Film Thread

[Guest Jack_the_ripper]

I'm really not into horror, but anyone see the hitcher? I mean, it was simply the most epic ending to a horror movie I've ever seen. Everything from the score, to the editing, to the directing, to the actual art direction of the scene. Blew my mind.

[Becket]

I'm really not into horror, but anyone see the hitcher? I mean, it was simply the most epic ending to a horror movie I've ever seen. Everything from the score, to the editing, to the directing, to the actual art direction of the scene. Blew my mind.

Loooove that movie. Have you seen the original?

End of Days is decent/fun. A step down for Schwarzenegger though.

I dont think so. I think he did a pretty good job. He seemed more human rather than the big action hero.

[Guest Jack_the_ripper]

I'm really not into horror, but anyone see the hitcher? I mean, it was simply the most epic ending to a horror movie I've ever seen. Everything from the score, to the editing, to the directing, to the actual art direction of the scene. Blew my mind.

Loooove that movie. Have you seen the original?

End of Days is decent/fun. A step down for Schwarzenegger though.

I dont think so. I think he did a pretty good job. He seemed more human rather than the big action hero.

I haven't seen the original, but the remake did blow my mind. I couldn't believe it. Plus, I love Sophia Bush, so that worked out well for me I'd say.

[Becket]

I'm really not into horror, but anyone see the hitcher? I mean, it was simply the most epic ending to a horror movie I've ever seen. Everything from the score, to the editing, to the directing, to the actual art direction of the scene. Blew my mind.

Loooove that movie. Have you seen the original?

End of Days is decent/fun. A step down for Schwarzenegger though.

I dont think so. I think he did a pretty good job. He seemed more human rather than the big action hero.

I haven't seen the original, but the remake did blow my mind. I couldn't believe it. Plus, I love Sophia Bush, so that worked out well for me I'd say.

If you get a chance check out the original. It's a great movie. Basically the same thing with a few diffenences.

I cant say if it's better than the remake because its been about 15 to 20 years since i've seen the original, but I do remember it was very good. Tried looking for it after I bought the remake but couldn't find it anywhere.

[lagofala]

Anyone watch iron man yet?

Just watched it and i can say that it is probably the best superhero film since spiderman 2.

Could anyone be more suitable for the role than robert downey jr? Excellent casting

Also 100% on the cool factor.

Watch out for the after credits scene.

Samuel L Jackson appears as Nick Fury in Tony Stark's house telling him about the new avengers initiative

Awesome!

Edited April 30, 2008 by lagofala

[Guest Jack_the_ripper]

I'm really not into horror, but anyone see the hitcher? I mean, it was simply the most epic ending to a horror movie I've ever seen. Everything from the score, to the editing, to the directing, to the actual art direction of the scene. Blew my mind.

Loooove that movie. Have you seen the original?

End of Days is decent/fun. A step down for Schwarzenegger though.

I dont think so. I think he did a pretty good job. He seemed more human rather than the big action hero.

I haven't seen the original, but the remake did blow my mind. I couldn't believe it. Plus, I love Sophia Bush, so that worked out well for me I'd say.

Do yourself a favour and watch the original with Rutger Hauer. It's far far superior.

does it have an epic ending with an epic score, and amazing art direction?

[GET OFF AXLS BACK]

Been going through season sets of The Shield instead of being productive. It's compulsively watchable just like 24 although perhaps not quite as addictive. If you want a show about dirty cops bucking the system and you've finished going through The Wire, I'd recommend this show. It takes it's liberties with realism...but it's quite entertaining and the stories have a good flow to them...

I tried watching it once but the lead kinda ruined it for me, i found him too predictable and a bit cliche.

I'm currently watching season one of Millennium, i watched it when it first aired and i forgot how good and dark it was.Far better than The X Files in my opinion, more substance, i always think The X Files is a bit wishy washy.

The following shows have to start as soon as possible before GOAB kicks the shit out of the television through boredom.

24

Prison Break

BrotherHood

Now don't rip me but im waiting with bated breath for One Tree Hills latest season to air in the UK.

[Guest Jack_the_ripper]

Been going through season sets of The Shield instead of being productive. It's compulsively watchable just like 24 although perhaps not quite as addictive. If you want a show about dirty cops bucking the system and you've finished going through The Wire, I'd recommend this show. It takes it's liberties with realism...but it's quite entertaining and the stories have a good flow to them...

I tried watching it once but the lead kinda ruined it for me, i found him too predictable and a bit cliche.

I'm currently watching season one of Millennium, i watched it when it first aired and i forgot how good and dark it was.Far better than The X Files in my opinion, more substance, i always think The X Files is a bit wishy washy.

The following shows have to start as soon as possible before GOAB kicks the shit out of the television through boredom.

24

Prison Break

BrotherHood

Now don't rip me but im waiting with bated breath for One Tree Hills latest season to air in the UK.

season 5 of One Tree Hill is perhaps the best season to date, definately has the most substance anyways. More so, the Peyton/Lucas bullshit directly relates to my best friend and his ex, so we constantly harras him with it (he used to be the biggest critic of the show, but he's now hooked because of season 5, definately something to look forward too.)

[Lithium]

Just got two more Van Sant movies in the mail - My Own Private Idaho and Elephant.

[ffrankwhite]

Just got two more Van Sant movies in the mail - My Own Private Idaho and Elephant.

fucking God Bless Gus Van Sant. BOTH those movies are INSANELY good, stop what you're doing and go watch em man!!!!!

[Lithium]

Just got two more Van Sant movies in the mail - My Own Private Idaho and Elephant.

fucking God Bless Gus Van Sant. BOTH those movies are INSANELY good, stop what you're doing and go watch em man!!!!!

That's exactly what I'm doing, watching Elephant. Have you seen Gus' latest flick, Frank? The one with the skaters? Can't remember the name of it.

[Angelica]

Paranoid Park. It's okay, but not in the same league as the stuff he's been doing over the last few years. And don't forget To Die For! It's superb.

[Lithium]

Ah, ok. I read a review, and the critic gave it a 9/10, so I guess it's worth seeing.

[Ridin' the Nightrain]

Diary of the Dead really sucks.

Here's what I put in my blog. It's a very long rant that I hope some of you will agree with. OMGZ SPOILERZ.

So I watched Diary of the Dead last night. This film is so shit on so many levels it's really quite impressive it has to be said. After the greatness of Cloverfield with the documentary style directing I was really hyped about this film. Land of the Dead wasn't really all that compared to the original trilogy by Romero but it wasn't really a bad film. Just average. I thought that the problem with that film, aside from the whole 'smart zombie' concept, was the fact it just felt old and too similar. This was obviously a wise choice then, right? Give a fresh new perspective on the zombie film genre and go back to basics with the scare tactics. All this film had to do was be directed like Cloverfield but with zombies instead of a big monster. They failed to do that by a long way.

First of all it wasn't shot how it should have been at all. The characters are college students doing a film course which is the obvious set-up for them carrying a camera. The problem is they don't just carry one camera, far from it, they carry 3 or 4 most of the time. The great thing about perspective directing is how tense everything is; if you have 3 different shots of the same thing that shoots that all to shit. It's not just that, though, the film is narrated by one of the surviving girls who just wants to 'put their story out there' and as such we're told she's edited it. She mentions how she added music which is fair enough, I suppose, takes you out of it a bit but I can understand why Romero would want to use it to build tension. It goes so much further when you realise this girl and her friend have bothered to collect security camera footage and everything along the way. The 'finished product,' then, is something that usually has a few shots of each scene. Rubbish.

I really have to say how utterly shit the acting and script is at this point too. Horrors are hardly known for their Oscar worthy performances but this was dreadful. There are some hilarious moments that make you question whether Romero hasn't gone senile since you'd think any director would have screamed "CUT!" well before they even got a chance to finish the scene. Near the start of the film one girl runs over three zombies. She's a bit silly and religious so this hits her hard. After they stop she sits there and says "I just killed three men." with less emotion than a plank of wood could have. That's just one example of dozens, too, the surviving girl is really preachy who gets into a lot of 'emotional' fights with her boyfriend. She is so overly dramatic I can't even put into words. At one point she's so pissed that her boyfriend is filming everything she magically finds one of her own, turns it on him and says "NOW DO YOU SEE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO HAVE A CAMERA POINTED IN YOUR FACE ALL OF THE TIME?"

This leads on to possibly the worst thing about the entire film. You'd think that bad directing, action and dialogue would be enough but no! Romero manages to make it worse with his own twisted, pretentious view of the world. The greatness about past Romero films, as I've said in a past entry, is the fact that he does the subtle social commentary so well. He adds little touches here and there that add up so that by the end of the film you think how stupid a lot of things are. I'm not against that at all; I think it's very clever directing and I'm all for social commentary. Trouble is the fact this time around he lost all of his subtle touches and made it the main focus of the story. The basic jist of it all is how horrible the media has become, how technology has made us crave more and more information, that the government always lies to us and how pointless war is. Are some of those valid points? Of course, but there's a way to present them and this is the perfect example of how not to.

Basically he tries to hammer it all home so much you just get sick of it. By about the 50th time when Jason decides he'd rather just watch a zombie attack his friend rather than help them we all got it. His priorities were totally fucked up and he's a moron. Well done. Leave it now will ya? No, he doesn't, he just keeps using that same old message over and over and anybody who thinks that it was deep or meaningful must be people who have only ever seen Disney films. When Jason finally gets bit at the end he manages to fight off the zombie and crawl... so... slowly to his camera... it's the last thing... he goes for... oh man my head just exploded... it's so deep. Fuck off.

Then you have Romero's apparent hate for most of the things on the internet coming through. At every chance the characters uploaded what they could to Youtube and were sooo obsessed with the number of hits and how many people were watching their stuff! Do you geddit? We're all far to obsessed with people overnight successes on Youtube now. Then when the internet connections and TV stations in that area go down you have the professor give this big speech about how much we rely on those things etc. By the way, that dude is one of the most stereotypical professors I've ever seen in a film; he's an alcoholic, has a strong accent and loves to quote poetry and be arsey about modern society. Deep.

After all that you have the National Guard stop them and it's all yay and happy because the National Guard are amazing and will definitely save them, right? But oh no, they turn out to be assholes who steal all of their supplies and go driving off into the night firing their M16s in the air like hooligans. Because all soldiers are cunts who just go in and steal things. Hey that sounds sorta like Iraq and how the US loves their oil, dontcha think? Wow I never thought of it like that before! On a similar note, when one of the students has put a few bullets into various zombies the professor pipes up and proclaims how easy it is for us all to turn into killers and then gives the gun away saying it's "too easy to use."

You also have the fact that for as long the TV is working they're broadcasting BS spin that was given out by the government and airing edited footage that makes it look like the dead aren't really coming back to life. Nothing new there.

As if all of that isn't bad enough there's still one more major flaw: it isn't a good horror film. You have maybe 25-30 minutes of the zombies on screen. Maybe a little more than that if you count them just driving past etc. There's only one or two attacks and that's it. Who the fuck makes a zombie film without there being a lot of, you know, zombie action? The action that was in there was cool for the most part, an amish dude puts a big spike through his own head to kill the zombie that's chewing on his neck behind him, but there's a lot of dull running too that just doesn't cut it after the likes of 28 Days Later etc.

Overall the film doesn't know what it wants to be. It's not shot well enough to be a good documentary style horror like Cloverfield, there's not enough zombie action for it to just be considered a normal horror film and all of the social commentary is so over-the-top and ridiculous that you can't take it seriously as a film that was just trying to be intelligent either. A zombie film shot in a Cloverfield style could be one of the best horror films ever, if you ask me, so it's a shame that Romero has really proven to me he's lost his touch and hold on the genre. Here's hoping somebody better takes this premise and actually makes a decent film with it.

Seriously, it's SUCH a bad film.

I spotted your review before I had seen the film, but didn't actually read it till after I'd watched it. I just saw your "Diary of the Dead really sucks" comment, and I was fully expecting to come back here after watching it to tell you how much I disagreed with your review..... Well, how wrong was I! It really was the most pathetic thing I've seen in a long long time. I can't believe this is a George A. Romero movie. I'm a big fan of Night/Dawn/Day, and I thought 'Land' was average, but this is absolutely fucking garbage.

Now, I watch a LOT of really shit horror movies, but love them! I love all that b-movie crap from the 80's, but I could barely make it through this tripe. I just groaned and laughed at pathetic scenes/dialogue the whole way through. This movie comes nowhere near being "so bad, it's good", it's just so bad, it's painful.

The plot was crap, the acting was atrocious, and the dialogue was laughably pathetic. Then there's there's the 'special effects', they were equally as shit, loads of cheap CGI. CGI doesn't belong in a horror movie. Why no Tom Savini?

HUGE letdown from a horror legend.

A man with sense.

[krissirge]

I'm really not into horror, but anyone see the hitcher? I mean, it was simply the most epic ending to a horror movie I've ever seen. Everything from the score, to the editing, to the directing, to the actual art direction of the scene. Blew my mind.

Loooove that movie. Have you seen the original?

End of Days is decent/fun. A step down for Schwarzenegger though.

I dont think so. I think he did a pretty good job. He seemed more human rather than the big action hero.

I haven't seen the original, but the remake did blow my mind. I couldn't believe it. Plus, I love Sophia Bush, so that worked out well for me I'd say.

Do yourself a favour and watch the original with Rutger Hauer. It's far far superior.

does it have an epic ending with an epic score, and amazing art direction?

It has Rutger Hauer,he was better there than he was in Blade Runner

plus heck it was a new horror movie remake...more importantly a remake of a GOOD movie...the last time I remember seeing a remake like that,which was even close to the original was the 1990 version of Night Of The Living Dead and Romero himself wrote the script to that one.l

Edited April 30, 2008 by krissirge

[ffrankwhite]

Just got two more Van Sant movies in the mail - My Own Private Idaho and Elephant.

fucking God Bless Gus Van Sant. BOTH those movies are INSANELY good, stop what you're doing and go watch em man!!!!!

That's exactly what I'm doing, watching Elephant. Have you seen Gus' latest flick, Frank? The one with the skaters? Can't remember the name of it.

nah man, im really out of the loop with movies, dunno whats coming or going or been or gone or anything. last movie i saw in the theatre was Deathproof and before that it might've been Kill Bill, thats how bad it is fucked up cuz as a kid i used to go at least a couple of times a week. Paranoid Park though, duly noted, gonna check it out hows Elephant working for ya? pretty cool huh? take a swing at Gerry too, best of the trilogy. To Die For is cool too. funny...in a left of centre kind of way.

Edited April 30, 2008 by ffrankwhite

[Guest Jack_the_ripper]

Do yourself a favour and watch the original with Rutger Hauer. It's far far superior.

does it have an epic ending with an epic score, and amazing art direction?

Epic? Amazing? That's a bit of a stretch to describe the remake in that terms. The original? Yes.

As I already said, the original is far superior, in every way. The cast, cinematography, art direction, score, script....

Rutger is amazing in this as the demented killer. Very chilling performance. It's a great thriller, very atmospheric.

I presume you only watched the remake because it starred a 'teen drama sweetheart' you probably obsess over, so the original probably isn't for you.

actually, I only watched it because the gf made me watch it. I'm not much into horror, I just loved the ending though, blew me away. I just love the way the last scene is shot, the score, everything about that last scene is actually epic.

For the record, don't look down on my film tastes again sir. That would be quite the foolish thing to do.

[darkstar_legend]

things we lost in the fire.

its quite bland but the acting is top.

del toro's facial expressions never ceases to amaze me.

[wasted]

Last Days by Gus Van Sant is an amazingly good movie, considering what it tackles. It's like Elephant but it's better. It's a masterpiece. It's up there with Idaho for me.

[wasted]

Just got two more Van Sant movies in the mail - My Own Private Idaho and Elephant.

fucking God Bless Gus Van Sant. BOTH those movies are INSANELY good, stop what you're doing and go watch em man!!!!!

That's exactly what I'm doing, watching Elephant. Have you seen Gus' latest flick, Frank? The one with the skaters? Can't remember the name of it.

nah man, im really out of the loop with movies, dunno whats coming or going or been or gone or anything. last movie i saw in the theatre was Deathproof and before that it might've been Kill Bill, thats how bad it is fucked up cuz as a kid i used to go at least a couple of times a week. Paranoid Park though, duly noted, gonna check it out hows Elephant working for ya? pretty cool huh? take a swing at Gerry too, best of the trilogy. To Die For is cool too. funny...in a left of centre kind of way.

Frank, Drugstore Cowboy by Van Sant is the one for you. It's like in that Rumblefish, King of New York (Abel Ferrara - there's a drirector to get into - Bad Lieutenant, Dangerous Game, The Funeral (Chris Penn shoulda got an oscar for this movie) and he did this sick Vampire movie

Van Sant:

To Die For

Even Cowgirls Get The Blues also right in the right place.

The remake of Psycho is also good watchable.

[ffrankwhite]

Just got two more Van Sant movies in the mail - My Own Private Idaho and Elephant.

fucking God Bless Gus Van Sant. BOTH those movies are INSANELY good, stop what you're doing and go watch em man!!!!!

That's exactly what I'm doing, watching Elephant. Have you seen Gus' latest flick, Frank? The one with the skaters? Can't remember the name of it.

nah man, im really out of the loop with movies, dunno whats coming or going or been or gone or anything. last movie i saw in the theatre was Deathproof and before that it might've been Kill Bill, thats how bad it is fucked up cuz as a kid i used to go at least a couple of times a week. Paranoid Park though, duly noted, gonna check it out hows Elephant working for ya? pretty cool huh? take a swing at Gerry too, best of the trilogy. To Die For is cool too. funny...in a left of centre kind of way.

Frank, Drugstore Cowboy by Van Sant is the one for you. It's like in that Rumblefish, King of New York (Abel Ferrara - there's a drirector to get into - Bad Lieutenant, Dangerous Game, The Funeral (Chris Penn shoulda got an oscar for this movie) and he did this sick Vampire movie

Van Sant:

To Die For

Even Cowgirls Get The Blues also right in the right place.

The remake of Psycho is also good watchable.

seen every single one of those movies man ...the vampire movie he did was called the addiction with chris walken again. he also did driller killer and Ms 45, which is a funky lil exploitation flick. dude, where'd you think my screen name came from...Frank White?

thats me

but yeah, thanks for the reccomendations...Drugstore Cowboys one of my favorite movies of all time. has my hero in it, William S Burroughs

[wasted]

Co-ordinate points.

Burroughs is your hero?

I mean I admire him, I'm not sure why. I mean I read some of his books, most of them. Did you ever get that album he did Spare Ass Annie and other stories. That's has to be owned. It has most of his classic poems set to music by Disposable Heroes of Hipcrocrasy guy.

Did you hear what he said about Cobain.

Like after he met him and said "That boy frowns for no good reason."

Then after he died Burroughs blamed the Orgon box that Cobain had been using. Something that Burroughs put him on to. I'm not sure of the detials. But its a box which has some kind of electic current/field and its supposed to "align the organs of the body" or some such thing.

Burroughs asked if the orgon box could effect people in a negative and he said that he was sure that it had something to do with his suicide.

Junkies Chritmas and Dr. Benway always make me laugh.

Shit its on wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone

Avoid fuck ups!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W72mWeMv47g

William S. Burroughs

The study of orgone was heavily supported and researched by the beat generation author, William S. Burroughs, who is known for surreal imagery in his novels dealing mostly with his life with narcotics, especially heroin. The topic of orgones interested Burroughs not because he had cancer, but because he believed that the method in which orgone energy supposedly helped cure cancer-sick patients could also help alleviate harsh withdrawal symptoms from heroin, which Burroughs calls "junk sickness."

Burroughs compares cancer to a junkie trying to kick the habit in the novel Junky, where he also speaks of orgone accumulators. He writes:

“Cancer is rot of tissue in a living organism. In junk sickness the junk dependent cells die and are replaced. Cancer is a premature death process. The cancer patient shrinks. A junkie shrinks ¬¬– I have lost up to fifteen pounds in three days. So I figure if the accumulator is a therapy for cancer, it should be therapy for the after-effects of junk sickness.”

At the time that Burroughs was writing, there was only one source to get an accumulator. It was from the Orgone Institute in New York. They didn’t sell or rent these machines; instead, a ten dollar a month donation was required. Burroughs decided to build an accumulator of his own. He substituted rock wool for the sheet iron, but still achieved the desired effect. Burroughs writes about what occurred once he started using the accumulator:

“Constant use of junk of the years has given me the habit of directing attention inward. When I went into the accumulator and sat down I noticed a special silence that you sometimes feel in deep woods, sometimes on a city street, a hum that is more rhythmic vibration than a sound. My skin prickled and I experienced an aphrodisiac effect similar to good strong weed. No doubt about it, orgones are as definite a force as electricity. After using the accumulator for several days my energy came back to normal. I began to eat and could not sleep more than eight hours. I was out of the post cure drag.”

Edited May 2, 2008 by wasted

[Guest banaszkiewicz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W72mWeMv47g

not this time, son

not this time

[wasted]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W72mWeMv47g

not this time, son

not this time

It's not shattered dreams, trust me

It's very good advice from Mr. Burroughs.

Some classic lines in there.

[ffrankwhite]

yeah Wasted, Burroughs also said about Kurt that something like i dont think he committed suicide because suicide suggests an act of will and Kurt was like...already dead. in lots of ways. he commented on a like...corpse like hue to his skin etc.

and yeah, that Spare Ass Annie CD is hilairious, i particularly like the Huntsmens Hounds bit.

i heard about those Orgone Accumulators, first in On The Road i think, cuz he's Old Bull Lee isnt it? the character i mean. but yeah, i never knew about Cobain having one of ever particularly got around to figuring what the fuck one was reminds me of a remedial version of those Scientology guages with the two aluminum baton type things.

one thing i havent done is watched the naked lunch movie. seen it?

Whys he my hero? i really couldnt tell ya, i just find him enthralling...cant put my finger on why. wit? insight? his brand of satire? his imagination? ability to...express...actually, im not even gonna try and put it into words, something are better left like...without even an attempt made at describing them. thats my big thing, explaining, describing and somethings are fucking inexplicable. he was just a fucking genius. a truly original soul of the highest order and about the bravest writer of the world, post WW1. like Norman Mailer said "the only living american who might concievably be possessed by genius". and he was...possessed by genius. like Kerouac was. but with Burroughs it was something different. that cut ups stuff...as an idea is just...so brave to apply yourself to so full throttle. Naked Lunch is about one of the best books i've ever read for the precise reason that as close as you ever come to properly understanding it, theres ALWAYS more. Burroughs was...fuck, i dunno.

definitely my hero...or one of a long list on of the toppers though, one of the most applicable in terms of my admiration for him and one of the most...unreachable too in terms of the breadth of his...insight/intellect whatever.

Edited May 2, 2008 by ffrankwhite