Flickfessions

[steveP]

I thought I might add my movie blog to this forum for people into films.

Originally it started years ago on NS.com, as a way for people to recommend and review movies that fly under the radar.
http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=491739

Over time I've added hundreds of movie and it's been a good way to have a central place for movie discussion. Seeing NS.com has been getting quieter over the years, I've transfered most of the discussion and movie reviews to a facebook group. This way people are more likely to get updates and it can reach more people.

http://www.facebook.com/Flickfessions

Sorry for those people on facebook getting spammed at the moment while I'm updating past blog entries.

 

[mfbamba]

Nice. Let us know when you finish updating blog entries then ill join. Or remind me on Facebook.

 

[steveP]

Should be done by this weekend.

 

[steveP]

I've now got it all up to date. Here are a few examples of what it will contain.


Midnight Express
A movie based on a true story of a man caught drug trafficking in Turkey during the 70s. It's probably a horror everyone can imagine; visiting a foreign country, being arrested, and being at the mercy of the country's judicial system. The main character, Billy, receives a fair sentence of 4 years after attempting to traffic drugs, which he was no doubt guilty of. Being within 2 months of his release, his sentence is increased to life, as Turkey tries to make an example out of him and take a stance on drug trafficking. Billy then loses the plot and plans his escape. This movie was very controversial at the time, and still somewhat today of the portrayal of Turks. They're depicted as being incredibly evil, ignorant and rapists. Something that Billy never claimed in real life, and was put into the movie for dramatic purposes. The ending of the movie was changed as well from what really happened. The true story was finally told a few years ago as an episode of the TV series Banged Up Abroad. I had actually seen that a while ago and couldn't bring myself to watch the movie knowing how inaccurate it was. However, it's still a decent movie with a lot of tension worth checking out.

Cool Hand Luke
A 60's prison film that still holds up pretty well today. Luke is a Korean War veteran with a unique outlook on life. He has no life goals and no respect for the law or rules; he's basically floating through life playing by his own rules. He winds up in jail almost because he's bored. The jail he is sentenced to is a chain gang of the 40/50s in America's south. There, his attitude rubs off on the other inmates, which lifts morale and in turn they idolise him. The movie is about the struggle of the prison staff trying to force Luke to submit to their control. After watching this movie, there's something about it that sticks with you. This is regarded as one of the best prison movies of all time and has a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Django
I ended up looking up the original Django movie that inspired Tarantino's film Django Unchained. Django Unchained isn't a remake of this, and doesn't really have much in common at all. But you can see hints and idea reused from this film. This tells the story of a lone gunslinger trekking the Wild West who plays by his own rules. He keeps to himself, but won't stand for others authority. He becomes trapped between two gangs/posses; one of Mexican revolutionists and one of racist cowboys trying to wipe them out. Django seems to get himself into situations of certain death over and over, but manages to come out on top every time. For a movie from 1966, it's incredibly well made. This was a huge success in the 60s and there are over 30 sequels. The problem is they all have nothing to do with the original and movie companies just added 'Django' to movie titles to cash in on this film's success. I would recommend this if you've been thinking about checking out a Western. Don't go in expecting a primitive Django Unchained, but it's still a very decent movie.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
A documentary detailing the Enron scandal that occurred in the early 2000s. I vaguely remembered what happened, but I really had no interest in stories of insider trading and Wall Street. However this documentary has very high praise, and above all else, I will watch something well made even if it's about something boring. I'm glad I watched this though as the series of events that led to Enron's downfall was fascinating. Enron is the perfect example of what not to do with a company and is probably what business would do if there were no laws. They used projected future profits as real profits, hid losses, all while losing money in the energy/gas market. This meant as Enron looked to be getting more successful and profitable, it was really the opposite and soon spiralled out of control. The CEOs lied to everyone to increase confidence in their shares and the value of those shares. As soon as they exhausted every resource to increase their share value, they sold them all and filed for bankruptcy. This meant all shareholders lost their money. A share valued at $90 was now worth cents. People with around $400,000 in shares now had $1,500. There really is too much for me to explain here, but this was a great documentary. It's definitely in my top 5.

The Wicker Man
At some stage I must have read the remake was worth seeing, so it was on my list too. Oh boy does that person need a shotgun to the face. This is in my list for top 10 worst movies ever, for sure. But also in a way it was an unintentional comedy seeing how bad it was. The story is pretty much word for word from the original. Instead of all the religious meanings and significance from the original movie, they replaced it with bees. Yes bees, which the police officer is now allergic to. Also the original had an undertone of sexuality which has been almost completely removed, making the story disjointed for anyone not familiar with the original. The story is just a mess with Nicolas Cage getting agitated at every interaction with the townspeople. Actually, the movie should have been called 'Nicolas Cage: angry and confused'. Below is a Youtube video of all the unintentional comedy. Eg, he will walk up to a completely unarmed and unthreatening woman and sucker punch her in the head, knocking her out, or Cage throwing an Anderson Silva style front kick to the face of another helpless woman. I'm sure this will become a cult hit in the future.

[video=youtube_share;e6i2WRreARo]http://youtu.be/e6i2WRreARo[/video]