Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Rev. Powell]

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (2023): A psychotic criminal (Nic Cage) kidnaps an executive who's rushing to the hospital to support his pregnant wife, who is going into a difficult labor. Cage is terrific, howling and doing bad karaoke and otherwise doing his thing,

I watched the trailer, or most of it until it threatened to divulge too many key moments, and it seemed pretty clear that Cage is trying to give a late 90s Al Pacino performance... is that indeed the case?

I dunno... he's Caging. I guess maybe there's some wild Pacino in there but it didn't cross my mind at the time.

EYES OF DREAD (2023): A woman has nightmares and visions and tries to find her sister, who disappeared into an evil building. This wants very much to be low-budget Argento or Lynch, and while it looks pretty good at times, its confusing, uninvolving, terribly acted, and has a real letdown anticlimax, if you make it that far. 1/5.

[M.10rda]

I still don't understand how "karma" works and I don't appear able to give it, but I applaud you for introducing to me the active verb "caging"!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Alligator" (1980)
A baby alligator is flushed into the Chicago sewer system, and a dozen years later it's grown to enormous size and developed a taste for humans. When it begins roaming the city streets munching on residents, a cop (Robert Forster) and a reptile expert (Robin Riker) have to figure out how to stop the critter. One of the better late 70s/early 80s creature features inspired by the success of "Jaws."

[lester1/2jr]

Disclosure (1994) - I mean... basically Michael Douglas make these thriller type movies, sometimes they're amazing like The Game other times they're a little bonky like this one, but I enjoy them. Demi Moore looks incredible, the plot doesn't make boatloads of sense but it keeps you engaged well enough. If I worked at this company I'd probably be pretty baffled that all of a sudden this smoking hot woman shows up and everything goes awry in the office and also at a factory in like Malaysia or something?

Whatever. loved it and would watch a sequel

4.25/ 5

[M.10rda]

PLEASE DON'T DESTROY: THE TREASURE OF FOGGY MOUNTAIN (2023)
Reviews have been mixed for this irreverent/absurdist comedy from producer Judd Apatow, w/ the UK Guardian awarding one star and the headline "Please Don't Watch". I thought it was funnier than any other comedy w/ Apatow's name on it from the past 16 years, plus at a lean 92 minutes it's only about half as long. It's also a lot more entertaining than other latter day trios of male stooges, such as the Lonely Island in whatever feature film it was they ended up making together, or even the similarly-themed streaming sitcom "Workaholics".  The three writer/stars (who apparently are known as the eponymous "Please Don't Destroy") deliver all the comedic non-sequiters that seem to be required in our "Family Guy"-ravaged cultural wasteland, but they actually have a strong enough handle on character and dialogue to deliver more intelligence than is common to the genre. We learn a lot about the characters from the choices they make and how they talk about what they talk about, instead of from flat expository statements....... you know, like in life and like in real screenplays.   I also admired that the primary female love interest is a(n appealingly but unequivocally) plus-size person yet no one ever mentions her weight and she doesn't require a makeover before the guy reciprocates. IMHO This is a much more effective version of enlightened casting than what I discussed in my review of IT'S A WONDERFUL KNIFE; it doesn't draw attention to itself and you just accept it happily because everything else about PDD:TTOFM makes sense (or makes no sense agreeably).

I will say that the first half made me laugh out loud more frequently than the second half, which gets just preoccupied enough with plot and action to diminish the (initially very high) rate of humor delivery. For what it's worth, though, ...FOGGY MOUNTAIN has as much plot and action in its first 45 minutes than most of Apatow's films have in their entire running time, and then the second half just keeps throwing curveballs. The PDD boys sure aren't lazy. I have watched little "Saturday Night Live" in recent years and don't recognize them, or the female lead(s?), or the main bad guy, all of whom are apparently current or recent SNL players. But I did recognize and enjoy Conan O'Brien in a (rare) large supporting role, STRANGER THINGS' Gaten Mattarazzo (as himself!), ensemble members from G.L.O.W. and RENO 911, and the voice of John Goodman providing welcome narration. (Goodman stops the action at one point to remind any viewers who somehow failed to recognize his mellifluous baritone of his bona fides.) The soundtrack is also really fun. The Guardian's film critic needs to pull the stick out.

3.5/5
Even just placing O'Brien and Mattarazzo onscreen together is funny.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday" (1993)
In the 9th (yet far from "final") installment in the "Friday the 13th" series, Jason gets blown to smithereens by the FBI before the opening credits are finished rolling... yet his evil is able to live on by possessing other bodies as he tries to get re-born through his last remaining blood relative.
Amidst all the gory ultra-violence, there's more back story and character development in this one movie than in the previous eight "F13's" put togethe. Sharp eyed nerds will get a kick out of the nods to "The Evil Dead," "The Hidden," and "Creepshow," but otherwise this movie is a total mess. I hated it when I first saw it during its theatrical run, yet for some reason I keep re-visiting it every decade or so to see if my opinion of it has changed. It hasn't... it still sucks.
AVOID.

[Trevor]

"Alligator" (1980)
A baby alligator is flushed into the Chicago sewer system, and a dozen years later it's grown to enormous size and developed a taste for humans. When it begins roaming the city streets munching on residents, a cop (Robert Forster) and a reptile expert (Robin Riker) have to figure out how to stop the critter. One of the better late 70s/early 80s creature features inspired by the success of "Jaws."

The graffitti in the sewer at the end 

[Dr. Whom]

Call Me Chihiro (2023)

Chihiro works at a bento shop in a small seaside town, but used to be a sex worker and is very open about her past. This makes her a pole of attraction for the various loners and outcasts of the town.

This is a feel good movie about how an empathic stranger can touch lives and create connections between the lonely. However, there is no story to speak of, it is just a series of slice of life vignettes that gradually come together. This may be enough for some, but I like to have some plot, however minimal, to keep my interest going.

[Rev. Powell]

SEVEN FACES OF JANE (2023): Jane drops off her kid at camp and goes on a road trip in seven acts, directed by seven different directors. Supposedly an exquisite corpse (each director has no knowledge of what the segment before or after will be), but for the most part they all play it safe, producing seven standalone shorts (plus a wraparound) serving as acting showcases for Gillian Jacobs. Free on Amazon Prime. 2/5.

[Gabriel Knight]

HOBGOBLINS (1988) MST3K VERSION

A young security guard must track down diminutive aliens who kill people even as they make their fantasies come true.

Wow, what can you say about this? It was clearly made completely aware of its own crappyness, which kinda takes away the fun for me. I mean, they deliberately made this film to be as ridiculous and cheesy as possible, so of course the result will be this incoherent mess.

The puppets are most of the times just static, and when they jump on people the actors (and I use that term very loosely) grab them and shake them as if they were attacked, it's just dreadful. The plot is beyond stupid, the whole bar scene last forever, and all the characters are a disgrace. You really can't put this movie in any genre also, because it fails in every level imaginable. I don't think a single person dies in the whole movie, not even the guy who gets completely engulfed in flames, so even the synopsis is a lie.

This movie is terrible, and honestly, I don't mean it in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way, because for me, in order for that to happen, the director has to be honest in the first place. BIRDEMIC and JACK-O are good examples of this, they really tried, but luckily for us, failed miserably. HOBGOBLINS is just a bad rip off of GREMLINS meant as a cash grab, taking advantage of the bad movies cult. The trivia even confirms that the director personally contacted the MST3K crew so they showed one of his films, but eventually sent them this one.

Avoid this crap unless it's in the MST3K format, because to be fair the episode was truly hilarious.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Batman: Death in the Family" (2020)
A DC Animated follow up to "Under The Red Hood," in which Batman learns that the Red Hood, a new murderous vigilante in Gotham City, is actually Jason Todd, a former "Robin" that he thought had died. As usual for these DC Animated Universe films, there's lots of cartoon ultra-violence and action that's definitely not suitable for the kiddies.
To pad things out to feature length, "Death in the Family" is followed by several more animated shorts featuring second-division DC characters like Sgt. Rock (leading the Creature Commandos on a mission!), the Phantom Stranger, and Death. Some of these were actually more entertaining than the Batman segment. All in all, a mixed bag.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2" (1987)
"Ricky," the younger brother of the Santa Claus killer from the first "SN, DN," pours out his tragic life story to a jail psychiatrist (aided by about 30 minutes of recycled footage from the first film) before he escapes to go on his own Santa-suited kill spree.
Unintentionally hilarious sequel to the notorious 1984 Yuletide slasher sickie is packed with quotably silly dialogue and horrendous acting, especially by the dude who plays "Ricky."
As awful as this movie is, it's still become a holiday season perennial for me. Yes, I realize I have questionable taste in "Christmas movies."
All together now: GAAARRRRBAGE DAAAAAAYYYY!

[M.10rda]

Feel no shame, FFC! You've put me in a mind to revisit these first two unforgettable entries. Might be just what I need to get in the Yuletide spirit! 

[lester1/2jr]

Margin Call (2011) - Demi fest continues with this Wall Street drama. Moore doesn't have much to do here, but she plays the overpaid executive forced to stay up all night and deal with a bad trade well enough. If you watch CNBC or read the business section this will be riveting stuff, if not it might not be, but this kind of thing was pretty popular for a while. One of the reasons cited for Moore's divorce from Ashton Kutcher was her insatiable appetite for other women, which was a loophole in their relationship I guess. If you don't care about Wall Street just think about that.

Helping her out are some huge actors Like Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, and the guy from The Mentalist. I guess if I had one criticism it might be that it's a little TOO calm. There are a lot of meetings but not much action. One point it makes is that the insane amounts of money available in banking and portfolio managing and so forth diverts people from much more productive lines of work like science and engineering.

5/5

[Rev. Powell]

Margin Call (2011) - Demi fest continues with this Wall Street drama. Moore doesn't have much to do here, but she plays the overpaid executive forced to stay up all night and deal with a bad trade well enough. If you watch CNBC or read the business section this will be riveting stuff, if not it might not be, but this kind of thing was pretty popular for a while. One of the reasons cited for Moore's divorce from Ashton Kutcher was her insatiable appetite for other women, which was a loophole in their relationship I guess. If you don't care about Wall Street just think about that.

Helping her out are some huge actors Like Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, and the guy from The Mentalist. I guess if I had one criticism it might be that it's a little TOO calm. There are a lot of meetings but not much action. One point it makes is that the insane amounts of money available in banking and portfolio managing and so forth diverts people from much more productive lines of work like science and engineering.

5/5

I saw it when it came out and liked it a lot. The "bridge" speech sticks with me. The Big Short (2015) was a similar financial drama that was more entertaining.