What was the last movie you've seen?

[Luke]

Robert De Niro makes crappy films nowadays and he doesn't give a monkey's.

GRUDGE MATCH looks like fun.

[Ack]

PRISONERS

*Flashback to 2011* In a Hollywood studio complex a group of writers are spitballing ideas for their next big project. The door swings open with a woosh, and there stands a Hollywood Fat cat, wearing a suit with suspenders and smoking a cigar. He snarls and screams while pointing at the writers "You guys are going to do something a bit different! You're going to write a classic suspense movie full of plot twists and characters that you can relate to and that also act like actual human beings! And get some actors that are actually believable! Like that Hustle and Flow guy and some Australian actor with incredible range! And the story! Focus on the damned story instead of explosions an action sequences! If the audience doesn't feel some type of adrenaline rush I'll castrate the lot of you! And if the dialogue strays from any action at hand, I'll castrate the rest of the men in your family!"

At least I think that is how it went down. PRISONERS could have been entirely laughable in the wrong hands. Not saying it is perfect by any stretch, but it achieves what it set out to do, which is to provide a suspenseful thriller.

And, as usual, non-wolverine Jackman brings the mustard.

I hadn't heard anything about this film. But reading your thoughts on it made me go look up the trailer.

Damn. Da-a-amn.

[Luke]

I hadn't heard anything about this film. But reading your thoughts on it made me go look up the trailer.

Damn. Da-a-amn.

I think it will be a sleeper and within days explode at the box office. One HUGE issue I have with movies is how no one acts or thinks like a person during certain situations. That usually is my beef with movies like PROMETHEUS which kept me asking "who in the fudge would do that?".

PRISONERS is chock full of characters that are unbelievably believable. They think and act both rationally and irrationally, like actual people do. It's not schticky either.

I'll be seeing it the theater again when it is released.

[Stark]

Robert De Niro makes crappy films nowadays and he doesn't give a monkey's.

GRUDGE MATCH looks like fun.

I think THE FAMILY looks like a good dark action/comedy one too.

[EvilRyu2099]

I heard KILLING SEASON was awful!!!

[BogusMeatFactory]

Brace yourselves... I am a straight, married man and I love the movie... Xanadu.

Now, I know you will all think I am crazy for making such a seemingly ludicrous statement, but let me make my case. First off, let's talk about what Xanadu is.

Xanadu was a commercial failure in the early 1980's whose plot revolved around an artist's desire to move away from commercial art and open up a roller disco, an idea that hits him as inspiration from a muse that comes down from the heavens, a crazy idea that is clearly a child of the transition from the 70's to the 80's, but there is something charming about it.

First off, the film is an homage to the song and dance films of the 1940's and 50's as seen by one of the main characters being played by the great Gene Kelly. You see bits and pieces of that old film sensibility mixed in with the trippy, out of this world vision that is iconic of the 80's. What you get as a result is such a strange, yet delightful mixture of the disco era, 1980's absurdity and the wholesome love of film in the 40's.

It is so strange to say it...but this movie is so underrated and is a blast to watch.

I honestly went to watch it to make fun of it and came out saying, "I get it... it's good."

[REPO Man]

So I have to ask, guys, because it's bothering me: What caused Val Kilmer's career to suddenly nose dive?

Two words: Batman. Forever.

And he got fat after he dissed Oprah or something. I don't know if slowly turning into a pumpkin is the standard punishment for talking smack about Oprah or it was just him that got that Whammy.

Brace yourselves... I am a straight, married man and I love the movie... Xanadu.

Now, I know you will all think I am crazy for making such a seemingly ludicrous statement, but let me make my case. First off, let's talk about what Xanadu is.

Xanadu was a commercial failure in the early 1980's whose plot revolved around an artist's desire to move away from commercial art and open up a roller disco, an idea that hits him as inspiration from a muse that comes down from the heavens, a crazy idea that is clearly a child of the transition from the 70's to the 80's, but there is something charming about it.

First off, the film is an homage to the song and dance films of the 1940's and 50's as seen by one of the main characters being played by the great Gene Kelly. You see bits and pieces of that old film sensibility mixed in with the trippy, out of this world vision that is iconic of the 80's. What you get as a result is such a strange, yet delightful mixture of the disco era, 1980's absurdity and the wholesome love of film in the 40's.

It is so strange to say it...but this movie is so underrated and is a blast to watch.

I honestly went to watch it to make fun of it and came out saying, "I get it... it's good."

I liked Xanadu as well. But in all honesty, it's NOT my all-time fave cult musical. They're all awesome IMHO, but while my screen name suggests I'm gonna say "REPO! The Genetic Opera", I have to say the sheer awesomeness of REPO! gets out-awesomed by a little-known DePalma-directed film from 1974:



It's mostly a reimagining of "Phantom of the Opera", albeit mashed up with Faust and elements of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (which ironically is a reimagining of Faust), done as a black-humored horror-dramedy-flavored parody of the '70s music scene, or the music industry in general for that matter.

And the music is done by '70s music mainstay/honorary Muppet (shaddup!) Paul Williams.

For the best DVD version, import the French release from Opening, which touts a better transfer. They also made the Blu-Ray.

I'd love to do a Broadway version of this, albeit rebooted in an anachronistic version of present-day and skewing how much and how little things have changed in the music industry. And then do a film version of the Broadway version.

Other cult musicals worth checking out, aside from REPO!, Xanadu and Phantom of the Paradise:



While an initial flop due to its arrival on the scene as a disco-based musical during the genre's twilight years, it has become a cult film.

Combining Faustian elements with a dark satire of the music industry, it tells the tale of two young Canadian musicians, one who is swayed by an unscrupulous record producer and finds fame and fortune, but potentially at the cost of her very soul! But comes the male lead who tries to save her before it's too tale.



Essentially a re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland done by The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo (before they were a band called Oingo Boingo, they were an acting troupe) and directed by Richard Elfman, we find Frenchie Hercules as she finds herself in the Sixth Dimension and part of a love triangle between an amourous king (played by Herve Villachaiz) and his second wife Queen Doris (played by Susan Tyrell), and soon her brother and grandfather come to save her, as does a nerdy loser named Squeezit Henderson, who's also trying to save his "sister" Renee (both played by Matthew Bright, credited as Toshiro Boloney) but soon they encounter froggy manservants, the king's constantly topless daughter, and even Satan (played by Danny Elfman)!

There's a colorized version out (it was originally in B&W), and sequel in the works.



While relatively short (at only about an hour), this cult musical, directed by REPO!'s own Terrence Zdunich (who plays The Devil) and Darren Lynn Bousman, follows three damned souls as they find themselves in Hell. But forget the subterranean Hell you may have heard about. This Hell is a vicious carnival run by The Devil and his stygian carnies as they force the damned souls to relive their sins in an ironic manner based on the Aesop fable that most resembles their lives.

Features many REPO! castmembers, including Paul Sorvino (as God), Nivek OgRe (as The Twin), and Alexa Vega, along with Dayton Callie, Marc Senter and Emilie Autumn.



What can I say that others haven't been saying about this brilliant film since it was adapted from a stage musical back around 13 years ago?

[Jrecee]

Val Kilmer was an asshole to everyone he worked with, and his reputation eventually caught up with him so people stopped hiring him. Truthfully, Val Kilmer never really had an amazing career. He had a sprinkling of good movies here and there...

[EvilRyu2099]

Val Kilmer was an asshole to everyone he worked with, and his reputation eventually caught up with him so people stopped hiring him. Truthfully, Val Kilmer never really had an amazing career. He had a sprinkling of good movies here and there...

Yeah I stated that a few pages ago..

Also yesterday I saw Prisoners.. A solid movie with great acting performances from Dano, Gyllenhaal and Jackman, but the movie reminded me too much of the Vanishing.. Still liked it overall, but I'm not sure if this is an Oscar Worthy film..

[Ack]

So I watched a couple of movies recently:



Deadly Outlaw: Rekka

I love a good Takashi Miike film, especially from his direct-to-video Yakuza flick days, and even more so when B-movie star Riki Takeuchi plays a role. Rekka starts as a relatively normal film, where a drug dealer takes out a Yakuza crime boss, and Takeuchi's character Kunisada wants revenge. What follows is betrayal, murder, and the dismantling of his enemies while he is pursued by a pair of sadistic hitmen. And then there's the usual WTF ending involving the ghost of the Yakuza boss... Good job, Miike!



Night of the Creeps

I mentioned this one already in the horror thread that Ds started a few days ago. This is a campy cult classic that combines great special effects, good humor, and an '80s feel good attitude to its disturbing level of gore. Also, third favorite lawnmower kill in a film, after Dead Alive and Hobo with a Shotgun.



Outrage

I'd give this a solid B, because while I think it is incredibly well done, I felt there were too many plotlines running simultaneously. The story of Yakuza backstabbing to get ahead mixes well with drug dealing and murder, and the relationship between Yakuza and law enforcement makes for great cinema. But the international and political angle was far less compelling as the Yakuza turn an embassy into a casino. Still, Beat Takeshi can make one hell of a film, and the violence of this one does not disappoint.