Trollslayer
Outstanding Member
You shouldn't hold back.
I think they brought the curtains down on puny jokes.Can anyone remember the humour in them?
Species II (1998, streaming on UK Netflix)
Derided at the time for its utterly ludicrous plot underpinning its very high gloss Hollywood sheen, time has indeed been kind to this sex n' grue sequel. Not that its improved the film at all (although its VFX work from legend Steve Johnson remain impressive), more that I can recognise the utter insanity of its script and just wallow in its stupidity - its as if Italian trashmeister Ernesto Gastaldi (he of such impressive credits as 2019: The Fall of New York and Hands of Steel as well as numerous great gialli of the 70s) had finally been given the budget he yearned for.........and taken on that level, this is a glorious trash-terpiece of almost unprecedented levels.
Not only is bringing Sil, I mean Eve back to life via cloning deemed a sensible thing to do after she nearly shagged the human race to death in the previous film, but sending a manned space mission to Mars and land it on the exact spot where billions of years ago the same alien species died and left its DNA ready for the next unlucky life form to pass that way is greeted with nothing more than a 'huh'.
So the hunky space captain is now impregnating every woman he can find and collecting the offspring that are born seconds after their very 90's Hollywood sex is over and Sil, I mean Eve is starting to feel all kinds of horny for this slimy sex god and before you can say "Madsen and Helgenberger really need new agents", its a race against time to stop these two from boffing and yet again destroying the world with the now combined power of their love juices.
Its ridiculous. But its a kind of big budget Hollywood ridiculous we don't get to see very often - probably because the resultant film is poor on so many levels - and as such, needs to be celebrated. And its precisely because of that massive budget that the insanity works - most films of this stupidity have micro-budgets and so look as bad as they actually are. This though, is some next level turd - VFX (and decent VFX at that) all over the place, Henstridge proving yet again she's allergic to most clothing and its a sugary eye candy treat that you don't mind watching, knowing full well its rotting your brain at the same time.
A bona fide trash-terpiece.
There are a couple of books on this that are well worth a read, one of which is "Into Thin Air"Everest
A real life disaster film (think you would call it that) based on a group of climbers who attempted Everest.
A bit depressing by the end as it obviously didn't go to plan but very well done.
8/10
That's cool, thank you! I'll put them on my reading listThere are a couple of books on this that are well worth a read, one of which is "Into Thin Air"
I still have not seen It Chapter 2 as I found the first one a bit underwhelming and silly.I had a Steven King double-bill weekend - IT Chapter 2 and Doctor Sleep both Cinema Paradiso BD rentals. Man that sure was a lot offor one weekend.gruesome child murdering
Enjoyed both but at over five hours between them there were probably a few bits that could be trimmed. I had no idea what the story for Doctor Sleep was going to be, and wasn't sure about how it would go once it had 'settled' on the big direction - I would guess it took nearly an hour to get to the point where there was a plot. It went very hard, includingShining revisitin the final act. Pretty satisfying overall with some great cinematography, although some of the night scenes did not look great to me.many shots and even directly reused footage
IT went pretty well as expected - felt the flabbier of the two but still decent - Bill Skarsgård is a great sinister clown again. Something I forgot from the mini series all those years go, or maybe it wasn't there, was the fact that?? I looked it up an it seems to be canonical with the book, which has an even more bonkers ending. I did find the constant 'bad endings' joke was somewhat overdone, especially when a certain junk shop owner turns up.IT is an alien
Overall both were up there with the best King films (though definitely not the best) and if you know King films you know pretty much what is going on. Lots of nice little references to the wider King universe, especially if you have read the Dark Tower books - and if not, why not!?!?
I personally found the book, IT, really disappointing and hard work.I still have not seen It Chapter 2 as I found the first one a bit underwhelming and silly.
That being said - the book is CRAZY. Like absolutely trouser-eatingly insane. It's a great example of King's "talcum powder" writing period in the 80s.
Left for Dead was the other one.That's cool, thank you! I'll put them on my reading list
I had a Steven King double-bill weekend - IT Chapter 2 and Doctor Sleep both Cinema Paradiso BD rentals. Man that sure was a lot offor one weekend.gruesome child murdering
Enjoyed both but at over five hours between them there were probably a few bits that could be trimmed. I had no idea what the story for Doctor Sleep was going to be, and wasn't sure about how it would go once it had 'settled' on the big direction - I would guess it took nearly an hour to get to the point where there was a plot. It went very hard, includingShining revisitin the final act. Pretty satisfying overall with some great cinematography, although some of the night scenes did not look great to me.many shots and even directly reused footage
IT went pretty well as expected - felt the flabbier of the two but still decent - Bill Skarsgård is a great sinister clown again. Something I forgot from the mini series all those years go, or maybe it wasn't there, was the fact that?? I looked it up an it seems to be canonical with the book, which has an even more bonkers ending. I did find the constant 'bad endings' joke was somewhat overdone, especially when a certain junk shop owner turns up.IT is an alien
Overall both were up there with the best King films (though definitely not the best) and if you know King films you know pretty much what is going on. Lots of nice little references to the wider King universe, especially if you have read the Dark Tower books - and if not, why not!?!?
Also can't recommend Castle Rock enough. Especially Season 2. A lovely Misery kind of tribute, and a great turn from Lizzy Caplan as Annie Wilkes.
Thanks - looks up my street - another one to binge on a Starz free-trial ala Counterpart.
Scandalously cancelled, but it matters not for the watch as each season is contained and Season 2 ends very nicely indeed.
Oh I didn't notice it was cancelled - will stop waiting for season 3. Agree on the ending.
Sorry I thought you hadn't seen any of it!
Yeah Season 3 was rumoured to be taking us to the Overlook. I can't believe it got binned before they did it. Combining some other King work with The Shining could have been absolutely tremendous.
Oh well
Awesome! CheersLeft for Dead was the other one.
There is also a made for TV film called "Into Thin Air - Death on Everest", which is worth a watch if you're still thirsty for more.
Oh well. Different strokes for different folks I guess!I loved the book IT, one of my favourite books. Read it loads of times.