Last movie you saw.

[Bear 1817]

Thor: The Dark World - Better than the first, but not by much. It's as visually underwhelming as the first, and Asgard still looks godawful. So artificial and boring. The costumes once again look very cheap. It just doesn't look like something from a 170m film. Not even close. It looks like something for a regular theatre or something. But the biggest flaw, for me at least, is that there's no real substance here, and nothing to make up for the lack of a proper, good plot. Malekith was so wasted. Talk about not bothering develoing a character at all. The action wasn't nearly good enough to make up for it. And yeah, so and so and so on.

 

Also, have running in front of a green screen ever looked good? God damn, it looks so fucking bad. Ew.

 

I was entertained, but it's disappointing to see how little effort is actually put into these types of films. There's so much potential in these types of films, but they don't bother using 1/5th of that potential.

 

[Bear 1817]

Captain America: The First Avenger - From the 7 films I've seen from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is the best out of them, a horses head ahead of The Avengers. But that doesn't mean this is amazing. But what I liked a lot in this film, which I've missed in the other MCU-films, is the balls to go slow and try to give the hero a bit flesh. Give him a proper personality. Make us like him as a character and a hero. And I did that. I really enjoyed Captain America and Steve Rodgers in this film. I also felt that the plot was a lot better here than in the other films I've seen. It's not brilliant, but it's more than good enough to keep me interested.

 

I also feel they've managed to create a retrofeeling here, despite obviously being a very modern film. I get plenty 60's and 70's James Bond-feeling from this, and for me that is nothing but positive. And the jokes are way more successful here than in the other films.I laughed out loud several times, which is quite unusual for me when it comes to these Marvel films.

 

What it does wrong, though, just like the other MCU-films, is that it doesn't give the villain close to enough screen time and purpose. Once again the villain feel underdeveloped, and a shame it is.

There's also way too much CGI for my liking, because the CGI isn't very good. That's disappointing.

 

And it's got lots of Peggy Carter, and I am currently in love with her. So, heh...

 

So yeah, I proper enjoyed this. 7/10, just like The Avengers. Not a masterpiece, but enjoyable, and a film I'll watch again later sometime. Looking forward to checkig out The Winter Soldier.

 

 

Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo - The first one was an instant classic to me, so I was really looking forward to this one. Sadly for me, this wasn't much but a huge disappointment. It's decent, but the whole girl gang with badass attitude-thing is dropped, and instead you have a retarded gang acting like retards in the leads. And to my big disappointment the film has nothing to do with the first, desite Meiko Kaji, Bunjaku Han and Tatsuya Fuji returning. They all play different roles this time around. And from what I've read now, none of the films are conected other than in names. Shame. The film uses 45 minutes before it starts go somewhere, and by then I had already started getting bored. However, it really picks up after that and gets really good for the last 40 minutes, but it's all too late. By then the damage was already done.

 

I might have had too big expectations considering how much I loved the first, Meiko Kaji and the director Toshiya Fujita who directed Lady Snowblood, one of my all-time favourite films, but even if I hadn't known that I wouldn't have been very pleased. 5/10

 

[Bear 1817]

Mad Max: Fury Road - Finally a big budget, mainstream film that lives up to the hype. What a fucking movie, guys. When I first heard they were getting close to shooting a new Mad Max without Gibson I got sceptical, when I started seeing pictures from the film I got super exited and over the last half year or so my expectations had gone sky high. So, there's not much substance here to be honest, but it nails everything aside from that. Fantastic action, stunts, cinematography and badass characters. It's full on action from begining to end, but it's made in such a way that it just gets more and more fun with each god damn scene, one after one more over the top, cheesy, ridiculous and cooler than the previous one.

 

I thought they really managed to capture that good Mad Max-feeling as well. It didn't just feel as another post-apocalyptic film. It felt like Mad Max. Brilliant work.

 

It's damn nice to see a film without too much CGI as well. As far as I could see, the majority of the special effcts, stunts and all that was the real deal. If it wasn't, then it's some of the best CGI ever because I could not tell that it was CGI. That's awesome!

 

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron was great too.

 

Mad Max: Fury Road is simply a film the lives up to the hype. Badass to the core.

 

[Bear 1817]

Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter - I'm not quite sure about this title to be honest. Sex hunter? Where? The title makes this seem like a proper, sleazy exploitation film, but it's nothing like that. Not at all. While it's an exploitation film, it's a film that deals with serious subject. It's a socially relevant film dealing with things racism and war, and the film carry a stron anti-war message.

 

Anyway, for the third entry in the series Yasuharu Hasebe, director of the first film in the series, takes back the director's chair, brings back the exploitation of the first film, and more important than anything else, he brings back the badass attitude, styliized, almost psychedelic visuals, the coolness that totally lacked from the previous film and a really cool soundtrack. It's well-paced, well-acted with Meiko Kaji in the lead and several of the same actors as in the two previous films.

 

The addition of Golden Half, a five piece hafu (biracial?) j-pop group of the 70's, is much appreciated. Not only because their great music, but also because of the themes the film deals with. A smart move by Hasebe.

 

Not quite as good as the first, but it's only a small step behind. While the first one was a 9/10, this is a 8,8/10. Close. Great films!

 

[Tokage 5930]

The Babadook

I feel bad having to say this, but I just constantly felt.. underwhelmed by this movie. I guess the fact that it constantly popped up on people's 'best of 2014' lists means it must have SOMETHING going for it, but I just don't see it. The fact that the 'monster' makes these really RIDICULOUS dinosaur sound effects near the end of the movie doesn't help either..

I mean, I've seen more than enough horror movies in my life, but it just did nothing for me. Surprisingly good child actor, though he did annoy me at times with his screeching and shit. The atmosphere/set design/cinematography were all on point as well, but the actual plot just didn't grab me, and the movie never actually scared me either. I mean, I get the whole psychological aspect, but some of the things STILL made no sense.

[indigo 389]

Fury - A World War II movie about US tank crew, starring Brad Pitt, Shia Labeouf etc.. Not necessarily a great cast acting-wise but I've always liked Pitt for some reason. And there's fucking tanks! I think everyone still did a decent acting job, even LaBeouf, nothing special though. The movie looks good. Quite grim and brutal (e.g. some dude gettin' his head blown by a tank cannon). One character (played by Logan Lerman) had some very embarrassing lines here and there, and while the movie started promisingly, the second half, especially the climax turned out to be typical American war heroism. 6/10

 

Network - Some lines from this movie were sampled in a Perturbator song and that got me interested to see this film so I watched it - and I wasn't disappointed. Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and William Holden are all great in their roles. Finch really made me feel that he's going insane. And the ending is so ridiculous, loved it! Pretty much one of my favorite satire movies with Dr. Strangelove. 8/10

[Bear 1817]

These pictures gives me a massive boner that'll last the whole day. I just can't help it:

 

 

It's weird isn't it, how we still love seeing pictures of our heroes together, even if they've been mroe or less over the top since before you were born?

 

Over the last 25 years Carpenter has only put out a few good films and episodes such as In the Mouth of Madness, John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns, Body Bags and Escape from L.A., as well as a really cool debut album. Yet, ever single time I see pictures like that or get news that he's doing something new, I can't help but get beyond excited.

 

It's the same with Kurt Russell. While he has still been involved in some great films in the last 25 years (Tombstones, Death Proof, Vanilla Sky, Breakdown, Unlawful Entry, Miracle), and some less good, but still cool and enjoyable films (Backdraft, Escape from L.A., Executive Decision), it's not exactly like he's been making a huge name for himself again over these years. But every single time I see his name in a casting, I just can't help but get excited. And I am super excited for The Hateful Eight as I am a huge Tarantino and Russell fan. But I also look forward to the western horror Bone Tomahawk. No idea if this even have potential, but I am looking forward to it. Heh.

 

But still, seeing them together pumps me the fuck up. I'd kill for them to make something together again.

[Youko_o 51]

Tonari no Totoro - I know this one since some years ago but never watched it before. I already knew Studio Ghibli, responsible for this film, and it's easy to notice the pattern of the animation and reaction of the characters to some situations. Of course the animation is beautiful, cause we are speaking about Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki (movie's director). I liked it, but for me it lacks something. Maybe it's too short/fast, I don't know. 

 

7/10

[Bear 1817]

Jet Li's The Enforcer - Uneven, but good action film by personal favourite Corey Yuen. Plot-wise it's fairly standard, and something you've seen several times if you're a fan of action films in general. But the fights, action scenes and stunts are nothing short of spectacular and will keep you glued to the screen for the 100 minutes it lasts. The cast is cool, and Jet Li is great as always. Supporting cast Anita Mui and Mo Tse is great. Anita Mui is as beautiful as one gets and Mo Tse is badass, especially for being only 11 years old at the time. But there's plenty of over-acting here as well, especially by main villain Rongguang Yu. His character is so over the top, but for an action film ala this that's not a problem. I actually love it.

 

This isn't close to being the best works of either Corey Yuen og Jet Li, but fans of either will most likely appreciate this film. At least I did.

 

[Tokage 5930]

Ah yeah, I also watched Totoro recently. I fell asleep like 5 times while watching it, so Ii guess perhaps it doesn't really count as 'watching', but oh well.

[Bear 1817]

Whaaat? I might be a bit biased when it comes to Studio Ghibli, but I think My Neighbor Totoro is absolute brilliant. Such a nice film. If I ever get a kid or two I'll make them watch My Neighbour Totoro and other Studio Ghibli films over and over and over and over again. Like, fucking always. At its worst, Studio Ghibli is still amazing, and My Neighbour Totoro is top 5 Ghibli films for sure.

[Bear 1817]

Starsky & Hutch - For the 10th time or something. I'm still a fan and I think this is proper underrated like. It's silly and dub, but it's so much fun. The chemesty between Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson is magic, and Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Fred Williamson and even Snoop Dogg are great here. Plenty of memorable scenes and quote. While the first half is a laugh-o-rama, the second half is a bit too uneven, but still provides plenty laughs.

 

The dance-off, man. How good is that scene? Or the prison scene? Or the mime scene? Or the do it-scene?

 

 

Seriously... brilliant.

[Bear 1817]

Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal - Yasuharu Hasebe continued the series after a phenomenal "comeback" to the series, and he continued doing his own thing. The plot is very similar to the previou one, but maybe not as socially relevant as it. It's cool and full of attitude, an amazing Meiko Kaji and a bunch of cool and good supporting actors, it's visually awesome with its colourful filters and lighting, the odd camera angles and flashy editing, and this is topped off with a superb soundtrack. Psych rock, sentimental pop and other cool sounds. The music itself really manage to su up the film as a whole. Another great addition to the series.

 

Fun fact: all the four first Stray Cat Rock films were released the same year. Not unsual in Japan in the 60's and 70's, but it's still crazy.

 

 

 

I (pre-)ordered the entire Stray Cat Rock: The Collection on blu-ray the other day as well. I don't buy many films anymore, but these I just had to get even though they were a tad expensive for my liking. Should arriv ein august. Can't wait!

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Holy shit, dat new Mad Max movie. I don't say stuff like this often, but this was easily the most visually amazing and intense film I've ever seen. Also, gotta love how the action is non-stop basically, and the world is so well-crafted and detailed. Had they fucked up the story and the characters, it would still be a pretty impressive flick -- thankfully, they didn't, so it was all 10/10 for me. I'm just sad that the year is not even half done, and I definitely won't see another movie that will top this.

[Bear 1817]

Holy shit, dat new Mad Max movie. I don't say stuff like this often, but this was easily the most visually amazing and intense film I've ever seen. Also, gotta love how the action is non-stop basically, and the world is so well-crafted and detailed. Had they fucked up the story and the characters, it would still be a pretty impressive flick -- thankfully, they didn't, so it was all 10/10 for me. I'm just sad that the year is not even half done, and I definitely won't see another movie that will top this.

 

I thought the film was great too, but it wasn't quite A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night if you ask me. Highly recommended horror film. Two very different films, though. They're more or les son the opposite side of the scale though, with one being one huge, noisy action-sequence and the other a calm, atmospheric flick that will put half the people who watches it to sleep.

 

I also expect A Most Viloent Year, The Hateful Eight, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend, The Witch and Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter to be able to cope with it at least. I got massive expectations to all of these, even though I am a bit sceptic when it comes to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend. The first one is a proper wuxia classic and one of the finest films the genre ever saw, but it's been 15 years and making sequels 15 years later tend to fail a lot. Anyway, if Yuen Woo-ping stays away from CGI he is fully capable of making great and even better than great films, and both Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh turns me the fuck on.  Yeah, excited, if a bit sceptic as well.

 

 

PS: without seeing it I am sure The Witch will please you hella lot. I can feel it, browski.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

I thought the film was great too, but it wasn't quite A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night if you ask me. Highly recommended horror film. Two very different films, though. They're more or les son the opposite side of the scale though, with one being one huge, noisy action-sequence and the other a calm, atmospheric flick that will put half the people who watches it to sleep.

 

Ah yeah, that was a cool movie! Tough to compare them, since they're very very different but A Girl... was high-quality atmospheric stuff. Still, Max reigns supreme for me, for now.

[Lestat 2167]

 

John Wick (2014) depicts nothing more or less than absolute brutality in the form of an ex-hitman stumbling back onto his past as an aftermath of the death of his terminally ill wife, and the savage murder of his dog and theft of his 1969 Mach 1 Mustang muscle-car after an encounter with New York's kingpin Viggo Tarasov's son, Iosef (played by Alfie Allen respectively, losing his testicles in both this movie and in Game of Thrones as his portrayal of Theon Greyjoy, or better known as "Reek"), who after this occurence becomes the main target of headliner John Wick. This story holds a loose plot, a ruthless tally of a barbarous 119 casualties on screen in the span of a mere 100 minutes of film, and a bloodthirsty Keanu Reeves manoeuvering himself through illegal hotel-and club hostings with a series of gun-shots and jujutsu techniques, leaving nothing but death in his wake. 

 

This was certainly enjoyable, fast-paced and meant for those who'd like to sit through an action-packed movie with little plot or backstory being told. This movie isn't shying away with censorship, for almost every death is detailed (but quick), and the camera never loses a moment of action. Character development is tossed completely aside and instead the box-office's sole focus goes out to pure slaughter and the impact this man used to have on the Russian mob. 

[Bear 1817]

Kundo: Age of the Rampant - A rather new South-Korean period action-epic by Jong-bin Yun, starring a fantastic HaJung-woo and an even better Kang Dong-won. The film looks beautiful. It's well-shot, has great set- and costume-designs and has well-choreographed action scenes and a soundtrack that feels like it belongs in an italian western film from the 60's/early 70's rather than in a South-Korean period actioner, yet it just makes everything way much cooler. There's so much toenjoy in this film. It's something like 20 minutes too long, the characters should've been given a bit more personality and reason and it is predictable and unoriginal as fuck. But still, it's very enjoyable. The whole film feels like something like 60's Italian western meets Seven Samurai meets Robin Hood.

 

And despite its lenght and flaws, it's well worth watching for the visuals and soundtrack alone.

 

[Des 289]

 

To Sir, With Love (1967)

 

It's easy to draw comparisons to the 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle where a teacher takes on a job and is confronted by a classroom of unmotivated young folks, unwilling to obey even the simplest of rules and acceptable behaviour, and to a certain extend it's not strange to say that if you've seen either one, you've seen them both. But that's the thing with these routines in many more similar movies: new teacher, hopeless classroom, tries a million things, ready to give up, sudden enlightenment, tries something else, works, finally work pays off, pupils become increasingly happy with him, new difficulties arise, etc etc. All these teacher-pupil movies through the decades show that while the environment changes, human behaviour doesn't change as much.

 

Sidney Poitier, playing a student back in Blackboard Jungle but playing a teacher in this one, is great as always. There's some cheap sentiment and hackneyed scenes and some hastily written confrontations to shape a certain character. However these situations don't dominate the movie and there's still plenty to enjoy. Nice watch if you like the "classroom genre".

 

 

 

Hot Fuzz (2007)

 

I'm about to throw this whole Edgar Wright fellow out of the window. 4 movies seen and none of them were any good. His quirky visual style, combining rather ordinary looking images with flashy editing and attempts at humor playing with death, silly characters and sudden revelations, doesn't appeal to me at all. Repetition of jokes like the incomprehensibly mumbling old man don't work at all and the nauseating action scenes in the second half of the movie gave me a headache. Very tiresome stuff.

 

And then there was so much stuff that made no sense even within the context of this nonsensical movie. A sudden change of heart of some of the most stubborn characters, a plot "twist" near the end that made NO sense whatsoever as if the writers believed that the audience was ready to forget all that happened earlier and how a certain character behaved. Throw it out of the window and create a new character with the same face? They were essentially cheating on the audience.

 

With 4 awfully dull movies it seems to me that Wright is one of the worst directors active today and I really don't want to see another one. I'm done.

[Bear 1817]

Coherence - Full-lenght debut of James Ward Byrkit is an exhibition in  low-budget filmmaking in 2015. It's one hell of an impressive debut. A sci-fi-thiller that is interesting, and at times, really creepy. It's got a cast of eight, all who are brilliant in this film, and while most of the film is filme din one single room, be sure to put your phone away or you'll get confused and bored pretty fast. However, if you spend the time focusing on the ilm I am sure you will be impressed as well. This film is 50k more than well-spent.

 

[nullmoon 784]

Man Up. It was fucking lovely and I feel like anything is possible now XD

[Bear 1817]

Dwayne Johnson in Talks to Star in 'Big Trouble in Little China' Remake

 

 

That's fucking awful. Not because of Dwayne Johnson, but the thought of remaking the coolest film ever made just disgusts me. Everyone who's playing around with the thought of remaking this huge masterpiece deserves a fucking axe to the back of their head. Death to 'em all.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

dat new Mad Max movie

...for the 2nd time.

 

Still as awesome as the first time.

[Bear 1817]

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

 

Mark Hartley returns with yet another documentary about the world of films, and while it never reaches his previous masterpieces Machete Maidens Unleashed! and Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!, it's an instant classic. It focuses on the israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus who bought The Cannon Group in 79, and how they helped chaning the world of cinema and how they fucked it up. More or less. Mark Hartley is an absolute genius when it comes to documentaries, and he once again proves it. The way he cut together everything is absolutely top notch. And the story they're telling is fun, interesting and enlightning as well, so it's just brilliant.

 

I'm a huge fan of several Cannon films myself, uncluding films I consider cult classics such as Enter the Ninja-series, New Year's Evil, Hospital Massacre, Death Wish-series, Breakin', Missing in Action-series, Lifeforce, American Ninja-series, Invasion U.S.A., The Delta Force, Cobra, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Over the Top and so god damn on, so I am obviously a bit biased. But I find it hard to dislike something as well-written, told and directed as this. However, the reason why it's not quite as good as his other documentaries is the lack of certain key figures. Neither Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, Chuck Norris or Sylvester Stallone appears in this film. But you do get interviews with Tobe Hooper, Franco Nero, Dolph Lundgren, Michael Dudikoff and more though, so you can't really complaint too much.

 

PS: three months after the release of this, another documentary about The Cannon Group was released, called The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films. It's not supossed to be as good, though. From what I read it focuses mainly on the positive sides of The Cannon Goup, and not everything. Mark Hartley's Electroc Boogallo is a very honest film. The Cannon Group released mainly shit films, and this is the truth even though I am a huge fan myself, and it's honest about it and also takes other negatives such as the finance problems and so on. The Go-Go Boys apparently overlooks all that. I'll watch it, though. I am very interested.

 

Anyway, fantastic documentary!

[Bear 1817]

The Victim - Another great martial arts comedy by Sammo Hung, who also stars along with Bryan "Beardy" Leung. It's got your typical Sammo Hung humour thrown in, as well as insane martial arts scenes. The story is great, the characters are cool and interesting and, again, the martial arts scenes are insane. There's especially the last fight which is crazy good. It's so intense and brutal. I find it interesting how Bryan Leung, who is such a good and technical fighter, can have no formal martial arts training. It's just copying his action directors moves, which is cool. Very talented guy!

 

Anyway, top, top film!