Recent viewings

Dr. Whom · January 19, 2020, 01:53:28 PM

War between the Planets (1967).

This is the Italian movie Il pianeta errante, not to be confused with the earlier installment of the series I Diafanoidi vengono di Marte, which had the English title War of the Planets. Whoever thought up the English titles obviously didn't have much inspiration.

In this one, captain Manly McSquarejaw and his impeccable hair save the earth from a rogue planet, through the judicious use of an antimatter bomb and a hatchet. The planet is some kind of living organism, that can create wind in space, something even the characters in the movie find hard to believe.

There is about enough plot for a 30 min TV episode, so to get to the full 90 mins runtime, there is a lot of padding. The acting is pretty wooden, but the SFX scenes with models have their charm, if you like that sort of thing. One curious thing is that the space station doesn't appear to have a docking facility, so the crew park the spacecraft alongside and have to do spacewalk each time.

chefzombie · January 19, 2020, 06:03:25 PM

"manly mcsquarejaw and his impeccable hair"...LOVE IT!

Gabriel Knight · January 20, 2020, 07:10:56 AM

BONE TOMAHAWK (2015)

In the dying days of the old west, an elderly sheriff and his posse set out to rescue their town's doctor from cannibalistic cave dwellers.

While not a fan of westers, I watched this movie specifically for Kurt Rusell, and I was pleasanty surprised. The whole setting is very well done, although many times the movie is way too dark, and everything seems so "clean" for a western. The suspense is amazing and the troglodytes are a scary bunch. There's some gore which is really nasty and does serves a purpose, it's not there just to freak you out.

If you like a different take on the western genre, I thoroughly recommend this. Character development is done really well, you end up knowing the group of cowboys and rooting for them, even for John Brooder, who's kinda messed up. And if you like Kurt Russel, get ready for some kick ass scenes from the most underrated badass guy from the 80s and 90s. I loved some lines of dialog, too.

Overall, another proof that low budget films (only 1.8m!) can be really good, and even better than high budget crap. 8/10

Rev. Powell · January 22, 2020, 11:15:59 AM

TAPEWORM (2019): Multi-character "anti-comedy" tracking the depressing lives of six losers on Winnipeg. Sort of like a sleepwalking Canadian SLACKER, this generally dull film does feature decent performances from the middle-aged cast members. I think it would have worked better if it cut out the secondary stories and made itself all about the tapeworm guy. 1.5/5.

FatFreddysCat · January 23, 2020, 07:00:56 AM

In honor of the late Terry Jones...

"Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979)
The Pythons' Biblical satire tells the strange tale of "Brian" (Graham Chapman), a perpetually unlucky chap who was born next door to Jesus on the same night and as a result, is constantly mistaken for the Messiah.
"Holy Grail" is still my fave M.P. film but "Brian" has its fair share of laughs and quotable bits too.

lester1/2jr · January 23, 2020, 09:53:56 PM

The Beheaded 1000 (aka The Executioner) 1991 - you know those reviews that are like "if you are fan of this style...otherwise" well thats this one. If you are a fan of wuxia/ wire fu whatever you want to call it a la Holy Flame of the Martial World and Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain you will enjoy this, though not as much. It doesn't have the sotry or budget it needs but it does have Joey Wang, the beautiful ghostly queen of HK cinema. It also has some decent Shaw bros style lazer effects and weirdness, just not what it needs to be great. made in Taiwan

3.75/5

Rev. Powell · January 24, 2020, 09:07:06 AM

Quote from: lester1/2jr on January 23, 2020, 09:53:56 PM
The Beheaded 1000 (aka The Executioner) 1991 - you know those reviews that are like "if you are fan of this style...otherwise" well thats this one. If you are a fan of wuxia/ wire fu whatever you want to call it a la Holy Flame of the Martial World and Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain you will enjoy this, though not as much. It doesn't have the sotry or budget it needs but it does have Joey Wang, the beautiful ghostly queen of HK cinema. It also has some decent Shaw bros style lazer effects and weirdness, just not what it needs to be great. made in Taiwan

3.75/5

I saw this one years ago and I think I agree. It was good enough for me to remember the title and the general vibe, but not good enough for me to remember anything really specific about it.

Dr. Whom · January 25, 2020, 06:43:38 AM

Alita Battle Angel (2019)

One of the best Western manga adaptations out there, although that is not saying much (I'm looking at you, Ghost in the Shell). All in all a pretty solid movie, though not particularly outstanding. Its main problem is that is not so much a stand alone movie, but an introduction that lays the groundwork for the main confrontation that is to come.

Alex · January 25, 2020, 08:27:57 AM

Jumanji: The Next Level.

A decently entertaining follow up . If you liked the previous one, then the chances are you'll like this one and if not... well just don't watch it.

FatFreddysCat · January 25, 2020, 09:41:50 AM

"Cold Moon" (2016)
A feud between two Florida families over a valuable piece of property leads to several murders and eventually, to supernatural vengeance.
A slow burning, low budget horror/thriller with a decent cast and a fair amount of creepy Southern Gothic atmosphere. I wasn't blown away, but it was better than expected.

indianasmith · January 25, 2020, 01:20:14 PM

CANDY CORN -
A group of mean-spirited teenagers go to stage their annual Halloween prank of beating up a local, mentally challenged man and stripping him naked, then turning him loose in a public place. (NOTE: Only one of these teens looks to be south of 25; their ringleader appears to be about 35-40.) But Jacob, their intended victim, who has just been hired to work at a traveling circus, decides to fight back, to they beat and kick him to death. With the aid of the circus' dwarf witch doctor, Jacob is restored to life and goes on a vengeful rampage, killing all of his tormentors one by one.
Predictable, goofy, gory, this is a by-the-numbers undead slasher flick a la VICTOR CROWLEY, but not as well done. 3/5 (and that's generous)

FatFreddysCat · January 25, 2020, 05:20:39 PM

"Deathsport" (1978)
In the year 3000, a pair of post-apocalyptic warriors (David Carradine and former Playmate of the Year Claudia Jennings) are captured by the evil government and forced to take part in "Deathsport" - a life-and-death battle on souped-up, weaponized motorcycles.
This silly as hell pseudo-follow-up to Roger Corman's classic "Death Race 2000" has virtually no plot, no story, and no point - it's mostly scenes of guys on bikes chasing each other around, crashing into things, and exploding, while Jennings occasionally gets nude.
Apparently there was a lot of behind-the-scenes drama during the making of this flick -- according to Corman, they fired the original director after he pulled a gun on Jennings and Carradine (!). Allan "Rock N Roll High School" Arkush was brought in to do last minute re-shoots and try to make something out of the first guy's mostly-unusable footage -- which all sounds like it was more interesting than the actual movie.

indianasmith · January 26, 2020, 03:15:23 AM

THE YOUNG CANNIBALS (2019) - So, there is this invisible monster in the woods that only eats cannibals. Since there is only one cannibal in the town on the edge of the woods, and he doesn't want to get eaten, he makes up free hamburgers out of human meat and gives them to unsuspecting campers. Then he drags the campers deep into the woods and leaves them for the monster to eat. Well, this group of campers fights back.
Yeah, that's the movie. Interesting premise, mostly flat delivery. Too dark to see what was going on most of the time. 2.5/5

Rev. Powell · January 26, 2020, 10:30:06 AM

DRIVE, HE SAID (1971): A star college basketball player tries to find meaning in Vietnam-era America. Jack Nicholson's angsty yet ho-hum directing debut could have really used him in front of the camera instead of behind it. 2/5.

FatFreddysCat · January 26, 2020, 09:40:59 PM

"Undercover Brother 2" (2019)
In this ultra-cheap, years-too-late, who-asked-for-it direct-to-video sequel to 2002's cult blaxploitation parody, ultra-funky secret agent Undercover Brother is in a coma after being injured in the line of duty, so his dorky younger brother is drafted into service to continue the battle against The Man.
The original "Undercover Brother" was a pretty funny flick in the "Austin Powers" vein, but "2" was a total waste of time. Absolutely none of the cast members from the original film returned for this go-round (C'mon, they couldn't even lure Eddie friggin' Griffin back to play Undercover Brother? Where have you seen him lately? You can't tell me he's got anything better to do!), so this "sequel" feels more like a failed pilot for a cheap TV series adaptation, full of unfamiliar faces and stale gags.
AVOID.