brittanyfraser15
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I recommend you see...
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
by Ashley posted 6 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Hey, you should really see this! It's actually an alright movie, i'm not usually that interested in robots and what not but even if your not it's a great movie. It is very well thought out and funny! It's a must see.
posted 6 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Hannibal
by AmandaI like this film a lot, but of course it suffers - as all sequels do - by comparison to its predecessor, in this case 'Silence of the Lambs' The main reason for having a sequel at all was to showcase again the character of Hannibal Lecter, a monstrous creation everyone wanted to see more of after the first film. It could have bombed badly therefore if writer and actor had let us down by failing to catch the magic again. It was after all a decade after the original was made. But they don't, and Anthony Hopkins turns in another delicious performance as the man with the evil intent cloaked in inestimable, menacing charm.
Julianne Moore drew the short straw in having to re-create the Clarice Starling role that had been so memorably played by another actress. She does well in my opinion, but inevitably we keep thinking 'where is Jodie Foster?', and this lends her portrayal a lack of credibility which is entirely unfair. Gary Oldman's Mason Verger is suitably loathsome and manages to make Lecter seem almost like the hero in their battle of wits. If there is a weak link, Ray Liotta's Krendler seems a bit misplaced.
The direction deserves special mention. The lush, beautiful settings are mocked by the horror of what is happening in them and the perfectly-selected atmospheric music stayed in my mind long after the film had ended.
Once again, the film lacks realism, but as with the original, it doesn't matter. Of course things like this don't really happen - but so what? It's a film. Get over it! I was prompted after seeing it to read the books, and the right decision was made in changing the ending of this story from that written by Thomas Harris.
We were subsequently treated to another look at Lecter in a decent prequel movie, 'Red Dragon,' but I will not be alone in hoping that some day we will see yet more of him in a further instalment. Unlikely I suspect - but not impossible.
I´m giving a serious though in to eating your wife.
Ta-taHey, you should really see this!
posted 23 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua para chocolate)
by AmandaI love historical movies set in Mexico and this wonderful movie shown on BBC last night simply reinforced that feeling.
The Director, Arau, laid before the viewer a magical cornucopia of settings and in this case, tastes, that tempted the eye as well as a palette that had to remain unfulfilled. Esquivel's novel and subsequent movie script were superb and were certainly not the normal fare dished out by Hollywood. Berstein and Luezki's rich cinematography painted a superb background upon which the rich character development and plot could be traced.
There are a few movies set around this revolutionary period in late Mexican history and i have loved everyone that i have seen-this is certainly no exception.
Like Water For Chocolate is a movie lover's movie and I would highly recommend anyone with a interest in or love for Mexico to make an effort to seek out this gem.Hey, you should really see this!
posted 31 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Baat sin faan dim ji yan yuk cha siu baau (The Untold Story) (Human Pork Chop)
by AmandaThe Untold Story is one of those nasty flicks that most horror fans whisper about, or have heard of, but because of its ridiculous premise, foreign nature, and Category III rating (the Hong Kong version of X or NC-17 in U.S.A), most of us have rarely gone out of our way to see it. Or if you?re like me, you made the mistake of getting a hold of the second one before the first film and, consequently, never wanted to see the first film because of the shit nature of the sequel. The Untold Story, despite all of the odds that are stacked up against it, deserves to be mentioned right up there with the heavies of the serial killer genre. Sure, it?s cheaper, more brutal, and quirkier than something like Silence of the Lambs or Se7en, but its originality, coupled with the fact that the film is based on a true story, packs those deficiencies in a delicious barbecue pork bun and washes it down with liberal doses of urine and feces laced gore.
The film follows the story of Wong Chi Hang, a notorious serial killer in 1970?s Macau. Wong Chi Hang has three loves in life, gambling, killing, and grinding up corpses to serve as tasty meat filling in his delicious barbecue pork buns. Chi Hang, a criminal wanted for murder after killing someone in another part of China, flees to Macau, where he unceremoniously becomes the owner of a restaurant entitled The Eight Immortals. The restaurant?s original owner has disappeared along with his family? it doesn?t take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened to them. The cops are soon on his tail, led by the prostitute courting Officer Lee, a tomboy female cop trying to get the attention of her co-pigs, and a couple of other generic silly cops.
One of the major problems with the film is that it is so uneven. For a movie about a dude who kills the fuck out of people and grinds them into dumpling filling, the movie feels ridiculously light as the group of cops engages in Police Academy style hijinks and banter. They eventually tone it down a little bit, but it?s kind of an odd decision to make to inject a little humor in what is clearly a dark story. I don?t know what to be more disturbed by, the lighthearted approach the co-directors took with the film or the disgusting and over the top brutality with which Wong Chi Hang dispatches his mostly undeserving victims.
The other huge problem with the film is how poorly it is put together. The film?s entire crux relies on the fact that there is an ?untold story? somewhere in the film. The untold story is of course what happened to the original owner of the restaurant and his family. The last half hour to thirty minutes of the film focuses on the cops? efforts to figure out exactly what happened to the family? even though they?ve got a sack full of body parts that screams ?missing family? sitting in their evidence locker. The ideas behind the structure and form of the film are off. Instead of taking the true crime direction, the directors turn the film into a Shakespearian like tragedy where the big payoff is one hellacious slaughter and the reveal to the police that they have in fact eaten the remains of humans. This all may seem like spoiler material, but any five year old that has ever seen a horror flick would be able to guess all of this stuff and it?s basically thrown in your face during the film. The Untold Story deserves credit for trying to take a non-traditional approach to the serial killer flick, but it?s light-hearted tactics leave a little to be desired.
The two directors, Danny Lee and Herman Yau, make some pretty solid decisions throughout the film, if you throw out some of the Police Academy type vibe that?s going on with the detectives? seriously I expected to see the Hong Kong version of Michael Winslow to pop up and start making annoying sound effects. The scenes that focus on the serial killer are solid, menacing, and intense as fuck. It?s a shame they shit in their bed and roll around in it by getting too experimental with the tone. There is a lull in the middle of the film, after the serial killer is arrested, and the film?s torture sequence where the cops try to pry information out of Wong feels a little drawn out, but the rest of the film flows rather nicely.
The gore and the brutality is what this film is famous for, and for good reason. You?ve got your over the top rape and murder scene, you?ve got your crazy human butchering montage, and quite possibly the world?s worst and most brutal family massacre scene. The gore and the special effects are all laid out with a reverent flair that is disturbing and pulls no punches. If I liked children, I might have been tempted to turn the film off near the end, instead of laugh insanely. Good stuff.
The Untold Story has some major flaws, but the sheer ballsiness of the flick is enough to counterbalance the good against the bad, creating a delicious Hong Kong classic that is unlike any movie out there. The film?s complete lack of sensitivity to people that may have actually been killed in this true crime tale is appalling, but who gives a damn? It looks cooler than a pile of used profos, gives your stomach a couple twists, and sticks in the memory like that time you played hide and seek with your naked Scoutmaster at the annual Boy Scouts overnight campout.
Final Synopsis: This movie is only for the diehard horror fans out there, as it may be a little over the top and odd for the more casual fans. It?s a great flick that pulls no punches and delivers on the gore without wimping out in typical bullshit cinema-style. Give it a rent, or buy a copy if you?re a sick fuck. Like I am.
Points Lost: -1 for trying to combine Police Academy with Se7en tonally, -1 for a lame approach at telling the story; there?s no real mystery here, so stop pretending like there is one
Lesson Learned: The best recipe for barbecue pork buns includes urine, poop in a bucket, and human bodies ground into filling. Enjoy.
Burning Question: Why is it so fucking hard to find information on foreign serial killers? excluding the lame British serial killers?
The Untold Story.
Enoy and keep a bag next to you.Hey, you should really see this, be warned it has many disturbing material
posted 36 days ago -
I recommend you see...
Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring)
by AmandaLegendary Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman's probable precursor to Wes Craven's notorious 1972 shocker 'The Last House on the Left' is a far more compelling and emotionally draining film that adroitly and continuously switches the viewers sentiments up until the despondent, tranquil and haunting ending. While one minute the viewer is laughing along with the youthful, if naïve, exuberance of the young Karin (Birgitta Petterssen), the following minute will encourage different emotions as Bergman plunges the viewer into the middle of a nightmarish crime perpetrated by nothing less than the evil inside man. Although the portrayals of the acts committed in 'The Virgin Spring' are far less graphic than the modern viewer may have become accustomed to, they still retain an immense power to horrify as one cannot ignore the great lengths Bergman has gone to in order to give his characters a base in order to harden the impact of what we see. With just the simplest of dialogue, the viewer continues to learn about the relationships and personalities of each of the characters so that we may appreciate the consequences and, in some ways, forgive the actions that we see. This film is, after all, a tale of morality and repentance and therefore, even while in some cases the actions may be evil, it is necessary to accept the goodness that is still there. This thought is made no clearer than during the solemn and subdued final scene which fades out abruptly and leaves the viewer in a state of quiet reflection.
Bergman's pacing and subtle direction which at one point leaves the viewer in suspense for what seems like an eternity is surely the reason for the greatness of this film. As if he were playing chess, he manipulates not only the characters, but the emotions of the viewers with intelligent and surprising maneuvers while pressing home his own sentiments regarding the story so that we may at least take into great consideration the events that we have seen. Bergman has an amazing ability to flip the atmosphere of a movie in a split second using various lighting and camera angle techniques as well as motivating his performers to follow suit. The simple expression changes on the faces of Birgitta Petterssen, Max von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg and Gunnel Lindblom at various points throughout the film quickly alter the mindset of the viewer and indicate that all is not well; so beautiful in undeniable simplicity.
'The Virgin Spring' is nothing short of a masterpiece and a film that few will be able to forget.Hey, you should really see this!
posted 40 days ago
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