[Ghostchase]

 

One of the best foreign films of the early 2000's. Chan-Wook Park delivers a flawless, bloody, and deranged piece of Asian cinema.

[Genteel Death]

 

[fugazifan]

Originally Posted by Ghostchase

 

Shot in black and white, a story of a group of homeless living in the dark recesses of the New York subway. Add music by DJ Shadow and UNKLE, I was loving it before I even pressed play.

 

&

 

Maybe I'm a sucker for soothing and "boring" films that don't really go anywhere, but I loved both of these Kelly Reichardt films, I guess as more and more people become accustomed to meaningless tripe that Hollywood markets to them, there lies the lost art of making a film about nothing particular, just chemistry between actors and meaningful dialogue exchanges.

all three of those look really interesting. i will check them out.

[Genteel Death]

 

[Ghostchase]

Originally Posted by fugazifan

all three of those look really interesting. i will check them out.

You won't be let down. All three on Netflix too.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Genteel Death

 

That traumatised the fuck out of me when I saw it as a kid.

[Genteel Death]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

That traumatised the fuck out of me when I saw it as a kid.

Super grim stuff.

I'm watching this right now, and I am enjoying it so far.

 

[evollove]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

If I was gonna start exploring his work, I'd start with Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, Rio Bravo and Only Angels Have Wings.

Bringing AND His Girl is redundant. Either one will do. Add BIG SLEEP. Chandler source, Bogie and Becal, script by Faulkner and Lynn Bracket, and an important noir film in general.

[stu666]

 

a truly horrendous film!

[Pookie]

 

[Pelle]

 

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Murmer99

watched Last House on Dead End Street.... brutal, difficult to watch ( I have a soft stomach... I could barely handle the scene with the woman tied to the bed at the end..), ultimately deranged. Not my kind of film, really. However, I was able to appreciate it as a horror film and I think it accomplished what it was going for. Watkins apparently directed it as well... which wasn't known until decades after it was released from what I hear. I guess most seem to dislike the film too... which is reasonable. As a whole it's sort of average... has it's dull moments that kind of drag. Just a genuinely creepy, fucked up, mean spirited, unsettling film! not sure if I'll be rewatching it anytime soon...

There seems to be a real cult surrounding that film in here. Atsonicpark is a big fan, I think, and quite a few others have said they like it, too. I have to admit to being in the dislike camp, though. I just can't get beyond all the dull stretches. And while I have to assume a large factor behind its following is due to its supposed notoriety, I can't remember anything in it that was especially controversial - at least compared with a lot of other horror movies at that time. My overall memory was just of being really underwhelmed and quite bored by the whole thing.

Unlike ...

 

King Kong

A thousand million times better than Peter Jackson's version and about a thousand billion times better than the 70s one. There's a whole angle about how the remakes are better because they placed a far greater emphasis on the underlying love story. They did but it's still in the original, it just accepts the audience can see it unfolding without the need to wack them over the head with constant reminders.

[!@#$%!]

 

okay, before i'm booed out of here lemmi say that i was expecting this mooby to be *utter shit*, but i ordered it cuz it was in a list and i had a plan to watch this whole list of movies, so here it comes and *it was a lot better than i expected*.

i mean, spielberg's productions are always fucking impeccable, sure, but his take on science fiction isn't always great and he can go for the money too quickly-- minority report for example was mediocre and ham-handed and i can't even remember it in spite of the great effects.

but this shit was something else, it was pretty good actually, and the creepy child actor who sees dead people played a good robot, really good-- kubrick was supposed to make that movie and he didn't because he didn't think there was a kid actor who could play this part. but the creepy kid somehow makes it work.

i was suprised. i'll give it 4/5 though netflix predicted i'd give it only 3. the thing is, the story was good, it wasn't "easy", and i think i'm gonna look for the original brian aldiss story and check it out.

[LifeDistortion]

"A.I" is probably my favorite Spielberg movie. I'm not sure if that's because of the Kubrick connection or not. I think its a really good movie. A lot of people who bash "A.I." say Spielberg ruined a Kubrick movie. I don't agree with that. "A.I." for me is near flawless.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Murmer99

I can understand that. I wouldn't really "defend" it since I already mentioned it isn't my kind of film. But... in its defense (oh shit, already contradicted myself) I think it executed what it was going for almost perfectly. You know... the making it look as real as possible approach. There were little things I noticed that kind of made what was happening creepier... I tend to absorb every little detail when I'm watching a film sometimes. For example... while they're slicing the womans body parts at the end there's a close up of one of the chicks wearing a mask and shes sliding her tongue over her mouth and laughing hysterically while looking right at the gruesome scene. I did quite enjoy the atmosphere particularly in the abdicated building where the victims were kept. So... I don't know. Solid film, in my opinion. I wouldn't say it's "great" though. I'm more than certain you know more than I do when it comes to horror films. Which would you recommend that were around the same time as this?

Haha, there's always a back and forth of replies whenever LHoDES gets mentioned here. I definitely don't hate it and I always end up saying I should watch it again - it's been ages since I last saw it on an nth generation pirate VHS copy, so I hardly gave it the best of chances.

Noisereductions, Atsonic and Dr Felix are more able to recommend Horror movies from that era than I am but I doubt you'll find that many quite like LHoDEs.

[HenryHill51]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Haha, there's always a back and forth of replies whenever LHoDES gets mentioned here. I definitely don't hate it and I always end up saying I should watch it again - it's been ages since I last saw it on an nth generation pirate VHS copy, so I hardly gave it the best of chances.

Noisereductions, Atsonic and Dr Felix are more able to recommend Horror movies from that era than I am but I doubt you'll find that many quite like LHoDEs.

I appreciate this movie for what it was- basically an independent 'horror' film that gained true cult status due to its behind the scenes rumblings. It's a perfect example of 70' grindhouse cinema, as well. The book "Sleazoid Express" (which is a must have for any exploitation/grindhouse fan) spends quite a few pages on "Last House On Dead End Street" debunking alot of the myths about its director and detailing the various trials and tribulations of the film receiving home video distribution. Watch it along with Gaspar Noe's "I Stand Alone" for true nihilisic cinema!

[demonrail666]

Yeah, I Stand Alone would make for a very dark companion piece. My problem is that I increasingly don't like that really uber nihilistic style of cinema. It's not a judgement on the films themselves (especially I Stand Alone, which I think is very good) just that I can't really enjoy them anymore. I increasingly need a bit of uplift in the movies I watch.

Alongside the article in Sleazoid Express there's a nice article about LHoDES in an early edition of Flesh and Blood, which I think has been reissued in a Flesh and Blood compendium. Although I think it trades largely on the very myths debunked in the Sleazoid piece.

[sonic sphere]

 

[Keeping It Simple]

I saw Sudden Impact for the first time, last night. The gang-rape of Sondra Locke's character, Jennifer, and her sister, was deeply disturbing, and has haunted me ever since. Rape scenes in movies have always deeply disturbed me, and I'd rather not watch them.

[Ghostchase]

Ya! Beat Kitano's Outrage is on Netflix! Been meaning to download that.

 

Last "mobster" film I watched was Gomorrah and didn't like that much, and frankly I've grown really tried of the whole Italian mafia film, I'd much rather watch Yakuza film anyway of the week and if its a Beat film, its no contest. The man is a genius. Outrage is a great film, it consists of Beat's small clan being in between two disgruntled larger clans and he has to play the middleman trying smooth things over, usually being on the short end of the stick. Beat knows what he wants and shoots his films in a no bullshit manner. Precise. Although not much is groundbreaking about this film, but it is Beat making a Yakuza film, and that's all I need.