Demolition Man: At first the way everybody was talking annoyed the shit out of me, then I realized that this is probably the only depiction of the future where I've actually seen the accents and dialects of the people change over time, so it wound up earning props (though still annoying). I feel like most of the humor fell flat and made the tone flail around wildly, but Snipes was a very fun villain. He was genuinely enjoying himself whilst causing all the mayhem. Cocteau's plan was goddamn stupid though. There's a group of people living underground who graffiti walls and rob trucks for food, and the best way to combat that is to set free the most dangerous criminal in history? Yeah, no way that'll backfire. I really, really love fun, stupid action flicks, but I felt like this should have been much better than it was.

Though I will admit that Stallone did have one really badass line. "You're gonna regret that for the rest of your life... both seconds of it"

I'm probably one of the only ones here who didn't like it.

edit: Apparently not. Agreed with kingnuur.

The Cabin in the Woods - 3/10

I expected a sly, razor-wit comedy with an inept horror movie tacked on to generate ticket sales (teeniebopper horror flicks are SO lucrative these days). What I got was an average comedy, an average horror flick, and a thoroughly substandard movie.

The root of the problem was Joss Whedon's smug, antagonistic and appallingly uniform dialog (every character could have switched her/his dialog with a different character halfway through, and no one in the audience would have noticed). How could anyone call this "wit?" Of course, there's a veritable laundry list of other problems (unsympathetic leads, atrocious pacing, large chunks of the plot stolen from other (sometimes, much worse) films, mostly shitty acting) that I could probably dissect in a few paragraphs, but I'm almost foaming at the mouth right now and my ergonomic keyboard hates moisture.

Anyway, in summery: a pro-weed message (although it's obviously insincere and soldered in solely to appeal to the film's primary demographic of 13-18yr olds), some acceptable monster effects and a ridiculously fun, unexpected cameo just barely manage to save this focus tested, straight-to-video kid's flick from the dumpster. If you're old enough (or, if you're not 21, smart enough) to buy alcohol, I'd avoid.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I guess you've provided irrefutable proof Canada should raise their drinking age. Congrats!

Yeah, expectations can often be our own worst enemy. I went in blind and thought Cabin in the Woods was pretty solid. It started out purposely like every other horror flick. But I liked the variety and how they were able to balance it on top of one roof. Not sure everything worked and the humor threw me off at first but I'd put it on again. I watched this back to back with Chernobyl Diaries and that fell apart by the end to the point where people were yelling directions at the screen.

Has anyone seen Dredd yet? I heard it's really good action film.

Havent seen any bad reviews yet and people are saying its really bloody and lots of action. Sadly though, I think that shitty teen House at the end of the street will be #1 at the box office.

Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Peter Jackson
1.5/5

An odd entry in Peter Jackson's filmography, perfectly demarcating his early horror/splatter comedies, and later Hollywood big budget pieces, Heavenly Creatures is a drama with surreal and psychological aspects, detailing to true life events of two teenage girls in 1950s Christchurch, New Zealand. The two girls form an immensely close friendship/romance and retreat into a fantasy world they have created, write, and make art about. Though this film is well made, with great effects for the fantasy parts, crisply shot passages, solid acting all-round, and some critical acclaim, it's also very annoying, irritating, and overly melodramatic. The girls seem to thirst for drama, emotion, hyperbole and spectacle. This gets really tiresome, and you kinda just want to tell them to fuck off. They argue with their parents, act erratically, are constantly crying and crave movie style epic melodrama, and it's annoying. I enjoyed the film being a piece which explored the attitudes of teachers, parents, and society in 1950s New Zealand, but really, the fact the (true life) story just seems to be a constantly grinding succession of crying, and melodrama just gets annoying, and leaves the film feeling one dimensional, or hollow. It's supposed to be a "psychological drama/thriller" but it's done far less classier in that regard than say Polanski, and you end up not feeling an attachment or empathy for the characters, which it's the type of film that would typically implore that; Peter Jackson isn't good at getting you to understand and relate to characters. While i enjoyed Jackson's early period films, this denoumental picture for me marks the beginning of the end for Jackson, who while a talented director, went on to make hollow-feeling megabudget Hollywood blockbusters.

The Master: fucking incredible. Just an awesome story about two men with very different problems trying to cope with life. So many subtleties, nuances and amazing acting. Quite a good amount of excellently shot scenes as well. Adored it.

I hadn't even heard about this at all. I saw a few posts on facebook earlier and didn't know what the hell they were talking about - after seeing this post I looked it up; looks really, really good. It kills me because I really don't even have any friends who would want to see this around anymore.

Has anyone ehard about the Mass Effect movie? I've been searching the netz but I can't seem to find anything current.

I just watched Silent Night, Deadly Night for the first time yesterday. It's just as good as people have told me it is. I love horror films with psychological buildup of the villain, and this has some of the best I've seen in any slasher film.

My most recent views:

Apocalypse Now Redux - Wow! This is my first time ever seeing this movie (I've still yet to see the original version), and man... what a downer. I was not expecting a movie this powerful, despite all the hype. It amazingly captured my interest all throughout its formidable length, and delivered one of the most haunting endings to any movie I've ever seen. It's very draining; I didn't feel like doing anything after watching it except sitting still and thinking. Highly recommended.

Nosferatu the Vampyre - A very interesting remake of the original Nosferatu. Werner Herzog takes a lot of liberties with the source material (meaning the book), and completely changes the ending, but nevertheless I thought it was great. I have no idea why he renamed Mina Harker, Lucy Harker. What the fuck? Count Dracula is a far sadder character than Count Orlok, with a mumbling diction and weary, lost look in his eyes. The pathos in his character made me pity him more than it made me fear him, despite his ghastly appearance and often animalistic behavior. I intend to watch the original German version, Phantom der Nacht, very soon, maybe even this morning after I get off work. Before I conclude this review, I must remark on the cinematography. It's filmed in such a way that the film has a very dreamlike quality, full of ghostly blues and pallid whites. There is also some beautiful scenery as Jonathan Harker makes his way (on foot, another deviation from the original) to Castle Dracula. The visual poetry alone makes this movie a must-see.

That Herzog version is one of the best V-flicks imo. I enjoy Redux though some of my film industry buddies feel the Redux version is moribund, overly long with unnecessary scenes. I've heard the opinion that the scenes with the French colonials for instance are not required, but i really enjoy them, and they link the film more with the source/inspirational material (Heart of Darkness) more.

Watched Dodgeball again recently. I love that movie, which is funny because I don't like any of the other movies that Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn are in. Guess it just has the right amount of over-the-top campiness for me.

Pink Floyd The Wall **1/2

An alienated rock musician retreats behind a "wall" of hallucinagenic self-destruction. More of an elongated music video than an actual film, I judge it as better when seen as such. I've always enjoyed the album for it's own ambition and genius musical production than I did as a Pink Floyd album. Roger Waters' concept theme was ponderous at best which is what the film ultimately struggles with. Visually stunning, expertly directed and full of iconic animation and other imagery, it has rightfully deserved it's cult status especially the last third.

Indeed.

Escape From L.A was a massive waste of a great character.

I just re watched this, and Cliffhanger. Was a big fan in primary school. Should do a couple of small reviews.

Cocteau's plan was fine. Don't mess with Stallone though.

Demolition Man succeeded in the action/comedy genre way better than Arnie in Last Action Hero just before it.

I don't know why Snipes wasn't used more in films. He has talent. Good with action/martial arts, and can act good enough.

Just watched Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht. Since it was basically identical to the English version, I won't bother with another review. English or German, both versions are excellent. It's more a matter of whether or not you feel like reading subtitles.

Escape from LA is great, and I think a lot of people misunderstand it. It was just Carpenter taking a piss at Hollywood's obsession with sequels. If you look into it, it's Carpenter's ONLY sequel, yet it's almost the same damn thing as the original film! And I think it makes for part of the charm and fun of the film. And you gotta love Buscemi.

The way I see it, a shitty movie doesn't stop being a shitty movie just because it was intentional, neither will being self-aware automatically confer the movie a charming campiness,
see also: Mars attacks! and Death proof.

Yeah, I liked that movie a lot. I thought it was actually one of the best depictions of classic-type vampires in film, since if you don't believe in a soul or damnation, there's basically no fucking downside to being a vampire and you'd think every character would be lining up to get bitten. But with Phantom der Nacht we see that being immortal and powerful ain't all it's cracked up to be when you're basically vermin and no one will even look at you without shuddering. Also the sets were just fantastic, it was apparently filmed on-location in a real castle, and it just nails the atmosphere. Plus Klaus Kinski just looks SO CREEPY.

Hahhah Klaus Kinski is a total creep at the best of times, according to various biographies and documentaries I've seen/read. Fucking sex pervert. Great actor. Fitzcarraldo, anyone? And yeah, that movie is visually and atmospherically stunning. ne of the best vampire movies ever made.

Dredd 3D - 8.5 out of 10.

Holy balls, this was a fucking awesome movie. Unlike Stallone's Dredd, Karl Urban's is dirty, damn near souless and in a way....legit scary. Lena Headey was just ruthless as the villoness and you got the impression that this was a woman not to fuck with. In a way, it seems like the character of Anderson whould be we the weaker part of this dark and gritty film, but she's written well enough and the actress who plays her makes her stand strong in the whole thing and believable. Another aspect I loved was this film was an R and it loved it. Bloody, no holding back action and it was just a thrill ride. While I'm not die hard for it, I wish I had seen this in 3D but sadly the only 3D was evening shows so I would have had to pay around 13 bucks. This film didn't disserve 6th place at the box office. See this movie when you can.

Yeah, I heard it was a blast.

Still....go see The Master....

Well after There Will Be Blood, i'm very keen to see what Paul Thomas Anderson does next.

If Kinski looks creepy, what about Schreck?

Death Proof I can agree with... total waste of time but Mars Attacks?! That shit is great!!

Definitely not as creepy, in my book. Kinski's Nosferatu has this guilty look about him, like he knows he's been a naughty boy but he just can't help himself.

Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams".

This strange little documentary stars the Chauvet caves of southern France and its 32,000 year old hand paintings dating from glacier-swallowed France. Even after thousands of years of being there, scraped by the occasional cave bear, worn by the occasional water flow, occasionally added on to by people millenia apart, the cave entrance was buried by a landslide roughly 20,000 years ago. Once trapped, the interior was preserved by calcite layers that grew over thousands of years. Cave bear jaws, various vertebrae, parts of an ibex, eagle skeletons, even a cave bear skull that had been placed on an outcropping facing the entrance were held in place by the calcite, much of it a transparent crust, some of it looking like poured wax. Among the scattered pieces, a broken bone flute made from a vulture's radius. Line-and-shade drawings of panthers and wooly rhino, maneless lions, and mastadon, great-horned animals and remains of torches scuffed off 20, 000 years ago. It was a much different world that long ago.

Herzog is an over-poetic weirdo at times, but he gained access to a strictly protected archaeological site and was able to bring us quite a bit of history out of an hour of filming time. An oddball master perfumer who moonlights as a cave-locator has a curious cameo. The calcite is amazing. It's definitely worth watching.

House (1977 movie) - Weirdest movie I've ever seen. Figures that it's Japanese. I don't even know how to describe it, except weird. It's like the filmmakers took a bunch of hallucinogens, then made a movie depicting their experiences. It's a horror movie, but it's not scary, at least not in any normal sense. I recommend it, but only if you want to see something that's completely out there.

Edit: Specified which House movie I'm talking about.

Are you talking about the House made in the 80s that has the nosy neighbor and the fish that comes back to life and the vietname stuff, or a different House?

No, I'm talking about the 1977 Japanese movie.

Nashville: Altman doing what Altman does best: Ensemble films with a mosaic of intertwining stories. This time about music artists in Nashville - mostly country as you would imagine. The film blends reality and fiction with some famous people playing themselves in small bit parts here and there. The dialogue and storytelling is familiar from his other ensemble movies. Or vice versa, considering this is one of his earliest. Clever and cutting to the heart of things, though a character or two is a bit cliche, but perhaps there's truth in advertising there. A young and naive waitress wanting to become a country star or a slick and slimy political lobbyist. It's also a musical with mostly country songs, all original and mostly even pretty well written. What's lacking in that department is the sole 'rock' band in the film: They don't perform actual rock, but rather just folk and supposedly deep and insightful, yet it comes off rather pretentious. Or perhaps that is the point.

Silver Streak: The first Wilder and Pryor film. Past the half point and it's just a Wilder show. Pryor is there in the background, but didn't even get a line. Very dull, very dated. The humor is very much lost in time. Funnily enough, The Prisoner turns up as the nemesis, pulling the ropes behind the scene.

River of No Return: Monroe & Mitchum in the 'wild' west with music. Oh, and there's a kid too. Rather ho hum. Very much relying on Marilyn Monroe's figure, without shame. She's a raunchy tavern performer - with guitar! He's a stand-up farmer in a region populated by gold rushers. Wouldn't you know it.



Ah well, I see your point. I meant a different kind of creepy though. The otherworldliness of Schreck's appearance combined with the black & whiteness of the film as well as the early year of creation, makes it seem so much more... fathomable I guess. Back when the film was made, you might've actually believed that there were these kinds of creatures in the deep woods at the dark corners of the world.

A clockwork orange and Goodfellas.

I could quote this shit all day

What? That movie is boring as fuck. Seriously, as far as 80's action goes, it's one of the blandest and most uneventful. I never understood why it was so popular.

No way! It isn't all that action packed admittedly but it's just a rad movie with Russell at his best (aside from the Thing and Big Trouble), and honestly, I've never really considered it an action movie anyway.

Saw Hesher yesterday.

It definitely was not what I was expecting, but I thought it was good. I think the movie wasn't really about Hesher as it was more about the kid coping with losing his mom.
The pool scene was by far my favorite. Hilarious.

7/10

Haha, I'm pretty sure that one offended a share of people back in the day. "Christmas Evil/You Better Watch Out" was another over the top film with a very dark sense of humor and an unorthodox character study as well if you haven't seen it. Probably made in the vein of "Taxi Driver," but in his case not functioning to society's standards due to being stuck in a child's mind/Christmas mode.