The Official Movie Thread

it seems like a fairly normal nowadays comment to me. i'm not sure to what extent i disagree with the characterisation, but i don't care either way, and based on their double standards i think that most of the people who pretend to care also don't.
 
It sounds like the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever said. And the jerk hasn't explained himself yet so I'm extra sad.
You should know by now from the Mort thread that whenever someone says something like that they have no idea what they're talking about. In a way its good because whenever you see another post from that guy you'll know right away it'll be impossible to take seriously.

Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (Mario Bava, 1970) - Bava's westerns don't exactly have the best of reputations among his fans. Even the man himself went on record saying his westerns were "just work". He just didn't have an affinity for the genre making them curiosities among the endless stream of other spaghetti westerns of the time. So far this is the only one I've seen and I have to say it doesn't seem like something that was done just for a paycheck, it actually looks like everyone had a blast shooting this. From what I understand, this began life as a serious Leone-esque drama then somewhere along the way (probably Bava's way of amusing himself given his boredom with westerns) turned into a parody with the violence intact and as a result the finished product is mad as a hatter.

How you respond to it largely depends on your tolerance of frivolity because its fairly ridiculous featuring the likes of a psychotic dynamite obsessed revered and a whore who promises to stop charging to the first man that'll marry her, hysterically remarking at one point after catching the two men she cuckholds throughout the film with other whores "Spending all your money on these women! You should be saving it for me! Disgusting!" Its difficult to say who will get what out of it. Both fans of Bava and spaghetti westerns will likely be confused. Its unique that's for sure.
 
I watched Malick's Badlands this morning and have no idea why it's good :(

I also watched Wolf at the Door via Netflix and thought that was doo-doo..hipster Lynch Philosophy professor recommended it so now I don't trust him.
 
i try really hard to be open minded about every movie i watch and try to understand what other people see in it, even if my kneejerk reaction is loathing. malick's been one of the greatest challenges over the years and i've flip-flopped a lot, but i'm pretty much totally on board with his first two eras now. the new era, i'm still not so sure about. especially KNIGHT OF CUPS.
 
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When the trailer for Knight of Cups was released a Facebook friend posted it and captioned it "The most expensive tampon commercial ever filmed." Take that as you will.

Toxic Zombies (1980) - AKA Bloodeaters and Forest of Fear in the UK where it was listed as a Video Nasty, this little flick has long been one of my favorite American regional horrors. Shot on the cheap in Pennsylvania, it was clearly a labor of love for Charles McCrann who did all the heavy lifting, writing, directing and starring in the film. You may or may have come across it back in the day on USA Up All Night if your old enough to remember that. Nostalgia plays a big role in my love of the film as it was one of the very first things I can actually remember renting from a video store based on the cover art. The more I watched it over the years, the more its shortcomings become more apparent but they're easily overlooked just based on what the filmmakers had to work with plus its obvious that everyone put actual effort into it.

Being lensed in PA, its been accused of being a Romero rip-off (John Amplas from Romero's Martin even has a role as a government agent) but really its interesting in that the titular "zombies" aren't really zombies at all but rather cannibalistic savages as a result of being sprayed by an experimental crop dust. Considering the budget, the gore effects are fairly well done as is the majority of the acting which is surprising seeing as this was all done by first timers. One thing that's always irked me though is there's a bit of the score which is a clear rip-off of Carpenter's Halloween theme but other than that the eerie synth score is pretty effective.

Along with being a video nasty, the films other claim to fame is an unfortunate one with director Charles McCrann dying in the Twin Towers on 9/11. Some time ago there were rumblings of a DVD release with participating from McCrann's family but I've no idea if those were just rumors or if such a project is indeed in the works. This was his only film and I think its a cool little movie that, despite some signs of inexperience and budgetary blemishes, shows that amateurs can make a good film with ambition and ingenuity.

I also came across this amusing list the other day, David O. Russell made Amy Adams’ life a living hell: 5 sadistic male directors who treat their actors like garbage.

Lars von Trier will eat your soul :tickled:
 
lol. imagine how shit david o. russell's recent movies would be if he DIDN'T put in all this effort. hard to fathom. it's actually surprising how many guys on that list have made so many shitty movies, you'd think this kind of perfectionism would get results.

surely kubrick should be on there, he was basically the master.
 
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Much like Badlands in that it's execution was solid (portrayal of characters vs their environment) but didn't see the hoop la. Worth watching if you're a Herzog fan though.

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Pretty solid French film, part of the same style as Badlands and Stroszek. Character execution vs. their environment.

Next - Woman In the Dunes

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Over at Shock 'til You Drop there's an ongoing series called Secretly Scary which makes the case for films that aren't generally considered horror films but have enough elements of the genre that push them into that territory or in the very least might be appealing to horror fans. Pretty interesting I thought and of course when I discovered the series I was immediately reminded of that somewhat whiney "why we cant have nice things" article written about the brew-ha-ha over The Witch and so called "horror gatekeepers" or genre-Nazis crying foul and saying it wasn't a horror film.

Lesson of the Evil (Takashi Miike, 2012) - Score one of audacity. This was Miike's return to horror after a six year absence from the genre (unless you count Detective Story, speaking of a "is it or isn't it horror" type of movie) and holy shit. The balls of this film. When mass/school shootings are pretty much a daily occurrence these days, it took nuts of iron to make a film where the final third consists of a teacher massacring his students. What starts out like a teen/high school drama becomes much more darker in the middle before turning into a sadistic bloodbath. Miike also manages to squeeze in both hetero and homosexual student/teacher relationships and brings his wonderfully warped sense of humor to some of the films most grisly moments. There are several instance where many won't know whether to laugh or wince. Outstanding.
 
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Oasis - Same director as Secret Sunshine & Poetry.

Pretty good, after watching this I can cross another gross film moment off my list. Curious if anyone else has seen this
 
@Oblivious Maximus
I got around to watching Night Of The Demons 2 last night and I it wasn't too long before I realised that I'd seen the movie at least once before. I loved it as much as I did as a kid. They don't make movies like that anymore, well maybe if you buy from an adult store haha but yeah so much nostalgia and a movie that I've loved since it wad first released. I can't actually understand why I'd forgotten about it, usually a movie like that I remember.