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Film Thread.
I thought a trio of themed threads about other entertainment media might be good. If you're not interested, please just ignore the thread and pick some threads that interest you from here: http://celephais.net/board/view_all_threads.php

Anyway, discuss films...
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Underworld 
thoughts? Wondering if I should go and see 
Underworld 
Boring vehicle for action scenes that aren't really all that cool.

Whatever-the-hell that girl's name is... (I can't think of it now, but the main star) she is the perfect vampire-killer-chick-in-leather. I did not feel cheated by the bad movie because she was just that hot (and I could barely sit through Blue Crush). She doesn't lap dance the whole erotic element of the dark, sexy killer chick thing. She's pissed off and bitchy and oh so hot for it. She out-acted the movie. Did I mention she was really hot? Because she was. 
Kate Beckinsale 
movie looks alright in the ad though.

On another note, saw Dark City again, but this time on DVD. Fuck it looks great! And the first 70 minutes is still awesome. 
Phone Booth 
I saw Phone Booth recently and quite enjoyed it. The brevity of the film is something rarely seen outside of animation, but it worked well. All in all, it's a bit different from all the rest and was worth the 81 minutes of my time. 
Spider 
I recently saw Spider on DVD. It was a visual masterpiece as far as I'm concerned. Acting was good. It's a good movie to figure out if you enjoy that sort of thing, with several subtle symbolic things to check out on subsequent viewings. The movie works surprisingly well considering how little dialogue there is.

My primary complaint is that it moves too slowly. There are too many shots of Mr Cleg slowly walking down a road, writing in his journal, or some other act that didn't really need to be shown on screen for that long. 
League Of Extraordinary Gentleman 
so-so film which had great potential. Some of the characters they picked were questionable though (ie Tom Sawyer just seemed to be in so that american audiences could identify with something). Action scenes were okay but the jerky usage of the camera was a clear sign of a limited budget. And there's a sequel coming.

Other viewings recently included :

Exorcist - very nice, not that scary but very cool nonetheless. I actually thought the much talked about spider walk was actually pretty cool. Didnt understand how Regan was posessed though, it went from Iraq to the US without much explanation.

edward scissorhands - tim burton needs to have his visual creativity bottled and sold. And he and johnny depp need to make more movies together. This is classy, albeit predictable & cliche storytelling. The avon lady would have to be the best character though.

dr strangelove - good but not as great as I was expecting. The scenes in the plane (barring the survival kit stuff) were too long and boring. The rest was pretty cool though, although the ending may have been better with just the first explosion as the last scene, and dr strangelove's speech moved to just before that.

dog day afternoon - very good and very funny, perhaps 15 mins too long but that's forgiveable given what precedes it. Al Pacino is in awesome form and the script is great. 
LXG 
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favorite books, and the use of Dorian Gray in the movie made me want to wretch. It was heresy.

Long, boring movies with cool scenes is Kubrick's trademark.

Burton is the man. 
LOTR Festival 
Ooh, scored some tickets today to go see all three of the LOTR movies back to back to back on December 16. There'll be intermissions in between, of course -- and it'll rock just to see the whole thing together at the theater, like some uber-quality miniseries ;) They're only showing it in TWO theaters in Tennessee -- anyone else know when and where it's showing elsewhere? 
Hellboy Site 
LOTR Trilogy Showings In US 
Aww... 
/me hugs Quaketree 
Kill Bill 
Enjoyable. Not a serious a movie, but not corny either (I felt the trailer was trying to be too funny/cute, and that's not what the movie is). Lots of action, lots of gore, and lots of outrageous, laughable gore. I thought the movie got lost on side-stories too frequently and for too long, though. Still, I liked it. 
Latest DVDs 
Got Wrong Turn and The Gate -- with Wrong Turn being a solid survival horror flick with some great shocks, although its depiction of the South and the rural inhabitants is a bit off-putting in its exaggeration. I mean, the Redneck Trucker and the One-Toothed Gas Station Attendant were a bit much alongside the inbred mutants who are the prime offenders in the movie. All that aside, Wrong TUrn is a really good one-time view, but not necessarily a keeper for the collection.

The Gate is a classic in my book: It came out in 1987, and is a stand-out since it doesn't rely on either gore or titillation as did most movies of that period. It even has a PG-13 rating =) Yeah, it's sorta sappy at the core, but a really neat movie about the Old Gods invading from below via a hole in this kid's backyard =) 
Biff 
you seem to be into horror stuff, can you recommend anything good? Only stuff I've seen from the genre that I'ave actually liked are Exorcist, The Thing & Rosemary's Baby. 
My Horror Picks, A Thru D (part One -- 5000 Character Limit) 
I love the horror genre, and am really happy that it seems to having a bit of a resurrection lately. But the genre itself is not nearly as cut-and-dry as most people think, and I detail some of my own specifications in the partial list below:

Audition (Oodishon) - 2000: Takashi Miike's utterly disturbing take on a May-December romance ;) It takes some time to get going (this is done deliberately, as far as I can tell), but when it does, it pays off. Mind you, this isn't a film for the weak-stomached, and it is Japanese with subtitles.

The Brood - 1979: David Cronenberg's take on internalizing our anger. Cronenberg's early films like this tend wind along a bit unevenly at times, but the performances are fairly solid, and some nice shocks are in store. Again, this is a disturbing and graphic film -- but Cronenberg, while excessive, is always effective.

C.H.U.D. - 1984: This is typical of one of my favorite sub-genres in horror, Cheese Horror. Cheese Horror is usually caused by a restricted budget, forcing the filmmakers to take what had been a serious concept and weaken it slightly, due to the lack of realism in production or of focus in the script. But when it's done well, Cheese Horror makes for a great watch -- and C.H.U.D. is one. If you can find the DVD, the commentary track by the director and lead actors is hilarious.

Cannibal Holocaust - 1980: This movie has to be seen to be believed. This is the template on which lesser films like The Blair Witch Project are based, providing a faux-documentary feel to its subject, but its it believable, and powerful. This is not as much a horror film as an exploitation film, and again it is graphic and disturbing. It won't leave your mind for some time after you see it.

The Car - 1977: The Cadillac of Cheese. The Mysterious Black Car From Hell torments a small town, and James Brolin vows to total it. What's odd here is that this is a really bad concept done really well, but since the concept is so bad, the overall effect is like watching one of the Airplane! movies. A hoot.

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover - 1989: From the wonderfully whacked Peter Greenaway (I need to find more of his stuff, btw) comes this elegant and ultimately quite disturbing movie. The film is like a play or opera of sorts, very classical and well-paced -- and the ending is worth the wait.

Dawn of the Dead - 1978: One of my all-time faves, this rates as higher quality Cheese. The higher rating is for the thought-provoking premise, and the undercurrents of black satire that run throughout the film. Its predecessor Night of the Living Dead and sequel Day of the Dead seem to lack both of those qualities, IMO and aren't nearly as much fun to watch. This is getting ready to be re-released in a new version starring Ving Rhames, and I heartily suggest the original be seen first, although I have high hopes for the new version.

(see below for more)  
My Horror Picks, A Thru D (part Two) 
Dead & Buried - 1981: Written by Dan O'Bannon, the guy who helped script Alien and Total Recall, and who directed the original Return of the Living Dead (see below), this movie plays like a made for TV flick, but has a good bit of gore here and there, and a neat premise. Not way up on the list, but a good rental nonetheless.

The Dead Zone - 1983: David Cronenberg again, but considerably more solidified than his past films. One of the best Stephen King adaptations (my other faves are Tobe Hooper's made for TV miniseries Salem's Lot and Mick Garris' The Stand,), and starring The Man Himself, Christopher Walken. A really good thriller, simply put.

Deep Rising - 1998: Stephen Sommers' first hit before The Mummy. More a sci-fi/horror/action m�lange than anything, it's a great ride, funny as hell in parts (due mainly to Kevin J. O'Connor as Joey, who should be in more movies, dammit), and has some awesome shocks and great tension. Big, noisy fun.

Deliverance - 1972: The film Wrong Turn wanted to be like, but couldn't. Directed by John Boorman, one of my fave filmmakers (I even forgive him the retched Exorcist II), this is a very disturbing and effective movie, with solid performances by the likes of Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, Burt Reynolds and Ronny Cox. A must-see.

Demon Seed - 1977: Sci-fi/horror, an adaptation of a novel by Dean Koontz, with the beautiful Julie Christie giving a nice performance in this tale of technology gone amok. Sure, it's somewhat dated, but effective and overall a creepy flick.

The Devil's Rain - 1975: This movie is total Cheese, but oddly enough the ending freaked me out a little. William Shatner takes on Ol' Scratch, vividly portrayed by Enrest Borgnine! No, really!

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (TV) - 1973: I only include this for two reasons -- I've GOT to find it on VHS or DVD (doubtful if it'll ever come out), and it's being remade as well. In it a young woman nad her husband inherit her father's old Victorian house, which has a few suprises in store for her. Simply put, I watched this on late-night TV once was a kid, and couldn't sleep afterwards for a week. Creepy as fuck stuff.

That's all for now, I'm cramping here. But this is fun, and I'll add more later if anyone likes. 
The South 
If you're going to show the south at all then you might as well depict everyone in it as Fualknerian chuds.

I'm already afraid to drive through the bible belt. 
Pushplay 
Well, you're an idiot. That's like depicting Noo Yawkers as guys named Vinny, Midwesterners as people obcessed with dairy products and the enitre state of California full of Jeff Spicolis. And it's Faulkneresque, you git. 
Faulknerian 
Sounds about a million times better. 
Cheers Biff 
will see if I can track down some of those. I've got Deliverance, didnt know it really classified as horror. 
Nitin 
All I know is that if I were Ned Beatty in that movie, I would have to disagree with you ;) 
Nitin 
All I know is that if I were Ned Beatty in that movie, I would have to disagree with you ;) 
Horror 
appreciate the recommendations biff, i'll add them to the list and eventually watch them. i'm a big horror fan too, but don't watch much because there's so much garbage, unless it's had a good review or been recommended.

i saw 28 days later today. was alright although i would have liked more focus on surviving the zombie's rather than the second half of the movie with the camp of soldiers wanting to rape and murder - which was pretty unrealistic. the original ending would have been better too, and gave a good opportunity for a sequel.

looking forward to texas chainsaw2, jeepers creepers2 and freddy vs jason. anyone seem them yet?

look forward to more of your horror list later biffy :P 
(fingers In Ears) LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA....... 
[Kona] almost gave away the plot for 28 days. 
Kona! 
Come back! Make maps!

28 Days Later I liked much. 
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