Movie Recommendations

[ToALonelyPeace]

This movie is good in that it transforms terrible acting into comedy, but some of their expressions appear schizophrenic-like especially when they don't match with what they're saying . The uncanny and the funny is a thin line.

[Speaking Mute]

I definitely recommend Mother. I was expecting it to be more of a mainstream horror/thriller in the vein of Black Swan, but Aronofsky has tapped back into his esoteric roots. I don't want to give too much away, but it reminds of Pasolini's Salo with environmental instead of anti-fascist undertones...

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

THE PROUD PRINCESS

I bought this because it was once voted the best Czech film ever and it's a fairy tale film. Becomes clear early on that it's a propaganda film about the joy of hard work, so I was ready to hate it but it's quite nice in places despite some of the messages. Though it's never convincing that the Prince feels compelled to go and change the Princess, even for this sort of film.

VILLAINESS

Liked this, it's very twisty and must have been very complicated to shoot the fight scenes. Maybe Japan has just changed but South Korea is still making the sort of films that Tartan churned out on disc?

PAINTED SKIN (2008)
PAINTED SKIN 2: THE RESURRECTION/DEMON HUNTER: THE RESURRECTION

Still want to see the 90s King Hu version of this, might buy it soon.

First film in this newer version is romance/fantasy/martial arts with Donnie Yen. Second film drops the martial arts (no Donnie Yen either) and becomes romance/epic fantasy.

First film has 3 total babes, second film has 4 total babes. Zhao Wei and Zhou Xun star in both with Chen Kun the boyfriend in both.

First film is boring but picks up slightly in the second half. Music is oddly cheap but pleasant like a JRPG soundtrack. There's too much cutting and closeups for the fight scenes to be any good.

The sequel has the biggest upgrade I've ever seen. There's a ton of companies and producers behind it, the story is on a much bigger scale. You'd think it would just be more bloated but it's way more lively and colourful than the previous film. Despite being the same story it's different enough that I understand why it was retitled on UK DVD.
Yo####aka Amano supplied the concept art. It's loaded with cgi (previous film had quite a lot already) but it doesn't completely destroy the film for me, there's a lot of lovely images in here and that's all I was hoping for really. Despite the awfully fake giant bear it's one of the prettier cgi epics I've seen.
Seems like they're trying to see how close they can get towards lesbian scenes without actually doing them. Not unlike the whispery scenes in The Banquet.
I won't go as far to call this a good film but I'll take this prettiness over most better scripted American cgi blockbusters.

A CHINESE GHOST STORY (2011)

Nice set design. Some bad cgi. Uses magic tricks I didn't see in the earlier films. Has the same theme song as the Ching Siu-Tung/Tsui Hark trilogy. Not as good as the films in that trilogy but it's okay.

CITY OF THE DEAD/HORROR HOTEL

Black and white film about a witch cult. Christopher Lee is in it but he doesn't get anything exciting to do. It's a bit slight, not much happens but I've always liked this one because it looks really nice. A lot of fog and darkness in a quiet little village. I saw the slightly shorter Horror Hotel version originally but I really don't remember it being different aside from the intro.

In the extras Christopher Lee mostly rants about the decline of the British film industry and British newspapers.

=====4 Tobe Hooper films below=========

LIFEFORCE

This isn't nearly as bad as I was led to believe. In fact its main crime is just being too long and a bit boring, like the way lots of blockbusters are. Some special effects look pretty goofy but some of them look great. Mathilda May doesn't only look glorious, she's kind of a cool villain. The part where the blood is being drained to form her body and then she disappears with a splatter is great.

I'M DANGEROUS TONIGHT

Based on a Cornell Woolrich story, directed by Tobe Hooper, starring Madchen Amick with Anthony Perkins. Concerning a piece of clothing that corrupts not just those who wear it but people who even touch it. It's okay, kind of like a teen slasher film with an ancient Aztec curse thrown in. Recommended for Amick fans more than anyone else.

INVADERS FROM MARS (1986)

The monsters are pretty good but this is just sloppy, some of the dialogue is very bad. Weak but still watchable.

NIGHT TERRORS

De Sade's evil descendant in Cairo. Flashbacks to De Sade in prison and some soft porn in the present. Robert Englund and William Finley.
It's kind of an interesting mix but it just never gets quite good enough, but I think it had potential for more.
I wish Finley was in more films but I should see those other De Palma films.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Kevin McTurk's series of samurai horror

Line icon

[Zaharoff]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

VILLAINESS Liked this, it's very twisty and must have been very complicated to shoot the fight scenes. Maybe Japan has just changed but South Korea is still making the sort of films that Tartan churned out on disc?

I have this queued, but my subs are crap.
Did you find decent ones?

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I saw it at the cinema yesterday.

[Zaharoff]

Robert, I am already envious of your cinema.

[Patrick G.P]

Here where I live we have a Cinematheque at our cinema, that shows older films and some arthouse films, a nice counterpart to most of the current Hollywood movies. Yesterday’s film was Adrzej Zulawski’s On the Silver Globe. I was intrigued, as Possession is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I haven’t seen anything else from Zulawski, so I went to the screening. The film is an abstract sci-fi film with heavy metaphors directed at communism, polish society and religion. I’m at a loss for words how to properly describe this film, it was a unique experience to say the least. A group of astronauts’ lands on a newly discovered planet like earth, to start up a new colony and find the truth behind humanity for themselves. As they adapt to the planet, they quickly form primitive tribes, and leaves behind almost all traces of their former humanity. Strange monsters soon emerge from beyond the seas to enslave humanity, and a new group of astronauts return from earth to try to save the last branch of humanity.

The set designs and costumes were fantastic, unlike anything I’ve seen before. The history behind the film is almost as interesting as the film itself; as the polish government halted the production in 1977, and destroying sets and costume to prevent its completion. A truly shocking example of censorship during the soviet era. The film was completed in 1988, with Zulawski providing commentary on the missing scenes over shots of modern day Poland. The screening showed a remastered version approved by Zulawski before his death last year. If you have any interest in cinema history, Avant Garde film and Sci-Fi, please don’t pass up the opportunity to experience this film!

Trailer:

ON THE SILVER GLOBE | NA SREBRNYM GLOBIE Trailer - YouTube

Some more info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Silver_Globe_(film)

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

His final film Cosmos is worth seeing.

[Patrick G.P]

Quote Originally Posted by Robert Adam Gilmour

His final film Cosmos is worth seeing.

Thanks for the tip! The trailer looks amazing, need to hunt this one down!