The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[Finsbury Girl]

Finally got around to watching Nobody - was a blast, in some respects too similar to John Wick (no surprise) but in the end I didn't care. Christopher Lloyd stole the show lol

[Atticus]

Couple of De Palmas for me.

Firstly The Untouchables. I was still at school last time I saw this and being such a De Palma fanboy these days I thought it was worth another look. Initially it feels sweet and old fashioned, which I'm fine with, but very quickly the tone starts to shift all over the place. It's just not very focussed or well made in general. Kevin Costner's presence is way overly cheesy and sentimental and as for Robert De Niro ... they might as well have got Anton Rogers to play Al Capone. What a waste (or what a miscasting). The only saving grace is the wonderful Sean Connery as Malone ... he gives the film some much-needed heart and soul.

Then it was time for another viewing of Phantom of the Paradise. This is one of those films that just gets better and better. The songs by Paul Williams are brilliant and add to the repeat viewing factor greatly. It's a mad mash-up of Phantom of the Opera, Faust and A Picture of Dorian Gray ... with a central storyline of a songwriter, wronged by an industry giant. The whole film is bat**** crazy and I love every second. It's so much fun.

[wakka]

Yeah, the Untouchables is well overrated. I've never liked it.

I do love de Palma generally though and I've never seen Phantom of the Paradise. Must get around to that!

[Colin]

Still taking advantage of my wife being away, just watched Kick-Ass again for the first time in yonks, and it’s still just absolutely marvellous. The one thing I took away from this viewing though is I feel a bit sorry for Chloe Grace Moretz, it can’t have been easy to follow this with any part of her career, she’s just awesome in this.

[Colin]

Followed that up with Everybody Wants Some for maybe the fifth time. I love what Linklater does, along with my all time top five Dazed And Confused, he makes films about nothing yet to me are everything. We’ll all see our coming of age in different ways, but for me this guy really gets it.

[fallenangle]

Still taking advantage of my wife being away, just watched Kick-Ass again for the first time in yonks, and it’s still just absolutely marvellous. The one thing I took away from this viewing though is I feel a bit sorry for Chloe Grace Moretz, it can’t have been easy to follow this with any part of her career, she’s just awesome in this.

You just need to go to CGM's wiki pages to see she might not have had a role as good but she's been prolific and had a career which has included some good films, TV, stage productions and even voiced a few video games too. Most notably one of my favourite games of all time: Dishonored playing young empress Emily Kaldwin.

[fuse]

Was made to watch Hocus Pocus as it was about the spookiest thing my better half could handle for Halloween. Never watched it as a lad, so there was no nostalgia value to tap into, and although other films of a similar time/genre have still found ways to entertain me that aren't just playing on memories of a time gone by, this really didn't manage it. Didn't enjoy the musical numbers, didn't laugh at many of the gags, and the kid keeps getting dunked on for being a virgin. Poor kid.

[Neon Ignition]

Terrifier 2
The sequel immediately introduces Art being supernatural now and therefore unkillable, a ghost child, nightmare dreams, otherworld sequences etc and in doing so quickly destroys much of what made the original work. It also adds 50 minutes to the runtime which is almost entirely dedicated to sequences that add nothing to the film. It's a sequel focused on excess which outside of one characters demise doesn't even apply to the deaths. It was passable but makes it very clear that the risk for this series is that it will fall apart fast with subsequent entries.

Prey for the Devil
There's nothing new here or clever, a tale about a Nun who is interested in learning about Exorcisms in a male only field. But for something intended for streaming it was surprisingly solidly made and the lead actress was very likeable in the role as she pursues her goals.

Cabin in the Woods
There's a good idea behind this but the execution remains just ****. It never embraces the horror and it's an absolute rookie mistake to play its hand so early out of the gate.

Evil Dead
This is solid but the ultimate issue compared to the old films is that they were so confident in themselves and this one straddles references and nods but never fully seems to embrace either tonal approach so it lacks the appeal they had

[QualityChimp]

Goes without saying I'll be getting a watch in before the 31st. Said if before but after growing up with censored tv and VHS version it's great to finally have it uncut and also looking spectacular

Don't forget the big giveaway at 9!

[teddymeow]

Watched The Exorcist on Saturday night on BBC3.

Probably not the best idea at that time of night. Proper gets under the skin and oozes atmosphere.

Bloomin' marvellous!!

[Atticus]

^^^ masterpiece ^^^

That and Don’t Look Now are currently on BBC iplayer

[Colin]

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent. Loved it!

[QualityChimp]

Just walked in from seeing The Thing at the cinema.
First time watching it on the big screen and it was a real treat.
In my mind, it's all-out action, but it's got long sections of quiet, where the paranoia just builds.
I'm still not 100% sure who gets infected first, but I don't think we're supposed to. Even the silhouette of the person who spends time with the dog isn't supposed to be a cast member, so it's more ambiguous.

I've posted this before, but here's a short story of the events of the film, but told from the perspective of The Thing (spoilers, obviously!)

https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/

[Neon Ignition]

The Thing
Not at the cinema sadly, couldn't pull that together on this occasion. It's been a while and despite the complaints it gets it's fuelled my interest in rewatching the prequel to see how well it syncs up. It holds up well and Russell, as ever, is great.

Freddy vs Jason
It's not a great film but it still remains fun for the most part thanks to the tone being right for Freddy largely. Such a shame the sequel never came together.

[Atticus]

I remember going to see The Thing around 15 years ago at our local Cineworld. It sold out very quickly and the crowd was great (huge laugh at the tied to the couch outburst ).

Our Halloween movie last night was The Black Phone. Me and the boys loved it (wife won't watch anything remotely scary). It's got something different about it that I can't quite put my finger on, but it has an atmosphere throughout that just connects. Everything feels off, like the whole town is miserable and violent. But saying that it's probably quite restrained by modern standards, making it more old-school (fitting with the 70s setting) and delivering something a bit deeper than the rest of the crowd. Also, kudos to Ethan Hawke who is just brilliant as The Grabber. This one was a rental but I kind of wish I'd bought it outright.