top4719
Prominent Member
The Usual Suspects - 8/10 - First watch for a good few years of this crime classic, it starts a little confusingly but gains momentum and the final pay off is good even when you know the outcome, brilliant.
Cheers for that. I'm always up for another Western!The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017) Directed by Jared Moshe
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First off I'd say avoid the trailer its bloody terrible and really doesn't do the film justice at all, I took a $2 gamble on this mainly because it's from the A24 stable who pretty much deliver the goods on a regular basis, and yep this turned out to be another minor gem especially for the Western genre and its fans, the film stars Bill Pullman as an ageing and not too clever rancho side-man his performance does take a few scenes to get used to but once the film builds with its revenge and friendship themes it does pay-off, aided by a good side cast that includes an excellent Tommy Flanagan this is definitely not in the top league of the genre but it does do a damn enjoyable job, pleased I picked this up and would watch again.7.5/10
Coherence (2013, UK iTunes, also streaming on UK Amazon Prime)
Another rather brilliant low budget sci-fi mind bender in the same vein is the likes of Timecrimes, Primer and Karyn Kusama's The Invitation.
A group of friends gather for a dinner party as a comet passes overhead - suddenly, the lights go out and the whole neighbourhood is plunged into darkness, except for a single house down the street. Two of the group go and investigate and kicks off a chain of events based around the theme of multiple dimensions and the notion of self within and across them all.
Its one of those films where saying too much about the plot will completely ruin it, so suffice to say its group of friends are all well drawn, the only notable face among them is Nicholas Brandon of Buffy fame. They feel real and the issues that arise during this night of rather strange goings on all feel oddly plausible and help root the oddness in a sense of realism.
The script does some really simple yet clever things to help us navigate through the complexities of the plot, which is shot like a cross between traditional and found footage styles, giving an energetic urgency to the whole thing. And even come its ending, the film still manages to give us a somewhat fresh twist on our preconceptions, choosing not to end on a traditional 'how do we get back to normal'? but more of a just-dark-enough 'how do I make the best of this situation for me?'
Mind-bending, yet curiously simple and logical to follow, if you like films like those mentioned above, this is a hearty recommendation.
Aye absolutely. Picked up a few cheapies this week on iTunes, including this one, and all have been well worth the price of a rubbish corporate coffee.This is on iTunes for £1.99, from your review seems like its worth getting.
The Hidden - 1987 - Jack Sholder
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Used to see the VHS cover at the local video shop as a kid but have never seen it until now. Great 80s sci-fi actioner. What's good about it?
Could it get more 80s than this still from the film? Ferrari? Check. Stripper? Check. Bag of weapons? Check. Guy in a Don Johnson suit? Check. Shootout in the background? Check! I wish I could show you the reverse view but unfortunately it isn't allowed!
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- You'll be instantly transported back to the 80s what with the crap and botched synth soundtrack, strippers, police station shootout, Porsches and Ferrari car chase sequences, gloriously OTT violence using military weapons on the streets and in the police precincts of LA.
- It's funny with humour that would probably see the director jailed these days for a hate crime. E.g. early on you see a cripple getting mowed down by a Ferrari in a completely OTT and daft manner. Some farting and belching humour too.
- A great mix between 80s classics like some of John Carpenter's classics and Arnie's classics like Commando and Terminator. Nowhere near as good as those but if you're in the mood for a silly 80s film that's at least entertaining on some level then it's worth checking out.
- Great 80s tropes. Duffel bags overflowing with weapons, strippers, exotic sports cars being driven like they're stolen, and more.
- Some funny dialogue and a sometimes humourous law enforcement partnership between Kyle MacLachlan's Lloyd Gallagher and Michael Nouri's Tom Beck.Lines like
Con 1 - 'Think the drugs are kicking in...'
Con 2 - 'Nah, dude's from outer space, man.'
After the alien shoots up a local police precinct and some jailbirds get a front seat view of the carnage.
- It has one of the worst soundtracks I've ever heard. The Foley work is sometimes crap as well.
- A Danny Trejo cameo.
Edit - Is it allegory dressed as a lighthearted and silly sci-fi romp? The alien loves Ferraris, hot broads, fierce firearms and good scran. Does he do drugs at some point? Probably. He's like the alien version of Patrick Bateman! There is a scene where the car salesman closes the deal with some cocaine stashed in his mini model Ferrari on his desk! Gloriously 80s madness.
Thanks for this. This has just gone on the list. Really value your POV on this stuff and going through the Arrow catalogue on your own to find these gemeralds is pretty time consuming!The Mad Fox (1962) Directed by Tomu Uchida
iTunes Arrow Films
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This was a huge surprise and to be honest I wasn't really expecting much but if like me you like the look and style of traditional folktales then this is an absolute beauty, the tale itself is great and the way its story is told in 3 different styles really comes off in such original way, so many stunning moments await from red filtered scenes of doom to a stunning surreal dream that immediately had me thinking of the beauty of The Ghost of Tsushima with its fields of flowers, honour shrines and fox hunts and finally topping it off comes the wonderfully designed stage-like set that folds in on itself which was just another total wow, another huge applaud to Arrow for bringing these forgotten gems to the screen, great stuff.8.5/10
I do not. But I'm a bit weird. I think I only own two movies digitally.^
Don't you do iTunes Tom they often have crazy Arrow sales when you can pick up the films for under £3 this one cost me around £2.20 from the US store.
"And tell them Christmas is cancelled."
#2020