Supposedly it ranks up with the great remakes such as The Hill Have Eyes, Dawn of the Dead, Maniac, The Crazies etc.

The remake of The Hills Have Eyes was alright, but I wouldn't call it a great movie. Dawn of the Dead's remake was an awesome movie, and I haven't seen the remakes of Maniac or The Crazies.

Why would you place the remake of The Crazies on a list of anything good, volute? I thought it was terrible...totally vomit-worthy modern cliche mess...

No way, it was leaps and bounds better then the first one and was loads of fun. The opening at the baseball field really got the ball rolling and kept me engrossed as they slowly introduced the contaminant problem. I enjoyed the layer of mystery that was associated with the contaminant and just how little of it was explained for most of the film. The crazies were an unusual threat that I found far from predictable, a welcome change from the norm. The music was subtle and kept to a minimum, quite a few scenes where the music wasn't present at all. The sound effects were loud in instances but the punch was still felt due to the progressive horror. The shaky cam in some scenes was very minimal and used to great effect while the editing was quick but far from nauseating. The two main characters played by Timothy Olyphant and Rahda Mitchell were easily likeable and believable, in general the whole film was awash with good acting. While not overly scary, there was a true sense of dread throughout, that off the top of my head would compare to Jeepers Creepers, another film which I found entertaining. In terms of a horror remakes it did everything right and went all the places I wanted it to go. It felt like the best episodes/moments of The Walking Dead arranged for a two hour duration.

There is NO FUCKING WAY the remake of Maniac is good.

It looks pretty interesting. What with Elijah Wood, who played a pretty convincing serial killer in Sin City and the fact that they went in a really intense and stylized direction with it.

I have, admittedly, not seen a single thing about it whatsoever other than the fact that Wood is playing Frank.

There is only one Frank Zito and it is Joe Spinell.

If it's a different take on the story (a "reimagining" or whatever they're calling Evil Dead) and isn't a true remake I might give it a chance... but probably not, I like the first one too much to really give it a chance.

If it's that different, why call it Maniac at all? Just make a new story and do something else with it; would be more respectable that way.

And every time I see Elijah Wood I just think of the annoying doofus he was in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...can't really take him that seriously, to be honest, especially not as a cold hearted serial killer.

Though to be fair it was hard to take anything at all in Sin City seriously, eh?

I gathered as much from your first statement. It is a re imagining but the core elements are still there. I'm a massive fan of the first Maniac, I bought a copy early on in high school when they first released it on DVD though Umbrella, I was apprehensive of the casting of Elijah Wood just like every one and felt a remake was unnecessary. I've yet to actually watch the entirety of the remake because it hasn't been released on DVD (probably won't ever be released in Australia), but from all the things I've read and heard and watched, a wide coverage with just enough not to spoil it, I'm positive it's good and ranks with the best. If you don't believe me go navigate to the any horror movie website and read up on it's highly positive reviews, in some instances voted the best movie of 2012. It truly deserves to live on side by side with the original as paying homage while delivering something more violent and more disturbing. Not to mention the soundtrack is all synth based and exceptional.

That's what I've been able to gather as well. It's near the top of my watch list.

Has anybody seen Coriolanus?
http://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film479383.html
I have just seen it for the second time and I think it's REALLY nice!

i watched Kai Po Che

4.5/5 truly inspirational story of 3 friends!! miss delaware sex tape

Watched The Sentinel (1977) as per failsafedude's recommendation and it was indeed an excellent satanic horror film with a strong atmosphere in stark contrast to the regular normal life that goes on at the same time. Though perhaps the film meanders a bit in the writing, with the police stuff for example, left hanging completely. I was also distracted by the huge number of familiar faces that I couldn't place like Ava Gardner, Jerry Orbach, Eli Wallach, Beverly D'Angelo, Burgess Meredith, Chris Sarandon, Deborah Raffin, Martin Balsam and John Carradine. Walken and Goldblum were easy enough to identify, but especially Lenny Briscoe was so damn familiar yet I couldn't recall him until I checked IMDB.

Just watched The Exorcist III and fuck me to high heaven was it excellent, I could never find a copy so I finally gave up and watched it online. George C. Scott delivers another roundhouse kick of superb acting while Brad Dourif turns up the crazy. Got a kick out of watching Hershel from The Walking Dead play a doctor, totally didn't expect him in this or The Rise of Leslie Vernon. I really like the detective/mystery angle and the over-the-top nature of the murders, it almost has a Se7en type quality and hardly any clichés to found. It just may be my favourite in the series as I was never really a fan of the first.

You might also have missed a very young Nana Visitor (Kira from DS9) as the woman who looks at the apartment at the end. That was her first film appearance!

Eyes Wide Shut - 5/5

Stanley Kubrick's last film, and one of the few I hadn't seen yet...boy was I missing out, as this is probably the best one I've seen from him yet. It's long, really, really long, but never drags and never gets boring - this is a really prime example of how to do a long movie, by keeping things interesting and establishing conflict right off the bat. The movie is over 2.5 hours long and wastes none of its time, getting to the meat of its uncoiling story in the first five to ten minutes at most. At first it just appears to be a relatively normal tale of a husband and wife and the friction between them, but by the hour-mark it morphs into a bizarre tale of a mysterious masked club with ritualistic practices, secrets and, apparently, very serious intentions to keep those secrets. This is a very dreamlike, trippy sort of film that doesn't always make a lot of sense, but completely immerses itself in its themes of marriage and secrets - it's a film about temptations and about keeping those aforementioned secrets, and the portrayal of married life is artful and well done. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise do a good job and the mood is consistently eerie and shrouded in shadow. I love the dreary 90s big-city setting, with all its smoky streets and towering, shadow-casting buildings and disparate souls wandering lost in the night. Not everything about this totally adds up; there are a few loose ends in the plot, a few mysteries left unanswered, but frankly the bizarre feel and atmosphere this has supercedes any minor plot-related grievances, and really the things that don't add up seem to add to the mystique of the film's plot anyway - so really, perhaps there were no loose ends at all. This is a work of art - grotesque, bizarre, carnivalesque and completely mesmeric. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

Glad you liked it .

I firmly believe Eyes Wide Shut is one of the most important films ever made, even if it isn't, perhaps, the most layered Kubrick film ever.

I liked it a lot too, but I definitely wouldn't say it's his best. From what I've read he died during the editing process, and it kind of shows. Also, the core story is good, but I really think they shied away from its potential; I realize it was based on a book, but considering they made changes anyway, ramping up the dramatic weight of the climax wouldn't have been unreasonable. The protagonist gets a glimpse of this cultish underworld run by the elite, we get tantalizing hints of their power and influence, we wonder about the significance of their quasi-religious rituals...but then nothing really comes of it. He gets told to back off, to forget about the dead girl, and he does, and the movie ends. Why didn't things go further? Imagine if, instead of giving up, he had taken a more heroic route and pursued the matter of the girl's suspicious death, his pianist friend's suspicious disappearance, leading to more serious revelations and more serious consequences. Violent and/or professional consequences would be too obvious perhaps, so instead maybe the cult starts manipulating his wife and warping their relationship? They seem to be heavily invested in sex and identity, and that would have been a fantastic way to further explore the themes of marriage and sex and infidelity that the movie was so invested in.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the dreamlike atmosphere of the movie (the novel it's based on is called Traumnovelle AKA Dream Story, after all), but the narrative structure just wasn't that satisfying. It seemed to give up on its premise just as it was starting to get interesting.

I basically thought the same thing - once he talked to his friend who told him the real deal behind everything, it seemed to get cleaned up way too fast, without enough real challenge for him. But at the same time, I don't really see Cruise's character as the type to do anything that heroic anyway. He mostly came off as a bureaucrat and rather selfish and immature. I was a bit underwhelmed at first by the rather abrupt ending, but on the other hand it was a film about the marriage between him and Kidman, with the other shit with that masked club sort of on the side, weirdly enough. I think there are two distinct doors Kubrick could have gone down - one is what you are describing, which would be much more action packed and pulp. The other, which he chose, made it a more poignant and artistic kind of picture as opposed to a detective/action story. Neither one is better than the other by definition, but I always think weird/occult plots like this are interesting when placed in the framework of something so otherwise normal and routine like a couple squabble. That kind of splicing and odd twist-and-turn approach is always so fascinating to me.

I still think it was too easy that the old man just straight up told him everything though. That's about my only caveat with it; though it had too big of an effect on me for me to deny its power overall...

What would you say is his best? I've seen Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket as well, by the way.

Never seen 2001, Emp? You shock and surprise me. Definitely see that as well as Paths of Glory.

That's exactly the point - he was selfish and immature at the beginning; later, after his actions essentially got that girl killed, he could have had a change of heart. Instead, he just goes right back to his old life.


See, I wasn't necessarily describing a more action-packed and pulp "door", though it certainly could have gone that route. Like I said, the cult could have exerted its influence over the Doctor in a non-obvious way, i.e. through his relationship with his wife. Or maybe the guilt at getting that girl killed begins to impinge upon his relationship without any intervention by the cult. Instead, the relationship just settles back down again. My problem is mostly with the smallness of the film; it has all these huge visuals, this thick atmosphere, these glimpses of massive cults and conspiracies, but instead of those vastnesses having a real impact on the Doctor's marriage, he basically goes right back to it, the only change being that he no longer has the urge to cheat (apparently). They definitely could still have had the Doctor's relationship be the focus of the narrative, and still kept the poignant, artistic feel of the movie, but had the two worlds (Doctor's relationship and private life vs. dream-like cult conspiracy) begin to influence one another more profoundly.


I actually thought that part was fine. It was clear the old guy wasn't telling the truth and was basically, in veiled terms, threatening the Doctor to stay away. I haven't seen the movie too recently, but I don't remember the old guy explaining that much; he was just providing plausible but bullshit explanations for the death of the girl and disappearance of his friend so that the Doctor would feel better about backing down.


Probably 2001. I assume you just overlooked that when you listed the movies of his you've seen.

That's kind of what I thought would happen once the cult plot got introduced. It almost turned into a horror movie for a while...I was fully expecting what you said, for the cult to influence his wife or have something like that evolve, and you're right, that would be a better movie, if they could have included those things and worked them in really well. But then the movie didn't do that and just kept on subverting my expectations for it.

And no, I actually haven't seen 2001. It's been on my mental 'to see' list for years though...just haven't found the appropriate frame of time in which to see it. But I finally found time to watch this one, so I'll get to 2001 soon too.

I always liked Eyes Wide Shut. It's an excellent character study on supposedly good natured people, their inner demons clearly on show by it's climax. Then the element of the unknown, trustworthy friends seem threatening and a powerful underworld occurring under William Harford's nose. It could have been so predictable if they ran with the cult story, like any 70's satanic cult movie, but it's kept to a minimum, thus the dream-like feel of the movie is retained and a further layer of mystery remains.

I didn't notice this at all. His trademark panning and long shots are all there, scenes never wallow on. Perhaps it could have been shorter but there's alot to say and the nature of this film has a natural progression to each of it's scenes, basically there's a point to it.
The dreary city setting and bright lavish designs were perfectly captured by Kubrick and his company, under the helm of another director and it would have been bland and uninteresting. It's a shame it was marketed to be a sexy softcore affair when it's a drama about secrets, sometimes painful, thinking you know someone when you don't.

Eyes Wide Shut is an adaption of Arthur Schnitzler's Traumnovelle, just fyi. Watched it in German class. Gives you a different perspective if you know the book.
Edit: Oh, it was already mentioned

Watched Tetsuo The Iron Man
very good, disturbing and hilarious at the same time, also excellent visuals and soundtrack

Went to see two movies today.
Spring Breakers: I was going to see this grudgingly, mostly for the gratuitous nudity ( which there is, but from only one of the main actresses) and James Franco looking ridiculous. What I got was a movie that was all style, no substance, yes, but it's some beautiful, hazy style. The story is paper thin and almost doesn't matter. Scenes blend into each other, abruptly change with the sound of a cocking gun, dialogue and scenes are repeated. It's all very dream like, and James Franco truly has the best scenes and lines, but it feels like it repeats some of
it's novel ideas a little bit too much, if only for consistentsy, and by the end, you just want it to be over. Is it enjoyable? Yes, a few parts are slightly boring but it was a joy to look at and experience. Surprisingly.

G.I. Joe Retaliation: so it was with a good mood that I sat to watch this thing. Ok, firsts things first, it's a nothing movie. Secondly, Bruce Willis is in it for 5 minutes and does nothing. There's no eye candy like in the first one. The Rock's character is built up and built up, but when he fights what basically amounts to an old man (the fire guy, whatever he was called) he's basically a puss and gets his ass kicked. The action itself was weirdly meh, discounting the ninja shit, all of that was awesome. One scene in particular running across a mountain being ridiculous but fun. All in all, the characters are paper thin, and there's all that shit, but it passed by at a very brisk pace and I wasn't overly angry when it ended.

When you choose to advertise a movie this way, you know it sucks.



I think Franco did it for the lols, I mean come on look at him!

Egads, Harmony Korine. I would say "man, he's really gone down hill in recent days" but it's difficult to do that when you start at sea level. I'll probably end up watching it anyway though (unlike the last few wankathons he's shat out) thanks to that HSM lass. She fit.

And is Franco channeling Riff Raff there??? Either way, not a pleasant sight.

Actually yes. He said in a GQ interview last year that Riff Raff was an inspiration for the character he plays in the movie.

For perhaps the first time ever, I am not proud that I pegged that reference.

James Franco elevated that movie so much. Also no, he wasn't inspired by Riff Raff, and in that very CQ interview Subrick probably misread, he says he was inspired by the rapper Dangeruss.

I think Ben Affleck elevated Extract to be memorable, without his comedy relief it just would have been throwaway and vastly ordinary. I didn't like it either way but it had mildy amusing moments thanks to him.

I always get Extract mixed up with The Ex, because both films share similar titles, have Jason Bateman in them, were released in the late 2000's, carry similar dark-but-not-actually-dark brands of comedy, revolve around small business politics and were only memorable because of how strikingly unmemorable they were. In fact, even their DVD cases bear a striking resemblance. What the fuck.

You should probably watch The Ex too, just to complete your EXperience.

Really sorry for that.

Anyway, whatever leg-up Affleck may have given Extract over The Ex was instantly crippled by the presence of Mila Kunis .

I liked Extract as sort of a nothing movie. Nothing was laugh out loud worthy in it but it was enjoyable. It's also the only thing I can bear Kristen Wiig in.
But yeah, fuck Mila Kunis.

"You must be a gay if you don't like Mila Kunis."
--America

Funnily enough I actually might do that, because having a look at Jesse Peretz' filmography I noticed he did Our Idiot Brother. I found that movie to be surprising good and uplifting. I'll keep my expectations low however.

Yup, Mila Kunis is so good you'd have to be a gay not to like her...

Holy shit that was her.

I remember her being semi-sorta-okayish in Christian Duguay's Boot Camp. I should also note that her bare breasts in that film were also semi-sorta-okayish; no chauvo.

Mila Kunis without makeup kinda looks like Kuato with slightly more hair and longer face.