Sinister (2012)

Long time...

Managed to squeeze in Sinister yesterday. Sinister is... interesting.

Firstly let's talk about Ethan Hawke. He has not been in anything substantial since Daydreak!!

Credit where credit is due. The sound engineers know what they are doing. Fantastic soundscape!!! Crystal clear, atmospheric and is the spookiest aspect of the movie.

By Hollywood standards, this is not an expensive movie to make! USD 3M. And like Paranormal Activity and Sinister, it grounds the movie, making is seems more... I don't know, real!!

Spooky movie

Every time Ethan loads a new film reel, in the 8mm projector....

First two acts were good and then the ending.... loses me....

If you like Paranormal Activity and Insidious, give this a go

If you can find a cinema that is not full, so much the better!!

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 12 2017, 09:27 PM

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Ah, Joss Whedon, good old Joss Whedon. It has been a good year for him!!

First he directed The Avengers and he also wrote this!!

He had actually did something almost impossible.

He made the horror movie genre, interesting again.

He basically took all forms of horror movies (slashers, gory, ghost) broke in down into it's basic component, and wrote this little movie from grounds up!!

It starts out like a typical, I Know What You Did Last Summer and ended it... well, I'm getting ahead of my self.

Joss Whedon has also got something that is almost unheard of, he is loyal.

If you see his works (TV mainly), he use alot of actor that he has fun working with

Fran Kranz (Dollhouse), Tom Lenk (buffy the Vampire Slayer), Amy Acker (Angel) all appears in this. Not many Writer/Director can claim that!! Not now anyway.

I really don't want to spoil this for you.

If you like horror, no matter which genre watch this.

You won't regret it

My two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 12 2017, 09:27 PM

Dredd (2012)

Watched this a couple of weeks back.

The things that worked

1) Karl Urban
2) The decision to keep Judge Dredd face covered
2) The Slow mo violent shots (because that is how the comic book was drawn

The things that didn't work

1) For USD 50M budget, the judges' costume and bikes were.... underwhelming
2) Again, the sets were also a let down

If they had merge this movie with Stallone's version, it probably would have been a kick ass movie.

My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 12 2017, 09:27 PM

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

Watched this a couple of weeks back

To be very frank with you, I had to load IMDB up to remember the name of this movie.

And there in lies the problem.

There is ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO POINT to the movie.

Apart from Milla Jovovich in very VERY flattering outfits and shooting guns.

And some of the action sequence were impressive.

Am I complaining, no, but would it be too much to ask for a point to a movie. Please with sugar on it.

I don't want to be deprive of Milla Jovovich in very VERY flattering outfits.

Please, a point to a movie!!

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 12 2017, 09:27 PM

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Well, color me yellow and call me ignorant. I never knew the Low Yat movie thread had an Alfred Hitchcock forum, let alone two!!

I was thinking about starting one and was most surprise to find two.

Since I'm more familiar with Makakeke, I thought I'll post my stuff here. I've not visited the Low Yat forum for quite some time and is not even sure if he still visits...

Okay

Alfred Hitchcock work, is ingrain in many people minds. Yes even kiddies. They reason is, his works is so influential, a lot of current directors emulate him!!

Alfred Hitchcock was probably the first to come out with a formula for "Suspense" and "Thriller" in movies and people who are familiar with his work will also say in their minds anyway, Hitchcock had done this and Hitchcock had done that whilst watching a current movie!! (I do anyway)

Many modern director had tried (and some had failed miserably, never muck with the master, unless you know what you are doing!!)

Namely

Rope (1948) (supposedly based on true event) was remade as Murder by Numbers (2002) (a bad remake)
Dial M for Murder (1954) was remade as A Perfect Murder (1998) (I kinda like this remake)
Psycho (1960) was remade as Psycho (1998) (Pure and utter disaster!!)

I'm sure there are more, but for the life of me, at 1:16 am in the morning, the old noodle is stretched thin...

What had me tickled pink is they are now releasing most of Hitchcock's movies on Hi Def, which is good. Not all of Hitchcock's movie had been available DVD. And I don't think all his works will be made available on Hi Def... I doubt alot of his early works in England would ever be release on Hi Def....

The first time I watch this, I watched on on DVD.

Now having the opportunity to watch it in High Def, a lot more detail had popped up.

Mainly the texture of the characters' clothing and detail of objects.

There are some really soft scenes and that is mainly due to the shots with rear projection (an old fashion special effect technique)

The plot of the movie is thus

Guy Haines, and up and coming Tennis Superstar is entangled with his wife.

She has been making demands for him and had promised to give him a divorce.

Meanwhile, he is dating a senator's daughter and has been frank with her about his soon to be divorced wife.

He travels by train to his hometown to finalize his divorce.

On the train he meets up with Bruno Antony, who recognizes Guy Haines as the tennis player...

He also know a lot about his personal life and came up with the idea of switching murders...

As they say, the plot thickens...

I understand that this wasn't a big hit for Hitchcock, and he later commented that maybe his choice of the unknown lead actors namely Farley Granger and Ruth Roman maybe a poor one.

I actually appreciate both of them and thought that they did their respective roles well.

So kiddies, if you want to know the original master of suspense, give this a try.

I'll try to post all my observation about the Alfred Hitchcock movies as I revisit them on Hi Def

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 26 2012, 11:46 AM

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

This was release on Bluray on the Dec 06, 2011.

I must have watched it again some time soon after that.

I had intended to post my observations soon after but work/time schedule/procrastination set in...

As a bluray piece, most people familiar with the format would be disappointed.

Supposedly, Criterion had put alot of effort into transferring this from 35mm prints to the digital format.

It is suppose to be way superior compared to the DVD release.

Looking at the source material they had to work with I would go as far as to say, it is only decent.

Please bare in mind this movie came out in 1938...

The story is thus

A rich American playgirl, Iris Henderson, on a holiday in Europe, meets up with a semi retired governess Miss Froy. They were leaving the small village they were in on the same train in the morning. That evening Iris, was rudely awaken by Gilbert (he likes playing music loudly at night) and through this situation they meet. Iris is really cheese off by Gilbert.

In the morning, Iris and Miss Froy boarded the train. But before they could, a flower pot fell off a ledge at the train station and landed on Iris head!! Miss Froy brought her into the train and gave her some of her tea. Iris decided to take a nap because she has a headache and the last thing she saw was Miss Froy smiling face. She slept for a while and when she awoke, Miss Froy is no where to be seen and no one recollect seeing her... In her search, she bumps into Gilbert...

This is a very VERY old movie, and some part may seem... meh, but Hitchcock has the ability to draw you back in and takes you on a train ride!!

Give this a try why don't you...

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 28 2012, 10:19 AM

Rebecca (1940)

I cannot talk about Rebecca without mentioning David O. Selznick.

He produced Gone with the Wind. And because of the buzzed generated while producing Gone with the Wind, he used that as leverage to invited Alfred Hitchcock to America to direct movies.

Also interesting to note that Alfred Hitchcock had earlier visited America and was not able to get any studios interested in taking him on as a director, though at that time he had already made a couple of internationally critically acclaim movies, namely Jamaica Inn, The Lady Vanishes etc.

David O. Selznick and Alfred Hitchcock were NOT compatible. They both had VERY different working styles and I believe Hitchcock had gone as far as describing Selznick as being meddlesome.

There are stories of Selznick visiting Rebecca's set and demanding all kinds of changes, Hitchcock would shoot the scenes according to how Selznick "suggested" and as soon as Selznick leaves, Hitchcock would reshoot the scene as he had originally planned...

Having Laurence Olivier (already a well known actor) and Joan Fontaine (an ingenue at this point) wasn't easy.

Laurence felt that Joan was not in his caliber and when they were not shooting a scene, he had totally ignored her. There is a story where the entire crew threw Joan Fontaine a surprise birthday party and after the candles were blown and the cake was cut, Olivia took his piece and walked back to his own changing room, ignore the party...

I like this movie. Probably one of the first Alfred Hitchcock movie I had the chance to watch in it entirety.

The reason I believe why Selznick was attracted to his material is probably because it is Wuthering Height-ish.

Also, I understand the first project Selznick originally wanted Hitchcock to work on, is a movie about The Titanic, but scrap the plan when he couldn't get a boat to sink!!!!

The story is thus

A young Au Pair meets a rich widower Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo. They fall in love and got married. They then return to Maxim home. The new Mrs De Winter finds that adapting to her new life is a lot more complicated then she thought it would be. The original Mrs De Winter still cast a large shadow...

If possible kiddies, watch this if you get the chance.

Sorry for rambling on. As stated this was the very first Alfred Hitchcock movie that introduces his movies to me (I did see some Alfred Hitchcock Present before this) and I had dig as much "dirt" as I can about it...

I have done a review of Rebecca some time back, when this thread was known as Last Movie Watched

Here is my original review Rebecca Review

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Oct 28 2012, 06:58 PM

The Birds (1963)

This is probably one of Alfred Hitchcock's best known work.

It is also probably one of Hitchcock's movie I like the least.

This is Hitchcock's most special effects laden or in another words, most technically demanding movie by Hitchcock and there lies the problem.

What Hitchcock wanted to present in the movie in 1963, was alot more complex then the technology which was available then, would allow.

Alot of the scenes would require either rear projection technique, or optical projection technique.

Because alot of green screen and many layering was required, but the time the nth layer was added, some layers just got too blurred... hence not able to sell the scene. At least for me.

Also alot of the action scene were done with blue/green screen, and because of the speed required, the blue/green edge is really visible, again, making the scenes a hard sell to me...

There is a silver lining.

There is a scene in the movie, when the proverbial "shit has hit the fan", the people in the village start to look for a scape goat. And the lead actress (Tippi Hedren) character, Melanie Daniels, got the blame. Hitchcock made a very sharp observation by saying that no matter how civilized/evolved we think we are, when something happens, we would still resort to our more based instinct.

I have mention in my previous posting, that Hitchcock's work, is often copied/emulated, I really cannot say for a FACT that this is what happened, it is my humble opinion that Stephen King and director Frank Darabont, was inspired and explored this more thoroughly in the book/movie The Mist (2007)!

The story is thus

Melanie Daniels a modern rich socialite, in San Francisco, is attracted to lawyer Mitch Brenner. So much so that she tracks him down (he often goes back to his home town Bodega Bay during the weekends). Once she had done so, the birds in Bodega Bay starts to act up!!

Give this a try why don't you. At least you see some old school special effects (and before you snicker about the aged special effect, please note that George Lucas practically used the same technique. The difference is, he is filth rich enough to go back to all his original master film rescan everything to digital format and recompile everything again, giving you the sharp edges and seamless merging between the different film elements)

There is one more thing that troubles me about this movie



My Two Sen

Saboteur (1942)

Good job Universal.

This is a good transfer to HD!

I love this transfer

This is alot better then the DVD transfer.

Please note that this was release two year after Rebecca (1940) and nine years BEFORE The Strangers On the Train (1951).

I really like this transfer. It is very consistent and unlike The Strangers On The Train the effects shots were minimum and weren't as obvious as Strangers...

This movie was made at the height of WWII, and it is interesting that "doing the right thing, liberty and good how good an average Americans are" are so "American".

I really feel that the cast, director and producer really believe in this (I'm sure there were some pressure put on movie company to make the "right" kind of movies during the war)

It is also interesting that the villains are all the the "rich and opulent" (old world) and that the average Joe (American) can "save" the day.

Priscilla Lane and Robert Cummings makes interesting leads and also have to add the actor who play Priscilla Lane uncle, have the best lines about governments, and it is STILL applicable at this day and age...

The story start with Robert Cummings being accuse of being a Saboteur (the air plane factory he works at had a bad fire, stopping it from producing air plane for the war effort). He goes on a run.

It has a very clunky story line, where the plot lines don't actually match up.

And the ending... well, let not go into that.

I know I sound down right negative about this movie, but despite what I say above, it actually works!!

If you like old movie and you like thrillers, give this a try why don't ya!!

My two Sen

The Trouble with Harry (1955)

This by far is Alfred Hitchcock's most beautiful movie!

The transfer is sharp and the colour palate, BEAUTIFUL.

I don't think he uses color like this before and never did again after.

The late spring early autumn colours were just brilliant!!

This is also Alfred Hitchcock's more "comedic" and "quirky" work.

Dark comedy I believe they call them now

A VERY young and pretty Shirley MacLaine is in this one and I never knew how "off beat" she can be and she is REALLY off beat here...

The story is thus

Capt. Albert Wiles discovers a body whilst he was hunting.

He thinks he had killed the man with a stray bullet.

As he attempted to bury the body, almost everyone started traping through the area.

One was so engross in what he was doing he do not notice the body.

Another was more interested in what he can "procure" from the body (he took the corpse's shoes)

A young lady and a small boy notice the body during their walk. The young lady obviously recognized the body but didn't want to do anything about it...

When the coast was clear, the captain again proceed to attempt the burial but was discovered by another lady from the villages...

And there are a whole lost more details to be reveal about the movie!!!!

Oh the dead person, if you had not guessed by now, is Harry!

Watch this. I cannot recommend this movie enough.

My Two Sen

this is the farking golden classic leh bro.....GOOOOD

Cold War (寒戰) 2012

How times have changed

Used to be everybody clamor to be the first to put a movie info or review for a movie here, and now...

Honestly, I'm hesitant of current Hong Kong movie.

Style over substance seems to be the norm.

Poor story telling is covered up by "Star Power" and "Stylish Production" (as far as Hong Kong is concern)

We are VERY far away from the Golden age of Hong Kong movie from the 70s (Shaw brothers and Bruce Lee), 80s (Chinese Vampire Movie, Samuel Hui and Brothers, Chow Yuen Fatt etc) and 90s (Stephen Chow)...

They might not ALWAYS have high production value, but with a little bit of Asian ingenuity and which a little tongue and cheek, I can rewatch those movies till the cow come home!!

But I digress, we are here to talk about Cold War.

It does reminds me of a little bit of Infernal Affair, but not quite.

The story is very ambitious and about 70% of the movie, the execution is actually good.

And have to add, there are JUST too many loopholes and discrepancies that stop this movie from being... GREAT

Aaron Kwok spearheads this movie along with Tony Leung

They both did excellent work

Up and comer Aarif Rahman is also in the mix

One main complain about this movie is that is tries to hard to be complex and clever, and because they tried too hard... They tend to trip over themselves.

One of the better movie to come out in a long time from Hong Kong

If you are a fan of Infernal Affair/Hong Kong movie, give it a go.

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Nov 11 2012, 02:21 AM

Skyfall (2012)

Quantum leaps over The Quantum of Solace.

Nuff Said

My Two Sen

I feel QoS gets a bad rep for following directly in the footsteps of the almost immaculate CR. I re-watched it recently, right after watching CR, and found it to be pretty good. Nothing great, of course, but nothing offensive either. I'd give it a solid 3.5/5. Villain is weak, but as a direct, real-time sequel to CR it works, and in the end Bond has a sort of catharsis, which I thought would lead to the classic Bond of the old...

... but again in Skyfall they bring back the Bond burdened with emotions, especially for the second half of the film. Not quite as emo as QoS, but more of a tender and caring Bond.

The last scene in Skyfall suggests they will really go back to the old days now, but I think the serious tone of the Craig Bonds will remain as long as Craig is Bond. Less emotional perhaps, but still serious.

Anyway Deakins' photography absolutely elevates Skyfall.

Hey Quickfire

You rated QoS at 3.5/5.

What do you rate Skyfall?

Casino Royale 4.5/5
Quantum of Solace 3.5/5
Skyfall 4/5

Well now that I typed it out it seems unfair that Skyfall is only 0.5 higher than QoS, precisely why score ratings shouldn't be trusted! Another day I might have rated QoS at 3/5 and CR 5/5.

Skyfall's cinematography certainly is 5/5 though. Doubt there's a better looking Bond ever?

You mean the look of the movie or Daniel Craig??

I really appreciate how they managed to "encapsulate" all the James Bond movie with one brilliant stroke.

Storyline, storyline. Everything boils down to storyline.

I'm biase, I'll probably put rate them as

Casino Royale 4.8/5
Quantum of Solace 3.2/5 (-0.3 for the EXTREMELY stupid title)
Skyfall 4.5/5

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Nov 11 2012, 06:41 PM

I should note that I can't remember most Bond movies, especially after Goldfinger and before Goldeneye. I've probably seen almost all of them when I was a kid, but I can't remember much except a lot of them seemed silly even when I was a kid!

And I mean the look of the film of course. Lol. The neon-tinged Shanghai, glowing red Macau casino. The Inception limbo-esque deserted island. Scotland countryside. And once Skyfall erupts in flames... Wow. Amazing depth and texture to the images. Much better than any 3D gimmick! Deakins has to finally win an Oscar!

Actually I can't decide if the decision to take the action to Skyfall was a good or bad idea. It's cool that Mendes managed to suck out all excess noise and just leave Bond, M, and Silva on a lonely cottage. It's pure and unadulterated. And yet he doesn't give it the necessary action kicks to make it really work. In the end it's just dull grenades being thrown and machine guns being fired from the hips stuff, although the explosion was satisfying. And Deakins lighting and photography... Not sure if I mentioned how good it is. The finale ends on a whimper too, with an anticlimactic knife throw. But I loved the noises Bardem makes with the knife in his back!

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Nov 11 2012, 07:06 PM

HAHAHA!

Ah the advantage of the youth.

To be VERY frank, with the new release of the previous 22 James Bond movies on Bluray, I've just revisited the Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan ones.

I never did like Roger Moore (people, please, personal opinion. I'm sure there are alot of Roger Moore's James Bond fans out there, and good for you) and Timothy Dalton (okay, I'm sure I'm on safer ground here) was just terrible.

If you just watch Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Dr. No, you understand what I mean by encapsulated.

It does seem that there is life after Lord Voldemort.

Initially I kinda like the new Q, but as the movie progress, he grew less and less likeable to me.

I do really like the new Moneypenny.

Yes Macau was WAY ridiculous.

I love the ruggedness of Scotland.

Who would have thunk that they paid homage to Sean Connery by making James Bond Scottish!!

You'll think they'll pull a Spiderman on James Bond by making the death of James Bonds parents more... Insidious (eg. killed by Spectra etc)

Hey even I know it's spelled SPECTRE!

Albert Finney's role was written for Connery. Mendes said in an interview that they wanted Connery back but then decides otherwise as having Connery who is Bond would detract too much from the film. I can understand that. But without Connery there was no need for the Kincade character. The film was pretty economical with its characters up to that point; Kincade was just superfluous.

The new Q is ok if he has less screen time. He's one of those fellas who can be smug-good in short spurts but smug-annoying if given any more weight.

Btw what's the resemblance between Skyfall and Dr. No? And what's wrong with Macau? If you mean it's just too pretty to be true then yes. I never saw any such thing while I was in Macau.