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FEATURED THREADS for 1-25-23

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:40 am    Post subject: FEATURED THREADS for 1-25-23 Reply with quote



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Consider the concepts presented by the movies listed below.

~ Global warming turns out to be even worse than Al Gore thought!

~ An alien invasion makes the hangovers worse for a group of party goers.

~ A rescue team gets a nasty surprise when the try to help a group of scientists.


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Waterworld (1995)



"You're a fool to believe in something you've never seen."

Waterworld is directed by Kevin Reynolds and jointly written by David Twohy, Peter Rader and Joss Whedon. It stars Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, Michael Jeter and Gerard Murphy. Music is scored by James Newton Howard and cinematography by Dean Semler.

It's the future and the polar ice caps have melted and the Earth is practically covered by the sea. As civilisation is forced to live on the water, their only hope is to one day find the fabled place known as Dryland. A Mariner drifter may hold the key to Dryland's whereabouts...

It was by definition a troubled shoot, with sackings, difference of opinions, cost overruns, production set backs (hurricane destroying a hugely expensive set) and bad word of mouth generated by a film press intent on giving Kevin Costner a good kicking.

Facts are, now that all the water has evaporated over the years, Waterworld is neither the flop nor bad film that many believe it to be. Should it be a better movie considering the gargantuan amounts of cash spent on it?

Absolutely, without question!

But Waterworld turned a decent profit in spite of its problems and mixed reviews, and now it firmly has a fan base willing to love it for the great sci-fi escapism that it is. Sadly for the fans, Waterworld is still only (officially) available in the 136 minute cut, thus denying many the chance to see the more cohesive 176 minute version.

However, as it is, the 136 cut of the film is still a rollicking water-based adventure, full of spectacular stunts (oh my, those jet-skis rock), amazing sets (whoosh, the sci-fi grandeur of the floating atoll) and blood pumping scenes (the eerie journey and subsequent revelation of a city under water).

Sure it's far from flawless as the pace is uneven at times and as plot narratives go it's pretty thin, but Reynolds and Costner have crafted an impressive world submerged by water.

The cast, too, are delivering knowing performances. Costner's Mariner is indeed one note, unsympathetic and moody, this guy is a loner and a mutation after all, his sombre persona neatly playing against Hopper's cartoonish, satirical and maniacal villain.

Tripplehorn (a porn star name if ever there was one!) beautifully shines in a film populated predominantly by males (there's another flaw for you), Michael Jeter scores favorably as a highly strung elder, while young Majorino is suitably winsome, neatly playing it as a device to mellow the Mariner's cold fishy heart.

If it was meant to be a serious picture in the first place, a sermon on topical destroying of the Earth, then it fails on that score because the characterizations are bound by cliche manacles. But collectively the inhabitants of this Waterworld share a common goal of survival, played out to the backdrop of Reynolds' excellent futuristic setting.

When thrust together to make a good v evil action movie, the characterizations work handsomely. That is ultimately the best way to enjoy Waterworld — let it wash over you (hrr hrr hrr) in a wave (hrr, ok I'll stop now) of water-based action and heroics. It's a world where soil is currency and smoking is a marker for being a bad guy.

From the opening shot of the Universal World logo becoming submerged in water, to the bittersweet finale, yes! Waterworld is indeed escapism in its purest cinematic form. 8/10

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U.F.O. - aka Alien Uprising (2012)



The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, Derbyshire Style.

In Derby, England, five friends wake up after a night of partying, sex, and punch-ups to find all power is cut and a giant U.F.O. hovering above the city.

Watch while we turn on each other.

Wow, there has been some serious and venomous scorn poured down on this one — so much so I actually was expecting "the worst British sci-fi film of all time".

But as it happens, it's not especially great per se, yet neither is it worthy of such hatred. There's some great ambition by director and writer Dominic Burns, who wants to tell a tale of how the human condition crumbles under the duress of an alien invasion.

To that end the goal is reached. We understand and see that. The trouble is is that it all looks so cheap and acted accordingly to budget constraints. Burns tries hard to mask the El Budgeto Cheapo production with some nifty tricks of the trade; rotating camera, slow-mo and rapid edits, even plenty of film noir off-kilter framing shots to align the viewers with the disorientation felt by the protagonists. But we are constantly aware that it's made on the cheap, and the story has been done far better elsewhere, and often.

Jean-Claude Van Damme and Sean Pertwee are on the cast credits, but fans of those guys should know that their combined screen time doesn't stretch to over ten minutes, and both seem to be either doing it as a favour to the director or purely to pay the electric bill.

Elsewhere Van Damme's daughter, Bianca Bree, and Pierce Brosnan's son, Sean (a spitting image of young Pierce), hold their ends up well enough, while a couple of familiar faces from This Is England pop in to push the story along.

There's some decent stabs at humour within, including a brilliant riff on Aliens, and unlike many other reviewers and sci-fi film lovers, I thought the ending was terrific, a perfect closure. But it remains a film that's very hard to recommend to the serious sci-fi film buff.

Better than the internet ratings and what the pro critics suggest it is, but it's still only viable as a time waster that doesn't achieve the ambition on the page. 5/10

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Crawlspace (2012)



The Eve and God Complex's.

A team of elite commandos are sent into a top secret military base with instructions to rescue the scientists who are apparently under attack from escaped prisoners. What they find is something very strange and different.

Australia has produced some high quality horror in recent times. This sadly — in spite of some sterling efforts - isn't one of them.

Justin Dix's (director/co-producer/co-writer) film is guilty of lifting from a whole bunch of other sci-fi/horror films to the point where the smart ideas in the narrative are practically squashed. Everything from Aliens and Scanners to Event Horizon are greased in to maintain a viable interest factor, which is a shame because the low budget is never an issue, as the debut director shows a keen eye for atmosphere setting.

The facility that the characters find themselves in, as they fight for survival, is splendidly awash with a futuristic metallic sheen. While claustrophobia, as the title suggests, is one of the key character's of the piece.

The acting is fine, no ham or cheese here, and in spite of the leanings from elsewhere, this pic is never dull. It's not one for genre fans to base their evenings in by the fire with, but it's just above average and shows Dix to have some potential behind the camera. 6/10

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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