Bullets 'n' Babes

Markgway wrote:
Sam - was this film originally intended to be in B&W? What's the story behind that?

Darabont says the b&w version is his "director's cut",it's how he intended it but studios wanted it in colour apparently.

Quantum of Solace (UK / US, 2008) – 2,5/5
- https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=4874

Killer vs Killers (Italy, 1985) – 2/5
Di Leo’s last film feels like straight to video flick... which is exactly what it became when it was denied the access to Italian screens. Henry Silva plays the lead of a gang who must steal documents and destroy the evidence... and stay alive to enjoy the money. Poor first third, followed by a decently entertaining last 50 minutes. The soundtrack is quite alright, and some of action, while not good, is at least original. The screenplay – which was inspired by John Houston’s The Asphalt Jungle – features some incredible plot holes (the gang is supposed to blow up and burn the building so that no one knows what they stole... but the briefcase they’re after is kept in a safe that could probably take a nuclear explosion unharmed).
- dvd / Raro

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers - 4/5

I enjoyed this when I watched a video of it yesterday - it was a good movie with some fine acting talent on show. Geoffrey Rush is terrific is Sellers, who was a troubled, complex man, and he was amusing and funny but he didn't seem to be a very nice person, a bit of an asshole TBH. He was horrible to his son and didnt treat some women nicely either He got angry with his first wife for having an affair, yet he fancied Sophia Loren and he thought that was alright
Great comedian, not so great human being.
A scene with his son is very sad, but there are some surreal comic scenes too For example the scene where he heckles an air stewardess in character as Insp. Clouseau
The cast also includes Stephen Fry and Miriam Margolyes.

Hannibal: 4/5

When I saw this back on DVD many years ago, I just found it boring, but now that I'm older and wiser, I thought I'd give it another go with its broadcast last night. I thought it was really good, it had a very arty feel to it which I didn't pick up on back in the day, and I enjoyed the performances and the direction by Ridley Scott. Gary Oldman's makeup is very impressive too. The brain bit at the end still made me feel queasy. I'd call this film 'underrated'.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 3.5-4/5

As a film I really quite enjoyed it. Some comedy, action etc. I did like it.

As an Indy film it was a no, no, no. Possible spoiler-ish - There should not be sci-fi and aliens in an Indy film. What the feck inspired them to do a film with that story line, and think it was a good idea, I have no idea. I just don't understand how they could have possibly htought this was a proper Indy story.

Anyway, I did like it as a film, but do wish it didn't have the Indy tag on it.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966): 5/5

Classic spaghetti Western. All 3 main characters are great and I love the amazing music

degeneration wrote:What the feck inspired them to do a film with that story line

Two words: George and Lucas.

degeneration wrote: As an Indy film it was a no, no, no. Possible spoiler-ish - There should not be sci-fi and aliens in an Indy film. What the feck inspired them to do a film with that story line, and think it was a good idea, I have no idea. I just don't understand how they could have possibly htought this was a proper Indy story.

Setting it in the 50's... the golden age of Hollywood sci-fi pics...

Quantum of Solace: 3.8/5

Not as good as Casino Royale - some might say a disappointment - but I still enjoyed it. Daniel Craig is excellent in it, his Bond is cold and out for revenge, and there are some impressive stunts and bursts of pretty strong violence. Exciting
However, I felt the story wasnt as good as Casino Royale and Mr. Green isnt nearly as good a villain as Le Chiffre - IMO he didnt seem dangerous enough and there wasnt much motivation to go after him. I mean he was stealing a poor country's water under the guise of an eco-project I thought, and that was about it. Was that it?
Also it occurs to you as you watch Bond chase (like in the superb opening car chase or rooftop free running) or beat people up, you're not really introduced to these people - hence you don't know them or reallly CARE what Bond is doing as much. You understood why he felt how he did - "trust no one" though.
I loved Olga but Gemma (Strawberry Fields? Oh please) was a waste as a Bond girl and really isnt given much to do - but there's a neat reference to an earlier Bond classic, see if you can spot it
The lack of gadgets, stupid quips and sex is refreshing however, and I liked how it picked up where Casino Royale left off. You will get more from this film if you have seen Casino Royale before though, and I think the reason why I appear disappointed is because of my high expectations. It was still a good film though

Iron Man: 4/5

I didn't really have much interest in seeing this, the trailer certainly didn't do it any favours and I've never been a fan of the character. I finally watched it today and I agree with all the positive reviews it got, I really enjoyed it. It has a solid script, great action, and the funny bits did indeed make me laugh. Also, I was surprised to see The Dude in it haha

Man From Deep River (Italy, 1972) – 1,5/5
Umberto Lenzi’s jungle adventure turns out more of a Thailand holiday than survival fight. Ivan Rassimov plays a tourist who is captured by a tribe somewhere between Thailand and Burma. After some struggle and torture he starts enjoying his new lifestyle... and everybody lives happily after. Or rather would, if the local cannibals weren’t giving them hard time. But the human eaters are only a small side theme. Unfortunately there’s more animals killed (for real) than humans (not for real). In fact, the cannibals only eat one Thai hooker turned actress. Perhaps a higher body count would’ve improved the entertainment value. Now film has a bad tendency to slip to the unexciting side. Ruggero Deodato later directed a superior semi-sequel The Last Cannibal World (1977) with the same leads.

Empty!

grim_tales wrote:Quantum of Solace: 3.8/5
was stealing a poor country's water under the guise of an eco-project I thought, and that was about it. Was that it?

Yes. Annoyingly a poor story.

We're now using .8 in our reviews! .

grim_tales wrote:Also it occurs to you as you watch Bond chase (like in the superb opening car chase or rooftop free running) or beat people up, you're not really introduced to these people - hence you don't know them or reallly CARE what Bond is doing as much.

Exactly. They just appear for no good reason, as does Bond appear at several locations for no reason whatsoever. He appears at an airstrip literally just so we can see the plane crash.

Also I thought it got gimmicky after a while having the locations names appear in a style appropriate to that location, and as part of the "scenery". Cool at first, but gimmicky after a while (eg having the word "London" painted on the tarmac).
Doesnt matter that much though.

Predator 2 (blu-ray) 3/5

Reasonably decent sequel to the classic original comes to blu-ray with a nice,solid transfer that's clearly an upgrade from the dvd.almost too good as the climactic scene where the predators come for their fallen comrade now looks really cheap looking Danny Glover is decent in this,Bill Paxton overacts to an annoying degree.

Saw V 2/5

I don't mind the Saw series but the well has definitely run dry with this entry i feel.one or 2 decent gore scenes and clever traps can't save this weak entry in the franchise. filmakers made a rod for their own backs killing jigsaw in the 3rd movie,now they are left to shoehorn him in via flashbacks making for increasingly muddled storylines still i don't blame the film makers for carrying on,low budget-big profits. no 6 is already on the way.

Is the first as good as they say?

The first was very good. Clever and a good story. I thought it was going to be a gore fest, but it wasn't, it was more a clever story with some minor gore undertones and one disturbingly memorable scene.

Only seen part 2 from the sequels so far, and it wasn't even a patch on the original.

SAW the original is great.i have the german BD.

Halloween all over again then, thanks.

Except Halloween is actually good.

Saw was OK as far as "torture porn" goes (not my cup of really) but it didn't make me wanna watch any of the sequels. Guess there's a big market for them though if they've already made five.

People are sick!

La Antena: 4.5/5

I saw most of this on Film4 earlier and it was really magical, I'm so glad that genuinely creative films are still being made. It reminded me of Dark City and The City of Lost Children, but in B&W silent cinema/German expressionist form.

The Changeling: 9 out of 10

Utterly fantastic. No one does understated like Clint. Angelina Jolie shows yet again why she's such a brilliant actress.

It's amazing the lengths the LA Police went to to cover up the almighty cock up they managed to create and what they put Jolie's character through. To think it's all based on real events.

As expected Clint's direction is excellent. It really felt like the film was made in the 1950s, instead of the usual "modern film trying to look like the 1950s". I was gripped for the entire 141 minutes.

Jolie better at least get nominated this time, it's a crime she didn't win last year.