Kubrick Trifecta

So, on the upshot of watching misery I wanted more Stephen King, and I thought what better than one he didn't actually approve of (I wonder if he approved of maximum overdrive?).

No prizes for guessing the first on the bill, The Shining. Katy, you really need to get on this! It's all about Jack and shelly duval's run!

Next up is a bit of a curve ball. Ever heard of a little film called reservoir dogs? So original, so gripping, well yeah it's a remake of a film Kubrick directed in the 50s called the killing, definitely worth a watch.

You're all worried about the last on the list, and rightly so. We all know what I'm going to suggest, mostly because it's been at least ten years since I last saw it, so my nostalgia glasses are in full effect. It's full of weird shit and a docking sequence, and who hasn't had a piece of technology with HAL as a sound effect? That's right, my last on the list is 2001.

Watch one, or watch all 3, give a post then start suggesting some Xmas films please, hoping this post will take us to advent!

Misery

I've decided to pick Misery for the next film as I recently finished reading the book and I really want to watch the film again now. It's been a while since I've seen the film and I can't remember it very well so I'm quite interested to see how different or similar it is to the book. I do remember Kathy Bates being really awesome in it. Enjoy kids ☺️

Ho ho ho, merry Christmas

It's that time of year again, and nearly a whole year since the club started!

When is it too soon to start watching Christmas films? Well, I thought we could get a list going to see when we really need to start.

So, what are your favourites? What are the awful ones we have to watch because it's Christmas (I'm looking at you both Tim Allen and Martin Short).

Break out the sweet sherry and mince pies, have at it!

The Hunt - Jagten (2012)

So I know I've been a bit rubbish at the whole Film Club thing but I finally got around to picking my film as you all know. Fingers crossed this will be a good one!

This is one of those films that I have been meaning to watch for quite some time but keep putting off as it's a reader and I never seem to quite be in the mood for it. I expect it won't be an easy watch but it has very good reviews and Mads Mikkelsen is in it so it must be good right?

I really like Mads a lot and this will be my 3rd Danish film I have seen with him starring (I recommend Flammen & Citronen if you're in the mood for a good old rebellion against the Nazi's type of film. The Salvation if you fancy a good old fashioned Western in the style of Clint Eastwood with Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the bad guy! Oh and while you're at it Clash of the Titans, a well known Danish blockbuster...) and I have loved his performances in what I have seen so far.

Anyway, enough about my love of Mads Mikkelsen, I hope you all like this film despite the subject matter. I hope I like it too now after all that!

Enjoy!!

Hallowe'en (1978)

Dat soundtrack tho'.

I absolutely love this film. I feel like it started so many horror tropes but actually did them well! Plus we've got a local lad in a major role in this one.

There are so many things to rave about but I don't want to spoil it for those that may have some how missed out on this one.

I was half going to chuck this one in as a double bill with Rob zombie's rather excellent re-imagining of it but we'll go with that as an optional extra. Along with all those abysmal sequels if you can get through them. There is an interesting one (season of the witch I think) that was going for an episodic approach that never really took off, I may have misremembered though.

HAVE AT IT!

Alive

Ok, I'm going with a massive curveball of randomness.

The day before we went away I was changing money in tesco and there was a charity book stall.

On it, lay the true story of a rugby team that crash landed and had to survive.

I remembered they made a film about it and that I'd never seen it... Searched for it and saw it had Ethan hawke in it (who is always great right?) and fairly good reviews

I've never seen it.... It could be crap, and if it is... I'm sorry. But let's give it a go!

A girl walks home alone at night

So I have been meaning to watch this film since it was released at the cinemas but for some reason I have kept putting it off.

I have never seen an Iranian film and this sounds like it would be right up my street.

So basically it's set in a beat up run down good for nothing town and there is a skate boarding vampire that prays on men who disrespects women. This film is shot in black and white and is a horror/romance/comedy.
It is also compared to sin city with a Western/horror style...

I think this film will either be a love it or hate it one...

I hope that it's not shit...

The Walk

So, I decided to watch Flight the other day and forgot just how awesome and moving that film is. I quickly remembered that it had to be awesome, denzel + zemeckis = winner! It was weird how you liked this abusive alcoholic on the back of him being an amazing pilot and that he's denzel probably. If you haven't seen that, go, watch it, like now!

In a similar vein to Zoe's post I'm going for one I haven't seen before, and one with hopefully a winning formula just like flight. It's zemeckis and another actor I love, Joseph Gordon-Levitt!

I don't know a huge amount about this one, it has middlin' reviews but could be a little gem, we'll see.

I'm also quite excited about watching allied, we'll have to wait a while on that one me thinks!

The Man Who Wasn't There

I thought I would pick a film this time that I haven't seen and I came across this one, a Cohen brothers film that I haven't seen or even heard of before! I apologise if it's rubbish but thought it might be good as most if their other stuff is ☺️ Enjoy!!!

Homework* is this "The new Hitchcock!"

So I have decided to impose some homework...
Dont worry geeks, its not too much I promise. Please don't feel like you have to take part, it's just a spot of fun.

Basically I'd like your opinion...

So I think we can all agree that Hitchcock is one of the greatest directors of all time. I feel that his films are so very special. I love the small details, the beauty, how atmospheric they all are, the dramatic build ups and the classic Hitchcock twists.

I feel that modern day cinema lack these beautful detailed charms. However I do feel that every now and again, a rare gem will appear with that beautiful Hitchcockian flare!

For me that film is "Two Faces Of January". This film is fantastic and for me felt very much like a Hitchcock!

I would love to know what you guys think to this film as it seems that this film tends to be over looked. Not many people have seen this film and yet I feel like it was one of the best films I had seen in a while.

Or perhaps you disagree with me entirely. Is there another film out there that screams classic Hitchcock to you?

Maybe you hate Hitchcock! Perhaps you have another favourite director you would wish to discuss and suggest a new film that has been influenced by them..?
(but if that is the case I don't like you any more... just kidding!)

Whatever you may think, please feel free to share your views...

Love Kate
Xx

The Host (2006)

We're rolling into double figures!

I went to see this one with Carl way back when, I remember being confused about what was going on while we were watching it and always fancied watching it again. Check out the cameo from cross eyed guy from silence of the lambs (how did clarice resist?)

Sorry to impose a reader on you all but I think it'll be worth it, gotta love those Koreans! I want to watch oldboy now, not the brolin one!

Harvey/donnie darko

Imaginary rabbit off! Watch them both... And decide which is best? Ok ok I know they're not very comparable but how many other films have a giant rabbit in them? 

Looking forwards to thoughts on both! :) 

Films you've been putting off for a while

So, while perusing the huge amount of content that is amazon prime I spotted a film that every time I see I get excited about and think "I really should watch that" but never do. On this particular morning I happened to notice the year of its release, 2012. 4 years I've been putting off watching a Tom hanks film, and guess what, I'm still not watching the chuffer! It always seems like such a commitment. Maybe someone could suggest it for the next film club title. First one to guess correctly chooses after the thing dual blog post thing!

Also, please drop in that film you've been putting off for ages now. Raging Bull isn't allowed, roflcopter.

Actors you'd watch a film because they're in it!

We all have our favourites, I don't want to just know the obvious ones, I want the guilty pleasures as well!

I think one of my favourites was the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman. He made me like mission impossible again! oh, yeah, and those tiny hands in The Savages, although I think they may have featured in other films to a lesser comedic extent. For a short, portly, hardly chiselled chap he commanded so much attention on screen, even in the big lebowski, and yes Twister as well (why does DC love Bill Paxton so much???).

The first time I really noticed him was in Capote, how great was that film? I bet, just like myself, none og you have seen it since the cinema have you?

Have at it, what films will you watch based on the premise that one of your favourite actors has a starring role?

The Thing Double Whammy

I was going to start by apologising for a double whammy post but then I remembered that Kurt Russell was in one of the films, so yeah, no apologies needed!

I can remember when I first watched this film, genuinely terrifying! When I first tried to make Zoe watch this film I had to build her up to it when we lived in Cyprus, She genuinely couldn't get through it the first time we tried.

There are just so many iconic moments in this one that set the scene for films to follow, I still daren't poke hot things into Petri dishes just in case! It also chucked that "don't let the dog die!" moment in that all the films in the 80s and 90s had to have, I'll let you all find out for yourselves whether the dog makes it.

Aside from that awesome thing with Ice Cube has John Carpenter done anything that great? Ok ok, Hallowe'en was awesome, but only because they roped in a local lad to prop it up a bit.

The modern sequel/prequel/reboot to/to/of The Thing wasn't exactly the greatest of films but definitely fits in nicely and I reckon definitely worth a watch if you can (dat grammar tho). I reckon the best order to watch it in is the original then the new one, just because there some moments in the new one that make you "ahhh" and "ooh" and "oh yeah". It has an awesome joke in Norwegian as well!

Maybe this could be one that we get together to watch, possibly on bank holiday? Just before our first attempt at camping with Mr. Monster and Bunny

Raging Bull

Ok... I'm playing by the rules and doing an official post for it this time...


 Half of my reason for choosing this is the fact Adam has owned it on dvd since the days we used to actually count how many dvds we had and never watched it, but Adams probably 6 films behind on this now so he probably still won't watch it.

So to my other half reason!
De Niro.... My only real memory of this film is how awesome he is in it! Possibly his greatest performance (although I hear bad grandpa is pretty good) and I just wanted to watch it again as a reminder that he was once great... Even if he makes some terrible choices now a days! Also... Who doesn't love a scorcese movie?

So... Is there a better deniro performance?
How does this rank amongst scorcese films?

.... We are going to watch African Queen now!! But I wanted to get in there early to ensure I'm not gazumped again! Ha

The African Queen

As Carl hasn't written a post for his film and it's been nearly a month since the last post, I have decided to steal Carl's turn to keep the blog from dying!!

I'm carrying on the Humphrey Bogart theme and I've picked The African Queen. I haven't seen this film for a very long time so I can't remember a great deal about it. I remember thinking it was weird to see Humphrey Bogart in colour!! If I remember correctly, the majority of this film is Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn on a boat in Africa. This is another great performance from Mr Bogart!

The Caine Mutiny

This is one of my favourite Bogart movies. His performance of Queeg was gritty, intense and I think his finest, stupid brando "cudda bin a contenda" pipped him at the post for best actor in 1954. I think it might be the overly produced, stage performances of those around him that let him down. Don't get me wrong, I do love Fred macmurray (double indemnity anyone?) but his performance did stick out compared to Bogart's. Give it a watch, see what you reckon!

Dose metal balls though (you'll see)

Hotel Rwanda

I have been thinking what I would like to pick for my film choice and rather than going for a chickflick or such like, I thought I would pick a film that I have been meaning to watch again for a while, that is not only a great film but also very moving as it is based on a true story.

When I was travelling in 2012 I had the privileged of visiting Rwanda, it was one of my favourite places.Our visit was definitely one of two halves, on one side we went trekking into the mountains to see a family of Mountain Gorillas (truly memorable) and on the other we met local people who were survivors of some of the most horrific violence, visited the genocide memorial and various churches and mass graves of the people killed. I made a point of visiting the Mille Colleen Hotel (that Hotel Rwanda is based on) in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, as I had watched the film before with my parents. The last time I actually watched the film it was projected onto the wall of a hostel come convent that we were staying in in Ruhengeri in Rwanda. If anyone is interested about my experience I have put a link to my blog post that I wrote whilst I was there. (apologies for the bad spelling and grammar, I reread it and there are a few mistakes!)

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucyreeve/1/1342678419/tpod.html

The one thing that stayed with me about the people in Rwanda was how especially lovely and friendly they were. They were happy to tell their stories and didn't want to forget what happened. They felt it was important to remember so that something so horrific would never happen again. It still horrifies me thinking that something like this happened in my lifetime and that we live in a world where people would brutally murder other people. This all happened in 1994 and over 2 million people were killed, whilst the western world turned away and were reluctant to help (probably as the country didn't have anything that would benefit them, like oil!).

I hope that you enjoy the film, it is obviously a bit of a tear jerker due to the topic, but I think it is an important story that needs to be told and a great film!

Grave of the fireflies

So my choice is an animated film from 1988 called Grave of the fireflies.
For me this little Japanese animation produced by Studio Ghibli is an absolute masterpiece.
This animation is very special, such a harrowing story set at the tail end of world war 2 in Japan yet this is so beautiful.
I feel that at times when I watch this animation I get so engrossed I actually forget that it's actually a cartoon!
So I'd really like people to give this a watch and tell me what you think.
I'd also like to know if you too forget at times that this is a cartoon or is there another animation that's does this to you....?
Please be warned it is a little upsetting at times.
Carl's going to find a torrent and send it round.
Hope you enjoy it guys. Xx

Whut? Who won an Oscar?!

That's right, another mid film homework!

With all those awesome actors, well maybe performances (mickey rourke isn't always the best to be fair) I want some shout outs for some terrible choices made by the academy.

This could end up being two fold, it could be amazing performances that lost out, or just 'who won an Oscar?' moments.

A weird one, and possibly controversial one, from me is John Wayne. Have you seen true grit? It was pretty awful!

How about Marlon Brandon, on the water front beating out Bogey's captain queeg?

Sean Penn beating rourke with his soap box politician performance, grrrr.

There must be loads out there! Oh wait, Sandra Bollocks, making stallone look like a veritable Robert de Niro in demolition man along with many other similarly wooden performances on her cv managed to get and Oscar in blindside.

Have at it!

Dogma

I know it's a day late but I couldn't decide on a film for this week.

I have finally decided that this week's film should be Dogma. It's a film that I have been meaning to watch again for a long time as I've only seen it once and that was about 12 Years ago!!

With the devastating news of Alan Rickman passing away I felt that I had to pick one of his films and I didn't think that Sense and Sensibility or one of the Harry Potter films would be a big hit with everyone!!

I can't pose any questions for you to start off any discussions as I can't remember a great deal about this film other than Alan Rickman being smooth like action man and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are rebellious angels.

Give it a watch and write your comments. As last time, first to comment after watching gets to pick the next film in a fortnight. Enjoy ☺

Pivotal movies (technology)

So, here it is, our first weekend homework!

I want to hear your favourite movies that pushed the envelope in terms of technology and why you love them so.

I'm going to avoid an obvious one and go for Blade II. I love this film so much, I genuinely can't remember how many times I've seen it, there was a spell when I would watch it instead of listening to music in my room at uni.

Who could argue when you look at 'dat cast tho';

Cat from Red Dwarf,
Ron Pearlman (Police Academy Mission to Moscow anyone?),
Wesley Snipes (great sequel to the fugitive, oh and that one with Swayze where they play dress up),
Half of Bros (awesome as nomack),
A country and Western singer/songwriter,
And a side character from a much beloved series about the living dead!

On paper it sounds like a bit of a mess but good old Guillermo pulled it off.

He managed to bring some slightly artsy smartsy stuff to a ridiculous action film using filters to reflect the day and night cycle of the vampirski, opting to give night a warm yellow hue and daytime a cool blue hue, simple, yet superb!

Superb, yes, ground breaking, no (and he seems to have used it in every film since, eek).

One thing I did love was the use of the blend of model work, animatronics, and CGI. Anyone remember the scene where Lighthammer takes on a reaper? All animatronics and make up. Awesome.

Again, superb and I think has pushed some to use models and animatronics again as opposed to just CGI (Sam Raimi you stay in that corner with the
Wachowski brothers), but not so ground breaking.

So, what can it be? You must literally be on the edge of your seat by now. He implemented something he called L Camera technology. Seen a film since where the camera passes through a keyhole (Hugo maybe I forget) or you think how did they get the camera to do that? There's every chance they used this idea. I think Orson Wells didn't actually use it in the opener for Citizen Kane however, but I could be wrong.

The first time you see L Camera technology implemented is in the scene where Wesley dives out of a building on the 7th floor (or whichever) lands and stands upright all in one shot. Now, don't get me wrong Wesley is a boss but I don't think they threw him out of the window for this scene, but you'd believe he did. There is some ropey CGI in the film, but I like to think it's deliberate, I love Guollermo!

So, there's mine, what's yours?

Favourite actors without an Oscar!

Weekend homework task to follow!

Who are your 3 favourite loser actors? They may well be nominated but clearly not good enough for the academy.

I'll start the ball rolling;

Ralph Fiennes - how has he been missed, did they not see In Bruges, and Voldermort, bravo. Actually loved him in Grand Budapest, completely irreplaceable.

Leo - so many times he could've and should've won it, but for me Monsieur Candie was just too terrifying not to win.

Last one, bit controversial but here goes...

Mickey Rourke - he was just so scintillating in that iron man sequel! OK ok, so he's actually a bit shit, but the wrestler was incredible and Sean Penn was the predictable choice that year and yes I'm still a little bitter about that one, and don't start me on district 9!

There are soooo many more out there, I know how much Carl loves Mark Wahlberg.

Let's hear them then, have at it.