What I Watched Last Night In HD/UHD etc (Review).

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Night on Earth (1991) Directed by Jim Jarmusch
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Jarmusch on the road again but this time we take the journey by taxi visiting 5 stories of 5 different cities in one night and it works brilliantly, I had forgotten just how good and funny this was, first up is…

L.A with a very young looking Winona Rider behind the steering wheel, she cocky full of beans and really knows what she wants from life, her passenger Gena Rowlands a movie talent scout takes a shine to her personality and outlook and offers her a deal of a lifetime…

N.Y. this one’s a cracker and so funny as street smart YoYo can’t get a cab for life or money because of his skin colour that is until first day on the job Helmut an ageing German immigrant turns up, Helmut really hasn't got a clue of how to get anywhere around the city or even how to get his taxi into drive mode so YoYo takes over driving duties and together they spark a laugh a minute friendship…

Paris and we follow an unnamed black taxi driver who throws out 2 black executives out of his cab for racial comments and on his intelligence, the next fare he thinks he’s got an easy ride which comes in the shape of a beautiful blind girl but he soon learns she’s got a feisty bite and soon puts him in his place with more than a few life lessons.

Rome now this is my fave of the lot there were parts in this where I was hysterical especially from the way Roberto Benigni picks up a priest and proceeds to give confession in his taxi cab about his love for pumpkins and sheep

Helsinki this is the most sombre of the lot which carries a real deadbeat humour about it which is hardly surprising as the cast consists of Aki Kaurismäki regulars, its a good story told by piss head passengers but the driver as an even better one to tell.

And the icing on the cake the fantastic score and songs from Tom Waits
8.5/10
I'm not entirely sure whether I've seen this or not, anyway ordered! :smashin:
 
'Oliver' (1968)

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I always include this in my Christmas viewing list, as it seems somewhat appropriate to the season.

Firstly it's Dickens and everyone is dressed like they've fallen off a Christmas card, then there's that bit where he's kicked out of the workhouse and Harry Secombe drags him through the snow -so it's probably Christmas- singing 'Boy For Sale' (oo-er!).

So that's why I watch this at Christmas time.

From the days when musicals had actual tunes you could remember and sing along to. :)
 
A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas (WB, region free - UK disc)

There are no two ways about - sophisticated comedy this ain't.

You will see a baby ingest weed, cocaine and ecstasy. And love it. You will see Neil Patrick Harris explain that he's not really gay and that its all a ploy on the whole world to get more tail. You will also see NPH call Jesus, the actual 'Jesus', a 'cockblocker'. To his actual face. You will see a Claymation Stay Puft Snowman devour NYC. You will see a Claymation penis. A very large Claymation penis. And you will also see a real penis stuck to a metal pole. In graphic close up.

And if you find any of the above amusing, you will love this film.

I liked the first Harold & Kumar film, but loathed the second one. This is probably my favourite of the lot as it just distils all of what is amusing about these two - two likable leads, facing adulthood and the perils that all that entails, a filthy sense of lowest common denominator humour that skewers one and all and a sense of complete 'what the ****' randomness thrown in for good measure.

Oh and did I mention its all about Christmas? A hunt for a tree takes in a Russian gangster with a horny daughter, a waffle making robot who saves the day and a full blown song and dance number that wouldn't be out place in a golden age musical. Its all here, with yet again NPH being Barney from HIMYM turned up to 11 and stealing the show. Effortlessly.

I love this even though part of me knows its very wrong. But unlike your Bad Santa's this one is filthy but not very mean about it. Ho, Ho, Ho indeed.

Its also one of the very best 3D films available. Its designed for pop out and even takes the pee out of itself for being such a 3D showcase (cue Danny Trejo sat watching 3D on TV in the movie) so its nigh on a perfect 3D showcase. If you can stand all the rude and sweary stuff. Same with the lossless soundtrack - its all about the fun with the transfer, which makes it doubly fun to watch and listen to.

Summary - its not big and its not the clever. But it is uproariously rude and funny. And of you still have 3D capability and you don't own this disc, then shame on you. Shame. On. You.
 
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Blood Simple

You know, you know, a friend of mine a while back broke his hand and put it in a cast. Very next day, he falls, protects his bad hand, and he breaks his good one. So he breaks it too, you know. So, now he's got two busted flippers. So, I says to him: "Creighton," I says. "I hope your wife really loves you, because for the next five weeks, you can't even wipe your own god damn ass."

It's been taken care of. And the less you know about it, the better.


Im not quite sure how I have never seen this film before. I only blind-bought it because the steelbook was cheap (I liked the design!) and because I knew it was the Coen brothers first film. I kept thinking I'd seen it before and wasn't too keen on it...

Well I don't know what film I was thinking of but it wasn't this little gem! This came out in 1984 but it doesn't feel that old at all except for when you note how young some of the cast are - Frances McDormand for example. And what a cast. McDormand is brilliant here playing a slightly more vulnerable (and obviously a lot younger) character than the roles she is famous for. And we have a certain M.Emmet Walsh who is fantastic as the (literally!) big bad here. And then there's the ever reliable Dan Hedaya too who is also great. I wasn't quite so keen on John Getz but he plays his part well. This is a neo noir at heart and with a few changes you could totally imagine this one being made in the 40's/50's with no problem at all. The Coen brothers are smart though. The gore and violence is amped up here to great effect so that it almost feels like a horror film at times. The Texas setting is great and the atmosphere just feels moody. I love the cinematography and soundtrack too which always helps. There is neon everywhere in this film - its almost like a film that's trying to be the 80s which isn't actually made in the 80s...yet it is - I know that doesn't make sense but that's how I see it! And that's what's surprising about this one - it doesn't feel 80s really. Its way ahead of its time and points to several 90s films for instance.

I'm not sure if its deliberate but there are a few references to the best film ever made here (which only came out 2 years before this one of course). Now whether this is coincidence I have no idea but... M.Emmet Walsh's character isn't a million miles away from his Bryant character for one thing. Then there's the neon. And then, more obviously, there is a key sequence near the end which really reminded me of a key sequence near the end of Blade Runner in all sorts of different ways! All this plays very well with me of course. As usual with the Coen's...this one doesn't run the way you think its going to once you're a certain distance into the film and its all the better for it. I really didn't know what was going to happen and there was more than one what the absolute...flip moment! And the end is...different too as you would expect.

I watched the UK steelbook. If I had to guess, I would say that this is the same transfer as the Criterion though from what I can work out. The PQ is excellent. There is plenty of grain (as there should be) and the all important black levels (this is a dark film for the most part) are excellent with plenty of shadow detail. That neon certainly pops (for a Blu-ray) too. I did wonder how good this could look in 4K but for a budget 80s film this is great stuff and better than I expected. The AQ was very good. There is some use of surround but this is a mostly front-centred sound mix and its all nice and clear. I did have to use subtitles here and there but that was no fault of the AQ - I just couldn't quite decipher the sometimes strong Southern dialogue completely.

Summary? I love a nice blind buy surprise from years ago and this certainly qualifies on that front! This is already one of my favourite Coen brothers films and I cant believe I somehow missed it as long as I did. I already want to see it again. Way ahead of its 1984 release time and a minor gem. Great stuff!

Film 9/10
PQ 9/10
AQ 8/10
 
Christmas Classic

Die Hard (1988)

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"Now I have a machine gun. Ho! Ho! Ho!"

Bruce Willis saves the world in his dirty vest in this seasonal favourite.

Shut up! It's set on Christmas Eve and it has Christmas music in it! OK?

John McTiernan's classic actioner is the perfect antidote to traditional seasonal fare and despite knowing it like the palm of my hand, it never loses its appeal.

Boosted Bruce Willis from "That bloke off 'Moonlighting'" to big screen superstardom overnight. I remember going in to see this one day when it was first released, to get out of the rain and not expecting much at all, only to be completely bowled over by it.
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Oh, and Alan Rickman.
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:)

Proof that all testosterone driven action flicks don't have to be brain dead exercises in tedium.

Gerard Butler, I'm looking at you.
 
'Die Hard' musical fun facts:

The film features variations on Beethoven's Ode To Joy' and 'Singin' In the Rain' as leitmotifs for the terrorists. Director John McTiernan included these as a tribute to his favourite film 'A Clockwork Orange'.

In the final minutes of the film, McTiernan wasn't happy with the music composed by Michael Kamen and he replaced it with music from two other films.

When McClane and Officer Powell see each other for the first time the music is from John Scott's score for the film 'Man on Fire'. Then, when Karl emerges from the crowd with his machine gun and is shot by Powell, the music is from James Horner's score for 'Aliens' (which of course sounds just like his music for 'Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan' and 'Battle Beyond the Stars'). :)

Lookee...

 
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You Were Never Really Here (StudioCanal, region B - UK disc)

Like Mandy, this is a stunning to look at and listen to interpretation of a classic exploitation movie. Ramsey and Greenwood paint every single frame with utterly ravishing images and the accompanying soundtrack is an assault of electronic ambience and industrial ear warfare. Haunting images - the lake funeral, the security camera invasion - transcend the genre roots and make this truly something special to watch...…..

And yet with saying all that, I'm going against popular opinion and saying that on the whole, I'm slightly disappointed with it.

Its not the visuals, the soundtrack or even the performances - Pheonix is immense. But I'm slightly confused by what the film is/wants to be. By their very nature, genre films tend to fixate on the more lurid, the more shocking aspects as their raison d'etre - the sex, the uber-violence, its that that sells. And therefore the narrative, plots and characters all tend to be wholly secondary in nature - skinny plots, non-existent characters, all that just gets in the way of the sex and violence.

Ramsey has said that primarily due to budget, she couldn't stage elaborate setpieces, instead opting to show the aftermath of violence rather than the acts themselves. As effective as they are, it then robs a genre piece of one of its cornerstones. Replacing it with more character work should then fill the void.....and yet for all the little flashbacks making us piece together the trauma in Pheonix's earlier life that drives him, I still never got a handle on Pheonix as a 'character'. At all.

The turning point for me was the lake funeral - here was a man, we are told, who has witnessed so much brutality towards children, both first hand and in his earlier careers, that even with all his suicidal tendencies, he is somehow driven to help find lost kids, often at huge personal expense. And yet with the plot hanging where it was, for Pheonix to ignore all that and seemingly become incredibly selfish (possibly understandable given prior events?) just showed I hadn't really understood his character at all.

I know, I know - that's the point: a horrifically tormented, conflicted individual who isn't just one thing.....but that just makes him cinematically uninteresting. For large parts of the character work here, I was, dare I say, it bored with it all. The title shows he is a nothing, he has nothing, and therefore it should be his actions that define him to us....but then we're back to the film robbing us of these actions, showing only the aftermath, half of which wasn't even due to his actions in the first place...….I just never got a handle on the whole endeavour.

Much to appreciate - its just as beautiful as Mandy albeit in a different, more traditional way. And there are some really interesting setpieces that showed what could have been. But for all the time spent on Pheonix and his character, he just never interested me or allowed me to get to grips with him. Its like he was never really there...….:facepalm: A very beautiful looking and sounding genre curio, but sadly nothing more for me.

Good job with all that praise on the A/V side that the transfer is a belter. Beautifully detailed images that capture every nuance perfectly. And a soundtrack with as much surround sound steerage, impact, heft and welly as any bombastic action blockbuster, it looks and sounds like the mutts nuts. Its an embarrassment then that the only extra is titled 'From book to film' and yet lasts 62 seconds. Jesus...…

Summary - well worth a watch, but it needed more. More genre tropes, more character work, more.....anything to make it truly shine. Can't fault its look and sound though - gorgeous.
Agree more or less with all that. Im surprised you didnt mention Taxi Driver though because this film borrows from that a LOT. And then adds arthouse to it.

Its not a bad film, the acting and cinematography are great, but the story? What story? Disappointing. :(
 
Nightmare Beach (88 Films, region B - UK disc, part of The Italian Collection)

Woooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!

Its an Italian slasher filmed entirely in the US with an entirely US cast (including such luminaries as John Saxon, Michael Parks and someone so evil, he hates The A-Team, Lance Le Gault) so immediately this has a flavour all of its own. Throw in the fact that its not just a slasher, its a teen T&A movie (Woooooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!), its a biker revenge movie and a police procedural, its pretty unique in its feel.

Wooooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!!

The kills are hilarious in that our slasher is a leather clad biker who never removes his helmet and who's weapon of choice is an electric chair on the back of his bike. The kills are all scored by Goblin-esque rock riffs and have gloriously loopy make up effects as apparently 15 seconds of this electricity can melt faces, pop eyeballs and basically do anything the make up guys wanted it to do.

If you took the Woooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!!! scenes out of the film (so much soft rock, so much bikini clad dancing and gyrating, so many wet t-shirt contests.......so much.......), it would be 30 mins shorter, so there's no getting away from the Wooooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!! of it all. To be fair, they at least try to mix it up and throw the odd Wooooooooo, football!!!!! and Woooooooooo, boobs!!!!! in. But it doesn't fool us for a minute, no siree Bob. We know its all about the Wooooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!!!!

Our leads are the only two teens in the whole of Florida that aren't interested in Wooooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!! and while Nick de Toth is dull as dishwater, Sarah Buxton is lovely, with a real Catherine Mary Stewart vibe to her (swoon......). And while its plotting and acting, yes even from the previously mentioned acting legends, is purely pantomime, I never for a minute guessed the identity of the killer which was uproariously hatstand.

Its late 80's Woooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!! slasher madness. That's about it. Its not got much Italian in it (other than that Goblin score) and there's certainly not a lot of Lenzi in it either, but its enjoyable in its own Wooooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!!!! kinda way.

Wooooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!! has probably never looked so good. It looks amazing, thanks to crisp details, rock solid picture, fine grain and rich colours. The lossless English 2.0 is thin and tinny, with the rock music having no real low end, but its good otherwise. The only extra is 15 min with Simonetti, appropriate given the only real Italian flavour comes from his score - its ok and covers all his post-Goblin career.

Summary - if you can handle Woooooooo, Spring Break!!!!!!! then this slasher has merit. If the mere mention of Woooooooo, Spring Break!!!!! (which of course is always accompanied by hands in the air and a little dance at the end) is like nails on a chalkboard then walk away. very fast. Good transfer though.

Ps forgot to mention - we finally have a worthy competitor for ‘best 80s saxophone man’. The dude in the band shown here - MC Hammer pants, suit jacket and no shirt and mullet/spiky hair combo finally offers up a challenge to My Lubed up Long Hair Muscle Dude in The Lost Boys...........lets get ready to rumblllllllllleeeeeeeeee!!!!
 
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Tonight's Viewing

A festive marathon of the seasonal episodes of some of my favourite TV shows.

Thunderbirds 'Give Or Take A Million'

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The Avengers' Too Many Christmas Trees

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Frasier (a double bill): 'Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowicz' & 'High Holidays'

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'Til Death Us Do Part. 'Christmas Special 1972'

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The Dame Edna Experience 'A Night On Mount Edna'.

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A random episode chosen from 'The Two Ronnies Christmas Specials'

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'And into the wee small hours with what else but...

A Ghost Story for Christmas 'The Signalman'

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Plus a nice bottle of red and some Christmas nibbles. Bliss! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

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High Holidays is possibly my favourite Frasier episode.

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:laugh:

'The Doctor Is Out' is my favourite. Patrick Stewart is a world famous opera director who thinks Frasier is gay and sets his sights on him. Frasier is too much of a star struck social climber to burst his bubble. Hilarity ensues! :D

Complete episode here. Merry Christmas folks! ;)

 
Today's Sunday Matinee

'Alles Is Liefde (Love Is All)' (2007)

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A nice little bit of seasonal fluff I discovered a few years ago.

A pitch-perfect little number set in Amsterdam on St Nicholas Eve and St Nicholas Day, the 5th and 6th of December and the Dutch equivalent of our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when the Dutch exchange presents and celebrate the holiday.

My first instinct on seeing this was that it was more than a little inspired by the seasonal Brit flick, 'Love Actually', which I have since found out was indeed the case.

A perfect slice of Sunday afternoon Christmas viewing. :)

For anyone curious to explore, it's only available on Blu Ray (with English subtitles) from The Netherlands.
 
Revenge (Vertigo Films, region B - UK disc)

Looks like 2018 was the year for 'arthouse exploitation' - Mandy, You Were Never Really Here and now this. While all three are slightly different takes, this one nestles in the middle of those two as almost a perfect bridge between the pure visual/aural dream-logic assault of Mandy and the more traditional but utterly ravishing Ramsey flick.

I'd read a lot about the politics of this one - anti-male, etc - but honestly, I thought it was a really interesting take on the theme: more time is probably spent with the three male antagonists than with our protagonist and each one has some surprising depth, being a different shade of 'toxic masculinity' in the 21st Century: the alpha male who thinks he can have it all, regardless of the price, the small man desperate to keep up and the man paralysed into inactivity. I liked the depth given to these three, the bickering and arguing between them as the realisation of their actions dawn on them and they made for a compelling group of antagonists, never once falling into cookie cutter revenge movie stereotypes.

I never once felt like it was male bashing, especially when viewed alongside the actions of the protagonist - of course I don't mean that their actions were justified because of her, more that again, it was just as biting a comment on femininity in the 21st century: she is more than happy to use her raw sex appeal to get what she wants - the man she knows is married but with a lifestyle that she desires, the flattery, the attention, the adoration until she has had enough......and I think the film clearly shows this.

But of course how are its genre credentials? Pretty great. Some really icky grue, so much blood spraying everywhere and yet a nice balance between the outrageous and the realistic. Its shot superbly, with the vibrant colours of the blazing sky and burning sands of the desert providing a lovely visual backdrop, even more with some insanely rich symbolism liberally scattered across the whole film. There's a peyote sequence that brings to mind the trippy visuals of Mandy, and a shot of a biker in the night could have been an outtake from Cosmatos' film. But for all its commentary and visual beauty (and some nutso leaps in logic - a shotgun that fires like a sniper rifle, a beer can branding, etc), its a very traditional revenge movie and it never forgets it roots.

I really liked this and I think genre fans, as well as the arthouse set, will too.

With all that visual and aural beauty on show, its a good job that the transfer on this disc is more than up to the task. Its stunning to both watch and listen to. Huge amounts of detail are on show, with those colours rich and deep. Blacks are inky and there's not a drop of grain insight, meaning its perfectly crystal clear, with a real depth to the image. Its lossless 5.1 soundtrack matches the visuals too, with weight and depth to the electronica of the score as well as the various gunshots. Its a real shame therefore that the only extra is a trailer.

Summary - a beautifully grubby revenge film. The characters all have real depth to them and come its finale, with a stunning hunt around a bloodsoaked house, it fully delivers on its genre premise. Its a great transfer too, just don't expect anything extra on the disc.
 
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Dead Heat (88 Films, region B - UK disc)

This late 80s supernatural buddy cop comedy never really appealed - I mean I love me some Treat Williams but that godawful cover art had me expecting some unholy alliance between Lethal Weapon and All of Me. Luckily, it was nothing of the sort...….

Joe Piscopo (who?) annoys the hell out of me from the off. His mullet, his ridiculously highly rolled t-shirt sleeves and his never anything more than horrifically unfunny comedy schtick are like nails on a chalk board. But his pairing with stick-up-his-ass Williams is inappropriately amusing and as they take down a pair of bank robbers who don't seem to want to die no matter how much lead is pumped into them, the film establishes its tone nicely - sure, there's a little unfunny comedy banter going on, but its layered over a brilliantly violent horror movie.

The '80s make up effects are off the charts as one of our cops dies while luckily investigating a pharmaceutical company who is reanimating dead bank robbers - cue some gnarly AWiL slowly decaying make up in amongst all the rotting flesh, Wild Bunch-esque gunshot blood spurting covering any surface it can and yes, unfortunately still some unfunny buddy banter.

But thankfully for the final act, the comedy schtick dries up completely and we're in full blown horror territory as Williams goes all undead Terminator and picks a fight with a clearly at deaths door Vincent Price. If you can stomach the awful comedy, there's a gloriously '80s make up effects extravaganza buried here that makes putting up with Piscopo's hideous gurning just about worthwhile.

The transfer from 88 Films is ok, but its not up there with their best. Telecine wobble almost makes you queezy over the opening credits its that bad, but it settles down and while its got that '80s softness and palour to it all, its not got a huge amount of print damage and doesn't seem to suffer from any digital shenanigans. The lossless 2.0 track is clean as a whistle but doesn't really do anything with all the gunfire flying about. There's a few goodies on here as well, the best of which is 19 mins with make up legend Steve Johnson who yet again just makes you yearn for the good ol' days of 30-odd years ago.

Summary - don't let Piscopo's hideous gurning on the front cover out you off. This is an old school, '80s blood and guts affair with a ridiculously high concept that even the godawful comedy bants can't completely ruin. Well worth the £6 paid from Fopp.
 
'Sint (Saint)' (2010)

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A marvellous comedy/horror from Dick Maas, the director of the marvellous 'De Lift' and 'Amsterdamned'. The film is set in Amsterdam on December 5th (St Nicholas Eve), the Dutch equivalent of Christmas Eve and the night when Sinterklaas and Black Peter traditionally deliver presents to children.

In this take on the legend, the original St Nicholas was a psychotic bishop who, with his band of 'Black Peters' terrorised Holland centuries before, slaughtering the innocent and kidnapping their children, until he and his gang were finally burnt to death on December 5th.

However, once every thirty-something years, when a full moon coincides with December 5th, St Nick and his dark army rise from the grave and wreak havoc once again, something that the authorities have been covering up for over five centuries.

Flash forward to present day Amsterdam and it's -you guessed it- a full moon. Bloody mayhem (and hilarity) ensues.
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:)

Ho-ho-ho!
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:D

A taster...

 
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OK, I'm off to defrost the turkey and prepare the yummies for my Christmas Eve visitors, so may I take may I take this opportunity to wish all forum members a very Merry Christmas!

:hiya::hiya::hiya:

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Venom (Sony, region free - UHD, US disc)

Far from the utter turd I was expecting, it suffers from exactly the same kind of problems the much maligned Spider-Man 3 had with its Venom...….namely the essence of the character just doesn't live on screen.

I'm no hardcore comic junkie, so I have no history with the character, but I can see the potential, more so in this version - the violent and very adult anti-hero, the twisted buddy relationship, some cool visuals.....yep, I get that. And to some degree that's what we get here.

The problem is simple. One word.....Upgrade.

Many say that the witty banter between Hardy and the symbiote is the highlight. And in many ways it is. But Upgrade did every single element better: the banter between the luckless host and the nasty visitor there had more bite, felt like it was more a genuine 'relationship'; even when the visitor took control was far better represented on screen in Whanell's movie, without the morass of sploffing pixels that just frankly looked like Spawn's cape most of the time and equally crap. And finally and more importantly, it was the right kind of nasty - the kind we all thought we may be getting with Venom and got nowhere near. Hell, it even had Hardy's twin in the lead.

To be honest, even without Upgrade stealing just about all its thunder, the film would have been problematic, because of its treatment of Venom. It just looked a bit......stupid. On paper it looks cool (see the slip? Cool), but here and in motion? Just feels kinda goofy. Interestingly, a lot of reviews said the first half was dull, with the second one springing to life: I felt the other way round - I didn't mind Hardy as Brock and wondering when the symbiotes were going to explode into life was far more interesting than actually seeing them do it - the car chase when Venom first comes to the fore felt completely random because of course Venom can do anything: its the same problem as the Green Lantern movie - when they can create anything out of thin air, it needs to be inventive, it needs to be witty and irreverent. When its not, its just....meh. Plus, seeing the obvious and pretty crappy CG overload of the lead on a motorbike just made me wish for Mission Impossible. Similarly, the final fight between Riot and Venom on the launchpad, the great finale of the whole movie was nothing but a sea of cruddy pixels with no life, no spark whatsoever to render us interested in which coloured splat would win.

The narrative of the symbiotes was hilarious - personal vendetta's between alien splodges? Have a word. I just wish the film would have been more like the final scene, where we got a glimpse of the humour of the situation, the darkness of what could have been. I didn't hate this, I just wished it had gone...….more. For once, the PG-13 rating totally cut off this films balls and gave us a horribly neutered version of what could have been Upgrade 2.0.

It was a lovely presentation though - a riotous Atmos track steals the show, with all manner of crashes, bangs and wallops thrown all around the speaker array. Again though, Upgrade did the inner voice thing way better - I wanted Venom's voice to come from the rears or better yet, the overhead speakers, but it didn't. Still, it was pretty great. As was the picture......all those dull pixels were nice and sharp and blacks were pretty spot on too.

Summary - could have been great. It wasn't. I'd rather watch Upgrade for my future dose of symbiote/host shenanigans. Its a great presentation though.
 
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'Sint (Saint)' (2010)

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A marvellous comedy/horror from Dick Maas, the director of the marvellous 'De Lift' and 'Amsterdamned'. The film is set in Amsterdam on December 5th (St Nicholas Eve), the Dutch equivalent of Christmas Eve and the night when Sinterklaas and Black Peter traditionally deliver presents to children.

In this take on the legend, the original St Nicholas was a psychotic bishop who, with his band of 'Black Peters' terrorised Holland centuries before, slaughtering the innocent and kidnapping their children, until he and his gang were finally burnt to death on December 5th.

However, once every thirty-something years, when a full moon coincides with December 5th, St Nick and his dark army rise from the grave and wreak havoc once again, something that the authorities have been covering up for over five centuries.

Flash forward to present day Amsterdam and it's -you guessed it- a full moon. Bloody mayhem (an hilarity) ensues.
1f642.png
:)

Ho-ho-ho!
1f603.png
:D

A taster...



I brought the Canadian version i thought from Amazon Can,but they sent me the Dutch one with no English Sub :(,must tried and get one with English subs :)
 
Once Upon A Time in America (250 min version)

My wife always works on Xmas day and my daughter goes to her boyfriend's, so I find it the ideal time to watch a long film. Last year was the 234 min cut of Dances with Wolves, so I thought I would go the extra 16 minutes.
OUATIA is a film I love and have seen many times, so I was interested to see the longer cut. Although this version was put together many years after Leone's death, it is apparently the nearest they could get to a "director's cut" with the footage available.
The additional scenes have pretty poor picture and sound quality and the first one is quite alarming when Nurse Ratched appears! Despite the quality issues, I cherished every extra minute. Like I say, I love this film so cannot give an impartial opinion, but if you are a fan, this is a must see.

10/10

 
A Brighter Summer Day (1991) Directed by Edward Yang
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2nd time round and a vast difference in quality thanks to the superb job Criterion did on this, it’s 4 hour runtime can at first seem daunting but the way Yang seamlessly weaves life into all his characters and situations with the finest detail just makes the time and flow of the film feel so beautifully realised with such a naturalistic feel, the way he shows the political effect and the American influence of its time it on the Taiwanese youth works wonderfully throwing in its themes of territorial gangs, betrayal, love right down to the parental divide of the old way vs the new way, it's a remarkable coming of age film if you have the patience that also works in such a stunning visual mood of long takes and immaculate framing.
8.5/10

McCabe and Mrs Miller (1971) Directed by Robert Altman
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The Altman film I re-visit the most and one that I should think would annoy most folks thanks to the way the film looks and in the way it also approaches its dialogue, but I find it stunning and so grounded in its full-on earthy looks and in the naturalistic way it throws you into its sound design, its also a great film for viewing around Christmas especially when the snow fills this bygone wooden and very ramshackled settlement it just feels so lived in and so real, adding to all this natural realism comes the wonderful sound of an acoustic Leonard Cohen who wraps his songs around the story with such a nostalgic feeling of time and place, Classic 70s cinema at its most original and finest.
9.5/10

Venom (2018) Directed by Ruben Fleischer
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Christmas just aint the same without a turkey, wasn't all that bad some of the humour worked in ok and raised a smile, the CGI looked crap and dated it also reminded me of the game The Darkness with cross-over smidgeons of Death Note but nowhere as funny.
5/10
 
Ironmaster (88 Films, region B - UK disc, part of the Italian Collection)

Imagine an early '80s Italian prehistoric caveman flick, directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring that most hirsute of genre stars, Mr George Eastman Esq. You got it in your head? Good. This film is EXACTLY as you picture it.

We get woeful special effects (cue the genius toy elephants on sticks being wiggled off camera), we get the most turd-tastic hair pieces, we get tribes of prehistoric people who all look exactly like Joey DeMaio from Manowar (look him up, kids) and Raquel Welch from One Million Years BC (no need to look her up......unless you want to.....:love:) and of course we get a 'plot' - fighting over who leads their tribe, Eastman is banished by an Italian gay porn star who looks like George of the Jungle overdosed on steroids: whilst wondering in a hand drawn thunderstorm, he discovers 'iron' and quickly returns, sword/funny new pointy stick in hand, banishing Mr Throbbing Hunk 'o Love to wander the barren wastelands of 80s Italy, I mean prehistory, before he stumbles on the girl from Amazonia who has obviously spent the last few months in an upmarket salon due to the size of her perm. Blah, blah, revenge ensues, blah.

The dialogue is about as cringe as you can get, especially the two women who frankly caused all the trouble in the first place - Miss Amazonia is all 'peace is good, weapons are bad', whilst her nemesis, a brunette hotty who also just bumped into Eastman whilst a wondering in a furry bikini, starts filling his empty head with delusions of grandeur.

There's no nudity, little gore and more worrying, none of the Lenzi insanity we could and should expect - the producers on the only extra on the disc say they were riffing off of Annaud's Quest for Fire, so like Eastman, the film had similar delusions. But its hilariously crap (everyone looks like they're wearing furry slippers whilst Eastman wears chaps that look like 12 rabbits just got stuck to his legs), never dull and come the finale, with the sage words of wisdom from a previously vanquished elder hanging in the air like a crappy voiceover as all the weapons are thrown into the lake, a 'message' of sorts, its pretty much everything you could wish for if you plucked an early 80s Italian prehistoric caveman flick off the shelf...…..

The transfer isn't too shabby either. A touch soft and colours are muted, but damage is minimal and it looks pretty spiffy. The lossless English 2.0 track (there's no Italian option) is similarly clean. The single extra meanwhile is 24 mins with some of the producers and its not bad, but hardly essential viewing.

Summary - I've been going back and plugging the holes in my Italian Collection: this one was one I expected to be terrible so never bought previously. And it was. But I really quite enjoyed it if I'm honest and I'm pretty sure you would too. If Italian caveman flicks are your thing...….
 
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The Meg (WB, region free - UHD, UK disc)

I won't rehash my initial thoughts on the film as I did that earlier in the year in the movie review. But watching this with the wife and Junior (aged 8 and 3/4) yesterday brought some interesting new thoughts buzzing into my tiny, demented mind.......

Of course I'd have liked a full bloodied affair, with blood geysers, flying gristle and limbs and all manner of body parts and detritus painting every available surface a lovely, rich shade of crimson. But rather than continue to bemoan not getting THAT film, the wife and Junior thoroughly loved it precisely because it was NOT that. Above all, they loved the tone of it - slightly jokey (cutting immediately from the serious realisation of a giant man-eating sea beastie to a ridiculous Thai cover version of Toni Basil's Oh Mickey just underlined exactly the tone this was going for), with the 'monster' being played solely for entertainment purposes.

They loved the Stath being exactly like The Stath but slightly warmer and cuddlier than he normally is, they loved the precocious kid who is exactly the same age as my daughter but thankfully doesn't end up saving the day like in most kiddified action blockbusters these days, they adored Pippin (apart from when Junior thought Pippin had been eaten, cue the only tears throughout the entire film - stuff the hundreds of human victims, the mere thought of a dog being eaten was enough to send Junior apoplectic)......in fact they pretty much adored everything about it. So much so that this morning, Junior came down and asked to watch it again.

Watching it through their eyes was huge fun and for that, I can put my initial disappointment to one side. As a kiddy friendly monster actioner, more akin to Rampage than anything else, it was a fun ride, with just enough darkness to excite, but enough action and humour to ensure it never tripped over into 'too dark' territory.

One thing I will say, is that there was some really iffy CG on show in this - some of it was great: the shots of Statham being yanked out of the shark's mouth were superb; but most of the shark shots were pretty poor. It appears that a convincing shark is the new CG watermark: Deep Blue Sea had awfully rubbery sharks, so too did The Shallows (although sensibly it masked a lot of that by keeping the fish mostly hidden) and so did this. Why can we not do decent sharks in a computer? Fix this please for the sequel Mr Chinese Money Man.

The UHD was astounding for detail, but yes, the tone mapping on my SDR kit was waaaaaay out. Bright skies were totally blown out, losing all detail and covering a lot of the screen in huge patches of very bright white. I know this is a fault of my kit so I'm not going to call out the disc, but anyone watching the UHD on SDR kit, be warned - some judicious playing with the controls could be needed. So why watch the UHD disc? For the Atmos of course - so again, I'm slightly disappointed that it wasn't ever as immersive as I wanted it to be. All that lovely underwater action and I felt that surrounds and overheads could have used way more creatively than they were. Nothing wrong with the rest of it - huge amounts of LFE, a lovely crispness to everything giving it a lovely dose of 'realism', all present and correct. Maybe I should just turn my surrounds up......hmmmm.

Summary - still not the film I wanted it to be (if only they showed how the Meg rose up from the icy depths like they did in the book.......:eek:), but as a family friendly action romp, this was perfect Christmas fodder. When Junior asked me about Jaws, she was well up for watching it until I told her that it also had a dog in called Pippin. She then asked me did that dog live and judging from the look on my face I gave as a response, she has proudly announced that she will never watch it. Ever. Bugger.
 
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I'm starting to watch my Xmas blu Ray gifts. First off is badlands. Its one of those movies that is almost perfect. Barry Norman said it etches itself into your memory He's right
To call badlands off beat is an understatement There's its beauty Sheen has never been better. I've always liked badlands. I can't watch a lot of the art house stuff I used to. Movies such as the Cassevettes troop ensemble movies are just too much for me now But badlands is still stunning for me.
It was a milstone for Sheen and Malik Sadly neither of them would be anywhere near as good
Given the quality of badlands its not surprising
 
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