Recent viewings

[javakoala]

Yeah, I saw the edited version (Mill Creek 50 pack). I didn't think more gore or some nudity would help much, but I should have pointed it out to be fair to the flick. Thanks!

That version is horrible. Trust me, it isn't worth buying the fairly recent DVD release of the film, but, if you do get the chance to watch it, please do.

Same thing is true of the Mill Creek version of A BELL FROM HELL. Edited and pulled from either a bad VHS rip or the dirtiest celluloid copy on the planet. Great movie, but it deserves to be seen in a clear copy in the uncut state.

[indianasmith]

Last night I watched ZERO DARK THIRTY.
It's an impressive film, very well done and evenly paced.  I think it does capture more of what real intelligence work is like than a lot of so-called "spy" films do.

[Rev. Powell]

DOG STAR MAN (1961-1964): After a completely abstract 26 minute Prelude, a man and his dog struggle up a snowy mountainside, a baby is born, and sunspots explode. Stan Brakage invents every camera trick in the book for this epic symphony of images. This type of avant-garde film defies the rating system; the vast majority of viewers will see it as visual gibberish, while a few will hail it as a masterpiece. Both may be right. Worth seeing once. 3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

Pop Skull (2007) early effort from adam Wingard ( v/h/s/, Blair Watch the recent one) and ...it pretty much sucks. It's to his credit that this is old and not some recent attempt to bridge the mumblecore and horror worlds but really, my time would have been better spent with, say, I don't know...DC Cab?

A down and out grungy 20 something sees ghosts or something in his house. He is allegedly on drugs but we don't really see much of this aspect. He is obsessed with an ex girlfriend and tries to work out his feelings by talking to his best friend. It's interesting in places, but really not very compelling at all. I'm surprised it got made, actually. I guess they felt it was marketable with all the grunge and so forth. I like film school stuff, I gave Elevator Movie 5 stars for Heaven's sake, but this is a dull and aimless.

1.5 /5

[FatFreddysCat]

Family Movie Night:

"Monster Trucks" (2017)

A subterranean creature is accidentally drawn to the surface during an oil drilling operation in the North Dakota boondocks. The critter soon befriends a local teen with a hunk-of-junk pickup, and the pair spends the rest of the flick on the run from oil-company creeps who want to destroy "Creech" and cover up the incident.
This family friendly action comedy was a massive box office failure earlier this year, but my kids and I got a kick out of it. It's kinda like a gearhead version of "E.T.," with plenty of car crashin' mayhem. it's obviously not Shakespeare, but it is silly fun.

[claws]

Kate's Secret (1986)

Made for TV drama about a woman named Kate hidding a secret from her family and friends. She's suffering from bulimia. In between working out and reflecting her "lifestyle" on her nine year old daughter Kate goes binge eating ever so often, followed by vomitting. Soon enough her body collapses and Kate is kept in a hospital where she meets women with similar problems.

Surprisingly non-cheesy 1980s offering that isn't moralistic, but quite frank (there's even disturbing talk about incest). If you don't mind a few typical cliches (husband cheating on hospilatized Kate, Kate's mom is a b***h, Kate missing her daughter's girl scout ceremony etc) you're in for a good time. 5/5

[indianasmith]

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM (2016)
My wife and I saw this in the theater last year, and she's been itching to see it again.  Since this week has been utterly draining on both of us, emotionally, I thought it might be fun to watch it tonight when we got back from Dad's funeral, and it was.  A fun and lighthearted escape from a really tough week, and just a great movie besides. 5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Batman and Bill" (2017)
Artist Bob Kane was credited as the sole creator of Batman for more than 50 years. However, his writing partner Bill Finger had just as much - if not more - input into the character's initial development and wrote almost all of the early Batman comic scripts. Sadly, his contributions had been mostly forgotten by all but the most hardcore comic book experts. This documentary follows the grass roots campaign by Bill's friends, family and fellow comics professionals to convince DC and Warner Bros. to finally give Bill the credit he was due for his role in all things Batman. Cool stuff for comic history buffs.

"A View To A Kill" (1985)
James Bond travels to Siberia, Paris and San Francisco as he tangles with a crazed European industrialist (Christopher Walken at his crazy best) who plans to destroy California's Silicon Valley and seize control of the world's microchip market.
Roger Moore's last turn as 007 doesn't get much love from Bond fans nowadays, but I've always enjoyed it in spite of the fact that poor Roger was waaaay too old for the role at this point. His stunt doubles did most of the heavy lifting for him. Plus, you gotta love that Duran Duran theme song. :D

[Rev. Powell]

THE ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE'S OWN EYES (1971): 30 minutes of silent footage of autopsies. Very graphic---faces are peeled off, cadavers are disemboweled---but clinical. Look: this is what you are. 2.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Freddy vs. Jason" (2003)
After spending nearly a decade in Development Hell, horror's two favorite boogymen finally faced off to decide once and for all, which one was the Big Kahuna of slasher films - with a bunch of disposable twenty-somethings caught in the middle, as usual. Big, loud, gory, ultra-violent fun that puts a capper on both aging franchises quite nicely.

[indianasmith]

This afternoon I watched THE PUNISHER.  I'd seen snippets of it before but never watched the whole movie.
Retiring FBI Agent Frank Castle kills a Miami drug kingpin's son in his final op, and the kingpin orders a hit on Castle's whole family in retaliation.
But Frank Castle doesn't quite die, and when he recovers, he wreaks a terrible vengeance.  Nicely done revenge flick!  4/5

[lester1/2jr]

We Are What We Are - cannibalistic clan horror that has its moments but doesn't quite make the grade. Some people in some town somewhere ( Maine? New Jersey?) are cannibals and a local cop is suspicious. As he closes in on them, you know there's no WAY he'll meet an untimely end. the first half is really dull and the backwoods cannibal Dad looks like he had a pretty significant nose job? or maybe its just an oddly small nose. It does pick up in the second half but this isn't "The Last Exorcism" its picking up from a really pretty low point. The two blonde teenage daughters are cute. head scratcher ending as in the custom in these things

2.5 /5

[indianasmith]

Let's see - I'm back in movie mode; I think the end of school taps me out so badly that I can't do much writing.  Here they are, in the order I saw them:

VAMPIRE RESURRECTION - A Full Moon film from around 2002 or so that I had somehow missed.  A man named Jonathan is having an affair with a beautiful woman when they are surprised by her abusive husband.  He tries to shoot Jonathan with his crossbow, but the wife (Charlotte, I think?) throws herself in front of her lover and dies.  Jonathan, heartbroken, goes to see  a voodoo priestess who turns him into a vampire and tells him that when he wakes, in a hundred years, he will have to find Charlotte and win her heart within one cycle of the moon, or return to his grave forever.  So a hundred years later Jonathan wakes up and goes seeking his reborn lover.  Pretty by the numbers "who are the real monsters?" sort of story.  Female star was pretty cute. 3/5

MORGAN - A corporate troubleshooter is sent to a remote lab in order to investigate an incident involving a genetically engineered cyborg and one of its trainers.  The cyborg, a teenaged girl named Morgan, is having identity issues and is prone to violence.  Of course it all comes unglued and Morgan goes on a rampage; the troubleshooter is now ordered to destroy her.  Decent sci-fi film along the lines of EX MACHINA without all the robot nudity. 4.5/5

ASSASSIN'S CREED - Based on the popular video game series, this film had some truly gorgeous cinematography and excellent fight sequences.  The plot ws muddled and incomprehensible and none of the characters were remotely appealing.  I really wanted to like this one and it was awful! 2/5

[claws]

The Neighbor (2016)

A sympathetic crook and his girlfriend notice strange activity from their neighbor they've been watching with a telescope. However, the neighor has been watching the couple as well. When his girlfriend disappears the crook finds evidence that she might be held captive by the neighbor.

Director Marcus Dunstan reeunites with his The Collector (2009) star Josh Stewart in another similar The Collector shocker. Stewart plays the anti-hero yet again who discovers disturbing things in rural America. The Neighbor is solid but not as good as The Collector. It does make for a perfect double feature with Don't Breathe (2016) though. 3.75/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Lemmy" (2010)

Way cool documentary that follows the Motorhead main man around on tour and at home, while a host of celebrity friends and fans (incl. members of Metallica, Anthrax and GnR, Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, actor Billy Bob Thornton, and many more) tell us what we already knew: that Lemmy was the coolest mo-fo ever to walk the face of the Earth. Essential Motor-fan viewing.