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Post by RyanGoslingFan99 on Aug 31, 2012 1:46:08 GMT -5
Ok, so I really had alot of fun with the other versions of the movie club. I feel we have a little bit more liberty to discuss and review than in the Last Move You Watched thread, so I'm going to try and get this going again.
The criteria will be as follows:
1. Review a Movie (Must have a beginning, middle and end) let's try and give the reader of this thread a really good picture of what the movie was like.
And that's it... so, let's get the ball rolling.
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Post by RyanGoslingFan99 on Aug 31, 2012 2:08:38 GMT -5
To Sir With Love (2006) 5.5/10To Sir With Love is a Korean version of an American Slasher film, which is what drew my interest in the first place. I was surprised to find that To Sir With Love (or Bloody Reunion on Netflix) was a basic by the numbers slasher film with a last minute twist ending that left me scratching my head in confusion. The story follows former classmates who are going to visit their sick teacher. Each classmate has a very dark history with the teacher, and each of them has the motive to kill their old teacher. Suddenly, each student begins getting killed one by one by a masked killer until we are left with the shocking reveal. The actual story for the movie is not that bad at all, the story sets up great tension between all these characters and their old teacher, what's missing in slasher films nowadays. The slasher aspects are pretty radical here too, the killer isn't actually very imaginative but the violence in this movie is and it's quite disturbing. Where this movie fails ultimately is it's ending. Spoiler Alert The final act reveals that the young lady taking care of the teacher throughout the movie and the only one I actually liked is in fact the killer. They try and make it all Usual Suspects on us but the reveal is just confusing and totally unnecessary I wish I could recommend this but I cannot, until next time guys...
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Post by AD on Aug 31, 2012 19:10:14 GMT -5
I saw that movie on the Sundance channel a few years ago (under the "Bloody Reunion" title). I don't remember much about it, but I do remember that I didn't care for it. Just your basic uninspired bloodletting.
Anyway, I'm planning to watch a few movies this weekend. Maybe I will review one if I find the ambition.
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Post by RyanGoslingFan99 on Sept 1, 2012 2:13:49 GMT -5
Yeah, I thought the premise was interesting enough and some of the build was good. I could have seen this done better as a whodunit instead of an all out slasher, add alittle more suspense to it and take out the terrible ending. I thought the lead actress (Yeong-hie Seo) was good too, she stood against the bland atmosphere and it appears she did a few more movies worth note as well (The Chaser)
Yes, please AD! Any reviews/discussions would be greatly appreciated; also add some recommendations! The older threads had tons of recommendations or picks that I think are greatly missed. You could even review a tv show here if you like, episode by episode or what have you.
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Post by AD on Sept 3, 2012 19:54:33 GMT -5
Street of Shame (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1956) No list of the greatest filmmakers of all time is complete without an appearance by the Japanese grandmaster Kenji Mizoguchi whose late period masterpieces Sansho the Bailiff and Ugetsu are among the most deeply emotional and visually rich films I‘ve ever seen. While overshadowed today by those towering achievements, his final film, Street of Shame, caused such a stir upon it’s release that it was credited with helping get an anti-prostitution law passed in Japan. That’s ironic because the film shows no signs of being intended as a political polemic. Mizoguchi simply tells the personal stories of a few women working in a brothel. They all know they’re being exploited by the proprietors of the house, but at least they’re able to make their own money. Some of them suffer shame and defeat. Others are able to save their money and become self-sufficient. Most of them just carry on living their lives the best they can given the harsh economic realities facing them. There’s none of the finger wagging or sermonizing you might expect (especially given that English title), and the film is all the more powerful because of it.
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Post by RyanGoslingFan99 on Sept 4, 2012 4:57:45 GMT -5
Lake Mungo (2006)
6.5/10
Lake Mungo is a slow burn mockumentary/drama/thriller that follows the story of the Palmer Family whose daughter Alice Palmer died of an accidental drowning while swimming in a local dam. After her death, the Palmer family begins to experience strange occurrences at their home, and not only that it begins to effect everyone that knew Alice. The Palmers enlist the help of a psychic who finds out some troubling things and a secret life that Alice lived.
The film has a very impressive cast that truly make you believe they are regular people (being natural is quite difficult to pull off in a mockumentary) and the combination of how footage is used really helps to suck the viewer into thinking what they are watching actually happened.
Lake Mungo is not going to be for everyone, especially if you are not a fan of ghost stories and or documentary style movies. The plot unravels very slowly but something is always going on in the movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. However, I do believe that with the slow burn came some plot twists that take away from the movie and hold it back from being something truly special. It isn't a complete waste though, the movie has genuine moments of dread and terror. Throughout the entire movie, you have this unsettling feeling that not everything is as it seems. The movie just keeps adding to the tension to the final second, and it works tremendously. The plot of this film may be very similar to a popular television show so you may have an idea of what you are in store for. This was an After Dark Horror Film, which is really shocking for him considering how well done it was. Do yourself a favor and watch this, in the dark!
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Post by AD on Sept 9, 2012 16:21:00 GMT -5
God Bless America (Bobcat Goldthwait, 2011) I want to like Bobcat Goldthwait’s movies. I want to support the one American director who specializes in provocative feel-bad comedies. The problem is so far it seems like his ambitions have outweighed his abilities. God Bless America is intended as a satire about the decay of American society (touching on everything from reality tv and Glenn Beck-like political pundits to rude movie theatre patrons and anti-gay-rights protestors). But it’s not really a satire--that term implies a level of wit and imagination that this film lacks. Yes, anybody whose capacity for empathy is higher than that of a sociopath realizes that those people waving their “God Hates Fags” signs are horrible human beings, but there’s nothing particularly funny or creative or thought provoking about gunning them down en masse. There is one laugh-out-loud moment in the film--an inspired bit of comic filmmaking involving the main character’s attempt to blow up a car (using the old flaming rag in the gas tank trick), an inconvenient gust of wind, and a classic Alice Cooper song--but mostly I was left staring at the screen wondering whether the film was really intended as a comedy.
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Post by RyanGoslingFan99 on Sept 13, 2012 6:21:46 GMT -5
Deadgirl (2008) Starring: Noah Segan (From Kablam! fame!!) 4/10Deadgirl got alot of buzz on the horror scene a few years ago, calling it a classic was a bit of a stretch in my opinion but there was some things here that were done well. The film plays out like a dark comedy, a very dark comedy. It is probably that very reason that most people may find this film to be vulgar or crude, this isn't going to be for everyone. The film's premise is very simple, two burnouts go into an abandoned mental asylum and find a deadgirl inside. The girl ends up not being dead but being some sort of zombie/experiment and the two friends have to decide what they are going to do with her. The film portrays high school kids in a very real fashion, meaning that not one of them displays rational sense. The characters are very unlikeable, which may be apart of the dark comedy of the film. You find yourself just watching these people do more terrible acts and becoming more dark as the film goes along. I highlighted Noah Segan's name as he plays the main antagonist in the film and plays it very well and very tongue and cheek. I can't say I'd recommend this movie, the concept is very interesting and is so dark that it could only work as a comedy. If you want a good horror/comedy try Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness, but if you want to see what all the hype was about then by all means...just be warned.
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Post by RyanGoslingFan99 on Sept 13, 2012 7:11:43 GMT -5
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) Starring: Su-jeong Lim, Geun-Young Moon 10/10"The best movie I've ever seen"I've given a few films the perfect score before but I like to think my taste has become alittle more refined, this film has been on my to watch list for years and I've rented it on several occasions and never got around to watching it. After finally sitting through it, I can say without question that this is the best movie I've ever seen. This film has everything that a classic should have; direction, acting, sound, story, cinematography are all top notch here. There is a reason that this film was the highest grossing Korean Horror film of all time and even had an American screening. Tale of Two Sisters is based off a folktale; Two Sisters return home after spending time in a mental institution to their father and cruel stepmother. While the two sisters try to readjust to life, they are tormented by the stepmom and by unseen forces trying to tear the family apart. I have so much to say about the film that I find it hard to form into words. This is a cinema classic and needs to viewed by all, it's such a beautiful and heartbreaking movie. This is art.
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