Recent viewings

Rev. Powell · January 18, 2018, 09:08:55 AM

BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974): Benny (a magnificently grubby Warren Oates) is a piano player obsessed with completing the titular task, despite a proliferation of gunmen and banditos eager to take the macabre bounty from him. Part Western, part noir, soaked in tequila; its worldview is summed up by Benny's "there's nothing sacred about a hole in the ground, or the man in it." 4/5.

lester1/2jr · January 19, 2018, 12:21:45 PM

Logan's Run (1976) - *slight spoilers* this is an okay sci fi movie, but without the hot female lead in the space toga it wouldn't have been worth it.

Everyone probably knows the plot: a guy who is an enforcer of the dystopian regime has a change of heart and wants to become one of the rebels. it's the Book of Acts in space. or in the ground or whatever. everyone has to die when they're 30 and the unseen rulers have fooled everyone into thinking they are "renewed" when really they just die. I wish they had more on why they decided to kill people at this age, it could be an analogy for wars or something. instead, its just a random rule.

come for the sci fi stay for the togas. could have been livelier though and isn't far from a decent Buck Rogers episode or something. not bradbury level

4/5

Rev. Powell · January 21, 2018, 10:02:38 AM

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET! (2003): Believing him to be an alien from the Andromeda galaxy preparing the way for an invasion of Earth, a psycho kidnaps and tortures an executive. A grim black comedy/thriller from Korea with a wacko third act. 4/5.

FatFreddysCat · January 21, 2018, 10:48:15 AM

"Blood Beach" (1981)
A Southern California seaside area is plagued by a series of sudden disappearances. Eventually some cops and a Harbor Patrol officer figure out that the missing people are being devoured by an unseen creature that lives beneath the sand. Yikes!
This land-locked "Jaws" variant stars some familiar B-Movie faces like John Saxon and Burt ("Rocky") Young, which may give it some cult-movie cred but overall it's pretty dull. "Blood Beach" spends way too much time on the police-procedural elements (and a budding romance between Harbor Patrol Guy and the foxy daughter of the first victim), and not nearly enough on the monster mayhem. When you finally do get to see the extremely cheap looking monster (five minutes before the movie ends) it looks like a jumbo sized marital aid.
If you absolutely have to watch every "Jaws" inspired knock-off ever made, go nuts... otherwise you can skip a trip to this "Beach."

lester1/2jr · January 21, 2018, 12:57:15 PM

Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) - Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li have marital and political turmoil amidst hundreds of handmaidens in bustiers and the occasional CGI aided military battle. If you can appreciate non kung fu Shaw Bros and/or Crouching Tiger check it out

4.5/5

FatFreddysCat · January 21, 2018, 04:20:40 PM

"Almost Human" (aka "The Death Dealer," 1974)
A low-level Italian hood, tired of making small scores working for others, hatches a plan to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman for a big ransom payment. In the course of carrying out the plot, lots of other people are murdered, raped, and tortured, while a tough police inspector (Henry Silva) races against time to rescue the girl.
A primo slice of sleazy, ultra-violent "Polizzioteschi" Eurocrime action from the always dependable Umberto Lenzi of "Cannibal Ferox" and "Nightmare City" fame.

dean · January 22, 2018, 05:40:07 AM

Good Time (2017)

Robert Pattinson plays a charming antagonist trying to bust his mentally challenged brother from jail after a failed bank robbery. Escalating stakes makes for a pretty non-stop ride as he goes from calamity to calamity trying to fix his situation. A fantastic performance from RPatz. With both this effort and K-stew's excellent turn in Personal Shopper, it looks like the Twilight leads are growing up. The plot gets a little crazy but it's definitely a good time (nailed it)

3.5/5

lester1/2jr · January 22, 2018, 11:21:32 AM

Act of Violence (1949) - second viewing for this one but I didn't remember a lot of it. I should watch more movies again. This was on the Sunday film noir thing on TCM.

A guy is a big WW2 hero in his town, but his past comes back to haunt him. Turns out one of the people who flew missions with him doesn't think he's so great. In fact, he wants to kill him! uh oh

What awful thing did the guy do during the war that would make someone want to kill him? or is the killer guy just nuts?

it's this sort of vibe

4.5 /5

lester1/2jr · January 24, 2018, 08:04:47 PM

5 came back http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031314/

I dvr stuff like this in case the movie I got from netflix isn't good. A bunch of people, including a surprisingly hot Lucille Ball, get stranded on an island and have survival type issues. It's the 1939 version of a decent time waster. The actors are likeable and in general it's not too profound but is watchable. so I watched it and i'm okay

4/5

Rev. Powell · January 26, 2018, 11:19:31 AM

CUBE (1997): A random assortment of people wake up in a mazelike cube---a series of interlocking rooms, some of which are booby trapped, made by unknown forces for unknown reasons---and try to reason their way out of the puzzle, while slowly turning against each other. The rare completely original premise---a sci-fi b-movie twist on "No Exit"---executed to near perfection on next to no budget. Held up on a re-watch 20 years later (has it really been that long?) 4.5/5.

lester1/2jr · January 27, 2018, 11:25:39 AM

Passengers (2008) - A bunch of people survive a plane crash and go to a therapy group led by Anne Hathaway. I'd endure a plane crash if I got to hang out with her. at the same time, she's not all that well cast. It's a darkish movie and when you think dark you don't think anne hathaway. She brings a Lifetime/ rom com ness that the part doesn't need. her male costar whoever he is doesn't help either.

Whats the big mystery about the plane crash and what is the plane company hiding? It's the kind of thing that would have been mind blowing in the 70's but is fairly routine now. At the time this movie was being made the Feds were closing in on Hathaways boyfriend for white collar crime. he eventually served I believe 4 years

3/5

FatFreddysCat · January 27, 2018, 05:20:08 PM

"The New Gladiators" (aka "Rome 2072 AD: The New Gladiators," 1984)
It's the year 2072, and the highest rated TV program on Earth is a live broadcast from the Roman Coliseum, where death row inmates from around the world battle it out in a kill-or-be-killed contest to gain their freedom...which, naturally, is fixed so nobody actually "wins."
Lucio "Zombie" Fulci directed this enjoyably cheesy, ultra-violent post apocalytic mash-up of "Death Race 2000," "Knightriders" and "Rollerball" which features hilariously cheap special effects and costumes. Your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for Italian Z-Movie silliness.

FatFreddysCat · January 27, 2018, 09:03:11 PM

"Psycho Cop" (1989)
Six obnoxious college kids having a party weekend at a secluded vacation home are picked off one by one by a serial killing police officer/Satanist for no apparent reason whatsoever. Yup, that's the whole plot.
This dumb-as-dirt, direct-to-video schlocker seems to be trying for a tongue-in-cheek horror/comedy vibe, but it isn't gory, sleazy, or funny enough to pull it off. It's pointless, poorly acted, and generic as they come. Stick with the far superior "Maniac Cop" series to get your fix of cop-related carnage.
AVOID.

Rev. Powell · January 28, 2018, 09:51:37 AM

KIDNAPPING, CAUCASIAN STYLE (1967): No, it's not a white supremacist instructional video. A USSR folklore student travels to the Caucus region of Russia and gets entangled in a kidnapping plot with three Soviet stooges. The slapstick is broad (lots of mugging and chase scenes sped up a la "Benny Hill") and the pacing is brisk, so you can see why it was a hit; still, it's main value is for its peek at Soviet provincial life. 3/5.

FatFreddysCat · January 28, 2018, 05:59:27 PM

"Hardcore Henry" (2016)
A cybernetic assassin is brought back from the dead and proceeds to run, jump, fight, and shoot his way across Russia's underworld in this virtually plotless Russian/American co-production. This non-stop action flick's big gimmick is that the movie is shot from "Henry's" point of view, which is kind of neat at first, but eventually it feels like you're watching someone else play a first-person-shooter video game.
My ten year old loved this but I was bored stiff within fifteen minutes.
AVOID.