Recent Viewings, Part 2

[RCMerchant]

 ^I heard about this movie from Raffine.
He compared Nick Cage's part to Ygor in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939).

I agree.

http://youtu.be/XbbqJQRSdKg
	Small | Large

(yes, that's Lugosi as Ygor.)

[Gabriel Knight]

Rewatched BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS and I now believe it's a masterpiece, ragged edges and all. The final "lucky crack pipe" confrontation is bravura filmmaking. 5/5.

That movie is pure insanity, I loved it. It looks as if they wrote it specifically with Nick Cage in mind.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Swinger" (1966)
Desperate to get published, an aspiring writer (Ann-Margret) creates a raunchy story about a girl who lives a wild, "swinging" lifestyle and sells it to a men's magazine as a true account of her own life. When the mag's hunky publisher (Tony Franciosa) tracks her down, intent on finding out if the story is true, she has to pretend to be the crazy free spirit she wrote about. Wacky hi-jinks ensue.
This silly sex farce was probably considered "racy" in 1966 but it's hopelessly tame, corny and outdated now. The only reason to bother watching this flick now is to ogle Ann-Margret -- she was a total smoke show during this era, and she does her best to liven up the weak material with her sassy performance (and a series of revealing outfits). Ignore the story, stay for the eye candy.

[Jim H]

Jason Goes to Hell - JGTH is a bad Friday film but a passably entertaining crappy B-movie.  One of the better lead characters they've done too.  The new canon elements and concepts come from nowhere and must have some of the most poorly explained and used ideas in a supernatural horror film I've ever seen.  There's also obviously elements either left on the cutting room floor or never shot, like Duke's backstory.  Poorly structured film too.

Jason - Jason X is kind of similar really, only without a good lead.  Jason X I found kind of disappointing on rewatch, as it has a pretty solid first 20-30 minutes, but then kind of spins its wheels and eventually just sort of ends, with Jason weakly tied into the narrative.  It's still generally entertaining though, certainly better than part 8 at least.

One thing I'll give the film credit for, inflation adjusted X is a $20 million film, and they did a lot with that in production terms.  Also you get to see David Cronenberg for like 30 seconds, and that's kind of fun.

[Gabriel Knight]

Jason Goes to Hell - JGTH is a bad Friday film but a passably entertaining crappy B-movie.  One of the better lead characters they've done too.  The new canon elements and concepts come from nowhere and must have some of the most poorly explained and used ideas in a supernatural horror film I've ever seen.  There's also obviously elements either left on the cutting room floor or never shot, like Duke's backstory.  Poorly structured film too.

Jason - Jason X is kind of similar really, only without a good lead.  Jason X I found kind of disappointing on rewatch, as it has a pretty solid first 20-30 minutes, but then kind of spins its wheels and eventually just sort of ends, with Jason weakly tied into the narrative.  It's still generally entertaining though, certainly better than part 8 at least.

One thing I'll give the film credit for, inflation adjusted X is a $20 million film, and they did a lot with that in production terms.  Also you get to see David Cronenberg for like 30 seconds, and that's kind of fun.

As far as I know, the idea behind JASON GOES TO HELL was to make Jason a deadite, right from the EVIL DEAD franchise (that's why the Necronomicon shows up). This would eventually lead to JASON VS FREDDY VS ASH, but it was never made except in the form of comics. Too bad tho, that would've been amazing.

[Rev. Powell]

SKY SHARKS (2020): Nazi zombies pilot flying sharks and attack commercial airliners. This impassioned but cheap effort doesn't soar to the heights of its high concept; even the boobs are bad special effects. Something's missing; I don't think even bad movie fans will like this much. 1/5.

[Rev. Powell]

UNDERGODS (2020): Two corpse collectors link three stories set in a vague dystopian future. Promising, but underdeveloped--it falls prey to anthology syndrome, with no single story well-developed enough to hold down the fort. 2.5/5.

[Jim H]

The Harder They Come - Better than the trailers made it look...  But not great.  This is a relatively entertaining B-grade western with an A-list cast and budget.  Some decent characters, interesting anachronistic music uses.  The writing and structure are a mixed bag, in particular the 2nd act lags and the climax is just...  Obvious and OK.  But it does have a great cast, and most of them get at least a few decent scenes.  Also, it's probably 20 minutes too long for some reason. 

Also, I wish more Netflix originals didn't look so similar, they almost all look really artificial, and that's a serious detraction in a period piece.

Jason Goes to Hell - JGTH is a bad Friday film but a passably entertaining crappy B-movie.  One of the better lead characters they've done too.  The new canon elements and concepts come from nowhere and must have some of the most poorly explained and used ideas in a supernatural horror film I've ever seen.  There's also obviously elements either left on the cutting room floor or never shot, like Duke's backstory.  Poorly structured film too.

Jason - Jason X is kind of similar really, only without a good lead.  Jason X I found kind of disappointing on rewatch, as it has a pretty solid first 20-30 minutes, but then kind of spins its wheels and eventually just sort of ends, with Jason weakly tied into the narrative.  It's still generally entertaining though, certainly better than part 8 at least.

One thing I'll give the film credit for, inflation adjusted X is a $20 million film, and they did a lot with that in production terms.  Also you get to see David Cronenberg for like 30 seconds, and that's kind of fun.

As far as I know, the idea behind JASON GOES TO HELL was to make Jason a deadite, right from the EVIL DEAD franchise (that's why the Necronomicon shows up). This would eventually lead to JASON VS FREDDY VS ASH, but it was never made except in the form of comics. Too bad tho, that would've been amazing.

Pretty much.  From what I can remember director/writer says in the doc they have about the films, the intention was his father was going to have used the Necronomicon to revive him, but not as a literal Deadite - rather, his own monstrous thing, hence his demonic form and powers.  There's other spells in the book, after all.  Functionally not that different though of course.  Jason's father, Elias, was originally going to be in the ending of part 6 as well, with possible implication of him playing a part in Jason's further resurrections for sequels.  I assume that's where the JGTH guy got the idea.

You also see the crate from Creepshow in the Voorhees house, which is kind of cute.

BTW, one funny thing - Jason Goes to Hell came out in 1993, meaning it was probably shot in 1992.  And it has these heavy references and props from Evil Dead and Creepshow, movies that were only like 12 years old at the time, and everyone immediately knew them and was like WOAH.  It's illustrative in how different the horror scene is now, I can't imagine what horror films would have the lasting cachet to be referenced like this in that age range now.  Like, what horror films from 2005-2013ish would anyone even recognize anything from in that way?  I can't think of anything, except maybe the Billy puppet from the Saw films.  Everything seems more ephemeral now in the movie scene, especially horror.

[Alex]

I've not watched them myself, but I'd imagine more modern horror fans would get the Annabelle doll.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Rebus" (aka "Appointment in Beirut," 1969
A down-on-his-luck former roulette dealer (Laurence Harvey) is drafted by the police to help stop a criminal gang that specializes in casino heists. While keeping an eye out for the bad guys at a resort in Beirut, he also romances a sultry cabaret performer (Ann-Margret).
This drawn out, talky heist flick has some nice Mediterranean scenery and Ann-Margret is smoking hot as usual but otherwise it's a slow, boring slog. AVOID.

[Trevor]

"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001)
Barred from hangin' out in front of the Quick Stop, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) of "Clerks" infamy hit the road, heading to Hollywood to stop production of an unauthorized movie based on their "Bluntman & Chronic" comic book characters. Along the way they get mixed up with a gang of beautiful diamond thieves, an orangutan, and an extremely persistent wildlife police officer (Will Ferrell). A fast moving cross country adventure packed with F-bombs, fart jokes, celebrity cameos and lots of laughs.

I have a friend who's a film critic and he said this was one of the funniest films he ever saw: especially the part where they're making Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season with Gus Van Sandt sitting in the corner counting his money 

[Rev. Powell]

THE MADS: WALK THE DARK STREETS: Trace and Frank tackle an exceedingly boring movie about two men engaged in a MOST DANGEROUS GAME type of contest, which mostly involves walking around the streets of LA not seeing each other. The Mads wring out a few chuckles, but they can't overcome the tedium of the source material. Jonah Ray is the after-show guest, to prove they have nothing against the current version of MST3K, and although he's always pleasant there's nothing really special in the Q&A. This one is a pass (not hard since it's not released except to subscribers). 2.5/5.

[Dr. Whom]

Pig (2021)

This movie has been marketed as John Wick, but with Nicholas Cage and a pig. Don't believe a word if it. Both movies are about loners with unkempt hair looking for a pet, but there all similarities end.

Nicholas Cage plays a monolithic and taciturn truffle hunter who gets his pig stolen. To get it back, he navigates a secret society of chefs in a poetic version of Portland, on a quest that reminded me of Under The Silver Lake at times. It is a story of loss, and the question what one should care about.

[FatFreddysCat]

YouTube has been a treasure trove of weird Sixties flicks for me lately, like this forgotten nugget..

"The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz" (1968)
A member of East Germany's women's Olympic team (Elke Sommer) pole vaults over the Berlin Wall into the West, where she steals the heart of an American businessman (Bob "Hogan's Heroes" Crane). Several of Crane's "Hogan" co-stars (Werner "Col. Klink" Kemperer, Leon "General Burkhalter" Askin, and John "Sgt. Schultz" Banner) appear as bumbling East German agents trying to recapture Sommer.
...so yeah, essentially this silly farce feels like a two hour "Hogan's Heroes" episode set during the Cold War instead of World War II, cuz everybody's pretty much playing the same characters. The movie is WAY too long but as usual, Elke is smokin' hot and she doesn't wear much.
Your mileage may vary depending on your obsession for Ms. Sommer, or the cast of "Hogans' Heroes."

and then for something completely different...

"The First Purge" (2018)
Despite the title, this is actually the fourth "Purge" movie and it serves as a prequel, establishing how the evil "New Founding Fathers" political party captured the Presidency of the U.S. and set up the first ever "Purge Night" as a social experiment limited to a single locale - Staten Island, New York. The main characters are an assortment of gang bangers, freaks, and plain old regular citizens all just trying to survive when chaos starts raining down on their streets. Of course, lots of people end up getting shot, stabbed and blown up while the government stooges track the action and count up the kills.
All of the Purge films have been entertaining in a sadistic kind of way but I rank this one near the bottom of the stack -- there's nothing here that hasn't been done to death in previous installments. I did find the Staten Island setting particularly funny, though, since I went to college there.
I'm now all caught up on this franchise ...until they make another one, which is probably already in the works.

[Dr. Whom]

"The First Purge" (2018)
Despite the title, this is actually the fourth "Purge" movie and it serves as a prequel,

If the first Star Wars is actually the fourth, I don't see why the fourth Purge can't be the first.