elizium Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 T'is the truth. The original plan was to release the first one in the theatre, more to act as a promotion for a TV event where they'd show all three. The first one became such a huge hit that they quickly re-edited the already shot next 2 for theatrical release. Confused the heck out of me when I bought the blu-ray of all 3 and there was such a noticeable change in the picture quality. Loved all three, but the story does take some weird turns, like the aforementioned superhuman, mentally deficient half-brother. Agree that Rapace was better than Mara, but I think it was closer than the rest of you. Nyqvist was much better than Craig. It's hard not to picture Craig just punching his way out of trouble. Never read the books, but I heard that the American version's ending is actually closer, but I still think I enjoyed the Swedish version more. I am disappointed that they never got around to making the other two, but it didn't make enough money and now too many years have gone by. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 We shall agree to disagree on that one. As on so much else. Block Rockin' Beats was the bomb back in the day. As for Dragon Tattoo, I think that Mara did a perfectly fine job as Lisbeth but yeah, chemistry between Nyqvist and Rapace was far better. I have soured on the theatrical sequels after repeated viewings, but I blame the source materiel. I've re-read Hornet's Nest and Played With Fire and have sadly discovered that perhaps Larson loved Lisbeth a bit too much. Steig (RIP) protects Salander at the expense of the plot and the other characters. Salander becomes equal parts Bruce Lee and Acid Burn from the Hackers movie while Blomqvist devolves from brilliant deductive journalist into a boorish sidekick who is just along for the ride. The circus freaks that make up the antagonist pool are laughably inept. It depresses me that the Millennium trilogy hasn't aged as well as I hoped it would. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I watched A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES this week and really enjoyed it. I was expecting another TAKEN style Liam Neeson flick, but was pleasantly surprised to actually seem him put out effort again. Really solid flick with some really good tension, and no really overblown action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Watched Nine 1/2 Weeks and it was pretty dopey. Man, early 80s Kim Basinger, though... Crippled Masters in which a man who gets his arms cut off and another who gets his legs burned with acid team up to beat up bad guys. It's pretty exactly as wonderful and off-putting as that sounds. St. Vincent which was exactly what I was hoping it would be: curmudgeonly Bill Murray hanging out with a little kid and teaching him bad life lessons. Naomi Watts was quite funny in this, too, and it was neat to see Melissa McCarthy dialed-down. The Great Beauty which I flat-out LOVED. An Italian writer/playboy, now in his sixties, evaluates his place and legacy and muses on life. It's mostly plotless with the protagonist wandering around Rome, lots of beautiful scenery, beautiful people, and beautiful music. Really impacted me. I want to watch this again. Then maybe again and again. Rewatched Captain America: The Winter Soldier: I liked this film when I saw it, I think I put it #30 for 2014, but that really doesn't explain why I seem to be incapable of changing the channel whenever it's on. I think I've watched this like 4-5 times in the last year. I always forget Frank Grillo is in it until I spot him and go "Yeah! Frank Grillo!" I like Frank Grillo. Tombstone which is still king-sized. Val Kilmer is amazing. The whole cast is amazing. I love this movie. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and it kinda bummed me out because...well I'm going to go into the ending here at the end after Ned dies and they screen the movie featuring his death to great acclaim, then go back to his boat for another adventure, when everyone arrives on the boat you can see a silhouette that matches Ned's waiting at the top of the boat, smoking. My working theory was that because Zissou's films have been struggling (and also as a callback to the guy who yells "Who are you going to kill next time?!" at him outside the theater near the start), and because Ned was an investor in the film, that he and Zissou worked together to stage his death, hyping up the drama and leading to some return on his money. After all, it's only Ned and Zissou who are present when he dies. The shot of him at the end shows that he's alive, and that he's going to continue going on adventures with Team Zissou. So, I flipped the commentary on to see if they would confirm my theory and imagine how disappointed I was when I heard them explain Ned's presence at the end as being basically that they just wanted to do a curtain call with all the characters. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Your version's better Caley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Your version's better Caley. I know, right?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 HOLY SHIT. Vigilante by William Lustig (with Robert Forster, Fred THE HAMMER Williamson, Joe Spinell, etc.) is on TCM right now. FUCK FUCK FUCK YES (and it deserves all three FUCKs). Think Maniac crossed with Death Wish (even has the same awesome Jay Chattaway music). Seriously, this is no joke, and nobody ever talks about this movie. Some of you might have grown up in this New York City and you deserve a badge of honor. This should be on El Rey on repeat ASAP 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimo Necro Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 The showed the movie Rush on TV here over the weekend, (spoiler - its not about our favorite luchadore), its about Formula One racing in the 1970's and its great. A German driver being efficiently German, a British playboy being quintessentially British, loud cars and plenty of drama. One of Ron Howard's best works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonidas Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Also, the above Vigilante is on Amazon prime instant streaming video so can watch at your leisure. Looks fucking awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyMax46 Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Rush was a good movie. Sadly most of it wasn't accurate. But it got a good idea of what Lauda and Hunt were really like. Daniel Bruhl nailed Niki Lauda and Chris Hemsworth was a decent James Hunt. Some of the order in which all of that happened is wrong in the movie but that's Hollywood I guess. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Did I mention that Woody Strode is a badass aging prisoner in Vigilante as well? Because there's that, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuroresuFan Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Was there any movie made in NYC that didn't have Joe Spinell in it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I can't recall him being in any early Abel Ferrara movies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 This line from The Village Voice review of the FIFA movie United Passions cracked me up: "As drama, it’s not merely ham-fisted, but pork-shouldered, bacon-wristed, and sausage-elbowed." In general, I don't think there should be a movie centered on FIFA unless it's a Wolf of Wall Street type of film where everyone gets arrested at the end while a corrupt but oddly likable exec (possibly played by Bryan Cranston) laments about how the good times are over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 This line from The Village Voice review of the FIFA movie United Passions cracked me up: "As drama, it’s not merely ham-fisted, but pork-shouldered, bacon-wristed, and sausage-elbowed." In general, I don't think there should be a movie centered on FIFA unless it's a Wolf of Wall Street type of film where everyone gets arrested at the end while a corrupt but oddly likable exec (possibly played by Bryan Cranston) laments about how the good times are over. SUPPOSEDLY (And I take it with a huge grain of salt) the director claims that originally the film was more critical of FIFA and had lines like "Sepp Blatter always seems to find the money" but when he ran into financial problems, FIFA stepped in to help out financially and then asserted editorial content over the film. He also claimed that he had to fight for the title 'United Passions' because FIFA wanted to change it to "Men of Legend" or "The Dream Makers". Also Tim Roth basically said he did it for the money and said his father would be rolling over in his grave over the movie. **** You know what's a good-assed movie: 'The Princess Bride'. I read Cary Elwes' wonderful memoir of making the film, titled 'As You Wish' and there was lots I didn't remember when he discussed it, in particular, basically all the Miracle Max stuff so I went back and watched it tonight and was blown away by what a compulsively watchable little flick it still is. Anyways, you should read the book, Elwes hasn't got a negative thing to say about anyone, tells some funny stories (Like wrestling a little person in a rodent costume), and it makes you really want to watch the movie again. The Peter Falk-Fred Savage parts really got to me this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ligerbusa Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 New Hitman trailer - http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/06/23/watch-the-new-hitman-agent-47-trailer?watch I'm sold based on the fact that he takes out an officer, steals his clothes, is noticed by a solider, takes out the solider and steals his clothes. The beginning of the trailer suggests 47 is the villain which would have been a cool idea. Not sold on the sexy bad ass female agent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 New Hitman trailer - http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/06/23/watch-the-new-hitman-agent-47-trailer?watch I'm sold based on the fact that he takes out an officer, steals his clothes, is noticed by a solider, takes out the solider and steals his clothes. The beginning of the trailer suggests 47 is the villain which would have been a cool idea. Not sold on the sexy bad ass female agent. The widespread havoc and random murder kinda makes my nose wrinkle. 47 is all about thwacking the target that needs to be thwacked and keeping collateral damage to the bare minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ligerbusa Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Yeah...but you know they aren't going to do that. At least the producer said he was a clone in this (but judging by the flashbacks, maybe not). Edit: Whoops, meant to post the trailer in upcoming movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FluffSnackwell Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 HOLY SHIT. Vigilante by William Lustig (with Robert Forster, Fred THE HAMMER Williamson, Joe Spinell, etc.) is on TCM right now. FUCK FUCK FUCK YES (and it deserves all three FUCKs). Think Maniac crossed with Death Wish (even has the same awesome Jay Chattaway music). Seriously, this is no joke, and nobody ever talks about this movie. Some of you might have grown up in this New York City and you deserve a badge of honor. This should be on El Rey on repeat ASAP Yeah, they showed it before on TCM Underground sometime in February too. I must say (even though I already knew the basic plot) the central act of violence that gets shit rolling downhill really punched me in the gut. And later on in the movie when Forster is packing his things up ready to move far away the line "ten years for this plastic shit" is real depressing and drives the point home of how pointless his life has become. The thugs are really something; the guy who plays Prago really seems unhinged and imbalanced enough to do something like that on a whim. On the other hand, that gang leader has to be the most unimposing goober to ever be cast in a role. Just look how imposing Joe Spinell as his lawyer looked standing next to him in the courtroom scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Hanger Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Because I have brain damage, I watched Bound. Not the movie that put the Wachowskis on the map, The Asylum's answer to Fifty Shades of Grey. It is every bit as bad as you'd expect; I never thought a movie where Charisma Carpenter gets repeatedly naked and has "BDSM" sex (quotes intentional) could possibly be so unsexy. And yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Me and some friends of mine watched Vigilante the first time I saw it and we didn't really know what was coming when that "central act of violence" occurred. It was a total "OH, SHIT!" moment collectively. If you really want to know what that is and haven't seen it: a guy shotguns a baby and it splatters through a window. The camera shot is from outside the house and the kid just hits the glass. NASTY. Also, Joe Spinell would be imposing next to just about anybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rose-mcgowan-adam-sandler-film-805028?utm_source=twitter Rose McGowan got fired by her acting agent after mocking a sexist casting notice on Adam Sandler movie. You get fired by an agency for making fun of an Adam Sandler movie? Wow, I guess no one in Hollywood has agents anymore then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FluffSnackwell Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Also, Joe Spinell would be imposing next to just about anybody. Exactly which makes shrunken Cat Stevens gangleader guy look all the more dwarfen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Finally caught up with all of you and saw Whiplash on TV earlier... man, J.K. Simmons is good at playing sociopaths. Every time he would do something even moderately nice the internal red flag would go up and I would think "IT'S A TRAP!" Which of course it was, every time. I also have a weird theory about this: I'm sure this isn't what the filmmakers had in mind, but you can look at the car wreck as an actual death scene and consider everything after wish-fulfillment/hallucination/a false coda, kinda like I've always felt like the post-massacre scenes in Taxi Driver weren't real at all. But that's just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assfax Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Man, I waited like 5 years for all the good Ghibli blu rays to get under 20 bucks and a month after I finally got a few now they're all like 18 bucks. Bullshit. When I finally watched Princess Kaguya all I could think of is Snake from Simpsons saying "Oh no, Lil' Bandit!". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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