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Author Topic: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017  (Read 42423 times)

oldkid

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #80 on: October 03, 2017, 02:41:01 PM »
Pan's Labyrinth:  I was scared and grossed out so much by my first viewing of this film that although I wanted my pre-teen kids to watch it, I felt it was too intense.  When I watched it again I realized that it WAS intense but all the scares and gross images were all in my mind.  It is a horror movie, but mostly it is because of what Del Toro is painting on the inside of my skull.

Gerald's Game: I haven't' seen the film, but this book was one of three (It, and Dolores Clairborne were the others) that made me decide to give up on reading King because they were TOO effective. I found myself afraid to be alone for a period of time and my mind running with gross images I didn't want to live with.  I hesitate to watch the film, but know that it is a book that would possibly turn into one of the better King adaptations.

The Bad Batch
M. Night Shayamalan is certainly coming back, but for a while he hit a rough patch.  This patch partly began because the expectations for him exceeded his imagination and ability.  And it also was because he was indulgent.  He was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted because his name was placed before any story as a mark of quality.  But I appreciated his indulgence, even the often derided Lady in the Water, because it was basic, childish, and kind of fun.  Robert Rodriguez went that direction, as did, of course, George Lucas.  It is as if the films were made up of "wouldn't it be cool if" answers instead of careful plotting and character development.  And often I like that (unless someone is ruining a cherished universe, and yes, I'm looking at you, George).  It's enjoyable to follow someone's romp through Wonderland, to toss a bunch of ideas on the the wall and see what sticks and, heck, lets throw some of this in even though it doesn't really work.

And that is the approach to filmmaking that Ana Lily Amirpour has.  So what if a girl is walking alone at night, but she's the one to be scared of? And she's a vampire?  And she's a hooker in a burka? And what if...  What if the United States kicked everyone out who they didn't like, for whatever reason?  What if every met a pack of cannibals, right at the border?  What if Keanu Reeves had a harem?  What if Jim Carey were a hermit who never spoke?  There isn't a lot of focus in her film, but a lot of fun.  Like hanging out with her in the middle of the night at a pub that would like to close but we keep adding to the story saying, "And what if...?"

I like that kind of thing.  And adding in some Sergio Leone and some chill music and I'm satisfied.  I wish there was more George Miller action as well as atmosphere.

3.5/5


- Slightly Scary, or actually not really scary, but really gross at times.
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Sandy

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #81 on: October 03, 2017, 04:51:31 PM »
Interested in your take on Rosemary's Baby.

It's something I've been waiting for Shocktober to see and luckily Jeff has it on his list!

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #82 on: October 03, 2017, 04:52:56 PM »
RB would make a great double feature with mother!. One Sandy should definitely not watch.
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Sandy

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #83 on: October 03, 2017, 05:10:32 PM »
RB would make a great double feature with mother!. One Sandy should definitely not watch.

Yeah, I'm not too keen on watching abject abuse.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #84 on: October 03, 2017, 05:13:19 PM »
Pity. Abject abuse is the only kind of abuse I condescend to watch.
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Bondo

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #85 on: October 03, 2017, 09:29:06 PM »
The Bad Batch

I watched this but struggled to consider it a horror, even with cannibalism and some gory stuff. I stand by that Nerve is more of a horror film.

Though The Sixth Sense was Shyamalan's third film, as the one that people actually saw, it set a standard that he could hardly live up to in the minds of his critics. I feel like Amirpour has graciously dodged that a little. Her debut film was amazing, but maybe in this case sexism saved her because we like to think of men as egotistical auteurs, and we can punish them as such. In getting messier and kind of middling B-movie here, she actually has maybe gotten a more generous reception (even if it is appropriately mixed as to the film's quality). It was an easy enough watch, not boring, but it didn't really pay off in any way.

P.S. I definitely did not recognize Jim Carrey here. Thought it was Bill Paxton or something.

Beavermoose

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #86 on: October 04, 2017, 01:19:22 AM »
It (1990)
Curry is great but after hitting the 2 hour mark his appearances in the background of shots aren't nearly as creepy or unsettling as they are near the beginning. Especially in the second half when the actors are now all adults and the overacting to not quite so scary moments is a little distracting.
The childhood sequences are much better and make for really fun scenes, like the shower scene. Curry is really good at taunting the kids before threatening to eat them. The end is pretty crap though. It's final form is damn disappointing.

It
(2017)
Although probably longer than it should have been, this new adaptation is actually really fun. Skarsgard is much creepier than Curry, a bit less talkative, but still goofy enough. The horror sequences are hit or miss, I sort of wish there'd been more rogue shower heads and less zombie kids but the "blood in the sink" sequence goes full nightmare on elm street in this one and that was a whole lot of fun. The projector scene, although seemingly a common trope in horror movies these days is a whole lot more freaky than the photo album in the first film. The movie avoids most horror movie cliches and the child actors are all really good, although the overt sexualisation of the Beverly character was not really necessary. I also really liked that the movie didn't cut back and forth between kids and adult as in the original. The constant back and forth really messes with the pacing of the original movie. The way they go all "Death Proof" on Pennywise at the end is also pretty great. Had me smiling like a clown.

Was probably more invested in these kids than the ones in Stranger Things.

Junior

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #87 on: October 04, 2017, 08:11:45 AM »
It (1990)

I used to love this. Now it feels like what it is: a made-for-tv miniseries which misses a lot of the book it is based on and replaces it with terrible acting and stunted scares. Perhaps it's familiarity, but Tim Curry's Pennywise, while still entertaining, just feels like an ineffectual mostly-human monster. That is, until he turns into a terrible puppet and loses all ability to even make an impression. It's no wonder that I couldn't really remember the ending, it's so terrible here. It isn't great in the book, that's for sure, but hot damn if they didn't screw it up even worse here. A greater sin, though, is that the back half is boring as hell. They get most of the kid stuff out of the way in the first half of the film, so the remainder just features bad acting and meaningless scenes. This really kinda scares me about the upcoming sequel to this year's retelling. While the kid part works on its own, the adult sections divorced from a connection to the kids' story just kinda sits there. The filmmakers behind the 2019 sequel will have to inject some really good stuff into the film to make it worthwhile. This film barely registers anymore. It's sad.

D+

- Safe for Sandy


Resident Evil: The Last Chapter

I don't know how this happened. Well, first, I don't know how a movie series "based" on the RE games lasted for so long, and then I don't know how the final entry is somehow the best since the opening chapter. It's packed with ideas (half of them cribbed from Mad Max, but that's not necessarily a bad thing), like Paul W.S. Anderson and company just threw everything they had left in the tank at it. It helps that they retained Jorah Mormont (several times!) to give Alice a compelling antagonist to work against. I love the silly biblical stuff they threw in here for literally the first time in the 7-part series. The whole movie is a massive ret-con/backstory thing that doesn't really make a whole ton of sense but who cares? Its fun as heck. Wanna see Alice twirl around and shoot a bunch of zombies? Wanna see her fight what the press materials call a Jabberwocky (GET IT???) in an act of vehicular battle? Wanna see her fight Jorah like 6 times? I sure do. This was a blast. Not scary, like at all, but super entertaining.

B+

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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #88 on: October 04, 2017, 08:24:26 AM »
Please don't make me want to watch another RE movie. Next you'll be telling me I have to catch up with the last Underworld.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2017
« Reply #89 on: October 04, 2017, 11:07:38 AM »
The vulgar auteurists are back at it again.