Recent viewings

[Jack]

Shadowhunters (2004) - watched this again.  A bunch of girls are doing their sorority initiation by staying in an abandoned hospital overnight.  In their undies.  That last part is the only reason I bought this    Of course there's a demon in the hospital and four demon hunters show up to try and defeat him.  IMDb lists the budget at $2,000, and I'm pretty sure none of that went towards acting lessons.  The plot and dialogue were also terrible.  But it had a bevy of young babes in their undies - what else do ya need?  At least the badness was more laughable than boring.  3.5/5.

[claws]

The Shadow Within (2007) Blu-ray (Region B)

Nine year old kid is pestered by the undead, something his mother and a couple of psychics are taking advantage of. Oddball Arthouse "Horror" from Europe. Bizarre and nightmarish at times, very bleak, cold and depressing. This film takes place in the 1950s and they did a good job at capturing that after-WW2-feel. 4/5

[lester1/2jr]

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) - guess how this caught my attention. Anyway, it's a good movie. Edward G. Robinson plays the oddly named title character, I think this was before they had sex ed in schools or the Kinsey report so who knows if it was even a joke then. He's a doctor who starts doing robberies as part of a study on the criminal mind. Humphrey Bogart is one of the gangsters he starts running with. The two of them butt heads, but in general Clitterhouse and the gang get along famously despite their differences. Claire Trevor is note perfect as the female of the bunch, not really a moll more just a lady gangster.

This is kind of, if not off broadway definately overtly clever though not in a pretentious way. It's just a bunch of big stars having fun with a clever script but it doesn't come across as annoying or self indulgent at all. Definately worth seeing if you are a fan of this era or any of the actors.

4/5

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

Hmm...interesting.   A few nights ago I finally got to see Death At A Funeral and all I have to say is that this movie is wrong in so many ways! I've never seen anything so abjectly horrifying and humorous at the same time.

Everything that could go wrong, DID go wrong at the funeral for a man's father (Chris Tucker if I recall) and the side emergencies and crises that popped up only made it more horrible and hilarious at the same time. I'd give it a 4 out of 5 just for the sheer craziness of it.

[Jim H]

Ivan's Childhood.  This is Tartakovsky's first film.  The title character is interesting and well-played, and his dream sequences are interesting.  The whole film is beautifully shot too.  But the film basically ignores Ivan for a large portion of the film, and fills it in with secondary characters I didn't find too interesting.  In fact, I found a big part of this section of the film boring.  It almost sinks the film.  But, the ending is good stuff and brings it back around.  Still the large boring part brings down its score in my book quite a bit. 

6/10.

[claws]

Pit Fighter (2005)

Nasty Action and visions of Virgin Mary set in Mexico. A hard hitting and blood spitting b-tale of vengeance with a pretty kick ass ending. Pit Fighter kind of works like a poor man's Machete, except the anti-hero uses a sword. 3.75/5

[lester1/2jr]

Body Heat - This got 3.5 out of 4 stars in the tv guide ratings but ehh I'd say it missed the mark. William Hurt and Kathleen Turner give it their best shot but they just aren't cut out for this sordid sort of stuff. It was like Woody Allen trying to do a raunchy b movie. I didn't buy it.  Also, it seemed like they skipped the entire part of the story where the husband was killed but then again I was drunk. 3/5

[Jack]

Creature of Darkness (2009) - yet another repeat viewing.  Some kids go out to the woods for a weekend of camping and ATV riding, but there's a darned ol' space alien who has other plans for them.  Very cheesy and low budget, but I liked it.  The monster is your typical CGI thingie, and looks like something Hasbro might include in a Transformers action figure set.  The characters carry the movie, they're actually fairly interesting and not total cliches.  In my opinion of course    The babes are not unpleasant to look at either.  4/5.

[JaseSF]

Groundhog Day (1993): an arrogant jerk weatherman named Phil Connors (Bill Murray) who deep down is lonely and searching finds himself stuck reliving the same day, Groundhog Day February 2nd, over and over again. Is it an eternal misery and Hell or is it a recurring chance to set things in his life right?

This is one of those films I find myself constantly re-watching so it seemed a natural for me to purchase on Blu-Ray. It's really quite good and in slowing down every day actually works to give one a much closer look into the workings of everyday individuals, their lives and the eternal search for happiness. Gives one a chance to think about the smallest elements of life, yeah really "small" stuff such as finding someone to spend the rest of your life with. An immersing watch everytime and Murray is spot on and perfectly cast here as a man on a journey of discovery and how the smallest choices we make in our everyday existence can impact and affect the rest of our lives. ***** out of ***** stars.

[HappyGilmore]

Rocky- What can be said? Classic flick, and what a lot of people forget is, Rocky doesn't actually WIN, it's a draw, but his pride is high cause he went the distance.  And, Lloyd Kaufman of Troma fame worked on it, and appeared as a bum in it.

Rocky 2- Not my favorite sequel, but I like it nonetheless.

Rocky 3- Probably my favorite of the Rocky films.  Mr. T was perfectly cast as Clubber Lang and Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips.  Mickey dies.  Great movie.

[Couchtr26]

I've had the Mill Creek Sci-Fi 100 for awhile and still trying to finish all.  Right now, started watching some of the sword and sandals.  Can't understand why they had them there but anyway. 

Hercules Unchained - Steve Reeves.  Surprisingly enjoyable and not so over the top in its depiction.  Rather fun little story.  Wish it had a little less on the kidnapped by the queen section but not bad over all.  4.5/5

[Rev. Powell]

JESUS CHRIST VAMPIRE HUNTER (2001):  The son of God teams up with El Santo to fight vampires who are targeting lesbians.  Worth a few chuckles, more irreverent than blasphemous; drags quite a bit at times but they did a good job with very few resources.  Worth a watch.  3/5 for here, normal people will want to stay far, far away. 

[lester1/2jr]

Why Does Herr R run amok? (1970) - early Fassbinder film that is pretty much aknowledged even by its fans as a chore to sit through. The theme of a seemingly normal person who gets worn down by life seemingly out of the blue is one he would revisit later with better results. I was working on a song while I was watching it so it was okay but when I tried to just sit and watch it it was pretty well excrutiating. It's like Cassevetes-style with a lot of seemingly improvised dialogue and the plot gets really lost in the first half which is pretty uncommon in german films which I have generally found to be very focused on plot. It eventually coalesces into a good movie with a crazy ending but probably most people would have turned it off well before then.  Also, I can do sick solos when I am drinking coffee 3/5

[Jack]

The Graves (2009) - two hot babes are traveling through the desert and happen across a forlorn little tourist attraction.  As you might expect, the people in the area are some kind of homicidal demon worshipers who kill any tourists who pass through.  Of course, their latest would-be victims are main characters, so the foot's on the other hand now!  Er...something like that.  This was okay.  The acting was good, but I think the producer/writer/director could use a little more practice at his craft(s);  quite a few scenes come off as rather laughable.  The whole demon thing just wasn't fleshed out enough and ended up being unsatisfying.  But I made it through the whole movie in a single sitting, so it couldn't have been that bad.  A 3/5 movie plus two hot babes tallies up to 3.5/5.

[JaseSF]

Planet of the Apes (1968): A team of astronauts crashland on what they believe to be an alien planet thousands of years into the future only to discover said planet is controlled by intelligent apes who view humans as little more than lowly and violent  animals. One astronaut named Taylor (Charlton Heston) eventually convinces an ape animal psychologist named Zira (Kim Hunter) that he's unusually intelligent and sparks controversy and theories about evolution in the tightly controlled traditionally religious ape community.

Every time I watch this, it just seems to get better and better. The dialogue is terrific and thoughtful, the writing and setup is reminscent of the classic Twilight Zone (no surprise Rod Serling provided part of the script). In the end, the conflict is the choice of what's right - evolution and advancement or traditional religious values and conservatism with regards to technological advancement. Then there's the fantastic surprise in the end that everyone knows by now not to mention Heston's memorable line delivery throughout. Still my favourite lines in the movie tend to come from Taylor and his friends Cornelius (played by the always likable Roddy McDowall) & Zira's main adversary Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans). Just a fantastic film in every sense. The only flaw is it's a little slow-moving in terms of its opening but even then, it gives us a fascinating glimpse into what makes Taylor the man he is. ***** out of ***** stars.

"Man has no understanding. He can be taught a few simple tricks. Nothing more!"