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  • All the Colors of the Dark (Italy, 1972) [BD] - 2/5
    Frustrating, insanely over-rated 90 minutes of Edwige Fenech screaming and running from a killer who may be real, or just her imagination (you'll never know, ha-ha-ha). It's a shame since the “Satan worshipping hippies” story context has its moments, the score is nice, and there are visual sequences that work. But Martino has done much better films, like Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972).

    Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (Italy, 1972) [BD] - 3.5/5
    A marriage drama on acid, gone giallo. Captivating, beautifully filmed, with great score and terrific lead performances by Luigi Pistilli as a violent husband and Anita Strindberg (absolutely stunning) as the suffering wife. The plot could do without some of the Poe / Black Cat stuff that feels a bit shabby, as do some other plot developments towards the end.

    Torso (Italy, 1973) [BD] - 3/5
    A slightly uninvolving giallo with exceptional amounts of nudity, turns into a fantastic slasher/thriller during its final third. Worth seeing for the last 30 minutes.

    Once Upon a Time in the West (Italy / USA, 1969) [DCP] - 5/5
    Leone's grand epic and finest picture, an endlessly inspiring piece of filmmaking and the one film where men are allowed to cry. There was a 35mm screening in Finland some years ago, but me being in Japan I had to settle for a DCP celebrating the film's 50th anniversary. It was the latest in a series of nationwide theatrical re-release in Japan, following Dawn of the Dead and Blade Runner this year, The Thing, Sorcerer, Last Tango in Paris and a few others last year.



    JP HP with a nice re-release trailer:
    http://onceinthewest2019.com/

    Comment


    • I must have that poster! One of my favorite scenes ever.

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      • Richard Jewell. An "okay" film. Something you watch one day when there's nothing on and it leaves the impression that it was okay. It was fine. It's nice that it exists to vindicate this guy.

        Thinner. I remember the trailers from back in the day. A shockingly camp Stephen King adaptation. Cliche as hell but it starts to do something interesting an hour in when the formerly fat guy turns to the mafia to help him.
        "Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"

        Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom.

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        • The Mandalorian
          Now, this is how you Star Wars (I could give a flying fuck about the Rey Mary Sue
          boogaloo's). Fantastic first season! I enjoyed every second. Great casting, expertly shot
          and overall well put together. Shame about Herzog but you can't have it all. I hope they
          keep Carl Weathers around for as long as possible.

          Zombieland - Double Tap
          Was extremely sceptical of this when it was announced but this was waaaay better than I
          ever expected it to be. A worthy successor to the overrated but alright original. I liked this
          better than the first film and I'm totes getting this when it hits the blu-ray bargain bin. Largely
          agenda free (there's some age-ist anti male bullshit in there but not much) which is refreshing
          in 2019. Very entertaining if not very original. This rekindled my Emma Stone crush somewhat
          (though still... F-U-C-K The Favourite! ^_^ Hateful misandrist propaganda garbage.)

          His Dark Materials
          Super solid first season with some great actors. The lead girl is good, Ruth Wilson steals the show
          as usual and James McAvoy is great, but I wish he was in it a bit more. I really enjoy the panzer bears
          and the overall feel of the show. Fantastic theme song as well.

          Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
          Love this film. Always have. It's like pure visual crack. Edgar Wright and Michael Cera's best work.

          The Story Of Temple Drake
          1930's masterpiece. Jack La Rue is a little one note but effectively creepy as all hell. Miriam Hopkins is great in
          the leading role and the film is very well shot. I love how great old timey stuff like this gets ressurrected via blu-ray.
          If you're a movie buff this is an absolute must.

          Baby Face
          Barbara Stanwyck plays an awful person who hoes her way up the societal ladder causing death, despair and destruction
          in her wake. The ending is supposed to redeem her but nah... fuck that bitch. Great acting performance by Stanwyck though.
          Nabonga
          Senior Member
          Last edited by Nabonga; 12-28-2019, 10:59 PM.
          https://www.instagram.com/moviemorpho83/

          Oh, not on Cauliflower! Oh, not on Broccoli!

          Comment


          • The Crow: it's okay. It's a case of style over substance. It's not a masterpiece but it's fine on that note...

            The Crow: City of Angels: I will defend this movie as being about as good as the first.
            "Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"

            Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom.

            Comment


            • Agreed about THE CROW, except I probably like it even less than you do. It's not a good movie and I think it's overpraised because of what happened to Brandon Lee.
              Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

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              • Crimson Peak: I'm not sure I'm really a Del Toro guy. I feel should be. Objectively they're such handsome films, with the Bava inspired lighting and whatnot, and there's always a shit load of imagination on display. Somehow though they're too simple or too safe or too, I don't know, just... standard.

                This ones a pretty good example. Stunning to look at. The sets are ridiculous and the costuming is top drawer. I always felt in front of the film though and was constantly waiting for it's story to catch up to where I knew it was going. It was seriously violent at times but those moments were really the only time it perked up and those bits were also kind of ridiculous. Hard to recommend to any but the true believers.
                "Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.

                Comment


                • All of Del Toro's American films aside from the director's cut of Mimic have the same effect on me.
                  "Ah! By god's balls what licentiousness!"

                  Marquis de Sade, The 120 Days of Sodom.

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by Dom D View Post
                    Crimson Peak: I'm not sure I'm really a Del Toro guy. I feel should be. Objectively they're such handsome films, with the Bava inspired lighting and whatnot, and there's always a shit load of imagination on display. Somehow though they're too simple or too safe or too, I don't know, just... standard.

                    This ones a pretty good example. Stunning to look at. The sets are ridiculous and the costuming is top drawer. I always felt in front of the film though and was constantly waiting for it's story to catch up to where I knew it was going. It was seriously violent at times but those moments were really the only time it perked up and those bits were also kind of ridiculous. Hard to recommend to any but the true believers.
                    Dom, I'd agree about CRIMSON PEAK and Del Toro's American films generally, too. I loved CRONOS and THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE. PAN'S LABYRINTH worked very well for me (though I'm probably alone in thinking that DEVIL'S BACKBONE and CRONOS are the superior films). However, all of his American films have had some incredible moments and ideas but don't pull together. CRIMSON PEAK, in particular, left me with a very 'flat' feeling - despite its sumptuous production design and all the little homages to Hammer horror films and European Gothic films of the 1960s. For me, it's a classic case of a film that is much less than the sum of its parts.

                    Alex, I still need to watch the director's cut of MIMIC; I should get around to watching it soon.

                    The other night, I watched a classic PLAY FOR TODAY, 'A Photograph', directed by John Glenister in 1977. It's quietly unsettling, beginning as a domestic melodrama but becoming utterly horrific in a very lowkey way. Its key premise is that an unhappily married middle class couple receive a mysterious photograph showing two young women outside a caravan; or are they one young woman in two dresses, or a man and a woman, or a man in two dresses? The wife becomes obsessed with this photograph, taking it as a symbol of her husband's (a minor celebrity) infidelity. Meanwhile, he decides to travel to the location where the photograph appears to have been taken.

                    Lots going on in this - therapy, paranoia, marital distrust. The whole narrative feels very much like it's building towards a Wicker Man-style conclusion.

                    I wouldn't want to say too much about it for fear of spoiling it. The whole thing is on Youtube.

                    Paul L
                    Scholar of Sleaze
                    Last edited by Paul L; 01-01-2020, 08:44 AM.
                    'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

                    http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
                    'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by Paul L View Post
                      Dom, I'd agree about CRIMSON PEAK and Del Toro's American films generally, too. I loved CRONOS and THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE. PAN'S LABYRINTH worked very well for me (though I'm probably alone in thinking that DEVIL'S BACKBONE and CRONOS are the superior films). However, all of his American films have had some incredible moments and ideas but don't pull together. CRIMSON PEAK, in particular, left me with a very 'flat' feeling - despite its sumptuous production design and all the little homages to Hammer horror films and European Gothic films of the 1960s. For me, it's a classic case of a film that is much less than the sum of its parts.

                      Alex, I still need to watch the director's cut of MIMIC; I should get around to watching it soon.

                      The other night, I watched a classic PLAY FOR TODAY, 'A Photograph', directed by John Glenister in 1977. It's quietly unsettling, beginning as a domestic melodrama but becoming utterly horrific in a very lowkey way. Its key premise is that an unhappily married middle class couple receive a mysterious photograph showing two young women outside a caravan; or are they one young woman in two dresses, or a man and a woman, or a man in two dresses? The wife becomes obsessed with this photograph, taking it as a symbol of her husband's (a minor celebrity) infidelity. Meanwhile, he decides to travel to the location where the photograph appears to have been taken.

                      Lots going on in this - therapy, paranoia, marital distrust. The whole narrative feels very much like it's building towards a Wicker Man-style conclusion.

                      I wouldn't want to say too much about it for fear of spoiling it. The whole thing is on Youtube.

                      Since the BFI have recently announced a forthcoming Play For Today DVD box-set, it would be good of them to see fit to include this one, along with 1979's brilliant Vampires! I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Mr. Deltoid View Post
                        Since the BFI have recently announced a forthcoming Play For Today DVD box-set, it would be good of them to see fit to include this one, along with 1979's brilliant Vampires! I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.
                        Me too.

                        Watching: Euro cut of DAWN OF THE DEAD whilst drinking some whiskey (Famous Grouse Black and Smoky) & polishing off some Maltesers.
                        'You know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes looked like. Still the same. Pissholes in the snow'

                        http://www.paul-a-j-lewis.com (my photography website)
                        'All explaining in movies can be thrown out, I think': Elmore Leonard

                        Comment


                        • Breakdown: I mentioned in another thread that I've been a watching a lot of 90s crap which suddenly, given the current state of movies, doesn't look so crap. Breakdown is about as good an example as you could hope for. I originally saw this as a teenager but I have a very clear memory of watching this on a plane flight. i remember thinking then that it was a damned good movie for 60 minutes and then it all turned to mush when Kurt Russels inner city business man type started climbing about on the sides of trucks as they hurtle down highways at 100 miles an hour. It got too ridiculous to take anything seriously anymore. Well those bits don't look so ridiculous anymore. These days you're used to your hero shooting 50-60 bad guys in a single scene and not break a sweat so this absurdity seemed restrained. It's a good little outback neo noir that's aged very nicely indeed.

                          Executive Decision: Again back in the day just dumb. Kurt lands a jumbo based on a few lessons in a tiny proppeler plane. Sure Mr Hollywood man. Again by modern movie standard I no longer have any issue with that. Originally this was only known as the movie wherre they kill Steven Seagal in the first 5 minutes. That's still a top move. tThere should be more of it. What stands out now though is that there's a strecth in this action film of about 60-70 minutes where there is no action. Not a single person gets shot for over an hour. Inconcievable! It's not much of a film but by god it's aged well.
                          "Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.

                          Comment


                          • RE: Del Toro's American films, I still think BLADE II and HELLBOY II are among the greatest comic book adaptations ever. I will say they don't play as well on the small screen, but they were amazing to see at the theater.

                            The only Del Toro that I didn't like at all was PACIFIC RIM.
                            Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

                            Comment


                            • I quite like CRIMSON PEAK. While it's a lesser film than CRONOS, PANS, THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE and THE SHAPE OF WATER I think it fits in better with those films than with the more bombastic HELLBOY, PACIFIC RIM, BLADE 2 and MIMIC.
                              "When I die, I hope to go to Accra"

                              Comment


                              • Enders Game. I put this on only because I had no other options. I certainly wasnt expecting a lot as it sunk at the box office and with critics. I was very pleasantly surprised.

                                You do lose some visceral thrills by all the action scenes being either simulations or games but I thought this was surprisingly thoughtful and thematically rich territory well explored. Great effects, the kids were spectacular. This should have been a hit. Shame we won't get the sequels though I suspect the most interesting part of the story has already been told.
                                "Never let the fact that they are doing it wrong stop you from doing it right." Hyman Mandell.

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