What movies have you seen recently?

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"Bubba Ho-Tep". Generally anything staring Bruce Campbell will be fun. This isn't a great film but it is charming and likable. I thought the pacing could have been a little better and unfortunately, despite the name, they didn't really do anything with the Bubba Ho-Tep idea. But they make up for it by the sheer whackiness of Elvis and JFK teaming up to fight a mummy in their old folks home. (Especially since JFK is played by Ossie Davis.)

King Kong (2005)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The shocking original 1974 horror movie directed by Tobe Hooper. Although claiming to be a true story, evidence suggests otherwise.

It's actually spelt The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. No, srsly, look it up here*.

Have you seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (see the difference in spelling)? Personally, I think that's a much better film than the original although I'm definitely in a minority with a view like that!

*Sorry to be a dick.

Little review of my own coming up in a moment.

I've seen a bit of Full Metal Jacket. Put it this way: I wasn't crying my eyes out when Gunnery Sergeant Hartman met his demise.

"Hugo" generally good although a bit too much CG for my tastes. I liked the basic themes of loneliness and the need for a purpose.

"Repo! The Genetic Opera" I saw this for free and I still think I was ripped off! I guess it would have been better if the story was interesting, the singing was good and the film didn't look like a bad music video.

Really? I like it better with 'chainsaw' as one word. Yes, I have seen the second one. It has Dennis Hopper and it is the only one where Leatherface and the rest of his family all die instead of just one.

GySgt Hartman was doing exactly what he was supposed to do.
He’s a drill instructor not a kindergarten teacher.
Lord….

Ciacho (English title: translated on DVD as Superheroes) (2010) / IMDb / DVD / Region ALL - Poland - TIM Film Studio

DVD front cover:



DVD back cover:



Plot (translated from Polish with a little retranslation from me, so don't expect miracles!):

Comments:

Well, what can I say about this film? It's an action comedy set in Poland, and it's monstrously stupid, full of some of the most enormously annoying characters I've seen in a film for a good while (there is more than one of them that I thought it an insult to basic humanity that they weren't killed off nearly immediately), isn't particularly interesting or gripping, or really particularly good in any way. But... I laughed more times than I should have done, even in spite of the rank stupidity and annoyance of most of the characters. Some of the situations they got themselves into were pretty funny, even if you do have to have the mind of a seven year old to enjoy them. One thing that did surprise me about the film was the crudeness of the quite explicit and forthright references made to anal fisting (!) in the film in two bed scenes. It's played for laughs, but it did surprise me. The DVD is in anamorphic widescreen and is in Polish with English subtitles. First off: the English subtitles are pretty good for what they are. OK, they're not perfect at all but they're almost always very understandable, and I only noted a few errors in their translation. The picture quality isn't as sharp as it could be, and there are some nasty artifacts (that look digital to me? I can't tell). The extras run to (and none of these are subtitled in English): theatrical trailer; TV spots; two making-of featurettes (of 21 minutes and 16 minutes' duration respectively); a short music video and photo gallery. I wouldn't watch this film again and it might even go to the charity shop, but I don't think it's as terrible as the Polish film sites say. Sure, Ciacho is not a very good film, but I enjoyed it more than I should have. Perhaps I should be asking my mum to sit me down in front of children's TV again.

Last edited by Tequila on 09 Jan 2013, 12:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

I don't know about that - he seemed to be picking on that character way more than he should have, and didn't recognise the signs of mental breakdown - so he failed in one of his most basic duties: recognising recruits who might be dangerous to themselves or the regiment. When a trainee's pointing a gun at you and isn't for backing down, you don't goad them into killing you, 'cos they might just do it. The other character who recognised the warning signs should have done his bit and tipped Hartman off but I suspect that Hartman's the sort of aggressive idiot who thinks that mental issues are all fake and who would take pleasure in bullying him further. Again, no sympathy.

The army shouldn't want people in it who will be a danger to themselves or other recruits/soldiers.

Last edited by Tequila on 08 Jan 2013, 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"Burn her like a rat! Burn her like a rat! Burn her like a rat-rat-rat! Burn her like a rat!"

Quartet (2012) / IMDb / Cinema

UK quad poster:



Plot:

Comments:

Quartet is the directorial début of award-winning actor Dustin Hoffman and is based on the play of the same name, which toured London theatres between 1999 and 2000. It's a comedy drama, and, as you can see from the poster, it has a very acclaimed cast but I definitely came away from the film thinking it was less than the sum of its parts. The film is far more about the relationships between the characters in reality than the actual opera itself, although there is plenty of classical music played during the film. There were some bright spots in Quartet: Billy Connolly's portrayal of the near-permanely amorous Wilf was a highlight for me, and it's good to see character actresses like Pauline Collins looking well with her sparkling eyes, right into old age. The film does touch rather heavily on the themes of old age, though, and some people may find that depressing (the person who I went to see the film did). The ending was a massive anti-climax and, in truth, I was expecting another ten minutes after the ultimate finale as I kind of liked the characters, but sadly it was not to be. It's not a bad film, it's just not a particularly good or memorable one. The location of Beecham House (Hedsor House in real life) does look quite beautiful. Summing up? Quartet has an all-star British cast but is ultimately very forgettable with an ending that's a massive letdown.

Playing for keeps

That's Chop Top, the hitchhiker's twin. He wasn't in the first one because he was stationed in Vietnam.

Una pistola per Ringo (English title: A Pistol for Ringo) (1965) / IMDb / DVD / Region 2 PAL / Germany / Koch Media

DVD front cover:



DVD back cover:



Plot (from the wiki page for the film):

Comments:

This film was an enormous success in the domestic market in Italy and, along with For a Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, helped to kickstart the massive spaghetti western craze that sweeped mainland Europe (especially Germany, Italy and Spain) during the mid-to-late 1960s and the early 1970s. Having finally seen this film now, I can say that it doesn't deserve the hype that it is given. A Pistol for Ringo seems decidedly light on action and the finale (at the Major's ranch) seems rather too short and sweet. The cast and director for A Pistol for Ringo is almost identical to that of the follow-up (which isn't a sequel, and really features totally different characters from the other film, The Return of Ringo, and is in many respects a different movie.

As for the film itself, I found it to be unmemorable and very slight. Not one particularly worth seeing apart from its 'classic' status and for my money there are far better spaghetti westerns out there. Even the sequel, The Return of Ringo, I think is a better picture. And, yes, the soundtrack on this one was very generic and uninspiring and I prefer the one used in the 'sequel'.

Onto the DVD I guess. It's released by German company Koch released by Koch... well, it's a bit of a mixed bag. The picture quality is OK - it's anamorphic in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio but it suffers from the usual problems of films of this era (remember, it was nearly 45 years old when put to disc). The day-for-night sequences near the end of the film particularly suffer, and it's actually quite difficult to tell what is going on in many instances. The audio is available in the 'original' Italian (there is no original language, as the cast come from at least two countries - Italy and Spain - and therefore speak different languages). Along with the Italian, there are the German and English dubs. I watched it with the English dub. As for the special features: included on the disc is the featurette They Called Him Ringo (about 20 minutes in length), which features interviews with Lorella De Luca (who plays the Major's daughter) and Giuliano Gemma - Ringo himself - and I think he looks great for his age. Unfortunately, though, it's in Italian with optional German subtitles, so it's no use to anyone who doesn't speak either of the two languages. What's weird about it is that all the on-screen titles are in English, so presumably there must be an English soundtrack somewhere for it that's been released elsewhere. Elsewhere on the disc we find the original German and "English" (meaning International) trailers and a gallery featuring lobby cards, posters, old video covers and other promotional material related to the film. There's also the DVD credits included as an "extra" and the cardboard case includes two pages of information about the film and the actors but that's no use to me because it's all in German.

Repo! The Genetic Opera is one of those movies where you either love it or hate it. It was trashed savagely by critics but has a strong cult following. Personally, I loved it.