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

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

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Hung: this may be of interest to you:

https://vimeo.com/168279931
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway wrote:Hung: this may be of interest to you:

https://vimeo.com/168279931
Thanks.

The film played uncut (the US NC-17 version) in Finnish theaters, but we were living our own dark age of video censorship back then, and the film lost 38 seconds of violence upon its video release. That was because the law prevented 18 rated movies from being distributed on video (had to be cut down to 16), although they could be played in theatres. It was nonsensical anyway because TV was unaffected, and films like Basic Instinct and Robocop (which was even cut in cinemas, and cut to shreds on video) were always uncut on TV *.

* edit: I asked from people who know more than I do, and found out that some TV screenings in the 90s were cut by the network, some were pre-cut versions (e.g. an R-rated US version despite a longer version being available), and a few were cancelled just before the planned screening, but a lot were indeed uncut even when the videos were cut, and a few times they apparently even screened movies that were entirely banned on video & theaters.

Basic Instict was the uncut NC17 version when I saw it on TV in the late 90s, but the R-rated version was also screened later on a different channel.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Mark has run out of movies, or what?
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Just taking a short break... :)
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Deadpool (2016-USA) **
The Marvel Universe goes R-rated with vulgar, foul-mouthed aplomb; but I found this bombastic, relentlessly ingratiating comic vehicle tiresome and repetitive. Your enjoyment of it may depend on your tolerance for Ryan Reynolds' patented fast-talking sarcasm.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Triple 9 (2015-USA) **½
Quite tense thriller about corrupt cops working for the Russian mob.

The Final Girls (2014-USA) **½
Enjoyable enough parody of 80s teen camp slashers, with a surprising amount of heart at its core; that alone makes this a refreshing change to the mindless sadism of most horror product. Some will bemoan the PG-13 mandated lack of gore and nudity (and at times it's a fair criticism) but the filmmakers' evident effort papers over any stumbles or flat gags.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway wrote:Deadpool (2016-USA) **
The Marvel Universe goes R-rated with vulgar, foul-mouthed aplomb; but I found this bombastic, relentlessly ingratiating comic vehicle tiresome and repetitive. Your enjoyment of it may depend on your tolerance for Ryan Reynolds' patented fast-talking sarcasm.
Just opened here, I've been wondering if I should see it or not... Two things worry me:

1) Except for Nolan's Batman films, I have pretty much zero interest in superhero films. I saw Guardians of the Galaxy and thought it was an epic bore. I know Deadpool was made tongue in the cheek, but I'm still afraid it will bore me with some CGI superhero fights.

2) I kinda hate the modern genre film approach where they are too afraid to a do a genuine genre film, so they make a comedic tribute, or something. I liked Kick-Ass for the most part, but I was still bothered by the underlying "we're not serious, please don't judge us" attitude that came through every once in a while. And the HK film Gallants... god I hate that piece of MTV-generation teen crap. I'm afraid Deadpool falls in the same category.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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I enjoyed Deadpool a lot, but then I thought it almost wants to have its cake and eat it - it pokes fun at the superhero/comic genre and then seemed like a typical genre film later
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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HungFist wrote:I know Deadpool was made tongue in the cheek, but I'm still afraid it will bore me with some CGI superhero fights.
All the action is hyper CGI (each character takes a million blows that would kill any non-superhero so how can we fear for their safety if they're virtually indestructible?).
I kinda hate the modern genre film approach where they are too afraid to a do a genuine genre film, so they make a comedic tribute, or something. I liked Kick-Ass for the most part, but I was still bothered by the underlying "we're not serious, please don't judge us" attitude that came through every once in a while.
Kiss-Ass is satirical enough to get away with certain things; Deadpool is simply smart-ass (and relentlessly so). From what you say, I'd be surprised if you like it, but then it HAS been wildly popular with critics and audiences, so I'm probably in the minority here.

Oh, and I didn't like Gallants either.
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Furious 7 (2015-USA-China-Japan-Abu Dhabi-Canada) **½
Utterly insane, thoroughly cartoonish stunts dominate 240mph franchise sequel that delivers all the excitement series fans could desire... and not a jot of verisimilitude. Seriously, the action set-pieces here make Superman look like gritty realism. Outrageous fun.
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Dark Places (2015-UK-France-USA) **
Charlize Theron stars in this thriller based on a Gillian (Gone Girl) Flynn novel; quite engrossing, if ugly in nature, but major downfall is third act, which is a total misfire.
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Absolutely Anything (2015-UK-USA) **½
Mildly enjoyable romcom from Python Terry Jones. Not as funny as you want it to be, but still funnier than most Hollywood comedies. Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale are a pleasant couple, but Rob Riggle's obnoxious American is quite grating. I watched the uncut version with all the effs and jeffs restored.
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Spooks: The Greater Good (2015-UK) **
Spy thriller based on BBC TV series is slick, but very low on credibility. I never watched the show, which ran ten seasons, so have no idea how this compares; I'd imagine it's a disappointment. PC brownie points for managing to feature an Islamist terrorist plot without ever mentioning the words Islam, Muslim or any variant. Retitled MI-5 for US release (which confused a lot of people expecting Tom Cruise).
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Everest (2015-USA-UK-Iceland) ***
Effective dramatization of true life tragedy in which a freak storm took the lives of thirteen climbers on Mount Everest.
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Southpaw (2015-USA-Hong Kong) **½
Flawed boxing drama pushes the right emotional buttons, but barely seems credible, and leaves major plot threads hanging...
What happens to the scumbag who shot Billy's wife? Billy seems to know who did it, and thus others must, too, but the character disappears. Apparently, you can shoot someone in front of a room full of witness and no one sees anything? Also, Miguel covers up the crime and gets away with it. Having him lose the final match on points just doesn't seem terribly satisfying given what Billy went thru and his family loss.
The montage/fights aren't anywhere near Rocky level; the terrible music/songs made me long for Bill Conti and Survivor.
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Run All Night (2015-USA) **½
Liam Neeson's hard man enforcer does whatever it takes to save the life of his estranged son from Irish mobsters, corrupt cops, and a personally motivated hitman. Perfectly watchable action fare.
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The Hudsucker Proxy (1994-USA-UK-Germany) ***½
Only the Coen Bros. could make a mainstream Hollywood film so true to their own auteurist principles and style. Very clever, very witty, and impossible to dislike. The cast - Robbins, Leigh, Newman, hit the bullseye with their performances. A unique piece of work and my favourite of the Coen output.
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Standoff (2015-USA-Canada) **½
Quite well done thriller in which a farmer (Thomas Jane) protects a young girl from a hitman (Larry Fishburne).
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Home Invasion (2015-Canada-USA) **½
OK, if overly familiar thriller in which nasty bad guys (one of them Scott Adkins) break into Natasha Henstridge's home. Jason Patric (in desperate need of a career resurgence) is the on phone security operator trying to guide her to safety. Suspension of disbelief a must, but I gave it an extra half star because it's marginally better than most straight-to-DVD product.
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Locke (2013-UK) **½
85m of a harassed, Welsh-accented Tom Hardy yapping on a car phone isn't as bad as it sounds, in fact, it's surprisingly watchable, and a great showcase for the actor, but of seriously limited interest for non-fans, and those who require plot.

Killer Joe (2011-USA) ***
Strikingly nihilistic drama pushes the envelope on violence and sexual violence, but is fairly gripping throughout, and very well-acted. William Friedkin's best film in donkey's isn't for all tastes.
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Regression (2015-Spain-Canada) *½
Failed psycho-religious horror based on true life claims of satanic child abuse. Controversial material had enormous potential, but is badly mishandled by Alejandro Amenabar.
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The Intern (2015-USA) ***
Robert DeNiro in good recent movie shock!
Likeable, mature comedy-drama, appealingly performed by DeNiro and Anne Hathaway.
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Countdown (2016-USA) **½
Surprisingly enjoyable action vehicle for WWE meathead Dolph Ziggler(!).
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This has become my own personal review thread...

The Martian (2015-USA) ***
I enjoyed this a lot more than Gravity.
How did Ridley Scott not get nominated for Best Director?
How is this a comedy? (OK, so it's witty, but the Golden Globes are chi sin).
Matt Damon's glibness had me in doubt at first, but eventually won me over.
Loved the 70s disco soundtrack (the use of a 1994 Gloria Estefan Latin pop tune to illustrate Damon's dislike of the genre was an odd slip, however).
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway wrote:This has become my own personal review thread...
I've got plenty of my own already :lol:

I've got a few Chiba reviews coming eventually, but it's gonna take a while before I reach the 90s... :lol: Meanwhile it's up to you to keep this thread alive!
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