Joy Evangelion wrote:The sad thing about this was that I had a teacher in high school who showed us Braveheart because we were studying...something or other. Possibly Middle Ages Scotland, or kilts.

In other news; Finally got around to watching the 1979 coming of age film Breaking Away. It's basically about four guys from Bloomington, Indiana who graduate high school and don't know what to do with their lives. One of them aspires to be an Italian bicyclist.
It was pretty great, relatable, funny, etc. But the ending was a little cliche. That's what you get from a coming of age story. [/i]

I remember that Gibson told the press that if anyone wanted historical accuracy they should read a history book.

Gravity (2013): Awesome. Very life-affirming with an impressive performance by Bullock. Also probably the only time I've actually enjoyed George Clooney in a film. The sheer horror the first debris incident manages to evoke in the viewer is brilliant too. Probably won't hold up for repeat viewings, however.


Elysium (2013): Fuck yeah, awesome gritty and fast-paced sci-fi action. Really wish I made the effort to see this in a cinema when it first came out. Sharlto Copley's Kruger is a great bad guy and the highlight of the movie. Period.


World War Z (2013): Utter shite.


An American Werewolf in London (1981): Played on TV last night as part of a 'Monster Season'. Enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, hehe.

Those dream sequences...

Glengarry Glen Ross ...What a tweest!

Full Metal Jacket Made me feel sick a few times. In a good way.

Planning a summer blockbuster double-header either today or tomorrow, featuring Pacific Rim and Elysium. I haven't seen either of these yet, so it's shaping up to be a pretty good time.

Re-re-watched Yellow Submarine today, but via Bluray for the first time. Haven't watched it since I was a teenager so it was super fun. The Bluray visual and sound quality is excellent, IMO. Lots of little things I didn't notice the first time around popped out this time.

Re-re-re-watched Inland Empire two days ago and it's still completely mind screwing.

Also I watched Kotonoha no Niwa yesterday. It was simply beautiful in many respects, although you need the BlueRay to actually be able to appreciate the art. (same goes with Kara no Kyoukai)

Watched The Lost World: Jurassic Park and for the first time ever, I thought it sucked. There's nobody to cheer for and all the characters you WISH would get eaten by the T-Rex end up making it out of the island so it's all for nothing.

Gus Hanson wrote:Watched The Lost World: Jurassic Park and for the first time ever, I thought it sucked. There's nobody to cheer for and all the characters you WISH would get eaten by the T-Rex end up making it out of the island so it's all for nothing.

I stopped liking that film when I turned fourteen. The script is awful. Easily one of Spielberg's five worst films IMO.

In other news I saw: Adventures of Zatoichi, Zatoichi's Revenge and Zatoichi and the Doomed Man. The first two are the best since the original, while the third is forgettable.

Where did you get those Zatoichi films, Trajan? I've been considering picking up the film series when I have a chance to buy it and time to watch all of it.

Monsters (2010): Played as part of the 'Monster Mayhem' season I mentioned in my other post further up - Watched it even though I own the Blu-ray and have seen it about three times. Movies you like always feel special whenever they're on TV, kind of like a sort of vindication in viewing, don't you think? Haha.

Anyway, really cool film that fleshes out and uses its two characters really well. One thing that hit me this time was how beautiful the soundtrack is; compliments the landscapes and cinematography perfectly. Incredibly visual and manages to be quite touching by the end.

Gareth Edwards' Godzilla this year is going to be amazing, [s]little[/s] no doubt.

Oz wrote:Where did you get those Zatoichi films, Trajan? I've been considering picking up the film series when I have a chance to buy it and time to watch all of it.

Criterion released this giant box set with the first twenty five movies (1962-1973) a few weeks ago that I got for Christmas. It's pretty expensive, but hey, if you enjoy these chanbara films, it's a worthy investment.

Blue Monday wrote:Gravity (2013): Awesome. Very life-affirming with an impressive performance by Bullock. Also probably the only time I've actually enjoyed George Clooney in a film. The sheer horror the first debris incident manages to evoke in the viewer is brilliant too. Probably won't hold up for repeat viewings, however.

Please tell me you haven't seen Up In The Air or The Descendants...

Just watched Jurassic Park III and it had me in hysterical laughter throughout the joy ride. It's one of those "so bad but so good" sequels that it's hard NOT to make fun of.

Gus Hanson wrote:Just watched Jurassic Park III and it had me in hysterical laughter throughout the joy ride. It's one of those "so bad but so good" sequels that it's hard NOT to make fun of.

You call this movie fun ?


I just watched Fight Club with my little brother. (13 years old) Some might say that this was a bad idea, but he was actually really fascinated, mainly because of Tyler, (who doesn't love this sexy, twisted enchanter) but also because of the social criticism and, how could it b different, the twist.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Fuck, I always forget how damned good that movie was until I watch it again. Definitely my favorite western (although I'm not that big a fan of them).

The Bling Ring

That was more enjoyable than I thought. It wasn't as static as Somewhere or Marie Antoinette. But it also wasn't as good as Lost in Translation. I recommend it to everyone who is slighted interested in depraved and spoiled little brats breaking into celebrity homes.

Dead or Alive - Being a Takashi Miike movie, it doesn't hold back on drugs, gun fights, sexuality, and gross outs. The near dead girl lying in the pool of shit kinda took away my appetite. The guy getting penetrated in the butt sex at the beginning reminded me of Ichi the Killer in terms of physical appearance.

Dead or Alive 2: Birds - Whereas the first one was a full out traditional yakuza and police tale with a few alterations made to the norm, this one I felt so touching due to the friendship the two leads share and the undeniable chemistry that the acting clearly showed. While there is still elements of yakuza, it all takes secondary sitting for the most part while the two hitmen get reacquainted with their native folk and catching up on old times.

^ You better put the last part of the Dead or Alive review in spoilers as mentioning that much about the ending will certainly ruin it for those who have not seen it yet.

Blue Valentine

This isn't helping with my depression. But still a solid 8/10 film.

Dead or Alive: Final - Trading away the yakuza setting for sci-fi and martial arts, this last entry in the DoA trilogy by Miike throws in plenty of those mixed in with character development in the way of them contemplating human and robot existence but not so complicated like something Ghost in the Shell would give you.

A Clockwork Orange

i've known about this movie forever now but only got around to watching it last night. Great stuff, but i guess i should read the book to see how much of a contrast there really is between the two mediums (or glance through the appropriate wikipedia page because book readin's for fags joking)

Another thing, it's funny how linguists-turned-artists always manage to put fit all sorts of tiny intricacies into the story by ways of morphing language into a characteristic of its own, and i am particularly fond of the fact that i do not have to hear the explanation for every word coined in Nadsat' because i already know Russian well enough to know how badly the tongue was bastardized but it is still very enjoyable to see the interlingual boundaries being shattered and such.

Tl;dr: Came for tits and violence, stayed for Malcolm McDowell