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: 14,896
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Aug 20, 2012 0:27:41 GMT -5
"NIGHTMARE CITY"Story: plane lands unexpectedly at airport in Italy, doors open, zombie-like creatures attack police, running wild over the city and killing and eating the unsuspecting citizen. News reporter tries to escape with his doctor wife, military major tries to rescue his hot wife... but they're everywhere. Made in 1980 by Umberto Lenzi. These aren't real dead zombies, they're victims of radioactive contamination, so they don't behave like the 'classic' zombie... they run, they use knives, they use guns, and they're more intelligent (violent, but intelligent). The actor's are stiffer than the 'classic' zombie, though. Everyone behaves like they've been to the Shatner School of Acting. The main star, Mexican actor Hugo Stiglitz, is particularly terrible. (Note: this is the same Hugo Stiglitz that Quentin Tarantino named a character after in "Inglourious Basterds")During the interview with the director, Lenzi says that the story is for the most part possible, and even parallels the situations like the AIDS epidemic. However, the story is really all about insane zombie-like killers attacking and killing tons of people, any real 'story' is drowned out by scenes of violence. There's a scene where the zombies attack the dancers of a "Benny Hill"-like pop music show, which includes a dancer getting a boob cut off. Cheap but effectively gory make-up effects. Not a great zombie movie, but a decently bad zombie movie. Recommended if you're a zombie movie fan, avoid if you're not.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2012 10:08:52 GMT -5
Eh, I'll take a crack at this, I'm not much of a movie watcher but for some reason I just HAD to watch this one yesterday: DRIVE ME CRAZY (1999)I believe a friend of mine sent this to me. The wife & I actually paid money to see this originally at the theater. (This is the first time I've seen it in over 10 years.) One of the many "teen romance" movies of the latter-part of the decade, this one focuses on Nicole (Melissa Joan Hart) - the daughter of a divorced mom - and Chase (Adrian Grenier) - the son of a widowed father - who live next door to each other. They used to be best friends, but now only tolerate each other. Nicole is trendy and into the high-school social scene. Chase is dark and more into social upheaval. The whole movie is centered around the road to the "Centennial Dance", of which Nicole is a member of the planning committee with other socialite teenage girls. She is after the star basketball player and actually catches his eye, until a freak play at the big game changes things for both. Chase has a girlfriend into animal rights and things of that nature, until she decides that he's not taking it seriously enough. Both of our main characters now find themselves unattached. They hatch a plan to where they would start seeing each other, to make the objects of their desire jealous and want them (or, in the case of Chase, want him back). Nicole changes his look to help him fit in better with her world of pep rallies, games and parties. There's B-plots like Nicole's struggles with having a relationship with her father, and Chase's changes resulting in him freezing out his old friends and hanging out more with the "in-crowd" types. And there's this character nicknamed "Designated Dave", a friend of Chase's (as well as the assistant manager of the basketball team) who is the guy that the high schoolers call if they get too wasted and can't drive home from a party. He has a sub-plot about talking to a girl on-line and is working on taking her to the "Centennial". (Another possible selling point: The Donnas play the all-girl band everyone raves about, they are called "The Electrocutes".) How will this all come together in time for the big dance? I won't spoil the ending (as there's really nothing to spoil; like in most of these teen romance movies of the time, "true love is closer than you realize" seems to be the common tag-line). I'd also like to add that this movie came out in October 1999, long after another somewhat similar film: "She's All That" - an updated version of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" - made big bank and was much, much better. Unless you're 1) a huge fan of Melissa Joan Hart, or, 2) these type of movies, you're not really missing anything. "Designated Dave" was the only character I really had any sort of emotional attachment with. The others just filled out the film. Movie Rating: PG-13, for some drinking scenes, a couple of pot references and some language. (Ah, who are we kidding, it got a PG-13 because they dropped the F-Bomb once. And I'm sure some people got nervous when MJH threw a couple of words out there for good measure.) Directed By: John Schultz. This is probably one of his better movies, considering two others he directed were "Like Mike" and the updated "The Honeymooners". Screenplay Written By: Rob Thomas, who created, produced and directed the TV series "Veronica Mars", among others. Based On The Todd Strasser Novel "How I Created My Perfect Prom Date". My rating: 1 1/2 out of 5. This was honestly a pretty long 91 minutes, and I chose to take a break near the end to have dinner. Honestly, Pass on this one. If you want to hear Melissa Joan Hart use salty language & drink, watch "Melissa & Joey" on ABC Family; it's much more entertaining. If you want to watch a teen romance movie from 1999, "She's All That" is a better option.
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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 Aug 20, 2012 15:01:14 GMT -5
If you want to watch a teen romance movie from 1999, "She's All That" is a better option. Or "10 Things I Hate About You", starring future Joker Heath Ledger AND possible-future Batman Joseph Gordon-Levitt! I remember there was a flood of teen romantic comedies around that time, most were pretty much trying to cash in on the success of "Clueless". Some were good, most were just rehashing the same material.
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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 Aug 24, 2012 22:48:01 GMT -5
"THE RAID: REDEMPTION"Story: in Jakarta (Indonesia), a SWAT team goes into an apartment block to arrest a crime lord. The crime lord has the apartment block filled with bodyguards, thugs and killers to protect him... and he is ready to fight back. Holy crap, this movie doesn't f*** around! The movie opens with a tender scene between the one cop and his pregnant wife, and right after the credits run, the police team in going through the doors to the block and it starts hitting the fan. The fights are fast, brutal, bloody and highly entertaining. Picture "Ong-Bak" mixed with "Hard-Boiled", and it's fight after fight after fight, peppered with some really tense moments of the surviving police hiding from gangs of thugs (the 'false wall' scene is particularly well done). The story also play out very well between the fights, with a nice (but not unexpected) twist or two. Two words: Kick. Ass. Highly recommended.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,870
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Post by agent817 on Aug 24, 2012 23:26:12 GMT -5
FLASH GORDONPlot: Flash Gordon is an American football player who along with Dale Arden are returning to New York City after a long vacation, until the plane they are passengers on crashes into the laboratory of Russian scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov. Both Flash and Dale become unwilling passengers on-board Zarkov's rocketship as Zarkov sets a course for the planet Mongo. Arriving on Mongo, Flash and his companions find the planet is under the rulership of the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless and Ming is attacking Earth with natural disasters as he bids to destroy Earth. Realizing that Earth and the human race is in mortal danger, Flash decides to unite the kingdoms of Mongo and combine the forces of rivals Prince Barin and Prince Vultan to rescue Dale, who is to become Ming's wife and defeat Ming and save Earth from annihilation. Verdict: I was curious about this movie after seeing "Ted," so I have been meaning to watch it and I decided to tonight. I have to say, I am glad I did because in all its cheesy glory, it is a very entertaining film. I remember my brother-in-law saying that it is atrocious, but in my opinion, while I can see that the movie is indeed cheesy in a lot of ways, it's still an entertaining movie. Plus, you can't go wrong with Queen's music in the background. I recommend this movie.
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Post by Joker on Aug 27, 2012 14:36:29 GMT -5
Return to Horror HighPlot: A Killer many years ago killed several students at school but was never caught. Now a film crew prepare to make a movie about this tragic event on the very same location ... dun dun derr .... Opinion: SO it's a slasher movie featuring a film crew ... well sort of. This movie jumps around between present, past and filming in the movies past that it is incredibly hard to follow for what should be a basic slasher movie. The acting is basic at best despite George Clooney (who appears for about 5 minutes before saying he has a better job offer from his agent, and then he gets bumped off.) The plot has a little bit of a twist at the end but by then I had stopped caring. Result: 1.5 out of 5 - Unimaginative deaths, a few topless girls and a slight twist doesn't save this movie from being bland and uninspired.
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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 Aug 27, 2012 23:15:23 GMT -5
"REVENGE OF THE NINJA"Story: after his family is nearly slaughtered by ninjas (except for his mother and one son), Japanese ninja master Cho comes to America to open a gallery that imports art from Japan for his friend. His friend, however, uses the business to bring heroin into the country, and starts a war with the Mob over the latest shipment. Cho must now fight back to save his son, who has stumbled across the truth. This movie is the perfect example of the classic 80's action flick: light on story, over-the-top villains, bad acting, big video game-esque fight scenes. The fights are very well choreographed (by the star himself, Sho Kosugi), much better than other films out of Hollywood at this time. However, Sho's acting leaves a lot to be desired... he comes across as the Asian pissed-off Charles Bronson. Even during the movie's sole 'romantic' moment. His son Kane Kosugi also appears, having no real acting ability but some impressive martial arts training for a 7 year old. Screw all criticism, it's the best of the 80's flood of ninja movies, turn off your brain and enjoy! Recommended. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "THE ALPHA INCIDENT"This is movie #30 (Disc 8, Side 1, Movie 2) of the "Chilling Classics" 50 movie set. Story: A scientist is taking a top-secret alien virus across the US by train, and a nosy railway worker causes the virus to escape. Can they find a cure in time? The good: - a more realistic look at how the government would deal with an outbreak of this type, not falling into flashy Hollywood-isms. - actors who look and act like real people under pressure, not Hollywood stereotypes. The bad: - THIS IS THE MOST BORING MOVIE ABOUT AN ALIEN VIRUS OUTBREAK EVER! 75% of the film is of the five possibly infected people being locked in an office, talking, playing cards, dancing, talking... and trying to stay awake! (I know the feeling.) The rest of the movie is a couple of scientists talking, worrying about how they will find the cure. I'd almost believe that this movie was based on a one-set off-off-off-Broadway play! - almost ZERO special effects. One scene where a mutation is shown and that's it. All the stuff about the virus being from space... they don't show how it came to Earth, they just talk about it. It's all talk! And then there's the ending, lifted from one of the classics... {Spoiler}... not good news for the characters, it's from "Night of the Living Dead". Not a bad premise, but VERY poorly done. Verdict: Trash Good: 9 Meh: 12 Trash: 9
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2012 23:40:03 GMT -5
STORY: Sam Hummer was a local truck driver from Tucson Arizona who worked for a Tucson-based produce-shipper called "Red River". His driving partners were Duane Haller and "Pops" Dinwiddie. Eventually Sam's son, Carrol Jo, is old enough to ride with his father and the two of them then become partners as well. Sam changes the lettering on the trailer of his rig to read "Sam Hummer and Son". Carrol jo begins dating Jerri and the two want to be married, but Sam dies and the trucking partnership suddenly ends. As a result, Carrol Jo joins the Air Force and is soon sent to Vietnam. While in Vietnam, Carrol Jo has a successful career and is deemed a hero, but all he wants to do is return home to Jerri. Jerri spends these years waiting for his return and this is the subject of the film's theme song "Drifting and Dreaming" by Valerie Carter. The opening sequence shows Carrol Jo's plane arriving from overseas as Jerri and her brother give him a hero's welcome. We see the two get married and start their life together in humble settings What to say this movie is special to me in many ways the first and foremost being this was my fathers favourite movie and seeing as he was a truck driver I can understand why it would relate to him, and when rifling into his film collection it kind of always stood out to me but needless to say being 6yrs old while it may have stood out I never really wanted to watch it because the cover of the movie was cool enough for me. Years later I sought the movie out , watched it and realized it is a damn good movie , by todays standards it hasn't aged well but the story is still very well done IMO and the action scenes are not bad , but what sells it for me is the relationship between Carol Jo and Jerri and how he is willing to pretty much die for what he believes in and wont take the "easy" road if you will even with the financial , and life threatening cosequences that are following in the choices he makes through the film. Needless to say this is a trucker movie through and through and sells you on the lifestyle at that time , oh and special mention to the opening song in the movie..while not my typical type of music that song is great and immediately sells you on the relationship. So yea again it is a great movie that I still find enjoyable today and do reccomend.
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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 Aug 31, 2012 23:45:35 GMT -5
"THE DICTATOR"Story: Wadiyan dictator Admiral General Aladeen comes to America to address the UN, only to be sabotaged. Now he must work with a former scientist to get his rightful dictatorship back... but he has also fallen in love with an 'alternative lifestyle' activist named Zoe, so will that change his plans? At times hilariously funny, and at times disgustingly un-funny. Some of the gross-out humour that misses does so by a mile, and yet it would be followed by a single joke or a sight gag that is pure gold. I have never watched a movie that was this inconsistant. Sacha Baron Cohen really does do a great job as Aladeen. I was wondering if he could pull off a full movie as a main character without having the 'real life' footage to rely on, but he does. Looking forward to more from him. Loved Ben Kingsley, but really... from "Gandhi" to this? Has his star really fallen that far? Jason Mantzoukas as Nadal the scientist was probably the best character overall, for the small parts he had. I didn't like Anna Faris, though... her performance was bordering on annoying, and the movie felt like it started to drag when the story started to focus on her. High points: the opening, the helicopter ride with the tourists, all scenes with Nadal, the bodyguards (during the make-out scene, I almost Aladeened), the final speech. AND the soundtrack (I have to find this, just for the Arabic version of "Let's Get It On"). Low points: the battle with the one bodyguard, all parts involving the Chinese representative, the birth scene, the wrap-up of the funeral, plus a few jokes scattered here and there. Mild recommendation (because some of the gross-out humour was too much).
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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 Sept 3, 2012 22:39:41 GMT -5
"BERNIE"Story: Bernie Tiede is the nicest guy in Carthage, Texas. Assistant funeral home director, church go-er, wonderful singer, kind-hearted, generous, friendly. Marjorie Nugent is a mean old widow, owner of the town bank and loaded with money. So everyone thought that their friendship was at best 'unusual'. What was surprising is how the town reacted when she turned up dead... and Bernie was accused of killing her... Very nice darkly comic tale (a true story!) from director Richard Linklater ("Dazed & Confused", "School of Rock"). The film plays more like a "Dateline NBC" murder-of-the-week story, with the townspeople (some of whom are actual residents of Carthage) narrating the events as they go along. The humour comes from the situation itself and not from slapstick or gross humour added in just to get a laugh. If I was to compare it to any other movies, the closest would be a made-for-TV movie from the 90's called "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom", and I doubt that anyone else would have seen that one (but if you have the chance, watch it, it's really good too)> Jack Black's performance as Bernie is amazing. He just becomes the character... I forgot that this was the same guy from "Nacho Libre" and "Year One". I rarely see any movies or performances that are Oscar-worthy, but it would surely disappointing if Black doesn't get a nomination for Best Actor this year. (Note: Jack's singing is also top notch. The scenes in this movie where he sings are all live, as in he was singing on the set as the movie was shot, and the music was added in during editing. Phenomenal job!) Shirley MacLaine doesn't shine as brightly as Marjorie, however... she's just there to be the mean ol'lady, and as such she does well but I didn't think she was 'outstanding'. Matthew McConaughey turns up as the town's District Attorney, who is out to prove that Bernie is guilty and pays for his crimes... but seems more interested in the limelight that the case has created. He plays the DA as an ego on legs... and it fits perfectly. Highly recommended because of Black's performance. This movie shows how just how good he can be. (In one of the DVD special features, someone mentions that if he was around during the peroid of 'big musicals', he'd be one of the best leading men. In "Bernie", her performs a bit of "76 Trombones"... now I want to see a remake of "The Music Man" with Black starrring!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "THE DEMONS OF LUDLOW"This is movie #31 (Disc 8, Side 2, Movie 1) of the "Chilling Classics" 50 movie set. Story: on the town's bicentennial, the family of the founder sends a gift to Ludlow, a piano... a cursed piano, bent on revenge! Can the local preacher and a small-town reporter stop it in time? To say this film was made cheaply would be generous. This is bargain basement cinema. Cheap sets (a school gym, someone's house, a barn...), poor lighting (most of the movie is lit by only one spotlight), cheap special effects (yes, you could see strings on the 'floating' items), acting... Well, truthfully, the actors weren't that bad at all, at least the main characters. They treated the material seriously and didn't seem to try and over-do their performances. Now, that, and the pirate scene (yes, there are priates... don't ask), lead me to one conclusion: this wasn't supposed to be a movie made for mass consumption, but a private project of a small-town theater group that wanted to stretch their wings and try to make a horror movie. Viewed that way, it isn't really that bad... But as a real movie, the half-decent acting doesn't save it. Verdict: Trash Good: 9 Meh: 12 Trash: 10 (Good lord... the director of this also did "The Alpha Incident" and the next movie in the pack, "The Cold" aka "The Game"... what have I gotten myself into? Will I survive?)
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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 Sept 10, 2012 1:02:05 GMT -5
"CHOPPER"Adapted from the true story of Australian criminal/best selling author Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. This story focuses on the time when his own gang turned on him in prison in the mid-70's, and what Chopper did when he was released in 1986, re-connecting with his old running mates. The thing is, Bana plays Chopper as a guy who can't really tell the difference between his friends and enemies, so he treats all around him as potential dangers... and he's right. He also claimed that the authorities had given him an unofficial 'carte blanche' for targetting and getting rid of some of the nastier criminals that the police have trouble taking down. The show ends with Chopper back in jail, watching an interview he did with an TV reporter about his first book, which had just become a best seller. Great performance by Eric Bana (remember him as Bruce Banner in "Hulk"?), showing Chopper as a really charismatic figure who could flip from friendly to scary on a dime. Interesting cinematography. Uses a lot of primary colours for lighting for most of the movie, sort of a "Dick Tracy" meets "Pulp Fiction" feeling. One nice touch was a scene wherein Chopper and someone else are doing drugs, the scene was filmed slowly and then sped up, with a normal speed voice-over, giving it a creepy 'over-stimulated' look. What the movie didn't do for me was present a real case as to why the audience should like Chopper. He's randomly violent, out of control, and a habitual liar (one of his most famous quotes, which appears at the end of the movie, is "never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn"). Sure, he's good for a laugh or two but he'll turn on you if you look at his girl wrong or say the wrong word or anything... and he doesn't seem to have any revelation or moment of clarity where he realizes who he is or where he's gone off the deep end or something along those lines. The movie just seems to celebrate why he's famous, not the morality of his life. I found that a little off-putting. The movie is good, but hard to recommend.
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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 Sept 17, 2012 23:02:11 GMT -5
"THE ROOM"Yes, damnit, I watched it. And it was incredibly enjoyably bad. Tommy Wiseau's acting is the worst and therefor funniest part of this. His accent is part Austrian bodybuilder, part Belgian kickboxer, part New Yorker after a bottle of Nyquil. He looks like Gene Simmons with all the charisma sucked out of his body. He just plain cannot act. There is no acting in his body. None. (I want to play high-stakes poker against this guy, that's how bad an actor he is). His violent rage at the end of the movie, when he starts destroying the apartment comes across like Frankenstein's Monster on Thorazine. The others here fare little better. The only one who seems to have any ability is the guy who played Mark, the friend. The script... so many plot holes... so many mistakes... so dumb... If you've haven't seen it, don't watch it alone. Get a group of friends who love to tear movies apart and watch it with them. It's the only way that a movie like this can be enjoyed. I did and it was a blast. Recommended on those grounds. (I also watched "The FP" with these friends, and while that was also a blast, "The FP" is actually a good movie that was meant to be that bad and is watchable without your friends laughing at the screen.)
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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 Sept 17, 2012 23:34:02 GMT -5
"PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3"I really enjoyed the first two, and I really enjoyed this one. Story: this is the footage from a collection of video tapes, filmed 18 years prior to "Paranormal Activity" 1 & 2, which show a series of events of similar activity that happened to the two main characters of the previous movies. In this footage is the key to 'why'. How it started (for them, at least), what the girls don't remember (or blocked out), and possibly what may happen next (in the next sequel)... OK, I figure that the main stumbling block to enjoying this movie is how you feel about the 'found footage' style of movie. I have no problems with it when it's done right, and I feel it's done right here. I was scanning the screen for each little detail, looking for each shift, tiny movements, completely sucked in for when the next BOO comes. Yes, this movie does rely on the 'jump scare', it does it so well. As for the ending, the explanation... {Spoiler}... that the little girls' grandmother is part of a coven of witches and the girls are 'betrothed' to some sort of demon... ... I love it, and I'm actually looking forward to where the next is going to go with this. I recommend this, but it does depend on you tolerance for the genre. Also, I recommend watching this (and the others) alone.
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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 Sept 17, 2012 23:55:27 GMT -5
"THE COLD" (aka "The Game" 1984)This is movie #32 (Disc 8, Side 2, Movie 2) of the "Chilling Classics" 50 movie set. Story: ... *sigh* ... three rich people invite a group of players to a game on a remote island to compete for $1 million, but they have to confront their greatest fears. Is it a game, who are the real players, and who is playing for keeps? The bit I typed in the last paragraph is much more interesting that the movie. This is the third (and hopefully last) movie by director Bill Rebane on this DVD set, and it is the worst of the three. Terrible acting (the blonde with the small boobs and the bad 'Southern Belle' accent is the standout here), bad camera work (lots of faces in shadow), an inconsistent feel to the whole movie (parts feel like a 'wacky comedy', although with little 'wacky' and no 'comedy'), inappropriate music, bad, wrong, stupid, uneven... This movie was made in 1984??? It looks like it was made on a cable TV budget from 1974. Ends with a couple of twists, of course, but they're so bad that you're insulted that they went that way. Verdict: trash Good: 9 Meh: 12 Trash: 11 (Bill Rebane ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 1979 AND 2002?!?!)
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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 Sept 22, 2012 0:14:54 GMT -5
"SPACE: 1999"I just finished the whole series, both seasons, 24 episodes per season, including the bonus disc. Story: September 13th, 1999, a nuclear waste dump on Earth's Moon reaches critical mass and explodes, setting off a chain reaction that hurls the Moon through space. The 300+ residents of Moonbase Alpha are trapped and are now exploring any new planets that the Moon passes by, encountering strange alien races and bizarre phenomenon, trying to find a place where they can settle and start life again. Season 1 is the 'darker' one of the two, playing like a cross between "Star Trek" and "2001". There are episodes that feature topics that were hot for the day (telepathy with plants, telekinesis, etc.) and most of the shows end with a kind of ambiguous ending... the plots sort of resolve themselves and the cast stands there saying "well, that was odd" and move on. Season 2 is the 'lighter' one, with a VERY noticeable shift in mood to make the show appeal to a wider audience (read: younger viewers). It plays more like the classic "Star Trek" with a 'alien race of the week' story where straight-up violence tends to be the answer. Less weird, more action. The lead characters: Martin Landau is solid as John Koenig, the commander of the base, doing a pretty good job being serious amid the silliness. Barbara Bain is not as good as Helena Russell, head of the medical section... there are shows where she is a cold, logical, somewhat bland character, then there are shows where she is more emotional, less logical but somehow still bland. Pretty good supporting cast. Barry Morse is doing his best as the lead science officer Prof. Victor Bergman, acting less like Spock and more like a college professor who 'experimented' with mind-altering drugs and hung out with the younger students. He left after the first season (apparently his character died between seasons in a scene that was filmed but never broadcast) and was replaced by an alien woman named Maya, super-smart and able to transform into animal (and alien) forms. Catherine Schell ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service") does well as Maya, trying to have fun with the material (there is one scene where she basically proposes a three-way with Koenig, Russell and herself as a double of Russell {!}). Nick Tate is reliable as Alan Carter, chief pilot, ready to fight and sometimes slow to think of the consequences. One constant through the show is the fantastic model work for the ships and the great sets for the base. The series was produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, possibly best know for the "Thunderbirds" series. The design is great, but there is a change in the second season, when they started using smaller (cheaper) sets for the interiors of the base. Season 1 had wide hallways, the command centre was a huge open space with a wall of windows and a giant computer bank, everything was just big and open (and kind of cold and impersonal) and impressive. Season 2 had a much smaller control room, and the cameras were much closer to the characters. The uniforms also changed from mostly grey to brighter blues and red, making the look warmer. I had fun watching the series again, but I have to be honest and say that it's really kind of... blah. I'm looking over the episode list on Wiki right now and I'm actually having trouble remembering some of the shows as I read about them. There are bits and pieces of interest but it's hard to recommend the whole thing for a few bit and pieces. I would recommended it if you find it on sale (as I did, packed with the pre-series "UFO", which I loved).
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,870
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Post by agent817 on Sept 23, 2012 12:53:00 GMT -5
CLEAN SLATEPlot: Pogue is a private eye with a problem: every morning when he wakes up, he has total amnesia, waking up with a 'blank slate'. Since he is in the middle of a hot investigation and has a developing romance, this is less than convenient. Verdict: Not a bad movie. I mean, sure, Dana Carvey hasn't really had much luck being a lead actor outside of "Wayne's World" but this movie isn't a bad movie. The whole mystery element of the movie kept me going. There were some funny parts, particularly the guest speaker scene when he was assumed to be a college professor talking about an expedition to Africa. Also, some parts weren't so bad like the blind jazz musician on the street, same with the street painter. The movie is decent. If you catch it on HBO or something, watch it. You might be surprised.
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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 Sept 24, 2012 23:09:40 GMT -5
"THE EXTERMINATOR"Story: after his best friend/war buddy is crippled by a street gang, Vietnam veteran John Eastman goes over the edge and starts fighting back against the scum of New York City, with a police detective on his trail. The problem with nostalgia is that sometimes the memory is better than the truth. That describes "The Exterminator" perfectly for me. I remember loving this movie YEARS ago, but now watching it on Blu-ray... it's crap. The whole movie doesn't really feel like a complete story, but a collection of action clips from a larger movie, with all of the character building sliced away. Really, it's like the filmmakers tried to redo "Taxi Driver" as an action flick, were FOUND OUT, and had to drop all of the Bickle-isms or get sued into oblivion. All that is left is action scenes, some bits of gore, and lip service to action movie cliches. Eastman is played by Robert Ginty, who really is a better actor than the material (I remember him from TV's "The Paper Chase" and "Black Sheep Squadron"). Christopher George is the cop... not a waste, but not interesting. His impromptu romance with a sexy doctor feels like it was written in just to give him something (or someone) to do (maybe to keep him from storming off set?). There's also a 'controversial' ending, one that was dropped in to make the movie seem more important that it really was. The transfer to Blu-ray... what a waste. There were scenes at night time that were filled with static, so there was no real attempt to clean the movie up AT ALL. I was expecting to see the video tape jump or have tracking problems through the show. Damn... and I paid full price for this. Not recommended. (See the flamethrower in the poster? It appears only once, at the beginning.)
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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 Sept 24, 2012 23:25:36 GMT -5
"HANDS OF A STRANGER"This is movie #33 (Disc 9, Side 1, Movie 1) of the "Chilling Classics" 50 movie set. Story: concert pianist on the verge of super-stardom loses his hands in a car accident, surgeon takes a chance and transplants the hands of a (possible) criminal onto the pianist, who goes mad and starts killing the people who he feels ruined his career. Made in 1960, in black and white, and not bad, but boring. The characters tend to lapse into long monologues about the ethics of what they are doing. The actors do try to over-play their roles, trying to add gravity to the show, but it comes across as a particularly heavy episode of "Perry Mason". Some nicely-filmed scenes, with a lot of close-ups of hands, and you do get a bit of the artist going over the edge, but lots of long boring monologues hurts it. Future star appearance: Sally Kellerman as a doctor's girlfriend. Verdict: meh Good: 9 Meh: 13 Trash: 11
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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 Sept 27, 2012 23:48:44 GMT -5
"BRONSON"Fictionalized bio-pic of British criminal Michael Peterson, who changed his name to Charlie Bronson when he started a 'career' in underground fighting. Narrated by Bronson (played by Tom Hardy), the movie follows him from scrapes in school, to several different prisons, into a mental institution, and then released into society... then back into prison after a few months. Since it is told by the character himself, you'd think you would get a glimpse into WHY he is like he is... but you don't, or at least it's not really spelled out for you. Sure, he wants to be famous (he said it at the beginning of the movie) but there's something else there... I really don't know what it is, but there's something about the violence that he does that seems to make him complete. He does show talent as an artist later in the movie, but his real talent is his violence, it's what he loves. Incredible performance by Hardy here. While on the outside he seems like a monosyllabic thug, Hardy performs his 'inner dialogue' as a sideshow barker, a clown, almost a song-and-dance man. A standout job in a role that could have been screwed up very easily. A problem I had was that a lot of the scenes felt like they were stretched out too long, with lingering shots of Bronson 'thinking', taking time to react to situations around him (there was one scene where someone opens a door and it takes him a good 15 seconds for him to walk through). Now a few times it plays well to reflect on the scene that just happened, and a few times it is 'the quiet before the storm', but it's used way too often and it feels like it's just padding out the run time of the movie. There's also a slightly 'absurd' feel to the movie, where there are bits that feel more like I'm watching a strange foreign comedy instead of a bio-pic. I mentioned to a friends during one scene that I was expecting a giant hedgehog to peek over the fence in the background and call "Dinsdale!" And there are WAY too many scenes of Hardy's dong as he strips nekked and fights with the guards. Great performance by Hardy, but it is difficult to recommend 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: 14,896
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Oct 1, 2012 22:29:17 GMT -5
"THE AVENGERS"Yeah yeah yeah I'm finally getting around to seeing this... Flat. Out. Phenomenal. This movie is so good, I'm actually worried. Every comic-based movie following is going to have to try and live up to this, and damn it, they set this bar too high. HIGHLY recommended.
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