El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
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Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Aug 20, 2013 23:46:07 GMT -5
"NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS"Story: young doctor and his wife come to a remote village by the sea, where the locals want nothing to do with him. The doctor interferes with a local ceremony, in which the villagers sacrifice seven young virgins to the keep the Blind Templars from destroying their village. Of course, the Templars attack... Fourth and final of the "Blind Dead" series, made in Spain in the 70's by director/writer Amando de Ossorio. - better than the third, with a nice solid story and creepy feeling throughout. More of the creepiness comes from the villagers, with one scene reminiscent of Lucio Fulci's "Don't Torture a Duckling". - more footage recycled from the first movie. - good performances. - happier, more 'upbeat' ending. Great end to the series, solid movie, worth owning.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Sept 2, 2013 22:29:17 GMT -5
"GAME CHANGE"Story: a behind-the-scenes look at the decision to bring in Sarah Palin in as the running mate for Senator John McCain's run for president in 2008, as told by Steve Schmidt, the Republican strategist behind the McCain campaign. Let's see if I can do this without getting too political... Great movie. I love these 'behind-the-scenes' stories, these looks at how the wheels of politics (or big business or advertising or whatever) really turn, and the reasons behind the decisions. The story is full of humor as well, not relying on dry, factual accounts of (reported) meetings and sessions. Excellent performances, especially from Julianne Moore as Governor Palin. She not only showed the 'maverick-y' side of Palin (with her reported arguments with speech writers, among other alleged erratic behavior), she showed the down-to-earth Palin, the woman who loves her family and really just wanted to do a good job at whatever task was given to her. Moore even nailed Palin's somewhat odd speech patterns. Woody Harrelson is also great as Steve Schmidt, the guy who decided to bring Palin in, and who slowly starts to realize that he may have picked someone unqualified for the role and is trying to control the fallout of the actions. Highly recommended, especially for Moore's performance.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Sept 30, 2013 1:11:32 GMT -5
"ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES!"Story: a group of strippers, a few people who work at the strip club, a pimp and some of his hos, and the brother of one of the strippers are trapped in the strip club by zombies (actually, zombified hookers and victims who smoked some strange chemical made by a scientist trying to cure cancer...). Hot chicks, terrible movie. Some pretty good make-up (that's where most of the production's money must have gone... trimmed from the "acting" budget"), along with some pretty terrible CGI-blood effects. Cringe-worthy acting. Some attempts at humor hit the target but most fall completely flat. Worst of all, barely any nudity... a fatal flaw, in my opinion. Not even bad enough to laugh at. Avoid.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Oct 1, 2013 0:09:25 GMT -5
"THE FOG"Story: the small coastal town of Antonio Bay is about to celebrate it's centennial, but on that night a mysterious fog rolls in from the sea, carrying with it a ghost ship and a crew of zombies out for revenge. Directed by John Carpenter, written and produced by Carpenter and Debra Hill (his then-ex-wife), their first movie after the success of "Halloween", starring Adrienne Barbeau (Carpenter's then-current wife), Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook and Janet Leigh (star of "Psycho" and Jamie Lee Curtis' mother). I know a lot of people have fond memories of this movie, but I am not one of them. I remember that I did see it many many (many) years ago, but I couldn't tell you a darn thing that happened in the movie. Nothing stuck out, nothing shocked me or freaked me out or hooked itself into my brain... so I had to see it again when the newest version came out on Blu-ray. (P.S. - I love Shout Factory.) The movie is inconsistent. There's some good creepy footage with spooky fog seeping into rooms and eerie lights and strange shadows... and there's some good gory bits with decomposing sailors chasing Barbeau around her lighthouse, but the two never really seem to mesh well together. Maybe it's because they weren't shot at the same time (roughly a third of the movie was additional footage shot after they realized they needed more gore to compete at the box office). It's also a little goofy at times, especially when Barbeau is warning her listeners (she is a radio DJ) where the fog is moving to, which sounds like she's telling people where Godzilla is heading. None of the actors are bad, but there's just something about the movie that (for me) doesn't click. For me, it's a 'meh'.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Oct 2, 2013 0:09:14 GMT -5
"CARNIVALE"Set during the Great Depression, a young man named Ben finds a job with a traveling carnival, and learns that he has a greater destiny, a role in an upcoming battle between Good and Evil... a role that he doesn't want, but he has to stop the evil Brother Crowe from gaining the same power... Great series, lasted two seasons on HBO before being cancelled (bad ratings). The story was supposed to be six seasons long, and the final episode of season 2 has a cliffhanger that shows that they were intending to keep going. Damn creepy story. There's a real slow reveal of Ben's role in the 'battle' during the first season that plays out slow but never feels like it was 'stretched out' for the sake of keeping people watching. There's a lot of creepy build in Brother Crowe's story as well, along with the stories behind the Carnivale and some of the characters in it (especially Sophia). The story feels like the pace picks up in the second season, almost as if someone told the writers that they needed to speed it up because they were getting complaints, and I felt that the second season suffers a bit because of it. There's even a few new characters introduced that felt like they were going to be more important to the story and turned out... not to be. Favorite character: Samson, the (assistant?) manager of the carnival, played by Michael J. Anderson (who was that creepy backwards-walking midget from "Twin Peaks"). Great story, but be prepared to be frustrated with the cliffhanger ending.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Oct 14, 2013 2:11:31 GMT -5
"GAMMERA THE INVINCIBLE"Story: Russian bomber shot down by American jet in Arctic, explosion, giant fire-eating flying turtle Gamera escape cold and attacks Japan. The UN decides to put aside the blame of whose bomb it was and and why it was shot down and unite to stop Gamera, with the help of Japanese scientists. One young boy believes Gamera is cool, but the army manages to lock Gamera into a capsule and launch it into space. This is not the original Japanese version, but the American version that played in the US in the 60's, with a ton of original footage cut out and replaced with Air Force personnel talking on phones and politicians arguing, along with stock images of aircraft in flight. There's also a bit about a news program where two panelists debate the possibility of a giant turtle attacking the world (which comes across like a 60's version of "Crossfire"). The giant monster footage looks cheap compared to the Godzilla movies of the same time. There's something kind of impressive with the detail you see in a Godzilla film, and that attention to detail ain't here. There's also something decidedly odd about having a giant turtle as the monster... you can see how the guy in the suit seemed to be having problems moving around the set. Bad, cheap, difficult to recommend unless you are a die-hard kaiju fan or have really low standards. I'm surprised that anyone decided to make a sequel to this...
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Oct 14, 2013 22:37:03 GMT -5
"WAR OF THE MONSTERS" (aka. Gamera vs. Barrugon)Story: A group travels to the South Pacific to steal a giant opal left in a sacred cave by the (crippled) brother of one of the group. A thief on the team tries to kill the others and keep the opal for himself... BUT the opal is really an egg, which hatched the giant monster Barrugon, who attacks Japan. Can the army stop Barrugon, and will Gamera help? Better story than the first Gamera movie. Actually, it feels like a separate movie with Gamera added in as an afterthought (or to make more money by bringing in a name that was recognizable...). The majority of the movie is about the thieves getting to the opal, the betrayal, the survivor (the crippled man's brother) turn of honor in trying to help the Army stop Barrugon (and a budding romance with an island girl who comes along to help)... then Gamera shows up and saves the day. Also, the way that they explained why Gamera returned to Earth at the beginning of the movie was something I'd have expected from "The Simpsons": "Hey, kids, remember that we blasted Gamera into space at the end of the last movie? Well, the rocket hit a meteor, it crashed back to Earth and he disappeared! Now, on to the rest of the movie!" Still have the second-rate special effects and poor-looking models, but better story makes it more fun.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Oct 16, 2013 0:07:46 GMT -5
"RETURN OF THE GIANT MONSTERS" (aka. "Gamera vs. Gyaos")Story: volcanic eruption releases giant monster Gyaos. Will Gamera help the Army stop Gyaos? Third of the original series, and this is the one that really picks up the banner of "Gamera, protector of children". There's a scene where Gamera comes to the aid of Eiichi, the grandson of the local village elder (who also appeared in the first movie as the only person who thought Gamera was cool), and through the rest of the movie it's Eiichi that comes up with the plans that stop Gyaos and apparently Gamera can hear his and plays along. There's also a sub-plot where an innocent hard-working construction crew is being held up from work by a group of greedy poor villagers who are stopping a highway from being built through their land, just so that they can get more money in the end... not many movies side with the big corporations in this situation, are there? Fuller but sillier story, effects are just as bad (when compared to the Godzilla movies), but fun.
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Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Oct 17, 2013 7:17:55 GMT -5
Cutting MomentsA collection of five short horror films. I recently heard about it because of the eponymous short, which is said to be one of the sickest films ever, and after seeing both V/H/S films, I was curious to see how short horror films in different formats can work. I wouldn't really call this an anthology film though, as there is no link between the segments and they are very tonally and stylistically different. Crack Dog: in a dystopian future, or possibly a weird current slum, some punk thug wants his dog to try crack and goes to kill a bunch of other thugs to steal some from them. Er, okay, I suppose it's unique but... well, I don't really understand what this story is supposed to be, I basically summed up the whole thing right there, there's no real beginning and no real end, it's just... that. It's well shot, there are good lighting effects, and it reminded me a bit of some of the more mature but less serious, relatively campy comics from the late 80s/early 90s so if this kind of atmosphere is your thing, I suppose it's fine and I did enjoy that weird atmosphere but... yeah, there just isn't much to talk about here. 5/10Don't Nag Me: a man tells the story of how even after killing her, his nagging wife wouldn't leave him in peace as he keeps having visions of her. Fairly interesting, there are themes of both guilt and being unable to move on from the past. The acting is a bit wonky but the story is actually rather interesting if a bit campy at times as well. 6/10Bowl of Oatmeal: Wow, talk about a shift in tone. After two campy, not always well acted shorts, we suddenly have this very uncanny and disturbing short. A recluse man hears voices coming from the titular bowl of oatmeals. Is he schizophrenic? Is it his conscience? Is there really a disembodied voice talking to him? We never learn and frankly, it's not very important. Either way, the man comes to the conclusion that taking up a hobby could improve his life, and so he settles on arts and crafts, except the materials he decides to use are, well... unusual to say the least. This one is even more minimalistic than the previous two (most of it takes place in just one room), but it is much more disturbing, which is due in great part to the fact that THIS segment is very well acted and directed. The one actor is very convincing and manages to make his character very uncanny. Very powerful piece of work, although it ended rather abruptly to me. 7/10The Principles of Karma: Two teens (played by people who look well into their mid-twenties) lament their boring life and want to do something about it. After a while, an opportunity strikes as one of them encounters the "Youth Liberation Front". For a story about people making their lives exciting, this short is booooooooorrrrrriiiiiiiing. Pretty much nothing happens for a good two thirds of the film and then what happens isn't very interesting. I think there's supposed to be social satire and some comedy moments, but it falls completely flat. It doesn't help that our main characters are of course caricatures of angsty teens with no defining trait. Had this been made today, there would probably have been a joke about cutting themselves. Oh wait nevermind, there is actually a line from one of them saying that of they don't live their life to the fullest, they might as well slit their wrists. I suppose at least it helps to show that the 30-somethings bitching about emo kids' Facebook profiles and claiming that teens back then weren't as angsty as today are full of shit. 4/10Cutting Moments: aaand here we are... the one this collection is named after, supposedly one of the sickest films ever made. But then again, people have said the same thing about the freaking Human Centipede, so that's not saying much. However in that case... oh boy. I thought Bowl of Oatmeal was disturbing, and it was, but this... jeez man, it seriously was f'ed up. Basically, a couple has lost all interest in not only each other, but seemingly one another. It's not just that the spark is gone, they barely have any emotion. Oh and it's implied that their son may be becoming a target of the husband's sexual frustrations, which he apparently hates himself for. In order to once again feel something, anything, and possibly to save their son from themselves, they do something... unthinkable and indescribable. I wouldn't exactly call this movie sick, if only because it would imply it is disturbing just for the sake of being disturbing (which I don't really have a problem with as long as it's done well), but there is definitely more genuine depth in this one than you would find in most similar works that try to convince themselves that they are brilliant and clever. And yes, it is very hard to watch. I mean, I've seen August Underground and even I still turned my head a few times as I was having a hard time with this one. It's not even so much the gore as the way it's filmed. This film is very uncomfortable but, I don't know, it struck a chord with me and was far more effective than the usual attention-seeking from similar works like A Serbian Film. 7/10
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Oct 18, 2013 23:33:42 GMT -5
"DESTROY ALL PLANETS" (aka. "Gamera vs. Viras")Story: aliens invade Earth, targeting Gamera by kidnapping two children and forcing the giant turtle to do their bidding. The two kids (one Japanese genius and his American friend) manage to help Gamera escape control and the alien leader turns into a giant squid called Viras to fight. Where the previous movie was the one that gave Gamera the banner of "protector of children", this is the movie where Gamera wraps that banner around himself and parades down the street, throwing candy to crowds of singing children. After a beginning where Gamera destroys the first alien invader's ship, the story moves to a Boy Scout jamboree where the two aforementioned kids are up to no good by messing about with an experimental mini-sub. The kids then fix the sub and go underwater where they meet Gamera and play... just like tourists swimming with dolphins. After the kidnapping, it's basically the kids who save the day by messing up the alien control device and freeing Gamera to destroy the ship, but only after the UN decides that the two kids' lives are more valuable than the freedom of the whole world. There's also a twenty minute sequence of fight clips from the previous three movies as the aliens 'research' Gamera's weak point... just the fact that it helps pad the movie out is just gravy... Bad acting but charming, and actually kinda fun.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Nov 1, 2013 23:52:33 GMT -5
"ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS" (aka. "Gamera vs. Guiron")Story: two young boys (Japanese kid Akio and American kid Tom) are taken from Earth in a spaceship to the planet Terra where they meet two alien females and learn that they are planning on invading Earth and sucking the brains out of the population. Gamera comes to rescue them, and has to do battle with Guiron, a giant beast with a blade for a face. Still pretty bad, but a bit better than the previous one ("Destroy All Planets"), mainly because the two kids are better written. Not better acting, mind you, but a better story for the kids to deal with. There is a hint that maybe the planet is the same one the aliens from "DAP" but it's never really looked at. Better battle, too. Fun in a 'Saturday afternoon' kind of way.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Nov 26, 2013 0:34:48 GMT -5
"GAMERA VS. MONSTER X" (aka. "Gamera vs. Jiger")Story: Gamera tries to stop archeologist from digging up giant statue and shipping it to Osaka for the 1970 World's Fair. Statue turns out to be keeping giant monster Monster X (aka. Jiger) in check. Monster X attacks Japan, heading directly for the 1970 World's Fair, being held in Osaka, Japan! Gamera tries to stop Monster X and is infected with a parasite (a mini-Monster X). Kids use mini-sub (seen in previous movies, but a special attraction for the 1970 World's Fair, being held in Osaka, Japan!) to kill parasite, freeing Gamera to battle Monster X. Kids also figure out that sound from statue renders Monster X helpless, helping Gamera defeat Monster X and saving the 1970 World's Fair, held in Osaka, Japan! - movie opens with travelogue footage of the 1970 World's F--- and it's repeated ad nauseum throughout the movie. - annoying kids, especially the little girl. - sub-par special effects. Models are laughably bad, worse than the previous movies. - same formula of "kids understand Gamera, defend Gamera to adults, show adults how to beat monsters". - strange inclusion of graphic footage of an elephant with parasites in it's trunk, and the 'surgery' to remove the parasites. Goes by quickly, kind of like the chicken during the 'psychadelic boat ride' in "Willy Wonka...". I actually had to watch this twice... the first time I fell asleep about 10 minutes in and woke up about 10 minutes from the end. I wasn't tired, the movie just bored me so much that my brain shut down for it's own safety. Missing the fun from previous films. Use only as a sleep aid.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Dec 11, 2013 0:57:54 GMT -5
"MAX HEADROOM" (The Complete Series) Story: investigative reporter Madison Edison Carter is nearly killed when hunting down a story, and his brain patterns are copied and loaded into a computer simulation in an attempt to make the world believe he is still alive. The result is Max Headroom, rogue computer AI with the ability to travel the television channels and communicate with (and respond to) the viewers. Carter survives and now must help keep Max in check while digging up the truth as Network 23's best reporter. British-made television series made for broadcast in the US on ABC for two half-seasons (1987 and 1987-88, fourteen episodes in total), based of an original TV short film that was broadcast in Britain. The idea of a science-fiction series that tried to tackle the possibilities of new technology carried a lot of promise, but the show just didn't live up to that promise, with boring characters, lazy writing, ugly production, and a main character who turned out to be under-utilized. Here's some of the ideas in this show: - television networks exert control over the government, including influencing elections, in the chase for 'higher ratings', to the degree that it's impossible (and illegal) to turn off a television set. - a class system where people are either well-off or scrounging on the streets to survive, with a sub-set of the poor who become "blanks" (unrecognized by the computer-controlled society). - advertisers engaging in risky, sometimes dangerous behavior in order to increase sales. - popularity of blood-sports. - body banks where the poor can sell their organs to rich clients (and dead bodies are harvested). - a computer security company that sells it's information to advertisers. - gifted children who engage in hacking for kicks. - subliminal advertising. - pirating television shows for the poor. - genetic manipulation of the unborn. Great topics, but it never feels like they're trying to tell THAT story. It's just an excuse for Carter to get into and out of trouble. Maybe a chase, maybe a fight, maybe a poorly done 'computer interface' effect, but it all just felt like standard old B-grade half-assed television to me. Acting... I like Matt Frewer. He does do a good job as Carter, but he has to play himself down so that his other half, Max, can draw people in. Max is used as the 'avatar' for the audience, the one they explain the situation to so that the viewers can keep up to the plot. The show isn't about Max, it's about Carter's investigations, and the show shoots itself in the foot by making the TITLE CHARACTER a secondary one. Imagine Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank having to share screen time with Jim Carrey as Ace Ventura, then make Truman the star of the show. It also doesn't help that Carter's love interest is a boring Brit played by Amanda Pays, a woman with no spark at all. Highlights of the cast are Jeffrey Tambor as Murray, Carter's long-suffering producer, and W. Morgan Sheppard as Blank Reg, owner/DJ of an underground television station (one of the three actors from the original show). The whole show just looks like crap as well. It looks like every Z-grade movie of a post-apocalyptic future: streets are littered with rubble, buildings crumbling, people walk around in the latest of Road Warrior-inspired fashion, smoke or smog or mist everywhere, poor lighting... OR super-high-tech neon lit techno-fashions and wild hair styles for the rich. And television screens EVERYWHERE. I remembered it being cool... I was so wrong.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Dec 22, 2013 1:49:35 GMT -5
"THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER"Story: after the kingdom is taken over by the evil King Cromwell (with the help of the evil sorcerer Xusia), the only surviving son of King Richard is Talon, who escapes with the family sword. Talon becomes a mercenary and returns to his home to help rebels overthrow Cromwell... but Xusia has also returned, seeking revenge on Cromwell after his betrayal. Released in 1982 amongst the flood of cheap "Conan" knock-off (actually, this beat "Conan" to the theatres by about a month in the US), this movie is a good ol' dumb fun sword-and-sorcery adventure flick. Swordfights galore, busty wenches, evil magic, backstabbing, a crucifixion, and a magic weapon that puts "Krull"s glaive to shame... Notable faces: Lee Horsley played the adult Talon and would go on to star in his own TV series, "Matt Houston" (a cross between Bobby Ewing and Thomas Magnum), Kathleen Beller would go on to appear in "Dynasty", Simon McCorkindale appeared in dozens of movies and series (even starred as "Manimal"), Richard Lynch played the villain in every second B-movie released in the 80's (or so it seemed), Richard Moll would go on to fame as baliff Bull from "Night Court", and Talon's second-in-command is played by one Joe Regalbuto, who would become famous as investigative reporter Frank Fontana on the acclaimed series "Murphy Brown". Cheesy fun, but a hell of a lot of fun. Damn the nay-sayers, I recommend this movie!
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Jan 2, 2014 23:46:34 GMT -5
"TRAILER WARS"Story: none. This is a collection of some of the most popular trailers that are played at the Alamo Drafthouse, and there's some damn fun trailers in here. Comes a second audio track with a running commentary from two of the Drafthouse's programmers (both about the movies and how the Drafthouse found them), an interview with filmmaker Joe Dante (directed "Piranha", "Gremlins", "Matinee" and much more, used to work for Roger Corman putting together trailers) on 'the lost art of the trailer', a look at the Drafthouse Film Archive, and an easter egg of some clips of naked women from Mexican movies (which is something that one of the Drafthouse guys found by accident). List of trailers: {Spoiler}{Spoiler}Stunt Rock Argo, The Fantastic Superman Inframan Voyage of the Rock Aliens Star Crash Dungeon Master Animal Protector Eunich of the Western Palace The Tongfather World War of Kung-Fu The Man From Hong Kong Con El Odio En El Piel (in Spanish) Black Samurai Force Four Force Five Sister Street Fighter Golden Needles Mitchell Maniac Cop 2 (in French) Mad Adventures of Rabbi jacob Partners Amuck Big Guns Mr. No Legs (an "Adults Only" bumper) Lola's Mistake Nightmare Honeymoon Don't Answer the Phone The Scaremaker The Mutations Deranged Shoot Dead End Drive In Who Saw Her Die? Amin, The Rise and Fall HOTS The Beach Girls Nudes of Tiger Reef The Boob Tube Northville Cematary Massacre Amazing Grace The Lawyer The Electric Chair Women in Cell Block 7 Penitentiary Thunder Cops Lots of fun, great to watch when you're not in the moods to sink yourself into a real movie. Recommended. And the trailer for "Thunder Cops" is one of the most amazing things on video.
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Jan 3, 2014 0:13:01 GMT -5
"LIFEFORCE"Story: space mission studying Haley's Comet finds alien craft, team goes aboard and find some kind of alien life. Then something mysterious happens, and the only surviving astronaut returns to Earth, along with evidence of the aliens... Well, aliens. Which escape and start causing havok in Britain, with the astronaut and a government agent chasing down the truth. Interesting story, done not in an American-ish 'action-fest' style but in a dryer British-ish Hammer-esque style, which really works. It's about the discovering of what happened and trying to figure out how to stop it and not the craziness of the happenings. Main character, the surviving astronaut, is played by Steve Railsback, who looks like a young Tommy Lee Jones, and he's competent. Peter Firth is better as the assisting agent, being the voice of reason amongst an unreasonable situation. The one female alien is played by French actress Mathilda May, and she is incredibly hot and frequently naked throughout the movie. Fun appearance by Patrick Stewart as a possessed doctor (who shares his first on-screen kiss... with Railsback...). Then the end of the movie happens... I imagine the production meeting when they decided on how to end the film. I picture one of the American backers bursting through the door and shouting (in the voice of Slim Pickens)... "THAT AIN'T HOW YOU END A MOVIE, BOY! IT'S GOTTA HAVE EXPLOSIONS AND ZOMBIES AND PURTY LIGHTS AND GUNS AND SOLDIERS AND SWORDS AND NEKKED PEOPLE! MAKE IT HAPPEN, BOYS!!!"...after which he jumps out of the window onto a horse and rides away into the sunset. The last 20-30 minutes of the movie goes completely off the rails. London is quarantined (sort of like the 2008 movie "Doomsday"), zombie/vampires roam the streets, there's a sword, alien energy... It's just crazy. Beautifully restored, some incredible special effects (especially at the beginning with the alien craft), and a bat-crap crazy ending. I was entertained, so I recommend it.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2014 12:23:16 GMT -5
Watched This Is The End couple of nights ago
Pretty good. Didn't reinvent the wheel or anything but I got what I expected
Favourite cameo probably Channing Tat-Yum just edging out Michael Cera. A very meta movie as you'd expect but I enjoyed the actors warped versions of themselves they played
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El Pollo Guerrera
Grimlock
His name has chicken in it, and he is good at makin' .gifs, so that's cool.
Status: Runner
Posts: 14,894
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Jan 20, 2014 0:18:07 GMT -5
"YOU'RE NEXT"Story: family gathering at rich parents' new out-of-the-way country home quickly changes from squabbling between siblings to a fight for survival after people wearing animal masks surround the house and start killing. Who are they? Why are they there? Who will survive? You know those stupid slasher films where the characters onscreen do stupid things and you want to yell at the TV? This is a movie that heard you. And beyond that I don't want to spoil anything for you because I hate ruining the fun that brings to the movie. Great performances all around, with Sharni Vinson ( "Step Up 3D") as a particular standout. I'd also like to note that two of the actors are also directors (Joe Swanberg of "V/H/S" and Ti West of "The House of the Devil", "The Innkeepers" and "V/H/S"). A solid story that takes the 'home invasion' trend of horror/slasher movies and injects it with a nice twist and a dose of dark humour... and some very nice gore effects (all make-up, with no computerized CGI gore happening, so they get an extra thumbs up for that). Recommended.
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Post by bibboid on Jan 20, 2014 12:37:20 GMT -5
Took the family to the drive-in the other night. We saw Frozen and The Legend of Hercules.
Frozen - It was cute. Felt more targeted towards girls rather than boys, but then Disney has always been about the "princesses". Had a couple of twists I didn't expect and the ending was satisfying. There were a few songs but they were not very memorable.
The Legend of Hercules - Not very good. The acting was wooden. The dialog was terrible. The fight scenes were unbelievable and badly filmed. The story had virtually nothing to do with the Hercules of Greek mythology. It wasn't bad enough to become "crap" (and therefore comically watchable) but just bad enough to be bad.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Jan 20, 2014 12:44:14 GMT -5
watched Immortals last night. pretty movie, kinda dumb plot elevated by Mickey Rourke and Henry Cavill's acting. also, the most orange movie I've ever seen.
watched G.I Joe Retaliation the other day. in some ways it was better than the original (Jonathan Pryce steals the show). in some ways it was laughably cheap looking.
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