Movie Discussion

[Swinny]

So... I searched and didn't find anything, so I thought why not have a thread for movie discussion where you can talk about the latest movies you've seen and have other people do the same and maybe just some different viewpoints, discussions and debates going on.

The main reason I wanted to start this is because I just saw Martyrs last night for the first time and... wow. What a movie, one of the best horror movies, hell, one of the best movies I've ever seen, quite an experience and I know there's a few people on here, SM and Travis mainly, that are also fans of that movie, so interested to hear everyone's opinions on it, if you've seen it. If not, well... I can't recommend to just anyone, make sure you know what you're getting into (although you never really can in this case) before you watch it.

[Smartmark]

Nice thread Swinny :)

Martyrs is just one of many french horror movies that's come out in recent years. I like the wave of Spanish and French cinema :)

If you like Martyrs Swinny, I can recommend a lot of movies for you :)

[Swinny]

Yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about French horror, so there's a lot I have to see. I've only really seen Martyrs and Them, but I've heard great things about Inside and High Tension, so those two I have to check out. If you have any others besides those ones to recommend, I'm definitely all ears.

[Smartmark]

^^ Depends if you want older horror as well.

Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) (1929)
Repulsion (1965)
The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
The Tenant (1976)
The Grapes Of Death (1978)
Them (2006)
Frontier(s) (2007)

[Swinny]

Yeah, I'll check out some older stuff too. Already saw Them though, Frontier(s) was another one I heard good things about, but forgot about. The other ones I've heard of, but don't know much about.

Also, I was looking at the writer and director of Martyrs, Pascal Laugier, and I saw he has another movie: Saint Ange/House of Voices. Have you seen that one? I've been reading some reviews and stuff, but they're very mixed.

[Smartmark]

^^ Haven't seen any other movies of him I'm afraid. My favorite french movies are those made by Jean Rollin, but many people don't like him :P

[Travicity]

There are actually quite a few Discussion threads i believe. SM has made one.

But yea Martyrs a great movie is why I picked it :P Got Frontiers and hoping it will be better than another foreign movie Inside :hmm:

[Swinny]

There are actually quite a few Discussion threads i believe. SM has made one.

But yea Martyrs a great movie is why I picked it :P Got Frontiers and hoping it will be better than another foreign movie Inside :hmm:

Oh, is there? I tried searching, but didn't really know exactly what to search. Maybe you could sticky this one, so it'll stick around? (pun intended)

And so... I take it you two don't see eye to eye on Inside? lol. Have to watch it and see for myself then.

[Travicity]

I think it misses the tension and focuses more on the violence unless ive seen so much violence nothing shocks me in movies anymore :P.

[Smartmark]

^^ Nothing shocks me either. It was just the feeling the movie gave me after the movie was over.

[Swinny]

So, I just watched The Fighter, great movie and all the characters are played so well. Even Mark Wahlberg, who I've always felt was far from a good actor, was really good. Christian Bale was especially outstanding though, he definitely deserves the Oscar, if he gets it and I think either Melissa Leo or Amy Adams, both were great, should get one too, based on what I've seen so far. All in all a great, and true, underdog story which is both a great boxing movie and a great dysfunctional family story.

[Metalitia]

I really wanna see The Fighter. Keep hearing really good things about it.

On a side note does anyone else absolutely hate it when paid reviewers completely slate a movie giving it no stars at all and then not actually reviewing the film at all and just simply rant about how it should never have been released etc etc?

A Serbian Film is the most recent one and that review simply made me figure "fuck it I'll go find out for myself" which if it wasn't near on £15 would have meant buying it, thus defeating the entire point of the reviewer even commenting o it.

Another one being The Killer Inside Me. I'd heard really good things about that film and how it's a really great psycological film with some brilliant acting etc yet the plum of a reviewer gave it 1 star and went on a rant about it being released.



Since it's a discussion thread what are some of your favourite films?

I'd personally go with,

American History X
The Lion King
Lady Vengeance
Sin City
Oldboy

[Swinny]

Well... I've heard from everyone that A Serbian Film is a steaming pile of shit that no one should see, so I don't think it's just that reviewer, lol. I get what you're saying though and I've seen reviews like that for The Killer Inside Me actually, which I thought was actually very well done. A very dirty, gritty, disturbing psychological drama with some great performances.

I'm not even going to attempt to name my favorite movies, but I'll agree on American History X, love that movie, Sin City too and The Lion King is of course a classic from my childhood. Oldboy I've heard great things about and it's on a lot of "best twist endings" lists that I've seen and I'm a sucker for twist endings, so I'm very intrigued to see what that one is like. And Lady Vengeance is in the same sort of series as Oldboy or something, right? I think I remember there being a connection between the two... but I'll have to watch both of them.

[Metalitia]

I know in fairness I looked up about A Serbian Film and it does seem to just be one of violence/graphic sex just for the shock value rather than adding to a compelling film. Just bugs me when a reviewer utterly slates something he mentions at the end he only watched ten minutes of heh.

Old Boy and Lady Vengeance (Sympathy For Lady Vengeance in other countries) are linked in as much as they're part of the director, Park Chan Wooks Vengeance Trilogy along with Sympathy For Mr Vengeance.

The storylines do not cross over though and all three are completely seperate films. The director just made them as a way of exploring different scenarios where severe vengeance would be carried out and the films tend to not give a definitive answer either way as to whom is in the right and such and they are definitely well worth a watch.

Old Boy was the biggest success overall but most I speak to about it prefer Sympathy For Mr Vengeance with myself opting for Lady Vengeance.

[Swinny]

I'll have to check those out then.

I just finished watcher Shocker, definitely not Wes Craven's best. It had it's moments, but overall not that interesting and overly cheesy at times.

[Swinny]

Just watched True Grit, a great modern western, very, very few of those these days. That combined with the trademark Coen Brothers' humor made a great combination and a fantastic performance from Hailee Steinfeld. She absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination, but I doubt she'll get one because people seem to think she's "too young to be nominated", which is ridiculous. Why deny her that just because she's 14 and is already a better actress than a lot of actresses twice, three times her age or more?

[Smartmark]

I want two hours of my life back after watching A Serbian Film! :tantrum:


Anyway, as far as favorite movies goes, many will find it strange that some of my favorite movies aint horror movies, alltough I usually talks about horror movies :P


Some of my favorite movies are:

Hellride
Shoot Em' Up
Wolfhound
Wizards
Inglorious Bastards (The Original)
Sukiyaki; Western Django
Battle Royale

[Swinny]

Shoot 'Em Up? Really? That movie was so ridiculously over-the-top, entertaining as hell though, lol. Haven't seen any of the others though, Battle Royale's one I've always meant to check out though.

[Smartmark]

^^ Yeah. I loved Shoot Em' Up because of all that over the top shooting. It was like a video game :D

Hellride might be my favorite movie of all time. It's a biker flick, produced by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Larry Bishop. Starring Michael Madsen, Vinnie Jones, David Carradine, Dennis Hopper, Larry Bishop himself + many more

[Swinny]

Oh yeah, I heard about that one. Heard both some great and awful things about it, as I recall, lol. Have to check it out though, got some good actors in here.

Speaking of Vinnie Jones, have you seen Midnight Meat Train? I thought he was great in that role, without even having to say a word. Think the movie could have been better overall, some of the gore scenes, especially the blood just looked awful, not bad though.

[Smartmark]

^^ Yeah! Vinnie did a great job. I enjoyed that movie. They managed to make the movie cold and dark.

But as you say, some of the gore scenes wheren't good enough. They would have been better if they would have cut down on the CGI

[Swinny]

Exactly. This ridiculous overload of CGI is really starting to ruin a lot of horror movies. What's wrong with doing things the good ol' ways? It doesn't look better, it just looks stupid. That's a lot of what fucked up the last two Final Destination movies... that and the absolutely god awful acting.

[Smartmark]

I am the type of guy who wants dolls and puppets instead of CGI :D

[Swinny]

Puppets and dolls? Lol. I can't think of a lot of good movies involving puppets and/or dolls, lol. Wasn't a big fan of Puppet Master, it was just so laughable, although the creepy thing with the leeches was quite cringe-worthy, lol. Chucky is great though, of course.

[Smartmark]

^^ I was refering to monsters in movies, like gremlins :P

[Swinny]

Oh, okay. Yeah, Gremlins is cool. You ever see Cat's Eye? It's anthology film, written by Stephen King, and one of the stories has this troll who steals this girl's breath as she sleeps and it's pretty creepy little fucker, lol. :P

[Smartmark]

^^ Haven't seen that one actually, as I'm no big fan of Stephen King stories been made into movies. But I will check it out, as I love Trolls :D

Speaking of trolls. You have to check out the Norwegian Horror movie that came out a couple of months ago. The Troll Hunter :D

[Swinny]

Well, he wrote the film himself and usually those ones turn out quite well and the story the troll is in is a new story written for the movie anyway. Here's a picture of the troll:

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4300/catseyetroll1.jpg

And yeah, I've heard about The Troll Hunter and saw pics and the troll looks epic, so yeah, wanna see that one.

[Smartmark]

^^ That guy looks like the troll in Rumpelstilskin :D

Awesome! I have to check that movie out :)

[Swinny]

Ah, Rumpelstiltskin, I haven't seen that movie since I was a kid, I think I remember it being pretty terrifying though... but they may have just been because I was young at the time, lol. Have to check it out again.

[Smartmark]

^^ I saw it as a kid and was frightened as hell. Saw it again as a grown up, and I still loved it :D

[Swinny]

Alright, well, I'll have to check it out again then.

I'm just about to watch Inside now, looking forward to seeing what it's all about.

[Smartmark]

^^ :omg:

I would normally have said, enjoy or something like that. But It's not possible when it comes to that movie.
Only thing I can say is; hope it scares you as much as it scared me :P

By the way, weird they never made a sequel to Rumpelstiltskin :(

[Swinny]

Lol, well... I'll keep that in mind then. The version I'm watching is dubbed in English rather than with subtitles though, so I hope that doesn't effect the movie itself.

[Travicity]

Didnt effect me lol not one bit I don't what it was but just wasnt good to me lol.

[Swinny]

Didnt effect me lol not one bit I don't what it was but just wasnt good to me lol.

Well Travis, it just ended and... I agree with you. I didn't see the big deal.

Sure it's gorey and sure it's fucked up, especially at the end, but not really anything I haven't seen before and that's really all this movie has. Lots of blood, lots of gore and almost zero substance. The plot is barely even there, just nonstop blood and guts and death after death with zero development, plot or character wise, until the very ending and even then it wasn't anything that interesting. Then they throw in things that make absolutely zero sense, just to add more gore I think. After seeing Martyrs I was hoping for another "blood soaked masterpiece", but... this isn't it. Blood soaked yes, masterpiece, far from it.

[Travicity]

Yea from the hype I saw/heard was expecting something just traumatizing :P. The guy who made REC Said he might be remaking it so it focuses more on the tension/plot etc than the actual violence. It's also a very dark movie literally and it's annoying in the dark. The pregnant woman you couldnt really care about because she's just so damn moody. Sure her husband died but damn lol. Ive seen it all before and none of the deaths were to impressive maybe the hand through the door might of been original and the baby at the end was allright but Martyrs did it right and this was wrong. If it was Martyrs style it could of been much better and if it was made by Jaume/Paco maybe it would of been better but so far Martyrs/REC Stay two of my favourite Foreign movies but yea to watch Frontiers :think:

[Swinny]

Yea from the hype I saw/heard was expecting something just traumatizing :P. The guy who made REC Said he might be remaking it so it focuses more on the tension/plot etc than the actual violence. It's also a very dark movie literally and it's annoying in the dark. The pregnant woman you couldnt really care about because she's just so damn moody. Sure her husband died but damn lol. Ive seen it all before and none of the deaths were to impressive maybe the hand through the door might of been original and the baby at the end was allright but Martyrs did it right and this was wrong. If it was Martyrs style it could of been much better and if it was made by Jaume/Paco maybe it would of been better but so far Martyrs/REC Stay two of my favourite Foreign movies but yea to watch Frontiers :think:

Yeah, agreed on most points. Agree with Martyrs and REC as two of my favorite foreign movies as well, along with Let the Right One In, but I really haven't seen that many. REC is probably behind the other two though because I think the true power of that movie was lost in me because I saw Quarantine first, which is basically a scene-for-scene remake, so there was little by the way of surprises, but everything was done so much better.

[Travicity]

Lol yea it's a shame if people saw Quarantine before hand because lot of people say it's the same but the scares are better and a btter movie than the US's. Also did you know there could be a Martyrs remake... with Kristen Stewart? :sick:

[Swinny]

Lol yea it's a shame if people saw Quarantine before hand because lot of people say it's the same but the scares are better and a btter movie than the US's. Also did you know there could be a Martyrs remake... with Kristen Stewart? :sick:

Yeah, I heard about that, but apparently the director later denied she'd have anything to do with it. The best bet is to go with virtually unknown actors, really not the type of movie that would work well with well known names, I don't think.

[Travicity]

I do prefer no name actors in alot of movies tbh.

[Swinny]

Yeah, it depends on the movie, but in a lot of horror movies it seems to work better that way, rather than going the "sexy teenager on a popular TV show" route like so many seem to do. :P

[Travicity]

Yea instead of big celebrities probably just doing it for the money and couldnt care about Horror. In QT/MM Style movies like Planet Terror anf From Dusk Till Dawn then it's good :D.

[Swinny]

Yea instead of big celebrities probably just doing it for the money and couldnt care about Horror. In QT/MM Style movies like Planet Terror anf From Dusk Till Dawn then it's good :D.

Yeah, guys like Tarantino can take popular celebrities and fit them to the roles quite well, it all depends on how you do it.

[Smartmark]

I don't get you guys. Inside did a great job in making it feel real. It's not supposed to be a Splatter movie. I found it really hard to watch it. Not because I can't stand blood, hey I'm a Gorehound, but it was something with Inside that scared me.

[Swinny]

I don't get you guys. Inside did a great job in making it feel real. It's not supposed to be a Splatter movie. I found it really hard to watch it. Not because I can't stand blood, hey I'm a Gorehound, but it was something with Inside that scared me.

If it's not supposed to be a splatter movie, why is it pratically all gore with no plot or character development? It did feel real... until an ordinary woman killed off the whole damn police force and then one of those cops turned into a fucking zombie for some reason. What the hell was with that? :P

[Smartmark]

^^ You it's based on a real story right??

[Travicity]

He got Brain Damage lol I think. But I never looked at it as a Splatter Movie I looked at it in the way I did Martyrs tbh and maybe a little scared to watch.

[Swinny]

^^ You it's based on a real story right??

What isn't "based on a true story" these days anyway? But I don't see anything stating that this one is.

[Smartmark]

^^ It says on the cover of my movie :eek:

[Swinny]

It doesn't on any cover I've seen.

[Travicity]

Not on my cover and a google I see Based on a true story.

[Metalitia]

Anyone else seen any of the films in the Millenium trilogy yet?

Ive seen the first two and thought they were excellent.

Brings me onto a side note though I fucking hate how hollywood feels the need to remake any decent foreign movie. They'll invaribly fuck it up.

Take Old Boy and Lady Vengeance for example. Both of which are on the list for planned American remakes. Old Boy in particular works so well due in no small part to South Korean culture.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake is due out in December. Too early to speculate I guess but I'm not really looking forward to it. Would ratherspend my money on the sure to be Millenium Trilogy box set of the original films that should be out by then.

[Swinny]

I'm one of the few that like remakes, even if they're awful which a lot of them are, but I still like the seeing the different take a different cast and crew can give. However, I much prefer the actually creative ones, not the ones that are just shot scene-for-scene with a different cast and absolutely nothing new, just really seems pretty pointless when it's like that.

As far as thed Millennium Trilogy goes, I have yet to see any, been meaning to watch The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for quite a while now, so I'll definitely get around to it eventually. I'll have to watch it before the remake, at least.

[Metalitia]

I'm one of the few that like remakes, even if they're awful which a lot of them are, but I still like the seeing the different take a different cast and crew can give. However, I much prefer the actually creative ones, not the ones that are just shot scene-for-scene with a different cast and absolutely nothing new, just really seems pretty pointless when it's like that.

As far as thed Millennium Trilogy goes, I have yet to see any, been meaning to watch The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for quite a while now, so I'll definitely get around to it eventually. I'll have to watch it before the remake, at least.

I can see why they'd appeal once made but I question the initial need to remake. Definitely see the original first and tey are following on from each other :)

[Swinny]

So... I've watched a few movies over the last few days, haven't really been hitting any jackpots on any of them though.

I watched Red Eye a few days ago, but I've saw that before. One of the few good movies, besides the Scream series, Wes Craven has come out with in the last 15-20 years. He's been very inconsistent lately... still looking forward to Scream 4 though.

Then I watched The Children a British horror movie about children who turn on their parents during a family gettogether and as I've said before... British children are fuckin' creepy. :P Could have been better overall, but it definitely had it's moments and some pretty creepy ones at that. Plus it introduced me to Hannah Tointon, who I think I fell in love with (her legs, at least).

Then there's Midnight Movie and Terror Tract, neither of which I really recommend and neither of which are very memorable. Entertaining performance by John Ritter in Terror Tract though, but that's about it.

The Glass House is another one I watched, it has it moments, some nice suspense, relatively thrilling, but it too is nothing all that memorable.

I also continued my French horror spree with High Tension, which I quite enjoyed. Pretty thrilling and disturbing with a great atmosphere and without giving away too much... the ending, which a lot complained about, worked rather well here and I can't see anything else working real well.

I also finally watched The Last House on the Left, the original and it turns out this is one of the few movies which I prefer the remake. It's kind of the same way I feel about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it's remake. The original is very disturbing, dirty, gritty and intense, but the remake just flows together so much better and the overall plot, writing and atmosphere is done better, in my opinion.

And... now I'm watching The Losers, but not really expecting much from this one. And... I believe that catches me up, lol. :P

[Travicity]

Gonna watch High Tension soon :P.

[Smartmark]

^^ It's original title are Haute Tension. It's also known under the name Switchblade Romance :P



So... I've watched a few movies over the last few days, haven't really been hitting any jackpots on any of them though.

I watched Red Eye a few days ago, but I've saw that before. One of the few good movies, besides the Scream series, Wes Craven has come out with in the last 15-20 years. He's been very inconsistent lately... still looking forward to Scream 4 though.

Then I watched The Children a British horror movie about children who turn on their parents during a family gettogether and as I've said before... British children are fuckin' creepy. :P Could have been better overall, but it definitely had it's moments and some pretty creepy ones at that. Plus it introduced me to Hannah Tointon, who I think I fell in love with (her legs, at least).

Then there's Midnight Movie and Terror Tract, neither of which I really recommend and neither of which are very memorable. Entertaining performance by John Ritter in Terror Tract though, but that's about it.

The Glass House is another one I watched, it has it moments, some nice suspense, relatively thrilling, but it too is nothing all that memorable.

I also continued my French horror spree with High Tension, which I quite enjoyed. Pretty thrilling and disturbing with a great atmosphere and without giving away too much... the ending, which a lot complained about, worked rather well here and I can't see anything else working real well.

I also finally watched The Last House on the Left, the original and it turns out this is one of the few movies which I prefer the remake. It's kind of the same way I feel about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it's remake. The original is very disturbing, dirty, gritty and intense, but the remake just flows together so much better and the overall plot, writing and atmosphere is done better, in my opinion.

And... now I'm watching The Losers, but not really expecting much from this one. And... I believe that catches me up, lol. :P

I liked Red Eye, alltough it could have been better, some of the scenes where pretty good, and I think it had a good story.

I liked The Children as well. Pretty scary movie.

[Swinny]

Well... I finished watching The Losers and it was good I didn't expect much because... I didn't get much. Just a basic generic action movie, it has a good cast and Zoe Saldana is hot as the day is long but it's still just not that interesting.

I also watched Basement which is basically The Hole except it's not nearly as interesting and makes a lot less sense.

[Smartmark]

I just finished watching one of Ingmar Bergmann's movies; The Seventh Seal.

Weird movie, but still an interesting flick. A knight comes home to Sweden after being in Israel for the crusades. The black plague has killed over half of Sweden's inhabitats, and Death comes to the knight to take him, but the knight challenges Death for a game of chezz. If the knight wins, Death will spare his life.

[Travicity]

Yea Ive been calling it Switchblade Romance since the beginning first time Ive mentioned it in here.

[Smartmark]

Anyone seen 30 Days Of Night 2; Dark Days?

I loved the first movie and bought the sequel yesterday. Have yet to see it tough. So I wondered if it is as good as the first movie

[Swinny]

I thought the first one was bad. Just not exciting, interesting or thrilling. Just came off as pretty unengaging to me, which is disappointing because it definitely had potential and I liked the vampires, everything just fell flat for me.

I do have the sequel downloaded though, but I haven't watched it yet.

[Smartmark]

^^ WOW! I loved the first movie. It had a dark and cold feeling to it.

[Swinny]

Well... it was in Alaska during a time when there's no sun, so of course it's gonna feel dark and cold, lol. I just felt it didn't live up to its potential at all.

And... I just watched Into the Blue 2, only for one reason... Laura Vandervoort in a bikini. The movie was what I expected, mindless drivel mostly. So... now I need something else to watch. Anyone seen Don't Look Up, Boy Eats Girl or Lake Mungo? If you've saw more than one, which one would you most recommend and if you only saw one, what did you think of it? And if you haven't seen any then... what good are ya?! lol. :P

[Metalitia]

I didn't like 30 Days Of Night much either when I saw it. Just didn't do anything for me like.

Reckon shall watch Repo! The Genetic Opera again at some point. Strange film in a way as to describe it and make it sound appealing is a bit tricky but it's actually very watchable.

[Swinny]

I didn't like 30 Days Of Night much either when I saw it. Just didn't do anything for me like.

Reckon shall watch Repo! The Genetic Opera again at some point. Strange film in a way as to describe it and make it sound appealing is a bit tricky but it's actually very watchable.

I love Repo! I agree that it's hard to describe though, especially since people will get automatically put off by the fact that it's a musical without even knowing what it's about, but it's so much more than that and sure as hell ain't your average musical. When you consider it's directed by the same guy that did 3 of the Saw movies that kind of better puts into perspective what you can expect.

Oh and I decided on Lake Mungo last night. Pretty interesting mockumentary style movie about a family whose daughter goes missing and all the weird things that happen and come out afterward. A bit slow moving, but if you like those type of movies, it's not a bad watch.

[Smartmark]

Repo! The Genetic Opera can only be described as a Futuristic Horror Opera! :D

[Metalitia]

Repo! The Genetic Opera can only be described as a Futuristic Horror Opera! :D

:D

Whilst watching it yesterday I was trynna work a way to describe it best if someone hasn't seen it.

"An entertaining, multi layered and gory musical from the producers of Saw. A film that doesn't take itself too seriously for some funny moments yet at it's core is a moving story of a fathers love for his daughter and the lengths at which he'll go to try and keep her safe."

Sound good?

[Swinny]

^ Lol, yeah, that might work.

I just watched Black Dynamite, one of the most purely entertaining I have ever seen. It's a spoof and a throwback to both the blaxplotation and martial arts films of the '70's and captures those genres perfectly with the outrageous characters, over-the-top action, ridiculous dialogue and cheese galore. The plot starts out relatively normal enough, with a man avenging the death of his brother, but it just gets more and more insane, and for the better. Just pure entertainment.

[Smartmark]

^^ Never got into Blaxploitation to be honest. Maybe I have to check some more movies out. I loved Coffy :D


:D

Whilst watching it yesterday I was trynna work a way to describe it best if someone hasn't seen it.

"An entertaining, multi layered and gory musical from the producers of Saw. A film that doesn't take itself too seriously for some funny moments yet at it's core is a moving story of a fathers love for his daughter and the lengths at which he'll go to try and keep her safe."

Sound good?

It's good. But I still thinks mine was better :shifty2:

[Swinny]

I never really got into blaxploitation either, but I loved this movie so I think maybe I should check more of them out.

[Swinny]

I watched The Deadly Spawn last night and was very pleasantly surprised. I expected a cheesefest with bad effects and terrrible acting, but it actually worked quite well. The "aliens" actually looked frightening, there was a little cheese of course but just enough and the acting, well... sure as hell ain't Oscar worthy, but it could have been worse.