Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

CLaws- not a Christmas movie but check out Pamela's Prayer sometime if you get the chance. Its really choice

[claws]

Sounds great, will do!

[Rev. Powell]

MARRIAGE STORY (2019): A theater director and his actress wife agree to separate on good terms, but when lawyers get involved, the divorce turns acrimonious. An undercurrent of dry humor helps keep this tragedy tolerable in between bitter scenes of Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver opening up their veins onscreen. On Netflix. 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

1917 (2019): In WWI, two British enlisted men are given a mission to deliver a message warning another platoon of a German ambush, but they must travel through no man's land to deliver it. The heat of battle is conveyed through amazing long tracking shots that are somehow both showy and immersive at the same time. In theaters now/soon. Predict Indy will like this one. 4.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

RIFFTRAX: THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL: OK, I'm jaded. This wasn't as much of a disaster as I'd heard (other than the cartoon and Bea Arthur singing, of course). It's simply a very lazy attempt to exploit the popularity of STAR WARS with a variety show format that doesn't fit the tone of the movie at all. The Rifftrax presentation has some funny bits and includes contemporary 1978 commercials that are kind of fun. Glad I finally saw it, and this is the best way to watch it. 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (2019): In the 18th century, a female painter travels to a remote island to paint the portrait of a reluctant bride to be, but falls in love with her. Just barely overcomes its stodginess with fine acting and some good bits in the late stretch, including some intimate and tasteful erotic scenes. 3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Dolemite Is My Name" (2019)
Eddie Murphy stars in this funny, funky period piece as Rudy Ray Moore -  who was a washed up stand-up comic in the early '70s until he risked everything to turn "Dolemite," the heroic, ass kickin' kung-fu master and super pimp from his comedy routines, into a low budget "blaxploitation" film.
Murphy's performance is great and he's backed by a fantastic supporting cast that includes Keegan Michael Key, Craig Robinson, Titus Burgess, and even Wesley Snipes (where have you seen him lately?).
Thanks to this movie and his killer performance hosting "SNL" a couple of weeks ago, it looks like Eddie's comeback is in full swing.

[lester1/2jr]

Upgrade (2018) - pretty nondescript cast/ production but very cool story about a guy who gets a chip thing in his neck and works to find the perpetrator of all the bad things in the scenario. The fights scenes are hilarious. One interesting bit of casting was the lady who played his Mom actually looked like someones Mom 5/5

[Rev. Powell]

THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE (2019): I got an advanced screener and I'm not allowed to post reviews until 1/20. Spoiler, though: I think it will be popular with those who see it.

[indianasmith]

JUMANJI II - THE NEXT LEVEL (2019) Went to see this last night with my wife and one of our old friends and it's a real blast!  Picking up with the same cast of characters and adding Danny DeVito and Danny Glover to the mix as a grandfather and his former business partner/estranged friend, they get sucked into the game once more and have to retrieve a magic jewel from  a brutal gang of mercenaries in order to save Jumanji from certain destruction - and return to their own lives back home!  A fun popcorn movie with some new wrinkles on a familiar theme, totally worth going to see!  4/5

[chefzombie]

THE ICE HARVEST - A jaded lawyer in Wichita Falls, Kansas schemes with a bag man for the local mob heavy to steal a bunch of money, but winds up on the run when the mob boss is tipped off to their embezzlement.  Lots of twists and turns along the way as this bleak Christmas eve film noir unfolds. 4/5

please be so kind as to inform the film makers that there IS NO town called wichita falls in kansas! geez louise!

[Rev. Powell]

ATLANTICS (2019): Ada is in love with Soulemain, but he flees Senegal when his construction boss refuses to pay the workers their back wages; then, things take a supernatural take. Despite the fantastic elements, you couldn't mistake this metaphorical drama for a horror film. Well-intentioned and well-made and I see what other people like about it, but I just couldn't engage much with the slim plot. 3/5.

HONEYLAND (2019): A Macedonian spinster keeps bees and lives alone in a deserted village with her dying 85-year old mother; then, a large family moves in and sets up their own beekeeping business next door. A documentary that doesn't lead you by the hand but shows you that despite changes in technology, many people still scratch out a meager living on the land the same way their ancestors have for centuries; very affecting. 4/5.

[Rev. Powell]

QUEEN AND SLIM: An African American couple has the first date from hell when a traffic stop ends with a dead cop and they have to go on the lam. The actors are too good for this cliched script driven by bad decisions, contrivances and coincidences. 2/5.

[indianasmith]

THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE: A struggling young man with a PhD in philosophy and a day job as a delivery truck driver witnesses a robbery in which both of the suspects and the security guard are shot dead, and the final robber flees the scene, badly wounded, leaving two large duffel bags full of money lying there in the street.  On impulse, our hero scoops up the bags and takes them home, but then tries to figure out what on earth to do with them.  In the unlikely tale that follows, he falls in love with a high-priced call girl, and enlists the aid of a recently released mob money man, a wealthy, powerful international banker, and a bored, frustrated bank teller - all the while dodging a pair of ruthless detectives determined to catch him with the money!  I started watching this on a whim and found myself enjoying it way more than I thought I would.  4/5

*Note - this film is mostly in French and you have to be good with reading subtitles, but it was worth the effort!

[retrorussell]

Just watched THE CHILD (1977).  Whew.. really bad.  Low budgeted thriller of a killer girl with telekinesis and zombies for friends.  A young governess comes out to her house in the country and soon ends up on her s**t list, along with anyone else who displeases her.  Some okay mood built up and okay gore effects, but man oh man-- the acting is more horrifying than anything else in the film!  And EVERYONE is equally awful!  And the music isn't exactly amateurish, it's just.. weird!  Piano at the wrong times, and synth that is all over the place.  Towards the end where the governess and the killer kid's older brother hole up in a shed to escape the zombies, she was so worthless and screaming (almost like Kim Basinger in BATMAN) that I really hoped the zombies would eat her.  The bad dialogue got kind of fun early on but it just became overbearing after awhile.  Definitely MST3K-worthy.