The Films You Watched Thread VI: The Undiscovered Movie

[eastyy]

One thing i wondered.....is Star power actually a thing ?, I have never in my life decided to watch a film purely on the basis it has a certain actor or actress....directors and writers yes i have watched films they have done but actors/actresses never

[Dogg Thang]

Yes, it is and yes you have. Maybe it’s not something you think about but I can say with almost absolute certainty that you have watched films that you would otherwise have not watched if every single person in it was a nobody. It might not be that you’re specifically watching it for the star. But a movie that stars a certain calibre of actor will elevate the perception of the movie.

[JazzFunk]

Watched HIT! (1973), starring Billy Dee Williams as a cop whose 15yr old daughter dies of an overdose of a heroin-type drug called "Mother's Love".

Billy Dee OWNS this. And he's just playing this as an angry dad.

It's on Talking Pictures, rite now, the print they're using is AMAZING, it adds every depth you'd need.

SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!

[JazzFunk]

Serious, Billy Dee is SO badass in this.

Pure hero. Having seen this flick, he deserves several movies as the hero/opposite

[JazzFunk]

It's still on at mo. Tape.

Serious, looks sooooo goooood!!!!

[JazzFunk]

TAKEN from 2008 totally rips this movie off.

When Liam Neeson jumps into the taxi at the end of very start of TAKEN. It's ACE!!!!

In this version, the protagonist slaps that guy's head around for like aaaaages.

Serious, looks sooooo goooood!!!!

[JazzFunk]

Fuxsake, in this flick batters the guy in the taxi about like mad, that guy suffers like fuc������

[JazzFunk]

Billy Dee Williams iz da boss, no bollocks.

Great movie, absolutely brilliant HD print they chose for such an old movie.

Really impressed. It looks absolutely amazing on an HD set.

[wakka]

That sounds quality. By the same guy who did The Ipcress File, I notice. Def gonna try and check that one out.

[nonny]

A Promising Young Woman. Really enjoyed it.
Just when I thought the film was coming to a close, it turned out that there was still a good chunk more to go.

Powerful stuff.

Watched this last night without knowing anything about it. Pretty damn good to be fair and not what I was expecting.

I really like Carey Mulligan.

[JazzFunk]

Rewatched ROBOCOP 2 for the first time in about 30yrs. From that old 2001 DVD Trilogy in that cool plastic box.

Looked bloody great on my telly. Lacks the inspiredness of the first but is a banger of an 80s/90s stupid action classic. It LOOKS amazing, it pops visually, so much lurid colour and clarity, even the Robo suit has an iridescent tint to it which adds to the lush garishness and provides some iconic-looking imagery.

It's NOT the first film. It doesn't have the cool, intelligent, violent glibness. But it still features much of the same cast and is arguably nicer-looking.

Yeah. YEAH! I liked it loads more than the first time around and the twenty-one year old DVD looked AMAZING!!!!!!

Awwwww. I love moments like these.

[QualityChimp]

I finally finished Dune (1986 Via Prime).
I really wanted to like it as it was so great to look at, but they crammed too much in and it felt rushed and confusing.

21 Bridges (2019 Via Prime).
Wanted something to watch with the missus, and this proved an enjoyable thriller. Fairly simplistic, but Chadwick Boseman is a really engaging lead and the story rattles along at a fair old pace with a great score.

[wheelaa]

I recently saw Robocop 2 again for the first time in ages. Whereas my recent Robocop revisit blew me away, 2 I find a dud, sorry JF. Nice to see some old cabs though.

Watched The One again. Jet Li, Jason Statham (with a woeful American accent, and hair!), and Delroy Lindo (who I've not seen much of but always enjoy his performance) shooting guns and kicking ass. Very run of mill in all regards, not too serious, watchable not excellent action, honestly it's pretty terrible tbh, but I just kinda like it.

Also Happy Gilmore. Lockdown must be melting my brain as I laughed a few times, and overall enjoyed it. Mr Larson the highlight obviously.

[wakka]

I finally watched one I'd been meaning to see for an age...

Under The Shadow

This is a compact, very well executed ghost story. We follow a woman and her small daughter in their apartment in 1980s Iran, as beloved possessions go missing and things begin to go bump in the night.

So much of what makes a good ghost story is, I think, the backdrop. This has a cracker. You may or may not know (I didn't) that Iran in the 1980s was a very tough place to be for anybody, but especially if you were a woman. The 1979 revolution had just transitioned the country suddenly from a relatively liberal Muslim nation to a hardline theocracy, and the years-long ongoing war with Iraq meant bombs and air raid sirens were a part of daily life.

The woman we follow secretly rebels. She has an illegal VCR, on which she works out to Jane Fonda aerobics tapes. She dons her head dress only when absolutely necessary, and otherwise wears Western jeans and t-shirts. She wants to go back to university to become a doctor, like her husband (but isn't allowed - that's scene one, not a spoiler).

Her non-conformism is solitary. Her husband wants her to be a housewife. Her neighbours shoot disapproving looks at her in the hallways. The university rejects her. And in a tangle with the Mutawa religious police, we see there is no safety, security or even understanding for her in the wider society. All this as the bombs fall.

When we begin to experience the haunting - and we do experience it, this is not a war film or a historical film but very much a horror - it's all the more frightening. She, as the Final Girl, is totally isolated and unsupported. We, as the audience, are right there with her. And there's something very strange about how her daughter is behaving...

A brilliant 85 minutes, highly recommended. It's on Netflix.

[gordon]

Under The Shadow is an excellent film. Also worth checking out another of the director’s movies, Wounds, which is equally good and completely different.