Films II : The Filminator

[one-armed dwarf]

Talk to Me (2023)

 

Pretty cool and intense film that I didn't get bored watching. I'm not sure I love exactly where it ends up. Though as usual with an A24 horror there's that subtext layer I keep forgetting about.

 

Spoiler

The subtext is a drug-taking metaphor, init. Themes of self-harm and unresolved emotional trauma

 

Reason I don't love where it ends up is it kinda heads into a more predictable direction with the ghosts kinda taking over. It's whole ending sequence does not IMO flow super naturally out of what comes before, but maybe I'm too harsh

 

4 fucked up eyeballs out of 5, top marks for its horror visuals at the very least

[OCH]

Get Out

I've actually seen these films completely out of order now. Of the three Jordan Peele films, US is my favourite. This was ..fine. The tension of the first hour or so worked better before the "twist" dropped. None of the lead actors really sold me though. 7/10

[one-armed dwarf]

Watched Hell House LLC (2015) - Sort of like if Scooby Doo did a found footage film, except less scary than that one Blair Witch parody they did

 

and Butterfly Kisses (2018) - this was really good and original I thought. Kids investigate an urban legend about a ghost called 'Peeping Tom', dude finds their tapes and becomes obsesses with proving their veracity, another filmmaker makes a documentary film about this particular dude and his obsession (this last dude being the actual director of the film you're watching). Layers of meta narratives to do with film-making and the genre of found footage, self-reflecting as fuck. You can find it on youtube as well

[one-armed dwarf]

Watched tons of stuff

 

A Wounded Fawn (2022) - Shudder exclusive film, low budget giallo-influenced splatterfest. Wish Shudder streaming quality was a bit better, the dark scenes were macro blocked to shit and it's a very visually interesting film. It's good if that's something which doesn't bother you. 👎

 

Possessor (2022) - Got this on iTunes, it said 'Uncut' on it. It's pretty full on. Cronenberg's son directed it, I'm not going out of my way to watch gorefests right now, just seems that every other film I've been picking up has been one. It's really good tho and again, strong visuals. It's about a shadowy assassin organisation which jumps into people's brains and controls them to perform assassination contracts with their body, a bit of Assassin's Creed's Abstergo mixed with Hitman's ICA. Sean Bean is in it 👍

Spoiler

he doesn't die, which is bullshit considering how fucked up he gets in it

 

Saint Maud (2020) - At first I didn't like this, but it kinda stuck with me after watching it. Kind of one of those films where there isn't a single scene gone to waste but adding any more to it would cause it to be flabby. Lots of stuff in it about isolation, psychosomatic stress, PTSD, shame etc 👍

 

Went and used a VPN to get a free trial of the Criterion Channel and watched In the Mouth of Madness (1994) - A fun, somewhat dumb later career John Carpenter film. Forms a sort of trilogy with The Thing and Prince of Darkness apparently, the latter of which I also watched recently and fucking hated. But this was a lot better, maybe my 2nd fave Carpenter film after The Thing actually. Sam Neill does Sam Neill things in it, I like that whole period where he was doing horror things more often. 👍

 

Under the Skin (2014) - A fucking amazing opening scene, especially if you turn all the lights off and have good black levels on your TV

Spoiler

the alien thing being born, eyeball first, and learning language. It's like a biological boot sequence.

Very interesting concept how it sets itself up, then I would say I honestly lose some interest following where it goes. Sometimes movies like this hit with me and other times they do not. I think I would have liked to know at least a little bit more about the dude on the motorbike. 👎

The Tenant (1975) - Polanski plays himself as a put upon tenant in a really shit apartment in Paris. A horror about shitty housemates. 👍

Spoiler

Actually more than any of his films* it seems to draw something from his experiences in the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto and how he had to hide his identity from people (he always says he's a french citizen when asked where he's from). 

 

*other than The Pianist obviously

 

[Jimboxy]

5 hours ago, one-armed dwarf said:

Under the Skin (2014)

that film properly gave me the heebie-jeebies, it was pretty good, but I'll never watch it again

[mfnick]

Evil Dead 2013 and Evil Dead Rise.

 

Been meaning to watch these for a while. Disappointed with both to be honest. Just found them a bit boring with none of the horror of the original and none of the fun of the sequels or the amazing, excellent, fantastic Vs series. 
 

Meh.  

[shinymcshine]

Taylor Swift Eras Tour

 

Yep I know it's a bit niche, and you'll probably all mock me for it, but saw it at the Vue Cribbs Causeway Bristol today.

 

They'd really pumped up the volume (almost to concert level) and there was a bunch of people dancing down at the front - and I absolutely loved it  !

 

Roll on next year's concerts.

[OCH]

Village of the Damned

 

Now I read and thoroughly enjoyed the Midwich Cuckoos years ago. I do like coming back to the original 60's adaptation every once in a while, too. Still holds up really well. Strange how none of the latter adaptations tap into the same tone of this one? One of the first (and best) examples of the "Kids are Evil" subgenre of horror. 9/10

1 hour ago, mfnick said:

none of the fun of the sequels

😲 But what about the cheese grater? That was fun...

[mfnick]

To be fair that was good. A lot of the violent shit was good in Rise actually but it didn’t have fun outside of that IMO. 

[Nag]

51 minutes ago, OCH said:

Kids are Evil" subgenre

 

That not a subgenre... just a fact.🙂

[one-armed dwarf]

To me the whole point in Evil Dead, the first Raimi one anyway, is that it's a type of horror and ultra-violence which hangs out just on the edge of hilarious slapstick absurdity without crossing over fully in that direction (unlike its sequel). Which I think the modern versions are just trying to capture in a modern context. Evil Dead 2013 is trying to be a remake of the first film, without being a literal scene for scene remake. 

 

I understand not being into them as much as they don't really resemble the Raimi films at all on the surface, but I think they do a decent job of trying to find a way to make a film that has the same type of effect as that first film, but with modern sensibilities. Well, the 2013 one tries to anyway. I've not actually seen it since 2013

 

Mentioned on an earlier post but I think Barbarian did this well, imo. Better than these new Evil Dead films, it's a really good film

[OCH]

It's typically that slapstick humour that I really don't like in Horror. Dark/grim humour is fine. But absurdity tends to put me off a film. Drag Me To Hell, for example. Generally enjoyed most of that film. Except for the bit with the dancing goat. Given that is a Raimi film. I thought it would have been a better movie without that element.

[one-armed dwarf]

Found out that arrow films also have a streaming service, so I nabbed their free trial and watched

 

Dark Water (2002) - Pretty decent J Horror with no real surprises, one pretty good scare scene I thought.

 

Tetsuo - The Iron Man (1989) - A japanese body horror about a bloke with a bit of a skin condition and a heavy industrial soundtrack that's definitely the most interesting thing about it. Lots of imagery in this is painful to look at, with all the metal bits and bobs resembling some kind of cancerous growth

 

 

edit also watched SMILE (2022) - aka SHITE. I will grant that it has some pretty cool sound design, wasted on this film though

[mmmark]

The Exorcist Believer is absolute garbage turd. Never scary or dramatic it spends most of the time being boring and a regrettable watch. Doesn’t even use the original theme music well. Can be funny at times. 1/10

[Pikman]

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On - this is magical, absolutely loved every second, amazing!

Might need to see it again but so far, I think I'm at 10/10 😱

[Nag]

Bill and Ted Face the Music

 

I went in to this expecting very little... and that's exactly what I got, the film doesn't really work on any level, it certainly didn't get any more than a couple of chuckles out of me which is pretty poor for a "comedy"... and the less said about the two daughters the better.

 

All always have fondness for Excellent Adventure but this was a poor showing.

[mfnick]

RoboCop 1 & 2

 

Had to watch these again after playing the game. Still ducking adore them. The first is up there with my favourite of all time & I really love 2 as well even though it gets a hard time and isn’t as good. 
 

Made me appreciate the game even more too. Loads of little touches I missed initially. 
 

Also, the Tories are basically OCP. Shocking I know… 

[mmmark]

[mmmark]

Live action Zelda movie is go!

 

Quote

This isn't your ordinary movie; it's a remarkable collaboration between Nintendo, led by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, and the renowned Avi Arad. Avi Arad is celebrated for producing dozens of Marvel films and is the force behind Arad Productions Inc., known for their work on successful films.

 

The big news doesn't stop there. Wes Ball is stepping up as the director to bring Hyrule and its hero, Link, to life. Nintendo is investing over 50% of the movie's budget, while global distribution and joint investment are in the capable hands of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. This means "The Legend of Zelda" will soon grace the silver screen, offering fans a new dimension to the epic adventures they've cherished for years.

 

[HandsomeDead]

I saw this on The Social Media Site Formally Known as Twitter and the fan casting was giving me an aneurysm.  2023 and they're still saying Orlando Bloom for Link.  He can play Tingle, and that's it.  The correct answer is a big casting drive for someone new and young.  It should be some kid's breakout roll. Zelda can be someone more established.

 

I've still not seen Mario but it's generally considered solid so I hope they keep that up at least.