Recent viewings

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

Last night Showtime Extreme had a 2004 movie with Ray Liotta called Control.

Great movie about a hardened sociopathic killer who becomes an experiment in behavior modification after he is officially "executed' and taken into custody by a psychiatrist (Willem DaFoe) and his staff of on-site techs. 

They administer a new experimental drug aimed at normalizing his behavior in hopes that he will be the star pupil in the reforming of hardened criminals. But as usual it all looks good on paper and falls apart in practice.  Good movie if you can get to see it!

[HappyGilmore]

Sid and Nancy- Gary Oldman walking about in a drunken stagger portraying Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols.  Not sure if I'd place it as bad or good but I like Oldman so I'm putting it here if only for his performance.

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: LAST SPACESHIP ON VENUS:  Disappointing episode.  The movie is a generic, and a little stupid, planetary exploration saga without enough ridiculousness to really inspire the guys.  Host segments are so-so; Tom's sarcasm sequencer is off, so Joel adjusts it, and there's an absurd commercial parody that is more clever than hilarious.  2.5/5.

[claws]

Machete (2010) Blu-ray

Quite fun and everything expected from the Grindhouse trailer. Definitely cooler than The Expendables 4.5/5

[Jack]

Legend of the Sandsquatch (2006) - A girl's grandfather goes missing, so she gets together with some friends and heads out to the desert to look for him.  The desert where the Sandsquatch lives    Pretty boring movie with poorly developed, unsympathetic (not to mention unattractive) characters.  The Sandsquatch was probably the coolest thing in it;  he didn't look like a Sasquatch, or any close relative that one might imagine living in the desert, but he was at least photographed in a cool way.  This also seems to be some band's audition tape, so we get a short scene, some filler with a song that takes you completely out of the mood of the movie, repeat over and over until you either fall asleep or the credits roll.   2/5.

[Couchtr26]

I had purchased several of the SyFy channels premieres on DVD (A few from the Maneater series and such).  Only just started watching them. 

Vipers - This is rather convoluted and contrived.  However, I enjoyed it more then I can imagine.  Horned vipers get made terrible, attack island, eat like no snake ever does, and of course Tara Reid.  However, I enjoyed it more then I can imagine.  The crappy CGI snakes and all.  I laughed my ass off so much.  4.8/5

Blood Monkey - Interesting conceptually, however, I didn't like how it was filmed.  It also seemed rather week in some areas.  Not enough monkeys in the movie to keep my interest.  Damn you missing link films. 3/5

Maneater - Not too bad Tiger in the southern United States killing people.  I do question the Apple and Corn festival.  Gary Busey is well Gary Busey in it.  4/5

Still need to see Shark Swarm and In the Spider's Web. 

 

[claws]

Still need to see Shark Swarm.

 

I do enjoy the "Maneater" series to some extent, with Eye of the Beast being my favorite. I had to sell my copies of Grizzly Rage and Shark Swarm though. Both are just bad in my opinion.

[HappyGilmore]

Inglourious Basterds--WWII film by Quentin Tarantino.  Brad Pitt and Eli Roth running around Europe killing German soldiers.  Quite comical, decently written.

[Couchtr26]

I do enjoy the "Maneater" series to some extent, with Eye of the Beast being my favorite. I had to sell my copies of Grizzly Rage and Shark Swarm though. Both are just bad in my opinion.

I'm not sure what I will think of it but I more dread the nearly 3 hour length.  Something seems rather bluh about it. 

[Rev. Powell]

HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB (1973):  The decapitated head of a medieval warlock possesses a group of young people staying at an isolated country estate and begins killing them one by one.  Goofy Gothic atmosphere overcomes the jumpy storytelling and clumsy editing--or perhaps its the incoherent filmmaking that contributes to the scary atmosphere?  I'm pretty sure that gore and nudity was cut out of the print I saw (if not, the editing's even worse than I thought).  An uncut print would probably rate a 3/5. 

[lester1/2jr]

I thought it said "p**ses" 

[JaseSF]

Pillow Talk (1959): Rock Hudson-Doris Day romantic comedy. Fun escapist fare has Hudson as a playboy who gets his wires crossed with an annoyed interior decorator (Day) with whom he shares a party phone line.  Inevitably Hudson soon comes across Day discovering her quite a potential conquest. Enjoyable and innocent enough fun that is kind of weird in some parts considering what we now know about Hudson, especially with a joke at one point that a certain "love interest" of Day might be gay and her response that it's an horrible thing to say. Tony Randall offers good support as the jilted love interest of Day and manipulated best friend of Hudson. There's also a funny subplot in which a doctor comes to suspect Hudson might be pregnant. *** out of ***** stars.

Never Take Candy From A Stranger (1960): Immensely disturbing movie about a little nine year old girl named Jean Carter (Janina Faye) falling victim to a suspected pedophile and then the whole town seemingly working against her and her family when they take the man in question to court because he, one Clarence Olderberry Sr. (Felix Aylmer) and his family are highly influential people in their town. This Hammer Films suspense thriller is gripping and very unsettling and believable. The only flaw here is that the villain is a little too obviously just that although he is protected by the town especially his formidable and influential son Richard played by Bill Nagy. Tough and unpleasant, this film doesn't pull punches about its subject matter and is all too disturbingly believable in the end. **** out of ***** stars.

[claws]

HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB (1973):  The decapitated head of a medieval warlock possesses a group of young people staying at an isolated country estate and begins killing them one by one.  Goofy Gothic atmosphere overcomes the jumpy storytelling and clumsy editing--or perhaps its the incoherent filmmaking that contributes to the scary atmosphere?  I'm pretty sure that gore and nudity was cut out of the print I saw (if not, the editing's even worse than I thought).  An uncut print would probably rate a 3/5. 

The BCI/Eclipse DVD contains the uncut version, and presents the movie with a stunning, flawless HD widescreen transfer. The disc is OOP now though.

[Cthulhu]

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

I cannot stress enough how awesome this movie was.

[dean]

Animal Kingdom:

A boy's mother dies, and he is sent to live with his aunt and his criminal extended family.  A solid drama that gets in your gut, as the boy, Jay, gets drawn slowly into their world.

The King's Speech:

Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush play the duke of york and his speech therapist who bond whilst trying to help the Duke get over his severe stammer in order to prepare him for speeches in his public duty when he becomes King.

Awesome film with potentially Oscar winning performances from both Firth and Rush [definitely Firth, who was nothing short of brilliant]