Saturday, September 5, 2015

Weekend Open Thread

This was a long week.

I'm pretty drained, you guys. Have at it.

50 comments:

  1. I'm gonna stay positive here and veer away from the sad news.

    I'm really excited that I'll have a chance to see Turbo Kid on the big screen. They're showing it in Helsinki International Film Festival. So I'm taking a week off work, traveling to Helsinki and plan to see 14 or 15 films in four days. Yay!

    Aside from Turbo Kid, the movies I'm most excited about are The Duke of Burgundy, Liza the Fox-Fairy, Last Days in the Desert, Crumbs and Extraordinary Tales. Also Jauja and Eden. So looking forward to this (at least it's four days I'm not just constantly waiting for October...).

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  2. I highly recommend watching the special features on the Mad Max Fury Road bluray. It will make you appreciate the movie so much more after seeing all the real stunts these crazy brilliant people pulled off. It's a miracle nobody died making this masterpiece of mayhem.

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    1. Bought it already. Blu-ray 3D version, naturally, because 3D RULEZ!!!. ;-) Seriously, the movie is great on 2D but it really comes alive in 3D (which is how I saw it the first of many times at the movies this summer).

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    2. Just when you though Mad Max couldn't get any better, they also give us probably the best blu-ray release of the year (for new movies, at least). The movie's so engrossing, it's a bit strange to step back and realize "oh, yeah, they custom-made about 50 insane cars." It's one of the few $150 million movies I can think of where you see every single dollar on screen.

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  3. Queen of Earth is one of the top 5 movies I've seen all year. The performances are the stand out, but everything else works for me as a whole. The cinematography and the score are top notch. It's an unnerving gem of a film and I highly recommend it.

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    1. I watched it last night and am still trying to process it but I agree that the performances and overall filmmaking are top-notch

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    2. Nice, Adam! I dreamed and woke up thinking about it. Loved it.

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  4. I'm rewatching The Babadook and getting a lot more out of it than the first time where hype hurt it for me. Maybe I should try It Follows again now that the hype has died down for that one :-)

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    1. I plan to do that as well, Ryan.

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    2. I tried rewatching It Follows and I still didn't like it very much. I admire the effort and the atmosphere but I don't think it works very well as a movie. Babadook is amazing though.

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    3. Hype is dangerous thing. Hype can drive a man insane. - Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption

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    4. Just "don't believe the hype" - Chuck D

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    5. I was still way into It Follows after bringing it home recently. It's still reigning as my favorite horror movie of the year, I think. Definitely give it another shot, Adam. And report back once you do!

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    6. I like how Ryan is still being used, Ryan Riske sounds like a top notch actor

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    7. I really like the Babadook. Its a late night movie that needs your full attention, turn Off the Phone, turn Off the lights, and turn it up, and allow yourself to be drawn in,
      PS, I just realised I would be one of those Theatre owners that throws people out for texting, Mark Kermode says "A film isn't being played, its being performed, it's a performance" I like that, my little thoughts would be "The more you give yourself to a film, The more it gives back in return" The older I get the more my respect grows for film makers and for the way I watch films

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    8. I now own IT FOLLOWS. You shall be revisited come October.

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  5. I'm marathoning the Elm Street movies again. It's fun.

    For anyone interested, Amazon has We Are Still Here up for pre-order for less than $8.50. It's one of my favorite horror movies of the year and would be good viewing for Scary Movie Month.

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    1. I just happened to pick up the first Nightmare on blu-ray last Saturday, simply because it was like $7 at Best Buy, didn't know it'd end up being something that would affect me so much.

      Fun fact here, with my blu-ray purchase I also got a coupon for $8 off a ticket to see the remake, good through May 2010.

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    2. Alright I'm convinced, i'm going to pull my box set off the shelf too. It's going to be a Craven weekend.

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    3. We are Still Here is my #2 Horror film of the year so far so I echo Patrick's recommendation.

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    4. A even more hardcore marathon is every Nightmare on Elm St movie split up by each segment from Never Sleep Again. Now that sounds like fun

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  6. Mistress America is a perfect film and a great, vibrant, hilariously written comedy. Perhaps the funniest movie of the year. The screenplay is FANTASTIC. The jokes are snappy, constant, and consistently funny. There is so much stuff thrown at the wall and literally all of it sticks. That's not supposed to happen...unless you're Woody Allen in only his greatest two or three films. This should be considered top tier of modern comedy, while yet it's made up of old style jokes and set-ups. Every single character is funny and has great stuff to say, and succeed at being very likeable without being forced that way. A must see.

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    1. I'm watching "Mistress America" tonight back-to-back with, of all things, "Cowboy Bepop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door" in 35mm (even though I've never seen the anime series that this is a sequel to). Fun time in Brooklyn tonight. :-)

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  7. I'll probably watch Turbo Kid three times this weekend.
    I think that's a great contribution to the world. Mine, anyway.

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    1. The more I watch it the more I fall in love with Apples Personality, She's the best

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  8. I watched I am a Ghost based on this week's podcast. Loved everything about it except the antagonist. #BowlCutsArentScary

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  9. BIG GAME is fun as hell. Old school action/adventure story that's bound for lots of eyeballs. Sam L as the President is a good thing.

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  10. Watched Disco Pigs. WHY? Could not say. It was truly awful.

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  11. Last night tipping my hat to Wes I rewatched Last House on the Left, that film still holds a power, I've always liked it, The Hills have eyes next!

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    1. And of course Shocker too. And I just realised I still own Serpant and the rainbow on Vhs. So why not, "Dont Bury me, I'm jot Dead"

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    2. I watched that one last night too. It's bizarre to me that Craven was told to make a horror film in 1972 and that is what he came up with. That may be his biggest talent. Thinking outside the box. LHOTL is so unlike any other horror film I've ever seen. It's almost made like a light hearted comedy, but then it has horrific violence. It's tough to watch. This was my first time watching it. Then I saw a special feature of Craven talking about it, and he was so brilliant and his thoughts made me appreciate the film more.

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    3. I agree it has mixed tones. Wes was always ahead of the game. This film in the 70s was special. Just like Elm st in the 80s and Scream in the 90s. He's got to be one of the most influential and unique Directors around, He may be gone but he will never be forgotten, I wish I could leave such a legacy once I leave this place

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  12. Blood Punch - been waiting for this one for a while. Went in blind as usual and it really didn't do much for me. I still give the filmmakers mad respect for having an interesting idea and executing it well.

    Goodnight Mommy - This was so close to being absolutely great but unfortunately there are two scenes in particular that really cheapened the film. I still thought it was really good, though.

    Miike's As The Gods Will is batshit looney. I loved it.

    Contracted: Phase II is a non-movie. It's 75 minutes long and barely anything happens except an assortment of gross out gags .

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    1. Here's what I'm curious about. Goodnight Mommy I've heard has horrific violence. Is it directed on the children?

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    2. No. And whomever said it has horrific violence doesn't watch horror films.

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    3. Awesome. That's what I wanted to hear!

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  13. I saw "Straight Outta Compton" on Friday which I liked. It was the second week for it in germany and the cinema there were literally a handful of people, so I'm not convinced that it can be called a commercial success here (even it was the number 1 movie in the first week). Beside that there were some stupid racist comments to the movie in the comment-section of some local websites, I really do hate the german culture of dubbing. EVERY F###### movie is dubbed in "our" language so that we don't have to concentrate on the subtitles or just learn how to speak english - and yes, you can call me ignorant for dumb people or those who can not read - I'm sorry for them. #AtmosphereKiller

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  14. Is it just me or is Blade Runner an insanely hard movie to get through?

    I've never seen it before. I have tried watching it a couple times before and tried watching again today got maybe 45 minutes in and I actually fell asleep. I might give up on this one. :/

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    1. Maybe it's simply not a movie for you - I consider it to be a masterpiece and in fact, very entertaining.

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    2. I had a hard time with blade runner at first too. Not getting through it but it was just not the movie I was expecting it to be. The first time I watched it I was expecting a faster paced movie with more action but it's not that at all so when I watched it a second time I was able to know what it was going in and I liked it a lot more. I would keep trying with it every so often, maybe you've heard too much hype on it which happens with a lot of classic movies if you come to them later in life.

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    3. The final scene is really something, Rutger Hauer really hits it out of the park

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  15. Finally I saw The Guest. Great nod to Carpenter with lots of fun, a fine score and a perfectly cast Dan Stevens, playing the opposite of his Downton Abbey character. Maika Monroe was also great. This was the highlight of the weekend.
    From there it went downhill with The ABCs of death, which was interesting but as uneven as anthology films go. Some good, some bad, some meh.
    Then came V/H/S where the word uneven is a bold understatement. That one was mostly crap. The first segment was ok (but man, those were some of the most annoying guys ever), as was the last. Everything else was at least lame. Clearly not my cup of coffee and some of the worst found footage filming I ever saw. It nearly made my eyes bleed.

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  16. Here's a random one
    My hobby when im not watching movies is nature photography. Mainly Birds, I travel when I can and take photos of wildlife, anyway the reason I mention it is because on another podcast I just heard Wes Craven was also a Birdwatcher, I never knew, made me smile

    Just for fun if anyone is interested in my Bird photo's, have a quick look below


    http://www.flickr.com/photos/55476649@N02/

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    1. I don't anything about Bird Photography, but those are great, Dennis!

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    2. Cheers Chaybee. Me and Wes craven. Makes me smile and I was born on Elm tree road in Leigh. Not quite Elm Street but close enough ;)

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