Recent viewings

[Trevor]

Chappie: District 9 meets Short Circuit. I enjoyed it, although Kristi really didn't get the movie at all.

I stopped watching Neil Blomkamp's films when I realized that all he is actually doing is dissing South Africa over and over again. 

[Rev. Powell]

SON OF SAUL (2015): A member of the Sonderkommando (Jewish death camp prisoners forced to herd other Jews into the gas chambers) becomes obsessed with giving one of the bodies a proper Jewish burial, risking his own life and the lives of his comrades to do so. Surprisingly confident direction from newcomer László Nemes that wisely turns the story almost into a thriller rather than a standard Holocaust drama, relentlessly emphasizing Saul's personal experience (to the extent that the horrors of the gas chamber are seen out-of-focus). I didn't see all the entries but it's hard to say that this was undeserving of its Foreign Language Film Oscar. 5/5.

ORPHEUS (1950): The myth of Orpheus retold in modern post-war Paris with a couple of twists: now, Death is in love with Orpheus and Death's chauffeur has the hots for Eurydice. Jean Cocteau's greatest achievement: beautiful, dreamlike, poetic. 5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" (1997)
http://youtu.be/Oze1bn4_pbk

The debut of Mike "SNL" Myers' shagadelically-obsessed British secret agent who was frozen in the '60s and then revived in the '90s when his old nemesis returns with a plot to take over the world. This affectionate ode to '60s spy flicks is juvenile and silly but still funny as hell. The lovely Elizabeth Hurley (whatever happened to her anyway?) provides the eye candy.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Danger: Diabolik" (1968)
http://youtu.be/QTcGTEK0Q2g

Mario Bava directed this campy, colorful action flick (based on a popular Italian comic series) which is kinda like a blend of James Bond and the '60s "Batman" TV show. A high-tech master thief known only as "Diabolik" has a Batcave full of cool gadgets and a smokin' hot girlfriend/accomplice. Due to his talent for pulling off seemingly-impossible heists, Diabolik isn't just wanted by the good guys at Interpol, but also by the European crime syndicate, who are tired of him stealing their thunder. Very Sixties, very groovy!

[javakoala]

"Danger: Diabolik" (1968)
http://youtu.be/QTcGTEK0Q2g

Mario Bava directed this campy, colorful action flick (based on a popular Italian comic series) which is kinda like a blend of James Bond and the '60s "Batman" TV show. A high-tech master thief known only as "Diabolik" has a Batcave full of cool gadgets and a smokin' hot girlfriend/accomplice. Due to his talent for pulling off seemingly-impossible heists, Diabolik isn't just wanted by the good guys at Interpol, but also by the European crime syndicate, who are tired of him stealing their thunder. Very Sixties, very groovy!

His lovely lady friend is played by Marisa Mell. My god, what a beautiful woman!

[indianasmith]

I haven't been watching a lot of movies lately, as I have been writing like crazy on my latest novel (some 60 pages or so in two weeks, going to try and write another chapter here in a bit).  But I did take a break last night and watch a couple of films, neither of which was worth the rental fee.

DRACULA REBORN was a low-budget vampire flick about a female journalist and her friends trying to track down the "Drakula Kult" operating in France.  The plot was hard to follow, and although the actresses were cute, in the end it's jus this journalist and her friends all getting taken down by vampires.  It didn't even have any of the classic Euro-vampire flick nudity that was so popular in the 60's and 70's - just stilted dialogue, a boring plot, and a homely, bald Dracula.  2/5

ZOOMBIES was an Asylum release, and maybe it would have been OK, but I was so sleepy when I put it in I had a hard time getting through it - I kept dozing off!  But the plot was that some monkeys in this zoo were dying of an unknown virus, so the vet decided to try an experimental drug on them which transformed them into raging, aggressive undead simians, who proceeded to infect every other animal in the zoo.  I know it ended with the aviary blowing up, but I'm a little fuzzy on how it got there. 3/5, maybe better, but I don't remember substantial chunks of it.

[claws]

The Aliens Are Coming (1980)

Hidden behind a meteor shower, aliens land almost unnoticed in a desert with intentions of taking over the world. They possess the body of a hoover dam worker in order to obtain hydro-electric energy, which they know nothing about but seem important to them anyway. Meanwhile a UFO-Geek from some institute, his female colleague and a female reporter are investigating while trying to prevent the evil alien invasion.

Made for TV pilot that never took off. This is a very old school alien invasion type affair but still trying to be 'contemporary.' The aliens are part robot and organic and speak with a robotic human voice. Once they take over humans their eyes shine brightly green. Still, this wasn't great and neither really bad. Mild Saturday night entertainment. 2.5/5

The People Across the Lake (1988)

Tired of the hectic city life a young family of four purchase an old house by a lake in rural country. Soon enough they must endure redneck harassment in all kind of shape and form.  Not only that, dismembered body parts are discovered hinting at the work of a serial killer. As the family digs deeper they untangle a dark mystery that puts them into mortal danger.

Solid but not great TV terror flick dipping into slasher territory with a healthy dose of dark humor, mostly provided by Valerie Harper playing the mom. Gerald McRaney who plays the father has the only "nude" scenes. He even flashes his naked butt for a brief moment which I thought was unusual for a TV movie. 3.5/5

[Rev. Powell]

MON ONCLE (1958): A young boy being raised in a sterile modernist home prefers the company of his childlike uncle, one M. Hulot. I'm not really into these Hulot pictures; there's an awful lot of mise en scene to chew on for very little satirical nourishment. Considering this was viewed as the height of comedy in France at the time, it's easy to see how Jerry Lewis was able to conquer the country. 3/5.

[indianasmith]

Last night Patty and I watched THE MARTIAN.  A very impressive and realistic film; I can see why it was nominated for Best Picture. Matt Damon was perfect in the title role, and Jeff Daniels had a great supporting turn as the Director of NASA.

[JaseSF]

Just a quick heads up about some more recent films I actually really enjoyed - most of these surprised me by being better than I expected and the majority of these delivered a great sense of fun, action and/or adventure, oftentimes all three:

Tomorrowland (2015)   **** out of ***** stars

Ant-Man (2015)   **** out of ***** stars

Pixels (2015)   **** out of ***** stars (best Sandler movie in some time IMO)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) **** out of ***** stars

Warrior (2011)   **** out of ***** stars

Also really enjoyed the following but found it to have some flaws which limited my enjoyment:

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)   ***3/4 out of ***** stars (problem with this was at times it looked and felt a little too much like a video game)

[indianasmith]

Last night I watched THE GREEN MILE, one of my favorite adaptations of any Stephen King novel.  Incredible performances all around, and a heart breaking story.  5/5

Then I watched a little indie horror film called BLACK MOUNTAIN SIDE.  Archeologists in Canada uncover a 20,000 year old temple and then begin going mad, one by one, harming themselves and each other.  Interesting premise, but very slow paced. 3/5

[claws]

We Are Still Here (2015)

Married couple mourning the loss of their son move to snowbound rural country. It appears their house is haunted, though the wife is convinced their dead son's spirit is roaming about. They invite psychic friends and soon discover the house is a paranormal gateway demanding annual sacrifices.

Much praised indie horror with 1970s setting. Some claim it's an homage to Lucio Fulci movies but I didn't notice such thing. Scares are scarce, budget is low, acting somewhat unintentional funny and one guy looks like a younger and chubbier version of Jack Nicholson's The Shining character. Barbara Crampton did good and has aged well, but Tim Burton's ex-muse Lisa Marie did not (what's up with her weird lips?).

I wasn't super-impressed but my gut feeling is telling me I might enjoy this more on a second viewing. 3.5/5

[lester1/2jr]

Cemetery Man aka Dellamore dellamorte - This was like an Italian zombie version of Evil Dead. The main guy even looked like Bruce Campbell. As always in italian movies the female lead was very very pretty and there were some colorful things going on but I couldn't really follow the plot. I still don't know what it was. He's a guy who works at a cemetery and has to deal with zombies and stuff. visually very cool but hard to follow and draggy plot wise

2.5 /5

[lester1/2jr]

force of Evil (1948) - this is a pretty cool film noir crime movie type thing. It's not a classic for a number of reasons. First is the plot which is about a numbers racket and competition among people in the numbers racket world. apparently before they had the lottery they had a lot of little lotteries. Not exactly international espionage or something.

The women are usually sexier in these things too. The lead john garfield is okay but he's not exactly Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney. It's not a very sexy picture in general, nor is it all that poetic or evocative. at the same time it is solid in it's storytelling and the writer, who was probably a communist, had a feel for characters who were morally repulsed by shady business practices and the tension between them and those who weren't.

I'd put this a step above "worth seeing for film noir completists" it doesn't knock you on your ass but it was compelling if not wildly exciting

3/5

[claws]

The Visit (2015)

A thirteen year old boy and his fifteen year old sister take the train to visit their grandparents. They have never met, the siblings single mother left her parents house following a huge fight fifteen years ago. The kids are documenting their visit, the grandparents are nice but soon display rather odd behavior: they shall remain in their room after 9:30 pm and never go down in the basement. Rules are there to be broken but what they discover turns out to be a nightmare come true.

Apparently director Shamaylan redeemed himself with this found footage horror thriller after a string of cinematic disappointments. The Visit has you guessing to the very end, mixing humor with highly disturbing happenings. I like that the plot plays out like an urban legend, and the conclusion is simple yet effective. 4/5