yesw it doesnt have usual gimmicky 3D of stuff coming out of the screen. Doesnt mean its not using it, particularly depth of field. 

Heh. Fair enough! 

spring breakers (2013)

i remember watching the trailer for this and thinking it looked awful, trashy and stupid. then i saw generally favourable critic scores and assumed it was unashamedly good at being awful, trashy and stupid.

it's actually thoroughly compelling and at some points mesmerising. beautifully shot and scored, darkly atmospheric and occasionally quite disturbing, for various reasons. it's not without problems as it rather loses focus towards the end and plays out a pointless sub-plot in such a ridiculous fashion that you start to wonder if the whole thing is a dream, and a few moments seem thrown in purely for the shock factor. it still leaves an impact overall though. james franco is insanely good; his scene with selena gomez (yes) is one of the most profoundly uncomfortable and creepy movie moments i can remember.

we need to talk about kevin (2011)
excellent; can pretty much repeat the first two sentences from the previous paragraph but there are no gimmicks in this one, just brilliant pacing and performances. i found it scarier than most horror movies

trance (2013)
not one of boyle's best. probably his worst, actually; it's all very bright, colourful and mind-bending with quite an original score but the plot seems needlessly convoluted and quite clumsily held together. maybe worth a look if you're a fan of reality-questioning mindfuck movies but nothing to get excited about 

Spring Breakers I'd only watch to see hotties Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez. I hope someone gets their titties out.

We need to talk about kevin, not actually listed as horror but thrillers can be scary. Is it the kind of movie where you're just waiting for the big twist? Writeup sounds like you are. Like Carrie.

Trace; I think Danny Boyle is quite overrated anyway. Trainspotting, the beach, 28 days later, slumdog, 127 hours... all overrated. I do like Sunshine though. 

there's loads of tits. that's not really a reason to watch it though

it isn't a horror, no. it is creepy however and the premise is certainly scary for anyone old enough to worry about raising kids. the climax is pretty shocking too but i wouldn't call it a 'twist'

opinions and all that. loved all those 

Meh. The book sounds interesting, this was like a naff clone of 28 days later. 

The book is shite as well.

The guy basically wrote a 'What I think about zombies' encyclopedia. I didn't give it more than 1 minute.

Others did like it though, so maybe it's just me. 

Book is very cool. Stylish front-runner of the new school zombie global apocalypse style.

So yes it is just you. 

well, I like Cormac McCarthy's books, and this is quite a bit like those, so I liked it, despite the ridiculously low score on Rotten Tomatoes (joining Troy and Man of Steel as movies that I quite liked despite low scores on there). It's a bit hard to figure out what's going on at times, and there is one scene that is really bizarre, but other than that it's a characteristic McCarthy story: an ultra-violent, nihilistic depiction of capitalism, corruption and power fueled by total pessimism about human nature. I believe the US drug war is one massive corrupt and largely racist abuse of human rights, and given how frankly it's being depicted in films like this, not to mention documentaries or popular TV series like The Wire, hopefully the end is near. 

Great stuff. Taken on it's own merits as a zombie apocalypse semi-blockbuster loosely based on a rather good book, it just works. Varied, dramatic in places, and nicely done. Plenty of cliches and inconsistencies of course but the better scenes make up for it, Jerusalem spectacle, plane was pretty scarey, Israeli soldier was cool. Could have been a bit longer or even multi-part IMO as the background would have supported it. 

I like Dario Argento; Suspiria is an all-time horror classic and this was pretty good too. Young Jennifer Connelly as an American student in Europe, so a Suspiria-like setup, with the same ingredients of weird architecture, intense music, bright colours, rain, creepy atmosphere, not much logic (psychic powers, explained by the always-awesome Donald Pleasance), and utterly brutal kills.

I like the way he portrays police detectives too: suspicious, smug and duplicitous; also despite the creepiness some parts are just hilarious (one scene involving a telephone, another involving a monkey).

They definitely do not make horror movies like this anymore. Black Swan was probably the closest in recent years. I hope they don't remake Suspiria, it's not freaking Friday the 13th.

(I've also seen Tenebrae and Deep Red, both pretty good, but neither as good as Phenomenon or Suspiria). 

Inferno is worth a look too. 

 

Great stuff, really nicely done. Saw it in IMAX and 3D, definitely recommended, 3D is actually palatable to watch for a change as the film is an austere enough backdrop for it to work on. Wasn't sure what to make of it from the trailer but it's spot on - a sci-fi thriller that balances a narrow focus in a grand setting and a solid main character during gripping events. There's some sentimentality and implausability but the pacing and atmosphere are worth it alone. 

cos its actually properly shot for 3D :) Not some cash grab post conversion. 

Pacific Rim. Expected Transformers like trash but got a pretty damn fine movie instead. I only wished the music was more distinct, otherwise I liked it a lot. It's what it says, in a good way. It kinda seems comparable to the Batman movies for some reason and in contrast to their incoherent (or should I say consistent) idiocy Pacific Rim is not even trying so hard to be serious or realistic but cool and coherent. No need for any "but x didn't make sense" thoughts. Recommended! 

couldn't disagree more
the anti-Nolan backlash trend of critics liking blockbusters that admit they're retarded and don't even attempt to have a story bothers me; it's like critics now disdain the attempt for a blockbuster to be serious: by this logic they would have shat all over Terminator 2 while praising all the disposable blockbusters from the same time that we've now totally forgotten about. Effects alone don't make a movie. 

Kinda what spirit said, but the exact opposite. 

Also because it is either small simple objects against a detailed background, or large detailed objects against the plain background of space. Either way is much easier for the brain to cope with compared to 3D fancy objects against 3D fancy backgrounds.

Which scene didn't you like BTW?? There were a few that didn't grab me as much but usually very swiftly redeemed as the film went on. I know there were scientific implausibilities but that's not something I could bring myself to give a shit about. 

yeah but Life of Pi and Hugo dont have simple backgrounds or simple objects, but still use 3D very well.

The scene I didnt like had nothing to do with whether it was realistic etc but just felt tonally wrong to me. It's the scene about 2/3 of the way through between Clooney and Bullock. 

Yes I see what you mean. But for me oxygen deprivation + epiphany = different tone to her experience at that time.

Still we are all agreed it is a bloody great film. Definitely left an impression on me with the atmosphere :) 

I liked Man of Steel though, it had many of the same sort of pitfalls, but it was gritty enough for it not to just seem saturated in nonsense production flamboyance. Even though it was.

The Last Days on Mars was good IMO. Simple, fairly predictable but very watchable once you start to get into it. The characters were quite good, you feel that they are doomed from the start but they seem suitably oblivious. 

what about the last hour of Man of Steel, was that not too OTT and brainless?

Havent seen Pacific rim yet, was hoping to snag the blu ray for cheap around US sale time/Black Friday. 

to be fair, on my 2nd viewing, it bothered me less the second time but I still think it could have been pulled off better. 

And the actor that played the main henchman is so ugly, it felt gritty lol