Recent viewings

[indianasmith]

I watched INKUBUS with Robert England a couple nights ago.  Very interesting; at the beginning of the movie we see a scene similar to the original ending of HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP -  a woman is in labor, and at the last minute a small horned monster chews its way through her abdomen and into the world. Then we get the back story, in the form of therapy sessions with her husband, who explains how her womb was possessed by the spirit of an evil, immortal serial killer known only as "Inkubus".  Don't wanna give away too much, but this one was better than I thought it would be.

[Jack]

Proteus (1995) - some drug smugglers are smuggling some drugs, but their boat sinks and they take refuge on an offshore oil rig.  Oddly, there doesn't seem to be anyone on board, however they do find what appears to be a genetic engineering lab...  Do I need to say more?     This was pretty entertaining.  The characters were likable, the girls were cute, the plot moved along at a pace that kept it interesting, and the monster at the end was pretty cool.  It took itself seriously though there was a little cheese here and there.  4/5.

[tracy]

[Jack]

Dangerous Worry Dolls (2008) - repeat viewing.  A girl is in jail, or reform school, I dunno. She has to deal with the usual stuff, the mean gang girls, the horrible warden, the corrupt guard. Her daughter brings her some "worry dolls" that she's supposed to tell her problems to and then put them under her pillow at night. The next morning one of them has taken up residence in her forehead     She's got a big change of attitude and takes revenge on all who wronged her. This was okay, the characters were good though nothing exceptional. Plot was predictable. The camera didn't linger on the babes in nearly as voyeuristic a manner as it should have. But it was entertaining enough I guess.  3.25/5.

[Rev. Powell]

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (2001): After a botched sex change operation, glam/punk singer Hedwig tours seafood buffets across the USA on the tail of an ex-lover arena rock megastar who stole her hit songs. Fantastic music, hilarious one-liners and a lovable outsider protagonist make this the best gender bending punk musical cult comedy of all time. Homophobes beware, all others rejoice. 4.5/5.

TUVALU (1999): Can a picturesque but dilapidated Turkish bathhouse pass a government inspection, and can love between a poolboy and a female patron flourish after the girl's father is killed when a piece of the crumbling ceiling falls on him? This nearly silent, tinted experimental feature with slapstick tributes is beautiful to look at but difficult to follow and to identify with emotionally. 3/5.

[alandhopewell]

     Let's face it....a dead teenager movie, even one starring Tom Savini, is STILL a dead teenager flick, and still blows.

     Nothing new here-five pimple-free youngsters are riding through the obligatory Middle of Nowhere , when their Mystery Machine clone breaks down. Now, they've already been warned by this DELIVERANCE understudy to get their narrow butts back to civilization, but they've got to Get Away From It All, so they keep going.

     Unbeknownst to them, these woods are haunted by anorexic nude models with real long teeth. Tom Savini, who has some connection with them, hangs out in this old house in the woods, occasionally feeding nubile young teen tourists to the Tyra Banks alumni.

     So far, I've found nothing about this compilation to recommend it....



     I've seen six of the twelve films, and this was the best so far.
Makes me wish I could spell that noise that Lurch made.

[retrorussell]

The Wraith (1986).  Fairly dumb and cheesy flick filmed in Tucson (with some really bad dialogue and FX) about a teen's spirit returning in Charlie Sheen's body to get revenge for his death at the hands of a gang leader (the rather wooden Nick Cassavettes).  Laughable, with Randy Quaid as a smarmy sheriff.

[JaseSF]

Virus (1980): Watched the full length version of this one for the first time. The story focuses on the destruction of mankind at the hands of a killer manmade virus that gets out of control and the efforts of the few hundred survivors left in Antarctica to continue human life only to be faced with yet another threat as an automated nuclear response arsenal may soon be triggered by an earthquake.

This is obviously an epic disaster film and has its moments and a star studded cast as was the norm in films of this sort from the 1970s. The often top billed Sonny Chiba only has a relatively small part in the film as a doctor but the real star of the picture is Masao Kusakari as Yoshizuma, the scientist who studies earthquakes. The other major stars here include Bo Svenson as Major Carter, Chuck Connors as submarine Captain McCloud, George Kennedy as Admiral Conway, Glenn Ford as American President Richardson, Robert Vaughn as Senator Barkley, Olivia Hussey as Marita and Henry Silva as the crazed Colonel Garland. This longer version makes more sense and the flow of the film is a lot better. It's also a lot less confusing but it doesn't take away a lot of the flaws in terms of credibility being seriously stretched to the max on several occasions.  I also don't believe I've ever seen so many action stars in a film before so lacking in terms of real action, although it does have some moments here and there. The main focus seems to have been the FX work, creating the abandoned cities filled with the dead etc.. *** out of ***** stars.

Lady and the Tramp (1955): Clever little animated story detailing the life and adventures of a young cocker spaniel named Lady (voiced by Barbara Luddy) with a focus on how her life is affected by meeting a stray named Tramp (voiced by Larry Roberts) and eventually the arrival of a new human baby into the life of her owners.

This was very well done, focusing on life from the point of view of Lady for the most part but on occasion on the Tramp as well. It has great dramatic moments of suspense, love and loss. There's also elements of comedy and some truly frightening moments involving a pack of vicious dogs and later a rat. It has a bit of everything and doesn't overstay its welcome with its short running time meaning something of interest, be it dramatic or fun, is happening or always seems about to happen. A true Disney animated classic. **** out of ***** stars.

The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964): Narrated from the point of view of pet cat Thomasina (voiced by Elspeth March), this tells the story of the MacDui family. Father Andrew (Patrick McGooghan), a widow, is the new veterinarian in the small Scottish town of Inveranoch but his coldly scientific and seemingly unfeeling approach has the locals more interested in bringing animals to "the witch of the glen", a misunderstood young woman named Lori MacGregor (Susan Hampshire) who has a rare way with animals who all seem to remain calm and gentle in her presence. Andrew's young daughter Mary (Karen Dotrice) is a lonely young girl whose whole life seems to center around her pet cat Thomasina, who oddly enough would tie all these people together following her "death".

This movie has a really charming quality to it as is a surprisingly deep and emotional story dealing with the pains of the human heart and human relationships, not to mention relationships with pet animals, on a much deeper level than one expects of films of this type. It's a bit of a sadly overlooked and perhaps a tad underrated Disney classic. It does however has some moments that does stretch credibility especially with regards to all the animals remaining tame together in the presence of Lori, especially the badger. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994): Following the disfigurement and murder of his girlfriend Olivia Regent (Lesley Anne-Down) and the abduction of her daughter Chelsea (Erica Lancaster) at the hands of ex-husband/mobster Tommy O' Shea (Michael Parks), Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is drawn back into action to seek justice when he realizes how ineffective the police and justice system has been in this case.

This runs your basic formula of mobster and his hitmen doing horrible things to people so we'll all hate him/them and want to see Kersey deal out some serious vengeance as only he can here killing in new and inventive ways. All in all, it's a pretty cheesy revenge/killer flick that sometimes feels more akin to an 80s slasher flick. Personally I found this far more entertaining than I rightfully should have. The villains here are pretty bad stereotypes and there's lots of gratuitous nudity, mainly at the fashion shows, and some over the top gore and some zinger one-liners. All in all, a great cheese classic IMO.  *** out of ***** stars. BMFMS

[claws]

     I've seen six of the twelve films, and this was the best so far.

Ouch. I sold my copy of Demonic after one viewing. Incredibly dull movie.

[Jack]

2012: Zombie Apocalypse (2011) - so there's some zombies and they have an apocalypse, and there's some survivors and they're trying to get to a safe zone on Catalina Island. So they go traipsing through Los Angeles, occasionally having a big fight with the zombies (with CGI gore effects that stick out like a sore thumb), and meeting up with new people while some of the old people get killed off. So it's pretty predictable and certainly not too interesting. The characters are okay, sort of developed a little bit. The girls are cute. There are some CGI zombie tigers towards the end that are absolutely comical looking. I'll give it a 3.5/5.

[Cthulhu]

I watched Interstella 5555 last night.
It's an animated movie set to Daft Punk's Discovery album.
I really enjoyed it. It was trippy, the art was awesome, and the animation matched the music perfectly.
There is no dialogue, so no awesome quotes from this one.

Rev, you should check this one out.

[Rev. Powell]

I watched Interstella 5555 last night.
It's an animated movie set to Daft Punk's Discovery album.
I really enjoyed it. It was trippy, the art was awesome, and the animation matched the music perfectly.
There is no dialogue, so no awesome quotes from this one.

Rev, you should check this one out.

Yeah, I almost did when it came out on Blu-ray but I read the transfer wasn't very good so I decided to skip it. I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.

[Jack]

Carnosaur (1993) - hadn't watched this in a long time. I've always thought of it as a minor classic because it's just so bizarre. A mad scientist creates some airborne virus (apparently) that causes women to get pregnant and give birth to dinosaur eggs. Some security guard kind of investigates the thing, while the military decides to kill everybody and everybody else gets eaten. It is an original idea I guess, perhaps not a great one, but original. Much of the movie is just people getting attacked by a toy store dinosaur model filmed in forced perspective. And then there's that unforgettable dinosaur vs. guy in a Bobcat battle at the end. It wasn't quite as good as I remembered it, with virtually no character development and really no forward momentum to the plot - they just have a little update on the parts-per-million of the dino virus every few scenes to add some sense of progression to it.  3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Next Door (2005) - This is not for all tastes but if you can appreciate stuff like "Closer" and can also handle a little confusion a la Memento (though not to that extent) this is an easy recomendation.  A guy who just broke up with his girlfriend is approached by a hot neighbor in the hallway. She has a hot roomate too and despite being taken aback by their general weirdness and dangerous vibe, he is easily lured into their apartment for some fun and games. Very quickly you realize all is not as it seems and the mans break up with the girlfriend is brought back into focus. The weirdness all reveals things about him that we learn. moves quickly and is actually kind of short, 76 minutes. from Norway. 4.5 /5

[JaseSF]

The Wedding Singer (1998): A wedding singer named Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) befriends a waitress named Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore) and soon learns she, like him, plans to soon get married. However both as it turns out have made bad choices in terms of partners.

I think this might be Sandler's best film. He really has great chemistry with Barrymore here and they both prove likable, if misguided, characters here. There's also a good supporting cast with assorted oddball characters appearing throughout that somehow seem amazingly true to life. The 80s setting and 80s style and music really adds a great atmosphere to the proceedings making this one a lot of fun. Yeah, I really have a soft spot for this 80s themed romantic comedy so I'll give it ****1/2 out of ***** stars.