Recent Viewings, Part 2

[FatFreddysCat]

"Kill, Panther, Kill!" (aka "Kommissar X: Three Blue Panthers," 1968)
An international thief escapes from police custody and heads to Canada (?), to reclaim a hoard of priceless jewels he'd stashed away before his arrest. Swingin' P.I. Joe Walker and his lunkheaded police buddy Tom Rowland just happen to be in the area for the Expo '67 World's Fair in Montreal (which provides plenty of stock location footage for padding) and they inevitably get mixed up in the shenanigans involving double-crossing gangsters and murder.
This was the fifth installment of the German/Italian "Kommissar X" series and it was clear by this time that they were running out of gas. The "Eurospy" craze was on the way out by this point so the globe-trotting spy-and-counterspy elements are mostly dropped and the result is a pretty basic slap-sticky cops & robbers action comedy.
Fortunately, there are still plenty of pretty girls to ogle while Tony "Joe Walker" Kendall and Brad "Rowland" Harris beat up  an endless stream of bad guys. Below average for this series, but still an enjoyable bit of nonsense on a chilly Sunday morning.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Halloween" (2018)
Blumhouse Productions (of "Insidious" and "Paranormal Activity" fame) reboots the Michael Myers saga (for the second time) with this 40th anniversary remix that erases everything but the 1978 original from series continuity. Laurie Strode has spent the last 40 years preparing for Michael to return to Haddonfield, and when he escapes on Halloween night she goes all Sarah Connor to protect her estranged daughter and granddaughter from the horror.
...this was my 2nd viewing of this flick and while I still feel the whole exercise was fairly unnecessary, I actually liked it better this time around. I guess if you gotta watch a "Halloween" installment this time of year, you could certainly do worse than this one.

[lester1/2jr]

horsehead (2014) - I like the concept here about dreams and seeing weird stuff and having it mean something, but this ran out of steam pretty early and kind of frittered away the whole concept.

2.5 /5

[Rev. Powell]

horsehead (2014) - I like the concept here about dreams and seeing weird stuff and having it mean something, but this ran out of steam pretty early and kind of frittered away the whole concept.

2.5 /5

That one seemed tailor-made for my taste, but word-of-mouth was so bad I never got around to it.

[lester1/2jr]

one weird thing about it was it was French but in English.

[Rev. Powell]

COMA [KOMA] (2019): A man wakes up in a dreamlike world with no memory, and discovers he's in a coma and living in a shared reality with others in the same situation. An effects movie where the CGI is a notch below Hollywood quality--but closer to that standard than I've yet seen in a Russian flick---but the imaginary landscapes up INCEPTION, with entire city blocks of morphing buildings springing up at right angles to each other (and sometimes randomly growing out of pastures). Honestly, the characters were cardboard and the plot had some issues, so it wasn't perfect by a long shot, but I enjoyed it as much as TENET. 3/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Heart of Batman" (2018)
A behind-the-scenes documentary looking back at "Batman: The Animated Series," the early '90s show whose distinctive look and vibe picked up where Tim Burton's "Batman" films left off and became what some consider the best-ever adaptation of the character. Interviews with cast and crew members, plenty of trivia for Bat-geeks and animation nerds.
This was originally a bonus feature on the "Batman: T.A.S." Blu-Ray collection but it's now available for free viewing on Warner Bros.' YouTube channel.

[Rev. Powell]

TOMASSO (2019): An aging American director living in Rome goes to AA meetings and struggles to relate to his much younger Moldavian wife, with the occassional fantasy scene (a la Fellini). It's embarrassing when your self-indulgent semi-autobiographical tale is boring, which, despite Willem Dafoe's best efforts, Abel Ferrara's TOMASSO too often is. 2.5/5.

[Gabriel Knight]

LA HABITACIÓN DE FERMAT (2007)

4 mathematicians are invited to solve an enigma. Once there, they're locked in a mechanically shrinking room and given 1 minute to solve each puzzle via cellphone while also figuring out why they're there.

This spanish movie, which translates to FERMAT'S ROOM, starts really good. The characters are clearly defined, and the mystery hooks you in really quickly. Despite its low budget, the single room trick works really well, as it quickly turns from a nice and cozy place to a death trap, and basically that's all you need.

Sadly, the resolution of the movie doesn't make much sense, and to be honest the whole plot is overly complicated, I'm not going to get into details in order to avoid spoilers. My main gripe is that the movie doesn't exploit the mathematicians enough, you barely know what the extent of their skills are and the riddles aren't all really... mathematics. Still, they get you on your toes, which it's what they're for, so they do the job.

It's a rather short movie so it's good for a quick and fun ride, check it out. 7/10 

[Rev. Powell]

DIVA (1981): A postman finds himself chased by multiple parties when his bootleg tape of an opera diva is surreptitiously switched for a tape that implicates a mob boss. Very stylish, has a great (if unlikely) chase sequence, and you'll enjoy it more if you don't think too hard about the plot machinations. A cult film in France. 3.5/5.

[pacman000]

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

Fun old adventure movie made by Disney, similar feel to their adaption of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.

It's not a literal adaption of every scene from the book, but the movie still manages to capture the right feel. Also, good FX work, on par or better than a lot of stuff done today.

[Dr. Whom]

#Alive (2020)

Sometimes you inadvertently make a movie that comes at just the right moment. This zombie-comedy romp is entertaining and very watchable, but doesn't add that much to the genre. However the theme of the internet savvy nerd with no particular life skills being holed up in his flat while an epidemic rages outside, certainly struck a chord in these times of lockdown, making it far more popular than it would have been otherwise. Full marks for the performance of Yoo Ah-In and, as the movie is basically just him and a bunch of zombies. His character is no cool Charlton Heston in the Omega Man, but a guy who makes up in determination what he lacks in general competence. Similarly Park Shin-Hye does a great job as the level headed half of the duo.

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: EARTH VS. THE SPIDER: The experiment is a very dumb, formula Bert I. Gordon giant monster movie (though the special effects are better than usual), preceded by a short about public speaking. It's a solid episode with a lot of laughs and some memorable bits in Crow's screenplay "Earth vs. Soup" and the ever-quotable line "lots of lip and tongue action." One of about 10 original run episodes I'd never seen before. 3.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" (2020)
Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn in the pseudo-follow up to "Suicide Squad." After a messy breakup with the Joker, Harley strikes out on her own, eventually teaming up with three other female badasses in an all out battle against a Gotham City crime lord.
Loud, dumb, and occasionally funny, "Birds" seems to be trying to cop the comedic ultra-violent style of the "Deadpool" flicks. Margot Robbie is clearly having tons of fun beatin 'the crap out of dozens of bad guys (and of course she looks smokin' hot while doin' it) but the movie isn't nearly as clever as it thinks it is.
Watchable, but disposable.

[lester1/2jr]

Sennentuntschi (2010) - ahh Switzerland: cuckoo clocks, folk dancing, and wholesome mountaineering. "not this time..." Hillbillies make a sex doll that comes to life. They forgot to read the fine print of the local legend tho. advocates for traditional marriage will find some good ammunition here 5/5