Recent viewings

[JaseSF]

Another from that Midnight Horror Collection...

2:13 (2009): a criminal profiler named Russell Spivey (Mark Thompson), battling a drinking problem, his own personal demons and self-doubt, tries to track down a brutal serial killer with a fondness for masks who's seemingly made Spivey a major part of the focus behind his actions.

While there's really little new here and little we haven't seen done better before in other thrillers focused on serial killers (like se7en, Copycat) and even one could argue certain slashers, this in the end surprised me by being a little bit better than I expected. There are moments of intense torture gore in this and too many shots of Thompson's naked behind both of which I personally could have done without (and honestly I think showing less is more effective in terms of the horror suspense) and there's a lot of this that follows a predictable pattern and seems downright clichéd.  Still, the mystery and police work element is competently done and Teri Polo does well as Spivey's estranged love interest Amanda Richardson and I felt the acting from the rest of the main cast was pretty solid too. Fun little moments here from Kevin Pollak as a psychiatrist and Dwight Yoakam as a S & M shop owner. *** out of ***** stars.

[Rev. Powell]

CAREFUL (1992): Repressed emotions erupt into suicide, betrayals and duels in a fairy tale Alpine village where everyone must whisper and watch their every move closely for fear of avalanches. This is Guy Maddin, so if features gorgeous stylized visuals based on German Expressionists (here, bizarre hand-tinting choices which lead to scenes performed in brilliant yellow and pink or extreme orange); but, although the setting here is pure fantastic Maddin, the quiet, melodrama-based plot takes too long to engage, making CAREFUL a movie that's more for established fans of this auteur than newcomers.  3.5/5.

[alandhopewell]

     This was in the FOUR FAVORITES: URBAN ACTION CINEMA set....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5a6igG29yk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Samson

     A satisfying blend of action, humor, cheese, and sex; William Smith is at his ickiest as the bigoted bad guy.

[lester1/2jr]

that looks awesome (Black Samson)

[JaseSF]

Mary Poppins (1964): Despite the objections of their somewhat inattentive, easily addled and work obsessed father George Banks (David Tomlinson), Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael Banks (Matthew Garber) wish for a new nanny who's quite special in terms of being fun, caring and kind-hearted and receive an extra special response from one Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), a nanny who seems to possess magical powers.

While I don't find it quite as effective now as I did watching this as a kid, it still has plenty of charm and magic to offer up and watching this did make me rather nostalgic. Actually while I know it's not a guy-ish thing to say per se, I love the songs in this one especially "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". There's definitely a great energy to this and Dick Van Dyke (as the kindly jack of all trades Bert) and Andrews are both fantastic in their lead roles. There's a real sense of art coming to life here and for its era, the effects are quite remarkably done and it's fun to see animation mixed with live action here too. Only real flaw is this is perhaps a little too overlong and at times it's a little hard to feel sympathetic to how blind Mr. Banks has become to what's truly most important in his life. **** out of ***** stars.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Evilspeak" (1981)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qb1gQEDh2o

Clint "Ron's Brother" Howard is a nerdy, picked-on military academy cadet who gets revenge on his torturers with a little help from Satan... and a computer.

This early '80s cable favorite starts slow but the last 20 minutes, featuring a possessed, levitating Howard loppin' off heads with a sword, a horde of man-eating pigs, and a chapel in flames, is an absolute freakin' hoot. Loved the vintage "video game" style computer effects too.

Legend has it that the makers of this flick had Anton LaVey of the Church of Satan on the payroll (in an advisory role) and it also features a pre-"Night Court" Richard Moll in a small role, as well as Don "Bob From That 70s Show" Stark as one of Howard's tormentors.

[Jack]

Demons at the Door (2004) - repeat viewing. A small group of scientists and military guys have unwittingly opened the door to hell, and now must figure out how to keep Satan from taking over the world. Oh jeez, this thing is BAD lol. Acting straight out of an elementary school play, some of the worst CGI and most goofy looking practical effects you can imagine, and a completely gonzo attitude towards everything. The demons and humans spend half the movie insulting each other's manhood, dozens of gallons of green demon blood spray everywhere, and the climactic battle between Satan and one of the military guys is just comical. I usually hate these stupid "horror" comedies, but this thing was so good naturedly moronic that I couldn't help but enjoy it. 4/5.

[lester1/2jr]

The Spiral Staircase (1949) - I've seen this a bunch of times but thankfully I keep forgetting who the killer is. Always liked this one with the rainy night and the killer is loose. it's not amazing but it's good and done right. 4/5

[JaseSF]

The Cat From Outer Space (1978): A UFO makes an emergency landing on Earth and we soon learn its intelligent alien pilot is in fact a kitty cat. Eventually the UFO is seized by the United States army under the charge of one General Stilton (Harry Morgan) but the alien cat Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7 who's soon nicknamed Jake seeks out allies (here scientists played by Ken Berry, Sandy Duncan and McLean Stevenson) to help him get back to and repair his ship so he can successfully rendezvous with his Mother Ship before it leaves for another 115 years but the army and and an evil criminal mastermind named Charlie Olympus (William Prince) and his henchmen (one of whom is played by Roddy McDowall) are also on Jake's trail.

While this has some cute and fun moments likely to please kids, it's a little slow getting off the ground and most of its humor is largely of the cheesy, somewhat forced variety (although it may well please bad movie fans). It has a few moments that might actually make you laugh but it's more likely to slightly amuse. It is notable all the major name stars in this one and pretty much everyone gets a moment to shine and a moment of comedy usually at their expense. It's interesting that one scene involves Jake levitating a motorcycle 4 years before Spielberg came out with E.T.. Cat lovers are perhaps the ones who'll enjoy this the most as Jake is a unique and intelligent looking tawny Abyssinian cat; a role shared by two cats named Amber and Rumple (according to Wikipedia) . Honestly I consider this to be a bad Disney movie yet an amusing one too. **3/4 out of ***** stars.

[lester1/2jr]

I liked Cat From Outer space. 

[Jack]

Boa (2001) - while building a new super max prison 20 miles (or kilometers, whatever) from the south pole, workers break open some nitrogen filled cavern and release an 80 foot snake that's been sleeping in there for millions of years. The prison population soon takes a major hit.  Luckily they've got Dean Cain's phone number, and he and his wife show up to save the day. By the time they arrive there are only a few security guards left. And of course they release the prisoners because, well, we paid these actors money, can't just have them sitting around in cells for the whole movie. This was pretty average for a "good" SyFy Original type movie. Okay characters, cheeseball CGI, plot moved along at a good pace, and the ending was spectacularly unbelievable. 3/5.

[claws]

Home Movies (1980)

Young kid films his family as part of some weird therapy. The ever-horny father is cheating on his wife and the older brother is about to marry a former whore.

Indie Student project two years in the making chaperoned by Brian De Palma who took turns with students in directing. The outcome is a very strange and disjointed low budget comedy that is not one bit funny. Works in a train wreck kind of way, and only Nancy Allen truly shines and displays decent acting skills. 2.5/5

[indianasmith]

UNDERWORLD: AWAKENINGS - Selene and her hybrid lover didn't enjoy their happiness long after the last installment - humans finally discovered the vampires and Lycans living among them and launched a massive attempt  to eradicate them completely.  Selene and the hybrid guy were captured and put in suspended animation; she wakens 12 years later to discover a daughter she never knew she had and a world much different than the one she left.

A solid addition to a very interesting movie series.

[alandhopewell]

    Never thought I'd say this....saw a dull, stupid Jim Kelly movie....



     Actually, I can't claim I saw the whole thing; the clip witll give you some idea of how far I got.

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

     This reminded me of those awful Filmation live-action programs from the 70's, with Hanna-Barbera sound effects (INMTU)

     This was sad.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Pieces" (1983)

http://www.youtube.com/v/NWkG_Olhb8w

A chainsaw killer is chopping up co-eds on a college campus, and the most inept cops in film history are trying to stop him. Yup, that's the whole plot in this delightfully sleazy, pseudo-classic grindhouse flick. The acting is negligible, the dialogue is howlingly "WTF," the splatter flows hot and heavy and the ending makes no sense whatsoever. Released in 1983 but it looks like it was made in 1973. Whoever wrote this movie must really hate women, because they serve only two purposes in this flick -- to get naked and to get dismembered. Someone's got issues. Then again, I watched it so I guess I have issues too.

This flick has one of the coolest tag lines ever -- "YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO TEXAS FOR A CHAINSAW MASSACRE." Sho'nuff.