Recent viewings

[Rev. Powell]

PROSPERO'S BOOKS (1991): An adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" with John Gielgud as Prospero, featuring decadent sets, nude spirits, and sumptuous video overlays, optical tricks, and animated books. Paintings from the Old Masters come to life and morph into each other as Gielgud reads almost every line of the play; even if you hate it, it's impossible not to be impressed by the massive scale and detail of this movie. 5/5.

I like Shakespeare, and wanted to like that movie, but . . . . NO.

But you had to be impressed! Plus, a breast count nearing the triple digits, in Shakespeare!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hang 'Em High" (1968)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJqIbHT1-lM

A young and bad-ass Clint Eastwood stars in this old-school Western revenge saga as a would-be rancher who nearly gets lynched when he's mistaken for a cattle rustler. After he recovers, he joins the Federal Marshals and then embarks on a personal mission to get even with the men who almost killed him.

[indianasmith]

Tonight I finally watched CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR.  This is a true story about how a little known
Texas Congressman managed to pretty much single-handedly talk the U.S. Government into funding
the resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  Wilson increased the funding for the Afghan
figthers from $5 million to $1 billion in the space of just a few years, which turned the tide of the war
and drove the Russians out - in what would prove to be the only war the Soviet Union ever lost (except,
of course, for the Cold War!).  But to me, the most haunting scene of the movie was at the end, when
Wilson is begging the House Committee that had funded the war to invest $1 million to rebuild the destroyed
schools in Afghanistan.  He was brushed aside and ignored - once the Russians had been defeated,
Congress lost all interest in the Afghan people. I realize this is very much a "Hollywood version" of events,
but still, one can't help but wonder - how much would history have changed if Congress had heeded Wilson's
request, and spent 1/1000th of the money we spent to arm the mujahadeen on teaching their children
how some of the values that Western Civilization has embraced for 2000 years, instead of leaving them
to be educated by the Taliban and Al Qaeda?  How much blood and treasure could have been saved by such
a relatively paltry investment?

The movie ends with this quote:
"These things happened.  They were great and glorious and they changed history . . . .

till we f***ed up the end game." - Charlie Wilson

[FatFreddysCat]

"Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence" (1993)
http://www.youtube.com/v/JirurHj37TU

In the 3rd installment of the horror-action series, killer cop Matt Cordell is brought back from the dead (yet again) thanks to a voodoo spell, and he becomes fixated on a female NYPD officer who's been gravely wounded in the line of duty. Robert D'Avi returns from "Maniac Cop 2" to try and prevent her from becoming the unwilling Bride of the Maniac.

"Badge of Silence" may concentrate less on the "horror" end of things and more towards the "action" (it also ends with one of the most ridiculous car chase scenes ever put to celluloid) but overall, "MC3" provides plenty of carnage and enough over-the-top violence to satisfy most adrenaline junkies.

[Jack]

Outerworld (1987) - very low budget futuristic tale of a genetically engineered woman trying to get to another planet where an alien spaceship supposedly crashed a thousand years ago. She's assisted by her spaceship captain and of course she develops a thing for him, while the evil corporate forces whom she used to work for and who indeed created her chase her across the cosmos. The special effects in this are indeed "special", looking like a bunch of models a kid might build and hold in front of the camera. I've watched this movie before so I knew what to expect and found it a bit charming. The acting was decent enough for this sort of uber-cheezy '80s thing, and I thought the characters were likable. The pacing was good. Entertainment was achieved  4/5.

Plasterhead (2007) - some kids are heading through West Virginia on their way to spring break in Florida. They find a purse with $500 in it and apparently make it their life's work to return it to its owner. Even though everyone in the nearby town tells them it's very dangerous to go into the area etc. They finally find her house, the sheriff warns them once again that it's very dangerous, and even though they could just leave the damned purse in the middle of her living room floor to ensure that she finds it if/when she returns, they decide to stick around for no reason at all. At that point I decided these people were too stupid to live and this movie was too stupid to watch.

[Rev. Powell]

VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970): On the day she gets her period, a young girl's life turns into a strange dream involving lusty priests and a vampire infestation. This surreal fairy tale exploring juvenile fears of predatory adults and the scary world of sex was a late bloomer in the Czech New Wave, but stands as one of the most fascinating relics of the movement. 4/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Indiana- Wilson was wrong. We should have turned away and left the entire Middle East a la Sodom and Gommorah

[indianasmith]

I think stopping the Soviets was a worthwhile objective.  Theirs was one of the most evil and repressive systems in the history of the world, and what they did to the Afghan people was an abomination.  It's just a shame that we let the crazies take over after they left.

That being said, your reply is absolutely consistent with your philosophy, and I understand and appreciate your disposition, even if I disagree.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Death Race" (2008)

http://www.youtube.com/v/uNZojlqhxWk

High tech update of the 70s classic "Death Race 2000" stars Jason Statham as an unjustly-jailed former race driver whose only avenue of escape from the prison of the future is through the Death Race, a televised, no-holds-barred contest featuring heavily armored (and armed-to-the-teeth) cars that only one man can survive.

Nothin' fancy, just big, loud, dumb, action packed shoot'em up blow'em up entertainment. Mindless fun.

[lester1/2jr]

Indiana- It wasn't an argument against the intervention per say. it certainly helped hasten the demise of communism which I of course celebrate. I just think that what it should have taught us was that the Muslims were hell bent on driving out foreign forces. It should have been coupled with us leaving the region afterwards, rather than try to disprove what we had just demonstrated.


Little Caesar (1931) - Thug Life 4.5/5

[indianasmith]

We did leave.  And what happened?  The Taliban. A relatively tiny investment in education and economic development MIGHT have prevented that . . . then again, it might not.  We'll never know.

[claws]

Super Shark (2011)

Prehistoric shark with the gift of jumping miles high into the air or crawling on land is causing death and destruction. A marine babe, a skipper and the army are trying their best to stop the ever-hungry beast.
Bad CGI mayhem from Fred Olen Ray. Lots of average looking people cast as actors. No nudity and not much gore. OK for what it is 3/5

Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010)

Prehistoric croc and oversize gator on steroids escape DNA lab in Hawaii causing death and destruction. A policeman's daughter, some industrial spy and a crocodile dundee knock off are trying their best to stop the ever-hungry beasts.
Roger Corman co-production that was somewhat fun. Nice moving camera action and interesting soundtrack score all add up. 3.75/5

[Jack]

Night of the Blood Beast (1958) - an astronaut returns from space, but apparently dies when his ship crashes. But he's infested with alien sea horses inside him!



All 4 NASA employees show up to investigate the crash. There's also a monster running around and eventually the "dead" astronaut comes back to life. This is kind of a ripoff of 1951's The Thing from Another World, and as such it was somewhat enjoyable. Characters weren't bad, it managed to generate at least a modicum of suspense, and, well...3/5.

We also tried watching Fugitive Alien (1987). It's a Japanese sci-fi thing about an alien (human) guy who attacks earth, but then he betrays his people by refusing to kill a child and his mother. Then he teams up with some group of earthlings who fly around in a spaceship - the captain of which is most certainly insane - to fight against his own people. It's definitely a kid's show and it was bearable up until the guy started running around going "Bang!  Bang!" shooting his make-believe gun. My wife grabbed the remote and hit "eject" at that point. 

Favorite part was the cabin air pressure gauge in the spaceship:

[Rev. Powell]

PERSONA (1966): A nurse takes care of an actress who has decided to stop talking, and after confessing her guilty secrets to the silent woman she finds her own persona starting to blur into the other woman's. A strange and mysterious psychoanalytical horror film; Ingmar Bergman paints the self as a very scary place you wouldn't want to visit. 5/5.

MST3K: CRASH OF THE MOONS: Two wandering moons locked in a dual orbit threaten to destroy two planets; can Rocky Jones, Space Ranger convince the evil and hot queen Cleolanta to evacuate her people? The Rocky Jones movies are incredibly dull, but the Satellite of Love gang makes them into a good time, and the musical "Gypsy Moons" number is a classic. 3.5/5.

[BoyScoutKevin]

This post is of such a length, and I am such a poor keyboardist, that I cannot post it all without timing out, so I'll type it in segments.

Introduction
Director
What I Forgot
What I Did Not Forget
Questions
Conclusion

Introduction
The first Sunday of each month, the local library shows a free film. This month's film was "Romeo and Juliet" from 1968.

Costumes. Authentic. Dances. Authentic. Furniture . . . I think I have more furniture in my apartment than most people had in their houses at that time. Authentic.

It also helps that the film was shot in a countryside, a city, a church, a building, that has seemingly see little change over the past 500 years, or when the film is suppose to take place.

To be continued . . .