LET'S MOVIE

[dmauro]

I would watch that on DVD.

[FortNinety]

These movies paintings from Ghana are simply amazing...

http://assemblyman-eph.blogspot.com/2009/08/film-poster-paintings-from-ghana.html

[FortNinety]

Anyone else here familiar with From Beyond?

http://community.livejournal.com/dark_star_pilot/14575.html

... Christ that movie freaked me out as a kid (first saw it when I was 5 or 6).

[Fitz]

BDSM infused Lovecraftian wackiness...what's not to love...

[loopback]

Barbara Crampton (The woman lead in the film) was one of the Guests of Honor at last year's HP Lovecraft Film Festival.  She's pretty awesome.

[FortNinety]

By the age of six, I was fairly desensitized to gory horror flicks, thanks to my parents believe it or not. Every Friday and Saturday night they went bring home about four or five in that genre from the video store, and not wanting to seem like a bigger pussy than what my dad already thought I was, I sat through them all, despite being a world class pansy indeed at the very beginning. And it worked! I'm pretty sure all that directly led me to my love for death metal and all related stupid shit in high school.

But something about From Beyond was extra creepy. Like that scene with the dude eating the brains... classic stuff.

On a related note, anyone else also see Deadly Friend?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSW2pPlZF-M

[dmauro]

So I watched Enemy of the State yesterday, which I hadn't seen since it was released in 1998. I was kind of blown away by how much this movie set the stage for the Matrix. The weird thing is that it only came out maybe four or so months before the Matrix, so it couldn't have directly influenced it. both movies have a machine/inhumane higher power trying to digitize the world to allow for complete control over humanity, they both have the secret cloak and dagger guy that knows how to pull the protagonist out of the digital world, and then teach him how to go back into the digital world on his own terms to beat the higher power. The Matrix explores the theme a little more obtusely and directly, but it's wild how similar these movies are that came out more or less at the same time. Zeitgeist film starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, and John Voight.

[Fitz]

Ever read "The Invisibles"?

The digital takeover notion was a common feature in SciFi writing at least as far back as 1982 when the Cyberpunk subgenre got started with bits and pieces floating around before that. In film the ideas usually showed up in uneven movies best lumped together under the title I owe to a friend who writes this blog of "Dirtbag Future." sometime in the 90s it broke loose into the wider culture after a bit of scrubbing.

[FortNinety]

Sorry, but the Matrix blows, always has and always will.

For something similar, but better, and which also predated the flick, check out Dark City. It's hardly perfect, but at least a tad bit more original.

[dhex]

the matrix is more fun to watch than dark city by a few million miles, dude.

the only good thing to be said about the sequels is that monica belucci is really, really pretty.

[isfet]

aw, i liked Dark City.  i also haven't seen it in many years, though.

[FortNinety]

I actually didn't enjoy Dark City at first, but when Matrix came along and tried to do the same... but failed epically... I all of a sudden began to appreciate it what it tried to do.

And hearing Mike defend the Matrix, the same guy who vehemently hates animu, is... sorta mind-boggling.

And yes, Monica Bellucci was attractive to most males, but she did absolutely nothing for me. Actually, it was Trinity that got me all hot and bothered, though she really shines the most in Memento.

[isfet]

Trinity, really?

i mean, as a guy who absolutely has an undeniable thing for girls with short hair, i couldn't help but wonder if she was a man sometimes.

[The Drunken Samurai]

count me in for liking dark city though i didnt like the beginning of it because it was cut so damn quickly

[Fitz]

"Dark City" is a better movie if you skip the forced voice over introduction that ruins the onion-peel effect that the rest of the movie is going for in terms of story telling. It was a Studio driven "This shit is too confusing"

The first Matrix film is a fun little romp.  I didn't hate the follow ups either though they were lacking in fun. I wasn't expecting transcendent depth and thus wasn't surprised when it wasn't delivered.

Unrelated, go see "District 9."