Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Alex]

I just rewatched Mad Max.  Had been ages since I saw the original film.  Opinion hasn't changed a whole lot.  It's worth a watch, but with its one foot in reality and character stuff...  Just doesn't work as well as the sequels.  Good villain, some memorable scenes, good action sequences, great ending, but a lot of the storyline barely exists, character motivations are thin, it's weirdly underwritten, it's just very rough.  Like a rough draft for the Road Warrior, which is vastly superior.

I agree with you on this take. And something else that happened to me when watching it, although I may be wrong because it was a long time: didn't you felt like the movie wasn't post-apocalyptic enough? At one point they even go to an ice cream store, for example. If you skipped the first "explanation" of the background the whole movie may as well take place in some random modern city with lots of crime.

I haven't seen it in a long time, but my impression is Mad Max takes place just as civilization is collapsing and barely hanging on; by the time of Road Warrior some years later, things have totally gone to anarchy. I don't think Mad Max was meant to be post-apocalyptic, but pre-post-apocalyptic. I liked that time period, in some ways its more interesting than the post-apocalyptic world.

Indeed Rev, civilisation hasn't actually fallen until the second movie.

[M.10rda]

I just rewatched Mad Max. 
Like a rough draft for the Road Warrior, which is vastly superior. 

I also watched Insidious: The Last Key.  Have to say I don't really care for this series very much, but my wife likes them so here I go.  All of them are badly written with bad characters and the same jump scare setups over and over.  You'll occasionally get some decently creepy scenes, buts also really unclear what the rules of the setting are, like you have no idea what's going on.  For my money, the other James Wan involved spooky series, The Conjuring, especially the first one, is a lot better.  You understand what is happening much better, the creepy parts are built up to and set up, the jump scares are more effective, and the characters especially are MUCH better written. 

A lot in the above that I can get behind! 

I saw ROAD WARRIOR (and probably THUNDERDOME) first as a kid, then MAD MAX, and was also very disappointed. I did revisit it a couple years ago and liked it much more than I had originally. but it is often slow and thin. The good bits are very good, however. And of course eventually it allowed Miller to make FURY ROAD. 

I often think I'm in a minority (in many ways, but among those) in that I find almost nothing to like about the INSIDIOUS films and also find THE CONJURING universe highly overrated. I do agree that the CONJURING-propers (not ANNABELLE, THE NUN, etc) are better written and better acted, but I don't find them scary in the least. I skipped the first two INSIDIOUS entries for about 5 years until I felt inundated w/ reviews calling one or both "the scariest film of" etc etc. So I pulled the trigger. O BROTHER! Who are these people who get frightened by these movies? Not prolific horror viewers, I guess. There is that one, single famous jump scare of the demon face OTS in the first movie that is reasonable legit, though not remotely as scary as similar moments in multiple David Lynch films. Really, as a shock technician, James Wan is an amateur!

[zombie no.one]

DR. BUTCHER M.D. (1980)

Hilarous cannibal zombie movie which brought nothing new to the genre, even at this early stage of the genre, but lotsa gory fun. The boat motor in the face scene is a stand out.

I had it on VHS way back when, so it was a fun reminder of those days.



It's on the PLEX Rocku TV channel.

NEW YORK RIPPER (1982)
Fulci is just as gory and a lot more sleazier in this confusing movie about a serial killer in NYC (me home town!) who- yes- talks in a Donald Duck voice. Why? Watch this nasty mess to find out if you have the stomach.

2 of my absolute favourites here  

NYR is without doubt my fav Fulci movie

DR B MD (or ZH) is my favourite 'zombie movie' if it can even be called that?

[Jim H]

I just rewatched Mad Max.  Had been ages since I saw the original film.  Opinion hasn't changed a whole lot.  It's worth a watch, but with its one foot in reality and character stuff...  Just doesn't work as well as the sequels.  Good villain, some memorable scenes, good action sequences, great ending, but a lot of the storyline barely exists, character motivations are thin, it's weirdly underwritten, it's just very rough.  Like a rough draft for the Road Warrior, which is vastly superior.

I agree with you on this take. And something else that happened to me when watching it, although I may be wrong because it was a long time: didn't you felt like the movie wasn't post-apocalyptic enough? At one point they even go to an ice cream store, for example. If you skipped the first "explanation" of the background the whole movie may as well take place in some random modern city with lots of crime.

I haven't seen it in a long time, but my impression is Mad Max takes place just as civilization is collapsing and barely hanging on; by the time of Road Warrior some years later, things have totally gone to anarchy. I don't think Mad Max was meant to be post-apocalyptic, but pre-post-apocalyptic. I liked that time period, in some ways its more interesting than the post-apocalyptic world.

Rev, have you seen The Rover?  I always like to find reasons to recommend that film, think it's rather underseen.  Robert Pattinson is great in it, so is Guy Pearce.  It's even Australian.  Feels like a similar level of societal decline is going on in it as the original Mad Max, perhaps one step further down, and I think the story and characters are a lot stronger.  Guy Pearce is probably the angriest character I've ever seen in any film in it, yeesh.

Also, "pre-post-apocalyptic" is pretty funny but good way of putting it.  Saying it's "apocalyptic" feels wrong, as that implies a sudden, big event which is not what we're seeing.  Crumbling society is probably accurate, but doesn't sound good.  And crumble films just sounds silly.

I often think I'm in a minority (in many ways, but among those) in that I find almost nothing to like about the INSIDIOUS films and also find THE CONJURING universe highly overrated. I do agree that the CONJURING-propers (not ANNABELLE, THE NUN, etc) are better written and better acted, but I don't find them scary in the least. I skipped the first two INSIDIOUS entries for about 5 years until I felt inundated w/ reviews calling one or both "the scariest film of" etc etc. So I pulled the trigger. O BROTHER! Who are these people who get frightened by these movies? Not prolific horror viewers, I guess. There is that one, single famous jump scare of the demon face OTS in the first movie that is reasonable legit, though not remotely as scary as similar moments in multiple David Lynch films. Really, as a shock technician, James Wan is an amateur!

Yeah, I should say, I don't think the Conjuring films are very scary, just have some decent atmosphere and I actually like the two leads, which really helps.  All the characters in the Insidious films are basically boring or annoying.  Also the Conjuring 2 starts out OK, but the ending is bad and way too much.  Part 3 wasn't great either, and I feel it's depiction of a real life murderer and how they show his fate (he's still alive and a free man today) as almost triumphant is a little...  Hinky, for lack of a better term, even though I don't doubt he was legitimately mentally ill (and not possessed by a literal demon) at the time.  Haven't seen the other films (Annabelle, the Nun, Curse of La Llorona).

[Rev. Powell]

Rev, have you seen The Rover?  I always like to find reasons to recommend that film, think it's rather underseen.  Robert Pattinson is great in it, so is Guy Pearce.  It's even Australian.  Feels like a similar level of societal decline is going on in it as the original Mad Max, perhaps one step further down, and I think the story and characters are a lot stronger.  Guy Pearce is probably the angriest character I've ever seen in any film in it, yeesh.

No I haven't, but I do find the idea appealing.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford" (2023)
Disney+ documentary on the life and career of Harrison Ford, with the main focus being his iconic performances as Indiana Jones. Some good stories are told and the vintage behind-the-scenes clips from the making of the films is fun to watch. Breezy fun for fanboys.

[Rev. Powell]

VISITORS FROM THE ARKANA GALAXY (1981): An aspiring science fiction writer finds he has materialized the aliens from his long-gestating novel, plus a space monster. An old Czechoslovakia/Yugoslavia co-production, it has plentiful but cheesy special effects that wouldn't look too out of place in something like "Battlestar Galactica"; it plays mostly like a TV sitcom up until the gratuitous nudity, and the appearance of a cool, oozing monster created by legendary animator Jan Svankmajer. 3/5.

[Rev. Powell]

HAPPER'S COMET (2022): We peek at the mundane lives of numerous people over what seems to be one night in one small town: people sleep, watch TV, a young woman sneaks out of the house to meet a lover, a man rollerblades in the dark. There is no dialogue, story, or comet. Cinematography and sound design is excellent; the whole thing seems aimed at cinematographers and sound designers. This is a curious Covid artifiact that would not have been made if not for pandemic-era social distancing. I'm sort of torn between 1.5 and 2/5 here; chances are you will not like it, but may admire it.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films" (2015)
Enormously entertaining doc on Cannon Films, the notorious movie studio run by two Israeli cousins who did their best to take Hollywood by storm in the '80s via lots of schlocky movies that featured Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, ninjas, and breakdancers. A totally awesome trip down memory lane for '80s trash enthusiasts.

[lester1/2jr]

I watched an episode of Dead Zone, the Stephen King inspired tv series. It was well done, but too similar to Touched by an Angel or something. probably won't continue

[FatFreddysCat]

"All The Creatures Were Stirring" (2018)
Cheap horror anthology made up of five short scary stories that take place at Christmastime. A couple of the tales are passable, but for the most part this flick is cheap looking, woodenly acted, and poorly edited. Skip this and re-watch the far superior "A Christmas Horror Story" instead.

[Jim H]

The Dark, Sad Life of Boogie2988 - Debatable to me if this qualifies as a movie, but it is well made and free on YouTube.  I saw just a couple of Boogie's old videos, was never a fan, but was peripherally aware of his many problems over the years.  This video digs into them and spares zero punches.  It's brutal, his severe health issues, horrible financial decisions, mistreatment of people, his felony (he fired a gun into the air to scare someone off, it's on camera in the doc).  There's a bizarre job interview too, it plays like a sketch on It's Always Sunny.

Boogie comes across pretty poorly, especially his apparent arrogance with simultaneous self-pity.  But it's consistently fascinating and well made.  How often do you see a doc where the documentarian decides to stop focusing on his subject for a bit because he's too depressing to be around?

It's a little unfocused at times (a central theme might be good, but with the way things went I don't how they could have constructed one), but it's an interesting watch on quite a character.

[Rev. Powell]

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (2023): A psychotic criminal (Nic Cage) kidnaps an executive who's rushing to the hospital to support his pregnant wife, who is going into a difficult labor. Cage is terrific, howling and doing bad karaoke and otherwise doing his thing, but Joel Kinnaman holds his own as the resourceful hostage, making this two-hander very watchable despite some eyebrow-raising plot turns.  3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Marked For Death" (1990)
After his partner is killed during an undercover op gone wrong, a DEA agent (Steven Seagal) retires and returns to his home town. He soon learns that his old neighborhood is now under the control of a vicious gang of Jamaican drug dealers. You can probably figure out the rest.
Seagal never could act worth a damn, of course, but he's in fine bone-breaking form here and the mayhem is impressive. Worth a look for action enthusiasts.

[M.10rda]

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (2023): A psychotic criminal (Nic Cage) kidnaps an executive who's rushing to the hospital to support his pregnant wife, who is going into a difficult labor. Cage is terrific, howling and doing bad karaoke and otherwise doing his thing,

I watched the trailer, or most of it until it threatened to divulge too many key moments, and it seemed pretty clear that Cage is trying to give a late 90s Al Pacino performance... is that indeed the case?