Recent viewings

[ChaosTheory]

In the Mouth of Madness (1995): John Trent (Sam Neill), a former insurance investigator now a psychiatric patient recounts the story of how he got there to one Dr. Wrenn (David Warner). His story involves the search for a prolific missing horror writer named Sutton Cane (Jürgen Prochnow) and a journey that seemingly takes Trent inside of one of Cane's horror novels into a town named Hobb's End effectively blurring the lines between horror and reality. What horrors are behind this? Or is it all only in Trent's mind?

While this has some great moments here and there, it ultimately disappoints with its conclusion and the fact it just doesn't quite deliver upon the earlier thrills and chills it seemed to be promising. Still there's some seriously twisted stuff here that brings to mind questions as to just where within one's imagination do such horrors lurk and if maybe they aren't trying in some fashion to be let loose upon an unsuspecting world. The brief glimpses of monstrosities we get with this one are quite good but one really wishes for a whole lot more by the end than one ever really gets. I'll give this one **3/4 out of ***** stars.

I LOVE that movie!  But it's definitely an acquired taste.  It's a lot like a Lovecraft story.


WANDERLUST (2012) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz7xMY1AbbI
a by-the-numbers Throw A Couple Norms In With A Bunch Of Weirdos comedy starring Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston as the norms.  Season 4 of THE WIRE was funnier than this f*cking movie.

[alandhopewell]

      I decided to watch BLACK SAMSON again, and I completely enjoyed it....



     This movie is just FUN.

[fulci420]

Brotherhood of the Wolf-I had been meaning to watch this film for a while now and finally got the chance recently. This is an epic film concerning the hunting of a great beast in 18th century France. First the good things about this film. The action/fighting scenes are amazing, and the cinematography is fantastic. Acting wise we get great performances from Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, Mesrine), Monica Belluci (Irreversible) and Mark Dacascos (who I just realized is the guy at the beginning of each episode of Iron Chef America). Unfortunately this film is a bit overlong at nearly two and a half hours with a bit too much time spent on subplots. Overall though I cant really hate on any movie that combines a french period piece, martial arts and then throws in a mythical monster on top of it.
This film is in french but for haters of subtitles (I'm indifferent to them) there is a high quality dubbed version provided on the dvd. 

[FatFreddysCat]

"Attack the Block" (2011)

http://www.youtube.com/v/cD0gm7dHKKc

When hungry aliens invade a low-rent London housing complex, a teenage street gang steps up to save the world in a fast paced, funny-as-hell action-sci fi/comedy from the producers of "Shaun of the Dead." Worth a look if you dig B-movie monsters and Brit humor.

[Jack]

Slither (2006) - Alien slugs invade a small town, taking over people's bodies and turning them into yucky monsters. Or zombies, as the case may be. It's up to the sheriff (Nathan Fillion) to save the day. Fun movie, definitely a horror-comedy and it made me smirk a couple of times with its witty dialog. 3.75/5.

[alandhopewell]

Brotherhood of the Wolf-I had been meaning to watch this film for a while now and finally got the chance recently. This is an epic film concerning the hunting of a great beast in 18th century France. First the good things about this film. The action/fighting scenes are amazing, and the cinematography is fantastic. Acting wise we get great performances from Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, Mesrine), Monica Belluci (Irreversible) and Mark Dacascos (who I just realized is the guy at the beginning of each episode of Iron Chef America). Unfortunately this film is a bit overlong at nearly two and a half hours with a bit too much time spent on subplots. Overall though I cant really hate on any movie that combines a french period piece, martial arts and then throws in a mythical monster on top of it.
This film is in french but for haters of subtitles (I'm indifferent to them) there is a high quality dubbed version provided on the dvd. 

     I saw that a few years back....excellent.

[retrorussell]

Grotesque (1988).  Worst movie I've seen in some time.  At least the punk gang in the film had some enjoyably bad dialogue.

[indianasmith]

I just re-watched 300.  Perhaps the ultimate testosterone flick!!!!

[lester1/2jr]

Mongolian Death Worm - A loveable louse guy is trying to find treasure in Mongolia while huge worms are starting to be seen because a western factory is diong geological drilling. The people are blandly likeable but not all that interesting. I guess it's big achievment is it's alot lke old 70's / 50's disaster movies in many ways. 2.5/5

[Rev. Powell]

MAY (2002): A girl with a lazy eye grows up as a social outcast with a doll as her only friend; she gets corrective lenses as a young adult and is suddenly set loose on the dating world with no social skills and a dangerously loose grip on reality. An effective, creepy character study for the first two thirds, but it takes an unfortunate turn into predictable slasher territory for the climax. 3/5.

[claws]

Grotesque (1988).  Worst movie I've seen in some time.  At least the punk gang in the film had some enjoyably bad dialogue.

it's so bad you posted twice! 

« Reply #5229 on: July 30, 2012, 09:18:25 AM »
GROTESQUE (1988).  Oh wow, it's bad.  And not in a good way.

[JaseSF]

One Million B.C. (1940): An anthropologist tells a story he reads from a cave painting to a group of tired hikers looking for shelter from the storm. It is the story of Tumak (Victor Mature) of the Rock people meeting Loana (Carole Landis) of the Shell people. Tumak used to the more brutal, survival of the fittest, no time for weakness ways of the Rock people is confused by the kindly Shell people and their ways of sharing, giving, looking after, caring for and protecting one another. Tumak, still ambitious for power eventually decides to take what he's learned back to the Rock people. Along the way, he and Loana and their respective tribes are threatened by many "slurpasaurs" and an erupting volcano.

Actually this wasn't too bad considering there's not an whole lot of talking beyond the most basic in the entire film. It is consistently entertaining and it doesn't hurt that the lead cast is so attractive with Landis seeming especially sweet as Loana. Lon Chaney Jr. also gets a few moments to shine here as Akhoba, originally the Rock people's cruel leader who suffers a fall from grace after getting injured. Obviously though the real attraction here is the for its era Academy Award nominated special FX what with optically enlarged lizards and other animals used to represent dinosaurs and other prehistoric critters which has since gained much fame as stock footage used in numerous films from the 40s, 50s and 60s and even in select films in the 70s and 80s. That said, this FX has not dated too well and has become less and less convincing over the years and also now seems cruel abuse of animals on some levels. I'll give this one *** out of ***** stars for entertainment value.

The Princess and the Pirate (1944): A cowardly actor named Sylvester the Great (Bob Hope) disguises himself as an old gypsy woman to avert being slaughtered by marauding pirates under the command of a "bloodthirsty buccaneer" named the Hook (Victor McLaglen) whose real target is one Princess Margaret (Virginia Mayo) whom he plans to hold for ransom. With the help of a scheming pirate ship tattooist named Featherhead (Walter Brennan), Sylvester and Margaret manage to escape with Sylvester unknowingly having the Hook's stolen treasure map placed into his possession by Featherhead who plans to retrieve it later. However they shortly thereafter run afoul of a scheming crooked Governor named La Roche (Walter Slezak) who also has ransom plans for the Princess and also happens to be old friends with the Hook.

This lightweight comedy swashbuckler has its fun moments what with Hope in rare form delivering quick quips, jokes and one-liners and Virginia Mayo looking lovely as the beautiful and much desired Princess. Actually the funniest bits involve Hope interacting with McLaglen, Slezak and Hugo Haas, the owner of the Bucket of Blood club. There's also a great unexpected surprise appearance by on old friend of Hope's at the end that's quite delightful. I have to say though I had the most from the belly laughs watching the bits with Hope's Sylvester disguised as the Hook and with him and McLaglen eventually both aboard the pirate ship leading to much comedic confusion. I'll give this one a solid ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

The World is Not Enough (1999): After finding himself unexpectedly used in the assassination plot of one Sir Robert King (David Calder) by a Russian anarchist/terrorist named Renard (Robert Carlyle), MI6 Special Agent 007 James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) insists on being assigned to protect King's daughter Elektra (Sophie Marceau) whom Renard had previously kidnapped and held for ransom. While on assignment, Bond stumbles across a plot by Renard to steal a nuclear bomb apparently targeting oil pipelines in an apparent bid to drive up the worldwide price of petroleum but to what ends?

While this has some clever twists and turns and some truly great action sequences, this one hurts from being overlong, having too many dull stretches between the action, yet another lead villain in Renard who seems much too low-key and a badly miscast Denise Richards in the role of American nuclear physicist Christmas Jones. That said, Marceau is great here and Brosnan gives arguably his best performance to date as Bond. Also it was interesting to see M (Judi Dench) so involved in the story with this one. Also quite good here are Robbie Coltrane returning to the role of Russian mob boss Valentin Zukovsky and Maria Grazia Cucinotta as the Cigar Girl Assassin who one wishes had been in the film longer. While the plot to this one is arguably stronger than Tomorrow Never Dies, the action and casting doesn't seem as good especially Richards who may be fantastic to look at but is just not a talented enough actress to convincing pull off the important role she's given here. Still I'll give it **3/4 out of ***** stars.

[retrorussell]

Grotesque (1988).  Worst movie I've seen in some time.  At least the punk gang in the film had some enjoyably bad dialogue.

it's so bad you posted twice! 

« Reply #5229 on: July 30, 2012, 09:18:25 AM »
GROTESQUE (1988).  Oh wow, it's bad.  And not in a good way.

Aw, friggle fraggle!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Muppets From Space" (1999)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R94eV8nxvrA

A soul-searching Gonzo the Great learns that he may be an extraterrestrial, leading him to contact his alien brethren ....which attracts attention from a government Man in Black (Jeffrey Tambor) who wants to capture and dissect him. Of course, Gonzo's Muppet pals have to come to the rescue.

Much more slap-sticky than the recent "Muppets" film w/Amy Adams and Jason Segal, which is fine by me. This was good old fashioned Muppet mayhem the way I remember it from when I was a young'un. Fun stuff for kids and grown ups.

[Jack]

Pieces (1982) - a chainsaw killer is loose on a college campus and it's up to the cops to solve the case. Their first decision is to keep the whole thing secret - even as 3, 4, then 5 girls are killed; can't have any bad publicity for the school you know. A female detective goes undercover to investigate, but instead she just gets randomly attacked by some Bruce Lee dude, who turns out to be the Kung Fu instructor. He goes around the campus at night randomly assaulting people I guess - that's what Kung Fu instructors do apparently. Keeps everybody on their toes    I think my favorite scene was when the killer gets into an elevator with one of his intended victims - hiding a chainsaw behind his back. Yeah...I'd never notice something like that. Our undercover detective is also a champion tennis player and plays an exhibition match at the school. Small problem - according to the director neither she nor the girl she's playing against had ever touched a tennis racket before in their lives. So yeah, not exactly the most convincing match. Overall, it was a slow moving, average movie, except with some wonderfully ridiculous bad movie moments. 3.5/5.