What are you watching?

[Cinematic Shocks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinematic Shocks]

BRIDES is probably my favorite Hammer film.

I prefer 'Horror of Dracula'. I like most of the sequels though except Taste, A.D. 1972 and Satanic Rites.


This Is England (2006)

**** out of ****

[Cinematic Shocks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinematic Shocks]

Rogue (2007)

*** out of ****

[Newt Cox Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Newt Cox]

My Bloody Valentine 3d Remake

7 outta 10

Most of the past 15 years of horror remakes I have enjoyed. And before seeing this one I had only seen the original a few times. I like how they kept the cast as mostly young adults like it was in the original.

[Cinematic Shocks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinematic Shocks]

Pixels (2015)

** out of ****

[Cinematic Shocks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Cinematic Shocks]

Inbred (2012)

Apart from some woeful CGI in places, I really enjoyed this.

*** out of ****

[Nabonga Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nabonga]

Pixels
Sooo unfairly crapped on by critics. Loved every second of this. Would've seen it in a cinema if those cock smokers hadn't decided to only play it in 3d. I don't do 3d. Ignore the critics and watch this one. It's good fun for about 2 hours.

Bad Ass
Very positively surprised by this lovely little b-movie. Nevermind the revisionism (a black guy attacking a white guy and getting his ass rightly beat for it, became a hispanic guy defending a black guy from 2 white guys. That's Hollywood for you), this was very entertaining. Well made within the budget range, fun warm and engaging for what it is. Recommended.

Bad Asses
Apparently the first one was popular enough to warrant a sequel. More good stuff here with added awesome by Danny Glover as a grumpy crotchety old fart. Trejo and Glover have good chemistry ad it's a joy watching them take down an arrogant drug lord together. Also very much recommended.

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Kinjite (USA, 1989) [DVD] - 3/5
An oddly disjointed Bronson film takes about 45 minutes to turn the plot gear on. Bronson is a cop in bad terms with a local pimp selling underage girls. Same time in Tokyo a pervert businessman is learning the art of groping women in public transport. The stories finally intertwine when the Japanese man moves to L.A., gropes Bronson's daughter, and a bit later has his own daughter kidnapped by the pimp and Bronson is assigned on the case. Though openly and amusingly racist, and not only against the Japanese, the films portrayal of certain aspects of Japanese society is actually far more accurate than most people think. Indeed, foreign audiences are more likely to find those scenes racist than Japanese audiences who witness similar behaviour in everyday life. It's an entertaining, semi-sleazy film that earns no points for intelligence, but one really feels more effort should've been put into the screenplay.

The funny thing is, as I was watching the subway and hostess club scenes I was thinking no one in Japan would find this racist! Well, maybe they would, because this is an American film and people are sensitive how foreigners portray them, but everyone in Japan knows this stuff happens in real life all the time. And the same stuff is being portrayed in much sleazier way in Japanese movies all the time. Even Oscar winner Yojiro Takita got his start helming the hugely popular Groper Train comedies..

Groping in trains is a huge problem in Japan even today. I don't know a single girl here who hasn't been groped at least once (not that I've asked everyone, but...). And no, they don't usually do anything radical to try to stop the molester because that would cause a scene in which they would lose their own face. In Tokyo there are some train routes that high schools officially recommend their female students to avoid because of the groping problem. And there are women-only cars on all major lines in the morning trains for the same reason.

Groping hostesses is indeed more or less a part of Japanese business culture. Company employees usually go out drinking after work at least once a week, in some companies several times a week. It's an offer from superiors you can't refuse (collectivism). Drinking with business partners is common as well because in Japan business is based on personal relations and trust. You can't do business with someone you haven't spent a lot of time with and learned to know as a human (collectivism again). While deals are signed in a conference room, you could say in reality they are made in restaurants, golf courses and clubs.

Sapporo, where I live, is actually famous for hostesses that allow you to touch their boobs pretty much as much as you want. I know this because many of my best friends go to those places (I don't, but I get invited all the time). Women are generally quite understanding of the situation and think it's part of the business culture. Of course they're not imagining their husbands groping someone else's boobs, but they don't expect them to be able to avoid going to those places. I've actually put quite some effort trying to change some girls' mindset about that being ok...

And as for the Japanese guy reading porn manga (I think it was suggested it was child porn), that used to be very common. Even today you can walk to any comic book store in Akihabara in Tokyo and you'd see stuff that would be illegal in any Western country. You don't even need to enter, half of the time you can see it from the streets. The Japanese government is trying to clean it up a bit now, but in the 80s it would have been everywhere.

Of course, that's not to say Kinjite gets away clean. It does give an incredibly dumb portrayal of Japanese people overall, and I don't even know what to think of some of the things Bronson says in the film. And of course the other bad guys in the film are... a Latino and a black guy! But the Japan set scenes, although probably written with racist intentions, and of course not addressing the majority, are actually more realistic than most foreigners probably think.

[AngelGuts Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AngelGuts]

I, too, found the film slightly disjointed, but it has its positives.

It is amusing that Takita got his start with the Groper Train films, as well as THE SERIAL RAPIST-MURDERER, which is directed with more verve and flair than most.

Thanks for your perspective on real life groping in Japan. I've visited a few times, but haven't encountered or seen much of this myself. At the same time, a filmmaker friend in Japan keeps me "abreast" of the culture whenever we communicate.

Seems a fairly striking contrast to what is seen as offensive in Japan as opposed to America, which has moved to an hysterical end of the pole.

Takuma, I'd be interested in your take on the Rapeman/Repuman films. Personally, I like them a lot because they're well written, have an interesting character mix, and are surprisingly "sweet" at times. They're not what most people expect from the title. On the contrary, rape really is used in an interesting way in some of these.

[Jason C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jason C]

Good Stuff Takuma

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

RAPEMAN was saddled with a title that would never allow it an even handed review anywhere outside of Japan...when I finally got to see them I found a movie that was not as extreme as the title suggests...They were well made with good acting..decent stories and an interesting approach.reminded me of some of the CAT 3 movies from HK from that era......a superhero movie that could probably ONLY be made in Japan...and some might say that this movie is gentler than watching Batman beating the shit out of people !!

I 'dipped my toes in' the GROPER series of movies..but wasnt impressed by then couple I saw..might try again if there are more interesting entries somewhere out there..

[killer must kill again Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close killer must kill again]

been on a crime-film spree lately!

across 110th street
report to the commissioner
the long good friday
busting
killer cop (la poliza ha le mani legate)

all first time views - all amazing!

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

U never saw The Long Good Friday before??

Classic movie

[Takuma Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Takuma]

Seems a fairly striking contrast to what is seen as offensive in Japan as opposed to America, which has moved to an hysterical end of the pole.

Japan is still (and was even more back then) a very male dominated society where women are considered somewhat inferior to men. It doesn't mean women are exploited and harassed all the time, but it does reflect in people's way of thinking.

To be honest, I feel this is a win-win situation for me and my gf. I think I treat her hellava lot better than most Japanese guys would, but I can still ask her to put on her old high school uniform on my birthday and she doesn't get mad (although I need to do a bit of convincing every time, haha)

Takuma, I'd be interested in your take on the Rapeman/Repuman films. Personally, I like them a lot because they're well written, have an interesting character mix, and are surprisingly "sweet" at times. They're not what most people expect from the title. On the contrary, rape really is used in an interesting way in some of these.

RAPEMAN was saddled with a title that would never allow it an even handed review anywhere outside of Japan...when I finally got to see them I found a movie that was not as extreme as the title suggests...They were well made with good acting..decent stories and an interesting approach.reminded me of some of the CAT 3 movies from HK from that era......a superhero movie that could probably ONLY be made in Japan...and some might say that this movie is gentler than watching Batman beating the shit out of people !!

You guys have already summarized my thoughts. They are fun romantic superhero comedies; nothing more, nothing less. I wouldn't necessarily purchase them on dvd, but I might as well see them again before I die.

[Nabonga Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nabonga]

Shark Lake
Oh, for fucks sake Dolph!!! Get it together man. I'm a die hard defender of the man, but when you not only agree to star in crap like this but also produce it, no wonder people think you're a joke. Just pathetic on every level. Worse than any of the movies he made during his super shitty mid to end of the 90's run. :down: When something blows harder than Traci Lords in her hay day you know it's B-A-D.

[Barry M Super Fiend Find all posts View Profile Close Barry M]

NOT SAFE FOR WORK (Joe Johnston, 2014). Pleasing office Die Hard with a creepy villain. Some cellphone gimmicks don't quite work, and the law firm setting and Christian Clemenson give it an odd Boston Legal vibe, but it's fast and entertaining. Probably plays best for anybody who works in that kind of slick modern office environment. I'd watch a sequel. Not Christmas, points deducted.