Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

Black Angel (1946) - pretty good film noir, probably less well known because the main lady isn't actually that hot. A woman who is blackmailing a guy gets killed so the guy gets blamed, but is that what really happened?? The man's wife is determined to keep him off death row and goes to all sorts of lengths to find the real killer. but is he hiding right under her nostril?????

larger than usual budget and decently entertaining. the lady could have been hotter and the ending could have been less "help me end this aaaigh help"

3.75 /5

The Lineup (1958) - late film noir with pretty dry police procedural stuff but good story. Heroin dealers struggle to bring product into San Francisco via unwitting travelers. Gangsters use their wits and non-issue with killing people to gather up however much of the product they can.

very hardcore film noir  4.5 /5

[indianasmith]

THE DARK AND THE WICKED (2020)  WOW!  This is a wonderfully creepy, atmospheric horror movie that hits all the right notes!  Solid performances, some genuinely horrifying moments, and a slow burn of building tension that doesn't let up until the last scene.  HIGHLY recommended!  5/5

[Trevor]

The Lineup (1958) - late film noir with pretty dry police procedural stuff but good story. Heroin dealers struggle to bring product into San Francisco via unwitting travelers. Gangsters use their wits and no issue with killing people to gather up however much of the product they can.

very hardcore film noir  4.5 /5

Don Siegel wrote in his autobiography that when he was directing Dirty Harry, a San Francisco cop came up to him, took off his cap, showed his gray hair and said "You did that to me when you did The Lineup here: how we didn't kill anyone with that highway stunt, I don't know."  

[lester1/2jr]

it's a really good scene. the finale

had no idea he directed both films. unbelievable

[FatFreddysCat]

"Porky's Revenge!" (1985)
The "Porky's" trilogy comes to a close. As the crew of horn dogs from Angel Beach prepare for their high school graduation, they tangle with the notorious Porky again, who wants the boys to throw the state championship basketball game. Obviously  there's nothing new here, but if you liked the first two films, you'll get a few laughs out of this one as well.

[lester1/2jr]

here's my Porky's "review" from 20 years ago ! https://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php?topic=15548.0

[FatFreddysCat]

"Now You See Me" (2013)
A quartet of highly skilled magicians puts on huge, spectacular shows as a cover for a series of bank robberies. An FBI agent is determined to find out how they pull off their illusions and their crimes.
A fun, fast moving caper flick with a lot of twists and turns and a great cast (Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman). It may not rank high on the believability scale but it's certainly fun to watch.

[Alex]

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Slightly different from your usual wisecracking superhero disposes of a random villain Marvel move. Kind of wishing they'd left out the first post-credit scene though, and just left it with what happens to him in the middle of the street. Hints of a horror movie about it. Interesting, but if you've already decided you hate Marvel movies I doubt it will change your mind.

[lester1/2jr]

The Guilty (1947) - pretty decent print of this on youtube. One confusing thing is that it's shot in England and the cast are American but bit players are British. more like Brit players I'd say...anyway.... Room mates, one alcoholic one not, are dating identical twin girls. The girls are cute and blonde but really seem to be a lot of trouble. One of them ends up dead and signs point to the alcoholic room mate, who doesn't help his cause by spazzing out about the whole thing.


but is everything all it seems????

It's always foggy and night time in this depressing ass town wherever it is. What do these guys even do for a living? Where are the people? It's a good story though. around 75 mins

4.25/ 5

lacks the usual trappings of Hollywood, for better or worse

[Rev. Powell]

THE MADS ARE BACK: THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE: You know the movie: Jan in the Pan and the Thing in the Closet wreak havoc on the sleazy doctor who's searching for a hot new body for his fiancee's decapitated head. Some chuckles, but it was funnier the first time. And I'm starting to get annoyed with the procedure here: they cut out 20 minutes of an already short film, just so they could prattle on after the show with guest Mary Jo Pehl (admittedly a fun guest). It seems lazy; the unscripted podcast-type segments are free to produce, but the movie is supposed to be the main attraction, not the other way around. I'm locked into collecting these but the heavy editing is starting to bug me. 2.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Now You See Me 2" (2016)
The magicians/thieves known as "The Horsemen" are back for another globe trotting adventure full of twists, turns, double crosses. After spending a year in hiding after the events of the first film, they're drafted into service (against their wills) by a mysterious billionaire (Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe) who wants to use their skills to steal a very important, very valuable computer chip for him. Just as much fun as the first film, with lots of impressive effects and illusions.

[lester1/2jr]

Van Halen: The Early Years - I'm not really a VH fan but I like "runnin with the devil" and "Panama" well enough. This cheap but informative doc doesn't feature many interviews with the band themselves, all that is culled from other shows, but some good perspectives from roadies and friends who were there circa the mid 70's. Alex and Eddie Van Halen started playing together very early and soon were, through various incarnations, the kings of California's backyard party scene.

Between Roth's charismatic presence and Eddie's amazing guitar work, it wasn't long before they were huge. I didn't realize it was actually Roth who left the band, apparently having delusions of grandeur. They weren't getting along anyway so it was inevitable.

One ridiculous thing they did was have a roadie come out with a camera that wasn't even on and say to the crowd "We're filming this show tonight, everyone go crazy for the camera" . They did this night after night. Those were the days!

4.5 /5

[lester1/2jr]

Suddenly In the Dark (1981) - I'd never heard of this Korean horror movie. If you are a fan of classic horror and/ or giallo I'd say check it out. Others might find it too slow moving and dramatic.

A scientist who studies butterflies and his wife live in Korea somewhere and take in some sort of transient woman as a servant. She's 19 and pretty hot, so no wonder the woman of the house starts to lose her mind. A fighter woman doll is always hanging around and serving as a motif.



It's solid if not super duper exciting. There's some gore and nudity. Similar to Shaw Brothers titles from this period

4.5 /5

I liked it for some reason

[Rev. Powell]

^^I believe I own that on Blu-ray, lester. Definitely worth a watch but I haven't been tempted to pull it out again.


THE LONG WALK (2019): In the remote Laotian countryside, an old hermit and a young boy are united by the fact that only they can see the mute woman wandering the long dusty road to the nearest village. An art-house ghost story that slips gracefully but perplexingly through the living and spirit worlds, and across times and genres. 3.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Meteor" (1979)
When a giant hunk of potentially planet-killing space rock heads toward Earth, an international coalition headed by a NASA scientist (Sean Connery) and his Russian counterpart (Brian Keith) must figure out how to blow it out of the sky before it's too late.
A cheesy but fun sci-fi/action epic that came along at the tail end of the '70s "disaster movie" wave and pretty much put the final nail in the genre's coffin. Turn off your brain and enjoy its blend of all-star casting (Connery, Keith, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, Martin Landau, Karl Malden, and more), outdated Cold War political subplots, and cheap but charming special effects.
I will gladly watch this one over Michael Bay's "Armageddon" (which is basically the same movie on steroids) any day of the week.