Recent viewings

indianasmith · January 28, 2018, 06:03:43 PM

GOING IN STYLE (2017) - Three retirees, led by the one and only Michael Caine, decide to rob the bank that is liquidating their pension fund. With Alan Arkin and Morgan Freeman in strong supporting roles, geriatric hijinks ensue. Great, fun film! 4/5

lester1/2jr · January 29, 2018, 11:30:21 AM

Annabelle: creation - I like the British other conjuring movie better than this one, which is about little girls being scared in a house while the cop from Without a trace acts like he's constipated or something. It's okay, but I don't want to see little kids being scared really just in general and without the context of the other films I don't think it could have really stood on it's own.

3/5

Hostel 2 - this was more my kind of thing. I never saw the first hostel or can't remember if I did. this wasn't a horror comedy per say but it was campy. Quentin tarantino was one of the producers and his influence is felt. It a bit like one of those Masters of Horror things but full length. It was serious too though and the female lead plays it straight. standard "Strong" survivor type woman amidst a goofball girl and a skanky one. A good touch was actually having the nefarious secret society out and about instead of lurking in the shadows. You literally see people being like "yes I 'm a rich golf guy in Connecticut and I'd like to murder this girl" and you get to know him a bit.

4.5 /5

BoyScoutKevin · January 29, 2018, 05:24:22 PM

Quote from: indianasmith on January 28, 2018, 06:03:43 PM
GOING IN STYLE (2017) - Three retirees, led by the one and only Michael Caine, decide to rob the bank that is liquidating their pension fund. With Alan Arkin and Morgan Freeman in strong supporting roles, geriatric hijinks ensue. Great, fun film! 4/5

Actually, this seems to be a remake of the 1979 film of the same title, where the 3 bank robbers were George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg. As I have seen neither film, I cannot say which one is the better of the two or are they both the same?

indianasmith · January 29, 2018, 05:55:46 PM

Quote from: BoyScoutKevin on January 29, 2018, 05:24:22 PM
Quote from: indianasmith on January 28, 2018, 06:03:43 PM
GOING IN STYLE (2017) - Three retirees, led by the one and only Michael Caine, decide to rob the bank that is liquidating their pension fund. With Alan Arkin and Morgan Freeman in strong supporting roles, geriatric hijinks ensue. Great, fun film! 4/5

Actually, this seems to be a remake of the 1979 film of the same title, where the 3 bank robbers were George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg. As I have seen neither film, I cannot say which one is the better of the two or are they both the same?

I don't remember the first movie, but I sure enjoyed this one!

Rev. Powell · January 30, 2018, 09:58:55 AM

I found a number of rare but classic Soviet films on Amazon Prime. This is a great one.

HEART OF A DOG (1988): In 1920s Moscow (just after the Russian Revolution) a doctor transplants a human pituitary gland (and testicles) onto a stray dog; it grows into a human being, who turns out to be a Marxist boor. Mikhail Bulgakov's anti-Communist satire on the "New Soviet Man" was understandably banned in the USSR for six decades until the Gorbachev era; this faithful and fascinating adaptation of the literary classic, made for TV, was worth waiting for. 4.5/5.

FatFreddysCat · January 31, 2018, 07:26:16 AM

"Tenebre" (aka "Tenebrae," 1982)
An American author comes to Rome to promote his latest horror novel, and someone begins murdering his close associates in ways that mirror the death scenes in his book.
Dario Argento directed this artsy, oh-so-'80s giallo/slasher flick, which features lotsa pretty girls and plenty of splashy gore, but the story is weak and the performances and dubbing are awkward at best - in other words, it's a pretty typical Italian horror flick. Unca Dario has done better but I've seen lots worse.

Rev. Powell · January 31, 2018, 09:55:23 AM

HOSTILES (2018): An army captain with a brutal past is tasked with escorting his recently-pardoned sworn enemy, Chief Yellow Hawk, to Montana so that he may be buried in his ancestral home. Poor pacing and occasional clumsy, self-important scripting ambush the fine performances by Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike (as a bereaved widow who tags along with the unit). If you like grave-digging scenes, though, you will love this movie. 2.5/5.

lester1/2jr · January 31, 2018, 10:55:36 AM

QuoteIf you like grave-digging scenes, though, you will love this movie.

I really do

The Devil's Hand (1961) - yeaaah buddy. That's what I'm talkin about. this is on youtube but the dvd I got from netflix (thats right I haven't changed over to direct even though I got a roku for Christmas a year ago!) has a much better picture.

A stupid "charming" guy who looks like he did too much opium or bathtub gin or whatever they did back then is dating a "good girl", but starts getting visions of a hot temptress. Thats because shes a witch in a cult with 10 members in a toy store basement. They appear to worship a badly made bust of a woman named gabba or something. Their main gimmick is voodoo dolls which are made in the toy store upstairs, helpfully. They have otherwordly magic powers and this is what they do with them, make voodoo dolls of random locals or go into the subconscious dimension to hook up with local studs.

It's stricly PG but the temptress girl is sexy, the magic element is awesome and the whole thing has an air of a mai tai at a retro Chinese restaurant. I've never had a mai tai and I hate suburban Chinese food but I loved this.

5/5

lester1/2jr · February 01, 2018, 12:45:29 PM

backtrack (2016) - file under "very good but depressing" and also "no thanks" . unspeakable misery befalls a guy who caused a train crash when he was younger. horrible things happen and the little kid ghosts that are in every movie now join in the fun. If you want to feel terrible check it out. adrian Brody will be your guide
4/5

Rev. Powell · February 02, 2018, 09:29:16 AM

SKELETONS (2010): Two psychic investigators---memory extractors who literally find "skeletons in the closet"---investigate a missing person case at the request of an eccentric family. An agreeable and ambitious British sci-fi/comedy that ends up a near-miss because it can't quite figure out how to get its many ideas across to the audience. 3/5.

FatFreddysCat · February 03, 2018, 08:44:00 PM

"Atomic Blonde" (2017)
This slick, stylish, ultra violent spy flick stars Charlize Theron is a British agent who is sent to East Germany to escort a Russian defector to the West before the Berlin Wall comes down. Charlize is a babe, of course, and it's tons of sadistic fun watching her shoot, punch, kick, and generally beat the crap out of every bad guy who crosses her path. Not a must-see, but an entertaining butt kicker.

indianasmith · February 03, 2018, 09:57:23 PM

THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE (2016?)
I had seen bits and snippets of this one before, but this afternoon being kind of tired and blah feeling I sat and watched the whole thing.
A marvelous, creepy film the likes of which I haven't seen in a while - police investigating a quadruple homicide find the nude body of a beautiful young woman half buried in the cellar. They take the body to a local mortuary, run by a father-son team of pathologists, who conduct an autopsy to find the cause of death. But the more they investigate, the more confusing and impossible the condition of this body becomes . . . then the lights go out and the corpses wake up. Excellent flick!!! (The dead chick is totally hot, too!) 4.5/5

Rev. Powell · February 04, 2018, 02:42:04 PM

THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984): The dream of a teenage girl, mixing up werewolf legends with the story of Little Red Riding Hood. A unique, dreamy fairy tale, adapted by Angela Carter from her own short stories, dealing with a girl's blossoming desire for, and fear of, men and sex. 4/5.

RIFFTRAX: TROLL 2: OK, I confess, I should have watched TROLL 2 with no commentary the first time out. I felt shielded, like I missed out on some of the pain. Plus, Kevin and Bill are not on this early Rifftrax effort: it's just Mike Nelson with some amateur called "Lowtax." The acting, plot, and effects are every bit as bad as I'd been told. There are no trolls in the movie, which seems like a mistake for a movie called "Troll 2." Again, I wish I'd seen it with no commentary, but I'd still give it a 3/5 in this version.

Alex · February 04, 2018, 02:44:35 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on February 04, 2018, 02:42:04 PM

RIFFTRAX: TROLL 2: OK, I confess, I should have watched TROLL 2 with no commentary the first time out. I felt shielded, like I missed out on some of the pain. Plus, Kevin and Bill are not on this early Rifftrax effort: it's just Mike Nelson with some amateur called "Lowtax." The acting, plot, and effects are every bit as bad as I'd been told. There are no trolls in the movie, which seems like a mistake for a movie called "Troll 2." Again, I wish I'd seen it with no commentary, but I'd still give it a 3/5 in this version.

I actually know one of the actors who played a Goblin in this movie. He hates it with a passion due to getting a stalker out of it.

FatFreddysCat · February 04, 2018, 04:47:50 PM

"Devil's Express" (aka "Gang Wars," 1976)
A pair of streetwise New York martial artists travel to Hong Kong for a tournament and accidentally bring home an ancient Chinese demon, which then takes up residence in the Harlem subway tunnels and starts mutilating unlucky straphangers. Murder, mayhem and poorly choreographed fight scenes ensue.
I have wanted to see this batsh*t insane no-budget mash up of the blaxploitation, kung-fu, and horror genres ever since I first came across the trailer on YouTube a few years ago and witnessed the mighty Afro of the heroic Warhawk Tanzania in action (by the way, "Warhawk Tanzania" is the COOLEST movie-hero name EVER, hands down). Thanks to Amazon Prime I was finally able to knock this trashy nugget off of my bucket list. Make no mistake, this movie's a total mess, but it's an entertaining mess!