Last Seen Contemporary Movie

[The Villain]

Agree on Prom Night. They should show that in film school on how not to make a horror movie.

[_____V_____]

Put this on with really low expectations, even though it's directed by a fantastic Asian horror maker.

Surprisingly, I loved it.

There's enough to satisfy the ardent action fans, with a generous dose of gorific kills dotting up the pacy plot, a thrill ride across the roads of Arizona in a spanking new state-of-the-art ZR1, a superb chase and gunfight in the climax, all this coupled with some of the worst acting you can see in Arnie's films.

But let's admit it - how many of us see Arnie's films for the acting, or for any seriousness in the plot/details for that matter?

Arnie does remarkably well in his role in which he does his best - he doesn't try to pull off a younger, macho version of himself but plays his age as a retiring old geriatric who's just about ready to pack up his bags and call it a day. He pulls a page out of Eastwood's Unforgiven book here, and tries his best to making his retiring Sheriff role look good. He wheezes, he groans, he complains, he looks tired, and his dialogue delivery is terrible as always, but trust him to deliver what he does best - thundering action served on a platter.

And for those of you who have an orgasm every time you lay your eyes on a racing car, there's a mouth-watering chase sequence between a brand new ZR1 and the classic Chevy Camaro in red. Can't beat that for geeky awesomeness - none of the Fast & Furious films had that in them, did they?

5/5 for effort and execution, and umm...maybe 3/5 for the end result.

Will I recommend it? Heck, yes! Specially to all the old school Arnie fans, and to fans of car movies in general.

BTW, check this out.


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[Sculpt]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

Dull as heck. Avoid, unless you are high on yet another unsurprising teen slasher.

Looking at the top box, was that a remake of Prom Night you saw? Seems like these 2000 remakes all aren't improvements, or just suck.

Originally Posted by _____V_____

Leave it to Arnie to bring that wonderful 80s ass-kicking action alive on gorgeous 720p HD. Still loving it to bits.

Agree on Commando. When I first saw it, I wasn't expecting much, just an action flick, but it was actually rather good.

Originally Posted by _____V_____

...on gorgeous 720p High-Def. They just don't make films like this anymore.

"The name is Plissken."

Escape from NY is a classic, but I recently saw Escape from LA on netflix, and was very disappointed. Russell really didn't have anything to work with, but he was a pale caricature of Snake. Script/plot was really just a big step down from NY. Hope I don't offend anyone who liked it. I watched the whole thing, but would never recommend it.

Originally Posted by _____V_____

Put this on with really low expectations, even though it's directed by a fantastic Asian horror maker.

Surprisingly, I loved it.

...

Will I recommend it? Heck, yes! Specially to all the old school Arnie fans, and to fans of car movies in general.

Sounds like something I'd like to check out. Did you rent that?

I know Arnold's acting is strange, but he's actually very good in many aspects of acting - specifically expressing the basic emotions and other queue's that the character is asked to do. He's able to evoke empathy from the audience, which also assists him with comedy; and then likability. (not in every role)

Classic case study is Total Recall. If you watch the remake and compare it to the original, you see the intrinsic value of Arnold. The remake barely had a hero at all -- I didn't know him, and I didn't care about him. Arnold's character I believed and cared about. Which is a bit impressive considering he played a duo good and bad-guy role, and the film had classic 80's tongue-in-cheek humor about it (though it was 1990 film).

[Haifisch]

I agree on American Mary, that was a damn good movie. I also liked The Conjuring and plan to get it when it comes out, but I still like Insidious more.
The last one I watched was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I like Terry Gilliam, but I did not expect much from this film, and it ended up surprising me quite a bit. I loved its unapologetic absurdity. Some highlights for me were Lancelot's raid of the castle, the bunny, and the very end where Gilliam trolls his audience by giving them a plain black screen with music playing instead of credits.

[Bren]

Paranormal activity 4 . Not quite as good as the others but still pretty effing good. :) Definitely recommend that one. I would give it a 3 out of 5.

[_____V_____]

...with my kid. She watched in awe at the stampede.

[Sicknero]

Martyrs (2008)

Nicely shot, some good performances etc etc, but at the end I was left with a dissatisfied "What the hell was that all about then?"

For the first part of the film I thought I was getting into a half-decent psychological/supernatural horror, but then that's abruptly replaced by some brutal violence and torture justified by some half-baked pseudo-philosophical nonsense and an ending that has holes you could drive a bus through.

It's as if it tries to be two stories in one, which works for some films but not this one imo.

Either idea I think, might have worked well as a single story... the supernatural horror could have made an enjoyable if unoriginal film, and the martyrdom idea might have worked out okay with more thought, examination, and detail.

A good film visually, but for me the enjoyment didn't really go any further than that.

*Edit; Just been reading a forthcoming US remake by the producers of Twilight. A quote from director Daniel Stamm - "[The original film] is very nihilistic. The American approach [that I'm looking at] would go through all that darkness but then give a glimmer of hope. You don't have to shoot yourself when it's over.".

Oh goody, can't wait.

[hammerfan]

X-Men 2

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[_____V_____]

Fantastic film, with some awesome chase sequences. Right up there with the best in car-chase movies. A must-watch to all fans of Bullitt and The French Connection.

Not to mention, the smoldering Isabelle Adjani looks her loveliest in this as well.

* * * ½




Worth a watch just for the sheer number of jaw-dropping twists in one single movie alone. Not to mention, it's an excellent example of a film noir in the pattern of Sin City, Memento and the like. Josh Hartnett has outdone himself in this, ably supported by an all-star cast. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it yet.

* * * *

[CaraBloodyCara]

The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)

This one has been sitting on my instant queue collecting dust for awhile. It was unlike most anything I've ever seen before, I'll give it that. Not for impatient viewers, though. It's definitely a mumblecore movie and it definitely takes awhile to actually do anything.