Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

MST3K: Jack Frost -    Mike era episode the movie is a colorful romanian-finish woods fantasy! Jack Frost is a bearded guy with a sceptre that turns things to frost. he's like part of nature.  different and a litlle better than alot of episodes I've seen recently.

4.5 / 5 

[venomx]

My Girl and I watched License to Drive (1988). Although I know that movie by heart I loved it.

[Psycho Circus]

My Girl and I watched License to Drive (1988). Although I know that movie by heart I loved it.

A very overlooked 80s teen/comedy movie 

[Jack]

Flight of the Living Dead (2007) - Zombies get loose on a plane.  Exactly what you'd expect, with some zombie down in the cargo hold getting loose due to turbulence tipping over its container or something.  This was about as average as average gets.  The only characters that had any personality were unlikable, the good characters were completely undeveloped and bland.  That more or less killed it for me, when I don't care what happens to anyone.  The obligatory comedy relief character was tolerable.  It tried to be kind of funny in spots and serious in others.  Not good enough to be good, but not bad enough to be especially entertaining.  3/5.

[Rev. Powell]

DEATH WARMED UP (1984):  Four obnoxious twentysomethings vacation on Insane Asylum Island where a mad neurosurgeon is creating zombies with exploding brains.  It's one of those movies that's frustrating because you're rooting for the monsters to kill the heroes, especially after the protagonists urinate on the side of a zombie's van and refuse to apologize.  1/5 on any rational scale, however a true bad movie lover might rate this senseless movie 2.5/5. 

F.A.Q.: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (2004): In a sex-free future ruled by a totalitarian matriarchy, the government wants to topple the Eiffel Tower (phallic symbol), and the male underground resists by making porno movies (that daringly feature the two sexes touching each other, fully clothed).  TO be avoided by anyone looking for a standard sci-fi film: it's filled with nonsensical avant-garde touches (like the man who puts on a clown nose after he concludes a serious speech), it drags a good bit in the middle and cops out at the end, and it's hard to know how seriously the anti-feminist message is intended.  Still, it's different enough that it managed to keep my interest for 80 minutes.  2/5     

[Pilgermann]

Comrades (1986) - I rewatched this 3-hour beauty last night.  The first time I saw it I admired it but I remember being kind of bored at times and getting anxious.  This time it totally won me over and it's become one of my favorite films.  It tells the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a group of laborers (or "labourers" if you prefer) in Dorset, England who in the early 1830's were arrested for swearing a secret oath as part of a formation of a union due to unfair decreases in their wages.  This was because of some a-hole landowner who dug up some obscure and outdated law about swearing oaths to one another.  They were sentenced to transportation to Australia for 7 years.  Now in a way this spoils the overall events that occur, but as the beginning of the film tells us, this is a "Lanternists account of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and what became of them.", and indeed a lanternist appears in the film, sometimes in different forms using different forms of optical tricks and technology, including shadow puppets, magic lanterns, zoetropes, and peep shows among others.  All of these "lanternists" are played by the same actor, who also plays a few other characters, including a hateful prison guard who has an, uh, interesting relationship with his dog.

I could probably ramble on and on but I'll just say that the cast are all wonderful, the cinematography is beautiful, the music is excellent and not what one might expect, and while the story is basically linear, it plays out in a very unconventional way that requires some careful attention and obervance of the viewer.  There's a lot to take in, and a lot to enjoy.  I can't really compare it to anything else I've seen.  I don't usually assign ratings on here but I'd give this a 10/10.

It's available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK, both region 0.  I don't know if the DVD is PAL, but the Blu-ray will play on any Blu-ray player and that's what I own.  It can be found online at places like www.thehut.co.uk for £6.85 which is about $11, and I think they're still offering free shipping worldwide.  Actually, they've got a numer of good region-free Blu-rays from BFI availabe for cheap if you shop around.

[JaseSF]

Gooby (2009): A lonesome little boy named Willy (Matthew Knight) struggling to find his place in the world and who is terrified of monsters possibly lurking about his new home gets some rather magical help when his stuffed childhood teddy bear Gooby (a man in a suit voiced by Robbie Coltrane but played by Derek Scott) grows to much larger proportions and suddenly becomes the boy's badly needed friend and protector.

Actually this often unfairly bashed movie was a sweet, charming little family film that has only a few flaws - Gooby looks more than a little frightening at times, Matthew Knight seems a little too old for his role and there's a little too much importance on befriending the popular kids. Aside from that it was great fun and I love seeing more traditional effects being made use of for this little Canadian film. Coltrane's voice work isn't too bad either. There's some neat touches to Gooby too if you pay close attention and Eugene Levy has a funny supporting role as a nerdy teacher obsessed with fame who seems to be the only one aside from Willy to constantly spot Gooby. Actually loved the obviously Canadian locales too. *** out of ***** stars

[Jack]

Mulberry Street (2006) - one of those New York movies where everything's filthy and broken, and the director obviously finds this fascinating judging by the sheer volume of artsy establishing shots.  We get a loooong look at the utter banality of the daily lives of a few residents of an apartment building, who all live in one room apartments the size of a walk-in closet.  They hear some news reports about rats attacking people in the subway tunnels, and eventually the rats move up to street level (no, you won't see any of this) and start biting people.  This turns the victims into rat-people, and it turns into an unintentional comedy after that.  I finally turned it off when the director decided to put a 10 minute montage of banality into the movie, accompanied by completely inappropriate music.  Did I mention the soundtrack sounds like some band's demo tape, and ruins any mood throughout the whole film?  

I dunno, I suppose I could sit through the last 15 minutes tonight.

EDIT:  Watched the last half hour, pretty much exactly what I expected.  Except with a dark green filter over the camera lens     2/5.

[claws]

Go (1999) Blu-ray

For some reason this movie always slipped from my "to watch" list. I've been meaning to check it out since it was first released.
Finally gave it a spin yesterday and it was worth the wait.
Funny and entertaining. Kinda like Pulp Fiction light, minus violence. Enjoyed the soundtrack as well. 4.5/5

[diamondwaspvenom]

Antichrist-(2009)

I never thought that I would finally see a film that would truly disturb me on a psychological level. Rather than annoyingly rely on jump scares like most horror these days, 'Antichrist' uses slow motion shots, unsettling imagery, intense atmosphere and drone-ish music to get its point across.

It's actually been happening lately where whenever I try to fall asleep, a scene from this movie would pop into my head and it would take me another hour or two to calm down and drift into sleep. Real scary stuff.

[JaseSF]

Lars and the Real Girl (2007): a delusional but sweet-natured young man named Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) has finally met the girl of his dreams. The only problem is that his family and loved ones soon come to realize something Lars doesn't seem to - his new girlfriend Biance is in fact a love sex doll Lars ordered from the Internet.

This was a surprisingly moving little drama with terrific performances from practically the entire cast with Gosling very convincing as Lars, and terrific support from Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer as Lars' generally concerned brother and sister in-law. Also quite good is Kelli Garner as Margo, Bianca's would-be rival for Lars' affections. Just a sweet little drama full of thoughtful discourse about life and the roads on which it takes us. While billed as a quirky comedy, this really doesn't fit that mold. It's much more in the realm of family and romantic drama and the cycle of life. The only thing here that perhaps is a bit hard to believe is the whole community doing so much and making so much effort to help Lars and each other (although this really isn't so strange to me in the part of the world in which I currently live and this film's small town setting does make it seem more convincing here too). Still seems to would be a bit more cruelty from some than what we see displayed here. Regardless this is a beautiful, sweet little movie. ****1/2 out of ***** stars.

[lester1/2jr]

Heaven (1998) - There is a cool movie in here somewhere but unfortunately it doesn't come off, despite some good acting and directing here and there. It's gotten very mixed reviews on Netflix.

A guy helps a transexual hooker who is being attacked and they become friends. They both happen (somehow) to be connected to a guy who runs the local crossdresser strip club. She is also a clairvoyant or whatever who can tell the future. There's alot of Medium type playing around with that but it's not done as well as Medium. it's like, if she knows like lottery numbers how does she not know everything? The guy is American but they are in Britain. Why? it's never explained.

The first hour is dull, the pacing is poor. The last half hour is pretty good but probably alot of people have tuned out by that point. The lead actor isn't very charismatic. All in all, this felt like a rough draft, though it has some inspired moments.

2.5/5

[Jack]

The Terror Within (1989) - typical Alien ripoff.  In a post-apocalyptic future, some people are living in an underground bunker and a monster gets in and chases them around.  Slow moving plot, fairly dull characters, no sense of suspense or tension at all.  George Kennedy shows up for a paycheck.  I usually love Alien ripoffs, but this one just sort of lies there on the screen.  3/5.

[claws]

Heaven (1998) - There is a cool movie in here somewhere but unfortunately it doesn't come off, despite some good acting and directing here and there. It's gotten very mixed reviews on Netflix.

A guy helps a transexual hooker who is being attacked and they become friends. They both happen (somehow) to be connected to a guy who runs the local crossdresser strip club. She is also a clairvoyant or whatever who can tell the future. There's alot of Medium type playing around with that but it's not done as well as Medium. it's like, if she knows like lottery numbers how does she not know everything? The guy is American but they are in Britain. Why? it's never explained.

The first hour is dull, the pacing is poor. The last half hour is pretty good but probably alot of people have tuned out by that point. The lead actor isn't very charismatic. All in all, this felt like a rough draft, though it has some inspired moments.

2.5/5

Ahhh sorry you didn't dig this. I thought it was pretty original on my first viewing back in 1999. One of a few non-horror movies that got lots of praise from Fangoria as I recall.

Black Swan (2010) Blu-ray

Well, it was everything I expected, and more. Glad I avoided most Black Swan threads. One should watch this without knowing too much. 5/5

Memorial Valley Massacre (1988)

A camping resort opens its gates on Memorial weekend but a wild primitive nature kid is slashing them townsfolk in order to protect the environment.
Corny holiday terror with at times intended humor, bad acting and lots of 80s cheese. 4/5

[lester1/2jr]

Repo Man - I saw this in the past but never fully appreciated  how awesome it is! I'd give it a 4/5 on it's merit but a 5/5 for all the awesome quotables and just the overall concept and feel. It's not quite as good as Return of The Living Dead but I'd put them in alot of the same catagories namely awesome early 80's movies with hollywood type incredbily stupid punks!

(inexplicably really good) Emilio Estevez is a punk/ rebel who accidentally lands in a relatively lucrative career as a repo man, which is at about the same level of popularity of meter maids and IRS agents. I'd imagine even moreso in California where everyone drives. He learns the ropes with a colorful group of characters and oh yeah, there's some kind of alien in the trunk of a car! It's a really inspired sub plot or side plot or whatever. I think Tarantino ripped off the "glowing lid" element for the suitcase in Pulp Fiction but that's something fan boys have probably discussed already so we'll move on.

I've been watching alot of popular classics lately and some of them I mean, I know what they are now but I didn't miss all that much. This one, which I had seen before just didn't remember I am definitely glad I revisited. I had taped of TCM or something 10/16/10!  Finally got around to watching it. I still have Persona, the silent Liv Ullman movie from last July!

4/5 and 5/5