Review the last movie you viewed (NO LISTS) II

[lazarus]

Thanks for not saying "up my alley" in reference to rectal electrocution.

 

[ZeroDude]

You’re welcome.

Common courtesy is often ignored these days, and as such, is due a revival, vis-à-vis, rectal electrocution.

It’s the only way to negate it.

 

[Dalton]

My Blue Heaven.

Very few movies have been able to tell the delicate story of the relationship between mafia informant and sexually repressed FBI agents.

13/10
7 Gold Stars.

 

[cobl04]

We just finished watching Schindler's List at school.

It was okay, but wasn't what I thought it'd be. Schindler was kind of a prick until about the last hour or so, when he began to work hard for the Jews. The last half an hour was really great stuff, good to watch. But I lost some respect for the movie when that guy bashed Helen is it? with the light globe and pushed the shelf on her... that was taking it too far for me, even if it did happen. Sorry. Would have been better if our Psych teacher didn't stop it ever two minutes explaining what was happening.

 

[Slapnutz]

BUBBA HO-TEP

Hail to the King, baby.

Rating **** (3rd viewing)

Director Don Coscarelli

Starring Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Bob Ivy, Ella Joyce

According to Don Coscarelli’s surreal hybrid comedy-horror Bubba Ho-Tep, the conspiracy theorists were right – the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and master of the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich didn’t bite the big one whilst parked on the crapper. In actual fact, Elvis secretly pulled a switcheroo with a brilliant impersonator named Sebastian Haff years before his untimely ‘death’, having grown tired of the trappings of fame, and was then unable to switch back thanks to a freak barbecue accident. But he didn’t really mind. He relished his newfound freedom and even carved himself a decent living on the tribute circuit, hitting town after town, taking care of business, until he broke his hip, fell into a coma, then ended up in a rickety East Texas nursing home. It’s there an aged, embittered Elvis (lantern-jawed B-movie star Bruce Campbell in an inspired performance) must confront his biggest challenge yet. Together with a black JFK (the late great Ossie Davis), he must face-off with the eponymous Stetson-wearing ancient Egyptian mummy (Bob Ivy) who is hell-bent on sucking the residents’ souls out through their arseholes. On top of everything else, the King has a malignant growth on his crankshaft and the doctors aren’t saying squat.

Based on a short story by underground author Joe R. Lansdale, the allure of Bubba Ho-Tep is that it treats this crazy situation with absolute sincerity, as if it’s actually happening. Indeed, this cult oddity is not a comedy of sly winks and goofy quips but a wry, understated film about getting old and the way our society discards and patronises the elderly, and at times it’s thoroughly mournful. Campbell, barely recognisable under killer prosthetic sideburns, pouchy cheeks and adopting a lazy twang, spends much of the running time bedridden, his only desire to live for the memories. In a pensive voice-over narration he waxes philosophically about life, death, and the last time had had a full-on boner. In one heartbreaking scene he wonders if his daughter knows he’s still alive. ‘Always the questions, never the answers. Always the hopes, never the fulfilments’, he concludes.

Coscarelli (best known for his Phantasm and Beastmaster series) cleverly deconstructs and humanises the two most iconic figures of an American era as a means of pushing us to confront our own feelings about aging and mortality. The genre-splicing structure is drenched in symbolism, with even the lurid toilet-talk discourse powerfully articulating the fear of disappearing from this world without a trace.

Repeatedly turned away by cautious Hollywood studios, Coscarelli was forced to realise his multi-layered vision on a shoestring budget, and it shows. FX shots look unconvincing, set props wobble, and Ivy’s mummy costume appears to have been borrowed from the local YMCA. But it’s to the director’s credit that he is able to twist this into the film’s favour and by the end the Ed Wood-level production values only seem to augment its ragged charm. Perhaps we’re never really meant to believe in a 3,000 year-old mummy with a thirst for souls, or that Elvis and Jack are still in the building. But what we do believe in is a couple of lonely old codgers trying to salvage some dignity and meaning before they take one last bow.

A film like Bubba Ho-Tep shouldn’t work. It really shouldn’t. To the cast and crew: Thank you. Thank you very much.

 

[lazarus]

slapnutz, have you listened to Bruce Campbell's DVD commentary in-character as Elvis?

Worth the price of purchase alone.

Too bad the rumored sequel, Bubba Nosferatu, doesn't look like it's happening. Though I'm really looking forward to My Name is Bruce.

 

[Slapnutz]

slapnutz, have you listened to Bruce Campbell's DVD commentary in-character as Elvis?

Worth the price of purchase alone.

Too bad the rumored sequel, Bubba Nosferatu, doesn't look like it's happening. Though I'm really looking forward to My Name is Bruce.

The commentary is hilarious. ‘I made 33 pictures, but none of them were horror pictures.' * munches popcorn * 'Although Harem Scarum had some scary parts.’

Yeah, real shame about the sequel. I was looking forward to The King wooing some she-devils.

 

[corianderstem]

Year of the Dog

5/10

I was really underwhelmed by this movie. Part of it was due to my expectations for a more light-hearted comedy. It was a pretty big downer.

 

[monkeyskin]

I love Bubba Ho-Tep, haven't heard the commentary though. I agree that it just shouldn't work, but it does. Such a welcome relief to have such a refreshingly original film too.

Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Stunning, just stunning. Werner Herzog takes Klaus Kinski and a probably ill informed group of actors and minimal crew into the heart of the Amazonian jungle to portray the hunt for the legendary city of El Dorado. Kinski is superb as the ambitous Aguirre, determined to find the city for himself and woe betide anyone standing in his way. The fact that they actually went into the jungle and shot it all without any special effects on a shoe string budget is insane.

Umberto D
Italian neo-realist drama focussing on a lonely old man and his dog, as they are faced with eviction and a sense of having lost their place in the world. It's very minimal but it's the characters' actions and their surroundings that really push the story forward. I even felt myself welling up a couple of times towards the end.

A History of Violence
Caught this again in anticipation of Eastern Promises (should be out here pretty soon). It's just as good as I remember it, with a stand out performance from Viggo Mortensen. The violence in this film lingers in my mind much longer than any number of conventional actioners, mostly as it's swift, brutal and makes no attempt to glorify the results. The final scene is a brilliant ending to one of 2005s best films.

Fitzcarraldo
Lovefilm seem to like sending out related titles. I can't say I enjoyed this Herzog / Kinski collaberation as much as Aguirre, but if anything this tops it for sheer spectacle and sheer film making madness. Yes, they really did drag that 300 tonne steamship over the mountain for real and then film on the board action after sending it through the rapids. Barmy, but a must-see.

Control
My trip to the flickies this week and a damn good one at that. Sam Riley and Samantha Morton are perfect as the doomed couple and the supporting cast are all fine and offer some much needed comic relief at times. It being Anton Corbijn's directorial debut it also looks as great as you'd expect, each shot framed perfectly. Don't go expecting anything pretty though. But what of the music. Well simply put, when the bassline to Digital started up I got tingles down my spine. The cast perform all the music themselves and it's bloody exciting to watch.

The Departed
Another rewatch as it's on TV now. I really get the feeling that had anyone but Scorcese directed this, it just wouldn't have been as good. I still favour the original, but this does a fantastic job of taking the trilogy and condensing it into a taut, cohesive, single film. The whole cast are great, I even found myself admiring Nicholson's turn more so this time around. Shame about the rat impression though.

Election
Hysterically funny sophomore effort from Alexander Payne, I can't believe I've gone so long before watching it again. Not his best, but then again I'm a huge fan of all four of his films so I still love it.

 

[deep]

A History of Violence
Caught this again in anticipation of Eastern Promises (should be out here pretty soon). It's just as good as I remember it, with a stand out performance from Viggo Mortensen. The violence in this film lingers in my mind much longer than any number of conventional actioners, mostly as it's swift, brutal and makes no attempt to glorify the results. The final scene is a brilliant ending to one of 2005s best films.

Eastern Promises is not near as good as Ho V.

I also felt this was a break through movie.

It made me think about violence (in movies) differently.

Too many movies gloss over it.

Eastern Promises is not written as well.

But the acting is very good.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

28 Weeks Later - 7/10

I "saw" this in the theatre originally when it came out with my wife who is a self-confessed “Zombie Nut”. When I say "saw" I mean I kept my eyes closed and my fingers in my ears for 1/3 of the movie. I know I'm a wimp, get over it...

Anyhow, saw this again on DVD and I enjoyed it much more, very visceral and fast paced. There are a couple of good scares and a couple of stupid plot points (which most horror movies have).

When comparing this one to the original I would say this one is better visually (shot like Children Of Men) but it also has a more "Hollywood" feel than the original. Where as 28 Days Later had a definite European feel to the film, this one has a more western feel, hard to explain.

I also liked the fact that you get to see the begging of the infection and how it spreads which is not something they usually do in one of these movies and there are some scenes that are actually from an infected person's point of view that was pretty cool.

Overall pretty damn good. Just remember to suspend your disbelief and be ready because it starts off with a bang - the first 15 minutes are some of the most intense I have ever seen in a "Zombie" movie.

 

[LemonMelon]

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Like, woah man...that was some deep shiznit. OK, OK, this film is clearly a gorgeously-shot and surreal film, but sometimes a good love story is all it takes to reel me in. This film has that as well.

Very seldom do I have the opportunity to see such an honest, cliche-defying film. The supporting cast does a wonderful job carrying their part of this bizarre story, but Winslet and Carrey are genius in this film. The acting was totally natural and absorbing, and you could really feel the love there. And not greeting card kind of love, but a real connection. It takes a while to see it, but by the time 3/4 of the film had passed, my face was practically glued to the screen.

Are there some weaknesses? Sure. First, the plot is just too convoluted to really grasp after one viewing. This can be excused, however, because I realize that was the entire point. Also, the B story, while amusing, really didn't add much, and the characters themselves didn't really touch me. I loved the way reality and the memories overlapped and affected one another though...it was absolutely fascinating. Also, not a huge fan of the ending. It seemed too obvious, but at the same time, it was a logical way out of the web they had woven.

Nothing else to say but see this film if you haven't yet. It's truly great.

9/10

 

[Lancemc]

David Cross building a birdhouse = automatic 9/10. The rest of the film bumps it up to a 10/10 for me.

 

[monkeyskin]

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Also, not a huge fan of the ending. It seemed too obvious, but at the same time, it was a logical way out of the web they had woven.

Funny you should find the ending a bit too obvious as there's actually a fair level of ambiguity in it, if you look at it in a certain way:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Sunshine#Ending

Love the film too, it's one of my favourites

 

[LemonMelon]

Funny you should find the ending a bit too obvious as there's actually a fair level of ambiguity in it, if you look at it in a certain way:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Sunshine#Ending

Love the film too, it's one of my favourites

Thanks for the article. I think I need to watch it a second time to fully grasp it, and doing some reading on it wouldn't hurt either.

 

[monkeyskin]

No worries. It's one of those films where watching it a second time knowing how it turns out can help you spot loads that you may have missed before. Not that I needed any encouragement to watch it again...

 

[Lancemc]

The final scene of the loop of them running on the beach gives me shivers. Breathtaking.

 

[lazarus]

And yet, I somehow find the end of Being John Malkovich to be even better. The end credits with the underwater shots of the girl swimming with Burwell's score behind it...man, really powerful stuff.

Though overall Eternal Sunshine is the better film.

 

[lazarus]

Gone Baby Gone


Well, you won't hear me making a Ben Affleck joke ever again. I'm pretty shocked at how much I liked this film. Having lived in Boston for about 5 years, this was like slipping on an old familiar coat. One that's ratty and stinks, but comfortable in some odd way. The atmosphere, dialogue and people in this film are note perfect.

Casey Affleck is perhaps even better here than he is in James/Ford, simply because it he perf isn't gimmicky, but more human and fleshed-out. Ed Harris, just when you think you've seen him do everything, continues to stretch himself (the hairpiece probably helps). Also, out from a time machine steps Taggart from Beverly Hills Cop as his partner! Holy shit! Nice to see that guy again (John Ashton).

The plot is pretty intricate, and hard to keep all in your head at once, but very engrossing. The climax and end of the film pose some very interesting moral questions that I'm sure are going to cause many discussions between members of the audience. I'm still not sure where I fall on this thing. Just a fantastic finish to a film.

I can't believe I'm typing this, but this may wind up in my top 5.

And BTW, this blows the overrated Mystic River out of the fucking water.

 

[Lancemc]

Wow. Excellent words.

Looks like I need to see this one now. Never thought that would happen.

 

[Lila64]

you mean I'm not the only one who thought Mystic River was overrated

 

[Dalton]

Gone Baby Gone


Well, you won't hear me making a Ben Affleck joke ever again. I'm pretty shocked at how much I liked this film. Having lived in Boston for about 5 years, this was like slipping on an old familiar coat. One that's ratty and stinks, but comfortable in some odd way. The atmosphere, dialogue and people in this film are note perfect.

Casey Affleck is perhaps even better here than he is in James/Ford, simply because it he perf isn't gimmicky, but more human and fleshed-out. Ed Harris, just when you think you've seen him do everything, continues to stretch himself (the hairpiece probably helps). Also, out from a time machine steps Taggart from Beverly Hills Cop as his partner! Holy shit! Nice to see that guy again (John Ashton).

The plot is pretty intricate, and hard to keep all in your head at once, but very engrossing. The climax and end of the film pose some very interesting moral questions that I'm sure are going to cause many discussions between members of the audience. I'm still not sure where I fall on this thing. Just a fantastic finish to a film.

I can't believe I'm typing this, but this may wind up in my top 5.

And BTW, this blows the overrated Mystic River out of the fucking water.

I'm SHOCKED at how much I liked this film. Ben Affleck (no longer Oofleck) actually made me think something other than "someone oughta kill this guy for the good of the world." Casey Afleck was fantastic, but lets not overlook Ed Harris.

 

[LMP]

The Birds

Pretty disappointing, although the tension before the attack scenes and actual attack scenes were handled well. Rod Taylor kicked some Morlock-level ass in this one, too.

**1/2 out of ****

 

[LemonMelon]

The Wall

Mmkay. Pretty damn weird. Great film though. Tonight was the first night I saw it in full, and I must say that I'm impressed. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of dialogue at first, but I think that started to work to the film's advantage by the end. Great direction, and creative cinematic moments abound. Sick as it sounds, I actually found parts of it hilarious, especially the reading of Money in front of the class. "'Think I'll buy me a football team'? Utter rubbish!" The funny part is those are indeed some of Roger's weaker lyrics, from that album or otherwise. Inside joke? Heck yeah.

I did find some of it confusing, however. Most of my questions are probably unanswerable, but the main one is "why did Pink become leader of the Floydian International Nazi Party towards the end"? I just don't understand what it's supposed to represent.

Anyway, the film has a great message, but I would recommend it only to viewers 13 and up, as it is pretty gory (the only part I winced at was the shaving scene ).

My tribute to the film, from a comic I made over the summer:

So yeah, I enjoyed this film. I prefer the album, but the movie was clearly very well made.

7.5/10

 

[lazarus]

LemonMelon, I think you have to look at the "nazi" scenes a bit more abstractly. The idea is that the school system with its hard position on discipline attempts to turn children into obedient little soldiers. Even though Pink seems to rebel against this, it's hard to overcome what's been engrained in you since youth. Combine this with the power his mother has over him, and this is what he becomes. That's still a fairly literal interpretation. There's also something about rock and roll fans are very fervent in their appreciation, and at times rock concerts do seem like fascist rallies. When you're getting 30,000 people to sing along to what you tell them, put lighters in the air, pump their fists, etc. It's a little bit of mind control.

I'm a fairly big Pink Floyd fan, but to me The Wall is one of their weaker albums from a musical standpoint. It's very "normal" sounding. I think when you pay too much attention to the lyrics and the concept the music is going to suffer as a result. Because of this, and this might sound like blasphemy, I feel the film is better than the album, which is written very cinematically anyway.

Alan Parker is a brilliant director and should be given a lot of credit. He's worked in many different genres, and used to be my favorite filmmaker when I was younger. Some others to check out:


Angel Heart
Mississippi Burning
Birdy
Midnight Express
The Commitments
The Road to Wellville
Bugsy Malone
Shoot the Moon

 

[LemonMelon]

Thanks for that. The film is indeed very abstract, and it's occasionally tough to tell what's reality and what's simply going on in Pink's head, plus the chronology is weird (the Stop scene, for instance, really confused me as well).

Agreed on Parker's directing talents, and it's the strangest thing, but Birdy came to mind during the scene for Nobody Home. I'll check out more of his work.

 

[corianderstem]

Reign Over Me

7/10

I remember wanting to see this when I saw the trailers, but reviews were pretty mixed, so I decided it was a DVD rental, not a theater movie.

I liked it! I thought Sandler did well, with only one or two moments where he annoyed me. I laughed to see BJ Novak (Ryan from "The Office") as the asshole lawyer near the end.

 

[deep]

Gone Baby Gone

8/10

I liked the entire film, all aspects of it.

Especially the ending.


In times like these -
when we have a continued involvement in Iraq ,
the rational thing to do would be for the U S to draw down and pull out

and the counter argument is only

"We are doing the right thing
it does not matter what the costs are,
or the consequences."

- the person that is the "decider" smugly hides behind the premise of "absolutes".

 

[monkeyskin]

Ikiru
Powerful early film by the brilliant Akira Kurosawa that somehow manages to be both life affirming and pessimistic. The film opens with an x-ray of, as the narrator informs us, our hero. He has stomach cancer you see, but he doesn’t know that just yet. ‘Our hero’ finds this out soon enough and begins to extract himself from the hollow, joyless life he has been trapped in foe the past 30 years, first for worse and then for the better. Unlike Kurosawa’s more famous samurai films, this is set in contemporary Japan and explores a range of themes, from living life, impending death and the extent to which one man can really make a difference both to his surroundings and his peers. Highly recommended.

Du Rififi chez les Hommes
Essentially a heist flick, this French effort follows the same path as many others, The Asphalt Jungle springing to my mind first. Group of crooks get together to plan and execute a robbery, which they pull off by the skin of their teeth, but then the trouble starts… The heist itself is very famous as it contains over twirty minutes with no dialogue or music, just the sounds the group make as they make their score. Solid performances and taut direction also help to elevate this above many other similar films.

Boomerang!
I like my courtroom dramas, sometimes they can be corny or rely on theatrics far too much, but I can’t help but be sucked into them. This was no exception, with Dana Andrews playing the DA who instead of prosecuting the man accused of shooting a priest in cold blood believes that they have the wrong man on trial and defends him. The attraction of the film is Andrews’ tearing apart the eyewitnesses who all swear that the man is guilty but in time their testimonies are called into doubt. Cracking performance by Andrews and yes, there are some theatrics in the courtroom.

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Delightfully silly spoof of 40s film noir with Steve Martin. He plays a PI investigating the death of a prominent cheese scientist, but that doesn’t really matter. The selling point is the fact that the creators spliced in footage from many classic noir / detective films from the period and arrange the archive footage to help propel the absurd plot. Any film that features Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Ingrid Bergman, Lana Turner and Barbara Stanwyck is surely worth a look, and the fact it’s directed and stars the team behind The Jerk is a bonus.

Grosse Pointe Blank
I’ve always thought of this as a strange one. Way before Shaun of the Dead came along with it’s rom-zom-com concept, there was this rom-com about a hitman that gets pretty violent when it wants to without any warning. John Cusack is on fine form as the hitman returning to his hometown for a high school reunion, Dan Ackroyd plays his rival and Minnie Driver is the old flame he jilted on Prom night. But I’m sure most of you have already seen this so you know how much fun it is.

 

[monkeyskin]

And now because it’s just so damn good, this film gets it’s own post away from the rabble I posted above.

12 Angry Men
This is one of those films where no matter what point it’s at, if I catch a bit of it I feel compelled to stay and watch the rest play out. It’s not often films can be so engrossing, especially one such as this. Almost all of the film plays out in real time and in one room, save for a couple of short scenes in the adjoining bathroom. It is in this room that twelve jurors must decide upon a verdict for a young man accused of murdering his father, with much incriminating evidence and testimony in favour of a guilty verdict that will sentence him to the chair.

Henry Fonda plays the one man who feels that there is enough reasonable doubt to vote not guilty and as he presents his arguments to his peers and pokes holes in the prosecutions case they begin to side with him, one by one. Each juror’s personality and reasons for their verdicts are drawn out over the course of the film and they never fall into cliché, although some veer close. It’s a testament to the performances of all twelve actors that they are all memorable even when their names aren’t revealed and all we have as an audience to refer to them by is a number.

Then there’s the direction. The first scene when the jury has adjourned is one long take that introduces us to all of them as they make small talk, discuss the case and move around the room before they sit down to business. I’ve a soft spot for long takes where the camera isn’t static and is very much a presence in the scene, so those that appear early on in this film always make me smile. There’s also the much acclaimed gradual change in lens and focus as the film goes on, slowly making the walls of the room close in on these men as tensions run high and the oppressive heat gives way to a rainstorm outside.

There are also some genuinely exciting moments, which I’ll try not to spoil. But Fonda’s rebuttal as to the uniqueness of the murder weapon is classic and the recreation of the stabbing is as tense as any other scene you may care to name, as well as being beautifully acted out by Fonda and Lee J Cobb. Special mention must also go the final, sobbing verdict of “not guilty,” it’s a powerful climax.

Another thing that I love about this film is the fact that Henry Fonda is not trying to persuade the others that the boy is guilty, instead he is trying to show how he was not proven guilty and there is reasonable doubt in all of the prosecution’s evidence. By the end of the film we are no wiser as to whether or not the boy did or didn’t do it and we only ever see his face as the jury file out of the court in the opening. But that’s not the point. I’m not the biggest expert on American law but it essentially boils down to ‘innocent until proven guilty’, whilst leaving personal prejudice at the door (another great moment towards the end of the film).

Overall, this is a great film and one of my favourites. You can be sure that it will feature on my 1950s list when we get that far and hopefully it’ll pop up on some of yours too. If you haven’t seen this yet and as such are not in a position to include it on that list, then watch it. SOON!