Recent viewings

[indianasmith]

I watched a neat little creture feature called HYOTHERMIA night before last.  Two families are camped out on top of a lake in Maine for ice fishing season.  One group is a humble factory worker, his wife and son, and the son's girlfriend.  The other group is a father and son team who have money, loud music, and no clue what they are doing.  All six of them wind up being stalked by a ferocious predator under the ice that has eaten all the fish in the lake and is still hungry!  The creature is NOT CGI - it is a guy in a pretty impressive looking rubber suit.  Overall, this one was pretty fun to watch, even if the ending was a little weak.

[Jack]

Titanic II (2010) - so the Titanic II is on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic and a huge chunk of ice falls off a glacier and creates a tsunami that drives an iceberg into the side of the great luxury liner. The story follows the owner of the ship and his ex-girlfriend as they make their way through a hotel's conference center and the basement of some building...er I mean through the ship as they try to get to safety. Characters were mediocre at best, CGI was of the bargain basement variety and the plot was as predictable as it was ridiculous. Made for a rather boring experience overall. 2.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Con Air" (1997)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzg3ND-ITjU

Nicolas Cage is a parolee who's just hitchin' a flight home on a prison transfer plane that happens to be loaded to the brim with some of the nation's most notorious criminals. They, of course, stage a takeover of the plane in mid-flight and Cage has to play hero so he can get home to see his wife and daughter. Silly as hell, but it's got a great cast (including John Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Dave Chapelle and Danny Trejo) and an extensive amount of mayhem. Tons o' shoot'em up, blow'em up fun!

[fulci420]

Deathdream (1972)

I was greatly impressed by this low budget film from Bob Clark (Black Christmas). We have a small family that get news that their son Andy was killed in Vietnam. Surprisingly a few days later Andy hitchhikes into town and moves back home. His bizarre behavior and withdrawn attitude tears his family apart. Soon enough people start showing up dead and were off to the races.

This movie definitely holds up and actually manages to be quite scary. There is a truly bleak and depressing atmosphere that envelops this whole film and there is no comic relief in sight. The actor's do a good job of treating this material seriously and the result is quite a disturbing little horror film. Kind of reminded me a bit of another Canadian horror movie "Pin a Plastic Nightmare" in it's atmosphere if not subject matter. My dvd comes from Blue Underground and has quite a few extras which I look forward to checking out.

[voltron]

Deathdream (1972)

This is my favorite Bob Clark movie, even more so than Black Christmas (which I never thought I'd say). I also love the bleak depressing tone of it. An undeniable classic in my book. 

[lester1/2jr]

agreed Deathdream is cool as hell

[fulci420]

Deathdream (1972)

This is my favorite Bob Clark movie, even more so than Black Christmas (which I never thought I'd say). I also love the bleak depressing tone of it. An undeniable classic in my book. 

I have yet to see either Black Christmas or Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, but will have to check them out due to the strength of Death Dream. I have seen Bob Clark's "Rhinestone" however of which the less said about the better!

[FatFreddysCat]

With the kids earlier this evening...

"Baby's Day Out" (1994)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzow5wUp7hY
In this "Home Alone" variant from John Hughes, a trio of inept crooks kidnap the baby of a wealthy Chicago family, planning to hold him for ransom. Unfortunately the baby slips out of their grasp and goes on an adventure through the streets of Chicago. When the bad guys attempt to recapture him, cartoonish mayhem follows their every move and they end up falling from tall objects, getting hit in the head, whacked in the crotch, and otherwise abused a whole lot.
My kids thought this movie was a absolute scream, esp. when "Baby Bink" set Joe Mantegna's most tender area on fire with a lighter and one of his fellow crooks puts it out by stomping on it repeatedly. OUCH!!
Harmless fun for kids, painless for their parents.

[voltron]

I have yet to see either Black Christmas or Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, but will have to check them out due to the strength of Death Dream. I have seen Bob Clark's "Rhinestone" however of which the less said about the better!

You've probably heard a lot of hype surrounding Black Christmas - it deserves it because it's a brilliant proto slasher that delivers genuine scares. CSPWDT is VERY talky with very little action. I've heard some people call it a "horror comedy" which is BS. It's a very quirky film but I enjoyed it. Having said that, it's not a movie for everyone.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Bounty Hunter" (2010)
http://www.youtube.com/v/x6c1vH8TLPo

In this light romantic action comedy, Gerard Butler is a down on his luck bounty hunter who thinks he's finally going to get some long-overdue revenge when he's assigned to bring in his ex-wife (Jennifer Aniston), who's skipped bail. Unfortunately she's a reporter who's investigating a story involving crooked cops and mobsters, which makes them both targets. Bullets fly, cars crash, and do I have to tell you whether or not the mismatched pair will fall back in love during their adventure?

A fun flick that gets a little too cutesy-poo around the halfway mark but is mostly entertaining. Oh, and Aniston looks smokin' hot in a little black dress for nearly the entire movie. :D

[Jack]

Octop***y (1983) - Roger Moore stars as James Bond, investigating the theft of a Fabergé egg which leads him to India where Maud Adams runs a jewel smuggling ring composed entirely of beautiful babes and villain Louis Jourdan plans on setting off a nuke on a US air base in Germany. One of my favorites though I've seen it so many times now that it's getting a bit dull. Absolutely gorgeous scenery, plenty of tongue-in-cheek action, babes galore; everything I look for in a Bond movie. 4/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Total Recall" (1990)

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

Classic sci-fi action flick w/Arnold Schwarzenegger as a 30th century construction worker who finds out that his memories are a lie, implanted in his brain as part of a conspiracy that stretches all the way to Mars. Lotsa stuff blows up as he travels to the Red Planet to uncover the truth.

One of Arnold's best flicks, directed by Paul "RoboCop" Verhoeven and featuring Sharon Stone at her absolute peak of hottie perfection.

Meow-za!!
Still a great ride even after all these years.

[Jack]

Paranormal Incident (2001) - a group of college kids goes to a supposedly haunted insane asylum to conduct paranormal research. Once they get all their cameras set up, you've basically got an episode of Ghost Hunters with everything being filmed on night vision cameras, they have a few EVP sessions etc. This is one of those movies that begins at the end, with the sole survivor lying in a hospital bed being interviewed by an investigator who thinks he killed all his friends. They keep cutting back to this hospital room throughout the movie, which relieves any tension that may have built up (though there really isn't much) and kind of diminishes the scariness down to about nothing. There's really not plot at all; the kids hear a noise in a hallway so they investigate, then there's a really loud noise right next to them that scares the crap out of them. Just ratchet that up over the course of the movie. I guess we're supposed to wonder if the place is actually haunted or if the guy in the hospital bed is really a psycho who killed them all, but that's completely ineffective as a plot device. The characters were a somewhat likable bunch I guess. 3/5.

Airborne (2012) - about a dozen people (half of whom are complete a$$ holes) get on a plane bound from London to New York. It's not long before people start disappearing and they find the flight crew has been murdered. Is it some bizarre hijacking, or is there something supernatural going on? There is after all an ancient Chinese vase onboard.  The first half left me wondering why I was even watching this; the characters are just so detestable that even killing them off wouldn't have been sufficient payback for having to endure them in the first place. But the second half actually managed to be somewhat suspenseful. Taking the good with the bad I suppose it's about a 3/5.

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) - after a big superhero CGI action sequence at the beginning, our lead character Alice gets injected with a serum that kills the T-cell virus in her and turns her back into a normal human being. She eventually meets up with some people who have taken refuge in a large prison, surrounded by thousands of zombies. There's a cargo ship not far away and they're receiving radio transmissions form it which promise them safety and security. Is it true, or just another trick from the Umbrella Corporation to lure survivors to their doom? First our characters have to fight their way through hordes of zombies just to get there. I like these Resident Evil movies (except the second one which sucked). I enjoy the way the bleak visual style contrasts with the big-budget CGI, and the way Alice's superhero persona contrasts with her quiet little voice. And they're just fun. The characters were pretty good, especially Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), who is just smokin' hot. 4/5.

[Rev. Powell]

IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL (2004): Documentary on Henry Darger, the reclusive Chicago janitor who secretly wrote a slightly insane 15,000 page novel about a child slave rebellion mixing the Civil War, Christianity and children's fantasy stories, illustrated by hundreds of incredibly detailed full size paintings. A solid introduction to Darger, whose utterly unique and slightly disturbing oeuvre has made him the poster boy for the outsider artist. 3/5.

[fulci420]

Kiss of Death (1995)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzF3Z9IObMU

Remake of the 1947 Film Noir of the same name (which I have not seen) this film is a rather typical tale of a man (David Caruso) coming out of prison and trying to live a crime free existence with his wife (Helen Hunt) and baby daughter. Before you no it Michael Rappaport is knocking on the door and he needs a driver for a robbery. Before you know it Caruso is back in jail and the only way he will ever get freedom is if he goes undercover and takes down Little Junior Brown (an unhinged Nic Cage). The plot is more complicated than that but as a viewer it is relatively easy to follow the multiple twists and characters.

This film has a truly terrific cast and if anything it's limited by having Caruso in the lead. No I am not a Caruso hater I think he has an interesting screen presence and has delivered good performances in the past (King of New York, Session 9 etc...). The problem is that he is not convincing as a gangster, he looks and sounds weak. When he threatens Ving Rhames with "Do you want to dance, cuz I love to dance" the result is comical rather than threatening. In a worse cast he would probably be fine but here the supporting cast outshines him. Nicholas Cage is outrageous as a musclebound gangster who bench presses strippers, hates the taste of metal and loves acronyms! Samuel L Jackson, Ving Rhames, Stanley Tucci and others are all terrific here.

Overall though this is a very enjoyable film. I really enjoyed the pace of the whole thing and the large amount of plot twists worked for me keeping the film from being completely predictable. The director Barbet Schroeder was also behind the excellent "Reversal of Fortune" and the good "Single White Female" prior to the film.