Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Descending Into Your Ears

It's been about 2.5 years since I started this blog, and somehow, I've yet to devote more than passing references to one of my favorite films of this century, Neil Marshall's new classic, The Descent.




I know, just toss me in a hole with a noisy digital watch why don't you!



Or worse, poop on my head and make me watch The Descent 2.


Well you might have to because today, I am not actually writing about The Descent. Nope. Poop on. Instead, I'm here to direct you to Girls On Film Radio Podcast where in Episode 25, myself and a few other sassy non-spelunking badass females delve into the film, audio-style. We also tackle the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others, another huge recommend of a very different ilk.


Get to it.

10 comments:

  1. Since you're in America, I'm guessing that you've seen the version of The Descent with the upbeat, happy ending, as opposed to the normal, everywhere-that-isn't-America version. Ah, studio meddling, gotta love it, who'd really want to live in a world that didn't feel the need to cut two hours from Once Upon a Time in America and redub Mad Max from English, to English! *sigh*

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  2. We go in detail about this in the podcast. I was living in Korea the first time I saw the film on a, ahem, Internet screener, so I watched it with the original ending. When I found about the cut, I just rolled my eyes. It's ridiculous (though still better than the even more ridiculous last 20 seconds of the sequel).

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  3. Dog Soldiers.....The Descent.....Marshall was on a roll, but I feel it's merely a flash in the pan for this guy. Two turds in a row and I am losing hope that he will ever again reach the majestic high of "The Descent" on to the podcast I go....chicks with movie podcasts are kewl.

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  4. See, the first time I watched Doomsday I was horribly let down. The first 45 minutes are incredibly fun and intense, and then it just spills into insanity. On repeat viewings, however, I find myself sitting back and just enjoying it. It's not the film I wanted (based on the opening or the fact that it's his followup to The Descent) but it's something of a guilty pleasure now. I have similar feelings on Centurion. It's a mess, but a violent period era mess that I can still have fun with.

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  5. I saw Dog Soldiers when I was in England in 2002 and thought it was great. I then completely forgot about Neil Marshall until last year when I started listening to podcasts and The Descent was mentioned on one. AWESOME.

    I bought The Descent Part II the other day so I guess I'll watch it, but being a sequel which hasn't been directed by Marshall I'll be happily going in without expectations.

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  6. That's the way to do it. It's not AWFUL (save for the ending and one key character) and watched as not-The Descent, it's a tad better than your average straight-to-DVD horror. It's just nowhere anywhere near the mastery of The Descent. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts once you get around to it.

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  7. I'm not ready to throw the towel in on Marshall.

    The descent was a great film, Doomsday wasn't too bad either.
    I did not care too much for Dog soldiers or Centurion, but overall I think his work is above average.

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  8. Agreed Tangerine. I think we hold him to higher standards BECAUSE of The Descent, but I've still enjoyed every one of his films on one level or another.

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  9. What was Marshall's involvement in Part 2 - on IMDB it says he's an executive producer, so I'm guessing he had very little to none. Also assuming he gets a "based on characters created by" credit as well.

    I'm aiming to watch both on the weekend. One thing I loved about the first one is the character of Juno, and how they gave her virtually no backstory despite being one of the most kick-ass women in the movies. When I was watching it I was waiting to find out that she had been in the SAS or similar. Just watch her kill! Quite wonderful.

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  10. Based on an article I read in Fangoria, I think he actually directed one day of found footage featured in the film (not really a spoiler: they had a video camera). I've heard other podcasters say he just cashed a check and tossed his name on the screen without caring, but the article seemed to suggest he was actually a little more deeply involved.

    And I agree, Juno is kickass. She's also an irresponsible monster who leads her pals to their death AND cheats with one of her best friend's husband, but I also STILL like her! It's a testament to the character and actress, definitely.

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