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Started by SmallBlueThing, 04 February, 2011, 12:40:44 PM

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Mardroid

Riddick.

Not bad, but rather similar to Pitch Black albeit with different monster designs. (Both good in their own way, although I wonder how canine creatures so similar to African wild dogs and hyenas* evolved on that world. Maybe they didn't. Maybe they escaped from captivity making 'dingo dongo'** actually more accurate than one might think.)

Considering how different Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick were, I'm kind of glad they made reference to the second film in this, even featuring Karl Urban briefly. This was mostly just to get Riddick into his current situation, mind you. The start felt rather disjointed as a result, lending one to feel like there was almost a whole other film there, or least a section of film that was sped over. Understandable I guess, as they wanted to make the film about Riddick surviving on a world full of monsters and storms, while holding his own against bounty hunters, rather than a revenge flick 'Riddick vs the Necromongers'. Maybe they'll get to that in the next film.

Anway, result: a film whose main structure is almost exactly the same as Pitch Black, and I think Pitch Black did it better.

But as I said, not bad.

I found myself groaning inside (not in a sexy way) at the hot macho lady who  gives us the impression she is a lesbian, right until Riddick turned her head and she decided to 'ask real sweet like'. Dear me, male heterosexual wish-fulfillment, or what? I mean, I'm a male heterosexual, and I found that distasteful.

I wouldn't say it ruined the film though. It was just rather silly.

* Okay, hyenas aren't actually canines, but they have dog-like characteristics.

** Despite their wild nature, dingos are thought to have descended from dogs brought to Australia by human beings. That explains their difference to other native mammals in Australia who tend to be marsupials. (The couple that aren't are even stranger - egg layers.) Considering the fact that the humans they came over with are likely the ancestors of the Australian Aborigine... well, thousands of years still qualifies them as native to my mind though.

radiator

Colossal

An indie dramedy/kaiju mashup starring Anne Hathaway, which is a weird sentence to type. Definitely one of those films where its best that you know as little as possible going in so you can enjoy the twists and turns.

I wasn't fully convinced until about halfway through the movie (and the premise is so preposterous it barely hangs together at times - I suspect that its a bit of a Marmite film and that many viewers just won't be able to go along with it) but it ultimately won me over, and the ending is a real triumph. Really enjoyed it.

4/5

Keef Monkey

Mindhorn, the new Julian Barratt (him off The Mighty Boosh) comedy. Very, very funny and immensely likeable stuff. Should go down great with anyone who enjoys his brand of humour or has a soft spot for Partridge-style characters and dialogue. Laughed heartily throughout and look forward to seeing it again.

radiator

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 24 April, 2017, 09:18:27 AM
Mindhorn, the new Julian Barratt (him off The Mighty Boosh) comedy. Very, very funny and immensely likeable stuff. Should go down great with anyone who enjoys his brand of humour or has a soft spot for Partridge-style characters and dialogue. Laughed heartily throughout and look forward to seeing it again.

Sweet - heard Barratt talking about this on the Adam Buxton podcast. Think it's going to release straight to Netflix over here - looking forward to it.

Radbacker

I am Groot, I am groot....I am Groot i am Groot,  I am Groot, I am Groot....I AM GROOT!!!!!!

Just got back from Guardians ot The Galacxy Vol 2 - it was Groot!!!!!  I mean really really Groot, probably one of the Grootest movies I've seen this year.  Easily as Groot as the first one if not better (first one might just have it as it came as such a supprise but this one is expected to be great).
Some really nice eater eggs for Marvel fans and Stans cameo has to be his best yet [spoiler]He telling a bunch of Watchers about his cameos in various movies!!![/spoiler]
The main cast is Groot again, Baby Groot is awww shucks so cute but not annoyingly so, added depth to Rocket and even the returning Nebula and Yondu work out really well [spoiler]Yondu in particular, wont go into details but I nearly shed a tear[/spoiler]
Kurt Russel as EGO the lioving Planet works perfectly even though you'd wonder how the hell can they pull something like a living planet off in a film they do it.  Sylvester Stallone has only a small part but does well.  I'm really glad Gunn is back to do Part 3 he's knocking these out of the park, 2 for 2 so far now if he can get out the difficult 3rd album these will go down as the greatest trilogy of the Marvel movies.

CU Radbacker

PsychoGoatee

Lot of Vin Diesel related talk on this page! Even though I don't know if he portrays Baby Groot.  :lol: Can't wait to see that, I love Riddick, and saw Fast and Furious 8 earlier this week, was pretty good.

Tonight saw In Bruges, loved it, me mates loved it as well, I hadn't seen it oddly enough! Great great stuff.

I'll also mention Better off Dead which is solid stuff I hadn't seen before recently, and Moulin Rouge which was a pretty solid kooky musical drama.

Colin YNWA

Finally got around to watching High-rise... man that was disappointing. How can a film be both rushed and ponderous?

For the first 45ish minutes it was really good. For the next 45 it hung onto interesting... its fingers losing grip all the time. The last 30 it was just underlining and adding detail yet no substance. By the end it was scribbling so quickly it had all but obscured the point it was trying to make. The characters didn't need or deserve closure, surely that wasn't the point?

Anyway looked great, had fantastic potential but was completely over egged.

Michael Knight

Colin YNWA completely in agreement over that film.

PsychoGoatee

Neil Stryker and The Tyrant of Time was the movie tonight... delivered the goods! We were all pretty eager to see Neil's newest adventure, since it'd been quite a while since his original movie Evil Cult (2003), not to be confused with the also good Jet Li movie The Evil Cult.

If you want some hilarious glorious sci-fi action comedy... just call Neil Stryker.

Hawkmumbler

Got my giallo groove back on last night with SEVEN DEATHS IN THE CATS EYE (dir. Antonio Margheriti, 1973). It's a strange one, being a period piece as well as a giallo, it evokes the Bava era mysteries over the Argento post modern melodramas, and it's not without it's share of bloodshed and thrills, even if they are somewhat tame by comparison to either Bava or Argento. I feel the intentions to make this a period piece set in Scotland (i'm not a history novice enough to make an educated guess at the time frame but 17th century seems a rough guesstimate, and bollocks, I just realized setting up a period piece movie without making it clear WHEN your movie is set is REALLY bad script writing and set design) as a back drop to Italy's changing class system in the 70's, but this kind of comes with a lot of baggage and flab that bloated the primary story line and made the kill sequences jarring.

Not a great giallo, but a curious one none the less, and the new BD from 88 looks stunning. For a giallo with genuinely good social commentary stick to The Cat o' Nine Tails or Death Laid and Egg.

PsychoGoatee

Hey what are some of your fav giallo movies, or ones you'd recommend? I love all Dario Argento's movies, and I dig Lamberto Bava's Delerium and Demons which are not necessary giallo, and I've seen some Fulci movies. I like Nightmare Beach, also I love that Giallo parody/homage by Astron6 The Editor.

The only Mario Bava I've seen is Bay of Blood, which I respect for being so influential to the slasher genre, but those slasher movies like Friday the 13th pt 2 are more entertaining for me than this one. Also doesn't grab me like say Tenebre or The Bird with the Crystal Plumage etc. I tend to like the more slick and cool or just somehow entertaining to me ones, some feel like so-so Hitchcock movies to me, like The Psychic.

Greg M.

Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 30 April, 2017, 06:48:05 PM
Hey what are some of your fav giallo movies, or ones you'd recommend? I love all Dario Argento's movies, and I dig Lamberto Bava's Delerium and Demons which are not necessary giallo, and I've seen some Fulci movies.

If you're an Argento fan, you've presumably seen the greatest giallo of them all, Profondo Rosso. Non-Argento favourites, off the top of my head:

The Killer Must Kill Again (in many ways the anti-giallo - at no point are we confused, we always know who the murderer is -  a film that has grown on me immeasurably over the years.)
Black Belly of the Tarantula
Don't Torture a Duckling (Fulci - memorable dry run for the chain-whipping sequence from The Beyond.)
What Have You Done to Solange?
All the Colours of the Dark
The Short Night of the Glass Dolls
The House With Laughing Windows
A Blade in the Dark (Lamberto Bava - one of his better ones.)
Stage Fright (more of a slasher than a giallo, but bloody brilliant -because it's by Michele Soavi, who could so easily have been the true successor to Argento.)

You won't go far wrong with those. I'm sure the mighty Hawkmumbler can augment that list with his own choice cuts though, since he seems to devour the glory of Italian cinema with an utterly admirable voraciousness.

PsychoGoatee

Very cool, thanks! And always looking to add more movies to my watch list.

Dario's movies are all so cool they're on another level for me, Profondo Rosso like you mentioned, the style and the music is all so cool, it'd be hard for that movie to lose. And even without those elements it'd be a good entry in the genre.

I can enjoy less flashy ones too, but do like pizazz. And pizzas.

Mattofthespurs

Just watched 'The Killer Has Reserved Nine Seats' on Netflix.
It's an awesome giallo.

Hawkmumbler

Quote from: PsychoGoatee on 30 April, 2017, 06:48:05 PM
Hey what are some of your fav giallo movies, or ones you'd recommend? I love all Dario Argento's movies, and I dig Lamberto Bava's Delerium and Demons which are not necessary giallo, and I've seen some Fulci movies. I like Nightmare Beach, also I love that Giallo parody/homage by Astron6 The Editor.

A very good questions! I'll start off by doubling down on some of Greg's superb recommendations, Don't Torture a Duckling (AKA Don't Torture Donald Duck! Yikes indeed!) is the true unsung masterpiece of the genre. Arguably Fulci's best movie as well, next to The Beyond. A movie that bucks as many trends as it sets, and is across the board simultaneously lush and dank. And the finale has to be seen to be believed.

A Blade in the Dark stands up as Bava Jr's best movie. It's by no means essential but it has it's place in the pantheon that makes it note worth, this one owes a great to deal to early Argento. The Short Night of Glass Dolls is one of the trippiest experiences committed to film, the loops the plot throws you threw are pretty daring I must say.

To double down with What Have They Done to Solange? I highly recommend it's sister movie, What Have They Done to your Daughters?, it's certainly one of the most unflinching, grim, and startling murder mysteries committed to film. Both the opening and closing sequences are hauntingly chilling, and some of the set pieces are gloriously set up. Not for the faint hearted.

A recent addition to my favorites list is the surprisingly unique A Bloodstained Butterfly, this was a very obscure one until Arrow put it out in HD recently, and it mashes giallo melodrama and bright colour schemes with court room drama. There's nothing quite like it, and I really rate this one.

Probably one of the genres most beloved mid tear titles is The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, a movie with some brilliantly creepy set design and foreshadowing, and an unforgettable stalking sequence up there with Tenebre is audaciousness. I also rather enjoyed it's follow up, The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave.

Really, I could go on and on about this particular genre, it pickles my fancy so very much, and this is before we even get into the euro-crime subgenre (though both WHTDTS? and WHTDTYD? are crossovers in this regard, particularly the later) but for now, i'd say these are good entry points for some of the none Argento or Bava Snr. titles.