Recent viewings

[claws]

A Simple Favor (2018)

A single mom / vlogger befriends an upper class b***hy woman who one day disappears under mysterious circumstances. The vlogger investigates and digs up disturbing secrets from the past.
Paul Feig thriller-comedy. It is very similar in tone to Gone Girl (2014) and offers plenty of twisted turns and wtf? surprises. The comedy isn't always spot on but the acting is great, especially Anna Kendrick stands out as the mousy-like vlogger. 4/5

[Rev. Powell]

A SAFE PLACE (1971): Tuesday Weld spouts cute nonsense, Jack Nicholoson pops in, dramatic events may or may not happen, and magician Orson Welles poses behind a toy rainbow and implies that reality is a dream. Meandering sub-surrealism of the hippiest kind. There may have been a plot that developed late, but I had totally lost interest by that time. 1.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Airheads" (1994)
In this hard rock "Dog Day Afternoon" variant, three doofus musicians (Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler) just want their favorite radio station to play their demo on the air -- but things spiral out of control. Soon they're holding the staff hostage and the place is surrounded by cops and fans, making them into instant rock stars.

"Airheads" was a fun flick but it tanked at the box office in 1994, since it arrived well after the hair metal scene it was parodying had peaked. Since then it's become something of a cult classic thanks to a cast full of familiar faces that includes Chris Farley, Michael McKean, David Arquette, Judd Nelson, and more, plus a rockin' soundtrack and a cameo by Lemmy!

[claws]

It Chapter Two (2019)

Solid but not on the same quality level as the first. Felt a bit uneven and preachy at times. Actually, it felt like watching Fight Club during the first 30 minutes. I thought the old lady demon was scarier than Pennywise (she deserves her own spin off movie) but then again, clowns don't really scare me 4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Wheels of Fire" (1985)
Sometime in the future, a gun-toting warrior badass travels across the radioactive desert wastelands to rescue his kidnapped sister from a variety of murderous goons and cannibals.
Yep, it's another low budget "Mad Max" wanna-be, set in yet another post-apocalyptic world where everyone dresses like the leather-daddy guy from the Village People and drives a crapped-out, heavily armored pimp mobile. "Wheels of Fire" doesn't have much story, but lotsa things crash into each other and explode, so I was amused.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Dracula 3000" (2004)
A salvage crew locates a massive space ship that was thought to be lost 100 years ago. When they explore it, they discover that they are not alone, as the ship's lone occupant is the last survivor from a planet of vampires. Terrible acting and cheap gore ensues.
... "Drac 3K" has a pretty neat concept, but this flick does nothing with its intriguing premise; instead it just re-creates the director's favorite scenes from the "Alien" saga with a dash of "Event Horizon," on a cheese-and-crackers budget.
I knew I was in for a rough ride when the three biggest names in the cast were Casper ("Starship Troopers" van Dien, who has been in more z-movies than I can count; former Playmate Erika Eleniak (who's not as hot as she was in the "Under Siege" days, but she's still holding up pretty well), and ... Coolio.
This thing has been in my Hulu watchlist forever, I gave it a whirl today cuz I kinda felt sorry for ignoring it all that time. Now I wish I hadn't bothered.
In case it wasn't already obvious... AVOID.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Big Bad Mama" (1974)
Super MILF-y bank robber Angie Dickinson and her daughters machine-gun their way across the Depression era Southwest, with William Shatner, Tom Skerritt, and the ever-dependable Dick Miller along for the ride.
Good, clean, ultra-violent trashy fun from Roger Corman!

[Gabriel Knight]

NOW YOU SEE ME (2013)

An F.B.I. Agent and an Interpol Detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances, and reward their audiences with the money.

Whoa, this was painful. With a cast like that (Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine) and a promise of magic, mystery and a heist, you'll expect a great, cerebral plot, and a nice surprise at the end. Sadly, the plot is equivalent of getting spinned in a swivel chair while getting hit in the face with a sack of bricks.
The amount of holes this script has is insane. Most of the situations are completely unbelievable, considering it's supposed to be "real" illusionism - here, a guy can hypnotize people at will in a matter of seconds, and force them do pretty much anything, and that's just one example of how ridiculous this movie is. The whole death fake scene is another major offender, totally bonkers.
Every single character is awfully annoying and has close to zero development. When the two previously mentioned actors show up, it's nothing but a cameo. Characters like the Interpol agent are there just to pad the film, because they bring nothing to the table except a forced romance that's tellegraphed from the beginning.

The ending is simply stupid. I actually thought of it halfway through the movie, but discarded it because it made no sense at all. I was surprised at the revelation but for all the wrong reasons.

Movies like THE PRESTIGE, which I thought it was ruined with the sci-fi concept, and THE ILLUSIONIST, which I hated because of a justified murder, at least had the decency of showing actual real tricks, in front of the camera. NOW YOU SEE ME uses CGI almost in every trick, making them impossible to perform in real life, and therefore, ruining the whole concept of magic. It's nothing but a flashy show of cocky people and a retarded story in which rich people are bad becaus they have money.

The worst part? It made hundreds of millions and it has a sequel. I hate this world.

Avoid at all costs unless you want the lose two hours of your life, and end up really angry at yourself. At least both Caine and Freeman make the best of their s**tty scripts... 3/10 

[Ted C]

I saw The VelociPastor (2018) in a Facebook watch party recently. It's a movie that is both playing things mostly straight while being self-aware of the absurdity of the premise. I'm pretty sure all of the costuming came from a Halloween Express, and some of the music was surely written by some rock band friends of the producer. The acting is surprisingly good. Definitely a good watch.

 

 

[Rev. Powell]

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971): High school seniors come of age in a dying west Texas oil town in the 1950s. Basically an elevated soap opera. I saw this in my 20s and couldn't see why it was so beloved in some quarters. Returning to it years later, older and wiser, I got more out of it, but not a lot. It's very realistic, a quality some people admire. You will believe Cybill Shepherd could break up two best friends. (She's incredibly hot here in black and white). 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

THE DEATH OF DICK LONG (2019): Two dimwitted, not-too-smooth band members try to cover up the death of the third member of their trio in small town Alabama. A well-acted, well-written black comedy that at times seems like FARGO with a Southern drawl, but which sports a perverse twist that makes it about as uncomfortable to watch as possible. 3.5/5.

[indianasmith]

THE ALAMO (2004)   I watch this movie with my 7th grade Texas history class every year, and it is one of the few films I watch that truly does get better every time I see it.  I think it is perhaps the most historically accurate movie ever made about the famous battle, but beyond that, one of the most historically accurate depictions of any real event ever made.  Costumes, weapons, sets, casting, performances - everything about this movie is just spot on!  I will never understand why it tanked so badly at the box office, except perhaps because most moviegoers really are idiots who prefer a feelgood fairy tale to an attempt to add some nuance and depth to a real historical event.  5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Escape From the Bronx" (1983)
In this sequel to "1990: The Bronx Warriors," an evil corporation wants to demolish the burned-out ruins of the Bronx and build the city of the future. To clean out the few remaining residents, they send in squads of flame thrower-toting goons. Fortunately "Trash," the heroic street gang leader from the previous movie, is on hand to head up the resistance and drive out the bad guys. So yeah, there's not much plot in this Spaghetti remix of "Escape From New York" and "The Warriors," but there's lots of violence, gunfire and explosions. Cheap, schlocky fun.

[Rev. Powell]

THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS (1972): An intellectual radio host (Jack Nicholson) reluctantly helps his brother (Bruce Dern), a dreamer with criminal connections, in his scheme to open a casino on a Hawaiian island. Dern has rarely been better, but the plot dilly-dallies around on the Atlantic City beaches for too long before rushing to a third-act conclusion that ends with a sudden bang. 2.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Men at Work" (1990)
A pair of slacker Southern California garbage men (real life brothers Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez) get mixed up with a gang of illegal toxic-waste dumpers when they find the body of a local politician thrown out with the trash. Wacky hijinks ensue.
Estevez also directed this snarky action/caper comedy that's kind of like "Repo Man" in a garbage truck. Fun stuff with a lot of laughs; Charlie and Emilio make a great team.