Recent viewings

[Rev. Powell]

THE ROOM (2003): Generous, caring Johnny is beloved by everyone---everyone except for his sociopathic fiancée Lisa, who decides to seduce Johnny's best friend, leading to incompetently-acted tragedy. Finally got around to seeing this "classic," and I can't say it disappoints in its badness. I'm not sure I've ever been as embarrassed on another human being's behalf as I am for poor Tommy Wiseau, who humiliates himself as a director, writer and (especially) actor. 5/5 on a bad movie scale.

[Jack]

Chariots of the Gods (1970) - documentary putting forth the idea that aliens visited our planet in ancient times. We go all over the globe, from Egypt to South America to Easter Island and of course the Nazca Lines in Peru. Turns out pictures of ancient aliens are everywhere! And those rocks those people used to build stuff were way too big to be moved without help from aliens. It is rather thought provoking in a way - I've seen a show where engineers figured out that those Easter Island statues could be moved by attaching ropes to the top and getting them rocking back and forth while simultaneously pulling on them from the bottom, but some of those Egyptian obelisks are 90' tall and solid stone.  Even with modern day equipment it would be a stupendous undertaking to move those things. Mostly I enjoyed the tour of all the historical sites, especially the South American stuff that I don't see too often in other documentaries. And it had some great atmosphere with the dramatic theme music and the narrator announcing stuff like the Nazca lines are "undoubtedly" a landing strip for alien spacecraft. 3/5.

Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre (2001) - French film starring the adorably cute Sophie Marceau (you may remember her as Elektra King from The World Is Not Enough). In the Louvre museum, a mummy is gotten out of storage and some researchers set about trying to figure out its identity. Its spirit flies across the street to Sophie's house and possesses her, causing her to enter the museum, get dressed up in some cool looking ceremonial garb and kill the security guards. Sophie's got a new boyfriend but the relationship starts to suffer because of that little possession problem of hers, but he does all he can to solve the mystery and save his babe. This was fun with good characters and a somewhat interesting plot. A little slow moving overall and the CGI spirit was a tad cheesy, but still enjoyable. 4/5.

[lester1/2jr]

I enjoyed Chariots of Gods aestetically. The conspiracy movie has come a long way since then.


House at the End of the Street - JLaw-rror? This is decent as a vehicle for Lawrences talents, which include singing unfortunately, but it's not very scary and the story is about as phoned in as it gets. 2/5

[JaseSF]

Stand By Me (1986): Great coming of age flick has four young boys aged 12 living in Castle Rock, Oregon in the summer of 1959 deciding to go on an adventure - in search of the body of a local boy missing and presumed killed. Along the way, they learn about the harsh realities of life, the importance of friendship, and of standing up for what is right. Each of the four young boys is different but each is searching for acceptance and a sense of belonging. Wil Wheaton plays Gordie Lachance, still struggling following the accidental death of his more popular older brother, River Phoenix plays the tough, but deceptively smart and kindhearted Chris Chambers whose family association doesn't bode well for him, Corey Feldman plays the misguided Teddy Duchamp who plays tough guy to hide a lot of pain, and Jerry O'Connell as Vern Tessio, kind of the oddball outcast of the group struggling to gain the acceptance of the others. This movie based on a novel by Stephen King and directed by Rob Reiner is surprisingly good for a movie starring kids, much better than many others of its type. Great acting and a great story although the bit about Lardass Hogan is kind of gross but yet also kind of fitting in a story told by a twelve year old. **** out of ***** stars.

The Ugly Dachshund (1966): Mark Garrison (Dean Jones), tired of his wife Fran (Suzanne Pleshette)'s obsession with her prized Dachshund lapdog Danke and her pups, decides to try and sneak in a new pup (at the behest of vet Dr. Pruitt [Charles Ruggles] when the pup's mother turns him away from nursing having too many pups), that of a dog he much prefers - a Great Dane. However  Brutus proves to be a pretty sizable dog to play at being a Dachshund which at first he truly seems to believe he is.

This classic effort from Disney is certainly not politically correct nowadays as its funniest moments arguably come at the expense of  Japanese caterers who fall victim to Brutus on the loose. It's also slightly dated. That said, it is surprisingly funny especially is you like destructive slapstick style comedy. Harmless fun for the most part. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

A Piece of the Action (1977): Dave Anderson (Bill Cosby) and Manny Durrell (Sidney Poitier) are two very clever thieves/con artists who've managed to steal a lot of money from crooks arguably even worse. However one man, a retired detective named Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) has somehow figured how it was them who was responsible and threatens to expose both Anderson and Durrell unless they agree to help out at a youth center for troubled youths volunteering their time.

The biggest problem this movie has is figuring out whether it wants to be a crime caper style story or a let's help troubled kids overcome their restrictions style drama. It ends up being a somewhat odd mix of both. All in all, it works much better than I expected thanks no doubt to the good cast which also includes Denise Nicholas, Hope Clarke, Tracy Reed, and Titos Vandis and even some good and moving performances given by many of the actors/actresses playing the troubled youth at the center. Poitier also has some great motivational scenes where he tries to explain to the kids the importance of doing the right things in hopes of getting a better job. A flawed movie but one with some really great dramatic scenes and some fun too. ***1/2 out of ***** stars.

[lester1/2jr]

Mega Pirahna - a pudgy Tiffany and worse for the wear Greg Brady star alongside some action guy in this Asylum effort. Typical things happen and Pirahnas get loose. Tiffany is a pretty good bad actress, Greg does a good job but what else does he have to do all day but learn his lines.  They should have a movie like this where they just let the mega whatevers win. 5/5

[indianasmith]

Last night we watched THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY.
Honestly, it wasn't that bad.  A bit slow in places, but overall a pleasant and heart-warming film about a rather shy man who winds up living out his fantasies of adventure.  Nice cameo by Sean Penn, too, who is looking pretty old these days.

[Jack]

Entity (2012) - some people from one of those paranormal investigation TV shows go to an abandoned research complex in Russia to do an episode. They've got a psychic along with them who can see what happened there in the past. And it turns out really bad things happened there, and the ghost of one of the research subjects is still lurking about and he's really P.O.'d. This had excellent atmosphere, it created a lot of tension for the whole last hour of the movie. And the old research facility was spooky and the ghost guy was scary as well. So I give it high marks for that. On the downside the characters were poorly developed and after a half hour so much scary stuff had already happened that I was like "Well if you idiots aren't smart enough to get the heck out of there then you deserve whatever happens to you." But overall it was pretty good. 4/5.

[lester1/2jr]

The more I think about House at the End of the Street the more ridiculous it is.

[Mofo Rising]

Escape from Tomorrow (2013)

If the idea of a movie filmed in Disney World without Disney's permission sounds good, watch this movie. If you like movies for any other reason, stay the hell away. This is morally questionable dreck. It really is that bad.

Walking the Edge (1983)

I literally have no idea why this is in my Netflix queue. I watched it. It's a not-so-good random '80s flick starring Robert Forster.  The always dependable Forster is fine, some of the dialog is great. But I'm left with question, why is this in my Netflix queue? I don't have an answer.

[Jack]

Attila (2013) - an Asylum movie...oh jeez. It starts with a group of guys walking through the desert who are introduced to us as Attila and his sons. Never mind than none of them look remotely Mongolian. The narrator points out which one is Attila, and the guy stops walking, holds his sword in the air and yells "AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" for absolutely no reason. I'm surprised the guys around him didn't stop and say "Dude, you okay?"  

And it never gets much better.

Anyhow, in the present day some soldiers find some box containing a piece of a legendary staff that used to belong to Attila; it grants immortality and invincibility to whoever possesses it. But then some ancient invincible dude comes to life and even though he's bulletproof, that doesn't stop the soldiers from shooting him a thousand times. Most of the movie is guys and gals in jeeps or a Hummer driving around shooting him. He wants his staff back but some general wants it of course to create an invincible army.

About as stupid as you can get, but I suppose mildly entertaining because of it. 3/5.

[Rev. Powell]

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER (2013): Collector John Maloof bought an old box that turned out to contain professional-quality artistic photographs taken by a nanny named Vivian Maier; he sets out to convince the art world to exhibit her work, while trying to uncover the mysterious facts of this intensely eccentric and private woman's life. Maloof's passion for his subject is intoxicating, and is ultimately more interesting than the photographs themselves (good as they are). 3.5/5.

MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET (1967): An expedition to a remote island discovers a prehistoric flying dinosaur and brings it to Japan; it's parents come and stomp buildings until they get the brat back. Giant monster movie that brings nothing new to the genre (it's a virtual remake of GORGO). 2/5 for kaiju masochists, 1/5 otherwise.

[Rev. Powell]

Escape from Tomorrow (2013)

If the idea of a movie filmed in Disney World without Disney's permission sounds good, watch this movie. If you like movies for any other reason, stay the hell away. This is morally questionable dreck. It really is that bad.

Why "morally questionable"? You mean because they shot it without Disney's permission? (PS - I liked it, though it had its flaws).

[Josso]

I've only seen it once it seemed to be at first to be a weird pretentious art flick but then kind of blew my mind. I thought there were hints towards Disney introducing sex to children, since there is a bunch of conspiracy theories of that type.

[Mofo Rising]

Escape from Tomorrow (2013)

If the idea of a movie filmed in Disney World without Disney's permission sounds good, watch this movie. If you like movies for any other reason, stay the hell away. This is morally questionable dreck. It really is that bad.

Why "morally questionable"? You mean because they shot it without Disney's permission? (PS - I liked it, though it had its flaws).

The middle-aged protagonist lusts after two way-too-young girls. This sets off a mental break for which he's ultimately rewarded with a new fantasy life with a new fantasy wife. At least that was my unfavorable reading because I disliked the movie so much. In a better movie, this could have been social commentary. This is not that better movie.

I like the idea of the making of the movie, but hate the movie itself. This would have been ignored if it wasn't shot at Disney, but much better if made in a place where they had permission. This is The Room or Birdemic with a better marketing hook.

[alandhopewell]

     OFFICE KILLER (1997)

Another gem from an Echo Bridge el cheapo gorefest set....

Office Killer

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

    Carol Kane is almost unrecognizable, and the film is a pleasant suprise, considering where it's from....