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

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A Fine Mess (1986-USA) *½
Old-fashioned, unfunny slapstick farce from Blake Edwards.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Did he make a sequel - Another Fine Mess? ;)
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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The original inspiration was Laurel & Hardy, but you'd have to be psychic to spot that.

Better rewatch The Music Box instead. Shorter and funnier.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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The Morning After (1986-USA) *½
A faded actress wakes up next to a murder victim after an alcoholic blackout. Did she do it? Does anyone care? Unsatisfying, unlikeable mystery... or poor man's Hitchcock. Nothing here makes sense; not least the directorial credit for Sidney Lumet who presumably signed on without reading the script.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Wolf (1994-USA) **½
A book editor (Jack Nicholson, very good) is bitten by - guess what? - and turns into - guess what??
Intelligent, cultured take on the werewolf subgenre is about as classy as modern horror gets.
Alas, it's too long and slow to deliver the goods, suggesting Mike Nichols might not have been the right director for this one.

Bullet to the Head (2012-USA-Switzerland) **
A gnarled hitman (Stallone) teams up with a by-the-book Korean cop (a personality-free Sung Kang) to blow holes in some bad guys. Meat-head actioner has a couple of decent bits, but cannot overcome a pedestrian script and total lack of star chemistry.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

Post by Masterofoneinchpunch »

When I tried to save this original post it went to the login screen, logged back in and then subsequently lost the several paragraphs I posted (did not have saved.) Argh.

Bullet to the Head: I originally saw this in the theater, mainly to support the older guys :). I have not rewatched it yet, but I like Mark was so-so on the film. I generally like Walter Hill, apparently he has a new film coming out next year.

I own A Fine Mess, but have not seen it yet. I'm a big fan of Laurel and Hardy, have seen most of their sound features/shorts, though still a bit to go on their silent releases. The R1 Image silent releases are OOP. At one point there was supposed to be a release of a set of them, but rumor had it that the negatives were damaged. Hulu has some of the silent shorts online so I've seen a few that way. Luckily some of the early silents from both guys when they worked separately has been released by Kino (R1). Quite an influential pair, you can see some of their gags in HK film, even with Sammo directly lifting at least one joke in The Owl Vs. Bombo.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Silent comedians seemed to be a big influence on HK cinema, eg Jackie in the Project A movies pays tribute to Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd (Safety Last in Project A, Steamboat Bill Jr. in Part 2). In fact though, I would say the origins of the famous ending to Bill Jr. can be seen in a Fatty Arbuckle film from (I think) 1918 - Backstage, where a frame of a house falls on the main character!
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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grim_tales wrote:Silent comedians seemed to be a big influence on HK cinema, eg Jackie in the Project A movies pays tribute to Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd (Safety Last in Project A, Steamboat Bill Jr. in Part 2). In fact though, I would say the origins of the famous ending to Bill Jr. can be seen in a Fatty Arbuckle film from (I think) 1918 - Backstage, where a frame of a house falls on the main character!
Back Stage is correct. I have that on the The Best Arbuckle/Keaton Collection (R1) which is now OOP. It can be found on other releases as well including the OOP Kino Arbuckle and Keaton, Vol. 2 and the MOC Buster Keaton: The Complete Short Films (my friend has this).

You can see it right here (I got the time in the URL).

Sometimes it is hard to find origins of gags because they were done before in vaudeville. So many great entertainers out of vaudeville.

Add in Chaplin too. There are a ton of others (especially more if you include sound comedians like The Marx Brothers and Peter Sellers.)
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:Bullet to the Head: I originally saw this in the theater, mainly to support the older guys :). I have not rewatched it yet, but I like Mark was so-so on the film. I generally like Walter Hill, apparently he has a new film coming out next year.
I also saw this at the cinema and for the same reason as you. I think I gave it an extra half star at the time, but in retrospect I was being generous. I want to like these movies more than I actually do. Bullet to the Head, The Last Stand, Escape Plan, Grudge Match... disappointment after disappointment. And I've yet to see the poorly reviewed Sabotage.
I own A Fine Mess, but have not seen it yet.
Set your expectations very low.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Hello Again (1987-USA) **
A suburban housewife chokes to death only to be resurrected a year later by her sister (a witch).
Simple-minded vehicle for 80s comedienne Shelley Long, who tries hard to 'be funny' but has nothing of substance to work with. Skip.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Markgway wrote:
Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:Bullet to the Head: I originally saw this in the theater, mainly to support the older guys :). I have not rewatched it yet, but I like Mark was so-so on the film. I generally like Walter Hill, apparently he has a new film coming out next year.
I also saw this at the cinema and for the same reason as you. I think I gave it an extra half star at the time, but in retrospect I was being generous. I want to like these movies more than I actually do. Bullet to the Head, The Last Stand, Escape Plan, Grudge Match... disappointment after disappointment. And I've yet to see the poorly reviewed Sabotage.
...
I actually think highly of The Last Stand which was to me the most competent and fun film from the ones you mentioned. I was pretty excited for that as I saw it opening day something I rarely do. It also has been popular with people I have lent the DVD to.

An interesting coincidence is that I have not seen Sabotage either. I almost saw it a few times but got talked into something else in the theater, coupled with the reviews (and an increased work schedule at that time as well as that it wasn't in the theater here that long) and I kept putting it off until it was gone. I will rectify this and watch it this year though. I saw the director's End of Watch and Street Kings before so I'm expecting something along those lines.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Chain Letter (2009-USA) *½
A bandaged lunatic sends a chain e-mail (not letter) to a bunch of teens that warns them if they don't pass it on they'll die... guess what happens? Some interesting ideas and plotting lost amid the obligatory torture porn excess.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977-USA) *½
...or Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Locusts but Were Afraid to Ask.
Misguided sequel in which an overripe Richard Burton discovers that puppy fat teen Linda Blair is still possessed by Picasso (or whatever that demon's name is...). Did John Boorman even like the original film? As this does everything it can to undermine it. At best confusing, at worst risible.

Exorcist III (1990-USA) **
Police detective George C. Scott (shouting a lot*) investigates a series of grisly religious murders with the same M.O. as those carried out by a serial killer supposedly executed on the night of the original exorcism. Author/director William Peter Blatty's attempt to get the series back on track is intriguing and suspenseful, but also draggy and very muddled. The reshot climax feels tacked on and one wonders how much better the director's cut - 'Legion' (also the title of Blatty's source novel) - would've been. Worth it, regardless, for one genuine scary scene (if you've seen the film you know what I'm talking about).

"It is NOT in the file! It is NOT!"
*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prTqo1pnK8A
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Markgway wrote:Chain Letter (2009-USA) *½
A bandaged lunatic sends a chain e-mail (not letter) to a bunch of teens that warns them if they don't pass it on they'll die... guess what happens? Some interesting ideas and plotting lost amid the obligatory torture porn excess.
Sounds like Ringu but with e-mail ;)
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Ringu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Chain Letter.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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The Quiet Ones (2013-UK-USA) **
Rising star Olivia Cooke (as a demonically possessed teenager) is the only reason to check out this stale found footage (or not) horror. "Inspired by true events". Yeah, right!
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Hollywood Shuffle (1987-USA) **
A struggling black actor has to deal with racial stereotyping in Hollywood.
The ideas in Robert Townsend's sketch-based satire are considerably better than their execution, which is unfocused, and with only scattershot laughs.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Trauma (1993-USA-Italy) **½
A black-gloved killer collects severed heads. A Romanian teenage girl with psychological issues holds the key. Dario Argento's most mainstream giallo is better than it's reputation would suggest... but if you want a logical plot look elsewhere. Asia Argento is at her most beautiful here.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1993-USA) **½
Needs no introduction... still funny after all these years.
Compared to contemporary comedies this arguably deserves a third star.
If you're a Jim Carrey fan add your own.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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The Final Terror (1983-USA) *
Amateurish horror in which the usual bunch of obnoxious youths are stalked and slaughtered whilst on a camping trip. Dreadful.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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Markgway wrote:Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1993-USA) **½
Needs no introduction... still funny after all these years.
Compared to contemporary comedies this arguably deserves a third star.
If you're a Jim Carrey fan add your own.
Do you have the new BD? I'm waiting til they release a double pack (the sequel is less funny, but still okay). :)
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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No, I don't have the BD.

I didn't like the sequel at all.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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grim_tales wrote:
I'm waiting til they release a double pack (the sequel is less funny, but still okay). :)
The double pack has been available in Germany for months.And it costs buttons to import,english friendly

http://www.amazon.de/Ace-Ventura-1-2-Bl ... ce+ventura
working class blu-ray fan
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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They Came Together (2014-USA) **
Extremely uneven parody of sappy romcoms musters just enough laughs (some clever, some crude) to pass 80 mins.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out

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saltysam wrote:
grim_tales wrote:
I'm waiting til they release a double pack (the sequel is less funny, but still okay). :)
The double pack has been available in Germany for months.And it costs buttons to import,english friendly

http://www.amazon.de/Ace-Ventura-1-2-Bl ... ce+ventura
Thanks for the heads up Sam :) Just ordered it :thumbs:
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