Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

did you like the globolinks at all?

[lester1/2jr]

Skeleton Coast-  There's no real reason to rent this unless you like to talk about movies on message boards.  There are far better action movies that cost the same to rent or buy.  Anyway, it's a bit of a misfire with an elderly Ernest Borgnine the unlikely leader of a group of mercenaries he's hired to help free his son from some sort of drug army or something.  There are two pretty girls who get about 2 lines a piece.  the pacing is quite poor, the dialogue is pretty dumbed down though not neccasrily unrealistic and Borgnine seems like at thispoint in his life he'd be better off playing the granpa in a Disney adventure.   It does have some cool shots of the desert and authentic African locations where I'm guessing it was filmed so that seperates it somewhat from other low budget 80's actioners.    oliver reed is good as a despicable villain who engages in villainry as such characters tend to do.  If you are for some reason interested in African smuggling movies why not see this I ask?

[Rev. Powell]

did you like the globolinks at all?

It's still in my Netflix queue, I expect it to arrive in the 2nd half of January.  I'll let the board know what I think of it then. 

[Torgo]

TROY: director's cut   *** out of ****.   
Still a bit of a mess structucally, but an improvement over the theatrical cut.  There's some stunning images in here and it's noticeably bloodier than the cut released in theaters but the performances are still all over the map.  Worth watching for the direction in the war/action scenes.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER    ***1/2 out of ****.
I don't really care for disco but have always liked this classic John Travolta film....go figure.

[Andrew]

TNT Jackson (1975)

It just motors along for a while, in the standard 1970s low-budget good person vs crime syndicate kind of way.  There are a couple of funny scenes with Jeannie Bell kung fuing people so hard that they knock down walls.

Where it shines is about 15 minutes from the end.  All heck breaks loose!  TNT is locked up in a jail, but her friend (Joe) busts in with a bunch of drunk Filipino mummers and liberates her from the jail.  Then she is chased into an alley and she uses Gymkata to knock the men down and jump over a wall! 

Meanwhile, the afro-wearing 2nd in command crime boss makes his move to take over the operation.  He busts out with loud screaming kung fu at a meeting of drug dealers!  After that is done, the afro-boss and TNT face off in a night club turned dojo arena of death.  There is an awesome "she leaps in the air like a descending tiger" scene, and an even better finish as she uses the 9th deadly style to martial arts her hand through the bad guy. 

To top it all off, even though you know the end of the film is coming, it still happens so fast that you are caught off guard.

The first part of the film is 2 slimes, a weak 2.  However, those last 15 minutes are 3 slimes, hands down. 

Oh, and a lesson learned: 

Somebody could make a 3 hour movie with nothing but footage of Jeannie Bell running up and down stairs, and men would pack the theaters.

[lester1/2jr]

I think TNT Jackson was still in theatres when I did this in depth review

[Psycho Circus]

I was just watching K-9 again. I haven't seen it in at least 10 years, made me cry like a baby when Jerry Lee gets shot. 

[Rev. Powell]

CHRISTMAS EVIL [aka YOU BETTER WATCH OUT] (1980): After he sees a man dressed as jolly St. Nick make love to his mother one Christmas Eve as a child, a man grows up obsessed with Santa Claus, going so far as to spy on neighborhood kids and keep his own list of who's been naughty and nice.  One Christmas Eve, he snaps.  A character study and not a slasher film, despite the marketing.  It alternates between atmospheric and darkly witty, and just plain ridiculous.  Still, it's easily the "best" killer Santa movie I've seen.  3/5.

[Doggett]

I just saw Sexy Beast, again.
Sir Ben Kingsley (?) is the best villian ever.

[Sister Grace]

Slayer- *1/2 out of **** how could lynda carter disgrace herself by starring in this piece of sh%&?

[JJ80]

"The Naked City" (1948) - "Quiet Man" star Barry Fitzgerald stars as Lieutenant Dan Muldoon, leader of a highly publicized investigation into the murder of a model. Filmed documentary-style with an authoritative narration this is as much a story about New York as a locale as it is a whodunnit but it still feels like a precursor to almost every modern Cop Show. The ending is very striking with a well-filmed chase sequence.

[asimpson2006]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls ** 1/2 out of ****.  I didn't think it was that bad of a film overall, but I don't think 20 years later I will think of this film as a classic in the series.  I enjoyed it, but the CGI effects were not always so great as to make something look life like.

Midway ** 1/2 out of ****.  Wasn't bad, but wasn't that great either.  Could have cut back on the stock footage and used some filmed footage instead and make it more consistent with the stock footage used.

[lester1/2jr]

"sleeping dogs lie"  free on demand  -  grace you might like this one.  in the "spanking the monkey", solondz. sarah silverman tradition with a completely gross premise given a story and actors who have to be good enough to keep a straight face.

or a sicker "there's something about Mary"

[Doggett]

I saw Young Sherlock Holmes on Film4 on Sunday, missed the first half hour but it was still good.

[lester1/2jr]

doggett-  me and my friends LOVED that movie.  I saw it 3 times when it was in the theatres