What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[Ben Thomas]

Great film.

Glad you brought up A Time to Kill, cos that was his best work up until this. Let's hope its not another 15 years before he plays a lawyer again.

Super slick, in the best possible way - I really enjoyed this. I don't think McConaughey is the right kind of handsome or diverse enough to age like a Clooney or a Connery, so I hope he gets his franchise out of this. One of these every 3 or 4 years would stand him in good stead with a different kind of audience, once he can't do the Kate Hudson movies any more. And what a supporting cast. Good to see Josh Lucas get something meaty to do for once. Highly recommended. And a gorgeous blu.

[Lisa]

I watched Limitless while on vacation - I thought it was pretty good and left you with the unanswered "is he or isn't he" question at the end.

GAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!

Oh... wrong question?

[Lesley]

HAHAHAHAHAH

yep, wrong question. He's OBVIOUSLY gay.

[Lisa]

Ohhh, SNAP, girl!

[PHEDG]

2007

The Flight of the Conchords 8.6 2,341
No Country for Old Men 8.2 248,457
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters 8.2 17,405
Into the Wild 8.2 140,598
Sicko 8.2 44,830
There Will Be Blood 8.2 160,503
The Bourne Ultimatum 8.1 188,458
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 8.1 40,817
Ratatouille 8.1 173,914
Taxi to the Dark Side 8.0 4,040
In the Shadow of the Moon 8.0 3,353
Hot Fuzz 7.9 154,880
American Gangster 7.9 136,158
Gone Baby Gone 7.8 75,889
3:10 to Yuma 7.8 118,382
Atonement 7.8 90,995
Grindhouse 7.8 93,832
Juno 7.8 180,238
Zodiac 7.8 117,341
Eastern Promises 7.8 88,252
Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone 7.8 170
Control 7.7 23,722
Superbad 7.7 164,774
The Assassination of Jesse 7.7 69,708
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 7.6 128,641
Michael Clayton 7.4 69,078
In the Valley of Elah 7.4 31,687
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 7.3 133,706
The Savages 7.3 16,494
Sunshine 7.3 90,863
Ganja Queen 7.3 302
Charlie Wilson's War 7.2 49,925
Transformers 7.2 239,242
Things We Lost in the Fire 7.2 14,054
The Darjeeling Limited 7.2 56,644
I Am Legend 7.1 192,051
The Kingdom 7.1 53,808
Fracture 7.1 52,375
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 7.0 169,906
We Own the Night 7.0 43,145

[Captain Russ]

I love statistical opinions.

[BillyG]

We Own The Night is so goddamn awful.

[Captain Russ]

Strange yet enjoyable double bill.

First up, we have a tale of jealousy, class disparity, repressed desire, depravity disguised by opulence, the commercial value of prostitution (on more than the surface reading of the term), and the artifice employed in human relationships in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Following up this examination of decadence and duplicity, we have the indictment of military justice encapsulated by a story wherein a kangaroo court condemns soldiers to court marshall for following orders handed down by the very superiors who have put them on trial in 'Breaker' Morant.

Both were fantastic, and in bizarre ways, complimented one another.

[Ben Thomas]

We Own The Night is so goddamn awful.

Having not seen it, I'll still wager that At World's End is worse. Giant crab lady my arse.

[Bobby Bear]

Dirty Harry

The blood is laughable. I LOVE IT.

Full disclosure: I still find the scene where Andy Robinson gets pummeled uncomfortable. It's just the look on his face when he keeps looking up at the guy, becoming redder and more battered. Really unpleasant. Still very effective though, I think.

It's an amazing film if you can get into it.

My recent turnarounds on a few films have definitely given me new-found interest in finishing it. What I saw before suggests it would be worth it just to see how gorgeous the rest of it is.

TWBB may be the best American film of the last decade; Jesse James is my favourite.

But yeah, '07 was almost too much. Into The Wild, Zodiac and Gone Baby Gone are all incredible and - while its no less incredible - I prefer them all to No Country. It really is a great film and I love it, but I actually prefer A Serious Man. That's not a question of quality, mind. Just taste.

Into the Wild would be my favourite from that group, with Zodiac probably a close second. No Country and Blood wouldn't be far behind though.

And now, a round-up of films I've watched recently. First off...

Bobby's Eclectice Fantasye Seasone!

Deathstalker

Great fun. Probably one of the most wooden performances I've ever seen from Richard Hill, only adding to the joy. There's easily a thousand words in this on all the little touches I loved like Munkar's pet puppet in a chest (how could one not love?) or the pig-faced brutes who could go to-to-toe with a Gamorrean guard.* My only real criticism of the film? I wish the little troll side-kick who talked like a bad stand-up comic had more time before he was transformed into a human.

* I knew how to spell Gamorrean without checking. What does this mean?

Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans

Delightful. Jim Wynorski is someone I have a lot of time for so I'm not surprised that I love it, but even I was impressed by just how bonkers this was. Zombies? A boxing ring? A seemingly endless string of double entendres delivered with barely a straight face? Incredible.

John Terlesky has a fantastic look for Deathstalker. His none-more-80's bouffant especially. As much fun as Hill's soulless, hulking He-Man was, I much prefer Terlesky's attempts at Spidey style zingers and general caddishness. Emphasis firmly on attempts.

Your Highness

Gorgeous production design and cinematography. I got a real kick out of seeing our local countryside used in this type of vehicle. It's strangely amusing to me that once upon a time (last year), Danny McBride hit on Natalie Portman at the Giant's Causeway.

The script had the air of first draft about it with all the lazy wang jokes I hoped it wouldn't rely on flying left and right. Although there were some genuine laughs to be had, mostly derived from the mixing of modern gutter-talk with Ye Olde Pig Language. And Charles Dance.

So yeah, very disappointing. But gorgeous on Blu.

Here endeth yon Swords and/or Sorcery adventures!

Speaking of looking gorgeous on Blu....

Submarine

Another beautiful looking film, this time a coming of age tale set in Wales during an unspecified time that's probably the mid-to late 80's. Fantastic central performances and supporting work from Paddy "would've made a great Rorschach in Greengrass's Watchmen" Considine. Really happy to see Moss from The IT Crowd putting together such a sweet and subtly effective film.

Starter for 10

It should have been an equally touching rites of passage tale, this time set in an English university in the mid-80's, but it ended up feeling pretty routine.

The Pros:

• Nice period details.
• Boho-chic Rebecca Hall.
• Alice Eve.
• Almost every track from The Cure's Greatest Hits.
• Benedict Cumberbatch having a blast as a simpering ponce.

The Cons:

• Over-reliance on predictable, cool time stamps (see Cure-laden soundtrack.) Also known as Adventureland syndrome.
• Voice over used shamelessly as connective narrative tissue, to grating effect. We don't see people learn their lessons. They tell us about them while they run after somebody who'll "complete them" or something.
• Too many telegraphed romantic entanglements.

[Matt]

Strange yet enjoyable double bill.

First up, we have a tale of jealousy, class disparity, repressed desire, depravity disguised by opulence, the commercial value of prostitution (on more than the surface reading of the term), and the artifice employed in human relationships in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Following up this examination of decadence and duplicity, we have the indictment of military justice encapsulated by a story wherein a kangaroo court condemns soldiers to court marshall for following orders handed down by the very superiors who have put them on trial in 'Breaker' Morant.

Both were fantastic, and in bizarre ways, complimented one another.

'Breaker Morant' is in my top 50 films, and a recent re-watch of it only solidified its perfection in my eyes. I need to see EWS again, but I remember really liking it when I saw it.

[BillyG]

Full disclosure: I still find the scene where Andy Robinson gets pummeled uncomfortable. It's just the look on his face when he keeps looking up at the guy, becoming redder and more battered. Really unpleasant. Still very effective though, I think.

EVERY SINGLE PENNY YOU BLACK SON OF A BITCH

Yeah, that was super painful to watch. I don't know how he could talk to the media on that gurney.

[Captain Russ]

'Breaker Morant' is in my top 50 films, and a recent re-watch of it only solidified its perfection in my eyes. I need to see EWS again, but I remember really liking it when I saw it.

It was a first for me. I was absolutely floored. Crackling dialogue and truly outstanding performances by Woodward, Thompson, and Brown.

Personally, I didn't expect to appreciate EWS as much as I did, but this time it just clicked.

[Matt]

'Shoot straight you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!'

Amazing film, and my wife absolutely loved it.

Speaking of my wife...I was flipping around the other night and 'Ghostbusters' was on. It was early on in the film when they were all heading to the library. I commented to my wife how I absolutely adored this film...she floored me by saying that she'd never seen it.

NEVER seen 'Ghostbusters'. NEVER. She'd seen bits and pieces but never the whole thing.

Again, let that sink in...NEVER seen 'Ghostbusters'.

Time to bring out that blu ray and introduce her to awesomeness.

[Captain Russ]

Teach her.