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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 10, 2021 11:07:54 GMT
Hello, good folks of FG. The weekly film discussion thread is back. The topic under discussion is made clear in the title. Made-for-TV, direct-to-video, streaming, TV series/episodes, documentaries, short films can also be listed. The minimum requirement is that a numerical rating out of 5 or 10 be provided - whichever the poster wishes to choose - and it'll be even more helpful if he/she also writes a few thoughts regarding his/her experience with the feature/documentary/short/TV series' season. This will help in starting discussions, which is one of the main intentions of this thread. I also request all those who reply here to go through the whole thread once and see if you can see some common topic to discuss with other posters. My last week went great. All first viewings except when mentioned otherwise. I will post writeups later.
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I was planning to revisit Leone's Dollars trilogy since a long time. I also read Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest recently. Thus having absorbed the necessary background data, I thought the time was ripe to watch Kurosawa's Yôjinbô for the first time.
That was a good decision because the film ended up rocking my socks. It is quite a lighthearted romp for the first 45 minutes. Then Tatsuya Nakadai is introduced in the middle of a driving wind and this is the first harbinger that things will be getting serious. It is followed by introduction of the captive mistress woman and after that, the film is dramatic all the way.
9/10
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I knew that Yojimbo was a western concept applied to Japan but Sanjuro was a story from japan's own soil. So I thought that this would be a new experience. And it was.
Its plot is a lot more complicated than Yojimbo, which I did not mind, and a lot more lighthearted as well, which I did. At one point a number of guys start rejoicing and dancing while music suddenly acquires a dance-hall quality to it, which was like it was transplanted from an entirely different film.
7/10
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SECOND VIEWING
An inferior copy of Yojimbo. It has two sequences that are amazing - Eastwood's first shootout and the climax. The rest is forgettable tedium. But I am thankful that its success helped Leone to realize his more ambitious and hence riskier future projects.
6/10 (Same as before)
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SECOND VIEWING
This has jumped to become my favourite of the trilogy. It has the same amount of plot logic, ambition, directorial and acting finesse as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly but is more compact and to the point without any unnecessary digressions.
10/10 (Up from 8/10)
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I thought I would take a breather before Leone's epic and watch something lightweight.
What an absurdly delightful madcap romp. I was surprised at how fast-paced it was, particularly in the first half. I cannot think of anything to write right now except go watch it.
9/10
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There is too much filler here. When it is good it really soars but when it goes flat it made me yawn.
SECOND VIEWING
9/10 (Same as before)
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Post by jamesbamesy on Oct 10, 2021 11:56:59 GMT
Haven't seen any of yours. Yes I still need to see the Dollars trilogy. All of mine are first-timers.
The Grudge 3 (2009) - 5/10
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) - 5.5/10
Edge of the Axe (1988) - 6.5/10
12 Angry Men (1957) - 8/10
Warlock (1989) - 7/10
Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) - 7/10
Warlock III: The End of Innocence (1999) - 5/10
Fright Night (1985) - 8/10
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Post by theravenking on Oct 10, 2021 12:01:49 GMT
First Time Viewing:
The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb (1964; Michael Carreras) - 5.5/10
Saint (2010; Dick Maas) - 6/10
The Gorgon (1964; Terence Fisher) - 5.5/10
Halloween III (1982; Tommy Lee Wallace) - 3.5/10
Asylum (1972; Roy Ward Baker) - 6/10
Halloween 4 (1988; Dwight D. Little) - 5/10
Fear Of The Dark (2003; K. C. Bascombe) - 5/10
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989; Dominique Othenin-Girard) - 3.5/10
Flashback (2000; Michael Karen) - 6/10
Scream Of Fear (1961; Seth Holt) - 7.5/10
Repeat Viewing:
The Puppet Masters (1994; Stuart Orme) - 6.5/10
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Post by theravenking on Oct 10, 2021 12:06:28 GMT
Hello, good folks of FG. The weekly film discussion thread is back. The topic under discussion is made clear in the title. Made-for-TV, direct-to-video, streaming, TV series/episodes, documentaries, short films can also be listed. The minimum requirement is that a numerical rating out of 5 or 10 be provided - whichever the poster wishes to choose - and it'll be even more helpful if he/she also writes a few thoughts regarding his/her experience with the feature/documentary/short/TV series' season. This will help in starting discussions, which is one of the main intentions of this thread. I also request all those who reply here to go through the whole thread once and see if you can see some common topic to discuss with other posters. My last week went great. All first viewings except when mentioned otherwise. I will post writeups later.
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9/10
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7/10
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SECOND VIEWING
6/10 (Same as before)
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SECOND VIEWING
10/10 (Up from 8/10)
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9/10
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SECOND VIEWING
9/10 (Same as before)
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A Fistful of Dollars (1964, Sergio Leone) - 8.5/10
For a Few Dollars More (1965, Sergio Leone) - 8.5/10
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966, Sergio Leone) - 9.5/10
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Post by politicidal on Oct 10, 2021 13:49:35 GMT
Repeat Viewings:
House on Haunted Hill (1959) 7/10
Five Came Back (1939) 6.5/10
Them! (1954) 7/10
First Viewings:
Zola (2020) 8/10
I Walked With a Zombie (1943) 6/10
White Zombie (1932) 5/10
The Body Snatcher (1945) 6/10
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Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Oct 10, 2021 14:44:11 GMT
Eraserhead (1977) - 7/10
Weird as living hell movie that I dont really get...but damn it Im pretty fascinated with it. Oddly a pretty cool film.
High Tension (2003) - 7/10
Suspenseful gory film with an odd ending that does not work that well but still a fun nasty ride.
The Evil Dead (1981) - 10/10
Excellent 80s horror film!
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) - 7/10
Surprisingly fun action horror flick.
The Return of the Living Dead (1985) - 10/10
Best zombie film ever. Great to see again and again.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021) - 5/10
A strong start of a film ruined by a way too fast pace.
Night of the Animated Dead (2021) - 5/10
Animated redo of the 1968 classic. Pointless but watchable.
Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990) - 9/10
Underrated Texas sequel. Nasty fun.
Saw 3 (2006) - 8/10
Most disturbing of the saw series. Very effective and entertaining.
The Shining (1980) - 8/10
Great Kubrick horror classic.
Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (2018) - 4/10
Gimmick film that supposes to kill who watches it. Oops.
Lake Fear 2: The Swamp aka The Everglades Killings (2019) - 3/10
Less than average slasher film.
The Trees Have Eyes aka Dead Bounty (2020) - 3/10
Below average zombie film.
Pumpkins (2018) - 3/10
Lame slasher film.
The Mummy Reborn (2018) - 2/10
Crazy dumb mummy film.
Stay Out Stay Alive (2019) - 4/10
Stupid teens find gold and go crazy. Nice to see Barbra Crampton.
Nightmare Asylum (1992) - 1/10
Awful. Hardly even a film. I couldnt even hear the damn film the audio is so bad.
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 14, 2021 9:13:44 GMT
Haven't seen any of yours. Yes I still need to see the Dollars trilogy. All of mine are first-timers. The Grudge 3 (2009) - 5/10 Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) - 5.5/10 Edge of the Axe (1988) - 6.5/10 12 Angry Men (1957) - 8/10 Warlock (1989) - 7/10 Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) - 7/10 Warlock III: The End of Innocence (1999) - 5/10 Fright Night (1985) - 8/10 Dollars trilogy is a lot of fun. I would also suggest that you watch Yojimbo before that.
12 Angry Men is a good film because of performances and direction. But it also underlines the utter stupidity of jury system practised in USA. What's the logic in taking a bunch of ordinary people who have little understanding of legal procedures and can be easily swayed emotionally and then place someone's life and death in their hands?
Fright Night rules. I need to rewatch it again, either this month or next. With Near Dark it is the best "contemporary vampire" stories of the 80s.
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 14, 2021 9:28:38 GMT
First Time Viewing: The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb (1964; Michael Carreras) - 5.5/10 Saint (2010; Dick Maas) - 6/10 The Gorgon (1964; Terence Fisher) - 5.5/10 Halloween III (1982; Tommy Lee Wallace) - 3.5/10 Asylum (1972; Roy Ward Baker) - 6/10 Halloween 4 (1988; Dwight D. Little) - 5/10 Fear Of The Dark (2003; K. C. Bascombe) - 5/10 Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989; Dominique Othenin-Girard) - 3.5/10 Flashback (2000; Michael Karen) - 6/10 Scream Of Fear (1961; Seth Holt) - 7.5/10 Repeat Viewing: The Puppet Masters (1994; Stuart Orme) - 6.5/10 I don't remember much from The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb except my impression that it was pretty wretched. The one scene that has stuck in my mind is when the American businessman - who so far has been singularly unpleasant - pays a streetwalker despite not sleeping with her, just as a generosity. That was out of character for him. The next film of the series, The Mummy's Shroud, also has a similar American businessman character but he is quite thoroughly a bastard and remains so throughout. It is also significantly better than this one.
Others I haven't seen but am interested in Asylum. I have watched two other Asylum anthologies, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and Torture Garden, the former being quite entertaining.
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 14, 2021 14:39:03 GMT
Repeat Viewings: House on Haunted Hill (1959) 7/10 Five Came Back (1939) 6.5/10 Them! (1954) 7/10 First Viewings: Zola (2020) 8/10 I Walked With a Zombie (1943) 6/10 White Zombie (1932) 5/10 The Body Snatcher (1945) 6/10 I found House on Haunted Hill to be quite stupid and rated it 2/10. But lately I have started to believe I might have been too harsh on it. A rewatch might fix that.
Still need to see more pre-NotLD zombie films. I don't think I have watched a single one.
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 14, 2021 14:59:46 GMT
Eraserhead (1977) - 7/10Weird as living hell movie that I dont really get...but damn it Im pretty fascinated with it. Oddly a pretty cool film.
High Tension (2003) - 7/10Suspenseful gory film with an odd ending that does not work that well but still a fun nasty ride. The Evil Dead (1981) - 10/10
Excellent 80s horror film! Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) - 7/10
Surprisingly fun action horror flick. The Return of the Living Dead (1985) - 10/10
Best zombie film ever. Great to see again and again. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021) - 5/10
A strong start of a film ruined by a way too fast pace. Night of the Animated Dead (2021) - 5/10
Animated redo of the 1968 classic. Pointless but watchable. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990) - 9/10
Underrated Texas sequel. Nasty fun. Saw 3 (2006) - 8/10
Most disturbing of the saw series. Very effective and entertaining. The Shining (1980) - 8/10
Great Kubrick horror classic. Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (2018) - 4/10
Gimmick film that supposes to kill who watches it. Oops. Lake Fear 2: The Swamp aka The Everglades Killings (2019) - 3/10
Less than average slasher film. The Trees Have Eyes aka Dead Bounty (2020) - 3/10
Below average zombie film. Pumpkins (2018) - 3/10
Lame slasher film.
The Mummy Reborn (2018) - 2/10Crazy dumb mummy film. Stay Out Stay Alive (2019) - 4/10
Stupid teens find gold and go crazy. Nice to see Barbra Crampton. Nightmare Asylum (1992) - 1/10Awful. Hardly even a film. I couldnt even hear the damn film the audio is so bad. I have watched Eraserhead twice and I am game to watch it again, even though many portions of it are a slog to make through. There is too much interesting surface and subliminal stuff here not to be fascinated by it. 8/10.
High Tension has one suspenseful sequence - the closet one - and it is copied from Torso. The rest I hear is copied from a Intensity, a Dean Koontz novel which was also made into a TV movie with John C. McGinley playing the killer. Only the twist ending is original. 4/10.
I like the sequels of Evil Dead more, but it's fun. 7/10.
I have watched the first four parts in the Resident Evil series but Afterlife was so aggressively awful that it made me swear off following it up. Wish Russell Mulcahy was retained as a director.
I found Return of the Living Dead to be flat. Strangely I preferred Part II. 5/10
TCM 3 and Saw III both make the same mistake of piling on the gore and forgetting the characters, the scares and twists. 3/10.
The Shining is good but overrated. Its first two acts are dull, stretched endlessly with little payoff. I found neither the blood elevator nor the twin girls to be scary. It finds its feet only in the bar scene when Jack relapses and from then on, it's a gas all the way till the end. 7/10.
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Post by politicidal on Oct 14, 2021 16:01:37 GMT
Repeat Viewings: House on Haunted Hill (1959) 7/10 Five Came Back (1939) 6.5/10 Them! (1954) 7/10 First Viewings: Zola (2020) 8/10 I Walked With a Zombie (1943) 6/10 White Zombie (1932) 5/10 The Body Snatcher (1945) 6/10 I found House on Haunted Hill to be quite stupid and rated it 2/10. But lately I have started to believe I might have been too harsh on it. A rewatch might fix that.
Still need to see more pre-NotLD zombie films. I don't think I have watched a single one.
HoHH is pretty campy but that’s a part of the fun. There’s some good choices as far as older zombie movies go. There’s a Hammer movie called The Plague of the Zombies that’s pretty solid. |
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Post by mikef6 on Oct 14, 2021 18:46:20 GMT
Slam Dance / Wayne Wang (1987). This is a movie impossible to rate. It begins at 7-8 but by the end is has de-volved to a 4-5 as the story all but collapses into muddle. There is a good cast with Tom Hulce in his second movie after "Amadeus" also with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Virginia Madsen, Adam Ant, Millie Perkins, and Harry Dean Stanton. C.C. Drood (Hulce) is a popular cartoonist who is still in love with ex-wife Helen (Mastrantonio). He was divorced after he had an affair with a mysterious blonde named Yolanda Caldwell (Madsen) who reveals nothing about her past. When she turns up dead, Drood finds himself a major suspect. He then is threatened by armed toughs who demand that he give “it” to them. A great set-up but as Drood (even his ex calls him Drood) investigates on his own, the story spins out of control. Tech credits are excellent as Drood moves through a mostly nighttime Los Angeles from discotheques to parties for the glitterati. It is worth the watch just for that and for the performances. . 5/10   The Last Seduction / John Dahl (1994). And speaking of femme fatales, Bridget Gregory played by Linda Fiorentino is a one-woman 24-hour, all femme fatale network. After her low-level NYC drug dealer husband Clay (Bill Pullman) manages to pull of a major score, Bridget immediately flees with the cash, stopping in a small town a couple of hours south of Buffalo. There she entangles a country boy, Mike (Peter Berg), anxious to find a way out of his existence. Mike, it turns out, is a claims adjuster at a large insurance company. Bridget uses his access to citizens’ private records with a scheme to make a lot of money. Oh, by the way, her plan includes murder. Meanwhile, Clay has employed a private eye (Bill Nunn) to track her down. Hint: no private eye is a match for Bridget. Although shot to be a theatrical feature, after a couple of festival presentations, the movie was sold to HBO where it became very popular and widely seen and there was talk of an Oscar nom for Fiorentino. But those were different times. She was denied a place on the ballot because “The Last Seduction” had appeared on cable TV before a theatrical release. The film’s producers sued the Academy but lost. Her performance is really remarkable plus she is supported by a great cast. 9/10   
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 15, 2021 7:29:54 GMT
Slam Dance / Wayne Wang (1987). This is a movie impossible to rate. It begins at 7-8 but by the end is has de-volved to a 4-5 as the story all but collapses into muddle. There is a good cast with Tom Hulce in his second movie after "Amadeus" also with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Virginia Madsen, Adam Ant, Millie Perkins, and Harry Dean Stanton. C.C. Drood (Hulce) is a popular cartoonist who is still in love with ex-wife Helen (Mastrantonio). He was divorced after he had an affair with a mysterious blonde named Yolanda Caldwell (Madsen) who reveals nothing about her past. When she turns up dead, Drood finds himself a major suspect. He then is threatened by armed toughs who demand that he give “it” to them. A great set-up but as Drood (even his ex calls him Drood) investigates on his own, the story spins out of control. Tech credits are excellent as Drood moves through a mostly nighttime Los Angeles from discotheques to parties for the glitterati. It is worth the watch just for that and for the performances. . 5/10The Last Seduction / John Dahl (1994). And speaking of femme fatales, Bridget Gregory played by Linda Fiorentino is a one-woman 24-hour, all femme fatale network. After her low-level NYC drug dealer husband Clay (Bill Pullman) manages to pull of a major score, Bridget immediately flees with the cash, stopping in a small town a couple of hours south of Buffalo. There she entangles a country boy, Mike (Peter Berg), anxious to find a way out of his existence. Mike, it turns out, is a claims adjuster at a large insurance company. Bridget uses his access to citizens’ private records with a scheme to make a lot of money. Oh, by the way, her plan includes murder. Meanwhile, Clay has employed a private eye (Bill Nunn) to track her down. Hint: no private eye is a match for Bridget. Although shot to be a theatrical feature, after a couple of festival presentations, the movie was sold to HBO where it became very popular and widely seen and there was talk of an Oscar nom for Fiorentino. But those were different times. She was denied a place on the ballot because “The Last Seduction” had appeared on cable TV before a theatrical release. The film’s producers sued the Academy but lost. Her performance is really remarkable plus she is supported by a great cast. 9/10 As a fan of small-town neo-noirs it's a mystery to me why I have not watched any of John Dahl's works yet. Since I love me some prime Virginia Madsen, I ought to add Slam Dance to my watchlist as well.
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Post by brandomarlon2003 on Oct 15, 2021 11:46:58 GMT
No Time to Die (7/10)
Broken City (6/10)
The Ice Road (6/10)
Creepshow (7.5/10)
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Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 15, 2021 15:31:34 GMT
No Time to Die (7/10) Broken City (6/10) The Ice Road (6/10) Creepshow (7.5/10) I have only watched Creepshow from those and it's been many years. It's ripe for rewatch. I liked it fine back then. Its sequel was rather weak and the so-called third part was abominable. I still haven't watched Tales from the Darkside: The Movie which is considered by many to be the real Part III of the series.
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