Recent viewings

[Rev. Powell]

THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN (1969): A billionaire (Peter Sellers) adopts a  bum (Ringo Starr) and uses his fortune to pull outrageous pranks designed to show how far people will debase themselves for money. The satire is so scattershot that it only hits the most obvious targets, but the gags get good in the last manic half hour, when amusing cameos from Christopher Lee, Raquel Welch and Yul Brynner liven things up. 3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Back to the Future Part II" (1989)

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

In the sequel to the '85 fantasy hit, Marty and Doc Brown zig-zag between 1955, 1985, and 2015 to repair damage to the space-time continuum caused by their previous adventure. Not as good as the original but still action packed and pretty damn funny in its own right.

The segments set in the "future" of 2015 are a particular hoot since that's now only two years away... and we still don't have hoverboards, self tying shoes or flying cars, damn it!!

[JaseSF]

How Do You Know (2010): Quirky romantic comedy starring Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson in the middle of a love triangle. Each character is going through some type of personal or identity crisis in this film which makes for slightly more interesting viewing than I expected from what is essentially a romcom. Jack Nicholson is also on hand as Rudd's somewhat neurotic, somewhat crooked father. Not half bad for what it is. I enjoyed it and I like the cast so I'm giving it ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

Failure To Launch (2006): Parents looking for a true sense of freedom hire a special type of interventionist (Sarah Jessica Parker) who's promised to get their adult son (Matthew McConaughey) finally out of the house. While this has some fun moments here and there, it also has numerous problems. The whole continuing subplot involving unlikely animal attacks is just plain dumb for the most part and it's hard to buy Parker oftentimes as a potential love interest for McConaughey. Zooey Deschanel as Parker's offbeat buddy pretty much steals the spotlight whenever she appears in this one. *** out of ***** stars.

ParaNorman (2012): animated fantasy featuring a young boy named Norman who has the unique ability to see and talk to the dead. This ability however makes him pretty much a freaky outcast in the community. However his eccentric bum of an Uncle finally makes Norman aware he's been given the gift for a unique reason, he needs it to prevent the local witch of legend from rising from the dead and raising the dead of the town to seek vengeance upon the ancestors of those who killed her.

This was pretty good stuff. There's several in-references there for adult horror fans to spot and the film really plays well upon a kids sense of wonder with regards to scary movies. This would probably be a good pick for Halloween with younger kids but be aware that some of the content is perhaps a tad bit too scary for some kids although I suspect not for the majority. A fun little movie but it does have an element of sadness at work with regards to its plot. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[VenomX73]

"Back to the Future Part II" (1989)
The segments set in the "future" of 2015 are a particular hoot since that's now only two years away... and we still don't have hoverboards, self tying shoes or flying cars, damn it!!

"Read my fax."

and... still today and I bet in two years kids will still recognize Wild Gunman for Nintendo.

[HappyGilmore]

Sleepaway Camp
Sleepaway Camp 2
Sleepaway Camp 3

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hard Ticket to Hawaii" (1987)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCM6HCTJeRU

More bullets, babes 'n' boobs action from the late, great Andy Sidaris. Former Playboy Playmates Dona Speir and Hope Marie Carlton play scantily clad undercover agents who get mixed up with a gang of diamond smugglers. Yeah, that's the whole plot. There are car chases, guns go off, lots of stuff blows up, girls go topless...nuff said.

As usual for Sidaris' films, the story is needlessly complicated, the dialogue is wretched, and the action scenes are mediocre at best... but none of that matters because there's tons of female eye candy packed into every scene.

As an added bonus, "Hard Ticket" features the most hilariously fake looking "killer snake" in film history... yet it's still a better actor than any of the Playmate cast members.

A total hoot!

[claws]

Psycho from Texas (1975)

Sociopath Wheeler was traumatized as a child: his mother was a whore. Now as a grown up Wheeler's scarred soul prevents him from having a healthy relationship with women. Instead he feels the need to treat them as dirt, or even kill them. Hired to kidnap a wealthy retiree he arrives in some small Texas town causing terror and death on the side ...

When the Psycho in question looks like Tiny Tim acting like a bully/a***ole you know you're in for a fun time. Psycho from Texas provides mild blood spill, sleaze and violence towards women. There's a genuine Grindhouse feel throughout thanks to bad editing, arthouse-type of flashbacks, the usage of the same Country & Western song over and over, insight in living in Texas in the mid 1970s, a bit of comic relief (black maid) and brief moments of humor. Of course there's unintentional humor as well so overall this makes for an entertaining watch. Rating: 4/5

[Rev. Powell]

"Hard Ticket to Hawaii" (1987)


As an added bonus, "Hard Ticket" features the most hilariously fake looking "killer snake" in film history... yet it's still a better actor than any of the Playmate cast members.

A total hoot!

Even better, the snake has been injected with rat cancer, which makes it more deadly!  This is Sidaris' "best" movie.

[lester1/2jr]

I love Sleepaway Camp and Hard Ticket to Hawaii. now THERE is a move that deserves a sequel or ten


The International (2009)- If you've somehow never seen a heroic agent vs evil corporation movie before this will blow you away, otherwise it's pretty "meh" as they say. Clive Owen's lines are heavy handed, Naomi Watts is totally nondescript. The big showstopper scene, a shootout at the Guggenheim, is okay I guess. all in all a watchable movie that very occasionally does something interesting or colorful. 3/5

[FatFreddysCat]

Even better, the snake has been injected with rat cancer, which makes it more deadly!

Of course! Everyone knows that rat cancer is the worst kind.  

[claws]

Honeymoon (1985)

A French couple on extended vacation in New York get in trouble with the law after the boyfriend was caught selling/buying drugs. The woman, Cecile, is facing deportation while her partner is awaiting his trial in jail. In order to avoid deportation Cecile meets with a firm that arranges marriages for foreigners with Americans. One week later "Zack" shows up in Cecile's hotel room. Handsome Zack claims to be her new husband with no intentions of leaving. Soon enough Cecile is caught in a fatal game of mistrust, sexual attraction and fear - charming Zack appears to be a homicidal-psychotic ...

Above average French Thriller / Drama / Romance with great performances, suspense and location. Gotta love gritty New York in the 1980s. Honeymoon is an overlooked little gem with cult appeal. Worth tracking down. 4/5

[Jack]

The Puppet Masters (1994) - some nasty little alien leach-type creatures come to earth and attach themselves to people's backs, taking control of them. It's up to Donald Sutherland and a couple of other government detectives / scientists to stop them before they take over the world. Very enjoyable action movie with plenty of great lines from Sutherland. It's based on a novel by Robert Heinlein which makes it at least slightly different than your normal alien invasion movie. 4/5.

[alandhopewell]

     DIE HARD (1988)

      I only saw this once, on tv, years ago, so I decided to rent it from the library. Last evening, a program on the twenty-five best action movies rated DIE HARD as #1, so I was looking forward to DVD'ing it at midnight.

     I was NOT disappointed. When I clicked off the tv at 0230, I was wringing wet, and completely pumped-this, if not the best action film ever made, is at least in the top three.

[claws]

The Shadow of Chikara (1977)

After some civil war battle a handful of confederates are heading home. Along the way they are told about a fortune hidden inside a cursed mountain, so three soldiers decide to check it out. It's a long journey and along the way they pick up a young woman who appears to know more about the cursed mountain than she is willing to tell.

Rare Horror-Western with a troubled history. Paramount gave it a limited theatrical release in the summer of 1977. Then it was shelved for several years and found its way again to theaters, home video and TV in various stages of edited versions (trimmed for pacing, cut for violence, edited because of music copyrights) and alternate titles. As of now there doesn't seem to be a complete version available except for a heavily edited TV fullscreen bootleg version on DVD.

As for the movie, it has an interesting concept but there isn't really much Horror to be found. Only the final two minutes reveal some creepy moments. Getting there can be tough especially when watching under different expectations. I think the movie has potential but its not the long lost holy grail of undiscovered groundbreaking greatness that Horror connoisseurs make it out to be. Rating: 3.75/5

[Jack]

Bloody Pit of Horror (1965) - watched this again. Some models go to a castle for a photo shoot, but wouldn't you know it, the Crimson Executioner lives there and before long he's torturing them all in the most exploitative ways possible    Utterly ridiculous, especially the Crimson Executioner's dialogue which is miles over the top. 4/5.