Spandau Belly wrote:Craig Sheffer feels like a poor man's Stephen Dorf, and you don't even have to be a rich man to afford Stephen Dorf.
DerLanghaarige wrote:#0004 Loriots Ödipussi (VOD/1st viewing)
Loriot is not the guy who tells long stories, he tells damn hilarious anecdotes. So if you want your comedy movie to be story driven, stay away from this one. If you are okay with laughing like crazy about random but way too true observations of (German) narrow-mindedness and people having long conversations about nothing, all losely wrapped in a plot about a mama’s boy who falls in love, this one is for you.
8,5/10
TheBaxter wrote:HORNS
continuing my string of films for which i've previously read the book, i recently watched Harry Potter and the Horny Horned Horns. since it was in limited release and not playing in my area, i ended up watching it on demand. i was a bit worried about this one, because the trailers and ads, and that one clip that kept showing on TV with him making the news reporters get in a fight with each other, seemed so tonally off compared to the book that it felt like they got this one wrong. luckily, though, that was not the case. for some inexplicable reason they seemed to try to sell this as a dark comedy, and that vaguely anchorman-ish news reporter fight was so over-the-top it stuck out like a sore thumb (having seen it a thousand times prior to the film probably didn't help either), but the rest of the film, while still having elements of black humor, was much more restrained, and while maybe not quite as dark as the book, still maintains a pretty bleak tonal consistency with the book. the funnier bits (pretty much universally involving someone divulging a secret about themselves or acting on some hidden desire) are sprinkled in here and there, but they could have gone a lot further if they had wanted to (we never do see the ultimate consequences of this town of people suddenly waking up afterwards having said and done all these shameful degenerate things to each other, which could be a comedy all by itself). instead they maintain the focus on Iggy and his quest to find his girlfriend's killer. and not all the revelations are played for laughs, some are downright painful (Ig's interactions with his own family and his GF's father in particular). the film stays very true to the book, besides the normal minor streamlining and omissions, the characters and the main events are unchanged. the ending does get rejiggered a bit, but doesn't change that much in essence, just gets a bit hollywood-ed up at the end (including some unfortunate CGI snakes). the ending is probably the weakest part of film (though arguably darker even than the book(at least there's no wedding in a treehouse in this version)), but doesn't detract from everything else that's good about the film.
so sorry wrote:I watched Black Hawk Down last night for the first time in many years.
Kinda wild to realize how many of those dudes that I didn't really know shit about before have pretty good careers now.
Jaimie Lannister, Obi Wan Kenobi, The Hulk, two heroin junkies from Trainspotting, Phil from Modern Family, two dudes from a soap opera I used to watch, and pre-fat Tom Sizemore. Quite a cast.
TheBaxter wrote:over the weekend, i caught that old 80s Rodney Dangerfield film "Back to School" on HBO or cinemax or one of those channels (oh robert downey jr, how far you've come...).
anyway, at one point, rodney has to do a book report and to help him out, Kurt Vonnegut shows up.
KURT VONNEGUT!
the FUCK!?!?
caruso_stalker217 wrote:Finally got around to watching LIFE OF CRIME, based on Elmore Leonard's The Switch and a sorta-prequel to JACKIE BROWN/Rum Punch. It's no JACKIE BROWN, but captures the Elmore Leonard feel really well with good performances from Jennifer Aniston and John Hawkes, and a very laid-back turtlenecked Mos Def/Yasiin Bey. I was compelled to purchase The Switch from Amazon since I haven't read it yet. I'm curious to see how well they adapted this business.
I give it 4 out of 5 turtlenecks.
so sorry wrote:caruso_stalker217 wrote:Finally got around to watching LIFE OF CRIME, based on Elmore Leonard's The Switch and a sorta-prequel to JACKIE BROWN/Rum Punch. It's no JACKIE BROWN, but captures the Elmore Leonard feel really well with good performances from Jennifer Aniston and John Hawkes, and a very laid-back turtlenecked Mos Def/Yasiin Bey. I was compelled to purchase The Switch from Amazon since I haven't read it yet. I'm curious to see how well they adapted this business.
I give it 4 out of 5 turtlenecks.
Watched the trailer, and I swear I've seen this plot before.
so sorry wrote:TheBaxter wrote:over the weekend, i caught that old 80s Rodney Dangerfield film "Back to School" on HBO or cinemax or one of those channels (oh robert downey jr, how far you've come...).
anyway, at one point, rodney has to do a book report and to help him out, Kurt Vonnegut shows up.
KURT VONNEGUT!
the FUCK!?!?
Well he was super rich see, so, um, he could buy his way out of anything, right? So, eh, Kurt Vonnegut then. Or something.
caruso_stalker217 wrote:Just rewatched A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2 FREDDY'S REVENGE for a second time after many years. I absolutely loved it. In fact, I think it's a better film than the original NIGHTMARE. Better acting, awesome special effects (Freddy tearing out of the kid's torso was amazing) and the lady protagonist is extremely cute in a young Meryl Streep way.
The pool party scene is completely absurd, but it's worth it for the Do-Gooder scene and Freddy's "Help yourself, fucker!" and really is it any more ridiculous than the HOME ALONE ending in the first film?
I'm not sure how anyone could call the Dumbledore stuff "subtext" since it's so blatantly in your face. The kid is caught red-handed cleaning his room in about the gayest way possible. He has a Probe board game in his closet for Christ's sake!
I see this film essentially as "slaying the Dumbledore away." Jesse/Freddy only kills males throughout the entire film, until the obligatory shock ending. When Jesse tries to make it with Meryl he grows a long monster tongue and immediately runs to his handsome shirtless friend and asks to stay the night.
Plus, you know, he goes to that Dumbledore S&M club.
The whole third act is all about Meryl curing Jesse of the Dumbledore. Not the most enlightened or progressive kind of attitude, but it makes for good interesting horror.
I'm glad this film exists. I'm glad it's seriously-scary pre-trickster Freddy, who I feel is much scarier this time around than in the first film (pool party Freddy aside). This is a legitimately great (GREAT) sequel and film in general.
I'm not sure how the exploding parrot fits into all of this, but I love Clu Gulager's reaction to it which is basically to berate his son for no reason.
magicmonkey wrote:caruso_stalker217 wrote:Just rewatched A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2 FREDDY'S REVENGE for a second time after many years. I absolutely loved it. In fact, I think it's a better film than the original NIGHTMARE. Better acting, awesome special effects (Freddy tearing out of the kid's torso was amazing) and the lady protagonist is extremely cute in a young Meryl Streep way.
The pool party scene is completely absurd, but it's worth it for the Do-Gooder scene and Freddy's "Help yourself, fucker!" and really is it any more ridiculous than the HOME ALONE ending in the first film?
I'm not sure how anyone could call the Dumbledore stuff "subtext" since it's so blatantly in your face. The kid is caught red-handed cleaning his room in about the gayest way possible. He has a Probe board game in his closet for Christ's sake!
I see this film essentially as "slaying the Dumbledore away." Jesse/Freddy only kills males throughout the entire film, until the obligatory shock ending. When Jesse tries to make it with Meryl he grows a long monster tongue and immediately runs to his handsome shirtless friend and asks to stay the night.
Plus, you know, he goes to that Dumbledore S&M club.
The whole third act is all about Meryl curing Jesse of the Dumbledore. Not the most enlightened or progressive kind of attitude, but it makes for good interesting horror.
I'm glad this film exists. I'm glad it's seriously-scary pre-trickster Freddy, who I feel is much scarier this time around than in the first film (pool party Freddy aside). This is a legitimately great (GREAT) sequel and film in general.
I'm not sure how the exploding parrot fits into all of this, but I love Clu Gulager's reaction to it which is basically to berate his son for no reason.
I watched this too this year for my Halloween viewing, alongside Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Your review is ridiculously on point! I was amazed as the subtext unfurled before mine eyes, all I can think is that there was a seriously pissed off writer somewhere who's Dumbledore opus was wrecked in the filming!
caruso_stalker217 wrote:magicmonkey wrote:caruso_stalker217 wrote:Just rewatched A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2 FREDDY'S REVENGE for a second time after many years. I absolutely loved it. In fact, I think it's a better film than the original NIGHTMARE. Better acting, awesome special effects (Freddy tearing out of the kid's torso was amazing) and the lady protagonist is extremely cute in a young Meryl Streep way.
The pool party scene is completely absurd, but it's worth it for the Do-Gooder scene and Freddy's "Help yourself, fucker!" and really is it any more ridiculous than the HOME ALONE ending in the first film?
I'm not sure how anyone could call the Dumbledore stuff "subtext" since it's so blatantly in your face. The kid is caught red-handed cleaning his room in about the gayest way possible. He has a Probe board game in his closet for Christ's sake!
I see this film essentially as "slaying the Dumbledore away." Jesse/Freddy only kills males throughout the entire film, until the obligatory shock ending. When Jesse tries to make it with Meryl he grows a long monster tongue and immediately runs to his handsome shirtless friend and asks to stay the night.
Plus, you know, he goes to that Dumbledore S&M club.
The whole third act is all about Meryl curing Jesse of the Dumbledore. Not the most enlightened or progressive kind of attitude, but it makes for good interesting horror.
I'm glad this film exists. I'm glad it's seriously-scary pre-trickster Freddy, who I feel is much scarier this time around than in the first film (pool party Freddy aside). This is a legitimately great (GREAT) sequel and film in general.
I'm not sure how the exploding parrot fits into all of this, but I love Clu Gulager's reaction to it which is basically to berate his son for no reason.
I watched this too this year for my Halloween viewing, alongside Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Your review is ridiculously on point! I was amazed as the subtext unfurled before mine eyes, all I can think is that there was a seriously pissed off writer somewhere who's Dumbledore opus was wrecked in the filming!
Actually, it was almost the exact opposite. The writer actually intended the Dumbledore subtext to just be subtext, but through the power of the '80s absolute cluelessness (really is there an unintentionally-gayer decade for film than the 1980s?) the filmmakers pushed the subtext to the forefront where it became just TEXT.
I recommend NEVER SLEEP AGAIN, a lengthy documentary on the entire series. The section about PART 2 is funny as hell.
caruso_stalker217 wrote:I recently watched TANGERINE on Netflix and it's probably the best thing I've seen all year. The first thing everyone seems to jump to is that the film was shot entirely with three iPhone 5seses. You could say that it's a gimmick or at least a selling point for people who take an interest in that shit, but the important thing is that it looks great. I'm sure this thing got a lot of love and attention in the post-production phase. The end result is quite good. It's just a really nice film to look at with a lot of vibrant colors.
The other major thing people gotta bring up is that the central characters are transgendered prostitutes played by amateur transgendered actresses and that's unusual for the movies and also they give great performances. Actually, there is a lot of good acting happening here and a lot of real folks from the actual neighborhood this was shot in to provide flavor. I only recognized three people from other stuff. James Ransone who plays probably the most pathetic pimp ever. Old ass character actor Clu Gulager has a small but memorable and funny role. And Ana Foxx who I recognize from various adult, uh, entertainments.
The film takes place over one afternoon and night and is one of those day-in-the-life type character pieces I dig. The plot is pretty minimal so the narrative is much more situation-based as you watch these various people interact. Also, it's set on Christmas Eve so I'll be able to slot it in with my future holiday viewing like DIE HARD and EYES WIDE SHUT.
What I love about the film is that it's really fucking funny. The characters are across the board pathetic, loud, trifling folks who will get into street fights together in one scene and then bond over a crackpipe in the next. Just about every character seems like they wandered out of a side mission in Grand Theft Auto. These are obnoxious and petty people leading pretty sad lives, so there is a lot of pathos mixed in with the humor. It never feels like we're looking down on them, but rather taking part in their shenanigans. We're laughing at them, but we're laughing with them too.
The film ends on a rather sweet note that frankly gave me warm fucking feelings inside. At the end of it all this is a story of friendship. Even if these friends end up letting each other down and fucking each other over again and again, they'll still stick by one another. Because at the end of the day they only have each other, for better or worse.
Five This-Movie-Is-Good Stars
Ribbons wrote:caruso_stalker217 wrote:I recently watched TANGERINE on Netflix and it's probably the best thing I've seen all year. The first thing everyone seems to jump to is that the film was shot entirely with three iPhone 5seses. You could say that it's a gimmick or at least a selling point for people who take an interest in that shit, but the important thing is that it looks great. I'm sure this thing got a lot of love and attention in the post-production phase. The end result is quite good. It's just a really nice film to look at with a lot of vibrant colors.
The other major thing people gotta bring up is that the central characters are transgendered prostitutes played by amateur transgendered actresses and that's unusual for the movies and also they give great performances. Actually, there is a lot of good acting happening here and a lot of real folks from the actual neighborhood this was shot in to provide flavor. I only recognized three people from other stuff. James Ransone who plays probably the most pathetic pimp ever. Old ass character actor Clu Gulager has a small but memorable and funny role. And Ana Foxx who I recognize from various adult, uh, entertainments.
The film takes place over one afternoon and night and is one of those day-in-the-life type character pieces I dig. The plot is pretty minimal so the narrative is much more situation-based as you watch these various people interact. Also, it's set on Christmas Eve so I'll be able to slot it in with my future holiday viewing like DIE HARD and EYES WIDE SHUT.
What I love about the film is that it's really fucking funny. The characters are across the board pathetic, loud, trifling folks who will get into street fights together in one scene and then bond over a crackpipe in the next. Just about every character seems like they wandered out of a side mission in Grand Theft Auto. These are obnoxious and petty people leading pretty sad lives, so there is a lot of pathos mixed in with the humor. It never feels like we're looking down on them, but rather taking part in their shenanigans. We're laughing at them, but we're laughing with them too.
The film ends on a rather sweet note that frankly gave me warm fucking feelings inside. At the end of it all this is a story of friendship. Even if these friends end up letting each other down and fucking each other over again and again, they'll still stick by one another. Because at the end of the day they only have each other, for better or worse.
Five This-Movie-Is-Good Stars
I like this review because I picture you cradling your baby while watching a movie about transgendered prostitutes
caruso_stalker217 wrote:magicmonkey wrote:caruso_stalker217 wrote:Just rewatched A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PART 2 FREDDY'S REVENGE for a second time after many years. I absolutely loved it. In fact, I think it's a better film than the original NIGHTMARE. Better acting, awesome special effects (Freddy tearing out of the kid's torso was amazing) and the lady protagonist is extremely cute in a young Meryl Streep way.
The pool party scene is completely absurd, but it's worth it for the Do-Gooder scene and Freddy's "Help yourself, fucker!" and really is it any more ridiculous than the HOME ALONE ending in the first film?
I'm not sure how anyone could call the Dumbledore stuff "subtext" since it's so blatantly in your face. The kid is caught red-handed cleaning his room in about the gayest way possible. He has a Probe board game in his closet for Christ's sake!
I see this film essentially as "slaying the Dumbledore away." Jesse/Freddy only kills males throughout the entire film, until the obligatory shock ending. When Jesse tries to make it with Meryl he grows a long monster tongue and immediately runs to his handsome shirtless friend and asks to stay the night.
Plus, you know, he goes to that Dumbledore S&M club.
The whole third act is all about Meryl curing Jesse of the Dumbledore. Not the most enlightened or progressive kind of attitude, but it makes for good interesting horror.
I'm glad this film exists. I'm glad it's seriously-scary pre-trickster Freddy, who I feel is much scarier this time around than in the first film (pool party Freddy aside). This is a legitimately great (GREAT) sequel and film in general.
I'm not sure how the exploding parrot fits into all of this, but I love Clu Gulager's reaction to it which is basically to berate his son for no reason.
I watched this too this year for my Halloween viewing, alongside Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Your review is ridiculously on point! I was amazed as the subtext unfurled before mine eyes, all I can think is that there was a seriously pissed off writer somewhere who's Dumbledore opus was wrecked in the filming!
Actually, it was almost the exact opposite. The writer actually intended the Dumbledore subtext to just be subtext, but through the power of the '80s absolute cluelessness (really is there an unintentionally-gayer decade for film than the 1980s?) the filmmakers pushed the subtext to the forefront where it became just TEXT.
I recommend NEVER SLEEP AGAIN, a lengthy documentary on the entire series. The section about PART 2 is funny as hell.
caruso_stalker217 wrote:I recently watched TANGERINE on Netflix and it's probably the best thing I've seen all year.
Spandau Belly wrote:caruso_stalker217 wrote:I recently watched TANGERINE on Netflix and it's probably the best thing I've seen all year.
I had heard of this film, but mostly dismissed it as a shock-value gimmicky movie. Based on Caruso's recommendation I chose to see this film when I noticed it playing at a cinema nearby. I am very glad I did. This movie has a lot of heart and authenticity.
It's done with an aggressive style of cinematography with bright high-contrast colours and it always seems like the cameraman is sprinting and zooming to catch up with his subject, like the cinematography in a lot of Danny Boyle's stuff. That aggressive style combined with the flamboyant nature of the characters was a bit intense at first, but I got into it and by the time this thing rolled into its third act, I was totally engaged.
Like Caruso said, this film is really funny but commits to immersing you in these characters' lives and getting intimate with them, so it never feels like it's mocking them from a safe distance. The whole thing isn't supposed to be some big Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN lifechanging journey for these characters, they all seem relatively aware on some level that the events seen in this film are just a bunch of shit that they'll forget about tomorrow when they roll out of a dumpster to do it all again.
It's a really nice slice o' life flick, with good Christmas holiday movie sensibilities. I second Caruso's recommendation.
TheBaxter wrote:it's the kind of film that if it were made today, would be totally tongue-in-cheek and constantly winking at the audience. but because it was made in the 70s, and the filmmaker actually tried to make it serious and even a bit artsy, it is far more entertaining and bizarre and funny for it. the bed "eats"... by apparently swallowing people up into its sheets, which then plunges them into some interdimensional vat of urine-like liquid that dissovles them
TheBaxter wrote:The VVisit
the twist (because this is a shyamalan film so OF COURSE there's a twist) is something i should have seen coming, but i didn't, mainly because i was expecting something a lot crazier than what it actually turned out to be. which is a good thing, because the actual twist is much more plausible and works better than the crazy ones i was expecting.
so sorry wrote:TheBaxter wrote:The VVisit
the twist (because this is a shyamalan film so OF COURSE there's a twist) is something i should have seen coming, but i didn't, mainly because i was expecting something a lot crazier than what it actually turned out to be. which is a good thing, because the actual twist is much more plausible and works better than the crazy ones i was expecting.
So I'll never see this film, guaranteed, but I'm interested in knowing what the twist was, so....Spill it spoiler boy!
Ribbons wrote:I concurred.
So does this mean you're looking forward to the supposed-hot-mess Tarzan movie coming out this summer? Because it can't be that bad, right?
Maui wrote:
Hush 2016 on Netflix (Canada).
Pretty decent horror flick. I quite enjoyed it.
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