Recent viewings

[Trevor]

Marked For Death (1990) -



I was trying to figure out what Steven Seagal movie to rent and someone rec'd this. It was pretty good though it does have that "art is dead" Chuck Norris vibe, as if they're somewhat offended at the idea of making a movie and are holding their nose getting to the end of it. Seagal is an acknowledged Aikido expert which gives his fight scenes a unique look. Aikido involves a lot of counter-fighting and throws and so forth, less punching. It's not something a regular actor could bluff their way through and it's made him a good living. good for him.

A ruthless Jamaican gang has taken over the local cocaine business from the Spanish gangsters. They are very brazen opening fire on people in broad daylight. This I think would have made a little more sense if it was in Miami or something, instead of what appears to be a suburban town. The Jamaicans are pretty one dimensional and would probably be considered racist caricatures today but whatever. who cares

pretty decent. There was a kind of colorful Rasta vs Santeria thing going on at one point which was different and the villain Screwface was good. I wish these type of action movies didn't remind me of that scene in Boogie Nights when the guy editing the vhs porn says "it is what it is".

4/5

I liked this one: my review is on the submitted reader reviews child board. 

[Rev. Powell]

THE FISHER KING (1991): A guilt-ridden and alcoholic ex-shock jock (Jeff Bridges) finds he has a tragic connection to a homeless man (Robin Williams) who believes he is a knight questing for the Holy Grail. After a strong start, this redemption fable goes errant into the Realms of Rom-com from whence no sane plot emerges unscathed; there are some great moments along the way, however, including the Red Knight rampaging through the streets of New York City and a magical waltz in Grand Central Station. 4/5.

[Trevor]

The People That Time Forgot: first time viewing, not bad. 

[lester1/2jr]

Trevor - I'd never seen that board before. interesting take

I was thinking the other day if Bruce Lee had lived he would have completely owned 80's action movies.

[lester1/2jr]

Dr Alien - I didn't have cable growing up. I had one friend who did so I managed to see a couple things but in general I was more of a a vhs soft porn knower about er like The Cheerleaders and that sort of thing. This still felt a little foreign to me but I did like it.

Last night I watched a really mediocre movie called Coming Soon and this one certainly put it to shame. Plenty of stupid humor, frequent topless women including such noteables as Ginger Lynn Allen and Linnea Quigley, a likeable cast and a fun, ribald if not quite outrageous (It's no King Frat) atmosphere. The lead guy's reluctance to get involved with all the women was puzzling but funny and added tension, if a very slight amount. definitely not phoned in, a good effort was made all around. Let's go back to the 80's

4/5

[Jack]

Wavelength (1983) - this broke musician dude and his girlfriend decide to explore an underground military complex (the girl is getting psychic signals from it or something) and they discover that the military is secretly keeping some aliens down there. The "aliens" are little kids with shaved heads. Anyhow things get out of hand and our two characters help the little aliens escape etc. This was okay I guess, the two main characters were very one dimensional and the little kid aliens kind of made it into a kid's show, but eh...2.5/5.

Mortuary (1983) - a teenage girl is having nightmares where her father is murdered (he was murdered in real life) so she and her boyfriend investigate, finding that the local mortician is conducting seances with the local housewives (including the girl's mom). The mortician's son is also a bit off and has a huge crush on the girl. Pretty standard '80s "slasher" fare but it's actually more of a crime investigation drama I guess. 3/5.

[indianasmith]

The wife and I watched KINGSMAN - THE SECRET SERVICE last night.

Quite good overall; I though Colin Firth in particular was marvelous in his role.
Samuel L. Jackson was a marvelously loony villain, out to save the planet by exterminating a good chunk of humanity.
Surprisingly gory, with a bit of a naughty ending, kind of like a James Bond flick on steroids.

[Rev. Powell]

VANILLA SKY (2001): A playboy whose face was scarred in an accident is accused of murder; he tells his story to a court-appointed psychologist, but he can't distinguish his vivid dreams from reality. Director Cameron Crowe throws in too many senseless pop songs, and poor Penelope Cruz had not yet learned to speak English, but otherwise this is a competent and accurate remake of the superior Spanish psychological thriller ABRE LOS OJOS [OPEN YOUR EYES]. If you haven't seen the original, bump the rating up by 1/2 star. 3/5.

[Jack]

Beyond the Darkness (1979) - so this taxidermist guy has a girlfriend who dies, and of course he stuffs her and keeps her in a bed next to his. We get to spend a half hour watching him gutting her and sucking her brains out through a hose and replacing her eyeballs with glass ones. Talk about quality entertainment    Anyhow he lives with some woman who breastfeeds him even though he's in his 20's, and she's in love with him but he's in love with his dead girl. He also meets up with a couple of other girls whom he kills, one of which we get to watch being chopped up before having her parts deposited in a bath tub full of acid.

Not much good to say about this, the two main characters are total psychos and it's basically just gore from beginning to end. It's one of those Italian things that leaves you pretty certain that the writer was on his second bottle of whiskey before coming up with the dialogue. 2/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Rage (1995) - We just had a discussion about conspiracy theories and how if they get to be too big than it's just ridiculous. the plot of this movie is a good illustration of this. A bunch of corrupt border guards are using illegal immigrants to sell to some company that is doing experiments on them. For some f**king reason, they decide to take an innocent bystander, our hero Gary Daniels, and put him in there too. He has a family and a job and a house but they think there just will be no problems. The plot holes are FREQUENT. Theres more hole than plot really.

This movie is wall to wall action that is really the point. They do it pretty darn well too. Daniels' martial arts style is less distinct than, say, Steven Seagal but he's much more engaging as an actor. which is to say: he does actually act. There are some great stunts, explosions and cool camera angles catching them. Certain scenes are more believable than others. The entire episode on the rooftop for example is absurd. The guy hangs off the roof like 5 different times and the dude in the helicopter shooting at him can't seem to hit him from like 20 feet away with a high powered rifle even though he's just hanging here. Then he like gets in the helicopter I mean come on.

The dialogue isn't that bad, but where it really falls flat is the overall cohesiveness of the plot. I don't even know exactly what it was. It's something related to a government program of some kind but they only mention it very briefly. Still, the action is amazing and non stop. I'd say 75 out of it's 90 minutes are fighting, car chases, shooting, or some other form of human combat movement.

hard to rate this one. it's 5/5 in some ways  1/5 in others

I'll give it a 3.75 but if you want a really pure b movie experience I'd say check this out, as I bet many of you have

[voltron]

American Nightmare (1983)

Pretty decent Canadian slasher / giallo about a man searching for his sister (who was murdered in the opening scene) in the big city. His dad is a hypocritical all around prick - president of the UniCare foundation for poor children, but is totally demeaning to his own children). Together with his sister's friend the girl's brother uncovers some nasty findings about his sister's life and said foundation. Slow moving at times with way to many padding scenes at the local strip club, but as it stands it's an admirable yet grimy as f**k flick. It's not quite up there with the bigger Canadian slashers around the same time (MBV it ain't) yet has it's own place in Canadian horror / exploitation history for sure.

3/5

[Rev. Powell]

SOCIETY (1989): Bill, a high school senior from a wealthy Beverly Hills family, worries that the high society crowd has been acting strange ever since his sister's coming-out party. Brian Yuzna's debut mixture of horror and social satire is clumsy and unsure at times, but the last 30-minutes--a nonstop body-morphing orgy that would put David Cronenberg off his lunch--are unforgettable. I think most people on this board would really dig this one. 4/5.

[voltron]

SOCIETY (1989): Bill, a high school senior from a wealthy Beverly Hills family, worries that the high society crowd has been acting strange ever since his sister's coming-out party. Brian Yuzna's debut mixture of horror and social satire is clumsy and unsure at times, but the last 30-minutes--a nonstop body-morphing orgy that would put David Cronenberg off his lunch--are unforgettable. I think most people on this board would really dig this one. 4/5.

I've seen this in the old vhs shops years ago but I never bothered to rent it. Sound's pretty rockin'!

[JaseSF]

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): During World War II, a scrawny weakling named Steve Rogers dreams of joining the war effort for the American side. After being constantly rejected over and over again, Rogers is surprised when he is chosen for a secret experiment. Yeah this is the origin story of Captain America who eventually finds his way overseas to battle a secret terrorist organization with designs on world conquest, Hydra led by the diabolical Red Skull.

There was much to enjoy with this adaptation. I loved the historic setting and placing things at a time when the actual comic character first appeared. Naturally you get a lot of war time propaganda which some may find a bit much but it rings very true to this particular character. The film delivers thrilling action, good performances from its leads Chris Evans (as Captain America), Hayley Atwell  (as love interest secret agent Peggy Carter), Hugo Weaving (as the villainous Red Skull), and most important perhaps remains true to the character. There's little in-references to fans of the comic character and there's some scenery chewing by Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Phillips. There's also a little preview of sorts for the then upcoming Avengers movie. All in all, really enjoyed this film and consider it the best Captain America adaptation up to this point in time (still need to see the sequel) although I did enjoy the cheesy previous film/TV adaptations of the character as well. **** out of ***** stars.

Salt (2010): Highly capable and respected CIA secret agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) ends up on the run after being accused of being a Russian spy planted to commit sabotage actions towards the United States, starting with the assassination of the Russian President as he visits the funeral of the American Vice-President. Is she really a planted spy?

This film takes twist and turn after twist and turn. Honestly it was hard to keep up with all of them and all the planted Russian spies. There was lots and lots of action though, most of it dumb, some of it a bit more believable. It was fast moving and presented an exciting plot that keeps you guessing right up to the very end. The problem is it proves very convoluted, the way the Russians are presented seems unrealistic and feels more akin to 80s style evil foreign action villains. In terms of mindless action and thrills, it delivers. The ending twist I liked but it's really nothing new. I watched the Director's Cut of the film which as I understand it makes more sense than other versions. A mixed bag, enjoyable on an action film level, but a bit too convoluted and stereotypical as well. ***1/4 out of ***** stars.

[lester1/2jr]

Body Double - this is one of those "I can't believe I had never seen this" movies for me. I must have walked by it at the video store 6 thousand times. That's too bad because it's really good and definitely my kind of movie.

A down on his luck actor is bumming around trying to find work after getting separated from his wife. His friend tells him about an amazing house he is house sitting and offers to let him take over. It's like a space age disk house kind of like the Space Needle in Seattle. He also points out a hot neighbor who regularly dances nude in her window. Then he leaves. The guy watches the girl then gets sucked in to a whole thing with her life and all this stuff yadda yadda yadda.

Very cool. suspenseful but they weren't afraid to have fun with it too. throw in prime era Melanie Griffith and of course Frankie Goes to Hollywood performing "relax" and you've got the perfect summer hit for the summer 30 years later

5/5

only complaint is I wish the lead actor looked less like Bill Maher