Recent viewings

[BoyScoutKevin]

I mentioned the people involved with "Tenderness of the Wolves," but . . .?! forgot to mention that the film, as is the 1931 version of "M," is based on the career of German serial killer Fritz Haarman.

It did not take long for the Americans to remake "M." The American version coming out in 1951 or only 20 years after the German version was released to the public. As I have seen the original German version, I'll have to see if I can find the American remake. If only, because it is regarded as being one of the better remakes. Maybe because the director was Joseph Losey, and while he was no Fritz Lang, he was one of the better directors to come out of Hollywood. Among the actors starring in the American version, which was set in San Francisco, were . . .

David Wayne
Howard Da Silva
Martin Gabel
Luther Adler
Raymond Burr
Norman Lloyd
Jim Backus
and William Schallert in an uncredited role.

And we'll see what we'll see.

[Rev. Powell]

BUZZARD (2015): A slacker and small-time scam artist goes on the run, taking along his homemade Freddy Kruger glove, after his latest con goes bad. This punk-minimalist character study understands the psychology and sociology of pathologically shortcut-obsessed losers. 3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Prdestination (2015) - this is aiming to be one of these slick overtly independent new sci fi movies a la Another Earth but it's too confusing and lacks tension. the acting and dialogue is strong but they just bop around through time and the premise of trying to stop a 9/11 type event is given very short thrift. A rewrite would be recommended. a couple actually

2/5

[Rev. Powell]

Prdestination (2015) - this is aiming to be one of these slick overtly independent new sci fi movies a la Another Earth but it's too confusing and lacks tension. the acting and dialogue is strong but they just bop around through time and the premise of trying to stop a 9/11 type event is given very short thrift. A rewrite would be recommended. a couple actually

2/5

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more there lester. This is a very faithful adaptation of Robert Heinlein's "All You Zombies," which is the classic time travel paradox story. The terrorism thing is a purposeful MacGuffin.

[claws]

The Canal (2014)

Young family of three move into a house with a dark history. Strange things start to happen when the husband finds out his wife is having an affair. The wife mysteriously disappears, and the husbands becomes the main suspect while he does his own investigations. It appears that a small nearby stream is somewhat connected to the disappearance and soon enough the husband gathers evidence of supernatural involvement.

The Canal enjoyed a small buzz upon release, rightfully so. Solid creepy scares with an engaging mystery plot and a few surprise twists and turns. Rating: 4/5

Re-watch GirlHouse (2014)

In order to finance her education a young college student joins a sexy live streaming site called Girl House. The pay is very good and sex not necessarily required unless you want to boost your viewing count. Longtime subscriber "loverboy" immediately falls in love with the new girl, and thanks to unfortunate events that trigger the serial killer in loverboy Girl House soon turns into a slaughterhouse.

Digital slasher with old school charm that also enjoyed a bit of internet buzz in early 2015. Even though "loverboy" is no Michael Myers GirlHouse still manages to entertain. It wont win any awards for originality but this is what we love about slashers. Rating: 4/5

[lester1/2jr]

rev- the transgender girl was awkward and I had no idea where she went or ended up. the bartender guy was boring and who cares that he's going through time trying to stop some sort of terrorism? who was the baby was supposed to be? no one knows

[indianasmith]

Looking over my most recent viewings, there are several I have not commented on, so here goes:

PAY THE GHOST (2015) This is a pretty engaging little horror film with perennial everything actor Nick Cage.  He is a college professor working hard to get tenured when his son is taken from him at a Halloween festival in his NYC neighborhood.  His wife leaves him, his life goes to seed, and one year later he is still trying to find out what happened when a series of clues points him to the vengeful ghost of a Celtic woman burned as a witch 350 years before, who swore vengeance for her own murdered children.  Not bad overall, a few good scares and some great visual effects - plus Cage actually shows up in this one, something he sometimes fails to do. 3.5/5

SOME KIND OF HATE is another vengeful ghost story; this time the specter in question is a girl named Moira who was bullied to death in a camp for wayward kids and now takes out revenge by driving the camp's residents to murder and suicide.  Weak plot and unlikable characters hurt this one. 3/5

TIGER HOUSE was a very well done, albeit low budget hostage drama.  A young girl is sneaking in to visit her wealthy boyfriend when armed bandits break into the house and take the whole family hostage - except for her, whose presence they are unaware of.  She creeps about, trying to avoid discovery and then fighting to survive when she is finally found.  Excellent suspense, believable characters, and a couple of neat twists made this one a fun watch. 4/5

THE INVOKING 2: PARANORMAL EVENTS was a schlocky montage of three or four horror shorts that were boring and predictable.  A waste of my rental money! 2/5

Now . . . as for the one I rented tonight - that one gets its own entry!

[Rev. Powell]

rev- the transgender girl was awkward and I had no idea where she went or ended up. the bartender guy was boring and who cares that he's going through time trying to stop some sort of terrorism? who was the baby was supposed to be? no one knows

Don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen the film but maybe these will help explain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_You_Zombies and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestination_%28film%29.

[lester1/2jr]

The Big Racket (1976) - Italian action movie with decent budget and good rough atmosphere. It's 1 hr 45m and could have been 1 30 but is still pretty enjoyable. I especially liked the evil female member of the "racket" gang she was so brutal. If you're looking for a non horror movie that has a similar sort of feel check it out. I wasn't hugely in the mood for it but it's solid. I think alpha Blue or one of those companies put this out. Blue Underwear

3.75 /5

[Rev. Powell]

MUSTANG: Five orphaned girls chafe under the care of their conservative, chastity-obsessed uncle and grandmother, who imprison them in a house the girls dub a "wife factory." This Turkish feminist statement that features five beautiful young actresses is very sweet, but also a little obvious. 3/5.

GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE PRISON OF BELIEF: Interviews with those who have left the Church of Scientology mixed with leaked Church footage (like Tom Cruise's embarrassing promotional videos) and recreations to present a history of the controversial movement. Very thorough examination of Scientology's history, from its mentally ill founder to the abuses of its current leader; although this doc would have been much more timely about a decade ago, GOING CLEAR now stands as perhaps the most accessible response to the (rapidly shrinking) cult. 4/5.

MST3K: ALIEN FROM L.A.: This experiment covers supermodel Kathy Ireland's disastrous acting attempt as a squeaky-voiced waitress with poor self-esteem in Golan-Globus' "Mad Max at the Center of the Earth" cheapie. I hadn't seen this episode since it first aired and it was not as funny as I remembered; almost all of the jokes revolve around Kathy Ireland, who is indeed terrible and annoying but is also the only memorable thing in the movie. 3/5.

[Jim H]

Electric Boogaloo: documentary about the rise and fall of the Cannon company, or rather, mostly the Golan-Globus era (which is way more interesting).  If you're a fan of Cannon films like I am, I'd call it a must watch.  Tons of bits of trivia on a TON of their films, with an amazing number of the people involved.  Off the top of my head...  The then head of MGM, Albert Pyun, Michael Dudikoff, Dolph Lundgren, Sam Firstenberg, Franco Nero, Lucinda Dickey, Alex Winter, the cast of Breakin' (and sequel, of which the documentaries' title derives), and most of their writing stable.  Lots of clips.  Loved the backstories about how some of their ridiculous ideas came to fruition, and how involved Golan and Globus were in many areas.  It also has a pretty good meta story about reaching too far, and trying to hard.  It's not exactly DEEP, but it's interesting and very entertaining.  I'd give it a 9/10.  It is on NetFlix now.

The only interview really missing is Golan and Globus, who decided not to participate, and instead made their own documentary and beat this one to market.  Not much better sums up Cannon than that.

Also, I wish it was on a YouTube, because there's a motion poster montage of Cannon film's theatrical and VHS covers set to Def Leppard's Action that forms the intro to the film, and is a better summary of why I loved the studio than anything else ever could be.

[FatFreddysCat]

Last night was "Rent one, get one Free" night at RedBox!

"The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (2015)
http://youtu.be/w_Ky4KPzKwY
Henry "Superman" Cavill and Armie "Lone Ranger" Hammer star in this update of the '60s TV spy series from Guy Ritchie. In 1963 an American and a Russian agent - who have some not-so-friendly history with each other, of course - are teamed up to track down a missing nuclear scientist. This nice looking period piece tries for the feel of the early Bond films, but unfortunately the story drags along without ever really kicking into high gear. As far as recent spy spoofs go, I greatly preferred "Kingsman: The Secret Service."

"Terminator: Genisys" (2015)
http://youtu.be/rGSxss7gWak
After sitting out the last Terminator installment, Arnold returns to the franchise for this fifth go-round that is part sequel, part reboot, and part fanboy homage to the 1984 original. Kyle Reese is sent back to the '80s to protect Sarah Connor, just like in the first movie, but changes to the time line over the past 30 years have had unexpected effects on what happens when he gets there. So yeah, this one kinda screws with the mythology of the entire series but lotsa stuff got crashed, shot and blowed up real good so I was entertained.

[indianasmith]

Let's see . . . . this weekend I watched

THE HAUNTING AT FOSTER CABIN - Five girls go to a rather nice cabin in the woods, one gets killed, three get possessed, and one winds up fighting the evil spirit of her grandmother, a sorceress.  A cheap EVIL DEAD knockoff, but the girls were cute.  3/5

THE DIABOLICAL - Ali Larter and her two kids live in a haunted house, and the apparitions are getting more and more hostile.  But she can't move out because the spirits cause her children to get sick if they get more than a few feet from the front door.  So she calls on her schoolteacher boyfriend to help her defeat the malevolent shades. Great atmosphere and effects, weak story.  4/5

IT'S A WONDERFU LIFE - A Christmas classic that never gets old and a great way to wind up my birthday. 

[Trevor]

Very thorough examination of Scientology's history, from its mentally ill founder

He actually hid out in Johannesburg during the 1960s: the house site said that he came up with the 'one man, one vote' policy. 

[FatFreddysCat]

"Ant-Man" (2015)
http://youtu.be/pWdKf3MneyI
Paul Rudd is a small time burglar who's just been released from prison. Looking for a "straight" job, he's hired by a scientist - whose top secret shrinking technology is about to be handed over to some very bad people. Donning a special suit that can make him insect size, he then has to pull off his biggest heist ever.
Ant-Man was never one of Marvel's major players but his film debut is very enjoyable, funny stuff. They wisely let some of the character's sillier side show thru, making this one of the more comedic entries in  the Marvel Cinematic Universe.