Recent Viewings, Part 2

[indianasmith]

THE TRIP (2021)  This hilarious Norwegian horror comedy tells the story of a husband and wife - she a struggling actress, he flailing TV producer - who take a trip to the countryside to repair their failing marriage.  But once they get there, we find out each of them has been preparing to murder the other!  However, before they can off each other, the husband's sidekick shows up and they accidentally shoot him, and then a trio of escaped killers hiding in the attic fall through the ceiling and take them hostage . . . after that it gets even more bizarre!  This is a really hilarious film, kind of a Scandinavian equivalent of TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL.  Highly recommended!

[M.10rda]

ASSASSINATION NATION (2019):
This very intriguing little film seemed under-released a few years back and wholly ignored since... which seems odd as we've culturally been endlessly desperate for content amidst the pandemic and now another industry strike. It's not a perfect film, but it has many strong points and, above all else, I think it captures the spirit of the last 7 years of living in America as much as any other film I can think of. A small suburban town suffers its own rash of local Wikileaks-type personal info dumps and progressively freaks out to the extent that (mostly male) citizens start going full-tilt Purge on their neighbors... specifically four outspoken high school girls who have attracted a lot of negative attention for being... well, outspoken high school girls.

Director Sam Levinson (Barry's son) opens the film w/ a lot of MTV hypercutting and occasionally peppers some edgelord glibness into his screenplay. He also deleted a few scenes (available on the blu-ray) that would've improved the final cut. In the balance, there's some authentically thoughtful dialogue; understated and smart direction to balance the flash; and some nice performances, particularly from Odessa Young and Hari Nef as the main teens. There's also a looong complex tracking shot around and inside a house at night that would blow Brian DePalma's mind.

Levinson's connections (or his dad's money or influence) allows him to pull out some stops here. He even stages two (!) parades at the close of the film - one presumably  diegetic, the other possibly symbolic. Hey, if you got it, flaunt it. Anyone who's felt any frustration whatsoever over "digital soldiers", Proud Boys, or Justice Brett Kavanagh (among other things) should get some catharsis from this film.

4/5

[Jim H]

THE TRIP (2021)  This hilarious Norwegian horror comedy tells the story of a husband and wife - she a struggling actress, he flailing TV producer - who take a trip to the countryside to repair their failing marriage.  But once they get there, we find out each of them has been preparing to murder the other!  However, before they can off each other, the husband's sidekick shows up and they accidentally shoot him, and then a trio of escaped killers hiding in the attic fall through the ceiling and take them hostage . . . after that it gets even more bizarre!  This is a really hilarious film, kind of a Scandinavian equivalent of TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL.  Highly recommended!

Enjoyed that one too.  Fun fact, director of this also did the recent Santa film Violent Night (which I think you liked, if memory serves) and the two Dead Snow films.  You might recognize the husband in this as the main Nazi baddy in Sisu and the lead in the excellent Norwegian thriller Headhunters.

I just watched The Tournament, a trashy straight to video action film about a battle royale of assassins with Ving Rhames, Kelly Hu and Robert Carlyle.  It's got some decent action and is gory, and well paced.  But not amazing.  Oh, and it takes place in England... But, for some reason, they got Liam Cunningham (who was Davos in Game of Thrones, and a lead in the recent Voyage of the Demeter) to play the baddie running the tournament, and then he's portraying an American.  His accent is fine (if slightly forced), just a strange choice. 

The Tournament was worth a watch if you know what you're going into.  It's free on Tubi.

[Trevor]

I have to re-watch the odd SA western war film STRANGERS AT SUNRISE as I review it for my book. Odd that an American mining engineer would be in SA during the Anglo Boer South African War of 1899 - 1902 but there you go 😳😉🐢

[M.10rda]

A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM (1990):
About 60 seconds in, mild-mannered executive Michael Caine receives a powerful jolt of electricity during some routine household maintenance and, as a result, gradually begins to think he has the magical ability to make all of his problems "disappear". (Realistically he's just inspired to plot and execute a series of murders as a means towards living his best life.) For the most part this is a decently written and acted production that contains a couple of weird irritants: 1.) Will Patton (an actor I like) plays his homicide detective character exactly like Colombo, which must've been even more obvious and distracting in 1990; and 2.) Elizabeth McGovern (a strong actress) is saddled w/ a truly hideous 80s perm, particularly problematic as she's the primary love interest...

On the other hand, the film excels on two strengths. One is the chilly, tense direction of Jan Egleson, who appears to have made nothing but non-distinct TV movies since ASTTS. (It's also very nicely shot at times.) The other is Caine. He's always fine by me, but let's face it, he's coasted auto-pilot on his cool accent through many decent and terrible films. I recall that reviews upon ASTTS' release praised this as one of Caine's best performances, and I have to agree. The film version of AMERICAN PSYCHO wouldn't work (at all) w/o Christian Bale's galvanizing performance and likewise this train speeds along on Caine's intensity and commitment.

That said, ASTTS ultimately has more in common w/ the original British HOUSE OF CARDS than it even does w/ AMERICAN PSYCHO. Specific spoilers aside, its ending makes AP and Dostoyevski's Crime And Punishment look like cheerful paeans to justice and morality. Come to think of it, ASTTS was an appropriate if oppositional follow-up to the previous film I reviewed, ASSASSINATION NATION, and (in its realistic treatment of Caine's fate) just as timely as A.NATION, even in spite of its vintage...

4/5

[Dr. Whom]

Free Guy (2021)

An NPC in a GTA-type game gains agency, which has all sorts of consequences, both in game and in the real world.

This is basically the Lego Movie meets The Matrix, and it is a ton of fun. Also worth pointing out is that, here you have an AI of a world-spanning system gaining consciousness, and it doesn't want to take over the world or launch the apocalypse. It actually turns out to be the nicest character in the movie.

[M.10rda]

Free Guy (2021)

An NPC in a GTA-type game gains agency, which has all sorts of consequences, both in game and in the real world.

This is basically the Lego Movie meets The Matrix, and it is a ton of fun. Also worth pointing out is that, here you have an AI of a world-spanning system gaining consciousness, and it doesn't want to take over the world or launch the apocalypse. It actually turns out to be the nicest character in the movie.

I enjoyed this a lot as well. Particularly liked the non-traditional resolution to the romance.

I was at a Renaissance fair last week (...) and sat near some hip-looking Ryan Reynolds fans while waiting for a washer wench show to begin. As they were eagerly anticipating DEADPOOL 3 one of them mentioned FREE GUY and the other three were baffled... basically refused to believe it existed. I had to intercede and vouch for its existence. This movie must've cost $100 million +, it came out two years, ago, it was really good, and even 75% of Ryan Reynolds fans have forgotten it or never knew it existed. Truly we are living in The Quickening...

[indianasmith]

BLOCK ISLAND SOUND - A very SLOW moving horror film I found on Netflix.  I'll admit, I was really tired when I watched it, but this movie kept putting me to sleep.  Basically a family of fishermen on a remote island are being abducted and brainwashed by aliens . . . whom you never see.  No action to speak of, no gore, and little plot. 2/5

[M.10rda]

PEEPING TOM (1960):
I inadvertently created a serial killer double feature when I grabbed this DVD after watching A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM. Yet another famous flick I've read and heard about for 30+ years and never watched until now... also from the same year as Hitchcock's more famous PSYCHO.

Previously I've discussed my lifelong inability to overcome early childhood spoilers and still embrace the complete PSYCHO experience. Somehow, I didn't have the same issues w/ Michael Powell's PEEPING TOM, a film that manages to generate suspense even or especially when discreetly withholding explicit onscreen info. (Conversely, it's pretty bold about lingering on collages of naked models in the background of many shots... surprising for 1960!) What it lacks, of course, is Tony Perkins... substituting a complex but rarely sympathetic incel creepster named "Mark Lewis" who is played - puzzlingly, perhaps as a homage to Peter Lorre in M - not by an Englishman but by bug-eyed hissing German weirdo Karlheinz Bohm. It's a decent performance that naturally falls short of Perkins as Norman. However, the large supporting cast of largely redheaded potential victims is far more sympathetic than PSYCHO's ensemble. Anna Massey (looking impossibly young and cute) and Moira Shearer (stealing the film in under 15 minutes) do work that puts Janet Leigh and Vera Miles to shame. Of course (if I've never mentioned this) I do adore redheads in general.

Oh yeah - unlike PSYCHO, PEEPING TOM is in guh-LOR-ious color. Powell often saturates the frame to extraordinary formal and thematic ends... to the extent that PEEPING TOM kind of resembles an early (the earliest?) proto-Giallo. Heck, there's even a blind seer character who naturally Sees Too Much. I admit that, after generally anticipating the resolution, I was slightly underwhelmed by the climactic scene. It ain't a disaster, though, and on the whole I found PEEPING TOM far more watchable and interesting than PSYCHO... a not completely unheard-of opinion, iirc.

4/5
for now but I will likely revisit this one!

[RCMerchant]

^Great Movie- that also killed director Michael Powell's carrear.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Heart Of Stone" (2023)
Gal "Wonder Woman" Gadot is a member of a super secret spy organization called "The Charter," while also working undercover with Britain's MI6. Her cover gets blown during an attack by a terrorist group who steal an extremely powerful computer with the ability to hack into anything - banks, military equipment, nuclear missiles, etc. -- so it's up to her to stop them before they can unleash total global annihilation.
There's nothin' in this Netflix original that you haven't already seen in any random Mission: Impossible or Bourne movie, but it moves quickly, the stunts and special effects are impressive, and of course Gal Gadot is pure butt kickin' eye candy. I've seen worse.

[Gabriel Knight]

I KNOW WHO KILLED ME (2007)

A young woman who was missing reappears, but she claims to be someone else entirely.

SPOILERS AHEAD

So I happened to catch this one on cable last night and decided to watch it since I previously had the chance to read some reviews and everyone was laughing at how bad this movie was.

They were right. Oh God, they were so right.

I caught the movie at 20 minutes in but had no trouble understanding the main plot. This chick gets kidnapped and tortured, then she's found, but she claims to be someone else - a girl named Dakota, instead of the supposedly Aubrey. So far, so good.

The movie becomes a crime drama with FBI agents and stuff like that, who for some reason treat the victim horribly. They yell, threaten, and keep her confined as if she had anything to do with the crime of cutting herself - even worse, they assume she's suffering from some form of trauma, yet they get angry because she's lying to them, about... stuff. Along the way, we get extremely awkward and boring striptease scenes that serve no purpose whatsoever, except to show some of Lohan's skin.

The crime drama takes a turn rather quickly when we start to see awful gore scenes that, just like the striptease, go on forever. Apparently, Dakota claims she received her wounds out of nowhere while meeting mysterious characters along the way we never get explanations of.

Afterward, she returns home to her supposed family, where more drama ensues, receives a robotic arm and foot for that sweet ARMY OF DARKNESS effect, and Aubrey's boyfriend shows up. And what do they do? Well, have an immediate long wild sex session in your parent's-in-law house so they can hear you, of course! What, isn't that what you do as soon as you find your missing girlfriend who just got tortured and amputated, and may be suffering from severe trauma?

Please, kill me.

The story continues with more awful "sexy" and gore scenes that pad the whole thing and serve no purpose to the plot whatsoever. Eventually, Dakota starts to have visions and realizes that Aubrey was adopted and they're twin sisters. Because you see, whatever happens to Aubrey, happens to Dakota, because that's what goes on with twins. She compels Aubrey's father to go find her because now she knows where she is, avoiding the police of course (why would you need them when going after a dangerous murderer?) and we get the reveal of who the bad guy is: an individual I have never seen before! Oh my!

Yes, I know, it was Aubrey's piano teacher, who shows up for a few scenes at the beginning of the movie and is never referred to again. I was supposed to be surprised at the reveal, but I was more mystified about the fact that the bad guy ties Dakota with a rope with only one hand since his other one was cut off by her. I have no idea how he accomplished that, but at least gave me a good chuckle.

The movie ends with Dakota finding her sister and surviving. Oh, and the father dies, the movie doesn't explain how; he's just lying on a table and closes his eyes.

It's very obvious that the director tried to copy the likes of Lynch and others, but failed miserably. There are so many cliches that it becomes hilarious: ooooh, thunderstorms! Scary! The bad guy sharpening his tool! Oh my, that's new! Blood everywhere, aaaahhh!
Most of the situations in the movie serve no purpose to the plot, and it's padded by random scenes of sex and violence. Characters show up and vanish completely when the script demands it, like a child playing with his toys and making the story as he goes.

One extra point because of the Art Bell cameo, and the owl that shows up, because I love owls. The rest is garbage of the worst quality, it honestly feels like THE ROOM of horror movies, but desperately needs its own Tommy Wiseau. 2/10

[lester1/2jr]

Caligula: Paranoia and Brutality in Ancient Rome (2013)

I have always had a soft spot for this guy because he is so universally condemned and also kind of represents what a lot of people really want: drama and gossip to fill their empty lives. The lady who does this sounds British so I'm guessing she works for the BBC (just looked it up she does). She does a good job but it was a little weird when she laughed about the boys trained to nibble on Tiberious' genitals. Maybe she thought it was a fake story and maybe it was but come on lady. We don't know for sure.

I'm not a Roman history buff so I learned a lot of random stuff. One is that Caligula was a nickname, referring to a type of footwear worn by soldiers. He was an army brat of sorts and would try and act like a soldier or something. Like a lot of historically despised people, he was beloved by the common people.

A step above the usual historical thingy but not quite the great documentary that could be made. It was interesting to see all the locations and stuff.

4.25 /5

[Alex]

The Maze. 1957.

A bride-to-be is upset when her fiancee no longer responds to her letters and sets off to his Scottish castle to find out what is wrong, accompanied by her aunt. Despite its age and budget the film does manage to establish a good atmosphere. I got some Lovecraftian vibes for most of the movie, although the end is something of a slight let down. Still, it was good overall.

[M.10rda]

The Maze. 1957.

A bride-to-be is upset when her fiancee no longer responds to her letters and sets off to his Scottish castle to find out what is wrong, accompanied by her aunt. Despite its age and budget the film does manage to establish a good atmosphere. I got some Lovecraftian vibes for most of the movie, although the end is something of a slight let down. Still, it was good overall.

It takes a while but it does eventually get to Weirdstown. Yeah, you're right, "Shadow Over Innsmouth" must've totally been an inspiration.