Old movies (redux) -- After thinking about it I guess I see a movie as old when it is no longer in its first run in theaters. It might be significant that on a good year I'll see 3-5 movies, and in the past 20 years I doubt I've averaged 3 a year. We never subscribed to any movie channel including Netflix until Prime Video was part of Amazon Prime and because of Star Wars we now get Disney+. So the number is probably more true than most imagine. Poker House was an Amazon Prime offering.
What was the last movie you saw?
- Thread starter Tabitha
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A 20 year old movie certainly isn't 'new'. A 'new' movie to me is one that has recently come out at the cinema or just come out on disc. But if something isn't new , does that make it 'old'? Not in my opinion, but then age and time are both relative and quite personal, so I wouldn't dispute your opinion Parson.
Personally I prefer to class movies by the time period in which they were made. There are generally certain differences in decades, so you get a good opinion of movie when you describe it as a 60s/70s/80s or even 90s movie. Tbh from around the turn of the century there doesn't seem to be anything defining them, other than the 'lockdown' era of films with limited cast/budget/locations. Any film made 00s-on I would term as 'modern' rather than 'new'.
Personally I prefer to class movies by the time period in which they were made. There are generally certain differences in decades, so you get a good opinion of movie when you describe it as a 60s/70s/80s or even 90s movie. Tbh from around the turn of the century there doesn't seem to be anything defining them, other than the 'lockdown' era of films with limited cast/budget/locations. Any film made 00s-on I would term as 'modern' rather than 'new'.
Guttersnipe
mortal ally
Throw Momma from the Train (1987), one of my favorites.
"Owen!! You're grounded!!"
"Owen!! You're grounded!!"
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It came along at the right time and marked a turning point in horror from the found footage fad and torture porn of the early 00's to more allegorical films like the Babadook, The VVitch, Hereditary and the retro stylings of Stranger Things etc.
I don't think it's fair to say its self-unaware.
It's not a simple morality tale about the dangers of teenage promiscuity. In part it's a tribute / meta-commentary on 80's horror, even down to the sex-panic theme where people who have sex directly cause them to be the target of the villain, and subverting that through having sex be the only way to escape its clutches.
From the AIDS allegory of the demon "it", to the urban decay commenting on the loss of faith in the economic system and the fallout of 2008 (in suburban Detroit), to the characters representing an aimless, vacuous, lost generation growing up alienated in a society that increasingly has no meaning (including references to Dostoevsky) absent of parents. The film is placing the locus of the modern financial crisis and American urban decay squarely in the 80's and seeks to re-evaluate the fallout of that decade through a millennial lens.
AE35Unit
]==[]===O °
Brassed Off! (1996)
Not seen this film in ages. Loved it
Not seen this film in ages. Loved it
AE35Unit
]==[]===O °
Yea, Darkman!
As we had a very freakish and awful heat wave, movie watching was not desirable.
Usually when it gets super hot, I put on NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT 1967--which I love watching on a super hot day. Once it cooled down a little I put it on.
Having Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing on your side in a heat wave helps maintain your sanity-although when you find out they shot it in freezing weather, that kind of takes the fun out of it. What I love about this movie (and THE FLESH EATERS which I re-watched the other day) is how much drama they put into it as an addition to the sci-fi monster element. It's not just going through the motions of having characters keeping busy as they wait for the next monster attack. The drama is taken seriously. Thus Patrick Allen is having buyer's remorse when his new secretary turns out to be an old flame who followed him to the island and his wife is oblivious to their relationship as the heat starts to rise in the village. In fact, the monster story seems secondary to their relationship issues, as characterization being so strong in the story.
UPPERSEVEN-THE MAN TO KILL 1966. As James Bond movie clones go, this was among the better ones I have watched--and I have seen some duds. The fight scenes are more lively than the usual and it has a John Barry-echoing soundtrack. The plot is involves currency fraud designed to create economic instability as an unnamed Asian country is making territorial moves on Africa--there's even a subplot about baddies using a virus to scare and distract people-- the vaccine proves to be deadly to take.
Features Karin Dor, Viva Bach, and Rosalba Neri. Upperseven (Paul Hubschmid) is an an expert sculptor who can make life-like masks of people and his enemies seek to see his real face. Alberto De Martino has some fun with Bond-inspired elements--so there is a Moneypenny character and the bedroom antics are not just played in a standard way--in one case Upperseven is in disguise as his enemy when he encounters the bad guy's mistress.
Usually when it gets super hot, I put on NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT 1967--which I love watching on a super hot day. Once it cooled down a little I put it on.
Having Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing on your side in a heat wave helps maintain your sanity-although when you find out they shot it in freezing weather, that kind of takes the fun out of it. What I love about this movie (and THE FLESH EATERS which I re-watched the other day) is how much drama they put into it as an addition to the sci-fi monster element. It's not just going through the motions of having characters keeping busy as they wait for the next monster attack. The drama is taken seriously. Thus Patrick Allen is having buyer's remorse when his new secretary turns out to be an old flame who followed him to the island and his wife is oblivious to their relationship as the heat starts to rise in the village. In fact, the monster story seems secondary to their relationship issues, as characterization being so strong in the story.
UPPERSEVEN-THE MAN TO KILL 1966. As James Bond movie clones go, this was among the better ones I have watched--and I have seen some duds. The fight scenes are more lively than the usual and it has a John Barry-echoing soundtrack. The plot is involves currency fraud designed to create economic instability as an unnamed Asian country is making territorial moves on Africa--there's even a subplot about baddies using a virus to scare and distract people-- the vaccine proves to be deadly to take.
Features Karin Dor, Viva Bach, and Rosalba Neri. Upperseven (Paul Hubschmid) is an an expert sculptor who can make life-like masks of people and his enemies seek to see his real face. Alberto De Martino has some fun with Bond-inspired elements--so there is a Moneypenny character and the bedroom antics are not just played in a standard way--in one case Upperseven is in disguise as his enemy when he encounters the bad guy's mistress.
ANIARA
Impressive film, although it didn't do anything to restore my faith in the survival of Humanity.
Impressive film, although it didn't do anything to restore my faith in the survival of Humanity.
Sinister (2012) dir. Scott Derrickson; starring Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance
Finally caught up to this and the moral of the movie is, having kids is scary.
This is one of the earlier Blumhouse productions, and a surprisingly effective horror movie thanks in part to Ethan Hawke's performance. He plays a father and a writer of true crime books whose last books haven't done as well as his first. He's desperate for another best-seller so he moves his wife and children to the site of the murder of another family to help him write his next book. Most of a family, really; the youngest daughter disappeared, apparently kidnapped.
Well, of course, there's more to it than that, and Derrickson and his writers -- note C. Robert Cargill is one; he is also a novelist and short story writer I haven't read, but I'm thinking I'd like to -- do a good job of gradually dropping clues and ratcheting up the tension. According to Wikipedia, the idea for this came from a nightmare Cargill had after watching The Ring; not knowing that as I watched, I thought there were parallels since the movie features the use of a Super-8 camera.
What I most appreciated was the simplicity and directness of the special effects, which create an eerie atmosphere. And it reminded me that, when used judiciously, a jump-scare can still be effective without being hokey.
Finally caught up to this and the moral of the movie is, having kids is scary.
This is one of the earlier Blumhouse productions, and a surprisingly effective horror movie thanks in part to Ethan Hawke's performance. He plays a father and a writer of true crime books whose last books haven't done as well as his first. He's desperate for another best-seller so he moves his wife and children to the site of the murder of another family to help him write his next book. Most of a family, really; the youngest daughter disappeared, apparently kidnapped.
Well, of course, there's more to it than that, and Derrickson and his writers -- note C. Robert Cargill is one; he is also a novelist and short story writer I haven't read, but I'm thinking I'd like to -- do a good job of gradually dropping clues and ratcheting up the tension. According to Wikipedia, the idea for this came from a nightmare Cargill had after watching The Ring; not knowing that as I watched, I thought there were parallels since the movie features the use of a Super-8 camera.
What I most appreciated was the simplicity and directness of the special effects, which create an eerie atmosphere. And it reminded me that, when used judiciously, a jump-scare can still be effective without being hokey.
AE35Unit
]==[]===O °
Don't Knock Twice (2016)
A mother desperate to reconnect with her troubled daughter becomes embroiled in the urban legend of a demonic witch.
www.imdb.com
A mother desperate to reconnect with her troubled daughter becomes embroiled in the urban legend of a demonic witch.
Don't Knock Twice (2016) - Plot - IMDb
Don't Knock Twice (2016) - Plot summary, synopsis, and more...
www.imdb.com
Don't Knock Twice (2016)
A mother desperate to reconnect with her troubled daughter becomes embroiled in the urban legend of a demonic witch.
Don't Knock Twice (2016) - Plot - IMDb
Don't Knock Twice (2016) - Plot summary, synopsis, and more...
Saw that three years so ago and liked it. Not as good as another covering somewhat similar ground that I saw around the same time, The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
AE35Unit
]==[]===O °
The Canal (2014)
Gaskmaskproductionsbooks
A film archivist finds his sanity crumbling after he is given an old 16mm film reel with footage from a horrific murder that occurred in the early 1900's.
An interesting one this!
Gaskmaskproductionsbooks
A film archivist finds his sanity crumbling after he is given an old 16mm film reel with footage from a horrific murder that occurred in the early 1900's.
An interesting one this!
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
Finn's Girl a doctor has her life threatened by anti-abortionists while dealing with the loss of her wife and bringing up their eleven year old daughter. A low budget first feature that didn't quite work for me. Everyone did their job well enough but the script wasn't... something... enough. Not focussed I guess. The threat to the doctor was never resolved, the big reveal at the end about the daughter's parentage was a great idea but just fizzled out, and the growing relationship between the doctor and the female cop assigned to protect her seemed to come out of nowhere just in time to provide a happy(ish) ending.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
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Just watched it again in UHD; the visuals are spectacular. Quite amazing that this film was made more than half a decade ago.
It also proves (if proof were needed) that Kubrick really was a genius. His use of music and effects to replace dialogue was ingenious and the phrase 'an image speaks a thousands words' was never more apt than it is here.
You can also see where Gene Roddenberry got his influences for filming Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
...a pity he then forgot to include any of the interesting stuff.
Last night in a fit of madness I watched Pitch Black and the director's cut of Chronicles of Riddick back to back - and while Pitch Black works as a semi-decent monster movie, The Chronicles of Riddick is an overblown, godawful mess of a film which lurches around from one OTT set piece to another with very plot joining them together and a hero who suddenly gets superpowers to get him out of one hole- which then get totally forgotten about - before lurching off back to the planet they just came from for another prolonged OTT fight sequence. It is the sort of movie A E van Vogt, with a noseful of coke, would have made from a few of his short stories fixed up into a script, and 90 million dollars to get rid of in a hurry. .
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- May 24, 2021
- Messages
- 1,033
The Tomorrow War - went into this with very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong it's still a godawful mess of a film, but it's never boring. It's almost three films in one, a reasonably good sci-fi commentary on the effect of war on soldiers, an action schlock with a genuinely laugh out loud unintentionally funny ending, and a character study about familial relationships. It only really succeeds on one of those, and not for long. Chris Pratt doesn't have the range for anything other than goofball or shooty shoot shoot.
House on Haunted Hill - Vincent Price campy horror classic, now on youtube in full.
House on Haunted Hill - Vincent Price campy horror classic, now on youtube in full.
J-WO
Author of 'Pennyblade' and 'Feral Space'
Lake Mungo (2018). Just a great ghost story. Spooky rather than gory or shocking. Almost an M.R James story in a way.
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