Recently watched movies

[Mike Covell]

Been on a superhero tip recently,

Watched Iron Man, which was great, in fact, I watched it twice!

Then watched The Hulk....twice. Norton was pretty cool as Banner, and it was nice to see Lou Ferrigno as "Security Gaurd"

Loved both films and enjoyed the way they tied them together!

The Matrix was on TV last night, so I settled down and watched that, which still seem's mind blowing.

[Magpie]

Geez, we've been neglecting this thread lately.

Okay, last week I did a 2-films-night (at least) movie fest. Here's the rundown.


1) Epic Movie, Radioland Murders and The New Guy--two surprisingly good movies, considering I had zero expectations for both. Especially Epic Movie, from the same guys responsible for the truly exceable parody flick "Date Movie". This one was pretty darn good, with some genuinely funny moments. The New Guy is nothing original, but adequately done. You either like Radioland Murders or you don't. I like it--it's a lot of fun and it never stops moving. It has the feel of a good old screwball comedy. When I worked in the animation house we'd have this on the TV all the time, especially on long jobs--it kept our energy up and kept us laughing.


2) Without A Clue and The Bank Job. Without a Clue is one of my favourite movies ever. I've seen it 50 times and I'll happily watch it another 50. The Bank Job was excellent. I thought it would be a light-hearted caper movie, but it's very gritty and noirish. I don't know how accurate it was, but it was certainly plausible.

3)The Bank Job, Spies Like Us, and Kung Phooey. Yes, the Bank Job was that good. Spies Like Us is good, mindless fun, and Kung Phooey is a Blazing Saddles type parody aiming at martial arts movies. It's a low-budget labour of love, and it's remarkably good. There's a lot of stupid humour, but a lot of smart jokes too, and it's obvious that the writers truly love the genre (always makes for the best parodies).

4) Transporter 2 and Wanted. Lots of action, lots of eye candy, non-stop thrill rides. Transporter 2 is implausible, but moves so fast that you don't care, and Jason Statham is always fun to watch. I was surprised at the amount of humour in Wanted, especially since the graphic violence towards the end is a sudden and disturbing shift in direction. Both worth a look-see though

5) Get Smart and Hellboy 2. Didn't have high expectations for Get Smart, but was pleasantly surprised. It works well both as a comedy and a lightweight spy thriller--what it doesn't work so well as is as an adaption of "Get Smart". Hellboy 2 has some great visuals, but they barely hide what is a pretty unimaginative story. Definately had it's moments though.

[Mike Covell]

Starship Troopers 3

A guilty pleasure to watch this, which despite looking awful, is actually quite a fun romp through the galaxy, fighting those nasty bugs!

There are loads of tongue in cheek moments, and I was laughing at the propaganda videos featuring themes such as,

"If you speak out against the war, we will hang you" and "If your religious, we will hang you"

The film features Casper Van Dien back as Johnny Rico and is far superior to the second installment "Hero of the Federation"

In other movie news, that got me foaming at the bit, "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" are being re-made.

The idea behind "Friday the 13th" is to take parts 1,2 and 3 and make them into one film, which is a little weird as Jason wasn't the killer in part one! Nevertheless, the trailer looks pretty fun, and there is a new guy playing Jason!!

No new news on "A Nightmare on Elm Street" except Robert Englund has confirmed he will not play Freddie!!

There is also a new uncut release of "Last House on the left" The movie, directed by a young Wes Craven, was released in the UK by Anchor Bay some years ago, but heavily cut!

[sdreid]

I watched The Incredible Hulk last night - nothing to get excited about and I'm one of the few who liked the original film. In this one, Hulk battles an evil second generation Hulk who looks like was accidentally mixed with some stegosaurus genes. You do get cameos by Lou Ferrigno and, at the end, Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr. mentioning something about a partnership. Well, Iron Man and Hulk done with Spider Man as was well as Bat Man to go.

[Mike Covell]

I remember the first time I watched Friday the 13th pt3, with my 3D specs, and came away with a nasty headache!!

Jason X was a little weird, but I thought the Freddie Vs Jason release was good fun! Especially when they are kicking each other like a Jackie Chan film!

Behind Enemy Lines 2 was on Sky Movies on Saturday, it was ok, but felt like a made for TV movie, and was not as good as the first movie.

[The Good Michael]

I just sawThe Duchess. I'm not a Keira Knightly fan, but I must say that she was very good, save for the part where she was drunk. That was too obvious and didn't feel real. The movie was perhaps the most boring thing I've ever seen, however. The most exciting part was when the Duke was showing pne of Bess' boys how to shoot a flintlock. Actually, that was by far the most exciting scene.

Cheers,

Mike

[Magpie]

The latest Friday the 13th Boxset came out today with the first 8 films, for only £20! I have them seperate, but the box loved lovely, and is now on the "To see" shelf!

I liked 1, 2 and 4 the best. I also liked Jason X, although I don't consider it a "real" Friday the 13th film.

I started watching "Rise: Blood Hunter" last week. I should have loved this movie!

Vampire movie: Check
Great trailer: Check
Lucy Liu: Check
Naked Lucy Liu: Check
Lots of stylish sex and blood: Check
Noirish production: Check
Quick pacing and pulse-pounding action...? Ahem......I said quicking pacing and pulse-pounding action??? Anyone? Anyone? Hellooooo?

Yep, that's right--they made a vampire action film and forgot the action. Also the sex scenes are about as erotic as a old wellie (no offense to any wellie fetishes reading this), and the tricksy dream-sequences and flashbacks are so badly handled that they destroy the pace rather than add to it.

Maybe the second half is better, but really. Life's too short, and films shouldn't be endurance tests.

[sdreid]

I just watched Iron Man. Not quite like I remembered the comic but pretty cool. No Iron Man song except a short instrumental version at the end. After the credits there's a short preview of "Iron Man II".

[Mike Covell]

Saw I, Saw II, Saw III and tonight Saw IV!

It is October and the new Saw film (Saw V) is due out, so we have been catching up on the previous films! I have two versions of each film, so the hard part is picking the goriest!

The latest Friday the 13th Boxset came out today with the first 8 films, for only £20! I have them seperate, but the box loved lovely, and is now on the "To see" shelf!

[Shangas]

I recently watched a screen production (AKA - film) of Oliver Twist I must say I liked it a lot. I'm rather fond of Oliver Twist, an interesting story. A pain to read, but lots of fun to watch.

[Mike Covell]

Four Brothers

We got this very cheap and the read up on the rear and write up on the net was pretty good so we sat and watched and wasn't disappointed.

It's about a lady who is a foster parent to 4 very different young men, she is murdered and they return home to seek revenge. It is essentially a buddy movie, but the acting is spot on, and boy is it tense.

The four brothers must bond, and take on the local "Gangsta" and there are so many plot twists and turns, a wonderful film, and it left a lump in the throat too!

[sdreid]

Last night, I watched Detour (1946) starring Tom Neal, the actor who later went to jail for killing one of his wives, and Ann Savage, a really great actress. For the life of me, I can't figure out why she didn't become a mega-star. Anyway, the good news, at 87, she's still with us.

[Mike Covell]

We own the Night

It's a tense cop thriller about a father and his two sons. The father is chief of police and his son is head of the narcotics division. His other son runs a night club full of drugs, and eventually he has to decide which side he is on.

There are lots of very tense scenes between brothers, and it is hard to trust anyone as the plot unravels. There is also a very surreal but realistic car chase that made my jaw drop.

Lots of shooting, women, drugs and cops. Typical night in Hull then

[DVV]

On TV, a Danish movie, which original tiltle is: "Adams aebler" (dir by Anders Thomas Jensen, 2005).
So good, I want to watch it again and again.
Bravo les Danois!

[gizmo]

Xanadu

Hiya, In 1980 the movie Xanadu (O.N.J. Gene Kelly and Michael Beck)flopped at the box office but has since turned into a cult classic. I see that it has resurfaced into a Tony Award winning production on Broadway in 2007. Has anyone seen this and is it worth going to ?