Recent viewings

[Rev. Powell]

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT (1999): The South Park kids learn bad words when they sneak into an R-rated film, so their outraged parents declare war on Canada, which indirectly leads to the apocalypse. The best episodes of South Park find an original satirical angle to poke through the juvenile shock humor, but that doesn't happen here, where the biggest target is "censorship" of crass language by the MPAA---yawn. Original songs, unbleeped profanity and some actual non-cutout animation for the Hell scenes don't add enough to distinguish this from an average episode of the TV show---amusing enough while it's on, but forgettable. 3/5.

[Rev. Powell]

FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD (1969): An Italian model discovers that she is descended from a long line of vampire cliches. The most unpredictable thing about this snoozer is Anita Ekberg's inconsistent hairstyle. The plot does get incoherent at the end, and you do learn that yelling "stop!" is, surprisingly, actually an effective way of halt a vampire attack. 2/5.

[lester1/2jr]

triangle (2009) - it's a mindf**k movie. That's pretty much a category now. They are very hard to review because you can't say anything or you'll end up giving something away. The lead actress is believable and if you are in the mood it's a decent one if not on the level of whatever that one was where the guy forgets who he is every 5 minutes and has to keep looking at a polaroid or something.

3.75/ 5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Scorpions: Forever and a Day" (2015)

http://youtu.be/eW8rdz01RnA
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The German hard rock legends look back on their decades-long career as they prepare for their "farewell" concert in a cool documentary loaded with vintage clips and good stories. In addition to the band members themselves, famous fans and contemporaries like Paul Stanley, Don Dokken, Anders Friden of In Flames, Alex Skolnick (Testament), and many others give props to the Scorps.  The bulk of the film is in German (with English subtitles), which might be a deal breaker for some, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the flick.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" (2015)

http://youtu.be/pEt4KZd0_I4
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Two slacker scouts sneak out of a camping trip in the middle of the night to attend a party back home - and wind up smack in the middle of an outbreak of the Undead. Yeah, I hate when that happens too. Fortunately the skills they've learned in scout survival training come in handy for battling flesh-eaters!
This fast-paced, gory, ultra-violent and raunchy horror comedy may not be a classic for the ages, but it was entertaining for a one-night rental.

[claws]

The Walk (2015)

True story about French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. Thrilling and funny, and fluffy like a fresh croissant. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great as Petit, though I expected a bit more 1970s "kitsch." Still, I enjoyed this quite a bit 5/5

Sinister 2 (2015)

Wash, rinse, repeat: A single mother (Shannyn Sossamon) and her twin sons is sort of hiding out from her abusive ex husband on a secluded farm. A private investigator looking into happenings from the first "Sinister" crosses paths with the mother, and soon enough they get romantically involved. Meanwhile one of her twin sons is experiencing paranormal activity in form of ghost children showing him snuff films in the cellar.

"Cheap Thrills" fits perfectly for this cash-in sequel. Sinister 2 boasts direct-to-video production values but I'll be damned if it wasn't entertaining. I'll rate this a good 3/5

[BoyScoutKevin]

Peter Sellars' the Marriage of Figaro

Which was a modern day adaptation of Mozart's original opera, which he wrote in 1786, and which was based on the 1784 play of the same title by Beaumarchais.

Actually, I was looking for Sellars' version which was set in New York City, but . . .?! as I couldn't find that one, I watched this one instead, which I quite enjoyed, as it followed fairly closely the original opera, but . . .?! Sellars did manage to get in some digs at the European Union, the National Trust, the Sun newspaper, etc.

One difference between this one and the original was that where Cherubino was a servant to the Count in the original, here he is the Count's godson.

Cherubino is actually an interesting character. A male role written for a soprano. Thus he is normally played by a woman. And while he is exaggerated for comic affect, the character still works today, as it did almost 230 years ago, as the teenage boy who thinks with his penis instead of his brain.

One other thing I found interesting about the character, that while he is chasing almost all the women in the play--the Countess, the gardener's daughter, the maid, etc.--he never so much gets to kiss any of them on screen. Though, he does  manage to accidentally kiss the Count in one of the last scenes in the opera.

Probably the best known and recognized actor in this production was Denis Quilley, who plays the lawyer.

Thus, this being adapted for today's audiences, in English, and with that wonderful music by Mozart, it's worth checking out (IMHO.)

[lester1/2jr]

I married a witch (1943) - imagine Bewitched (which was based on this) but with jeannie from I dream of Jeannie instead of Samantha. sounds like a winner eh? Well it is. cute rom -comy stuff with demure and very short Veronica Lake and some guy well cast as a fun witch and a non a***ole politician (more of a suspension of disbelief than for the witch was required here) who she wants to put under her spell.

The backstory is the guy's ancestors were witch hunters who burnt Veronica lake and her Dad at the stake so they put a curse on the family that all their relationships will be s**tty! Flash forward 300 years and it's the 40's and she somehow has to try and date him for some reason I can't remember.

It's like bewitched crossed with pretty Woman or something but better than that sounds.

5/5  fun for all

[Rev. Powell]

AMARCORD (1973): A fond portrait of one year in an Italian town during the Fascist era. This nostalgic mosaic film has no overarching plot and is built around individual vignettes featuring dozens of quirky characters; it's Fellini at his most playful and comic. 4.5/5.

[indianasmith]

GINGERDEAD MAN 3: SATURDAY NIGHT CLEAVER

I guess I OD'd on movies this summer - tonight was the first time in a month that I sat and watched an entire film from start to finish.  I watched some of my shows on HBO and snippets of movies here and there, but this one I bought at the Hasting's closing sale as part of a 20 pack of horror films and watched the whole thing.  This is a more recent (2011) Full Moon Production - not nearly as good as some of the stuff they did in the 90's, but still entertaining. They seemed to have moved away from some of the straight horror films they did back then - and did quite well, I thought - and have gone for the horror/comedy route. 
GINGERDEAD MAN 3 features everyone's favorite homicidal pastry being sent back in time to 1976, just in time to witness the crowning of a roller derby queen.  With homages to PORKY'S, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, CARRIE, and several other classic films, and cameo appearances by Adolf Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer, FDR, Charles Manson, and Lizzie Borden, this is a near-perfect storm of bad movie cheese for people like us.  The usual Full Moon trademark nudity was largely absent, but the movie was so fun you quickly forgot that.  As a good movie, a 1.5/5, but as a BAD movie - seriously, this one is a solid 4.5!

Indy sez check it out!

[lester1/2jr]

Curve (2015) - Julianna Huogh from Dancing with the Stars and I think she's a country singer or something? is good in this movie which has a nifty plot and a good rat barbequing scene.

This much is in the plot description so hopefully not too much of a spoiler: A lady swerves off the road to try and outwit a horrible stranger hitchhiker guy, gets in an accident and is trapped in the car. During her ordeal the hitchhiker guy torments her. when it rains it pours, as they say.

I personally find stuff like this and, say,  I Spit on Your Grave really satisfying. I don't get off on women being tortured, I actually relate to it for some reason. The women are "us" to me. I'm in the upside down car called life and I'm too chicken to saw my foot off and escape. Maybe i'm reading too much into what is perhaps a nondescript horror movie but ....

at any rate, it's good. Hough isn't the world's greatest actress but she does what she can and she is rather well cast. Her sort of bland normalcy makes her being in this unusual (for lack of a better word) scenerio more interesting. She's not making jokes and shes not saying clever stuff to the guy it's like it's happening to one of the popular girls from your high school.

Towards the end there are a few pretty phoned in knee to the groin escapes ,etc and in general could have been stronger. efficient enough but you wouldn't call it vivid or imaginative in terms of the writing or photography. more like holy s**t we have 5 minutes to end this what do we do.

The strength of it is the scenerio which is, again, the type of thing you viscerally feel. You can't help but imagine what you would do and so forth

4.5 / 5  It's not as good as like The Revenent or something but for what it is it's compelling.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Mallrats" (1995)
Two slackers (Jason Lee and Jeremy London) get dumped by their girlfriends on the same day, so they hang out at the local mall and plot revenge - with some help from Jay and Silent Bob and comics legend Stan Lee.
Kevin Smith's uneven follow up to the still-brilliant "Clerks" has its share of funny bits, but after a while it begins to feel like an hour-long TV episode that's been padded out to feature length.

[Rev. Powell]

NINJA: THE PROTECTOR (1986): A male model or a gigolo or an undercover Interpol agent or something clashes with counterfeiters while ninjas battle on the story's periphery... who can muster the enthusiasm to try to figure out the incoherent plot? Godfrey Ho follows his usual formula of taking a bad movie, hacking it to pieces, then grafting an even worse movie on top of it; rarely, this procedure produces something laughably absurd, but more often the result is a headache-inducing mess like this one. 1/5.

MISS SHARON JONES! (2015): Soul singer Sharon Jones, who's a draw but not a star, is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; she undergoes chemo while planning her next album and tour, while the band and support staff who depend on her for their livelihood wonder how they're going to pay their bills. Jones is lovable and a powerhouse entertainer (the entire movie appears almost as a footnote explaining that explosive final performance). The documentary, however, is workmanlike, like a cover band at a bar. 3/5.

[claws]

White Ghost (1988)

15 years after the war an american soldier is still "haunting" the jungles of Vietnam. Locals call him "White Ghost" and authorities in the states send a rogue team of soldiers to Vietnam to bring him back dead or alive. The soldier actually wants to come back, together with his pregnant wife. Their plans are interrupted when the wife is captured and put into a war camp. Now White Ghost must rescue his wife and also fight the team of soldiers.

The set up is like Predator but the film plays out like Rambo. Solid C-Movie with acceptable production values and hefty blood letting. 3/5

Action U.S.A. (1989)

After witnessing the murder of her boyfriend, quirky Carmen must rely on two FBI agents to bring her back to safety: a group of criminals want to capture Carmen because they think she knows something about stolen diamonds.

This low budget action comedy road trip across Texas is filled with incredible stunts and wasn't too shabby. Matter of fact it was quite good. It's cheesy alright but not painfully so.

And yeah, I guess back in the day it was alright to exploit their female leading actresses? The camera lingers on Carmen's half naked body just to show the "goods". I would 'get it' if her character was a dumb blonde bimbo, but Carmen was the exact opposite. She's also slapped once and punched in the face twice, and some sleaze gets to feel her up while pointing a gun at her. Whoever wrote the script was obviously living out some misogynistic fantasy 4/5

[indianasmith]

THE NURSE tells the story of an RN whose father was exposed by the papers for embezzling from his longtime employer and friend - without the latter's knowledge.  The father kills his wife, son, and finally himself. His employer suffers a stroke and winds up paralyzed and mute upon hearing of his old friend's violent death.  The daughter, obsessed with revenge for the loss of her family, gets a job caring for the man she believes killed her father, and relates her plans to kill off his whole family before taking him out last.  Not bad, but could have been much better.  It definitely has a made for TV vibe.  3/5