Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

Okay, back to movies.

JULIUS CAESAR (1953):
I ain't saying nothing novel if I suggest William Shakespeare was a smart dude who was playing three-dimensional chess at a time (the late 1500s) when English language drama and theatre were still a couple decades into the process of being recreated after centuries of near non-existence and thus (to strain the metaphor) most other dramatists were playing checkers or tiddly winks. Perhaps it's no surprise that 400-some years later some of his best plays are justly celebrated (HAMLET for one, obv), some of his clunkers are eagerly celebrated as well (THE TEMPEST is fascinating but largely dysfunctional and may not even have been finished by Shakespeare), and several of his equally interesting good ones are sidelined and undervalued (as I'd argue is the case w/ JULIUS C.). The common denominator of all those categories is that filmmakers tend to misinterpret and fumble all of 'em!

Here we have a tragedy where the the title character is only onstage/onscreen for a few scenes and then is removed (err, SPOILERS?) from the action before the midway point, to be replaced in the spotlight with the more complex and compelling Brutus (played here by James Mason). But almost as soon as Brutus has assumed Caesar's position dramatically and in the diegesis, he too is upstaged (onstage and in the eyes of Rome) by Mark Antony, who instantly steals the show even while ceding the majority of the running time to Brutus. To flummox matters further, some readers and viewers have historically mistaken Brutus' fellow conspirator Cassius (John Gielgud in this one) as the true protagonist of the play. They're wrong, but who can blame them w/ so many spinning plates in play?

JULIUS CAESAR is a small-g great play that deftly captures the dizzying speed of political imbalance. Shakespeare's dialogue is among the most direct and literal (therefore easily comprehensible) in his catalog, and yet the plot is still no easier to follow than it is in any of Aaron Sorkin's walk-and-talk agitprop dramas. I wrote this review in the "Good Movies" section as it's not bad - it's fine. Director and famed screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz (not the one from Fincher's MANK, that was Herman) does a competent job and none of the actors suck, per se. (Certainly no honkers in this bunch like Brannagh's Hamlet or Ethan Hawke's Hamlet.) But Mankiewicz only ever really GETS the material truly right, and puts it over successfully, in one sequence. Fortunately that's the central, 20ish minute scene right in the middle of the movie.

Brutus and Cassius and their buddies have done the thing that historically they did (y'know). In walks Mark Antony, who sees what they did and isn't pleased, but what's he gonna' do about it when he's surrounded with all these guys with daggers? Brutus would prefer to not assassinate Antony, but he knows they can't let Antony go crying to the Caesar-loving crowds. So Antony reasons with Brutus and Cassius: he's not quite sure why they did what they did, but he's sure they must've had a good reason. So why don't they let him act as their intermediary, go to the Roman public, and ask the public to hear Brutus and Cassius out, and absolutely under no circumstances will he rouse the mob's ire and provoke them to attack Brutus and Cassius. Brutus thinks about it and he persuades Cassius. What can this guy possibly do? If he crosses us, we'll just kill him. And so Antony exits the Senate, confronts the crowd, and - well there's some real famous quotes in the next bit, you probably know 'em.

Mason was a good actor and is an okay Brutus. But Mankiewicz has Marlon Brando in the prime of his prime as Mark Antony, and Brando (whatever else we could say about him) really did his homework here, GETS these scenes, and knows how to translate this Elizabethan rendition of an Ancient Roman general in language that any moviegoer back in 1953 (and probably still in 2024) could appreciate. He just kills it. In an unexceptional film, Brando delivers a couple of unforgettable scenes.

3/5
But I would/may in the future show just the central chunk to students as an example of how to adapt Shakespeare correctly.

[FatFreddysCat]

"KISS Loves You" (2008)
Cheap but effective documentary about the state of KISS fandom during the pre-reunion 1990s. KISS' popularity was at a low point at the time but a network of diehards were keeping the fire burning by holding KISS Conventions and forming tribute bands. I was a regular at the New Jersey conventions back then and I'm actually in the movie for about two seconds, in a shot of the crowd waiting for the 1995 con to open!
This one brings back a lot of memories, makes me laugh, but also makes me cringe at times cuz they interview some really oddball, obsessed fans!

[RCMerchant]

CANNIBAL TERROR (1980)

Ok, I seen some good cannibal movies, some bad cannibal movies- and then there's this one. This one is BAD. REAL BAD.

Some Italian gangsters kidnap a small girl in Italy, get busted by the cops and flee over the border into...Africa? South America? New Guina? Backwoods Michigan? Who knows?
Anyway it's "cannibal territory" according to their soon-to-be-lunch guide. Doesn't look like a jungle, that's for sure! And the cannibals look like-well-Italian extras wearing loin clothes. Doing some of the most non-acting commited to film.
This movie is so stupid it's almost funny. Almost. It's mostly just jaw dropping stupid.
(I sat threw the whole goofy mess, of course.)

I love the mutton chops.

[M.10rda]

RC, I thought for a second I'd seen CANNIBAL TERROR but actually I'd seen MONDO CANNIBALE aka THE CANNIBALS aka WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN, shot in the same year by the same director, the one and only Jesus Franco. That one has some okay parts and some real bad parts, including (maybe even the exact same) Italian actors in shameful/hilarious cannibalface. It wasn't nearly the worst Franco I've seen nor nearly the best. I had no intention of ever watching it again. Now you're making me want to subject myself to CANNIBAL TERROR!

[RCMerchant]

^ Franco didn't direct CANNIBAL TERROR- some shmuck named Alain Deruelle- whose only  other credits are a handful of porn films.

[M.10rda]

I was gonna' just hastily reply that "Alan Deruelle" sounds like a Franco pseudonym if ever there was one. Instead I did the absolute least research possible and naturally the first link was

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal_Terror

...which confirms that Deruelle is a real guy but also confirms that Franco was involved in the production and that CANNIBAL TERROR even uses footage from MONDO CANNIBALE! So indeed the Italian jungle natives may be identical in both films. No doubt yet another attempt to maximize the potential of some poor location shooting across multiple minimally-viable-products. Franco was famous for his films being relentlessly re-cut and re-titled/released.

[RCMerchant]

^ Sounds just about right!

[chainsaw midget]

Frankenstein the College Years

Two college students discover and revive Frankenstein's Monster, they then try to hide him and pass him off as a student.  Nothing special, but not horrible either.  It was a made for TV movie so they couldn't really do too much and the budget was low, but the actor makes a decent monster and it's got that guy who Played Abe Lincoln in Bill and Ted as a Mad Scientist. 

[FatFreddysCat]

"Some Girls Do" (1969)
In this sequel to "Deadlier Than The Male," swinging jet-set investigator Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond (Richard Johnson) is called in to find out who's sabotaging Britain's newest super-sonic aircraft. His mission leads him to a super-villain's private island populated by foxy female androids. Shag-a-delic, baby!
Of the two "Drummond" films, I preferred "Deadlier," but this one is still lots of cheesy, tongue-in-cheek fun, with plenty of female eye candy (those Sixties girls, mama mia! I was born in the wrong decade!). One of the better 007 knockoffs I've seen.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Escape From L.A." (1996)
John Carpenter's belated sequel to Escape From New York puts Kurt Russell back in the saddle as one-eyed badass Snake Plissken, sent into post-apocalypse L.A. to bring back the First Daughter, who's run off and joined a terrorist group. This Escape has a more satirical/tongue-in-cheek feel than the original, but Russell is clearly having a ball returning to his iconic character. Aside from some truly shoddy CGI, Escape from L.A. is a fun, unjustly hated butt kicker, with a great supporting cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Pam Grier, Peter Fonda, Bruce Campbell, and Cliff Robertson (who's an absolute hoot as the ultra-fundamentalist President of the US). It's not a classic like the O.G., but it's entertaining popcorn junk.

[lester1/2jr]

Glimpse (2022) -  another deep in the pile Tubi offering. Similarly to the last one I watched, this one starts off clunky and cheap looking but ends up being pretty good. I have really come to enjoy movies that work modern technology, of which I'm mostly oblivious, in to the plot. It makes me feel like I'm keeping up.

A bunch of people are being considered for a very lucrative position in a company run by a billionaire. As we get to know them, they are all flawed and struggling behind the scenes in their own way. The hook is how we get to know them: They're all being spied on 24 hours a day in their homes. Is this legal? Is this...what it takes? If you were being considered for a position which pays several million dollars a year how much of this sort of thing could you expect? If this was happening to rich people would you care?

It's a cool idea and the acting is generally okay. I stayed up late finishing it so I could give it my "watched it in one night" endorsement.

4.25 /5

[RCMerchant]

MELANCHOLIA (2011)

A planet is hurtling towards earth and astronauts blow it into pieces with a space laser!

No. A bats**t depressed woman torpedos her own boat out of-I dunno. She's really bummed out. Her sister is bummed out to because- well- another planet is speeding toward earth, Krypton style. Anyway- to make a long story short- it get's even more depressing. If that's possible.
It's actually an excellent movie, with stellar acting by everybody. I don't wanna watch it again. Not a popcorn movie. I'd rather watch a turtle get crunched by a car.
Lars Von Trier is starting to creep me out.

[Jim H]

Been watching Don Lee movies, who some of you may know from Train to Busan or The Eternals.  I really like him, he's got a ton of charisma and is super likable.  Anyway, he's started his own police action comedy series, and I've now seen three of them.  They do kind of blend together after watching them over a week or two, it reminds me of watching a good Japanese genre series from the 60s or 70s - well made, entertaining, but feels almost like TV show episodes at a higher production standard.

The Outlaws - This one came out almost six years before the others, and is based on a true story.  It thus feels a bit more grounded.  It's still plenty fun though, lots of light comedy amid the fist fights.

The Roundup - Plenty fun, and a truly despicable bad guy.  When Don tells him he needs an assbeating, you know it's coming.  Don Lee punches people super hard in this series, it's sold really well, and they often go down hard or fly through a wall.  It never gets old.

The Roundup: No Way Out - Enjoyable, same basic structure.  A bit more fighting.  You get your money's worth.

[indianasmith]

AMITYVILLE VAMPIRES (2021)  Johnny, a former DJ turned record producer, is planning to take his girlfriend for a campout on the lake so he can pop the big question.  On the way there, he scares her with a series of vampire stories, each creepier than the last, but when they get to the lake and the sun goes down, she finds out that the stories are all true . . .

OK, this thing is mega-cheap, and worst of all, THERE IS NO SOUND FOR MOST OF THE MOVIE.  Or, to be more precise, you get background music and sound EFFECTS, but the dialogue is muted.  If I hadn't turned on subtitles I would have no idea what was transpiring.  The effects were cheap, the stories lame, and the girls kinda cute.  That's about all you can say for this one. 3/5

[Jim H]

Seoul Station - Train to Busan animated prequel.  It was kind of interesting to see a Korean animated film, first I've seen.  It's poorly animated, in that very cheap CG anime type style where most of it appears to have about 6 frames per second for no apparent reason.  Really hate that.  But it's an OK zombie movie with a couple fairly decent characters, and a little bit of commentary that's not too bad.  Passable entertainment.  Better than Peninsula, not that that's saying much.