The Last Movie You Watched?

The Saloon
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[size=12pt]THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES[/size] (1974, Roy Ward Baker*)

Hammer & Shaw Brothers joined forces for this Horror Kung Fu Circus NOT starring Christopher Lee as Dracula. Instead we get John-Forbes Robertson as the resurrected Count, but his image soon blends into that of a Taoist monk begging for his help, so he can travel to China incognito. Van Helsing is still played by Peter Cushing (he had no life outside the horror studios) and the good doctor is having a lecture at a Chinese university about the ancient legend of seven vampires (wearing golden masks) terrorizing a remote Chinese village. Most students think the English professor is nuts but one of them (David Chiang) says he evidence that the legend is true …

We also get ex-Bond girl Julie Ege (a beauty), hopping vampires, a few bare breast and lots of Kung Fu fighting**. The whole thing is as silly as it may sound, but it’s also quite energetic and the movie most certainly has some curiosity value. Reportedly Cushing felt very unhappy on the set (there were a lot of linguistic and cultural problems, leading to a very tense atmosphere), but he looks totally confident on-screen and even manages to lend some dignity to his performance (and the production). And of course he has the last word in the film’s fiery finale, stabbing and burning Dracula (again his commanding self) to death.

  • In an interview Ward Baker stated that he directed the Kung Fu scenes himself, but some sources suggest that they were directed (or at least supervised) by famous Shaw director Chang Cheh. The choreography of the fights was done by Liu Chia Liang (at the time Cheh’s assistant) and Tang Chia (source: Cool Ass Cinema)
    ** No the Carl Douglas song is not part of the soundtrack

Here’s the song:

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Princess Scherpschutter: No! Belgium is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can’t possibly…
Governor Grand Moff “Peter Cushing: F*ck the Horror Studios” Tarkin: [impatiently] You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: Where is the Dutch base?
Princess Scherpschutter: …The Nederland. They’re in The Nederland.
Governor Grand Moff “Peter Cushing: F*ck the Horror Studios” Tarkin: There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable. Continue with the operation; you may blow up the Belgians when ready.
Princess Scherpschutter: WHAT?
Governor Grand Moff “Peter Cushing: F*ck the Horror Studios” Tarkin: You’re far too trusting. Holland is too remote to make an effective demonstration - but don’t worry; we will deal with your Oranje friends soon enough.

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[quote=“last.caress, post:12304, topic:1923”]

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Princess Scherpschutter: No! Belgium is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can’t possibly…
Governor Grand Moff “Peter Cushing: F*ck the Horror Studios” Tarkin: [impatiently] You would prefer another target, a military target? Then name the system! I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: Where is the Dutch base?
Princess Scherpschutter: …The Nederland. They’re in The Nederland.
Governor Grand Moff “Peter Cushing: F*ck the Horror Studios” Tarkin: There. You see, Lord Vader, she can be reasonable. Continue with the operation; you may blow up the Belgians when ready.
Princess Scherpschutter: WHAT?
Governor Grand Moff “Peter Cushing: F*ck the Horror Studios” Tarkin: You’re far too trusting. Holland is too remote to make an effective demonstration - but don’t worry; we will deal with your Oranje friends soon enough.[/quote]

All of a sudden I remember him as Sherlock Holmes as well :wink:

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And Mr. Last.Caressorwhatever:

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[size=10pt]Chappie (2015) by Neill Blomkamp[/size]

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I really did not find this movie that enjoyable, it seemed like a mashup of District 9 and Robocop in a bad way. Mind you, there were some nice ideas that were touched/made regarding AI and Chappie himself is adorabe, but man, this was so badly written and acted with some of the worst dialogue i’ve ever experienced in a long time. Too bad because ( Hugh Jackman and Sygourney Weaver ) is in this to some extent, but I didn’t know anything about the South African duo ( Die Antwoord ) they should definitely quit the entertainment business if they sing as they act. 4/10

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[size=12pt]L’autre vie de Richard Kemp - 2013 - Germinal Alvarez[/size]

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Nice French thriller, in what at first sight seems to be an unusual project for French cinema, but it’s not De Palma comes to mind yes but it’s quite na unique film, in a French way.
The going back in time films are almost a genre among others film genres, but actually yhe fantastic aprt of the story is relegated to second or third plan, we never know how our hero went back in time.
So the film works like a romantic thriller, with a French police inspector going back in time having te chance to scorrect the mistakes he made when he was 20 years younger, while chasing a serial killer.
There’s a love story, and the film flows perfectly, believe me it’s a very pleasant watch with enough suspense without the need fasten up things. There are some poignant scenes like the one where the older Kemp goes to see his mother in the Hospital just before her death, something he didn’t do in the past.
Anglade (the guy from Betty Blue), is a pretty decent actor, and Melanie Thierry could easily (if I had the time) be my girlfriend.
So a perfect film to watch with your wife (or …), there’s suspense and romance at the same time.
Ah the film doesn’t take place in Paris, but in Saint-Nazaire.

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THE DOLL (1975) - Watched it all this evening. Intriguing mystery written by Francis Durbridge, screened on the BBC in three parts, for some reason in Germany it’s the same length in total but put out as two parts with the second one double length. Stars John Fraser and Anouska Hempel.

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TURBO KID: TURBO KID - Official Release Trailer [HD] - YouTube
THE INVITATION by Karyn Kusama: The Invitation (2015) - IMDb
FULL STRIKE: - YouTube
LIZA, THE FOX-FAIRY: Liza, the Fox Fairy (2015) Trailer - Mónika Balsai, Szabolcs Bede Fazekas - YouTube
LA ISLA MINIMA: La Isla Mínima - Tráiler Oficial HD - YouTube

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Eglima sta paraskinia/Murder Backstage (1960) D:Dinos Katsouridis

Being a fan of Film Noir, I really enjoyed watching this Greek made murder mystery film. The premise of the story is more or less about a shady actress well-known for her past love scandals stabbed in her dressing room. Enter Inspector Bekas (Titos Vandis) who has the task to solve the case on who and how committed the murder. Good cast and I found the performances believable and not overdone, and it’s very well photographed. 7/10

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[quote=“Lone Gringo, post:12311, topic:1923”]
(…) it’s very well photographed. 7/10[/quote]

At least she is …

I like murder mysteries, but I guess it’ll be hard to find a copy of this movie in a language I know (don’t speak Greek, unfortunately)

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Scherps, i don’t speak Greek either. It’s an english (fansubbed) version that i got from a site. CG has it too. :wink:

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Ah, then I go looking for it. Thanks.

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I’m going to Vegas (baby, Vegas!) in couple of days, so to get in the mood I’m watching the Ocean’s 11, 12, 13. Since I’ve seen the remake of 11 couple of times, but never the original, I have started with the Rat Pack 11 last night. It was quite good, somewhat better than expected. It does drags too long in the first half with the gathering of the crew and Akim Tamiroff’s annoying comic relief character Ace-boss gets too much time. But things kicks in the higher gear once we get to Vegas, and ending is especially good with one of the coolest end credits of all time:

“Remake” has changed a lot of things (characters are basically all new), usually for good effect, like insertion of central antagonist, more emphasis on romance between Danny and his wife and more emphasis on Vegas scenery, but the original is still appealing in its own way.

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[quote=“titoli, post:12315, topic:1923”]I’m going to Vegas (baby, Vegas!) in couple of days, so to get in the mood I’m watching the Ocean’s 11, 12, 13. Since I’ve seen the remake of 11 couple of times, but never the original, I have started with the Rat Pack 11 last night. It was quite good, somewhat better than expected. It does drags too long in the first half with the gathering of the crew and Akim Tamiroff’s annoying comic relief character Ace-boss gets too much time. But things kicks in the higher gear once we get to Vegas, and ending is especially good with one of the coolest end credits of all time:

“Remake” has changed a lot of things (characters are basically all new), usually for good effect, like insertion of central antagonist, more emphasis on romance between Danny and his wife and more emphasis on Vegas scenery, but the original is still appealing in its own way.[/quote]

One of my favorite Rat Pack movies. Apart from Sinatra and Martin I especially like Cesar Romero (The Joker from the Batman series from the 60s) and Shiley Maclaine as the tipsy woman (a brief but very funny scene)

The pace is slow-slow yes, but I don’t mind. As usual Sammy Davis is the weakest link, he was a good artist, but unlike Sinatra and Martin not a natural actor

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One of the best cop thrillers from the 70s:

[size=12pt]POLICE PYTHON 357 (Alain Corneau, 1976)[/size]

Read my thoughts about it here:
[size=12pt]http://newmoviesontheblog.blogspot.be/2015/07/police-python-357-1976.html[/size]

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Great review, scherp. The movie seems to be right up my street, I’ve just started downloading it. :slight_smile:

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[size=12pt]The War Pigs - 2015 Ryan Little[/size]

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Well I knew this was going to be cheesy, but I expecting to be fun also. In the start was the cast that made me curious, Goss is not a bad actor in his on style and Lundgren by now achieved legendary status, Rourke is well something weird in any type of film.
Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes and Inglorious Basterds mixed all together, a typical B serie film or somewhere even more down the alphabet, which could a good thing, if well done.
But War Pigs it’s not well done, the camera seems to be on the run from somehting all the time, but the worst thing is that the soldiers don’t look like WWII soldiers, they look like contemporay bodybuilders.Yes shuterland looked like na Hippie in Kelly’s heroes, but there’s no Shuterland in War Pigs.
So in the end too much camera and not so much fun for my particular taste, a pitty I like to like this type of films, and Saints and Soldiers from the same director was a good work.

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Salvador - accidentally ran into this Oliver Stone’s movie, never actually heard much about it before, so when i started to watch, my first thought was that this must be some flick inspired by Hunter S. Thompson - that was first impression when i saw James Woods and Jim Belushi driving a car, it just looked like certain Terry Gilliam’s movie starring Johnny Depp and talking to Benizio del Torro in similar fashion :smiley:

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[size=12pt]Far from men/Loin des hommes - 2014 - David Oelhoffen [/size]

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Very good piece of cinema (not just French cinema), I’ve seen several films about the Algerian War (mostly because of the lack of Portuguese productions about our own colonial wars), and this one even with a few small flaws, really stands out, just don’t expect a Battle Algiers, it’s a very different type of film.
The political issues of aren’t the main issue, they are there but are shown in a very secondary view, the main issue of the film is the individual and also questioning the origin of violence caused by different cultures, that in the end aren’t that different.
The story is very simple, based in small twelve pages tale by albert Camus, a writer that doesn’t have that many film adaptations, I can only remember a few (Visconti The Stranger comes to mind). A small town (and far from everything) elementary school teacher, is handed the job of taking an Algerian common prisoner (not a political one) to the nearest French administrative outpost for a crime of blood, so the film is the story of the two man journey across the Atlas mountains.
It’s a very slow paced movie, with mostly three character’s the teacher (Mortesen), the prisoner (kateb), and the landscaped beautiful filmed.
Across the journey we understand the reasons why those two men are in their present situation, one taking the other to a certain death, and why one is accepting is fate better than the other, a question of culture, and why both were viewed as strangers by the French authorities’ of Algeria (the teacher was of Spanish origin, like Camus was).
The story takes places in 1954 just before the war started, but there’s already a presage of what was coming.
The acting is great, Viggo Mortensen is becoming a great actor better from film to film, no matter if it’s a Hollywood super productions or an independent small films, he really makes the different here, it’s understandable why the director wanted him and not a French actor, Reda Ketab, is also great.
I don’t have many complains I like these type of films, contemplative with some action, slow paced with some great landscape’s, but I can understand that some people may find it overlong, also the final part of the film is put in an abrupt way. But those are minor flaws mostly because the script is based in a very short novel, Far from Men feels like a western, but not any western, one that could be directed by Robert Hossein, and with one main subject common to many westerns law and how it’s implemented, like in the wild west, in French Algeria of 1954 there were several laws.

Great soundtrack from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, which adds more to that special Western feeling of the movie.
Not a timeless masterpiece, but a good film, with two excellent actors a great soundtrack and photography, and that unique western flavour that comes as a surprise taking in account it’s a French film.

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[size=12pt]COMMANDO SUICIDA (Suicide Commandos - 1968, Camillo Bazzoni)[/size]

What spaghetti was to the western, macaroni was to the war movie. In the 1960 the Italians not only made some 500 westerns, but also a few dozens of war movies, usually referred to as “Macaroni Combat”. Most of these low-budget movies are about suicide missions behind enemy lines, performed by a small group of misfits with special qualities (The Dirty Dozen and The Guns of Navarone were the obvious models).

In Commando Suicida the mission is to destroy a German airfield that is so well-protected by anti-aircraft warfare that the allies aren’t able to bomb it. Six misfits are selected by a sergeant to be dropped behind the enemy lines and destroy the Messerschmitts. Their explosive expert is killed almost immediately (and his explosives confiscated), but these guys are no quitters. You know they’ll get the job done, even without explosives. The most colorful character of them all, is a boy scouts leader who’s also a walking compass: he’ll always be able to tell the others which direction to take, no matter where they are, in Germany or on the South Pole. Yes, this movie has some sense of humor as well.

The sergeant leading the mission, is played by American actor Aldo Ray, once a popular tough guy in Hollywood majors, known for his raspy voice. In 1968, at the age of 42, his name was largely forgotten and he was therefore doomed to appear in obscure productions (he also appeared alongside John Wayne in the controversial The Green Berets). Ray looks much older than 42 and apparently was in very bad physical condition: he is out of breath most of the time.

Commando Suicida is standard Italian warfare, but for a movie of its type it’s quite lively. Most Italian war movies spend too much time on the training sessions and the build-up to the finale, but this one offers enough excitement en route to keep viewers entertained. The finale, on the other hand, is a bit of a let-down, with some of the least convincing special effects in history. The airplanes that are set ablaze are plastic scale models. Obviously the film makers couldn’t afford real Messerschmitts.

The film is available on You Tube, in reasonable image & sound quality: