Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

kiss my snake (2007)-  this looks like and basically for all intents and purposes is a discovery channel thing on a community in thailand who does snake "boxing" shows.  It's not much more than that but I got into it for some reason.  I liked the interaction between the people and the snakes.  They are interviewing the guys and the King Cobras are standing there like they are being interviewed too.  They do these shows where they tease the snake and the snake tries to bite them.  Occasionaly the snakes are succesful, a few bites are shown here, and they have to do all this stuff with herbs and sucking out the poison and occasionaly have to go to the hospital if the bite is really deep.  Sometimes I put my nose up to my cats mouth and annoy him till he tries to bite it.  That's kind of what these guys do in these shows.  I bet the snakes breth is better than my cat's.  It's not as wildly exciting as the title and description initially implies but again, the snake people are likeable and the snakes are cool. 3.5 /5

[3mnkids]

Machined~  No need to go into what the movie is about, AVOID. It looks like some friends got together and decided to make a movie. None of them can act, the "plot" is stupid as hell and by about 30 minutes in I wanted to find the people responsible for this mess and tell them to never, ever try and make another movie. FFS it was awful.

[InformationGeek]

Cars: I had nothing else to watch last night, so I watched it.  It was still alright and amusing to watch.  The computer animation for the entire movie was very well done and all the voice acting was great (Yes, I thought Larry the Cable Guy was good).  Still, it wasn't one of Pixar's best, but still, even at their worst, they still made a good movie.

[SkullBat308]

Haunted World of Ed Wood Jr

[lester1/2jr]

skullbat- how was that, I keep almost renting it.  I read nightmare of ecstasy

[Jim H]

The Wolf Man.  Took me way too long to watch this one, considering my love of werewolves. 

Quite good.  I've seen a number of the Universal classic horror films - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Invisible Man, House of Dracula, The Black Cat, The Raven, Murders in the Rue Morgue and others...  And this is thus far the best of the lot.  It's helped by some very good performances, very good music, great photography, great direction, and unlike a lot of the slightly older Universal horror films, it doesn't feel disjointed at all.  Flows very smooth. 

My single biggest complaint is one common to this era of Hollywood films, but more greatly affects a movie as tragic as The Wolf Man. 

***SPOILERS!***



After Larry Talbot is killed by his father, it really seems like his father should have some kind of emotional breakdown.  Instead he just looks surprised, we get a couple reaction shots from other people, and the movie basically ends.  With all the emotional buildup in the film, I felt shortchanged by the ending a bit.

I feel this is a problem in a lot of older Hollywood films, which seem to generally refuse to allow male characters to be overwhelmed by emotions, especially sadness. 


***END***

Despite this, a very good film.  I teeter between an 8/10 and a 9/10 on this one. 

[JaseSF]

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953): The Petrakis are a Greek family of diving sponge fishermen trying to eke out a living off the coast of Florida.  Unfortunately they also seem to be plagued by problem after problem and cursed with just plain rotten luck. Things take another unexpected turn when young Tony Petrakis (Robert Wagner) falls in love with the daughter (Terry Moore) of a rival Conch fisherman.

This is basically an updated version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The two young lovers actually prove quite likeable and viewers will find themselves egging them on, hoping Tony can finally turn around the Petrakis family misfortune. The cinematography, filmed in Cinemascope, is just gorgeous and there's even a score provided  by the one and only Bernard Hermann. There's a certain epic tragedy feeling to the proceedings but the film does seem to drag a bit at times and the Petrakis family seems to have so much misfortune, many viewers will wonder why they don't just give up. Also Tony isn't nearly as affected by emotional distress as one would expect a person in his position to be (of course this was the 50s when men generally didn't show much emotion on film). There's also a ridiculous seqeunce here involving an octopus that almost moves this film into the fantastic genre (in fact I'd argue it does) that should be enjoyed by bad movie lovers. Good escapist fare but nothing particularly special or memorable. **1/2 out of *****.

High Risk (1981): Four average American friends, out of work and suffering due to a bad economic downturn in the USA, decide to become mercenaries plotting to invade a South American country and rob a druglord of $5 million dollars in cash. Things become complicated when they find themselves not only on the run from the druglord's small army of men but also from a group of bandidos who also have designs on their ill-gotten gain.

Preposterous and ridiculous. Those are the best words one can use to describe the plot of this mindless action film. Yet if one can in essence turn off one's brain and not think while watching this one unfold, it's surprisingly fun viewing. The Americans are led by a determined and defiant Stone (James Brolin). He and his three friends Dan (Bruce Davison), Rockney (Cleavon Little) and Tony (Chick Vennera) try and bumble their way through obstacle after obstacle as they make a mad dash for freedom after stealing their desired fortune. The main villains out to stop them are the druglord Serrano (James Coburn) and the bandido leader Mariano (Anthony Quinn) who both give this film better performances than perhaps it ever deserved. I was a bit disturbed by the seemingly cruel treatment of a bull in one sequence though. It's just that this film seems at times to want to run the comedic route which is probably for the best and at other times it seems much, much too deadly serious. Also the two villains seem to detract from each other more than a little. Regardless this proved a hell of lot more enjoyable than I ever expected it to be and the shootout ending is a bit of blast, even if it is at times utterly ridiculous. **1/2 out of *****

The Call of the Wild (1972): A house dog, a German Shepherd named Buck, is stolen and sold as sled dog to the North during the gold rush craze of the 1890s. His eventual owner John Thornton (Charlton Heston) helps Buck achieve his true potential as one of the best lead sled dogs ever to run the treacherous and deadly 600 mile trek from Skaguay to Dawson.

In essence, this film is a love story about the love of a man for his dog. It's a film about loyalty and respect, something rarely if ever in question with regards to the relationship between Thornton and his dog Buck. Sure Buck eventually becomes enamored with a local pack of wolves but it's only after his ties are fully severed that he comes to be their leader as we see during this film's opening segment. Things work quite well when on screen is Thornton and Buck. Unfortunately, it doesn't work near as well when they aren't on screen together. Heston makes this movie much more watchable than it would be without him as is clearly evidenced by this film's opening and concluding segments. Heston, as usual, adds a little extra oomph to the delivery of his lines that gives them that often necessary extra edge that is required to achieve the full desired effect. Personally I really think this film would work a lot better if it were trimmed down and began with Heston's Thornton purchasing Buck and ended before the full-blown Indian raid. It's a case of a film showing an audience too much of the action including stuff we could have well figured out all on our own. Also disturbing to watch here is all the cruelty shown towards the sled dogs, even if it does ring true. A good film overall, bolstered by beautiful Norwegian scenery subbing for the Arctic tundra, that falls short of being as great as it could potentially have been with more quality stars (aside from Heston most of the actors here seem to put forth rather forgettable performances aside from perhaps George Eastman as the villainous Black Burton and Maria Rohm and Horst Heuck as Buck's one-time clueless brother and sister owners Mercedes and Hal) and better editing. **1/2 out of *****

[lester1/2jr]

Cat Girl Kiki (2007) - this is somwhere between "International Sexy Ladies Show" , an anime, a something weird 60's adventure and ..I guess just Japan in general.  I really liked it!  "Cat Girls" girls dresed up in cat halloween type costumes are a thing in Japan (what isn't) but you wouldn't even have to know that to appreciate this.  that's because it uses ART to TRANSCEND.  mainly it's just a light somewhat clever and concise (little over an hour) little thrill for the guys about a guy who finds a stray cat and brings it home and it becomes an extremely sexy, inthat innocent schoolgirl ish way, cat girl.  Somewhere along the way it makes the decision to become a movie with a plot rather than a porn.  You can decide for yourself if that was the right strategy but it's very enjoyable at any rate.  It has nudity and somethign tells me women will really hate this, just a hunch.

[InformationGeek]

The Blob:  I found it OnDemand last night in the Free Movie section and I just had to watch it.  It was my first ever viewing of it and I was very impressed by it.  Good acting, a decent script, very amusing cheesy special effects, and likeable characters!

[SkullBat308]

skullbat- how was that, I keep almost renting it.  I read nightmare of ecstasy

The whole thing is on youtube, there was a thread about it on here, That's how I saw it. It was great by the way.

[Rev. Powell]

EX-DRUMMER (2007): A writer agrees to become the drummer for a band formed by trio of handicapped lowlifes to win a Belgian battle of the bands; he ends up manipulating them into destruction. The movie is explained through Dries' confession when he agrees to join the band as their celebrity drummer: "I want to step outside my happy world. Descend into the depths of stupidity, ugliness, obtuseness, unfaithfulness... Latch onto the life of losers, but without belonging to that world and in the knowledge that I can always return to my own world." In other words, it's socioeconomic tourism among the disadvantaged, GUMMO with Eurotrash subbed in for poor white trash: the underclasses do the craziest things, like constantly rape each other and neglect their children until the tykes chomp down on excrement from hunger. Who wouldn't want to enter such a world for ninety minutes, aside from most film-goers? Unpleasant when it isn't boring, and frequently both at the same time.  The punk/metal soundtrack is the main draw. 1.5/5.

[Jack]

The Walking Dead (1936) - A gangster is convicted of a crime, and his fellow gangsters decide to kill the judge who passed sentence on him.  They frame an innocent man (Boris Karloff) for the crime, and he is executed.  A doctor brings him back to life, in the hope of learning about the afterlife.  But Karloff has plans of his own - endowed with some supernatural power of creepiness, he takes revenge on the people who framed him.  This is a role on Karloff could have played;  his creepiness is excellent.  Other than that though, it's pretty standard stuff.  Still worth a watch.  3.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Mercy (2007)-  these guys were going for a "Carnival of Souls" "Blast of Silence"  type art-horror-noir and it didn't work.  They should have had more camera effects.  A little reverb in the dialogue or something.  You see this gaggle of prostitutes looking at the guy in an alley and you don't think "  this city is so unforgiving"  you think "why are those women standing there".  like wise when he is visiting his parole officer, you don't look at the one chair in the room and the guys menacing face and think "the government is so cruel " you thin "why is there one chair in the room and what is that guys problem?"  there's a visible boom mike at one point as well.  The main actor was well cast and does a good job and I liked especially these two piano notes that play when he is existential-ing around but I can't really recommend a movie on the basis of two piano notes.  2.75/ 5

[Jim H]

Chopping Mall - It is what it is.  Amusing robots, a couple of good deaths, two topless chicks, a Dick Miller cameo, a cameo by the Blands, and a 75 minute running time.  I was entertained.

Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires - David Chiang and Peter Cushing, together at last?  I dunno.  This film is pretty disjointed and a little confusing at times.  The ending is also pretty weak.  As you'd expect, the kung fu (choreographed by Lau Kar Leung, of MANY kung fu classics) is good, but the plot is a little blah.  I think this would have been better without the Dracula part of the plot, which is ignored for almost the entire run time anyway.  Still, worth watching.

Alone in the Dark - Kind of like a slasher film with four slashers.  Actually quite well made, with a very good cast.  Good pacing, interesting ending, and a couple of good kills.  Oh yeah, and MAN is the big guy in this one strong.  There's a couple shots where he lifts people where it seems pretty clear it's actually him doing it.  Good stuff, overall, and I think better than its reputation belies.

[Sister Grace]

Arang- a great little asian gem. this movie was beautifully shot. According to IMDB, "A salt storehouse near the sea may be haunted. A penniless ex-con dies a gristly death in a house he can ill afford. The detectives assigned the case are Min, newly reinstated after a suspension, and Lee, a new transfer from forensics. Min has nightmares: a sexual assault that haunts her. She and Lee work well together, but soon two more deaths occur - each mysteriously poisoned, both friends of the ex-con. A fourth friend, a newly married doctor, is a suspect. But what has all this to do with the salt storehouse, a death ten years ago, and a missing girl? Can Min and Lee get to the bottom of it, or is the supernatural beyond a cop's reach (IMDB)?

On The Doll- this is one of those feel-bad movies, some of the acting was second-rate but it was still a pretty good film. It centers around a group of strangers, each connected to the sex-industry in one way or another. the plot focuses around how child abuse affects the suvivors later on in life.

Wierdsville- just plain wierd, but decent.

The Haunting of Molly Hartley- the worst movie i have seen in a long, long time.