Darkman (1990)

Darkman (1990)

Download link :hxxp://www.sendspace.com/folder/9runww



Darkman is Sam Raimi's first superhero film, way before he became the director of the Spider-Man series.



Darkman is the story of Peyton Westlake, (Liam Neeson) a scientist on the verge of creating artificial skin, useful for burn victims and so forth. Through a nice series of coincidences, a crimelord, Durant ends up searching the lab where he works, looking for an incriminating memo for a businessman, played by Colin Friels.



Westlakes lab is blown up by the Durant organisation, leaving him for dead. (Actually, hes blown into a river, found, treated for burns on 98% of his body with a new procedure that stops him feeling pain, creates adrenaline surges that give him strength but also subjects him to uncontrollable rages)



Westlake decides that he will use his ability to make skin to create masks to (a) disguise his disfigurement and (b) allow him to gain revenge on Durant.



What follows is a pretty simple revenge on the bad guy plot, but Darkman makes it fun, especially with the sequence that has Darkman hanging from a cable from a flying helicopter. these scenes seem to be where Raimi worked out how to film the Spider-Man swinging sequences.





Great B grade action/superhero film, and because its a Raimi film, you get to spot Raimi's two continual stars. Bruce Campbell and a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88.



Three and a half Darios

Candyman (1992)

Candyman (1992)

Download link: hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=HY3SYWO3




Candyman is a perfect example on how to adapt something that is pretty much unfilmable, in this case the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker, and make it into something different but acceptable on its own terms.

Helen Lyle, grad student is preparing a thesis on Urban Legends. Her reserch takes her to the worst place in America, Cabrini Green, where she hears varying stories of a killer known as The Candyman.

Of course there is a way given to bring the Candyman back, and that is to say his name five times while standing in front of a mirror. Helen, not really believing in the existence of The Candyman, does this jokingly, but Whoops! You're in a slasher film, and guess what? The Candyman (slowly) returns. This little plot point wasn't in the story, but in films such as this there has to be a trigger. Originally The Candyman was summoned solely by Helen's disbelief.

Candyman is a bit peeved at Helens lack of belief in him and sets out to prove he is real through a series of murders all pinned upon Helen.

So we have a victim who everyone thinks is a murderess. A killer who is a legend and a climax involving a large bonfire.

Im trying not to give the ending away.

Candyman is a step above a lot of slasher films, in that it deals with the power of myth and legend and ultimately can be seen as a testement to the power of faith. (I wonder if the guys over at Hollywood Jesus have reviewed Candyman?) (It appears not)

Three and a half Darios for the film and a bonus half Dario because it was written by Clive Barker

Titanic (1998)

Not a movie I chose to watch again this time, but one my daughter is getting hooked on. The most expensive movie in history, Titanic.

Pretty much anyone would know what happens to the Titanic, but this movie, unlike other disaster films has much more. Action? Check. It was written and directed by James Cameron, who had done two films about a guy called The Terminator prior to this, (as well as Aliens), so you know it will have good action sequences. But for the others who don't get drawn into action scenes, it has a very touching romantic story dealing with class structure, freedom of choice and the use of personal strength to bring happiness. This romance between Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) takes up the majority of the film and is what really involves the viewer. I actually took my Mum to the cinema to see this film because she'd enjoy that part.

Titanic, surprising most people, is a film that is well written, shot, directed and edited and is destined to rank among the top films for both entertainment value and as an example of how good films are made.

Five Darios

For those interested, check out the trailer to Titanic 2: Jack's Back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD4OnHCRd_4&feature=player_embedded

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

It is not so often I am so surprised and impressed by a movie as I was by this one.

My Bloody Valentine


Download link: hxxp://www.sendspace.com/folder/fl8h9r

8 files, use hj-split or similar to rejoin

This was on my wishlist because I wanted to watch it before seeing the recent remake. This was made in 1981, and was one of the early slasher films of the Friday The 13th type. My Bloody Valentine is much better than Friday, because it has something that Friday never really got until the later 80's. It has a plot and decent actors playing characters that aren't really stupid. Most slasher characters are thick as anything, especially Law enforcement officers. MBV has the token Sherriff, but he actually does his job, doesn't turn a blind eye to the murders happening in his town, (as other slasher film cops do), and actually follows police procedure. He doesn't charge into dark places alone to meet certain death.



So what actually happens? Well, some of the story happened 20 years previously when this mining town suffered a mine explosion, trapping a group of miners underground for days. This explosion was caused becaused the supervisors went off to a Valentine's Day party before all miners were safely out. here was noone there to check methane gas levels and BOOM!, trapped miners. Days later, the sole survivor of the group, Harry Warden, is rescured and discovered chewing on his collegues to survive. Harry is sent to a mental hospital, but returns the next year to use his sharp old pick on the two supervisors who preferred to party than do their job of keeping the miners safe. Harry gives the town a warning that no Valentines Day parties occur or he will return with his trusty pick to remind the town.



For twenty years the town observed Harry's warning...



Guess what happens twenty years later? Yep, some people decide that a Valentine's Day dance is a good idea, and a certain pissed off miner with his trusty pick starts reminding people it's not a good idea.



My Bloody Valentine was heavily cut by the MPAA when first released, and it was the cut version that I saw. Most of the gore is removed from screen, which makes it more gory with the aid of imagination. So much for the MPAA protecting us from horrible things....



My Bloody Valentine, a classic of the eighties.



Four and a half Darios

Wishlist

Here's a few of the movies on my "to be watched" list.

Candyman
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Darkman
Drag Me To Hell
The Exorcist III
Necronomicon-Book Of The Dead
Re-Animator
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose

When I get around to watching them I'll stick on a review.

Warlock (1989)

Warlock (1989)

I have only seen half of this, and was planning on watching the rest tonight, but my kids are sleeping in the loungeroom tonight, so an 80s horror film is not the best idea.

I haven't seen this for years, when I grabbed it as part of a "5 movies for $10" deal at Civic Video all those years ago. (Civic Video in Orange was cool, it had a cardboard cave for its horror section and a cardboard pink house for the Adult section). Anyway, has uploaded this a while back and I snagged it from there.

The plot is pretty simple. A warlock (Julian Sands) is captured in 1691 but escapes with the aid of a time travel portal presumably sent by the Devil. He arrives in 1989 but is pursued by a witch-hunter (Richard E Grant) who in a remarkable stroke of luck is in the same building when the time portal appears. In the present day, The Warlock is charged with obtaining three pieces of a mystical grimoire that can bring about the end of the world. That's the McGuffin for the film.

More to come when I finish watching it. At the moment, it stands at three Darios.

The Untouchables (1987)

The Untouchables

This is, in my mind, the best gangster film ever. It is also one of the relatively few film starring Kevin Costner that I like. Costner portrays Eliot Ness, the legendary Treasury agent who took on the task of "cleaning up" Chicago during the prohibition era. Of course cleaning up means taking on Al Capone, played by a Robert DeNiro-like Robert DeNiro. Ness assembles a core group of unbribeable, or untouchable police. With a group containing Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith and Costner, can Capone even make a stand? Well yes, of course he can. And the ensuing blood makes this a violent film, with some unbelievable blooshed. But it was written by David Mamet so it is to be expected.

The other great thing about this movie is the music by Enrico Morricone. The opening title gives the feel of oppression, as the bad guys are in control, where the finale is a more positive upbeat composition, when evil has been defeated, and the scales have been balanced.

The Untouchables is a film that can be enjoyed again and again. And despite what Sick Boy says in Trainspotting, it is an Oscar-worthy performance from Sean Connery.

Four and a half Darios

The Phantom (1996)

An action adventure film this time, so don't expect a plot worthy of Shakespeare, great acting, realistic special effects, or logic in the plot.

It is however, pretty good fun.




The Phantom (1996)

The Phantom has been continuously published since 1936 and is in fact one of the first superheroes, predating Superman by two years and Batman by three. Not counting the movie serial made in the 1940's, it took sixty years to get The Phantom to the big screen. Was it worth a wait of sixty years? Definitely not. Even by action adventure movie standards The Phantom is a slapped together piece of work. For the nitpicky around here, there are a wealth of oportunities to pick holes in this film. A few of them. Horses and wolves can run faster than a biplane flies, the jungle is full of CGI Blue screens, when you jump from a biplane to a horse you change body shape and facial features completely and ancient jungle skulls and rings can generate laser beams.

But this is The Phantom, and if you are in any way fan of the character, you will know what to expect. The Phantom punching out bad guys, rescuing captive gals, and being mysterious.

I like The Phantom, I have been reading the strip on and off for the past twenty years or so. I also like this movie, but it definitely isn't very well crafted. It does set out to do what it aims for, and that is give us an adventure full of cliched villains, heroic good guys and a moralistic main character. I always feel more positive after watching The Phantom.

Three Darios (for the feel good factor, and the fact it co-stars Patrick MacGoohan)

The Goodies (1970-1982)

Not a movie this time but an entire series. Anyone alive in the seventies or eighties, especially here in Australia will remember this. Mention the phrase "three seater bike" to most of the population and they will recall these "Super-Chaps Three" ¹

Now The Goodies were classified as a kid's show, due to not only its popularity with kids, who liked the madcap slapstick chase scenes at the end of the episodes, (my favourite is the Western-Epic Movie- Silent Comedy Classic battle from Series 5's "The Movies"), but also due to the fact that it was shown here in Oz during childrens viewing time (5pm).

The Goodies is much more than a kid's show. It is a classic comedy that appeals to all ages. It is the televisual successor to "The Goon Show", in that it had a regular cast of characters, sustained a plot for the entire show, and employed surreal humour, and completely impossible physical comedy scenes for its climax. Now I know a lot of people regard Monty Python's Flying Circus as the successor to the Goons, but when you look at it, Python is really just a sketch show with silly voices. Only once in the Python series did an episode have a running plot for the entire thirty minutes ² ,and that was just a frame to hang sketches on, not a well developed plot. The Goodies brought surreal comedy, witty jokes and slapstick together with a storyline every episode (except one, which was a Goodies concert).

Five Darios



The Goodies

Torrent at : http://extratorrent.com/torrent/1764851/The+Goodies+Complete+Series+1+-+91970-82(Classic+British+Comedy)++co+uk.html

Contains all 70 Episodes, but some are missing the opening or closing credits. No big loss though

You will need a program like Bittorrent to download this file, and I will remind you that downloading copyright material is very very naughty and could strip you of you OBE's and send you to the nick.

1 - "Super Chaps Three" was the working title for The Goodies

2 - The "Python with a plot" was "Mr Pither's Cycling Tour" Episode 34.