movies Last Movie You Watched..

[Jon E(vil)]

Veneno para las hadas. (Poison for the fairies) 1984. Mexico.
8.5/10
Two little girls practice witchcraft.
A new girl to a school aged about 10, befriends another little girl who has a very sinister streak. The film is from their perspective and any adults in the film are only generally seen from the back. The plot moves along nicely, one girl clearly dominant in the relationship and happy to lead the other into trouble.
The title of the film deals with a 'spell' she wants to cast, there is real innocence to the evil girl and a noticeable fear increasing in the friend as they get the ingredients.
Well crafted with a tension filled ending.

 

[Jon E(vil)]

The people vs George Lucas. 2012.
5/10
A doco about the love for the original Star Wars film (trilogy) and the resentment for the re-issues and 'prequels'.
The film has alot of different talking heads and ALOT of different view points about what was good, what went wrong, what some people love, what some people hate. There are little points made at certain times that kinda explain things in a rational way, then it reverts to mockery.
Comes across as jumbled mess most of the time, but shows the devotion to a special film and then way big business saw that and exploited it.

 

[Jon E(vil)]

Huesera. The bone woman. 2023. Mexico.
8/10
Rosemarys baby for a new generation.
Excellent horror thriller about a woman and her husband who are expecting their first child. The film sets up the idea early on the a entity has come into her house and therefore her. Little strange things happen that gradually get more intense. Set in middle class Mexico, it show spiritual beliefs that are still strongly believed. Economic run time and creative use of music and scenes kept me fully engaged. The last act seemed to level out before there was a very interesting, surreal ending involving a group of older women and the young mother.

 

[Jon E(vil)]

Cocaine bear. 2023.
Bootlegged a cam copy just to see it.
Based on very simple events, a 'story' is crafted into a film.
Forgettable characters and meanders along. 45mins in is when it really got going with the whole ambulance scene, but that was about the most interesting bit.
Clever idea with a catchy trailer, but a whole of nothing.

 

[Jon E(vil)]

The nile hilton incident. 2017. Egypt.
8/10
A murderer is seen by a hotel cleaner, and things get messy.
Good crime thriller that starts off slowly and really gets to the heart of Egyptian society and justice.
Set just before the uprising that saw the overthrow of the regime, a police major is assigned a murder case of a famous local woman.
First half is kinda funny the way it shows how corrupt the system is, and how hard to it would be to investigate such a case.
Second half of the film is when it starts to get more serious as 'State Security' are involved and witnesses need to be silenced.
Realistic and gritty it shows how a corrupt police force functions. Echos of Chinatown, with a plot that is easy to follow. Even thou things don't end 'nicely' it by no means sells you on the idea it would have right from the start.

 

[Jon E(vil)]

Cario 678. 2018. Egypt.
6/10
3 classes of women form a mutal bond over the scourge of sexual harrasment. One lower class, wears a headscarf and modest clothing, another middle class, works a job in a call center, the other owns her own store selling art.
Each is sexually harassed in a traumatizing way. There stories are seperate but slowly they come together over the fact the head scarf woman fights back due to taking a 'class' from the store owner.
The plot moves along nicely as the flashbacks show how it all connects in an unassuming way.
Interesting that it tries to show a (worldwide) issue in a conservative, if your at the lower end of things but liberal, if you have money, country at the some time. Felt a little simplistic at times, but a solid drama.

 

[Jon E(vil)]

Taxidermia. 2006. Hungary.
5/10
Surreal film that follows three separate but kinda connected stories. Very well filmed with humour and horror bouncing in and out pretty seamlessly.
The visuals are what made the film, but lack of a plot kinda hindered my interest and by the third act it was interesting, but kind of a drag.


Cario conspiracy. 2022. Egypt.
9/10
From the director of The nile hilton incident.
A Imam from a powerful mosque dies and the president wants a particular bloke to replace him. What follows is an intense and thrilling slow burn of a film.
State security have a informant, but he is killed so a new student is picked to replace him. It deals alot with religion and sets out that the mosque has a very strong influence on society in general, so they need someone who is in line with them. No action scenes of any kind. It slowly reveals what happened and how they go about getting what information they need via the student. Builds up nicely.

 

[Zeodus]

Castle Freak - 2020

I think I like this 'remake?' better than the original(1995). The original was good, but this one I prefer I think. I hardly ever, ever prefer remakes, this would be an excemption.

 

[Jon E(vil)]

The point men. 2023. South Korea.
5/10
A korean diplomat negotiates for a bunch of missionaries to be released.
Based on a true story, but with characters and situations that are fictional, the film moves at a decent pace. It soon gets bogged down at about the one hour mark when it becomes apparent that it just negotiation after negotiation. This turns it into more of a thriller, just repeating itself.
It shows the fractured nature of the Taliban and the uselessness of the Afghan government.
A better film was escape from mogadishu

 

[ZZZBen]

Binge-watching an old Australian series (of all things) at work.... Rescue: Special Operations. Heidi's qt.

 

[fromHELL]

Lock Up(1989) Still awesome after all these years. 9/10. RIP Tom Sizemore

 

[Jon E(vil)]

Petain. 1993. France.
7/10.
Interesting WW2 political drama that resulted in the take over of France by the Germans.
Not being at all familar with the events, the film does a good of taking it slowly and setting up a small cast of characters.
The tension between top characters is not highly charged but there is a underlying tension. With the rising threat of Germany and no real way out, it how the Marshall with balance the interests of the public along with those who plot his fall from within. Overall, a decent look a interesting time in history, that held my interest for just over the two hour run time.

No trailer.

 

[Cold Ethyl]

Cocaine bear. 2023.
Bootlegged a cam copy just to see it.
Based on very simple events, a 'story' is crafted into a film.
Forgettable characters and meanders along. 45mins in is when it really got going with the whole ambulance scene, but that was about the most interesting bit.
Clever idea with a catchy trailer, but a whole of nothing.

How was it it looked funny as hell. I read the story about the real bear wasn't funny lol

 

[Theseus]

Just watched Shutter Island I read the book and the film is great I definitely recommend both

 

[HB2033]

They Live

 

[Jon E(vil)]

How was it it looked funny as hell. I read the story about the real bear wasn't funny lol

Trailer was edited to make it look good.
Seems to fill the void of the violent comedy that doesn't get made.
Just one bit with the ambulance was actually funny. The rest is a bland mix of sub plots.

 

[Cold Ethyl]

Trailer was edited to make it look good.
Seems to fill the void of the violent comedy that doesn't get made.
Just one bit with the ambulance was actually funny. The rest is a bland mix of sub plots.

Damn that sucksni was hoping it is gonna be stupid funny

 

[Zeodus]

Just finished watching 'God Told Me To' for the first time. Wasn't too shabby, quite good actually. That's my in depth review

 

[Jon E(vil)]

Me too. 2012. Russia.
7/10
Five people go in search of a bell tower that will transport them to a place of 'happiness'.
Interesting drama in which a bent cop together with a old musician, break out his booze addicted friend and along with his dad and a hooker they pick up on the way the go in search of the bell tower. Having seen a few of this directors films i kinda knew what i was in for.
The landscape and general atmosphere showed a barren country, with little of anything for the locals. There is a sense of quiet acceptance that life here is shit, just get on with it. This enables the characters to kinda shine in their own way. Futile as the whole concept seems, it's a engaging kinda thought provoking film about where and what 'happiness' truly is.

Damn that sucksni was hoping it is gonna be stupid funny

Well, if stupid funny is what you want. It's there. For me, i wanted to see if it actually worked as a simple story of a bear blown out on cocaine.. The films title, poster and trailer sets it up as a something it isn't. There is humour in it for sure. But it meandered off in several directions.
If you happen to watch it, please let me know what you thought.

 

[Rocco54]