sandman67 wrote:His three bags o poodle poo dump on Django is gonna suck and blow more than a digeridoo player on speed.
Sorry Sandman, I take issue with this particular movie critique - I play the didgeridoo and it's more of a breathe through the nose and blow through the mouth.
I love medieval films...always have since my dad bought me an "army" of toy knights and footsoldiers and a castle as a kid. I even like complete tish tosh like the Kevin Costner Robin Hood film....and yes I can even stretch and say I liked the last version of it as well, even if Russel Crowe and his stupid wonky accent did its best to spoil it.
So, if that sort of epic metal clad stuff gets your juices flowing may I suggest for your visual delectation the massively smaller budget but massively better done IRONCLAD
James Purefoy leads a stellar cast of Brit talent as a war weary Templar who whilst travelling home gets dragged head first into the civil war between the naffed off barons and Bad King John, played to a psychotic tee by the ever excellent Paul Giamatti. A baron bands together a small team of hard as nails veteran troops and they take over Rochester Castle, pinning down Johhny the Bad till the French can arrive and kick his mad bad ass into exile.
Its centrally based on the historical siege of Rochester Castle, which was a bit like a British Thermopylae, with a small garrison of troops holding off a massive force outside the castle walls. The siege is wonderfully recreated in all its manure splattered mud mud and buckets of blood glory, and its damn stirring stuff. The battle scenes and fights are done really well, and it doesnt skimp on the flying limbs and arterial spouts o gore....its a bit like a chainmail clad Private Ryan that lasts an hour and a half....most of the film. It does dance a bit with the proper history, but its easy to ignore that and just get on with the excitement and trebuchet on stone, steel on flesh action. Some of the detailing is spot on...particularly the weapons fighting techniques, armour and siege machinery (including the pigs used to fuel the sappers fires that brought down the walls).
Utter classic stuff, done wonderfully on a miniscule budget, using a cast of great actors.
Perfect, and a solid gold keeper all the way.
Out and about in lovely hi rez DVDRIP formats at oneclick and veehd.
Seems fantasy films will be big this year.... here is a retelling of the Thesius myth that is due out later in the year, made by the crew that gave us 300. Its stylistically similar to 300 and looks excellent....even if Mickey Rourke seems to mumble his way unintelligably through his bad guy role. Look out for IMMORTALS at the cinema in November.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
Hmm, I'll undoubtedly watch this at some point, though I suspect Tintin won't have aged as well as some of my other childhood favourites, but my major problem, having seen the trailer, is the animation. I've got no problem with a cartoon, but why try to make a cartoon look like real people?
Hooookay, another one out of the hard drive bag o fun
DYLAN DOG: DEAD OF NIGHT
Sort of like a film noir CONSTANTINE meets Buffy really with some sly black jokes and a dash of gory humor thrown in for laughs. Dylan is a private eye who specialises in cases involving the undead and unnatural of all stripes, and who is also charged with keeping the peace between the three tribes - vampires, werewolves and zombies. Living in New Orleans means the place is literally crawling with them, and the fragile intertribe peace is threatened when one ambitious group on the make steal an artifact that will raise Belial and start a war to end all wars. Dylan is reluctantly dragged off his couch and back into the fray....
Its not bad, and fun in a no brainer Buffyesque way. Not as grim as Constantine, but done entertainigly and with some cool effects and laughs to keep your eyeballs amused.
Worth checking out, and its a keeper (as Ive just junked some old stuff Id forgotten to trash) but only just.
Two cheers
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
Don't know if this is available on DVD in Thailand but it came out on the Finnish TV last night. "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" tells about the Irish War of Independence and the following Civil War. I thought the story and the cast were great and I did learn something new about the events during that time.
Not sure if this is the correct thread (actually pretty sure it isn't)... maybe the global warming one or a whole new thread would be better, but as this thread is viewed more than others I thought I'll put it here first.
I thought this was a great documentary/movie(?) providing some stunning views of our planet.
Over an hour and a half long but time well spent in my opinion. Also a non profit group which is a far cry from your money obsessed Hollywood monkeys,
Not sure if it's been mentioned on this thread yet but just got through the Thai film 'Shutter'. Thought it was an excellent horror. Came across the full movie (Eng Subtitles) on you tube but I'm sure you can get a better copy of it elsewhere.
Gotta say when it comes to horror films, which aint really my bag, SE Asia is far superior to the tired old Hollyblood arse. The Japanese original RING - RINGU is still one of the creepiest films Ive ever seen.
your source for all film SE Asian.... you need to register to get the download links but its free and spam safe. Full range of all SE Asian films and genres. One of my favorite film sources. Download links are of site file hosts like megaupload. Easy to use and a great source of films for SE Asian film fans like me.
The handy bit is 90% of teh films have subtitle files as well so you can drop a Thai film and watch it with the missus after burning it to disk.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
There are a few films that leave such an impression on you that you really do not forget them ever. For me there are a lot, as IMa film geek, but one of the most outstanding is a little slice of Korean crime thriller revenge madness called OLDBOY. There are a lot of adjectives I could use...brutal, uncompromising, twisted...but you also need to add poetic, lyrical, and deep. It pulls no punches, but ever single hammer blow to your brain is there for a purpose.
Oh, the "Oldboy", has spent 15 years locked in a prison like hotel room by captors who kidnap, drug and hold him for a reason he cant ever comprehend. Via TV in his room he learns his wife is murdered, his daughter fostered out, and he is the prime suspect. He determines that he will escape, and keeps himself in fighting form whilst held, slowly tunneling his way through a wall with a chopstick....but on the day he plans to escape he is gassed, and wakes to find himself free and abandoned on a hotel roof, with a mobile in his pocket. Oh then sets out to find out why he was kidnapped, and who has killed his wife and destroyed his life. The kicker...his imprisoner gives him 5 days to work out why. If he doesnt...he dies. If he does...well......
If theres a film Id recommed then this is one of them. Its not easy to watch, and you may even need a couple of viewings to work out what the hell is going on in the early bits...but I guarantee you will enjoy it. The film moves from quiet introspective moments of tenderness to totally over the top violence within seconds, but every scene is filmed perfectly, and the timing is impeccable, as is the acting. The end is meant to be ambiguous, allowing the viewer to complete the story, which is better than a simplistic ending which would not have worked.
Its a multi award winning classic slice of Korean extreme cinema all the way.
Here is the trailer
You can download it at DVD quality with english subtitles coded onto the film from stageVu at
Just right click the black "download" button and save as.... easy see.
NOW..... for the kick in the bollocks
Its being "re-imagined" by those cornholer scum of Hollywood (for re-imagined read shat on from a great hight). You can tell this is going to be a disaster....Spike Lee is in charge. Spike fecking Lee.....
May whatever gods there are rot his damn soul, and may he be run over by a fecking bus or die of eye cancer first. This is the equivalent of remaking Casablanca with a cast made up of the Black N White Minstrel Show, or Gone With The Wind starring Jim Carey and Bette Midler.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
sandman67 wrote:There are a few films that leave such an impression on you that you really do not forget them ever. For me there are a lot, as IMa film geek, but one of the most outstanding is a little slice of Korean crime thriller revenge madness called OLDBOY. There are a lot of adjectives I could use...brutal, uncompromising, twisted...but you also need to add poetic, lyrical, and deep. It pulls no punches, but ever single hammer blow to your brain is there for a purpose.
Well put. Friends who viewed the film after my recommendation usually say something like 'you weren't exaggerating'. They were not referring only to how good I said the film was but also it's attributes, what sandman described as "brutal, uncompromising, twisted...but you also need to add poetic, lyrical, and deep".
One warning if you haven't experienced the best South Korean cinema has to offer. After seeing a few great Koran films you may then find Hollywood pale and predictable by comparison.
One warning if you haven't experienced the best South Korean cinema has to offer. After seeing a few great Koran films you may then find Hollywood pale and predictable by comparison.
well said that man. Its not really as cut and dry as "Everything you can do we can do better..." but SE Asian cinema and especially S Korean cinema, which blends the taughtness of Japanese styles with the epic qualities of Chinese cinema and adds a Damocles spin all of its own, is simply outstanding. Here are three more examples of what you may be missing out on:
Saving Private Ryan is a classic example of neo-war film making at its best. The opening sequence is breathtaking in its horror, but the rest of the film whilst being excellent falls back into the same old same old trap of a band of misfits on a misfit mission pulling together blah blah blah. Its still an excellent film, and a real classic even for that.... however.... compare it to two of the finest examples of Korean war cinema TAEGUKGI and 71: INTO THE FIRE.
Taegukgi (aka The Brotherhood of War) tells the tale in flashback of two brothers separated by the Korean war who end up fighting on opposite sides of the conflict. It takes the start of Private Ryan to whole new levels, adding an artistic beauty to those horrific battle scenes and a whole new set of levels of depth to the plot and story arcs. The scene where the communist troops charge forward with their red banners flying through hails of lead is like a painting come to life...breathtakingly beautiful. It is also brutal and uncompromising, showing not just the horrors of war but the chaos war brings, its dehumanising effect on all it touches, and the war crimes comitted by both sides.
It also uses a plot device that Hollyspud ripped off for Letters From Iwo Jima - the discovery of war artefacts that must be returned to the families in question as a plot driver.
Its just superior in any way to whatever the west have churned out, and pushes Ryan into the shadows. Here is a link for the english subbed version...if you havent seen it you are missing out:
71: Into The Fire tells the true story of a bunch of military academy cadets who get left behind as the communist forces advance, and with a battle hardened bomb happy sergeant lead a Thermopylae like stand off against a whole armoured division. Again it is lyrical and poetic in its battle horror, and as the lead and blood flies it still manages to do it in an artistic way, as well as telling a stirring story of desparation and bravery in the face of overwhelming forces.
Then if war films have your attention waning how about a good old monster movie? Remember CLOVERFIELD...the Blair Witch A Like found footage chase through a monster infected Manhattan? Sort of so so wasnt it? Like a Chinese takeaway it filled you up for a bit then left an empty feeling....well try a much more superior S Korean menu item - THE HOST.
Its a straight monster movie about a bunch of small time takeaway stand traders whose niece is taken by a river dwelling mutant monster that causes chaos in Seoul. They ignore the military cordons and set out to find her. Sounds simple eh? No...this is Korean cinema so in there are also plot lines about an overly facistic government response, loss, guilt, and redemption all done with aplomb and skill that Hollyspud can only ever aspire to. Its also done traditionally rather than by shakey-cam so wont give you a headache watching it as Cloverfield does with me. Again shows the west how to make great films.
as I said above right click on the black box marked download and save as...easy free and fast.
Now...off you go. Watch these three films, and see if you agree with Homer and me....happy viewing chums
EDIT: Im declaring this week World Cinema Week on the thread. Im gonna source different foriegn language films that have rocked my boat and post links for dropping em here. Lets add some different dishes to our bland diet of western fast food film and see whether we enjoy it or get the trots. Coming up....Russian war epics both modern and historical, French sci fi, Thai historical epics, and Korean Wu Jia fantasy epics....stay tuned HHAD chums and get the popcorn in the microwave and beer in the cooler.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
