Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Trevor]

DEVOTION (2023) - Based on the true story of the first black Naval aviator, Jesse Brown, this movie is a bit slow at first but really builds up to an amazing conclusion.  Very well done. And if, like me, you grew up watching BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP, seeing those F4U Corsairs in action was a great trip down memory lane!

I read a comment online saying that the character played by Glen Powell was "Hangman's grandpa" 😳😉😉

[Rev. Powell]

AMNESIA (2001): After receiving a call that his mother is ill, a photographer returns to his family estate (AmnesiA) to face his gangster twin brother and memories of a traumatic childhood. A boldly allegorical and uncanny psychological thriller with extravagantly odd touches (i.e., everyone just ignores the guy bleeding all over the furniture). 3.5/5.

[chefzombie]

eden log( 2007)
   
  a french film , supposed to be scifi, also supposed to be" existential angst". DREADFUL, 0/5.

[Rev. Powell]

THEY CLONED TYRONE (2023): A pimp, a ho, and a drug dealer walk into a secret cloning lab... Reminds me more of a classic blaxploitation film made as a contemporary mainstream sci-fi comedy than it does the more intellectual and absurdist SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. On Netflix. 3.5/5.

Also re-watched THE SERVANT (1963) on Criterion Blu-ray. It's a slow burn, but I really like this one. Dirk Bogarde plays manservant to London playboy James Fox, and gradually manipulates him until the roles of servant and master are reversed. 4.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

JAGGED MIND (2023): A young lesbian art curator who's having mysterious blackouts and confused memories--the doctors' main theory is VERY early-onset Alzheimer's--meets a woman who seems too good to be true, as her condition deteriorates. The script and style are intriguing, but imperfectly executed; it reveals its twist too early, or too late, depending on whether you'd rather be watching a psychological thriller or a horror movie. Not great, but perfectly watchable and not nearly as bad as its 4.3 IMDB rating would suggest. A Hulu original. 2.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Deadly Blessing (1981) - Finally got around to watching this lesser Wes Craven feature. Vastly inferior to the two made for tv ones he made around this same time.

Ernest Borgnine leads a crew of annoying Hittites who are out to bother Lisa Hartman and eventually Sharon Stone all the time somewhere in the hinterlands of wherever Hittites live. An unseen killer lurks around and the ridiculous ending attempts to spell it all out after almost 2 hours of mostly tedium. I think Craven re used the bathtub scene for Nightmare on Elm Street? It has some okay horror vibes.

2.75/ 5

would certainly recommend Summer of Fear and Invitation to Hell over this

[indianasmith]

ROMMEL (2012) A German film, possibly made for TV, depicting the last 7 months of the life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox" of Hitler's Africa campaign.   The movie focuses on his desperate attempt to fend off the D-Day invasion, and his increasing involvement in the July 1944 plot to kill Hitler = which culminated in his forced suicide in November 1944.  Interestingly enough, his son Manfred was still alive when this movie was released.
A bit slow in places, but overall, an interesting look into the life of one of Germany's greatest field commanders of WW2. 4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers" (2022)
A witty Disney+ original set in a world where cartoon characters live alongside humans, ala "Roger Rabbit" (Roger even has a cameo). Decades after their hit "Rescue Rangers" TV show was cancelled, the chipmunks haven't spoken in years and are living vastly different lives (Chip sells insurance, while Dale is a has-been actor who makes a living on the comic-convention circuit). However, when one of their old co-stars is kidnapped by a criminal gang that specializes in "bootlegging" Toons, they have to reunite the rest of their old gang to rescue their friend. A fun mix of live action and animation, with a great voice cast and some very funny gags. Better than expected.

[indianasmith]

THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD

Set in Paris, this movie follows the lonely life of one man who has survived the zombie apocalypse, only to find himself barricaded inside a high-rise apartment building with only a zombie trapped inside the lift to talk to.  We see him slowly unravel as it becomes apparent there are no other survivors out there - or are there?   A bit slow but well done overall.  3.5/5

[RCMerchant]

Deadly Blessing (1981) - Finally got around to watching this lesser Wes Craven feature. Vastly inferior to the two made for tv ones he made around this same time.

Ernest Borgnine leads a crew of annoying Hittites who are out to bother Lisa Hartman and eventually Sharon Stone all the time somewhere in the hinterlands of wherever Hittites live. An unseen killer lurks around and the ridiculous ending attempts to spell it all out after almost 2 hours of mostly tedium. I think Craven re used the bathtub scene for Nightmare on Elm Street? It has some okay horror vibes.

2.75/ 5

would certainly recommend Summer of Fear and Invitation to Hell over this

Wes Craven never made a good movie after LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and the HILLS HAVE EYES. He's a hack.

[indianasmith]

EL MONSTRO DEL MAR - A group of girl gangsters hide out at a remote beach cabin after committing a string of murders. Their neighbor there, an old man in a wheel chair, warns them not to go into the sea.  They go swimming anyway, and stir up a ferocious tentacled monster of the deep that comes to town looking for humans to snack on.   Mayhem ensues. 
Overall, it had its moments but could have been much better. 3/5

[lester1/2jr]

I forgot the name of this movie so I googled "movie female doctor doesn't answer door and the person ends up dead" and got it.

The Unknown Girl (2016) - A female doctor doesn't answer her office's door one night because it's an hour after closing. Unfortunately, the person ends up dead. She becomes obsessed with the girl and works with the police and on her own to find out what happened. It has the intelligence but not the eroticism that are expected of foreign films which is probably why it ended up on tubi.

good writing and acting but not super exciting

4/5

It's just one of those movies that takes 3 days to watch.

[M.10rda]

Deadly Blessing (1981) - Finally got around to watching this lesser Wes Craven feature. Vastly inferior to the two made for tv ones he made around this same time.
 It has some okay horror vibes.

2.75/ 5

would certainly recommend Summer of Fear and Invitation to Hell over this

Wes Craven never made a good movie after LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and the HILLS HAVE EYES. He's a hack.

I agree to some extent w/ both of you!
I've long felt like Craven was essentially a hack who generally didn't even like or care about the horror genre - though fwiw I think LAST HOUSE is one of his worst!
Approaching DEADLY BLESSING w/ such reduced expectations was helpful, however. It's an idiot plot w/ poor pacing, but as Lester says, "some okay horror vibes" - plus Stone and Borgnine, two great onscreen tastes who I can't believe actually were in the same movie! Also Michael Berryman as a more or less innocuous/non-threatening character, which is novel.
 
Most of the ELM STREET films have aged poorly, including the ones Craven was involved w/. Every SCREAM after the second one should just burn in an eternal fiery landfill.
Even HILLS HAVE EYES is... kind of a mess, though it's f'd up enough to be intriguing/compelling.
Let's not even get started on complete trash like DEADLY FRIEND!

Craven was just not very good at his job. Sometimes he was just about good enough... and he was certainly lucky to benefit from excellent marketing!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981)
It's 1936 and two-fisted, bullwhip-toting archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is sent on a globe trotting mission to beat the Nazis to a Biblical treasure with immense power. I've seen this a zillion times over the years, but I never get tired of. It's one of the best action/adventure flicks ever made, as far as I'm concerned.

[M.10rda]

SALOUM (2022):
Watched this almost 2 months ago, kept meaning to review it but was too busy, just as well as my thoughts would've been extraordinarily lengthy, disorganized, and contradictory. FROM DUSK 'TIL DAWN is the most obvious reference point though I prefer to think instead of the quirky, imperfect, but nifty 1988 Canadian film SCARECROWS. SALOUM starts out like a roaring barnfire and for as long as it's an offbeat, enigmatic, sweaty suspense/crime/action flick (about 40 minutes), it had me rapt. When it transitions into supernatural horror, the pace slows and my issues w/ the film accumulate. The "demons" (?) don't adhere consistently to the film's prescribed logic and frankly they look kind of dumb (likely the one department where the film's budget lets its aspirations down). Human characters also often behave in abrupt and undermotivated (or just dumb) ways. Of course, as w/ many Asian genre films that I've had to suspend my critical thinking to enjoy, it's possible I'm losing some nuance in the translation to English subtitles.

If Tarantino had written and directed SALOUM, it may or may not have made more sense - and it would've been twice as long. Jean-Luc Herbulot gets the job done in 85 minutes and, for all SALOUM's faults, I still really like it. It's got an epic feel considering its brevity, a lot of arresting cinematography, and ensemble acting that ranges from excellent to at least interesting. The film's two lead tough guys, Yann Gael and Roger Sallah, are so damn cool, intense, and compelling that they could've held my attention if they spent the second half of the film drinking milk and reading the classifieds. Both should have careers in Hollywood (if they want 'em). I can easily imagine Gael starring in the next Jordan Peele or Ryan Coogler film. Sallah would be an outstanding Luke Cage. If nothing else, how many other French-Senegalese folk horror movies where easily 1/4-1/3 of the dialogue is in sign language can you think of?

4/5