Last movie you saw.

[Bear 1817]

A Chinese Ghost Story III - The third and last film in the chinese ghost story series. This film starts off with the showdown from the first film, before it jumps 100 years forward in time with new characters and a new story. Well, it isn't so new. While a distant sequel, this is basically a retelling of the first film. So it lacks the punch, the freshness and the power of the two first films, as it's just more of the same. It's just the romantic horror comedy wuxia that you'd expect after watching the first two. But don't get me wrong, it doesn't have the punch of the first film, but it's still brilliant ad it's a truly enjoyable film, but it's probably the weakest film in the trilogy. Slightly weaker than part 2.

 

And as in the second film, there's some godeawful CGI here. Some truly dated special effects which lacks everything you'd want in special effects. Where outdated practical special effects usually has lots of charm, outdated CGI has nothing. It's just disgusting. But there's also plenty of practical special effects that's just amazing. The CGI is a small part of the film.

 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

The Doom Generation is great!! (just dropped by to say this xD)

[Bear 1817]

Also, these films have nothing to do with Chor Yuen's The Sentimental Swordsman and Return of the Sentimental Swordsman which also star Ti Lung. Heh. I'll have to watch both these some day, though. Should be awesome as fuck.

 

Well, as I said I'd watch this as soon as possible, and so I did.

 

The Sentimental Swordsman - This doesn't have anything to do with Chor Yuen's Clans of Intrigue, Legend of the Bat and Perils of a Sentimental Swordsman, but they have plenty in common. Ti Lung plays a very elegant, slick and classy guy, just as in Clans of Intrigue, Legend of the Bat and Perils of a Sentimental Swordsman, and his weapon of choice is a hand fan, just as in Clans of Intrigue and its sequels but with some blades thrown in for good measure. The overall feeling is much of the same, though it doesn't have the whole mystery from the three mentioned films, but still carries much of the same feeling. Ti Lung is TI Lung aka fantastic, and Derek Yee (who also appeared in Legend of the Bat) is amazing as well, and together they form a superb duo. As usual for "newer" Shaw Brothers wuxias the sets look's a bit fake, but despite this they look so god damn amazing and I am always impressed by them. If you like late 70's/early 80's wuxia which is just inbetween the old school pre-wire-fu and new school wire-fu, then this surely will please you.

 

 

Return of the Sentimental Swordsman - This film starts three years after the other and while much of the same, but it has more of a classic kung fu feeling to it because of the plot. There's not really any point saying any more. It's on par with the first one. Both films were amazing.

 

[Bear 1817]

Edge of Tomorrow - I've been looking forward to seeing this for a long time, and I was very much enjoyed. I wish it was a tad more brutal, I didn't like the ending and some of the special effects looked pretty poor, but apart from that it was very good. Emily Blunt was good and Tom Cruise is still capable being cool. That's good!

 

[Bear 1817]

Heroes of the East - Classic martial arts flick by Lau Kar Leung, starring Gordon Liu. This is Chinese kung fu VS Japanese martial arts, and for its time it's unique in its portrayal of the japanese martial arts experts. They're not portraied as villains, but both the characters and their skills is treated with respect. It portrays the chinese techniques as superior, but that's expected from a chinese martial arts film from 78. It's got a diverse cast and even more diverse fights, digging into a shitload of different styles and handling them brilliantly. Gordon Liu is always a pleasure to the eye as he's both a great actor and martial artist, and as usual he's phenomenal. Massive film!

 

[Bear 1817]

 

Adam Wingard, the director best known for The Guest and You're Next, has signed on to direct the American remake of Death Note.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wingard will start work on Death Note once he's finished with his current project, The Woods. Both Shane Black and Gus Van Sant were previously rumoured to be connected to the flick.

The most recent draft of the script was written by Jeremy Slater, who's also penned the screenplay for the Fantastic Four reboot. Whether this is the one Wingard chooses to go with remains to be seen.

 

That is some surprising choice by Adam Wingard. I love both Adam Wingard and Death Note, but I don't see how he's gonna fix this. L and Misa aren't exactly made for live-action films, and I don't get how he's gonna make 'em work. But he's a super talented guy and I am looking forward to see what he'll get out of this.

 

I also think the three japanese live-action films sucks.

[Heroin 53]

Watched the movie Horns, the one with Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter haha

i didn't choose to watch it

 

did not like that movie one bit. i say poorly written, acting sucks. laughable in some parts though

you guys should watch it if you never heard Daniel's english accent. hilarious!

does not suit him I'll tell you that

[fitear1590 2414]

Watched the movie Horns, the one with Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter haha

i didn't choose to watch it

 

did not like that movie one bit. i say poorly written, acting sucks. laughable in some parts though

you guys should watch it if you never heard Daniel's english accent. hilarious!

does not suit him I'll tell you that

I know it's tough to pull off a different accent and sound natural, but lawd, did Radcliffe even try? I saw it months ago, but I recall him saying "anything" the super British way ("eh-NA-thing") throughout the movie, despite his "American" accent. (You can hear him say it in the trailer two times.) I don't know why they didn't at least attempt to fix the accent in post-production. Such a goofy-ass movie.

[yukidogzombie 101]

The Avengers Age of Ultron it is so awesome!

[Bear 1817]

Killer Clans - A very fine Chor Yuen flick, a director who keeps on climbing on my list of favourite directors. The plot is great, the fights are well-choreographed and fun, the cast is amazing and the drama and intrigue is brilliant. The film offers lots of surprises as well. Might be a bit hard to follow for some, though, but it worked incredibly well for me. Top notch martial arts film.

 

[Bear 1817]

Thor - Decent film, but nothing more. Visually underwhelming, especially the scenes in Asgard are bloody awful. Looks really bad and plasticy. The running scenes in Asgard looks hilarious, though. They look so bad. The cast is decent, but they aren't exactly given much to work with. Cliches, poor jokes and god knows what. A nothing-plot as well. But still, I was a bit entertained so it wasn't all that bad or anything. A typical 5,5-6/10 film.

 

Love Natalie Portman. Good actor and a charming beauty.

 

 

Invincible Shaolin - A very traditional shaolin kung fu film by Chang Cheh, and as usual he's done a great job. A great plot and great choreography. It also features the "original" Venom Mob, which is always really fucking cool! They're all amazing as always.

 

 

Fun fact: the scenes with The Bride hitting the wood from a short distance and struggling to eat because of her wrecked hans in Kill Bill 2 is taken directly from this film. No kidding.

 

[Bear 1817]

WolfCop - Yes, this film goes by the awesome title WolfCop. Sadly, the film does not live up to its awesome title or even cooler posters. It's alright, and I was enjoyed, but its 79 minutes is 10-15 minutes too many, and at times it gets too silly. It's a very Troma-esque film, which is pretty awesome, but far from everything works and that's the big problem here. But it was alright, and I am looking forward to the second part.

 

[Visutox 188]

Exodus: Gods And Kings - I am quite disappointed for this one but at the same time I like it for what it is as a movie, because if you want to enjoy it then you better forget about the historical context. What pissed me off is the obstinacy to try to find rational explanations to the miracles of Moses, I think it deprives the movie from its real interest - not to mention that some of the miracles are missing. I couldn't care less about the casting but it's also true that they could have make an effort to bring more relevant actors. I get why it was censored/banned in Muslim countries. Not even gonna give a score. 

[Des 289]

 

Lost River (2014)

Another clear case of "f^*# the reviews". This is a stunning, beautifully shot, dark, gloomy, tense, gripping, imaginative, memorable film by Ryan Gosling (yes the handsome actor turned director). It's Lynchian, Dario Argentonian, with a little bit of Refnism and Malickism... for lack of a better description. It's obvious he took a lot of inspiration from these (mostly) acclaimed filmmakers and some more, but is that reason enough to boo it at a film festival? Just because you recognize some visual styles? Or just because the plot is fantastical? If anything it should be applauded that an actor with (once upon a time) a huge mainstream appeal is not afraid to embrace what he likes most. He could've gone on to act in endless romantic comedies, the ladies would love him, but instead he takes on an ambitious project and he really shines here as a director.

 

It's one of my favorite films of the decade so far. Can't possibly give it any more praise than this. It's a shame it got slaughtered by the publics and paid reviewers (calling most of them 'critics' is too much honor tbh) alike.

 

The only flaw for me is the few shots with overly present lens flare, arrgh. It's not aesthetically pleasing and really all it does is remind the viewer that there's a camera. Why would you want to be reminded of the presence of a camera when you're so deep into the world a movie created? Puzzles me. Either way, it's not distracting enough to go on about it when there's so much bizarre beauty in this movie.

 

 

Mikreh Isha (or A Woman's Case) (1970? or 1969?)

So once upon a time there was an artist in Israel who made this film about the objectification of women while he seems to be struggling with the fact that he himself takes part in this just as much as the rest of the world. It's quite a poetic film but not something to dive into unless you're alright with plotless, seemingly random images thrown together in a dizzy black and white montage with background music by an Israelic psychedelic rock band of the era. The film bombed, in fact, the director's life bombed in the few decades after he made this. Quite an interesting read.

 

Of course, it helps that the lead actress is REALLY, REALLY PRETTY. Interestingly the character she plays admits, in an interview in the movie, that she is aware that she's pretty. She has no difficulties getting into relationships but she has the greatest difficulties getting them to last for longer than... well, just very short. She wants to be seen as a human being, but the artists she gets involved with admire her beauty. She likes her beauty, tries not to become arrogant, but then again she wants to be taken seriously and not just be another run of the mill muse from yet another artsy lost soul kind of a man.

 

Then there's a man who accompanies her in this movie who seems to be a representation of the director himself. Doesn't want to be yet another poor man who is attracted to beautiful women, but has trouble confronting the fact that his nature tries to deceive him into leading that life. Actually, in a way it's quite a nihilistic film. Why would you want to repress your basic human nature if in the end you just want to live a nice life.

 

The intentions of this movie, apart from the above that I got out of it, are mostly vague. Maybe there are little intentions, maybe the filmmaker just wanted to create an experience that lingers in your mind for a while. I liked it.

 

Rating: cult / 10

[Bear 1817]

Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss - The first entry in the Japanese exploitation outlaw biker film series Stray Cat Rock which is made up by five films, starring Meiko Kaji. This also starred singer Akido Wada, who is a beast compared to the other girls in the film. The Stray Cat Rock-series was Nikkatsu's "counterattack" to Toei's Girl Boss Guerilla-series starring Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, a series of film highly inspired by Roger Corman's cult classic bikersploitation film The Wild Angels.

 

Delinquent Girl Boss is an early pinky violence film, and gives you what you'd expect from a type of film like this. It's not as sexy and violent and the pinky violence films that would follow in later years, but it's still cool as fuck. It's well-acted in my eyes, and especially Meiko Kaji is excellent as usual. The plot is a bit run-of-the-mill with a fixed boxing match and gang fights. But it' a cool and engaging story, and having a bunch of badass girls running around being badasses is something that akes this stand out from many other films in the same vein as this.

 

The film is directed by Yasuharu Hasebe who is probably best known for the masterpiece that is Female Convict Scorpion: Grudge Song, the fourth film in the fantastic, original Female Convict Scorpion series. A talented guy with an eye for lovely shots. Apart from a few scenes which is a bit dark, it's beautifully shot and visually stunning and eye-catching through and through. But the main part of why this film is so good, is the attitude the girls bring on screen and Hasebe is able to catch on film. It's just so god damn badass. I'll also add that I find this overall film to be very elegant, hip, stylish and cool. Just really, really cool.

 

All in all it' just a lovely film in my eyes. Just my cup of coffee.

 

The soundtrack deserves a mention as well. For most part it's jazzy pop rock, but every now and then we get some amazing psychedelicish rock as well. Fitting and really cool.

 

[Nisimaldar 153]

I've recently watched The Shining,.. again. I really like the film and I also, especially, like the book.

I'm kind of a fan of the conspiracy theories surrounding the film - faking the moon landing and the shining being Kubrick's "confession" (do I believe in it? Not really, but I appreciate the effort the conspiracy theorists make and I like to watch out for the instances they see as 'evidence' for their case).

Though, I do believe in the underlying theme of child abuse... The father-son relationship feels just wrong.

However, I still think Jack Nicholson was a bad cast for Jack, not because I think he is a bad actor, but because I feel like he does not bring across the transition from "fairly normal weird" to "full fledged psycho weird". He's psycho right from the beginning.

 

[Des 289]

I read a lot about The Shining but to be honest none of the theories convinced me that there was more to it. It's a very good horror movie, but I don't think the supposed hidden messages are true.

If you're interested in stuff like that, read up on Eyes Wide Shut! I thought that was a lot more interesting. Maybe I'm biased because it's my favorite Kubrick movie by a mile but... there are great theories on that one.

[Nisimaldar 153]

^ Yes, I don't believe in them either but.. I'm fascinated with conspiracy theories haha.

Definitely going to read up on Eyes Wide Shut, for some reason (Tom Cruise?) that film tends to get overlooked by me, but you're right, it is a wicked one.

Kubrick was definitely a great director, the composition of the scenes, the colours and the cuts really leave an impression. It's hard to fine good films nowadays with Hollywood banging out one and the same type of action flick over and over again. And since I don't have much time to check out all the new releases I mostly end up with the generic ones which leave me disappointed...

I think Kubrick's way of composing the scenes adds a lot to why there are so many theories surrounding is work - look at me, bemoaning the 'good old times'. For the record, I'm not saying there aren't any good new releases out there, they are just harder to find since they haven't withstood the test of time yet.

[Bear 1817]

Stanley Kubrick was such a talented guy. He truly was soemthing else, and someone really, really special as far as talent goes. I haven't seen all his films, though. I've only seen 8 as far as I know. Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Killing and Spartacus are by far my favourites from the films I've seen. In that order as well. I do love the four others as well, though, but I think these are much better than the rest.

 

The Shining gets close, though. But it doesn't quite match the four mentioned IMO. But it's close to perfect anyway.

[Des 289]

The only Kubrick directed movies left to watch for me are Barry Lyndon and that early-career movie I forgot the title.

 

I may not praise him as much as others do (didn't like A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket much...) but I think it's great that watching a movie of his, it's often instantly recognizable as his product, and yet the movies are very different. Sci-fi, drama, comedy, heist, horror, many things. Except maybe Spartacus, that one was a little "standard", it could've been made with many directors.

 

He's got that personal trademark that's hard to describe. Other people such as Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard and Woody Allen have it too... though that last name is probably the least diverse of the list.

 

I recognize what you're saying about modern movies Nisimaldar but I think it's mainly that the unwritten rules of "mainstream" moviemaking have changed: the pace, the editing, the camera. Like today you can't make a big budget movie and insert several minutes of desert footage with basically nothing happening like in Lawrence of Arabia. That would bore most of the audience.

 

The whole "the cameraman has no clue what's happening" style is a LOT more present these days too. Like when something in the corner of the screen happens (a car blows up for example), the camera suddenly changes its focus and swings to the blown up car, while in older movies they tend to build up tension and slowly move the camera to the car, making the audience wonder what's going to happen with the car and then BOOM.

 

Of course in "non-mainstream" filmmaking there's a whole lot to explore still, both past and present, and they have a tendency to bend the unwritten rules of cinema more often creating more variety. I guess that's the main reason I don't get excited about most big budget movies anymore... like the new Jurassic World or Mad Max movies. I'll watch them eventually but I'm not eager to buy a ticket.

[Flame-X 441]

Mad Max Fury Road

 

Incredibly creative set pieces. Completely focused on the objectives. This is post apocalyptic world done right. I love how the creative staff went all out on the ridiculousness. It feels like a combination of Fist of the North Star and Borderlands.

 

Go see it!

[doombox 4421]

 

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015)

This documentary is pretty dark and explains in depth Kurt's personal struggles and war with the media. If you're the type of person who idolized Kurt, you'll be in for a reality check. This is heavily painted with the impressions of him from his family, which aren't very charming or endearing, so be warned. And if you're hoping for a Nirvana documentary, this isn't it. No Grohl footage makes the film outside of very sparing Kurt interview clips where Grohl is in the background, and Novoselic's interview footage is very brief as well. The film is drab the entire way through, and it drags, badly. So badly, the 2 hour long flick feels more like 3. And since most of the parts in Kurt's own words are taken from his journal entries, I'd recommend picking up his book "Journals" before bothering to sit down and watch this. All of the interesting Cobain life, none of the boring family interviews. For the few die-hards there is some adorable baby Kurt, and then baby Frances Bean footage throughout that made the watch a bit more enjoyable, and to me was the only saving grace of the documentary.

 

Trailer:

[Bear 1817]

Lost in Translation - Slow, funny, charming and sad drama that certainly won't please everyone. I've watched it once before and enjoyed it then, but I enjoyed it even more now. Bill Murray's fantastic, but then again, isn't he always fantastic? Good film.

 

[xriko 165]

Mad Max Fury Road

 

Poh, poh, poh

what a movie !

I enjoyed it so much.

A really long long action scene, no boring time

 

Want to go to the cineclub again !

9€ the ticket, too expensive fuck

[Bear 1817]

Tammy - I told my girlfriend to choose a film to watch while we ate some food, and she choose this. This is hands down one of the wors films I've evern seen. Gave up after 45 minutes or so. Would've given up sooner if it wasn't for the fact that I was eating. I thought Melissa McCarthy did OK in Bridesmaids, which was a cool enough flick, but aside from that she's one of the most unfunny people I've seen on screen. I want to punch her fucking face. Jesus. Crap, crap, crap.