Recent viewings

[JaseSF]

Carrie (2013): Socially awkward outcast Carrie White (Chloë Grace Moretz) struggles with the challenges of puberty while having to also carry the weight of pleasing a religiously fanatical mother (played by Julianne Moore) and in her case, an unusual power - telekinesis. In the end, horror is unleashed.

This remake of De Palma's classic film was completely unnecessary. Sadly it offers up nothing truly new. It's a more toned down, watered down, less edgy version that doesn't provide any real surprises to anyone who's seen the original film. They try and amp up the climax adding explosions and slowed down sped up action but it just makes it all seem a bit overdone. One is just plain better off watching the original any way you want to look at. There's really nothing to recommend about this remake, even Moore's competent performance doesn't compare to the performance given by Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek is vastly superior in the Carrie role. The final scene is so much more effective in the original, here it seems kind of corny. **1/2 out of ***** stars.

Dark Water (2005): Mother Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly), struggling with persistent migraines and battling her ex for custody of her young daughter Ceci (Ariel Gade), moves into a dilapidated, run-down apartment building where she finds a leaking roof dripping mysterious dark water a constant challenge. Even worse, there's something mysterious, dark, and paranormal happening in the building and it seems to be targeting both her and her daughter.

This film, an Americanized remake of a Japanese film, tends to drag on and on. Sadly it proves more dull than thrilling. There are some elements to this I liked (in terms of settings, dreams, and its use of water) but overall it tends to be pretty dreary viewing and one can easily fall asleep watching this one. It does have some scares here and there but nothing that will stay with the viewer long after viewing, nothing that won't seem rather tame to most horror fans. Kind of disappointing and apparently not as good as the Japanese version. *** out of ***** stars.

[Rev. Powell]

THE DOORS (1991): Oliver Stone's trippy biopic of self-important, self-destructive Doors frontman Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer), who drops acid, drinks constantly, sleeps with models and witches, hallucinates Navajo medicine men during concerts, and croons far-out poetry in a heavenly bluesy baritone. Trashy, bloated, and excessive, in a good way; Stone was the perfect director for this material, as few others could understand narcissism like Morrison's from the inside, and project it into such a beautifully chaotic mess. Kilmer is a chameleon here. 4/5.

[JaseSF]

In Time (2011): In the future, everyone stops aging at 25 but at a price, you only live one more year unless you have the means to buy yourself more time. Time essentially has replaced money in this world. Here we follow Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) who suddenly finds himself given more time than he ever imagined but now the authorities and numerous others are gunning for him hoping to steal it for themselves. Along the way, Salas meets Silvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter of ultra wealthy Phillipe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) and sparks fly especially given Salas' mission is to bring the current system which favors the wealthy and privileged to its knees.

There are some major flaws with the presentation of the time as currency concept if you really stop and think about it but I do like the concept. This film has some shades of Logan's Run only it's nowhere near as colorful. There's also a little element that recalls Zardoz with regards to immortality making people apathetic but this is nowhere near as weird as that film. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed this one, it has some exciting action and chase sequences. Now this film could have been even better with a bit more attention to detail. Wants to be thoughtful sci-fi but actually is more in the vein of action sci-fi.  ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Arthur Newman (2012): A man named Wallace Avery (Colin Firth), unsatisfied with his life [failed marriage, loveless relationship with son, mundane relationship, mundane job] decides to assume a new identity and start his life over as would be golf pro Arthur Newman. Along the way, he meets up with a troubled young woman who wants him to call her Mike (Emily Blunt) who seems to be running from something. They head out together on a road trip and discover starting new lives and playing pretend isn't always so easy.

While it has its slow moments, I enjoyed this film mostly for the acting performances of Firth and Blunt. The final lesson learned here rings true but the ending leaves too many things unresolved. Despite its flaws (not sure what the point of Anne Heche's character was, maybe as a reserved contrast to Blunt's). Anyways I liked this film quite a bit personally although it was a bit hard to buy into the relationship between Firth and Blunt's characters at times. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[Rev. Powell]

THE MACHINIST (2004): A machinist who claims not to have slept in a year discovers a factory co-worker that no one else can see. Christian Bale's tortured performance in this spooky psychological thriller goes beyond his frightening weight loss for the role. 4/5.

[indianasmith]

I watched two movies this week:
DOLLFACE:  A team of college kids are filming a project documentary about Crinoline Head, a serial killer how murdered six college kids 20 years ago and then disappeared forever, presumed dead.  They go out to the site of his house, long since burned, and encounter Debbie Rochon living in a trailer.  Hijinks ensue, college kids get murdered, Debbie manages to take her top off (again), and Crinoline head lives on, despite being shot-gunned twice at point blank range and run through with an iron pipe.  Fun but predictable slasher with characters that it was really hard to care much about. 3.5/5

THE CURSE OF DOWNERS GROVE:  Ever since the new High School was built on the site of an Indian Burial mound, every year a member of the Senior class has died a week before graduation.  Now it's May again, and a young girl is trying to figure out if the curse is real or not, while dodging the revenge of a football player from another school whose eye she gouged out when he tried to rape her at a party.  This was a strange little film, not quite horror and not really easy to classify, with a twist ending that was pretty darn brilliant.  4/5, I am still trying to figure out if I liked it or just respected it for being so different than the standard FINAL DESTINATION teeny slasher/date with death movie.

[Rev. Powell]

REALITY (2014): A young girl (improbably named "Reality") tries to find out what is on a VHS tape she found in the stomach of a wild pig, while in a separate plot line a novice horror film director searches for the perfect scream. The writer/director who brought us a movie about a serial-killing tire gets even stranger with this Chinese puzzle box of nightmares wrapped inside jokes wrapped inside nightmares. 4/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story" (2014)

http://youtu.be/eNHB3kcwsGI
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Extremely entertaining, often hilarious documentary about infamous Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, who took the low road to the top of the adult-entertainment biz and became an unlikely champion for freedom of expression along the way. Larry may be a sleaze ball but you can't help but admire the guy.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Visitant" (2014)

http://youtu.be/m4Xf0i1BL3A
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An amusement park fortune teller inadvertently brings home a real spirit with evil intentions, leading to predictable haunted-house nonsense. This is one of those movies where the lead character is such a damn-fool idiot that she deserves everything that happens to her, haha.
This low budget indie is slightly better than shaky-cam crap like the "Paranormal Activity" movies, but that's not really saying much. Skip it.

[Rev. Powell]

A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (1961): When striptease artist Angela says she wants a baby, reluctant boyfriend Emile dares her to conceive with his best friend Alfred, who has a crush on her. Deconstructed romantic comedy form Jean-Luc Godard that's more silly than witty, with parodic musical queues that are laid on just a little bit thick and a star-making performance from Anna Karina (the nouvelle vauge's answer to Audrey Hepburn). 3.5/5.

[Gene Worm]

Recently, I saw a couple interesting things.

TerrorVision: A man-eating, yet domesticated alien comes out of a family's satellite dish.

And a small clip of Diamond Eye: Warrior of Light: A superhero inside of a diamond ring must protect a news reporter from an army of demonic monsters.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Fraternity Demon" (1992)
 (no trailer available on YouTube)

In this no budget horror/sex/campus comedy mess from Troma, a college dork accidentally conjures up a blonde, busty "demon of sex and lust" on the night of the big fraternity/sorority mixer. Soon Demon Chick is stalking the halls of the frat house screwing the livin' hell out of everybody who crosses her path.
...sadly, this is not nearly as fun as I probably made it sound. The jokes aren't funny, the acting sucks, and I've seen porn with better production values than this flick. The few quick bits of eye candy aren't enough to make this mess watchable. AVOID.

[JaseSF]

The Money Pit (1986): Walter Fielding (Tom Hanks) and Anna Crowley (Shelley Long) are a young couple who purchase a new house, surprised at their luck at finding a mansion. However things really weren't as good as it seems as the house quickly starts falling apart shortly after they move in. This proves quite the challenge for the couple and their relationship as they set out to try and arrange for repairs. Complicating matters is Anna's ex, the Maestro (Alexander Godunov), an egotistic music conducter who has his sights set on winning Anna back.

The 1980s comedy is never as good as one hopes it will be. There are a few scenes however that did succeed in actually making me chuckle particularly the exaggerated overlong pratfall featuring Hanks. A problem is the premise rarely seems plausible and/or believable. There are parallels between the the challenges in repairing the house and repairs eventually needed in the relationship. Not bad but not great either. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Titanic (1953): Richard Ward Sturges (Clifton Webb) and his wife Julia (Barbara Stanwyck) are struggling with marital difficulties and family concerns with regards to dividing their children. However, this eventually takes a backseat in priority as they have booked their passage on the ill-fated ship Titanic.

I enjoyed this film. While initially the focus is on a bit of a sappy romance (with some dated songs) and marital difficulties, this never takes away from the impact of the eventual tragedy that unfolds. The cast for this one is quite stellar as aside from Webb and Stanwyck (who are both quite good here IMO),  Audrey Dalton plays daughter Annette Sturges, Robert Wagner plays her love interest Gifford, Richard Basehart is on hand as a disgraced former priest. A good if appropriately sad film.  (Better than Cameron's film I feel and I'm pretty sure he borrowed some ideas from this one too but A Night to Remember is probably still a better film version) **** out of ***** stars.

Ponyo (2008): A little boy named Sosuke rescues a special goldfish he nicknames Ponyo. Unknown to Sosuke, Ponyo is a magical creature born of a strange wizard and a sea goddess. Ponyo's love for Sosuke leads to her dreaming of becoming a human like him and her attempts to use magic to achieve this threatens to throw the world and nature out of balance threatening everybody.

This is a dreamlike fantasy that feels like something a child might dream up. It's surprisingly moving and entertaining with likable characters, some bizarre imagery, otherworldly dreamlike mix of fantasy and reality that yet somehow all seems to fit together. Another winner from Miyazaki. **** out of ***** stars.

[Rev. Powell]

THE BEAST (1975): An English woman pledged to marry a French aristocrat has a sex dream about a beast that ravages a lady in the forest. A jaw-dropping curiosity---scenes of graphic (if somewhat ludicrous) bestiality, padded out with a drawing room nuptial drama. This has to be the dirtiest movie available on Netflix streaming. For the adventurous only. 2.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Wreck it Ralph (2012) - This took my 3 nights to watch. It's like Tron meets one of those cartoons people used to make online for free. I got very little enjoyment out of it. It just didn't take me anywhere. It is professionally done but it has this dull quality, no surprises. The Care Bears rock harder than this

2/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Compliance" (2013)

http://youtu.be/Kimp1QqAPec
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A prank caller pretending to be a police officer calls a fast-food joint, accusing a young female employee of theft. Eager to please the "police," the manager willingly imprisons the employee in the back of the store... and things only get more bizarre from there. Disturbing indie drama based on an actual case.