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What Have You Watched Recently?


Susano

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Capone. This is the Roger Corman produced biopic of Al Capone from 1975 with Ben Gazzera as Capone. It traces his involvement with New York boss Frankie Yale and Johnny Torrio to taking over Chicago. Sylvester Stallone portrays Frank Nitti who, in this version, betrays his boss on the Income Tax evasion rap that sent him to jail. There are familiar faces in the cast like Harry Guardino, John Cassavetes and Martin Kove (who plays one of the doomed St Valentine's Day Massacre victims. It is pretty good and worth at least one look.

 

Danger Diabolik ! This is an Italian film from Dino de Laurentis that is ripe for adaptation for a Champions or Pulp Hero game. John Phillip Law is the titular outlaw with his faithful love Eva by his side. His exploits result in the police going after the whole underworld in order to make them turn on him as well.  Diabolik's targets include a $10 million (1967 prices) theft of cash, a necklace with eleven emeralds from a visiting ambassador's wife, the destruction of all the tax records n Italy and stealing a giant gold ingot. The base is futuristic and out of this world. Great fun but be warned this is a dubbed film.

 

The Skin I Live In. This is a Pedro Almodovar film starring Antonio Banderas as a doctor who has lost his wife and daughter. He keeps a woman in the room next to his own and she is locked in while his servants send food up on a dumb waiter. This is described as a horror film with no great frights or gore. It is Spanish language but to understand the horror you need to watch it through so that you understand precisely what is going on.

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Anime screening today, with my favorite being a "juvenile horror" series called Thriller Restaurant. It combines elements of serial storytelling and anthology -- a group of sixth-graders in one class experience many frightening events, yet still have the nerve to sit around in a candlelit circle and tell ghost stories. I'm beginning to wonder whether these characters like a good scare, but are still scrambling for answers when things get out of hand.

 

With no blood and gore, this is still unsettling and unnerving. "The Monkey's Paw" would be right at home here. Although the core students have survived (at least for now), there is off-screen death of other characters -- including children . An example is the story of a boy who wants to win a Go tournament so badly that even being hit and killed by a truck won't stop him, or a girl who traps herself in a mirror that will show her the afterlife -- and is trapped forever when the mirror is demolished.

 

This is the good kind of horror, at least in m humble opinion.

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More films that I am catching for the first time

 

First off The Chess Players which I forgot to put in previously. This is about two local rich men playing chess to the exclusion of everything else including their wives. One wife is despondent and wants her husband to come back to her while the other is having an affair. The film is set against the background of the British taking over the state of Awadh to which the two chess players pay scant attention. Even after the pieces go missing they are not deterred. It is an interesting film showcasing obsession in a pre-radio and television world. However the sound quality was poor.

 

Prizzi's Honor. Jack Nicholson is a mob functionary who was to marry the daughter of one of his boss's sons. He falls in love with an assassin brought in to kill someone while all the police suspects for a killing are at a wedding, thus giving them an alibi. Kathleen Turner plays the assassin. The two team up but work and a botch on an assignment threaten to scupper their relationship. I had never seen this film and it is very enjoyable.

 

Despicable Me 2. If you liked the first one then you will like this. Gru is recruited to find a villain who has stolen a research station from the Arctic. Dr Nefario leaves his employment as developing jams and jellies is not villainous. The girls want to get Gru on a date with one wanting to try romance on her own and another wanting a surrogate mum. The minions behave as per usual but someone is kidnapping them. It was enjoyable.

 

The Shining. I had never seen this before outside the famous Jack Nicholson has gone overboard scenes. This film is all about the atmosphere and the music just chills It is very good.

 

Yakuza Apocalypse. This film is difficult to describe and there are scenes which just leave you gong 'what ?'. Yayan Ruhian who was in the two Raid films is in this as well showcasing his martial arts skills. Basically a Yakuza boss is actually a vampire and a guy dressed like a priest carrying a ruck sack sized coffin on his back comes to get him to join another organisation. The boss refuses and is then killed by the 'priest' and Yayan taking his head off. The disembodied head bites one of his followers and turns him into a vampire. This has a bad effect on local operations as said follower turns a number of civilians into vampires irritating and dismaying the actual Yakuza gang. The gang's face off with the vampires is brought to a stand still by a guy dressed up as a frog mascot who beats the daylights out of everybody before getting into a showdown with the follower.

Really this has to be seen to be believed. There is a bit about a bunch of men knitting who are later killed by the frog mascot. And the Yakuza captain having wax that shoots out of her ears. It is quite a violent film but I would appreciate the views of martial artists on the forum who have seen this film.

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A Bullet for the General. This is a spaghetti Western which has Gian Maria Volente, the bad guy from the two Dollars movies with Clint, as the protagonist a bandit trying to get guns and ammunition for a bandit chief, the general of the title. After a train robbery Mexican bandits pick up a American who decides to tag along with them. He is an assassin who has the titular bullet for the general. If you like spaghetti westerns you should like this.

 

Machine Gun Kelly. Cheap and cheerful biopic of the guy who gave the FBI their G-Man name made by Roger Corman's outfit. One of Charles Bronson's first films and he plays against type as the strong man riven by superstition and a yellow streak

 

Grimm Season 5. This deals with the rise of Black Claw a Wesen Group as the overall arc for the season. The return of Trubel and that she is now working for Hadrian's Wall  who monitor Wesen activities and are against Black Claw. Renard is brought over to the dark side by the group. The 100th episode of the series also came up and they brought to an end the keys and what it unlocks story line which was pretty good. It was a piece of wood that heals. Adalind was basically neutered by having Nick's baby and having to look after it. The finale is good with Adalind and Renard's daughter Diana who is growing up a rapid rate dealing with people that she does not like in a vicious way. 

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The Plague. This six part series takes place in Seville at the end of the 16th Century. A man called Mateo is asked to find the illegitimate son of his friend, who has recently died, in Seville. Mateo is helped by his old friend Luis Zunniga as the former is hunted by the dread Inquisition after printing a Protestant Bible. Mateo finds the boy but is then captured by the Inquisition and they make him an offer he can't refuse. Investigate a murder. Mateo's old love was married to his old friend and he runs into her as well. Luis in the meantime is trying to keep Seville open despite the plague that has appeared and is ravaging its citizens. Well worth a look. In Spanish with subtitles.

 

Build My Gallows High. This film is an early Kirk Douglas one but stars Robert Mitchum. It is a film noir. Mitchum was a private eye who tried running away with the ex-girlfriend of Kirk Douglas. She went back to him after Mitchum killed his ex-partner who had found them. One of Douglas's employees finds him and makes him go back to Douglas. Mitchum relates the story to the woman he is now seeing before he sees Douglas again. Worth a look at least one.

 

The Black Parachute. This film made during the war is about a king who the Nazis have captured and are trying to make his people submit. An American is tasked with getting in and getting the King out after a broadcast seems to indicate that the King is cooperating with the Germans. John Carradine plays one of the German.

 

Blood and Gold. The Making of Spain. A three part series looking at Spain from Hannibal and the Romans through Moorish Spain to his heyday as a world superpower through its decline to the civil war and to the modern day. Hosted by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Well worth a look.

 

Moby Dick. This is the 2011 series. William Hurt plays Ahab, Ethan Hawke plays Starbuck and Gillian Anderson plays Ahab's wife. I liked it.

 

The Killer Inside Me. A deputy sheriff is tasked with kicking a prostitute out of town. He teams up with her in an extortion scheme which leads to several deaths committed by the sheriff and then (the Mentalist) Simon Baker tries to get him. Worth a look. It is nasty though.

 

What About Bob ? This is a 90s comedy that I had not seem starring Richard Dreyfuss and Bill Murray as therapist and patient. Murray is dumped on Dreyfuss who has got a new book out. Murray is very needy and follows the therapist on holiday.

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Just saw the new version of A Star is Born -- the fourth for those who keep track of these things. In this go around, a drunken rock legend picks up a young singer and gives her a start -- and his heart -- only to develop a severe case of fame envy when she starts to outshine him. Bradley Cooper is the musician, and his protege is played by pop diva Lady Gaga -- who is caught between him and a Svengali-like manager who tries to mold her into a "product". It's actually a really good movie, and I nearly screamed near the end when something happens that brings back the memory of my own personal demons.

 

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Finally saw all of Season One Black Lightning. I had fallen behind because I was watching it with friends but real life hit everyone and we dropped it around season 8. 

 

I suppose it would be blasphemy to say I enjoyed it a lot more than season one of some of the Netflix marvel stuff...but I did :)

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Venice 24/7. Six thirty minute programmes about the things that keep Venice running, police, fire and medical. The first programme looks at Venice in Winter, the second looks at Carnival, the third at the visit of Pope Benedict, the fourth the Bienniele, the fifth about a rowing regatta and the last the Redentore festival. This was on the BBC and was quite informative.

 

Murder on the Blackpool Express. An author is taking a coach load of his fans around the places that inspired his works. The cast is familiar to British audiences. During the trip members of the coach party are murdered but who is killing them ? Entertaining fun.

 

Panic in the Streets. A murder victim is found to be infected with plague so a health department doctor and the police captain try to find who killed him and who came into contact with him as they may be carriers of the plague themselves. Stars Richard Widmark as the doctor and Jack Palance as the person behind the murder.

 

Scream of Fear. This is a Hammer film with Christopher Lee in a supporting role. After a woman is found drowned in an Italian lake, another goes to her father's home in France. She is in a wheelchair and is picked up by the chauffeur as her father is away. The chauffeur was surprised because he thought the father was unwell. Not what her stepmother is saying. Then the father's dead body keeps turning up causing the young woman to scream.

This is well worth a look and has twists.

 

Casino Royale. This is the 1960s parody with David Niven as Bond. I had never seen the full start and have now as there are some guest stars here that don't appear in the rest of the movie. Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, George Raft, Woody Allen, Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, William Holden and Jean-Paul Belmondo all appear as well. The last part of the film is a mess but otherwise it's ok.

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They Live by Night. This is a 1950s doomed romance tale as Farley Granger escapes prison with two other convicts and then goes on a crime spree. He and his girlfriend travel by night which is where the title comes from.

 

Split Second. Two convicts who escape from prison take hostages and seek refuge in a ghost town. However it is due to be blown up as part of a nuclear test the next day. Well worth a look.

 

Blood of the Vampire. A doctor is imprisoned for trying to give blood transfusions. His new prison is a home for the criminally insane run by Dr Callistratus. This is a Hammer film that does not have any of the usual Hammer alumni except Barbara Shelley in a support role. Worth a look.

 

White Cargo. This is a 1970s British sex comedy. That should be enough to steer you away from it. Stars David Jason in an early role.  

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I just finished with something. Monsterkiller.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK3hbJ5E5nc&list=PLXX7Rp0iXj0naNSnNOjERRGJjbkDNtcMa

 

It started out as a short "Let's play" of Dwarf Fortress on Youtube. But the Channel Author is quite the artist, so he ended up illustrating a few important scenes and many of the noteable forgotten beasts. And then he jsut kept making episode after Episode. The end tally? 26 Episodes of about 30 minutes each. So just about 13 hours of content. Minus intro, outro and post Episode summary of course.

 

It is a story of heroics

Of Books

Of Monsters

Of Madness

Of place that shaped the history of a continent.

Of how a strong and proud dwarven empire was (re)born.

And how a vile power rose.
And as story full of dwarfs.

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Tennessee Titans vs Los Angeles Chargers at Wembley. This was a close game and almost went to overtime.

 

More films

 

House of Blackmail. A woman tries to get her brother out of trouble with a blackmailer. She picks up a penniless stranger on the road ho might be an escaped convict and he agrees to pose as a lawyer. After a confrontation with the blackmailer he ends up dead and the couple then have to work out who killed him before they are picked out as the culprits.

 

Paper Moon. Had not seen this film. It was Tatum O'Neal's Oscar winning performance as she plays a young girl who might be the daughter of a con artist who has agreed to take her to Missouri. John Hillerman (Higgins from Magnum) is a villain in it. This is worth a look.

 

Gumshoe. Albert Finney plays private eye in Liverpool and receives a package with £1,000 and a gun with a woman's photograph. The dialogue in this just rattles along. However it is a tad racist.

 

Terror of the Tongs. After a Chinese man is killed on the docks by a Tong man, the sea captain who brought him to Hong Kong tries to bring the Tong down after they slay his daughter looking for a list of Tong members. Christopher Lee stars.

 

Purple Plain. This film is set in Burma in 1945. Gregory Peck is a Mosquito pilot who is renowned for his recklessness. After a doctor tries to get him to develop some grounding, he crash lands while making a routine flight taking a passenger to another station. The pilot, injured navigator and passenger then have to try and make it to their own lines as they are in Japanese territory. One of the best films of 1954 in Britain.

 

Colombiana. An assassin leaves his employ to a Colombian drug lord who then orders him killed. His daughter gets away and escapes to America where she seeks out her uncle to train her to be an assassin so that she can take revenge. Zoe Saldana plays the assassin. It is quite good.

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13 hours ago, death tribble said:

Paper Moon. Had not seen this film. It was Tatum O'Neal's Oscar winning performance as she plays a young girl who might be the daughter of a con artist who has agreed to take her to Missouri. John Hillerman (Higgins from Magnum) is a villain in it. This is worth a look.

 

 

This movie has one of my favorite lines of all time.  I forget how the conversation starts but Tatum's grifter father in the film (played by her real-life father Ryan) says, "I've got scruples.  Do you know what scruples are?"  She replies, "No but if you've got 'em it's a sure bet they belong to somebody else."

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I watched Ant Man and the Wasp over the weekend. I enjoyed the movie but hated the mid credits sequence. 

 

Made me once again want to grab Ross, the whole fracking UN Security Council, and whichever moron came up with the "Accords" and slam them face first into the ground repeatedly while screaming "THIS IS WHAT YOUR F#&*ING ACCORDS DID, YOU F#&*ING @^^]OLES!!! HALF THE UNIVERSE DEAD BECAUSE YOU JUST HAD TO BE C%)K OF THE F#&*ING WALK AND BREAK UP THE ONE GROUP THAT COULD HAVE STOPPED IT IF THEY CAME AT HIM AS A TEAM!!!" :angry::angry::angry:

 

Anybody else feel that way? ;)

 

BTW 

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Love at First Bite -- Dracula gets evicted from his Transylvanian castle, and travels to 1979 New York to find his true love. I have memories of watching this on TV back in the 80s, especially when Dracula and Renfeld rob the blood bank. The Blu-Ray restores the song, "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges, which was replaced on the DVD version for licensing reasons. (Blu-Ray)

 

 

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On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 4:16 PM, death tribble said:

Mark Kermode's Secret of Cinema. Four out of five of the shows as the fifth has not aired yet.ach episode covers a specific genre. Romantic Comedy, Heists, Coming of Age and Science Fiction. The critic, Kermode, went through specific conventions covering each genre.

 

I've been to science fiction conventions. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me that there are conventions for things like romantic comedy or even heists. I do wonder what a coming of age convention would be like.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And an unconventional palindromedary

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12 hours ago, Doc Shadow said:

I watched Ant Man and the Wasp over the weekend. I enjoyed the movie but hated the mid credits sequence. 

 

Made me once again want to grab Ross, the whole fracking UN Security Council, and whichever moron came up with the "Accords" and slam them face first into the ground repeatedly while screaming "THIS IS WHAT YOUR F#&*ING ACCORDS DID, YOU F#&*ING @^^]OLES!!! HALF THE UNIVERSE DEAD BECAUSE YOU JUST HAD TO BE C%)K OF THE F#&*ING WALK AND BREAK UP THE ONE GROUP THAT COULD HAVE STOPPED IT IF THEY CAME AT HIM AS A TEAM!!!" :angry::angry::angry:

 

Anybody else feel that way? ;)

 

BTW 

The avengers as a group are scary as hell. So they did the only sensible thing they could do.

Who expects a thousands of years old alien with the power to wipe out half the universe with a literal snap?

 

Just watch Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Superman: Red Son, Justice League: Trouble on two earths or the "Superman is brainwashed by Darkseid arc".

Superman is better at showcasing this, because he has one heck of a powerlevel and only making one Hero "not so good" is easier to do then the entire Justice League.

But in all cases, it turns out scary for the normals.

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