Recent viewings

[lester1/2jr]

The Inheritance (2003) - I am a libertarian/ CNBC watcher but did not see Atlas Shrugged. I saw like 30 seconds of it on youtube and thought the acting was really bad and it just looked like something to miss. I've never read Rands book either. If you want to see a really good movie about capitalism this is it. There nothing clunky or wooden about it. It's slick yet has lots of depth and realism. It's like a really expensive tie.

A guy with a hot blonde actress girlfriend is living it up in Stockholm but gets dragged back to Denmark to run his family's ironworks company after his Dad dies. He has no desire to do this but has a heavy sense of family responsibilty. This theme runs throughout the film. The guy struggles to restructure the faltering business while maintaining his relationship with his wife, who loves him but did not sign up to be the wife of a guy who works endlessly out in this factory. His domineering mother and loser brother in law don't help matters.

The story has the feel of an epic but somehow it's only regular length. I''ve seen a couple of these businessey movies like this out of Europe, there was one about a soccer team I can't remember what it was called. Perhaps it's some sort of mini genre over there. At any rate this is the best one I'e seen.


5/5

another review by someone else

[Jack]

I've never read Rands book either.

You should really check out Atlas Shrugged.  Great book IMO.

[Cthulhu]

Deep red- I know it's sacrilege, but I didn't like it.
It didn't make any sense.

[claws]

Mean Girls (2004)

High School girls being b***hes. Technically I'm not really the target audience but I happen to like Tina Fey. She is not only in the movie, she also wrote the screenplay (which is channeling the spirit of Clueless (1995)).
Mean Girls is very funny and smart, with a great cast (Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried) including Lindsay Lohan. Say what you will about her now but she did a decent job in this film. 4.5/5

[JaseSF]

Enter..Zombie King (2003): AKA: Zombie Beach Party. A group of masked luchadors led by the heroic Ulysses, nicknamed U.S. for short, must work together to save the world from an horde of zombies under the control of a maniacal ex-wrestling foe named The Zombie King and his henchman The Murderlizer.

Actually I found this far more entertaining than any sane person perhaps rightly should. It just has such a great energy, is so over the top and the masked luchadors look and act very much the part for the most part although I think the lead heroes should have been a little bit even more proper in their behaviour. The cheap rubbery gore FX are laughable and the plot is about as complex as a weekly wrestling show but this was quite fun for me, being both a fan of pro wrestling and zombie movies. Not sure it would appeal to non-wrestling fans as much but to those open-minded enough to accept the premise of heroic luchadors banding together to save the world (which certainly has some history given all of Santo films not to mention those of Mil Mascaras and the Blue Demon), this surprisingly delivers the good far more than I expected it could or would. It feels and looks very much like something made by a bunch of wrestling and zombie movie fans who somehow scrounged up the money to film this thing. There's also much gratuitous unnecessary nudity on display. Look out for Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart in a bit part as a local town sheriff. **1/2 out of ***** stars.

[lester1/2jr]

Amazons v Supermen (1975)



^stolen from teleport city which probably has a good review I haven't read it.          


This piece of junk was annoying and a chore to get through and because there's no mail tomorow I'll probably watch it again. Without question Italy has produced some of the worst films imaginable. Here, a guy who is sort of like The Crimson Execution  without muscles (in other words, a man in a mask) has a thing going where he has a whole village convinced he's a god. Luckily he's actually pretty strong and can do flips and so forth not at all aided by trampolines. He runs into some other guys, including a kung fu guy which is why this is in a kung fu collection ("rarescope") and they fight these Amazons. The Amazons are pretty but this is strictly pg. It's basically like an episode of a 70's live action kids shows like Ark 2 or Isis without the charm or plot.

There is lots of wacky slapstick and that ridiculous slapsticky music. The humor is about at the level of one of those Doodles Weaver shorts and then the last 10 minutes are an endless battle scene with no real choreagraphy and really dark. There are things like the opening segement with the women doing this bow and arrow game on posts (don't ask) that could be interesting but the photography is boring.

As I was watching this I was thinking: Why don't people give Italians grief for Mussolini?  He was just as bad as Hitler but not as succesful (I mean as far as succesful in evil, not that the 3rd reich was a positive thing of any kind). Also, they invented pizza but it was popularized in America. and then theres this film.

2.5/5

[claws]

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) Blu-ray

The Freelings take a trip to the other side to battle evil.
The heart was in the right place but this sequel is missing the Spielberg magic. Much thought went into the plot, however, weaknesses are made up with dazzling f/x (tequila-worm). Overall a decent effort missing the final polish, but a real treat in HD. 4/5

[Rev. Powell]

THE APE (1940): Boris Karloff is a kindhearted but unethical doctor trying to cure paralysis, and there's also an escaped circus ape running around killing people, and the two plotlines collide in a stupid way.  Karloff can't save this ridiculous yet dull film, as the part doesn't give him the chance to do what he does best--send chills down your spine.  1.5/5.

DEAD LEAVES (2004):  Anime about a man with a television for a head and a woman with mismatched eyes who wake up with amnesia, are imprisoned on the moon, have a baby and kill lots of things.  It's hyperactively paced with animation styles that change every few seconds and has almost no comprehensible plot; watching it is like putting an ultraviolet manga into a blender and trying to read it as the pieces swirl around.  The artwork is great but the whole experience is kind of tiring.  It's streaming on Netflix and also currently on YouTube free (legitimately). 3/5.  

[Jack]

Run Like Hell (1995) - Four topless women in black thongs escape from prison in the far-off future of 2008.  They try to make their way through the desert to Paradise City (where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!), but the evil prison warden has plans to recapture them.  I suppose this is what the film aficionados might call an "exploitation" type movie    Unfortunately after about 15 minutes they do find some clothes to put on     The plot is just ridiculous - they meet up with some ninja dude who's on his way to a martial arts tournament (where he battles a guy with a chainsaw - it's freakin' comical).  Every once in a while a couple guys will just appear and start shooting at the girls, then stand around congratulating themselves, not realizing that the girls are going to shoot back and kill them.  We get plenty of completely random scenes of the prison warden doing his diabolical deeds with other female prisoners - what this has to do with anything else in the movie I have no idea, but it was a very nice inclusion in any case    4/5.

[Cthulhu]

Run Like Hell (1995) - Four topless women in black thongs escape from prison in the far-off future of 2008.  They try to make their way through the desert to Paradise City (where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!), but the evil prison warden has plans to recapture them.  I suppose this is what the film aficionados might call an "exploitation" type movie    Unfortunately after about 15 minutes they do find some clothes to put on     The plot is just ridiculous - they meet up with some ninja dude who's on his way to a martial arts tournament (where he battles a guy with a chainsaw - it's freakin' comical).  Every once in a while a couple guys will just appear and start shooting at the girls, then stand around congratulating themselves, not realizing that the girls are going to shoot back and kill them.  We get plenty of completely random scenes of the prison warden doing his diabolical deeds with other female prisoners - what this has to do with anything else in the movie I have no idea, but it was a very nice inclusion in any case    4/5.

Sounds great...I might check that one out.

[JaseSF]

The Quiet Earth (1985): a man named Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) wakes up to find everyone else in the world has seemingly disappeared or have they?

This was a fascinating movie to watch unfold. We see Hobson battling issues of guilt, loneliness, isolation, generally paining and agonizing needing recognition from another person, someone, something. As things progress, there's several interesting plot twists and turns that are sure to keep viewers guessing. Really surprisingly gripping and rather like previous last man on earth films The World, The Flesh and the Devil and The Last Woman on Earth with a touch of The Omega Man yet completely unique and different in its fashion, putting its own spin on the sub-genre.  Great film! **** out of ***** stars

[Jack]

Run Like Hell (1995) - Four topless women in black thongs escape from prison in the far-off future of 2008.  They try to make their way through the desert to Paradise City (where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!), but the evil prison warden has plans to recapture them.  I suppose this is what the film aficionados might call an "exploitation" type movie    Unfortunately after about 15 minutes they do find some clothes to put on     The plot is just ridiculous - they meet up with some ninja dude who's on his way to a martial arts tournament (where he battles a guy with a chainsaw - it's freakin' comical).  Every once in a while a couple guys will just appear and start shooting at the girls, then stand around congratulating themselves, not realizing that the girls are going to shoot back and kill them.  We get plenty of completely random scenes of the prison warden doing his diabolical deeds with other female prisoners - what this has to do with anything else in the movie I have no idea, but it was a very nice inclusion in any case    4/5.

Sounds great...I might check that one out.

My favorite line in the movie was when some guy asks the ninja where he's going.  He says "I'm on my way to the arena of death to compete", then says "How about you?"  Just like he's saying "Oh, I'm watching some football on TV, what are you up to?"   

[Cthulhu]

Run Like Hell (1995) - Four topless women in black thongs escape from prison in the far-off future of 2008.  They try to make their way through the desert to Paradise City (where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!), but the evil prison warden has plans to recapture them.  I suppose this is what the film aficionados might call an "exploitation" type movie    Unfortunately after about 15 minutes they do find some clothes to put on     The plot is just ridiculous - they meet up with some ninja dude who's on his way to a martial arts tournament (where he battles a guy with a chainsaw - it's freakin' comical).  Every once in a while a couple guys will just appear and start shooting at the girls, then stand around congratulating themselves, not realizing that the girls are going to shoot back and kill them.  We get plenty of completely random scenes of the prison warden doing his diabolical deeds with other female prisoners - what this has to do with anything else in the movie I have no idea, but it was a very nice inclusion in any case    4/5.

Sounds great...I might check that one out.

My favorite line in the movie was when some guy asks the ninja where he's going.  He says "I'm on my way to the arena of death to compete", then says "How about you?"  Just like he's saying "Oh, I'm watching some football on TV, what are you up to?"   

[bob]

THIS IS SPINAL TAP!  5/5

[spongekryst]

The Green Hornet- I actually really enjoyed this modernised version of the this dated (but awesome) superhero. It had everything that you would expect: great action, hilarious comedy, and a decent actor to fill in Bruce Lee's role. I'd even go as far to say that this is one of the best super hero movies ever made. Props to Seth Rogen for fighting so hard to get this made.