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Thread: Rate the last movie you've seen

  1. #1171
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    I believe GotG works better for the casual audience because aside from character names, they all seem pretty different and more likable. Drax is a destroyer in the book; not comic relief. With that said, I loved GotG.
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  2. #1172
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    Cabin Fever (2016) - First of all, it is too early for this movie to get a "remake" (the original is from 2002), plus the main characters are actually even dumber than in the original. Example: you would think that with a deadly plague developing around the area they would just WALK OUT of the place before it gets any worse, but no, the idiots keep going around in circles instead, as if it was so difficult to get out of the area, only to eventually and quite predictably get infected. I mean, this is basic "Decameron" stuff: if a plague is wasting your living area, GET THE F*CK OUT, the sooner the better. Granted that this idiocy was already found in the original, but that's the point: they could have made some of these characters smarter and have them make a more serious attempt to get out of the place. Another example: Paul is such an incompetent idiot in this one that he can't even mercy-kill Karen with the shovel. As if it was so difficult to just bash someone's head with a shovel. He has to resort to burning her ALIVE!!! The only one who is smarter is the deputy (who is a woman this time), who in the original movie was in fact the dumbest of all the characters, but that's what made him more amusing and funny. I fail to see any improvement over the original movie. In fact, I found the original to be "grittier", gorier and more effective.
    Last edited by JDP; 14-Jan-2017 at 03:23 PM. Reason: ;

  3. #1173
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    Forbidden photos of a lady above suspicion

    Dull.


    Four flies on Grey Velvet

    Seen it before. I think Michael Brandon, who plays the protagonist, is one hell of a bad actor. He brings down a film that would otherwise have been pretty damn good. Now it's mediocre. Stylistically it's fantastic. Morricone delivers yet again. Sad this was their last collaboration. But Morricone fit Argento's gialli and Goblin fit his horror...
    Last edited by EvilNed; 15-Jan-2017 at 09:21 PM. Reason: sfafsd

  4. #1174
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    Blue Ruin - 8/10

    A stripped-back revenge flick without any 'movie flair' and a fair amount of 'realistic ineptness' as a homeless everyman kills the man (now released from prison) who killed his parents, and unleashes all sorts of problems upon himself. Quite effective and gritty, and talk about a character being out of their depth! Rather good.

    Quote Originally Posted by EvilNed View Post
    Forbidden photos of a lady above suspicion

    Dull.


    Four flies on Grey Velvet

    Seen it before. I think Michael Brandon, who plays the protagonist, is one hell of a bad actor. He brings down a film that would otherwise have been pretty damn good. Now it's mediocre. Stylistically it's fantastic. Morricone delivers yet again. Sad this was their last collaboration. But Morricone fit Argento's gialli and Goblin fit his horror...
    1) Yeah, that was just before gialli got a bit more lurid. The set design is superb, though, and visually the film is very strong. It's more of a blackmail plot than a killer thriller, though, so it's on a different part of the giallo spectrum. I can see why it could be considered dull - it's certainly not got much in the way of thrills - but I recall rather enjoying it nonetheless.

    2) Yeah. It's strange, because the actor has gone on to have a long and varied career - but I don't know what was going on in FFOGV. It was like he was checked out for the entire movie, I've never seen a character on screen so disinterested in their fate. Was this intentional on Argento's part? However it came about, it doesn't work for the film, and Mimsy Farmer's character is, likewise, forgetable until the climax. It's solid in general, but the leads are a let down - the supporting characters of "God" and "The Professor" and the private detective are far more interesting and alive in the film.

  5. #1175
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    Quote Originally Posted by MinionZombie View Post
    1) Yeah, that was just before gialli got a bit more lurid. The set design is superb, though, and visually the film is very strong. It's more of a blackmail plot than a killer thriller, though, so it's on a different part of the giallo spectrum. I can see why it could be considered dull - it's certainly not got much in the way of thrills - but I recall rather enjoying it nonetheless.
    My takeaway from this film is that it's just devoid of any life. The actors are all moving at a very slow pace. Not even near the climax, when the husband is both A) Late for a very important meeting and B) Walking in on attempted rape of his wife does he act in a way consistent with stress. It's as if life and death situations are ordinary occurances for him, something which he's grown tired off and rolls his eyes at. All acting throughout is the same. A giallo should at the very least be filled with energy when the situation warrants it, this one isn't.

    I also thought Morricone's score was weak. Compared to Four Flies, same composer and only a year apart, the difference in quality and usage of music is incredible.
    Furthermore it plays somewhat like a soap opera. In the first half of the film we get to hear Minou's thoughts in a voiceover as she ponders her wishes and her fate.
    In addition I disagree with you on the visuals. Apart from the bad guy's "lair" I didn't think any of it was noteworthy. Just bourgeois living rooms.

    Quote Originally Posted by MinionZombie View Post
    2) Yeah. It's strange, because the actor has gone on to have a long and varied career - but I don't know what was going on in FFOGV. It was like he was checked out for the entire movie, I've never seen a character on screen so disinterested in their fate. Was this intentional on Argento's part? However it came about, it doesn't work for the film, and Mimsy Farmer's character is, likewise, forgetable until the climax. It's solid in general, but the leads are a let down - the supporting characters of "God" and "The Professor" and the private detective are far more interesting and alive in the film.
    It just goes to show that the ultimate acting test is to star in a Argento film. Look at James Franciscus in Cat O'Nine Tails. He's full of life despite being directed by the, admittedly, disinterested Argento. Tony Musante and David Hemmings likewise carry themselves. But Michael Brandon? His only thought must have been "Well, so far Argento hasn't commented on my limp dicked acting so that must mean that's exactly what he wants from me"...
    Last edited by EvilNed; 16-Jan-2017 at 11:54 AM. Reason: asfasf

  6. #1176
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    'Green Room'

    7/10

    Very good follow up to Saulnier's 'Blue Ruin', but never quite hitting the high mark left by that film, 'The Green Room' features the usual nazi skinhead tropes who run a small backwoods club that features youngs hardcore, skinhead and punk bands. One of these bands witnesses something in the...ahem...Green room and have to face off with all sorts of horrible nonsense. 'Green Room' succeeds as a horror film, where it fails as a drama. The aforementioned tropes are too front and centre, although Patrick Stewart plays a convincing leader thug. Anton Yelchin who tragically died (in an unbelievably stupid death) last year leads the cast of young folk, with good support from his peers, including a fine turn from the laughably named Imogen Poots. Recommended, but I'd check out the superior 'Blue Ruin' first as it's one of the best fims of 2014.



    'Rollerball'

    5/10

    Hideously bloated at a mind numbing 2 hours and 5 minutes, 'Rollerball' only gets going when the actual game of Rollerball in being shown. For the rest of the time the viewer is treated to a distictly mid 70's style "past future" that's supposed to be 2018, but feels very much like the year it was shot in. Outdoor scenes showing the likes of the BMW headquarters in Munich lend a "this is what the future will look like" vibe to the 40 year old film, but it's terribly shackled to its own era, as are a lot of the "futuristic" films from the same time. Fashions and women's make up too are also a complete giveaway. All the heavy eyeshaddow, lip gloss, and straight 70's hair, coupled with tight (slightly flared) trousers etc, just anchors the production even more.

    It's story, outside the Rollerball arena, is a very typical 1970's distopian future setting, with a quite prescient account of a world run by huge golbalist corporate structures. In the future of 'Rollerball', there is no war. The ultra violent "game" of the title, with rules that are subject to change on the whim of the powers that be, takes care of that part of the Bread and Circuses approach to salve the masses. The masses also want for nothing in other areas. Everything seems catered for, except knowledge (historic and otherwise), which has to be accessed via books condensed and summarised into data through a central computer by the corporations that run the world. Unfortunately, while that sounds very interesting and probably a good subject for a film in its own right (a kind of Fahrenheit 451?), 'Rollerball' doesn't really go anywhere with it.

    The main thrust of the story has to do with Jonathan E, Rollerball hero and the longest serving squad member of Houston's Rollerball team, who is being forced into retirement - with lavish benefits, fresh concubines and the offer of an even more comfortable life - by Mr. Bartholomew, head of the global energy corporation that sponsors and runs Houston. This might be fine as a central story line, but the film never explains why he must retire or why E would be against it. Society simply has to respect the ruling corporate decision.

    'Rollerball' boasts some good performances from the likes of John Houseman, who smoothly completes another "evil suit" character with great ease and James Caan - still enjoying the stardom that 'The Godfather' allowed- as Jonathan E. But its weak story and woefully dated atmosphere drag out the experience, making it average on the lower end of the scale.
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  7. #1177
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    I've watched Rollerball several times and rate it as one of my all-time favorite films. I feel the film adequately explains why he is being forced into retirement: He'/ becoming to famous, thus distracting the masses from the idea that Rollerball - not it's stars - should be the distraction and attraction. He doesn't want to quit because he loves the game and resents the bribes sent his way. There's also a subplot dwelving into how some knowledge is obstructed from public viewing.

    I agree that it's dated and simplified. Like how he plays for the "Energy Coorporation" as if there's just one. Stuff like that. And the title font is used all over the film. But I enjoy the dystopia and the cynical bloodlust.

  8. #1178
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    To me it never really explains, clearly, the whys and wherefores of the central actions. It comes across some what muddled and without real reason. It may have been the way I was watching it. I understood that the characters wanted something, but a clear why isn't really revealed. Sure, Jonathan E loves the game, but is that it?

    The "books" subplot goes nowhere either, unfortunately, because I felt that that was a more interesting route. The odd interlude with Ralph Richardson comes off as just strange and unresolved.

    'Rollerball' is interesting, but it's overlong, a bit twee and doesn't really explore its themes enough for me, with too much time wasted on cul-de-sac nonsense.
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  9. #1179
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    Well, aren't you just describing 70's cinema as a whole?

  10. #1180
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    Ummm...nope.
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  11. #1181
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    Quote Originally Posted by shootemindehead View Post
    Ummm...nope.
    Well, seems that way... I feel as if 70's cinema took the approach to not let the viewer into the mind of the protagonist as much as other decades. Mostly keeping the camera at a distance and not getting all to emotionally attached to anything. Including motives and drive. Leaving much more up to interpretation, for better or good. I don't perceive Rollerball being all that much different from other films of that decade. The Exorcist for one.

  12. #1182
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    Quote Originally Posted by EvilNed View Post
    Well, seems that way... I feel as if 70's cinema took the approach to not let the viewer into the mind of the protagonist as much as other decades. Mostly keeping the camera at a distance and not getting all to emotionally attached to anything. Including motives and drive. Leaving much more up to interpretation, for better or good. I don't perceive Rollerball being all that much different from other films of that decade. The Exorcist for one.
    I don't really agree with you on this.

    I've not seen Rollerball, so I can't comment on that, but as for the 1970s in general - the 'New Hollywood' era - with films like Serpico, or All The President's Men, or The Godfather etc, movies were digging down into the psychology of the characters much more. Things got more complicated, moral greys presented themselves, and more personal character stories were being told as well as more personal aspects unfolding within a film for certain characters (e.g. the Corleones). If anything, films were getting more emotionally attached - the interpretation part was down to 'who is good and who is bad' - it wasn't just white hats and black hats anymore, so you had baddies as protagonists, or goodies who weren't so good once you got to know them. Likewise with The Exorcist, it digs down into the characters a bit more, with the likes of Father Karras in particular struggling with their faith and their actions.

    There's limitations in some of these films, the degree to which they explore the inner workings of a character, but there was a lot of rich character work going on during the 1970s.

    It might be the case for Rollerball - not that I've personally seen it - and other flicks from the 1970s, but that's the case with all eras of film: different styles of films all the time.

  13. #1183
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    I meant that the way the 70's portrayed it's characters was more often than not as that of observers from afar rather than up close and personal. While we may get more of their characters I rarely feel any emotional attachment to any of them because the films don't try to create that bond between viewer and character. I feel Rollerball is much the same.

  14. #1184
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    Quote Originally Posted by EvilNed View Post
    Well, seems that way... I feel as if 70's cinema took the approach to not let the viewer into the mind of the protagonist as much as other decades. Mostly keeping the camera at a distance and not getting all to emotionally attached to anything. Including motives and drive. Leaving much more up to interpretation, for better or good. I don't perceive Rollerball being all that much different from other films of that decade. The Exorcist for one.
    Like Mini, I can't really agree with this. I think more so than what had come before, 70's cinema opened up stories and characters in a way that was never tried in the decades that came before it. As Mini said there was an awful lot of gray area that wasn't to be seen in general cinema and one would often have to go to Euro cinema to find characters who weren't cardboard. Something like 'Get Carter', 'Dog Day Afternoon', 'Mean Streets' or 'Taxi Driver' simply wouldn't have been made in the 50's say, or even the early to mid 60's.

    My problem with the film in question, 'Rollerball' is simply that there wasn't enough story to hang its coat on - which was dragged out to over 2 hours - and the motivations of the main characters were flimsy, to say the least. There was just no urgency. Motivation in 'The Exorcist' is very clear and more solid. Karras is losing his faith and his mother dying has dented that even more. His confrontation with the demon that's possessing Regan allows him to understand that he has more faith than he thought and also a will to sacrifice himself to aid another more vulnerable person.

    I'll agree to find some common ground in that 70's films could often remain somewhat aloof and allow the viewer to make their own minds up, as it were. In other words, present a more adult scenario and situation.
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  15. #1185
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    I'm not arguing that 70's did not take a novel approach to characterization. Not at all. It was very novel. But it was also very excluding. The fly-on-the-wall approach. Not the common set up of closeups and wants' and needs.
    I don't see any problem with Rollerball's lack of information as I deem it is entirely in line with the rest of 70's cinema in that it's not spoonfeeding you anything. It sets the stage for several naturalistic encounters and urges you to draw your own conclusions. I think it does a very good job at that and it leaves much more open to speculation than other films. A trait I admire when it works - which it does here.

    You could say that Karras' motivation in the Exorcist is "clear" but I didn't find it anymore clear than Rollerball's Jonathan E. Both of whom never directly state their motivations. They are implied.

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