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Joe D'Amata's Beyond the Darkness, one of the better Italian gorefests. The truth is, I think it is one of the sickest films ever put to celluloid. You get scene after scene of stomach churning gore, everything from throat tearing to fingernail ripping and everything in between. In fact, there was speculation concerning whether the filmmakers used a real body or not. If your into these kind of movies and haven't seen this one, you're missing one of the best.
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alone with her. very good low budget stalker movie def worth checking out. 6/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472259/ |
On the whole SK adaptations debate...
Good - Salem's Lot (o), Misery, The Green Mile, Apt Pupil, Pet Sematary, Carrie, Christine, Creepshow, The Dead Zone, Silver Bullet, The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, Stand By Me, It, Firestarter, The Running Man, Sleepwalkers. Average - The Shining (o), Cat's Eye, The Mangler, Storm of the Century, 1408, The Dark Half, The Shining (series), Cujo, Rose Red, Dreamcatcher, The Lawnmower Man, Maximum Overdrive, Sometimes They Come Back, Hearts in Atlantis, The Stand. Bad - The Tommyknockers, Trucks, Riding the Bullet, The Langoliers, Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Secret Window, Thinner, Creepshow II, The Night Flier, Diary of Ellen Rimbauer. Haven't Seen - Bag of Bones, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Desperation, Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, Golden Years, Graveyard Shift, Kingdom Hospital, Quicksilver Highway. ----------------------------------- http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpghttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg ...back-to-back. Ended up with a couple finger nails short. Umpteen times viewed but still the films got it in them. |
The Avengers- 9/10
I really liked it, and i'm really starting to enjoy the fanboy bullshit of comparing this to the new Batman movie. Apples and oranges :) Will be seeing Prometheus thursday at midnight |
Aren't the imdb ratings user generated though?
I go on the imdb boards. I've seen the people that tend to post there. ...what you're saying is kind've like saying a group of mentally challenged children disagree with him. Last night I started watching "dead and deader" but just didn't feel like watching such cheap looking shit so turned it off after about 20 minutes. |
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Dude, the IMDB boards are a joke. For every film you will find somebody proclaiming it's the worst movie ever made, and somebody else branding it the ultimate expression of cinematic genius. In between you'll find a dedicated bunch of idiots trolling each other. The boards are the worst aspect of a valuable resource.
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21 Jump Street (2012)
http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...hdc/21JUMP.jpg >>: B- Safe (2011) http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/...idhdc/safe.jpg >>: B- Safe House (2012) http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/.../SafeHouse.jpg >>: B |
After our resident reviewer stacilayne, our young ferretchucker becomes the second official HDC member to have watched Prometheus.
That is, if Angra hasn't beaten him to the theater earlier this week. How about a short review, my dear English chap? |
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(Image kindly found by Roshiq) Well, I saw this yesterday, and it's difficult to say too much about this film without spoiling a great deal - I'll try my best. First I'll approach the film as a construction, then I'll say a bit about the story itself. The casting is SUPERB. Theron really gets into the ice-queen persona of Miss. Vickers perfectly, and Michael Fassbender's David has the perfect mix of chillingly emotionless robot and unusual superiority. The slightest movements of his eyes are unsettling with their lack of humanity. I found some choices odd, such as Idris Elba and Rafe Spall playing their roles with an American accent. The main reason this was odd for me is that it added nothing to their characters - their nationality was irrelevant so I just wonder why it was deemed necessary that they change their accents. But ho hum, still marvelous. The visuals were all brilliant - I particularly liked the opening shots of sweeping, overcast landscapes. Maybe this is just personal preference, as I'm a sucker for the stormy autumnal look - it's why I loved The Ghost Writer so much! But I really think it helps set the tone. But there were others aspects of this I liked - the design of Prometheus itself was clever. I can see the tough position they were in - how do they make it look high tech and cool WITHOUT totally undermining the sets of Alien (a la Star Wars prequel trilogy)? However, they pulled it off well - subtle continuity in design between the Nostromo and Prometheus interiors combined with the knowledge that the former - though set in the future - was a small mining ship, whilst the latter is a trillion dollar expedition leader kept me, as a fan of the series, more than satisfied. Other points to note that don't REALLY need to be said - the score and direction are brilliant. We all know what to expect from Ridley, so I don't think that was a surprise. I've read a few reviews that criticise the score as being too orchestral and overbearing, but I didn't notice this at all. And quite frankly, when you're dealing with THE ORIGINS OF HUMANITY...you're allowed to be a bit bombastic. And the end-credits music is an inspired choice! And that brings me nicely to...the story. Hmm. This is where I'm torn. Like many, I've pondered for a long time what happened to the space jockey - who was he, what was he doing etc. etc. But whether or not these questions needed answering I was unsure. Couldn't it have just been left a mystery? The haunting, unexplained echo of a previous struggle? Leaving things like this to the audience's imagination allows absolute freedom to decide the scale for themselves. Some might imagine a huge, intergalactic war between Jockeys and Aliens! Others might choose to imagine a similar situation to the events on the nostromo - a small crew in a confined space, unaware of the ghastly truth of their cargo. The second the audience is shown the "truth", this freedom to fill in the gaps disappears...and the problem is, when a worldwide fanbase has had over thirty years to fill in the gaps...the "truth" had better be pretty fucking spectacular. I admire Scott's path with the film - he could have easily leeched off of the Alien name and bombarded us with messages screaming "THIS IS IN THE SAME WORLD!" But this isn't the case. It's far more subtle - they work for Weyland, they land on LV-223 (I'll get to this in a moment), the androids function in pretty much the same way, the vehicle design is reminiscent of Aliens - again, I admired that Scott respected the continuity of even the films he had nothing to do with. Though it would have felt like a massive punch in the face, he COULD have retconned or ignored them, but he didn't. What he DID retcon - the AvP fiasco - is more of a relief than anything! Again, this is achieved with a quiet but firm push - we get to see the OFFICIAL Mr. Weyland. Sorry Lance, Charles is no longer canon. But this is where some issues arise. Prometheus establishes PLENTY of ideas on a collosal scale...but doesn't answer them. This is can always do in the sequels, yes, but I was left with a feeling of emptiness. However, the BIGGER issue is that the jumping off point for these ideas is a bit TOO similar to AvP for me. [POTENTIAL spoilers ahead - I'll keep it as vague as possible] We open with Shaw and Holloway finding cave paintings suggesting a higher alien race's involvement with prehistoric Earth. It's implied that they visited us fairly frequently and taught us many things. Of course, in Alien Versus Predator, this is how to build and shizzle, whereas in Prometheus, it's them who built us. So, whilst the two paths are forking off in different directions, Prometheus doesn't travel far enough down it's own path to entirely leave behind it's shared roots with AvP. And this is of course, the MAIN problem with Prometheus. It doesn't go far enough along it's own narrative. True, there will be sequels, but even when a trilogy is planned from the offset, the first film should feel like more than just an opening scene (in the grand scheme of the entire series). It needs a certain amount of resolution, and that's something that we don't get in Prometheus. The entire basis of the film was to answer the question of the Space Jockeys...and it doesn't. It only creates further questions, and - from what I could tell when trying to work out where the next film will go - further ISSUES when trying to bridge the gap between it and Alien. This is the LV-223 problem. I won't go into too much detail, but setting it on a totally different moon may make SOME sense - we all know that 426's atmosphere was hardly friendly. However, anybody who has seen the trailer for Prometheus is aware that there's a bit of a crash landing in it. So...if the crash is on 223...how do things get to 426? The very end of the film DOES leave it open to do to 426 but it just feels like they're making more work for themselves! I don't know..it's tough to explain fully without retelling the end of the film, and I won't do that. Suffice to say, however, the VERY VERY end of the film - whilst initially being fan-boy-porn also leaves a fair few questions - again, in relation to how the action ends up on 426. So to summarise...the film itself is good. More than good. The acting - brilliant, the visuals, score, direction, effects etc. all marvellous. However the lack of resolution for almost ANYTHING is frustrating. It feels like Prometheus was only made to have a sequel, but far from being part one of a three parter, it's more like the pre-release podcast. When the sequels fly in and the story can be viewed as a whole, I'm sure I'll be VERY pleased. But as of yet, I'm left wanting more - not so much because I was that enthralled by it...but because I was unfulfilled. 3/5 |
Superb review, ferret. If only there was an option to make a post a sticky, yours would be definitely stuck up there. Thank you.
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No worries, your praise is enough :) Hope you enjoy it!
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"Hatfields And McCoys" (2012)
-Kevin Costner, Bill Paxton Plot: IMDB 'Devil' Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy. Close friends and comrades until near the end of the Civil War, they return to their neighboring homes - Hatfield in West Virginia, McCoy just across the Tug River border in Kentucky - to increasing tensions, misunderstandings and resentments that soon explode into all-out warfare between the families. As hostilities grow, friends, neighbors and outside forces join the fight, bringing the two states to the brink of another Civil War. Phantom's Review: From what I have read on the net, the true life descendants of the Hatfields,McCoys, and "Bad" Frank Phillips have all claimed that this epic History Channel Mini-series is not nearly as historically accurate as the History Channel says it is, but as an entertainment I thought it was an excellent show. Terrific acting from the entire cast, interesting and well written story,and plenty of action. It may not be totally accurate but it was definitely worth watching. -- |
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Been revisiting some 80s sci-fi flicks this week...
Alien Nation Still holds up well but could've done without the brief voice-over at the end however. The Running Man Arnie has some of his more wooden moments (but this is still perhaps his most underrated film) with this one but it's still great and is still my favorite futuristic game show gone astray flick. |
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Never understood the hate for it. IMO, Cameron's masterpiece, T2 and Aliens aside. |
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Pretty decent (I presume) TV bio-pic of the great Errol Flynn. A little tame but still enjoybale with a decent performance from the lead....Watch at home on a double bill with: http://www.memorabletv.com/new/tasma...rrol-flynn.jpg Excellent though short documentry on the star hosted by Chris Lee. During its sparse 50mins I got into 2 fights, bedded a dozen chorus girls and grew a pencil moustashe. Today I am learning to fence. |
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Nude Nuns With Big Guns the title says it all....actually it's only one Nun. Grindhouse homage .......and it's on netflix instant |
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All I can say is it BETTER be good. |
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Thought not without faults this film which cost £100,000 looks a lot better than many that cost ten times this. The direction/Camera work and editing is top notch and though using some gimmicks like timelapse and alternative mediums it never gets jaded. The non-linear narrative (much like GO/The Killing or Pulp Fiction) is well crafted hooking in even the minor characters. Add to this a 'greek chorus' of rap/hiphop and you have a very original urban crime drama that avoids the cliches and gives us a real slice of that life, Brv!! |
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-Satan |
I watched The Pact last night, it was pretty spookey in places and i rather enjoyed it.
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First day, first show. In one word:- fan-tas-tic! Ferret has pretty much covered a lot of ground in his review, so I'll keep it short. (although it's hard for me, being a hardcore Alien fan for life, to keep it to anything less than a zillion words) Ridley is back to form. His recent films have been anything but spectacular, but with Prometheus he pulls out all the stops to immerse the audiences in a grand visual epic. From the jaw-dropping opening sequence, to the long shots of CGI/real landscapes, the cinematography is absolutely brilliant, and has to be seen to be believed. The story, which everyone knows by now, is not a first on screen by any means, but Ridley's treatment of it is what makes it really, really good. (although the script writer or re-writer needs to be shot for messing a bit too much with the storyline/characters, which is evident more than once throughout the film) The references to Alien are pretty much there, but I will ask everyone to see Prometheus as a standalone sci-fi film, and for what it is. Imagine this film as the first in a series/franchise, of which Alien is probably part IV (Prometheus part IV: Alien, Prometheus part V: Aliens, etc.) Then only you will appreciate it for what it is. The biggest gripe which anyone could have with Prometheus is that it might take itself too seriously, but never for once does Ridley imply this. On the contrary, it's evident that he's had a lot of fun making this and letting his creative visions take shape as they evolved. The story is superb, and the similarity with AvP finishes with the first 20-odd minutes (although not too similar to that one, so you are forgiven for thinking so). From then on it's pretty much Ridley's vehicle. If Alien was conceptually a "haunted house film in space", Prometheus is like a set of haunted houses in space. It leaves plenty to the imagination, and also unanswered questions with you when the end credits start rolling, which is the hallmark of any classy film. Noomi Rapace is brilliant: I won't be surprised if they nominate her for an Oscar next year for her performance in Prometheus. Her Elizabeth Shaw is nowhere near Ripley, they are poles apart. Elizabeth is impressionable, a firm believer in her own beliefs, and as the film progresses she becomes increasingly vulnerable and alone, two qualities which make for a superb character. Michael Fassbender is equally exceptional as David - his last shot will leave you with a haunting image. I have loved this guy for quite some time now (he was outstanding in X-Men:First Class) and should get plenty of more work than the amount he's doing right now. He's a talent, and it shows. Charlize Theron impresses a lot as well, her Vickers character a complete polar opposite of Elizabeth Shaw, with a hidden intent evident throughout the film. The others do their job, but aren't as memorable as the crews from Alien or Aliens - a point for which I place the blame on either Spaihts or Lindelof (whoever didn't provide them with some depth or uniqueness), except for Idris Elba. The 4-5 lead characters are pretty strongly represented, but the supporting cast suffer from weak characterisation. But credit to Ridley that this aspect of the film doesn't really weigh it down at any time. The background score gets loud at times, but it is expected to complement the scene to which it is mated. Although, I would have preferred silence to have been used a lot more (ala Alien) which could have added a lot of nail-biting atmosphere to the proceedings. The sudden blares make you feel a bit jarred and nervy. Be sure to keep your distance from the speakers. Overall, I am glad that Ridley didn't commit the mistakes George Lucas did with his trio. His Prometheus is bold, it's different, and it starts it's own journey towards (hopefully) a fantastic destination which will eventually merge with it's original source through a glorious blaze of answers. Heading back to re-watch it on Sunday night again, in IMAX. And right now that I have finished writing this by remembering the scenes of the film one by one, I am salivating. Says something? Rating - * * * * |
Between your review and ferret's, I'm super excited to see this movie!
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