Last movie you saw.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Had the "pleasure" of watching some pretty weird stuff yesterday, courtesy of some friends. Pizza and beer was had by all, so no complaining rly. xD

 

Funky Forest: The First Contact - Just... how... why... uhmm... yeah. I couldn't even begin to describe this movie, even if my life depended on it. Imagine a puzzle of random not-really-fitting pieces with wacky characters and incredibly surreal happenings. Tadanobu Asano and apparently Rinko Kikuchi starred in it too, if that's a selling point for some. Anyway, it was enjoyable but very "...WTF?!" Oh, and it's 2 and a half hours long.

 

Foodfight! - Okay, this is officially in my "worst movies in existence" list now. It's so bad, wrong, inexplicably crappy looking and cringe-inducingly trying to be witty and whatnot... it's unbelievable. It's only mildly enjoyable or bearable while being drunk and having a circle of ppl sharing in the torment. But if I could go back in time I'd totally stop myself from watching it, lol.

[RoseOfHizaki 131]

I've seen The Brotherhood of War twice and it's a good film, but it wasn't as good on the second viewing as on the first. It's a bit too sentimental to be honest. But it only went from 8/10 to 7/10, which is still a good score for a good film.

 

You could also check out Assembly and Welcome to Dongmakgol which are two other South Korean war films. Not actually seen them myself, but they are on the endless watchlist that grows bigger by every day. But I've been recommended those to films several times, and people seem to enjoy these two a lot more than The Brotherhood of War. Fucking South Korean cinema, man. Quality!

 

I'll Be sure to check them out.

 

Ive recently just downloaded a japanese samurai movie called RAN which was released in 1985 imdb recommended it to me after i looked up brotherhood of war so i'll be sure to leave an opinion once ive seen it.

 

Assembly isnt korean actually - its chinese   'welcome to dongmakgol' is Korean though.

 

I think ive seen Assembly but that was a while back.

[Bear 1817]

Ran is an amazing film, but it's nothing like The Brotherhood of War to be honest. Two very different films. But Ran is an Akira Kurosawa film so it's obviously pue quality, but not even close to his best.

 

 

And you are right. No idea what I was thinking there.

[indigo 389]

My Way and The Front Line are also Korean war films, I haven't seen them myself - yet.

 

 

There Will Be Blood - Some people say that this is a boring film but I don't really think so. Daniel Day-Lewis's performance carries this movie till the end. Truly a one-man show. Lots of memorable scenes, like the baptism scene and the last scene, of course.

 

Pornostar - This, on the other hand, really was a boring movie. I found the dialogue boring too. Not nearly as good as Toshiaki Toyoda's later films but there were already some hints of him being a great director.

[Bear 1817]

True Detective, season 1 - I'll just jump straight to the point; best season ever made for a TV-series. Simple as that. Nic Pizzolatto, the brain behind the show, and Cary Joji Fukunaga, the director, takes TV-series to a whole other lever never seen before. Gritty, southern noir with rich dialogue, acting on a level we've never seen it before (Matthew McConaughey) and a smart, interesting and dark plot. I've never been so creeped out with a single film or TV-series in my whole life. This is, hands down, hat off and whatnot, beyond everything elsle out there. What more can I say? I know it. Bloody!Fucking!Brilliant!

 

By the way, this isn't a whodunit series. That's not what matters here. It's all bout the character development, the atmosphere and the mood.

 

The Haunting of Helena - I told my girl to choose a film on Netflix that we could watch, and despite everything that's on Netflix, she chose this one. What the fuck? How is that even possible? Awful film. Awful, awful film. Fuck this shit!

 

Man of Tai Ch - This is the directorial debut of Keanu Reeves, who's also playing a big role in the film. It's surrisingly good. Not amazing, but entertaining. The action works very well, but it really lacks the spectacular fight scenes that a lot of other films within the genre has, and that's a major problem.  But it was good, and Keanu Reeves is already a better director than actor.

 

The Thirteenth Floor - I don't get the hate for this. Cool sci-fi-noir with a really cool plot. The visuals weren't as good as they ought to be, and the ending was poor, but other than that it was very enjoyable.

 

Resident Evil - This film has stood the test of time surprisingly well. The main problems ae the special effects (CGI!!), but there's not too much of them here anyway. It's just a badass action horror flick which captures a lot of the atmosphere of the games. Milla Jovovich is just too badass and way, way, way too sexy.

 

Michelle Rodriguez is the opposite. Boring actor and she hasn't got the looks to make up for it. Meeeeh!

 

Soylent Green - Good, but a tad disappointing sci-fi-noir from the mid 70's. It just feels a bit outdated and lacks atmosphere, and that's a shame. Really is, because the plot itself ain't bad at all. Very interesting and cool.

 

Strange Days - More sci-fi-noir, and this time it's the real fucking deal. The mystery and plot is there, the mood and atmosphere is there and the visuals are there. Brilliant concept that somewhat reminds me of Blade Runner, though not nearly as good on any level. But still amazing!

[Bear 1817]

Vengeance - I saw the cool poster and decided I would watch this. Then I saw the director was Johnnie To and my expectations got really high as always when it comes to this man. And wha do I get? A bloody amazing crime thriller with a badass Johnny Hallyday in the lead role.

 

This is the third film in Johnnie To's "trilogy" consisting of The Mission, Exiled and this. I love both The Mission and Exiled, and I thought that was just as good as Exiled, if not better. They all are connected by the same themes, which would be brotherhood and loyalty as a couple of theme. So there's not really anything new under the sun here. But it's so well done. Artistic noir-inspired crime thriller with great acting from everyone, especially Johnny Hallyday who's also got a badass weird look about him.

 

Johnnie To is a huge fan of Jean-Pierre Melville, and especially his film Le samouraï. And that really shiens through int his film. Lots of Le samouraï-vibes throught the film, as well as a few Memento refrences. Johnnie To

wanted Alain Delon, the lead actor in Le samouraï, to play the lead here, but Alain Delon thanked no and Johnnie To was recommended Johnny Hallyday, whom he had never heard about. But he went with him and it worked really well. Great performance!

 

Dirty Pretty Things - Solid thriller about the treatment and the exloitation of illegal immigrants. A very good film.

 

The American - Bloody great thriller with George Clooney in the lead. This film gives of plenty of Le Samouraï-vibes as well. It's a slow one with little dialogue and lots of atmosphere. I really, really liked this one. I checked it out because of the poster that looked really late 60-70's like.

 

Street Thief - One of the better documentary-styled films I've seen, I think. A thriller about a documentary team that follows a thief around while he does his. The concept isn't original, but the whole thing is so well done it actually feels original. That's impressive.

 

The Escapist - A very solid prison thriller that  changes between being really intense and a slow-burner. Good and smart.

 

Dr. Mabuse the Gambler - Early 20's Fritz Lang silent black & white masterpiece, that is about 4,5 hours long. What the heck am I suppossed to say about this film? This film just has to be experienced. Masterpiece! Fritz Lang was a directorial God. Simple as that.

 

Fritz Lang are one of the best and most impressive directors of all time. If you haven't seen any of his films, do yourself a favor and see a couple. Unless you've got a horrible taste you'll feel grateful to yourself you did. What a brilliant man!

[Flame-X 441]

I just saw the animated DC original film, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. While I'm not big on DC heroes, this movie is well done. Probably the most violent and gritty superhero animated film I've seen surpassing the Dark Knight Returns. You'll see characters get decapitated, swords & spears get shoved down their throats, and headshots. The story itself is actually written well. Due to Flash's desire to save his mom from that horrific murderous incident, he traverses time to save her however, that change leads to disastrous results in the timeline. A lot of packed in this film but it wraps up nicely with a tearful ending. This movie is definitely NOT for kids. I highly recommend it even though if you're not into DC like I am.

[Bear 1817]

A Lonely Place to Die - Mediocre thriller without much of a thrill to offer. It lacks atmosphere, intensity and likeable characters. The last 25 minutes or so were pretty good, though.

[Bear 1817]

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse - The second installment in Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse trilogy, and it came 10 years after the first one. It's still black & white, but not silent. So it might be more apealing to some. This film is about 2,5 hours shorter than the first, so the pacing is more steady, and overall faster than in Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler. It's also darker, taking influences from both horror and fantasy, unlike the first which is more straight up mystery-crime. Which one's the better? None. I don't know. I can't choose. Both are brilliant. All hail Fritz Lang!

[Flame-X 441]

Came back from seeing Need for Speed. The good? Car porn. The bad? Everything else. The cheese was strong in this one.

[Bear 1817]

Don't you love cheese like me, boy? And I am adding this great Aaron Paul quote:

 

I just want to do something, even if it's just a small little indie, that really makes me excited, that's very story-driven, character-driven and doesn't need those big explosions or car chases.

 

 

Heh. People change pretty fast, eh? I guess he didn't get the roles he was hoping for and shit. But how's the film compared to ther car films? Is it like the 4 first Fast and Furious films, is it like the 5th, how is it compared to Bullitt and the original Gone in 60 Seconds? What type of film is it? I'm kinda keen you see. There's just not enough goodcar films anymore. Fast Five was badass, though. Was nothing like the previous F&F films. It was basically The Italian Job (the original) meets Ocean's Twelve. The diector said something a while back that sure turned me on:

 

 

Waugh chose to shoot all of the stunts in Need For Speed practically, with real backgrounds and no visual effects. Part of his vision was to pay homage to the classic car films of the 60’s and 70’s, namely the 1968 Steve McQueen classic Bullitt, which relied on nothing but adrenaline and pure stunt-car driving to create thrills. That meant to green screens, no CGI – just a man and a car.

 

“When you watch [Bullitt], there was no music,” said Waugh. “It was just 18 minutes of motor noise and great tension, and no CG. I think that was really the focus when we made this movie. It was looking at that, and trying to figure out, why do we still quote today, a movie 50 years ago, as the best car movie of all time?”

 

No green screens and no CGI = OOOOH YES!!!

 

Let's just be honest. We can all agree that Bullitt probably are the best car film of all time, and none of us expect such greatness from Need for Speed. But these quotes are nice anyway. Very nice. Hope they managed to get it somewhat right.

 

Resident Evil: Apocalypse - Is this a very good film? No, not really. But it's an entertaining action film wrapped in a somewhat mediocre sci-fi-horror costume. It's just 85 minutes of action with monsters and a really sexy Milla Jovovich.

[Flame-X 441]

I don't mind cheese when it's not taken seriously but when a movie tries to tell a legit story, then that's where I have a problem. This plot scenario feels like I've seen so many other movies just like it. So much of Need for Speed's dialogue made me cringe cuz it was corny and felt so forced. I really hate it when my common sense is being insulted like when you question some parts of the movie, you ask yourself "why didn't he/she do this or that?" The racing here isn't thrilling because of the utterly predictable plot which takes away any form of suspense. As for as the acting goes, Aaron Paul still continues as Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad minus the meth. This overall movie feels like a scrapped first draft script of Fast & Furious that was picked up by some college film student who wanted to make a good looking film inserting all these cliches and tropes without any sort of substance behind it. I wanted to see Need for Speed for a nice little entertaining popcorn flick, but even from that standpoint I was double face palmed. I say a better recent racing film is Rush. The racing cinematography on that movie is great and so is the character development.

 

I can't even put Need for Speed on the "so bad it's good" level. G.I.Joe is a perfect example of that category, at least to me.

[Bear 1817]

Ah, I see. Thanks. That's not what I wanted to hear, though. I wanted it to be entertaining cheese. But isn't Rush a bit different kind of film? I've not seen yet.

 

 

It's a bit sad to say, but I can't think of many good car films post-2000's. Death Proof, Fast Five, The Transporter and Death Race (way inferior to the original Death Race 2000!!!) are the ones I can think of.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Watched some super-oldies recently..

 

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages - Pretty nice silent film about witches and devils and whatnot. I felt that it took a while for it to get to the point (beginning almost had me falling asleep xD), but after a while it was pretty nice and atmospheric. I liked how it was almost a kind of made-up documentary. Cool imagery too!

 

The Man Who Laughs - Interesting "freak romance" flick, with Conrad Veidt playing brilliantly in the leading role (never actually noticed before that he was the somnambulist in the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari). I really liked the characters, even though the story was predictable as hell. Still, some touching and cool moments.

 

Also, you gotta love dat smile.

 

[Flame-X 441]

Ah, I see. Thanks. That's not what I wanted to hear, though. I wanted it to be entertaining cheese. But isn't Rush a bit different kind of film? I've not seen yet.

Ya Rush is a sports drama film based on a true story. Sorry, I can't think of any entertaining cheese racing movie other than Fast & Furious franchise. Maybe I'm just not that big into racing in general. Go ahead and give Need for Speed a shot. Don't let my opinion sway your decision from seeing it. I've seen a few people really enjoy it, so I'm probably just being overly critical.

[Bear 1817]

Yeah, that's kinda what I thought. Heard it's a very good one, though. As for Fast & Furious, do you like all the film? I only like Fast Five (not seen six yet), which desn't havemuch to do with F&F. It's a completely different type film.

With that said, I am not into racing or anything either. I don't give a fuck about the racing part in films, which means they'll need to have something more. Only driving doesn't do it for me.

 

 

That's two amazing films, Jigsaw. Old horror are really my cup of tea, thouh I can understand it not being too funny or interesting to others.

 

 

Underworld - This is such a good and underrated film in the vein of Resident Evil. Ok, it's got less horror and more fantasy, but you still get that RE feeling from it. Vampires, werewolfs and humans in a lovely mix. It's just 120 minutes of badassery. And you just can't get enough of Kate Beckinsale running around in those tight-fitting latex clothes. What a woman.

[indigo 389]

Convoy - Nostalgic movie for me. My brother had this on VHS a looooong time ago and I always watched it. Based on the country song "Convoy" which you can hear in GTA V, btw. I just recently found out that the director, Sam Peckinpah, also directed movies like Straw Dogs, Bullitt and Wild Bunch. Entertaining movie if you like trucks or road movies.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

The Hands of Orlac - Wonderful silent thriller/horror again with the fantastic Conrad Veidt - what's more, directed by Robert Wiene (hello, Dr. Caligari!). This has to be one of my fave old, i.e. '20s or '30s horror flicks so far (bear in mind that I haven't seen that many), especially because of the simplistic, stark imagery coupled with the melodramatic gestures and the incredibly haunting and depressing music (also one of the best soundtracks for me). A really cool experience.

[Bear 1817]

Resident Evil: Extinction - I love this film. The second best Resident Evil film for sure. Badass from begining to end. I don't get any Resident Evil-feeling from the film, but it's a great action film with amazing action sequences. And you get to see Milla Jovovich, and that's never bad, is it?

 

Resident Evil: Afterlife - The weakest film in the series to now, but still enjoyable. There's just too much slow-mo and weak action sequences here. Not that the action is bad, it's just not up to the standard of the previous film. But Axeman is awesome, though. He looks really fucking good and is really fucking badass. Shame he didn't get a bit more screentime.

 

Oh, and mroe Milla Jovovich. Yum.

 

The Heartbreak Kid - Surprisingly good film. It's a remake of a film from the 70's by the same name, but I've never watched that one. But this was actually pretty decent. At times hilarious, but not consistent enough. The original us supossed to be way better, so I look forward to seeing that one.

 

Safe - Cool, but very standard Jason Statham-action. There's not a single surprise throughout the whole film. You get exactly what you expect. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Pathology - A cool cocept ruined by poor excecution. Awful characters. I mean, there's not a single likeable character throughout the whole film. They're all worthless, annoying and scum. What a shame.

 

The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse - The last of Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse trilogy, and his last film ever. This was made 27 years after the previous one, and is a lot different from that one. It's not as dark and feels more like a more standard mystery-thriller. It was really enjoyable, but the weakest of the three. It lacked the madness from the previous two films. But it's a great film and Fritz Lang ended his career with a huge fucking bang! Genius!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ Ah, I once started Resident Evil: Extinction but stopped after about half an hour. xD Didn't really grab me. The first two movies are okay though.

 

Ride Along - Got a chance to watch this buddy cop action-comedy for free, so I went. Incredibly mediocre and at times terribly unfunny movie with archetypal cliché characters - maybe Laurence Fishburne was decent as the main villain. It was as eventful and entertaining as Ice Cube's permanent tough-guy expression throughout the whole movie.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Red Nights [a.k.a. long-ass French title] - Thanks to Bear for mentioning this gem a while back, only now had time to properly watch it. Even though it turned out that the subtitles were a bit fucked up (weird grammar and lots of stuff missing in the middle to last portion), it was a highly entertaining experience. Excellent visuals and atmosphere (giallo influences showing from a mile away!), and the characters were cool too - gotta luv Carrie Ng, she was so perfect as the evil sadistic lady~

[Miasma 162]

True Detective S1 - absolutely terrific story about two detectives as they try solve the mystery surrounding a murder. Bear is right about the show being less about the mystery, and more about the characters. But the story does not disappoint, everything about the show from the writing to visualization is amazing. The Lovecraftian cosmic-horror overtones make this show really special, and one of the creepiest things I've watched in a long time. I cannot wait for season 2, but I wouldn't be disappointed if this were the only season. 10/10

 

In Fear - low budget horror movie about a couple that get's lost in the English (?) countryside. Heard good things about it, sadly it didn't live up to the hype. Starts off really good does a great job of building tension, but really blows it halfway through. The script dragged it down, and the acting was only okay. Then it get's packed full of cliches, and gets really predictable/boring from there. Wouldn't recommend to anyone. 4/10

[indigo 389]

Dr. Strangelove - Masterpiece.

[Des 289]

On True Detective: I loved it up until the last two episodes. The set-up was great, but the pay-off was a bit of a letdown. It felt rushed and it was not nearly as fascinating as the series had promised in the beginning. If I had to give it a rating though, it would still be about a 8/10. Much better than many other tv-shows.

 

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
The bottom of the barrel... I can't believe I sat through this. This movie doesn't possess even a single redeeming quality. Plot holes the size of the biggest craters on the moon. Cardboard characters. Horrible one-liners. A stupid premise to start with. Nothing even remotely entertaining. 1/10

 

The Invisible Man (1933)

Lovely short monster picture. Aside from a few visual errors (that unfortunately become clearer with better picture quality) and an annoying side character, this is a very well executed film adaption of a timeless H.G. Wells story. Highly recommended to fans of old monster flicks and those familiar with the original novel... and still recommended to everyone else as long as you don't mind seeing a trick with a visible wire or two. 7/10

 

Vynález zkázy (or The Fabulous World of Jules Verne) (1958)
A visual feast! I haven't seen anything quite like this. Very unique. Not every shot is as beautiful as the greatest shots in here, but there's hardly a bad one. Perhaps some underwater sequences will show that time has passed since 1958, but long before those scenes appear, the film has likely already grabbed a hold of you. Drawings blend in seemlessly with 'real' set pieces. The plot is well, a quite simplistic story of adventure, yet engaging. Must-see for its uniqueness. 7/10

 

East of Eden (1955)
One of the James Dean pictures. Also one of the Elia Kazan directed pictures. Both have worked on better projects. This is merely average to sort-of good and this is partly blamed on the non-existant chemistry between Dean and his love interest. On all other levels, this was never bad... it was just entertaining enough as a whole. 6/10

 

Thérèse Desqueyroux (2012)

Quite average. Lead actress Audrey Tautou, on which the picture heavily depends, wasn't as convincing in this as she is with many of her other roles. Also at times poorly directed and suffering from a weak script. This is hard to forgive because the source material is very good. Just below average actually. 5/10

 

Jagten (or The Hunt) (2012)

The award winning Danish film disappoints a bit. When a film tries to depict harsh reality and needs to lean on simplistic and plain dumb characters while doing so... well, then there's damage done to the implied harsh reality, isn't there? Problems arise when a certain stupid woman makes a number of stupid decisions (completely out of character considering the job she has) after a child's false accusation... without there being any actual proof. A masterful Mads Mikkelsen portrays the wrongly accused man and is quickly seen by society as a vile child molester. There are many good things to be said about this film, but the portrayal of a society ganging up on a wrongly accused man, is just way too easy and lacks subtlety. The complete lack of police involvement in the plot is bizarre and the increasingly black and white drama throughout isn't the film's strength. The strengths lie in tackling the subject to begin with, the masterful acting by Mikkelsen and the admittedly strong ending which I shall not spoil. 7/10

[Bear 1817]

On True Detective: I loved it up until the last two episodes. The set-up was great, but the pay-off was a bit of a letdown. It felt rushed and it was not nearly as fascinating as the series had promised in the beginning. If I had to give it a rating though, it would still be about a 8/10. Much better than many other tv-shows.

 

What exactly was it that you had expected? What let you down, and what "promises" did it "break"?