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Post by twshiloh on Jan 15, 2012 19:37:46 GMT -5
crispypanda I can't believe this but I forgot about The Fog. Clearly a classic but I think Thing and Trouble have held up a bit better in the intervening 3 decades. Perhaps that's because (IMHO) those two have a level of complexity that some of Carpenter's other stuff doesn't have. His other movies are good (real good) but I think Thing and Trouble provide you with multiple reasons for liking them.
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Post by delbertgrady on Jan 17, 2012 17:35:50 GMT -5
Favorite Carpenter movie: have to go with the boring answer of Halloween. I have seen Prince of Darkness only once and was mixed on the film. On one hand, it had some interesting ideas and some genuinely creepy moments. On the other hand, felt some of the acting and dialogue was pretty atrocious and some of the scenes which were played straight came off as a little goofy.
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Post by bishop746 on Jan 19, 2012 19:10:36 GMT -5
The Thing Halloween I almost put They Live above Halloween but its just hard to do. I think I've seen They Live more though. In the same vein, what is your favorite Carpenter score? Halloween is certainly his most famous but I love the score to Assault of Precinct 13. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNfDSNG7Y0g
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Post by andreana2112 on Jan 20, 2012 10:08:58 GMT -5
Obviously Halloween and The Thing immediately come to mind when I hear the name John Carpenter. Although I would have to side with Halloween being a personal favorite I do think he was at the summit of his power w The Thing. Besides those two he has many other films I consider rewatchable: Escape from NY and Big Trouble... Prince of Darkness, Mouth of madness... One movie I really didn't "get" was The Fog. It just seemed like he was trying to create this atmospheric collage without having a great central character...or gripping plot for that matter. Seeing Myers hidden behind bushes in broad daylight sends more chills down my spine than a fog moving inland, the lighthouse, the extreme lighting... It SHOULD have worked, but I feel it's the only film during his first decade that I don't have the desire to rewatch regularly. Thoughts, opinions? As for scores- well he's a master. My nod has to go with Halloween . Does anyone like the score to They Live? I remember being disappointed with it for the first 40min of the movie, but then it became kinda funny and seemed to fit, although its something I would never put on my iPod, I guess it ends up working in context...(but still sounds uninspired to me)
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dv909
Creeping Corpse
Posts: 56
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Post by dv909 on Feb 10, 2012 19:53:43 GMT -5
The Thing
Halloween
Escape From New York
Sorry I know, a little cliched, but what are you gonna do? And I have to admit that I didn't thnk The Ward was all that bad...
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yddy
Ghost in the Graveyard
Posts: 568
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Post by yddy on Feb 10, 2012 21:20:02 GMT -5
Yay, I've got company on The Ward train.
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Post by Scary Gary on Feb 11, 2012 0:51:02 GMT -5
I really liked Prince of Darkness. Ted and Tony introduced me to it (and In the Mouth of Madness) when they did their Carpenter retrospective. I really liked the premise and the bleak ending. With that said, The Thing has to be my favorite with The Fog a close second.
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Post by junkyard on Feb 11, 2012 17:08:50 GMT -5
I know I am going to get mad hate for this but I am not a huge fan of In the Mouth of Madness. Don't get me wrong I still like it a bit but there is something about it that stops me from really enjoying it. Unfortunately I am not sure what it is.
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Post by junkyard on Feb 11, 2012 17:10:28 GMT -5
To add to the hate I actually like ghosts of mars more than in the mouth of madness :-(
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dv909
Creeping Corpse
Posts: 56
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Post by dv909 on Feb 12, 2012 21:19:46 GMT -5
Yay, I've got company on The Ward train. right on! I thought all the ladies gave really strong performances. And I liked the atmosphere.
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dv909
Creeping Corpse
Posts: 56
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Post by dv909 on Feb 12, 2012 21:22:23 GMT -5
To add to the hate I actually like ghosts of mars more than in the mouth of madness :-( Ghost of Mars is a blast!
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yddy
Ghost in the Graveyard
Posts: 568
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Post by yddy on Feb 12, 2012 21:42:14 GMT -5
Yay, I've got company on The Ward train. right on! I thought all the ladies gave really strong performances. And I liked the atmosphere. They did. Plus, Jared Harris was really good. I have a soft spot for him.
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dv909
Creeping Corpse
Posts: 56
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Post by dv909 on Feb 15, 2012 23:16:01 GMT -5
right on! I thought all the ladies gave really strong performances. And I liked the atmosphere. They did. Plus, Jared Harris was really good. I have a soft spot for him. Absolutely. I thought his prescence in the movie upped the quality. He's great in Mad Men. So how about mid career Carpenter? My picks are Prince Of Darkness (great soundtrack!) Big Trouble (probably even better soundtrack) In The Mouth...
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Zeus
Creeping Corpse
Posts: 53
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Post by Zeus on Mar 8, 2012 15:47:59 GMT -5
My favorite has always been Big Trouble in Little China. I love every frame of that movie. It was just plain ahead of its time. I guess no one in the 80s wanted Hong Kong style action.
Hate to play the race card, but people were so weird about Japanese imports in the 80s that if an Asian was in a movie he was like this dweeby sidekick -- Data, Short Round -- totally dependent on the hero to save him.
Carpenter totally subverted that trope, releasing a film where the big cocky white dude was, amazingly, less skilled at martial arts than his Asian buddy. Something Hollywood didn't try again until, what, The Green Lantern with Seth Rogen?
Kurt Russell is no Seth Rogen -- he's about ten thousand times better. Witty, self-deprecating, talking like John Wayne for absolutely no reason. What a performance! Does a day go by where there isn't an opportunity to quote Jack Burton? There's just so much to like. It's not just a martial arts action/comedy, it's like watching some warped D&D campaign play out on the bigscreen, complete with Beholders, clashes with demigods, sorcerers, the works.
As much as I love In The Mouth of Madness, I'll only watch it in the right conditions: late at night, in the mood for something scary. With Big Trouble in Little China, I can watch it just about any day.
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Post by junkyard on Mar 11, 2012 15:56:04 GMT -5
I like Seth Rogan, think he is very funny but I love Kurt Russell
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