Recent viewings

[Flick James]

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983): Two bored young boys in a Midwestern American town come to long for their previous peace and solitude when an omnious dark carnival arrives in town and they soon find themselves the target of its leader Mr. Dark, who's determined to stop the boys from letting the rest of the town know the secret of just what and who those in the carnival really are or of their decidedly evil intentions.

I have to say I was stunned at how adult the themes displayed in this film, which still feels very much like a kids film, are not to mention how gory it is. That said, watching it as an adult, this movie is positively eerie and downright creepy. Had I seen it as a kid, it probably would have given me nightmares for days if not weeks. That's not to say it doesn't have some flaws - the FX work isn't always convincing in particular and some characters just do not seem as sympathetic as I think we're meant to feel for them. Aside from that though, this did pack a wallop and seems fairly faithful to the spirit of Ray Bradbury's story. Apparently there were some issues between Bradbury wanting to stay close to the novel and the director wanting the film to be more family friendly which I think one can see there was a bit of conflict watching the film. Also Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark steals the show with his unsettling character when Pam Grier doesn't as his accomplice the Dust Witch. It's not a great film but it really is quite good. *** out of ***** stars.

Agree. I did see it as a youth and it did creep me out.

It was decent. I don't know how it would stand up to a viewing at this point in time, but I may have to see if it's streaming on NetFlix and give it a go. Ray Bradbury material tends not to translate well to the screen, however, at least not the novels.

[lester1/2jr]

saw it recently and couldn't get into it at all.

[JaseSF]

I really quite enjoyed it myself but that might have been because I was expecting a much tamer kids movie and it kind of surprised me by how dark it really was...

Actually I find it more believably creepy than this one...

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): A young woman and her friends are terrorized by Freddy Krueger, a burned creep wearing an ugly black and red stripped sweater who also wears sharp knives on his gloves, in their nightmares. Unfortunately for them, whatever happens to them in their dreams now seems to happen to them physically in real life too.

Sure this does have some great scares especially the early scenes establishing Krueger and his knive gloves. The gory kills are particularly memorable and disturbing and the movie does a good job of building up its tension and scaring you with false and then real frights. At times though, it seems too much like Freddy is just toying around with his victims and it sometimes makes him seem less effective as a real threat, especially when he chases after Nancy although it does seem Krueger also likes to feed on his victims' fear. The movie also cleverly creates an atmosphere where at times you're not quite certain just what is real and what is a dream that  makes it a bit unsettling too. Still overall, I find this a tad bit disappointing. To me, on repeated viewings, it just seems cheesier and cheesier and things become a little too obvious. It just seems to pack way more punch the first time around seeing it although Freddy has become a bonafide horror slasher icon.  *** out of ***** stars but I feel I'm being a bit generous.

[lester1/2jr]

North Face (2008) - overrated German movie about guys trying to climb the Eiger  mountain thing of the Alps circa 30's. At it's best it's Merchant Ivory ish, at it's worst it's Hallmarky.  It really lacks any kind of nuance about the politics of the time or any insight into these guys lives or anything, it's just like a more expensive classroom type movie about the actual climb itself and as that it's alright. The make up with them being all black and frosty from frostbite was okay and the mountain was cool but I think of mountain climbing as a hobby and having the movie just be about the climb was kind of eehh not that exciting though I'm sure it was very difficult. The love interest wasn't very pretty. I think the filmakers got carried away with their own national pride.

2.5/5

[Cthulhu]

The warriors- I have a new favourite movie.

[Rev. Powell]

THE FILM CREW: WILD WOMEN OF WONGO: The Film Crew was the project started by Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett immediately after MST3K ended.  The premise is the guys are hired to create DVD commentaries for the worst movies ever made, and since no one pays attention they just mock the movies.  It's really close to the original MST3K format, they even have five movie related skits (for some lame reason, 2 of them are presented as DVD extras instead of placed in the program proper).  All that's missing is the shadowrama, puppets and beloved characters.  I wish this had taken off.  The movie is particularly awful, an unfunny, sexless sex comedy about two tribes of cavemen, one with ugly men and beautiful women and the other with handsome men and ugly women.  There is a queen who can make people boogie by yelling "dance!" at them and the tribe of Wongo worships a very small alligator.  The riffing picks up pretty much where MST3K left off.  MIKE: "These women are about as wild as a suburban book club."  BILL (as the women dance provocatively): "I;ve never wanted to stuff dollar bills into a movie before." KEVIN [during a shot of the sky]: "Hi! God here.  Just wanted you to know I'm not a three-foot alligator, and everything's in good hands!"  Some of the magic is gone, but it's still a fun way to spend 90 minutes.  3/5.

[3mnkids]

Recon 2023: The Gauda Prime Conspiracy~ I cant give a plot detail since I dont know WTF it was supposed to be about. It starts off with some military people on a ship that gets shot down and they land on a planet... then its a 70s porno, then its back to the military people back on planet earth I guess.... it just gets more confusing after that.

This was not good on any level. Seriously.

[Jack]

Recon 2023: The Gauda Prime Conspiracy~ I cant give a plot detail since I dont know WTF it was supposed to be about. It starts off with some military people on a ship that gets shot down and they land on a planet... then its a 70s porno, then its back to the military people back on planet earth I guess.... it just gets more confusing after that.

This was not good on any level. Seriously.

There's a whole series of those movies - I watched one and, that reminds me:  I need to take the rest of my Metflix queue 

[Rev. Powell]

FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998): Unhinged drug-abuisng reporter Raoul Duke accepts a gig from Rolling Stone magazine to cover a dirt bike race in Las Vegas, but spends the entire assignment experimenting with the massive collection of psychedelics he and his Samoan (?) lawyer prepared for the trip.  A fairly excellent adaptation of the counterculture classic that took swipes at the venal culture of "straight" society while simultaneously depicting the premature burnout of the hippie alternative; Terry Gilliam delivers wall-to-wall hallucinations and gonzo freakouts. 4/5.

[JaseSF]

Watched some movies with my girlfriend (these are hers).

Prom Night (2008): a young woman (Brittany Snow) recovering from the psychological trauma of being hunted by a psycho stalker who eventually murdered her entire family tries to put the past behind her and looks forward to her prom. However unbeknowst to her, the psycho killer has escaped...

Well this follows a pretty predictable pattern with dumb kids being offed one after the other by the psycho as he searches for his "beloved". It's really nothing we haven't seen before and the killer is even less interesting than usual. That said, what I think I found just a little unsettling here was how easily the killer blended into the background and went unnoticed. Other than that, this was a pretty by the numbers slasher filled with dumb cops, dumb kids and clueless adult guardians. In some ways, it feels a bit of a throwback to old lesser slashers of yesteryear as the kills are surprisingly less graphic than usual nowadays even in the unrated version. No nudity is another disappointment. Bears no real resemblance to the original Prom Night, which I also think is awful and arguably duller, either. ** out of ***** stars

Obsessed (2009): Derek (Idris Elba), a successful business and family man finds his world turned upside down when an office temp named Lisa (Ali Larter)  becomes obsessed with the idea of having an affair with him despite Derek's objections. When Derek's wife Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles) learns of this, there's Hell to pay.

Well this was fairly predictable fare too but I actually enjoyed it more than I expected. Larter's Lisa comes across as seriously unhinged and despite being extremely attractive soon comes to look a hell of a lot less than desirable in this movie. Beyoncé as Sharon just seems totally badass here which adds to the fun of the inevitable catfight conclusion. Surprisingly fun. **1/2 out of ***** stars.

[lester1/2jr]

Ronin (1998)- Deniro political thriller / gangster movie. Ronin refers to a samurai who the person they are protecting gets killed so it affects their reputation and whatnot to the extent that they are Ronin now, they have a similar sort of code but are fallen men and merceneries. So these random gangsters are tasked by some irish IRA lady with retrieving this case that the russians also want. Probably there is some booze in there you figure. Really, what in the world could the Irish and the Russians both want then or now? It certainly didn't jump out at me but maybe that was the point.

      It doesn't have the type of story like say "Casino" that is all that evocative or crazy but it is a pretty good, smart , true to form crime movie. Mainly alot of poker style "I'll use my experience to assess this situation better than this flashy newb" type stuff. Some decent car chase scenes particularly one where they go the wrong way on a highway through tunnels over bridges etc for like 10 miles. I like movies that are a little more I don't know ostentatious? is that the word, like the afformentioned Casino that evoke all sorts of other things besides the story but this was good don't get me wrong. It was well done but maybe the lack of flashiness and realism made it a little less memorable to an extent.
4/5

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (1998): Unhinged drug-abuisng reporter Raoul Duke accepts a gig from Rolling Stone magazine to cover a dirt bike race in Las Vegas, but spends the entire assignment experimenting with the massive collection of psychedelics he and his Samoan (?) lawyer prepared for the trip.  A fairly excellent adaptation of the counterculture classic that took swipes at the venal culture of "straight" society while simultaneously depicting the premature burnout of the hippie alternative; Terry Gilliam delivers wall-to-wall hallucinations and gonzo freakouts. 4/5.

I ended up reading the book before watching the movie. Didn't like the film as much as the book. I know that goes for a lot of books to film but the book was a lot better.


Recently watched Hunting Humans again and I remembered how much I hated it.

Its about a serial killer who then finds another killer and they hunt each other. Predates the Dexter tv show. The ending has this ridiculous septuplet-cross involving a 3rd person that is a lackey for each killer.

[Rev. Powell]

Ronin (1998)- Deniro political thriller / gangster movie. Ronin refers to a samurai who the person they are protecting gets killed so it affects their reputation and whatnot to the extent that they are Ronin now, they have a similar sort of code but are fallen men and merceneries. So these random gangsters are tasked by some irish IRA lady with retrieving this case that the russians also want. Probably there is some booze in there you figure. Really, what in the world could the Irish and the Russians both want then or now? It certainly didn't jump out at me but maybe that was the point.

      It doesn't have the type of story like say "Casino" that is all that evocative or crazy but it is a pretty good, smart , true to form crime movie. Mainly alot of poker style "I'll use my experience to assess this situation better than this flashy newb" type stuff. Some decent car chase scenes particularly one where they go the wrong way on a highway through tunnels over bridges etc for like 10 miles. I like movies that are a little more I don't know ostentatious? is that the word, like the afformentioned Casino that evoke all sorts of other things besides the story but this was good don't get me wrong. It was well done but maybe the lack of flashiness and realism made it a little less memorable to an extent.
4/5

I remember the car chases being excellent, most memorable part of a pretty good movie.

[lester1/2jr]

Yeah I'm not an expert on car chases but they were good. I really liked the one where the3y were driving the wrong way on the highway cuz you think about that sometimes when you are driving.

Louis CK some HBO special - this guy is hilarious. just a half hour long set but the deleted scenes were just as funny/ crazy and the disk included a set of his from 10 years earlier (1995) that was hilarious as well. 5/5

[SkullBat308]

MST3K -Laserblast
MST3K -Futurewar
MST3K -First Spaceship on Venus
MST3K -The Crawling Eye
MST3K -Zombie Nightmare
Horror Planet
The Burbs
Human Centipede
Shaun of the Dead
Strangeland
Hudson Hawk
Cool World