Knowing Log Out | Topics | Search
Moderators | Edit Profile

RAMSEY CAMPBELL » Discussion » Knowing « Previous Next »

Author Message
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Friday, October 15, 2010 - 11:31 pm:   

If any of you haven't seen the film, just to let you know if you fancy a bit of good old fashioned 1950's style sci-fi B movie in your weekend diet, try it.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Jamie Rosen (Jamie)
Username: Jamie

Registered: 11-2008
Posted From: 99.241.48.210
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 12:14 am:   

I saw it in the theatres and thought it was brilliant fun. Not ground-breaking by any means, but it had a sort of fabular quality to it that pressed all the right buttons for me. And one or two giant disaster set-pieces that worked spectacularly on the big screen, I felt.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 01:43 am:   

Jamie - it's just the last ten minutes, and some of the dialogue poor Cage had to utter, but I enjoyed this for what it was, popcorn hokum.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

John Forth (John)
Username: John

Registered: 05-2008
Posted From: 82.24.1.217
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 06:05 pm:   

I liked the premise, and some of the set-pieces were decent. But by the end it had become entirely incoherent rubbish.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 07:44 pm:   

John - For it's actually just that last ten minutes, the rest was as I say, B movies hokum. Great for a Friday night 'let's disconnect the brain' type thing.

But it was a piece of art compared to The Oxford Murders, with John Hurt and Elijah Woods. This is the worst film in years I've had the misfortune to see. Both Ewa and I couldn't believe what we were watching. Still recovering. Truly godawful shite.Not even Hurt can save it. So unintentionally hilarious that the black humour losses out. Dreadful, dreadful. And the dialogue in places, not to mention the character motivations, makes you think the director is either an alien, or a complete fecking dimwit. The latter seems probable.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Jamie Rosen (Jamie)
Username: Jamie

Registered: 11-2008
Posted From: 99.241.48.210
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 07:52 pm:   

Hmm... that makes me worry about the quality of the novel The Oxford Murders is based on, which currently sits about 1094th in my TBR pile. :-)
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 07:58 pm:   

Jamie - if it's anything like the film, which is meant to be a faithful adaptation, then the mind boggles. It is truly awful. The spaghetti sex scene, the terrible acting (to be fair the script/dialogue makes it impossible for anybody but Hurt to be able to rescue it), the inadvertent hilarity of the action...really, this is my definite stinker of the last five years. Maybe decade.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.179.36.225
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 08:01 pm:   

spaghetti sex scene

What?

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 08:10 pm:   

Don't Mick, don't, just turn around and don't look back.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 11:30 pm:   

Whatever you do, folks, don't rent or buy Legion. I think today has been a day for God awful movies. I should have known better, but I thought I was in for a night of popcorn daftness. But sometimes daft simply translates into CRAP.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Jamie Rosen (Jamie)
Username: Jamie

Registered: 11-2008
Posted From: 99.241.48.210
Posted on Sunday, October 17, 2010 - 06:39 am:   

I had hoped to hear good things about Legion, but I can't say I'm surprised. Oh well.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.237.200
Posted on Sunday, October 17, 2010 - 09:30 am:   

Well I saw a fantastic film this evening - don't want to start a whole thread, but what the hell, I'll just mention it here....

THE PROWLER (1951), starring Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes, directed by Joseph Losey, screenplay by Dalton Trumbo (under a pseudonym), co-produced by Sam Spiegel and John Huston (pseudonym & uncredited!). Apparently called his "favorite film" by James Ellroy, it has a classic POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE-ish storyline, but darkly twisted, sexually charged, and creepy overall.

There's also more than a touch of horror inside, what with many atmospheric flourishes, but also... the film opens - first shot, even before the credits run - with Evelyn Keyes seeing a "prowler" at her window - a presence the movie never reveals, and a sighting that sets off all the wickedness to come. An evil spirit?... or a demonic presence?... I think that's how we're supposed to take it, in retrospect.... Catch this one if you can.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Sunday, October 17, 2010 - 11:24 am:   

Craig - I did think about watching Night of the Eagle, and The Uninvited, an evening of classic films, but stupidity lost out in the end. Glad to see some of us still have our brains intact.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.179.36.225
Posted on Sunday, October 17, 2010 - 01:28 pm:   

Craig - I've never seen THE PROWLER but it sounds wonderful - I shall keep an eye out for it. I watched Jacques Tourneur's NIGHTFALL (1957) last night for, would you believe it, the first time. Loved it.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Craig (Craig)
Username: Craig

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 75.4.245.212
Posted on Sunday, October 17, 2010 - 05:20 pm:   

Frank, I actually am glad you liked KNOWING - I loved the premise when I read about it years and years ago, then was disappointed by the reviews... I'm going to Netflix it now, though....

Mick - I don't think I've seen that one! Another Netflixer!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Frank (Frank)
Username: Frank

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 85.222.86.21
Posted on Monday, October 18, 2010 - 10:52 am:   

Craig - be warned, a terrific 100 minutes is let down by the ending. But the ending is impossible to avoid. If they'd opted for something else, people would have said the makers chickened out. I suppose it's the way in which it's delivered. Especially the last scene.

I still think Alex Proyas is capable of making a very dark film in the sci-fi to horror genre. With The Crow, Dark City, the surprisingly decent 'I, Robot' and now this, I hope he keeps the momentum going. He's not there yet, and people like Christopher Smith and Neil Marshall are way ahead of him, but I think Proyas has the ability to do so. He just needs to pull away from the 100 million budgets with big names. Hmmmm...I doubt that's a realistic hope.

Add Your Message Here
Post:
Bold text Italics Underline Create a hyperlink Insert a clipart image

Username: Posting Information:
This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here.
Password:
Options: Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Action:

Topics | Last Day | Last Week | Tree View | Search | Help/Instructions | Program Credits Administration