Which films did you see last week? (10.17.2021 - 10.23.2021)
Oct 24, 2021 15:05:59 GMT
theravenking likes this
Post by Hurdy Gurdy Man on Oct 24, 2021 15:05:59 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 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.
I finally caught on with the October horror spirit last week.
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It is considered a masterpiece by any but I consider it to be a missed opportunity. It is so rare to see Jewish gangsters in Hollywood films as opposed to Irish and Italian gangsters who are all over the place. There are many scenes that really sing, especially in the last hour. The car scene with De Niro and Tuesday Weld, the last scenes between De Niro and Elizabeth McGovern and James Woods - they are all exquisitely enacted and photographed. Even the first three hours have some cracking scenes, like Noodles's first murder and the entire maternity ward sequence.
So why do I think it could have been a lot better? Well, I think Leone missed the point of what a gangster movie is supposed to be: it's supposed to be about gangsters and organized crime. But all too frequently the script kept sidetracking towards either children trying to get laid or adults trying to be romantic. The film is overall quite slow-paced but these scenes particularly dragged and tested my patience. Also, the one-dimensional portrayal of women as well as the misogynistic slant of many scenes did not sit well with me.
5/10
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There is only one story here which I would say is entirely satisfactory and that is the one with Peter Cushing. How I love that man! Why he is not cited more often among the greatest English actors ever perplexes me. The final story starring the always dependable crazy man Patrick Magee is also decent, albeit predictable. The one thing common in these two stories is that they both depict abuse of harmless, helpless old men and how their tormentors get their comeuppance.
Rest of the stories are terrible. The first story might be the first ever in a film to feature a killer wearing a Santa Claus costume. That's all I have to say that's notable about them.
4/10
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After being disappointed by the previous film from Amicus, I predicted that this would be more of the same. Was this a pleasant surprise in disguise! No Peter Cushing here but the actors are still decent. Most importantly, three out of five stories were interesting in premises, execution and twists as opposed to just one and a half in the previous film. My favourite was the final one involving voodoo and a painter. It reminded me of the similar voodoo-based story from Dr. Terror's House of Horrors - Amicus's first horror anthology - but was presented a lot better here.
7/10
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This one was a lot of fun. Fast paced and stuffed with several noted character actors. Despite the ever-present dark humour, the script does not lose sight of the fact that it is horror first and foremost. What's more, I managed to care for the characters and felt sorry for them when they died. William Sadler and Billy Zane were both terrific and even Jada Pinkett Smith was surprisingly great as the final girl. The first choice of casting for that character was Cameron Diaz and I am glad that did not come to pass.
8/10
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This series did not waste time in diving headfirst into the sewer. The director had never directed a feature film before and never directed one afterwards either. The idea of a brothel being secretly a vampire haunt is laughably presented and that's before figuring in a preacher who's using the vampires to kill fornicating sinners! There is no mystery whatsoever in the proceedings. It is just a barrage of nudity and cringe-inducing puns and frat-boy humour. The story credit belongs to Robert Zemeckis and Bob Kane and for the life of me I cannot figure how the writers of Back to the Future went so intellectually bankrupt as to come up with excrement like this. Dennis Miller gets a few scarce chuckles but eventually his monotonous delivery got on my nerves. Angie Everhart may have the figure of a goddess but the problem is that her character keeps her clothes on throughout the film and since she is a dreadful actress, she cannot project oomph while being fully dressed. I have no trouble believing that she got this role because she was schtupping Stallone back then.
2/10
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Ritual (2002, Avi Nesher) :
This film was never envisioned as a TftC film but after the filming was done, they added the bookend scenes with the crypt keeper puns and slapped the TftC logo on it. It was a a pleasant surprise to see the RKO Radio Pictures logo in the beginning. The film is an incoherent mess but at least it is not boring. Jennifer Grey is solid in the lead and looks quite pretty too.
4/10
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