them whilst they are in their fucking mansion (the Timecop union must be very strong!). Van Damme is left for dead. He survives. Cut to years later and he creepily watches home videos of them whilst narrating his own parts in said videos out loud. It is a widly futuristic 2004.

Some lad is abusing time to get loads to cash to fund a run for president. Seriously, you can do all sorts of shit with time and you use it to fund a presidential campaign?! Anyway, this involves stuff like holding up a civil war wagon with uzis and exploiting the great stock crash of the 1920s.

The film regularly contradicts its own rules and established canon regarding time travel and the consequences of it.

There are swerve heel turns, swerve face turns, martial arts, villain based incompetence, convoluted schemes, dreadful buddy banter, good guy idiocy and stellar acting*.

Eventually JCVD has to travel back to the night of the attack where his wife was killed. He and younger he still almost bungle it, but eventually prevail and kill the big bad. Huzzah!

 

 

*One of these is a lie.

Edited November 9, 2022 by DA Baracus

[scottsdad]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Enjoyable nonsense. But, can someone tell me how Professor X is alive having been turned to ashes in X-Men 3?

[Detournement]

Down By Law 

Tom Waits, John Laurie and Roberto Begini are a criminal trio. One of the best looking movies I've ever seen with a vibe David Lynch clearly stole. Laurie and Waits are musicians but carry the movie. 

Triangle of Sadness 

Went to the cinema for this without knowing anything other than it won at Cannes and Woody Harrelson is in it. It is a superb (genuine) black comedy about class war that keeps you engaged from start to finish. I was almost cheering when Milo from the Pusher trilogy (Zlatko Buric) came on the screen and he did not disappoint. 

When I was googling this afterwards i was shocked to see the lead actress Charlbi Dean Kriek died this year. She put in a great performance. I'd recommend this to anyone it's a rare modern comedy which is actually funny. 

 

 

[Bully Wee Villa]

7 hours ago, scottsdad said:

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Enjoyable nonsense. But, can someone tell me how Professor X is alive having been turned to ashes in X-Men 3?

Alternate timelines or some such handwaving device.

[BFTD]

Barbarian (cinema) - young woman arrives at her AirBnB to find Pennywise the Clown has already rented it out. After some persuasion, she decides to risk spending the night.

Probably safe to say that this doesn't quite go where you'd expect, considering the trailer already spoiled that aspect of the plot. While the story doesn't necessarily go anywhere fresh, it's done well and keeps the interest levels up throughout. Quite a well-paced horror chiller that doesn't mind drawing out the suspense.

Only one reservation - there's a sudden switch in the last ten minutes that screams "re-shot ending", as everything is very abruptly resolved and completely reverses one character's arc just to get the story finished. There's also a stupid CG shot that drew unintended giggles from most of the audience. Didn't ruin it for me, though.

[BFTD]

Mods, please deal with Baracus for that heinous Timecop spoiler.

Let this go and next he'll be revealing whether JCVD avenges his brother in Bloodsport/Kickboxer/whichever one that was.

[Arch Stanton]

16 hours ago, scottsdad said:

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Enjoyable nonsense. But, can someone tell me how Professor X is alive having been turned to ashes in X-Men 3?

Also, see how Professor X can make things move with the power of his mind, why does he not just make his legs move?

[Zetterlund]

On 09/11/2022 at 23:09, DA Baracus said:

Eventually JCVD has to travel back to the night of the attack 

Personally, if I were a Timecop this would be my first order of business.

Speaking of JCVD movies, I recently discovered that his mate in Bloodsport was not played by Hacksaw Jim Duggan, a non-fact I've thought true for decades.

[DA Baracus]

16 hours ago, scottsdad said:

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Enjoyable nonsense. But, can someone tell me how Professor X is alive having been turned to ashes in X-Men 3?

There's a post credit scene after X-Men 3...

51 minutes ago, BFTD said:

Mods, please deal with Baracus for that heinous Timecop spoiler.

Let this go and next he'll be revealing whether JCVD avenges his brother in Bloodsport/Kickboxer/whichever one that was.

Don't pretend you don't know the exact film.

6 minutes ago, Zetterlund said:

Personally, if I were a Timecop this would be my first order of business.

Speaking of JCVD movies, I recently discovered that his mate in Bloodsport was not played by Hacksaw Jim Duggan, a non-fact I've thought true for decades.

The guy was a bit too tall and close to literate for Hacksaw.

[Squalor Vic]

Terrifier 2 

Kinda had to with all the hype. Im not a huge fan of horror films and gore but this is so over the top it's actually pretty funny at times. Reminds me of Evil Dead or George Romero with the practical effects and deaths. One scene is pretty tough and goes on a bit long but the guy playing Art the Clown is a hoot and looks like he's having a great time. Wee creepy lassie was a bit freaky

It's way way too long though. 2 hours 15 mins for this type of movie is ridiculous.

Edited November 11, 2022 by Squalor Vic

[MSU]

1 hour ago, Squalor Vic said:

Terrifier 2 

Kinda had to with all the hype. Im not a huge fan of horror films and gore but this is so over the top it's actually pretty funny at times. Reminds me of Evil Dead or George Romero with the practical effects and deaths. One scene is pretty tough and goes on a bit long but the guy playing Art the Clown is a hoot and looks like he's having a great time. Wee creepy lassie was a bit freaky

It's way way too long though. 2 hours 15 mins for this type of movie is ridiculous.

You got off lightly, it's 2hr 30mins over here.

[SweeperDee]

Terrifier 2 
Kinda had to with all the hype. Im not a huge fan of horror films and gore but this is so over the top it's actually pretty funny at times. Reminds me of Evil Dead or George Romero with the practical effects and deaths. One scene is pretty tough and goes on a bit long but the guy playing Art the Clown is a hoot and looks like he's having a great time. Wee creepy lassie was a bit freaky
It's way way too long though. 2 hours 15 mins for this type of movie is ridiculous.

Why wouldn’t you give a creepy fucker like that some sweets just to get them off your porch?

[Squalor Vic]

44 minutes ago, MSU said:

You got off lightly, it's 2hr 30mins over here.

Wonder what I missed. I went right to the end credits scene think that was 2hr 18 mins

34 minutes ago, SweeperDee said:

Why wouldn’t you give a creepy fucker like that some sweets just to get them off your porch?

That scene with him giving the kids sweets at the door and the scene in the Halloween shop were brilliant. The facial expressions on Art the Clown were great, properly funny at times, and the final girl was pretty good as well, it had a lot going for it

the bedroom death and the bat with nails in it were a bit much mind. Really dragged those out 

Edited November 11, 2022 by Squalor Vic

[Theroadlesstravelled]

The Cider House Rules 1999

A drama set in mid-20th century Maine. Abortion, addiction, incest, racism, rejection, murder, sacrifice, suicide and Charlize Theron’s lovely bare arse. It has the lot.

8/10

[Savage Henry]

Three Billboards Outside Webbing Missouri;   Sam Rockwell is just a sensational actor, as is Frances McDormand. It’s been a while since I watched this, and I’d forgotten how tough a watch it is in parts.  It’s a fine film.  9.7

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Savage Henry

[KingRocketman II]

On 10/11/2022 at 23:37, Bully Wee Villa said:

Alternate timelines or some such handwaving device.

this post credit scene kind of explains it (and presumably involved a perfectly plausible Cerebro assisted search for a Charles look-a-like who happened to be in a coma):

 

 

[DA Baracus]

Ghostbusters Afterlife

I should note that I'm a massive sap when it comes to films and that it's very easy for the medium to excite my lacrimal glands.

In saying that, I thought this was a very charming follow up to the original films. It felt like it was in the spirit* of the originals in that it was a lot of fun and had plenty of humour. There was also a strong emotional strand running through it that really paid off at the end in a delightful, 'punch the air' manner (see spoiler). There were a lot of throwbacks but it was accessible to new viewers too.

Ray, Peter and Winston turn up and kick ass. Ghost Egon is there too, and it's emotional. 

Winston looks fucking great for a dude who is 75 (at the time of the film) by the way. Venkman and Stanz look their age, but Winston absolutely does not! Also Dana looks incredible for an older lady in a chucklesome post credit scene.

 

 

*Pun not intended. I hate puns.

[Comrie]

The Gothfather (2010)

 

99% sure this is a Swedish record company's attempt to go viral with something stupid before going viral was really a big thing. Not sure what my main takeaway is.

The dyed silver soul patch on Lord Emo?

Using fax machines?

The Nosferatu style skit?

The actors clearly just repeating what the director is telling them without emotion?

1,000,000/10