Recent viewings

[FatFreddysCat]

"Metamorphosis" (1990)
http://www.youtube.com/v/xrJmEkaHDM4

Ultra-low-budget Italian-made ripoff of Cronenberg's "The Fly," in which a university genetecist, faced by a funding cut-off, makes the poor decision to test his anti-aging serum on himself. Naturally, this causes him to de-volve into a shambling, homicidal something-or-other.

This flick is glacially paced, poorly acted, and the "reveal" of the scientist's final "de-evolutionized" form is frickin laughable.

Some of you might remember seeing the VHS box for this one in video stores back in the day -- it had a button on the front which made the guy's eyes light up red (or maybe it was green? I forget now) when you pushed it. That was a better special effect than anything in the actual movie.


Final verdict: Avoid!!!

[Jack]

Arctic Predator (2010) - 200 years ago a meteorite crashed into the arctic, and out popped an arctic predator. It's your typical SyFy Channel CGI thingie. It kills some guys who are on one of those old arctic expeditions, and then we flash forward to the present where Dean Cain and some other folks are at an arctic research station. Sure enough they dig up the CGI thingie and the usual mayhem ensues. Character were serviceable, the plot proceeded in a workmanlike manner, etc.  As ordinary a SyFy Original as it gets - not good, not bad, just sort of there. 3/5.

Tomb of the Werewolf (2004) - The cast of a paranormal investigation TV show goes to a supposedly haunted castle in Europe. Once there they awaken the long-dead werewolf (Paul Naschy) who's assisted by his immortal demonic babe (Michelle Bauer). He starts killing the TV show people, but they're too busy having sex with each other to really notice. Pretty typical Fred Olen Ray movie, with lots of boobs, a basic plot and fairly silly characters. I enjoyed it  3.5/5.

[alandhopewell]

     Found this gem in that last 8-pack I bought....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindness_(film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v93-tPiWFdA
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  As usual, I really wasn't expecting much, even after I spotted Julianne Moore and Danny Glover in the cast. As it developed, this was a true horror film, no monsters, but monstrous behavior. Sometimes difficult to watch, but very good.

[Raffine]

I (finally) watched FIGHT CLUB last night. It's very different and much better than I expected.

I always figured it was just a "Woa, Dude! Let's start a Fight Club!" action-type movie.

[lester1/2jr]

claws- I remember spirit of 76. very california

[Rev. Powell]

Not actually a movie but one of my Christmas presents from last year...

I'm watching these on Netflix streaming right now. 

[tracy]

Hadn't seen this in years....great movie!

[tracy]

Not actually a movie but one of my Christmas presents from last year...

I'm watching these on Netflix streaming right now. 

LOL...I meant to modify the picture and accidentally hit "remove". Here it is again:

[alandhopewell]

      I watched this on THIS Network last night....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickey_%26_Boggs

     I remembered it from years ago, and although it got almost universally panned for its generally downer tone, I liked it-stuff sometimes GOES that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvs8PJZXHik
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     Another thing I liked was that the viewer is generally as in the dark about what's going on as the characters, something not often seen.

     Rarely shown, but worth the look.

[FatFreddysCat]

This evening with the young'ins:
"The Shaggy Dog" (2006)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XU5NidGJ5w
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21st Century update of the Disney classic, with Tim Allen as a dog-hating D.A. who gets in touch with his canine side after a bite from a mystic pooch. A pre-"Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. (who probably wishes he could strike this from his resume) is the animal-testing bad guy.

Fun for kids, relatively painless for their parents.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Rest Stop" (2006)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOMfxQioDFo
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Lame entry in the "stranded travelers vs. homicidal killer on a deserted road" genre (see: "Joy Ride," "Jeepers Creepers," "Wrong Turn," etc.)  ...some OK gore but there are way too many plot holes and "WTF?" moments... this is one of those movies where you already hate the lead characters five minutes in, and you say to yourself "Ooookay, these people are complete idiots, and they deserve everything that's about to happen to them."

Ignore, delete, destroy. Fortunately I only paid a buck for this DVD.

[Jack]

"Rest Stop" (2006)

Lame entry in the "stranded travelers vs. homicidal killer on a deserted road" genre (see: "Joy Ride," "Jeepers Creepers," "Wrong Turn," etc.)  ...some OK gore but there are way too many plot holes and "WTF?" moments... this is one of those movies where you already hate the lead characters five minutes in, and you say to yourself "Ooookay, these people are complete idiots, and they deserve everything that's about to happen to them."

Ignore, delete, destroy. Fortunately I only paid a buck for this DVD.

That's pretty much exactly what I thought of it too   

[ChaosTheory]

"Metamorphosis" (1990)
http://www.youtube.com/v/xrJmEkaHDM4

Ultra-low-budget Italian-made ripoff of Cronenberg's "The Fly," in which a university genetecist, faced by a funding cut-off, makes the poor decision to test his anti-aging serum on himself. Naturally, this causes him to de-volve into a shambling, homicidal something-or-other.

This flick is glacially paced, poorly acted, and the "reveal" of the scientist's final "de-evolutionized" form is frickin laughable.

Some of you might remember seeing the VHS box for this one in video stores back in the day -- it had a button on the front which made the guy's eyes light up red (or maybe it was green? I forget now) when you pushed it. That was a better special effect than anything in the actual movie.


Final verdict: Avoid!!!

The ending to that movie made me laugh so hard   

I did a trash-movie weekend.
THE THING 2011 - the oh-so-neccessary prequel to Carpenter's 1982 movie.   I admit I kind of wanted to hate this as Carpenter's THING is one of my favorite movies of all time and I resent anybody messing with it; but it wasn't too bad, it was well-paced, the autopsy scene was really well-done and disturbing, and the "test" was a nice homage to the other THING without feeling like too much of a ripoff.   On the downside it was too easy to figure out who was a Thing and who wasn't, the CG was really terrible in places and it lost a lot of focus in the third act (specifically when Kate and Carter leave the station and go to the ship).   5/10

IMMORTALS - HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA AHAA!!!  Very, very loose vision of the Greek myth of Theseus, with a leading man who does nothing but pout and pout some more, fights that are obvious and extremely clumsy 300 ripoffs, and Mickey Rourke in the most awesomely ridiculous hat ever.  Tarsem has never been a competant  storyteller but THE CELL and THE FALL were visually interesting; this movie doesn't even really have that going for it. At least Stephen Dorff looks like he's having fun.      LOL/10

THE THREE MUSKETEERS - yes, the one directed by Paul WS Anderson.  Stupid, but kind of a fun stupid.  5/10

[JaseSF]

Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind (2004): Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) is stunned when he learns he's been permanently erased from the memory of his girlfriend Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet). Sure he knew they were having problems but this wasn't quite the reaction he expected. Depressed and bitter over the loss, Joel decides to have the same procedure done only to realize during it the great loss it will be in his life. Can he stop it, escape it, somehow save his past memories or are they doomed to be wiped out forever?

Early on, I really thought this was going to be a bit of a confused, muddled mess but sticking with it, it proves rather rewarding in the end. The idea is very interesting and somehow seems all too plausible a possibility of tomorrow. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet both give good performances and seem very much like a regular everyday couple with the normal problems you'd probably expect. I had more problems with Kirsten Dunst as Mary Sveno not so much for her performance itself as simply the fact she seems out of the league of her different love interests in the movie. What's fascinating is much of the film takes place inside someone's mind making for a different and unusual viewing experience yet one rich with life experiences. . **** out of ***** stars.

Smokey and the Bandit (1977): Legendary truck driver Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) accepts a bet from Big (Pat McCormick) and Little Enos (Paul Williams) Burdette that they can run a load of 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to Georgia, which crossing state lines would be considered bootlegging, in just 28 hours. Bandit recruits fellow truck driver and frequent partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to drive the truck while he drives a speedy Pontiac Trans-Am to deflect the attention of the state patrol away from the truck and on to him. Along the way he picks up a runaway bride named Carrie (Sally Field) who just happens to have one Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) on her trail, a man who never ever seems to give up until he's got his man and sure enough, his attention soon switches to capturing the Bandit.

This was a popular favorite of friends and family when I was a kid so I grew up seeing this one quite a few times. It's a lot of fun to watch undeniably given it's filled with car chases, jumps and other stunts and there's some great memorable lines spouted in this one especially from Jackie Gleason's over the top Texas Sheriff. As an adult, one sees a lot of elements that are a bit more problematic. For one, it's not as easy to swallow one's disbelief with regards to some of the stunts Bandit pulls off with his car and honestly it's a little harder to sympathize with him as in reality he would be putting numerous lives in serious danger with his antics. But letting oneself go and just enjoying the ride, this is still fun and frequently funny (and kind of refreshingly un-PC). ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977): 007 Commander James Bond (Roger Moore) is recruited to team with Russia's top agent XXX Major Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) in order to search for nuclear submarines stolen from both Russia and Britain with ballistic missile capabilities. Their investigation leads them reclusive millionaire Karl Stromberg (Curd Jürgens) whose transformed a marine research center into an at sea and underwater abode named Atlantis.

This was a very enjoyable escapist Bond romp. Barbara Bach's Major Amasova makes a terrific pairing with Bond in this one and seems cunning, dangerous, stylish, sexy and on a par with Bond himself making her a bit better than the usual Bond love interest (with a few exceptions here and there). This film also introduces the memorable Bond villain Jaws (Richard Kiel), a seemingly unstoppable giant of a man with a killer metal bite. This moves at a great pace, has some fun underwater and on land chase sequences and an epic later showdown at sea involving a submarine, a supertanker and eventually Stromberg's Atlantis stronghold. The only real flaw here honestly is I personally felt things get resolved a little too easily (and one really wonders why they didn't try something similar beforehand?). It was nice to see Caroline Munro in this one too in a bit villain role. Too bad it wasn't longer though. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (1999)
http://www.youtube.com/v/knNCtO7gf7g

In his second spy-spoof adventure, Austin time travels back to 1969, where he hooks up with the uber-hot CIA babe Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) and battles Dr. Evil on the moon to recover his stolen "mojo." Silly as hell but oh so much fun!!!