Recent Viewings, Part 2

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Terry Kath Expericne" (2016)
Documentary about the life and career of Terry Kath, the original lead guitarist of Chicago, who died tragically in 1978. What makes this movie particularly poignant is that it was directed by his daughter, who was only two years old when he died... so while we're learning about her father, so is she, through vintage films and photos and present day interviews with Terry's bandmates, family members, and famous friends.
I'm not even much of a Chicago fan, but this doc sucked me right in and kept my attention all the way through. Good stuff with an emotional punch.

[Rev. Powell]

THE AMUSEMENT PARK (1973/2019): An old man spends a terrifying afternoon at an amusement park that symbolizes society's neglect for the elderly. A Lutheran church group commissioned horror filmmaker George Romero (!) to make this 53-minute public service film about the problems of aging, then never released the avant-garde nightmare he delivered; it was rediscovered and restored in 20198. Will be on Shudder starting June 8 and, although it's no masterpiece of horror, it's such a strange artifact that it's worth a look for the curious. 2.5/5.

[Dr. Whom]

Miss Lovely (2012)

A look at the sordid industry of erotic movies in Mumbai in the 1980s. Wikipedia informs me that director Ashim Ashluwalia first wanted to make a documentary, but nobody was willing to talk on camera, these movies being highly illegal, so he settled for a documentary style fiction. The main story follows Sonu Duggal, who wants to escape this world and plans to make a serious movie with the woman he adores.
Another victory of style over substance. There is a lot of effort in a recreation of the period, and the narrative is deliberately chopped, with lots of ellipses. The sleaze and sordidness is turned up to 11 and the atmosphere is very claustrophobic, with crowded frames, lots of close ups and rough camera work. This does disguise the fact that the plot and characters are rather thin. If you like your movies bleak and rough, this is for you.

[Rev. Powell]

WINTERBEAST (1991): On top of a mountain near the remote Wild Goose Lodge, ancient Indian stop-motion demons are stirring. Remember how much fun "Equinox" was? Now imagine if it was done by a crew with half the talent at animation, and a tenth of the talent at every other aspect of filmmaking. Fun, but in a different way. I might go as high as 4/5 on a bad movie scale.

Mild prediction: I would not be surprised to see this show up on the new version of MST3K.

[Trevor]

"Die Hard 2" (1990)
John McClane is "up to his a** in terrorists" again as a rogue military force takes control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. in order to free a political prisoner. John's wife Holly is in one of the airliners in danger of running out of fuel and crashing, so of course he has to step in and show the airport cops how to handle the situation.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I actually like this one  better than the original "Die Hard."

When this was shown in SA in 1990, the owners of a Pretoria cinema came up with what they thought was a great promotional stunt and they installed a full sized wrecked aeroplane on the roof: the sight of this caused a number of traffic accidents. 

[Rev. Powell]

WINTERBEAST (1991): On top of a mountain near the remote Wild Goose Lodge, ancient Indian stop-motion demons are stirring. Remember how much fun "Equinox" was? Now imagine if it was done by a crew with half the talent at animation, and a tenth of the talent at every other aspect of filmmaking. Fun, but in a different way. I might go as high as 4/5 on a bad movie scale.

Mild prediction: I would not be surprised to see this show up on the new version of MST3K.

And I just realized Andrew reviewed this way back in 2009: http://www.badmovies.org/movies/winterbeast/

[lester1/2jr]

^I remember that movie for the awesome New England accents and the cheapest looking claymation I'd ever seen.


Thelma (2017) - This is the kind of movie I would see on a date in college and be like "that was AMAZING". It's got that "foreign film" gravitas, but a more cynical viewer might see it more as a combination of various popular trends.

A girl from a good Christian home goes to college and begins to question the validity of her strict religious yupbringing. Well, that's all well and good but she unleashes insane telekenisis (sp?) powers that she can't control in the process.

Basically, every time she gets horny stuff in the room shakes or birds fly into windows. It's a little ridiculous and could have used some comic relief, but it has some pretty dark and memorable stuff going on. If you are more on the thriller than action side I'd say check it out. If it had a sex scene it probably would be on netflix not tubi

4.5/ 5

[pennywise37]

id's say Die Hard With  a Vengeance (1995) is my favorite of the entire series, i've just been watching a Zelda 2 hack on you tube and some Zelda randomizers too not much else really. i know they aren't movies per say but it's really the only thing i've been watching

[Dr. Whom]

Red Riding Hood (2011)

A romance horror reworking of the fairy tale. In this version, the big bad wolf is a werewolf. Will the villagers discover which one of them is the werewolf and stop the carnage? Why is the monster drawn to Valerie?

The scriptwriters came up with an interesting take on the fairy tale, with a twist that is even plausible. However, that was not enough to fill the runtime, so they added a backstory that is completely by the numbers, including a Twilight-esque love triangle, only less inspired. It doesn't help that both male leads have the charisma of a potted plant. The movie only really gets going in the last half hour, which is far more watchable than the hour that came before. Amanda Seyfried is ethereally beautiful throughout, though.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Return of the Jedi" (1983)
The original "Star Wars" trilogy comes to a close, with the gang rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, and Luke facing his final showdown with Darth Vader and the Emperor while the Rebellion battles the Empire's souped-up new Death Star.
My 13 year old son (who has been experiencing the trilogy for the first time) says this one was his favorite so far, though the "Luke & Leia are brother & sister" revelation took him a few minutes to process, haha.

[pacman000]

JAWS

I’ll have “Ladies of Spain” stuck in my head for awhile.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Enter the Dragon" (1973)
A kung fu expert turned secret agent (Bruce Lee) infiltrates a secret martial arts tournament held at a super villain's private island fortress, so he can take apart the host's smuggling operations from the inside. Of course, many butts get kicked along the way.
Somehow I'd never seen this classic until last night, but I'm glad I finally did. This action packed combo of martial arts and spy thriller was a ton of fun! Sadly, this was the last film Lee completed before his untimely death, because this easily could have become a franchise for him.

"The Show Must Go On: The Queen and Adam Lambert Story" (2019)
This flashy rock doc tells the story of how the members of Queen and "American Idol" runner up Adam Lambert came together to honor Freddie Mercury and continue the band's legendary run. I'm not a particularly huge Queen fan but after watching Lambert belt out a selection of their classics on concert stages around the world in this doc, even I have to admit that they definitely found the right guy.

[Rev. Powell]

RK/RKAY (2021): Indian comedy about a movie shoot and a character who escapes from the film-within-the-film, creating big problems for the director (who also played the lead). Pleasant, with several actors doing good work in dual roles and some cross-cultural chuckles; some of the Bollywood satire might not punch hard with international audience. No dance numbers! 3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Bandidas" (2006)
In turn of the century Mexico, two women (Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek) take up bank robbing and eventually become folk heroines as they battle to save their town from a crooked railroad baron.
This light, breezy action/comedy has a pretty standard Western plot but it's fun to watch, thanks mainly to the charms of its two leading ladies (*cough cough CLEAVAGE cough cough*). Outlaw country star Dwight Yoakam is a suitably despicable villain, and Steve Zahn is a hoot as a dorky Pinkerton detective who gets caught up in the girls' cause.

[zelmo73]

"Enter the Dragon" (1973)
A kung fu expert turned secret agent (Bruce Lee) infiltrates a secret martial arts tournament held at a super villain's private island fortress, so he can take apart the host's smuggling operations from the inside. Of course, many butts get kicked along the way.
Somehow I'd never seen this classic until last night, but I'm glad I finally did. This action packed combo of martial arts and spy thriller was a ton of fun! Sadly, this was the last film Lee completed before his untimely death, because this easily could have become a franchise for him.

It's funny that you should mention this. There was some interest back in the early '70s of finding an alternative to 007 movies, and oddly enough George Lazenby of On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) was looking to break out more into the action genre when he starred in The Shrine of Ultimate Bliss (1974) with Angela Mao, a Hong Kong kung fu movie star that played Bruce Lee's sister in Enter The Dragon (1973) and was actually Bruce Lee's scheduled movie after Game Of Death was completed, but unfortunately was never completed in its original form due to Bruce Lee's untimely death. Had Bruce Lee not passed away when he did, he very likely would have been in direct competition to the 007 movies and Enter The Dragon (1973) would have probably become a new movie franchise with that character.

As the (presumed) November release of No Time to Die approaches, we’re going to read more debates about how the 58-year-old franchise is or isn’t still relevant both in a new (#MeToo/Trump/Covid/etc.) social landscape and alongside equal-sized action franchises (Fast and Furious, Mission: Impossible, Marvel). We can also expect chatter about how to keep the franchise running after Daniel Craig steps away. I’d still argue that a non-white leading man would allow the franchise to step away from the last 25 years of self-critique and self-justification. Henry Golding or Daniel Kaluuya starring as the playboy secret agent superhero would be an aspirational notion. We’ve already had an Asian star in a blockbuster 007-ish movie. Had Bruce Lee not died young, Enter the Dragon could have spawned a top-tier action franchise to rival James Bond.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2020/09/15/bruce-lee-james-bond-roger-moore-enter-the-dragon-movies-box-office/?sh=114ea9255460