Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

Headcount - I liked the dorky quiet-ish guy in this. just an interesting and different sort of character. He and his hippie brother go for a hike and run into a group of people including girls which is always a good thing. At some point, they arouse the wrath of some sort of otherwordly beast who begins to pick them off.

Hard to describe without giving a lot of it away. Its a drunk/ stoned teenagers on a getaway thing. One problem is the monster itself isn't really revealed and we aren't told that much about it. ( spoiler : Also, if the beast can be conjured by reading something of a popular website, isn't everyone who reads it gonna die?)

The teenagers seemed more realistic than usual and there's some cool stuff. 4/5

Dave Chappelle - sticks and Stones. there needs to be a thousand more things like this. movies, shows, specials etc 5/5

Don't be Afraid of the Dark - Everyone knows the real Grimm fairy tales or whatever are darker than the ones we ended up hearing as kids. This is kind of like what someone imagining what those are like would come up with. Katie Holmes, who I for some reason feel bad for even though she has tens of millions of dollars, is the standout as the new stepmom trying to make good in a tough situation with the new fam. They moved into an old house and it has all these secrets. It looks every inch the spooky old house and is IRL probably some famous house in Scotland or something. I'm more into sordid pirahna beach movies but this worked and I especially liked the ending, which is a rarity nowadays
4.25/ 5

[Alex]

it looks every inch the spooky old house and is IRL probably some famous house in Scotland or something.

Surprisingly, I believe the house is in Australia. I seem to remember watching a making-of documentary and hearing that.

[Rev. Powell]

THE PLATFORM: Prisoners are sentenced (although some perversely volunteer) to a social experiment: the live in a pit with many levels (they randomly move to a new one each month). Each day a banquet descends from the top to the bottom. If everyone eats just what they need there will be enough for everyone, but those at the top gorge themselves and all the food is always gone well before it gets to the bottom. This movie, which is both a political allegory and by the end a strange religious allegory, resembles a mix of of CUBE and SNOWPIERCER and explores every aspect of human brutality in some fairly shocking ways. On Netflix only. 3.5/5.

[indianasmith]

THE BOYS (2019) - A darkly humorous Amazon Prime series about a world where superheroes are real, have major corporate sponsorships, and are not at all nice in private!  Filled with memorable characters like Homelander, Starlight, and A-Train among the "Supes" and Billy Butcher and Mother's Milk among The Boys, an informal team determined to bring down the Supes, this is a gritty, gory, enjoyable send-up of the shiny, happy Marvel Universe.

[FatFreddysCat]

"DOA: Dead or Alive" (2006)
Four lovely female fighters receive invitations to a secret no-holds-barred martial arts tournament on a secluded island, with a $10 million dollar prize for the winner.  
This cartoony kung-fu junk (apparently based on a video game series, with which I am unfamiliar) stars Jaime ("My Name is Earl") Pressly, Devon "Sin City" Aoki, Holly "Neighbours" Valance, and Sarah "Smallville" Carter as our heroines, who pretty much spend the whole movie beating the crap out of an endless stream of bad guys (and occasionally, each other) till they eventually reach the Big Boss, who's played by... (wait for it) Eric "Julia's Brother" Roberts. (His presence is *always* the sign of a quality film.)
...soooo yeah, this is basically the generic store-brand version of a "Mortal Kombat" flick, with waaay more/better T&A. Therefore I was entertained, even if it was for all the wrong reasons.

[chefzombie]

THE BOYS (2019) - A darkly humorous Amazon Prime series about a world where superheroes are real, have major corporate sponsorships, and are not at all nice in private!  Filled with memorable characters like Homelander, Starlight, and A-Train among the "Supes" and Billy Butcher and Mother's Milk among The Boys, an informal team determined to bring down the Supes, this is a gritty, gory, enjoyable send-up of the shiny, happy Marvel Universe.

i plan to start this tonight, since alex mentioned the umbrella academy as similar. LOVED the umbrella academy!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Alice, Sweet Alice" (1976)
A tightly wound Italian-Catholic family comes apart at the seams in 1961 New Jersey, when their youngest daughter is murdered on the day of her first Communion and her weird, withdrawn older sister becomes the prime suspect.
This psychological thriller is known mainly as the film debut of a young Brooke Shields (who plays the pre-teen murder victim). The posters make it look like just another slasher flick, but it's more of a murder mystery in the vein of Hitchcock, or the Italian "giallo" thrillers of the 60s and '70s. Weird, loaded with disturbing religious imagery/symbolism, but also very atmospheric and effective. They don't make'em like this anymore.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (2003)
Bugs, Daffy and two human pals (Jenna Elfman and Brendan Fraser) set out on a globe trotting adventure which takes them from the Warner Bros. movie lot in Hollywood to the Louvre in Paris and even to darkest Africa, as they try to keep a priceless treasure away from the evil head of the ACME Corporation (Steve Martin).
Joe "Gremlins" Dante directed this high energy, low brow live action/animation mix which has a lot of funny bits but overall is stuffed with way too many side gags, pointless celebrity cameos and mugging, overacting performances by its human cast (esp. Martin).
Warner Brothers had hoped that this flick would re-introduce the Looney Tunes brand to 21st century kids, but when it tanked at the box office, it sent Bugs and friends back to TV purgatory instead.

[lester1/2jr]

The Forest - I don't know why, but I have to work myself up to write these things, even though they are like two sentences long and just very very general thoughts on something I just saw. A woman's twin sister is missing in that forest in Japan where people go to kill themselves. Thats the hook, if you will, this forest that apparently exists. She is warned about the dangers of the forest and how it can make play tricks on your mind a la The Geto Boys "my minds playing tricks on me". Helping her out is some guy she met at a bar who she has minimal sexual tension with (she's married). This movie was "great" in the sense that it was a great example of a movie that is really good but not quite great. 4/5

[Rev. Powell]

BACURAU (2019): A group of killers isolate a small Brazilian village intending to massacre the residents for recreation, but find the peasants are more resourceful than they anticipated. A lot of drama up front as we get to know the many villagers; the action never gets too hot, but there are touches of Leone and Kurosawa in the third act. A bit unnerving, considering the political situation in Brazil at the moment. 3.5/5.

[Gabriel Knight]

BLADE RUNNER (1982)
WARNING: SPOILERS AT THE END

A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space, and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Since I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, I never cared too much attention to this classic. I finally watched it and I have to say, the scenery in this movie is incredible. The overall dystopian look fully takes you into this strange world, and I wasn't bored at all like a lot of people claims to be. My main grip is that the whole idea of the movie has been explored before, especially by Rod Serling in THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Honestly, I didn't understood the big deal about the plot, I actually thought it was kinda generic at that point.
Still, it's a charming movie and Harrison Ford is quite believable as a blade runner, although not as much as a replicant, as Ridley Scott confirmed years ago. To be honest, it sounded really stupid to me. I actually toyed with the idea while watching the movie, but many things disuaded me from reaching to that conclusion, mainly the fact that Deckard gets his ass handed to him easily by the antagonists. Shouldn't he be able to fight in more even terms? He was trained in combat as well.

A fun movie and a beatiful piece of art to look at. 8/10 

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Avengers" (1998)
Ultra-posh gentleman secret agent Steed (Ralph Fiennes) and his foxy new partner Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) must stop a mad scientist (Sean Connery) who has figured out how to weaponize the weather, and plans to use it to hold the world for ransom.

Obviously not to be confused with the Marvel super-hero "Avengers," this is a high tech update of the cult British TV spy series from the swingin' Sixties. Former 007 Connery seems to be having fun playing a Bond-style villain, and of course Uma looks great squeezed into Mrs. Peel's trademark skin tight leather suit, but the story is a muddle, going around in circles till things finally start blowing up in the finale.

This flick was a major box office flop when it was released and legend has it that its failure hastened Sir Connery's decision to retire from acting. I can't say I blame him.

[Rev. Powell]

EXECUTIVE KOALA (2005): A koala in a business suit works for a Japanese pickle company, and is also accused of killing his wife and girlfriend, and can't defend himself because he's got selective amnesia. This manga come to life almost stands on its own without the anthropomorphic gimmick; it's just goofy enough to keep you entertained for a brisk 90 minutes. 3/5.

[Gabriel Knight]

"The Avengers" (1998)
Ultra-posh gentleman secret agent Steed (Ralph Fiennes) and his foxy new partner Emma Peel (Uma Thurman) must stop a mad scientist (Sean Connery) who has figured out how to weaponize the weather, and plans to use it to hold the world for ransom.

Obviously not to be confused with the Marvel super-hero "Avengers," this is a high tech update of the cult British TV spy series from the swingin' Sixties. Former 007 Connery seems to be having fun playing a Bond-style villain, and of course Uma looks great squeezed into Mrs. Peel's trademark skin tight leather suit, but the story is a muddle, going around in circles till things finally start blowing up in the finale.

This flick was a major box office flop when it was released and legend has it that its failure hastened Sir Connery's decision to retire from acting. I can't say I blame him.

I thought the one that led him to retire was THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, which I personally loved and it's one of my guilty pleasures in the world of cinema. 

[FatFreddysCat]

I thought the one that led him to retire was THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, which I personally loved and it's one of my guilty pleasures in the world of cinema. 

L.X.G. (which I also enjoyed) may have been the bomb that finalized his decision to step down, but "The Avengers" probably helped. :D