Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

I liked his one about the women who was kept a sex slave by her house

[FatFreddysCat]

"A Time To Die" (1991)

http://youtu.be/r2IbZP4fw0U
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Traci Lords is an L.A. crime scene photographer who snaps a pic of a crooked cop doing something cops shouldn't be doing. For obvious reasons, this makes her and her young son the targets of some very bad people.
Traci can't act (as usual) but she looks great (as usual) and the late Jeff "Kenickie" Conaway was rockin' an absolutely epic mullet at this point in his career, but otherwise this is pretty tedious direct to video crime drama nonsense.

[SynapticBoomstick]

Pirates of the Great Salt Lake (2008)

This movie started production way back when Pirates of the Caribbean was still very fresh in the public eye and I followed it for a while. Years later I remembered that it existed and tracked down a copy. The basic concept is "two social outcasts decide to be pirates and paddle around on the Great Salt Lake pillaging campers and fishermen, then find a map leading to lost pirate treasure; shenanigans and chaos ensue".

This movie is very weird. Several times I questioned if what had just happened had really happened. More than once I found myself wondering if the movie was really any good or if I even liked it. My final score is I Don't Know/5. For the first time, I am unable to tell whether or not I liked a movie. It does have its funny moments and the running gags don't overstay their welcome, at the same time it often feels, well, empty is what I'd have to call it.

If you like pirates and dialogue, you might want to check this out. If you can't stand pirate talk though, turn into the wind and race for shore.

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[FatFreddysCat]

"Not Of This Earth" (1988)

http://youtu.be/BcqJzZXnTnY
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Campy-on-purpose remake of a '50s sci-fi cheapie about a nurse who's hired to give a mysterious man daily blood transfusions. Eventually she learns that he's actually an alien being who's an advance scout for an invasion. (yikes!!) This flick is mainly notable for the fact that it was Traci Lords' first non-XXX acting role (and also the last time she got naked in front of a camera). She looks dynamite, of course, but the rest of the movie was poop.

"The Phantom" (1996)

http://youtu.be/G3lZ_dQsnUk
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A lavish adaptation of the '30s comic strip starring Billy Zane as the purple-clad "Ghost Who Walks" - who's sort of a combination of Tarzan and Batman. Sworn to protect his jungle home from pirates, treasure hunters, and criminals, the Phantom is drawn to '30s New York when a madman steals an ancient artifact with enough power to help him take over the world. A fun, action packed period-piece in the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" vein.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Invasion U.S.A." (1985)

http://youtu.be/MEJMnLZKuVU
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A clan of Russian-backed terrorists and mercenaries (led by B-Movie mainstay Richard Lynch) plot to overthrow the U.S. of A. -- thankfully America has got Chuck Norris in its corner and he's at the height of his Beard Powered, blue-jeaned bad-assery, so the odds are just about even!
The Mighty Chuck's magnum opus is completely, utterly, totally ridiculous, cheesy, over the top and silly as hell but I can't deny that it's also entertaining as hell. Tons of Reagan-era shoot'em-up, blow'em-up, kill-a-commie-for-Mommy fun!

[claws]

I, Frankenstein (2014)

While burying its creator, the Frankenstein creature gets caught in a war between demons and gargoyles. The gargoyles feel sorry for the soulless monster and name him Adam. The demons on the other hand want Adam's journal which reveals on how to reanimate the dead. Adam just wants to mind his own business and goes on a 200 year long travel. However, there's no escaping the epic war and Adam is once again drawn into fighting demons, and this time meeting a human woman he feels the need to protect.

This movie did nothing for me upon my first viewing. Watching it again two years later I though this comic book adaption was, well, ok. It basically combines Underworld visuals with Blade kind of action. There's not much character introduction, missing a much needed prologue. The viewer is just tossed right into a chaotic story line that somewhat finds a focus in the final half of the movie.

Not great by any means, just a dumb popcorn flick with lavish f/x. 3/5

[Rev. Powell]

THE TRIBE (2014): Upon arriving at a school for the deaf, a teenage boy is quickly recruited into a vicious gang that conducts petty crimes, including prostituting two female students. The movie is entirely in sign language with no subtitles (by the director's request) and runs for over two hours. Ambitious and even gripping at times, but the challenge is greater than the reward. 2.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

A Wolf at the Door (2013) - sometimes you go through netflix from genre to genre clicking on random actors trying to find something. Ever since they took away the names on the reviews it's harder to find stuff. At some point I guess I clicked on foreign suspense or something and selected this. Well, I don't know why I recounted that but it's a good ass movie.

A young girl is kidnapped from her school by a woman pretending to be a friend of the family. The woman is quickly rounded up and the story of how it happened unfolds. It seems the woman is not just any woman but has been having an affair with the husband. Did she kidnap the girl to get back at him or is something else afoot? Most of the movie is thus a flashback but it's pretty straightforward and definitely works as the reason behind the initial situation gradually comes to light. The sexual politics involving the affair are well explored (and as is probably often the case in these sort of relationships) somewhat dark.

I had a few gripes at first but they faded as it went along. Specifically, one of the characters was lying but in the re enactment of their story you can tell it's bulls**t. That doesn't really work it just makes it look like it's a bad movie. You have to try to actually fool the audience I think.

still 5/5 though

the second half/ ending is very uncompromised and they could easily have phoned in some milquetoast nonsense so full props

[Rev. Powell]

THE JUNGLE BOOK (2016): Mogwli, an orphaned "man cub" raised in the jungles of India by a pack of wolves, has adventures with the talking animals while fleeing the man-killing tiger Shere Khan. This is the first of Disney's recent series of live action remakes that is clearly superior to the animated original; Jon Favreau keeps most of the humor and a little bit of the music but ramps up the peril and expands the scope so the movie feels like an epic adventure rather than a lightweight musical comedy. 4.5/5.

SITA SINGS THE BLUES (2008): The animated story of the Indian epic Ramayana, which tells of the love between the demigod Rama and his loyal wife Sita, with musical interludes set to recordings of 1930s torch singer Annette Hanshaw, and a parallel autobiographical story about the writer/director's troubled marriage. Nina Paley's masterpiece is an incredible one-woman achievement: it's a musical/comedy/educational epic with a trippy Art-Deco-meets-Hindu-iconography-meets-underground-comics style that throws everything it can think of at the screen, yet somehow all comes together as a coherent whole. 5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Peanuts Movie" (2015)

http://youtu.be/tsSjtzBhnIU
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Charlie Brown still can't fly a kite or work up the courage to talk to the Little Red Haired Girl, and Snoopy continues his ongoing battle with the Red Baron.
Charles Schulz's beloved comic strip characters got a successful 21st century makeover in this fun family flick from Blue Sky animation studios (the gang behind the "Ice Age" series). Lots of laughs for the kids, and a trip down memory lane for their parents. Recommended if you have young'uns.

"Batman: Bad Blood" (2016)

http://youtu.be/G-0bQpHlpdQ
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Batman is missing in action after a battle with the League of Shadows, so Nightwing temporarily dons the Bat-Mask to keep the peace in Gotham City, aided by Robin, Batwoman and a new member of the Bat-Family known as "Batwing." More quality action packed animated mayhem from DC Comics.

[indianasmith]

This week I've watched two movies.
 First, a psychological horror flick called THE FEAR OF DARKNESS.  I don't mind a slow buildup of the payoff is worth it - in fact, some of my favorite films do this, like ABSENTIA - but this movie crept along at a glacial pace and delivered nothing.  I was NOT impressed. 2/5
  Last night I watched a pretty great little werewolf flick called UNCAGED.  This movie featured lots of gore, cool transformation effects, and a pretty interesting storyline.  I was much more impressed with it than I thought I would be. 4.5/5

[lester1/2jr]

Mama (2013) - two girls who ended up in the woods after a car crash are found years later and adopted by their uncle. It's a "the kids came back from the thing weird" variation. The guy lives with a not that hot sympathetic heroine girlfriend who I guess is supposed to expand the films appeal to women. it's also pg 13 so teens can watch it.

The CGI was decently done but I don't know, Im not all that into non overtly campy cgi. How can you just havea cartoon in a movie? Yes I'm 500 years old. The pg 13 rating is interesting because there are definitely some "chills" but not in the disturbing way horror movies usually are. it's like a pleasing ride on a medium sized, safe, well designed roller coaster.

The two kids are good especially the younger one Kiley, who is much more invested in the pre adoption woods weirdy lifestyle than the more willing to adapt (whatever her name was). She's constantly eating moths smiling like Anthony Perkins and generally being great. produced by Guilermo De Tormo or presented by or whatever. This is I think the first decent family friendly horror movie I've ever seen.

4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Avenging Force" (1986)

http://youtu.be/IB_B9ZUV-W0
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A low budget pseudo-sequel to "Invasion U.S.A." with Michael "American Ninja" Dudikoff taking over Chuck Norris' role as CIA butt kicker Matt Hunter. This time Hunter tangles with a group of extreme right-wing racist millionaires who hold their own "Most Dangerous Game" style hunting parties in the Louisiana bayous. The presence of Dudikoff's frequent "American Ninja" co-star Steve James makes this feel more like an "A.N." sequel. It's not terrible, it's not great, it's just sort of ... "there."

[Gabriel Knight]

I'm feeling extremely depressed so i decided to watch Gymkata for the first time, maybe that will cure my sad mood.
I'll let you know how it went.

[lester1/2jr]

Orphan (2009) - The whole thing was ludicrous but I have to admit I enjoyed it. A family adopts a Russian girl from an orphanage. Over the course of two well thought out (if,again, highly doubtful) hours all Hell breaks loose. From the ad you know everything is not what it appears with the girl but I probably shouldn't discuss the plot any more than that.

As a horror/ thriller sort of movie it's decent but where it excels is in the general film making. The budget is bigger than usual, there are no glaringly amateurish actors or weird music or anything to take you out of the story. Kind of like The Conjuring in the sense that it's that one horror movie a year Hollywood gets behind and while horror fans won't be super impressed it remains impressive for all the extra effort.

4.5 /5