Then you should watch Troll 2 (1990). No, just kidding, that’s like 0/10. I endured only few minutes.
This looks interesting though. I like Battletruck by the same director, kind of Kiwi postapo answer to Mad Max.
Nah, completely different movies. Conquest just sort of skirts the line of utter cheesiness while still offering some quite appealing imagery, the top IMDb review says it all, love it or hate it. Troll 2, on the other hand, completely crosses the line and really shoots for the stars in this regard. It’s like a rotten piece of Limburger covered with green mold spots and all that, the acting alone puts it in its own category and makes Conquest look like The LOTR series by comparison.
Yeah, there is some stuff along the lines of the later David Lynch style here, it’s pretty interesting. Wanted to add Battletruck to my watchlist, but it’s already there.
I love this movie…
Probably for the wrong reasons.
Deliverance (Boorman, 1972) - 5/5
Miracle in Milan (De Sica 1951) - 4.5/5
The Organizer (Monicelli, 1963) - 4.5/5
Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953) - 3.5/5
Rebecca (Hitchcock, 1940) - 4/5
Viridiana (Buñuel, 1961) - 3/5
Platoon (Stone, 1986) - 4.5/5
They Live (Carpenter, 1988) - 4/5
Milano Calibro 9 (Di Leo, 1972) - 4/5
High and Low (Kurosawa, 1963) - 5/5
Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980) - 4.5/5
Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976) - 4.5/5
I Vitelloni (Fellini, 1953) - 4.5/5
4 Likes
- Horne: The Bohemian Girl 6/10
- Ergun: Çifte Tabancali Damat 2/10
- Cassavetes: Husbands 4/10
- Aslan: Her kursuna bir ölu 4/10
- Bruckman & Keaton: The General 9/10
- Kokkonen: Näköradiomiehen ihmeelliset siekailut 5/10
- Kokkonen: Hei kliffaa hei 4/10
- Hardy: Wickerman 10/10
- Altman: The Long Goodbye 10/10
- Rush: Psych-Out 7/10
2 Likes
FANTASY ISLAND (2020)
In the 1970s, when I was a lot younger (most of us were a lot younger then), I used to watch a TV show called Fantasy Island. People could live out their dearest fantasies on this island, owned by a mysterious Mr. Roarke (played by Ricardo Montalban, who used to discuss the fantasies with his assistant, Hervé Villechaize). This movie is a re-imaging of the show, albeit in horror style: fantasies are turned into nightmares
Re-imaginings of old TV shows usually are shitty affairs, but this one is not too bad (I know, most critics thought otherwise). It has an attractive cast and there are a few interesting ideas, possibly taken from a short story by Philip K. Dick, The Commuter, in which people are able to ‘erase’ their worst mistake and get the chance to live the life they could have had. Christopher Nolan’s Inception also made an impression on the film makers, so it seems (instead of dreams, we enter fantasies, and eventually the main question becomes: In whose fantasy are we?). Of course these ideas are only hinted at, never developed, the movie never aspires to be more than featherweight entertainment
*** out of 5
2 Likes
The Postcard Killings (2020, Danis Tanovic)
A screen adaptation of a James Patterson novel (co-written by Swedish crime author Liza Marklund). Jeffry Dean Morgan is a NYPD detective whose daughter was killed when on honeymoon in Europe. He crosses the ocean and discovers that a couple of serial killers is targeting other couples, announcing their gruesome acts by means of a postcard sent to a local journalist. And of course our American hero is smarter and more resolute than the combined police forces of London, Munich, Madrid and Stockholm …
Patterson seems to write a book every other month or so, but he has a certain talent for rapid story-telling. When read on a plane, during an international flight, his writings often work. But this convoluted story is too far-fetched (the motivations of the killing couple seem completely ridiculous) to work on any level. There’s one tremendous plot-twist, about halfway through the movie, but one great twist does not make a good movie. Morgan is a charismatic actor, but it’s hard to do anything with this ill-defined, one-dimensional (and often a little pathetic) character. And Famke Janssen obviously had one face-lift too many.
out of 5
2 Likes
Green book
Somehow I like these period made movies. No CGI or other computer added effects, just a story told in a decent matter.
Green book is based om the real life experience of Dr. Donald Shirley, an educated and classical pianist who has to fight against the prejudices of being a colored person in a white world in the early sixties.
While doing a tour he is driven by Tony Vallelonga who also takes care of matters along the way. Slowly they grow to each other and dealing with the discrimination that still exists like seperate dining and hotels for whites and colored people.
Very good performance of both main actors Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.
1 Like
Last 10
- Powell: Peeping Tom 9/10
- Lynch: Inland Empire 7/10
- Park: Lady Vengeance 7/10
- Beauvois: The Price of Fame 6/10
- Kaufman: I’m Thinking of Ending Things 9/10
- Garland: Ex_machina 5/10
- Franco: Countess Perverse 8/10
- Atasoy: Yedi belalilar 4/10
- Coen: Barton Fink 7/10
- Rafelson: Head 7/10
Peeping Tom. Now this is a movie with such a reputation that when I got I thought I had possibly the greatest psychological thriller ever. However I was really underwhelmed by it. I didn’t feel any great tension or suspense. I thought there was some interesting camerawork but not much more.
1 Like
Based on the trailer, I decided not to buy it.
1 Like
Wise. I’m sure you can get it for free… If you get curious.
Like it or not it should be part of a general education in films, just like Psycho.
1 Like
Haven’t heard of this one before, I’ve added it to my watchlist.
Fright Night (1985). Just prepping for Halloween. 
2 Likes
Good choice, Chris.
A vampire classic to get your teeth into, and a great way to begin the countdown to October 31st. 
1 Like
’There Will Be Blood’ (2007)
The ever-superb, Daniel Day-Lewis, turns in an excellent performance as power-hungry Daniel Plainview, a prospector in the early 1900’s, whose sole aim is to accumulate land, and build up a monumental oil empire.
This is a thoroughly riveting tale of ambition, family, religion, hatred, and ultimate madness, which boasts a magnificent performance from Day-Lewis, gorgeous cinematography, and an engrossing script that consistently hold’s the viewer’s attention.
Of special note, is actor, Paul Dano, who plays Eli Sunday. Eli’s fervid religious beliefs place him on an inevitable collision course with the no-nonsense oil-man.
1 Like
One of those very rare performances when the audience is ill at at ease with DDL’s character throughout. Simply brilliant, intelligent acting.
1 Like
I recently watched The Untold Story (1993), a great, suspenseful Hong Kong crime horror film with a fantastic performance by Anthony Wong.
1 Like