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Post by Frameous on Mar 20, 2009 15:06:04 GMT -5
Did you watch the original? I found the remake very lacking (even though it was from the same director and had some great actors attached). I really enjoyed this twisted flick, thought it was a lot of fun. Check out another movie by Michael Haneke called Caché. Really, all of his films are great.
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Post by Hoss Ragen on Mar 21, 2009 9:19:52 GMT -5
Bang Bang: Some time back, I found a import tape of this Brazilian movie from '71. Based on the title and red-colored clam shell box art of revolvers, I originally thought it was a gritty crime drama. However, it's a real odd, artsy indy film. It's shot in B&W, scenes involving mundane activities such as driving are drawn out for long periods of time and the main character who is also trying to elude an "imaginary" trio of men - a crossdresser, an overeater and an inept blind gunman - gets into heated arguments with a cab driver. The scenes fade in and out like in silent films from the early 20th century. The music is decent, too. According to its IMDB page, it pissed off censors (it wasn't sexual, aside from a tepid lovemaking scene filmed 50 feet away of a nude woman and a man who acts like a wild animal and has wolf like facial hair, nor was political or overly violent. What gives?), it has gotten positive votes and stars Paulo Cesar Pereio (I'm not familiar with him). Information isn't that extensive on the film and I understand very, very little spoken Portuguese, so I unfortunately didn't get that much out of it. The Alpha Incident (1977): Apart of a 100-DVD pack of sci-fi movies in public domain that my dad bought me for Christmas. It stars Ralph "Mike Hammer" Meeker and, as it turns out, it is directed by Bill Rebane. A government agent is asked to escort an unknown alien virus by train. Curiosity gets the best of the drunken and bored conductor (played by, who else, Buck Flower) and he ends up unleashing the virus in the junction office, managed by the quiet, dirty mag loving Meeker. The agent, government scientists working around the clock and the others in the office narrow down that they have to stay awake to keep the virus from causing any harm. After drinking loads of coffee and taking government issued speed, the first one to succumb to death by dozing off is Meeker (accompanied by a hilarious special effect: a plastic mold of his head oozing like a model volcano at a school science fair). It's shot in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I thought this was going to be one of those lost gems from the 70s dealing with viral outbreaks; stuff that tried to one-up The Andromeda Strain. It was good for what it was, but I've seen better. The Anderson Tapes (1971): First of all, this movie made me think: How many titles of 60s and 70s spy/crime thrillers based on novels followed the formula of "The (Name) (Recorded piece of information)"?... The Quiller Memorandum, The Scorpio Letters, The Ipcress File, The Odessa File, etcetcetc. Anyhow, I was made aware of this one since I have Quincy Jones Smackwater Jack album which has the electric jazz theme to this movie. This stars Sean Connery as a thief recently released from prison who returns home to his two-timing "girlfriend", played by Dyan Cannon. Connery quickly goes back to his old ways by planning to steal everything, with the help of Christopher Walken (in his first starring role) and the homosexual interior designer Martin Balsam, in the hotel that Cannon lives. It turns out that one of her men that she has been fooling around with while Connery was in lock down has the hotel under sound surveillance, leading to him knowing about the heist plan eventually, thus gaining the ability to blackmail Connery. This is a really good one worth seeking out. It was a really exciting climax.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Mar 21, 2009 11:18:49 GMT -5
The Milagro Beanfield War. Sweet, watchable, rather unmarketable in its day, though the change in demographics in the US and attendant change in Anglo culture probably makes it more mainstream today.
Night of the Living Dead. Probably the first time I saw it through. Not awful for a cheap production (can't quite call it amateur effort)--Colman Francis didn't do 10% as well. Still, not that impressive--certainly not in my top 10 horror flicks of all time.
The Old Dark House (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023293/) 1932. I'd never heard of this--just grabbed it at the library. It was a terrific old horror film. James Whale, with all that James Whale visual stuff that is so stunning, and a cast of Real Actors. Moreover, the DVD commentary by one of the surviving actresses was possibly the most coherent commentary by an actor I've ever heard. Absolutely in my top 10 of horror flicks now.
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Post by Crowfan on Mar 22, 2009 15:16:07 GMT -5
I Love You, Man. This movie totally ROCKS!!! Very funny and lots of plugs for Heineken as well. Highly recommended.
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Mar 23, 2009 17:52:46 GMT -5
The Milagro Beanfield War. Sweet, watchable, rather unmarketable in its day, though the change in demographics in the US and attendant change in Anglo culture probably makes it more mainstream today. Never saw this myself. But it was responsible for teaching me that "milagro" means "miracle." The Old Dark House (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023293/) 1932. I'd never heard of this--just grabbed it at the library. It was a terrific old horror film. James Whale, with all that James Whale visual stuff that is so stunning, and a cast of Real Actors. Moreover, the DVD commentary by one of the surviving actresses was possibly the most coherent commentary by an actor I've ever heard. Absolutely in my top 10 of horror flicks now. That sounds pretty cool! I saw just a little bit of the end of this movie once. It seemed so slow and stagey that it was hard to enjoy. However, the part when the old guy who gets let out of the attic room, and particularly his expression as he stands on the stairs, seemed pretty effective. So in your opinion it's worth watching?
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Post by Bix Dugan on Mar 23, 2009 18:34:40 GMT -5
The Black Cat
The guy in Ed Wood was right. Lugosi is overshadowed by Karloff in this one. Karloff's strangely angled body posture alone won me over.
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Post by terry on Mar 23, 2009 18:55:55 GMT -5
The Black Cat The guy in Ed Wood was right. Lugosi is overshadowed by Karloff in this one. Karloff's strangely angled body posture alone won me over. I thought they were pretty equal in this one. I will always love Lugosi more, though. I can't help it. It's the accent.
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Post by Chuck on Mar 23, 2009 19:29:40 GMT -5
The Black Cat The guy in Ed Wood was right. Lugosi is overshadowed by Karloff in this one. Karloff's strangely angled body posture alone won me over. I thought they were pretty equal in this one. I will always love Lugosi more, though. I can't help it. It's the accent. This movie had trouble with the censors. They kept making them cut stuff, and so Edgar G. Ulmer kept going and saying, "Can we do this instead?" and that's how we got Karloff with all of his dead wives in glass boxes in the basement -- which probably wouldn't have been allowed if it had appeared in the original version. Lugosi may just seem weaker playing the good guy. He's wonderful in The Invisible Ray, also, even though Karloff is the tragic hero in that and has more screen time.
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Post by terry on Mar 23, 2009 20:14:54 GMT -5
This movie had trouble with the censors. They kept making them cut stuff, and so Edgar G. Ulmer kept going and saying, "Can we do this instead?" and that's how we got Karloff with all of his dead wives in glass boxes in the basement -- which probably wouldn't have been allowed if it had appeared in the original version. That's what my Production Design teacher said. He claims to have a copy of the original script which, he says, would be tough to get away with even today. Perhaps it was the Mae West defense: Write something completely over-the-top, knowing full well that it will be cut, so you can get away with what you wanted in the first place.
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Post by hugo on Mar 23, 2009 20:52:07 GMT -5
The Black Cat The guy in Ed Wood was right. Lugosi is overshadowed by Karloff in this one. Karloff's strangely angled body posture alone won me over. A minor correction, but the film referred to in "Ed Wood" is actually "The Invisible Ray" (where Conrad Brooks tells him he was "great as Karloff's sidekick")
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Post by mccloud on Mar 24, 2009 8:39:11 GMT -5
Play Misty For Me, an old Clint Eastwood thriller from the early 70s. It held up pretty well.
The Ruins, a horror movie from last year (I think). I liked it, not bad for a people-eating-plant flick.
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Post by angilasman on Mar 24, 2009 9:46:04 GMT -5
[EDIT]
Oops, belongs in the TV section.
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Post by Jack Burton on Mar 25, 2009 5:48:13 GMT -5
Repo! The Genetic Opera
So bad that it made Shock Treatment look like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Mar 26, 2009 5:08:19 GMT -5
Watched and reviewed Herman Yau's Masked Prosecuter and was suprised by how good it actually was.
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Post by inlovewithcrow on Mar 26, 2009 12:13:23 GMT -5
Yes, definitely.
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