Recent viewings

[Pilgermann]

Cameron's Closet (1988)

I love that movie!  It hooked me near the beginning during the beheading scene.  I also liked that the alcoholic former assistant (or whoever he was) to Cameron's dad went from having a real mustache to a fake one later in the film.  Methinks reshoots came after he'd shaved.

Prince Of Darkness.  IMO, John Carpenter's worst.

That one's somewhere in the middle of my Carpenter appreciation.  I don't think it all works but I think it's full of neat ideas, and the dream transmissions were really cool.

Anyways, I've recently watched these:

Vacation of Terror (aka Vacaciones de terror) and Vacation of Terror 2: Diabolical Birthday (aka Vacacione de terror 2: cumpleaños diabolical) - VoT is a fairly typical vengeful spirit picture, nothing special but it has some nice goofy stuff here and there, but the sequel is something else!  The first film had an evil possessed doll, and the doll returns in the sequel with only one character from the first film, Julio, returning tom combat it.  This time, I think in Mexico City, a film producer is holding a big Halloween birthday-bash for his daughter at his film studio.  Somehow she came to own the doll, and during the party they're letting the girl cut the cake but she slices her finger, and bleeds on the doll which causes it to transform into some slimy witch-monster.  There's all sorts of lunacy that happens in this movie and it's a beautiful sight to behold.

I Come In Peace (1990) - Dolph Lundgren actioner where he's a cop who does battle with an alien that uses humans to manufacture "drugs" by pumping 'em full of heroin until they die, then extracting endorphins straight from their brain.  It's goofy of course but fun.

The King of Kong (2007) - I'm sure many are familiar with this Donkey Kong competition flick, and I've watched it a few times before, but it's a really good documentary.

The Courier of Death (1984) - Now this is the kind of garbage I like!  The story follows J. D. Blackman, a courier who transports very large sums of money in the face of great danger.  The opening scenes find him and his partner being pursued by thugs in ski masks and jogging suits, most of whom are blown away by J. D. and pal, but his partner gets killed in the process.  The criminals later get back at J. D. by intercepting a different delivery, and they also kill his wife.  Coincidentally he's given a chance to get revenge after his former Colonel contacts him about tracking down the people in the criminal organization. 

This is a pretty bad film, with cheesy gunplay, bad acting, and a silly plot, but it's scummy enough and keeps things moving at a pretty good pace.  The film is littered with wonderful montage-like scenes where J. D. is being flown from points A to B by a grumpy old guy, and these consist of random aerial footage overlayed with the two characters b***hing at one another.  It gives the film a boneheaded otherworldly quality if that makes any sense.  I insist that all fans of bad action flicks check it out, it's a doozie.

Future Force (1989) - David Carradine is John Tucker, a "badass" (it's more like watching someone's drowsy grandpa) member of C.O.P.S. - Civilian Operated Police State.  Some corrupt guy who leads the organization or something gets ticked off at a news reporter who has some dirt on him, he puts a bounty on her and through boring plot workings leads to Tucker having a bounty on his head.  It's all incredibly stupid, and I didn't like it very much.  I'll be watching the sequel, Future Zone, in the near future.

[JaseSF]

Femme Fatale (2002): A femme fatale bad girl named Laure (Rebecca Romjin) double-crosses her partners in an elaborate 10 million dollar jewel heist at the Cannes Film Festival. Said partners who are soon thereafter out for her blood. She unexpectedly gets a shot and a second chance at a new life by assuming the identity of Lily, a tragic French woman who's lost her family, and moving to America. However things take a downhill turn when she's forced to return to France and gets photographed by Nicolas Bardo (Antonio Banderas), a down on his luck photographer reluctantly turned paparazzi. This now puts her in grave danger as it puts her in the sights of her former heist partners. When Nicolas, feeling bad about taking the photograph, tries to help what he thinks is a down and depressed abused woman soon finds himself instead thrust rather unwilling into her world of danger and deceit.

This surprised me. It's really quite good. Honestly this is one of those films that gets better on repeated viewings. Lots of suprises, twists and turns and a fantastic visual fest it's hard to take one's eyes off even when one kind of wants to look away. Very much an artistic style film noir with De Palma style and flair. Rebecca Romjin actually proves quite capable in the lead role and honestly surprised me by so successfully bringing such a vibrant character to life. Banderas offers good support and plays considerably well off Romjin although their romance does seem a little too forced early on.  Also this may be a bit too arty for some but it offers up enough action, clever intrigue, surprises and sex appeal to more than make up for that IMO. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[claws]

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) Blu-ray

Nitpicking: Blatant carbon copy of part 1, right down to the shock-ending. Jason acts like a wimp and the kill-scenes are tame. There are a few unanswered questions but one shouldn't look for logic in slashers. That said, I still enjoy part 2 for what it is. 3.75/5

Revenge (1986)

From the golden days of shot-on-video this evil cult horror delivers good badness co-starring John Carradine, who had no shame whatsoever to be in the cheapest of productions. Nice rural setting, cheesy moments and slasher-like kills and plot. 3.5/5

[Kaseykockroach]

High Anxiety. Mel Brooks' most underrated film. Nuff said.

[retrorussell]

High Anxiety. Mel Brooks' most underrated film. Nuff said.

The 'Birds' spoof had me rolling.  And Charlie Callas and Jughead Jones (his voice actor, anyway) were in it!

[lester1/2jr]

MST3k girl in Lovers lane- classic joel episode. not my all time favorite but a must see for fans of the show. plenty of  gay overtones in this dumb but not altogether bad movie about two good looking drifters who show up in a town and have usual drifter in town troubles and triumphs (girls like em, guys don't) 4.25/ 5

[theedinburghbteam]

I just watched "Driller Killer" for the first time in a long ass time.

It's a bit boring to be honest, and that band grated on me through out (why didn't they get drilled :( ). The actual drilling scenes are hilarious though. It reminded me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when John Cleese's character (Galahad?) keeps jumping into the screen and the action music starts and he starts attacking everyone around him. It happens exactly the same in the driller killer rampage scene.

[JaseSF]

2 Days in the Valley (1996): Ten different people living in "the Valley" find their lives turned upside down, each affected dramatically in unpredictable fashion in the wake of a murder.

This was quite clever if not altogether believable. Still it featured a great cast and an unlikely leading man in Danny Aiello who plays a surprisingly sympathetic and likable down on his luck, washed up hitman named Dosmo Pizzo. James Spader plays a cool,  calculating killer who brings to mind Batman villain the Clock King blended with a serial killer. Teri Hatcher and especially Charlize Theron provide the eye candy as dangerous femme fatales and steal the show at one point with a catfight. Paul Mazursky plays a suicidal movie director who finds renewed life as all these events and newfound adventure/experience unfold in front of him. Also on board are Jeff Daniels and Eric Stoltz as undercover vice cops who have a tendency to mess up. This was an enjoyable ride, so much so I didn't notice the time going while watching it and it is always amusing and interesting and on occasion even funny. It doesn't entirely work but what does provides a fun viewing experience. *** out of ***** stars.

[claws]

Zodiac (2007)

Well-crafted movie. However, I want my serial killer movies to be a bit suspenseful. Zodiac is drama and doesn't offer any tense moments, which is too bad. I wasn't expecting another Se7en or Silence of the Lambs either but yeah, movies about serial killers should thrill me. 4/5

The Slayer (1982)

Two couples on vacation are terrorized by something evil on a island. Forgotten slasher in need of a decent DVD release. 3.5/5

[indianasmith]

I watched AN AMERICAN CAROL again last night.  It held up pretty well on a second viewing; I got quite a little giggle out  of several scenes.

[Rev. Powell]

THE PEANUT BUTTER SOLUTION (1985):  A kid is frightened and loses his hair, but some grateful ghosts give him a secret recipe for regrowing it; when he doesn't follow the formula exactly, complications ensure.  Kids who saw this in the 80s never forget it, since its extremely odd and frightening to children; adults seeing it for the first time may notice that it's not very well acted or directed, but the fairy-tale style story is well done and keeps your interest.  3/5.

[Flick James]

Zodiac (2007)

Well-crafted movie. However, I want my serial killer movies to be a bit suspenseful. Zodiac is drama and doesn't offer any tense moments, which is too bad. I wasn't expecting another Se7en or Silence of the Lambs either but yeah, movies about serial killers should thrill me. 4/5

The Slayer (1982)

Two couples on vacation are terrorized by something evil on a island. Forgotten slasher in need of a decent DVD release. 3.5/5

I liked Zodiac, but yeah, it's very slow-paced. However, with all due respect, they were covering real historic events and were probably trying to keep things at least somewhat factual. It was kind of disturbing at some points though, like the scene where the couple was killed who were lounging out in the outdoors. That gave me the creeps.

[Doggett]

Paranormal Activity 2:

I'm gonna give a short, but sweet review:
Dull film for the most part with occasional scary bits !


One scare I did really enjoy even though it was a bit cheap.
Oh, its a little too long though.


3/5

[lester1/2jr]

Winter's Bone (2010)

While we are pontifcating about wether or not to set up a no fly zone in Libya, the new ipad and wether republicans hate obama because he’s black or because the Koch brothers are paying them too, our heartland has turned into a Somalia like 3rd world country patrolled by meth gangs. If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link we are either a weak chain or not a chain at all.

Winter's Bone tells the story of a girl in the sticks who must find her Dad, who has absconded on bail but not before putting the house up as collateral. He's around somewhere , but the local characters, many of whom she is related to, are generally either unhelpful or hostile to the idea. Why? Her Dad was a meth cooker who somehow ran afoul of the big meth guys who they are all in with/ loyal to/ afraid of. She is raising her younger sister and brother by herself, now she might lose the house and her only chance to save it is finding her Dad and this seems impossible.

Everyone is well cast. It's a great movie. very sad. We are invading Muslim countries to teach them democratic values. what values? to abandon the powerless people in your country to chaos and starvation?

5/5

[Flick James]

Winter's Bone (2010)

While we are pontifcating about wether or not to set up a no fly zone in Libya, the new ipad and wether republicans hate obama because he’s black or because the Koch brothers are paying them too, our heartland has turned into a Somalia like 3rd world country patrolled by meth gangs. If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link we are either a weak chain or not a chain at all.

Winter's Bone tells the story of a girl in the sticks who must find her Dad, who has absconded on bail but not before putting the house up as collateral. He's around somewhere , but the local characters, many of whom she is related to, are generally either unhelpful or hostile to the idea. Why? Her Dad was a meth cooker who somehow ran afoul of the big meth guys who they are all in with/ loyal to/ afraid of. She is raising her younger sister and brother by herself, now she might lose the house and her only chance to save it is finding her Dad and this seems impossible.

Everyone is well cast. It's a great movie. very sad. We are invading Muslim countries to teach them democratic values. what values? to abandon the powerless people in your country to chaos and starvation?

5/5

I haven't gotten to Winter's Bone yet, but I will. My father retired and bought a home in rural Kansas where he's originally from. The last time I visited him he talked about that very thing, how meth labs are springing up all over that area. It's really hard to imagine such a thing being so prevalent in rural smalltown America, but it is. Can we just admit already that we are losing this joke of a war on drugs already? The first step to fixing the problem is just admitting the failure.