The Silence
I enjoyed it. Wasn't better than A Quiet Place, but a short and mindless horror/survival movie
The Silence
I enjoyed it. Wasn't better than A Quiet Place, but a short and mindless horror/survival movie
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Godzilla vs Megalon-This is the movie with Jet Jaguar. The scenes with Godzilla running and doing flying dropkicks had me loling. They don't make em like that anymore 70's goodness.
Bill and Ted: Face the Music
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Pull List:
DC: Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood: Outlaw, Detective Comics, Superman, Action Comics, Young Justice, Legion of Superheroes, John Constantine: Hellblazer, Batman Beyond, Dark Nights: Death Metal
MARVEL: Fantastic Four, Daredevil, The Immortal Hulk, Venom, Web of Venom, Dawn of X
BOOM STUDIOS: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow, Angel and Spike
DARK HORSE: Bill and Ted are doomed.
IMAGE: The Walking Dead: Deluxe
Watched a few movies the past few weeks.
Annhilation. I had high expectations from this one as it looked intriguing. I heard a lot of good stuff about it. It seemed to have similarities with Stalker by Tarkovsky which is one of my favorite movies. But it was something of a letdown. It has good visuals but nothing strikingly great.
The Babysitter and Babysitter Pt 2. 1st one is flawed but fun. 2nd one was trash with some redeeming features.
Mayhem. The actor is known for his role in Walking Dead which i haven't seen. He was very good. So was Samara Weaving who was a lot of fun. Not much of a story but it could make a decent video game. A virus is causing the infected to loose any self control. The building is quarantined. Violence ensues. I had a nice time.
Guns Akimbo. It had a lot of potential to be memorable, which you can talk over years among movie fans. Daniel Radcliffe was entertaining within this ridiculous scenario. Samara Weaving again turned out to be among the best parts in the movie she is in. But its action is largely uninspired. Its silly in the wrong parts. Much of it made little to no sense.
Bill and Ted Face the Music. I actually haven't watched the 1st two films. Though i have heard about them quite a bit. Within this post i can see only one film is without Samara Weaving. I have become something of a fan, looking after films with her. She is quite entertaining to watch, even in average films. Glad to say i enjoyed it. Its silly. A bit nonsensical but quite heart warming at the same time.
Last edited by Soubhagya; 09-24-2020 at 09:07 AM.
Into The Wild. The last scene between Mr. Franz and Chris had me in tears.
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Same for me, last night. I honestly loved it, every minute of it. The movie took the whole franchise full circle, turned the central idea on its head and ended on a positive, heartwarming note that was just right for the year of the COVID. Made me want to get out my guitar and start making some noise.
Every day is a gift, not a given right.
ВОЙНА И МИР [WAR AND PEACE] (1965-67), directed by Sergei Bonderchuk, in Russian with English subtitles (Criterion Collection 2019), 422 mins.
Bonderchuk not only directs but stars as Pierre Bezukhov. He was in his 40s at the time, whereas Pierre is supposed to be in his 20s--which is a problem when Natasha Rostova (Natalya) is supposed to be 13 at the start of the novel and she will become his main love interest. The young Lyudmelya Savelyeva perfectly captures Natalya on screen--no other actress could ever do a better job. It was a bit off-putting to see Irina Skobtseva playing Helene Kuragina--Pierre's first wife--as she is also much older looking than the character in the novel and never really gave me the sense of her. But Irina was Bonderchuk's wife in real life--so art imitates life.
In any case, we don't get much of the Helene story in this adaptation. Nor do we get almost anything about Nicholas Rostov or Marya Bolkonskaya. It's only seven hours, after all, and that's not enough time to squeeze in everything from Tolstoy's novel.
The movie would go on to win the Oscar for best foreign language film on April 14th, 1969, at the Academy Awards. Afraid that they might lose, the Soviet Union only sent Lyudmelya Savelyeva to the ceremony, to avoid any embarrassment. Later that same year, the United States would put a man on the Moon--which was the greater accomplishment? Given the resources required for either project, it's a toss-up.
As a cinematic adaptation, it's hard to envision anyone topping this. Who would have the means? Bonderchuk was a successful actor, but wasn't consider in the top flight of Soviet directors at the time and yet several others were passed over in favour of this relatively young filmmaker. This at a time when Nikita Khrushchev had gained power, after the death of Stalin, and the U.S.S.R. was going through an era of cultural freedom unlike anything before it or after.
Bonderchuk was allowed to make his own film, to express his own personality through his art. And yet was also given every resource of the Soviet Union and plenty of time to make his movie--about five years. Although there was no actual budget for the movie (everything was given to the movie for free--even rare museum pieces for the period furnishings in the movie), estimates are that it would have cost about a billion dollars to make this film in today's money. And everything is real. There was no computer animation, obviously, but also no matte shots--the soldiers are real (the Soviet army in period dress, directed by a real army general), the horses are real, the explosions are real. Even the burning of Moscow is real--albeit a life-size mock-up of Moscow that was then set on fire for the film.
This is no T.V. series. It is entirely a cinematic production, in wide screen. Bonderchuk performs feats of wonder in this movie that leaves a lover of film in awe. Every scene is approached with an eye for what will best capture the emotion and meaning in the story. Natalya's first ball was filmed by cameramen on roller skates to give the dance that swirling dreamlike sensation. In other scenes the camera floats above the battlefield to show the mass of humanity in violent tumult. Shots are filmed through blurred lenses or through fans, reflecting the physical reality of a situation.
Although the movie gives attention to humanity as a whole--and its central message is that we should love each other and not make war with our fellow man--Bonderchuk freely endows his characters with individuality and shows the aristocracy in a sympathetic light. Religion also is given a positive perspective. These things, antithetical to state dogma, would not have been allowed in previous Soviet sponsored films.
And the story of Napoleon from Tolstoy's novel strikes an interesting parallel with the fortunes of Stalin. In the midst of the French Revolution, Napoleon seized power and became a dictator who expanded his power beyond the borders of his state to make war with his neighbours--ultimately Napoleon undermined the goals of the revolution and created a new privileged class in Europe. In the midst of the Russian Revolution, Stalin followed the same path as Napoleon and he also created a class of elites (including Khrushchev himself) that enjoyed privilege not given to the masses. If the French lust for power and their aggression against surrounding countries was an evil and antithetical to the goals of the revolution (liberté, égalité, fraternité)--had not Russia done the same thing?
7 hours!!!
Even Return of King is about 4 hours.This seems to be a must watch. How is it that i am hearing of this for the 1st time? Or maybe i have heard about it somewhere. Probably the youtube channel Cinefix which always gives interesting film recommendations.
This film seems like a true epic. Where everything is shot for real, without even models it gives a great experience. Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on River Kwai, Seven Samurai, etc.are more 'common' examples. So what if they are 70 years old? The kind of experience such films give is unmatched. Thanks for highlighting this. I would look for it someday.
It was like a mix of David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles for me. One thing I will say--the discs I was watching were borrowed from the library--and I don't know if it was my player, the discs or the film, but sometimes the quality was less than perfect. But then Criterion had to transfer this from a Soviet print which was probably not in the best shape.
They had problems filming the movie at the time because of the film stock and cameras available--they weren't allowed to use any materials from outside the Warsaw Pact--and they had to make do with what they had. However, some of the problems with the image didn't seem to result from that. Although this is a minor quibble, since for the most part the image was great for me on my small screen. A Blu-Ray might be better--but I don't have a Blu Ray player.
The movie is stretched over three discs--and when it was released in the Soviet Union, they showed it in four parts. But it is really one long movie and is best enjoyed that way.
So in the spirit of Halloween I've been watching 80s horror films:
Halloween H20 - I enjoyed this one. Though its not as fun for the third time, I admit. Was most fun the first time.
Lost Boys - Great movie but it always makes me a bit sad knowing how the two Corey's turned out and what was going on for them during this time
Fright Night - Still a classic. Except the vampire was pretty much a pushover. Still, worth it for a couple of memorable lines and seeing a guy melt.
Waxwork - This movie is so weird. There are two absolute must-see scenes, involving a werewolf and vampires, and the rest of the film is very much humdrum, with a laughable climax. When the guy in the wheelchair is swinging the sword around at the end I lost it.
She was really good!
Every day is a gift, not a given right.
H20 is that the one with LL cool J or Busta Rhymes? I know they were both in Halloween movies around the same time. I even know one was extra silly I think Busta Rhymes does like Kung fu on Mike meyers. I remember the one with LL being a better movie but its been forever.
LL Cool J. He is always pretty good in horror movies. I liked him best in Deep Blue Sea.
You are right though, Busta Rhymes was in a Halloween movie too!
Every day is a gift, not a given right.
BlackkKlansman
My Octopus Teacher
Interstellar
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