Recent viewings

[Sister Grace]

Primal (2010) I've been meaning to watch this and after reading the last few posts, decided to check it out. I'm giving it 3/5. it was pretty good but i thought it lagged in certain parts.

Gamebox 1.0- this movie was neither really good or really bad; just different. The lead girl (topanga) was rather annoying but one thing is true and that is Nate Richert is still a hottie after all these years. I wouldnt suggest buying this movie, but if you are bored then you can stream it through NetFlix. 2.5/5

On The Doll- a look at people caught up in the sex industry through several over-lapping stories (think crash, but with lots of sex). This movie made me feel like i really needed a shower... 3/5

[claws]

Contamination (1980)

Alien-eggs from Mars squirt acid causing chests to burst. Sounds familiar? German-Italian Alien rip off with exotic location, gory FX, odd dubbing and heaps of cheese. Gotta love the alien-creature with a flashlight between its eyes. 3.75/5 Cheese

[JaseSF]

The Crazies (2010): The inhabitants of a small Iowa town find their world turned into a nightmare when their water supply becomes contaminated with an unknown agent that causes mass insanity.

This was an entertaining watch and it had some good moments here and there, in particular some good jump and creep scares. There were some twists that reminded me of a 1960s-70s dystopia film. Problem is it's brought down a bit by bad acting, unconvincing plot elements and video game style editing. Personally I was a bit disappointed we never got any sense of an overwhelming crazies force out there even though there was supposed to be at times. Mostly it's our main cast battling just an handful of crazies they encounter at any given time...rather like as I said, one might encounter as a character in a video game. The cover for this movie makes it look far, far better than it actually is. In reality, it's a rather mundane quasi-zombie-lite movie. Some good ideas like I said but it never becomes anywhere near as interesting as the potential it held. **1/2 out of ***** stars.

[claws]

Nomads (1986)

Had its share of creepy moments. The twisted plot adds a bit of confusion but other than that, an overlooked little spook-thriller. Nice casting (Adam Ant, Josie Cotton, Mary Woronov). 4/5

[major jay]

BRUCE LEE FIGHTS BACK FROM THE GRAVE
This is a very entertaining/terrible movie. It makes no sense at all, but there are some great moments. The dubbing is priceless.
Here's an example, and look for the two old ladies who walk through the scene.
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[Jack]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) - basically the story of how Leatherface ended up the way he is, and how R. Lee Ermey got to be the sheriff.  And how a group of twenty-somethings had one really lousy day.  Mostly watched this because Jordana Brewster was in it, and she looked stunning in The Faculty.  Not so here, they make her as plain as possible.  The victims weren't well developed or sympathetic, the movie was brutal but not the least bit scary.  If anything it was amusing.  About the only high point was R. Lee Ermey doing his usual R. Lee Ermey thing.  3/5.

[Cthulhu]

X: The man with the X-ray eyes- What a great movie!

[Pilgermann]

Hostile Takeover (1988) - An odd hostage film from the guy that directed the original My Bloody Valentine.  David Warner plays Eugene, an unassuming (of course) office worker who takes his boss and a couple of coworkers hostage during an overtime Saturday shift but doesn't have any demands and won't give a reason for it.  The characters get to know one another a little more deeply and the viewer learns of their regrets and secrets, and there's some crap revolving around T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men that seems to be important to Eugene's meltdown, but the film doesn't amount to anything great.  It's an odd and interesting watch, and it also features the bloodiest shotgun blast I've ever seen in a movie.

Black Narcissus (1947) - Essentially a film about the struggles of some nuns who are starting a new school and hospital in the Himalayas, but it's incredibly lovely to look at and it builds up great tension.  Almost becomes a horror film towards the end.

[JaseSF]

Bambi (1942): famous Disney tale the follows the cycle of life as it concerns a young deer named Bambi. It has its powerful moments, moments that seem quite shocking in a children's cartoon even though it's mostly implied. Still this one definitely has its sad moments. Honestly it affected me much more greatly and personally as a kid when it seemed I could relate a lot better to it. As an adult, to be honest, I found it surprisingly dull despite remembering being quite gripped by it in my childhood viewing of it. The cute supporting critters also I remembering liking more back then. Still it's a classic. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[claws]

The Redeemer (1978)

Weird but intriguing proto-slasher pretty much doing what Slaughter High (1986) did eight years later, only better. 4/5

Humanoids from the Deep: Unrated (1980) Blu-ray

Fun monster romp, and in its unrated Blu-ray version quite graphic at times. Love the location where it was shot (Fort Bragg, California. Mild weather throughout the year with lots of rain, drizzle, fog and overcast. My kind of place). 4/5

[RCMerchant]

.The MANSON FAMILY (2009)-This is Jim Van Beebers years in the making story of the infamous Manson family. After all the build-up-what a disapointment.
It  plays fast and loose with the known facts surrounding the Family. None of the players (I won't call them actors....they can't act) even remotly resemble the people they are playing. Many of the interview scenes are direct re-enactments from the excellent MANSON (1971) documentary-but done poorly. And worst of all-it's BORING. Ugh-don't waste your money.

[lester1/2jr]

The Front (1976) - Why hadn't I heard of this? It's really good. It's about the blacklist and was directed, written and features actors who were blacklisted for a time in Hollywood!

Woody Allen is great as Howard Prince ie The Front, the guy who the blacklisted writers give their scripts too. The blacklist is fantastic for him because he gets what amounts to an agents cut and all he has to do is act like he wrote the stories. He even gets in Andrea Marcovicci (who I thought was Andie Mcdowell) 's pants because she thinks he is writing the stuff (sorry for the spoiler but it's pretty obvious when you meet her and you realize it's Woody Allen how it's gonna go).

Everything is going remarkably smoothly considering the scenerio but then things get complicated. Writers can work around the system, for actors it's a little harder. One of Martins friends is one of these people and he is affected by his friends career dive. Also, though he is entirely cynical, even Martin becomes p**sed off at the fecklessness of his bosses at the tv station in standing up to the Mcarthyites and he realizes that he himself is to some extent part of the problem. This whole element comes together really seamlessly and believably.

Honestly as a libertarian I had a kind of mixed view of the Mcarthy era. I am all for the first amendment but I really do not like communism. I think nowadays you have pundits who call the president a communist, on some level that's fine. When you actually start  having these hearings and it becomes a witchhunt it turns into something else.

5/5

[Flick James]

The Front (1976) - Why hadn't I heard of this? It's really good. It's about the blacklist and was directed, written and features actors who were blacklisted for a time in Hollywood!

Woody Allen is great as Howard Prince ie The Front, the guy who the blacklisted writers give their scripts too. The blacklist is fantastic for him because he gets what amounts to an agents cut and all he has to do is act like he wrote the stories. He even gets in Andrea Marcovicci (who I thought was Andie Mcdowell) 's pants because she thinks he is writing the stuff (sorry for the spoiler but it's pretty obvious when you meet her and you realize it's Woody Allen how it's gonna go).

Everything is going remarkably smoothly considering the scenerio but then things get complicated. Writers can work around the system, for actors it's a little harder. One of Martins friends is one of these people and he is affected by his friends career dive. Also, though he is entirely cynical, even Martin becomes p**sed off at the fecklessness of his bosses at the tv station in standing up to the Mcarthyites and he realizes that he himself is to some extent part of the problem. This whole element comes together really seamlessly and believably.

Honestly as a libertarian I had a kind of mixed view of the Mcarthy era. I am all for the first amendment but I really do not like communism. I think nowadays you have pundits who call the president a communist, on some level that's fine. When you actually start  having these hearings and it becomes a witchhunt it turns into something else.

5/5

The Front is a fine film, and as a libertarian myself I suffer from the same quandry, but ultimately the 1st Amendment tends to win for me.

Zero Mostel was a standout in this film. On one hand, I had a great deal of sympathy because in the end he was just a horndog who got caught up in politics he had no real care about because that's where all the girls were, and did he really deserve to lose his career over i?. On the other hand, I can't condone getting involved in politics for such shallow reasons.

An unusual film for Woody Allen because he didn't write or direct it. I did like it quite a bit overall.

[lester1/2jr]

Rothbards reflections on that era are really interesting. He has some good things to say about McArthy, he liked his populism but he also notes ruefully that it was the moment of the slide from sort of quasi libertarianism to red baiting as the kind of identity of the right.

[claws]

Adventureland (2009) Blu-ray

Decent comedy with 80s setting. Great, fun cast and not your typical 80s soundtrack. Movie seems to be inspired by The Lost Boys (1987) which shows. Loved the "Rock Me Amadeus" running joke. 4.5/5