Recent viewings

[claws]

French Quarter (1978)

Young girl coming to New Orleans is drugged and wakes up in the "French Quarter" about 100 years ago. There she's a virginal prostitute but falls in love with the brothel's piano player.

Jazz, authentic setting and costumes, average/decent acting, voodoo, lots of frills and tame soft lens sex with a pinch of the naughty. Odd, but had its entertaining moments. 3/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Final Destination 5"
http://www.youtube.com/v/ugUDNpKurXU

You all know the drill with this series by now... a small group of people survives a catastrophic event (this time it's a bridge collapse) only to be picked off one by one afterwards in a series of bizarre "accidents." This one started out very "business as usual" but then changed "the rules" up just a little leading up to one very nice twist at the end.

...and of course, there's plenty of sadistic fun watching the cast members get ground up, crushed, and otherwise mutilated in a variety of crazy ways.

Better than the last "FD" flick by far.

[JaseSF]

The Old Man and the Sea (1958): An old man (Spencer Tracy) desperately trying to get back on track as a successful fisherman in Cuba snags a huge marlin leading to an epic, multi-day struggle/battle between man and fish.

This adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel is surprisingly entertaining and involving mainly because of the terrific performance given by Tracy who remains the main focus of the film throughout. Overall though, it proves rather uneven because like most Hemingway books, this story proves hard to adapt to the motion picture screen in a way that'll make you want to see this except for curiosity's sake. Aside from Tracy and his performance, the philosophical dialogue and the footage of the huge marlin, there's little here to capture one's attention and I doubt most would want to see this more than once. Still it does have its moments. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

The Book of Eli (2010): Long after the aftermath of nuclear war, a dark loner named Eli (Denzel Washington) travels across the wasteland of what was once America hoping to deliver a sacred book that might just hold the answer of renewed hope for the world. However along the way he becomes the target of a man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a small town warlord of sorts who also has designs on the sacred book.

Honestly at first I was somewhat disappointed watching this. Early on I thought this was just going to be another Road Warrior clone with a lone figure dealing out violent retribution to wrongdoers in the goriest manner possible. Sure that's there but ultimately the story proves to have a bit more substance and by the end, I was rather enjoying this one. It is a little bit uneven and has some moments that seriously stretch credibility. Honestly as bleak looking as this film is, I doubt the world would be in as good a shape as it is displayed here in the aftermath of nuclear war but then suspension of disbelief is nothing new in films of this type. Washington does well in the lead here as the old and seemingly jaded badass loner with faith and Mila Kunis is actually pretty good too as the young woman he befriends along the way. Pretty good but a bit uneven, better towards the end than at the beginning. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Dark Passage (1947): An escaped murder convict named Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart) is helped by a mysterious woman named Irene Jansen (Lauren Bacall) as he works to try and stay one step ahead of police, develop a new identity and try and discover the true identity of his wife's murderer, a crime for which he claims he was framed.

This romantic 1940s film noir set in San Francisco has undeniable charm and appeal. It's full of memorable scenes and sequences and the chemistry between Bogart and Bacall on screen is just marvelous. This is a classic all the way, the kind of movie you just don't see getting made anymore. There's great atmosphere, several surprises along the way, terrific character acting even for small, short roles. This one also opens with a neat perspective as we see everything early on from Vincent Parry's point of view up until we finally see him later in the film under bandages. In many ways, this technique here seems far ahead of its time. While there are some things here we're expected to just accept at face value that actually seem a tad unbelievable, when a film is this entertaining, one just doesn't really care too much. **** out of ***** stars.

[RCMerchant]

wow 20 years ago they were already spoofing reality tv.  I'll have to check it out

Well the only difference is it wasn't reality TV, just a documentary, but same basic idea: camera crew following around a serial killer, not stopping him or making any moral judgments.

SHOCK TREATMENT (1981) sort of anticipated the idea of reality TV.  Really, so did NETWORK way back in 1976.

AMERICA'S DEADLIEST HOME VIDEO (1993) did it too-with Danny Partridge,no less!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106254/combined

[FatFreddysCat]

Speaking of movies that spoof reality TV, last night I watched one that predicted it 20+ years before it actually happened!!

"Death Race 2000" (1975)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jh2ZiFtU7E&feature=player_embedded

Paul Bartel's classic low budget action flick/black comedy set in the not-so-distant future, centering around a deadly annual cross-country road race in which the drivers score "points" by running down pedestrians. Tons of mayhem, violence, and boobs ensue. I haven't seen this since I was in high school but am pleased to report that it's still a stone cold hoot.

Features a young David Carradine in his first major film role after TV's "Kung Fu" and a pre-"Rocky" Sylvester Stallone, as well as numerous Roger Corman regulars like Mary Woronov and "The Real" Don Steele.

...on a somewhat related note, about fifteen years ago I visited a classic car museum in upstate New York where they had Carradine's "Frankenstein" car from this movie on display. I practically fell to my knees in a fit of Geek Overload, while my wife (who'd never seen the movie) wondered what I was so excited about. Haha.

[indianasmith]

Let's see - this weekend I watched THE DEAD, a post-zombie apocalypse film set in West Africa.  The only survivor of a planeful of Americans that crashed fleeing the country joins an African army officer in an attempt to escape the zombie-infested  countryside and reach the military base, where the officer thinks his son and other survivors from his village may have been taken.  Intended to be a character study, this one dragged just a bit too much for my taste.

Then, last night I finished MACHETE JOE, a badly done movie within a movie where a horror film cast is fliming inside a castle in the Arizona desert, build by an eccentric American millionaire.  But there is a real machete killer there, who begins picking them off one by one.  Could have been good - but it wasn't.  Don't waste your time.

[tracy]

[Jack]

Anaconda 3 (2008) - repeat viewing.  A totally hot babe in a totally tight tank top



creates some giant snakes, but then her boss (John Rhys-Davies) shines a flashlight in the cage, which gets them all riled up, and they escape.  Sigh...a simple "No Flashlights Allowed" sign would have saved so many lives     So tank top babe teams up with David Hasselhoff and a group of anaconda chow secondary characters and they chase the snakes around for the remainder of the runtime.  This was a very typical SyFy Original type movie, with laughable CGI and a plot that's just a compendium of clichés.  Of course it's got a scene where three guys burst into a 15 X 15 foot room, fire off hundreds of rounds of ammo, and then finally notice that there's no 100' snake in there.  Tank top babe isn't really very likable, she kind of comes off with a holier-than-thou attitude, but she's mostly just for lookin' at anyway.  I'll give it a 3.5/5. 

[claws]

We Are the Night (2010)

Three female vampires residing in Berlin (Germany) feel the need to expand so they bite a young petty thief named Lena. Louise, the head vampire, seems more than fond of Lena but Lena appears to be romantically involved with an investigating Cop. It won't take long until Louise and Lena clash - with fatal results.

Surprisingly decent and well made German vampire flick without any Twilight cheese. We Are the Night kind of works like The Craft with a little Daughters of Darkness thrown in for good measure. 4/5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh7AFPoXvA8

[Rev. Powell]

A SEPARATION (2011): When an Iranian man's wife leaves him seeking a divorce, he must hire a housekeeper to take care of his senile father; an unexpected tragedy embroils him in the Iranian legal system.  Slow to start but eventually develops into a morally complex dramatic mystery exploring issues of justice and the stubborn Iranian code of honor. 3.5/5.

TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE (2009): A dramatization of five urban legends that circulated in Romania under communist rule: propagandists make an error retouching a photo of Ceausescu, a family tries to figure out hoe to kill a live pig in their apartment without alerting the neighbors, and people run scams to acquire bottles and eggs. It's important as a document of folkloric resistance, but non-Romanians will be bored by these mildly ironic shaggy dog stories. 2/5.

[Vik]

A SEPARATION (2011): When an Iranian man's wife leaves him seeking a divorce, he must hire a housekeeper to take care of his senile father; an unexpected tragedy embroils him in the Iranian legal system.  Slow to start but eventually develops into a morally complex dramatic mystery exploring issues of justice and the stubborn Iranian code of honor. 3.5/5.

Why the relatively low score? Just curious because of how praised the film was. I thought it was really good myself, though overal overrated because while I thought the moral complexity was well executed, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I'd have prefered to see Bullhead get the Oscar.

[tracy]

[alandhopewell]

   


THIS Network showed both of these last night....I hadn't seen either one in years, and was pleased to see how well they held up.

     CONQUEST was the only one of the APES films I saw theatrically, back in '72.

[Rev. Powell]

A SEPARATION (2011): When an Iranian man's wife leaves him seeking a divorce, he must hire a housekeeper to take care of his senile father; an unexpected tragedy embroils him in the Iranian legal system.  Slow to start but eventually develops into a morally complex dramatic mystery exploring issues of justice and the stubborn Iranian code of honor. 3.5/5.

Why the relatively low score? Just curious because of how praised the film was. I thought it was really good myself, though overal overrated because while I thought the moral complexity was well executed, I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I'd have prefered to see Bullhead get the Oscar.

Dramas just aren't my thing; they are the Academy's thing. When rating a movie one thing I consider is "would I want to spend my own money to buy this for my collection?" A "yes" answer usually equates to 4 stars or more. The answer with A SEPARATION was "no, but I'd tune in and watch it again if it was on TV for free," which usually equates to a 3-3.5 rating from me.

It was very well-written and acted, but my main issue was the first 40 minutes were boring (though clues that will be important later do show up). Also, the needlessly ambiguous ending left a bad taste in my mouth as I left the theater. I didn't have any problem connecting with the characters and was happy that for the most part each of them had something good and something bad about them; they were very believable.

[bob]

I finally finished this



I bought it last January.

The Midnight Girl - 2.5/5
White Zombie - 5/5
The Death Kiss 3/5
The Mysterious Mr. Wong 3/5
The  Return of Chandu 4/5
Chandu on the Magic Island 4/5
The Dark Eyes of London 4.5/5
The Devil Bat 3.5/5
The Corpse Vanishes 3.5/5
Bowery at Midnight 3/5
The Ape Man 4/5 -  this was unintentionally hilarious
Scared to Death 1/5 - the only movie not in black in white in the Bela pack
Glen or Glenda? 5/5
Bride of the Monster 4.5/5
Plan 9 From Outer Space 5/5

100 Years of Horror: Bela Lugosi  documentry hosted by Christopher Lee is exceptional