Recent viewings

[Jim H]

Warlock - both of them!  The quite enjoyable witch-hunting film with Julian Sands, and the 50s western with Henry Fonda and a bunch of others.  I liked both.  I thought the western one had a pretty weak third act.  Not terrible, just weaker than the first two acts.  7/10.

The witch-hunting Warlock film I really enjoyed when I was younger, but hadn't seen in over a decade.  It was just as good as I remembered.  8/10.

I also saw Once Upon A Time in America, the final major Leone film I hadn't seen (haven't seen Colossus of Rhodes, but I'll get to it).  I thought it was much better than A Fistful of Dynamite, which I honestly found rather dull.  But, I still found the storyline of OUATIA to be a little disjointed.  Perhaps deliberate, considering the opium stuff, but I don't think it worked in the film's favor.  I also felt there were numerous sub-plots that were not given enough screentime.  Still, a lot of great performances, some good photography, and an interesting and very strange ending.  There's also amazingly little story considering the nearly 4 hour run time.  Think this could have been rewritten as a 2.5 hour film and been better for it, though I will say the concept of cutting nearly two hours out (the original American version is about two hours) boggles my mind - must have been a complete mess. 

Biggest surprise for me - the overall style of the film is just waaaaaay more modern than his previous films.  The huge time gap between this and A Fistful of Dynamite really shows.  This also isn't always for the better - visually, the film is very good, but it's not as good or as iconic as his westerns.  The very memorable wide profile shots of the gangsters as kids running is probably the only really memorable image from the film.  Kind of disappointing. 

Worth a watch, but I don't think it's the masterpiece his first four westerns are.  7/10.

[Killer Bees]

Children of the Corn: The Gathering (1996) - This stars Naomi Watts.  I could watch her read a book for 90 minutes and be pretty happy with the experience.  She's just perfection in human form    The movie wasn't bad at all either.  Naomi moves back to the small rural town she grew up in, to take care of her mother who's suffering from nightmares and generally going a tad nutty.  A wicked supernatural kid also comes to town and casts a spell on all the children which causes them to eventually turn evil.  The first step in the transformation is that they all get a high fever, and Naomi is working as a nurse at the local clinic so she's at the center of the action.  She eventually learns the backstory of the evil kid, and it's pretty cool.  The only thing I didn't care for was the director's style when it comes to the scary scenes - lots of editing and dramatic music, which may be startling (and somewhat annoying) but it certainly isn't scary.  Still, it was a lot better than most of the crap I watch.  Did I mention Naomi's beauty is absolutely ethereal?  4/5.

That tends to be a trait with us Aussie girls   

[Jack]

Good to see you back Killer Bees, we missed you!   

[Jim H]

I just saw Thunder Cops II.  Which is of no relation to Thunder Cops or the other related films.  Go figure.

Stephen Chow is in it, for the second half.  He's OK, but can't save the film.  It's a gritty and dark police revenge film, but the plot is incoherent, character's motivations are confusing or just don't make sense, many of the characters disappear for huge chunks of time, and the drama is weak.  A shootout scene in slo-mo evokes The Untouchables and its Odessa Steps referencing scene, but it's not nearly as good as either.  A few kind of cool stylistic touches, and a couple good action scenes, but it's all too little.  Just a mess, which is sad as the mess does have SOME potential.  Oh well.

4/10.

[3mnkids]

Necromentia~~ Its a somewhat confusing story about several people who mess around with... evil crap, I guess. They find hell..Its like saw meets hellraiser only weirder. It does come together in the end but getting there wasnt  exactly easy. I almost turned it off a couple of times in the beginning but pig man convinced me to keep on watching, im glad I did. Its definitely worth a watch.

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[Jack]

Ring of Terror (1962) - You kind of know when you see a movie from 1962 and it's in black and white that you're dealing with a rather low budget production.  This is about a group of college medical students, one of whom seems to have no fear of anything.  But to get into a fraternity, they make him go into a crypt and steal the ring off the finger of a dead man.  I bet he's afraid of that!  The whole movie focuses on the med students and their girlfriends.  The characters really aren't half bad, and the languid pace actually works to build up a small amount of tension in some scenes.  Or maybe I've just seen so much crap that I'm way too easy to impress now?  I'll be exceedingly generous and give it 3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Fear of Fear (1975)- I almost don't want to mention this is a Fassbinder movie for fear that people will think it's some really pretentious art house movie with a lot of symbolism and put it on their queue but never watch it. Fassbinder is alot more straighforward than Fellini and this is nothing like 8 1/2. Not to disparage that stuff but it does tend to require more than the usual amount of effort to get through and isn't always worth it. The story here is exceedingly simple: while pregnant with her 2nd child a woman is overcome with anxiety and dread apropos of seemingly nothing. It's business as usual for her family and those around her but she is all the sudden not able to cope. It's basically a 90 minute ad for zoloft but this is from the (gasp!) pre happy pill era so she has to go old school or then school to cope: valium and cognac. Everyone is p**sed at her, she is underweight and a mess, and now she may have to let the gross pharmacist guy bang her if she wants to stay in pills. Writing and acting are stellar. I've seen a few of this guys movies and this is the best.  5/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f18B_F18Cn8&feature=related
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The Lodger (1944)- At first this seemed like it was going to be a little stuffy for my tastes. It was stuffy but I still liked it after I got into it. It's the Jack the Ripper story. Right Away we meet the guy we think is probably Jack the ripper: he's an eccentric guy who shows up right when all the murders start and likes to go for walks late at night and generally does a really bad job of diverting suspician away from himself. There always seems to be just a thread of plausible explanation for his behaviour though. Much of it takes place at night often on very foggy streets and there are colorful drunkards carrying on and so forth so no shortage of atmosphere. It was basically a good old school horror story told in a european, quasi hammer ish style with dialogue and writing that was rather good despite all the formality.  4/5

[Rev. Powell]

Necromentia... Its like saw meets hellraiser only weirder.

Months ago someone suggested I review "Necromania" from 2009.  I couldn't find any "Necromania" from 2009, but now I'm sure this is the film he meant.  (I agreed to review Ed Wood's Necromania instead!)  Thanks!  Now I will have to watch this one.

[JaseSF]

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993): Remake of the Disney classic The Incredible Journey (1963), this features two dogs (Golden Retriever and American Bulldog) and an Himalayan cat trying to find their way back home hoping to be reuinted with their family.

Me and my girlfriend watched this last night, a gift from me to her, and it proved every bit as good as I remembered it from many years ago when I first saw it. Sure it plays to cliche a little perhaps and in some ways it's quite a bit far fetched (but hey it's from Disney so that's to be expected I think) but still it's a very moving story of the love of animals for their owners and the other way around. Some nice elements of humor, great adventure, beautiful scenery, and a great casting choice when it came to choosing the voices for the animals (Michael J. Fox, Sally Field, Don Ameche) lending itself to the great animal character interaction  and teamwork in our story add to the enjoyment. Only thing I found a bit off-putting was the voice of Don Ameche as Shadow expressing how much he loves his boy master but that's only because of Ameche's husky voice I think. A modern Disney classic in its own right. **** out of *****.

Homeward Bound II: Lost In San Francisco (1996): This sequel features the three animal characters from the original again, this time the pets get lost in San Francisco after escaping from their cages at the airport as the family attempt to take a Canadian vacation.

This sequel lacks the magic and charm of the original. It is much more standardized fare for the masses but as far as these type of dumbed down comedy style sequels go, it is better than most. It is very much more in the vein of comedy with Chance getting into constant hijinks and causing headaches for not only his owner but Shadow and Sassy once they get lost in the city. Unlike the original, the animals here never seem as united in terms of wanting to make an effort to get home. At least they took the time to explain this element by having Jamie ignore Chance a bit before the pets get lost making Chance in not so big an hurry to get back home. Sadly Chance here seems to have learned nothing from all his experience in the original film. They also toss in a romantic subplot with Chance falling for a city dog named Delilah while Shadow and Sassy must attempt to save a child from a burning house at one point (it was this part my girlfriend liked best in the film). Meanwhile the animals must also try and outwit the film's main villains - two dimwitted would be dog catchers who drive around in a blood red van attempting to catch strays to sell to a lab for testing and a pair of bullying gang banging dogs named Ashcan and Pete. It's funny compared to the original but the original was more of an adventure film and wasn't played up so much for laughs whereas this is much more in the realm of dumb comedy. **1/2 out of *****

[claws]

Strange Behavior (1981) - Interesting concept: mind-controlled kids on a killing spree in a small town. Solid Horror with a touch of slasher and sci-fi. Nice setting (filmed in New Zealand) and one cheesy-great dance sequence at a party. 3.5/5

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) - Freddy goes wild using a shy girl to kill more kids. Over-the-top but stylish with great effects, smart script and fun soundtrack. 3.5/5

Battle in Outer Space (1959) - Evil aliens attack earth and it's up to a space crew to kick alien-ass on the moon. Surprisingly well-made special effects paired with naive thinking regarding gravity in space. Entertaining. 3.5/5

[Jim H]

Just watched Iron Angels.  Basically one of the couple of mid-80s HK action films that jump-started the Girls With Guns sub-genre.  It's far weaker than some later efforts, but still watchable.  Plot is disjointed and bordering on incoherent, but some general silliness and a few good action scenes, as usual, make up for a lot of this.  Plus a few ridiculous moments - the final cat fight is quite good, though short, and incredibly brutal.  Think kicks to face, gut stomps, being hit with a board with nails in it, and on and on.  The finale has one character being swung like a baseball bat into a solid steel shovel.

Then, right after this, we cut to a hospital where one character is recovering, we find out a character we thought was dead isn't, and then a character slips on a banana peel and the movie freeze frames as credits roll.

...yeah, that pretty much sums up the attitude of HK action films, I think.

6/10.

[Rev. Powell]

YOU, THE LIVING (2007): A series of short absurdist skits and dreams within dreams set in a Stockholm neighborhood, exploring the hideous mundanity and isolation of modern life.  Very little actually happens and the humor is extremely dry, but it's not quite boring; neither is it as profound and revelatory as some critics are claiming.  It's an interesting and largely successful evocation of the absurdity of modern life.    3/5   

[Doggett]

YOU, THE LIVING (2007): A series of short absurdist skits and dreams within dreams set in a Stockholm neighborhood, exploring the hideous mundanity and isolation of modern life.  Very little actually happens and the humor is extremely dry, but it's not quite boring; neither is it as profound and revelatory as some critics are claiming.  It's an interesting and largely successful evocation of the absurdity of modern life.    3/5   

OOHHH !
I watched that a few nights ago !

It's an odd film where you're just compelled to watch through curiostiy of what the next scene would be.

It's "not quite boring", but it does get close to boring at times.

2.5/5

[Killer Bees]

Good to see you back Killer Bees, we missed you!   

thanks Jack.  I'm happy to be here once again.

[Doggett]

Paramormal Activity.

3/5

Good, but in desperate need of plot.