Bullets 'n' Babes

I think we're pretty much the only two who regularly post reviews here.
Well done for keeping the Asian/Japanese area alive and kicking.

12 Years a Slave (2013-USA-UK) ***½
Well-told true story about the kidnap of free man Solomon Northup (Chiwitel Ejiofor) and the harsh years spent in captivity as a slave. Sober, unsensationalised, occasionally harrowing.

Conan the Barbarian (1981-USA) ***

Markgway wrote:Conan the Barbarian (1981-USA) ***

I was gonna buy the JP BD a few weeks ago, then I read about the audio issue and couldn't figure out if the latest JP BD is the fixed version or not.

I bought the Italian BD from Amazon.it (it's under €10); contains the uncut version, if you set your player to Region A, and the original mono track. Bargain.

Markgway wrote:I bought the Italian BD from Amazon.it (it's under €10); contains the uncut version, if you set your player to Region A, and the original mono track. Bargain.

Well, there's stil the shipping cost to be added. I could obtain the JP BD (Fox, re-issue from June 2015) cheaper, but there's the risk that they haven't fixed the issues...

Thanks for the tip, though.

Spotlight (2015-USA-Canada) ***
Boston Globe investigative journalists seek to uncover the truth about the Catholic Church's cover up of systematic child abuse. Good film; focuses on reporters rather than the criminals or victims. A modern day All the Presidents Men.

Knock Knock (USA, 2015) [DCP] - 3.5/5
Eli Roth's equally amusing and intense film about three irritating cunts. Family man Keanu Reeves gets in trouble when he's spending a weekend home alone, and a pair of hot young girls knock on his door. Reminded me not to get involved with crazy Japanese school girls! Originality is the not the strongest point, and the intentionally dislikeable characters are not for everyone, but Roth is good at creating threat and using locations, and the ending is pretty great. Just don't watch the trailer: it gives away nearly everything. Roth is certainly one of the better filmmakers out there. His films are never great, but always fun to watch.

Secret in Their Eyes (2015-USA-Spain-UK-South Korea) **½
It's not usually a good idea for Hollywood to remake a Best Foreign Language Picture winner... and this isn't an exception. However, it's pretty watchable, with a good, haunting performance by Julia Roberts. I wasn't crazy about the original, so those who were will probably rate this lower.

Daddy's Home (2015-USA) **½
Being a contemporary Hollywood comedy my expectations for this were low... but actually it wasn't bad. The pro-family message was positive and there's less of a reliance of vulgarity than usual.

Baron Blood (1972-Italy-Germany) **½
Atmospheric shocker best appreciated by Mario Bava fans.

The Black Cat (1981-Italy-UK) **½
Creepy tale of malevolent feline who terrorizes English countryside.
Atmospheric, but weakened by muddled plot.

Markgway wrote:Secret in Their Eyes (2015-USA-Spain-UK-South Korea) **½
It's not usually a good idea for Hollywood to remake a Best Foreign Language Picture winner... and this isn't an exception. However, it's pretty watchable, with a good, haunting performance by Julia Roberts. I wasn't crazy about the original, so those who were will probably rate this lower.

I did like the original quite a bit. Now I have not seen this one nor inclined to, but I am curious if they kept the ending similar to the original.

Post a spoiler about the original ending and I'll tell you if it's the same.

Mo wrote:Mark I've noticed that you've seen a ton of Italian movies.

I've seen a few...

Do you have a favorite non western?

Actually, apart from a few titles, I'm not really a Spaghetti Western fan...

I suppose Suspiria would top my likes list; but it's a short list.

And have you seen Macabre and Footprints on the Moon?

Yes and No.

I'd be interested to see what you think of them. These 2 movies are so strange that I wouldn't be surprised if you gave them 0 stars, and I wouldn't be surprised if you gave them 4 stars. My guess is that you'd be somewhere in the middle on them..

This was my comment on Macabre: 'Peculiar psychological thriller, inspired by a true story (though it's unlikely most of what goes on here actually happened). Lamberto Bava's bloodless directorial debut is largely dull and overcooked.'

Also is Secret in their Eyes as good as Erin Brockovich?

No.

Black Mama, White Mama (1973-USA-Phillipines) **
Part WIP flick, part (wo)manhunt, all exploitation. Trash, but aware of it.

Dead End Drive-In (1986-Australia) **
Ozploitation is technically well-made, but the setup is unbelievable nonsense, the satire leaden.

Markgway wrote:Post a spoiler about the original ending and I'll tell you if it's the same.

The Juan José Campanella film I'll quote end of the synopsis (fixing a spelling error):

Sneaking inside, he is shocked to find that Morales has a makeshift cell in his home and that he has kept Gómez chained inside for over 24 years as punishment for his wife's death. He kept him alive by feeding him and tending to him, but not once in 24 years talking to him nor letting him out. Morales repeats what he had maintained in front of Espósito back to 1974: that, instead of a death sentence, he believes the boredom of a meaningless life in jail to be true justice.

Basically the same ending then, except it's only been 13 years and Ejiofor persuades Roberts to put the imprisoned man out of his misery

Death Walks on High Heels (1971-Italy-Spain) **
Muddled erotic giallo keeps viewer in suspense, but doesn't quite tie up its loose ends and implausibilities.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977-USA) *
Stupid family of irritants run into mountain-dwelling cannibals. Wes Craven has made some genuinely good horror movies; this isn't one of them. In fact, it's terrible. Starring a bloke who looks like Sonny Bono and another who's a ringer for Matt Damon's Team America puppet (except the puppet gave a better performance). Gore isn't much by today's standards.

Markgway wrote:The Hills Have Eyes (1977-USA) *
Stupid family of irritants run into mountain-dwelling cannibals. Wes Craven has made some genuinely good horror movies; this isn't one of them. In fact, it's terrible. Starring a bloke who looks like Sonny Bono and another who's a ringer for Matt Damon's Team America puppet (except the puppet gave a better performance). Gore isn't much by today's standards.

(Obviously I disagree about your review but) perhaps you should have watched the remake instead. It's a better made film than the original, but suffers from being too faithful to the original for the first 2/3. The final third, where it goes its own way, is very good.

Pretty sure I saw the remake when it came out.
I don't remember it being as bad as the original.

High Plains Drifter (1972-USA) ***
Clint's first western is dark and atypical of the genre; interesting, accomplished.

Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye (1973-Italy-France-Germany) **
Gothic giallo set in Scottish castle; standard stuff, pretty bland.

The Nights of Terror (1981-Italy) *
Comically bad zombie picture contains the usual gut-munching gore and zero common sense. Casting an adult dwarf as a 12 year old boy is the icing on the cake.

Aenigma (1987-Italy-Yugoslavia) *½
Aenemic Lucio Fulci chiller in which a schoolgirl, left braindead after a cruel prank, possesses the minds of her victims (or something). Little sense here, the best you can say is that it isn't exactly awful. Sexy lead actress is Nastassja Kinski's cousin.