[quote=“Stanton, post:2239, topic:1923”]Violent Cop by Takeshi Kitano
Stoic and explosive[/quote]
An all-time favorite of mine! In fact, I think I will watch it and SONATINE again, today!
Saw the Soderbergh adaptation of Solaris. Much more focused than the Tarkovsky version, superbly performed and designed. I liked the look of the alien planet in particular.
Sonatine is my favourite from Kitano, the black humour so bizzare!
Speaking of Japanese cinema, I saw the third film in the ‘Sleepy Eyes of Death’ series, Full Circle Killing.
Possibly my favourite instalment so far, it has a more linear plot than usual buttressed by a complex characterisation by the excellent star, Raizo Ichikawa. His dark and cynical protagonist (speciality, the deadly full moon cut) demonstrates honorable intentions on the one hand, rescuing an oppressed community from the depredations of a brattish bully who has designs on the shogunate, and sinister brutality on the other, as when he effectively rapes a woman caught up in the villain’s schemes.
And we thought SW anti-heroes could be bad-asses (this film was made in 1964).
Good production values, as usual, and bloody, well-choreographed action scenes throughout.
Silent Running. And like every other time before, the end had me blubbing like a baby! :’( :-[
The Relic
Horror movie based on a novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Gruesome but also intelligent horror, about a monster on the loose in the Natural Science Museum of Chicago
As far as I know there’s no such thing as the Callisto effect (nature taking giant steps and creating a monstuosity that kills its evolutionary competitors), but the idea is based on existing theories about evolution developed by S.J. Gould.
Biggest problem of the movie: it’s so dark (literally) that most of the time you hardly see what’s happening on screen
Don’t watch this one alone, it’s quite frightening
I’ve watched 3 non-spaghs (and a few spaghs) over the last weeks. Last night’s offering was 1978 Brit-horror Killer’s Moon.
Bearing in mind it included a bus-load of schoolgirls (20 year olds with nightdresses and teddy ;D) staying the night at an out-of-season hotel, a 3-legged dog out for revenge :o, and 4 escaped lunatics who have been given l.s.d. and told to act out their darkest thoughts, and who think they are in a dream (wouldn’t you if you were in the same hotel as a bunch of naive late-teens!!) - this should have been loads better. Much more could have been made, dark humour-wise, horror-wise, of the come-down realisation that all is not a dream, and of the erotic even. However we get a poorly made schlock-horror that doesn’t fulfill really on any level.
One of the girls lines goes along the “Look, you were only raped, as long as you don’t tell anyone about it you’ll be alright. You pretend it never happened, I pretend I never saw it and if we ever get out of this alive, well, maybe we’ll both live to be wives and mothers.”… the biggest shock was that the dialogue was by respectable feminist-writer Fay Weldon! Not really recommended.
Far more so are the other 2 - with these you pretty much know what you’re gonna get.
Twins of Evil - a Hammer witchfider-generally type yarn with good/bad twins and vampires. the twins played by playboy playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson, and Peter Cushing as the Puritan Brotherhood “burn-em” nutter. Good stuff.
Sex and Fury - that samurai sword fight with a naked Reiko Ike was worth the entrance fee alone. Ridiculously coincidental story but stylishly done - enjoyable romp.
It is likely my favorite of his work, too…although HANA-BI is so close a second that it might very well be a tie.
I watched a few Japanese films, last night.
The third SHOWA ZANKYODEN film (aka, BRUTAL TALES OF CHIVALRY : THE LONE WOLF) with Takakura Ken. Classic stuff!
THE CODE [ANGO] with my man Shishido Jo. Fun stuff…based around the TANTEI JIMUSHO 5 series. It was a real hoot watching Ace no Joe back in action with his Western holsters and all!
BLIND SWORDSWOMAN: HELLISH SKIN with Matsuyama Yoko. A highly enjoyable swordplay film!
Starblack’s mentioning the NEMURI KYOSHIRO film above has me thinking about breaking out my “Sleepy Eyes” collection, today! I love those films!
Race With the Devil
Now this one’s a real treat. Something for everybody. Peter Fonda, Warren Oates and their wives go out to the country for some skiing. But along the way, they witness a Satanic sacrifice. So begins their Race with the Devil. A fun mixture of horror, thriller, car chase action. And ofcourse Fonda and Oates are an irresistable team. The quintessential 70’s movie.
[quote=“korano, post:2249, topic:1923”]Race With the Devil
Now this one’s a real treat. Something for everybody. Peter Fonda, Warren Oates and their wives go out to the country for some skiing. But along the way, they witness a Satanic sacrifice. So begins their Race with the Devil. A fun mixture of horror, thriller, car chase action. And ofcourse Fonda and Oates are an irresistable team. The quintessential 70’s movie.[/quote]
Typical Jack Starrett nonsense
If you like it (I love it), try his The Losers (Nam’s Angels): The Hell’s angels go to war, in f*** Vietnam
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I rewatched Raiders of the Lost Ark today. one of the few films that actually seem to get better every time you see it. 
I just watched “Police tactical unit” from Johnnie To. The film is more or less a remake of Kurasawa’s “Stray Dogs” which is vastly superior IMO, actually I was very dissapointed about PTU.
Predators by Nimrod Antal
Don’t know why a Hungarian director goes to Hollywood only to direct such routine films.
Well, I saw it in cinema, which was ok for that evening, but I only watched it cause a friend of mine, who was socialised in the 80s, was eager to see it. He loves the Arnie original, me not. We both disliked the new one.
[quote=“Stanton, post:2253, topic:1923”]Predators by Nimrod Antal
Don’t know why a Hungarian director goes to Hollywood only to direct such routine films.
Well, I saw it in cinema, which was ok for that evening, but I only watched it cause a friend of mine, who was socialised in the 80s, was eager to see it. He loves the Arnie original, me not. We both disliked the new one.[/quote]
Wasn’t Rodriguez supposed to do it?
I like the original, good brainless fun. But I would never go to cinema for a such movies, typical late night stuff, after a long day’s work
Rodgriguez produced it
I wonder how much he actually did. The most important thing probably was to have his name on the posters (and mentioned in articles and reviews)
By the way, I’ll be away for ten days or so
Spending some time in Bretagne (Brittany), France, a region without predators big enough to eat a man (I hope)
Needed my dose of violence and mud so I rewatched DJANGO from the BU DVD.
I rewatched also DJANGO KILL as it’s been quite some time since I last saw it.
Saw Secret behind the door, not bad for a Lang film.
Ice Station Zebra (John Sturges)
For the most part, engaging and thrilling Cold War thriller. But I found myself losing interesting by the end. But until the last 20 minutes or so, I enjoyed myself. The film is structured in a roadshow format with an overture, intermission, and an Entr’ Acte. This is a useful structure as it not only says your in for real cinema, but also cuts the film into 2 halves. First aboard the submarine, then at the Ice station. This was not only Rock Hudson’s favorite amoing his own movies, but Howard Hughes favorite film as well.
Another thing. The film was shot in Super Panavision Technirama which was a subsidiary of Cinerama. And it’s quite obvious that in many scenes, the shots run longer to show of the cinerama. Many other Technirama films had these Cinerama sideshow effects as they would be seen in the theatre on a extremely wide curved screen as in How the West Was won. Custer of the West is another of these Technirama films. But it probably showcases the effect more than any other film.
Donovan’s Reef - Pretty disappointing … though I loved the Hawaiian locations.