DieselDaisy Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) The Manxman Love-trangle melodrama, the last of Hitch's silents. A masterpiece. It was the first with Anny Ondra, the first 'Hitchcock blond' (she later married Heavyweight boxer, Max Schmeling). Carl Brisson is also superb in it, probably Hitch's best male silent actor. Blackmail Britain's first talkie. The film got boosted up to a talkie during production and then someone discovered that Ondra, a Czech actress, had a heavy accent. There was no post-dubbing in those days so Hitchcock solved it by having another actress deliver Ondra's lines, outside shot, while Ondra herself mimed her lines on screen. Her dialogue is stilted but Hitch just about gets away with it. What an absolute fuckin masterpiece Blackmail is by the way; everything, if it was not already in place with The Lodger, is now in place. It is a sort of template for the rest of his films. It is weird how it took him that long to return to the thriller genre (which we now see as, the Hitchcockian genre). He made The Lodger, a massive success, and then put out a series of melodramas and comedies. It took him about another six or so films to return to the genre which first gained him acclaim. Studio politics is one reason of course. Murder! Another masterpiece, lighter in tone than Blackmail. Superb climax. When you mention the fact that the badguy is a transgendered half caste dwarf, you realise that you could get a way with a lot more things in 1920s-30s Britain, than 1950s America. This is something else I picked up from the nudity (or suggestions of nudity) in his early British films. He could not have Grace Kelly wip off items of her clothing in the '50s, yet he could get away from this in his early British films (including his debut, The Pleasure Garden). They are surprisingly risque in many ways. Edited March 7, 2014 by DieselDaisy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Planet TerrorDeath Proof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sabbath Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Planet TerrorDeath ProofI still prefer Death Proof. Didn't care for Planet Terror too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Planet TerrorDeath ProofI still prefer Death Proof. Didn't care for Planet Terror too much.same.saw it in theaters and planet terror was shown first and it seemed like it was never gonna endlove death proof...nobody cooler than kurt russell although he turns into a pussy at the end...rose mcgowan looked so much better in it than she did in planet terror....and it's almost overlooked as part of tarantino's filmography...i like it better than inglourious basterds and django unchained... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmarBradley Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Finally finishing the last few episodes I have of Band of Brothers. Been putting it off for too long.One of the best series/shows/filmed things ever done. For both quality, and message. Episode 9 will forever be ingrained inside my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sabbath Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Finally finishing the last few episodes I have of Band of Brothers. Been putting it off for too long.One of the best series/shows/filmed things ever done. For both quality, and message. Episode 9 will forever be ingrained inside my mind.That's the next one I have to watch. Looking forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmarBradley Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Finally finishing the last few episodes I have of Band of Brothers. Been putting it off for too long.One of the best series/shows/filmed things ever done. For both quality, and message. Episode 9 will forever be ingrained inside my mind.That's the next one I have to watch. Looking forward to it.I think that will end up being an ironic statement, you'll see what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Yes, Band of Brothers is good stuff. The Pacific was pretty decent also; each episode on those shows is like a film. I watched - both from 1931,The Skin GameCorporate sort of melodrama about the fate of rural England (Hard Times?). It does not really hang together perfectly - a few characters and plot points which are not really fleshed out, etc. - but it is fairly decent.Rich and StrangeAnother masterpiece. It bombed at the box office but later, the French 'New Wave' discovered it and it became one of their most analysed, of Hitch's. There is a lot going on. It seems to begin as a comedy, with that eccentric stiff upper lip humour which you get from English comedies in those days, but then delves into some rather risqué areas concerning relationships - almost Eyes Wide Shut areas. Again, Hitchcock could not have made this film in 1950s America (running the risk of becoming one of those people who prefers his English work over his American, and thinking he 'sold out' in 1940). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelica Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 300: Rise of an Empire is terrific fun, although that is pretty much exclusively due to Eva Green's spectacularly batshit insane performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sabbath Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 So it's worth going to see then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 300: Rise of an Empire is terrific fun, although that is pretty much exclusively due to Eva Green's spectacularly batshit insane performance.I just watched Mark Kermode on BBC News and he was completely slating the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelica Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) So it's worth going to see then?If the idea of a Nicolas Cage level crazy performance, but delivered by a deliriously beautiful French woman appeals to you at all, then fuck yes. And if that doesn't appeal to you, you're dead to me. Of course it's a terrible film, objectively speaking. Snyder's name on the credits ensures as much. That has however, no bearing on the fact that it contains a glorious performance that makes it entirely worth seeing. It's also sort of fun in the same dippy way the first one was, noticeably less homoerotic though. Edited March 8, 2014 by Angelica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Kermode, who was not a fan of the original 300, said that this sequel makes the original look like Citizen Kane. He found the thing, despite the gore and histrionics, dull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H454NLFC Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Just watched terminator 3 again what a shitty movie that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelica Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) Kermode, who was not a fan of the original 300, said that this sequel makes the original look like Citizen Kane. He found the thing, despite the gore and histrionics, dull.I believe your third party counterpoint has been effectively rendered. Interior. Leather Bar. James Franco's attempt to imagine and re-create the 40 minutes that the studio cut from William Friedkin's Cruising. Except it's really about Franco and another straight actor watching a lot of (very real and very graphic) live gay sex, and trying to deconstruct their socially constructed unease with it. Or something. It's very vague, but an interesting experiment. Edited March 8, 2014 by Angelica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmarBradley Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Just watched the new The Sweeney film, with Ray Winstone and Ben Drew (or Plan B apparently), was pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 The Man Who Knew Too Much, the original.'30s English versus 50s American'. It is a hard question as both are masterpieces. '50s has the budget, exotic locations and Stewart - it also has 'Que Sara Sara'!. '30s has Peter Lorre - truly one of the greatest bad guys in cinema - and a shoot out finale which equals anything in British cinema. The English version for me but I will always love those scenes of Stewart on the eerie London streets - it reminds me of British streets on Sunday mornings which are always deserted for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Len B'stard Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Mark Kermode is a dullard.On topic:Carry On Matron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Nova Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Frozen GroundNicolas Cage in a very understated role...with John Cusack as a serial killer Yes...I thought they were both very good in it...and the movie is under appreciated....a solid 7/10 imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Nova Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 300: Rise of an Empire is terrific fun, although that is pretty much exclusively due to Eva Green's spectacularly batshit insane performance.It's absolutely crushing it at the box office. Already has hauled in more than it cost (110 million) with a worldwide box office gross of over 130 million this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgy Zhukov Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixes Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Dirty Dingus Magee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 SabotageHitchcock said, detonating the bomb was the worst mistake he ever made as it broke his rule on suspense (and relief), yet, I actually rather like the decision: it is a shocker and means the film gets dark, very fast. This is a masterpiece. A clip from Sabotage was used in Inglorious Basterds by the way, to represent the dangers of carrying (nitrate) film reels onto public transportation.The HulkThe Edward Norton one. Silly cgi superhero shite. You truly leave your brain at the door for these type of films. Tim Roth turns up in it. I prefer the television series which this is seemingly based off (the Ang Lee one was based on the comics). Used to love the show when I was a kid. Bill Bixby, who - trivia - was actually in an insanely bad Elvis film called Speedway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Nova Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 The HulkThe Edward Norton one. Silly cgi superhero shite. You truly leave your brain at the door for these type of films. Tim Roth turns up in it. I prefer the television series which this is seemingly based off (the Ang Lee one was based on the comics). Used to love the show when I was a kid. Bill Bixby, who - trivia - was actually in an insanely bad Elvis film called Speedway.Out of the (now) 3 Hulks....the Ang Lee version, Norton's and the Avenger's version - played by Mark Ruffalo....I like Ruffalo's the best....seems to be a decent mix of the two....Ang Lee's was a tad too "fluffy" and I thought Norton's version was way too dark....Ruffalo's Hulk was well balanced...a little dark but at the same time...light enough to be very "likeable". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelica Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Ruffalo was the best Hulk, and by a significant margin. I do think Lee's film is underrated, though. It maybe a tad too high minded for its own good (and certainly for a summer tentpole flick), but I'll take that over crass and stupid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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