Highly recommended, splendid filmmaking.
http://www.furiouscinema.com/2014/07/cremator-1969-obscure-picks/
[size=12pt]Brick - 2005 - Rian Johnson[/size]
I started watching this just by chance, never heard of Brick before, but it really hooked my attention, and couldnât stop watching it until the end credits (with a very adequate Velvet Underground theme).
I always liked âNoirâ films (US or French made), so the idea of making a noir set in a modern day L.A. High School environment with teen students instead of private eyes, sounded strange at the beginning.
Brick does not disrupt any film conventions, by the contrary itâs a very academic and stylized film, it follows the usual noir film conventions to the extreme. Every character you would expected to see in a classic noir you will find here: the private eye, in the form of a clever and determinate high school student (brilliantly portrait by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the femme fatale, and the criminals, even the authority figure, in the form of the School Director or Vice Principal played by Richard âShaftâ Roundtree, with just one small scene.
But donât get it wrong, itâs not one of those films where children or animals emulate adult stories an situations, very far from that, things get very real and dangerous, when our hero enters in Sam Spade mode and digs deep into a drug ring association that supplies high schools in a millionaire illegal businesses, just to find out who killed his old girlfriend and why.
In my opinion thatâs the main problem of the film, the characters are a bit too sophisticated for usual high school students. Also the story is a bit too complex, with too many angles to follow, I confess sometimes I became confuse about what was happening, because of the intricate plot.
Anyway it was a fine surprise for me. I found out that the film made some success in the box office and in Indie films festivals, it was also a controversial one, kind of a love or it film, and itâs understandable why, some may think itâs just a pretentious visual work.
Iâm one of those that donât think that way, itâs a good story, well filmed and with a nice photography work. I didnât miss the typical B/W noir. At start I was expecting some Bret Easton Ellis universe, but itâs a pure noir with no other convetions, than the ones used in those films.
Very good acting especially from Levitt, so for a first long feature film made with the director life savings on a very low budget, itâs a very pleasant film, especially for those who love noir, and a lot better than other overprized productions.
Day Of The Animals - Gradual destruction of the ozone layer causes animals to go on the rampage. I enjoyed it but not as much as when I saw it years ago.
Death Occurred Last Night - Frank Wolff and Gabriele Tinti are on the case to solve the disappearance of a beautiful 25 girl with the brain of a 3 year old who has been forced into prostitution. Good stuff. For some reason I thought I had seen it before, I hadnât.
Alamo Bay - After the Vietnam war many South Vietnamese moved to Texas for a better life, but the locals see it as them encroaching on their fishing businesses and tension starts to mount between the local bigots and the Vietnamese fishermen. Really good, definitely worth a watch, great performances from Harris and Madigan.
Dirty Deal - Luc Merendaâs son gets kidnapped along with rich businessman James Masonâs son and held for ransom, Mason can pay but keeps stalling till something happens, then Merenda goes on a mission of revenge. I forgot how good this one was, Di Leoâs other more epic crime films seem to overshadow it.
Invasion Of The Bee Girls - William Smith is on the case to try to solve a group of doctorâs who are being killed by seductive Bee Women. Fun bit of 70âs exploitation, plenty of flesh on show too.
The Devilâs 8 - Federal Agent Christopher George poses as a prisoner to help some convicts escape, all lifers. but he tricked them into joining a group to bust a moonshine operation, their choice, help or finish off their sentence. Really enjoyed this one, my favourite out the set, thereâs a great catchy theme tune that plays throughout the film too.
Unholly Rollers - Claudia Jennings ditches her job in the canned food factory an becomes the main attraction in a roller derby team. A lot better than I expected it to be.
I didnât bother watching Vicious Lips as it looks like a proper steaming pile of shit.
Assault on Wall Street / Bailout (2013)- Uwe Bollâs Rampage on Wall Street. Guy loses everything because of the cost of his wifeâs health problems & bad investment advice, decides to take revenge against bankers. If Rampage was too exploitative for you in its random violence against basically everyone, maybe give this one a shot as the dramatic build up is actually somewhat well-done and believable. Its more of a crime/revenge film than pure exploitation. Decent cast here with Keith David, Edward Furlong, John Heard, Michael ParĂ© & Dominic Purcell as the lead.
Suddenly (2013)- Uwe Boll remake of an older film about some guys attempting to assassinate the US president in a small town appearance. Another decent outing from Bollâs recent work. Not really great, but not too bad either. Decent story, decent suspense, it looks good and mostly good performances from the cast - including Ray Liotta & Dominic Purcell again, along with Boll regulars like Brendan Fletcher & Erin Karpluk.
The Final Storm (2010) - The last Uwe Boll film Iâve watched recently, and the least of the bunch. Luke Perry stars as a mysterious stranger that shows up at the country home of a small family during some crazy weather that is making everyone leave town. The bulk of the film is spent building suspense around Perryâs character and the drama he is creating within the family. Some hints are gradually thrown in that the rapture has happened and its the end of the world, but this never really culminates in much. Its alright for a casual viewing, but not worth going out of your way for.
Next up from Boll is Darfur (Attack on Darfur) (2009) which is suppose to be pretty unsettling in its violence, but surprisingly has been consistently reviewed as quite good and particularly accurate to the events it is based on. Then, against my better judgment, Iâve also queued up the Bloodrayne Trilogy because Iâve developed some kind of weird appreciation for Uwe - Iâve been watching the commentaries and everything. At least Bloodrayne 2 is a western 
Dr Strangelove - First viewing. Didnât really expect it to be very funny, coming from Kubrick, but I was wrong. Plenty of good humour in this preverted film and lots of great characters/performances.
A Clockwork Orange - Iâm not sure that I had ever sat through an entire viewing of this film. I only remembered being bored with it as a teenager so never re-visited until now. Iâve been learning a lot about Beethoven in the past month and this partially lead me to watch this film with Alexâs love for the B. Having some more years under my belt, I was able to appreciate the film this time around and enjoyed it very much although still not making it into my top 3 Kubricks, which at this point would be: Eyes Wide Shut, Dr Strangelove, and 2001
[quote=âautephex, post:11726, topic:1923â]A Clockwork Orange - I was able to appreciate the film this time around and enjoyed it very much although still not making it into my top 3 Kubricks, which at this point would be: Eyes Wide Shut, Dr Strangelove, and 2001[/quote]Iâd probably say itâs my second favourite, being pipped to the post (only just) by The Shining.
I need to re-watch The Shining as I havenât seen it in a very long time now. I used to like it a lot, but for whatever reason have been totally uninterested in it for some years.
Just finished Alex van Warmerdamâs latest, Borgman. This is a really unique, dark film that has left me in a strange headspace - always a good sign. I was really drawn-in watching this film. Its continually advancing into more mysterious territory, seemingly producing more and more questions instead of resolving them. Really impressive work here and now Iâm going to have to catch up with the rest of Alex van Warmerdamâs films I havenât yet gotten to.
Van Warmerdamâs best movies are:
De Noorderlingen (The Northerners): The Northerners - Wikipedia
De Jurk The Dress (1996 film) - Wikipedia
Abel Abel (disambiguation) - Wikipedia)
Kleine Teun (Little Tony) Little Tony (film) - Wikipedia
However, part of the fun comes from his special use of the Dutch language in his dialogues, they often sound deliberately fake, unnatural. I donât know how this works for viewers who donât speak Dutch.
[size=12pt]The Expendables - 2010 - S. Stallone
The Expendables 2 - 2012- Simon West [/size]
Watched both Expendables flicks.
Actually I had fun watching the Stallone franchise. Not a bad idea picking up some of the most known action heroes of the past, along with a few more modern ones, and put them together in the same film.
Both films are fun, and in pure marketing terms they work. The Expendables are a perfect marketing mix, both appeal to the people of my generation that grow up in the eighties, and at the same time to the CGI generation, so yeah an ingenious formula to success, also perfect sequel material.
The second one works better than the first, a real director and a great villain (a cool JCVD) makes the film work better.
So had fun watching these stuff couldnât ask for more, maybe a few names to add to the cast: Seagal, Kurt âSnakeâ Russell, Dudikoff, Hauer, Powers Boothe, Danny Trejo, Grace Jones and a few others. Even making these last exercise is fun.
Theyâre okay, arenât they? As a rule, I dislike action no-brainers. I donât look out for Jet Li or Jason Statham or Dwayne Johnson or Vin Diesel pictures, and I didnât look out for Sly or Bruce or Van Damme or Norris or Seagal pics back in the day either. Even Arnie only appealed occasionally. But, for reasons that utterly escape me now, I decided to give The Expendables a look on Netflix some months ago and it really wasnât too bad. Not great, but not bad. Good enough for me to want to have at least a nose at The Expendables 2, and I found that to be a lot of fun, unquestionably the superior movie as you said. So The Expendables 3 represents the first time Iâve truly looked forward to a Schwarzenegger movie since Terminator 2 and the first time Iâve looked forward to a Stallone movie ever. Wesley Snipes joins the regulars in the new film, as does Harrison Ford, Kelsey Grammer, Antonio Banderas and UFC fighter Ronda Rousey. I think Pierce Brosnan has let slip that heâs going to be appearing in the fourth installment, whenever that shows up.
Yes I normally donât follow those type of films also, even more if recent ones, but if films like The Expendables are fun to watch, and donât take themselves to serious Iâm OK. Iâts a winning concept the one they have created, those marketing masters really got it right.
@The Expendables
Watched Expendables 3 the other day from a bootleg "screenerâ copy thatâs making the rounds on some websites.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/xdOeecw.jpg[/img]
Aside from a great cast, especially Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford who do their roles pretty well, the film was a disappointment. I really donât take these films serious enough to care, but i expected this one to be better than the first two and for me it wasnât. But it doesnât mean thatâs itâs all bad though, itâs fun to watch the actors poke fun at themselves with several hilarious one liners. The story is crap and itâs expected in these type of films, but thereâs plenty action here and although ok on some scenes itâs way over the top especially the last half hour with bullets flying everywhere, explosions, tanks etc⊠and the final battle between (S) and (G)⊠:-X :-X :-X
Ah! I didnât even bother looking, since it was still so new. Just grabbed it now, cheers! 
Enjoyed the first Expendables the best. Things were a little fresher then.
Havenât watched an Expendables so far, and donât think I ever will.
There are enough brainless action movies to watch apart from these geriatric services.
Thanks for the recomendations Scherp. Ive got most of his films, i think maybe all, some time back but so far ive only watched Abel and one other i cant remember the name of at the moment (responding from my phone and not able to check).
Abel was pretty funny and overall i have really enjoyed Van Warmerdamâs unique style. Iâll have to pay special attention to the dialogue on next watchings and see if i notice the soundings.
[quote=âscherpschutter, post:11736, topic:1923â]Havenât watched an Expendables so far, and donât think I ever will.
There are enough brainless action movies to watch apart from these geriatric services.[/quote]
I still think its a good idea mostly for the actors, for some of them not easy to find parts suitable for them, especially if you are an action hero, there are no action hero with more than 50 years old, even Michael Jackson couldnât stand the pressure. The same concept was used for the Red films with Helen Mirren, Willis and Malkovich.
Of course by a pure logic thinking Expendables donât make much sense, in the Mercenary business people normally donât get to live that much, or if they do is because they retired early, but even so I still think they should take to concept to the extreme with some more action regular figures of those action films from the eighties, and Hugh Grant as the villain just for the fun of it.
Iâm still waiting to see if the bring back Michael Dudikoff for it.
[quote=âEl Topo, post:11738, topic:1923â]and Hugh Grant as the villain just for the fun of it.[/quote]No, no, no ,no, NO! ;D