Recent viewings

[HappyGilmore]

Jungle 2 Jungle- Disney flick from 1997 starring Tim Allen.  Tim Allen goes to the Amazon jungle to see his wife to get divorced, and finds out he's got a 14 year old son.  Tim brings him back to New York, and along with Martin Short they end up on the run from the Russian Mafia.  Fun stuff for a kids flick.

Dumb and Dumber- In my opinion the best of the Farrelly Brother movies.  Any movie where a guy sells a dead bird with no head to a blind kid is hilarious.  Un-PC, but works given the context of the movie. 

[JaseSF]

The Second Woman (1951) : Ellen Foster (Betsy Drake) is a young woman determined to stand by her man, architect Jeff Callohan (Robert Young) when everyone else seems to think him going crazy. All the signs do point to him being targeted by someone as everything close to him, anything he ever loved seems to be killed or destroyed. Is someone really out to get him or is he really going bonkers after all? Another mystery/romantic drama, this one tends to drag its feet quite a bit trying to achieve some type of melodrama style brooding atmosphere. While it doesn't quite hold up or achieve the sweeping romantic feel it seems to be going for, it does have its enjoyable moments and I love how aggressive Ellen Foster is here in showing her affections for her man, even if it's a little unbelievable at times and hard to see just what she sees in Jeff, which might have been considered a little racy for 1951 standards.  ** 1/2 out of *****

[JaseSF]

Two more viewings from the Treeline Mystery Classics 50-pack (which I cannot recommend high enough, great set of films at about the same quality as the Alpha releases).

Fog Island (1945): Stars George Zucco as Leo Grainger, a man living on an isolated island whose sole remaining purpose in life is to exact revenge against those he believes responsible for the death of his wife. He invites the various suspects to his island for a weekend well aware they well be tempted by the rumors he has a secret stash of loot hidden away there. Your basic old dark house mystery thriller, this one proves fairly predictable as is never quite as satisfying as one wants it to be. Still it does give us the chance to see Zucco and Lionel Atwill interact, albeit only briefly. Has some good moments here and there though and Sharon Douglas proves a pleasing presence throughout the film. What a looker she was in the 1940s! The print on the Mystery Classics set does clock in at only 69 instead of 72 minutes so some footage is presumably missing here. **1/2 out of *****


They Made Me A Criminal (1939) : Stars John Garfield as a bad boy boxer Johnny Bradfield who finds himself on the run after being accused of a murder he didn't commit.  On the run, changing his identity, he eventually comes across the Dead End Kids and falls hook, line and sinker for  Tommy's pretty sister Peggy who brings out the best in him. The kids are all living on a ranch but the money is starting to run out so Bradfield has to decide whether or not he should risk stepping back in the ring for one more time in an attempt to garner enough doe to buy a gas pump to help support the ranch.  Johnny knows full well a wily detective, played by a miscast Claude Rains, is hot on his trail. While not entirely believable on many levels, this is one of those movies that helped create the cliche of the bad boy hero who goes straight for the sake of the good-hearted girl and the little kids who look up to and idolize him. For what it is, it's surprisingly good and involving. Only Rains as the detective proves disappointing as he never seems quite human enough. *** out of *****

[HappyGilmore]

Sky High- Fun movie.  Bruce Campbell rocked as the gym teacher, and it was nice seeing two of the Kids In The Hall reunite.

[hellbilly]

Body Rock (1984) Lorenzo Lameass playing "Chilly D" - a poor breakdancer and hip-hop artist struggling with new found fame and fortune was a hoot.

Unhinged (1982) First time viewing. A bit slow paced but had some nice atmosphere (at the beginning) and a few decent kills & 'surprise' twist ending. Damn those chest hairs ...

Black Christmas (1974) Watched this with my sister who has never seen this classic before. She loved it.

Black Cobra (1987) First time viewing. I've expected a bit more, as in fun cheese. This was pretty dull but Fred Williamson made up for it.

[RapscallionJones]

An Evening With Kevin Smith- Not so much a movie as a 3 hour long standup performance/question and answer segment featuring writer/director Kevin Smith.  Very much reccomended for anyone.  Very funny, and somewhat insightful.  The stories about Superman Reborn and Prince alone make it enjoyable. 

I'm with you on the last part.  Very funny stories. 

Every movie needs a fight with a giant spider in the third act.

The only thing I would suggest about those talking DVDs is that they cut the run time in half.  The lesbian who objected to the plot of Chasing Amy and all the ultra-fans and Jay & Silent Bob lookalikes deserved no screen time.  An entire 90 minutes of stoners asking Kevin if he wanted to get high with them after the show could have been trimmed and made the whole thing much better.

I watched:

Hatchet: Big hype indie slasher movie that promises to put the balls back in horror.  It doesn't quite keep its promise and it's really not the genre saving feature that all of these websites want you to think it is but it is tons of fun and it's gory as hell.

[HappyGilmore]

Those two could have been cut.  Although, I liked when he was asked about reccomending Affleck for DareDevil, and Kevin looks at the kid and is like, "I reccomend Affleck for everything.  If they make JAWS 5, Affleck plays the shark."

[Torgo]

Soldier of Orange.  ***1/2 out of ****
One of Paul Verhoeven's earlier Dutch movies  and one of his best directorial efforts. Rutget Hauer turns in the performance of his career.  The movie lags a bit during the mid section but overall is highly recommended.

Dolls.   **1/2 out of ****.   
Stuart Gordon's 3rd movie that was filmed back to back with From Beyond.   The movie is very short at  only 77 minutes and it pretty much flies by. Lots of fun but some of the performances are very bad and the puppet/doll effects could have been done better at times but still well worth a rental. Just don't expect another masterpiece like Re-animator.

In the Cut.  *1/2 out of ****.
Seeing Meg Ryan butt naked was pretty cool as she still looks fantastic for her age.  But sadly, this movie is a complete mess.  I watched the unrated version which has some surprisingly explicit sexual content in it that might catch unsuspecting viewers the wrong way.  Jennifer Jason Leigh is completely wasted in this piece of crap.

   

[daveblackeye15]

*spoilers to both movies below*

Hulk: After loving Marvel's Essential "Hulk" vol.1 I had to see this. I was told it was utter crap and boring and I can't blame anyone that said that. I'm glad I heard them downplay this one because I could have my expectations low. And that's why I enjoyed it and I think it's quite underratted. Betty Ross and General Ross are certainly more interesting characters than their comic book counterparts. I got use to the Hulk and I there was enough action for me. What Ang Lee tried to do was put his heart into this, I can see he tried to but it feels like something is missing. I really do like that he tried to make it an emotional tale with action. A little more Hulk Smash wouldn't have hurt but I was satisfied. I wish Banner Senior (as a nod to the Absorbing Man) got to run through a few more elements. His actor was a little over the top but it kind of helped the rather insane character.

The Punisher (2004): I liked this, Thomas Jane made a great Punisher and I'm saddened to hear he won't be returning. Another underrated movie. People seem to think that killling off his ENTIRE family rather than just his wife and kids detracted from it. I see where they're coming but what they did in the movie didn't detract me. I loved Nash as the Russian, I liked how Frank's neighnors defended him in a rather dire hour, good action. The only thing it was missing was the Punisher didn't have quite the amount of action I expected, what we got was good. I'll just lay it on that it was the Punisher's opening year. Travolta was good just because he fit the roll of the a***ole and he's gets totally owned in the end, so does his son, and it feels GREAT. Something about this feels old school, maybe it's the amount of action and how it's carried.

I give three stars to both movies. Not in the Spider-Man 2 or Batman Begins league but still good Super Hero/Comic book films.

[HappyGilmore]

Fat Albert- I watched this last night on FX.  I gotta say, I really enjoyed it.  I'm not overly familar with the original cartoon, though.  But Keenan did a decent enough job as Albert, and the script wasn't terrible.  Lots of funny parts as well.

[JaseSF]

More from the Mystery Classics pack:

Jigsaw (1949) : By the numbers, obviously low budget murder mystery film in which as assistant D.A. (Franchot Tone) while investigating the murder of a journalist friend uncovers a conspiracy centering around a secret facist style racist hate group. Aside from some bright moments from Jean Wallace in her performance as troubled singer Barbara Whitfield, this one feels pretty routine and predictable. Keep a sharp look out though and you'll see a lot of famous people making cameos here including Marlene Dietrich, Henry Fonda, Burgess Meredith and John Garfield to name a few. ** out of *****

Algiers (1938): The police are determined to get a notorious criminal bandit/jewel thief named Pepe Le Moko (Charles Boyer), who's holed himself up inside a seemingly  invincible labyrinth of supporters in the Casbah section within Algiers. The police know they must trick him into coming out of the Casbah if they are to ever capture him. Meanwhile a beautiful young French woman named Gaby (played by the then delectable Hedy LeMarr), engaged to a wealthy man she doesn't love, hopes to find adventure and escape within the Casbah and is intrigued by and instantlly attracted to the mysterious, dashing Le Moko. The two dare to fall in love but  when the police learn of this, they use Gaby as a lure to bring Le Moko out. Will he risk all for love? This sweeping romance is very well executed. The chemistry between Boyer and LeMarr is terrific. A very moving film, this one really pulls its strings masterfully.  **** out of *****

[Pilgermann]

Glory was on AMC earlier so I watched that.   I think it's scientifically impossible for a movie to suck if Denzel Washington AND Morgan Freeman are in it.

Last night I watched Dr. Cyclops.  The effects are fairlyimpressive, especially considering that this was made in 1940.  It's pretty hokey and not as thrilling as I'd hoped, but it's a good way to kill some time, and the villain is interesting.

[CheezeFlixz]

Glory was on AMC earlier so I watched that.   I think it's scientifically impossible for a movie to suck if Denzel Washington AND Morgan Freeman are in it.

It is shocking it is as good as it is with Matthew Broderick in it.


Recent viewings for the Cheeze ...

Dead Like Me

Season 1 and 2

 

[HappyGilmore]

I was watching Glory.  Decent flick.

[Torgo]

From Beyond  *** out of ****.   Stuart Gordon's followup to his amazing directorial debut Re-Animator re-teams Barbara Crampton and Jeffrey Combs from that 1st film in addition to Ken Foree.  While not as good as Re-Animator it is still a whole lot of fun, especially in it's unrated version on the very recent unrated DVD.  Barbara Crampton fans should note that she gets into a really sexy S&M leather outfit at a certain point in the movie and also has some topless activity.  Pretty good gore effects and lots and lots of slime all over the place.  Jeffrey Combs is a hoot.


Ginger Snaps.  ***1/2 out of ****.  One of the best werewolf movies that I've seen and it's awesome in that it tells a werewolf tale from a female perspective.  Great performances all around and some ferocious attack sequences.  The sequel was decent and the 3 film (a prequel of sorts) was terrible but the 1st is a near classic.