This was an interesting watch. Ostensibly this movie is about Lee Van Cleef as a river boat ferryman fighting outlaws, but the main characters are arguably the villains. A bunch of bandits and ex confederates lead by warren oats.
He's a real nasty work in this. Dude murders a whole town to steal silver and guns to finance a revolution in Mexico. There's a real magnetic quality to his evil and charisma that stands out on the screen, which makes it all the more satisfying as he slowly falls apart. See the pacing of this movie is kinda wild. Lee basically checkmates Oats less then an hour into the movie and his plan is totally screwed. So the rest of the film is basically him stewing in his juices fruitlessly trying to think of a way to get himself out of a hole. Dude gets shitfaced, does opium, and just slowly loses his marbles to madness and its kinda great.
Lee on the other hand may be playing his most scummy "hero" yet. Dude does not give a shit about anything but his boat and the simple pleasures of life. Sure he works to save the whole town and has some good in him. But if you offer your maidenhood to him he's going to come collect. He's a rough and tumble kind of guy and I thought that was interesting. Arguably his whole business put the town at risk, but it is what it is.
Not his best work but a solid watch if your a hardcore fan of westerns.
Started watching Silo after Null recommended it on the latest MATI. It's actually pretty engaging. I looked up the premise beforehand because I'm not a fan of the "mystery box" style of TV. I'd rather know the stakes going in so I can catch the small details on the first watch.
The themes are right up my alley. Sociological control and "ends justify the means" morality. The antagonists are interesting because they aren't just cartoonishly evil, you can see the logic behind their cruelty. It's essentially the Fallout vault lore, sociopathic command structures and localized experiments with an overarching goal. But without the ghouls and mutant bugs. Definitely worth a watch.
It's quite soy and feminist but alas it's [current year].
Speedrun guide:
Season 1: Episodes 1, 6, 7, 9, 10.
Season 2: Episodes 1, 3, 8, 9, 10.
Just finished 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, easily goes in my top 3 favorite zombie flicks. It's difficult for a movie to do something refreshing with the genre but both it and its predecessor did it for me
I was pretty disappointed with the first one, but part of me still wants to see the new one, I felt like it was building to something interesting. Is the VOD out already?
This is younger Boomer or older Gen X media, but I've started re-watching the 1978 BBC series Connections, hosted by James Burke. It's basically looking at how modern -- well, for the late 1970s -- technology came as a result of a series of interconnected discoveries and inventions over the centuries. I know there is the temptation to hand sweep a documentary series this old, particularly about technology, but Burke asked a number of questions back in the 1970s which proved to be enormously prescient today.
I'd recommend watching Connections and Connections 2 (which I'll be watching next), but the third and fourth series didn't meet the standard the first two set and I recommend skipping them.
After this, I'll re-watch his series The Day the Universe Changed, a philosophical view of how scientific progress has altered how we view the world. Again, there are questions raised which we're grappling with today.
It's depressing that stuff like this isn't being made anymore unless it's in service to modern social/cultural politics.
I have it on good authority you can find all of these series on many of your favourite torrent sites.
Up on Tubi, with all 22-episodes of the first season it's Chris Elliot's surreal sitcom Get a Life. It's the best ironic, absurdist sitcom which has been imitated endlessly on Adult Swim and elsewhere by various much lesser talents, except Get a Life doesn't have a Millennial chip on its shoulder about being hip, it's just funny. The first episode is deceptively relatively normal, the first season walks a tightrope act trying to be relatively "normal" but once you get a few episodes in you'll quickly realize how insane and ahead of its time it was.
In the second season, they go off the hook, Chris Elliot's character moves in with Brian Doyle Murray and starts getting absurd in even more blunt ways, like the episode that's like a take-off on E.T. and sitcoms where an alien is on Earth trying to live with a normal family, or the episode where he starts stalking a woman.
Liem neeson gets accused of a crime he didn't commit and its up to Cher of all people to prove his innocence. This was a fun court procedural/ murder mystery and I dug how it plays into the grittiness of 1980s washington. There's a neat contrast between the clean seats of congress and the dirty back alleys.
Liem Neeson plays a near deranged, feral, deaf, and mute hobo. He does a genuinely great job despite not getting a single line and at times feeling like a living prop. I was impressed that they didn't Hollywood him up too much in behavior, at one point he even starts beating up Cher in the beginning. And I really love how much they changed his hair style in the first hour. At one point he straight up looks like Qui Gon in prison clothes.
Cher really surprised me in this. I actually bought her as a defense attorney and she acted pretty dam well all things considered. Great sense of physical vulnerability contrasted with strength of character. Love how her first scene in the movie is her getting culturally enriched.
Dennis Quade is the other supporting lead and he plays a milk lobbyist that gets picked for jury duty before going all 12 angry men so he can save the day and bang Cher. Its a unique performance, and he felt believable as a scummy kind of political animal with a hidden sense off compassion and analytical eye.
It was a fun slow burn, broken up with sudden outbursts of violence.
I watched "Pornostar" (AKA Tokyo Rampage in english-speaking countries), the debut film of Toshiyaki Toyoda, who is most well-known for his excellent second film "Blue Ruin", a milestone in contemporary, off-mainstream japanese cinema.
Like with "Ryuzo and his Seven Henchmen" i did watch this before but had almost no memory of it. The film mostly focuses on Arano, the anti-social protagonist, who can be likened to a Travis Bickle-style character, just a lot more anti-social and unhinged. He thinks that the Yakuza and other unsavoury elements of society are, in his words, "not needed". He is carrying a gym bag with him almost the entire run time of the film and the reveal of its contents is MILD SPOILERSkind of a plot point and a very cool reveal Via circumstances he gets sort of adopted by a group of non-Yakuza affiliated gangsters/chinpiras even though he never wavers from his dogma that anyone who is poison to society (himself included to a certain degree) is "not needed" until the very end of the film.
Not gonna go deeper into the story, if you are interested in avant-garde japanese cinema you should watch this movie. I dimly remember this one got rave reviews at the time (the internet and modern reviews do not agree with my memory so i might be misrembering here) when japanese films where still rare and exotic in the European/German market and only had a very limited cinema run, if any at all. Not even sure if it got shown outside of the two cinemas in my city at the time of its release. I did try to get tickets to it when it was showing at one of these two, Arthouse-focused cinemas but the motherfuckers did not let me in because i was underage, despite me having watched 16 and 18 years old rated films in that very same cinema before (some 40-50 seat place that exists to this day, though they have expanded their premises since the 90s by a lot).
The film is shot, i think, entirely on Handicam and on a shoestring budget, no artificial lighting used and, what looks to me, shot without permits in the scenes that play out in the open in Shibuya, the reactions from bystanders make it seem like that to me. It gives it a very distinct and great look. While it is a crime film at its roots it is very much Arthouse, comparable to earlier films from Wong Kar-Wei, like Chungking Express or Fallen Angels, just a lot more rough around the edges (in a good way), much more serious and austere in tone. There is no brotherly love in this one, literally. I love how it portrays 90s Yakuza, no glorification of the criminal life, just some two-bit gangsters in cheap suits who do cheap crime shit after their glory days of the 70s and 80s. Not one character in this film has any redeeming qualities when it comes down to it as well.
The cinematography is one of the movie's high points, it looks amateurish in parts but it got some scenes in it that just blew me away, doing a lot with very little regarding its budget constraints (i could not find the actual sum of its budget online).
This scene got mentioned in every single review i read at the time of its release and it is easily understandebly why, i have no idea how they managed to shoot this, they certainly did not have money for CGI (EDIT: There must've been some early manner of CGI involved now that i watched the scene a couple times more and more closely) and had to do some trickery to make it look like this:
Converted .mp4 to .webm but there's no real quality loss because the film is shot on Handycam.
The film clocks in at 1 hour and 37 minutes and makes the most of its time. If you like jap avant-garde shit you will like this. I've certainly watched better japanese, low-budget movies but i really liked rewatching this one, it goes in a direction where even other jap low-budget, Arthouse-y films usually don't go.
You are, of course, correct. Mea Culpa. I don't feel too bad about my error because Blue Ruin is an amazing film too, so is pretty much every Saulnier film apart from Monster Party (plebs can hate on Rebel Ridge as much as they want, it was solid).
Edit: Are you refering to the "nigger virus" because he casted black men as leading roles in Rebel Ridge and Hold The Dark? If yes, i can't agree with that notion despite being quite racist myself. Hold The Dark was an exceptional movie, despite ommiting the last chapter of the book it was based on that makes it crystal clear that Medora and Vernon are brother and sister where the film is just hinting at it. Core, while clearly a white man in the book, was portrayed pretty good by Jeffrey Wright as well. Dude who played the lead in Rebel Ridge was solid, too.
I started watching Edge of Darkness (1985) and ending up watching the whole thing in a day. I'd heard about it for years as one of the best series that the BBC produced and it held up.
It stars Bob Peck of Jurassic Park fame as a police detective investigating the murder of his daughter, which leads him into a much deeper conspiracy.
It's a great show, captures a very particular time in UK history better than anything else I can think of. The cast is great, pacing is great, story is great, the music was made by Eric Clapton and it's phenomenal.
There's just one problem:
Maybe I am just reading into this, but I am pretty sure that the main character either wanted to or was actively fucking his daughter. It's this whole subtext throughout the entire series and I have no idea why or how it was added in. Honestly creeped me out. Other characters even infer that they know about it. Such a very odd choice.
Just saw Markiplier's Iron Lung movie. It was good. It was the best movie from a Youtuber from at least an artistic perspective. Maybe Airplane Mode or the Channel Awesome anniversary movies are a funner watch. Markiplier while not a Grade A actor, has range here and plays a character that feels human. Which is better than a large chunk of living actors in Hollywood today. The set design looked great for the rust bucket sub, the cinematography was good, it felt like a film that wanted to be made. The soundtrack had a nice ambience quality to it. There was a lot of fake blood. Like they said there was 80,000 gallons of fake blood used in this movie. It like how the creature at the bottom of the blood ocean used the voices of it's past victims in order to lure it's prey. The whole plot doesn't hold back. Once the movie starts it's already The Iron Lung, there is no drawn out set up nor tacked on bullshit. It holds nothing back on being what it is. Theater was packed too, a lot of people wanted to see this.
Just saw Markiplier's Iron Lung movie. It was good. It was the best movie from a Youtuber from at least an artistic perspective. Maybe Airplane Mode or the Channel Awesome anniversary movies are a funner watch. Markiplier while not a Grade A actor, has range here and plays a character that feels human. Which is better than a large chunk of living actors in Hollywood today. The set design looked great for the rust bucket sub, the cinematography was good, it felt like a film that wanted to be made. The soundtrack had a nice ambience quality to it. There was a lot of fake blood. Like they said there was 80,000 gallons of fake blood used in this movie. It like how the creature at the bottom of the blood ocean used the voices of it's past victims in order to lure it's prey. The whole plot doesn't hold back. Once the movie starts it's already The Iron Lung, there is no drawn out set up nor tacked on bullshit. It holds nothing back on being what it is. Theater was packed too, a lot of people wanted to see this. View attachment 8493106
Just saw Markiplier's Iron Lung movie. It was good. It was the best movie from a Youtuber from at least an artistic perspective. Maybe Airplane Mode or the Channel Awesome anniversary movies are a funner watch. Markiplier while not a Grade A actor, has range here and plays a character that feels human. Which is better than a large chunk of living actors in Hollywood today. The set design looked great for the rust bucket sub, the cinematography was good, it felt like a film that wanted to be made. The soundtrack had a nice ambience quality to it. There was a lot of fake blood. Like they said there was 80,000 gallons of fake blood used in this movie. It like how the creature at the bottom of the blood ocean used the voices of it's past victims in order to lure it's prey. The whole plot doesn't hold back. Once the movie starts it's already The Iron Lung, there is no drawn out set up nor tacked on bullshit. It holds nothing back on being what it is. Theater was packed too, a lot of people wanted to see this. View attachment 8493106
Very interested in seeing this, it seems like it's a passion project for the people involved, and the premise lends itself well to a cinematic adaption.
They closed every movie theatre near me, so hopefully VOD soon.
Very interested in seeing this, it seems like it's a passion project for the people involved, and the premise lends itself well to a cinematic adaption.
They closed every movie theatre near me, so hopefully VOD soon.
I've been going on a post-apocalyptic series binge recently:
Jericho (2006) - Recommend : the series is about Smalltown, USA contending with regular problems after major US cities got nuked. It's pretty grounded, the town has to deal with loss of power, communication, food. Being from 2006, it's also neatly pre-woke.
The Last Man on Earth (2015) - Avoid : weird comedy where the joke is to cuck and humiliate the main character over and over.
The Rain (2018 ) - Meh : the rain spreads a virus and teenagers try to survive, it doesn't try anything interesting with that premise but it's not dogshit. The show is in Danish.
Into the Night (2020) - Recommend : the Sun's radiation kills people, a dozen people keep flying West avoiding sunlight. It's pretty enjoyable but season two is weaker. It's Belgian so it's in French with some Dutch here and there.
Earth Abides (2024) - Recommend : a pandemic killed almost everyone and a guy tries to establish a small community of families. It's refreshingly hopeful and non-cynical which is rare for post-apocalyptic shows which are usually about everyone being a rapey asshole.
I've been going on a post-apocalyptic series binge recently:
Jericho (2006) - Recommend : the series is about Smalltown, USA contending with regular problems after major US cities got nuked. It's pretty grounded, the town has to deal with loss of power, communication, food. Being from 2006, it's also neatly pre-woke.
The Last Man on Earth (2015) - Avoid : weird comedy where the joke is to cuck and humiliate the main character over and over.
The Rain (2018 ) - Meh : the rain spreads a virus and teenagers try to survive, it doesn't try anything interesting with that premise but it's not dogshit. The show is in Danish.
Into the Night (2020) - Recommend : the Sun's radiation kills people, a dozen people keep flying West avoiding sunlight. It's pretty enjoyable but season two is weaker. It's Belgian so it's in French with some Dutch here and there.
Earth Abides (2024) - Recommend : a pandemic killed almost everyone and a guy tries to establish a small community of families. It's refreshingly hopeful and non-cynical which is rare for post-apocalyptic shows which are usually about everyone being a rapey asshole.
The Rain (2018 ) - Meh : the rain spreads a virus and teenagers try to survive, it doesn't try anything interesting with that premise but it's not dogshit. The show is in Danish.
Rasmus? Rasmusss! Rasmusmusmus?!? We know your brother's name, girl -- you don't have to yell it every five seconds! The Rain had an interesting premise that wasn't really delivered on.
Watched Legend (2015). Another Tom Hardy thing, cos I like Tom Hardy. Even if he tends to choose bad projects, he tends to be at least amusing in them. You may have seen clips in social media, or the meme where Tom Hardy stares at someone and pulls out a gun from under the table, and another Tom Hardy stops him and tells him "no no no".
In this one, he plays two twin brothers who run a gangster ring in London in the 60's.
As expected, Tom Hardy gives entertaining performances as Reg, the smooth-talking sane brother, and Roy, the violent, paranoid schizo brother. The only visual differences between them are the hair and that one wears glasses, otherwise it's all just posture, voice work, and mannerisms, and he makes them very distinct (although, across his roles he demonstrates a pretty good range, he seems to have a few "standard characters" he falls into, and the brothers are very clearly two of his standards). Other standouts are a brief but memorable role as a rival gang leader by Paul Bethany, Christopher Eccleston as a police office trying to catch the brothers, and the Second In Command Guy from Peaky Blinders (Arthur) playing Reg's Second In Command (Albert); of course, this is a much smaller role and the character is much less intense than in Peaky. Emily Browning plays Reg's wife and narrator of the story, Frances, and I found her performance mainly unremarkable (the most interesting thing about her role is that they pull a narrative bait and switch where she intentionally overdoses about 2/3rds into the story, and her narration points out "you thought I'd survive because I'm telling you this story", but she dies. She has chemistry with Hardy, and their courting is believable, but later on, even her moments of frustration and anger feel underplayed. Other than that, there's that guy who played Eggsy in Kingsman, playing Roy's main fuckboy (they're fags).
Overall, it feels a tad disjointed, the inevitable downfall seems like it happens too fast, like large stretches of time pass between scenes but no one changes significantly, until they do suddenly. One moment Reg is madly in love with his wife, the next he's being an utter asshole to her, going as far as raping her. I got to the end of the movie and it felt like it was building up to something, and it didn't happen. The movie does justify it, as Roy's madness fucks everything up for the organization, and a mook that Roy used to do something stupid earlier mocks Reg's wife's death, so Reg kills him in front of dozens of people, then tells Roy "I did it because I can't do it to you", but it still feels unsatisfying.
Of course, turns out this is based on a real story, so they can't radically change how things ended in real life, which is very anticlimatic, as life tends to be: Reg went to prison for that murder, was released because he had terminal cancer 8 months before he died in 2000, Roy died in 95 after being institutionalized for being fucking nuts.
Now, knowing they were real people, and the movie telling you they were the most feared gangsters in London at the time... The movie doesn't make you feel that way. They were thugs, sure, they committed crimes, dealt drugs, and did extortion, beat up rival gangs, etc. But as far as the movie shows, each kills exactly 1 person each, and both victims were other gangsters; barring one instance (and that was infighting), at no point does it seem like they sent their goons to kill anyone else either. Surely they were scary, but Peaky Blinders they weren't.
Anyway, decent movie, some fun moments, not super satisfying, but Tom Hardy entertaining in it, twice.
Two more that I've watched:
Revolution: gets goofy pretty fast but is basically the only post-apocalyptic show I've seen that depicts a rebuilding society instead of a Fallout/scavenger one. Fifteen years after a global EMP event society has rebuilt to 1850s technology levels: steam engines, black powder guns, etc. Also if you like Giancarlo Esposito he plays a major role in this.
L'Effondrement: French anthology about social collapse following a rotating cast of characters. The gimmick is that each episode is a "oner", a single, uninterrupted take. Sometimes it works better than others. One of my favorite of the episodes is set entirely in and around a gas station as people get more and more desperate for fuel.
