Recent viewings

[claws]

Galaxina (1980) Blu-ray

Didn't get better over the years. The cheese is incredibly dull and the comedy is not funny. Pacing is nonexistent because of overlong drawn-out dialogue.
Still worth a watch because of Dorothy Stratten (R.I.P.). Her Galaxina character is actually pretty cool and very sexy. 1/5 for Stratten.

[JaseSF]

Fantasia (1940): Disney classic features animated intepretations of Western classical music. The animation and ideas at work here seem far ahead of their time. Have to admit I felt the film segments got better as the film progressed although most fun perhaps was the Mickey Mouse segment "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" which was amusing and funny as well as having some rather dark elements at work. The scene with the army of brooms storming through the door is perhaps the film's most memorable moment. Also fascinating was "The Rite of Spring" showcasing the path of evolution on Earth from single-celled organisms through to the dinosaurs and  "Night on Bald Mountain" which was filled with horror themed imagery that was quite striking to see in a Disney cartoon. Truly a movie experience, I'd imagine this was much better in the theater setting. **** out of ***** stars

Fantasia 2000 (1999): A more modern continuation of the classic Fantasia idea with new animated segments inspired by more fantastic works of classical music. Honestly I doubted this could be anywhere near as good as the original but this actually turned out to be a pleasant little surprise. I really loved this one for the most part although it seemed odd they choose to put "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in this one as well but I guess it does act as a sort of bridge between the two films. Like the first movie, each segment seems to get better as the film progresses. And the animation is for the most part beautiful and well done although it doesn't quite seem so far ahead of its time as the original did. My favourite segments personally were "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" which I felt as entertaining as anything I've ever seen from Disney and/or Pixar, "Rhapsody in Blue" which was a fun, spirited look at a bygone era in New York City, "Pomp and Circumstance" featuring Donald Duck which retells the story of Noah's Ark in classic Disney style and finally the concluding "Firebird Suite-  1919" was absolutely beautiful to watch as it details the Circle of Life as Nature goes through death and back to life again. Very well done if not quite up to the original. ***1/2 out of *****

A Bug's Life (1998): A clever, imaginative and inventive ant seeks out a group of "warrior" bugs to help protect his ant colony from the threat of nasty, greedy grasshoppers and stumbles across an inept circus bug troupe instead. This was a fun little film and I liked its message of not letting others bully you with regards to how you choose to live your life and to not be afraid to embrace your individual strengths even if others might not see them or their value. This Pixar toon is also a lot of fun with likable characters and a lot of great comedy moments, some terrific action and suspense and some fine dramatic moments too. It's a great film IMO and has a fantastic cast providing the voices what with Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Phyllis Diller, David Hyde Pierce, Dennis Leary and Jonathan Harris, it's almost like an who's who of TV for the most part.  ****1/2 out of *****

Pinocchio (1940): A lonely clock and puppet maker named Geppetto wishes his newest puppet Pinocchio might become a real boy. The Blue Fairy in part grants his wish bringing the puppet to life but Pinocchio must prove himself worthy with honest,  good and selfless action if he is to ever become a real boy. The Blue Fairy also assigns a cricket named Jiminy to be Pinocchio's conscience. As Pinocchio makes his way to his first day of school, he is unfortunately lead astray and embarks on a series of misadventures, each seemingly more fantastic than the last.

This Disney classic is a wonderful work of fantasy and defintely is not confined by any known rules of reality making it a very imaginative and in fact, pretty odd and out there film IMO. The most memorable sequence, aside from Pinocchio's nose, definitely features Monstro the Whale and he may even prove frightening to smaller kids. This is a pretty weird Disney feature with a bit of a darker and more adult tone that most. Still it's a captivating experience for the viewer and a world of escape one can easily lose oneself in. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

War of the Satellites (1958): An unknown alien force from outer space seemingly stands in the way of humanity's advance into space yet a brave group of people working for the United Nations continues forward with their plans to send a new manned crew up despite the fact every previous attempt has ended disastrously as each ship collided with a barrier erected in space.

This Corman sci-fi cheapie was actually a lot of fun and features a great cast of regulars from his films including Richard Devon (who I generally like in everything), the ever-lovable Dick Miller in a key role, Susan Cabot and other regulars like Bruno VeSota, John Brinkley and Beach Dickerson.  It's actually very similar plot wise in some ways to some later Gerry Anderson space adventure marionation shows as well as his show "UFO". Honestly that's the closest thing that came to mind although this wasn't as action-packed as most of those shows. It's very much a product of the 50s B-Movie era. Great if you like this kind of 50s style space opera stuff. Otherwise, you might find it a bit dull. I loved it myself. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

The Muppet Movie (1979): This film explores how the Muppets first met up with one another and became friends as they each decided to join a trek across America to Hollywood in order to become stars. Along the way, Kermit runs afoul of a crooked frog-legs fast food owner who is determined to make Kermit his sponsor whether Kermit likes it or not.

This imaginative movie may be a bit on the "sick and weird" side (actually it's not all that weird or sick at all by today's standards) but it's also loads of fun. You get the lovable Muppets at their best with this film particularly focusing on Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Rowlf the Dog, Scooter, and the band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem but each notable Muppet gets a moment or two in the spotlight as well before it's over. Statler and Waldorf also get to do a bit of what they do best - heckle. All in all, it's funny, has cool dramatic moments, crazy chases and finally a Western style showdown, there's even a few unexpected elements of Sci-Fi and a giant muppet before it's all said and done plus lots of notable fun cameos from the likes of Orson Welles, Steve Martin, Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Mel Brooks, Dom DeLouise, Paul Williams and even more. The Muppets just don't get much better than they are here. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[lester1/2jr]

Son of Gascogne (1995) - This is a French comedy drama romance thing that is kind of neither here nor there but actually pretty good.  It's kind of unusual in it's lack of ambition. It definately wouldn't win any big awards or anything but it's subtley charming. A kid is trying to woo a russian girl from a traveling singing group of some sort. He is doing okay, but then someone at a party takes him for the son of a ( real?) famous french actor named Gascogne. He happens to have been conceived on a one night stand so for all he knows the guy is his father so he pretty much goes along with it and is feted at these bashes and so forth. His heart still belongs to the sweet russian girl with broken french though. The subtitles show how she is speaking it wrong, which is weird but it works. Not terribly excting but it has a few surprised. I liked it 4/5

The Strangers (2008) - I'm no good on contemporary stuff because I don't really watch enough of it. Not that I'm particularly good on anything but I know my way around certain areas alot more than others. I liked this though. Mainly I liked the story and the thrills and chills. The lead actor was pretty nondescript and Liv Tyler I kept expecting her to morph into a deer. Whatever she was going for it didn't work. Also had the usual suspension of disbelief stuff like why don't they run away, etc 

The time passed quickly though. The kind of thing you get wrapped up in when you watch then later you're like " why did..."  " what about..." you know.

4/5

[major jay]

CATCH THE HEAT (1987)

This was so bad, but I got sucked into the story.
An agent goes undercover as a stripper to apprehend a drug kingpin who smuggles his wares into the country by hiding them in breast implants. 

[FatFreddysCat]

"Motel Hell" (1980)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4AR3BgaCdA&feature=player_embedded
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Kindly old Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun) and his sister Ida (Nancy Parsons, aka Miss Ballbricker of "Porky's" fame) live a quiet life running a secluded rural motel, and they have a thriving smoked-meats business on the side. Their secret ingredient? People!

...this goofball cannibal cult-fave horror comedy is not nearly as gory/gross as you'd expect given its premise, but it's worth a look just for the bizarre "psychedelic" execution scene and the climactic chainsaw battle between Farmer Vincent and his kid brother. Also watch for future "Cheers" star John "Cliff Klaven" Ratzenberger and radio legend Wolfman Jack in small roles.

This flick traumatized me when I first saw it in the early 80s (I was about 12 or 13 at the time) but nowadays it's more funny than scary.

[Rev. Powell]

ZERO DE CONDUITE (1933): Boys at a French boarding school stage a revolt in this heavily anarchist, mildly surreal short (45 min.) feature.  A playful but slow-moving curiosity, with a dwarf headmaster and some interesting surprises (including trick photography and an unexpected animated sequence).  Historically, it's very interesting, but its artistic importance has been exaggerated by the fact that the French government banned it for 13 years!  3.5/5.

[claws]

The Nesting (1981) Blu-ray

Writer with agoraphobia escapes the big city and gets caught up with spirits of dead whores in an old house.
Cheap but decent and quite fun spookfest directed by adult filmmaker Armand Weston. 3.5/5

[Jack]

Forget Me Not (2009) - a group of teens get together for a weekend of hard partying, but back when they were little kids they picked on an orphan girl and left her in a coma, so now her evil spirit is back to take its revenge.  Kind of cool in that when someone gets killed, the main character is the only one who remembers that they ever existed, which adds a whole extra level of interest to the movie.  With stuff like this it's pretty much unheard of to break out of the cookie-cutter mold, so kudos for creativity.  The characters were really well done, likable and developed.  4.25/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Maximum Overdrive" (1986)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWS4tTzs60&feature=player_embedded
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Stephen King's first (and last) attempt at directing a film, based on his own short story "Trucks," tells the tale of machines becoming sentient and homicidal when Earth passes thru the tail of a "rogue comet." A group of travelers - including Emilio Estevez, Pat "Commissioner Gordon" Hingle and Yeardley "Lisa Simpson" Smith - are trapped in a Southern truck stop by a gang of vicious tractor trailers and have to figure out how to escape while the machines pick them off one by one.

Put it to you this way: Stephen King has famously disowned his work on the film, saying that he was "coked out of his mind" at the time and therefore had no business directing a movie... and believe me, it shows. Plot holes, awkward dialogue, and "WTF?" moments abound. On the other hand, lotsa stuff blows up and the soundtrack is by AC/DC. The movie's an absolute mess but it's SO much damn fun!

[Rev. Powell]

JACKBOOTS ON WHITEHALL (2010): Nazis invade London by tunneling under the English Channel in this alternate history comedy acted out with action figures.  It's an appealingly baked concept, but the jokes are embarrassingly silly (Hitler in a chiffon gown!)  2.5/5.

[Flick James]

"Maximum Overdrive" (1986)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWS4tTzs60&feature=player_embedded

Stephen King's first (and last) attempt at directing a film, based on his own short story "Trucks," tells the tale of machines becoming sentient and homicidal when Earth passes thru the tail of a "rogue comet." A group of travelers - including Emilio Estevez, Pat "Commissioner Gordon" Hingle and Yeardley "Lisa Simpson" Smith - are trapped in a Southern truck stop by a gang of vicious tractor trailers and have to figure out how to escape while the machines pick them off one by one.

Put it to you this way: Stephen King has famously disowned his work on the film, saying that he was "coked out of his mind" at the time and therefore had no business directing a movie... and believe me, it shows. Plot holes, awkward dialogue, and "WTF?" moments abound. On the other hand, lotsa stuff blows up and the soundtrack is by AC/DC. The movie's an absolute mess but it's SO much damn fun!

You know, I've never seen this and have always seen as a potential bad movie gem. A Stephen King story, which tend not to translate to film well to begin with, directed by Stephen King. Sounds like a bad movie cocktail to me.

[FatFreddysCat]

You know, I've never seen this and have always seen as a potential bad movie gem. A Stephen King story, which tend not to translate to film well to begin with, directed by Stephen King. Sounds like a bad movie cocktail to me.

It is most definitely a 24 karat hoot, sir. Well worth seeing at least once.

[Psycho Circus]

You know, I've never seen this and have always seen as a potential bad movie gem. A Stephen King story, which tend not to translate to film well to begin with, directed by Stephen King. Sounds like a bad movie cocktail to me.

It is most definitely a 24 karat hoot, sir. Well worth seeing at least once.

I thought it was extremely slow paced. Love the steamroller bit though! 

[Vik]

Love the steamroller bit though! 

Supposedly, the dummie's head exploded jetting out lots of gore, but the MPAA said they had to cut it out of the film. 

[JaseSF]

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969): oddball Disney shopping cart movie starring a young Kurt Russell as a struggling student/leader of a group of college problem kids who in a electrical accident has his mind fused with that of a then sophisticated computer which leads to him remembering every single thing he reads as well as retaining all the computer's knowledge, which unfortunately for him makes him the target of criminal boss A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero) and his goons (with the lead goon being Pat Harrington - Schneider on "One Day at a Time").

While this film stretches credibility beyond its limits and is very obviously a complete fantasy on so many levels, it's still a lot of fun IMO. Russell makes for a likable lead who believably gets lead astray by his sudden new brush with fame. The last half of the film becomes a more ridiculous wild chase film eventually combined with an ongoing student game show contest. While this is the film's funniest section, it's often quite silly too but nevertheless a lot of fun and I rather enjoyed seeing Cesar Romero (the Joker from the 60s Batman TV Series) here in yet another over the top villainous role. While perhaps not as good as some other Disney shopping cart films of the era, if one doesn't examine it too closely and just goes along for the ride with this one, it's rather enjoyable for the most part. Nothing great but a fun Disney style escape from reality for an hour and a half. Having Russell, Romero and Harrington on board helps a lot. *** out of ***** stars.