[Bezulsqy]

^ very interesting!

Yesterday I watched The Ritual in Netflix. Very enjoyable. And loves Ben Lovett’s score.

Now I am sitting in a movie theater waiting for the 10am screening of A quiet place to start. Unfortunately no Dolby Atmos.

[ScoJo]

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'Blaaaaaack Acting Schooool!'

[Hatter313]

Saw a quiet place this afternoon....where “Jim from the office” gets off making such an exceptional film is beyond me haha.

Seriously, do yourselves a favor and see it in theaters, it’s excellent.

[ScoJo]

Saw a quiet place this afternoon....where “Jim from the office” gets off making such an exceptional film is beyond me haha.

Seriously, do yourselves a favor and see it in theaters, it’s excellent.

I thought it was solid, though I had a number of questions throughout which threw me out of the film's concept/internal logic.

I'll just leave you with this one (*MILD SPOILER*):
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When he takes his son to the waterfall. All I could think was - with these critters running around and picking peeps off at the slightest noise, this scene shows that he has of course tested this theory thoroughly before telling his son it's safe. At some point he risked his life trying it out (being the only way to know for sure)??

What guy (with beloved wife and children, relying on him to survive) would even remotely take that initial chance, just to 'blow off steam', with there being any possibility that ferocious sound-sensitive creatures will descend upon him?

I'd love to hear a rational angle on this, it didn't wash for me. I had other thoughts too, along those lines. Tbf, many things were very well thought out in the flick, although the daughter's 'hearing aid' side effect also smacked to me of 'Signs' plotting ;-)

[maxlevel]

@scojo I put it down to loads of time passing with very little to do. 487 days or whatever is a long time, which made me wonder why it took so long for them to figure out a solution. However, that’s just the way the film is. The guys I went with kept asking ‘why isn’t there a stadium with guns on the roof, use the PA system and problem solved’. I genuinely didn’t have a good answer for this sheer buffoonery. I also think less of my friends now

[Bezulsqy]

Absolutely loved A Quiet Place. I urge everyone to go see it in a movie theater.

Sure there are some flaws. I thought the ending was a bit meh...
I agree with @Max that one could do and try a lot in those 487 days to understand how to be safe. You could argue that because the father waited for over a year after the events at that start of the movie to show his son the principle of drowning sounds is because he really wanted to be sure that his son would be safe. That he put himself at risk figuring this out could be explained by all the studying he did about sound, human hearing and the monster. Also I wouldn't be surprised that at one point he would be so full of grief that he could not resist letting of some anger behind the waterfall whatever the consequence. That line of thinking might not not really by in line with all the measures he took to keep his family safe, but man is in essence not a rational but an emotional being.

When I was watching it there were only five people in the theater. I thought the tension was so well created right from the start that I did not dare cough or scrape my throat. If someone would be eating crisps or anything during this movie it could take away a lot of the atmosphere. I think.

[ScoJo]

Thanks for the thoughts on Quiet Place...all very interesting guys.

Now watchin:

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Might well followup with very overdue rewatch of House II, but I'm keeping my hopes low...

[Hatter313]

Thanks for the thoughts on Quiet Place...all very interesting guys.

Now watchin:

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Might well followup with very overdue rewatch of House II, but I'm keeping my hopes low...

Lots of "House" being tossed about on these boards today....i was contemplating a rewatch myself soon and i think you guys might have sealed the deal.

Lovely to live in a time where even such an off kilter film like this gets the glorious arrow blu ray treatment :)

[EvanCampbell]

I was a big fan of House when I was young, and followed the fx guy James Cummins short but impressive career. I believe he passed away a few years ago. He only did a hand full of films then left the business and moved out of LA. House was probably his crowning achievement as far as heading up a show. I loved the work he did on a film called Strange Invaders especially a scene of a guy tearing his head off and revealing the alien inside. He also worked on The Thing and a TV movie that was a Alien suit knock off about a creature that attacks an Oil rig facility called The Intruder. In my yute I was working on a film in North Carolina called super mario bros. We found out that James Cummins had a shop not far from our location. I remember when we first entered his studio he was working on a young boy fountain sculpture that had a very inappropriate large sized penis. I also recall he had a partner that brought little paper cup drinks in the room for us and I was wondering if they could be spiked with a sleeping potion...real talk lol Totally cool guy and very talented...he left his mark. I am sure he would appreciate seeing these messages!

[Mateo Sanboval]

Evan. I actually lol'd. Twice. These stories, from you, are a tonic for one's very soul.

[ScoJo]

@Evan - great stuff, and I also had the hots for Strange Invaders, love it! Hadn't made the connection with the fx guy but it makes perfect sense...coupled with his involvement in The Thing, his sculpts have a twisted, hallucinatory, psychedelic quality that also manages to be fun and make you go 'wtf!'. I wonder now if I don't see an influence in some of your own work that you've shared here...
anyway, detective work aside I agree fully with brother @mateo, still think you should write a 'real talk' behind scenes book, and think everyone should go seek out Strange Invaders toots sweet! If for no other reason that amazing alien reveal scene (which was used on the vhs sleeve here in the uk and was a major draw to my young eyes, and was also covered in Fango extensively-altho it did make the film appear to be more of an fx extravaganza than it was)

Plus, it has Diana Scarwid AND Nancy Allen. :)))

[Bezulsqy]

@Evan: great story. Keep those coming!
Might watch Strange Invaders this evening.

[inksb]

I have had this sitting in my Shudder queue for months and decided to finally give it a go. Well I don't think it really succeeded in what it was trying to do. It feels like a found footage movie trying to take the piss out of a found footage movie only to fall into the standard trappings which is actually the plot of the movie. It's not better than any other mid range film in the genre. I did not watch in 3D because I don't have a 3D tv and don't care to watch it on a computer monitor that I have which is 3D capable. If you like found footage films you probably find something to like here, if you are like me and generally don't care for the genre unless it's REC/REC 2 and a handful of others then just skip it.

[ScoJo]

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'This is the story of what can happen to a guy who talks to a strange woman on the street..'

[texasvinyl]

Sympathy for Mr vengeance, free on Vudu app

[Mateo Sanboval]

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'This is the story of what can happen to a guy who talks to a strange woman on the street..'

You saucy tease.

[EvanCampbell]

@Evan - great stuff, and I also had the hots for Strange Invaders, love it! Hadn't made the connection with the fx guy but it makes perfect sense...coupled with his involvement in The Thing, his sculpts have a twisted, hallucinatory, psychedelic quality that also manages to be fun and make you go 'wtf!'. I wonder now if I don't see an influence in some of your own work that you've shared here...
anyway, detective work aside I agree fully with brother @mateo, still think you should write a 'real talk' behind scenes book, and think everyone should go seek out Strange Invaders toots sweet! If for no other reason that amazing alien reveal scene (which was used on the vhs sleeve here in the uk and was a major draw to my young eyes, and was also covered in Fango extensively-altho it did make the film appear to be more of an fx extravaganza than it was)

Plus, it has Diana Scarwid AND Nancy Allen. :)))

Scott you got me thinking about the history of the twisted, amorphous sculptures in films regarding James Cummins. I think the guy who was more influential (before Cummins) was an effects sculptor named James Kagel.

Kagel is legendary in our business and has been around fx shops since the 70's. I think his early use of that sculpted look was in John Frankenheimer Prophecy...Kagel sculpted the mutated bears. I also believe (but not positive) he sculpted on the 70's Invasion of the body snatchers pod people scene. That had some of the stretchy cheese look in it. The one that really had the most impact was The Thing. I know kagel sculpted the mutated kennel dog. The Thing inspired the whole fx industry including young guys like myself. Most likely Cummins was also influenced while working on The Thing seeing all that. After The Thing everyone was using that style in the 80's. The look was heavily abused in From beyond (Dr Pretorious) and Society.

So many years later I got a chance to work with Kagel on a few films. Awesome, nice dude and beautifully clean sculpture style. Really funny guy also. If I can remember we were sculpting giant alligators for a Schwarzenegger movie called Eraser. Kagel would constantly duck under a table or hide behind a shelving rack...take a couple of hints out of a pipe and then walk across the room and blow the pot smoke in your face. This was a late fifties, clean cut gentlemen...hilarious! So if you come in the shop and saw James in the corner holding his breath...you realize he was preparing for the day.

Mateo & Bez Thanks brothers...many times you guys chatting brings up memories that have been forgotten long ago.

[static14]

Evan you really should resurrect that fx picture / story thread. I could read and gawk at that stuff all day. :)

[Bezulsqy]

@ Evan. Great story again. And because of you and ScoJo's recommendation I'll start the evening off with:

[Bezulsqy]

^ Loved that one! Nancy Allen!

[Hatter313]

Evan, I’m curious as to your opinion of screaming mad George, who also has that sculptural look to his stuff, although even more exaggerated I think. I’m always on the fence about whether I like his style or not. You ever work with him?

[Mateo Sanboval]

Evan, great stories as per. Especially love the FX office hijinks with the resident senior stoner. Like Ted Danson in Bored To Death. Thanks to you and Kagel both for Eraser. Ive seen that film more times than I'd care to admit. Four. I've seen it four times. There, I've said it. Are you vultures happy now? And double thanks for reminding me of Frankenheimer's Prophecy; I'd completely forgotten that one.

Anyhow, after all that here's me:

[Hatter313]

Evan, great stories as per. Especially love the FX office hijinks with the resident senior stoner. Like Ted Danson in Bored To Death. Thanks to you and Kagel both for Eraser. Ive seen that film more times than I'd care to admit. Four. I've seen it four times. There, I've said it. Are you vultures happy now? And double thanks for reminding me of Frankenheimer's Prophecy; I'd completely forgotten that one.

Anyhow, after all that here's me:

I WANT ROOM SERVICE

[Mateo Sanboval]

[Spun out of control]

Swinging 60s era bonkers psychological thriller with giallo tropes (bottles of J&B, half dressed ladies, sumptuous art direction, groovy score)