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Hashi Lebwohl
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Post by Hashi Lebwohl »

Oh, no. If you read the novels you find out that Dr. Lecter thought highly enough of Barney that he never spoke to/about him condescendingly. That isn't to say that Dr. Lecter wouldn't kill Barney without a moment's hesitation if he needed to--a fact Barney never forgot when dealing with Dr. Lecter--but Barney wasn't on his list like Dr. Chilton was. Dr. Lecter even tutored Barney with some of his more advanced nursing certifications and never minded Barney taking an item of memorabilia here and there for sale to private collectors of more fringe tastes.

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Post by JIkj fjds j »

This still doesn't explain how Lector managed to possess a pen.

'tis a curse I tells ya - a curse!
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

Saw a Sci-Fi horror movie recently called UNDER THE SKIN, starring Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress who lures unsuspecting males into her den of nightmares.
Low budget art film shot entirely in Scotland. The film has very little dialogue and uses lots of non-actors shot covertly to give it an effective realistic edge.
Scarlett Johannson also plays many scenes fully naked. Something the European film industry will do that Hollywood wont. This still surprised me because in the audio commentary to THE ISLAND it had said she wouldn't appear (semi-) naked on screen because of her Christain beliefs.
This film also has one of the most horrifying scenes I think I've ever seen in any movie, that left me rattled for days afterwards.

Tonight, LUCY. Also starring Johansson.
Luc Beeson's first film since THE FIFTH ELEMENT.

And a rare treat, Roman Polanski's DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

Watched the James Bond (Daniel Craig) CASINO ROYALE last night and cannot for the life of me understand why I couldn't warm to this film first time around. This really has to be the perfect movie. QUANTUM OF SOLACE now makes better sense seeing how both films are one continuous story. Yet to see SKYFALL.
I recently had a similair experiece with JJ Abrams, STAR TREK, and STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS. Two films I wanted to like but somehow couldn't. Then suddenly wham! I got it - every scene fell neatly into place.
I'm in no doubt that STAR WARS will be a great film.
I suppose the missing element had always been an inability tapping into the humanity behind all the super-fast action. The developing friendship between Kirk and that "pointy-eared bastard!", somewhat like Bond's seemingly cold-hearted treatment of comrades and friends as armour for the genuine effection he fights so hard to keep.
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Hashi Lebwohl
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Post by Hashi Lebwohl »

Vizidor wrote:Watched the James Bond (Daniel Craig) CASINO ROYALE last night and cannot for the life of me understand why I couldn't warm to this film first time around. This really has to be the perfect movie. QUANTUM OF SOLACE now makes better sense seeing how both films are one continuous story. Yet to see SKYFALL.
Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes made some really good Bond films. Casino Royale got us away from the extremely unrealistic quasi-super-hero Bond and gave us back a much more down-to-earth, gritty Bond who existed in the original novels. Spies do not need and should never have stupid gadgets. No, spies are supposed to blend in, sneak around, and carry only a small selection of items such as lockpicks, a knife, a gun, etc. They also gave us a Bond who has frailties and weaknesses even though he can put those on the back burner to get things done when the situation calls for it.

Quantum does not appear in Skyfall--after having their meeting disrupted and pictures of high-ranking members taken in Bregens, they have gone dark, removing weak links in the chain and eliminating loose ends. This list of people may or may not include Greg Behm, Felix's section chief from the CIA who was working with Dominic Greene--given that they were close it is possible he was on the inside.

I don't have Skyfall on dvd but I need to get it before Spectre hits this November.

Fortunately, they are keeping in theme of presenting current events as the backdrop for the threats in the films: funneling money to terrorists, using environmental concerns to take control of natural resources, and rogue hackers. It will be interesting to see what the backdrop is for the upcoming movie.

*************

Part of the reason that Episode VII will be great is that Abrams is using old-school techniques to shoot the films, giving them the look of the original episodes IV - VI. That round robot (whose designation escapes me at the moment) isn't graphics, it is physically real; they are also using miniatures and bigatures (a Weta workshop innovation from LOTR) for set scenes.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

Hashi Lebwohl wrote:Fortunately, they are keeping in theme of presenting current events as the backdrop for the threats in the films: funneling money to terrorists, using environmental concerns to take control of natural resources, and rogue hackers. It will be interesting to see what the backdrop is for the upcoming movie.

*************
Yeah, unfortunately I'm not very clued up on current events these days. I'm not like totally living under a rock, but I don't read newspapers, own a television, and the radio is rarely ever on.
I do remember one of the Peirce Brosnon Bond films that had a story line not a million miles away from the real life and death of media mogul Robert Maxwell. But I couldn't decide on how to interpret any fact from the fiction.

On a lighter side, Richard Branson had an appearence in CASINO ROYALE at the airport, and I also recall seeing him in the SUPERMAN RETURNS movie as one of the pilot crew in the launch of ... hey, wait a minute ... there was a Sky Bus launch sequence in the Bond movie as well. mmm... As Branson has his sights on an orbital flight service then I suppose there's some current events I'm aware of after all.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

Got around to watching SKYFALL and really enjoyed it. Bond's Shanghai mission was amazing. A riot of colour and style that must have looked great on the big screen. Must try to catch SPECTRE at the cinema.

Also picked up two bargain buys at my local CEX store. MIAMI VICE (Farrell and Foxx) costing me a whopping 10p. And my biggest bargain to date, LAND OF THE DEAD, a George A Romero zombie gore fest which was a surprisingly well made movie, costing an outrageous 5p. :D
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Post by sgt.null »

for Halloween I bought some used cd's at Hastings for Julie.

Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
the Wolfman starring Lon Chaney JR (1941)
Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff (1931)

all of those are Universal. wanted their Dracula (Bela Lugosi - 1931) and the Mummy (Boris Karloff - 1932)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Monsters

Julie has never seen any of the Universal Monster movies! we have a good start.

Monster House (animated 2006) just found out Steve Buscemi, my favorite actor, does one of the voices in this movie!

and for me...

I Am Comic : for $1.99 promises an ode to the art & occupational hazards of stand-up comedy.


Sarah Silverman, Chris Hardwick, Louis C.K., Carrot Top, Lewis Black
among many, many others are promised to appear in the film.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

This week at the RSPCA shop where I work we had two massive DVD collections donated, so I've had the pick of the bunch.

The Incredible Hulk (2008). Loved this movie. Taken the story more closer to the Bill Bixby TV series, without all the Gamma-ray experiments, was a great idea. Wish they'd did something similair with The Amazing Spider-Man 2012 film.
Cabin in the Woods ... meh!
Starship Troopers and Poltergiest I haven't seen for ages and so actually enjoyed these two films emmensly.
Black Moon Rising, starring a young Tommy Lee-Jones and Linda Hamilton, in one of those movies with a sci-fi title and spacey-poster that turns out to be just cops and robbers in the not too distant future - with the look and feel of the Terminator film but without the Terminator - was watchable.
Inside Llewyn Davis. Ah, the genius of the Coen brothers, yet again. Highly recommended for all music lovers who haven't seen this one.
Last night I watched the double-disc Martin Scorsese Picture of George Harrison - Living in the Material World.
And tonight, Stake Land or Guardians of the Galaxy.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

Watched Sergio Leone's, Once Upon A Time In The West, and was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it.

The story behind the film has it as being a grand collection of homages and tributes to some of Sergio's favourite Hollywood Western's.
However, some of the film was made in Spain and I saw two other, more subtler, tributes or homages to the famous artists, Picasso and Dali. Both were portrayed as faces. One was a set of three brass pots and pans placed on a wall so that they created two eyes and a nose - the mouth was composed of some red bricks exposed by missing plaster. The other face and tribute to Dali was simply a series of clocks in the movie's most surrealist set of scenes, when Frank (Henry Fonda) is stalked through the street by the hired gunmen.

Great stuff!
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Post by sgt.null »

from our local library...

Butterfly Effect III - a solid B film. I watch such films with an open man and try not to guess the twist, so it worked as a minor surprise.

Red Dawn (the remake) - a slightly lesser B. because I grew up with the original and that movie has become such a touchstone for the time it was made. the remake certainly moved along, but with less time spent on the characters it became confusing knowing who was who at times. and who died at times was also a mystery.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

Dead Snow - (or Død snø in Norway). Which will make this the second Scandinavian DVD film this month. I'm not too keen on horror movies but I do like World Cinema, so for what it's worth I'm sure to find lots to enjoy in this one. Zombies in Nazi uniforms! What's not to like!

The other Scandanavian horror flick I watched earlier was, (Låt den rätte komma in) Let the Right One In. A brutal take on the vampire (-thing) genre from Sweden. Still, fascinating to see how horror is perceived and portrayed differantly from its more Western counterparts.
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Post by sgt.null »

Rune - I loved Dead Snow. there is a Dead Snow II, but I have not come across it as of yet.

tomorrow night for movie night I am making peppers, mushrooms, onions and sausage grinders. and the movie will be..

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Post by JIkj fjds j »

I tried really hard to like Dead Snow. The first hour was watchable but the rest was just not my thing. The documentary on the DVD extra features was actually more enjoyable.

I saw a 6 disc box set of The Fly movies. The original two sequels I'd never heard of. I decided not to get them and then was kicking myself today when I returned to the shop to find them gone. Drat!

Tonight I've brought home The Hunger Games part 1 & 2, (Mockinjay and Catching Fire). I know absolutely nothing about these movies (or books), so this might make it as "spectacular in every sense of the word" - as it says on the box.

I couldn't place the name Jennifer Lawrence, and didn't recognise her from the DVD cover pictures. The last movies I saw her in were, American Hustle, and the X-Men films (in which she was really chunky). Regardless, I like her acting.
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Post by sgt.null »

got Django Unchained from the library.

I love Tarantino and this was highly enjoyable. I know it is a fantasy revenge thing, but it was entertaining.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

I watched the 2010 Ridley Scott version of Robin Hood last night. Not a great film by any means but the look of it was really outstanding - the sets, the costumes, and as always with Ridley Scott films, beautifully lit. Apart from a few bad accents the acting was very good, as you would expect from a top cast. But unfortunately the script was poor and undermined a potentially classic movie.

One aspect of the film did fascinated me, the dual story telling. Having the Boys of the Greenwood as a backdrop to Robin Hood's own early years.
When he is told his history from Sir Walter and his childhood trauma rises to the surface Robin breaks down and cries. Which in an odd way reminded me of a scene from Great Expectations, between Pip and Miss Haversham. Somewhat sad ending really, with them all together in the Greenwood preparing for the impending tyranny of King John.
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Post by aliantha »

I watched the Man from UNCLE remake a couple of nights ago. I don't like Henry Cavill as Napoleon Solo. Armie Hammer as the new Illya Kuryakin was decent. If they don't make a second installment, I won't be heartbroken. :lol:
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Post by I'm Murrin »

Recently picked up two films on blu ray that I didn't know anything about before watching.

Victoria - a German film about a young woman who meets a group of men while out one night and winds up getting dragged into a heist. It's shot in a single continuous take of about 2 hours 20 minutes, and while it moves slow (it takes a very long time to establish the characters and get them familiar with each other) it's pretty compelling and it has some great performances.

The Assassin - a Taiwanese/Chinese film, about a young woman trained as an assassin who is sent back home to kill her cousin, the governer of a region of China. This was a pretty obtuse film - there's minimal dialogue, lots of long, quiet shots (the effect is amplified by a lack of music), and to a certain extent the story is left for you to piece together yourself. This made it a little confusing in places. There was definately a lot more focus put on the way the film looked than on the story. It's very pretty but hard to follow.
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Post by JIkj fjds j »

Watched Critters 4 the other night and although having seen it before and remembering it as a quite disappointing movie, this time around I just loved it. The way the space station is lighted, probably over-lighted by any movie standard, made the potentially fake and claustraphobic atmosphere very warm and comfortable.
With lights everywhere: in the floors, in the ceilings, in the walls, the coms, the screens, making coloured patterns on the faces of the the crew, on the walls, on the ceilings, on the floors, creating plenty of shadow for the critters to lurk around in, made for a much more interesting viewing than the actual story or the action. I look forward to watching this one again.

Coincidentally, I was a tad puzzled by seeing a connection with the film Martian (2015), in which the Mark Watney character, in the Mars HAB on his desk next to his laptop, had 3 juggling bean bags. I didn't think much of it at the time, but on seeing Critters 4 and noticing the young Ethan character juggling (Earth) balls at the start of the film, then, juggling the Critter (Alien) eggs at the end of the film drove me to distraction.

I'm pretty sure I'm cursed, seeing movie connections where none exist or don't actually mean anything consequential whatsoever! :D
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Post by aliantha »

I still need to see The Martian. So many movies, so little time...

I saw a really excellent GIF of the Blues Brothers the other day on (wait for it) Facebook :lol: -- and it made me think about another John Belushi movie that I liked a lot, back in the day, called Continental Divide. So, by the magic of Amazon Video, I watched it again over the weekend.

Belushi's the romantic lead, sorta kinda -- he plays a Chicago newspaper reporter who needs to lay low from the mob, so his editor sends him to Wyoming to interview a woman who studies bald eagles. Of course, she lives in a cabin in the wilderness and hates reporters. Hijinks ensue. :lol: Blair Brown plays the eagle woman.

Seeing it again, I realized why I liked it so well the first time around: they had me at Chicago, journalism, and the Rockies. :lol: The very '70s ending, however, is ridiculous.
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