Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Junesploitation Day 10: Free Space!

I warned you not to go out tonight!

88 comments:

  1. Speaking of 'I warned you not to go out tonight!'...

    John Landis' INTO THE NIGHT (1985, 115 min.) in 35mm at Brooklyn's Nitehawk Cinema for the first time.

    Now I know why Paramount asked Landis to direct "Beverly Hills Cop 3." Turns out he had already done an 80's style-over-substance Los Angeles-set adult comedy that ends with bursts of out-of-place violence and, at least in concept, feels like a "BHC" fish-out-of-water copycat. Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer, both early in their leading actor careers, have great chemistry (not necessarily romantic, more like likable people in a sea of unlikable movie types) as they spend a couple of nights on the run from Arab bad guys (which was a thing in '85, because "Back to the Future") in a no traffic, no pedestrian L.A. that only exists in Japanese anime (or "Timecop"). If the plot wasn't passable or the actors appealing (which they are) "Into the Night" would be worth seeing just to gawk at the unending parade of weirdness Landis comes up with to fill the background, everything from Bruce McGill dressed in full Elvis regalia and Amy Heckerling doing clumsy waitress shtick to David Bowie as a "Pink Panther"-type wannabe robber and Paul Mazursky doing a thinly-veiled Don Simpson impersonation.

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    1. New York City, baby! You gotta love it sometimes. :-)

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    2. Sometimes you do. I've been meaning to go back and visit. I've been away too long. 28 years.

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  2. Into the Night, in a theater, in 35mm! You lucky bastard!

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  3. The sword and the sorcerer (1982)

    The poster above inspired me to watch it again. ;-)
    And I still like this very much. Yes, it`s cheesy and has some corny dialogue, but it also is great fun, has good action sequences, great creature effects by Greg Cannom (years before winning his 3 Oscars) and.....a three-bladed sword. Absolutely fantastic and pure bloody and gooey fun.
    And with Richard Lynch (Invasion USA) and Richard Moll (House) as the main bad guys, you can´t do wrong in a B-movie.
    It´s also pretty suspenseful and has a fantastic score by nearly unknown composer David Whitaker.
    To me this is still the best and most coherent film ever made by "Cyborg" director Albert Pyun.

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  4. The Raid 2 (2014, dir. Gareth Evans) (First Time Viewing): I won’t dispute that this is a great action movie, but I had 2 serious qualms about this one. 1. CGI blood sucks. It’s just laziness, and it takes me out of the movie every time I see it. Look at any John Woo movie and his artful use of squibs; real is so much more impressive than CGI. 2. Evans’ obsession with executions is disturbing. The executions were very effective and upsetting, but really turned me off and lowered the “fun” factor of this movie IMO.

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  5. The freeze frame at the end of that "Combat Cops" trailer is amazing! Of all the things to freeze on and put your title card over! haha

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    1. How about 20 seconds of trailer time dedicated to a police sketch. Ha!

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  6. High School HellCats (1958)

    I was expecting a slightly goofy and sweet 1950's version of a "girl gang" and to some extent that's what I was given. Their antics start innocent; violating the school dress code, not completing homework assignments, but soon escalate to bullying, theft, and finally murder.
    There was also some weirdness with the main character (Joyce) and her dad that could just be about his being uncomfortable with his daughter growing into an adult woman or the dad is grappling with his inner pervert.
    It had more to say and was better than I expected, but will leave final judgment to those more enlightened than I.

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  7. Death Before Dishonor (1987)

    If you're wondering why athlete-turned-TV-star Fred Dryer never became a movie star, look no further than this ultra-bland action vehicle in which he's a marine out to rescue a kidnapped colonel in a fictional Middle Eastern war zone. I finished it about half an hour ago and I'm already having difficulty remembering most of the particulars.

    There are a couple of moments that hint at Cannon-style awesomeness (in particular during a car chase when Dryer very casually pulls out a rocket launcher and blows up the car he's pursuing) but they are very few and far between, otherwise it's just a boring mess of sand and squibs.

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  8. BRAINSMASHER: A LOVE STORY (1994)

    Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A supermodel’s sister runs afoul of a sinister martial arts cult, so she recruits a wisecracking bouncer for help. With a bigger budget, this could have been a Stallone action-comedy like Demolition Man or Tango and Cash, but instead, it’s a mega-cheap Albert Pyun flick, so we get Andrew Dice Clay in yet another awkward attempt to become a movie star. The movie is mindless trash, but, fortunately, everyone believes they’re making a “real” movie, and jump into it wholeheartedly. That makes all the difference. Oh, and Teri Hatcher in THAT outfit.

    Accompanying short film: ATTACK OF THE BRAINSUCKER (2015). A little girl who loves monster movies believes that the monsters are real… but are they? This is a real fun piece of retro B-horror, reminiscent of Joe Dante’s best work.

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  9. Shakedown (1988)

    This movie is classic James Glickenhaus. It stars Sam Elliott as a burnout cop and Peter Weller as a lawyer who work together to fight police corruption within the NYP...who cares. This movie is full of bonkers action on a roller coaster, in cars, and on an airplane. The latter has to be seen to be believed -- check out the link below.

    http://i500.listal.com/image/2415263/500full.jpg

    All in all, this movie is extremely violent, kinda racist, kinda sexist, kinda homophobic, and 100% 80s.

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  10. The Orphanage (2007)

    El Orfanato es jodidamente increíble! I hope that's what I think I said. If it's not, my translator is broken. Anyway, I love the Orphanage. I bought it on Blu-ray blindly not remembering that it wasn't blindly because of the fact that I had seen it before and I forgot. How do you love a movie you forgot? Great question. It's in Spanish so if you are not Spanish and cannot read at a moderate level...watch it anyway. The scares are great. I like how graphic it gets when you are not expecting it. Belén Rueda is fantastic and the little boy with a strange sexual disease(that's a little misleading) is impressive. It looks like the director hasn't done a lot but I would love to see another horror movie from him. If you haven't seen it, just do it you bastards.

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    1. The director's done a couple great eps of the TV show Penny Dreadful, but I could stand to see more from him too.

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    2. How is Penny Dreadful? It looks interesting. I just haven't heard anything about it.

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    3. I'm a big Penny Dreadful fan. It's certainly not original, but if you're a fan of English lit, monsters, and debauchery, it's a lot of fun. The cast is stellar (it's the first time I've ever thought Josh Hartnett was really good in anything), but the show is stolen by Eva Green, who continues to show that she's an absolutely fearless performer, both physically and emotionally. I think you should check it out.

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    4. I like Penny Dreadful a lot. It's a little like League of Extraordinary but it scarier better and darker and more crazy, and it has Eva Green. Though for some reason I cannot hate LEG, it has a shrinking submarine.

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    5. I agree with everything these 2 fine individuals have said. It's a lot of fun, and Eva Green is on FIRE. Then again, she more or less has been for 5 years or so.

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  11. 7 Men From Now: Thanks Heath! I bought this one on DVD after Heath's column and glad I did. A brilliantly felt revenge theme with dynamically drawn characters. Try this one!

    American Grindhouse (2010): I would have loved it had it stayed in the seedy black and white early era (era) that I don't know much about like those weird giving birth on film sections. Insane! The rest was too rushed. I recommend some of the Pam Grier segements for Baadasssss Cinema (2002) if your looking for something with talking heads.

    Mad Max: Thunder Road (in a cinema): FUCKING HELL! YES

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    1. "Thunder Road!! You gotta make it through alive! Thunder Road!! 'Cause only one will survive!!"

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    2. I cannot believe I have not gone to see Fury Road yet. Must get my act together.

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  12. Enter the Ninja (1981)

    For the free space day I decided to do some Cannon/Ninjasploitation with this movie and this one definitely falls into the exploitation realm. Anyhoo our hero who I am gonna call Ron “the Ninja” Swanson (Note: Nick Offerman is not in this movie) has just completed his ninja training and is going to go to visit an old war buddy. Fortunately for them Ron “the Ninja” Swanson is a ninja who has sworn to help the less fortunate and not go kill crazy for the hell of it like some other ninjas. His buddy is being harassed to sell his land to an evil developer and then the fighting begins. The one thing I really like about this movie is everyone seems to be having fun with what they are doing which is a nice change of pace from some other ninja movies I’ve seen.

    Also keep an ear open for some unintentionally funny music cues, random cock fights, and for some unexplained reason a kung fu master who celebrates by bringing out someones decapitated head. Also some of the best people dying scenes since Commando.

    8 Word Review (In Preparation for SMM)

    “Wanted: Henchman-must provide own tailored white suit”

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    1. Ha! The music cues are tremendous. Thanks for reminding me to watch Commando this month.

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  13. Paul Feig's SPY (2015, 120 min.) in theaters for the first time.

    I wasn't planning on seeing this, but a slew of positive reviews and our own Gabby Ferro gushing enthusiastically about "Spy" pushed me over the edge. Not a fan of either Feig's or Melissa McCarthy's previous work, and after seeing their latest collaboration it's going to remain that way. Unlike the muscular and well-executed "Kingsman: The Secret Service," "Spy" is lazy, calculated, predictable and, worse of all, not as funny as it thinks it is. A little bit of McCarthy's sitcom-trained dialogue delivery goes a long way (especially when the R-rated swear words contrast with the lame PG curses), and the movie overstays its welcome by about 90 of its 120 minutes. Gotta give props to Jason Statham, though, he knows the low-hanging fruit comedy he's in and he gets the biggest laughs by poking fun at his own movie action stereotype. BTW, was Nancy B. Artingstall doing a Tamsin Greig impression? Because I thought I was watching the latter while "Spy" played on, but when Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson started getting bigger laughs than Miranda I knew it wasn't Tamsin because that woman is incapable of letting anyone else upstage her. Good luck with the "Ghostbusters" female reboot, but "Spy" doesn't inspire much confidence in either Feig's writing or McCarthy's mugging improving anytime soon.

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  14. Friendly Shock (1988 dir. Chi-Yung Chang & Cecilia Mao)

    Taiwanese knock-off of E.T. with a giant mushroom instead of an alien. The mushroom, Yia-Yia, is played by child actor Ya Ya, also known as Ah Ah (though credited here as Y.Y.) Starring opposite him as Bing-Bing is Bin Bin (credited as Pin-Pin.) The mushroom has a scary, goblin-like face until it gets drunk and eats some birth control pills, which cause it to grow a human child's face. Like a pokemon, the only thing it can say is its own name. I got sick of hearing the phrase "Yia-Yia" pretty quick. Y.Y. tries to eat a white lady's skirt and she exclaims "Shit! Jesus Christ!" Bing-Bing's mom apologizes to her using poor English, and the normal English subtitles change to broken English too! The villian convinces Bing-Bing's dad to turn over the creature by telling him it's going to give him AIDS. At the climax, mom saves the day by firing two rifle rounds into the bad guy's legs! There's a great scene where the children watch the E.T. knock-off Harry and the Hendersons on TV. Meta! This is stupid rare, and I can't find a clip or a trailer; so here's the needlessly spooky VHS cover.

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  15. Blood Diner (1987 dir. Jackie Kong)

    Cannibal brothers are commanded by the brain of their serial killer uncle to kill women and use their blood to resurrect an Egyptian goddess. That is a plot summary of a movie. However, I had a blast watching it. Big thanks to Killer POV's Elric Kane recommendation of this awhile back. This movie doesn't have WTF? moments, it has "What the fucking fuck?!" moments!

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  16. Project Nightmare (1987) Dir. Donald Jones

    Nice! What I thought was going to be a fun, cheesy horror film turned out to be a pretty good and stylish Sci-Fi movie. The story starts off immediately and the atmosphere is thick from the jump. Reminiscent of a Twilight Zone episode with an awesome distorted, electronic sound design, it kept me interested enough for it's short 75 minute run time. For fans of this type of film, I definitely recommend it though don't expect everything to be spelled out. It's gets bizarre and confusing but I liked that about it; it fits the tone.

    This is a nice obscurity of the Sci-Fi genre that I'm surprised isn't more beloved or discussed by fans. I would advise not reading the IMDB summary although it might not matter 'cause I couldn't tell you much of what this movie is about!

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  17. Don't Deliver Us from Evil (Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal) (1971) - First viewing

    Two mischievous teenage girls graduate from mischief to crimes and cruelty during a summer spent together on vacation from their convent school. Very loosely based on the same New Zealand real-life case that inspired Heavenly Creatures.

    I can see why this one was banned for a long time and prosecuted as blasphemous. The girls, identifying themselves as Satanists, commit arson, seduce men for their amusement, exhibit cruelty to animals and finally descend into violence. There's a constant feeling of unease when things escalate into bigger and badder things. A very effective film!

    Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

    I don't think I need to write a plot synopsis. If you haven't seen this one, see this one.

    Another great film that has a constant feeling of dread from start to finish (although the dog is more comical than scary). The stylised direction with crazy angles and weird camera movements made the movie feel really off-kilter. Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams are great as the leads, and you always know what you get from Jeff Goldblum. And Leonard Nimoy (RIP) was great too. On the whole and excellent movie.

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    1. And Donald Sutherland pointing his finger and screaming at the end is still terrifying...

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  18. Running Scared 2006

    Running Scared is great.
    It is pure exploitation goodness. Why, you ask? Well I'll let the MPAA descriptor tell you:
    Rated R for pervasive strong brutal violence (yup, lots. I mean lots)
    language (315 individual uses of the F-word)
    sexuality (yes, on top of appliances) and drug content.

    To quote Ebert: "Running Scared goes so far over the top, it circumnavigates the top and doubles back on itself; it's the Mobius Strip of over-the-topness. I am in awe."

    Paul Walker shed his clean image in this role of a low level mob thug caught in a sh*t storm.
    Storm? Let me rephrase that. It's a f**king sh*t blizzard!

    It's violent, fast paced, vulgar.
    And a lot of fun.

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    1. That is a spectacular Ebert quote (and a great movie!)

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    2. I love this movie. My fav. Paul Walker performance and fav. Wayne Kramer film.

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    3. RUNNING SCARED is awesome. I need to watch it again, it's been years.

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    4. I LOVE RUNNING SCARED SO FUCKING MUCH IT IS NOT EVEN HUMOROUS THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME AND IT IS ESSENTIALLY A MOVIE MADE IN ALL CAPS IF YOU KNOW WHAT I AM SAYING HENCE WHY I AM WRITING THIS WAY SEE IT SEE IT SEE IT NOW

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    5. I still don´t understand why this gem didn't made any money. Great bloody fast paced thriller.

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  19. The Raid: Redemption (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014)
    Double feature for Free Space! I love both these films, even as a guy who cringes any time he sees a head shot. Masterfully directed, choreographed, even the character arcs (which you certainly can't point to in the first film as much as the second)--this series started great, and then managed to top itself. I usually just rent; these ones I bought.
    Also, if people are interested they should check out Silat Fight Masters, a National Geographic doc that's in full on Youtube. It's about the martial arts of Malaysia, but it definitely gives insight into pencak silat, which is the form they use in Indonesia and the films.

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  20. Why are you doing this to us?

    Because you were home....


    The Strangers Unrated Bluray 2008

    Only 2 mins longer but there usually the two minutes of horror that you kinda want in a horror film if you get my drift, I like this film, I watched it alone in the dark and loud and it works its magic now and then a bit like the first Paranormal Activity did if you gave it the chance, these are the types of films that work best at home for me, spooky fun

    #Masksplotation

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    1. The Strangers is one of the best Horror films in the past 20 years. From the perfectly executed isolation, to the somber mood established from the beginning and the straight no chaser storyline, I love the fact that it's a pure Horror film that doesn't date itself.

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    2. Is it widely considered to be very good? Because I'm a big fan too.

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    3. I also bought it on blu-ray and love it. It's only at 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's bullshit.

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    4. I saw the Strangers in theaters and remember being genuinely scared/creeped out by it. I don't understand all the hatred. Maybe because Dennis from It's Always Sunny is in it?

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    5. I like THE STRANGERS, but I don't think I loved it. To be completely honest, I was a little underwhelmed by it To be fair, my friend built it up as something it wasn't, but it was legitimately unsettling and uncomfortable throughout. I might need to give this one a second chance at some point.

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    6. I watched it at home with no hype or expectations and it works, its a mood film, the DP work is beautiful, the lighting is stunning, its immersive if you let it happen, turn off the phones, turn it up, turn off the lights, im a big fan and the extra few scenes give a few drawn out tougher shots, maybe this could be a good film for The Overlooked, I think this film needs to be re-evaluated if you didn't give it the chance,

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  21. Raw Force (1982)

    I thought a good choice for free space would be a flick that seems to incorporate EVERY popular genre theme of its time.

    I'm not gonna summarize because I feel anyone even slightly interested should just dive in without too much knowledge. Unintentionally funny, but not boring and better than expected (still funny) fighting and action scenes. When the title card at the end announced: To Be Continued, I laughed so fucking hard.

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  22. Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

    I wanted a comedy, and this just popped up on oz Netflix. How can I not love a movie where the shorts are too short and the midriffs so hairy. I really liked the cast, I am already quoting it. I loved the directions it bouldered into. So yeah I liked it.

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    1. I'm very happy for you to have discovered this one. And you don't have to wait 15 years for the follow up prequel. :-)

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    2. I still need to see this. It's an embarrassing hole in my life

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    3. it is totally worth it. But don't worry I only heard about the film maybe a year ago, and it is nearly 15 years old!

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    4. Patrick and Doug have mentioned it one or two times :) its on my radar, it's gonna happen

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    5. This and They Came Together are both on Netflix. Would make a great double-header. When Wain lands his jokes, he really nails them. It's hilarious. Sadly, the only thing keeping these movies from being great for me, is that he has a few jokes in each where he pulls a Will Ferrell and drags them out too long. Overall, really good movies though.

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  23. Jurassic Park 3 (2001)
    I think everyone knows that this movie is not good. However I have been re watching the JP movies in preparation for Jurassic World. Its probably been seven years since I watched this jem and it could have been a million years for all I cared. There is really nothing redeeming about this movie. I kind of like the bird cage scene with the pterodactyls, but I still hate a lot of that scene at the same time. Everyone points the nightmare scene and the raptor saying "Allen!" as the worst part, but I really hate the ending more. If I only watch this every 14 years that a JP sequel is made, I will be just fine.

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  24. Well, here we go Patrick - Holy fucking shit.

    The Abomination (1986) Dir. Bret McCormick

    This one was important to me. I have heard of it for years, put it on my radar and then forgot about it because it was impossible to find. This is one of those that is highly sought out on VHS and goes for stupid money. Well, after all these years, I remembered it due to diggin deep for Junesploitation and I found it and holy shit.

    This defines Junesploitation. No budget, shot on video, awful acting, great practical effects, a "tumor" that becomes a blob-thing-with-teeth-puppet, amazing Ray Ban shades, throats slit, decapitation by chainsaw, hand eaten off, a fart gag out of nowhere, a televangelist named Brother Fogg who says "So you want me to exorcise the demon?" in the most perfectly executed "So you want me to exorcise the demon" accent, pitchfork to the chest, and bucket o' guts.

    Did I just give too much away? Nope, cause the movie OPENS with a dream sequence that shows you EVERY FUCKING THING that happens in the movie before the credits start!!! I'm not kidding, It's ridiculous and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

    This is a must watch and a must own on VHS if at all possible (Dennis, get on it buddy!). I'm keeping my eyes open until I forget again :)

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    1. I apologize for the length. Sorry all.

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    2. First of all, it is not too long. Second, we are very upset.

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    3. First off, whew, thanks Brent! Second, well then go F yourself. :)

      Seriously though, that's a bad ass painting on your Google+ man! If that's yours, I'm impressed!

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    4. Thanks! It's actually a photo. My wife and I run a photography business.

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  25. Nuns on the Run: So Mike - I have won twitter! And I had a great time doing it haha

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    1. 'Is this what they call 'going straight?' ;-)

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  26. Django (1966)

    I'm really loving getting into Spaghetti Westerns. Even when they're not great there are interesting things. And I didn't think this movie was great, but it definitely kept me interested. So many strange things randomly happen. Female mud wrestling? It's here. A guy getting his ear cut off in all it's bloody glory? You got it. Giant old west machine guns? Of course! Django making women feel like 'a real woman'? Well surely you didn't expect otherwise. I must say I was not fan of the English dub voice acting, so I'd love to see this in the original Italian. I found a clip of it on youtube and I much preferred it. Maybe I'll get a copy of it one of these days. But that opening song... does it get any better than that?

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  27. Housebound (2013)

    I really enjoyed this flick a lot. Good suspense, great dry humor, high production value, but there was one thing about it that I couldn't really reconcile: one of the ghosts that haunts her looks like Daniel Stern after he gets covered in flour in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. I'm not sure if this made the movie better or worse honestly, I just know it made watching it infinitely more entertaining.

    Highly recommended.

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  28. Zombeavers (2014)

    Because I didn't watch it on Zombie day.

    Pretty entertaining, but I don't think I had as much fun with it as other people. I really enjoyed the practical effects, but I spent the first half of the movie questioning aloud why they were friends with Zoe.

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  29. The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

    Listen - LISTEN - I know this has a reputation of being a very bad movie and its trainwreck production, which was recently so well-documented in the excellent Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau, is legendary, but there is something about it I kinda like. Lost Soul almost makes me appreciate it more as it's really a miracle the movie works at all. It's definitely weird and there are some things that don't make sense, but it's not the worst by a longshot.

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  30. Cold Comes The Night (2013)

    Nothing really new here. Bag full of money. Dirty cop. Bryan Cranston doing some Russian? accent. 15 minutes into the movie I guessed exactly how it would end. Pretty disappointing.

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  31. 1990: Bronx Warriors (1982, dir. Enzo Castellari)

    A hole in my exploitation viewing that I'm happy to have finally filled (I have the sequel and The New Gladiators also on deck). I love the Italian rip-offs of American genre movies; this is just Escape from New York and The Warriors smashed together, only with Vic Morrow as the bad guy. He cackles nonstop over the climax as everyone is shot and it turns out to be the most entertaining thing you've ever seen. I had so much fun with this and can't wait to see the next one.

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  32. The Ultimate Weapon (1998)

    More bad guy bullets hitting the dirt around the hero's feet than an "A" Team episode. Hulk Hogan's hair plugs in this are bonkers. Fun movie.

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  33. Big Trouble in Little China – First Viewing

    I can't believe it took me so long to see this. I had seen almost every other Carpenter movie. Kurt Russell was awesome as usual. The movie does a good job of combining campiness and action. I love how Jack Burton is not your typical action hero. Most movies wouldn't have their hero knock himself out before the finale. If for some reason you haven't seen this, check it out.

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    1. Yeah, check it out before they do the remake Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is currently planning....

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  34. Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975)

    Whats happens when an Uncumable Force meets an Unpleasable Object?
    The downfall of Hilter's SS, of course! or at least the destruction of the Hogan's Heroes set.

    God Bless That American Cock!

    For Naziploitation and sexsploitation, its not that bad. we'll see how the sequels hold up

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  35. Starry Eyes (2014)

    I'm finally getting around to this after hearing so many good things about it last year. I'm glad Adam Riske suggested to use this Free Space for it. I thought it was really great. It's all been said before, but Alex Essoe deserves so much praise for this. I also thought that the score was a highlight of the movie. It was an enjoyable, albeit creepy, road leading to the inevitable ending. I had a weird freaky sort of fun watching this. I'm just starting to really get into horror over the past couple months so this was great to get to see.

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  36. Curse of the Undead (1959) (first time viewing)

    After reading Heath's column on Weird Westerns I decided to give one a go. I really dug this one. It's your basic western with a bad guy trying to take over land and someone hiring a gunslinger to take him out. Making said gunslinger a vampire gave it a refreshing touch. The acting was good, and I dug the dialog, and it only clocked in at about 65 minutes. If you're a fan of old westerns and you want something a little different, I really recommend this one. Thanks Heath.

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  37. HERCULES (2014, dir. Brett Ratner)
    I go back to something I think Heath said when he saw this movie, in that it really feels like a modern day exploitation movie. I watched the theatrical cut, because I was watching it with my sisters who had never seen it, but I really enjoy this movie a lot. It's not really saying much beneath the surface, but it's well written with interesting, unique characters and a cast that is actually terrific. Ian McShane kills it in this movie. I'm probably going to go back and watch the directors cut on the next Free Space day. If you haven't seen it yet, I suggest checking it out. It isn't great or revolutionary, but it is a really fun and fairly lean action blockbuster, coming in at 98 minutes.

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  38. GHOSTS OF MARS (2001)
    Compared to the insane run Carpenter had from 78-88, this fails. But I've always thought if someone else had made this, it would be better regarded as the goofy & fun B-movie it is. Coming from Carpenter, there's too much expectation...I always had fun with it. Minor JC, to be sure, but a good time in my opinion.

    It IS interesting to wonder: what if the studio had allowed Carpenter to cast Statham as the lead as he had wanted to (the part of Jericho was more or less a consolation prize)? I doubt it would have hurt his career or slowed it at that point...and I do really like Ice Cube in the part, but what a different movie it would be. An intriguing "what if"...

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  39. Yes, Madam (1985, Corey Yuen)

    Dirty Harry-style fascism feels a lot more tolerable when it's Michelle Yeoh in bright neon outfits.

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  40. Darkman - 1990

    First viewing since disliking the film when it was released in VHS. Discovering that I love Darkman is one of my favorite junesploitation moments. The performances, score, practical effects, makeup and style were all top notch. If Raimi could have reigned in his goofy sense of humor a little bit more, this might be a perfect movie for me. Starting wondering about halfway through if Bruce would show up. Couldn't have been more thrilled at the perfectly placed cameo.

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  41. Ilsa, Harem Keeper Of The Oil Sheiks (1976)

    A more basic Sexploitation-Women in Prison movie than its predecessor. Torture and fucking is the name of the game, and Ilsa thinks she knows the score.
    Again, its the good ole American wood that saves the day. Apparently, all angry women need is a good hard dicking and they become smitten and devoted to you. The more you know.

    I think thats enough Ilsa for now, there's two more in the series but its already shown it repetitive colours, I doubt there is more to see here. Maybe another day.

    Fuckbombsploitation!

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  42. The Host (2006)

    I had fun with Bong Joon-ho's monster movie, but I was expecting to love it and I didn't. I blame Snowpiercer, hype and the curse of expectations, I suppose. It is funny and stylishly made but, for me, it was way too long.

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  43. Chained Heat (1983)

    Linda Blair, Sybil Danning, Stella Stevens and the combined sleazy badness of Henry Silva and John Vernon.
    Back in 1983 I liked this one very much when I saw it in a theatre. Today it`s a really very guilty pleasure but hey, exploitation rocks in this one and the movie is still fun in all it`s misogynistic sleaziness.

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  44. Swamp Thing 1984, had no idea this existed until recently, Wes Craven adapting Alan Moore's dc comic with Ray Wise in it? I'm all the way in.

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  45. The Host (2006)

    Took this opportunity to rewatch this Korean monster flick, which I saw pop up on Netflix a while back and have been meaning to return to. The most remarkable thing for me this time through was the tone: there are some moments which are played with an almost farcical sense of comedy, but then there are other moments tinted with the darkest depths of tragedy. The CGI is impressive given the context (modest budget and constantly shown in bright sunlight, not hidden in darkness or fog), and the story is painted with the backdrop of the country's crisis in national identity (a common touchstone for director Bong Joon-ho). Highly recommended for fans of monster movies and Korean cinema.

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  46. Killswitch (2006)

    Jesus. I don't even...

    Avoid,

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  47. Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

    I don't think words can accurately describe how unbelievably good this movie is. Watch it.

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