Films thread

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

May 12, 2024 20:59:12 GMT iank said:

Tower Block. The remaining residents of a due-for-demolition tower block find themselves under attack from a sniper with a score to settle. Sheridan Smith and Jack O'Connell star in this 2012 British thriller. Been trying to watch this on Shudder for bloody ages but for some reason it was refusing to play. They seem to have finally fixed the issue though so I watched it last night. Not bad.

Quite like Sheridan Smith.

[Deleted]

Loved her in the Harry Hill Movie as a shell creature

[Deleted]

Speaking of, I watched Harry Hill's Sausage Time stand up set. Really doesn't hit the heights of his late 90s/early 2000s stuff. Far too silly in a stupid way without the cleverness of his early work. The original "Live" was a great start, with "Man Alive" as the pinnacle before it started to get a bit too slapstick and over-reliant on props and novelty gags. Hill's early "comedy for all the family" approach quickly devolved into plain childishness, while the cultural references "for the adults" became less and less relevant as the years chugged on, to the point where a lot of the jokes in his old sets are voided by the lack of a zeitgeist to contextualise them. Still, it's not a total loss. Hill's work never feels spiteful or exploitative. It is never marred with political hangups, sexual frustrations or pet hates; it's just plain fun, even if that means it's unsophisticated. Then again, there's little to distract from the fact that this very much feels like a last gasp. As of 2024, this is Harry Hill's final video release.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Vintage fap material.


Oh, and it's a great film. Posting the Moroder version because why not 

[iank]

The Black Windmill. Michael Caine is an MI6 agent whose son is kidnapped - and someone in his own agency may be in on it. Don "Dirty Harry" Siegel directs this late 60s British thriller that's pretty enjoyable and has a stellar supporting cast including Donald Pleasance, Joss Ackland and John Vernon, among many more recognisable faces.

[rushy]

I just finished watching Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

To me it was a mixed bag, leaning towards the positive. Everything with Laura Palmer was perfect. I always liked Sheryl Lee, but she gave a masterclass in acting in this movie. Every reaction, every line delivery was so intricate and gripping. Absolutely loved her story and I think it was totally worth it to do a prequel about her.

The negative is the stuff around her. I feel like there could be a version of this movie that's more concise. This isn't the show, where we have to see what everyone's up to. It's very clearly Laura's movie, and the stuff that isn't about her just felt like shoe-horned fan service. The Teresa Banks investigation being the main example. It's totally detached from everything else, doesn't tell us much we don't already know and MacLachlan's absence from those scenes is extremely noticeable (the Chet Desmond character is unceremoniously discarded as soon as Cooper returns). Not that they're bad scenes or anything, but it's like Lynch started an FBI prequel, got bored and then did Laura's story.

I've no idea what the f*ck David Bowie was doing in this movie. What was his appearance about?

The best idea in my mind would be to start immediately from Laura and not involve the FBI at all. The main reason this film probably bombed is because only fans could follow it, and that's all because of the FBI stuff (and also Philip Gerard and Annie inexplicably popping in at one point).

If it was just a supernatural horror focused on Laura, Leland and a few other town characters, it would have worked just as well. Cooper can still cameo in the Black Lodge, maybe with a few extra scenes.

[Deleted]

I've never seen the movie personally, but I hated Twin Peaks lol. To me it just felt like Lynch being self-congratulatory and indulging in himself too much. The later movies are marred with this too, like all the nonsense with the blue box in Mulholland and just about everything that happens in Inland Empire. Blue Velvet will always be his masterpiece.

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

I'm building up to the release of Axel F in July by watching the original Beverly Hills Cop trilogy. The first film is one of those great summery flicks from the 1980s. The pop music is excellent and Eddie Murphy delivers his comedy act effortlessly into the film while taking nothing away from some of the more serious aspects of the script. Steven Berkoff, hot off Octopussy, plays your typical 80s movie drug smuggler with a degree of charm and class. The rest of it is very entertaining with some superb shootouts and a fantastic opening chase involving the police and a massive truck. Lisa Eilbacher provides more than just eye candy; she represents an individual, caring and easy going companion for Foley while never coming across like a true love interest. I like the fact that she's just his friend. 

Well worth a watch and one of the better Eddie Murphy classics. Looking forward to checking out the second one again as that's my favourite of the bunch.



8/10

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)


Saving the second one (my favourite of the series) for the weekend.  This third Beverly Hills Cop movie lacks a lot of what made the first two so great, but it isn't totally without merit. If anything, the film is enjoyable and the theme park setting gives it a bit of vibrancy and colour.  I also don't mind Murphy in this despite being quite subdued for most of it. John Landis seemed like the perfect director for a movie such as this, but Murphy and him were on a completely different wavelength for the majority of the filming. In the end, it feels inferior to what came before but it isn't nearly as egregious as people say it is and if you go in with lower expectations you'll probably have a fun time.

George Lucas makes a cameo as well.




6/10

[Deleted]

John Landis has always been a hack

[Spark Doll King]

With the new Mad Max movie out tomorrow, got the rest of the series on blu-ray.

Mad Max

The epitome of great inde film making, Mad Max great film at has a spark that sets it apart from most films, let alone its fellows. To preface though, I love every film if the franchise so far, in part because they each have their own feel.

The original is probably the weakest in terms of structure but has so much spirit that you really don't care. The caste is pretty amazing, our titular Max at first seems like the only sain man in a decaying world, but in truth he's one bad day away from being no different from the criminals he battles. This is perfectly displayed by how his more eccentric colleges fail to bring down the Nightrider while Max dose it with ease. The problem is that the world around him seems reliant on his acts of perceived heroism and Max keeps letting himself be pulled back into work. The fate of the Goose is what finally cracks Max's barriers and he desperately tries to get away, only for the horror to dog his every step. The loss of his family comes the loss of his humanity and Max becomes something truly terrifying. While his showdown with Toecutter might not be the battle some won't, it's Max's final scene with Johnny that really matters. Toecutter died as Max's family had, rundown without mercy, but Johnny treatment shows that Max truly has gone off the deep end. Nolonger caring for right or wrong, Max unintentionally subjects this little prick same fate as his best friend, uncaring that Johnny didn't want that to be the Goose's fate.

This film truly is the birth of Mad Max.

The Goose is another great character. The embodiment of your best mate, he's Max's opposite. The Goose is larger than life and full of passion in the face of the more stoic Max. While Goose dose engage in more volatile behaviour, especially in regards to Johnny and his crimes, his fury stems from a genuine care for the people he's supposed to protect and a hatred of remorseless scum. He hates this world and that also strongly contrasts with the darkness in Max, who secretly relishes the madness on the highways.

Fifi is an interesting character as he kind of stands on the border of old society and the nightmare that’s coming. In his heart he wants to give the people back their heroes and maybe try to make this new age like the old west of cinema, rather than the total shit hole it’s becoming. Sadly his ideals are his own personal delusion. His “Hall of Justice” is barely functioning derelict, the people are terrified, the justice system is corrupted and his men are cynical. Worsted of all the one man he’s pinning all his hopes on is truly on the verge of breaking, but he refuses to see it.

Toecutter and his gang are a truly terrifying bunch. They can go from lovable rogues to savage bandits in a matter of moments. Toecutter himself comes across as the type of guy who’d put the wind up the worst of Gotham City. His entire attitude and mannerisms alter from scene to scene, making him dangerously unpredictable. Even his own people a clearly never fully relaxed in his presence. He seems to have no true goal or desire, living purely on his whims and urges. The sole thing he ever strives for is to bring out the worst in his followers, pushing them to further acts of sadism. Interestingly there also appears to be a level of sexual freedom in his gang that you don’t often find in other such groups in fiction. Most “gangs” are depicted as thuggish tough guys but in the Toecutter gang there are hints of femininity and homosexuality among it’s members and even Toecutter himself. The most shocking example is after they attack the couple in the car, the boyfriend is seen running off, his trousers missing and what appears to blood around his arse. This strongly implies that that the gang raped him as well as his girlfriend. Toecutter’s scenes with Johnny likewise have a sense that the gang’s leader is grooming the younger man in more ways than one. This further adds to the tension the group bring to any situation, as there is no line they won’t cross in any situation.

The film is let down by it’s over all weak story pacing and light narrative, it’s hard to tell exactly how much time has passed from scene to scene and the overall film feels like it’s just jumping to key events rather than following a plot.

That said, the film shines so strongly in pretty much every aspects, from it’s characters, to it’s atmosphere, cinematography and action that it’s hard not to be drawn into the madness.

I will also say that film’s setting is the least defined of the series. It was only set in the “near future” due to production issues. Unlike the clear post-apocalyptic settings of every later film, Mad Max could easily just be set in the wilder parts of down under, or it could be if not for little details like the state of the “Hall of Justice” and other similar details. This puts the film in a rather rare setting many others of this kind don’t show, the world on it’s way. May work’s of fiction have their apocalypses occur with a big bang that destroys society, but in Mad Max that’s not the case. While later films would add a nuclear aspect to events, possibly after this film, the reality is that the world doesn’t change in one night. To slowly marches on to the future, no matter how horrific it is, and that were we find ourselves, on the path to destruction but not quite there yet.

Over all a cracking film.

[rushy]

It's a brilliant origin story

[Ludders II]

Missus and I watched a couple of 60s films that at the time were thought to be part of the 'British New Wave', sometimes called 'kitchen sink dramas'.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)

Great performance by Albert Finney, and a good support cast. Set and filmed in Nottingham, although many of the older streets featured are long gone. Basically a character study and a look at the drudgery and routine of working class life from the point of view of the disaffected main character. A reminder of how much British culture was, and probably still is, steeped in pub culture, where drinking was the only relief from the mundane existence of working in the factories and so forth.
I often wonder if early soaps like Coronation Street sprang from films like this, and/or the original source material. In this case a 1958 novel by Alan Sillitoe.
Nevertheless, the compelling performances of Finney, and the likes of Rachel Roberts is what really fuels this film, as well as the familar themes explored here. 8/10


The Family Way (1966)

Similar in some respects as once more it's through the old-fashioned working class lens, but this is a bit more of a comedy drama.
Although notably lighter, I probably enjoyed this slightly more of the two, largely because of the lovely performances of John Mills and Marjorie Rhodes, particularly the latter, whose saracastic retorts on various aspects of her husband's character are both hilarious, and yet there's an undertone of personal emotional tragedy that's never far away, and doesn't come to fruition until the end of the film, in a moving yet subtle finish.
This is one of the things I like about many older films. It's the subtleties and multi-layered themes. Essentially a comedy on top, but everything is happening underneath. 8.5/10

[Cherry Pepsi Maxil]

May 23, 2024 9:12:19 GMT Cherry Pepsi Maxil said:

Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)


Saving the second one (my favourite of the series) for the weekend.  This third Beverly Hills Cop movie lacks a lot of what made the first two so great, but it isn't totally without merit. If anything, the film is enjoyable and the theme park setting gives it a bit of vibrancy and colour.  I also don't mind Murphy in this despite being quite subdued for most of it. John Landis seemed like the perfect director for a movie such as this, but Murphy and him were on a completely different wavelength for the majority of the filming. In the end, it feels inferior to what came before but it isn't nearly as egregious as people say it is and if you go in with lower expectations you'll probably have a fun time.

George Lucas makes a cameo as well.




6/10

Woah, this new trailer for the fourth film looks even better than the first one they uploaded. Judging from the trailer they've completely captured the feel of the older films. 

[burrunjor]

May 23, 2024 9:24:58 GMT @theyakemperor said:

John Landis has always been a hack

Well I thought he was a great director back in the day, but he is an evil person. It takes some going to be able to kill an actor and two children through your own arrogance and conceit and then carry on as though nothing happened and still be an arrogant shit for the rest of your life.