What are you watching?

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Goldeneye. I was remembering this much more fondly than it deserves. I probably hadn't seen it since the 90s. At the time I remember it being marketed as a savvy updating for the modern age. That aspect has not aged well. Its also odd that for all the fuss about Judy Dench that she has a total of about of about 2 minutes of screen time. one single scene.

Anyway... its a very messy movie. You could essentially cut the first 30 or 40 minutes and just have all that content explained to Bond in a briefing. Its pretty pointless stuff. There's a hell of a lot of busy work and loose plotting throughout. The music, bar the theme, is often spectacularly bad. The action sequences are often just ridiculous. That Bond windsurfing scene from a later movie gets a lot of flack but is it as dumb as the plane bit in the opening sequence here?

Give it some props for one touch though. Many, many, many films have killed Sean Bean. I believe this is the only one to show him die 3 times.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Danger Route: I was a huge fan of Deadlier Than The Male and Some Girls Do so when I saw Richard Johnsons name at the top of the castlist of another Eurospy flick with Babs Bouchett supporting I gave it a look. Well its nothing like the other films. This is more in the hard-bitten John Le Carre line. Johnson's a hatchet man for the British government who wants out. While he's waiting on his release he gets given one last job which, predictably, gets sticky. Not bad! Moves fast, tough and cynical.

[The Silly Swede Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close The Silly Swede]

Too Beautiful to die the sequel to one of the best giallos ever. Sleazier but not as good. Loved the soundtrack though!

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I'm watching South Park.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Mr Vampire: I'm not a big fan of this film, its a bit all over the place, but I dig the Taoist mysticism in these films and- MAN- that full body burn stunt at the end of the film is extreme.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

I decided to watch the original Dune after seeing a piece on its effects while still having the new one in my mind. I'd seen the start of this before but it was an entirely different version than the one I found on a streaming service so it didn't feel familiar.

Its a fucking mess of a film. Generally great special effects but it makes such a meal of conveying what's going on with all those voice overs and whatnot. Its just bad filmmaking. Then its just a fact that the stories too long for a single film. It often feels like a loosely linked series of vignettes.

It does have a lot more character though. In Villeneuves film every character just whispers, all of them overcome by the import of everything. Villeneuve and Nolan have been raised to God like status of late. I have my doubts. Not least this inability they have to combine multiple tones within a film. Villeneuves Dune is a solemn grand movie and so every scene is solid and grand. No ability to play within that tone at all. Its boring.

What was most surprising though was how similar the two films are. They are almost scene for scene, its just that the scenes in the remake are much longer. I haven't read the book so I asked my brother in law, whos a fan, whether they are both just very accurate depictions of the book. He said no, that the book has a lot of behind the scenes political machinations and whatnot that have been ditched. It seems strange to say it about big effects heavy blockbusters but these films need some of those backroom political machinations. They both feel really simple. For years I've heard about how dense and unfilmable they are. These films feel anything but dense. They are no more complicated than Star Wars. That simplicity is mind numbing as you wait for yet another Messianic figure to discover his status as The One. Given the amount of Young Adult fiction I read I read a lot of stories about characters discovering they are the most being in the universe. Christ even Doctor Who seems to be going that way. Tiresome.

The remake is a better film but I don't begrudge the old timers who say the opposite. Personality, which Villeneuve is spectacularly lacking, goes a long way.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

DRIVE, HE SAID - This was Jack Nicholson's directorial debut for BBS. It's a really stylish, pretentious mess of a movie that is very much a product of it's time. I found a lot of it interesting even if it's not really successful. It's about coming of age in the late '60s and concerns two roommates, one a conflicted basketball player, the other a slightly crazy (later totally psychotic) aimless hippie. Karen Black and Bruce Dern have great roles here. The reason I wanted to mention it though, is that there's a lengthy sequence in the last 20 minutes that suddenly, surprisingly becomes a full-on horror movie. It's beautifully shot and wonderfully intense (even though, like lots of stuff here, it doesn't really fit). It's a fascinating film nevertheless.

A DARK SONG - Amazing Irish horror film from 2016 about a woman who buys a house in the countryside and hires a man to help her conjure a spirit. The devil is in the details here; the meticulous preparation for the (very) complicated ritual and invocation takes up most of the run time and it's probably the most convincing portrayal I've ever seen in a film. You can tell everything was well-researched and planned and the build-up to the nightmarish climax is completely engrossing. You have to pay close attention but it's so worth it. Don't miss this one.

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

A DARK SONG - Amazing Irish horror film from 2016 about a woman who buys a house in the countryside and hires a man to help her conjure a spirit. The devil is in the details here; the meticulous preparation for the (very) complicated ritual and invocation takes up most of the run time and it's probably the most convincing portrayal I've ever seen in a film. You can tell everything was well-researched and planned and the build-up to the nightmarish climax is completely engrossing. You have to pay close attention but it's so worth it. Don't miss this one.

Seconded. Not a sly wink in it, deadly serious about grief and harrowing magic. It's also a ridiculously cheap rental or purchase on itunes/youtube for the bottom feeders among us. This too is folk horror.

[BW Haggar Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BW Haggar]

Thank you both for the recommendation - I'll try to track that one down, sounds good.

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

SIEGE (Paul Donovan, 1983). Haligonian ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 but the cops are on strike. Apparently shot in the filmmakers' apartment building, a magical deathrap warren of scuttles, portholes and secret vasistas above a smut shop that specialized in Chinese porn for Soviet sailors on shore leave. Nice gay bar except for the deplorable hoser massacre; just down the street from the Thrifty's jeans store. So Canadian it practically apologized for taking my money: contains most of the casts of MEATBALLS, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, CLASS OF 1984, and POLICE ACADEMYZ. Thanks, Severin. A+: five Theodore Tugboats out of five.

Off-topic spoiler: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...athroom-mirror

[James Reed Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close James Reed]

On Sunday I was over at my parents house doing laundry and I watched most of "Bell, Book and Candle" on TCM. I'm not a fan of romantic comedies but this one has some fantasy in it. Also, I hear Kim Novak's character was the inspiration for the Archie Comics character Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I'm a Sabrina fan so I always wanted to see this. I missed a couple parts because I had to attend to my laundry in the basement, but returned to watch as much as possible. It's actually pretty good.

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

The Silencers (USA, 1966) [VoD] - 2/5
A goofy Bond spoof has Dean Martin teaming up with walking disaster Stella Stevens to fight a ridiculous criminal syndicate. A couple of laughs and Stevens' bust aside, this first film in the Matt Helm series is a tiresome effort. It lacks style and energy, and doesn't quite seem to have enough content to fill 100 minutes.

Murderers' Row (USA, 1966) [VoD] - 3/5
The 2nd Matt Helm movie, and a notable improvement over The Silencers. This is better paced, a bit more stylishly shot, and takes itself just a notch more serious. It's stiff goofy stuff, but just about stands on its own two feet. Also contains an absolutely insane disco scene with Ann-Margret.

The Wrecking Crew (USA, 1968) [TV] - 3.5/5
The 4th Matt Helm film, a stupendously fun piece of 60s pop art on celluloid. There's psychedelic art direction, a half-ridiculous / half-awesome score, entirely ridiculous characters, solid pacing, bad comedy, singing Martin, stiff line delivery, and plenty of beautiful girls. Bruce Lee served as the martial arts instructor (it looked to me like he might have been a stunt double as well, but I could be wrong).

[Spaghetti Monkey Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Spaghetti Monkey]

Turkey day triple - CREEPING TERROR/MONSTER A GO-GO/THE GIANT CLAW.

THE CREEPING TERROR (1964) - Nothing on earth can shut down a hootenanny or clear a dance floor like The Creeping Terror. Big dumb fun. 6/10
MONSTER A GO-GO (1965) - 'Go, you monster, go'. Unbelievably nonsensical cut and fill-in-the-blanks job from Rebane and H.G. Lewis. Jaw-dropping good time. 6/10
THE GIANT CLAW (1957) - I'm not the worlds biggest fan of 50's Sci-Fi, but the creature design on this one, not to mention his love of crunching parachutists, has always floored me. Plus you get plenty of mayhem in the big finale, mostly lifted from other flicks. And let us not forget, Mara, Mara, Mara!!! This one is a Thanksgiving tradition in this house. 7/10

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

The other night I watched the new documentary on Dean Martin - KING OF COOL. Holy shit, this is just amazing. Goes through his entire career, from the Jerry Lewis days to the Rat Pack, the films, the television series and Christmas specials (the clips of these got me a bit misty eyed as I vividly remember watching them with my parents). Lots of talking heads commenting on the man, including some unexpected ones like Josh Homme and someone from the Wu-Tang Clan! Loved the section on RIO BRAVO in particular, they really show some appreciation for the song he and Ricky Nelson sing. This doc. is so loaded with fascinating, emotional moments I want to watch it again very soon. Highly, highly recommended.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

The other night I watched the new documentary on Dean Martin - KING OF COOL. Holy shit, this is just amazing. Goes through his entire career, from the Jerry Lewis days to the Rat Pack, the films, the television series and Christmas specials (the clips of these got me a bit misty eyed as I vividly remember watching them with my parents). Lots of talking heads commenting on the man, including some unexpected ones like Josh Homme and someone from the Wu-Tang Clan! Loved the section on RIO BRAVO in particular, they really show some appreciation for the song he and Ricky Nelson sing. This doc. is so loaded with fascinating, emotional moments I want to watch it again very soon. Highly, highly recommended.

I need this in my life.