Recent viewings

[asimpson2006]

Knocked Up: Unrated *** out of ****

A Clockwork Orange **** out of ****

A truly interesting film to watch.  I was engrossed the whole time by how good the film was.  It was better than the used the ending for the US version of the book instead of the original ending which I don't think would have worked at all for the film.

[JJ80]

"Hercules In New York" - Bland early vehicle for one 'Arnold Strong' as the classical hero. He defies the will of Zeus by descending to the Big Apple circa 1969 and causes chaos. This is rather dull but some set pieces like the athletics scene, the bear fight and the chariot chase have a certain camp charm lacking in the dud characterisation.

"King Of The Zombies" - The Third Reich joins forces with the walking dead in this charming forerunner to Scooby Doo. Wide-eyed funnyman Mantan Moreland totally steals the show as Jeff, the jittery manservant to hero Bill Summers (John Archer).  His best scene is probably when Momba the butler attempts to zombify him by hypnosis. The crazed plot revolves around spy Dr Sangre using zombies as data carriers for Nazi agents. Hero Bill Summers and pilot Mac McCarthy along with Mantan crashland on his island (right inside the cemetery!) and are drawn straight into his diabolical scheme. Great fun if VERY dated!

[Killer Bees]

Meet the Feebles

Oh dear.   

This was.......interesting and amusing in a completely gross kind of way.  I wasn't expecting Shakespeare, but it was done very cheaply and had a raw unpolished aspect to it.

I didn't find it consistenly funny.  But it was good to see Peter Jackson going all out without any concessions to decency or good taste.  All social taboos were completely smashed and steamrollered over.  I would really like to see what he could do now with a bigger budget and better production guys.

I found the characters difficult to understand.  The sound wasn't clear and it seemed like the dubbing was a little off in some parts.  But the songs "Garden Of Love" and "Sodomy" were funny and entertaining and it was worth watching the movie for those alone.

The ending was interesting and a nice little wrap up of the story.  If you have "out there" taste in movies, I recommend it.  But the fact that my 17 year old son didn't like it or find it funny, says volumes about how bad it was.

[Rev. Powell]

I have some catching up to do.

LIPSTICK (1976): Annoying and cynical attempt to exploit the injustices of pre-rape shield law trials by showing a graphic rape and an adding an implausible courtroom drama.  Starring the supremely untalented Margaux Hemmingway.  Dino de Laurentiis, leave the exploitation films to the low-budget folks! 1/5

FARGO (1996):  Everyone probably knows this kidnapping-gone-wrong black comedy from the Coen brothers.  Great roles for William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi, and the role of a lifetime for Frances McDormand as the pregnant cop.  5/5

LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGESE NUN (1977):  A really odd nunsploitation movie from Jess Franco.  This has a standard type of women-in-prison plot, only set in a convent with devil worshipping nuns.  Very heavy on sex, nudity and sadomasochism.  But, considering it's from Jess Franco, it's technically amazing, with great costumes, locations, and sacred music that's used both atmospherically and ironically. 3/5.

SPIDER BABY (1968):  A family of three childlike adults, one of whom is obsessed with spiders,  is taken care of by family chauffeur Lon Chaney Jr. in a dilapidated house, until some outsiders come calling.  The unsettling atmosphere created by director Jack Hill is utterly unique and almost impossible to convey: horrifying, surreal, humorous, touching, and supersaturated with sublimated sexuality.  A cult classic that you definitely need to see if you haven’t already. 5/5.

THE DEVILS (1971):  In 17th century France, a hunchbacked nun accuses a chick-magnet priest of being a warlock. "Based on historical fact," like the little known historical fact about the famous 17th century rock-n-roll exorcist with the sleeveless vestments and lavender-tinted John Lennon granny glasses.   Fun if you take it as a surrealistic "nuns gone wild" comedy, rather than as the metaphor for "authentic" religious faith director Ken Russell sometimes seems to be preaching.  3/5.

TEENAGE TUPELO (1995): This John Michael McCarthy released-to-video feature is one of the strangest films I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot.  The story involves D’Lana, a young woman in 50s Tupelo, MS who gets pregnant by a no-good rockabilly singer, and is also a dead ringer for fictional sexploitation star Topsy Turvy.  There’s also a girl gang called the Manhaters, disgusting “birth of a baby” footage, and a film inside the film called “Trashus Trailerus” which involves nuclear weapons and edible panties.  And supercool rockabilly throughout by a band called “Imapla.”  This is really a surrealist tribute to sexploitation films of the 40s-60s. 4/5, for oddity value alone. 

SCREAM DREAM (1989): Shot-to-video horror about a heavy metal band fronted by a Satan-worshipping witch.  Some boobies, but not nearly enough to make this dreck watchable.  When wannabe scream queen Melissa Moore is by far the most accomplished actor in the cast, you know you’re in serious trouble.  SKULL.

PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE (1985):Bowtied man-child Pee Wee loses his bike, and travels across America to find it, encountering a bizarre cast of characters.  Pee Wee's voice and mannerisms can be grating to adults, but debuting director Tim Burton manages to keep things interesting for all ages with incredible detail, visual style, and sophisticated two-layer humor.  4/5.

EVIL DEAD 2 (1987):  Another one most people here are probably intimately familiar with.  I showed it to my 60 year old mother, who loves old Universal horror movies and hates nearly everything done in the horror genre after HALLOWEEN.  She loved it.  5/5.

GRASS (1999): Documentary detailing the American government's often absurdly hyperbolic campaign of misinformation about marijuana.  The archival footage and clips from REEFER MADNESS and other (non-government sponsored) exploitation films are often hilarious, but if you lack a sense of righteous indignation over pot prohibition, the joke wears thin before the movie ends.  With celebrity stoner Woody Harrelson narrating, it’s obvious that the filmmakers aim is to preach to the potsmoking choir.  3/5.

[Killer Bees]

Fragile with Calista Flockhart

This was a good old fashioned ghost story.  Good pacing and scary creepy atmosphere and believeable characters.  And any movie that has that Aussie hunk Richard Roxburgh is always gold. 

[asimpson2006]

Die Hard 2 *** out of ****

Die Hard: With a Vengeance *** out of ****

 

[JJ80]

"Dual Alibi" (1946) - Interesting British 'Noir' thriller about twin circus acrobats (both played by Herbert Lom) who plot revenge after they are swindled out of an immensely valuable winning lottery ticket by a crooked promoter and his girlfriend. Told in flashback we don't discover which twin fired the fatal shot until the end. Unusually the film allows the plot's murderer to survive (albeit as a physical and psychological wreck) and cheat justice in a trial. No classic, but well acted and strongly atmospheric if lacking in visual appeal aside from a nicely done montage sequence when the circus employees first learn about the winning ticket.

[glidewell]

Just finished watching the first of like 10 maybe 15 DVD's I have, but have yet to make time to view. So I watched Wrestlemaniac first, simply because it has been sitting on my shelf by far the longset. I can honestly say that this movie was'nt that bad at all dude. It had freaking gnarly kill scenes, it had porno chicks all over the place and rogue lucha libre stars. For what it was worth, this film definitely shocked me, hopefully the others hold up the way this one did. Up next just to name a few i got Southland Tales, Revolver, The Lost, I am Legend, No Country, Tripping the Rift and a bunch of other stuff.

[Jack]

The Return - Sarah Michelle Gellar wanders around Texas looking really confused.  After 45 minutes I had to turn it off, I was bored out of my freakin' skull.  Couldn't have cared less about the character (there was only one), and there was no plot. 

300 - Wow!  Marvelous Hollywood-ized story of tremendous courage in the face of insurmountable odds.  Some of the fight scenes were truly amazing. 

The Shaft - New York's Millenium building has a problem:  it's elevators are killing people.  Could it be haunted (rumor has it that Manhattan was built upon ancient Indian burial grounds)?  Or maybe it's terrorists?  Or maybe, just maybe, the computer for the elevators was designed by a guy who used to work for the military, building computers controlled by living brain tissue, until they went out of control?  Well, obviously it's choice #3.  I really enjoyed this.  The plot is utterly absurd, but the team of the the elevator repairman and the reporter (Naomi Watts) were fun to watch, and the plot moved along well, building to the ludicrous conclusion.

Star Wars Attack of the Clones - well, considering that it was apparently written by a sixth grader, and the acting would have made Ed Wood proud, it actually wasn't too bad.  There was usually enough stuff flying around or blowing up to keep me entertained.  It brought back some of the Star Wars fun that was missing from the first and third installments in this trilogy.

[glidewell]

Holy Crap, I was totally not expecting this but I randomly figured I'd watch a few minutes of a documentary called Steep that I would care much about while I ate my dinner before I put in No Country. And I eneded up watching all of the documentary. If you've never heard of it Steep is this new extreme skiing documentary they just released. And its freaking dope man. This is one of the freshed Skiing/Snowboarding flicks I've ever seen. It was exhilarating, death defying, action packed, inspiring and so much more. I really wasnt expecting this. You guys gotta check this one out, makes me want to go play with fire or dodge cars on the freeway or something, man I'm pumped now.

[asimpson2006]

JFK **** out of ****

This film has now become one of my all time films to watch.  I really enjoyed it from start to finish and the entire investigation process was interesting as well.

[Killer Bees]

Near Dark

This was a great little vampire movie far removed from the usual vampire genre.  Lance Henricksen and Bill Paxton are always a delight to watch.  I love it when Lance is being menacing and scary and Bill is being manic and violent.

Highly recommended.

[Oldskool138]

JFK **** out of ****

This film has now become one of my all time films to watch.  I really enjoyed it from start to finish and the entire investigation process was interesting as well.

It's a little too tin-foil hat for me but not a bad flick.

For a movie like this I like last year's Zodiac.

[lester1/2jr]

"who wants to kill jessie?"


this was the second czech movie from the 60's I've seen and it was less annoying than the other one "daisies" .    cartoon characters come to life and romance and hijinks ensue.  both films feature a generally experimental approach to filmaking, especially visually

[Rev. Powell]

THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN (1963): They did do that thing the title says they did. But when they filmed it, it turned out to be too short, so several years later unrelated parties filmed some extra barely related spy footage and tacked it on to the beginning of the original. The result is one of the most boring and confusing movies ever made, with only some outstandingly hammy acting by Hitler's mute head (carefully preserved in a spacious jar) enlivening things at the very end.  I mean to do a full reader review of this next week, God help me.  1/5 slimes.

THE GREAT YOKAI WAR (2005): Aided by friendly Yokai (spirits), a cowardly boy must overcome his fears to avert the destruction of Tokyo. Fun and visually impressive family fantasy from "extreme" Japanese director Takashi Miike; the best part are the dozens upon dozens of Yokai, each unique, from a turtle man to a woman with an infinitely extensible neck to a living umbrella. Amereican kids would love it, except for the subtitles.  My first Miike movie, and his visual sense is exciting even if this subject matter isn't typical.  4/5 slimes.

THE RED BALLOON (LE BALLON ROUGE) (1956): A red balloon follows a 6 year old boy around Paris. This short, simple, essentially silent fable about friendship is universally beloved for good reason.  Only 38 minutes.  If your cable system offers on-demand movies, this is available free this month from Turner Classic Movies. 5/5.

PEEPING TOM (1960):  A shy but demented cameraman is obsessed with the idea of documenting fear, and takes it upon himself to gather the footage he needs. This pic is as much an intense character study as a stylish thriller; it was Powell's audacity in forcing the audience to understand and even sympathize with the killer, rather than the perverse depiction of voyeurism, that destroyed the director's career.  5/5 slimes.