Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

Contracted (2013) - really the most absurd thing I've seen in a while. I don't watch all that many recent movies but it seems as though drive in style camp has made a comeback, perhaps via syfy I don't really know. I had to pause this several times because it was so ridiculous. I don't know at what point it happened, maybe when she was on the way to the hospital to get her weirdly decomposing body treated and her boss calls her in to fill a shift and shes like yeah sure but it went from scary to silly and kept going all the way to the end.

A girl has a one night stand at a party and wakes up very much regretting it. She also seems to have an unusually bad hangover. Gradually, the hangover becomes something more sinister, though she for some reason is determined to play it off. Again, at some point this thing crosses the line from a good movie with a decent concept to something more akin to Troll 2 or The Room. I often give a movie a pass if I like it and there's something that requires you to suspend your disbelief, like someone escaping from a basement dungeon and for some reason not yelling for help or something. This one...I mean the young woman looks like a zombie and people are like "you don't look so good, Sara".

I'd give it a 2 /5 on it's merits but a 4/5 for entertainment value as it was rather fun in a demented way.

[indianasmith]

In the last two days I've watched:
SAVING MR. BANKS - a rather sweet tale about how Walt Disney finally persuaded the rather fussy and particular author of the Marry Poppins books to allow him to adapt her work to the screen.  This is an amazing story, beautifully filmed, and I'm not ashamed to confess I teared up a bit at the end.  Then last night I watched
JOYRIDE 3 - The psychotic trucker Rusty Nail is back, this time murdering his way through a race car team that cut him off on the highway.  These films are brutal and degrading, yet somehow I keep renting them.  This morning it was time for
ALMOST HUMAN - This movie reminded me of XTRO without the gratuitous nudity and sex.  A man is abducted by aliens, then two years later he shows up again and starts killing everyone he encounters while searching for his girlfriend. A gory bit of nonsense that was strangely entertaining.

[Josso]

JOYRIDE 3 - The psychotic trucker Rusty Nail is back, this time murdering his way through a race car team that cut him off on the highway.  These films are brutal and degrading, yet somehow I keep renting them.

I saw that the 3rd one was released and I watched all of them (I *may* have seen the first one years ago, but not sure), the trilogy reassured me that mediocre films have a place in the world. It was very 80s slasher to me in some respect, "dun dun dun!!!!" moments all the time, I was aware that what I was watching was not exactly top notch cinema to put it lightly but I was entertained. The removing of some of the mystery of the killer in the 3rd one I think was the right decision, to me this series is like better than Dual but not Death Proof.

[BakuryuuTyranno]

This late afternoon/evening-

The Broken - A pretty effective paranoia-based film about... well, technically its about the protagonist & her memory loss problems following an accident, but there's also beings that resemble people emerging from beyond the mirrors.

Particularly effective at one point when a montage/dream/quasi-flashback thingy - which shows the protagonist & her family are sitting around their table reasonably happy, then the reflections staring at the camera with utter rage. Also the suggestion "crazy" homeless might be the only survivors of similar incidents.

The downside was a bit anticlimactic but nevermind.

One Missed Call - Another The Ring imitator which, frankly, stops being interesting after the first act. Thankfully its much shorter than many similar imitators.

[Rev. Powell]

SHADOW NINJA [AKA KILLER WEARS WHITE] (1980): A small town police officer in rural China reluctantly takes on a talented but brash young apprentice. Higher quality than most chopsocky efforts, this is essentially a kung fu version of a buddy cop picture, with a couple of cleverly-staged fights (including a finale where the hero must battle while handcuffed to a corpse). 3/5, or higher if you really love chopsocky.

Also watched VERTIGO again. Always see something new. Not sure it's my absolute favorite movie, but it's always somewhere in my top 10.

[claws]

The Loreley's Grasp (1974)

Experienced hunter is hired to protect a boarding school for girls because a suspected wild beast is roaming the streets of a small town killing women. It is soon revealed that Lorelei - a water spirit - has emerged from the river Rhine claiming victims to feast on their hearts for seven nights in a row.
Not sure what it is with me and this movie, I always end up watching it at least once a year. The Loreley's Grasp is sloppy fantasy-horror with cheesy gore and gratuitous sexiness oozing with old school atmosphere. This one takes place in Germany displaying old world Germany cliches (modern town's folk equipped with torches and pitchforks, Oktoberfest ambiance, horse-drawn carriage). Either way, tons of fun. 4/5

The Borderlands (2013)

Team of Vatican investigators are sent to remote church in England to investigate paranormal activity. After setting up cams the spooky stuff begins. However, true horrors lies deep within the catacombs of the church.
Above average found footage horror that made my palms sweat. Damn that ending! It's a long ride getting there (lots of talk) but its worth it. 3.75/5

[JaseSF]

Police Story 2 (1988): Continuing from where the first Police Story ended, in this one we see Chan Ka Kui (Jackie Chan) demoted to traffic cop before seemingly quitting the force following reprimands for his behavior from the first film. Chan is eventually lured back into action by his superiors, much to the dislike of girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung), who want him to head a team devoted to finding a terrorist group behind a series of bomb threats in the city.

This delivers tons of great action including Kung Fu fighting, spectacular stunts, and explosions. It definitely has all the qualities that should appeal to most guys out there. The mystery in this one is pretty good too. It's not as all-out action-oriented as the first film (although it still has lots) but spends more time working to build up thrills and suspense. A personal favourite of mine. **** out of ***** stars.

[Jack]

Cockneys vs Zombies (2012) - our characters are in the middle of a bank robbery when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in East London. They find a building that offers temporary safety, but then decide to go rescue their grandpa and the other people at the old folks home. A zombie comedy, it got off to a slow start with most of the jokes falling flat, but after a half hour or so it got pretty funny. Just something about seeing zombies getting their heads blown off by shotguns...it never fails to bring a smile to my face. The characters were a likable bunch and there was plenty of witty banter. Alan Ford steals the show as the foul mouthed grandpa. 4/5.

[Trevor]

THE GREAT ESCAPE

I bought the DVD of this a week or so ago: what a crap film. It ripped off the entire plot of Chicken Run for crying out loud. 

Actually the DVD quality was great: I smell an archival reconstruction. 

[lester1/2jr]

Drive Angry (2011) - Nicholas Cage in a grindhouse type experiment that's purposely over the top. it's more Tarantino than actual grindhouse, jokes give an sometimes un needed wink wink to all the insanity, but I found that if I just went with it it was a lot of fun. Amber Heard eventually kind of won me over but it took a while. Her accent can't decide what it wants to be. from the Criterion collection no just jk 4.5/ 5

[Jack]

100 Ghost Street: The Return of Richard Speck (2012) - stop me if you've seen this one before: a group of paranormal investigators go into a supposedly haunted building...oh you have seen that, and seen it 15 times? Well if you're just dying for another 90 minutes of handheld camera lights swinging wildly across walls and ceilings, this should be right up your alley. Characters were thoroughly uninteresting and so stupid you wanted to kill them yourself. The first guy gets killed almost before the opening credits are finished, so forget about any ratcheting up of tension. The location was ordinary and forget about anything resembling a scare. They tell you right at the beginning that none of these people were ever heard from again, so gosh...I wonder what happens at the end? 1.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Doc of the Dead" (2014) a fun documentary that traces tge evolution of the zombie genre from its low budget grindhouse origins to today's full on pop culture explosion. Interviewees include George Romero (of course), Robert Kirkman of "The Walking Dead," gore guru Tom Savini, and even adult film star Joanna Angel, who directed a "Walking Dead" porn parody. Yes, really!!

[lester1/2jr]

There's a porn movie called Night of the Giving Head that I've been dying to see. Caroline Pierce is in it she's hot

Out of the Fog - passably entertaining noir (I guess) about a gangster who shakes people down, dates their daughters and generally makes a nuisance of himself. I liked how the people who lived by the water in Brooklyn could actually eat what they caught and the slice of life aspects were okay but not a lot of movie magic here in terms of either the cinematography or the themes. not bad though John Garfield and Ida Lupino are the stars 3/5

[Rev. Powell]

THE AMAZING MISTER X (1948): A rich widow hears the voice of her dead husband calling, then meets a charming psychic walking on the beach. Coincidence? This quiet, atmospheric movie plays like a film noir commissioned by Val Lewton; slow to get started but it has a reasonably satisfying third act. 2.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

There's a porn movie called Night of the Giving Head that I've been dying to see. Caroline Pierce is in it she's hot

That's frickin hysterical....but seriously, I don't think I wanna know how a porno parody of "Walking Dead" would work.