Return of the RECENT VIEWING

..and why not?
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driftin
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby driftin » 18 Jun 2018, 15:27

Darkness_Fish wrote:Image

Visually gorgeous black and white vampire film, dialogue entirely in Farsi, though the locations are all in the US. Some really, really good scenes; the girl pushing the drugged-out dracula down the street on the skateboard, the slow bedroom scene with the mirrorball. The only major flaw is the same as with a lot of art-house stuff, there's no commitment to seeing through the narrative, which usually feels like a cop-out to me.

I love that, it's one of the coolest films I've seen in recent years.

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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 23 Jun 2018, 16:21

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Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott at Columbia, 1957-1960

Five of the Boetticher/Scott Ranown films are here from British label Indicator. Transfers are good (for some reason only Ride Lonesome was given a new scan). All of these pictures are beloved by western buffs and are best considered as a series of movies rather than taken individually. Same leading man, same director, same locations, etc. All low-budget and written with economy and style. Now if someone would do Seven Men from Now and Westbound, then all of the Ranown movies would be in hi def.

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pcqgod
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby pcqgod » 24 Jun 2018, 17:01

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Hotel Artemis (2018)

Fairly simple, but original premise. Engaging cast of characters, although no great effort made to give them any original backstory. Decent action, some funny bits. Almost shocking to see Jodie Foster sliding into a matronly role, though I suppose it shouldn't be. B minus.
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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 29 Jun 2018, 03:37

Image Image Image
The Seven-Ups
This son-of-The-French-Connection is actually pretty good if you love '70s cop thrillers filmed in NY as I do. The Scheider character is based on Sonny Grosso, who was Jimmy Doyle's (Gene Hackman) partner in The French Connection. Both characters were played by Roy Scheider. The directer produced both the previous film as well as Bullitt. Yeah, a Matt movie, in other words.

Underworld USA
Another hard boiled noir from Sam Fuller, who had no shortage of manly-man films of similar pedigree.

The Big Country
Wyler's beautifully photographed movie has never looked this good. A most European and liberal perspective pervades and there's plenty of extras - including a wonderful commentary by Christopher Frayling. It was filmed in something called Technirama - which provided a sharper image than Cinemascope. The transfer floors me.

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pcqgod
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby pcqgod » 30 Jun 2018, 16:08

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Sicario: Day of the Soldado

When I heard that there was going to be a Sicario 2, I asked myself "why?" The original movie pretty much summed up the ugliness of the drug war in Mexico with an unflinching look at its results and victims. What more could a sequel do than bring back its primary characters for more gun play and carnage? Having watched it last night, the answer is: not much. As a mere action/thriller kind of movie, it's okay. It suffers from stilted dialogue that seems like it was written by hack "tough guy talk" script doctors, and cliched moments with angry superiors pounding on desks and yelling at their out-of-control law enforcement subordinates. That "yeah this seems wrong but it's necessary isn't it?" tension from the original is gone, out the window with the gritty realism of the original. And the dramatic tension in the final scene is driven by a very improbable coincidence.
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Darkness_Fish
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Darkness_Fish » 30 Jun 2018, 21:22

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Decent enough French horror black-comedy thing, with occasional arthouse pretenses. I thought it was going to go down the vampire route, which would've made more sense in the scenes of absolute craving for meat/blood (such as the weird party/morgue bit), but I'm also glad it shied away from the supernatural, if just because something attempting to be grounded in the real world is normally scarier. However, the depiction of life in Vet School is much more horrific than any of the body-horror butchery on display. What's that about?
Like fast-moving clouds casting shadows against a hillside, the melody-loop shuddered with a sense of the sublime, the awful unknowable majesty of the world.

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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 04 Jul 2018, 18:11

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Bullfighter and the Lady

Probably the best film Budd Boetticher made which isn't a western, the film examines the lives of matadors in Mexico through the eyes of American Robert Stack. Producer John Wayne had John Ford remove about a half an hour for its theatrical release in the early '50s (and it still netted Boetticher an oscar nod for screenplay), but it's been restored to its original 124 minutes for this hi def release. Yes, I see the brutality inherent in Bullfighting, yet I also am swept up in the bravery of these guys who could get in the ring with an animal which can weigh over 2,000 lbs.

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Jimbly
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Jimbly » 04 Jul 2018, 19:11

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Another wildly successful director goes mad in the jungle. After mega success with French Connection and The Exorcist. Friedkin is given carte blanche to make what he wants. He chooses to adapt the book of The Wages Of Fear, not the earlier film, he is at pains to say. He regards the film as a classic. He has casting problems as various names come and go. Steve McQueen and Marcello Mastroianni were cast at one point. Friedkin films most of the movie in Dominican Republic, like Coppola in The Philippines being away from the studio led to problems with studio heads later.

The Sorcerer is claimed to be a lost masterpiece in an interview on the bluray, its not that but its very good, with some great performances. Roy Scheider is brilliant in the main role, with a few nods to Bogart in Treasure of The Sierra Madre. Scheider is one of those actors that is never flashy or hammy, its all about the character. Did he ever give a bad performance?

The film was released at the same time as Star Wars and tanked. I love it and can watch it over and over. Tangerine Dream did the soundtrack as well.

Well worth watching.
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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 04 Jul 2018, 19:23

Yeah, I remember that one, Jeemo - saw it theatrically in fact. Wouldn't mind seeing it again - though I know it's not half as good as the original Wages of Fear.

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Jimbly
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Jimbly » 04 Jul 2018, 19:26

Its been so long since I saw the original one, I remember it being brilliant but I must be around 20 or so at the time. Friedkin is adamant he didnt remake the film but adapted the book. I'm going to try and track down the first version.
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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 04 Jul 2018, 19:27

I recommend the Criterion blu.

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Jimbly
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Jimbly » 04 Jul 2018, 19:29

downloading a rip as I type.
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the masked man
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby the masked man » 04 Jul 2018, 21:59

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Beautiful film, that I saw as a new release and have now seen, thirty years later, as a period piece. Almost seems too whimsical, but it has a lot of charm, largely devoid of plot for heavy spells as Wenders languorously uses his camera to examine the thoughts of numerous Berliners who feel estranged in their city. Finally, Bruno Ganz emerges as an angel who desires to taste the pleasures of a mortal man. Can the US actor Peter Falk, in the city to shoot a wartime drama, help him out? The results are very surprising.

The great French cinematographer Henri Alekan provides gleaming black and white images, and this truly feels lie one from the heart. Also features odd concert footage with an Australian bent with Crime & the City Solution and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

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pcqgod
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby pcqgod » 04 Jul 2018, 23:28

the masked man wrote:Image

Beautiful film, that I saw as a new release and have now seen, thirty years later, as a period piece. Almost seems too whimsical, but it has a lot of charm, largely devoid of plot for heavy spells as Wenders languorously uses his camera to examine the thoughts of numerous Berliners who feel estranged in their city. Finally, Bruno Ganz emerges as an angel who desires to taste the pleasures of a mortal man. Can the US actor Peter Falk, in the city to shoot a wartime drama, help him out? The results are very surprising.

The great French cinematographer Henri Alekan provides gleaming black and white images, and this truly feels lie one from the heart. Also features odd concert footage with an Australian bent with Crime & the City Solution and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.


I love this film.
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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 06 Jul 2018, 05:14

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Manhattan Murder Mystery

The last time Allen and Keaton worked together, and it's a good one. An amalgamation of Double Indemnity, Rear Window and even Lady from Shanghai at the end. I don't know why Woody didn't make Diane his leading lady again after Farrow's fall out.

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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Snarfyguy » 06 Jul 2018, 15:57

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Not nearly as sleazy as the poster would have you believe, this is a reasonably well done B-movie melodrama. Ida Lupino is great as the sadistic warden and her real-life husband Howard Duff shines as the crusading doctor. All the usual prison movie stuff happens, along with a few novel devices.

Not as good as Brute Force or I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, but decent enough.
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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 07 Jul 2018, 04:05

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The Virgin Spring

Bergman's unbelievably poignant film of a virgin's rape and murder and her father's eventual destruction of her tormenters has always devastated me. You don't see it on the usual list of greatest world cinema classics but it definitely deserves to be there. A welcome upgrade of my old Criterion DVD.

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Jimbly
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Jimbly » 07 Jul 2018, 08:12

I watched The French Connection, fabulous stuff. Is there a better screen actor than Gene Hackman on this form?
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Matt Wilson
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby Matt Wilson » 07 Jul 2018, 16:54

It is a great picture, and probably better than Bullitt in terms of great counter culture-era detective films. It certainly has a coherent plot, which the McQueen flick really doesn't. I just reviewed The Seven Ups, which is kind of similar, but not as good, of course. It's too bad Friedkin couldn't have continued with the same quality he had in The French Connection and The Exorcist, though I imagine Sorcerer and even To Live and Die in LA are worthy.

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naughty boy
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Re: Return of the RECENT VIEWING

Postby naughty boy » 07 Jul 2018, 17:28

Bullitt is cack
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