Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

Yeah, I wasn't exactly bored by FM but I did keep waiting for Ostlund to move the premise in a new/exciting direction and of course that doesn't really happen. I skipped THE SQUARE and wondered if I should go back and watch it. If it's not significantly more involving than TOS, ehh, I'm in no hurry.

[lester1/2jr]

Horror at 37,000 Feet (made for TV 1973) - more like horrible at 37,000 feet. Despite the high altitude, this thing never really gets off the ground. The saving grace is all the shots of the cute flight attendants and amazing amount of room and freedom everyone had in the cabin.

The professor from Gilligan's Island and William Shatner (who actually look quite a bit alike on screen) are the big stars. The less big stars are whoever played the weird clown cowboy and the goofy/ fancy talking black guy. There's some sort of Druid thing in the luggage area that causes everything to go haywire, so inebriated Shatner tries to hold everything together and figure out a plan. Buddy Ebsen is the disaster movie guy who is out for himself and is like "Let's sacrifice this cute little girl to it. Maybe that'll work!"

very bottom of the barrel stuff here. I'd stick with Ants (1977) or something if you want campy disaster.

2.5 /5

[FatFreddysCat]

Been fighting a nasty head cold the past few days, good reason to veg out after work watchin' movies:

"GoldenEye" (1995)
After a six year absence from the screen, James Bond returned in a big way in 1995 with a new man in the tux (Pierce Brosnan) and a new post Cold-War attitude. This time 007 must stop a rogue Russian general who's commandeered a laser weapon satellite. Pierce's first go-round as Bond was his best, and it's one of the better entries in the series overall.

"And Now For Something Completely Different" (1971)
The Monty Python troupe's first theatrical release is essentially a "highlight reel" of the best bits from the first two seasons of their TV show, re-created for the big screen, in an attempt to crossover to the American market. Sketches include favorites like "Upper Class Twit of the Year," "Hell's Grannies," "The Dead Parrot Sketch," "The Lumberjack Song," and more.

"Black Friday" (2021)
Employees at a big-box toy store are prepping for their midnight Black Friday opening when they come under attack by hordes of zombified shoppers, created by alien spores that fell from a meteor. Ultra-violence, splashy gore, and snarky humor ensue. Given that I work in retail, this seemed like a timely viewing pick.

[Dr. Whom]

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (2022):

I steered clear of this one. For one thing, the Critics Who Understand Movies all thought it was the best thing ever, which rarely does it for me. For another, based on the trailer it seemed to have the subtlety of a herd of elephants.

[M.10rda]

THEATER CAMP (2023):
Possibly my most serious criticism of this film is that, if it was made by lifelong theatre artists (which apparently it was), then dammit, they should know by now that "theater" is the room where "theatre" happens, thus if your movie was about tweens and teens spending their summer rehearsing plays and musicals, the correct title would be THEATRE CAMP. Anyway. I've worked in theatre, film, and education for most of life; have run a summer theatre camp for the past 12 years (which is pretty much the best thing I do w/ my idiotic life); and several of my students and colleagues wanted me to go see THEATER (sic) CAMP in an actual movie theater   with them last summer. I was too busy running a new second theatre camp to go!

If THEATER CAMP had just one single legitimate laugh in it, I could say it at least had one more laugh than CAMP, the previous indie movie from 20 years back about the same topic. That would be a well-deserved kick to the teeth for 03's miserable CAMP, but fortunately the newer one actually made me laugh at least a dozen or more times (though many of those were in the last 10 or so minutes). There's also a lot of cheaper quasi-improv style clowning that's mostly tolerable-to-pleasant... these filmmakers seem to be taking their cue from WAITING FOR GUFFMAN and WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER (the original and prequel) as much as anything, though they don't achieve the comedic heights of those films.

THEATRE CAMP is written, directed, produced, composed (!), and headlined by five young-ish musical theatre veterans, none of whom I was familiar w/, though my students seem to idolize them. I did recognize several members of the supporting cast, and of course I caught the ten-second uncredited cameo by Liza Minelli, which I imagine brought movie theater audiences to a standing ovation.   All the adults do solid work, though they're naturally shown-up by a a few of the (outstanding) kids. The grand finale of the original musical-within-the-film asks  
Camp isn't home, but is it, kind of?
Kind of it is
I think it kind of is
...Then repeats its chorus several times, unnecessarily, 'cause I was already tearing up after the fist time they sang it. So, you know, reasonably reflective of some people's highly specific reality and nicely done for that.

3.5/5
However if you don't run a summer theatre camp, uh, you could probably pass on this.

[M.10rda]

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (2022):

I steered clear of this one. For one thing, the Critics Who Understand Movies all thought it was the best thing ever, which rarely does it for me. For another, based on the trailer it seemed to have the subtlety of a herd of elephants.

It's a schizophrenic film in that there is indeed a 15-20 minute sequence involving many people vomiting and toilets backing up/flooding the ship w/ brown liquid (while drunk Woody Harrelson debates the efficacy of communism over capitalism w/ a fat drunk old Russian oligarch) but then the most thematically central elements of the film are handled w/ extreme discretion and understatement, which is....... counterintuitive for sure and perhaps just reinforces any conviction to skip the film.  If you already know you won't like TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, you have probably chosen wisely!

[Rev. Powell]

OPEN (2023): A middle-aged woman experimenting with an open marriage gets involved with an aging teen idol who was once her schoolgirl crush; she also has dream sequences where she's in an 80s pop band with the rest of the cast. The New Wave music videos are limited in means (one minimal set) and musical ability, but do capture the big hair aesthetic, and lend just enough novelty to make this otherwise predictable indie dramedy watchable. 2.5/5.

[indianasmith]

Weekend double feature:
 
KILLER BOOK CLUB (2023) - A group of lit majors decide to get revenge on an English professor who tried to rape one of their classmates; the prank gets out of hand and the professor falls to his death.  Now someone is posting a chapter-by-chapter book online describing how each of them will be murdered in turn to avenge his death - and the subject of each chapter disappears just before the chapter is posted online!  Who is killing them, and why?  A decent Netflix horror with a pretty fair twist at the end; a bit reminiscent of SCREAM. 3/5

IN HIS WAK (2023) A group of young people are being stalked by an inhuman creature; a former priest is trying to stop the monster before it can take more innocent lives - or is he?  Bad special effects, decent story, and one of the most gratuitous nude scenes in bad movie history!  Free on Tubi. 3.5/5 

[Rev. Powell]

SCREWDRIVER (2023): After a breakup, a religious young woman goes to visit a high school friend and his wife; her hosts don't want her to leave--ever. It's mostly people talking in a single house, but the acting is pretty good, and the movie generally keeps your interest while only hinting at what is really going on under the surface. 2.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS (2023): A nomadic carnival family--angry mom, blood-shy dad, and mute daughter--is addicted to killing; they come across a Satanic artifact that takes their act to the next level. I was really rooting for this little indie horror because of the Adams family's likeability (mom, dad and daughter make low-budget horrors together--how cool!), and it does have a great setting and good opening and closing scenes, but the majority of the movie is a muddle; the two stories (a homicidal family and an occult curse) are mashed together uncomfortably, with lots of carny downtime thrown in. 2/5.

[zombie no.one]

CREEP (2004)

for the first 30 minutes this is like THE ROOM of horror movies. was expecting Tommy Wiseau to pop up as the villain. so many dumb lines and awkward situations. unfortunately it turns into a generic screamy chasey 'everything happens in pitch darkness' horror movie after a while so the fun stops

[Alex]

CREEP (2004)

for the first 30 minutes this is like THE ROOM of horror movies. was expecting Tommy Wiseau to pop up as the villain. so many dumb lines and awkward situations. unfortunately it turns into a generic screamy chasey 'everything happens in pitch darkness' horror movie after a while so the fun stops

Is that the one set on the underground, or the one about the photographer?

[lester1/2jr]

Started watching some Tom Baker era Doctor Who. First story was a hokey but decent one about a killer robot.

[zombie no.one]

CREEP (2004)

for the first 30 minutes this is like THE ROOM of horror movies. was expecting Tommy Wiseau to pop up as the villain. so many dumb lines and awkward situations. unfortunately it turns into a generic screamy chasey 'everything happens in pitch darkness' horror movie after a while so the fun stops

Is that the one set on the underground, or the one about the photographer?

underground.

In terms of 'train' movies it's not touching UNDER SIEGE 2

[Alex]

CREEP (2004)

for the first 30 minutes this is like THE ROOM of horror movies. was expecting Tommy Wiseau to pop up as the villain. so many dumb lines and awkward situations. unfortunately it turns into a generic screamy chasey 'everything happens in pitch darkness' horror movie after a while so the fun stops

Is that the one set on the underground, or the one about the photographer?

underground.

In terms of 'train' movies it's not touching UNDER SIEGE 2

Yeah, saw that one when it came out. I'd agree with your assessment.