A place for you to talk about movies / Blu Rays and anything related.

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By ScoJo
#124393
Bezulsqy wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 11:02 am ^ that was very interesting :-)

For 2020 I might set myself the goal of watching at least one movie of each exploitation genre mentioned here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploitation_film

Of course you can debate til the end of times about the genres and movies one finds there. But it is an interesting start.
I can take shortcuts (but will not)like this:
Under Biker Films:
Stone (1974) , Mad Max (1979), and 1% (2017) combine elements of this subgenre with Ozploitation.
I am looking forward to this! Some picks:

Carsploitation: Vanishing Point (1971)
Ozploitation: Turkey Shoot (1982)
Britsploitation: An American Werewolf in London (1981)

who is making this up?: Swimsploitation: The Swimmer (1968)

And I am watching Wolfen soon! Finally!
As it happens, @Bez, The Swimmer is in my all time Top 10 films (and scores). I love it so much. Don't let anyone spoil the ending for you! (it's quite something...)
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By maxlevel
#124396
I watched Konga and Gorgo last week. Absolute shite, but there’s some great shots of London from the period which don’t exist anymore, having been bulldozed and made into yuppie shoebox villages. I’ve always loved Frenzy for this, as you can see Covent Garden when it was a market and not a bucket of maggots
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By Bezulsqy
#124397
numero 72...

Vittorio Salerno's 1973 No, il caso è felicemente risolto a.k.a. No, the Case Is Happily Resolved
score by Riz Ortolani

Excellent poliziottesco!

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By Bezulsqy
#124428
Luigi Petrini's 1977 Operazione Kappa: sparate a vista a.k.a. Day of Violence
score by Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera

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By zuko
#124444
Bezulsqy wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 4:17 pm numero 72...

Vittorio Salerno's 1973 No, il caso è felicemente risolto a.k.a. No, the Case Is Happily Resolved
score by Riz Ortolani

Excellent poliziottesco!

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Love this title card :)
By Chuggers
#124474
Sweetheart via Netflix....

Not great, not bad either. Some definite issues but at the end of a long holiday, and in laws, it was a decent escape. Blumhouse, would be a top tier inclusion in the Into The Dark series. Biggest issue is probably the cut & paste Stranger Things ost cuts.
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By ScoJo
#124475
So I've never been much of a 'Hammer' guy if I'm honest. Was introduced to great sci fi/horror as a kid (Twilight Zone/Outer Limits, 70s dystopian, NotLD etc) which I immediately responded to and gave me endless sleepless nights, and Hammer's stuff was just too stagey and slow to grab me. Something about it just didn't click. I was mad into Hammer House of Horror on TV, but I'm ashamed to say I never even attempted watching Dracula.

Well it happened to be on at midnight last night as I sat slumped in a post-family stupor, and I submitted to it finally... thought, I'm gonna 100% give this it's day in court, and apart from a genuinely shocking (iconic) sudden closeup of Christopher Lee hissing it up with blood running down his chin and bloodshot eyes, I just couldn't hack all the stagey stiff jolly-old-British shuffling about on sets.

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All I could think about was Carry on Screaming (which is waaay more colourful and fun) and I must apologise to anyone who is a die hard Hammer hound... I just don't think these flicks will ever stir me it kills me to admit. Maybe if I were to check some out in the cinema sometime, but I feel like these flicks are never reissued in that way, or I've just not been paying attention? (yeah thinking about it, surely there are constant fan events with screenings/actors attending?)

Anyway, only made it about halfway through Dracula, no doubt it wasn't helped by how utterly overfamiliar I am with the straighter narrative version of the story, basically following the novel. Whatever it was, it was a total snooze for me and I couldn't even see the famous 'lush Hammer look' that people go on about/reference- the design and lighting were totally bland I felt, compared to say Corman's equally stagey Poe flicks of the same period.

Having said all the above, and spent way long dragging on poor old Hammer, I'm not an idiot and am of course aware of what really drew guys to these movies on tv back in my day....

Tits.
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By Hatter313
#124483
I’m a huge hammer fan, but a lot of what I like about it is the stuff that didn’t do it for you, I like the stagey weirdness of it, but it’s absolutely a drier affair than you’d think.

For me it’s more about Lee and Cushing, I actually think the Frankenstein films are a better ride because Cushing just goes for broke as a lunatic.

Those first few horror outings after they got the universal deal are definitely a little dry, but as they developed their own style things get very cool, for me at least.

That being said, I actually don’t think that “lush hammer” design we all go on about it’s actually there yet in Dracula. I remember having the same reaction to it in college as you had, It takes a bit for them to figure out their palate, and a lot of what people talk about when they say the Hammer look really doesn’t start to coalesce until later films. I actually think scars of dracula has some of the lushest production design from the studio, even though it’s a weaker film in the series, but a lot of that look people talk about is really well represented in that one.
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By ScoJo
#124488
Hatter313 wrote: Thu Dec 26, 2019 9:15 pm I actually think scars of dracula has some of the lushest production design from the studio, even though it’s a weaker film in the series, but a lot of that look people talk about is really well represented in that one.
Thanks @H, I'll def make a point of looking out for that one.

I will add that I was definitely really into the occasional 'extreme gore' stills from the more full blooded entries that I'd come across in stuff like Fangoria and library horror movie compendiums etc. There was a particular Frankenstein entry that had Dave Prowse as The Monster, and I remember vividly a truly outrageous gore effect with the corpses head pan sawn off. Obviously I loved that shit ( and was way more into the 'non period' Hammer stuff that Id catch on late tv as a kid, that always delivered on the blood stuff. Things like Tower of Evil, and Crescendo (though perhaps the latter was Amicus or AIP now I think about it...)

*EDIT*
The title of the Prowse film just popped into my noggin- FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL.
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By ScoJo
#124489
Found the image that got my teen juices going!

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By inksb
#124497
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I wasn't sure if this was going to work for me, I've heard so many mixed things about, even from people who have damn near the same taste in films as me. Well I fucking loved it, just about every minute of the run time. I can't wait to revisit it.
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By Hatter313
#124506
@scojo,

Oh yeah that’s quite the entry! I will say that even though I am a well documented dracula fanatic, I think overall the Frankenstein series from hammer is superior in literally almost every way, it’s willingness to follow the doctor and not the monster, and Cushing increasingly deranged and off kilter interpretation of said doctor is great. The problem with the hammer Dracula’s is that the plots tend to run into on another, and the reality is you mostly spend each movie waiting for Lee to finally show up and be awesome, whereas the Frankenstein cycle of films really does just let its title character shine. Honestly the best of the hammer Dracula’s is really brides of, where Lee doesn’t even really appear, but Cushing goes full action star as Van Helsing.

Not trying to sell, just waxing. May not be your cup of blood in the least after all said and done.
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By ScoJo
#124508
Is The Devil Rides Out a Hammer? I do love the Wheatley's/70s Devil cult flicks.
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By Hatter313
#124509
ScoJo wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 6:39 pm Is The Devil Rides Out a Hammer? I do love the Wheatley's/70s Devil cult flicks.
Indeed it is! One of their absolutely best

I’m also partial to quatermass and the pit, they did a run of film versions of the serials, and that’s the best of them
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By Bezulsqy
#124517
around Christmas my girlfriend and I binge watched season 1 and 2 of HBO's Succession. First couple of episodes I wasn't sure but it develops to be very very good.

Friday I watched Ad Astra. I really liked it but it was not what I was expecting. The pace and calmness of it all was brilliant. Loads of atmosphere. And I do love the older Brad Pitt. Great score.

And yesterday finally this:
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Why isn't this on one of your best of lists?
Watched it with the family and everyone was impressed. Some damn fine acting.
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By maxlevel
#124527
So many films watched this week my brain is turning to mush. This combined with seemingly endless football, live and on TV, and even slightly less Christmas driving than usual has left me in a bit of a state.

Joker isn’t half as clever as it thinks it is. It’s not far off one long close up of the main character which says to me the director is scared of his actor, possibly because he’s not a good director. I found it cynical and unpleasant, but with some scenes of genuine hilarity.
By skeletonbutt
#124528
once upon... felt like something of the era it was recreating but joker did not. i seem to remember a few anachronisms that made it difficult to even figure out what year it was supposed to be emulating. it was shot on film but felt more like digital to me. too much joker dancing. i did like the story and how his mental health issues informed his transformation into the joker, and how the waynes were weaved into it, but maybe it just wasn't executed well enough. that being said, i avoid comic book movies because i don't care for superheroes, but enjoyed this one for what it was and for trying to do something different despite my nitpicks.
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By Bezulsqy
#124529
@max and @skeletonbutt
Fair comments about Joker. I also found it to be cynical but that is something I can relate to. I liked how grim it was. My girlfriend has never seen any Batman related movie, and really liked Joker as a movie. For me the fact that it is placed in the Batman universe made me not wonder about how accurate it is concerning the time period or other details. The only thing I was wondering was the age of Joker opposite Bruce Wayne. There is a 25 year age difference I guess and that didn't feel connected with The Dark Knight but it did with Jack Nicholson's Joker.
I do get the feeling that this was hyped to be much more than it actually is or wants to be. But I think that is often the case when movies are hyped as much as this one.

How is the new Star Wars?
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By inksb
#124541
All the negative stuff I've seen on TROS bums me out and the only positives I've seen are coming from folks who hated TLJ (which I really like). I decided I'll go see Uncut Gems first and hopefully catch a matinee of TROS sometime in the next week or so
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By maxlevel
#124547
Where to start with RoS? Central story is great, Rey and Ben is a good solid story. But that’s about it, because there’s so much going on which isn’t relevant or a repeat or a direct contradiction that it’s difficult to work out what it’s for. Why not have a overarching story? So you don’t get stupid shit happening like for example: lightsabers. luke has died and specifically said you don’t need a sabre and the concept was dealt with conclusively in the last film. Literally first Rey scene she’s using one as her main training element, and later Luke isn’t dead anymore in the same way. So two of the strongest boldest moves have been unwound into limp props. Another point is Palpatine. If he’s not dead or is a clone, Vader has died for nothing in the original ending of Jedi. So they not only screwed the previous instalment but the entire original trilogy arc.

Thank fuck it’s all over. Oh wait, here comes a million spin off Disneyfied crapola sequels
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By ScoJo
#124555
Star Wars IX thoughts - heavy spoilers:
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First of all, I didn't enjoy it. Like TFA, and pretty much everything JJA does, it's like a $300million fan film. Shiny, hot garbage.

Yet my sister beside me was weeping copious tears by the climax, so different strokes eh?

Most revolting though was how blatantly they threw everything from the last film under the bus. And there was no fucking need to do it, except to appease toxic SW fan culture and let them know (via the director and cast making crappy comments about TLJ in the run up to this one) that their fandom is being slavishly served once more, and not challenged by a good script/direction.

But all those big strokes aside, the problem with this film as a piece of work is that it's script just stinks. And for one major reason: this should have been titled STAR WARS - THE RESURRECTION BLUES.

The writers of TFE and this episode are absolutely incapable of emotionally (and logically) following through on the jeopardy/death/consequences facing their characters. So for anyone taking a count, here is the HUGE list of resurrections/major character fake outs in ROS:

- Emperor Palpatine. No real explanation, total 'shit, we need a big bad', some hurried line of BS dialogue saying some shit about 'Dark Side... Cloning...blahblahblah'

- Luke. Force Ghost - fair enough. But he's in this one more than he's in the fucking last one!

- Chewie. He's dead! Oh no, he's not. Different ship. Our bad. Moving on. As you were everyone.

- Leia/Carrie. Literal resurrection here - she's dead. So they worked footage in from the FA outtakes and wrote clumsy, meaningless dialogue exchanges around the shots.

- Han. Memory Ghost. And you can clearly see that Ford didn't give a crap, phoned in an iPhone greenscreen shot from his garage.

- C3PO. Memory wiped, goodbye old friends. Tearful au revoir. Gets you right in the feels, huh? Oh no, R2 magically retrieved his memory, as you were everyone.

- Kylo. Dead. Oh no, Rey has magical Force Healing. He's back. As you were everyone.

- Rey. Dead. Oh no, Kylo also has magical blah blah blah (after climbing up an infinite rock face...) She's back. As you were.

It's fu-ckin-g ridiculous, and the WORST kind of sloppy episodic television fan-writing (JJA's speciality....)

I came out of this film having seen 'a Big Star Wars Film', emotionally unmoved but willing to say 'yep it definitely delivered on thrills and spills'. Within 30minutes I fucking loathed it, and knew I'd have to keep my mouth shut (except in the most generous and good-mannered of closed circles ;)
Last edited by ScoJo on Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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By ChrisMcQueen007
#124556
Thanks for the insights on the new Star Wars flic.

After reading those I decided to go for something more sophisticated.
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