Recent viewings

[Trevor]

The remake of When A Stranger Calls: *shudder* 

[indianasmith]

Finally got around to watching DOCTOR STRANGE yesterday.
I vaguely remember seeing the character on comic book covers as a teen; the movie I found to be smart, entertaining, and well-acted.  Benedict Cumberbatch was perfect in the lead role, and the strong supporting cast made for a fun two hours.  4/5

[lester1/2jr]

yellowbrickroad - the reach clearly exceeds the grasp in this indy horror that starts of interesting but ultimately falls well short of success.

A bunch of people go out to find the "yellow brick road" which is some kind of spooky path in the woods. We never really learn why it was haunted or whatever. As they walk around we get to know the doomed people as is the custom and none of them are interesting. The sound seemed like it was quiet or maybe it was just the uninspired dialogue and boring people making the conversations hard to follow. It's clearly a number of steps away from final draft and needed to be all kinds of tuned up. One scene which featured a leg being cut off, looked like a Syfy movie but was played straight. The ending was stupid.

a generous 2/5 if you don't look to close it feels like a decent movie

[indianasmith]

JOHN WICK 2:  I really enjoyed the first JOHN WICK movie, and this one picks up right where it left off.
Having avenged the death of his puppy and the loss of his beloved car, Wick buries his weapons again (literally) and prepares to resume retirement from the stressful life of being a legendary hitman.  But, one of his companions from the bad old days has a "marker" Wick signed, and decides to call it in - under the code of the assassin, Wick MUST do whatever it is he is asked by the person who holds his marker.  John refuses, and as a result, his house gets blown up, multiple assassins are sent after him, and LOTS of people die.  I mean, LOTS of people.  The first movie had a more cohesive plot and Wick was a more sympathetic character; in this film, we just get to see Keanu Reeves kill people for an hour and a half.  Not bad if you are looking for a pure shoot-em-up.
3/5

[Rev. Powell]

LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH (1928): A clown raises an orphan girl, then falls in love with her, while a rich man also seeks her hand. Lon Chaney's clowning is antiquated, but there is a feverish amount of 20s-style sexual tension in this "Pagliacci" variation with incestuous overtones, which is made even creepier by the knowledge that actress Loretta Young was only 14 at the time this was shot. 3.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Gun Crazy (1992) - Drew Barrymore made this around the same time as Poison Ivy. It goes for a similar exploitation sort of style but lacks the Michael Douglas ish suspense element. As a result its not as compelling but is, to borrow a cliche, a "fascinating time capsule". It combines criminals on the run comedy with that Hollywood small southern town thing where everyone's mean and/ or snake handling weirdies. there's also quite bit of murder. Barrymore was I think 17 at the time so there's no nudity except for a short wet t shirt shot, but she is cute and of course very natural on screen.

My favorite part was when they break into someones house and imagine they are the people, even treating the dog as their own long time pet (they had met it earlier in the movie). Director Tamra Davis was some kind of hipster at some point I think and Beastie Boys "gratitude" was in one scene. Not a great movie but colorful and more worth your time than another horror movie with little kids in black metal facepaint

3.75/ 5

also thats Warhol/ B movie legend Joe Dallesandro of all people as the gross step Dad/ gun teacher

[indianasmith]

KILLJOY - A tormented black youth summons an ancient evil spirit named Killjoy to animate a clown doll and rescue him from his tormentors.  The boy - Mike - is killed before the spell takes effect, but one year later, Killjoy is ready to take vengeance on those who caused Mikey's death.  This is the leadoff film to a Full Moon series; I've never seen any of them but got all 3 on one disc, so my weekend is booked.  Hope they get better, this one was NOT great. 2.5/5

[javakoala]

KILLJOY - A tormented black youth summons an ancient evil spirit named Killjoy to animate a clown doll and rescue him from his tormentors.  The boy - Mike - is killed before the spell takes effect, but one year later, Killjoy is ready to take vengeance on those who caused Mikey's death.  This is the leadoff film to a Full Moon series; I've never seen any of them but got all 3 on one disc, so my weekend is booked.  Hope they get better, this one was NOT great. 2.5/5

To give you an idea of what you are in store for, I'd would actually consider re-watching SUCKER PUNCH than watch ANY of the Killjoy films again.

[indianasmith]

Too late!  I watched KILLJOY 2 and 3 this morning.  Overall, I thought 3 better than 2, but neither of them merits above a 2 - 2.5 rating in my book.

[Chainsawmidget]

Oh God.  Somebody else watched the Killjoy movies.  You have my condolences.  Nothing in those movies even remotely resembles "entertainment." 

I would have given them a 2.5 out of TEN. 

[javakoala]

Oh God.  Somebody else watched the Killjoy movies.  You have my condolences.  Nothing in those movies even remotely resembles "entertainment." 

I would have given them a 2.5 out of TEN. 

You are far more generous than I am. I would actually want a binding agreement that Charles Band and his company stop making films (I use that term as loosely as they do) forever, plus three eons beyond that, then I MIGHT give the first Killjoy a .5 out of 5.

Band's style of films should remain in the 80s, when there was a boom in the VHS market. DVDs and BDs just make his company's films look as cheap and lazy as they actually are.

Not that I have any definite feelings on this issue one way or another. 

[indianasmith]

HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2

Sid Haig.  Zombies.  Boobs. Lots of gunfire and explosions.
What was not to like?

4/5

[indianasmith]

BLOOD BROTHERS

This one set out to be a thoughtful, mind-bending, artsy horror film.
It wound up just being really, really bad - but bad in an entertaining way.
Two brothers with an invalid, alcoholic mother decide to go on a murder spree.  At first they decide to start with a prostitute, but the older brother decides she is icky.  Then they choose the new waitress at their favorite restaurant.  This time they succeed in bashing her face and skull in with a rock, but the older and more bloodthirsty of the two is freaked out and becomes a whiny wimp for the rest of the movie, while the younger brother goes full psycho and embarks on a killing spree. The murdered waitress begins haunting both of them while naked. I mean, she's naked in the afterlife; they remain fully clothed. There is also a psychic detective, a killing spree in a movie theater, and some other stuff involved.  It was just a rather weird film. 3/5

[Rev. Powell]

STRANGE DAYS (1995): On the eve of the millennium, a pusher who traffics in virtual reality experiences taken from live subjects, finds himself drawn into a conspiracy when he acquires a VR tape of one of his acquaintances being brutally raped and murdered. Kathryn Bigelow directed but I see the shadow of writer/producer James Cameron everywhere in this megabudget B-movie that mixes exploitation and over-the-top action with serious sci-fi and cultural ideas. 4/5.

[claws]

Jaws 2 (1978)

Another shark is roaming the waters of Amity Island endangering summer business and wet fun. Chief Brody becomes yet again a shark killing hero after being fired for spreading shark paranoia. This is pretty much a weaker carbon copy of Spielberg's groundbreaking global box office hit Jaws (1975). Acting wise only Roy Scheider stands out. The rest of the cast consist of a bunch of lame teens dipping into deadly waters, and of course there's Lorraine Gary playing Scheider's wife. Her claim to fame was being married to some Universal Studio boss who made sure his wife got cast in possible movie hits. Anyway, Jaws 2 takes its time to get going but once it speeds up the pace it can be entertaining at times. 3/5

edit to add: movies display fashion of the time it was made. However, the fashion and styling of most of the teens in Jaws 2 is just borderline bizarre. There are some weird and awful clothing choices, even for 1978. One can easily tell that the sophisticated fashion sense of disco has not reached Amity Island's teens yet. The boys give a new meaning to the word scruffy, with thick cavemen hair even. I just felt the need to point this out 

Retroactive (1997)

A psychologist working for the police is sucked into a time repeating experiment while travelling through Texas. Now she has to try to stop a sociopathic redneck (James Belushi) and his passive aggressive wife from going on a killing spree over and over again. It's Groundhog Day (1993) with a sci-fi twist, lots of explosions and rude behavior from James Belushi. Retroactive has become a cult film over the years that's not perfect by any means but it it is quirky and entertaining enough to never get boring. Still can't believe this is my first time viewing   3.5/5