What was the last movie you saw?

Sorry guys, but these assertions about LSOH and RHPS are hilarious.

Apart from being massively important to the gay community and latterly the expanded LGBTQ+, the idea of a black singer voicing Audrey II as problematic is in itself a stereotypical generalisation that shows little understanding of the fact that the joke is about a plant that raps.

I’d suggest a white singer voicing a talking plant is more dangerous, certainly cultural appropriation.

As for singing the songs? Sure... because I always hear The Deadwood Stage sung all over London. :D

Two of my favy movies in case you hadn’t guessed - especially LSOH; I just wished they’d gone with the proper ending ;)
 
I'm just not ok with the rape or sexual abuse. Didn't see any racism in either of the films.
 
I think the point about the rapey stuff is a satirical nod to conservativism and hypocrisy in America (Nixon speaks on the radio and there are many things that place the movie in the era - the freedom of the bikers etc).

I wish you liked LSOH, @Mouse cos the plant is just everything :). Glad you liked Chrystal, Ronette and Chiffon - the movie is a Motown speck-tac-clear-arrr.

The dentist stuff... yeah I recall being a bit miffed in ‘86, but not at the sadomasochistic humour, but at the fact that whenever you mentioned the film, everyone would rave about Steve Martin. And I would simmer and seethe thinking ‘what about the ?!#%^$! plant?!
 
The French Sex Murders (Casa d'appuntamento, 1972)

The sleazy English-language title probably more accurately captures the feeling of this giallo with a couple of odd elements than the rather sedate original title.

Starts with some cops chasing a guy up the Eiffel Tower. The guy falls off to his death, via a very bad special effect that just looks like a silhouette. The rest of the film is a flashback leading up to this scene.

A hot-tempered crook steals some jewels from a church, gives them to his prostitute girlfriend at a brothel. (I guess this place is what "appointment house" refers to.) They have a fight, she is found murdered soon after, he's the logical suspect, the cops catch him, he gets sentenced to be executed by guillotine. Somehow he escapes, steals a motorbike, and gets into an accident while being chased by the cops again, decapitating him. Saves the cost of a guillotine, I guess. At the trial, he had sworn he wasn't the killer, and promised to return from the grave. Folks start getting killed off, as you'd expect, until the real murderer is exposed.

So far, pretty normal giallo stuff. The first odd element is the fact that every killing is accompanied by the screen flashing several colors, one after the other. The second odd element is the fact that the police detective on the case is played by an actor whose career depended on the fact that he looked a lot like Humphrey Bogart. They play this up by having him wear a trench coat, dangle a cigarette from his mouth, and (at least in the dubbed version) sound sort of like Bogart. It's a really distracting element of the film. Otherwise, not much notable about it.
 
A Dragonfly For Each Corpse (Una libélula para cada muerto, 1975)

Spanish imitation of the Italian giallo follows its model very closely; the story is even set in Milan. Our usual heavily disguised killer is slaughtering "undesirable" people; drug addicts, prostitutes, etc. Spanish horror star Paul Naschy is the cop on the case. Within the first fifteen minutes we've got five victims. The arrogant mad killer even sends him a package containing the severed head of one of the victims. Naturally, the murderer is somebody within Naschy's social circle, and Naschy has to come to the rescue of his significant other when she decides to investigate the case herself. Heck, it's even got a woman singing wordlessly over the credits, as so many of these things do.
 
Charlie Chan at the Olympics [1937]
I watch this film with a certain fascination because it was so different from what I was expecting. It is short at 70ish minutes and is paced more like a serial of the time. Everyone [except from Mr Chan] is always running...
The plot is not complex... A secret device for the US military is stolen and Chan et al set about retrieving it.
I will skip over the issue of the Swedish American Warner Oland playing Charlie Chan and say that his son is played by a Chinese American actor Keye Luke.
Possibly the most unusual part of the film is that for a film at least part set in Berlin in 1936 there is no mention of Hitler, the Nazis or anything along those lines. Only the swastika on the tail of the Hindenburg is glimpsed briefly...
Possibly a little nod to the political situation is the inclusion of news-real footage from the Berlin Olympics of the American victory in the 4x100m relay including Jesse Owens.
 
Phyrebrat said:
I think the point about the rapey stuff is a satirical nod to conservativism and hypocrisy in America (Nixon speaks on the radio and there are many things that place the movie in the era - the freedom of the bikers etc).

I wish you liked LSOH, @Mouse cos the plant is just everything :). Glad you liked Chrystal, Ronette and Chiffon - the movie is a Motown speck-tac-clear-arrr.

The dentist stuff... yeah I recall being a bit miffed in ‘86, but not at the sadomasochistic humour, but at the fact that whenever you mentioned the film, everyone would rave about Steve Martin. And I would simmer and seethe thinking ‘what about the ?!#%^$! plant?!
Click to expand...

I liked LSOH a whole lot more than Rocky Horror (which I liked not at all). I liked the plant. And the ladies would be awesome in their own spin off film, just popping up and singing about stuff.
 
The song-writing team was also responsible for Aladdin and they had to re-edit their own song because they made a reference to capital punishment by sword in the original version.

The old Disney cartoons had more enduring song-writing, especially where families are concerned.

LSOH was niche and yet mass-marketed like an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Do they still have those? They say Webber had a team of researchers who would scour through expired copyrights to get material for his songs.


I bet if a musical was done of One Froggy Evening, it could be very popular. The technology exists to do a singing frog on a stage with little visible wires. The short is perfect as it is but it has a built-in audience for that kind of thing.

Speaking of niche markets,
ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS 1966 was not made for mass audiences. It's a cheap spy spoof that is mainly of interest for Jess Franco fans. I am not a fan of his out-of-focus camera set-ups but this was reasonably entertaining in parts.

SPIES AGAINST THE WORLD 1966 is another spoof--but this one has an interesting format as it is framed by a story about a criminal holding someone hostage, and is told stories about spies. There are three stories, Stewart Granger is in the first and Lex Barker in the final one. It's somewhat amusing -the dubbing is crude but I never care about that, I am used to the voices not being in sync.
 
Last edited:
EQUINOX 1970 -- Indie sci-fi horror production with very good visual effects thanks to future spfx artists Dennis Muren among others. The giant is an especially neat sequence--using forced perspective to create the illusion. There's two versions. The theatrical release added soome scenes and brought back the cast for reshoots--and they visibly change in age and hairstyle.
 
THE BEGUILED 1971 - Did not like it when I first saw it and watching it again..I still did not like it. Well-made and acted for sure but the themes are very negative. It offers nothing positive. It's not a horror movie, and as an American Gothic I don't think it conveys anything on the human experience that resonates. What is to be gleaned from it? Everyone in the story is corrupt, sinister, or dysfunctional except the housekeeper.
But as a movie that did not do well--it is perfect for a remake in our times. And with Colin Farrell, the go-to-guy for remakes. Fright Night, Total Recall....
I think Hollywood is a lot like the Eastwood leg with gangrene in the story.
 
SWORD OF THE VALIANT 1984 -- I prefer the 1973 version (by the same director) although this has its moments. Especially nice to see Peter Cushing in one of his last roles, alongside John Rhys-Davies and Ronald Lacey (who played the same role in the 1973 version). Sean Connery is the Green Knight. The added special effects harm the story I think--and too many extra characters.

HIRED TO KILL 1990 - This was a real surprise. I was expecting a really bad and cheap action film but in fact, despite some hilarious dialogue in the first quarter, it actually turns out to be quite well-made, with a good score and adequate performances from a mostly unknown cast. Brian Thompson usually portrays a supporting character--this is the first time I have seen him as the star--he's got a sardonic way of speaking which provides a lot of humor. Oliver Reed, Jose Ferrer, and George Kennedy have key roles as well- the focus is a Magnificent Seven story with Thompson posing as a gay fashion designer with 7 models who are in fact professional mercenaries. But the stand out scene is where Reed is suspicious of him so he grabs Thompson between the legs (a move Reed used in Gladiator as well) and without any hesitation, Thompson kisses him on the mouth.
 
IMG_0524.JPG
James Cagney as a gangster trying to rise to the top in the longshoremans union and steal his lawyer's wife along the way. What's next, Jimmy Hoffa: The Musical? Kinda kooky but Cagney does give a slick professional performance.
 
STACEY 1973 --classic trash about a centerfold/race car driver/private detective. The story is basically the Big Sleep except the director would rather focus on other activities in a bedroom besides sleeping. Despite the amateurish aspects of it--this was made before Charlie's Angels and long before the modern trends of women-led action films, it shows that this isea was already being explored in the drive-in circuit.
 
For The Emperor (2014). Keeping up with my South Korean cinema fixation, I'm afraid to say that this one is below average, at least for someone who's been watching so many movies from that country. There's a plot twist that you can see from a mile away if you're keen to Korean movies. The MC is just a brooding bad boy, and there's no explanation on how this quasi-emo ex-baseball player learned martial arts and is able to take on gangsters. The lack of decent backstory harms the suspension of disbelief, but you keep watching because the action scenes are well-realized. It's also said to be an "erotic drama", but I don't think two or three sex scenes would change the genre of a movie.
70200c6fca4fd32b1135f8b0919377be.jpg
 
Last edited:
CQ

A film I had seen before and filed in the 'umm... okay?' drawer in my mind but, on a second viewing, has gone into the Aww! what a sweet funny little film drawer. A love letter to 60s European film making with lots of knowing nods and allusions to films like Danger Diabolik and La Dolce Vita which I may well have missed the first time I saw it. I wonder how many more I'll see the next time I watch it a few years down the line?
 
The Beast from the Beginning of Time 1965 B and W --> I know, it sounds like one you might want to see, right? Just for laughs or because you are interested in beasts, but no, don't bother. Some archaeological types dig up this ordinary-looking guy, he's inside shale and heck, he could be, oh, maybe approximately sixty million years old. So it's a big deal, but the dialogue truly isn't. The one museum director guy says 'confounded' and 'confound it!' at least seven or eight times, that's a highlight. Obviously, this dug-up dude is gonna wake up and start slaying people, so he does that and eventually they clue in and by the end they are blasting him with handguns and a shotgun... but he won't expire, 'cos modren weapons have no effect on him... even though he's bleeding something awful and reeling around.. I mean, they could just keep shooting him and he'd go down... but nope; we need a dinosaur bone, from his own time...to do him in with, like a staked vampire, so that's what happens. Terrible lighting... cheapo fake thunderstorms and unspecial effects, wickedly inane dialogue. Next.
 
The Conjuring (2013) by James Wan

After being exposed to the series via memes, online lists and friendly recommendations I decided to finally see what was the ruckuss all about. The end resul was rather underwhelming.

The movie is mostly well structured, the sound design is good, the plot mostly keeps adequate pace and there is room to breath between the horror scenes. I did enjoy the procedural part, with research, setting up the cameras and detectors and other actvities concerned with the structural approach towards fighting a supernatural entity. What didn't get me was that, in the end, the story is rather bland, by-the-book and does not offer anything new to the formula established in classics like The Excorcist. The character development rellied too much on backstory that was only hinted at and never adequately explored, and the setup felt rushed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
Toby Frost Lasting Impact? Game of Thrones 26
AnRoinnUltra The last days of the Lóntuisteach Promotions 0
The Judge DISTAFF -- Last Chance to Buy!! Promotions 0
Extollager Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn (1968 novel -- not movie) Classic SF&F 11
N Y: The Last Man, movie or telly series? Graphic Novels & Comics 3

Similar threads


Back
Top