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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Haunt (2019) in Movies

Jul 24, 2020  
Haunt (2019)
Haunt (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
Better than expected
I love watching horror films, however the majority of them end up rather poor and lacklustre. Yet I cant say this for Haunt, which was actually a rather pleasant surprise.

This starts off very slowly, almost too slowly and this means it doesn't get off to a good start. However once this actually moves into the haunted house it really starts to come into it's own and actually becomes a rather enthralling film. Storywise it isn't anything particularly new, however it's the execution that makes it stand out. It's creepy and full of blood and gore, without relying on too much CGI or jump scares. Whilst a few of the characters are rather irritating and deserve their comeuppance, it's refreshing to see some of the main protagonists actually act sensibly and don't run around like brainless idiots like most horror film victims do - although they do still make the odd silly decision or action, they are human after all. Even the acting was pretty decent. And the ending was a refreshing change and not what I was expecting at all.

Overall this was such a pleasant surprise and one of the better recent horror films I've seen in quite some time.
  
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Joey Santiago recommended Loaded by The Velvet Underground in Music (curated)

 
Loaded by The Velvet Underground
Loaded by The Velvet Underground
1970 | Compilation
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Ah that's the one, unfortunately, Lou Reed hated. He couldn't stand it... but I liked it! There's such a variety of songs on it. There's one song on there - [line cuts out; we reconnect] - I told you Lou Reed hated that album! That song 'Who Loves The Sun', how good is that?! The breakdown on it, it's like a hoedown. They called it an album, but this is just an art project! A lost memo for an album... Let's come up with 16 ideas and just whittle it down. 'I Found A Reason', that song, the melody [imitates it] that was just amazing. 'Rock & Roll', I first heard that in my father's car. He had a Monte Carlo, and I thought that was cool. It came on the radio and I was like, "What is this?!" It was so simple and it was talking about a radio station in New York - and I was in New York, that was where I heard it - and I just loved the rhythm guitar and also the soaring chorus, where it's just like three notes and it kind of soars around. And that became an influence on our song called 'Ed Is Dead' - another homage!"

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Eddie Murphy Delirious (1983)
Eddie Murphy Delirious (1983)
1983 | Comedy, Documentary, Musical
Has some all-timer bits, the entire segment with Eddie doing the drunk father routine had me doubled over in laughter - but otherwise disappointed to report that this is a mostly middling routine. Murphy's presence as a performer of course can never be understated, the dude is a force of nature even here at 22 and on SNL as young as 19. But this was *definitely* around the time where mainstream profanity (on this level, at least) in stand-up was still in its infancy and starting to become this enticingly risque thing because for the most part this uses vulgarity as a crutch in place of where a lot of these jokes need some room to breathe. I'm no stickler but the "lol I said dick!' act is only funny so many times, I adore caustic humor but when it's in service of such weaksauce, simple jokes it has all the nuance of a neckbeard Reddit post. Feels a lot like Chappelle's 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 & 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 in that it just seems like a surface-level attempt at provocation at times. Plus the transitions are super awkward. The first half is kind of boring though overall I did laugh quite a lot, but I left feeling almost nothing. Definitely not as iconic as the leather suit.
  
Goodbye, Children (Au Revoir Les Enfants) (1987)
Goodbye, Children (Au Revoir Les Enfants) (1987)
1987 | International, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Malle is one of my favorite directors. He flirts with genres, tries all sorts of things, travels all around the world, refuses to let go of documentary, his first love (or first milieu)—although his fiction movies are acclaimed. This film, close to his skin and past, is a strong coming-of-age work, set in France under Vichy. Often, in the middle of the day, I think of scenes from Au revoir les enfants, moments of grace like the restaurant sequence, with the mother. French officers burst into the place and ask for citizens’ papers. They find an old Jewish man dining quietly at his table and start to reprimand him, asking him if he knows how to read; the place is, of course, forbidden to “youtres,” as the young French officer says insolently. Suddenly, every patron at the restaurant starts yelling at the officers, insulting them (“Collabo!”), forcing them to leave. And then, among the clientele, German officers stand up and order them to exit the place. Strong turning point. That is exactly Malle, in there, striking again. Contrast, antagonism, emotions, brute emotions. The rest is craft and mastery. But emotions. That is what he aims for. That is what we get."

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Awix (3310 KP) rated Jason and the Argonauts (1963) in Movies

Oct 5, 2019 (Updated Oct 5, 2019)  
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
1963 | Fantasy
Corny but much-loved mythological fantasy film. Jason and his men go in search of a magic sheepskin, occasionally with the aid of the gods but without the assistance of modern special effects. A strong, mostly British cast do the usual sterling work while imported stars Todd Armstrong and Nancy Kovack stand around being obviously dubbed.

The script is, to be honest, all over the place: it's episodic, the writers seem to have been making it up as they went (the most memorable character wanders out of the movie half way through), and Jason doesn't actually complete the mission he sets himself at the start (maybe they were hoping for a sequel). However, for a bad movie this has some of the most wonderful special effects ever put on celluloid, namely Ray Harryhausen's brilliant hand-crafted animation. Any amount of stodgy non-acting and dubious costume design would be a small price to pay for sequences like the ones with the bronze titan Talos, the Hydra, or the mob of skeletons at the end (the skeleton battle is such a breathtaking achievement it should really be playing on loop in art galleries around the world). They don't make them like this any more. Even the bad bits are kind of bad in a good way.
  
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Andy K (10823 KP) Oct 5, 2019

I need to watch this again!