Reply With QuoteI like Cronos, but it's very much a first film. You can see the genesis of a lot of Del Toro's style, but it's not as satisfying as The Devil's Backbone or Pan's Labyrinth.
Chronos by Guillermo del Toro is up. I loved Pan's Labyrinth and this is supposed to be very good as well so I intend to watch it soon.
I like Cronos, but it's very much a first film. You can see the genesis of a lot of Del Toro's style, but it's not as satisfying as The Devil's Backbone or Pan's Labyrinth.
Don't bother. The encoding is horrible. The framerate is like 10 fps--unwatchable.Originally Posted by farley2k
Just watched this and thought it was pretty good overall and very good at times. Thanks for mentioning it!
Zach Galifianakis was very distracting. At times I wanted to say he was the weakest part of the film, because of the way he kept yanking me out of the moment.
I'm pleased you enjoyed it. I like ZG and was cool with his performance. His character was clearly the quirky comic relief and he did a good job. But I understand. ZG is really overexposed at the moment.
Exactly. I was grinning from ear to ear each time I saw Galifianakis and I agree that he did a great job, but the character seemed out of place in this type of film, and it's just not possible for me to look at him without wondering what ridiculous thing he'll do or say next.
Dolls (1987)
A nasty little fairy tale from director Stuart "From Beyond" Gordon. This 77 minute horror/comedy short film features Buffy-like dialog and Sam Raimi style mayhem and special effects, without CGI. Die hard horror fans will not be disappointed (there is lots of gore).
BTW, Restrepo is on Netflix now, it was very, very good. A little shocking for the folks that think soldiers are all Tom Berenger and that explosions make pretty fireballs you can dive away from, but a great portrait of some of our finest soldiers.
H.
I agree, although watching some of the footage I kept thinking of "realistic" war films like "Hurt Locker" and "Black Hawk Down". I had to keep reminding myself that this is real, those are real bullets explosions and dead people. Credit to the filmmaker for putting together raw footage in such a compelling way.
Powerful, powerful film.
3 Extremes
A three part horror anthology directed by a Chinese, Korean and Japanese director in order. Each is about a distinct taboo, without going into details, each is uniquely disturbing. I recommend it because they short films are well made.
Mona Lisa and Long Good Friday, two EXCELLENT Bob Hoskins films are now available as are a host of new MST3K episodes.
I was excited to see the Robot Monster MST3K show up. That is one of my favorites.
"We salute you!"
QT3 movie podcast favorites Withnail & I and 44 Inch Chest are up.
Ooooh! That's freaking great news! Thanks sinfony.
-xtien
Also, Don McKay. I need to sign back up.
Yes, Lexx is excellent for falling asleep to and giving you extremely weird dreams. It's one of those shows that's fantastic to watch late night, and the opposite during any other time.
Now that all the regular TV shows are taking a break I've been watching Netflix like a madman.
The first 5 episodes of Party Down Season 2 are up.
Last night I watched Flame and Citron, a true story of resisters during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. Pretty good, mostly because it plays on all the paranoia buttons of "who can you trust?"
Then watched Survivors, a BBC drama where a flu pandemic wipes out 90% of everyone. They fudged the dying off, as it was moving quickly, then it's like they said, "Oh, fuck it, let's get on with it" and everyone died in a single night. Now we have about 7 cast members who have joined up to survive. It's like Lost only with the entire deserted island of Britain to knock about in. The main woman annoys me, so I'm not sure I'll stick with it.
And the best of the lot, Exit through the Gift Shop, a documentary about street artists that takes a very cool twist at the end. This is "A Banksy Film" so I'm loathe to trust it at all, because it may be some weird double twist that's all made up by Banksy.
Lots of softcore flicks from the 70s hitting Netflix these days. Finally Netflix on consoles will let the young men of today really learn what their fathers went through trying to sneak downstairs to turn on Cinemax late on a Friday night.
This is spot on. In spite of some gritty-ass violence VR is a long 90 minutes. Which isn't to say it is a bad or boring movie. Just ponderously self important at times.
When it started I wondered why Winding Refn didn't use Tom Hardy (Bronson) for the lead, but Mads Mikkelsen is metal as fuck without saying a word, I totally bought him as an unstoppable killing machine. The movie is like a black metal song brought to life (a long Wolves in the Throneroom-y kind of song). In fact this might be the most metal movie of all time.
It is also gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking throughout.
There is a very similar movie called "Severed Ways" that was insanely long and insanely boring (what can I say? put vikings and the phrase "throbbing black metal soundtrack" on a DVD cover and I am in, learn from my mistakes people). VR is a Preston Sturges film in comparison.
I liked it a lot, but wouldn't recommend it (VR) without reservations. (The first half an hour is worth watching for anyone that enjoys a bit of the old UltraViolence though.) It is also amazing to see what Winding Refn achieves without spending millions of dollars.
Examples, sir? For purely scientific reasons, of course.
Valhalla Rising (a generic title if there ever was one), has a great first act with tons of blood and mud. Mads is good; he and the film have a cold bleakness that work in favor of the plot. Some of the digital special effects are poor especially the blood splatter. How hard is it to do a practical in-camera make up effect? The third act drags but has enough striking Herzog-esque moments to sustain it. The film's nihilism may be a problem for some viewers.
Apologies if this has been mentioned before (I searched and didn't find it)...
I've been really enjoying Slings & Arrows. It's a Canadian TV show that ran for 3 seasons (all three available on netflix streaming). I've only seen the first two seasons so far but thought they were both great (it seems to follow the British convention of only 6-episodes per season).
If you're at all interested in theater or Shakespeare, I recommend it. It's often witty and sometimes dramatically moving, and it's even got Mark McKinney (whom I haven't seen in anything since Kids in the Hall, though his character isn't the most interesting in this show, IMHO).
Rosemary's Baby is up in widescreen non HD. Film is about an expectant mother who may or may not be carrying the child of Satan. Kubrick had his cast and crew watch this and The Exorcist while filming The Shining to create the right atmosphere.
The Kid Stays in the Picture isn't instant streaming but Evan's story about how he persuaded Mia Farrow to disobey Frank Sinatra's demand she leave the picture, is great. As is both Rosemary's Baby and The Kid Stays in the Picture.
Last edited by BlueJackalope; 12-29-2010 at 10:58 AM. Reason: clarity
Been years since I saw TKSitP but I remember it was good. Thanks for the trivia I love it.
Suck
Aging rock band cashes in on the vampire craze, literally. Lots of good songs, funny cameos, claymation, and respect for Bram Stoker. Low budget and a throwback to 70s glam horror films like Get Crazy and Phantom of the Paradise, the movie also has some clever send-ups of the music industry. Dave Foley is funny as the band's agent, and for once in a long time, Malcolm McDowell brings a little clockwork spark to his role as Van Helsing.
Fucking awesome. This is a must watch.
If you like the movie, read the book "War” by Sebastian Jungerit. It is the companion book to the movie and the first 2/3rds are covering the same ground as the movie so it puts a bunch of the action into context.
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