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

[grim_tales]

Well I enjoyed it, found it a good thriller/mystery (though I agree the ending was a let down compared to the rest of the film and could have been better) so f*ck y'all
I havent seen Se7en, Panic Room or Zodiac yet.

[gasteropod]

I havent seen Se7en

[Markgway]

I havent seen Se7en, Panic Room or Zodiac yet.

All of which are better than The Game.

Se7en and Zodiac are excellent and Panic Room decent.

[bradavon]

Fincher's worst

It's not his best but Zodiac is worse.

Seven and Panic Room are great Grim. Seven and Fight Club have decent BDs.

[Markgway]

Fincher's worst

It's not his best but Zodiac is worse.

Oh, come on. Zodiac was very good.

[bradavon]

Oh, come on. Zodiac was very good.

Oh come on, it wasn't that good . It got way to bogged down in the detail. I have bought the BD though, it needs to be re-seen. Currently I think The Game is better.

[Yi-Long]

Haven't seen Zodiac yet, even though the cast loooks great and I love 'who done it' serial killer movies.

It's been too long ago since I've seen The Game, so I can't really remember much from it.

Panic Room was good, but not great. Not sure how I rated it at the time (I think 6 months orso ago).

[Markgway]

Night School (1980-USA) *½

Ridiculous slasher pic.

[luckystars]

The Game: 4.25/5

This was a great film, unnerving and engrossing. I seem to be in a mystery/twisty-turny phase at the moment with films and games. Michael Douglas's performance is excellent as the stupidly rich banker whose life is turned upside down when he recieves an unusual birthday present - an invitation to play "The Game", designed by a company called CRS. He conveys sheer panic and confusion brilliantly.

Anyway...
Near the start I thought it was going to be like Videodrome or Total Recall or something when Nicholas' TV started talking to him.

Then....
I thought the object of "The Game" was to drive Nicholas over the edge, really take over (as it does appear to) and make him kill himself because he was such an asshole TBH, so when Christine says it is literally all a GAME and just made up, that is a twist in itself....
Or is it? Christine identifies the gun Nicholas uses as real, and the guys say Conrad is dead. Was that planned as well? Nicholas jumped off the roof! Is the end scene at his birthday in his head?

Is there a decent BD of this film?

Totally agree with this.

Funny, I made a friend watch this with me and he thought it was dog shit,.....but I absolutely loved it!!

[grim_tales]

The Game: 4.25/5

This was a great film, unnerving and engrossing. I seem to be in a mystery/twisty-turny phase at the moment with films and games. Michael Douglas's performance is excellent as the stupidly rich banker whose life is turned upside down when he recieves an unusual birthday present - an invitation to play "The Game", designed by a company called CRS. He conveys sheer panic and confusion brilliantly.

Anyway...
Near the start I thought it was going to be like Videodrome or Total Recall or something when Nicholas' TV started talking to him.

Then....
I thought the object of "The Game" was to drive Nicholas over the edge, really take over (as it does appear to) and make him kill himself because he was such an asshole TBH, so when Christine says it is literally all a GAME and just made up, that is a twist in itself....
Or is it? Christine identifies the gun Nicholas uses as real, and the guys say Conrad is dead. Was that planned as well? Nicholas jumped off the roof! Is the end scene at his birthday in his head?

Is there a decent BD of this film?

Totally agree with this.

Funny, I made a friend watch this with me and he thought it was dog shit,.....but I absolutely loved it!!

Another thought:
IMO he jumped/died (or maybe died before) and the ending is likely in his head or the afterlife or whatever. 2 seconds ago Christine says its all fake so Nick is about to shoot Conrad and she's like "We have a real gun here"?! If she just said everything is all right why is she suddenly worried - to make him jump?

[saltysam]

Zodiac is a very good movie.i have the BD.

[luckystars]

Zodiac is a very good movie.i have the BD.

[Markgway]

Manhunt (2008-Norway) *

A quartet of retarded hippies becomes wilderness game for inbred hillbilly hunters. Yawn.

Torture porn with subtitles. Double yawn.

This plotless, bleach bypassed wallow in suffering sums up all that is wrong with the modern horror movie. Remember when horror films used to be (gulp!) scary?

[Markgway]

A Clockwork Orange (1971-UK-USA) **

Controversial satire is memorable in many ways but just too weird and arty for my taste (and much of the dialogue was incomprehensible). If the film had a point of view about a violent society and criminal rehabilitation I'm quite not sure what it was. Malcolm McDowell was a charismatic lead and Patrick Magee is hilarious ("TRY THE WINE!!"). A film to see but not to cherish.

[grim_tales]

A Clockwork Orange (1971-UK-USA) **

Controversial satire is memorable in many ways but just too weird and arty for my taste (and much of the dialogue was incomprehensible). If the film had a point of view about a violent society and criminal rehabilitation I'm quite not sure what it was. Malcolm McDowell was a charismatic lead and Patrick Magee is hilarious ("TRY THE WINE!!"). A film to see but not to cherish.

Maybe that sometimes "society" can be as misguided as the criminals? I'm not sure TBH. Alex did some horrible things but in the last act I felt sorry for him because even though he's changed (I know its brainwashing) and been punished for what he did by serving his time, he is still ostracised and shunned, his friends beat the shit out of him, etc.

[Markgway]

Maybe that sometimes "society" can be as misguided as the criminals? I'm not sure TBH. Alex did some horrible things but in the last act I felt sorry for him because even though he's changed (I know its brainwashing) and been punished for what he did by serving his time, he is still ostracised and shunned, his friends beat the shit out of him, etc.

Were we supposed to feel sorry for Alex? I didn't get that. He's a rapist and a murderer. He deserved to be shunned by his family and friends (who are still scum but now with a uniform - an interesting political aside). I was amazed that the Ludovico treatment was shown to work so well - if Alex hadn't run into Mr. Alexander he would've been able to start a new life someplace else. Maybe they should try it for real (with a few modifications of course). Revulsion to Beethoven's 9th is a small price to pay for a safer society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4loPDgD9CI

[grim_tales]

It is odd IMO that Alex's droogs beat him up so badly and seem to want to pay him for what he did only when he's been 'brainwashed'. He may be a piece of shit, but I dont think the authority figures are any better TBH. The brainwashing treatment worked unnaturally (would you let youself get beaten up and not fight back like that? I wouldnt), though thats much the same thing Alex did to the old guy and the other woman.
At the end of the film, Alex just goes back again to being his old self IIRC

[Markgway]

It is odd IMO that Alex's droogs beat him up so badly and seem to want to pay him for what he did only when he's been 'brainwashed'.

It's revenge for all his years of abuse when he led the gang. The Droogs haven't changed they just wear uniforms now.

He may be a piece of shit, but I dont think the authority figures are any better TBH.

Misguided though they may be the authority figures are trying to cut crime and change violent behaviour. I don't see how you can compare them to a sadist like Alex.

The brainwashing treatment worked unnaturally (would you let youself get beaten up and not fight back like that? I wouldnt), though thats much the same thing Alex did to the old guy and the other woman.

Alex wouldn't have been rehabilitated otherwise. So it's a choice between leaving violent offenders on the streets, locking them up forever, or brainwashing them. The encounter with the old drunk is ironic. Now Alex is in a position weakness. He's to understand how it feels to be a helpless victim.

At the end of the film, Alex just goes back again to being his old self IIRC

It seems so. I'm not sure how that worked. Obviously the government's new position (using Alex as a mouthpiece) is one of opportunism (though the final reveal suggests he may have the last sick laugh). It's an interesting film with much to chew over.

[luckystars]

I think Clockwork Orange is brilliant, filmmaking aside, because it is such a provocative story. It's meanings aren't out on a plate for you at the end. Kubrick wanted the audience to leave the cinema with something to dissect and reflect on. Even now people still believe this was a banned film, which of course it wasn't.

I think the youth being out of control, and no authority being able govern them (parentally or otherwise) is perhaps more relevant today than it ever was. A timeless classic that was certainly ahead of its time, and well out of the comfort zone of a large proportion of its potential viewers.

[luckystars]

Misguided though they may be the authority figures are trying to cut crime and change violent behaviour. I don't see how you can compare them to a sadist like Alex.

Alex is beaten by police early on in the film, and molested by his parole officier. He's also a sacrificial lamb to the Ludovico treatment...at the expense of his free will (you could say), and his 'correction' is used as a vote winning political tool by the government.

Like grim says, the broken society depicted is a factor in his makeup. There is no clear black and white in the film, the edges are grey.

[grim_tales]

Indeed, I think he was subjected to abuse by his officers as LS says.

[grim_tales]

The Paleface (1948): 3/5

Enjoyable spoof Western that sometimes has a cartoon-like sensibility and feel (probably because Frank Tashlin was one of the writers?)

[Markgway]

Alex is beaten by police early on in the film, and molested by his parole officier.

The beating was provoked by Alex when he grabbed the cop by the groin. What would you do if an uncooperative prisoner did that?

I forgot about the pervy parole officer - though Alex strangely doesn't seem all that bothered by his slap on the balls. Strange scene.

He's also a sacrificial lamb to the Ludovico treatment...at the expense of his free will (you could say), and his 'correction' is used as a vote winning political tool by the government.

Yes, but Alex volunteered. Why? Not to get cured, but so he could get early release and go back to his way of life. He had no idea that the extreme treatment would actually work and thought he was getting one over on the system. Alex is an evil person at heart and it's impossible to feel sorry for him. What happens to him throughout the film doesn't compare to what he did. The removal of his free will - that is to say his 'right' to commit violence - benefits the society as a whole. Is his free will worth more than a innocent person's safety? Would you grant Alex his free will back if it meant he would then rape your granny? And since when has any government (of any colour) not used a supposed winning scheme to populistic effect...?

Like grim says, the broken society depicted is a factor in his makeup. There is no clear black and white in the film, the edges are grey.

The futuristic society shown is strange, but there's no real attempt to use that as an explanation for Alex's behaviour. He does what he does not out of desperation but purely for fun. The film asks what do you do with such an otherwise irredeemable person? I agree it's a provocative film, though, and more relevant now that it was back in 1971. I just wish it wasn't so KUBRICKIAN.

[Markgway]

K-9 (1989-USA) *½

James Belushi and a dog.

That's it.

[Killer Meteor]

THE DEVILS (1971)

Kurt Russel's infamous and quite brilliant epic, with some astonishing scenes of horror, deprevation, black comedy and a depiction of mass insanity that is so convincing it leaves you stunned. 9/10


THE BROOD (1979)

David Cronenberg's answer to his own divorce problems; the ex-wife creates creepy mutant children who brutally strike out at her enemies. Honest and brutal, and incredibly scary, but also quite moving. Oliver Reed is incredibly powerful and magnetic here too - 10/10


BASIC INSTINCT (1992)

Incredibly silly Hitchcockian farce, with an empathis on the cock. Sharon Stone is quite good and its certainly a fun film, but the erotic stuff is ugly and the Joe Esterhas dialogue laughable in the extreme. Essentially your typical Movies4Men movie with a classy Jerry Goldsmith score. 6/10


THE HOLE (2009)

Although it does lose its way towards the finale, this is quite an effective Goosebumps-ish teen horror thriller from the great Joe Dante. Quite intense in places, and you can't go wrong with freaky devil dolls dressed as jesters. Brrrr..... 7/10