Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

did they have Baked Alaska in Snowbeast?

[Jack]

I think there were just raw Coloradans in Snowbeast, I don't remember him baking anybody.

[JaseSF]

The Fighter (1983): Merle Banks (Gregory Harrison), a Vietnam veteran disappointed by his lack of available work choices as a bellboy and busboy, decides to try his luck by getting involved with local brawlers amateur contests hoping to make some real money if he should win. His wife Rindy (Glynnis O'Connor) is against this choice for him believing boxing to be overly violent.

This was much better than I was expecting. It's a 1980s TV movie and also stars Pat Hingle as Merle's father Henry, now out of work after the mill business he owned shut down, Robert Englund as Merle's buddy and second Charlie, and Justin Lord as Willie, Merle's likable old army buddy from the Vietnam war, a fellow down on his luck former soldier who also turned to amateur boxing after a bad mistake previously landed him in jail.

The characters in this film are likable, the atmosphere of the story feels authentic, it has a late 70s feel to the story, the boxing is pretty exciting, and they really work the plot so that the majority of viewers will rally behind Merle in his fights, especially during the climactic ending. Decent enough for what it was. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: GODZILLA VS. MEGALON: The feature film barely has Godzilla in it at all; it's mainly about the robot Jet Jaguar fighting a monster sent by the residents of Seatopia because they were upset by human's nuclear tests. He recruits 'zilla for the final tag-team fight. Hard to go wrong with a goofy Japanese kaiju flick, and this episode also has the hilariously mean sketch where Orville Redenbacher threatens to disinherit his grandson. 3.5/5.

WETLANDS (2013): A sexually precocious teen girl who is virulently anti-hygiene tries to seduce her male nurse when she is hospitalized with anal fissures. Founds a new genre: the art house gross out picture. 3.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Scream of the Banshee (2011) - Lauren Holly is a science professor who appears to have had every kind of plastic surgery available but still looks pretty good. The banshee is a thing from 12th century Ireland that yells wicked loud then does other awful things. Maybe she/ it could meet up with Leprechaun at some point in the future who knows. They accidentally unleash it from the thing and spend the movie trying to not die and to get it back into the thing, one of those.

Like most Syfy movies I've seen, I'm not remotely as experienced as many here, it's pretty entertaining and colorful though never to the point where you would mistake it for a real movie. There's a plot element where the dust or whatever causes hallucinations and they do a pretty good utilizing that. What are you gonna do 4/5

[JaseSF]

American Kickboxer 1 (1991): Kickboxing champion BJ Quinn (John Barrett) finds himself sent to prison for a year after accidentally killing a bystander/friend during a drunken fight with a rival named Jacques Denard (Brad Morris). Quinn is also stripped of his championship and suspended from further championship competition for five years. After he is released in a year, Quinn tries to help train another fighter named Chad Hunter (Keith Vitali) but also finds himself endlessly taunted by Denard, who comes across as a complete jerk, a very dirty fighter, and seems rather similar to a pro wrestling heel. Eventually Denard wanting to prove himself superior challenges Quinn to a non-championship $100,000 challenge. Can Quinn overcome the odds and get his revenge on Denard?

Yeah, a lot of this is pretty cheesy. Especially bad is Barrett's overacting and the film being overly dramatic during key sequences such as the death of the friend, and the verdict from the court trial. One major problem here is that it's hard initially to feel any sympathy for Quinn as after all, he did kill a guy. It does help that Morris' Denard is such an a$$hole. All in all, it's pretty similar to lots of other films from the 80s-early 90s and arguably a lesser film than many others. Still enjoyable enough for what it is, another plus is it features real fighters. Personally I did enjoy it but then I may be a bit prejudiced as I have a soft spot for this type of stuff. *** out of ***** stars. (Kind of cool to see this was a Cannon Video release and that they actually had the nerve to call it American Kickboxer 1 without being sure it would ever really have any sequels).

[Jack]

The 100 (2014– ) TV show, we watched the first season on Netflix. 97 years after a nuclear war, the survivors of Earth are living in a space station and they send 100 young people down to the planet to see if the radiation has died down enough for it to be habitable. Once there they find a beautiful world, but full of dangers - first it's a battle just to find food and later on they run afoul of a very hostile earth tribe. Meanwhile the folks on the space station have their own troubles with a rapidly dwindling air supply.

I thought this was excellent. It took a little while to get to know the characters, but they developed into well rounded and sympathetic people. The lead actress had a very nice character arc going from a naive know-it-all to a hardened survivor. And the show certainly isn't afraid to do the unexpected, which was very refreshing. The season finale was fantastic, very dramatic and very cinematic as well. 4.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

THE ALLOY ORCHESTRA PLAYS WILD AND WEIRD: The Alloy Orchestra creates new scores for 14 odd silent films. There are at least two certified classics included here, VOYAGE TO THE MOON (which is sort of ruined by voiceover narration) and Buster Keaton's PLAYHOUSE, plus a lot of odd little films including Russian stop-motion animation, closeups of an "acrobatic" fly, and lots of successful early film experiments. The music is appropriate, mostly classical-ish with a little bit of electronic instrumentation, very rarely too avant-garde. Every short is interesting in its own way. 4.5/5 for the collection, very close to a 5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

they're from here Boston, they use to sometimes do shows accompanying movies at the local indy movie theatre. They were probably all in goth bands before that haha

[JaseSF]

American Streetfighter (1992): Jake Tanner (Gary Daniels) returns to the United States after about ten years abroad hoping to help save his younger brother Randy (Ian Jacklin) from making the mistake of falling in with shady characters, under the control of the evil Ogawa (Gerald Okamura), involved with a local underground street fighting ring. Eventually Jake, his friends and family also soon find themselves the target of Ogawa and his henchmen. Can Jake find a way to stop Ogawa and his men?

This was pretty cheesy overall and definitely some would find this ripe for riffing. In fact, I found myself doing that quite a bit watching this one which is pretty painful otherwise. The overdubbing of the actors doesn't always sync well with the actors, the plot is barely coherent (and basically runs upon the predictable martial arts revenge plot), most of the acting is atrocious especially from Jacklin, and the fighting proves somewhat disappointing. That said, there are some cool stunts performed here and it definitely has some fun bad movie moments although overall this one is more of a chore to sit through than most of its type. It does feature a borderline softcore shower scene featuring actress Tracy Dali as Jake's girlfriend Rose if you like that sort of thing. **1/2 out of ***** stars.

[Trevor]

American Kickboxer 1 (1991): Kickboxing champion BJ Quinn (John Barrett) finds himself sent to prison for a year after accidentally killing a bystander/friend during a drunken fight with a rival named Jacques Denard (Brad Morris). Quinn is also stripped of his championship and suspended from further championship competition for five years. After he is released in a year, Quinn tries to help train another fighter named Chad Hunter (Keith Vitali) but also finds himself endlessly taunted by Denard, who comes across as a complete jerk, a very dirty fighter, and seems rather similar to a pro wrestling heel. Eventually Denard wanting to prove himself superior challenges Quinn to a non-championship $100,000 challenge. Can Quinn overcome the odds and get his revenge on Denard?

Yeah, a lot of this is pretty cheesy. Especially bad is Barrett's overacting and the film being overly dramatic during key sequences such as the death of the friend, and the verdict from the court trial. One major problem here is that it's hard initially to feel any sympathy for Quinn as after all, he did kill a guy. It does help that Morris' Denard is such an a$$hole. All in all, it's pretty similar to lots of other films from the 80s-early 90s and arguably a lesser film than many others. Still enjoyable enough for what it is, another plus is it features real fighters. Personally I did enjoy it but then I may be a bit prejudiced as I have a soft spot for this type of stuff. *** out of ***** stars. (Kind of cool to see this was a Cannon Video release and that they actually had the nerve to call it American Kickboxer 1 without being sure it would ever really have any sequels).

Oy: someone else saw this South African cheesefest? 

[JaseSF]

Yep it's out there on a cheap DVD...

[Trevor]

Yep it's out there on a cheap DVD...

Destroy.......... destroy................ 

I did like one part of it though: Brad Morris gives a journalist the finger and the journalist says "Oh, is that your IQ?" 

[Rev. Powell]

MOOD INDIGO (2013): Colin, the independently wealthy inventor of the pianococktail and other gadgets, falls in love with a girl who tragically grows a water lily in her left lung; meanwhile, his best friend is literally addicted to the teachings of the celebrity philosopher Jean-Sol Partre... With three or four gags in per minute, dada doodads on every shelf, stop-motion animation and undercranking, and Audrey Tatou, his thing is like AMELIE on steroids. Recommended to fans of whimsical surrealistic excess; others may feel overstimulated before the credits are even over. 3.5/5.

[indianasmith]

OK, here are last week's movies, in order:

AS ABOVE SO BELOW (2014) - This was an interesting story that used "found footage" style to trace the attempts of an archeologist's daughter to fulfill her father's quest to find the Philosopher's Stone.  The first 30 minutes are set-up to get them into the catacombs beneath Paris, after that the weirdness comes thick and fast.  The ending doesn't make a ton of sense, but it's an enjoyable ride.  4/5

THE DEVIL'S DEAL - Twenty years ago four outlaws, trapped in a cave after a bank robbery, make a deal with the devil in return for their lives.  Now time is up and the Father of Lies comes to collect what is his - with interest!  A decent enough screenplay flawed by some horrible acting.  Wait for it to hit the cheap shelves, and be ready to riff!!  2.5/5

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY (2014) - Katniss Everdeen is back in this third installment of the popular teen fiction series, and it's an enjoyable set-up for the bloody final confrontation between the people of the districts and the Capitol of Panem.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is spot-on in his final role, and Julianne Moore is an excellent addition as President Quinn.  Donald Sutherland is wonderful in his portrayal of the sinister President Snow - this may well be one of the best roles he has ever played.  I loved the books and I loved this movie.  5/5

RED HOUSE - Four young girls and one boyfriend head up to the house that a girl just inherited from her grandfather; once they arrive, trouble begins - local pot growing rednecks, a mysterious killer, a retarded uncle living in the basement, and a local sheriff who is a tad TOO helpful add up to a pretty decent slasher flick.  Not great, but not bad.  3/5