Recent Viewings, Part 2

M.10rda · February 21, 2025, 09:41:17 PM

I saw it back in the day. I think 5/5 is generous but I didn't hate it. I agree it has a cool regional authenticity (I think Kim Henkel co-wrote it or produced it or something?) and occasionally it achieves a Charles B. Pierce-like eeriness. My biggest issue w/ the film is... uh, also a spoiler. Suffice to say, I'm something of a Bigfoot purist!

M.10rda · February 21, 2025, 11:39:10 PM

THE STING (1973):
First-time viewing, believe it or not! I'm impressed and gut reaction, I liked everything about it... though, if I think about it, it takes a long time to set things in motion (like, practically 40 minutes before Redford even meets Newman and sets up the Sting). Even though the next 90 move like Fibre-One through the colon, I can't help thinking that Eileen Brennan, Ray Walston, and the great Harold Gould could've gotten a lot more screen time and dialogue if it didn't take quite so long to get Robert Earl Jones out that window and Redford on the run. Even Shaw and even Newman

end up playing supporting roles to what becomes the Redford Show - and Redford's great, but let's face it, the most exciting part of the movie is the card game between Newman and Shaw an hour in. And also - actually, maybe that's it.

I mean - it was great, otherwise!
4.5/5
I can complain about anything.

lester1/2jr · February 22, 2025, 12:21:02 PM

M.1Orda- I'm no expert. Have there ever been an Bigfoot "A" movies? Harry and the Hendersons?

Aquaslash (2019) - The blood mixed with chlorinated water coming down the water slides is the unforgettable visual tagline here. It's a bit darker and more decadent than a SYfy/ Pirahna type movie but does still have that same sophomoric humor and "I'll get us out of this situation" romance aspect. Also a great one to watch if you're in a bad mood as there's a nasty, hateful tone that runs through the whole thing. Feels like it's missing something without the science lesson every ten minutes, though.

3.75 /5

71 minutes long

M.10rda · February 22, 2025, 01:07:35 PM

Quote from: lester1/2jr on February 22, 2025, 12:21:02 PMM.1Orda- I'm no expert. Have there ever been an Bigfoot "A" movies? Harry and the Hendersons?

LOL, I guess that would qualify... did SASQUATCH SUNSET get released last year (besides at Sunset)? That one stars Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough, which is about equivalent in terms of star wattage to John Lithgow in the 80s.......

M.10rda · February 22, 2025, 01:13:43 PM

Oh man, I forgot about POTTERSVILLE!!! ...The inexplicable IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE-alike that incorporates a central Bigfoot (hoax) into its plot.

That one has an amazing cast - Michael Shannon, Judy Greer, Ian McShane, Thomas Lennon, Cristina Hendricks, and Ron Perlman (no, not as Bigfoot) - though it was clearly a labor of, er, love, or at least produced on a meager budget. The outstanding, multiple-Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon literally delivers all of his lines while glancing surreptitiously offscreen, as if to identify any potential opportunity to make a break from the set, even if necessary during a take...

FatFreddysCat · February 22, 2025, 09:50:46 PM

"Commando Squad" (1987)
A lady cop (former Playmate Kathy Shower) heads down to Mexico to rescue her ex boyfriend, a DEA agent who's been taken captive by drug dealers. Lots of dudes get shot, stuff crashes, and numerous things explode in the process. The end.
This is the kind of generic action junk that was all over video store shelves back in the day, so maybe some viewers will get a blast of nostalgia from this movie, but most will simply call it no-budget crap.
AVOID.

Rev. Powell · February 23, 2025, 10:53:35 AM

CUNK ON LIFE (2024): Remarkably stupid BBC interviewer Philhomena Cunk (played beautifully as always by the remarkably clever Diane Morgan) returns with a special devoted to the meaning of life, discussing topics like God, existentialism, death, and the big bang with bemused professors. Cunk's irreverent, brain-dead, and frequently obscene lines of questioning deflate life's most important topics; if the meaning of life is to laugh, this is a holy text. Only 70 minutes long and on Netflix exclusively. 3.5/5.

M.10rda · February 23, 2025, 01:29:52 PM

YOUTH OF THE BEAST (1963):
A prototypical Yakuza "agitator" (to borrow a term from a much later Takashi Miike movie) starts a ruckus in a gang nightclub for no reason that anyone can really figure out, but instead of killing him they kind of set him off in the direction of some rival gangsters, who he goes to harass. Those gangsters also recruit him or redirect him to another group of thugs, and... rinse and repeat and so on. At least for 3/4s of the movie until the puffy-faced, slouchy agitator's agenda becomes (somewhat) more clear.

This Nikkatsu production has some eye-popping color for its vintage and well-regarded director Seijun Suzuki thinks up some creative compositions for every 4th shot or so. Most of the violence is saved up for the last 20 or so minutes (a trait of the last Suzuki film I watched, too) but when it comes it is fairly creative and satisfying. There is also a bizarre sort of motif involving people falling down or being thrown in some way down stairs, which happens at least three times and one of the falls is pretty impressive in that it obviously required a real stunt man to land head-first at the bottom of several steps. (Hope he's okay!)

Alas, I have yet to watch the Seijun Suzuki film that lives up to the reputation of Seijun Suzuki that first allured me. I watched YOTB with initial curiosity that quickly devolved into a kind of dazed if occasionally amused stupor as agitator "Jo" goes seemingly in circles, causing bull-headed mischief to no clear end. This goes on for at least an hour and while I didn't quite get bored, I did get... sleepy. By the end, everything mostly makes sense, except for why it took so long to set-up the far brisker payoff. Now this is a potential criticism of lots of classic crime mystery/thrillers, including Melville's LE DOULOS (which came out about the same time as YOTB), an acknowledged Tarantino favorite and an unacknowledged influence on the Coen Bros. That movie also takes forever to make a lick of sense prior to delivering a logical and pleasing conclusion, and I respect that. I'll tell you one movie that doesn't feel as much like it's just frittering away the viewer's time: MILLER'S CROSSING, which borrows from LE DOULOUS as well as other sources and takes its time for an hour, but still feels like you're watching something significant and damn good, then delivers a second hour that is pure unadulterated awesome payoff. Not saying YOUTH OF THE BEAST needed to be more like another movie that was made 26 years later, just saying the Coens set a high bar early in my film geek days...

3/5
There is one sweet non-realist moment early on where a character hallucinates another character's spirit running away out of their body and leaping to traverse an expanse before zooming into the atmosphere. Man, if Suzuki could've just put all his chips on moments like that - whole different movie!

FatFreddysCat · February 23, 2025, 09:39:19 PM

"Robo C.H.I.C." (aka "Cyber-C.H.I.C.," 1990)
A scientist creates a powerful, lifelike female android who helps a reporter and some inept cops stop a mad bomber (Burt "Robin" Ward!) and a crime lord.
A completely unfunny "RoboCop" parody with cheap sets and effects, amateur-night acting, and about seventeen different sub plots that go absolutely nowhere. I didn't laugh once.
According to IMDB, former Playboy Playmate Kathy Shower, who played the title character, quit the movie halfway through so Robo-CHIC is played by a different actress in several scenes. The sad thing is, I didn't even notice.

Only those with a high tolerance for B-Movie pain should watch this. Everyone else can safely AVOID.

Rev. Powell · February 23, 2025, 09:46:51 PM

Quote from: FatFreddysCat on February 23, 2025, 09:39:19 PM"Robo C.H.I.C." (aka "Cyber-C.H.I.C.," 1990)
A scientist creates a powerful, lifelike female android who helps a reporter and some inept cops stop a mad bomber (Burt "Robin" Ward!) and a crime lord.
A completely unfunny "RoboCop" parody with cheap sets and effects, amateur-night acting, and about seventeen different sub plots that go absolutely nowhere. I didn't laugh once.
According to IMDB, former Playboy Playmate Kathy Shower, who played the title character, quit the movie halfway through so Robo-CHIC is played by a different actress in several scenes. The sad thing is, I didn't even notice.
Only those with a high tolerance for B-Movie pain should watch this. Everyone else can safely AVOID.

Peter Johnson, who played "Gimp, The Satan's Onion," used to be a regular on this forum.

RCMerchant · February 25, 2025, 03:16:28 AM

MIND GAME (2004)- I'm not really an anime guy, so I was pleasantly surprised-nay-shocked to discover that an anime ended up being the best film I've seen all year!
A loser comic book artist gets shot in the ass, dies, wills himself back to life, kills a psycho, flees police, gets swallowed by a whale, looses his virginity to the sounds off cool jazz, and sooo much more in a film that varies it's art style from one second to the next in a fever dream on acid.
Holy s**t. 5/5.

[/U

FatFreddysCat · February 25, 2025, 07:22:04 AM

"Blue Beetle" (2023)
Young Jaime Reyes has to learn the super-heroing game quickly after he's "chosen" by a high tech suit of alien weaponry to be its "host." Soon he and his family are on the run from some corporate bad guys (led by Susan Sarandon) who want the suit to learn its secrets.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, because DC's cinematic batting average has been less than stellar, and I was also totally unfamiliar with this "new" version of Blue Beetle. However, it turned out to be a very entertaining, often quite funny super hero epic with a great supporting cast and plenty of cool effects and stunts. A pleasant surprise.

Rev. Powell · February 25, 2025, 08:58:46 AM

Quote from: RCMerchant on February 25, 2025, 03:16:28 AMMIND GAME (2004)- I'm not really an anime guy, so I was pleasantly surprised-nay-shocked to discover that an anime ended up being the best film I've seen all year!
A loser comic book artist gets shot in the ass, dies, wills himself back to life, kills a psycho, flees police, gets swallowed by a whale, looses his virginity to the sounds off cool jazz, and sooo much more in a film that varies it's art style from one second to the next in a fever dream on acid.
Holy s**t. 5/5.

[/U

Would you be surprised to know that I've been promoting this movie since I first saw it in 2018?

RCMerchant · February 25, 2025, 10:19:26 AM

^ Knowing your taste in films- not at all.

lester1/2jr · February 25, 2025, 12:12:22 PM

Body Double (1984) - I've been scouring the old recent viewings thread for movie recs. I hadn't seen this one in about 15 years and had forgotten just about everything about it. For some reason, I thought it was 1990 not 1984. I loved it, but knowing it was made significantly earlier now makes me even more impressed (for some reason). Melanie Griffith deserves ten Oscars for her performance.

The main thing I didn't remember was how blatantly unbelievable the whole thing is and how much suspense of disbelief was required. Brian De Palma just seems to not care about that whole issue. It's a little ridiculous, but comes off as confidence rather than hacky film making. Plus, it's fun to watch, like when the guy is stalking the married women and is like 10 feet away from her for half an hour and she doesn't notice.

5/5

edit: At one point, the main character goes to a Tower Records to buy Melanie Griffith's character's porn movie and it looks a lot like the video/ music store from Lost Boys. Both stores were pretty ugly.