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Last movie watched...

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

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Mardroid

Wanted.

(I thought it was called The Fraternity for some reason, but one google later...)

I caught it last night. Very entertaining action fantasy*-thriller with those ridiculously over the top stunts which somehow work because they're ridiculously over the top. Oh and curving bullet stuff. Again, over the top, but something I can imagine to be theoretically possible if practically impossible. It has some deeper stuff and [spoiler]an interesting twist I should have seen coming[/spoiler] as well . But not so deep you'd take it that seriously.

I can imagine some forumites here disliking it though considering some of the slow motion (is it called bullet time?) stuff. But I liked it. I probably wouldn't get it on DVD unless I saw it going really cheap but it was fun.

[spoiler]Oh and you get to see Angelina Jolie's bare botty.[/spoiler]

*Not in the swords and sorcery sense. In the 'bending reality' sense.

JamesC

I really like Wanted - great fun!
It's all a bit silly but I can't help but let my inner twelve year old come to the front of my mind to marvel at the ridiculous action.

TordelBack

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), as part of my ruthless indoctrinate-the-children-with-classic-stop-motion-effect-movies programme.

Probably the weakest of the Sinbad 'trilogy', it still has delights aplenty - Tom Baker is magnificently hammy as the villain, aided by some fine ageing makeup, the gorgeous Caroline Munro desperately needs to vist M&S for one of those free bra fittings (but not until after the credits roll, please), and the well-chosen Majorca locations are cleverly enhanced (as Caroline didn't need to be).  The Cyclopscentaur versus the Griffin battle is suitably Harryhausentastic, and the animated figurehead and Kali statue both have terrific presence and solidity, but the show is stolen by the superb stop-motion work on the purple homonculi, who manage to be endearing and creepy at the same time.  On the downside, the plot is barely there, very little happens in between the monster sequences and Martin Shaw's Rachid just sort of stands there providing no kind of a foil to John Phillip Law's strangely flat Sinbad.

That said, the whole family enjoyed it, although not quite as much as they did a Halloween viewing of King Kong (1933), which scared and enthralled in appropriate measure. Jason and The Argonauts next, I think, if I can't put my hands on a copy of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

JamesC

Quote from: TordelBack on 18 November, 2012, 10:08:30 AM
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), as part of my ruthless indoctrinate-the-children-with-classic-stop-motion-effect-movies programme.

Probably the weakest of the Sinbad 'trilogy', it still has delights aplenty - Tom Baker is magnificently hammy as the villain, aided by some fine ageing makeup, the gorgeous Caroline Munro desperately needs to vist M&S for one of those free bra fittings (but not until after the credits roll, please), and the well-chosen Majorca locations are cleverly enhanced (as Caroline didn't need to be).  The Cyclopscentaur versus the Griffin battle is suitably Harryhausentastic, and the animated figurehead and Kali statue both have terrific presence and solidity, but the show is stolen by the superb stop-motion work on the purple homonculi, who manage to be endearing and creepy at the same time.  On the downside, the plot is barely there, very little happens in between the monster sequences and Martin Shaw's Rachid just sort of stands there providing no kind of a foil to John Phillip Law's strangely flat Sinbad.

That said, the whole family enjoyed it, although not quite as much as they did a Halloween viewing of King Kong (1933), which scared and enthralled in appropriate measure. Jason and The Argonauts next, I think, if I can't put my hands on a copy of Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

Have you seen this one? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056904/
It was made by a different studio and is really low budget. It never comes on telly anymore but I remember being really freaked out by the big hand as a kid and the heart in a tower is still a great idea.

IAMTHESYSTEM

#3259
God I remember this too know.  There's a terrifying Jungle trek where some of Sinbad's crew get eaten by giant crocodiles or reptiles and a hydra like fire breathing monster that left me shaking behind the settee when I was a nipper. Must look it up on YouTube to see how badly it's aged and exorcise some childhood trauma! :-[ Here's a bit of a blurb.

http://youtu.be/sAJ3Ol79DXM
"You may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension."

http://artriad.deviantart.com/
― Nikola Tesla

Definitely Not Mister Pops

You may quote me on that.

Dark Jimbo

Treated myself to a gourmet pizza and pumpkin beer while I watched Death Line (1972) for the first time last night. Got the DVD for my birthday back in March(!) but only just now felt in the mood to watch it. Now, I love my British horror films, but most of them are bought blind and I've had sometimes had my fingers burnt - for every Brides of Dracula there's a Countess Dracula, for every House that dripped blood a Torture Garden. But - oh my. How good is this film?!

It probably helps that I love anything to do with the London Underground, particularly when used as a horror setting, but to be honest this far exceeded my expectations - in part, conversly, because it was all relatively downplayed. I knew the rough idea beforehand, and I was expecting a whole horde of inbred cannibal navvies pulling people off platforms every five minutes. Instead you get - just one, who only kills four people throughout the film, and he's actually a sad and sorry creature you can't help feeling for. It's fascinating to see him shuffling about with his victorian-era oil lanterns mumbling away into his beard and moping over the lovingly preserved bodies of his kin. The half-finished Underground station is a fantastic set (complete with skeletal hand emerging from the rubble of the caved-in tunnel) and the cinematography really makes the most of the unique ambience (the long, slow track through the tunnel arches with only the steady drip, drip of water to break the silence is cree-peeeee).

And oh, Donald Pleasance, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... It's very much his film and he plays an absolute blinder. Calhoun is a great character who really works to anchor the more outre plot elements with his defiantly down-to-earth outlook. It's a crying shame we never had more films with this character. I'm very much hungering for more Absalom now. The Chris Lee cameo is massively oversold, but hilarious, all the cast are great (even the groovy 70's teenagers, normally the weak link in these things) and the navvie's melancholy wail of 'Mind the doors!' is a great note to end on. Love love love.
@jamesfeistdraws

Greg M.

Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 18 November, 2012, 06:55:37 PM
And oh, Donald Pleasance, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... It's very much his film and he plays an absolute blinder. Calhoun is a great character who really works to anchor the more outre plot elements with his defiantly down-to-earth outlook. It's a crying shame we never had more films with this character.

Aye, 'tis indeed a great film, and for my money, one of Pleasence's most charismatic and flat-out brilliant performances. It helps that he has some superb dialogue to work with and a very memorable character to play, but he really takes it to another level of excellence. And as you say, some wonderful cinematography - the famous tracking shot sequence through the killer's subterranean home unearths a very twisted beauty in some nightmarish imagery. If I recall, we begin the sequence disturbed and appalled, and end it feeling pity for the pathetic creature and his plight, well aware of his humanity. Masterful stuff.

Oh, and I'm pretty fond of the Wil Malone soundtrack too, particularly the 'Soho'-style opening theme.

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Greg M. on 18 November, 2012, 07:21:35 PM
Aye, 'tis indeed a great film, and for my money, one of Pleasence's most charismatic and flat-out brilliant performances. It helps that he has some superb dialogue to work with...

I laughed out loud frequently, which I didn't expect. 'He's a big shit... er, shot, at the Home Office.'
@jamesfeistdraws

Spikes

Mind the doors!
Aye its a good 'un, alright. Bought this kinda blind as well, when it came out on DVD a couple of years ago.
I say kinda blind, because as a sucker for British horror films from that period, id often flick through the brilliant Ten Years of Terror book by Harvey Fenton and David Flint, to read up on what i needed to catch. I think Death Line was one of those rare examples of the original UK release being uncut, while the US version, retitled Raw Meat, suffered the cuts.

Another film to re-watch at somepoint.

Greg M.

Quote from: Judge Jack on 18 November, 2012, 08:40:10 PM
...as a sucker for British horror films from that period, id often flick through the brilliant Ten Years of Terror book by Harvey Fenton and David Flint, to read up on what i needed to catch.

That book seems to go for a bomb these days, Judge Jack - silly prices on Amazon and eBay. I've long wanted a copy (I've got most of Fab Press's output) but that one's eluded me.

Spikes

Indeed! Had quickly looked on e-bay when i posted, and the only copy available is up for £200. Gulp!

It was an indespensable guide for many a year, and just chock-a-block full of brilliant photos/movie posters etc. 336 pages of bliss!
Hope you can track down a decently priced copy, Greg.

Goaty

Who watches the Watchmen?




(Always want said that!  :lol:)

Mardroid

Quote from: pops1983 on 18 November, 2012, 06:19:46 PM


Coincidentally I finished Out of Oz, the last book in Maguire's Wicked Years series. And it features (don't highlight if you haven't read it unless you don't care,) [spoiler]the return of Dorothy, and her being tried for the murder of the two Thropp sisters. (The so-called Wicked Witches of the East and West.)[/spoiler] Heh.

Keef Monkey

Quote from: Mardroid on 17 November, 2012, 11:07:05 PM
Wanted.

(I thought it was called The Fraternity for some reason, but one google later...)

I caught it last night. Very entertaining action fantasy*-thriller with those ridiculously over the top stunts which somehow work because they're ridiculously over the top. Oh and curving bullet stuff. Again, over the top, but something I can imagine to be theoretically possible if practically impossible. It has some deeper stuff and [spoiler]an interesting twist I should have seen coming[/spoiler] as well . But not so deep you'd take it that seriously.

I can imagine some forumites here disliking it though considering some of the slow motion (is it called bullet time?) stuff. But I liked it. I probably wouldn't get it on DVD unless I saw it going really cheap but it was fun.

[spoiler]Oh and you get to see Angelina Jolie's bare botty.[/spoiler]

*Not in the swords and sorcery sense. In the 'bending reality' sense.

I'm a big fan of Wanted, I think it's great fun and has some of my favourite action scenes (the scene where he [spoiler]storms the mill, running the whole time and grabbing guns from the air along the way is pretty incredible)[/spoiler]. It's very over the top, and I love it for that.

I remember getting pretty frustrated with a friend of ours who declared it was shit because it was unrealistic. Her favourite films are Harry Potter and Twilight, so I pointed out that they aren't particularly realistic, to which she replied that they're fantasy films and Wanted isn't.

I argued that Wanted absolutely is a fantasy film, but the urban environments and the fact it uses guns instead of spells and broomsticks apparently means it has to obey the laws of physics at all times.

I can completely understand people not liking Wanted, but to declare it shit because you can't bend bullets in real life is a bit sad really.