Movies You Should Know Because (I Think) They rule

Mondo Bungle · 12-27-2018, 04:35 PM

Come and See, 1985

It's almost hard to believe that movies can actually even be better than this. Probably the most horrifying portrayal of war I've ever seen. On edge for pretty much every second of it, boasting many many truly chilling and anxious scenes depicting the casualties of war of a young boy, both literally and figuratively.

I dunno how it does it but it shakes me to my core on all fronts.

Mondo Bungle · 12-27-2018, 04:52 PM

negative reviews be retarded

Mondo Bungle · 01-05-2019, 03:52 PM

alright well

Xtro, 1982

Plays like a David CronenLynch presentation of Alien with some of the best special effects you'll see in a B movie, unreal imagery that almost manages to outdo them both. A deep chill is amazingly maintained from an early fright and slips in and out of intergalactic hallucination.

It's well worth watching https://www.bitchute.com/video/oLtxI6QzT1sD/

Mondo Bungle · 02-19-2019, 02:03 PM

Eureka, 2000

Never before have I seen a movie with such an uncanny ability to make me feel like a part of it. It could seem contrived I guess, since I don't share the same death-adjacent trauma and loss that unites our four main characters, but a deep sense of connection still holds me, with shots and scenes that almost seem to mirror personal experiences of life on the road with my own family, and all in all it's just heavily real.

After a busjacking/murder leaves two children mute and traumatized and a driver restless and forever anxious, they continue with their lives as best as they can while further family deteriorates from them and eventually the trio come together to survive in their abandoned house that appears more like a squat at this point. A cousin comes to check on the children, unaware of the third tenant.

Tension builds in the film in such a subtle but substantial way, particularly in the children, who alternatively relax and dive further into their mental disturbance throughout the film. When our bus driver comes home one day with a new bus with plans to hit the road without any particular aim, the others seem apprehensive but ultimately embark on the soul mending journey. Though more murders take place, seemingly in the wake of the caravan, and tension increases yet, almost imperceptibly.

The whole movie is gorgeous and serene, shot in sepia for just about the whole duration (and never feeling gimmicky, it works amazingly imo), and this makes the final haunting full color shot all the more breathtaking. The bus passes through small rural Japanese towns that shed light on settings that seem somehow familiar, though somewhat a contrast to the bustling metropolis often explored in modern Japanese cinema. Instead, everything is humble and relatable, as if such a term could be applied to a place. It's vast and sparse at the same time, and the stops along the way kept me emotionally gripped in a deeply personal way.

As you may expect, the slight tension keeps at it as the movie progresses, and the smallest bits of heart rending catharsis come though with immense strength, being attached to it such as I was. and I was attached every second of the three and half hour run time. A heavy meditation on morality and coping with things, so genuine and yet so unreal. Absolutely sublime from start to finish.

It's clearly not the most action packed movie, in fact it's one of the slowest I've ever seen, but it's such a huge triumph of intimacy and emotion, I could remain entranced forever. All in all it plays out less like a film, but rather a screening of a faded dream, one from which you awake into an inexplicable feeling of rejuvenation coupled with a disparate sense of loss stemming from the fact that it might be forgotten for all time.

When we reach the theoretical zenith, the highest reaching point across the land, life would seem to begin anew.

Mondo Bungle · 07-23-2019, 11:44 PM

though I often find myself in a who cares state of mind when posting anything there's still sick movies out and about. Many of them. Colossal waves of sick movies. Hordes.

Easily one of the most perfect marriages of horror and comedy of all time, The Abominable Dr. Phibes will split as many sides as faces. Starring Vincent Prices face, it's a good old mad doctor tale of revenge and stunted romance. The doctor in question is bent on murdering all the medical professionals that could've saved his wife's life but didn't, each death based off the ten ancient plagues of Egypt.

The sets are amazing, everything about it aesthetically and sonically really. It's neat how a film this hilarious can be so utterly macabre and doomy. Price managing to communicate without opening his mouth at all (effects I know) makes for a real creep.

But it's just ridiculous. Someone gets impaled by a launched screw-like apparatus and nailed to the wall behind him and police have to unscrew the body off. It's fantastic.

Mondo Bungle · 07-24-2019, 11:48 PM

The Company of Wolves, 1984

The true pick for greatest werewolf movie. All due respect for The Howling and its legitimately terrifying transformations, and An American Werewolf in London for Blue Moon ridiculousness and a quadruped approach to the beast, but this film is such a delight.

For all the visual excellence achieved by its older siblings, The Company of Wolves outdoes them, I think, and the result is a perplexingly vivid gothic aesthetic full of grisly vibrancy.

Quote:

The Company of Wolves was filmed in Shepperton Studios in England. The film's cast was primarily made up of British actors. Sarah Patterson made her screen debut, despite being much younger than the kind of actress the casting director had been looking for, and likely too young to understand some of the film's more adult concepts.[9] Her youth also meant having to make special arrangements with her school in order for her to be away for nine weeks while shooting took place.[9] Northern Irish actor Stephen Rea had already worked with director Neil Jordan in Angel and would later work with him again in The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto, amongst others.

Jordan worked for several weeks in pre-production with artist filmmakers Nichola Bruce and Michael Coulson to create hundreds of detailed storyboard drawings. Also involved with production was production designer Anton Furst and his draftsman Nigel Phelps, who would later go on to work on Tim Burton's Batman. The film's visuals were of particular importance, as Jordan explains:

The visual design was an integral part of the script. It was written and imagined with a heightened sense of reality in mind.[5]

In the DVD commentary, Jordan notes the difficulty of having to create the look of the film on a limited budget, having to create a fairytale forest out of essentially "twelve trees".[7] He nevertheless succeeded in creating a sunless, mystical, wondrous and claustrophobic setting saturated with fantastic elements and symbols.

The script calls for a great number of wolves to appear. Due to budgetary constraints and other factors such as cast safety, most of the 'wolves' shown in the film are in fact evidently Belgian Shepherd Dogs, mainly Terveurens and Groenendals, whose fur was specially dyed. In the DVD commentary for the film, Jordan notes the bravery of young star Sarah Patterson when acting amongst the genuine wolves.[7] Using particular light angles, the eyes of both real and "shepherd" wolves are made to glow dramatically in the film.

It's basically Little Red Riding Hood (well, it's actually the Company of Wolves, a story by Angela Carter), among other tropes, a veritable hodgepodge of villages and wolf crying boys that the villagers will have none of.

Amazingly, even while drawing from all your werewolf themes, it also strays from the stylings of other films, becoming a distinct representation of the terror. Most important in this regard are the beasts themselves. The archetypal wolfman is nowhere to be found, and these fiends, "hairy on the inside" as they say, shred into existence like a skinned dog ripping out of a distasteful coat of human skin. Overall it's incredibly sexy.

If furry depictions of modern werewolfery have ceased to do it for you than this should be greatly worth your time.

The Batlord · 07-25-2019, 03:20 AM

Also massive shout out to Dog Soldiers for being a heroic last stand war movie but with werewolves.

Mondo Bungle · 08-30-2019, 11:43 AM

Love Exposure, 2011

Gotta come in here and acknowledge the cinematic miracle that this film is. Even at four hours long every second is immense, and delivered with such a vast bombardment of themes and scenarios and feelings.

It's basically a demonstration of the lengths love will make one go through. I didn't really expect to cry at all, let alone as hard as I actually did, several times, just couldn't even keep it together. It has something for just about every sect of film enthusiast and is nonstop miraculous fun and I could probably watch all four hours again right now.

I was frightened, amused to hysterics, overwhelmed with joy, devastated by sadness and heart break, disgusted, ultimately to have all my faith in everything restored.

7000/5

Mondo Bungle · 08-30-2019, 11:56 AM

for anyone that's ever wanted a film that just puts on a clinic in every way

Mondo Bungle · 09-11-2019, 05:57 PM

Himizu, 2011

As if Sion Sono hadn't already established himself as the king of my heart with the absolute monument of film that is Love Exposure, already with a plethora of emotions, Himizu is a bit more of a downcast and melodramatic endeavor that hit way too close to home. These two movies have probably made me cry harder than any others. This deals with a boy just trying to be ordinary, and the girl that's a fanatic for him, and admittedly he treats the situation like a huge dick, but I guess he has his reasons. But I've never seen a character break down so vehemently. In the end it's one of the most moving feats of cinema ever.

Noriko's Dinner Table, 2005

A much heavier sequel to Sono's Suicide Club, which was tight in it's own right but not exactly flooring. It takes another look at the club but with a stronger focus on its effects on people. The titular Noriko runs away from home to meet with a perfect stranger from an online forum, which just so happens to be the HQ, if you will, of the club. She falls into a sort of prostitution that revolves around playing the part of an individual's family members, and thusly is exposed to many a shady dealing. Perfect coming of age story.

Cold Fish, 2010

A prime example of the director's darkest humor, a violent painting of a broken man who just wants a good time with his family. Don't expect that to happen. Dude gets seriously pissed. Dead meat and bones everywhere.

Strange Circus, 2005

A bit of an enigma in the director's body of work, leaning much farther towards surrealist horror, but still, Sono has a distinct style and way of bringing emotions to the frontlines. It's about trauma and identity and things of that nature. Great circusy soundtrack loaded with accordion.