Recent viewings

[javakoala]

Deviation (1971)

Well, this was a weird one. At least, it was until I realized the director was Jose Ramon Larraz, who made Vampyres and Symptoms. Then it all made more sense, at least as far as his style goes.

Young woman and her married lover end up as guests of a brother and sister who are more than a little different. It's all rather strange and sexual without bothering to be sexy most of the time. There are strong hints of lesbianism and incest with various sexual antics that even Bill Cosby would be envious of.

If you dig Larraz's style (and I kinda do), you might want to check this out as it was only his second feature-length film.

A rather iffy 3/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Comix: Beyond the Comic Book Pages" (2016)

This documentary examines the comic book industry's history and its impact on other forms of pop culture like television and film. Interviewees include Stan "The Man" Lee, Frank Miller, Neal Adams, John Romita Jr. and many more. There's nothing here that comic fans haven't already seen in dozens of similar docs, but I could listen to Stan tell stories about the old Marvel Bullpen forever so this was an enjoyable time waster.

[Rev. Powell]

LEMON (2017): A struggling, middle-aged actor/director loses his long-time girlfriend. Nearly plotless, stiff anti-comedy, awkward and with an autistic tone, sure to annoy many audiences; it's sort of like watching an uncomfortable Wes Anderson nightmare. 3/5.

[TYTD Review]

Literally the worst DVD release I've ever had my misfortune to sit through. as its not a film (Its a compilation and I am very keen to try and avoid calling this a documentary) I cant say its the worst movie I've ever seen but what I can say is the presenter (Who has little to no media experience) co-produced, curated and edited this abomination which is mostly reliant on the hosts anecdotes as evidence with no video, audio or even text to back this up. theres probably collectively 25 minutes of interview footage in this...and about 70% of those interviews are dog ends of bigger interviews that have no place being on this disc or they're completely unrelated to Doctor who. the remaining 20 minutes is padding. they bookmark various points of the DVD with "Quick fun facts!" most of which are wrong or inaccurate and to cherry on top of the cake is that non of the footage used is in anything close to its original aspect ratio. they couldnt be bothered with a director, or a proper editor or even runners...they thank a local supermarket for providing the host with clothes...it'd be like if I shot a movie and thanked Wallmart for selling shirts! xD

this is a dire, dire release that left me having to remind myself that "This thing actually cost money...you had to go to shop to buy it!" I'll watch anything but this had me begging for the end credits

1 out of 10 because it made me feel alive...even if it was alive with rage.

[Rev. Powell]

MIMOSAS (2016): A traveler accepts a mission to escort a dying sheik through a mountain pass, assisted by a mysterious younger man sent to help him by an unknown organization. The strange and very slow-paced story has the general shape of a Sufi parable, although the meaning is elusively open-ended. 3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Get Out - I was wondering why everyone liked this. I can see why now: it's actually art and not just someone standing on a soapbox. I'd compare it to Do the right Thing which was essentially a blaxploitation movie, this one is essentially a conspiracy movie a la Coma or that Space shuttle landing in the desert one. Another thing it does really well is capture the awkwardness of family gatherings, especially when you're an outsider. Someone says something tacky and theres nothing you can do you just have to be like "....excuse me".

5/5 eventually i'm sure someone will find a way to be offended by this and the guys career will be over, but hope he does more similar stuff first

[Rev. Powell]

DEATH LAID AN EGG (1968): A love triangle set on an experimental chicken farm where they're trying to breed headless chickens (!), with a subplot about prostitute murders. This is probably the strangest giallo ever made, full of narrative cul-de-sacs, abrasive avant-garde music, and bizarre throwaways like the man who keeps his chickens filed in folders in a cabinet; it will either get under your skin or leave you completely cold. 4/5.

[lester1/2jr]

At The Devil's Door - time and again, I find that a lot of indie movies have tons of potential but just are not capable of covering all the bases to achieve greatness. If David Fincher had looked at this script for 10 minutes he could have suggested a few things that would have made it a top horror film contender. Instead it has high points and low points but too much meandering.

the plot is a girl sells her soul to the devil and he comes to collect. it's an old but still scary concept and to its credit there is a creepy vibe to the movie throughout even when the action dissipates for long periods of time. the high point is when the doomed girl is babysitting, you really fear for the baby and theres some good colorful scene changes and dailogue but it never again reaches that high point.

3/5 good horror atmosphere and decent overall but just not a final draft/ product too much murk

[Rev. Powell]

RIFFTRAX LIVE: MIAMI CONNECTION: A tae-kwon-do-themed rock band composed of shirtless orphans fights cocaine motorcycle ninjas. A genuinely bad movie that would be fairly entertaining on its own. These RIfftrax lack the classic qualities of MST3K but they make for an entertaining evening. 3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Too Funny To Fail" (2017)
A behind-the-scenes look at the strange saga of 1996's "The Dana Carvey Show," which tried to bring edgy, late-night style counterculture sketch comedy to prime time... and failed miserably. After its legendary crash-and-burn, though, many of the show's young, unknown supporting cast and staff members ended up going on to much bigger things in the 2000s, like Steve Carell, Louis C.K. and Stephen Colbert. I had only the vaguest memories of the "Dana Carvey Show," but this doc is packed with plenty of clips from the program that filled in the gaps. "Too Funny to Fail" is an entertaining study of a show that may have been too hip for the room in '96 but it would probably be a pretty big hit if it premiered today.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Image Revolution" (2015)
In 1992, seven of Marvel Comics' most popular artists abruptly left to start their own independent company - Image Comics. Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri and the rest changed the comic book industry landscape forever when titles like Spawn, Youngblood, WildC.A.T.S., The Savage Dragon, and CyberForce became instant best sellers and left "the big two" companies eating Image's dust. 
The ride didn't last forever, though, and this documentary shows not only Image's rapid rise, but their near-collapse in the late '90s and subsequent rebirth in the '00s thanks to new hits like The Walking Dead.  Overall this is a cool, entertaining history lesson for comic fanboys.

[lester1/2jr]

They Won't believe me (1947) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039896/ - pretty decent film noir type thing. A handsome guy marries a rich lady for her money, tries to make it work, but ends up philandering around. His (stupid) wife gives him amazing jobs and more chances but lady, he's just not that into you. I guess that phrase didn't exist back then.

Eventually he hooks up with a hot office skank who knows whats up and wants to pluck him out of his little fantasy life. Things go awry, though. How do they go awry? watch the movie! better than usual casting, the guy really does seem to be the kind of dickhead women throw themselves at, and solid motivations and all that. I'd say check it out, but you won't believe me

4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

With my ten year old son:

"Ratchet & Clank" (2016)
A mechanically-inclined space critter and his robot pal are recruited into the mighty Galaxy Rangers to help defeat a super villain with a planet-destroying device.
Colorful, goofy sci-fi cartoon action based on the Playstation video game series -- which I am unfamiliar with but my son loves, so he laughed all the way through this.
File this one under "harmless fun for kids, painless for their parents."

[Rev. Powell]

THE LAST LAUGH (1924): A proud but aging doorman is humiliated when he's demoted at work. Masterfully told considering there's almost no dialogue, and still somewhat affecting after all these decades, but also a good illustration of why faster-paced silent comedies and fantastic films have weathered the decades so much better than dramas. 3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Snowden (2016) - Did you know Edward Snowden has a hot girlfriend? You certainly will after seeing this. granted they needed to jazz up the somewhat dry subject matter but I don't know, maybe do it with some sort of interesting exploration of the implications of the revelations?? Who am I to question Oliver Stone though.

Snowden was/ is a soldier who didn't have the legs for the marines so he decided to serve his country in other ways, namely his grand master level computer skills. Immediately he realizes that he isn't going to be fighting terrorism so much as helping the CIA go after people they feel like going after, keeping the military industrial complex gravy train going, and spying on people through cameras in their laptops that they don't think are on. After p**sing off his girlfriend to no end, having two seizures, and generally being sick at what he's being asked to do he decides he's had enough and gives journalist glenn greenwald the goods on PRISM, Hearbeat, and various other nefarious programs. The 2 hours passed pretty quickly. Nixon is still my favorite but this was tight

5/5