Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

A Tattered Web (1971) - Made for tv movie starring Lloyd Bridges as a cop who accidentally kills the woman his son in law is having an affair with (not a spoiler ). It's one of things where we know and he knows but the other people in the story don't know.

It's not really my favorite type of scenario, but they do it well and even add a few wrinkles to it. The father not only just killed a woman, he also has a weird co dependence thing with the daughter due to the mother leaving him yadda yadda so basically everything is Lloyd Bridges' fault. I'm sure his lungs were aching for air the while time!

3.75 /5 probably higher for others but too depressing and stressful to me

[M.10rda]

IN THE MOUTH sounds promising.

FLETCH and RAT PFINK - two nostalgic favs for me! I was a little younger than Lester and furthermore I wouldn't get a girl to go on a date with me for another 7 or 8 years, I think.    But being a single 8-year old scarcely impacted my enjoyment of FLETCH.

RPABB - Ray Dennis gave an interview late in his life where he claimed the story about the lab mistake w/ the title was fabricated for hype's sake and then told (what he claimed was) the real reason the title is "A" BOO BOO instead of "AND" BOO BOO, which is a story I related on here not too long ago iirc. Who knows which is the true story - however if he did make up the story about the lab error for publicity (or to make the film's title more memorable), you gotta' give the guy some credit....... 60 years later the weird title is still the thing people spend the most time talking about!

[RCMerchant]

^ I think Ray f**ked up, and the story was to make him seem more savy then he was- and judging by his films- is likely.

[indianasmith]

FLYBOYS (2006) - It was my fascination with the flying aces of World War I that sparked my lifelong fascination with history, but around the time I was a boy they pretty much quit making movies about them!  So this film, when it came along in 2006, was pure eye candy for me.  Yes, it contained massive historical inaccuracies, but the air combat sequences were impressively done and made up a good chunk of the movie.  I've seen it several times since that first theatrical viewing and have enjoyed it every time.  4/5

[Trevor]

FLYBOYS (2006) - It was my fascination with the flying aces of World War I that sparked my lifelong fascination with history, but around the time I was a boy they pretty much quit making movies about them!  So this film, when it came along in 2006, was pure eye candy for me.  Yes, it contained massive historical inaccuracies, but the air combat sequences were impressively done and made up a good chunk of the movie.  I've seen it several times since that first theatrical viewing and have enjoyed it every time.  4/5

Music by Trevor Rabin, a fellow South African 😊😊🇿🇦🐢

[M.10rda]

It has now been an entire week since I have watched a literal movie, and only two the week prior... back to silly season w/ work and thus I spend any rare free moment at home w/ Madame, watching serialized dramas and reality shows. Like a true addict, I've begun fantasizing about the next time I might be able to get a legitimate cinema fix. Similarly dependent on posting my stoopid reviews here for some sense of personal satisfaction, I visited the "TV" section of this website to see if I could contribute there, got overwhelmed, and left.

Ah well, among David Lynch's many contributions to cultural consciousness was his erosion of the distinction between television and "cinema". So I might as well mention that THE WHITE LOTUS S3 is as slick, compelling, and consistent in tone as a long movie that you watch in chunks (and I tend to watch movies in chunks anyway these days, necessarily). I've never been a Mike White fan but he - and the series, which he writes and directs singlehandedly - has hit a real stride in its third season. Strong acting from a lot of movie stars, too. Trigger warning though for snakes and extreme persistent anxiety!

We're also watching YELLOWJACKETS S3, which clearly aspires to being the new TWIN PEAKS but desperately needs (and lacks) a single auteur at the helm each week, ala White or more appropriately Lynch on THE RETURN. I thought S2 had built up a head of bold surrealist steam, yet S3 is backing off again. Still, as soon as I hear that opening theme I lurch headfirst into a solid GoT/SUCCESSION-style pleasant hour-long fugue state.

In the definitely-not-cinema category: THE TRAITORS S3, such a notorious dumpster-fire (following a fabulous second season) that I'm actually able to discuss it w/ people at my job (!), though the finale more or less paid off the hot mess of the previous several weeks; THE MOLE S2, another monumental disappointment that (unlike TRAITORS S3) fails to redeem itself at the end and in fact ends its season on its biggest misstep; and LOVE IS BLIND Season something-or-other... every season of LOVE IS BLIND recreates every bad relationship you've ever had - it's all excitement and dopamine for 3-4 weeks, then increasing irritation, then boredom, then by the end you're just grateful it's over and eager to vow to never ever do it again. Then Netflix releases another Season. 

[LordGraal]

^  Watching that film even smells like NYC. (My home, as it was-looong ago.)

Watched The French Connection again last night - the music is also spot on for reflecting New York.

[lester1/2jr]

Awake in the Woods (2015) - It's got all the elements it needs: a blonde girl, a decent enough story, a nondescript forest...it just needs to be BETTER. Character development, suspense, attention to detail. Instead of having them say "this plays really feels creepy" maybe have some romantic interplay between the characters or something I don't know.

slight spoiler   


(Also, I'm pretty sure the aforementioned blonde fully captures the spiritual entity (or whatever it is) on camera at one point, maybe show it to everyone? What is exactly is the point of the camera otherwise?)


It has some good stuff, but it's

3.25 / 5 for me


It was a success though in the sense that I did watch it.

[lester1/2jr]

The Blackwell Ghost (2017) - there are now 7 sequels to this thing. This, the first one, is the only one on tubi. I might have seen it before, I remembered the sewer thing in the basement, but that could have been in another movie, too?

The first thing I noticed was the acting. Just in terms of the delivery of the lines, it's 9,000 times better than most found footage movies. It has a fair amount of walking around setting up cameras and bickering with nothing happening, but that's par for the course for this genre. The movie "Blue Lakes" is like 90% people kayaking around Latvia so that's the high limit for FF mundanity.

It's as good as it can be. There are crazier, weirder, stupider etc FF movies out there but...it does what it's supposed to. Only about an hour long, too.

4.75 /5

[Dr. Whom]

The Fall (2006)

In 1915 Hollywood a stuntman who has broken his back in a stunt is recovering in a hospital. He befriends a little girl who is there for a broken arm, and tells her stories who vividly come to life in her imagination.

This is absolutely gorgeous visually. It combines the visual inventiveness of a Jodorowsky with a Bollywood sense of styling. Apparently this was filmed over a 4 year period in exotic locales all over the world, and boy, does it show.

It also is quite boring. There is nothing wrong with the main plot, and it is well performed. I do like the indirect storytelling, but there is simply not enough happening to propel the movie forward.

[indianasmith]

LOTR: WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM (2024) - The story of Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan, is recounted in about two pages in the Appendices section of THE RETURN OF THE KING.  But it's a compelling story, for all that, and this movie takes that outline, fleshes it out, and paints a powerful picture of the great horse-lord and his war against the Usurper Wulf, son of Freca.  I went into this with low expectations and found myself thoroughly entertained; it sticks closer to the source material than RINGS OF POWER or THE HOBBIT movies.  Highly recommended!  5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt" (2003)
Adam West and Burt Ward play themselves in this tongue in cheek TV movie mystery. The stars of the '60s "Batman" TV series are invited to the grand opening of a car museum, which features a vintage Batmobile... that is promptly stolen. Following a series of clues left behind by the thief, the aging actors race around town to recover their ride and reminisce about their days as the small screen superheroes via flashbacks that are faithfully re-created with Jack Brewer portraying the young West and Jason Marsden as Ward. Both 60s "Catwomen" (Julie Newmar and Lee Meriwether), and Frank "Riddler" Gorshin also make appearances.
A fun trip down memory lane for fans of the classic series.

[lester1/2jr]

that sounds awesome

[indianasmith]

HIGH MOON (AKA HOWLERS) 2019
   I'm on spring break this week, so a movie about a resurrected gunfighter of the old west battling a werewolf biker gang seemed like a good idea.  It was, sort of.  Low budget, some decent acting, but very much by the numbers monster flick.  So many ways this could have been better- but it also could have been worse!  3/5

[lester1/2jr]

Dance of the Damned (1989) - Very inadvertently campy vampire movie that's basically 5 minutes of stripping followed by a demented hour and 20 minute acting class. Thankfully, the main characters, a vampire and stripper, don't actually dance together or we might have another *"Tomcat: Dangerous Desires" (*don't ask) (*actually wait, they kind of do) on our hands.

They're meant for each other because they are both OF THE NIGHT, you see. It's kind of like a Skinemax version of "Before Sunrise". There's a gigantic amount of dialogue and inward searching anguish as the two relay their lives of misfit-dom amidst the California moonlight and soft kidnap situation. Some much needed comic relief comes in the form of their shanghaied cab driver who takes them various places (besides the comic relief of a shirtless vampire with a huge mullet.)

It's goofily compelling in a slick, "we know people would rather be watching porn" sort of way. The romance aspect could have come off a little better, I thought. Strippers and vampires ARE both of the night and do share some dark similarities. It could be a metaphor for a romance between a hooker and a bouncer or something. The writing isn't quite up to that task though and they play it safe with vampire and stripper cliches.

3.75/ 5 embarrassed to admit I enjoyed it, more or less

edit: director Katt Shea did the infinitely more impressive "Poison Ivy" with Drew Barrymore soon after this