Recent viewings

[Jack]

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008) - the humans are still at war with the bugs, and Casper Van Dien is back to save the day. I'm guessing this movie is trying really hard to be a satire of pro war propaganda, but it ends up being more of a parody of the first movie. It's just dumb. Several subplots-within-subplots, all played out in clumsy fashion will little attention paid to whether it makes sense or not - or whether the audience just started laughing at the whole thing a half hour ago. Lots of paper-thin characters and low budget CGI from a first (and only) -time director. 2.5/5.

[lester1/2jr]

FatFreddy's cat- have you watched hard Ticket to Hawaii yet? That is so good

[Rev. Powell]

FatFreddy's cat- have you watched hard Ticket to Hawaii yet? That is so good

Yeah, think that one's Sidaris' "best."

[FatFreddysCat]

FatFreddy's cat- have you watched hard Ticket to Hawaii yet? That is so good

Yeah, think that one's Sidaris' "best."

Yep, I saw "Hard Ticket" on late night cable years 'n' years ago... but I'm lookin forward to eventually revisiting it thanks to this box set. :D

[rebel_1812]

"Superman III" (1983)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9fVrQxkfcY

The third Superman flick is an odd mix of flashy superheroics and misplaced slapstick comedy. A computer genius (played by an utterly miscast Richard Pryor) and a crazed multi-millionaire (Robert Vaughn) team up to build a super computer that can control the weather, take over the world's oil supply, and oh yeah - figure out a way to kill Superman. Their synthetic Kryptonite doesn't quite do the job (but it does bring out Superman's evil side, transforming him into Super-Dick for a while) and eventually sets up a final show down in the Grand Canyon between Superman and Super-Machine.

Overly busy and stuffed with out-of-place comedic bits, "Superman III" still manages to be entertaining in spite of its flaws, but it obviously pales in comparison to the first two films in this series. However, it's still not the worst Superman flick, because "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" exists.

Still manages to be entertaining??   No.  You shouldn't try to make superman into a comedy just like you shouldn't take and SNL bit and try to make a drama.

[FatFreddysCat]

Still manages to be entertaining??   No.  You shouldn't try to make superman into a comedy just like you shouldn't take and SNL bit and try to make a drama.

Well, maybe I should've phrased that "Still manages to be entertaining, even if it's for all the wrong reasons."  

[Rev. Powell]

ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1966): Young Alice falls asleep on a riverbank and dreams of a Wonderland full of nonsense characters and events. This BBC television version of "Wonderland" has no anthropomorphic animals or colorful sets---the White Rabbit is just a guy and the Cheshire Cat is a real house cat, and the movie's in black and white in natural settings. Unexpectedly, the story turns more dreamlike thanks to this restraint, and Ravi Shankar's hazy sitar score gives the production an additional psychedelic sheen. 4/5.

[ChaosTheory]

GENTLEMEN BRONCOS -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpFpfIBkXc

A social outcast gets his sci-fi novel hijacked by a pompous author (and a pair of manipulative "indie" moviemakers) in this weird and pretty horrible movie from the creator of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE.  People either love or hate ND, but at least there was an element of sympathy to that movie's oddball characters; with this movie everyone is just unpleasant and embarrassing.  Cool opening title sequence though. 1/10



Yesterday I stayed inside & marathoned all the ALIEN movies while I was sewing.
Two things stand out: 1) how badly all the non-Scott movies have aged, effects-wise and 2) now I'm afraid of eggs.  And it's the week before Easter; maybe this was a bad idea.
Anyway: Alien> Aliens> Prometheus>> Ali3n> AvP>> AvP: Requiem > Getting mauled by an actual Xenomorph >>>> Alien: Resurrection

[claws]

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Freshman Charlie has a difficult time adjusting to high school. His old classmates ignore him and senior Sam (Emma Watson), the girl he falls in love with, is already taken. They still hang out, together with Sam's flamboyant stepbrother Patrick. Soon enough they experience drugs, wild parties, cool mix tapes AND The Rocky Horror Picture Show. However, Charlies desire for Sam grows deeper resulting into unwanted drama.

Romantic coming-of-age based on the popular book by the same name. The movie was pretty much ignored during its theatrical run but everyone plus your mama has seen and purchased it once it was released to home video. Which should explain the incredibly high IMDb rating (8/10).

Sort-of feel good movie (more or less) that's cool for including Rocky Horror Picture Show, David Bowie songs and Tom Savini as a high school teacher. My incredibly high rating: 4.5/5

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Tony Stark/Iron Man is criticized because of his high tech armor suit but there's still a sigh of relief when he defeats enemy Ivan (Mickey Rourke) from Russia threatening the U.S.
Fun and fast sequel with AC/DC tunes and questionable casting of Scarlett Johansson stealing the spotlight from leading lady Gwyneth Paltrow.  Somewhat on the same level as the first movie. 4/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Dallas Connection" (1994)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXl_L0HJ8IU

It's yet another boobs & bullets fiesta from the Andy Sidaris funbag factory!! Agents Cannon and Austin return from "Enemy Gold," but this time they've been targeted by a trio of beautiful female assassins. The lethal ladies are really after some computer chips that will allow their evil boss to control a government weapons satellite, but who really cares about the plot anyway with all the eye candy running around this flick? As usual, a bunch of girls get nekkid and lotsa stuff blows up, plus as a bonus we get a couple of poorly staged kung-fu fights too. A total hoot(er)!!!

[Jack]

Android Insurrection (2012) - watched this again. Being somewhat (but not a lot!) stupid, I ordered this from Amazon thinking it was one of Pandora Machine's other movies, Total Retribution, which was quite a bit better. Anyhow, this one's got some futuristic commandos (yeah right lol) going to some big building where they're supposed to retrieve an android, but of course they run into a lot of trouble with a CGI robot who protects the place. Special effects were zero budget, acting was bad, plot was generic. It was mildly entertaining in its crappiness though. 2.5/5.

[Umaril Has Returned]

Stalingrad, a 1993 German movie about the epic battle of WW2.

This is one hell of a movie. Here's a small snippet:
Y-LxoJ4G808&feature=share&list=FLVRWZ17iPwd670UfiZKNQMw

[alandhopewell]

     THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (1945)

     John Wayne, John Ford, PT boats, WWII, it don' get no better.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHtdB97uA08

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

[indianasmith]

Last night I got to watch most of WRECK-IT RALPH, which was a very fun and heartwarming Pixar film - especially great for an old-time arcade gamer like me!

Then, after the wife and kids were put to bed, I watched a horrid cheese-fest called BATH SALT ZOMBIES.  It was heavily weighted with all of Joe Bob Briggs' "Three B's", and is an example of all that is so entertaining about Z-grade DTV movies.  Not an instant classic, but a a fun, low-budget hunk of cinematic cheese!

[claws]

Planet 51 (2009)

Cocky Astronaut Charles from earth lands on Planet 51 not expecting much, but finds it populated by green human-like aliens sort of living in the "1950s" and scared of a possible alien invasion. Now a fugitive, Charles befriends local kid Lem and both try to outsmart authorities so that the earthling can travel back home.

Animated '50s Sci-Fi Invasion homage with a solid and fun plot, neat characters and dazzling CGI extravaganza. Had they increased the cuteness factor on those supporting characters that are supposed to be cute to begin with, then Planet 51 could have been a real winner. It's still good but not on the same level as Pixar/Disney. 4/5

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)

Nicolas Cage plays a "dirty" cop - he's addicted to drugs, gambling and sex and doesn't shy being corrupt or violent or taking advantage being a cop so he can manipulate to get what he wants. Plagued by back problems he still tries to get his life back on track, more or less.
Give Cage a decent script and a talented director and you have struck gold. Most likely Cage's best film in years. 5/5