What was the last movie you saw?

[KGeo777]

If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death 1968 - This is almost an eerie western--there's a few that touch upon the supernatural--this one doesn't but it creates some gothic suspense for a time--especially when a character gets shot in the head and lives.
This is more stylish than average for a spaghetti western--rather inventive given the limitations of the genre. Someone once gave writing advice--saying if you want to test whether characters you write are interesting enough-stick them in a western setting because what can be more basic than a western?
There's so little pizzazz to a western in terms of gimmicks--and yet the Italian Euro western got a fair amount of character variety (then again I have seen maybe-a few dozen of them and they made several hundred--most are probably not all that watchable). The scores are usually good though.

 

[JunkMonkey]

How to Train Your Dragon 3 with the kids. I was glad when it stopped.

 

[Rodders]

Went to see Alien and Aliens double bill at the Prince Charles cinema.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

Nightbooks Delightful Netflix kid's horror / mystery. A young boy is trapped by a witch who forces him to tell stories night after night. Suitably spooky fairy-tale atmosphere, and mild peril. Might be a bit too intense for younger kids, but highly enjoyable.

 

[hitmouse]

Green Knight (2021) on Amazon Prime, starring Dev Patel and the bad guy from Galaxy Quest. Anyone expecting an update of that Arthurian action fantasy Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) with Sean Connery will be disappointed. This one is firmly in the art house camp: frequently slow, lots of cryptic symbolism and a dream-like quality. If you persevere it is a good film: absorbing, thought-provoking, with gorgeous cinematography. Just not one to impress the kids.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Red Planet - Daughter number One and I continue our month-long First Manned Mission to Mars Movie Marathon with the stinkiest of the lot so far.

 

[KGeo777]

Is MISSION MARS 1968 on the watch list?
That's pretty awful.


I rewatched
MYSTERY ON MONSTER ISLAND 1981 which is as bad as I remember it.
It's a shame because it has Terence Stamp and Peter Cushing (and Blanca Estrada) but they are under used and the story is really lame, especially with the annoying professor character. That guy is so annoying.
But some of the spfx are very clever--the illusion of a ship at sea (probably painted on a glass pane) looks pretty convincing and the giant monster effect looks really good--I think they use forced perspective and it is very effective.

But the movie just isn't worth the trouble.


SUDDEN DEATH 1985 - nicknamed "Dirty Harriet" although the protagonist isn't a cop. She gets raped and beat up and then starts putting herself in situations to get attacked so she can shoot the rapists. A little corny at times but the performances are good. Very 80s in soundtrack and attitude.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Went to see Alien and Aliens double bill at the Prince Charles cinema.

Both films still hold up as great movies. I'm undecided if the directors' or theatrical cut of Aliens is better. The scene with the parents going out to the crashed ship is unnecessary, but the bit with the guns holding off the Alien advance is pretty neat.

 

[Rodders]

Palm Springs.

A Groundhog Day story set on the day of a wedding. I like Andy Samberg, but for some reason it's taken me a while to get around to seeing it. Well worth watching in my opinion.

 

[alexvss]

The Empty Man (2020). Based on the comic books of the same name by Cullen Bunn, one of the best horror writers working today. After reading the comics I went on to watch the movie, partly for research purposes (I'm writing a Lovecraftian short-story). The movie uses the same eldritch concept, but changes the execution. I like when adaptations do that; there's no need for it to be exactly like the source material (and makes people consume the two).

Not comparing with Junji Ito's Sensor, probably the best lovecraftian story since Alan Moore's Neomicon.

 

[HareBrain]

Green Knight (2021) on Amazon Prime, starring Dev Patel and the bad guy from Galaxy Quest. Anyone expecting an update of that Arthurian action fantasy Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) with Sean Connery will be disappointed. This one is firmly in the art house camp: frequently slow, lots of cryptic symbolism and a dream-like quality. If you persevere it is a good film: absorbing, thought-provoking, with gorgeous cinematography. Just not one to impress the kids.

I really like the 1991 TV movie version with Jason Durr as Gawain, and (very alliterative) script by David Rudkin. I don't know anyone else who's ever seen it.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

The Empty Man (2020). Based on the comic books of the same name by Cullen Bunn, one of the best horror writers working today. After reading the comics I went on to watch the movie, partly for research purposes (I'm writing a Lovecraftian short-story). The movie uses the same eldritch concept, but changes the execution. I like when adaptations do that; there's no need for it to be exactly like the source material (and makes people consume the two).

Not comparing with Junji Ito's Sensor, probably the best lovecraftian story since Alan Moore's Neomicon.

I loved this movie. Great execution, great acting, great directing. The trailer makes it look like one thing but it's completely different.

 

[JunkMonkey]

Is MISSION MARS 1968 on the watch list?
That's pretty awful.

Did that last week. It is pretty awful but Red Planet is worserer.

So far in the last month we've had:

Mission Mars
Rocketship XM
Angry Red Planet
The Martian
Red Planet

I want to get the sublimely terrible Horrors of the Red Planet, and the slightly not crap Robinson Crusoe on Mars done before the end of the month too.

 

[Droflet]

Chasing Ice (2012)

A beautifully photographed doco about one person's fight for recognition that global warming is real. A massive number of still photographs and video footage show the unimaginably beautiful spectacle that is also a terrifying reminder that the arctic glaciers are quickly disappearing. Absolutely worth a viewing.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

In Time - Enjoyable if a bit baggy sci-fi version of the Labour Theory of Value. Nice to see an original movie with big ideas, and the idea of life measured in seconds as a unit of trade is a big one. Good +

 

[KGeo777]

I want to get the sublimely terrible Horrors of the Red Planet,

With the Charles Laughton of z grade sci-fi, Vic McGee.

 

[JunkMonkey]

With the Charles Laughton of z grade sci-fi, Vic McGee.

...and the disembodied head of John Carradine as the collective mind of an entire race. How can it fail?

 

[dask]

Interesting variation on a well worn theme. Does for zombies what Richard Matheson did for vampires.

 

[Rodders]

Ibiza Undead.

I wanted something to fill a couple of hours and this was it. Just as expected, but funny enough if you like things like the Inbetweeners, (which i do).

 

[Toby Frost]

I Am Mother (2019)

A young woman grows up in a bunker, being looked after by a robot mother. Apparently, an "extinction event" has killed everyone outside. Things are thrown into turmoil when another woman breaks in, claiming that the extinction event was actually a horde of killer robots. Either mother or the newcomer is lying, and the heroine has to work out who to trust.

This was a well-acted three-character drama, which feels claustrophobic but not cheap. I'm not sure how well the logic of it holds up in retrospect (pretty well at the time, though), but it never goes down the obvious route and remains suspenseful up to the end. Well worth a look.