Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

Night of the Lepus is such an embarrassment for western civilization and all involved.


The House Across The Lake (1954) - An apparently British film noir but with American actors, or at least they have American accents. I liked the setting of the sleazy community who live on opposite sides of a lake and ride boats to each others parties.

A "struggling writer who doesn't really seem like he'd be a writer" moves to this self same lake-burb and immediately gets infatuated with a woman who looks at least 10 years older than him and is like a 5 at best. All the men in the movie are obsessed with her, this was the biggest suspension of disbelief problem. It's 1954 people know what a film noir dame is supposed to look like and this ain't it. She's a decent enough actress though I guess.

It's one of those movies where everybody seems to be drinking all the time. I've seen worse and I've seen better. 3.75 /5 enjoyable

[Rev. Powell]

HAGGARD (2003): A guy is obsessed with his slutty cheating ex-girlfriend, and his loser buddies try to help him get over it. Laughless, juvenile shot-on-video jackassery with a strong "bros before hos" moral. It was filmed at and around West Chester University, where I briefly matriculated about a decade before. By Bam Magera, who was in "Jackass," with lots of skateboarding and poop jokes and a Tony Hawk cameo, this is for someone, but that someone just ain't me. 0.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Rush Hour" (1998)
A Chinese diplomat's daughter is kidnapped, so a Hong Kong police inspector (Jackie Chan) is sent to the U.S. to aid in the investigation. The Powers That Be team him up with a wise ass L.A. cop (Chris Tucker) and after some inevitable culture clashing, they get down to butt kicking business. Chan's stunt work is tons of fun to watch (as usual) and Tucker channels his best Eddie Murphy impression in this kung-fu twist on the "48 HRS" buddy-cop formula. This box office smash was followed by two sequels and a short lived TV series.

"Rush Hour 2" (2001)
Chan and Tucker are back as Inspector Lee and Detective Carter, on a globe hopping adventure that stretches from Hong Kong to L.A. and Vegas as they trail a vicious gang of Chinese counterfeiters. Just as much action packed fun as the first movie.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Rush Hour 3" (2007)
The third go-round for Chan and Tucker (after a six year absence) sends the mismatched cop duo to Paris to unravel an assassination plot by a vicious Chinese gang. There isn't much here that you haven't already seen in the previous two "Rush Hour" movies, but Jackie and Chris are still a great team and Chan's high flying, acrobatic martial arts moves are always tons of fun to watch, of course. The climactic fight scene set at the Eiffel Tower (where else?) is particularly impressive. If you enjoyed the other two, you'll dig this installment as well.

[indianasmith]

DON'T F*** IN THE WOODS (2016) - A group of college-age friends go on a weekend camping expedition to get high and fool around in the woods.  Their antics draw the attention of a reptilian alien who is apparently drawn to the scent of pheromones released during sex - or else he just likes crashing people's good times so he can eat them.  Either way, several amorous couples have a really BAD weekend in a gloriously bad movie! 4/5

MUCK (2015) - Five college-aged kids come staggering out of a swamp at the beginning of the movie, having lost two friends to some unnamed and un-depicted evil in the swamp.  They take refuge in an abandoned house, only to fall victim to some bald-headed cultists of some sort who want to kill them all for no apparent reason.  They call for help, but will the drunk cousin and his girlfriend do any good?  What attacked them in the swamp?  What is driving these cultists?  Lots of gore and some nudity, but no answers, and no real denouement at the end, just a cliffhanger with no resolution.  Entertaining but frustrating.  3/5

[Trevor]

"Rush Hour 3" (2007)
The third go-round for Chan and Tucker (after a six year absence) sends the mismatched cop duo to Paris to unravel an assassination plot by a vicious Chinese gang. There isn't much here that you haven't already seen in the previous two "Rush Hour" movies, but Jackie and Chris are still a great team and Chan's high flying, acrobatic martial arts moves are always tons of fun to watch, of course. The climactic fight scene set at the Eiffel Tower (where else?) is particularly impressive. If you enjoyed the other two, you'll dig this installment as well.

Includes a cameo from Roman Polanski 😳

[M.10rda]

INTERFACE (1985):
A Vestron home video release! (...Though not on Claws' "Bad Movies of Vestron Video" list, somehow.)

It's always refreshing to remark "Hey, that drug dealer in the opening scene kinda' looks like Lou Diamond Phillips!" and then you read the closing credits and indeed, it's Lou DP in his feature film debut. This low-budget sci-fi/thriller/unintentional (?) comedy isn't very good but it's entertaining for the pure straight-to-VHS 80's cheese factor. A group of computer nerds at a community college dress up like new age versions of the snuff filmmakers from LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET and begin executing local ne'er-do-wells; their improbably jovial professor (a cut-rate Barry Bostwick/Tim Matheson type) and an entirely-too-unflappable femme fatale foil their nefarious plans. This regional production is a remarkable document of the same ultra-specific moment in time that informed Andrew Bujalski's outstanding COMPUTER CHESS (2013). Filmed in suburban Texas, some of the exterior shots look like Anton Chigurh might limp by at any moment. With a one-finger synth score, thirtysomethings playing 18-year olds, big hair on both men and women, an obligatory "twist" ending, extremely half-hearted attempts at suspense, one of the most negligent homicide detectives in any movie ever, an understanding of computer technology that seems preposterously inaccurate by today's standards, goofy cutaways, a refreshingly blase attitude towards the murder of several cops, a lot of other generally inappropriate humor, and final credits music that sounds like it was swiped from a 70s game show. Recommended?!
3/5

[Rev. Powell]

THE MADS ARE BACK: NIGHT OF THE GHOULS: It's been years since I've seen "Night of the Ghouls," and it was "better" than I remembered (I recalled it being a disappointment compared to Ed Wood's other films, but it's got a subtle flavor of Woodian derangement, and the seance is cool). It helps that Frank and Trace's riffing is "on." The guest is kind of random: Cat Popper, a bassist who tells stories of working with Willie Nelson (the guest segments are never my favorite anyway, but it was fine). 3/5, maybe 3.5/5, would make a good first episode for anyone interested in checking out the show.

[RCMerchant]

"Rush Hour 3" (2007)
The third go-round for Chan and Tucker (after a six year absence) sends the mismatched cop duo to Paris to unravel an assassination plot by a vicious Chinese gang. There isn't much here that you haven't already seen in the previous two "Rush Hour" movies, but Jackie and Chris are still a great team and Chan's high flying, acrobatic martial arts moves are always tons of fun to watch, of course. The climactic fight scene set at the Eiffel Tower (where else?) is particularly impressive. If you enjoyed the other two, you'll dig this installment as well.

Includes a cameo from Roman Polanski 😳

I like his movies- but as far as a human being- f**k him.

[Jim H]

Fast Times at Ridgemont High - Somehow always missed this one.  Super slice of life, really reminded me of American Graffiti.  After looking it up, apparently that was intentional. 

I had kind of similar feelings to Lucas's film, but actually found it's even less focused look a bit too loose.  Guess I'm more of a plot person.  Still, a lot of good performances, memorable characters, some laugh out loud moments and a breezy run time made it a perfectly good watch.

[FatFreddysCat]

Super hero Sunday:

"Black Adam" (2022)
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars in this spinoff from DC's "Shazam!" as Black Adam, protector of the ancient land of Kandaqh. When he's re-awakened in the 21st century after a 5000 year sleep, his brutal methods of dealing with bad guys eventually draws the attention of the Justice Society (Dr. Fate, Hawkman, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher) who try to teach him the error of his ways. After much blasting, zapping, and stuff exploding, the heroes have to settle their differences and join together in order to battle an even bigger threat. Johnson is fine as the anti-heroic lead, Pierce Brosnan is perfectly cast as Dr. Fate, and the special effects are impressive. "Black Adam" ran on a bit longer than it really needed to, otherwise it was a fun watch.

"Thor: Love and Thunder" (2022)
The fourth solo go-round for Marvel's God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) finds him dealing with the crazed supervillain God Butcher, who's tripping around the universe killing off gods one by one, and also with his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, who now commands the mystical hammer "Mjolnir" and is just as powerful as he is. As usual, the movie is full of splashy, colorful set pieces and epic battles.
Thor was never a big fave of mine during my Marvel Comics reading days but I've enjoyed each of the movies in this franchise because of their tongue-in-cheek comedic undertones. They know how absurd the Thor character is and have tons of fun with it, therefore so does the audience.

[indianasmith]

FEAR PHARM 2 (2021) - This one picks up a few months after the previous movie left off. The basic plot is that a farmer and his kids, using a formula developed by his deceased wife, have launched a beauty product that is a worldwide best-seller.  Problem is, the product is made from human skin.  So they run one of the country's largest corn mazes, and every year they kidnap enough human subjects to produce the next year's batch of product.  But this night the subjects have all escaped, and the mad farmer and his kids must hunt them down.  Wildly implausible and rather mean-spirited, this is still a decent slasher film for what it is.  3/5

[Gabriel Knight]

FRACTURED (2019)

A couple stops at a gas station, where their 6 y.o. daughter's arm is fractured. They hurry to a hospital. Something strange is going on there. The wife and daughter go missing.

SPOILERS AHEAD

During a road trip, the daughter of a couple suffers an accident and has to be taken quickly to a hospital to treat her broken arm. The father waits for both her and his wife, yet they never return. Soon enough, he founds himself entangled in a conspiracy of massive proportions, meant to carry a ring of illegal body organs. He will have to fight not only the authorities, but also the hospital staff who is trying to confuse him into believing a different story about his missing family.

Does this sounds like an interesting and fun plot? If it does, then stay away from this piece of garbage, because it will take a dump on that story with the most predictable, cliched, and lame ending ever.

Good acting and scenarios. Other than that, skip this garbage because you'll end up p**sed off, like me right now. 4/10

[Trevor]

FRACTURED (2019)

A couple stops at a gas station, where their 6 y.o. daughter's arm is fractured. They hurry to a hospital. Something strange is going on there. The wife and daughter go missing.

SPOILERS AHEAD

During a road trip, the daughter of a couple suffers an accident and has to be taken quickly to a hospital to treat her broken arm. His father waits for both her and his wife, yet they never return. Soon enough, he founds himself entangled in a conspiracy of massive proportions, meant to carry a ring of illegal body organs. He will have to fight not only the authorities, but also the hospital staff who is trying to confuse him into believing a different story about his missing family.

Does this sounds like an interesting and fun plot? If it does, then stay away from this piece of garbage, because it will take a dump on that story with the most predictable, cliched, and lame ending ever.

Good acting and scenarios. Other than that, skip this garbage because you'll end up p**sed off, like me right now. 4/10

I read the Wikipedia article on that movie and 😳😳

[Gabriel Knight]

I read the Wikipedia article on that movie and 😳😳

They give you obvious clues through the movie which make it extremely predictable, but they only serve for you to think "please, don't end the movie like that, it's so lame". The plot I described it's a million times better, mostly because there aren't many movies which deal with illegal harvesting of organs. Yeah, you have PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR and REPO MAN for example, but those are sci-fi. A realistic situation is rarely portrayed in films for some reason. I don't know, maybe the film industry is into it, and anyone who says there's something like that should be considered a crazy person.

When the ending is finally revealed, they have to show you scene for scene how much you were tricked (?), kinda like the awful JOKER movie. It's sad that nowadays they have to explain things so bluntly, as if we were too stupid to figure it out by ourselves. It's even more sadder because this twist has been done to death by now, you have to be a teenager with 10 movies in your belt to be surprised by it. But then again, it's a Netflix movie, so probably that's their intended target. It's all so moody and bleak.