|
|
Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 12, 2020 11:53:06 GMT -5
Night Hunter (2019)
Henry Cavill/Supes vs. A Serial Killer
The Drop (2014)
Underrated Crime drama, starring Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini.
Look forward to seeing what films everyone else watch this year.
|
|
|
|
Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 12, 2020 18:29:18 GMT -5
Black Mass (2015)
Equal parts hit and miss for me, going to give it a second look.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 12, 2020 18:38:28 GMT -5
Faust (1926)Directed by the legendary F.W. Murnau of Nosferatu fame, this silent tells an intriguing presentation of Goethe's story of a deal with the devil. (Specifically it takes Faust Part One and replaces the gloomy ending with the more upbeat ending of Faust Part Two, which makes for a more complete, coherent and satisfying story IMO. Take notes, There will be a quiz.) Special effects are rather good and effective for a film made almost a century ago. To flesh out Goethe's (Part One) story a bit and make it somewhat less unrelentingly serious, the Mephisto character insinuates himself into some interesting and humorous situations. Demon (2015)Polish with English subtitles Possession by the spirit of a dead person Jewish dybbuk style. This possession and subsequent bizarre behavior takes place at a wedding with results as might be expected. BTW having long ago been at an Old Country style Polish wedding with many of the participants being immigrants, I can testify that the amount of drinking and dancing seen in the film is completely realistic. The story is slow burn with little hint of just what is happening until well in. There is no gore, no significant violence, no jump scares and little in the way of overt supernatural events. There is a fair amount of situational humor along the way to keep interest afloat. My big complaint is the ending which not only resolves nothing but does not seem to even be connected to the rest of the movie. Definitely 'what just happened?' territory. Grizzly (1976)Jaws in fur. A blatant ripoff of the shark movie even to the point that if you changed 'shark' to 'bear' and 'ocean' to 'forest', you could almost use the same screenplay.  Cheap and cheesy with bad acting, it is nonetheless surprisingly entertaining in a cheap and cheesy and bad way. You never actually see the bear attack anyone. Just the bear roaring and then some body part flying through the air, even once a horse's head! Or a fake partial bear (not even the same color!) towering over someone who then falls down with fake blood on him/her. Why is this a cult classic? Why is Plan 9 a cult classic? Because sometimes we enjoy cheap, cheesy and bad if it is done just so. I have now seen this movie three times over the decades since its release and may watch it again in the future. BTW there was a ripoff of this movie called - are you ready? - Claws!
|
|
|
|
Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 12, 2020 20:07:40 GMT -5
Demon (2015)Polish with English subtitles Possession by the spirit of a dead person Jewish dybbuk style. This possession and subsequent bizarre behavior takes place at a wedding with results as might be expected. BTW having long ago been at an Old Country style Polish wedding with many of the participants being immigrants, I can testify that the amount of drinking and dancing seen in the film is completely realistic. The story is slow burn with little hint of just what is happening until well in. There is no gore, no significant violence, no jump scares and little in the way of overt supernatural events. There is a fair amount of situational humor along the way to keep interest afloat. My big complaint is the ending which not only resolves nothing but does not seem to even be connected to the rest of the movie. Definitely 'what just happened?' territory. Grizzly (1976)Jaws in fur. A blatant ripoff of the shark movie even to the point that if you changed 'shark' to 'bear' and 'ocean' to 'forest', you could almost use the same screenplay. Cheap and cheesy with bad acting, it is nonetheless surprisingly entertaining in a cheap and cheesy and bad way. You never actually see the bear attack anyone. Just the bear roaring and then some body part flying through the air, even once a horse's head! Or a fake partial bear (not even the same color!) towering over someone who then falls down with fake blood on him/her. Why is this a cult classic? Why is Plan 9 a cult classic? Because sometimes we enjoy cheap, cheesy and bad if it is done just so. I have now seen this movie three times over the decades since its release and may watch it again in the future. BTW there was a ripoff of this movie called - are you ready? - Claws! Been reading great things about Demon. You summed up Grizzly perfectly. It's a nice companion to William Girdler's other Animals run amok film. Day of the Animals, that features a glorious OTT performance by Leslie Nielsen. |
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 12, 2020 21:46:47 GMT -5
Been reading great things about Demon. You summed up Grizzly perfectly. It's a nice companion to William Girdler's other Animals run amok film. Day of the Animals, that features a glorious OTT performance by Leslie Nielsen. I see that I somehow neglected to say that Demon is a really good movie, except for the end which I cannot make heads or tails of. I remember Day of the Animals. Quite bad with none of the charm of Grizzly. I also remember the scene with Leslie Nielsen and the bear. OTT indeed! |
|
|
|
Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 13, 2020 14:38:10 GMT -5
Been reading great things about Demon. You summed up Grizzly perfectly. It's a nice companion to William Girdler's other Animals run amok film. Day of the Animals, that features a glorious OTT performance by Leslie Nielsen. I see that I somehow neglected to say that Demon is a really good movie, except for the end which I cannot make heads or tails of. I remember Day of the Animals. Quite bad with none of the charm of Grizzly. I also remember the scene with Leslie Nielsen and the bear. OTT indeed! Jaws had an intoxicated woman go swimming in the dark of night.
In Grizzly, a Female Ranger decided it was a great time for a strip and dip with one loose in the wilderness.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 13, 2020 14:53:28 GMT -5
I see that I somehow neglected to say that Demon is a really good movie, except for the end which I cannot make heads or tails of. I remember Day of the Animals. Quite bad with none of the charm of Grizzly. I also remember the scene with Leslie Nielsen and the bear. OTT indeed! Jaws had an intoxicated woman go swimming in the dark of night.
In Grizzly, a Female Ranger decided it was a great time for a strip and dip with one loose in the wilderness.
Both Jaws and Grizzly end with blowing up the creature. Although I must admit using a LAW was a nice touch. |
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 13, 2020 19:00:34 GMT -5
Gorgo (1961) The animals gone crazy movies discussed above made me think of this one. Downsized Godzilla-like creature is captured in the Irish Sea and brought to London to be put on exhibit in a circus. Turns out the rather large creature is only a baby and Mommy is on the way.  Lots of destruction stuff including Tower Bridge and Big Ben. Rubber suit and models of buildings kind of stuff but not too bad. Some references to Godzilla like the power lines that fail to stop the beast and to King Kong ("Eighth Wonder of the World"). I saw this in the movies way back then and was disappointed that the sex scenes in the novelization I had read were not in the movie. Stock footage could have been chosen with more care. Most of the supposedly British aircraft attacking Gorgo were plainly marked US Navy or USAF. Likewise some of the sailors were obviously US Navy types including one with a jacket clearly marked as such. Also I got a kick from, after naval gunfire, aircraft, torpedoes, depth charges and anti-submarine nets plus setting the Thames on fire with gasoline do not stop Mommy Gorgo, the British Army arrives ... with rifles!  Some good fun if you like this kind of thing and a willingness to put up with FX ca. 1961. |
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 14, 2020 19:39:27 GMT -5
Odd Thomas (2013)
It was with immense trepidation that I finally decided to watch this movie. I was never a big Koontz fan with the exception of a very few of his novels that I considered well above average Koontz, who is IMO merely average. One of those exceptions, the top of the list in fact, is Odd Thomas. Knowing that movie makers are famous for screwing up fine novels, especially of the fantasy type that depend heavily on what is happening inside the main characters head, I was reluctant to dive in.
But dive in I finally did, and I am happy to report that the movie version of Odd Thomas succeeds rather well in conveying the feel and power of the book. A young fry cook is able to see the dead and they try to communicate with him. But as the book starts out (and I was hooked from that very first line) "The dead do not talk. I don't know why." I will not give away any spoilers but I was happy to see that the movie follows the novel rather closely. Sadly it almost entirely omits the character of P. Oswald Boone, who provides a good chunk of the charm of the book. And entirely omits the ghost of Elvis, also part of the charm. Many of the details from the book are omitted, not surprising since the book is over 400 pages. There are minor changes from the novel but I did not find these objectionable and possibly small improvements.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 14, 2020 22:29:31 GMT -5
MST3K Crash of the Moons
I fondly recall the early science fiction shows on TV - Tom Corbett Space Cadet, Space Patrol and of course Rocky Jones Space Ranger. The Crash of the Moons movie was created by stapling together two consecutive episodes of Rocky Jones. I always liked the Gypsy Moons stories - two moons wandering through space connected by an atmosphere 'chain' with continuous lightning flashing in it. As science fiction goes these were not very good, But to my very young self, some of them were really great.
The MST3K crew (with the original scalpel-witted Joel and not mild mannered Mike who succeeded him) do a well-deserved number on the cheesy effort that was probably the crowning achievement of this series. Space Patrol had more interesting and imagination provoking ideas but it suffered from an even lower budget. Rocky Jones was at least recorded on film and with generally better production values and not on low quality early videotape with really cheap FX as Space Patrol and Tom Corbett were. Tom Corbett was my least favorite of the three. It just was not as entertaining to my young mind, having less imaginative ideas and plots and only stock footage of V2's as the 'spaceship'.
|
|
|
|
Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 15, 2020 15:29:38 GMT -5
I miss watching MST3K on the true SciFi Channel back then.
|
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 15, 2020 18:46:14 GMT -5
Evil Dead (1981) I had not watched this in many years but the melting corpses in Stranger Things brought the climax of Evil Dead to mind. This over the top gore fest is as much fun as ever despite, or maybe because of, the cheap FX. Especially the melting corpses. In other hands than director Sam Raimi, producer Robert Tapert and of course Bruce Campbell as the main protagonist, this could have been a grade C dud. Instead it became a cult classic. Campbell's histrionics especially when being splattered with disgusting gore are just terrific. I had forgotten just how young he was when this movie was made. I enjoyed everything I have seen with him in it, even his role as Autolychus Prince of Thieves in Hercules and Xena, also a Raimi/Tapert collaborations. |
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 15, 2020 19:07:05 GMT -5
I miss watching MST3K on the true SciFi Channel back then. Prime has quite a few of them. Moatly on the Shout Factory channel, which I have. |
|
|
|
Post by someoldguy on Jan 15, 2020 20:28:07 GMT -5
More movies I watched lately but not yet mentioned.
The Babadook (2014)
Scarier than I expected. Love the ending. Well done all around.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Saw this in the movies when it first came out. First class horror, spooky plot, fine acting. Just as good all these years later.
Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut (2004)
Got this on DVD years ago and somehow forgot to watch. More understandable in the extended version but still weird. Also you get to see more of Drew Barrymore’s work, which is always interesting.
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Have this on VHS that I bought back in the late 80s. Still enormously enjoyable. I have seen the alternate ending. Call me old-fashioned, but I will take the ‘good guy wins’ one over that, thank you.
Zombieland (2009)
Great mix of horror and humor, with Woody Harrelson demonstrating his versality once again and Bill Murray playing the best Bill Murray ever. Emma Stone and (then) little Abigail Breslin are fine as the con artist, double dealing, larcenous but lovable sisters. Plot, acting, dialog, direction, camera work etc. all good to very good.
|
|
|
|
Post by silverbullet63 on Jan 16, 2020 16:24:37 GMT -5
More movies I watched lately but not yet mentioned. Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut (2004) Got this on DVD years ago and somehow forgot to watch. More understandable in the extended version but still weird. Also you get to see more of Drew Barrymore’s work, which is always interesting. Richard Kelly was hailed as the next big thing after Donnie Darko, then Southland Tales happened. |
|
Cheap and cheesy with bad acting, it is nonetheless surprisingly entertaining in a cheap and cheesy and bad way. You never actually see the bear attack anyone. Just the bear roaring and then some body part flying through the air, even once a horse's head! Or a fake partial bear (not even the same color!) towering over someone who then falls down with fake blood on him/her. Why is this a cult classic? Why is Plan 9 a cult classic? Because sometimes we enjoy cheap, cheesy and bad if it is done just so. I have now seen this movie three times over the decades since its release and may watch it again in the future. BTW there was a ripoff of this movie called - are you ready? - Claws!
Le Loup-Garou Qui Rit
Lots of destruction stuff including Tower Bridge and Big Ben. Rubber suit and models of buildings kind of stuff but not too bad. Some references to Godzilla like the power lines that fail to stop the beast and to King Kong ("Eighth Wonder of the World"). I saw this in the movies way back then and was disappointed that the sex scenes in the novelization I had read were not in the movie.