[ChrisMcQueen007]

Dude.... this is a baaad film... but I love it. Would so not get made today (for very obvs reasons...) Gordon Willis only film as director. Great Morricone score, unreleased!!

Ha, yes, this was a special treat! Not as controversial as it might have been at the time, but on the other side as you pointed out, they would not make it this way anymore today...

[skeletonbutt]

Windows is worth watching if only for the cinematography.

[ScoJo]

Dude.... this is a baaad film... but I love it. Would so not get made today (for very obvs reasons...) Gordon Willis only film as director. Great Morricone score, unreleased!!

Ha, yes, this was a special treat! Not as controversial as it might have been at the time, but on the other side as you pointed out, they would not make it this way anymore today...

Indeed! Quick question- where/how did you see it? Your screen still looks quite high quality, Ive only ever seen pan/scan on vhs back in the day, and more recently a poor qt rip on youtube (prob also the vhs...) Has it screened on hdtv/been released by Warner Archive or somesuch?

As an aside- Im fascinated by certain catagories of film professional who take a stab at directing: actors, stuntpeople, fx guys, cinematographers... I always get caught up in thinking about what it must be like for those creatives ceding control of that element of their film to another person. Did Gordon Willis try to impose his style/creative approach on his DOP? Did he choose that person himself, for specific reasons, or were they studio assigned? How was working with someone, doing a job for you, in a field in which you're already a master? And conversely what was it like working under that person?

As an aside (but on that subject) I have a draft document somewhere of my dream film festival which I have programmed: entirely double (or triple) bills of films directed by actors, with specific emphasis on those that only made one movie. There's a surprising amount (and a lot of them are really interesting...)

[ScoJo]

Dude.... this is a baaad film... but I love it. Would so not get made today (for very obvs reasons...) Gordon Willis only film as director. Great Morricone score, unreleased!!

Ha, yes, this was a special treat! Not as controversial as it might have been at the time, but on the other side as you pointed out, they would not make it this way anymore today...

Indeed! Quick question- where/how did you see it? Your screen still looks quite high quality, Ive only ever seen pan/scan on vhs back in the day, and more recently a poor qt rip on youtube (prob also the vhs...) Has it screened on hdtv/been released by Warner Archive or somesuch

Ahh, ignore me- just reread your original post Chris.. Scream Fac BR you say?? Oh I have to see that.

[Hatter313]

Dude.... this is a baaad film... but I love it. Would so not get made today (for very obvs reasons...) Gordon Willis only film as director. Great Morricone score, unreleased!!

Ha, yes, this was a special treat! Not as controversial as it might have been at the time, but on the other side as you pointed out, they would not make it this way anymore today...

Indeed! Quick question- where/how did you see it? Your screen still looks quite high quality, Ive only ever seen pan/scan on vhs back in the day, and more recently a poor qt rip on youtube (prob also the vhs...) Has it screened on hdtv/been released by Warner Archive or somesuch?

As an aside- Im fascinated by certain catagories of film professional who take a stab at directing: actors, stuntpeople, fx guys, cinematographers... I always get caught up in thinking about what it must be like for those creatives ceding control of that element of their film to another person. Did Gordon Willis try to impose his style/creative approach on his DOP? Did he choose that person himself, for specific reasons, or were they studio assigned? How was working with someone, doing a job for you, in a field in which you're already a master? And conversely what was it like working under that person?

As an aside (but on that subject) I have a draft document somewhere of my dream film festival which I have programmed: entirely double (or triple) bills of films directed by actors, with specific emphasis on those that only made one movie. There's a surprising amount (and a lot of them are really interesting...)

We open with “Night of the Hunter” then?

[inksb]

Need to check out The Green Slime. Looks like my cup of tea.

My screening of Blue Velvet was fantastic. I did not remember much from my first viewing 15 years ago. And some stuff I remembered wrong. What a brilliant film. Dennis Hopper is truly menacing and insane. The scene where a prostitute is dancing on the roof of a car while In Dreams is playing and Frank puts on lipstick is ... (insert a word that combines wonderful+bizar+brilliant).

@Static: can you tell me where this Spiderman is situated in the whole Spiderman universe? Do I need to see another one before checking this one out?

I would love to see Blue Velvet on the big screen. I need to at least buy the bluray. I haven't seen the film in well over a decade and after seeing your description of the scene, I don't even remember it. My only memory is how fucking terrifying Hopper was in the film.

As far as I know the new Spiderman film is a standalone thing, it actually brings in all sorts of different versions of Spiderman from the comics. It's widely been reviewed as the best Spiderman movie so far. I'm supposed to go see it Tues or Thurs this week.

And you should definitely check out The Green Slime, it's great fun

I really like The Green Slime.

I liked it too inksb. It was my first time seeing it, I enjoyed it, it's cheesy fun. After the viewing I realized that the director also directed Battle Royale !

That totally passed me by. Kinji Fukasaku has done so many films over the years, it's incredible he made Battle Royale so late in his career. Any one around here knowledgeable on Fukasaku? What are some of his other "must see" films?


My weekend viewing was pretty simple. The wife watches all the Harry Potter films leading up to Xmas, it's been her tradition for many years. I usually don't watch all of them but make an effort to watch the 3rd and last two as they were my favorites. She watched the first film while I was recovering from a massive hangover, Saturday I attended the Every Time I Die Xmas show which was a blast but I did not eat any food through out the day and then drank a bit too much at the show. Paid for it Sunday by laying on the couch all day, getting old and can't handle my alchohol like I used to :)

But I woke up and watched part 2 which I haven't seen in a few years, it was more fun than I remembered, the children were still pretty awkward actors. I then caught about half of part 3 before I decided to do some other stuff around the house. Ended the evening by watching an Anthology Xmas film called All the Creatures Were Stirring. This was written and directed by Rebekah & Dave McKendry (Rebekah is one of the hosts on Shockwaves podcast). It was a fun but mediocre film. Limited quite a bit by its budget. Some interesting ideas, some spotty acting and minimal gore effects due to budgetary constraints. Worth a watch if you are looking for an Xmas themed horror film that you haven't seen before. It's a Shudder exclusive for streaming but can be bought/rented on VOD.

And I will leave you folks with this, Adult Swim has released The Shivering Truth, a 6 (technically 7 including the pilot) episode stop motion series of pure batshit insanity. I put the trailer below, check it out. It's so fucking weird and I love that they are still doing strange shit when they honestly don't have to anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA8UDhEDcP4

[ScoJo]

As an aside (but on that subject) I have a draft document somewhere of my dream film festival which I have programmed: entirely double (or triple) bills of films directed by actors, with specific emphasis on those that only made one movie. There's a surprising amount (and a lot of them are really interesting...)

We open with “Night of the Hunter” then?[/quote]

Best believe it. Though that's a 'closer' for me ;)

[Hatter313]

Better closer, you are right. Tough act to follow.

Was thinking about this actually, off the top of my head I was gonna go with Drive, he said, although Nicholson also directed goin south and two jakes so he violates your criteria for One Film.

What else you got on that list?

[ScoJo]

Better closer, you are right. Tough act to follow.

Was thinking about this actually, off the top of my head I was gonna go with Drive, he said, although Nicholson also directed goin south and two jakes so he violates your criteria for One Film.

What else you got on that list?

Oh there's so much... I'll try and dig it out. But as I say, I've not been completely strict about the 'only one movie' thing, as it would have just meant excluding some great films just because they had a follow up (ie The Hired Hand , which Fonda follwed with Idaho Transfer and Wanda Nevada...)

[ChrisMcQueen007]

Ahh, ignore me- just reread your original post Chris.. Scream Fac BR you say?? Oh I have to see that.

Yep, and the Scream Factory blu comes recommended. The film looks very good (could probably be even better but I'm sure it's a big difference to a pan/scan VHS), sound quality is also good and the extra material (have not watched that yet) seems cool - a long on camera interview with Talia Shire and the producer Mike Lobell and one with Elizabeth Ashley.

Oh, and yes, you should for sure look into progarmming that festival!

[maxlevel]

I picked up the 4K Blu-ray of They Live and had a movie night... the PKE ghostbusters meter makes two appearances. Was this always included in previous cuts? I can’t remember if it was but it’s something I would have spotted immediately being largely obsessed with busting ghosts for many years.

[Jimmy_Mike]

being largely obsessed with busting ghosts for many years.

[ScoJo]

I picked up the 4K Blu-ray of They Live and had a movie night... the PKE ghostbusters meter makes two appearances.

It does??!

How on earth is this the first time I'm hearing about this?? Especially considering that Cross-Movie-Prop-Spotting makes me feel good...

[Mateo Sanboval]

[maxlevel]

@mateo ow! *drum fill

@scojo it’s held by one of the army dudes in the tunnel

[static14]

I expect to catch a beating for this but I watched The Predator today, and while sure it’s dopey, I thought it was a fun flick. Not sure why it caught such seething hate.

[Mateo Sanboval]

I expect to catch a beating for this but I watched The Predator today, and while sure it’s dopey, I thought it was a fun flick. Not sure why it caught such seething hate.

Might've been the film I laughed aloud at the most this year.

[inksb]

I expect to catch a beating for this but I watched The Predator today, and while sure it’s dopey, I thought it was a fun flick. Not sure why it caught such seething hate.

You're not alone, a lot of us around here thought it was quite fun.

[inksb]

I have the next week and half off from work so expect lots of posts in here from me. I have grand plans to watch lots of Godzilla and Shaw Bros films.



Haven't seen this since I was a kid. Still incredibly enjoyable.

[maxlevel]

If you like a chuckle look for Yongary. It’s the South Korean Godzilla, but in a bizarre twist goes for a Beatles style dance/pop music break halfway through...at least I think it’s yongary, I may have dreamed this

[Bezulsqy]

A week ago I finished season two of Twin Peaks. Watched it together with my girlfriend. She had never seen it. Apparently I stopped watching halfway through season two when I first watched the show in the beginning of the 2000s. Absolute joy!
We will watch season three in a couple of months.
Past week we watched Bodyguard on Netflix. Not bad.
Yesterday we started with the first two episodes of La Casa de Papel. Very good start of a show. Looking forward to the rest of it.

[Mateo Sanboval]

Since it is Christmas, and in and amongst other seasonal films, I've started Happy which is available on Netflix as well. It has been as ridiculous as I'd hoped thus far.

[Bezulsqy]

[inksb]

Oh man @bez, I'm super jealous that you are able to see Lost Highway on the big screen. I've always wanted to see it projected.

@mateo, Happy was pretty fun.


Terrified is fantastic. Not going to spoil anything, it's a haunted neighborhood film and is worth checking out. Lots of great creepy moments. Clever ghost scares. It is exclusive to Shudder in the US but not sure in the rest of the world.


Wow they really run the middle of this one into the ground. If you are going to make a Godzilla film 100 mins long then you should at least have Godzilla be in the film for more than 15 of those. The final showdown is awesome and exactly what I wanted. But it's a slog to get there.

[ScoJo]

@Zuko - Have you seen Goldstone or the MR series yet? I have them both but haven't watched either. I really liked Mystery Road and am almost nervous for an expanded universe if you will. Everybody was excellent in it, particularly the always amazing Hugo Weaving and Aaron Pederson, and the film had great atmosphere.

Cycling back a bit here, but finally got round to watching Goldstone last night. Loved it; if you were into the first movie you will too.

Belated follow-up to this positive 'Goldstone' chatter- just watched myself and found it as enthralling as the first film. There's a grim, undestated inevitability to both narratives that is driven by Jay's highly opaque character as portrayed by Pedersen.
It's this which, strangely, means that I categorise these films as more Neo-Noir than modern Western (the latter being an easy and obvious reach-for when trying to describe them both). Goldstone in particular is literally (and quite surreally) bathed in neon, a visual call-back to the homeland of it's 'victims' but also a great palette to bring to a desert-set movie. The director/cinematographer has only solidified his chops for me with this outing.
Speaking of neo-noir (and linked to this film by a thematic/cultural thread) I'm going to take this opp to recommend a first feature film made by a good friend of mine, which is also now on Prime.

PANIC (2016) has David Gyasi (Interstellar, Annihilation) in his first lead feature role, it's a stylish slow-burn thriller set in London. I was stills photographer on the film, had a good time. I do recommend giving it a watch. The lazy log line might be 'Rear Window meets Dirty Pretty Things'.

Here's the trailer, and a couple of my stills that I found online ;)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jk1uFwrHU8

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