donny
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Post by donny on Sept 3, 2020 11:26:26 GMT -5
Doomsday I won't get my review in this weekend. Gotta step away for a couple days for some things, but I'll get it in next week when I'm back. And again, I'll be in next round.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 3, 2020 11:32:41 GMT -5
Doomsday I won't get my review in this weekend. Gotta step away for a couple days for some things, but I'll get it in next week when I'm back. And again, I'll be in next round. All good man, I'll partner you up when I post the next round.
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Nilade
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Post by Nilade on Sept 3, 2020 19:28:44 GMT -5
In
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 3, 2020 23:09:33 GMT -5
IanTheCool you sure you want out? New round coming Friday.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 4, 2020 15:16:00 GMT -5
Altered States (1980) (Review 2 of 2)
Altered States is one of those movies that I look at and just wish it worked better. It starts off with an intriguing premise: scientists begin to probe the boundaries of human consciousness by partaking in a mixture of sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic cocktails from different cultures, but they soon learn firsthand the perils and consequences, aka altered states, of such experiments. The movie certainly has an effective tone and dives into its story without a lot of dillydallying, not to mention that it boasts some rather cool hallucination sequences with striking imagery and (mostly) interesting physical transformation effects for its time. It nicely occupies that middleground between sci-fi and horror and knows how to blend the two. The problem, however, is that the characters aren't really that involving. They're the typical sort of driven, single-minded, boundary-pushing scientists you'd expect from a movie like this, without much in the way of distinguishing them beyond the more typical attempts at character development. So when all of the various craziness begins to happen to them, it's hard to get invested all that much beyond admiring the technical achievements. But also, at least one major transformation is undercut by how silly it looks and ultimately plays out on-screen. So what we're left with here is a movie with interesting ideas, but lacking good execution of said ideas.
**/****
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 4, 2020 15:55:27 GMT -5
Getting this in now in case anyone wants to track down their movie over the weekend. Round 197Dracula - thebtskink Neverending - Nilade PhantomKnight - donny PG Cooper - Doomsday Let's try to have these done by September 21st, if we finish earlier we can start a new round beforehand. Ian, if you want in just say the word and I'll sub myself out.
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thebtskink
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It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
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Post by thebtskink on Sept 4, 2020 15:59:01 GMT -5
Dracula, I have Amazon, Huku, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and am willing to rent or watch something on Tubi. You?
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Sept 4, 2020 16:02:58 GMT -5
Dracula , I have Amazon, Huku, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and am willing to rent or watch something on Tubi. You? Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ (until the 17th), HBO Max, Cable with Showtime and Starz, and I get Netflix discs in the mail.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Sept 4, 2020 16:39:35 GMT -5
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Sept 4, 2020 21:39:21 GMT -5
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 5, 2020 0:46:34 GMT -5
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Nilade
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Post by Nilade on Sept 5, 2020 4:47:07 GMT -5
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Sept 5, 2020 4:53:12 GMT -5
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 5, 2020 10:49:35 GMT -5
NiladeTHE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958)OBSESSION (1976)USED CARS (1980)BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (1980)THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984)
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PG Cooper
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And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
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Post by PG Cooper on Sept 5, 2020 11:15:28 GMT -5
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 5, 2020 12:39:36 GMT -5
Nice, it's on Criterion Channel, I watched it a few months back and really enjoyed it. I haven't seen Dead Rings or Naked but I think I'll go with Naked which I see is also on Criterion Channel.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 5, 2020 15:22:48 GMT -5
Fucking Angus! I haven't thought about that movie in years, I used to watch it all the time on tv as a kid. I remember really enjoying it. Also it introduced me to one of my favorite Green Day songs:
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Sept 5, 2020 15:45:36 GMT -5
Doomsday, I rewatched it recently, and it holds up surprisingly well.
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Nilade
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Post by Nilade on Sept 6, 2020 5:52:51 GMT -5
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 7, 2020 11:13:40 GMT -5
donny, I’ll get you a list once I’m back from the beach in two days.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 9, 2020 17:35:37 GMT -5
No idea what you've seen, so let me know if you need new ones.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Sept 9, 2020 18:07:06 GMT -5
PG Cooper has the fastest review in Film Club. Did I win slowest? The Eiger SanctionFinally got an afternoon to myself to watch a Doomsday movie. I picked The Eiger Sanction for several reasons. One is that I have more drive within me to fill holes in Clint Eastwood's filmography than Stanley Kubrick's, which probably have made me pause every ten minute to take a breath of fresh air and have delayed this review another three weeks. The second is that Eiger is about an hour and a half shorter than Spartacus, and the only things that can make me stare at my phone for three and a half hours are porn and Joe Bob Briggs. Everything else can fuck off. One of Eastwood's earliest directorial efforts, The Eiger Sanction is based on a novel where Eastwood plays a retired assassin but is lured back into the game for one last job during a mountain climb. Eastwood is more Eastwood than I think Eastwood has ever been, playing up his whisper growl up to the point that it almost sounds like Jim Carrey doing his impression of Eastwood. It's a good thing Twitter culture is pretty convinced Eastwood is a senile shitbag (which he probably is, but no judgment on my end), because if they combed through his filmography and found this movie with its idly sexist, racist, and homophoboc tones, all the bitchy 16 year olds who think they own the world would demand an apology from the 90-year-old man who clearly doesn't give a shit. But it is pretty amusing how just how comfortable in its heterosexual Caucasian masculinity this movie is, as we get close-ups of buttslaps (there's a woman named "Buns" who exists solely for this), derogatory race jokes (This movie has a black woman named "Jamima" and it thinks this is funny for some reason), and even flamingly gay man who named his dog "Faggot" because why not? This is a movie made by straight white men for straight white men who need to be reminded they're straight white men. It's not a bad movie, just an "oof" one. There are some strong action scenes, and I quite liked the rockclimbing scenes in the climax. George Kennedy is Eastwood's right hand man here and he's pretty fun, there is a handful of pretty women who like to get naked, and John William's score is pretty good. I also got a laugh from Eastwood's introduction, which is not too different than Harrison Ford's in Raiders of the Lost Ark where he's teaching a college class where a student is overtly flirting with him (this scene ends with a buttslap because of course it does). I enjoyed my time with it, even though I'm probably destined to forget it.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 9, 2020 20:18:28 GMT -5
I was hoping you'd remember the dog. Shame that Mr. Dragon and his 60s Batman villain lair didn't leave more of an impression.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Sept 9, 2020 20:25:24 GMT -5
I was hoping you'd remember the dog. Shame that Mr. Dragon and his 60s Batman villain lair didn't leave more of an impression. If anything, this movie needed more of that.
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donny
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Post by donny on Sept 9, 2020 20:46:36 GMT -5
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum Kenji Mizoguchi is a director I have heard of, but one I am not familiar with, so I was excited to check this one out. Set in Japan in the late 1880's, the story focuses primarily on Kikunosuke, a stage actor, and his love interest Otoku. Kiku is adopted, and his father Kikugoro is a highly regarded thespian himself. The hope is that one day, Kiku can take his father's place as the next great actor. The problem, however, is that while everyone around Kiku, including his father, praises his performances, he's actually not that good. Enter Otoku, who is the wet nurse for Kiku's newborn brother. She is the only one to tell him, in a loving way that is, that he is indeed not what everyone says he is. Otoku does encourage Kiku though to keep working on his craft, and that one day he will become better off for it.
Overall, I think this is a pretty solid flick. I did a little reading on this and Mizoguchi prior to watching, so I know much has been made of his technical craft throughout, namely for it's long takes and his mise-en-scène composition, and I think those are definitely some of the strong points of this film. The movie is black and white, but you can get a real good sense of the costumes and stage design throughout. There are a couple different time jumps throughout, and they sort of happen unexpectedly, which I guess is a good sign, because you are mostly focusing on some of the long drawn out scenes he presents.
I do think the movie reaches a certain point where you kind of feel like you know where it's going, and for the most part it does follow suit. But while it may feel a bit predictable, I think it more than makes up for it in it's technical craft and it's overall sense of story and setting. The acting is good, and I think there is a lot to mine as an audience member in terms of theme. It seems to have a lot to say about perseverance and how you should never give up on your dreams. It also analyzes the cost of said dreams, and what you give up to achieve them.
7/10
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