Strike first, strike hard, show no mercy.
Happy end of August everyone! Not much to see in theaters this weekend (#WeAreYourFriends) but there's a LOT to watch on VOD.
Blackhat is my second favorite movie of the year so far after Mad Max Fury Road. If you were turned off by the baffling negative buzz or sad box office performance, don't be afraid to check it out. The shootout midway through is Mann's best action scene since Heat.
Well, it's not good...and it's boring. The romance is ridiculous and comes out of nowhere. They reveal the bad guy as...some dude! I could forgive all the stupid things if it wasn't sooo boring. Did I mention it's boring?
Saw Juno this week in my college film class. Surprisingly I really enjoyed it. The multiple themes and great characters really brought it home for me.
Last week I managed to pick up the Godfather series on bluray for half off. In my limited free time I have been reliving them in all their restored glory.
I'm also planning my list for scary movie month. Going to start placing some orders with scream factory soon.
Saw "In the mouth of madness" this week and pooped my pants. What a great movie! Thanks Patrick for the John Carpenter director essentials, without that list I would probably not have seen it.
Do you read Sutter Kane? Love that movie. I just upgraded my dvd to a nice Bluray recently, Sam neil is a brilliant actor. I really like him in almost everything he does
I know its not original but seeing as I just bought the 15 disc Bluray Halloween set I want to watch them all. So im going for all franchise stuff myself. Halloween then Friday the 13th then I'm thinking Tales from the crypt and the Vaults of horror stuff. More than enough to keep me going. Next year I want to do universal monsters and old horror movies.
who knows? I get myself down with reading stuff like that, it happened to me over the Friday the 13th boxset recently where I talked myself out of it because of negativity over certain movie versions, so with Halloween the 15 disc set certainly is the most comprehensive so I just got it, its not arrived yet so I cant comment, I do own all the Friday the 13th in mixed versions though not all on bluray, with the more modern deluxe remastered editions and blurays for the first 3,
The same is happening again with Scream factory at the moment with a new 3 disc Army of darkness coming out soon but we don't know what versions are onnit, I want the 96 min directors cut which is not yet on bluray, just on dvd, but im not sure if the elements are available?
Its frustrating some times being a collector and knowing what versions you want, I am still angry over Kill bill 1 and 2, I own the first versions on dvds, then I bought the uncut Japanese dvd with a few extra scenes and in full colour, then I bought the steelbook 2 disc bluray with both films onnit but part 1 is the American cut, a few minutes shorter and in Black and White, so I still don't own a perfect version of Kill bill, which frustrates me, which version do I watch? and there,s also the Whole bloody affair too,
I wish the Whole Bloody Affair would just come out already. I had the opportunity to ask QT about the Whole Bloody Affair. In front of a live studio audience, no less. We talked about what it was, but he never divulged when it would definitely get a release, and then the whole conversation was cut when our bit was televised.
That's really cool, that would be another version for me to buy even though there is still not an uncut Color version of part 1 yet on bluray and probably never will be,
I know. I actually thought the show was kinda passable and easily forgettable but the movie felt really soulless and the quick cameos kept really annoying me
Since I watched Ex Machina last week, I've been kinda hooked on Oscar Issac. I went and picked up A Most Violent Year. I really enjoyed it, no matter what was going on around him Issac's character would not break from his beliefs. It was really refreshing to see a character like that, someone who could remain badass without resorting to gratuitous levels of violence. Oh and is there anyone sexier than Jessica Chastain, my god she's gorgeous and is a scene stealer in this one.
Agree on Isaac (he's making a run for being the new Phillip Seymour Hoffman, a reliable actor in indie and mainstream movies), but Chastain just leaves me cold. She was great in "A Most Violent Year," though I never for a moment thought that I was watching the character she was playing as much as a good actress trying hard to project a different personality. Great flick.
Even if his movie sucks it's at the very least visually interesting so I never thought Tarsem Singh would make a boring movie. He managed to do so with Self/Less.
Here’s something interesting. This week, the fan film STAR TREK: RENEGADES debuted online. Except that this is no ordinary fan film. It’s directed by Tim Russ, who also appears onscreen as his Voyager character, Tuvok. Other returning Star Trek mainstays are Walter Koenig, Robert Picardo, and the kid who plays Icheb. The rest of the cast members include bona fides like Sean Young, Edward Furlong, Corin “Parker Lewis” Nemec, and a ton of other I-know-that-actor-from-somewhere faces.
Don’t get me wrong, this is still a fan film, so it’s very, VERY rough around the edges. I nonetheless enjoyed it. It’s damn impressive how much they’ve accomplished with so very little. (The budget was allegedly only $350,000!) It looks just as good as a season one TNG episode, if not better.
The fan film subculture has always been fascinating to me, and hopefully this movie will be a bold (sorry) step forward, where fan films can blur the line and perhaps even coexist with the real thing.
I watched Reservoir Dogs recently and its still great and having Rodriguez on the Brain too last night I rewatched The Faculty, tonight I am going for vod of Turbo kid. How can I resist
I just watched The Honeymoon Killers from 1969 and was blown away by how chilling this movie was for the time it was made. It's the true story of a lonely overweight woman who falls in love with a con man who seduces women over a dating service and steals their money. She starts to help him and their actions turn homicidal over jealousy and self preservation. Incredible performances, especially from the female lead, great script and very well directed. A few scenes genuinely disturbed me. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend checking it out. I think it's on Hulu plus under the criterion collection. Well worth your time.
I found The Diary of a Teenage Girl to be pretty meh.
It literally states what it wants to be or what it thinks it is through its characters several times, but the film never goes there. It's fine/good, but ultimately forgettable for me.
I agree, but within it's apparent dullness I found a lot to like in this one. I like the awkward chemistry between Bel Powley and Alexander Skarsgård (whose 'stache is like a character of its own), two immature souls who happened to cross paths in a decade and place where they could pursue their initial attraction. And though she isn't as good as in last year's "The Skeleton Twins" Kristen Wiig keeps getting this awkward roles that seem quasi-comedic but have a lot of dramatic pathos bubbling just underneath the surface. And remember that only eight years ago it took David Fincher untold millions to recreate 1970's San Francisco, which this indie flick can now recreate on the cheap thanks to falling prices for digital cameras and effects packages.
"DOATG" doesn't warrant going out of your way to see it, but it's definitely worth a look (and a matinee ticket) if you do.
So did anyone else see HITMAN this weekend? Because boy, I have not been more frustrated leaving a movie theater in a long time. I only paid like 6.50 for the ticket or something, and still, I wonder if that was too much.
I keep waiting for Hollywood to figure out that the main character can't be an emotionless robot. It's just the worst action movie trope of all time, and it's basically never good. I imagine film makers only keep doing it because it's easy.
I just finished Dressed to kill, a lovely Arrowvideo bluray, I really like De Palma, he really goes for it with filming style, camera angle choices and strange uses of music at times where you would expect a lower key choice, not seen it in years and I really like it still
Dressed to kill is just wonderful and works still great today. Aside from some corny dialogue and watching Keith Gordon working on his ridiculously laughable computer Peter the great, this is my favorite De Palma film. To me the museum sequence is the most elegantly suspenseful "chase" sequence ever shot. Back in the 80s my diabolical VCR ate most of my VHS copy. The only thing I could rescue was the nightmare sequence in the asylum and in the shower. Until I got a new tape I must have watched that sequence hundreds of times. Love that movie.
Ah man, just when Shocker was getting its due. Just read an okay book called "Shock Value" - a sort of "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" for 70s horror - Wes of course featured prominently - he had a strange and interesting and wonderful life and accomplished some truly great things.
So very sad! Wes was always one of the best interviews you could see, the guy's done literally everything in the business, and he had a million stories. Even though his body of work is very hit or miss, Scream was really big for me as a kid and one of the reasons I really started to like horror. He will be missed.
Dammit. I was waiting for him to make another movie, we are due for him to break the rules and change the course of horror movies again, What a Amazing legacy he has left behind, Patricks column on Wes is a great start for 10 movies to watch on scary movie month
I didn't even know he was sick...RIP Wes Craven, my favorite horror director, literally just watched Nightmare 1 for the 100th time last week along with the first Scream. He's a legend in my mind.
That´s really bad news. I didn´t knew about his cancer and reading his age of 76 also surprised me for a moment. In my mind he was at least ten years younger. Very sad.
Patrick you just got a shout out at the beginning of the new killer pov episode
ReplyDeleteI heard! All thanks to Dennis Atherton's bribery.
DeleteMoney well spent. I planned it weeks ago and ive been eagerly waiting for the pay off, im rubbish at keeping secrets too but I kept my mouth shut here
DeleteI just paid them to take it back so listen for their retraction next week.
DeleteBlackhat is my second favorite movie of the year so far after Mad Max Fury Road. If you were turned off by the baffling negative buzz or sad box office performance, don't be afraid to check it out. The shootout midway through is Mann's best action scene since Heat.
ReplyDeleteI certainly didn't dislike Blackhat as much as most people. It's not THAT bad.
DeleteWell, it's not good...and it's boring. The romance is ridiculous and comes out of nowhere. They reveal the bad guy as...some dude! I could forgive all the stupid things if it wasn't sooo boring. Did I mention it's boring?
DeleteSorry you didn't like it Brent. I was riveted from start to finish. #AgreeToDisagree.
DeleteI agree about Mad Max, though. That's probably my favorite movie of the last ten years.
DeleteBlackhat is a fantastic flick. I don't understand Mann fans who didn't enjoy it. Only he would have made it just that way, and for that I'm thankful.
DeleteI was actually mad while watching Blackhat in the theater it was so bad. Hemsworth non-Thoring is awful.
DeleteSaw Juno this week in my college film class. Surprisingly I really enjoyed it. The multiple themes and great characters really brought it home for me.
ReplyDeleteLast week I managed to pick up the Godfather series on bluray for half off. In my limited free time I have been reliving them in all their restored glory.
I'm also planning my list for scary movie month. Going to start placing some orders with scream factory soon.
Saw "In the mouth of madness" this week and pooped my pants. What a great movie! Thanks Patrick for the John Carpenter director essentials, without that list I would probably not have seen it.
ReplyDeleteDo you read Sutter Kane?
DeleteLove that movie. I just upgraded my dvd to a nice Bluray recently, Sam neil is a brilliant actor. I really like him in almost everything he does
SMM stuff
ReplyDeleteI know its not original but seeing as I just bought the 15 disc Bluray Halloween set I want to watch them all. So im going for all franchise stuff myself. Halloween then Friday the 13th then I'm thinking Tales from the crypt and the Vaults of horror stuff. More than enough to keep me going. Next year I want to do universal monsters and old horror movies.
Is that set the way to go? I've heard mixed arguments all around about the best way to buy all of the movies.
Deletewho knows? I get myself down with reading stuff like that, it happened to me over the Friday the 13th boxset recently where I talked myself out of it because of negativity over certain movie versions, so with Halloween the 15 disc set certainly is the most comprehensive so I just got it, its not arrived yet so I cant comment, I do own all the Friday the 13th in mixed versions though not all on bluray, with the more modern deluxe remastered editions and blurays for the first 3,
DeleteThe same is happening again with Scream factory at the moment with a new 3 disc Army of darkness coming out soon but we don't know what versions are onnit, I want the 96 min directors cut which is not yet on bluray, just on dvd, but im not sure if the elements are available?
Its frustrating some times being a collector and knowing what versions you want, I am still angry over Kill bill 1 and 2, I own the first versions on dvds, then I bought the uncut Japanese dvd with a few extra scenes and in full colour, then I bought the steelbook 2 disc bluray with both films onnit but part 1 is the American cut, a few minutes shorter and in Black and White, so I still don't own a perfect version of Kill bill, which frustrates me, which version do I watch? and there,s also the Whole bloody affair too,
I wish the Whole Bloody Affair would just come out already. I had the opportunity to ask QT about the Whole Bloody Affair. In front of a live studio audience, no less. We talked about what it was, but he never divulged when it would definitely get a release, and then the whole conversation was cut when our bit was televised.
DeleteThat's really cool, that would be another version for me to buy even though there is still not an uncut Color version of part 1 yet on bluray and probably never will be,
DeleteJudging from the box office results, I think I was the only person on Earth that saw the new Zac Efron movie this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure people care about "rich attractive DJ" problems.
DeleteThe same could be said about the movie in the movie in Entourage,
DeleteWhy did you have to remind me of that? :-)
DeleteI know. I actually thought the show was kinda passable and easily forgettable but the movie felt really soulless and the quick cameos kept really annoying me
DeleteSince I watched Ex Machina last week, I've been kinda hooked on Oscar Issac. I went and picked up A Most Violent Year. I really enjoyed it, no matter what was going on around him Issac's character would not break from his beliefs. It was really refreshing to see a character like that, someone who could remain badass without resorting to gratuitous levels of violence. Oh and is there anyone sexier than Jessica Chastain, my god she's gorgeous and is a scene stealer in this one.
ReplyDeleteAgree on Isaac (he's making a run for being the new Phillip Seymour Hoffman, a reliable actor in indie and mainstream movies), but Chastain just leaves me cold. She was great in "A Most Violent Year," though I never for a moment thought that I was watching the character she was playing as much as a good actress trying hard to project a different personality. Great flick.
DeleteEven if his movie sucks it's at the very least visually interesting so I never thought Tarsem Singh would make a boring movie. He managed to do so with Self/Less.
ReplyDeleteThat movie was actually Life/Less.
DeleteAt the box office, maybe. As a movie, well, I haven't seen it. :-P
DeleteDeath Becomes Her doesn't get enough love. It's probably Robert Zemeckis' best movie. I know Patrick is with me.
ReplyDeleteBruce - 'nuff said. When he screams all high pitched it's one of the funniest things ever.
DeleteI like the "Now for a warning gag" Great fun
DeleteHere’s something interesting. This week, the fan film STAR TREK: RENEGADES debuted online. Except that this is no ordinary fan film. It’s directed by Tim Russ, who also appears onscreen as his Voyager character, Tuvok. Other returning Star Trek mainstays are Walter Koenig, Robert Picardo, and the kid who plays Icheb. The rest of the cast members include bona fides like Sean Young, Edward Furlong, Corin “Parker Lewis” Nemec, and a ton of other I-know-that-actor-from-somewhere faces.
ReplyDeleteDon’t get me wrong, this is still a fan film, so it’s very, VERY rough around the edges. I nonetheless enjoyed it. It’s damn impressive how much they’ve accomplished with so very little. (The budget was allegedly only $350,000!) It looks just as good as a season one TNG episode, if not better.
The fan film subculture has always been fascinating to me, and hopefully this movie will be a bold (sorry) step forward, where fan films can blur the line and perhaps even coexist with the real thing.
That would be cool
DeleteOn Thursday I decided I would have all the Tarantino movies watched in order by the time the weekend was over, and I totally did.
ReplyDeleteI feel this was an admirable goal and take an irrational amount of pride in accomplishing it.
I'm planning on doing that before Hateful Eight comes out.
DeleteI watched Reservoir Dogs recently and its still great and having Rodriguez on the Brain too last night I rewatched The Faculty, tonight I am going for vod of Turbo kid. How can I resist
DeleteThat sounds pretty great, Albert. Any new takeaways or revelations other than "all these movies are awesome?"
DeleteI just watched The Honeymoon Killers from 1969 and was blown away by how chilling this movie was for the time it was made. It's the true story of a lonely overweight woman who falls in love with a con man who seduces women over a dating service and steals their money. She starts to help him and their actions turn homicidal over jealousy and self preservation. Incredible performances, especially from the female lead, great script and very well directed. A few scenes genuinely disturbed me. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend checking it out. I think it's on Hulu plus under the criterion collection. Well worth your time.
ReplyDeleteI found The Diary of a Teenage Girl to be pretty meh.
ReplyDeleteIt literally states what it wants to be or what it thinks it is through its characters several times, but the film never goes there. It's fine/good, but ultimately forgettable for me.
I agree, but within it's apparent dullness I found a lot to like in this one. I like the awkward chemistry between Bel Powley and Alexander Skarsgård (whose 'stache is like a character of its own), two immature souls who happened to cross paths in a decade and place where they could pursue their initial attraction. And though she isn't as good as in last year's "The Skeleton Twins" Kristen Wiig keeps getting this awkward roles that seem quasi-comedic but have a lot of dramatic pathos bubbling just underneath the surface. And remember that only eight years ago it took David Fincher untold millions to recreate 1970's San Francisco, which this indie flick can now recreate on the cheap thanks to falling prices for digital cameras and effects packages.
Delete"DOATG" doesn't warrant going out of your way to see it, but it's definitely worth a look (and a matinee ticket) if you do.
So did anyone else see HITMAN this weekend? Because boy, I have not been more frustrated leaving a movie theater in a long time. I only paid like 6.50 for the ticket or something, and still, I wonder if that was too much.
ReplyDeleteIt was too much
DeleteI keep waiting for Hollywood to figure out that the main character can't be an emotionless robot. It's just the worst action movie trope of all time, and it's basically never good. I imagine film makers only keep doing it because it's easy.
DeleteDon't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead is the Citizen Kane of dead babysitter movies.
ReplyDeleteI hate to disagree but Halloween is the Citizen Kane of dead babysitter movies
DeleteActually, Halloween is the Gone with the Wind of William Shatner faced mask movies.
DeleteOver and above Woodchipper Massacre?
DeleteI've always loved Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, one of the movies that I grew up with.
DeleteSatan's little helper is more fun than Halloween ;)
ReplyDeleteI just finished Dressed to kill, a lovely Arrowvideo bluray, I really like De Palma, he really goes for it with filming style, camera angle choices and strange uses of music at times where you would expect a lower key choice, not seen it in years and I really like it still
ReplyDeleteNow for the main event its time for Turbo Kid!
Dressed to kill is just wonderful and works still great today. Aside from some corny dialogue and watching Keith Gordon working on his ridiculously laughable computer Peter the great, this is my favorite De Palma film.
DeleteTo me the museum sequence is the most elegantly suspenseful "chase" sequence ever shot.
Back in the 80s my diabolical VCR ate most of my VHS copy. The only thing I could rescue was the nightmare sequence in the asylum and in the shower. Until I got a new tape I must have watched that sequence hundreds of times.
Love that movie.
R.I.P. Wes Craven.
ReplyDeleteAh man, just when Shocker was getting its due. Just read an okay book called "Shock Value" - a sort of "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" for 70s horror - Wes of course featured prominently - he had a strange and interesting and wonderful life and accomplished some truly great things.
So very sad! Wes was always one of the best interviews you could see, the guy's done literally everything in the business, and he had a million stories. Even though his body of work is very hit or miss, Scream was really big for me as a kid and one of the reasons I really started to like horror. He will be missed.
DeleteI was really hit hard by this. What an awesome guy. And Shock Value is an awesome book
DeleteMost that I know about Wes is from that.
Dammit. I was waiting for him to make another movie, we are due for him to break the rules and change the course of horror movies again,
DeleteWhat a Amazing legacy he has left behind, Patricks column on Wes is a great start for 10 movies to watch on scary movie month
Fuck cancer!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wes-craven-horror-maestro-dies-818806
Sad face! :'(
DeleteI didn't even know he was sick...RIP Wes Craven, my favorite horror director, literally just watched Nightmare 1 for the 100th time last week along with the first Scream. He's a legend in my mind.
ReplyDeleteJust heard about Wes. Really sucks to lose another legend.
ReplyDeleteJust bought the People Under the Stairs on Blu-ray in his honor. RIP
ReplyDeleteWes Craven died?! What a fucking bummer. Now I'm depressed.
ReplyDeleteThat´s really bad news. I didn´t knew about his cancer and reading his age of 76 also surprised me for a moment. In my mind he was at least ten years younger. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteSomeone watched "Sleepaway Camp" too much.
ReplyDeletehttp://crimefeed.com/2015/08/man-sexually-abuses-disabled-wife-hot-curling-iron-cheating-50-years-ago/
Oooouuuccchhhhhhh !
DeleteJust wanted to remind everyone that Exploitation.tv launched yesterday. It looks really promising!
ReplyDeleteLooks like sign-ups have been delayed but you can still browse their selections.
Delete