Saturday, March 17, 2018

Weekend Open Thread

Happy Mark Jones Day!

32 comments:

  1. If, like me, you're any kind of Brendan Fraser fan, you should absolutely read the powerful and raw GQ profile "What Ever Happened To Brendan Fraser?" Heck, it's worth a read even if one isn't a particular fan of his - it goes to some unexpected places. Here's hoping his role on Danny Boyle's FX series Trust earns him more attention...

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  2. (In Mark Jones voice) MARK JONES DOESN’T WANT A DAY, HE WANTS A MINUTE!

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  3. St Patrick's day today, so let's all celebrate the best Patrick we know, the one and only Patrick Bromley, son of Harry, the director of Xtro!

    We love you TicklerPramboy


    For my thing that will make Patrick embarrassed but I don't care, what's your favourite Patrick Bromley memory?


    So many to choose from I know

    My most recent is the ending of the TCM2 commentary when Patrick made a comment about lighting a Cigar and I was in floods of tears?

    Join in if you want with your favourite St Patrick's memory, its a tough one to choose just one, let's spread the love as I feel it is needed as an uplifting comment as Patrick had a bad time over Tobe and we need friends to help us through tough times and it would be Amazing if by the time Patrick checked in on this column it is filled with love

    Do for it gang

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    1. I was genuinely surprised No one else joined in with giving our host Patrick some love on St Patrick's day, I was really looking forward to seeing loads of positive comments to cheer Patrick up after having a hard time recently with Tobe and the really heart breaking TCM2 commentary this week but not a single comment, this is the first time I felt a lack of community here and it made me genuinely sad, sorry for being negative as that's not me but I was excited to try to do something nice for Patrick and I was hoping people would join in and say nice things, it costs nothing to be nice, maybe I'm being over sensitive?


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    2. Dennis, I somehow missed your post or I would have commented earlier. I only found Fthismovie about six months ago and it has been a amazing experience. The community that Patrick has created here is one of the most amazing places on the internet and that's all due to his guidance. Nowhere have I found a more welcoming group of movies lovers and none of that would have happened without Patrick leading by example.

      One of the things I have found most amazing about this community, especially Patrick, is good willingness to talk about dealing with depression and how movies have helped. Movies have pulled me back from the edge many times in my life. I'm in a much better place but it's nice to know Patrick has fostered a community where that isn't judged or stigmatized.

      Sorry if this is rambling but I agree with Dennis. Fthismovie is amazing and that starts with Patrick. Here's to a wonderful human being!

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    3. Love it

      That's exactly how I feel. That's why I was surprised by the lack of love. I'm glad you found us. I don't know you but I already like you,

      Best Dennis

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    4. I tell Patrick how great he is so much that I feel Erika is getting jealous :)

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    5. We both love Erika too so we may have a problem ;)

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  4. i saw a few movies this week, as usual, but not a lot worth mentionning. but there's these

    Savage Dog: the impossible has happened, i saw a Scott Adkins movie that i didn’t like. I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that one was very boring. It’s the standard revenge story, Keith David is in it, and of course Scott Adkins, but even the fights are not interesting.

    47 Meters Down: I didn’t expect much from Mandy Moore, but I really liked it. The suspense is great and the 2 main actresses are good. Without spoiling anything, I’m usually not of fan of that type of ending, but here I didn’t mind so much.

    The Shape Of Water: this is my second viewing. I still really like it, but the problems became more apparent the second time. Just the fact that the monster in the movie is not bad and wants to kill everything is a big plus in my book. That’s why I like Guillermo Del Toro, he loves his monsters.

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  5. Haven't had a lot of movie watching time this week, too much basketball watching. But I've had a chance to watch a few things.

    Watched A Dark Song on Netflix. Pretty good, especially for a movie with pretty much 2 actors. It gets a bit repetitive at times, maybe to pad the runtime, but it's worth watching.

    Caught up on Bordello of Blood for the first time since like 1998? Look, it's not good, but I didn't hate it. I thought Dennis Miller was mildly entertaining.

    Redboxed the Disaster Artist and Murder on the Orient Express. Disaster Artist was...bad. I liked almost nothing about it. Felt like a 90 minute SNL sketch, a bad one. Murder on the Orient Express was better. I would've liked it a lot better if it didn't have one of the most famous endings of all time.

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    1. i didn't care for Disaster Artist either. not that i thought it was bad, but i think the hype got to me and i expected more.

      Orient Express, i knew nothing of the original story, but i liked this movie. a decent murder mystery

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    2. I thought most of the movie was just origin stories for all the best moments in the Room. Which would be okay, Ed Wood does some of that, but I didn't find Tommy or Greg to be interesting characters at all. I can't imagine ever watching it again, instead of just watching The Room.

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    3. Revisited The Disaster Artist over the weekend, and my biggest issue is that it doesn't even bother with the "Wiseau Origin Story" chapters from the book (which is good!). It essentially compresses the story into the making of The Room, which is fine, but it sacrifices what makes the book so compelling. The movie is about the James Franco performance, whereas the book is about the Dave Franco character's (Greg Sestero) journey into Hollywood and the mystery of his friend's origin.

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    4. Yeah that sounds much better. Or if they wanted to do a "making of"...do that. Instead it takes 45 minutes before they start the movie. It all felt very unfocused.

      I also thought Dave Franco was woefully miscast. Maybe it's because I've seen The Room so many times, but Greg Sestero is like 6'2" and built like an athlete, and Dave is like 5'6" 120 lbs. Put that fake beard on him, and he looks like a kid playing dress up. I couldn't get over it.

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    5. Also, there's a part early on where Greg's mother says to him "Come on Greg, you're only 19" and it was right out of Walk Hard. I loved that.

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  6. Little Evil: from Eli Craig, who made the masterpiece Tucker And Dale Vs Evil. This is a take on another horror genre, the devil child. It’s a very fun movie. Not on the level of the other one, but there’s definitely something there.

    The Bar: I really didn’t care for this one. it’s a bunch of people, of different background, stuck in a bar. If they get out, they get shot. And of course, when the shit goes down, they all get crazy and turn on each other’s. Because human nature, right. And then, as usual, the smallest thing happens and they all start bickering again, and again. You get the picture. It is competently made, the actors are not bad, even if their characters are all very cliché. I can’t tell you to avoid it, because others will probably like it, but not me.

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  7. I watched The Outsider on Netflix and really wish I hadn't. I think Leto saw Drive and though he could one up Gosling's seemingly emotionless character by creating a character that was completely featureless. His character is just a void in the middle of the movie. And the rest of the movie isn't too great either: it is a by the numbers gangster movie. Its just bad and bland.

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  8. I watched couple of films during the week.

    CALVAIRE (2004)- After having the intention to watch this Belgian horror/exploitation film for a while, I got around to it this week. I have attempted to understand my reaction to it since. There was something about Calvaire that prevented me from becoming invested in its world. While portions of it worked, especially at the end, it never felt like a cohesive film.

    FULL CONTACT (1992)- Before watching the John Woo films I recently acquired, I wanted to see this Hong Kong action film. It has been sitting in my Fandor queue for many months. Besides a viewing of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon back in the early 2000s, I had not seen any Chow Yun-Fat's films.

    Full Contact is enjoyable on many levels. The stunts and the fight sequences are terrific. Chow is a magnetic performer, giving off an air of menace and determination. There is a lot of early 1990s "cool" elements that I appreciated; it certainly is a product of its time. It was interesting to see the slowed down bullets visual before it became well-known with The Matrix.

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  9. I saw The Gift last week on Netflix, really good movie. Joel Edgerton should direct something else.

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  10. My week in movies:

    Star Wars: The Last Jedi, dir. Rian Johnson (2017)

    A few words regarding Episode VIII... Firstly I must say that unlike a fair few of my peers I don't hold the Star Wars series in that much of a high regard and until last year I always felt my sci-fi series was the Alien movies, then Ridley Scott gave us the, to put it bluntly, shit show that was Alien: Covenant so I got a little more excited by The Last Jedi because I've thoroughly enjoyed all of Rian Johnson's previous films (though more people need to still see his sophomore feature The Brothers Bloom) and i knew he would bring something a little different to the table which he does... To a point! The cast is great, Mark Hamill is the real MVP here, the visuals are stunning BUT the storytelling is the biggest flaw as this film just feels baggy as hell and strolls when it should be sprinting and for most of the second act all I could think of was "get a move on!" Enjoyed the humour, good action but just a little too dull for a little too long...

    Annihilation, dir. Alex Garland (2018)

    So after my decidedly mixed response to The Last Jedi I felt i needed to dig my cinematic toes into sci-fi of the more cerebral variety and as par for the course writer/director Alex Garland delivers rather splendidly and further proves that he is one of the best voices of modern science fiction... Granted I'm going into this having not read the series of books by Jeff VanderMeer, the first of these this film is based upon but taken as a piece of pure cinema it works really rather well! Garland is a director (much like Del Toro) who isn't afraid to wear his influences on his sleeve and this feels very much like a John Carpenter movies and in the best possible way with a very strong female lead cast, this is the best I've seen Natalie Portman for quite sometime, and some truly horrific and beautiful visuals... A perfect storm of sci-fi, horror and the surreal!

    Get Out, dir. Jordan Peele (2017)

    Finally it was time to revisit this, my second viewing after seeing it at the cinema... and... boy does this film hold up (and will hold up) to repeat viewings! Sure since its release a thousand and one think pieces have been written about its commentary on race etc.So I'll keep this simple; I LOVE THIS FILM! Sharply written, a rare time the Oscars got something right in giving Jordan Peele the Best Original Screenplay award, very unnerving and just a great piece of entertainment, one of the reasons this film works is that it embraces the genre trappings AND brings the smarts!

    The Book of Life, dir. Jorge Gutierrez (2014)

    Before I dig my critical teeth into the latest Pixar picture "Coco" I felt I should check this out first... and I'm glad I did! A film rich with Mexican culture and some truly stunning production/character designs, it is charming and not afraid to deal with some more mature details, mortality plays a big part in the plot, helped along by a great voice cast and a nice mix of covers and original songs... Sure some of the storytelling in the final act feels a little rushed but visually this is an underrated gem!

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    1. i love The Book Of Life. i thought it was more interesting than Coco, but i think i'm alone in this

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    2. I agree with your comments on the first three movies (haven't seen Book of Life). Last Jedi is playing at the discount theater so I hope to see it a couple more times over the next few weeks. In my opinion Get Out is one of the best films in the last 20-30 years.

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  12. I wanted to see a good movie about Yakuza after watching The Outsider, so I watched Kinji Fukasaku's "Battles Without Honor or Humanity" on Amazon Prime. It takes as much as of the romance out of the yakuza as it can while still having exciting action scenes. The gangsters here are grubby, petty backstabbers. Only the I guess protagonist, who goes to jail at about the midway point only to get out to his fellow gang members feuding and killing each other, shows any sort loyalty and it is not reciprocated from anyone. The excellent title pretty much says it all.

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    1. this is without a doubt my greatest blind buy ever. and just my greatest discovery ever. i'm so glad i was able to get the limited edition Arrow release of the first 5 movies, which i strongly recommend if you liked the first one.

      there's 3 movies after those 5, but they're not related to the main story. it's decent stuff, but not as good as the original series.

      JB, we're waiting on your review of the series :)

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    2. Are you planning to watch the five sequels? I hear they get confusing because of there being so many characters.

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    3. It is a very dense series, but it is written by a journalist who covered the yakuzas and some of the events in the series are from real life

      If you comit to it, the number of characters won't bother you

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  13. I have been getting really into Kung Fu movies as of late. In the last couple months I've watch Dragon Inn, Come Drink With Me, Ashes of Time, Drunken Master, and Drunken Master 2.

    I'm orobapro going to rewatch Hero in the near future brcaude that is my absolute favorite Wuxia film and I've got several lined up to watch in the next few weeks. I really like the modern wire Fu movies as some of the older stuff is enjoyable, but doesn't age great.

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    1. That is a great batch of movies! Come Drink with Me doesn't get nearly enough love here in the states.

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    2. Yeah, some of the special effects don't hold up well but you have to forgive that going in. Really cool seeing a badass female protagonist also.

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  14. Although JB didn't like Black Swan, I related to many of its themes: an immature adult, a controlling parent, obsession with excellence, technical precision versus artistic expression, ballerinas (!)... The moving camera work is pretty great during the on-stage dance sequences. There are frustrating aspects to the movie -- like it's ability to be both ambiguous and on-the-nose. However, in the current cultural moment [era] I enjoyed watching a story with the message, "It's time to grow up."

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  15. The Howling, 1981 (First ever viewing)

    Picardo's transformation not as good as Naughton's

    For some of us it's always scary movie month.

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