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

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 18 Sep 2007, 20:11

Television != Movies? No kidding.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 19 Sep 2007, 02:00

Escape from L.A. - 3/5
I rewatched this last night, as Snake's memorable quotes have been buzzing around in my head since I saw it in p&s'ed on TV many years ago. It's not a bad film at all like a lot of people say it is, it's competently made and very much enjoyable.

It's OOT and quite cheesy at times (this is very in tune with how Los Angeles is though) like with the surfing and the hang gliding, especially when compared to unsettling post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the original. It's feels like a Western, like EfNY did, just a lot more self-aware this time.

Carpenter once again had assembled a fine collection of character actors. I particularly enjoyed Steve Buscemi as "Map of the Stars" Eddie and Bruce Campbell as the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills. Pam Grier made for a convincing transexual too.

Stacy Keach (another Western veteran) didn't quite fill Lee Van Cleef's shoes, but he tried his best. Cliff Robertson as a fascist president casts Snake as a much more sympathetic character; justifying Snake's actions at the end. When compared to the humanitarian president played by Donald Pleasance in EfNY, Snake comes off as more of a petty arsehole.

The villain Quevo Jones was fun and cheesy (keeping in tone with the rest of the film), but in the end he's pretty forgettable. Not memorable at all like outlandish disco-influenced Isaac Hayes villain of the original. (Quevo = egg in Spanish. A recurring naming convention in Carpenter films perhaps? Victor Wong's character in Big Trouble in Little China was named Egg Foo).

This film deserves a Special Edition re-release, if only to get John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in the same room again to record another legendary commentary.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 19 Sep 2007, 04:32

EvaUnit02 wrote: This film deserves a Special Edition re-release, if only to get John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in the same room again to record another legendary commentary.

I completely agree, it must be done!

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 19 Sep 2007, 15:09

I did think much of the film, but I bet the commentary would be good.

COLLATERAL 3.5/5
Good thriller, crisply made, but something about it left me cold. Maybe it's because Jamie Foxx is so unsympathetic? I felt like I was observing rather than being emotionally involved. Another thing that bugged me was that it was shot on digital video. I hate the way that looks compared to Panavision.

HIGH FIDELITY 4/5
This film should irritate the shit out of me, but I find myself enjoying it. It's funny and insightful, and John Cusack, like him or not, is perfectly cast. My only real gripe is that none of the characters is actually likeable. I wouldn't want to know any of these people. usually that would cause me to knock off marks, but what can I say, the film works as it's suppose to.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 19 Sep 2007, 16:03

Markgway wrote: HIGH FIDELITY 4/5
This film should irritate the shit out of me, but I find myself enjoying it. It's funny and insightful, and John Cusack, like him or not, is perfectly cast. My only real gripe is that none of the characters is actually likeable. I wouldn't want to know any of these people. usually that would cause me to knock off marks, but what can I say, the film works as it's suppose to.

Mmm I bought this the other day for £1.30 (20 dvds for £26) no idea if I will ever even watch it, if I am desperate I guess I have another film to fall back on. In 10 years then.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 19 Sep 2007, 16:34

Lol, you're such a loser.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 19 Sep 2007, 16:48

Yeah I am a loser for buying dvds, if you say so.

You download em, so your an even bigger loser.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 19 Sep 2007, 17:51

Markgway wrote:
HIGH FIDELITY 4/5
This film should irritate the shit out of me, but I find myself enjoying it. It's funny and insightful, and John Cusack, like him or not, is perfectly cast. My only real gripe is that none of the characters is actually likeable. I wouldn't want to know any of these people. usually that would cause me to knock off marks, but what can I say, the film works as it's suppose to.

Hmmm... I'd like to get to know Sarah Gilbert better...

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 19 Sep 2007, 19:28

Burning Paradise 4/5

Cracking martial arts drama from Ringo Lam,very bleak and dark in tone.pity the dvd isn't up to much

Deliverance (hd-dvd) 4/5

Now over 30 years old this movie has lost little of it's power.bleak & humourless,the male rape scene is still quite hard to watch.excellent acting all round from the 4 male leads. not the best example of hd-dvd i've seen,some shots in the opening minutes look pretty ropey but once the movie settles down things improve.weirdly there seems to be no main menu screen on this disc and one of the special features is a zoom option where you zoom the screen in as much as you want

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 19 Sep 2007, 20:40

Yeah the Zoom option really is odd, 300 and a few others have that on, very pointless. It loks bad when I zoom in on my screen even just once, never mind all the way.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 19 Sep 2007, 20:53

yes,it's a truly bizarre "special" feature

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Sep 2007, 22:19

I remember when I first got a DVD Player I thought it was so cool you could zoom in. I then realised it was a gimmick. I've not had it on my current or prior DVD Player and don't miss it.

I hear very good things about HIGH FIDELITY. When I first saw COLLATERAL I hated it but on a second viewing I enjoyed it much more. The music is excellent.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 20 Sep 2007, 00:00

romerojpg wrote:Yeah I am a loser for buying dvds, if you say so.

No, you're a loser for buying DVDs you have no intention of watching. When you move house you'll need a special van just for your crates of unwatched discs. Don't you have anything better to spend money on?

You download em, so your an even bigger loser.

I rarely download DVDs and certainly not in place of buying them. If I like a film they'll get a sale out of me they otherwise wouldn't have had. We both win. Truth is: as much as the industry complains about downloading it's in fact a massive advertisement for their product and the vast majority of people who download still rent and buy DVDs and still go to the cinema.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 20 Sep 2007, 00:02

Yi-Long wrote:Hmmm... I'd like to get to know Sarah Gilbert better...

Not my idea of sexy... but, hey, we're all different. What do you think of Lili Taylor??

The chicks in the movie aren't the sexiest/most beautiful I've seen TBH; I'd maybe pork Natasha Gregson-Wagner (she's the music journalist) though.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 20 Sep 2007, 00:34

Markgway wrote:
Yi-Long wrote:Hmmm... I'd like to get to know Sarah Gilbert better...
Not my idea of sexy... but, hey, we're all different. What do you think of Lili Taylor??

The chicks in the movie aren't the sexiest/most beautiful I've seen TBH; I'd maybe pork Natasha Gregson-Wagner (she's the music journalist) though.

Sarah Gilbert might not be a model or whatever, but I just like her. She seems very cool and down-to-earth. I dont know. I just like her.

Lili Taylor is horrible in every way possible. She's hideous, she's got an annoying voice, and she cant act...
Hated her in Arizona Dream.

Natasha was pretty hot in High Fidelity...

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 20 Sep 2007, 00:51

You mean the same Sarah Gillbert who played Darlene on that god awful sitcom, Roseanne? Ewwww, plus she sounds eternally stoned.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Sep 2007, 01:19

Markgway wrote:I rarely download DVDs and certainly not in place of buying them. If I like a film they'll get a sale out of me they otherwise wouldn't have had. We both win. Truth is: as much as the industry complains about downloading it's in fact a massive advertisement for their product and the vast majority of people who download still rent and buy DVDs and still go to the cinema.

Too true.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 20 Sep 2007, 02:36

EvaUnit02 wrote:You mean the same Sarah Gillbert who played Darlene on that god awful sitcom, Roseanne? Ewwww, plus she sounds eternally stoned.

Yep. Same one.

Roseanne was a pretty good show btw. Especially for that time, when all we had were god-awfull sitcoms of rich families who loved eachother. Nothing like MY family, so I just couldnt relate to crap like Growing Pains, Family Ties, Cosby, etc.
With Roseanne, at least you had a sitcom about 'real people', who had real problems. And who werent affraid to bitch and moan to eachother and act like pigs.

It just wasnt the usual crap hollywood fantasy portrayal of what a family should be like. Personally, I liked that.

I wont buy a dvd boxset or anything, and it's certainly not the greatest sitcom ever... but it's not bad, and in fact, it's pretty damn good.

It had some excellent writing, especially the snappy one-liners and comebacks. And some of the acting was outstanding. I didnt like Becky or the little kid, though. But Sarah and John Goodman were very good, as was Roseanne herself. I'm not a huge Roseanne fan, not of her work or her personality (from what I would know about it from hear-say), but she did good on that show, acting wise. She's not a great actress, but she fits the role perfectly, and knows that she shouldnt be overacting... plus it's a well-written character she plays.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 20 Sep 2007, 08:53

I have loads of DVDs I STILL havent watched yet but I do intend to see them

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Sep 2007, 14:05

I bet I have more

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 20 Sep 2007, 15:28

Just watched Superman: Doomsday - 3.75/5
Not bad, not as good as Batman: Mask of Phantasm or Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, but it is good. They condensed the whole story arc into 70mins, so you can imagine how much they have cut out. Anne Anne Heche is not good as Lois, I just didn't like her in this. Adam Baldwin was not bad as Superman, he was okay, but James Marsters revels as Lex Luthor, he is really good. Good old Spike!!

There was some lovely scenes, like clone Superman killing off the toymaker. The doomsday fight was really good, and the ending fight.It a solid entry from Bruce Timm

May get this on DVD for the extras.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 20 Sep 2007, 15:28

Being John Malkovich
I had no idea what this was about, I just added it to my rental queue and I'm so glad I did. Fantastic film and such a surprise to see something so novel and amusing. It got a little carried away perhaps but who cares - I was having fun.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 20 Sep 2007, 16:08

Markgway wrote:
romerojpg wrote:Yeah I am a loser for buying dvds, if you say so.
No, you're a loser for buying DVDs you have no intention of watching. When you move house you'll need a special van just for your crates of unwatched discs. Don't you have anything better to spend money on?

You download em, so your an even bigger loser.
I rarely download DVDs and certainly not in place of buying them. If I like a film they'll get a sale out of me they otherwise wouldn't have had. We both win. Truth is: as much as the industry complains about downloading it's in fact a massive advertisement for their product and the vast majority of people who download still rent and buy DVDs and still go to the cinema.

I know you aint a big downloader, was joking a bit.

But I had to get the dvd, it was part of a bulk buy to get others I wanted cheap, its worth getting a few stragglers you may watch in the end, for a crack at the cheapo dvds you want I say. Worst case I can easy sell it for the price I paid, £1.30 is the price of a pint for gods sake

and no way I am taking everything I own with me when I move out soon, thats exactly why I am selling most my collection at the moment on Ebay, and making tonnes of cash as well. As people are buying the rare things I have bought over the last few years, esspecially the dvd sets from around the world.

Investments paid off well, better than the lottery so far

its a pain sticking them on Ebay, but god some go for a fortune! and that really makes me feel like I bought some worthy dvds.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Sep 2007, 16:47

Seriously Romero where do you go drinking? It's impossible to get a pint that cheap anywhere near me. Aside from maybe Student bars but I've no idea on that front.

A sledgehammer wouldn't get me to part with my Rare DVDs not that I have many.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 20 Sep 2007, 17:04

bradavon wrote:
A sledgehammer wouldn't get me to part with my Rare DVDs not that I have many.

Even if you can buy the exact same dvd, or better for a few quid?

or even better upgrade to HD which I am doing a lot now and still selling the standard dvds for wayyy more than the HD versions i then buy.

Its Esspecially nice when someone pays 10 times the price you paid for it

or its not even rare and someone bids insane amounts becuase of the way I sell it

I would rather now have less is more, any big sets I am flogging now before the bottom falls completly out of the dvd market, its crap now compared to last year, in another year it will be even worse.