Metallica Through the Never (2013): As anybody else, I'm a fan of Metallica, but not a hardcore fan. So, I mostly listen to their hits, and this live show is exactly that. With the added bonus of having a short movie, starring Dan DeHaan, intercut with the show. Some fans didn't like that part, but I love it, and it's a nice change of pace from a regular filmed live show that's just playing music. It's so surreal, I'd love to get an actual movie out of it.
The Neverending Story (1984): If anybody remembers, a few months ago I did my top 5 favorite movies of all time, and this was on it. Shortly after, Imprint announced a super-duper-mega-cool-pricey-awesome-special-collector-edition. And when I say pricey, I mean it, I ended up paying almost 300$cad. To be honest, I don't care much about the 'goodies' that came in the box, which is designed to look like, and as big as the book from the movie. That thing is huge. I mostly cared for the discs, but for that movie I'd pay anything to have the very best edition. It took longer than planned to get it because of goddam Canada Post, but after paying extra, and sending a ton of emails, then paying custom fees, I finally have it. I can die happy now (well, give me a week, give me time to look at it). Seriously, the 4k is gorgeous. Hot take... I prefer the US cut, it's tighter and has more Gorgio Moroder music, but both versions have merits. I watched both cuts back-to-back, that was a trip. Those complaining about the ending and the dad must be worried or whatever, are watching the movie wrong.
Hellboy The Crooked Man (2024): Just got the 4k from the UK (pun intended), it's as good as the first time. A good ol' folk-horror which Hellboy was pretty good at doing in the comics. They didn't adapt my favorite story, but the movie makes it fun, and Fresh Prince of Bel Air's butler does elevate the thing a bit, and his interview in the extras is great (the NA don't seem to have any extras, sadly, and no 4k either, that's why i got the UK disc). It was evidently dumped on disc with minimal effort, so no HDR and no Atmos, but it still looks decent. I feel like JB would like the movie.
My Liam Neeson Marathon continued this week, in between other stuff. They got me a couple of times with a couple of introspective dramas where an aging Neeson-character is dealing with his troubled past. But they usually end in a shootout anyway, so that's fine.
Gladiator 2 (2024) is not good, but is fun. Paul Mescal lacks Russel Crowe's charisma, so that doesn't help. Thankfully we have Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington to fall back to.
STOKED for you for The Never Ending Story. its a LOT of money but having a chance to have our fav flix on the highest quality physical media is a treat. well done.
Thx for the hellboy plug...ive literally heard/seen NOTHING on it. I shall seeketh out.
The reviews of Hellboy are not good, and the marketing almost non-existent, but i'm convinced people don't know how to watch movies anymore. It's definitely not perfect, but so fun (to me at least). Pretty much the same deal as Kraven last week. Anyway, i could go on all day about this.
Hey, it sucks not having mail working for a month, but at least they're standing up and demanding fair pay. We don't need every working person to be paid like Amazon workers. Unfortunately, PP is almost certain to win the next election, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Canada Post privatised. It's going to be a real shame.
I am glad you are enjoying that Neverending Story special edition, Kunider. For that amount of money, you should be. Paying import fees, too. Have you ever read the novel? The most I ever paid for one release was probably Severin's Black Emanuelle set, which was around $170 U.S. dollars.
How many Liam Neeson films have you watched during the week? Was there anything that was better than you expected it to be?
I didn't count how many i watched, but it's near 10, i'm sure. I'm surprised i liked all of them at some level. I really liked Cold Pursuit because it's so weird and sometimes pure nonsense. It looks serious, but it's often very silly. It's a remake, by the same director, but i suspect the original one might be more serious, though i read it was very good.
And apparently, Neeson likes snow a lot, or want to best it into submission, because he did 3 movies post 2010 that are happening in the snow. The Grey, The Ice Road, and Cold Pursuit.
@Casual, sorry i forgot to answer your novel question. No i haven't read it yet. I got a copy, but i hesitate because i don't want to taint my love for the movie. For better or worse, i'll most likely view the movie in a different way, even if i try to separate the two.
Been on a Lonely Island kick lately as im loving the Seth Meyers/Lonely Island Podcast. Discussions with a friend about this led to him suggesting, multiple times, that i check out Brooklyn Nine-Nine as it stars one of that gang, Andy Samberg. I really havent been into traditional TV or sitcoms for a long time but started watching. Holy sh@t this show is amazing. Out of the gates it has an incredibly strong cast of well defined quirky characters and reallllly good writing. It balances a lot of laughs with a nice amount of sweetness and heart. My movie watching will be diminished in the near future as im gonna hang with the 9-9 gang for a while.
AFTER HOURS (1985) A weird-balls shot at comedy from Scorsese, but one that's compelling to watch. And I want to live in one of those gigantic NYC art lofts.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION (2015) Fascinating that they put the biggest stunt/set-piece right in the opening scene, though I do enjoy the motorcycle chase about halfway through. Great movie, is what I'm saying.
SWAMP THING (1982) Wes Craven!!!
HOT FUZZ (2007) "The greater good."
RED SONJA (1985) She can only love a man who defeats her in battle? I don't know, I might have a chance...
I've had the Rogue Nation score in my playlist for the past few years. It's so good. I like the Elfman score for the original and the Balfe score for Fallout is my 2nd favourite. But that Rogue Nation score is bananas good.
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961, dir. Stanley Kramer) This was very very good. I’ve always liked Burt Lancaster. Maximilian Schell was also amazing in this. I only knew him from Cross of Iron. There was a scene where they were showing videos from the Halocaust that was absolutely horrible and left me in tears.
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006, dir. Ken Loach) Very good movie about 2 brothers with divided options that takes places during the Irish war of Independence and the Irish Civil War that followed. My parents were both from N. Ireland (moved to Canada right before I was born) and always taught me that all the hate and anger and violence was just not worth it. The English were rightly portrayed as super villainous.
Mississippi Burning (1988, dir. Alan Parker) was another movie about racism in the south. There’s a murder and some cops investigating it. There’s a lot of burning, that’s for sure. Great movie but not an easy watch with the heavy subject matter.
One of the more interesting Holocaust documentaries that I have seen is called A Film Unfinished. It consists of footage that was filmed inside the Warsaw Ghetto but never used for any release. Survivors of the ghetto are shown watching the footage and commenting about it. Some of it is touching, but much of it is a tough watch.
There has been no time this weekend to watch anything, but I did have some quiet moments during the week to watch a few things.
ANNE OF THE INDIES (1951, dir. Jacques Tourneur) – Actress Jean Peters featured in three of my recent Noirvember watches. Seeing how well she portrayed tough characters in those films, I am not surprised that she was effective as a pirate captain. There is, however, an undeniably gimmicky element to having a female in the lead of a pirate film, particularly in the Hollywood of that time. The inevitable glamour and romance feel out of place. Even so, fans of pirate films should find something of interest in Anne of the Indies. I had a fun time watching it.
SAINT NICK OF BETHLEHEM (2024) – I would normally not to go a theater to watch a Christmas movie, but I wanted to support a local film production. Saint Nick in Bethlehem was largely shot in the Lehigh Valley, of which Bethlehem is one of the three cities in that area. It is the story of a grieving father struggling with life. As his life starts to turn around, his resemblance to Santa gives him an idea of how to bring joy to the community. It is full of the tropes of Christmas films. The lead is played by Daniel Roebuck, a Bethlehem native who is the Santa who gets tortured in Terrifier 3. His Santa here is far much more cheerful.
CONEY ISLAND (1943, dir. Walter Lang) – A film that ranks very low on the modern political correctness meter (blackface and Irish stereotypes) but is one of Betty Grable’s most entertaining vehicles. She portrays an entertainer in turn of the 20th century New York working her way up from a Coney Island bar to Broadway. Along the way there is romance and a whole lot of subplots to fill the run-time. Coney Island has all of the colorful costumes, silliness, and energetic numbers that I appreciate with 20th- Century Fox Technicolor musicals.
FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET (1973, dir. Andy Milligan) – I pulled out the Vinegar Syndrome blu-ray (release number 270) for another watch of this flawed and gritty drama about a woman hustling to survive in early 1970s New York. Even after multiple viewings, the desperation of the lead character’s routine of turning tricks and stealing is still potent. Definitely not a film for everyone, especially the explicit version on the VS release. It also functions as a quasi-documentary of a long-vanished grungy New York.
JUROR #2 I'm disappointed to say I didn't really think much of this movie. Wondering when it's going to get interesting up until and through the end of a movie is my least favorite movie watching feeling.
HAUNTING IN VENICE SO fun. I've seen creepier Poirot endings and reveals in the TV David Suchet version, but it was still so fun and well made IMO. My first time seeing Kenneth Branagh as Poirot and he's very entertaining. There's a shadow puppet show at the beginning of the film and I want to bet it's this amazing puppet group, Manual Cinema, but I can't find the credits anywhere on it.
I need to rewatch Haunting In Venice. First time i saw it, it was during the day and i feel it would play better in a darker room (i don't have a basement)
Metallica Through the Never (2013): As anybody else, I'm a fan of Metallica, but not a hardcore fan. So, I mostly listen to their hits, and this live show is exactly that. With the added bonus of having a short movie, starring Dan DeHaan, intercut with the show. Some fans didn't like that part, but I love it, and it's a nice change of pace from a regular filmed live show that's just playing music. It's so surreal, I'd love to get an actual movie out of it.
ReplyDeleteThe Neverending Story (1984): If anybody remembers, a few months ago I did my top 5 favorite movies of all time, and this was on it. Shortly after, Imprint announced a super-duper-mega-cool-pricey-awesome-special-collector-edition. And when I say pricey, I mean it, I ended up paying almost 300$cad. To be honest, I don't care much about the 'goodies' that came in the box, which is designed to look like, and as big as the book from the movie. That thing is huge. I mostly cared for the discs, but for that movie I'd pay anything to have the very best edition. It took longer than planned to get it because of goddam Canada Post, but after paying extra, and sending a ton of emails, then paying custom fees, I finally have it. I can die happy now (well, give me a week, give me time to look at it). Seriously, the 4k is gorgeous. Hot take... I prefer the US cut, it's tighter and has more Gorgio Moroder music, but both versions have merits. I watched both cuts back-to-back, that was a trip. Those complaining about the ending and the dad must be worried or whatever, are watching the movie wrong.
Hellboy The Crooked Man (2024): Just got the 4k from the UK (pun intended), it's as good as the first time. A good ol' folk-horror which Hellboy was pretty good at doing in the comics. They didn't adapt my favorite story, but the movie makes it fun, and Fresh Prince of Bel Air's butler does elevate the thing a bit, and his interview in the extras is great (the NA don't seem to have any extras, sadly, and no 4k either, that's why i got the UK disc). It was evidently dumped on disc with minimal effort, so no HDR and no Atmos, but it still looks decent. I feel like JB would like the movie.
My Liam Neeson Marathon continued this week, in between other stuff. They got me a couple of times with a couple of introspective dramas where an aging Neeson-character is dealing with his troubled past. But they usually end in a shootout anyway, so that's fine.
Gladiator 2 (2024) is not good, but is fun. Paul Mescal lacks Russel Crowe's charisma, so that doesn't help. Thankfully we have Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington to fall back to.
STOKED for you for The Never Ending Story. its a LOT of money but having a chance to have our fav flix on the highest quality physical media is a treat. well done.
DeleteThx for the hellboy plug...ive literally heard/seen NOTHING on it. I shall seeketh out.
DeleteThe reviews of Hellboy are not good, and the marketing almost non-existent, but i'm convinced people don't know how to watch movies anymore. It's definitely not perfect, but so fun (to me at least). Pretty much the same deal as Kraven last week. Anyway, i could go on all day about this.
Hey, it sucks not having mail working for a month, but at least they're standing up and demanding fair pay. We don't need every working person to be paid like Amazon workers. Unfortunately, PP is almost certain to win the next election, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Canada Post privatised. It's going to be a real shame.
DeleteI am glad you are enjoying that Neverending Story special edition, Kunider. For that amount of money, you should be. Paying import fees, too. Have you ever read the novel? The most I ever paid for one release was probably Severin's Black Emanuelle set, which was around $170 U.S. dollars.
DeleteHow many Liam Neeson films have you watched during the week? Was there anything that was better than you expected it to be?
I didn't count how many i watched, but it's near 10, i'm sure. I'm surprised i liked all of them at some level. I really liked Cold Pursuit because it's so weird and sometimes pure nonsense. It looks serious, but it's often very silly. It's a remake, by the same director, but i suspect the original one might be more serious, though i read it was very good.
DeleteAnd apparently, Neeson likes snow a lot, or want to best it into submission, because he did 3 movies post 2010 that are happening in the snow. The Grey, The Ice Road, and Cold Pursuit.
*beat it into submission
Delete@Casual, sorry i forgot to answer your novel question. No i haven't read it yet. I got a copy, but i hesitate because i don't want to taint my love for the movie. For better or worse, i'll most likely view the movie in a different way, even if i try to separate the two.
DeletePatrick and Adam, you willed Deep Blue Sea into existence, Arrow just announced the 4k
ReplyDeleteALSO, i literally showed it to my son a few days before the podcast came out. crazy timing all around.
DeleteSweet. I bet LL's hat is like a shar4K's fin.
DeleteIf I had a hat shaped like a shark's fin, I would put in on right now.
DeleteF This TV Show?
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn Nine-Nine (netflix S1 2013)
Been on a Lonely Island kick lately as im loving the Seth Meyers/Lonely Island Podcast. Discussions with a friend about this led to him suggesting, multiple times, that i check out Brooklyn Nine-Nine as it stars one of that gang, Andy Samberg. I really havent been into traditional TV or sitcoms for a long time but started watching. Holy sh@t this show is amazing. Out of the gates it has an incredibly strong cast of well defined quirky characters and reallllly good writing. It balances a lot of laughs with a nice amount of sweetness and heart. My movie watching will be diminished in the near future as im gonna hang with the 9-9 gang for a while.
Peace .n. "Terry loves his yogurt"
mash
While the show was going on, all the crap with cops around the country started going down. They adapted very well to the situation
DeleteAgreed, probably the best sitcom of recent times. Andre Braugher as Captain Holt (RIP) was so very funny.
DeleteAFTER HOURS (1985)
ReplyDeleteA weird-balls shot at comedy from Scorsese, but one that's compelling to watch. And I want to live in one of those gigantic NYC art lofts.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION (2015)
Fascinating that they put the biggest stunt/set-piece right in the opening scene, though I do enjoy the motorcycle chase about halfway through. Great movie, is what I'm saying.
SWAMP THING (1982)
Wes Craven!!!
HOT FUZZ (2007)
"The greater good."
RED SONJA (1985)
She can only love a man who defeats her in battle? I don't know, I might have a chance...
MI:RN, that's what i like about the movie. Instead of doing the usual small-to-big, it goes big-to-small, and that was kinda refreshing
DeleteI've had the Rogue Nation score in my playlist for the past few years. It's so good. I like the Elfman score for the original and the Balfe score for Fallout is my 2nd favourite. But that Rogue Nation score is bananas good.
DeleteJudgment at Nuremberg (1961, dir. Stanley Kramer) This was very very good. I’ve always liked Burt Lancaster. Maximilian Schell was also amazing in this. I only knew him from Cross of Iron. There was a scene where they were showing videos from the Halocaust that was absolutely horrible and left me in tears.
ReplyDeleteThe Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006, dir. Ken Loach) Very good movie about 2 brothers with divided options that takes places during the Irish war of Independence and the Irish Civil War that followed. My parents were both from N. Ireland (moved to Canada right before I was born) and always taught me that all the hate and anger and violence was just not worth it. The English were rightly portrayed as super villainous.
Mississippi Burning (1988, dir. Alan Parker) was another movie about racism in the south. There’s a murder and some cops investigating it. There’s a lot of burning, that’s for sure. Great movie but not an easy watch with the heavy subject matter.
One of the more interesting Holocaust documentaries that I have seen is called A Film Unfinished. It consists of footage that was filmed inside the Warsaw Ghetto but never used for any release. Survivors of the ghetto are shown watching the footage and commenting about it. Some of it is touching, but much of it is a tough watch.
DeleteThere has been no time this weekend to watch anything, but I did have some quiet moments during the week to watch a few things.
ReplyDeleteANNE OF THE INDIES (1951, dir. Jacques Tourneur) – Actress Jean Peters featured in three of my recent Noirvember watches. Seeing how well she portrayed tough characters in those films, I am not surprised that she was effective as a pirate captain. There is, however, an undeniably gimmicky element to having a female in the lead of a pirate film, particularly in the Hollywood of that time. The inevitable glamour and romance feel out of place. Even so, fans of pirate films should find something of interest in Anne of the Indies. I had a fun time watching it.
SAINT NICK OF BETHLEHEM (2024) – I would normally not to go a theater to watch a Christmas movie, but I wanted to support a local film production. Saint Nick in Bethlehem was largely shot in the Lehigh Valley, of which Bethlehem is one of the three cities in that area. It is the story of a grieving father struggling with life. As his life starts to turn around, his resemblance to Santa gives him an idea of how to bring joy to the community. It is full of the tropes of Christmas films. The lead is played by Daniel Roebuck, a Bethlehem native who is the Santa who gets tortured in Terrifier 3. His Santa here is far much more cheerful.
CONEY ISLAND (1943, dir. Walter Lang) – A film that ranks very low on the modern political correctness meter (blackface and Irish stereotypes) but is one of Betty Grable’s most entertaining vehicles. She portrays an entertainer in turn of the 20th century New York working her way up from a Coney Island bar to Broadway. Along the way there is romance and a whole lot of subplots to fill the run-time. Coney Island has all of the colorful costumes, silliness, and energetic numbers that I appreciate with 20th- Century Fox Technicolor musicals.
FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET (1973, dir. Andy Milligan) – I pulled out the Vinegar Syndrome blu-ray (release number 270) for another watch of this flawed and gritty drama about a woman hustling to survive in early 1970s New York. Even after multiple viewings, the desperation of the lead character’s routine of turning tricks and stealing is still potent. Definitely not a film for everyone, especially the explicit version on the VS release. It also functions as a quasi-documentary of a long-vanished grungy New York.
If I had to choose between re-watching Saint Nick of Bethlehem or Terrifier 3, I would choose Saint Nick.
DeleteJUROR #2
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed to say I didn't really think much of this movie. Wondering when it's going to get interesting up until and through the end of a movie is my least favorite movie watching feeling.
HAUNTING IN VENICE
SO fun. I've seen creepier Poirot endings and reveals in the TV David Suchet version, but it was still so fun and well made IMO. My first time seeing Kenneth Branagh as Poirot and he's very entertaining. There's a shadow puppet show at the beginning of the film and I want to bet it's this amazing puppet group, Manual Cinema, but I can't find the credits anywhere on it.
I need to rewatch Haunting In Venice. First time i saw it, it was during the day and i feel it would play better in a darker room (i don't have a basement)
Delete