Flipside Movie Emporium

beltmann · Posted: 01.27.2006 4:14 pm Post subject:

I haven't seen anything. I just thought somebody should post something.
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"When I was in Barcelona they showed pornography on regular television. I'm assuming it's the same way in Mexico since they also speak Spanish." - IMDb user comment

Danny Baldwin · Posted: 01.27.2006 5:34 pm Post subject:

the night watchman · Posted: 01.27.2006 7:35 pm Post subject:

Post whores.
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"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

beltmann · Posted: 01.27.2006 9:09 pm Post subject:

the night watchman · Posted: 01.27.2006 9:35 pm Post subject:

A menage a 8 1/2 does sound awfully tempting, but I'm afraid I'm a happily married cinephile.
_________________
"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

Jim Harper · Posted: 01.29.2006 6:19 pm Post subject:

22/01/06 - 29/01/06

Kiki?s Delivery Service (dir. Hiyao Miyazaki, 1984)*

Misa the Dark Angel (dir. Katsuhito Ueno, 1998)

Open Your Eyes (dir. Alejandro Amenabar, 1997)

Memories (dir. Koji Muramoto, Tensai Okamura, Katsuhiro Otomo)*

Bullet Train (dir. Junya Sato, 1975)*

Birth of the Wizard (dir. Shimako Sato, 1996)

Witchfinder General (dir. Michael Reeves, 1968)

Chaos (dir. Hideo Nakata, 1999)

Onibaba (dir. Kaneto Shindo, 1964)*

Scorpion Woman Prisoner: Death Threat (dir. Toshiharu Ikeda, 1991)*

Pyrokinesis (dir. Shusuke Kaneko, 2000)

The Princess and the Warrior (dir. Tom Tykwer, 2001)*

Tenebre (dir. Dario Argento, 1982)

Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (dir. Roy Ward Baker, 1972)*

Lovesick Dead (dir. Kazuyuki Shibuya, 2001)

Kiki's Delivery Service was very good indeed, but nothing particularly new from Miyazaki. Spirited Away is still my favourite of his, but so far he's never been less than very entertaining.

The first segment of Memories was good, but the second was excellent, very amusing. Neither of them venture into new anime territory, but the animation throughout is of a very high standard and they're well-written. Perhaps surprisingly, the only one I didn't connect with was Otomo's; it was just too downbeat. That might have something to do with the other segments- after the generally light-hearted tone of the first two, Otomo's is something of a downer.

Bullet Train is solid 70s entertainment with a great funky score. Proof that Hollywood doesn't just rip off recent Japanese films (the plot of Speed is lifted wholesale from Bullet Train).

Scorpion Woman Prisoner: Death Threat commits the cardinal sin for women-in-prison movies: it's boring. Surprising for an Ikeda film, there's very little sex or violence here. Bah humbug. I wanted at least a decent catfight.

The Princess and the Warrior is a fantastic film, a new favourite. I loved Run Lola Run, and I'm a big fan of Franka Potente and Benno Furmann, so I had high hopes for this. I wasn't let down. Worth seeing, especially for fans of intelligent romances.

Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde. Lots of fun. Martine Beswick could have spent longer in her birthday suit, but still a solid late-period Hammer effort.

From the repeat viewings, Chaos is still a fine film, and Shimako Sato's Eko Eko Azarak films- Wizard of Darkness and Birth of the Wizard- are both excellent popcorn films. Highly recommended.

the night watchman · Posted: 01.29.2006 9:39 pm Post subject:

Wolf Creek (Greg McLean, 2005) - I entered this movie with extreme hesitation after reading Roger Ebert's scathing review. Now that I've seen it, I really don't see what all the hubbub was about. The violence and brutality on display is lower than anything found in The Devil's Rejects, which earned a positive review from him, and far lower than High Tension, which he at least sat all the way through and then bestowed a star-and-half. Even Tobe Hooper?s Texas Chain Saw Massacre is more unpleasant than this. I'm not entirely sure what pushed his buttons here or why.

Myself, I didn?t really care that much for the movie, but it does manage to generate a fair amount of suspense toward the middle, and our heroine behaves with a refreshing amount of intelligence and ingenuity. And after the faux-reality television style of the first forty minutes, McLean and his DP settle down to deliver some very nice photography. However, the movie?s primary lapse is in bequeathing the villain a nearly Jason Voorhees-like ability to appear where and when the plot requires him, and supplying him with smart-alec quips that are only ever spoken by movie villains. At the end of the day, I wouldn?t recommend it, but I wouldn?t condemn it either.
_________________
"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

mfritschel · Posted: 01.30.2006 3:05 am Post subject:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg, 1981)

Lord of War (Niccol, 2005)

The Beat That My Heart Skipped (Audiard, 2005)

Not really much to write home about this weekend, apart of course from Raiders which was a repeat viewing, albeit one I had not watched in quite awhile. I was taken aback at how quickly the storyline moved along, and yet had just enought shorth interval scenes to clue us in on some of the small plot lines we might have missed. This movie still is one of my favorites.

As far as the other two Lord of War seemed to be painting to broad of brush strokes, and kind of used a cartoonish view of things to drive home a serious point at the end. The movie had the feel of every other action movie Nicolas Cage had been in, only it tried to make a comment on global politics at the end.

beltmann · Posted: 01.30.2006 4:54 am Post subject:

1/23 ? 1/29/05

In preferential order:

Yes / Potter / UK / 2004

Fantastic Four / Story / USA / 2005

Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers / Cook / USA / 2004

At least Yes offers the undeniable pleasure of hearing very qualified actors working very hard to ease iambic pentameter into a form of naturalism.
_________________
"When I was in Barcelona they showed pornography on regular television. I'm assuming it's the same way in Mexico since they also speak Spanish." - IMDb user comment

Michael Scrutchin · Posted: 01.30.2006 5:29 am Post subject:

Mark Dujsik · Posted: 01.30.2006 9:12 pm Post subject:

Annapolis (Lin, 2006)

Marathon Man (Schlesinger, 1976)

The New World (Malick, 2005)

Robocop (Verhoeven, 1987)

Starship Troopers (Verhoeven, 1997)

Don't know why, but I felt like watching Robocop again--very fine action/satire. Then I found Troopers on OnDemand, so I just had to do it. Not as fine action/satire, but entertaining nonetheless.

I loved The New World, and it's really starting to piss me off with a lot of critics using that oh-so-weak argument that it's boring. Hardly.

Big fan of Marathon Man. Very tense, good use of basic character development, and dentistry gone awry.

Here's my review of Annapolis.
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10 Best Films of 2006

Mark Reviews Movies

beltmann · Posted: 01.30.2006 10:02 pm Post subject:

Mark Dujsik · Posted: 01.30.2006 10:58 pm Post subject: