8189 replies to this topic

[By-Tor]

Scott brought this to Movienight last night as a part of our Halloween cycle, and I must say I enjoyed it thoroughly, from the awesome Bronson-esque Machete trailer to the glorious camp exploitation in the main feature. It's a hell of a lot of fun, better than I remember the companion piece being (which I only made it about half way through).

Anyone care to make some suggestions for a suitable horror-spooky followup for next week? It's my pick and I've decided that my original choice Burnt Offerings doesn't really hold up and isn't as much campy fun. I'd screen Evil Dead II but it got picked last year.

The Exocist (cue the music)

[Vivian Darkbloom]

Several Random Observations at the Culmination of Reading all 354 Pages of the "Now Playing: Movies" Thread

I'm all about context, and while I'm a "film guy," for whatever reason I've stayed out of this thread. I regret it now, because this is an awesome thread and has loads of great tips, observations, writing, criticism, and all around lulz.

1. Paves rented and watched an Emerson, Lake and Palmer DVD. Further proof this kid is a visionary.

2. Artem's cinematic coming of age by watching a stultifying barrage of nothing but slow-paced Criterion re-issues definitely constituted a humor.

3. I have much more context now on the Held-Tony drama and now better appreciate that in making an offhanded diss on Jarmusch to second Tony, I stepped on a live one.

4. Caley and Ogawa are two posters I'll be paying a lot more attention to.

5. Held has seen a shitload of movies.

6. Ben Welsh is sorely missed here at the SOMB.

7. I still need to see Primer, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Bedazzled and The Fall.

[Ogawa]

Where's all the "Ruins" love? Best movie I've seen this year.

Just added it to my Netflix queue on your recommendation.

Just saw this the other night. Horrifying...

...ly bad. This was based on a book? Really? By the same guy who wrote A Simple Plan? The gist of the picture is a bunch of college kids go to Mexico, seek out a Mayan ruin, get chased to the top by some crazy Mayans, and then... do stupid things for the rest of the film. Most of their troubles come about from a large hole in the top of the ruin, which a few of them fall down, breaking bones and cutting themselves, which the man-eating plant seems to enjoy as it inserts itself into their open wounds (possible sexual connotation?). The man-eating plant is more of a side-plot than anything else. It doesn't really do much and the characters never really discuss the fact that there's this strange, seemingly sentient plant with a thirst for blood surrounding them. The primary adversaries are the Mayans with guns at the bottom of the ruins that prevent them from escaping.

The characters end up doing the most damage to themselves. But their hardships atop the ruin seem rather arbitrary and aren't really borne out of any compellingly realized conflict. Just random obstacles that spring up at the whim of a creatively bankrupt screenwriter.

It's a gimmicky horror film that fails to utilize its primary gimmick and so it fades into the vast sea of similarly pointless films.

4. Caley and Ogawa are two posters I'll be paying a lot more attention to.

Glad to hear it. I'm impressed you read the entire thread. Perhaps I'll do the same one of these days.

[velocity]

eastern promises

...and for the ending I was bewildered by this turn of events. .

Agreed, that was waaaay too neat and simple. It's the trip along the way with Vigo that only matters.

Watched this when I had insomnia this a.m. Having read these comments I didn't expect much and therefore wasn't so disappointed. Agree that the ending was pat...really the whole plot was contrived, except maybe the very beginning. More than anything, I was pissed at how tiny & briefly displayed the subtitles were.

[theremin]

Just saw this the other night. Horrifying...

...ly bad. This was based on a book? Really? By the same guy who wrote A Simple Plan?

Book is pretty great, but I knew I wouldn't want to see the movie. a) the internal dialogue is pretty much what makes it, and 2) that type of horror is creepy when you read about it, but just disgusting to see it on film.

Of course, I'm sure they made some unnecessary (and stupid) changes from the book, as they always do.

I think the authors brother directed the movie.

[Vivian Darkbloom]

Paranoid Park was excellent, an amazing meditation on guilt and Portland. Like, his best since Drugstore Cowboy-good.

[WesterMats]

Several Random Observations at the Culmination of Reading all 354 Pages of the "Now Playing: Movies" Thread

I'm all about context, and while I'm a "film guy," for whatever reason I've stayed out of this thread. I regret it now, because this is an awesome thread and has loads of great tips, observations, writing, criticism, and all around lulz.

1. Paves rented and watched an Emerson, Lake and Palmer DVD. Further proof this kid is a visionary.

2. Artem's cinematic coming of age by watching a stultifying barrage of nothing but slow-paced Criterion re-issues definitely constituted a humor.

3. I have much more context now on the Held-Tony drama and now better appreciate that in making an offhanded diss on Jarmusch to second Tony, I stepped on a live one.

4. Caley and Ogawa are two posters I'll be paying a lot more attention to.

5. Held has seen a shitload of movies.

6. Ben Welsh is sorely missed here at the SOMB.

7. I still need to see Primer, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Bedazzled and The Fall.

Viv, thanks for reading the entire thread so I didn't have to. OK, I did read it a couple of years ago, but, since then, I've just kept up. Great observations!

[Tony]

3. I have much more context now on the Held-Tony drama and now better appreciate that in making an offhanded diss on Jarmusch to second Tony, I stepped on a live one.

How so? My interactions with Held have generally been very cordial.

[Slackmo]

Paranoid Park was excellent, an amazing meditation on guilt and Portland. Like, his best since Drugstore Cowboy-good.

Neck-and-neck with Happy-Go-Lucky as my #1 for '08 so far---but, of course, here come 90% of the contenders in the next two months.

[hummingbird]

Paranoid Park was excellent, an amazing meditation on guilt and Portland. Like, his best since Drugstore Cowboy-good.

Neck-and-neck with Happy-Go-Lucky as my #1 for '08 so far---but, of course, here come 90% of the contenders in the next two months.

I've been meaning to watch this for a while now.

I'm so hesitant though. I loved Elephant, but was lukewarm on Last Days and found Gerry an absolute bore. Has Van Sant moved on yet?

[wakingrufus]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298337/


very strange movie. made me sad at a few parts

[Vivian Darkbloom]

The Secret Life of Bees

I got dragged almost literally kicking and screaming to this with the wife, who is a beekeeper and loves Queen Latifah and black-ensemble chick flicks (I have on more than one occasion shaken my head in disbelief to find that EnkyEnky has returned from the video store with the latest Tyler Perry throwaway).

This was actually better than expected. Queen Latifah is quite admirable as the goodly, nurturing Black Mary, and Sophie Okonedo gives a pretty remarkable performance as the emotionally freighted younger sister May. Unfortunately, the 60's civil rights-race relations- miscegenation themes (that are apparently one of the novel's main projects) are by the numbers, and Dakota Fanning is miscast in her role as the young white woman looking for her one white mother and ending up with three surrogate black mothers. But it was affecting and shot quite beautifully in a suffused umber light.

B+

[M_Rots]

My go-to horror movies. Both of these kinda get under my skin.


Prince of Darkness


Nosferatu the Vampire - For some reason, the only Herzog film I have seen. This gave me bad dreams for about a week when I was a kid.

[Vivian Darkbloom]

Neck-and-neck with Happy-Go-Lucky as my #1 for '08 so far---but, of course, here come 90% of the contenders in the next two months.

Yeah, much as I loved it, I don't really expect it to be even my favorite 2008 Gus Van Sant release.

[caley]

Wolfman's got nards!

The Monster Squad: I hadn't seen this in something like 18 years. But, it's funny, watching for the first time in almost two decades tonight and all the old scenes come flooding back: kicking werewolves in the testicles, the kid asking his sister if she's a virgin, said sister mispronouncing the German text she has to speak as "underwear", and the creepy old German guy. What I did not remember, however, is just how many people die in what is basically a kids' movie. They just don't make movies like this anymore.

[Vivian Darkbloom]

United 93

I know this was high up on our '06 best of, and with good reason. This is an very well crafted film that tackles a very difficult subject with incredible skill. Everyone said it at the time so I'll just echo the sentiments that it takes a truly talented filmmaker to take dramatic material where the audience knows every outcome and eventuality and still have the viewer's stomach tied up in knots from the first frame.

A-

[brobee]

baby mama while this movie certainly has amusing, nay, enjoyable, moments, on the whole it is terribly condescending and insulting. it's a strange case, a self-hating woman's film. can't say it bored me, but it kind of made me angry. i think i might use the movie as a litmus test for future girlfriends.

[Bleep Blop]

Grave of the Fireflies

Ugh. I haven't gotten the "boy do I want to die" feeling after a movie like I did after this in quite a while. Hell of a movie, beautiful stuff really- but my god will this movie ever ruin your night. I would be a bit interested in seeing the live action version of this, though. Kinda wonder how that would work out.

Yeah- probably hold off on watching this again for a long while.

[Montana]

Anyone care to make some suggestions for a suitable horror-spooky followup for next week? It's my pick and I've decided that my original choice Burnt Offerings doesn't really hold up and isn't as much campy fun. I'd screen Evil Dead II but it got picked last year.

The Shining
The Omen
Amityville Horror
Poltergeist

[Agrimorfee]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298337/

very strange movie. made me sad at a few parts

How did I ever miss this from my animation radar?