recent views: ninja academy, hannibal, wasp woman

[mr. henry]

haven't been watching too much lately. three weeks into a new job (working in a classroom with HS drop-outs and suspension cases)...

Ninja Academy - 1990. (VHS) Directed by Nico Mastorakis. Two "ninja" students fight over their master's golden set of sacred nunchakus. Years later, the winner runs a ninja academy located in close proxemity to the Microbiotic Nudist Colony. Secret agent 007-11, a rich kid, two beach bimbos, a millitant redneck, and a mime enroll in the intensive week-long program. Then the golden-nunchakus-fight loser returns for revenge with his own ninja goons in tow. 80s-style Police Academy-type hilarity ensues. Or not. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Hannibal - 2001 (R). (VHS) Directed by Ridley Scott. Anthony Hopkins returns as Hannibal Lecter. Lecter's fourth victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman underneath make-up), survived a self-inflicted Lecter-encouraged defacing and is out for some Pavlovian wild-boar-revenge. Julianne Moore takes over Jodi Foster's "The Silence of the Lambs" role as FBI agent Clarice Starling. Ray Liotta plays a scene sans skullcap. More cannibalism and more Lecter don't necessarily make a better movie, but it ain't bad either. RECOMMENDED example of R-rated boundary-pushing.

The Wasp Woman - 1959. (DVD) Directed by Roger Corman. An eccentric scientist develops a rejuvenation potion from queen-wasp-extract and injects an aging cosmetics tycoon. The results are not good. Basically The Fly (1958) only with wasps and a woman. Prepare to be mesmerized by the wasp woman costume which consists of a mask and tights. RECOMMENDED for fans of 40+ year-old monster flicks.

-mr. henry

[Dano]

Mr. Henry wrote:  haven't been watching too much lately. three weeks into a new job (working in a classroom with HS drop-outs and suspension cases)...

Give josh patrick our regards!

[Lee]

Ninja Academy is sooooo stupid it's unbelievable!! The whole time I was watching it I was like,"What the HELL was I thinking when I rented this?!"

[Andrew]

We saw "Hannibal" in the theater, because a friend wanted to see it.  I do not think that he and his wife understood the sort of movie it was going to be.  She ended up stepping out, while Katie and I said, "Cool!  At last!" to the brain-frying scene.  Overall it was a great disappointment for me.

However, still a better "killer pigs" movie than "Pigs" was.

"The Wasp Woman" is an oddity for me.  This is a rare case in which I like the remake better than the original.   The old one was really talky, but the dialog was plain useless.   Other big problems with the original:  the whole "lost in the hospital system," plot  device and the supremely awful wasp woman makeup.  The new version does a better job with those two points.

[mr. henry]

Lee wrote:

"  Ninja Academy is sooooo stupid it's unbelievable!! The whole time I was watching it I was like,"What the HELL was I thinking when I rented this?!"  "

There are worse movies...I just started watching (can't deal with the whole thing at once) "monster high"---so far it makes "ninja academy" look like "the godfather."

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also...based on Andrew's info on the "wasp woman" remake, i'm gonna have to check it out...

...i too was disappointed with "hannibal"---i'm not a big "silence..." fan, but "hannibal" never built up any suspense greater than that in a "south park" episode when waiting for kenny to die...but it did go for the gross out with the brain scene...ray liotta's slurred speech ("that smells good") made it really twisted...i'll probably rent the dvd for all the xtra junk at some point...

-mr. henry

[peter johnson]

I have not seen the new/remake of Wasp Woman, but if Andrew says it's a go, then I suppose I must find it . . .
I do love the original Wasp Woman & almost all the old Cormans -- I especially love the visible zipper on the back of the wasp mask . . .
Really great old Corman, if you're not familiar with the genre:  "Attack of the Crab Monsters!".
Enjoy --
peter johnson

[jmc]

The HANNIBAL DVD is interesting, even if you, like me, aren't really impressed by the movie.  What I did like was the "Making Of" feauturette.  Apparently, in order to train the pigs to do their scenes, they basically had to train them the same way Verger did in the book/film, except with meat-filled dummies instead of humans.  

There's also a cool extra involving the multi-angle function.

[John]

>I have not seen the new/remake of Wasp Woman

 I believe it was one of the Roger Corman Presents movies on Showtime.