Recent viewings

[spongekryst]

Imprint- Takashi Miike's submit to Masters of Horror.

I do not want to ruin it, just buy it. I will say that between this movie and Eraserhead, I don't have a mind left.

[Vik]

The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Pretty good zombie horror film, I was expecting more zombie action but this was alright.
3/5
Dead Alive AKA Braindead
Goregasm
4/5
Night of the living dead (1968)
Oh man, what a classic. Maybe this is cliché but definately my favourite zombie movie ever. It gets better the more I watch it. George Romero is a legend.
5/5
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
What a great horror movie, the effects are awesome yet simple. The remake is probably crap... I also spotted an evil dead refference in it  I wish I could go back in time and see it fresh.
4.5/5

[indianasmith]

I saw most of SHERRYBABY last night.  Boy, Maggie Gylenhall seems to have a thing for getting naked in her movies . . .

[JaseSF]

The Hurt Locker (2008): We get to see first hand the dangerous lives lead by a special explosive device bomb disposal unit in Iraq. In a job where everyday might be their last, emotions and tensions run high for our heroic soldiers.

This was a pretty intense film and features interesting characters (I liked the performances given by Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty as Sergeant JT Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge best of all) but is never quite entirely believable in terms of plot. Not all the characters are likeable though and understandably most of the pressure of the job is really wearing on Sanborn and Eldridge, especially when a seemingly more reckless EOD bomb disposal unit leader in Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner) is put in charge following the death of a previously much more caution one. While this movie was quite good in its own little way and had some very moving scenes about soldiers having to deal with the reality there may be no tomorrow for them at any time and that they could see friends die at any time, it just doesn't involve the viewer quite as much as it should and just isn't terribly believable in terms of a lot of its set-up. The IED scenes packed some punch but they soon start to become more and more predictable. Also the Iraqis are painted a little too much in a negative light here. Let's just say a few more innocent Iraqi bystanders couldn't have hurt the film any. It's not a bad little movie but it didn't deserve all the Academy Award praise it got either. Because of that over-praise and because the film isn't one I think I'd ever need to see more that once, I give it *** out of ***** stars.

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K - GIANT SPIDER INVASION: OK, the plot of the movie involves a meteorite carrying a black hole that crashes into a field near a small town of drunken, lecherous Wisconsonites, and opens an inter-dimensional portal through which emerge geodes with tarantulas inside, and one of them turns giant for some reason... or something?  Anyway, there's a giant spider, and a black hole that follows none of the known laws of physics, and Alan Hale's the sheriff.  Both the movie and the riffing start slow but pick up by the end.  Lots of repulsive characters to make fun of, and lots of Wisconsin-based jokes.  I like host segments that follow an extended storyline, and this one is a parody of INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS that's pretty entertaining.  Good episode, 3.5/5.

SAMURAI PRINCESS (2009): A woman takes on the souls of eleven raped girls and becomes a cyborg to avenge them.  Set in a magical, mythical forest, the setting raises some potentially interesting fantasy ideas, but they're trampled over in a rush to get to the crazy (and badly done) gore scenes.  The version I saw was dubbed, which made it even worse.  2.5/5. 

[El Misfit]

The Brain from planet Arous- Just fun to watch
The ABC's of Walking Wisely- this short tells us the ABC's of walking, but it NEVER tells me about the Q-walker, only the C, G, I, J, K, O, Y, and A walker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qvwSSBzH-o
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Live and Learn- basically, it shows kids what NOT to do, but I believe that the combination of coffee at a young age + no adults + kids with mental health problems = disastrous results.
Reptilicus- AWESOME DANISH MONSTER!  

[claws]

Superargo and the Faceless Giants (1968) Rating: 3/5

Superhero Superargo, equipped with special wrestling powers donning a red superhero suit is crime-fighting a criminal who is forcing abducted athletes turned into mindless robo-zombies in doing his evil chores.
Sounds pretty wild and there are actually a few over-the-top action scenes but Superargo and the Faceless Giants remains sort of restrained and yeah, not over-the-top enough. Still worth a watch for those in need of semi-mild Euro-Entertainment presented with a beat-up Grindhouse-style scratchy red print.

[Jack]

Dead Man's Hand (2007) - watched this again.  A guy inherits a haunted casino and brings his friends along to clean the place up and get it ready for business.  The characters are one-dimensional clichés:  the good couple, the bad couple, the stoner dude and a girl that reminded me of Velma from Scooby Doo.  They talk, and talk, and talk some more.  Though it's played as a straight horror movie, the ghosts are done in a comic manner.  And it's really boring.  One sexy girl is about the only good point of the whole movie.  3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Pauly Shore is dead (2004)- I didn't have MTV in the 90's and wasn't familiar with any of Pauly Shores act. I saw Jury Duty on tv and actually kind of liked it but would never have said so publicly because the party line is that he is not funny at all. I actually liked this more than Tropic thunder. It's a self roast with a ton of celebrities: Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn (!), Ben Stiller, Perry Farrel (!). The best one by far is f**king Gerardo!!! selling oranges by the side of the road in a leather jacket and no shirt. I mean, top that. I imagine it took alot of doing by MTV to even get most of them to show up even for an hour. They take out their annoyance at this on Shore to good effect.

The jokes are not hugely original (Hollywood type humor about guys picking up girls by saying they know so and so, he has phone sex w/ a girl and his MOm is on the other line and he accidentally gets the lines confused) but it's still funny. There are dozens more cameos than I named: Carrot Top, Todd Bridges. The plot is he fakes his death to get sympathy then has to deal with peoples anger when they find out it was a stunt. recommended. He should team up with Martin Lawrence and Tara Reid for the next one. Maybe a "Whatever happened to Baby Jane" remake.

4.5/ 5


Tropic Thunder- You might have heard of this one. I think there are a few reviews of it on IMDB. Seriously, it was funny but I wish I had seen it in the theatre. My friend Justin was supposed to call me to see it but he never did. I liked the first part where they were making fun of war movies the best. After that it was kind of funny but not as crazy, more like just a regular ben Stiller type comedy. I'm not a big Robert Downey Jr fan (sorry ladies) but he was great here, almost but not quite as great as Tom Cruise. He had a much smaller role but was incredible. Everyone has seen this, why I am trying to talk about it? fun fact: after Red Sonya Brigette Nielson and Arnold Shwarzenagger put the little asian kid in a cryogenic thing. Ben Stiller thawed him out and he kicks ass in this. ba- dum psssh  

27/33

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJPXdLg3UK4
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Halls Of Anger (1970) - dvred off THIStv, this was pretty insane. I don't know if the people who made it were white nationalists or black nationalists or were just looking for exploitation any which way they could find it. White kids are transferred to an all black school where they are despised and terrorized by the black students. The smart white parents find a way to get their students out of there. Others figure, hey school isn't a place for kids to learn / get knowledge so they can make futures for themself, it's a place to be guinea pigs in a social experiment so go ahead and waste their time and beat them up. Some of the writing and acting is mediocre but it's consistently crazy enough to make "Do the Right Thing" look whiny and pc in comparison.

Jeff bridges and Meathead from all in the Family are among those sacrafised to the gods of multiculturalism. "Honky" appears alot and is edited out. Many of the black kids are portrayed as not knowing how to read. The heroic teacher remedies this by having some of them stay after class and read Lady Chatterly's lover and other erotica aloud. When this played in theatres it must have been total pandemonium. A great argument against not only busing but public schools in general. Color me impressed!

Somehow though, it's not all that great to actually watch but enough going on to recomend if you can find a copy.

3.5/ 5

[InformationGeek]

MST3K - GIANT SPIDER INVASION: OK, the plot of the movie involves a meteorite carrying a black hole that crashes into a field near a small town of drunken, lecherous Wisconsonites, and opens an inter-dimensional portal through which emerge geodes with tarantulas inside, and one of them turns giant for some reason... or something?  Anyway, there's a giant spider, and a black hole that follows none of the known laws of physics, and Alan Hale's the sheriff.  Both the movie and the riffing start slow but pick up by the end.  Lots of repulsive characters to make fun of, and lots of Wisconsin-based jokes.  I like host segments that follow an extended storyline, and this one is a parody of INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS that's pretty entertaining.  Good episode, 3.5/5. 

As a person from Wisconsin, I can say that we are not all like those rednecks in the movie.

I remember watching this with my dad and he had a blast with all the jokes aimed at Wisconsin and also took the time to try to figure out where all the film locations were.  I also brought this movie up with my teacher one time and she frowned, remembering when it was actually filmed in the area!

Anyways, for recent movies:

I watched Up and Evolution again on my Senior Trip to St. Paul.  I was pretty sure no teacher would allow Evolution to play since it was pretty inapporiate, but they said it was fine!  Oh boy, were they shocked when they saw how the movie was like.  It was a big hit with my class though.

[Sleepyskull]

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Very cheesy movie!   The look slightly reminded me of Flash Gordon only not nearly as impressive. Fun and pretty stupid. And very colorful.


5.3 out of 13 stars




Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn

[claws]

Wacky Taxi (1972) Rating: 0/5

A moron quits his save job at the factory and starts his own taxi business without license or permit, even though he has three kids and a pregnant wife to take care of. The only thing funny about this PG-rated family comedy was the fact that the maker of this movie was endorsing this moron's actions while making him look like a total fool. Little did the unrealistic 'success!' ending do good either, it only made the Wacky Taxi experience even stupider.

Evil Come Evil Go (1972) Rating: 2/5

A crazy female street preacher is killing evil sinful men after they had the wild, untamed sex. All in the name of god of course. The preacher lady eventually meets an easy to influence giant Lesbian and together they kill even more sinful sinners. Trashy Grindhouse with a good amount of steamy porn-sex (John Holmes is in this) and fake blood galore. Had its moments.

[Joe the Destroyer]

She Creature (2001)- It's nothing like the Roger Corman version, but it's still a lightly fun made-for-TV monster flick.   

[Jim H]

I just saw some documentary (Starz based) about slasher films on Net Flix on demand.  Was fairly decent.  Didn't learn much, but I suspect I know a lot more about the history of slasher films than the typical viewer, and this covered a lot of ground in 90 minutes.  One annoying bit was the sound was a bit out of sync on the on demand version.

I've also been watching a ridiculous amount of Daria.  Daria was probably the teen character I could relate to the most growing up (which I guess says something about my personality and values) and the timing of the show was pretty stellar - I became a teenager about two months before the shows premiere, and was approaching 19 when it ended.  It's a generally quite well-written and structured show for those who haven't seen it. 

Box set of the complete series came out about a week ago at a bargain price - $28 from Best Buy.  Very cheap considering the total run time is across 8 discs and about 25 hours.  Not quite a movie as of yet, but I just finished the fourth season, and there's a movie that bridges seasons 4 and 5, along with a movie that caps the series.  Probably get to that tomorrow. 

[JaseSF]

I Am Omega (2007): The direct to video rip-off of I Am Legend from The Asylum. Actually I think it's better than I Am Legend which perhaps isn't saying too much for it anyways. Anyways this stars Mark Dacascos as Renchard, a kung fu fighting version of the last man, although he's not actually the last man, leading man. Jennifer Lee Williams is the last uninfected woman whom he reluctantly decides to try to rescue at the behest of a pair of mysterious rednecks before the bombs Renchard's rigged to blow up the city go off. In his way are an army of human mutant zombie creatures! The zombies are mindless critters, achieved via make-up, but I felt they were far more terrifying a presence than the CGI monsters of I Am Legend. The film actually runs its expected course but I did like some of the dialogue and conversations a lot more than I expected too as they had a surprisingly realistic quality in some scenes. Now this pales greatly when compared to The Omega Man or The Last Man on Earth but was much better than I expected it to be and a whole lot better than I Am Legend like I said. I think Dacascos might in fact be a better leading man too.  **3/4 out of *****

Monster (2008): And this was a direct to video rip-off of Cloverfield from The Asylum. This is astonishingly bad. The monster proves the biggest disappointment of all given its little screen time but also the shaky cam footage, bad sound and messed up on purpose video footage will likely give many a headache as they try to figure out what's going on on screen. I suspect the vast majority will quickly shut this off and give up on it. I toughed it out. I will say this, I actually think the two leads in this movie Sarah Lynch and Erin Evans actually are arguably more sympathetic than their counterparts in Cloverfield. This time things take place in Tokyo, Japan and the rest of the world thinks it was just an earthquake. This later found video footage suggests it was something else....the setting of Tokyo actually proves more fascinating than Cloverfield New York setting. I liked the sound of the monster bellowing too. Actually had they instead spent the money on the superior Japanese actors/actresses involved, they probably could have made an halfway decent kaiju rip-off here instead of this virtually unwatchable shaky cam nonsense. ** out of ***** stars for the few things I did like.