Spoilers What Movie Are You Watching?

[bobob]

Really?!?

I wish it had been an A+.

 

[twietee]

The New One Armed Swordsman (1971) Much, much better than the original as David Chiang is very believable in the title role (and this film foreshadows the directors' later film Crippled Avengers in some ways.) Very satisfying take on honor and revenge wu xia style.

Black Magic (1975) This was a Shaw Brothers film that felt a lot more like a exploitative 70s horror film. Super skanky, using the big martial artists of day. There's no kung fu, but gore (a terrific dissolve effect used in the opening 'death' spell was fun) nudity and all sorts of all awful things dealing with the title. If I could change one thing it would be the casting. I would have liked Ti Lung as the black magician rather than tried and true Shaw villain Ku Feng. An effective, nasty little movie. This is definitely a case of Be careful what you wish for... if you like voodoo and spell casters and curses, you might enjoy it. Worth a rental if you can handle how up front sleazy this is.

Hey, I' m super busy right now and holiday (from weekend on: hell yea! ) is just a stretch away - can't come too soon but feels like months away though but I managed to sneak in Boxer From Shantung some days ago: really enjoyable! The last fight was crazy and while it started on a light-sided note really left with a bitter ending. Always expected a Yojimbo/Fistful of Dollars kind of twist but nah, on the contrary. Also the love story went unexpectedly nowhere at all so full of suprises. Kung Fu was awesome of course, not the flying around kind of action but extremely well done. Pretty gory for a story that strated that lightly too. Not sure if you recommended it, but I guess you know that movie.

Also just got Five Venoms and Shanghai 13. "Unfortunately" I won't be able to enjoy them in the next couple of weeks - no telly on the island - but I make sure to let you know what I thougth as soon as I'm back.

 

[kazmac]

@twietee: Happy Holidays.

Glad you liked Boxer...

I struggled through Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010) As it was more spectacle than story and everything looked super fake (from the fights staged by Sammo Hung) to the settings. Very little characterization too, which is probably why Yimou's modern Wu Xias are the only ones I like. Sure, they're spectacle and somewhat fake looking, but the characters and story come first.

Ah well.

 

[koa]

White God

 

[Apple fanboy]

Just finished possibly one of the most depressing films I've ever seen, The Road. A very sad view on post apocalyptic America.

 

[skottichan]

Just rewatched They Live! in memory of Rowdy Roddy Piper.

 

[Huntn]

Just finished possibly one of the most depressing films I've ever seen, The Road. A very sad view on post apocalyptic America.

I was really glad I did not read the book. May I suggest The a Book of Eli as an a post-apocalyptic alternative or even The Postman but that's not as good as the other.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I was really glad I did not read the book. May I suggest The a Book of Eli as an a post-apocalyptic alternative or even The Postman but that's not as good as the other.

I was just telling Mrs AFB about The Road and she said it sounded like the book of Eli. She can't stand the book of Eli, but I thought it was ok. I've not seen the Postman so I'll add that to my list.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Not a movie, but a music DVD!

Roger Waters - In The Flesh.

Enjoying myself big times!

Cheers

 

[Aneef]

Insurgent: The Divergent Series

 

[Huntn]

I was just telling Mrs AFB about The Road and she said it sounded like the book of Eli. She can't stand the book of Eli, but I thought it was ok. I've not seen the Postman so I'll add that to my list.

I'm not particularly religious, but I was still able to enjoy TBoE because of its style, mood, action, imagery, and fantasy aspect. The Postman is a Kevan Coster vehicle that appeared 2 years after Waterworld. It's watchable, but I don't highly recommend it.

 

[millerj123]

The Postman is a Kevan Coster vehicle that appeared 2 years after Waterworld. It's watchable, but I don't highly recommend it.

I'll second this. Skip the movie, and read the book(s). David Brin is an excellent author. Too bad Costner was involved with the movie.

 

[Huntn]

I'll second this. Skip the movie, and read the book(s). David Brin is an excellent author. Too bad Costner was involved with the movie.

I may have to read it!

Waterworld, the seeking of utopia, dry land seems like it could have been an outstanding story.

 

[pachyderm]

odd couple walter mathua and jack lemonn

 

[Apple fanboy]

Finding Nemo. My daughters choice. I've not seen it for years, and I'd actually forgotten how funny it is.

 

[bobob]

The latest entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise is Rogue Nation and it turns out to be a tedious dud. It forgets the essential conceit of the TV series, the tried and true five-step formula: accept mission/assemble team/plan mission/execute mission/extraction. Lacking the propulsion that that formula imparts to the story, this whole shapeless enterprise deflates and flutters to the ground. By discarding the hallmark formula this simply becomes a generic spy film licensing a title for marketing purposes. I can't remember the last time I felt this uninvolved with a movie - - yawn.

F


(This especially comes as a surprise given that Tom Cruise has been on a roll picking great roles recently - - Edge of Tomorrow, Oblivion, Jack Reacher - - doubly disappointing!)

 

[AustinIllini]

Silver Linings Playbook. One of my favorite films. Not the first time I have mentioned this in this thread, either

 

[obeygiant]

Silver Linings Playbook. One of my favorite films. Not the first time I have mentioned this in this thread, either

Just watched this off netflix the other night. Great movie, superior acting. everything just great.
Jennifer Lawrence was outstanding.

Also went to see Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

It was very entertaining lots of chases, fights, explosions, guns. Better than Terminator. Maybe slightly better than Jurassic World.

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Just finished The Worlds Fastest Indian (2005).

What a great film; a real feel good movie. I needed that today after the week I had at work.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Battle Royale.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Godfather triology!

Godfather 1:

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/

Godfather 2:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/

Godfather 3:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099674/

Seen this many times. Great sense of dramatic story, scenes, acting by the me so beloved actors (m/f) and how I love the directory of photography, editing, color grading and music in these 3 films.

Been to Sicily on holiday, just for the sole purpose to 'eye witness' the island's beauty and grace of it's people!

Everytime I watch them it's EyEcandy and goosbump drama and very melangolic music!

Highly recommended to our much younger members on MR!!!!!

Cheers

 

[kazmac]

The Heroic Ones (1970) It was either this film or another Shaw Brothers that featured someone being drawn and quartered that traumatized my pre-horror young self so badly, I stupidly swore off Shaws for over 30 years.) The character that suffers this death it is extremely hard to watch. Outside of that, it's a very good early 70s Shaw Wuxia about brotherhood and revenge, but I'm shaking just a little bit. I've sat through many unpleasant fake movie deaths over the past three decades, but that one is just

The Roving Swordsman (1980) A James Bond-like villainess and plot, disguises, kidnappings and a two steps ahead Sherlockian Swordsman make this wonky wuxia a light-hearted and fun watch.

Swordsman and Enchantress (1978) Having a widescreen print and the source novel in my possession makes me enjoy this film even more than first viewing. A nasty lass (pretending to be a boy) frames master thief Xiao for all of her crimes including theft, kidnapping and murder. There's a reason for the accusations against Xiao which catapults the film into very bizarre fantasy circles for its last third, but it all works beautifully. Ti Lung was untouchable acting wise in the 1970s and 80s Hong Kong cinema and this is one of my favorite of his wuxia swordsman (even though his weapon appears to be a spear...) If you've got an all region player and like these kinds of films, seek out the region 3 IVL dvd as the region 1 from Well Go is awful.

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) I might not be into modern crime films (outside of giallos), but Elio Petri's razor sharp satire about a homicide detective who purposely gets away with murder is one of the best crime films I've seen. Gian Maria Volonte is almost dangerous as the inspector who kills his mistress and waits for his peers to discover his crime. The excuses and corruption are beyond ridiculous, stoking the inspector's already huge ego to lofty heights. It's a snarky commentary on those in power being able to do whatever they want. Criterion released a nice blu ray /dvd bundle last year, but I ultimately opted for the iTunes version.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark last night.
The best of all the bunch IMO.
Harrison Ford was in some great films early in his career. The type that stand the test of time. I can't imagine people watching the Bourne trilogy in 30 years time. And certainly not any of the Marvel films, after all they will reboot them with a new cast every 5-10 years.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark last night.
The best of all the bunch IMO.
Harrison Ford was in some great films early in his career. The type that stand the test of time. I can't imagine people watching the Bourne trilogy in 30 years time. And certainly not any of the Marvel films, after all they will reboot them with a new cast every 5-10 years.

He was a great singer in the Beatles, too.

 

[Huntn]

Watched Raiders of the Lost Ark last night.
The best of all the bunch IMO.
Harrison Ford was in some great films early in his career. The type that stand the test of time. I can't imagine people watching the Bourne trilogy in 30 years time. And certainly not any of the Marvel films, after all they will reboot them with a new cast every 5-10 years.

RotLA is one of the best adventure films of our time.

Regarding comic to movie conversions, while I agree the over doing reboots diminishes the brand (in most cases Marvel), some of the early movies are excellent and can't be replaced as I think of X-Men 1&2, Spider-Man 1&2, X-Men Origins:Wolverine, Hellboy (Darkhorse), Men in Black, Ironman, and V for Vendetta. My disclaimer is that I'm judging these stories as movies and not how faithful they were to the original content.

Speaking of comic to movies, did anyone see and like Tank Girl (1995)? I've seen some clips of it and it's questionable, very questionable. Interesting video about how movie studios can interfere with the making of a movie: