What Have You Just Seen... Marks Out of 5

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 20 Feb 2008, 13:12

Woman in the Dunes (Japan, 1964) – 4/5
Hiroshi Teshigahara’s desert drama is slow, occasionally frustrating, and more intense than 10 horror movies put together. Acting is excellent and the cinematography - black & white and with loads of extreme close-ups - works to the benefit of the film without feeling overly underlining. The sexual undertone, although only brought up in a couple of scenes, is extremely powerful. As an analysis of modern day psyche the film is not quite as intelligent as it would like to be, but it doesn’t really fail on that area either.

Secret Chronicle: Prostitute Market (Japan, 1972) – 3,5/5
Nikkatsu talent Chusei Sone’s happy go lucky pink comedy is about as far from the studio’s later ultra shockers as possible. The rather non-existent storyline kicks off when a mentally challenged girl is sold to a brothel. The problem is that she doesn’t quite understand the situation, let alone know what a prostitute is supposed to do. The results are nothing short of hilarious. The three blind idiots (Zato-ichi, Zato-ni, Zato-san) scene alone makes the film worth a watch. The comedy aspect also more or less eliminates the problems usually caused by the hight amount of sex in these films. If there is a flaw in the film, it’s that it ultimately doesn’t offer much other than laughs in a single house setting. The ending is also a bit less exhilarating than the rest of the movie. These things made me a bit conservative with the rating, although this comes very close to 4. The film later received two sequels, Torture Hell and She Beast Market, both directed by Noboru Tanaka.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 20 Feb 2008, 14:36

Thanks for the info, Shingster.

The remake did seem a bit slow and dragged out - but I still thought it was good. Doesn't surprise me that the original is leaner; it's about 25m shorter. Also older movies tend to be less pretentious in their drama, which can be sometimes good, sometimes bad, depending.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 20 Feb 2008, 14:41

Yeah I quite enjoyed the remake as well, I even put it in my top10 of 2007 (mainly because all the best films came out late in that year and I missed them at the cinema). The original is the better drama, but there really is no action in it of any note so the changes to the remake bring their own form of entertainment to the story.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 20 Feb 2008, 17:57

Be Kind Rewind - 3.5/5

Hmm, a bit disappointed really. I kept nodding off towards the end and it just seemed to be dragging on with a really uninteresting bit, and my mate felt the same. It starts off pretty good though and has some funny bits.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 20 Feb 2008, 19:13

Run Lola Run blu-ray 3.5/5

this remains an entertaining blast of a movie and the BD offers a substantial upgrade on the old SD version.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Feb 2008, 19:25

That's good to hear. That's a fair rating.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 21 Feb 2008, 18:09

Rambo 2/5

disappointing. it's watchable and very violent but it's easily the least of the Rambo movies.a mainly stv supporting cast, the sas guy is particularly annoying.worth a watch on dvd.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Feb 2008, 18:55

That's a pity. I'm going to check it out this w/e. It reminds me of the good old days of 80s non-CGI action.

I saw Rambo: First Blood the other night. I was pleasantly pleased. It could've done with some killings (Rambo didn't kill anyone!) but is otherwise really good. Stallone is perfect in the role, even if you can barely understand him at times

. His final speech I could barely understand a word.

It's definitely Stallone's best performance and film. He's no Arnie though and it's not half as good as Die Hard.

Rambo: First Blood - Part 2 is on next Monday. I'll check that out next week. Hopefully ITV will show Part 3 the following week, if not I'll download it.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 21 Feb 2008, 19:47

Do I need to see the Rambo films in order Brad?

I havent seen any yet, I was going to check Rambo 4 out too.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Feb 2008, 20:04

grim_tales wrote:Do I need to see the Rambo films in order Brad?

I don't have a Scooby Doo. I hope not. Like I said I've only seen Part 1

I guess it helps if you've seen Part 1. I plan to see:

Part 1 - Already seen
Part 4
Part 2
Part 3

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 21 Feb 2008, 20:11

OK then, thanks

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 21 Feb 2008, 20:48

bradavon wrote:I saw Rambo: First Blood the other night. It could've done with some killings (Rambo didn't kill anyone!)

That's kinda the point. That society is as guilty - if not more so - than he is. The only person he "kills" dies accidentally. That's what makes the movie so different from the sequels. Rambo is mentally ill and society doesn't take care of its own.

His final speech I could barely understand a word.

Some of Stallone's best acting. He's really into the character. He's so emotionally overwhelmed that he can barely talk after all these years of pent up angst and pain. It's totally intentional.

It's definitely Stallone's best performance and film. He's no Arnie though and it's not half as good as Die Hard.

Nowhere near Die Hard. True. But Stallone's a much better actor than Arnie.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 21 Feb 2008, 22:45

Ashes To Ashes: Episode Three - 4.5/5

Excellent episode, pretty dark overall but some lines made me laugh. I also liked how we saw another side to Ray in this episode. The villian looked a bit like Rik Mayall in The Young Ones

I thought it was a very fine episode. A dark story, but had some very funny lines too. Ray's putdowns were hilarious.

(Gene smashes gnome and drugs are inside)
Guy: They're.. for me mum!
Gene: Who's yer mum.. Marianne Faithfull?

Ray was excellent, I loved that they showed another, more sensitive side to him, inspite of his sexism, and also Gene was like the Gene of old - (near the start in the car for example), brilliant. Alex actually did some work with Gene as well, seemed to get used to the 80's more and took her job more seriously

I liked her more in this episode as well as it was a bit like LOM 2-3, where Sam admits he was wrong.

Did anyone notice (when Alex was talking to Gene near the start) - Gene said "Can this wait till I'm in a coma.. or I'm dead?"

Hmmm....
The scene with Evan was wierd - not sure what to make of that. He doesnt seem "bad" yet, but he was the killer's client.... it was a bit like the scene in 1-4 with Sam's Mum where there may be a bit of sexual tension there.
The scene with Alex/Gene where Gene turns Alex down flat was brilliant.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Feb 2008, 23:27

Markgway wrote:That's kinda the point. That society is as guilty - if not more so - than he is. The only person he "kills" dies accidentally. That's what makes the movie so different from the sequels. Rambo is mentally ill and society doesn't take care of its own.

Yeah I know but I would've still liked it if Rambo flipped out in the end and killed some mo fo's

It's part of the action formula. I do take your point though and appreciate that's why it was filmed that way.

Markgway wrote:Some of Stallone's best acting. He's really into the character. He's so emotionally overwhelmed that he can barely talk after all these years of pent up angst and pain. It's totally intentional.

Yeah I know, it doesn't mean I could understand a word of it though

Markgway wrote:Nowhere near Die Hard. True. But Stallone's a much better actor than Arnie.

You reckon? Neither are great "actors" IMO but both know how to take control of the screen in an action sense.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 21 Feb 2008, 23:51

Stallone definitely belongs to the list of the most underrated actors. Arnie does not.

Godzooki · Post by **Godzooki** » 22 Feb 2008, 01:01

saltysam wrote: Rambo 2/5

disappointing. it's watchable and very violent but it's easily the least of the Rambo movies.a mainly stv supporting cast, the sas guy is particularly annoying.worth a watch on dvd.

LOVE THIS MOVIE, 5/5 balls to the wall action and gore!! Not for the squeemish!!

50 Cal sniper shots to the dome and disintegreating bodies under heavy machine gun fire for the win!!!

Cant wait for the BD!!!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Feb 2008, 01:46

grim_tales wrote:Ashes To Ashes: Episode Three - 4.5/5

I thought it was excellent too. Although I thought last weeks was better.

Did Life on Mars have lots of 70s music in it? And as much humour? I love those two about Ashes to Ashes.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 22 Feb 2008, 11:40

LOM had some excellent 70's (not 80's) music and some great humour as well.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 22 Feb 2008, 12:50

Sopranos - Season 6 - 4/5
Strange ending.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 22 Feb 2008, 13:51

Shoot 'em Up: 2 / 5
Tasteless popcorn.

The Brave One: 1,5 / 5
Top 10 things you should never do:
N°1: turn Jodie Foster into a killing machine.
It simply does not work.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 22 Feb 2008, 14:37

Just come back from seeing RAMBO.

Good film, much less comic-book than the sequels, and better-paced than the original. Dramatically, it's a bit lacking, and FIRST BLOOD has the edge here, but in terms of action and carnage, the other three put together cannot compete.

They should've created a new rating for this one: VAF or Violent As Fuck!

It's hard to imagine how this could possibly have been more gory and explicit. People don't just get shot, they gets splattered to kingdom come. Rambo makes Seagal and Schwarzenegger look like pussies as he tears out throats, lops off heads and limbs, slices open intestines, and generally does shit that will no doubt have James Ferman rolling in his grave.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 22 Feb 2008, 14:47

Looking forward to seeing it

Takes a lot to get an 18 these days..
Features not just Strong Bloody Violence but VERY STRONG BLOODY VIOLENCE

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 22 Feb 2008, 15:10

Mark: Out of 5, how do you rate it?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 22 Feb 2008, 16:24

The Warlords - 4/5
Could have been a 4.5/5, but the 3rd quarter of the film lagged a bit. But apart from this it is one solid film. Jet Li shows again that he is exactly what Jackie Chan always says he wants to be: An actor who can fight rather than a fighter who can act.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 22 Feb 2008, 16:32

Sounds good LD, soon I will get it