Recent Viewings, Part 2

[FatFreddysCat]

"Rush: The Rise of Kings" (2014)
British documentary on the legendary Canadian rock trio traces their formative years in late 60s Toronto to their mainstream breakthrough in the early 80s. Like most of these "unofficial" music docs, it's about a 50/50 mix of public-domain interview and performance footage (much of it seemingly from the archives of MuchMusic, the Canadian equivalent of MTV), and commentary by the usual group of English music journalists you always see in these things. Occasionally interesting, but the far superior "Beyond the Lighted Stage" is the better pick for a Rush doc.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Pixels" (2015)
Aliens invade Earth by taking the form of classic video game characters (don't ask), so the President (Kevin James) reunites his old childhood gang of arcade-game experts (Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage) in order to save the world.
If memory serves, this movie racked up quite a few Razzie Awards back when it was released, but I actually enjoyed it, despite the presence of Josh Gad (who I find immensely irritating). This is a fun mash up of "Ghostbusters," "Wreck It Ralph," and "Independence Day," with impressive special effects and a lot of fun gags. Underrated.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Chris Claremont's X-Men" (2018)
Documentary about the writer who took over the under-performing X-Men comic series in the mid 70s, when it was on the verge of being cancelled, and turned it into one of Marvel's cornerstone titles over the next fifteen years. A cheap looking, but enlightening look behind-the-scenes at a major figure in comic book history.

[pacman000]

"Island at the Top of the World"

Fun old Disney movie, similar to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." Lots of neat, but obvious, matte work. I think the FX in "20,000 Leagues" were better.

[lester1/2jr]

Last Shift - this is one of those Tubi horror movies that, while uneven, is a million times more interesting than the glossy straight to netflix dreck they put on...well netflix. would definitely put Head Case (2007) from a few nights ago in that category. Ultimately I think Netflix's instant horror offerings are not really for big horror fans.

A rather attractive female cop is given the seemingly very easy job of working the desk at the old police station while everything is now being done at the new station. Basically just to sit at the desk. too bad the building is massively haunted by the ghosts of some manson family type cult who were detained there!

Hereditary would do the "ancient cult" thing better and while competent it definitely feels like the first movie of a horror marathon not the headliner. In fact, if this HAD been on netflix horror i'd probably lament about how predictable it was so my commentary is pretty much worthless I guess.

the director did midnight Meat Train which was a little more distinct. It needed to be scarier, basically

4/5

whoever cast this lady in a walk on role as a streetwalker* knows whats up



*do they even still exist? who cares!

[RCMerchant]

^ I dunno...most street walkers don't look like that. Porn stars, sure, but not working girls.

[lester1/2jr]

she looks different in the film

[RCMerchant]

 ^I have Tubi, and I almost watched HEADCASE, but I knew I would fall asleep, because I was drunk and tired and just finished eating dinner at 10:00, so I didn't.
I watch a LOT of Tubi.
It is on my watch list. 

[lester1/2jr]

they have an unbelievable amount of Conan rip off movies I wouldn't even know where to begin with that stuff

[RCMerchant]

Sometimes they just change a word.
PACIFIC RIM (2013) was a fantastic movie, but then you got ATLANTIC RIM (2013)!

Which is this-!  

http://youtu.be/xUgesFrRHHE

I actually tried to watch this, except 30 minutes in I wanted to take a p**s on my TV!  

EDIT: I may actually try to watch this again...I dunno why? The Play Station 1 level graphics?
I might...but that will be if I'm really high or  drunk. So might be anytime today.

[Alex]

Blood Vessel. When a hospital ship is sunk during WW2, a small multinational group of survivors find themselves in a liferaft but with little hope of rescue, until a ship passes them. The survivors climb aboard and find themselves in the midst of a new kind of horror. I enjoyed this one, perhaps more than I would normally being a fan of WW2 and with fond memories of a comic book series from my childhood that I won't mention here as it would give major spoilers about the plot of this one. There are two major clues as to what is going on, on board the ship that let you know far in advance of the reveal on what is happening. If you watch this one, see if you can pick them up.

Creepshow: Animated Special. I'd have rated this one higher I guess if I hadn't figured out what was going to happen in the first story, and then realised very early on I'd read the second story in a collection of shorts previously. Still, I've seen worse.

[lester1/2jr]

Blair Witch (2016) - It was okay and state of the art and everything but I expected a little more. 3/5

[chefzombie]

arsenic and old lace, the original play version with boris karloff and  tony randall .

[RCMerchant]

^...and from 1962- here it is! 

http://youtu.be/qipwzSdVi7I

[Rev. Powell]

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY (2019): A surreal comedy about the rise of Canadian Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King, who clubs seals, sniffs boots, and deals with an ejaculating cactus on the way to fulfilling his mother's prophecy that he would become Prime Minister of Canada. This fake, funny and fetishistic retro-expressionist biopic proves that Guy Maddin is not an auteur, he's a genre. 3.5/5

LOVE EXPRESS: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WALERIAN BOROWCZYK (2018): Talking heads documentary about the rise and fall of Polish director Walerian Borowczyk, who started out as an enfant terrible of Surrealism but ended up stereotyped and dismissed as a pornographer. A fine appreciation of an overlooked talent, but probably better suited as a Blu-ray extra than a standalone feature film. 2.5/5