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Post by Citizen Snips on Jan 2, 2012 22:55:58 GMT -5
Watched Night of the Hunter the other night. Shame Charles Laughton only directed one movie, he really managed to infuse a sense of dread throughout the proceedings. Drags in a few spots and the kids are flat-out terrible actors, but this is quite possibly Robert Mitchum's finest hour. Preacher Harry Powell is one of cinema's greatest and most overlooked villains and Mitchum plays it to the hilt.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
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Post by agent817 on Jan 9, 2012 18:01:15 GMT -5
Plot: Injustice begets a criminal. Kool is an artist without prospects, a black belt in karate, and in love with LaShawna, poised and college bound. One night she witnesses a stabbing and discovers the victim is a cop as he dies in her arms. She's jailed for murder by the infamous Ramparts Division of the LAPD. Kool wants to prove her innocence, and Tully, the cynical detective in charge, ignores LaShawna's case but uses Kool to break up an incipient crime operation. She's in danger because the guilty parties fear that the officer talked before he died. While in jail awaiting a hearing and legal help, she's beaten to death by a rogue cop. Kool vows revenge: the Hot Boyz are born. The verdict: This movie is rather bad, but if you're willing to watch it for the reason to see how bad it is and because it's a trainwreck, feel free to do so, but it's still a bad movie. The plot didn't make much sense and changed a lot during the course of the movie. The fact that the plot goes from the protagonist's girlfriend gets put in jail and doing whatever it takes to get her out to a plot about a gang taking over just shows how bad the movie is, not to mention the acting is pretty bad, though you still have the likes of Gary Busey and C. Thomas Howell in it. Plus, when the writer and director is a rapper, as well as a few of the stars being rappers, too, then you know that the movie won't be great. Of course, expect a lot of rap in the background. All I can say is that this movie can be watchable, but it's anything but good.
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Jan 9, 2012 19:56:03 GMT -5
"DESTROY ALL MONSTERS"Story: An alien race attacks the research facility on Monsterland and kidnaps all the monsters kept there, including Godzilla, and then turns them loose in a plot to establish a foothold in an invasion of Earth. Captain Yamabe and the crew of the rocketship Moonlight SY-3 lead the fight to break the monsters free of the alien control. Lots of fun, as usual, but story focused more on the Captain and his mission and not the real stars of the show... until the last half hour, when the aliens bring King Ghidorah into the mix to try and keep everyone in line. There's also the introduction of a creature called the Fire Dragon that would do Vince Russo proud. {Spoiler}King Ghidorah gets stomped. LITERALLY. Beautifully restored by Tokyo Shock. The picture and the sound are gorgeous. Recommended. ----------------------------------------------------- "THE DRILLER KILLER"Disc 3, Side 2, Movie 1 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: a strugling ar-teest (they hate it when you call them an artist) flips out and starts killing people with an electric drill. One of the earlier films of indie film director Abel Ferrera, in which he also starred under the name Jimmy Laine. I had a lot of trouble watching this... the 'guerilla'-style filmmaking, the (seemingly) improvised dialogue, the completely unlikable characters (I know, the main character is a killer, but at least give me SOMEONE to latch on to), all of it made the movie more of a challenge than a movie should be. I know it has a cult following, but I'm not drinking the Kool Aid on this one. It probably was intended to be a 'social commentary' on New York at the time but to me, it came across as empty artistic wankery. This was apparently an uncut version of the movie, which showed some of the bloodier scenes, but there were two that were 'blocked' - the screen turned to a black red nothing during one murder and during the very end, leaving the sound track. I found this stupid for the first instance... why block this when other nastiness was shown earlier? But for the very end, it kinda works, letting your imagination do the work for you... but it's also strange because the second scene that was blocked wasn't a death, but leading up to a death. So... what? This version was grainy, blurry and cruddy, which helped for the atmosphere but not with the chore of watching it. As I understand it, there's a collector's version that's been cleaned up and has an incredibly funny Director's Commentary track (in which Ferrera seems to be drugged out of his gourd). This was not that version. If anyone has seen this, I'd like to know how it was. Two good things about it, though: 1) it really captured the gritty, sleazy, scum-hole that New York was at the time. 2) one hot lesbian shower scene. Verdict: Trash. Good: 2 Meh: 6 Trash: 3
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
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Post by agent817 on Jan 10, 2012 20:56:24 GMT -5
Plot: On their way home from Brooklyn psychiatrist Victoria, daughter Julie and sister Stacey run short of gas. They leave they highway to search a petrol station - but end up erring around in South Bronx. A youth gang under the sadistic Ice stops their car and starts menacing them. When Julie drives away in panic, she damages one of their bikes. Ice feels provoked and decides to hunt them down... without fuel the 3 women soon have to flee by foot and defend their life with all means possible. Only the youngest gang member T.J. tries to help them. Verdict: I will be honest, I was interested in seeing this movie mainly from reading about it when I was on IMDB and on the forum for "Judgment Night." One user on there mentioned this movie and said that it was similar that it made me want to watch this. I read that it was a TV movie and I know how TV movies coming on out on DVD or VHS doesn't happen so often, but I got lucky. I found this on Amazon and bought it. Anyway, as for the movie itself, it's actually pretty good. Sure, one would think that it's a Judgment Night rip-off but I read that Judgment Night came out AFTER this movie and this movie debuted on TV in early 1993 or late 1992. You could tell that this is a TV movie, but it's still decent. I would recommend it.
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agent817
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Post by agent817 on Jan 12, 2012 1:50:30 GMT -5
Plot: Gary Frank, an ordinary, blue collared John Doe insurance salesman, is about to learn the hard way that there're certain areas that are off-limits to all outsiders. One specific tower block Lincon, is just such a place; as it belongs to a hostile small army known as *the vampires*, who basically own it and oversee that no one who does not occupy a dwelling there, will live thought the night. He's not fully aware of how much he shouldn't be on their turf, that he doesn't belong on their *property*. But it's a simple tap on Decon a child gang member's shoulder, that seals his fate as this act prompt's The Count, their leader to come looking for reprisals from Gary. When a security guard tries to defuse the situation, he ends up dead and so does Decon, who Gary *violated* with his touch. Blamed for the Decon's death by The Count, he's now marked for death, along with anyone else who dares aid him. Stuck on the top floor, with no way down, he's only means to escape or survive is telephone repair man, Jackson (who heard the fatal shots and Gary's cries for help), wheel-chair bound paranoid Vietnam vet, Parker and elderly (but far from helpless) resident Elva Briggs and her teenage granddaughter, Toni, along with a kid in her care who can use a baseball bat better than any weapon. Stranded at their mercy in a place where even the cops won't go, Gary must do what he can, before the *vampires* catch up to him...it's going to be a long hard night. Verdict: Okay, my "urban hellhole and fight against gangs" kick still continues, but this time it's some 80s flick that has more in common with The Warriors, though it is similar to then-future movies that I have mentioned on here before. It does seem similar to The Warriors and it does have some similarities to Trespass, which came out later than this. Anyway, it was one fun movie that I can't believe I've never heard of until recently. The whole 80s cheese factor is there, the action is there. Plus, Stacey Dash was looking good in this movie. Anyway, I highly recommend this movie. It's only available on VHS if you're looking to get it, but it's also on YouTube on right now. Check this movie out NOW!
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Jan 16, 2012 19:58:43 GMT -5
"TAXI DRIVER"Story: you know the story, right? I'm like a lot of people who hadn't seen this movie... I thought that all it was about was a cabbie who goes crazy and tries to 'rescue' a prostitute, and I had seen so many movies that paid homage and straight-up ripped off "Taxi Driver" that I thought that's what it was all about. And I was wrong. "Taxi Driver" is a portrait of a man who is trying the best he can to fit in to a world that he sees as a pile of filth. He's already broken, he's just trying to hold his pieces together, and eventually he stops trying and that's when it hits the fan. DeNiro is simply amazing as Travis Bickle. There are no other words to describe his performance. Jodie Foster (she was 13) is incredible as the young prostitute. Cybill Shepherd is stunning as Betsy, a woman who Travis becomes obsessed with early on (and he royally screws it up). Harvey Keitel is appropriately sleazy (and, I might add, hilarious looking) as Jodie's pimp, Albert Brooks is a great bit of humour as one of Betsy's co-workers, and Martin Scorsese himself has a powerful scene as a fare with a story. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY Recommended. ----------------------------------------------------- "THE HORROR EXPRESS"Disc 3, Side 2, Movie 2 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: Ho boy... in 1906, an anthropologist finds a 2 million year old body frozen in a cave, which he transports by Trans-Siberian Express to Moscow, but the thing thaws and begins to kill people by sucking their brains of memories. When the monster is seemingly shot and killed, the murders continue, which leads people to conclude that the monster can somehow change bodies and is now inside one of them... Filmed in 1972, this movie has the feel of a Hammer Horror classic with Edgar Allan Poe-esque sci-fi/horror undertones. The story does move along at a nice pace, there are no really dull or slow points, and the main lead actors (Christopher Lee as the anthropologist and Christopher Plummer as a colleague who just happens to be on the same train) are both solid in their performances and look like they're having a little fun. There's even a little humour injected into the story with the occasional wise-crack being thrown about. That being said, this is also a very stupid movie. The science behind the solving of the mystery would be regarded as ridiculous by 18th Century standards, much less the science of the time. For example, you know how the human brain has all of those ridges and grooves on it? According to this movie, the grooves and ridges on your brain are caused by MEMORIES. Also, the way that the 'scientists' figure out where the monster came from is crazier than that... {Spoiler}By looking into the EYE FLUID of the victims. It seems that the EYE FLUID of a dead person retains the last image that they have seen.
Not only does that make sense in real life, it also makes no sense in the movie itself, because they look at the EYE FLUID of the original frozen body and see an image of the planet Earth from space... but the frozen body was 'possessed' on Earth and never would have seen it from space, and it's also not the last image that the creature had seen... And then the movie reaches a point where the filmmakers must have asked themselves, "Well, it's kinda crazy now, but what can we do to really push it over the edge of sanity?" Two words: Telly f***ing Savalas. Telly Savalas, New York accent and all, shows up as a Cossack officer who stops the train in order to... well, it really wasn't clear WHY he had the train stopped, he just boards and starts chewing up the scenery like it's covered with chocolate and bacon. He acts like he'd been hired to be in a Mel Brooks movie and someone sent him to the wrong set by mistake. And then, to top it all off, zombies. And you can't take your eyes from the screen because it's all so mad it's fantastic. This is movie is simultaneously the most charming and insane movie I've seen in years. It's a train wreck that knows it's a train wreck and has decided to make the biggest crash it can. And it's a blast. The copy on this disc was a little washed out and the sound wasn't great but it still was fun to see. I've heard that this is available in a remastered version... and I am very seriously thinking about picking it up when I find it. Verdict: Good. Good: 3 Meh: 6 Trash: 3
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Post by lez 3:16 on Jan 16, 2012 23:37:37 GMT -5
change up (2011)
I like crude humor, and I feel Ryan Renolds does it best. We all know of all the changing bodies movies and what is going to happen. But, this one was pretty decent. I had a few good laughs. It wasn't the best but, it wasn't the worst. But it was good enough to pass the time on a Saturday night.
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Jan 23, 2012 22:54:53 GMT -5
"SNOWBEAST"Disc 4, Side 1, Movie 1 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: there's something in the mountains that surrounds a small Colorado ski resort town that is attacking and killing skiers, and it's up to the resort's manager, his friend (ski instructor/former Olympic gold winner/self-doubting wreck) and his wife (reporter/Bigfoot expert) to work with the sheriff to find it and stop it. Made for TV in 1977 and it shows. No swearing, minimal blood, dramatic side plot about the ski instructor overcoming his doubt and winning his wife over again, even commercial break fade-outs. And yet, for an uninventive story lifted almost completely from "Jaws"... it's not bad. The actors are at least believable, surprisingly including Bo Svenson as Gar the ski instructor. Another point is that none of the humans who would be considered 'antagonists' (like the resort owner and the sheriff) are really that bad, they just want keep it quiet so that the town doesn't panic. There are a few lapses of logic, though. The monster does manage to terrorize almost everyone in town by attacking a school gym during the crowning of the town's beauty queen... yet the town seems not to get stirred up by it, even though it was seen clearly through a window by about a dozen people. There's also a scene where a couple of people armed with rifles are guarding a camper, but after the monster attacks their rifles disappear...? You don't really get a good look at the monster, a bigfoot/yeti killing machine, probably for budgetary reasons. There's also a lot of footage of people skiing or snowmobiling, stopping to look at the trees and taking off again, to ominous music. But other than that, it wasn't bad at all. A good time-waster. Verdict: Good. Good: 4 Meh: 6 Trash: 3 ----------------------------------------------------- "SISTERS OF DEATH"Disc 4, Side 1, Movie 2 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: seven years after a sorority initiation goes wrong and results in the death of a pledge, the five women who were there are summoned to a surprise reunion... by the father of the dead girl. And he believes that one of the five girls deliberately killed his daughter. Is he crazy? Is he right? Is he working alone? An above average story with a couple of pretty good performances, especially from the two thugs who were hired to take the women to the deathtrap/mansion and decided to stick around because these women were hot... and frankly, they were (one was Claudia Jennings, 1970 Playmate of the Year). Recognizable character actor Arthur Franz ("The Caine Mutiny") is also quite good as the vengeful father. It really does feel a bit like a Scooby-Doo mystery at times, trying to be spooky without showing anything. It does pick up at around the one hour point, when people start dying... and the twists start happening. Yes, there are a couple of plot twists that happen within the last 10 minutes or so, as it seemed to be the fashion at that time. And it is one of those movies that proves the horror movie rule: Three words that you can never say at the end of a movie like this is "We made it." I really did like this movie... but the copy that is on this DVD is terrible. It looks like it's a third- or fourth-generation copy from video, with washed out colours and blurry images. I'd like to see a better version of this, if it is available. But my verdict is still Good. Good: 5 Meh: 6 Trash: 3
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theryno665
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Post by theryno665 on Jan 25, 2012 9:08:37 GMT -5
Kill The Irishman (2011)It has Ray Stevenson killing dudes in the '70s. So basically, it's just like Punisher War Zone, but the Punisher uses rudimentary car bombs and has a sweet porn 'stache. It also has Christopher Walken and Vinnie Jones in it, making it one of the best movies ever made on cast alone. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer. Is my review facetious? Yes. But Kill The Irishman is still a fun movie. 8/10
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Feb 7, 2012 0:54:54 GMT -5
"BLACK DYNAMITE"Story: Black Dynamite searches for the dealers who killed his brother Jimmy, who was working undercover for the CIA to get to the bottom of a conspiracy. Homage, satire, or parody? All of the above, and a blast as well. The creators took their love of the 70's Blaxploitation genre and molded it into a movie that must have been as much fun to make as it was to watch. Recommended. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "THE FLYING GUILLOTINE"Story: the Emperor has a new terrible weapon developed to strike fear in the hearts of those who oppose him: the Flying Guillotine, a device that can decapitate an enemy at a hundred yards. The Emperor orders a top secret squad of the best fighters to train with the new weapon and do his bidding... but a few of the soldiers start to question the Emperor's orders. Some are killed for their 'treason', but one manages to escape and start a new life in hiding. However, the Emperor does not forget so easily... If you're a fan of old kung fu movie (like me), you've probably seen clips of 'the flying guillotine' and thought it was a remarkably stupid looking weapon. Well, get past that, because this is a great movie. The story takes a lot of time to explain the characters, but is so dense with detail that it never feels like it drags. When the fight scene do start to turn up, they are less 'polished' and more realistic than one would expect. This version is also beautifully restored, so if you have one that is a blurry or jumpy transfer, then throw that one out and get this. It looks so good that you'd almost think it was a remake and not the original. No kung fu collection is complete without this. Highly recommended. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "THE FLYING GUILLOTINE 2"Story: rebels try to organize and fight against the Emperor and his armies. When a new, more deadly version of the Flying Guillotine appears, a female rebel working undercover convinces the Emperor to start an all-woman squad specializing in the new weapon... so she can get the plans for the new weapon and find a weakness or counter for it. Also, the hero from the first movie returns, still hounded by the Emperor's soldiers and trying to keep his family safe. Can his experience with the device help the rebels? Again, wonderful movie, as dense with plot as the first, although this time the fight scenes are more spaced throughout the movie and not 'saved for last'. Also beautifully restored, so toss any older version you have and get this. As good as the first, so highly recommended. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "WAR OF THE ROBOTS"Disc 4, Side 2, Movie 1 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: alien robots kidnap two scientists and an Earth spaceship captain flies to rescue them, only to find that the one he's in love with is ruling the robots in an attack on Earth. Cheaply made Italian "Star Wars" clone. Bad. BAD bad. BAD BAD bad. Ed Wood level bad. Silly story, terrible acting, cheap special effects, numbing music, poor direction... there is very little in this movie that isn't bad. And it's not even enjoyably bad, it's just mind-numbingly bad. Verdict: trash. Good: 5 Meh: 6 Trash: 4
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
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Post by agent817 on Feb 8, 2012 22:54:04 GMT -5
Plot: Ken has just moved from Kansas with his mother. He talks to a girl named Julie, not knowing that her boyfriend Tom is very possessive of her. Tom is learning karate from Lee, a sensei whose brother was killed by a rookie cop named Billy. Billy has since then become the janitor of the school that Ken, Julie and Tom go to. When Ken gets beaten up by Tom for talking to Julie again, Billy helps Ken by teaching him how to defend himself, which eventually leads to a battle between student vs. student, and sensei vs. sensei. Verdict: I remember buying this movie a couple of days before Christmas of 2009 at a flea market. I had been so curious about this movie but I couldn't find a way to watch it and found my chance and I bought it for a dollar. I still have the movie, too. Anyway, let me just say that the acting was rather bad. Some parts were unintentionally funny, but it was still entertaining for a B-movie. First off, I can very well say that Christine Taylor has come a long way from this movie compared to the others, well except maybe Billy Blanks, who still has his Tae-Bo thing going on, as well as Boot Camp. The fight scenes in the movie were good enough, same with the final fight at the end. Also, those who say that Never Back Down have people who look too old to be portraying high school kids should see this one. Some of them look like they're in their 30s, if not 40s. It's on YouTube right now. If you want to watch it, go right ahead. Entertaining flick, but by no means good.
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Post by Timmy8271 on Feb 9, 2012 4:50:16 GMT -5
Bare Behind Bars (1980)
A Brazillian Sexplotation film dubbed in English. It's about a prison that has a psycho Lesbian warden that along with her staff abuse and have sex with the female inmates. After getting fed up, a trio of inmates escape and start killing men by cutting off genitals and putting it in the victims mouth. I'm a fan of sexplotation films but that was awful. It was basically a hardcore porn with a lot of nudity and sex. Usually that's good but not here.
Daylight 1996
Sly Stallone stars about a movie where a big accident happens in a tunnel 72 feet underneath the Hudson River and Sly has to help them out. This was pretty much a stinker and kinda boring tilll the final 30 minutes. Had some nice explosions though.
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Post by angryfan on Feb 9, 2012 8:30:45 GMT -5
I'm planning on a more in depth review today, time permitting, but went an saw The Woman in Black last night in theaters. First time I've gone to an actual movie theater in at least a year, and I don't quite get the mixed reviews it's been getting.
Daniel Racliffe did not make me think "oh look, it's Harry Potter" the entire movie, which is a testament to his acting ability I think in that he's broken that type casting mold. The movie was done in the old style of Hitchcock and other classic directors in that it relied on audio and lighting triggers rather than the out an out blood and gore that modern horror has devolved into.
The setting, very early 20th century England, really added to things, and I found myself actually creeped out several times by a simple creaking floorboard or the lighting effect being used. This is a good thing, since horror movies haven't been able to give me that feeling in a very long time.
Won't spoil anything, but I found the ending to be eitehr the ultimate f*** you to the main character or a very twisted "thank you". It sounds odd that an ending could have such opposing possibilities, but in this case it made a lot of sense for the latter. Leaving the theater, I heard a lot of younger viewers complaining that the ending wasn't happy, but I found myself liking it more as I thought about it.
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Feb 14, 2012 0:26:12 GMT -5
"PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2"The assembled footage of the supernatural events that happened to a family, which is related to the subjects of the first "PA". I liked the first and I like this just as much. I found myself intensely watching the screen, searching the quiet moments of the footage for changes, shifts, 'spooky' movements in the background and stuff. Lots of great jump scares and a pretty good story that builds on the previous. I can say that if you don't like the whole format of the 'found footage' film, you will not like this movie. I can handle it and thought it works great here. I also watched this by myself, and not having that other set of voices that aren't as into the movie as I got into was a benefit. Yes, I'd recommend this. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES"Disc 4, Side 2, Movie 2 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: treasure hunters search for a lost oasis where a Nazi shipment of money is, but find it is guarded by zombified soldiers. Wow... this is a piece of crap of a movie. Poorly filmed, poorly acted, poorly written, poor music, everything is just looks and feels like it was done on a weekend and slapped together by people who either didn't know what they were doing or didn't care. And, like "War of the Robots", it's not even watchable on a level of badness. This is virtually unwatchable. Verdict: trash. Good: 5 Meh: 6 Trash: 5
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agent817
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Post by agent817 on Feb 20, 2012 16:23:42 GMT -5
The Killing Secret Plot: Rich and popular Greg Dunleavy's bright future is threatened by the revelation that Emily, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, is pregnant with his child. Emily wants to keep the baby, but Greg has other ideas. After Emily disappears, Greg's girlfriend Nicole Voss becomes close to Emily's mother. When Emily is found murdered, Nicole begins to piece together evidence that points to Greg as the killer. Verdict: Let me just say that I had been curious about this movie for years, after sort of stumbling on this movie on a local channel and seeing a really cute girl with a belly shirt and a pair of short shorts. She happens to be the main character, by the way. I looked on the listing and it went by this title. Of course, TV movies come on TV on occasion and while a lot of TV movies have been released on DVD or video since that time, it wasn't available for me to watch on anything other than TV back then. Anyway, onto the review. I actually enjoyed watching this. Sure, it was typical Lifetime fare, even though I have read that it debuted first on USA Network (Back when TV movies on USA were more prevalent). I thought that the movie had a good story and I have read that it was based on a real story but I have also read that the case was never solved in real life. I had this saved on my DVR for a bit but deleted it a few times to get more room and I DVR-ed recently and finally watched it today. It is available on DVD these days. I recommend it if you're into TV movies and crime mysteries, even though it was sort of predictable. Also, John O'Hurley (AKA J. Peterman) is in this movie, but he isn't in there that much.
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Feb 22, 2012 0:21:50 GMT -5
"THE WITCHES' MOUNTAIN"Disc 5, Side 1, Movie 1 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: a photographer, trying to get away from his ex-girlfriend (I think), picks up woman at beach, takes her on a trip into the mountains where he's assigned to take pics of "The Witches' Mountain". They find a coven of witches and it doesn't end well. Spanish-made horror that tries to cash in on the success of Italian-made supernatural thrillers and falls on it's face. First off, there is a very weird opening where the ex-girlfriend burns her own daughter after the child kills her cat... and it's not really explained or anything, it just happens. It's almost like it was from another movie. After that, the movie tries for a very slow and steady build of suspense and weirdness and while it actually looks good doing it, it fails with the pacing. There is a nice build as the photographer and his hitchhiker travel farther up the mountain, they meet the locals and the story gets a little weirder, they take pictures and the story gets a little weirder... but when the 'final act' starts, it goes from slightly weird to batcrap insane. Have you ever been listening to music through headphones, and someone was slowly turning up the volume... 1... 2... 3... then cranks it to 10? THAT'S this movie. I did say the movie looked good. Nice scenery, pretty girl (reminded me a lot of a pre-drug Lindsay Lohan), nice mood... but also poorly translated, scratchy transfer from VHS, and poor sound. Lots of the low-sound dialogue in nearly impossible to hear. Verdict: trash. Good: 5 Meh: 6 Trash: 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "LAND OF THE MINOTAUR"Story: cult that worships talking statue of a minotaur kidnaps young archaeologists on vacation in Greece. Local Irish priest calls police detective friend for help in finding the young'uns before they are sacrificed. Yes, the movie is set in Greece, and the local priest is Irish. I can't explain why. Filmed entirely in Greece (of course), this movies tries for a Hammer Film-vibe and nearly makes it, but falls short. The elements are all there (nice setting, established actors like Donald Pleasence as the priest and Peter Cushing as the local land baron/cult leader, spooky dream sequences, odd villagers, etc.) but none of the pieces quite fit together as they should. Parts of it just flat out don't make sense (why call for help from a police detective who doesn't have any faith when dealing with a Devil-like threat? Are the villagers possessed or willing participants?), and some scenes just fall flat, leaving no impact on the viewer. However, I liked Pleasence's performance, and the pretty girls were pretty, and there were a few good creepy scenes involving cult guards wearing what look like black silk KKK outfits. These save it from a 'trash' verdict. Someone had a good idea for a story but no clue on how to string them together. Verdict: meh. Good: 5 Meh: 7 Trash: 6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "THE INVADERS" SEASON TWOI FINALLY just finished this DVD set as well. Story: David Vincent travels across the US, trying to stop a silent alien invasion... but now Vincent has allies. As the series progressed, Vincent had a few people in prominent positions who believed him and offered help. One was the owner of an electronics firm that had big government ties, and he helped organize a covert group that kept an eye out for and rep roted on possible alien activity. This actually changed the series a little bit, moving it from 'lone nut vs. aliens' to a kind of 'cat and mouse' game between the aliens and the Believers, giving it a more Cold War feel. Unfortunately, the series before there could be a decisive ending. The last episode is just like the others of the series, with a 'battle wages on' end. There is a bit of a dry, 60's TV drama feel to them, but the stories are all well told and well acted. Recommended.
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Jiren
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Hearts Bayformers
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Post by Jiren on Feb 23, 2012 8:22:50 GMT -5
Sucker Punch
It's the movie equivalent of Amy Childs, Beautiful but vacuous.
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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: 14,896
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Feb 29, 2012 0:59:27 GMT -5
"ATTACK THE BLOCK"Story: a gang of young thugs try to protect their block from an apparent alien invasion. I loved this. Fast-paced action, some great humour, and a group of monsters that I found quite scary. The only real problem I had with it was that the main characters were so difficult to sympathize with, being a basic gang of thugs. At the beginning, the felt little more than pack animals, but as the movie went on, I did start to understand WHY they were that way (in order to survive in their neighbourhood, they had to gang together and act out), and I did like the little bit of growth that that gang leader Moses showed by the end (starting to take responsibility for his actions). The guy who played Moses really nailed his part, as did the nurse/mugging victim, and the guy who played the stoner college kid was a howl. As for the aliens... I thought it was a pretty good design, and a lot more thought were put into them than I expected. If you're expecting an intelligent alien invasion, forget it... this is more 'man vs. nature out of control'. I thought it was very well done. I would recommend this. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "THE REVENGE OF DOCTOR X"Disc 5, Side 2, Movie 1 of the "Chilling Classics" 50 DVD set. Story: scientist goes off deep end, flies to Japan and tries to create human/plant monster thingy from splicing a Venus Flytrap plant to an underwater carnivorous plant, then shocking it with lightning. FIRST: there is no Doctor X in this movie, and there is no revenge. At all. The reason why the scientist wants to do this is to prove Darwin right... somehow... The reason WHY it's called that is complicated and summed up pretty well HERE. SECOND: this movie was made in 1970, but looks like it was cobbled together in the 40's (well, escept for the colour and nudity). THIRD: it has been reported that this was based on a screenplay by none other than Ed Wood. And you will believe it. One of the most inept movies I've seen... on equal ground with that zombie movie from a few weeks ago. Poor acting (the doctor is prone to angry outbursts for no reason, plus there's a great closeup where you can see him reading his lines from the cue cards), dumb script, poor dubbing, lousy camera work, the music... the MUSIC... oh God, the music sounds like it was clipped from a 1950's travelogue. EVERYTHING is badly done. They even have footage of topless Japanese girls swimming and somehow they manage to make THAT look boring! NOTHING in the movie works. I will say that the monster costume looks like it belongs in a bad Godzilla movie. That's the highest praise that I can come up with. This movie would have broken the MST3K crew... Verdict: trash. Good: 5 Meh: 7 Trash: 7
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2012 1:22:12 GMT -5
Never did a full on review here but this is something I just had to talk about.
I watched a movie earlier today it was something reccomended to me by a friend since I enjoy movies alot more than he casually does and so he told me the title but nothing else about it. apart from it is also a revenge flick.needless to say If I had been told what it was really about I would have avoided this with all the intent to pretty much bury whoever made it alive now I have watched salo , a serbian film etc but this one IMO is on some other horrific level.
But to get to the film..what this boils down to is quite literally the most disgusting , racist horrendous movie I have ever watched..to sum up the plot.
Caucasin author sublets an apartment in brooklyn , comes across three black guys , three black guys harass white woman for the majority of the first half of the movie with racist language ever two seconds literally thats the majority of the dialogue it's just one racist comment after another followed by atleast I am sure 3 paragraphs worth of cussing and more racist dialogue.
BUT that is nothing compared to the literal disgusting torcher and realistic rape of this poor woman..the whole thing looks like it was shot on some mid 90's handycam(the rape scene I mean) to I assume make it look more authentic...but this scene goes on for too long it's quite literally the whole second half of the film and this is not hollywood done rape say like showgirls (which was horrendous in an of its self) but this film...geez
To sum it up I do not know how a movie like this even gets made..let alone past the intial pitch meeting but I only assume the guy funded and made it himself my only guess.
I know it sounds similar to I spit on your grave...no exageration I spit on your grave is damn classy movie compared to this , I guess this was a movie review in and of its self sorta but I wont disclose the title of the movie because quite frankly I don't think anyone should watch it...Unfortunately my luck sucks.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,869
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Post by agent817 on Mar 5, 2012 18:53:14 GMT -5
There were two movies I watched recently. One in the theater, the other on DVD. Here they go: Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace Plot: It is a distant galaxy eons before the gestation of the planet Earth. Advancements in technology and science have allowed the evolution of millions of worlds that are otherwise in many respects still primitive. These worlds are somewhat loosely allied into an intergalactic Republic, whose capital world is the planet Coruscant, a planetary city. Upholding order for the Republic are the Jedi, an order of warriors endowed with near-super power derived from self-generated fields of energy known collectively as the Force. Within the Republic, dissident worlds have banded into an alliance known as the Trade Federation, and the Trade Federation is locked in a dispute with the peaceful world of Naboo. Two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon Jinn and his youthful apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, have been sent to Naboo to help mediate an end to the dispute, but Nute Gunray, an alien viceroy, orders them to be killed, and the two Jedi discover upon their escape that the Trade Federation will launch an invasion of Naboo. With the help of a well-meaning but hopelessly subliterate alien native of Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan land on Naboo to rescue her ruler, Queen Amidala, a ruler whose rule is a mixture of monarchy and republican democracy. Escaping Naboo, they are attacked by a Federation baseship and are forced to land on the distant planet Tatooine, where in seeking parts to complete their journey to Coruscant they encounter a young boy, Anakin Skywalker, a slave who possesses a gift for the savagely dangerous sport of podracing - a gift that Qui-Gon deduces is part of a genetic makeup perfect for the Jedi Order. Anakin eventually joins with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and in the process attracts the attention of one of Queen Amidala's handmaidens with a dramatic secret, and all reach Coruscant, but endless and pointless debate within the Republic's Senate leave them no choice but to strike out on their own to liberate Naboo, a task made all the more difficult because a traitor within Coruscant has at his command a dissident Jedi warrior who seeks the death of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Verdict: Let me go on record and say that this was the first time that I had actually watched this. Yes, I know, it's an old movie and seen by lots of other people, but I had never actually watched this movie because I never really had a chance to. However, being that it made its return to theaters, I thought that I would do this instead of renting it. Anyway, the movie itself was good. I know some critics panned it back in 1999 but the movie itself was decent. I did like the final lightsaber battle between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul. I know that the movie panned some parts like the pod race and a lot of people hated the hell out of Jar-Jar Binks, but personally, I didn't find him that annoying. Of course, I don't know what people think of that character now. Personally, I liked the story but I still don't quite get the whole Queen and Padme bit being the same and the girl being a decoy, but I might have to rewatch it soon to finally get it. Anyway, I thought it was good. Now I just need to watch Episode II. P2 Plot: This is the story of a workaholic executive businesswoman Angela works until late night and is pursued by a psychopath after being locked in a parking garage on Christmas Eve. Already late, she is dismayed to find that her car won't start. The handsome, seemingly helpful garage attendant, Thomas, checks out the car for her, but to no avail. The next thing she knows, Angela wakes up in the garage office in a dress, chained to a chair, with a Christmas dinner laid out before her. Thomas has been watching her for a long time, and with everyone else gone for Christmas, he finally has her alone. Angela will have to fight with everything she has to make it through to Christmas morning. Verdict: I have to say, I thought that this movie was crazy in plot, in that I would not think that a lowly security guard would be that obsessed with a businesswoman that he would go so far as to do what he did. It was sort of disturbing, like the part when he brutally maimed and murdered the woman's boss. However, the villain was not that convincing as he looked to much like a pretty boy to be a creepy stalker type, even though in real-life, looks can be deceiving. The movie's direction seems like it was done by a novice and it showed.
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