Last movie you saw.

[relentless 254]

North By Northwest

[Bear 1817]

The Last Stand - This is Arnold's first major filmrole in 10 years, and god damn he didn't lose anything at all. Well, let's be honest, there wasn't much to lose to begin with. He was never a good actor, but when you're as cool as him you don't need to decent acting skills or anything. Arnold is Arnold, and Arnold is badass!

 

Anyway, as a huge fan of Korean cinema I was really excited about this film as this is Kim Jee-Woon's Hollywood debut. Kim Jee-Woon's the man behind films such as A Tale of Two Sisters, The Good, the Bad, the Weird and I Saw the Devil among others, and he never made a poor film, so my expectations to this films was quite high. And guess what, he didn't disappoint one bit. The story ain't all that, but that doesn't really mean anything at all. You don't watch films like this for its stories. This is a throw back to the 80's witty and bloody action films. The Last Stand is, hands down, a really awesome film. It's action as you remember it from when you were young. Great!

 

 

 

 

 

This means I've seen two of the three Korean Hollywood debuts so far, and neither disappoints. Kim Jee-Woon's The Last Stand is, as already said, awesome, and Chan-wook Park's Stoker is fantastic. I really can't wait till I get to see Joon-ho Bong's Snowpiercer. Massive expecations! However, I am not surprised, though. These three directors have been three of the best and most interesting directors in the world for quite some years now, and neither ever managed to disappoint me so far. Brilliant!

[Bear 1817]

The To Do List - Maggie Carey, the director of this film, have gathered several likeable actors such as Bill Hader, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Andy Samberg for this 90's influenced teen/sex comedy, which makes it disappointing to see how hard she actually failed with this film. And while you are treated with a couple of laughs throughout this film, none of them will make you spill your milk or anything. Meh, this was poor. There's only one impressive thing about this film, and that's the fact that she gathered some cool actors for this piece of shit film.

[Tokage 5930]

I tried to watch Enter the Void yesterday, but I couldn't finish it... Maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind for it or maybe I'm just a cinema pleb, I don't know. It just didn't do anything for me other than bore me, to be honest..

[Bear 1817]

Macabre - A cool suspense thriller with a bit of horror thrown in, by the king of gimmicks, William Castle. This ain't close to being his best film, but it's still a very solid film. The cemetery scenes were really good, and with a thick atmosphere. Those scenes were brilliantly directed.

 

This film is also known for being the first film where he took in use his gimmicks. Gotta love that!

[Bear 1817]

The Family - This is a crime comedy by Luc Besson with Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones. What a big disappointment this was. When Luc focuses on violent gangster crime he does really well, but every single time he gets close to comedy he fails and so goes the film. Awesome, awful, awesome, awful and so on. It's a shame because I really expected a good film here.

 

The Conjuring - One of the most hyped horrorilms the past 10 years, and a film that I've had really high hopes for for such a long time. Not because of the hype, but because of James Wan, who's got several great films in his filmography. And every single time he makes a horror film you can see that this guy doesn't just love horror films, he KNOWS and UNDESTANDS the genre. He knows what hororfilms are all about, and that's why he's one of the most promising directors in the genre at the moment.

 

The Conjuring are easily one of the most unoriginal films I've seen in a long time, but does that matter? No, not when it's done as good and effective as this. The whole film, including the atmosphere, reeks f the 70's, and as a massive horor fan that is never anything but a bonus, and the set designs looks amazing. Great, just great!

 

A bit sceptical to a sequel and spin-off, but as long as James Wan makes it I will have faith in them both.

[Des 289]

Yabu no naka no kuroneko (or The Black Cat from the Grove) (1968)
A ghost story set in feudal Japan. After a young man is taken away to fight in a war, his wife and his mother are left behind in what seems to be a peaceful house in a what seems to be a peaceful environment. However, a group of travelling, hungry samurai pillage the house to find food and decide to brutally rape and murder the two women while they're at it. Then burn down the place. The two women enter a ethereal, otherworldly cat/ghost form and start to prey on unsuspecting samurai. Not necessarily the bad ones, but ALL of them.

 

This film is beautifully shot in black and white. The bamboo forest and the smoke. The old structures and the costumes. The light and the shadow. The visuals are haunting. I believe this film could've been among the greatest of all time if it wasn't for some curious plot points. I don't want to spoil too much, but up to the point where a certain character doesn't recognize another certain character I was completely drawn into the film, but this failure of recognition seemed too far fetched. This doesn't happen just once either... it happened twice! There's still a difference believe realism and believability. The lack of the latter in a couple of key scenes hurt the film because it inevitably makes the viewer question what was going on in the minds of the filmmakers rather than on the screen.

Could've been perfect. It had all the ingredients to be perfect. Unfortunately it is not... but it's still very good. 8/10

[Bear 1817]

The Purge - Home invasion horror with a great concept but that falls through due to its weak script. It never becomes anything but a mediocre film at best.

 

Near Dark - I saw this film 7-8 years ago and thought it was brilliant, so when my girlfriend suggested this yesterday I was thrilled. But woah, what a disappointment. This hasn't stand the test of time. It's not bad, just not very good either. Both the story and charachters becomes a bit too weak. It lacks punch. It lacks something interesting.  I hate when this happens.

 

Strait-Jacket - Horror film by the master of gimmicks, William Castle, with a script by Robert Bloch, the man who wrote Psycho. Great film that's up there with Castle's Homicidal. It has a feel of Psycho, but it's not at all a copy or anything. Great suspense, great characters, great dialog and a Joan Crawford who's phenomenal!

 

 

Lucy Harbin took an axe, gave her husband forty whacks, when she saw what she had done, she gave his girlfriend forty one.

 

Hell yeah! Do watch, kis, right after you watched Psycho and Homicidal.

[Bear 1817]

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Decent dama komedy about a teen who's suicidal... or, thinks he is at least. There's nothing new or very exciting here, but it was OK anyway. Lots of charm.

 

The Hamiltons - What do you get when yu mix bad drama and bad horror? A realy bad film, such as The Hamiltons. What a disaster of a film. Nothing good about this at all.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

You're Next - I was really happy to see an exciting and entertaining slasher / home invasion type of horror again after a long time (can't even remember which was the last decent one). Lots of tension, blood, chaos and some really cool kills. The "twists" were kinda not so hard to guess but it was all done in a very okay manner. Recommended for slasher fans.

[Bear 1817]

I'm really looking forward to seeing "You're Next." Looks great!

[Bear 1817]

By the way, gais, what's your top 10 of 2013? I will come back with a small list later on.

 

These are my top films (not in order):

 

Stoker
The Lords of Salem
The Last Stand
Only God Forgives
Evil Dead
The Conjuring

These are my favourites, but I have yet to watch a lot of films that I'm sure will impress me a lot. Films such as Yellow, Snowpiercer, Kaze tachinu, Kaguyahime no monogatari, The Giant Spider, Sledge, They Die By Dawn and You're Next among others are films that could challenge for a spot in my top 10. Hard to say. But I am sure both Yellow and Snowpiercer will make it on my top 10 list. Well, if Yellow comes before I die, that is. Shouldn't really be calling it a 2013 film either as it hasn't been relead yet. Only got some selected screenings in 2012 and 2013 for immortals. We mortals have to continue our waiting. God damn!

[Bear 1817]

The Tingler - Another great film by William Castle, and this time with another great gimmick. The film stops, some guy starts talking and you hear people screaming, then a few selected chairs in the cinema will start vibrating. It must have been amazing to experience this in real life. It sounds so amazing!

 

Anyway, this is as I've already said, another great film by Castle. A campy horror film with an amazing Vincent Price in the lead role. It's over the top and cheesy as fuck, but it works so very, very well. It's shot in black and white but there is a few scenes where it's used color, and that's something that makes this a lot better than what it would've been without.

 

 

That was AMAZING!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

 

Stoker

The Lords of Salem

Evil Dead

 

Finally, someone else who liked The Lords! These movies were pretty good overall, yes.

[Bear 1817]

The Lords of Salem are one of the most underrated films the past 10 years or so. Great atmosphere, bizarre as fuck and weird. I'm diggin' what Rob is doing with his films. He doen't give a fuck about anything or any rules, he just does what he feels like. Ok, not his Halloween remakes. They're both awful. But House, The Devil... and The Lords... are all amazing. Not sure what to think of his upcomming film, Broad Street Bullies, though. It's a sports flick. Which can be cool of course, but I still want him to do more horror.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Yeah, I love his movies too... I kinda even enjoyed the Halloween remakes because of their different atmosphere (compared to the originals). And yes, more horror from him would be definitely welcome.  1000 Corpses and Rejects are among my favorite horror flicks probably, and Lords didn't disappoint either.

 

Btw yesterday I saw Lesson of the Evil, the latest (?) movie by Takashi Miike. It was quite good imo, very suspenseful and intense psycho-thriller/horror. Also had some serious lol-worthy moments (but more on the black humor side of things of course).

[Bear 1817]

^ Yeah, I love his movies too... I kinda even enjoyed the Halloween remakes because of their different atmosphere (compared to the originals). And yes, more horror from him would be definitely welcome.  1000 Corpses and Rejects are among my favorite horror flicks probably, and Lords didn't disappoint either.

 

I think Rob took a shit down his own leg with the Halloween remake, and the sequel. He removed one of the most important things about the original Halloween - the mysticism (not sure if this is the right word. mystic?). I think he failed so hard. There was no need to show the full past of Michael Myers. But after he's finished with the past, it's basically a scene for scene remake, just without the atmosphere and great acting of the original.

 

Despicable Me 2 - Decent films that's on par with the first one. The plot's lacking a bit compared to the first one which had a way better plot, but this on the other hand is a lot more charming and sweet, which works very well.

 

This Is the End - Hilarious film, despite the bad CGI. Great cast including James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Emma Watson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, to mention "a few", and they all play "themself". A few good parodies of films such as Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist and Mad Max as well.

 

Rihanna's AWFUL!

 

 

Red Nights aka Les Nuits Rouges du Bourreau de Jade - This French-Hong Kong-Belgian neo-giallo are, without a single doubt in my beautiful mind, one of the best and most stunning films the last 23 years. I call it a neo-giallo because it has a lot of giallo in it, such as the leather gloves, trench coat and the use of strong colors, using a lot of red and blue filters.

 

Someone will scream "style over substance" at this film, but I disagree. The plot are there, and it's good, without being anything very special or mind blwing. But the visuals are just amazing. Gorgeous! Some of the best I have ever seen. Stylish as fuck!

 

There are some violence and those scenes look great. Violent and grotesque. Really well done, except for one, but I believe that to be a tribute to the classic giallos.

 

The actors are doing well, especially the leads Frédérique Bel and Carrie Ng are amazing here.

 

I'll recommend this to fans of giallos and Only God Forgives.

 

[Bear 1817]

Lars and the Real Girl - Charming drama comedy with a good story, some hilarious moments and a superb Ryan Gosling. Good film.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ That "Red Nights" movie seems pretty cool, might check that one out. Also, I just remembered the movie Amer (speaking of "inspired by giallos" etc), scrolled back and saw that you mentioned Berberian Sound Studio, which I saw in the meantime. I got a bit bored and disinterested towards the end but it wasn't bad. Kinda reminded me of David Lynch's vibe, very vaguely. I originally thought it would be a kind of murder mystery or something but seems not. xD Anyway, it was an interesting experience.

[Bear 1817]

Check it out! What a film. I'll have to watch it again next week. It was such an amazing experience, and the way the film's shot, man. It's shot in a way that makes it almost pornographic. I've only seen it once, so I will have to watch it several times, but I'm almost certain that this is one of the 5 best films since the 90's, and a masterpiece.

 

Berberian Sound Studio sure isn't for everyone, but I loved it. Not a giallo per se, but still they've managed to capture that giallo feeling. Same with Amer. Both great films.

 

Speaking about giallo, Yellow is one of my most anticipated films ever. I don't think I've ever had this high expectations for a film made after the 80's. Maybe The Call of Cthulhu, but that's it. A 30 min neo-giallo that's supossed to be insanely good. It's only had a few selected screenings at some film festivals since 2012, and has yet to be released on VHS and DVD. I found out about it after reading about modern giallos and then saw the films' poster, then I ordered the soundtrack within a minute. I've not seen the trailer yet as I do not watch trailers, but since I saw the films poster I've been obsessed with it. I really cannot wait till I get to see this film. Feels like I've been waiting for ten years already.

 

[Tokage 5930]

Ningen Shikkaku (2010), an adaptation of Osamu Dazai's famous novel. Because I really loved the book, I had great expectations of the movie as well. Sadly, the movie itself fell flat in most aspects. The acting was okay, but so much of the book's content was skimmed over or just completely unclear that anyone who hadn't read the book would have great difficulty keeping up with the movie. The book itself centers largely around the thoughts and feelings of its main character, but in the movie you get almost no idea of how he thinks or anything... Stuff just happens without any real explanation. It's a pity.

[Peace Heavy mk II 7200]

My boyfriend watched the conjuring with me in the room if that counts. It just sounded like a lot of playing hide and go seek and then screaming to me.

[Bear 1817]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - I finally got around to watching this. I like the first one a lot despite it flaws, so I was really looking forward to this. It's full of surprises, both positive and negative.

 

On the positive side it was way better visually than the first one. The first one looked awful for the majority of it. It looked fake, unnatural and plastic. Shockingly bad to be honest. But they improved a lot on this film. Things looks less plastic, less fake and less unnatural, and that is something I appreciate. It wasn't perfect, but hella lot better. The landscapes were on a whole other level here.

And NECROMANCER, NECROMANCER and NECROMANCER!!! Gandalf VS Necromancer won this film. Jesus christ, that was well executed.

 

On the negative side I thought Jackson & co rushed it a bit here and there. The meeting with Beorn should've been longer, as should the walk through Mirkwood.

And the romance between Tauriel and Kili should've been dropped. It was a mess and didn't fit in very well. I liked Tauriel as a character, though. And Evangeline Lilly have NEVER been better... or prettier for that matter. That was great!

 

Also, I am not at all sure about how I feel about them dropping the epic adventure in favor of fast paced action, with no space to beathe. Because I did miss the epicness of the first film, and I did miss the adventure as well. I didn't dislike the action one bit, it's just that I missed the adventure hella lot. Just by adding a but to the scenes with Beorn could've changed all of this

 

The scenes with Bilbo and Smaug were great. Almost on par with riddles in the dark. That's pretty impressive.

 

But all in all it was a great film and I am really lookinf forward to The Hobbit: There and Back Again. Gonna be great!

[sai 868]

I still need to see the new Hobbit film, but I just don't have the time to go to the movies with my current school schedule

 

/and none of my friends like Lord of the Rings so I would have to go alone lmao

[indigo 389]

Sin-se-gae aka New World

 

great korean crime flick with brutal violence, which I love. especially one particular fight scene in an elevator stuck to my mind. great acting and plot, the music was fantastic. if you like korean cinema you will like this.

 

12 Years A Slave

 

Everyone should see this movie. Michael Fassbender's role really stood out, for me at least.