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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 24, 2022 8:39:15 GMT -5
Malnazidos (The Valley of the Dead) is a light but unpretentious and highly enjoyable zombie film set in the Spanish civil war. It's not quite For Whom The Bell Tolls with zombies, but is in that vein.
It has a B-movie vibe, and unapologetically so. I wouldn't call it a comedy by any means, but it's definitely light-hearted, as Raiders of the Lost Ark was. It does not pretend to be anything more than what it is, but like Predator several decades ago, it ends up being way more fun that I expected. The Spanish dialog is often very funny, with the added bonus of very colourful swear words subtitled in a much tamer manner. (No, that doesn't translate as "Jesus Christ". It translates as... er you know what? Never mind).
Although our cast of characters is naturally expected to get smaller and smaller as time goes on, each of them is developed in a believable and even attaching way; I especially like seeing how everyone, beyond the political bravado, remained deeply human. (All but the hard-core komintern representative, but even that is pretty much in character). Each loss is truly felt, in sharp contrast to, say, Prometheus.
Props to the writer, too, for fooling us with fake Chekov guns and avoiding a few clichés that were banging at the door. Do evil Nazi scientists developing a formula to create zombies count as a cliché? Naaaah... it's an archetype, nowadays.
I do not want those two hours back and may even rewatch the film eventually.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 28, 2022 22:04:22 GMT -5
Malnazidos (The Valley of the Dead) is a light but unpretentious and highly enjoyable zombie film set in the Spanish civil war. It's not quite For Whom The Bell Tolls with zombies, but is in that vein. It has a B-movie vibe, and unapologetically so. I wouldn't call it a comedy by any means, but it's definitely light-hearted, as Raiders of the Lost Ark was . It does not pretend to be anything more than what it is, but like Predator several decades ago, it ends up being way more fun that I expected. The Spanish dialog is often very funny, with the added bonus of very colourful swear words subtitled in a much tamer manner. (No, that doesn't translate as "Jesus Christ". It translates as... er you know what? Never mind). Although our cast of characters is naturally expected to get smaller and smaller as time goes on, each of them is developed in a believable and even attaching way; I especially like seeing how everyone, beyond the political bravado, remained deeply human. (All but the hard-core komintern representative, but even that is pretty much in character). Each loss is truly felt, in sharp contrast to, say, Prometheus. Props to the writer, too, for fooling us with fake Chekov guns and avoiding a few clichés that were banging at the door. Do evil Nazi scientists developing a formula to create zombies count as a cliché? Naaaah... it's an archetype, nowadays. I do not want those two hours back and may even rewatch the film eventually. This sounds great! |
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Post by berkley on Nov 11, 2022 13:56:54 GMT -5
Saw Park Chan-wook's new movie, Decision to Leave, and came out feeling that this is a real masterpiece, possibly the best thing he's done that I've seen (JSA and Old Boy being the other two, both amongst the best films of their era, the early 2000s, as well). There<s hardly a moment where there isn't something memorable or arresting happening or being shown on screen, whether it's the framing of a shot or a lie of dialogue or even a simple gesture or body language of one of the characters. I was also very impressed by another new movie last week, Ruben Ôstlund's Triangle of Sadness: a thought-provoking drama that should be seen without reading or hearing too much about it in advance. I suppose I feel that way when it comes to movies in general but with this one even more so. I'd look forward to hearing how other viewers here react to this film.
(edited to correct Park Chan-wook's name)
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 20, 2022 9:18:01 GMT -5
Godzilla vs Kong having arrived on Netflix, I started watching it yesterday while ironing a pile of clothes.
Mamma mia... it's hard to believe that a movie featuring the best known giant monsters from Movieland, shot with state of the art modern techniques, could be so boring! But there we are.
The scenario sounds like it was crafted by a committee whose objective was anything but telling a good story. You can almost visualize the checklist that was used as a framework for the writing session.
At the same time, it's not even bad in a way that would make it enjoyable for the wrong reasons (like, say, Plan 9 from outer space). It's just there, a big and shiny object with that brand new factory smell that one really wants upon seeing it for the first time but turns out to be very disappointing.
I had much, much more fun watching the old version with actors wearing costumes that fall apart, trampling papier-mâché scenery. It had an eagerness, a fannish authenticity lacking from this new version.
I'll doubtless finish the film, since it's halfway done... but it might wait until the next batch of clothes need ironing!
*EDIT*
Having finished the film, I take back my earlier assessment. This is a strong contender for the "Worst Film of the Last Decade" award. The script was bland in the first half, but totally unravels in the second! No wonder Ryan George had a field day with it.
Plus, the Godzilla bellow is noticeably absent. Can't have Godzilla without his signature roar, folks! It's a cinematic sin!
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 20, 2022 13:04:35 GMT -5
I had much, much more fun watching the old version with actors wearing costumes that fall apart, trampling papier-mâché scenery. It had an eagerness, a fannish authenticity lacking from this new version. And I realize that much of the CGI/spfx that are used today must require skill and knowledge, but I'm also so conscious of those kinds of effects now that there's no sense of magic or awe. Quite the contrary in the original, now nearly 90 years old, in which every little movement of the hairs on Kong's body had to be painstakingly done by hand over the course of innumerable shots. It's so well done that I forget that it's an effect, and as much as I enjoyed much of Peter Jackson's movie, notably the ice dance between Kong and Jane, I watch it as I watch other such movies (like the Avengers, JLA, etc.) knowing that no effect, no matter how unbelievable, was impossible to create, given the technology and the budget he had. The '33 original, is still unbeatable, IMHO if only because of its rawness. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 21, 2022 5:19:09 GMT -5
Just watched the dystopian SF film Oblivion (2013) last night...  ...it was on TV and I just happened to catch it right at the start and ended up sitting through the whole thing. The basic set-up is: Earth in 2077 is a desolate wasteland. Fifty years earlier it had been attacked by a malevolent alien race that destroyed the Moon (which caused all manner of catastrophes on Earth), but humanity eventually triumphed by nuking the hell out the aliens. However, the planet is apparently uninhabitable, and most of the people have been evacuated to a colony on Saturn's Moon Titan, while giant machines mine seawater that are needed to power the fusion reactors on the Titan colony. Only two humans, Jack and Vika (played by Tom Cruise and Andrea Riseborough) are stationed on the planet: Jack is a technician who services the drones that protect the seawater extraction machines, while Vika is his tech/comm support who also coordinates with the orbiting station called the Tet which runs the mining operation. The machines are threatened by scavengers, apparently remnants of the alien race who are stranded on the planet. Jack and Vika by the way, have no memories of their earlier lives, because their memories were wiped for security reasons. Jack, however, has vivid dreams which seem to be memories of life on the planet prior to the invasion, and in which a woman he seems to know intimately always appears. I mostly enjoyed this - it's not perfect (there are a few aspects of it that I would criticize), but it is a pretty engrossing SF story that really draws you in - as a viewer, you know something's off about the set-up and the explanations of why everything is the way it is, but you can't quite put your finger on it. Worth watching, but if you decide to, don't watch any of the trailers, because they kind of spoil a few plot points. |
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Post by kirby101 on Nov 21, 2022 9:17:07 GMT -5
I am fond of this movie Edo. I won tickets to see it in IMAX when it opened. Some of the logic to the story falls apart, but the film is drop dead gorgeous to watch. Whatever flaws the plot may have are made up by the direction and actors, who all do a first rate job.
The director went on to make Top Gun Maverick with Cruise.
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 1, 2022 23:50:51 GMT -5
Fingers crossed on this...
Tag line: You’ll believe an 80-year-old man can run.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2022 11:54:15 GMT -5
Fingers crossed on this... Tag line: You’ll believe an 80-year-old man can run. I like “Dial of Destiny”. It sounds good. I’ve long admired the ability of Ian Fleming, Bond producers and Indiana Jones producers to come up with catchy titles for their protagonists (not saying every one works, “The World is Not Enough” doesn’t sound right). |
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 2, 2022 12:11:36 GMT -5
Fingers crossed on this... Tag line: You’ll believe an 80-year-old man can run. I like “Dial of Destiny”. It sounds good. I’ve long admired the ability of Ian Fleming, Bond producers and Indiana Jones producers to come up with catchy titles for their protagonists (not saying every one works, “The World is Not Enough” doesn’t sound right). Now, see, all I can think about is a rotary phone...  "Dial" is not exactly up there with exciting words like Raiders, Doom and Crusade. (If there had been an Indiana Jones movie with Skull in the title, i'd have included that. But there wasn't, no matter what anybody tells you.) |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 2, 2022 17:42:25 GMT -5
I like “Dial of Destiny”. It sounds good. I’ve long admired the ability of Ian Fleming, Bond producers and Indiana Jones producers to come up with catchy titles for their protagonists (not saying every one works, “The World is Not Enough” doesn’t sound right). Now, see, all I can think about is a rotary phone... "Dial" is not exactly up there with exciting words like Raiders, Doom and Crusade. (If there had been an Indiana Jones movie with Skull in the title, i'd have included that. But there wasn't, no matter what anybody tells you.) Well, the trailer makes it look a bit interesting, I'll give it that. But my question is: where the hell is Marion? That's the only thing the movie you won't mention got right, i.e., bringing back half of what made Raiders such a good flick. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 2, 2022 18:01:44 GMT -5
I like “Dial of Destiny”. It sounds good. I’ve long admired the ability of Ian Fleming, Bond producers and Indiana Jones producers to come up with catchy titles for their protagonists (not saying every one works, “The World is Not Enough” doesn’t sound right). Now, see, all I can think about is a rotary phone... "Dial" is not exactly up there with exciting words like Raiders, Doom and Crusade. (If there had been an Indiana Jones movie with Skull in the title, i'd have included that. But there wasn't, no matter what anybody tells you.) See Indiana Jones navigate death traps in his race to answer the phone and the trivia question for the show, Dialing for Destiny, during the break for the afternoon movie. This week's film is Secret of the Incas. Can Indy get there in time? Does he know the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? Does his lawyer know about the day's feature film? |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 8, 2022 23:14:01 GMT -5
Just found this trailer, for an upcoming French production of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers....
Looks good and I am stoked to see Vincent Cassel involved, especially as Athos. His father, Jean-Pierre Cassel, played Louis XIII in the two Richard Lester films (well, one production split into two films, leading to lawsuits and the creation of the Salkind Clause, in movie contracts) and then Cyrano de Bergerac, in Return of the Musketeers (also directed by Lester, based on Dumas' The 20 Years After, where Roy Kinnear was killed, when he fell of a horse). Looks really good, visually and has a better feel for Dumas, than anything I have seen since Lester (certainly more than Randall Wallace did).
I love Dumas' writing and he has inspired countless great swashbucklers, but also several rather poor productions, often barely related to his stories. If this does well, perhaps they might do The 20 Years After and the entirety of the Vicomte de Bragelone (usually split into The Vicomte de Bragelone, Louise de La Valliere and The Man in The Iron Mask).
There is an interesting little film, from the 90s, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, La FilleDe d'Artagnabn, aka Revenge of the musketeers, with Sophie Marceau, as the daughter of d'Artagnan and Philippe Noiret as the man, himself. Noiret had played Cardinal Mazarin, in Richard Lester's Return of the Musketeers. That film is a little slow going, at the beginning; but the finale is tremendous. They also do a little "curtain bow," at the end, which was kind of cute. Not really Dumas, but it was infused with his style.
I keep waiting for the promised adaptation of the book, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and The Real Count of Monte Cristo, about General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the father of the writer, who was one of Napoleon's best generals, but had a rocky relationship with the emperor. His story is fascinating and makes for a great swashbuckling adventure, which really happened!
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 23, 2022 5:39:42 GMT -5
Recently watched the 2018 noir thriller Bad Times at the El Royale by writer/director Drew Goddard...  The setting is a fictional hotel (although it's more like motel) called the El Royale, which straddles the California/Nevada state line (so half of the rooms are in one state and half in the other) close to Lake Tahoe and Reno. It starts with a flashback in 1959, in which we see a man hide some kind of bag (presumably full of money) under the floorboards of a hotel room. After he gets done and hides any evidence of what he did, someone knocks on his door and blows a hole in his chest with a shotgun. The main action starts ten years later, with four people assembling in the lobby: an aging Catholic priest (played by Jeff Bridges), a woman we later learn is a down-on-her-luck singer (Cynthia Erivo), a blabbermouth home appliance salesman from Mississippi (John Hamm) and a young hippie (Dakota Johnson). The first three reluctantly get to know each other a bit as they wait for the hotel's sole employee (Lewis Pullman) to show up at the reception desk. Everyone goes to their rooms (all on the Nevada side) and as the story unfolds we realize that none of them, except maybe the singer, are even close to what they appear. This is well-made film in many ways: the initial part is really engrossing and gets you interested in watching, and the various cast members put in top-notch performances, mainly Bridges, Erivo and Pullman, as well as Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, who shows up in the final third as a sort of Charles Manson-type So-Cal cult leader - he plays the hell out of it, he's so despicably sleazy. However, I found the pacing really choppy and there was even a few aspects the story that kind of defied logic. So, I'd only give this a slightly above average rating. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 25, 2022 4:52:54 GMT -5
So I watched an interesting movie on Christmas Eve...  Pig (2021) stars Nicolas Cage as a bedraggled, eccentric truffle-hunter who lives in a little cabin deep in the wilderness with his pig, which apparently sniffs out the pricey delicacies. Once a week, a stylish young man in a stylish sports car comes to pick up the truffles and leaves behind some supplies. Then late one night someone breaks into the cabin and steals the pig. So Cage's character trudges out of the woods to get to a phone and contact his buyer - who then takes him to the big city (Portland, OR) on a search for his pig. Given that description and the fact that it stars Cage - who's been in some questionable productions in recent years - you might think this is a John Wick knock-off, but no, it's actually a very low-key drama. And, in fact, it's really pretty good. I'd definitely recommend it. It's the directorial debut of Michael Sarnoski, who also wrote the screenplay. |
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