What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[Markgway]

The Way Way Back (2013-USA) ***
Entertaining coming-of-age comedy-drama that's actually suitable for its teenage audience; first rate cast.

Lincoln (2012-USA-India) ***
Weighty, worthy historical drama from Steven Spielberg; tends toward speechifying though, as if every line proclaimed would appear on Lincoln's tombstone.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Her (2013-USA) **½
Professional letter writer (who knew?) gets over his impending divorce by 'dating' his female operating system (well-voiced by Scarlett Johansson). Intellectual exercise spends 100% of its time reflecting on human emotions without ever provoking any, though having Amy Adams and Rooney Mara in your supporting cast helps enormously.
...

I gave the movie the same score (**½) at KFC (currently cannot find the comments) where one user had an apoplexy for my not thinking it was one of the greatest movies of all time. I had some annoyance with the basic plot and even more with the use of AI.

[Markgway]

Walking the Edge (1983-USA) **½
Gritty, noirish exploitation thriller with Robert Forester as a cabbie/debt collector who puts his nads on the line for vengeful Nancy Kwan. The dialogue is funky, the atmosphere trashy, but it somehow plays. I bet Tarantino loves this (you can see shades of Jackie Brown's Max Cherry here).

[Markgway]

Elysium (2013-USA) **½
Not bad sci-fi actioner offers topical parallels to the current migrant crisis; Matt Damon is good, though most everyone else is strangely mannered or hammy.

[grim_tales]

Deadpool (USA, 2016): 3.5/5 (maybe 4/5)

I liked the sarcasm and twisted humour in this but it felt a bit silly at times almost falling between Kick-Ass and an X-Men type movie (especially at the end with the Russian fella built like a metal sh*thouse) While it sends up the superhero genre for good laughs, there's a cliche love story too. I did enjoy it though.

The soundtrack is good and the spoof credits (that seem to take their cue from Honest Trailers) are funny

[Markgway]

Mud (2012-USA) ***½
Very strong drama in which two teenage boys come to the aid of a wanted man (Matthew McConaughey, excellent). The ending doesn't quite hit the bullseye, but the filmmakers get so much right it seems churlish to dock a half star for that.

[Markgway]

Spectre (2015-UK-USA) ***

[Markgway]

Naked Vengeance (1985) **
Another rape 'n' revenge/female Death Wish-type exploitationer; but not too bad for what it is.

[Markgway]

The Legacy (1978-UK-USA) *½
Hokey Satanist country manor mystery isn't worth your time.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Elysium (2013-USA) **½
Not bad sci-fi actioner offers topical parallels to the current migrant crisis; Matt Damon is good, though most everyone else is strangely mannered or hammy.

This was best seen in the theater. I found it a bit too didactic and really thought Jodie Foster overacted absurdly, but funny enough I enjoy the overacting of scene-chewing Sharlto Copley.

[Markgway]

Night of the Living Dead (1990-USA) ***
Tom Savini's remake is better than anyone had the right to expect.

[Markgway]

American Nightmare (1981-Canada) **
Almost decent stab at giallo genre hampered by low budget origins; despite the silly title this was obviously shot and set in Canada... eh!

[Markgway]

Brainstorm (1983-USA) **
Ambitious, but enormously confusing sci-fi mindfuck. What does the brain experience when we die? Good question that this incoherent, badly plotted bloater tries and ultimately fails to answer satisfactorily.

[Markgway]

1990 - The Bronx Warriors (1982-Italy) *
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD

[HungFist]

1990 - The Bronx Warriors (1982-Italy) *
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?

[Markgway]

Oh, come now. That's a shockingly poor excuse for a movie. Even for someone that spends too much time sitting thru Japanese softcore...

[HungFist]

Well, I admit it may not be Palme d'Or stuff... more like Un Certain Regard

To be perfectly honest, when I first saw it on DVD I may have rated it as low as 3/5... but then I saw it again on 35mm (with Castellari sitting almost next to me). What a great movie! I had Castellari sign my Japanese study book


(Castellari is the red guy)

You'd better re-watch it and start liking it before I ban your ass!

[Markgway]

You'd better re-watch it and start liking it before I ban your ass!

[HungFist]

Fair enough, enjoy your warm piss

I don't suppose you're going to be seeing the sequel, Escape from the Bronx? I've never seen it. I should buy it.

[Markgway]

I don't suppose you're going to be seeing the sequel, Escape from the Bronx?

Extremely unlikely.

[Markgway]

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015-USA-China) ***

Losin' It (1982-USA) **½
Passable teen comedy about three high schoolers trying to lose their cherries in Tijuana; Tom Cruise's first starring role.

[Markgway]

Order of Death (Italy-1983) **
Strange psycho thriller brings you the once-in-a-lifetime teaming of Harvey Keitel and Johnny Rotten!
Not good; but too interesting to ignore.

[Markgway]

Zeder (1983-Italy) **½
Gabriele Lavia investigates the reanimation of buried corpses.
Well-made horror, favours story and atmosphere over grue, but is damaged by confusing plot and lack of proper conclusion.

[HungFist]

Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (UK, 2010) [DVD] - 3.5/5
An interesting documentary about the dark age of British movie censorship: video retailers were sent to court for selling movies which they didn't know were illegal, truckloads of videos were confiscated by the police and burned in a furnace like books in the middle age, and all social problems were blamed on violent movies by politicians... some of whom had never seen a single video nasty, and were supporting their claims with entirely made up "facts" and "surveys". One does wish the documentary would go even deeper into the topic - e.g. cover the psychological aspects rather than only the historical aspect - and lack some of the irritating visual effects/tricks used throughout the documentary, though.

[HungFist]

Basic Instinct (USA, 1992) [VoD] - 4/5
Excellent Hitchcock esque thriller still works very well. I remember when I first saw this on TV when I was a kid - perhaps still in elementary school or just having started junior high (it was on TV so frequently back then that I can't figure out the correct date) and I was scared shitless by the ending. The elevator scene was another bit that I never forgot. Seeing the film now, the elevator scene still stands out, but now for the wrong reasons, for having us suspend disbelief a bit too much.

Fucking Japanese Hulu gave me an optically censored version (for nudity) even though the crappy Japanese 1997 rental DVD was uncensored. I should've just paid for the BD, even though the purpose was just to view the film, not add it to my collection.