Recent viewings

[Jack]

Satan's Slave aka Evil Heritage (1976) - a girl and her parents go to visit her uncle in the country. Unfortunately her parents are killed in a car accident on the way, but her uncle and his creepy son are "nice" enough to take her in and console her. Of course we've seen somebody sacrifice a naked girl to Satan, and we've seen the son kill his girlfriend in the opening scenes, so we kind of get the idea that things aren't going to turn out well for our main character. Typical Eurohorror I guess - the pace was plodding, the plot somewhat interesting, the characters were one-dimensional and utterly lacking in any human charm or wit. The type you couldn't even imagine yourself actually caring about. But I made it to the end without any undue discomfort. 2.75/5.

[Rev. Powell]

WEIRDSVILLE (2007): Two junkies, who are planning a safe heist to pay off the mobster they owe $8000, clash with Satanists when they interrupt a ritual while burying an overdosed friend. At times this stoned black comedy from the director of PUMP UP THE VOLUME flirts with BIG LEBOWSKI-esque greatness, but some questionable contrivances and forced quirkiness put it in the merely entertaining range. 3/5.

[alandhopewell]

     JUSTICE LEAGUE: DOOM


     A Christmas present.
Batman, being Batman, has made his own list-a list of the weaknesses of every current and past Justice League member, in case they should ever go rogue or get brainwashed.

     Not suprising....his mind works that way. Thing is, Mirror Master (on orders from Vandal Savage) sneaks into the Batcave, and hacks the list from the computer. So, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter are all faced with their greatest foes, armed with their Achilles heels, while Batman has to literally dig his way out of his parent's grave.

     Excellent DCAU entry, with the original JLU cast, except for Tim Daly voicing Superman in place of George Newbern, and Nathan Fillion portaying Hal Jordan, rather than Phil LaMarr as John Stewart.

     Odd bit-Michael Rosenbaum is the Flash, but he's supposed to be Barry Allen, rather than Wally West.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979)

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

The Pythons' Biblical epic tells the tale of "Brian," who was born in a stable a few doors away from Jesus and whose life follows a similar path as he's mistaken for the Messiah.

"Holy Grail" is still the best MP film in my book, but "Brian" definitely has its share of silly moments.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Shadow" (1994)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRcZ4Pw2t_8

A buffed-out Alec Baldwin stars as the WWII-era pulp hero in this big-budget adventure directed by Russell ("Highlander") Mulcahy. The Shadow must protect 1940s New York from a crazed descendant of Genghis Khan, who plans on picking up where his ancestor left off in the world-conquering business. The result is kinda like a mish-mash of Tim Burton's "Batman" flicks with the retro "Raiders of the Lost Ark" vibe.
Lotsa cool effects, great set design, excellent cast, maybe it could've used a little more substance and a little less style, but otherwise this was an enjoyable popcorn flick, especially if you like period action pieces ala "Raiders" and "The Rocketeer."

[fulci420]

In the Valley of Elah (2007) Based on true events this movie surrounds a fathers (Tommy Lee Jones) attempt to get to the bottom of his soldier son's mysterious murder. Facing opposition against military authorities he is aided in his investigation by a local detective (Charlize Theron). Paul Haggis had previously directed the 2004 film Crash and considering that film's tendency to be heavy handed and obvious in it's message it is refreshing to see that this is a drastically more subtle film. Great performances throughout especially from Tommy Lee Jones make this a movie well worth checking out.
4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Big Trouble" (2001)

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

A diverse cast including Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Patrick Warburton, and Janene Garafalo (to name just a few) star in this wacky caper flick that features a guy who lives in a tree, a pair of inept Mob hitmen, some Russian arms dealers, the FBI, a nuclear bomb on an airplane, and a psychedelic toad. Yes, it's just as bizarre as it sounds, but it's also pretty funny stuff, as it introduces a large group of seemingly random characters and situations and then proceeds to lock everything together piece by piece. Based on the novel by humor columnist Dave Barry.

[indianasmith]

I LOVED that movie!  I am a huge Dave Barry fan, and it captured his zany humor perfectly!
The sports radio call-in show that was on the SAME caller everytime they got into a vehicle
cracked me up!

[FatFreddysCat]

I LOVED that movie!  I am a huge Dave Barry fan, and it captured his zany humor perfectly!
The sports radio call-in show that was on the SAME caller everytime they got into a vehicle
cracked me up!

Yeah, I love Dave Barry's columns/books too, and the movie definitely tapped into his particular breed of insanity.
Shame that this movie never got a fair shot at the box office (it was supposed to be released in Sept. of 2011 but got shelved for several months after 9/11, due to its plot hook of a bomb on an airplane)...it deserved better.

[Rev. Powell]

PROSPERO'S BOOKS (1991): An adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" with John Gielgud as Prospero, featuring decadent sets, nude spirits, and sumptuous video overlays, optical tricks, and animated books. Paintings from the Old Masters come to life and morph into each other as Gielgud reads almost every line of the play; even if you hate it, it's impossible not to be impressed by the massive scale and detail of this movie. 5/5.

[ChaosTheory]

I LOVED that movie!  I am a huge Dave Barry fan, and it captured his zany humor perfectly!
The sports radio call-in show that was on the SAME caller everytime they got into a vehicle
cracked me up!

Yeah, I love Dave Barry's columns/books too, and the movie definitely tapped into his particular breed of insanity.
Shame that this movie never got a fair shot at the box office (it was supposed to be released in Sept. of 2011 but got shelved for several months after 9/11, due to its plot hook of a bomb on an airplane)...it deserved better.

I love BIG TROUBLE too, it's one of my favorites to throw on when I need to be cheered up. Dennis Farina is the man!   



Last night rented:
TO ROME WITH LOVE (2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIbYqxqtP38
Woody Allen's latest, combines the shenanigans of a handful of tourists and one Roman citizen.  Pretty disappointing as a follow-up to MIDNIGHT IN PARIS.  The Roberto Benigni storyline was kind of interesting, but I just didn't care about any of these characters.  It did have nice cinematography though.
4/10

DREDD (2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp8Nw-yZEIQ
This movie was loud, bloody, garish, and dumb, with lots of gimmicky visuals, cheesy dialogue and loving shots of Karl Urban's leather-clad ass.

In other words, everything I hoped it would be. 8.5/10

[indianasmith]

PROSPERO'S BOOKS (1991): An adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" with John Gielgud as Prospero, featuring decadent sets, nude spirits, and sumptuous video overlays, optical tricks, and animated books. Paintings from the Old Masters come to life and morph into each other as Gielgud reads almost every line of the play; even if you hate it, it's impossible not to be impressed by the massive scale and detail of this movie. 5/5.

I like Shakespeare, and wanted to like that movie, but . . . . NO.

[lester1/2jr]

Did anyone ever see "O" the version of Othello with Julia Stiles? It was pretty good from what I recall

Man From Planet X - I think I thought this was going to be The Man With X Ray Eyes. pretty nondescript 50's drive in movie. not trashy enough or bad enough to be that sort of fun, not profound enough to have Twilight Zone, Outer Limits type relevence, special effects were barely there, one weird looking alien face, no real charcter development (the cunning evil scientist guy doesn't get a chance to connive very much). all in all not much to see here 2/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t7z_44nGio

Roger Corman's semi-classic "Star Wars" cash-in is essentially a space-faring "Magnificent Seven," as Richard "John-Boy Walton" Thomas recruits a crew of stellar mercenaries to defend his peace-loving planet from invasion by the evil Sador (Boo! Hiss!).

The cast is a virtual "who's who" of B-filmdom including John Saxon, Robert Vaughan, George Peppard and Sybil Danning, the special effects are surprisingly well done (especially by Corman standards) and the whole thing is simply charming, action packed fun.

[Jack]

Troy (2004) - the story of the Greek war against Troy, started when a Prince of Troy stole the wife of a Greek King. It's stressed in the movie that all these thousands of people are going to die in battle so this one guy can have his romance; but the Greeks were also looking for a reason to invade Troy so it's used as an excuse as well. Brad Pitt easily steals the show as the warrior Achilles. Both in the action sequences as well as charter development I thought he did an excellent job. Other than Pitt though, all the other characters just weren't interesting enough, or involved in subplots complex enough, to really keep me glued to the screen - a least not for 163 minutes. Still pretty good though and definitely worth a watch. 3.75/5.