What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Allied (2016-UK-USA) **
Canadian serviceman Brad Pitt is forced to consider whether his glamorous wife Marion Cottillard is a Nazi spy.
Good premise for a gripping wartime thriller, but somehow director Robert Zemeckis never gets a handle on it.
Pitt is on the wooden side here, failing to reach the requisite emotional depth.
If this is Casablanca for 2017, you're better off sticking with the original.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Church (Italy, 1989) [VoD] - 3/5
Stylish, moody horror film suffers from a messy script that fails to establish who is the main character, and features too many supporting characters doing nonsensical things. Even then, there are many good scenes and a fascinating theme. The church setting is well utilized. Director Michele Soavi gets the job done, even if it feels like he's mimicking someone technically and artistically more talented.

The Sect (Italy, 1991) [VoD] - 1.5/5
Another film by Michele Soavi. This one starts out well but soon turn into a snore fest about a woman haunted by visions and strange people. No plot, a story that doesn't go anywhere, irritating characters, and it doesn't even have any good shocks. And it runs almost two hours.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Man with Two Brains (1983-USA) ***
Steve Martin plays a sexually repressed brain surgeon in his funniest film; hilariously wacky, it take intelligence to be this silly.

My Blue Heaven (1990-USA) ***
Likeable comedy in which wiseguy Steve Martin(!) goes into witness protection under the watch of straight-laced fed Rick Moranis.
Martin is miscast, but manages to make the character work. Love those Merengue scenes.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Arrival (2016-USA) ***
Intelligent sci-fi drama in which a language expert (Amy Adams) is the heroine not a man of action.
Involving and thoughtful, though I found some of the communication details a touch dense.
My biggest gripe is the cinematography, which is far too dark, and appears to have been lit by energy saving light bulbs.
A 'PG' save for one gratuitous use of the f-word.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Sonny Chiba Special: Part 66 (1/2)

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (USA, 2003) [DVD] - 5/5
Out of Tarantino's masterpieces, this has the most nostalgia value for me for having come out when I was a high school kid - the perfect age to be exposed to an audio-visual genre film wonder full of samurai swords, Japanese school girls and Shaw Brothers sets. Nostalgia aside, it still holds up wonderfully even if the second half is stronger than the first, Tarantino goes a bit overboard DJing with his record collection, and I wish Thurman and Liu had had a bit more time to practice their Japanese dialogue. The slightly non-chronological structure, characters, music, and colourful sets and locations are all wonderfully handled, and the action isn't bad at all. Tarantino often gets accused of stealing, but I think he always adds his own unique flavour and context to the recycled elements (some of the criticism seems to come from people who acknowledge his sources but are not educated enough to evaluate them critically). Sonny Chiba is extremely well utilized in what are perhaps the film's finest scenes as retired sword smith Hattori Hanzo, and David Carradine gets a fine treatment in a small role that only utilizes his voice and hands. These two characters fine examples of Tarantino's skill to build ethereal, mythical aura around his characters that spring from the rich history of genre cinema.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 (USA, 2003) [DVD] - 5/5
This is, perhaps, even more magnificent than Vol. 1, with some of Tarantino's best character direction. Three actors especially stand out: Michael Madsen, who gives a heartfelt, career-best performance as Budd, Gordon Liu who absolutely nails it as Pai Mei, and David Carradine as Bill, whose demise stands as one of the finest scenes in film history, period! Michael Parks deserves a mention as well for a brief but wonderful appearance.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Cliffhanger (1993): 4/5

Thrilling and often genuinely tense adventure.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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10 To Midnight 3.5/5
When, in the opening minutes Charlie Bronson tortures a paedophile by sticking a dildo where the sun don't shine you get a decent idea of the type of character he is here. A tough cop on the trail of a serial killer who kills while in the buff this is Bronson in the type of role he was born to play. The TT blu looks very nice.

Batman Gotham By Gaslight 2.5/5
DC animated feature changes the story from the famous graphic novel and is let down somewhat by cheapish animation. Still, a victorian Batman on the trail of Jack The Ripper is a cool concept.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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saltysam wrote:10 To Midnight 3.5/5
When, in the opening minutes Charlie Bronson tortures a paedophile by sticking a dildo where the sun don't shine you get a decent idea of the type of character he is here. A tough cop on the trail of a serial killer who kills while in the buff this is Bronson in the type of role he was born to play. The TT blu looks very nice.
Isn't the dildo bit from Kinjite?

You're mixing up Bronson! :D
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway wrote:
saltysam wrote:10 To Midnight 3.5/5
When, in the opening minutes Charlie Bronson tortures a paedophile by sticking a dildo where the sun don't shine you get a decent idea of the type of character he is here. A tough cop on the trail of a serial killer who kills while in the buff this is Bronson in the type of role he was born to play. The TT blu looks very nice.
Isn't the dildo bit from Kinjite?

You're mixing up Bronson! :D
duh yep. i posted that in the early hours this morning after a night in the boozer. In my defence i've been on a Bronson marathon lately and watched the German BD of Kinjite just the other day. :|
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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saltysam wrote:
Markgway wrote: Isn't the dildo bit from Kinjite?

You're mixing up Bronson! :D
duh yep. i posted that in the early hours this morning after a night in the boozer. In my defence i've been on a Bronson marathon lately and watched the German BD of Kinjite just the other day. :|
:lol:

Alien Resurrection (USA, 1997) [BD] - 2.5/5
Not bad first half once you get over just how Jeunet / French it feels. Works fine as horror, the monster design in cool and there are some nice gore bits. But the unimaginative story and one-dimensional characters eventually take their toll during the second half. Some scenes are just silly (swimming alien? Alien sex?). It has a bit of nostalgia value though since this was the 1st Alien film I saw in theatre (at the age of 11).
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Open Grave: 3.5/5

A man wakes up in a pit full of dead bodies. He has no memory of how he got there. He finds a house full of strangers who have all lost their memory like him. The question is, who has killed all those people? How?
Often confusing, but an intriguing, very creepy mystery story and the acting is very good especially Sharlto Copley (the main character) and Josie Ho. Something a bit different and better than I thought it would be.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Ninja III: The Domination (1984-USA-Israel) *
An aerobics instructor is possessed by the evil spirit of a ninja warrior.
If you require any more story than that, tough luck.
More like Ninja III: The Abomination... this supernatural hokum is the worst of Cannon's Ninja movies.
So bad, it's bad, with childish writing, wooden acting, and forgettable action.

The Voices (2014-USA-Germany) **½
Jet-black comedy about a schizophrenic (Ryan Reynolds, actually not bad) who discusses with his pets whether or not to kill women.
Guess what he decides?
Surprisingly tolerable, and the sick humour sort of works... but not all the time.

The Take (2016-UK-France-USA-Luxembourg) **
CIA agent Idris Elba teams up with a pickpocket who unwittingly implicates himself in a Parisian bombing.
Originally titled 'Bastille Day' then changed for video after the occurrence of genuine Bastille Day terrorism.
Under any title, however, this Besson-esque actioner is weak tea,
and I didn't see anything here to suggest Elba would make a suitable James Bond.
Given the umpteen episodes of Islamic terrorism carried out in France, it's odd to see a picture so politically misguided as to
have local police be the bad guys (here robbers cynically exploiting racial tensions).
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Danger: Diabolik -- I tried to watch this psychedelic pop art piffle but gave up after a boring 30-something minutes.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway wrote:Danger: Diabolik -- I tried to watch this psychedelic pop art piffle but gave up after a boring 30-something minutes.
What? WHAT? How on earth could anyone get bored with Danger: Diabolik??? The soundtrack alone should make your head explode from joy!
https://youtu.be/QdlrG8oe0ug?t=43s
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Exit Wounds 2/5
One of Seagal's last non-dtv movies is typical of the genre,not helped by talentless Anthony Anderson's unfunny mugging throughout.

The Evil That Men Do 3/5
Bronson is a retired assassin who comes back after his friend his murdered by a torture expert doctor in South America. Not bad, quite grim at at times,here in it's unrated version for the first time. In truth this would pasS easily for an 18 if it was submitted again here in the UK.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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HungFist wrote: What? WHAT? How on earth could anyone get bored with Danger: Diabolik??? The soundtrack alone should make your head explode from joy!
https://youtu.be/QdlrG8oe0ug?t=43s
Not sure if you're serious... but DD is the kind of sixties' movie I loathe. :help:

That happy-clappy-drippy-hippy music was gawdawful and I thought John Phillip Law was a mannequin until he started talking... then I KNEW he was one. :D

The difference between this movie and Austin Powers is that Austin Powers was taking the piss! :cool:
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway wrote:
HungFist wrote: What? WHAT? How on earth could anyone get bored with Danger: Diabolik??? The soundtrack alone should make your head explode from joy!
https://youtu.be/QdlrG8oe0ug?t=43s
Not sure if you're serious... but DD is the kind of sixties' movie I loathe. :help:

That happy-clappy-drippy-hippy music was gawdawful and I thought John Phillip Law was a mannequin until he started talking... then I KNEW he was one. :D

The difference between this movie and Austin Powers is that Austin Powers was taking the piss! :cool:
Hopeless :mad:

And I hate Austin Powers :lol:

And I hate Mike Myers. Although I do admit this was pretty funny.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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If you don't like So, I Married an Axe Murderer I'm asking for a man divorce!
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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I haven't seen that one so maybe there's still hope...
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Body (Spain, 2012): 4/5

Clever mystery thriller that keeps you guessing, reminded me of 'Les Diaboliques' (1955) and Hitchcock in places. There's a twist at the end which I did not see coming
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Beverly Hills Cop II (1987-USA) **½
Not as good as the original, but it's so eighties, and so nostalgic for me, that I can't help but feel warmly toward it.
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Murder on the Orient Express (2017-whole bunch of countries) **
Flabby adaptation of Christie novel pales badly in comparison with the 1974 version.
The script is clumsy, the acting nondescript, and the tone unsure.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Bye Bye Man 1/5
Three teenagers move into a rickety old house,one of them finds a table with the instruction "don't think it,don't say it" referring to the title character. So of course they do. Poor horror riff on Candyman plays like a DTV movie but strangely got a cinema release.

Standoff 2/5
Laurence Fishbourne is a ruthless assassin who spys a little girl witnessing his latest hit.He pursues her into Thomas Jane's remote farmhouse and the standoff begins. Not bad,rather predictable but for a quid in poundland i'm not complaining.
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The Burning (USA, 1981) [VoD] - 3/5
Solid summer camp slasher with passable characters, plenty of nudity and some memorable gore bits (courtesy of Tom Savini). The killer is pretty decent, too. As someone who's not that much into 80s slashers, I enjoyed this one more than Friday the 13th or most other slashers from the era.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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78/52
Moderately interesting doc about Psycho's infamous shower scene.
Incessant background music really irritates.
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