Saturday, August 22, 2015

Weekend Open Thread

Nothing's gonna stop us now.

It's the weekend! I'll be seeing a bunch of horror movies at the 2nd Annual Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival taking place in Chicago (what I've seen so far has been...mixed). What are you all up to? See anything good lately? What's on your mind?

Another very sincere thank you to everyone for the donations and support. Your generosity and devotion to this site and this community is very, very touching.

Is summer over? We say it is. Don't get into recapping the season just yet -- save it for this week's podcast.

67 comments:

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  2. Everything I saw this week has been spoken about at great lengths on the site already so I'll talk about a movie that to my knowledge, has yet to have be mentioned. I watched Killers which is a Asian movie directed by The Mo Brothers ( Who Helped Gareth Evans with his section in V/H/S 2). Overall, it was an above average movie. The premise revolves around a serial killer who posts videos to what is essentially snuff youtube. A journalist gets pulled into the killers world after being held up in his car and killing the two assailants. He soon becomes involved. It's well shot and directed. A couple of the twists have been done before and can easily be spotted- but the ending was satisfactory, and reminded me much of the ending of Drug War. Overall I think its worth your time if you are a fan of movies like I saw the devil, memories of murder, lady vengeance, and old boy. It's not as good as those films, but if you are in the mood for that type of movie it will leave you content.

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  3. Been a slow couple of weeks because of a hectic work schedule, but I've managed to sqeeze a few things in there.

    I finally watched Wet Hot American Summer. Sorry guys, not a fan. There were a few laugh-out-loud moments (exiting a scene by walking off the pier being the biggest one) but I just didn't see what all the fans saw. I promise to revisit it one day.

    On a high from the excellent M:I5, I watched the first two movies of the franchise. The first one is still really fun, in a more spying, less action way, but I still don't get the thing about the Bible. The second one... isn't very good.

    I also watched Paycheck, which is kinda a fun movie until you start to think about it. There are way better movies from Philip K. Dick source material than this one. And the best movie I saw this week was Electric Boogaloo, the Cannon documentary. Not that it was an example of visionary documentary filmmaking or anything, but it did what I wanted it to do: tell all the crazy stories behind Cannon's films. It also inspired me to order a Blu-ray pack of all four American Ninja movies, none of which I've seen before. Gonna be fun.

    For some reason I also saw EuroTrip. And that's all I have to say about that.

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    1. I had a similar reaction to WHAS but I have a feeling I will like it more on further viewings

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    2. WHAS took a couple viewings. I think the first time I saw it i was waiting for it to blow me away. It wasn't until I was subconsciously quoting it days later that I realized it had gotten me. I think I saw it six times that week.

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  4. After hearing every other person on the planet talk about seeing Ex Machina, I finally got around to seeing it and thought it was fantastic. Oscar Issac is starting to become one of my favorite actors, loved him in Inside Llewyn Davis as well. I know that the setting and story are completely different, but I see a lot of Kubrick's 2001:ASO in Ex Machina, maybe the reasons are too obvious though. Thank god this movie was not at all what I thought it was seeing trailers and posters for it. I was expecting a 'Lucy' type action movie or a 'Salt' neither of which I have seen, but know what they are all about going in.

    After hearing a lot of people talk about IT FOLLOWS on here, I picked it up and watched it yesterday. There's a lot to like in it and I think for the most part the idea and concept are original. I thought the whole 'this mysterious force is stalking you aspect and you never know what form it will take' idea was tremendous. The acting was pretty strong and the director did a fantastic job. Hmm, sounds like I really liked it, but I'm still a little lukewarm on it for some reason. I don't see it making my top 10 list for the year, am I missing something? Why are people so in love with it? I'm going to give it another view tonight with some other people. I watched it during the day by myself, so maybe a night time viewing with other people will help give me a better understanding of why it's better than your average run of the mill horror film.

    How much does how you see a film impact your opinion on it if at all? (Example: I know Patrick has talked about seeing 'They Came Together' at a festival with a room full of people, which may have helped make that movie more enjoyable at the time. I think 'They Came Together' is great no matter where you view it though, best comedy of last year and maybe the last couple years)

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    1. Back in the day I saw “The Others” in a theater at like a noon show. Stepping out in the blazing sun after the movie somehow lessened the impact for me. That day I vowed never to watch a horror movie when the sun is out. It’s worked out pretty well. I watched It Follows at home late at night and it freaked me the hell out. Hope you enjoy it more in a different atmosphere. I think it definitely makes a difference. #MovieRules

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    2. I saw a late screening of It Follows at the Music Box and I gotta say that the walk back to my car was more frightening than the movie!

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    3. I saw THE MAN FROM UNCLE twice this week, once with a crowd that was mostly 50 something's who weren't on the movies wavelength, and once with a younger crowd and everybody was laughing and having a good time. I really enjoyed it both times, but it was definitely a lot more fun with the interested crowd. I think it matters much more with a decent movie than a great movie. A great crowd can make an ok movie seem really great, but I feel like a great movie shines through any type of crowd.

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    4. And the actress who played Ava in "Ex Machina," Alicia Vikander, is the female lead of "Man from U.N.C.L.E." Both Tim and Kersey win! :-)

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  5. Get ready for an out-of-the-blue rant, but I saw Open Water recently. Watching this movie, with two girls who "love scary movies" and even they weren't scared at all, I have to wonder what all the praise was about when it came out. I mean, I know it wasn't built up as one of the greatest shark movies ever or anything, but I just remember it being fairly well received. I just couldn't stand this movie. It bored me beyond words, and I'm not easily bored. Granted, I liked how they handled the sharks and stuff, but I just couldn't care less about the main characters (similar to my Paranormal Activity complaint) and their dialogue almost hurt me to listen to. It was only 79 minutes, but by minute 60 I was already kinda rooting for the sharks. Am I alone here? If you like this movie, tell me what I missed because I'd really like to enjoy it, and it's not often a movie was this uninteresting to me.

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  6. I've decided to start going through the Halloween Series past the original.

    Halloween II: I really wanted to love this film... but I can't. The film doesn't really have any characters, except Loomis but gosh that performance is over the top. Jamie Lee has nothing to do and everyone else has no personality. The Hospital is a good idea in theory but there are no patients or lights. It's so weird. I found the violence way too mean spirited, and that's coming from a Friday the 13th fan. The one part I loved was the image of Michael with bleeding eyes. That looked awesome. But that's about it.

    Halloween III: This is now one of my favorite movies. I loved it so much I can't even express it. Tom Atkins is the best. This movie is so weird and bonkers and I adore it.

    Oh, and I saw Sinister 2. That movie hates me, it hates you and it hates horror. That movie can go die.

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    1. Halloween III is really fun, and I'm glad that it's getting a second look these days after years of just being "the one without Michael Myers."

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    2. Tom atkins! Thats how you wear a moustache, Tom Seleck has nothing on Tom Atkins, Hang on whats with all the Toms with Tashes, Tom cruise needs to get onnit

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    3. Whoa, easy on dissin' "The Stash" buddy. ;)

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    4. Tom Atkins is THE MAN. His shameless hitting on of every woman in sight is beyond awesome. "Where do you want to sleep?" "That's a stupid question."

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    5. Sorry Chaybee ;)

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      "Where do you want to sleep?"
      That’s a dumb question, Miss Grimbridge
      Epic. Less than 30 seconds. No time waisted

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    6. Makes me a little sad to see the bad reviews and word-of-mouth for Sinister 2. The first one was fine enough, but I couldn't see exactly how you could make it into a franchise. Apparently, neither could the writers. Very disappointing, I liked the Killer POV episode with the director, but it did come off sounding like "polishing a turd."

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    7. I hate hating on horror films. I always want to love them, and I had decent hopes for this. I'm a big fan of the first. But I think it's an offensive film to horror fans. It's one of the worst in quite some time. And I hate saying that.

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  7. I watched “The Wicker Tree” the sequel to “The Wicker Man” (one of my all-time faves). How can the same person have directed both movies? Whereas the original is atmospheric, subtle, thought-provoking, beautiful, and ultimately horrifying; the Wicker Tree is an amateurish mess in every aspect. Christopher Lee is brilliant in the original, he returns here in an outdoor scene that was clearly filmed indoors. Skip this one at all costs.

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  8. Have we got any crazy horror collectors out there, if so I have a question? Is the Friday the 13th Complete collection on 12 disc bluray in the tin box any good?
    Im sick of reading about it and seeing mixed comments, from what I have seen firstly they are all just theatrical versions! Which is my first issue, I want them all uncut, And I know jason goes to hell is the cut version too, which is another problem,
    I own part 1 uncut bluray, part 2 and 3 on bluray and Jason goes to hell on uncut version on dvd and all the rest are the dvd region 1 deluxe editions or special editions so I have them all but I know to get them all on bluray this is the only way but i would rather have a good dvd than a cut bluray! and if I buy them at the expensive price but end up with theatrical cut versions I wont be happy,
    Has anyone bought this 12 disc steelbox bluray set and do you have any thoughts on it?

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    1. Do not own it but it's because of reading similar problems that you mention above. I'm praying that one day we get the actual uncut version of part 1.

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    2. The tin box is being split apart this fall and you'll be able to buy the films individually and/or in groups of 2. Amazon already has the pre-orders up.

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    3. I own it. I love it. I own Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street on Blu-ray and Friday is my favorite. If you're horror fan, you should own it. So...are you?

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    4. Apparently I've been living a lie all of these years, I'm not a horror fan.

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    5. I own it, part 1 is the uncut version, but Jason Goes to Hell is not (which reeeeeeeeally bugs me).

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    6. The Elm Street Blu-Ray Set is disappointing, I own it, but they could have done so much more with it. It suffers from weak packaging, the DVD set was a lot more badass as far as art style goes anyways.

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    7. I could have sworn I read that it's not the actual uncut version and that version has never seen the light of day. I believe that was a big let down when they released it saying it's the "uncut" version, which is not the actual one that people are waiting for. I could be wrong of course, but I really thought I read about that upon this one being released.

      JP - that would drive me nuts - if you're going to release a massive set, make it complete.

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    8. Chaybee...I am very disappointed. Not mad...just disappointed.

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    9. I own it. I really like it. That packaging is very cool. Some of the uncut versions you may be hoping for don't exist, such as part 7. But the first is uncut. There's some good special features on there.

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    10. Thx everyone, because there is an uncut part 1 on bluray that I own going back to theatrical on this set is a major flaw and also the same with Jason goes to hell, but theatrical on part 1 could be uncut? As a comparison for JP my uncut bluray is 95 mins?

      I'll probably as Cameron says just upgrade the other in due course, its a nice collection though, if your gonna make the Complete Collection you should get the complete versions of the films

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  9. Thought I would put this in the appropriate place as I posted this last night in the Netflix This Movie section.

    Just watched "Lost After Dark" on VOD. It's a slasher 80's parody that I thought worked really well. The production and acting was much, much more than I expected and, most importantly, it's not one of those jokey parody movies; I really appreciate that it captures much of what makes 80's horror so great without blatantly mocking it for nostalgia sake. It's a film that feels like it's really from the 80's without making it so obvious that it's making 80's references.

    I do have some problems with it - it flubs a little bit in the 3rd act, it's slow by horror film standards these days (although PERFECT for how 80's films were) and you really should have a reference to go by otherwise you'll most likely be bored.

    I say - Check it out! It's just made it's way to my top ten of the year. Highly recommenced although not for originality or being scary but mostly because us Horror fans really appreciate this kind of small budget film that captures it correctly.

    Afterthought - It dawned on me - this is the equivalent to an average/below average 80's horror film that is being reissued in all of it's glory. You saw the film, don't remember it all though, but the reissue has such nostalgia and great artwork that you buy it blind. You rewatch it and it's fine, but not as good as you once thought. That's what makes this stand out from the rest of the 80's homage films. It's perfectly done to mediocrity.

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  10. Inside Out and The Gift were both fantastic. Also caught Jackie Brown one more time before it leaves Netflix on the first. Been too busy with college starting up again soon to see anything else.

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    1. All those movies are great! haha

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    2. Luckily have a lovely hard copy of Jackie Brown. (Yes I am being a bit of a show off)

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    3. Luckily I have two copies of Jackie Brown, on DVD and Blu-ray. (No, I'm not being a show off at all... :-P).

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  11. I powered through four movies this week for my Hitchcock marathon!

    Number Seventeen- I have read a lot of disdain for this movie (even from the director himself), and while I admit it is a bit lackluster, compared to the string of strange parlor dramas and attempts at comedies, it was so nice to see a Hitchcock movie that at least ended with a decent chase aboard a train.

    The Man Who Knew Too Much- The first movie in this marathon I have truly loved, thanks in no small part to what an amazing screen actor Perter Lorre is. I never thought I would buy the plausibility of this movie, but it succeeds so well in drawing the audience into the protagonists' dilemma. I found it wholly satisfying, and can't wait to confirm for myself the news I hear about the remake being even better (I sadly have not seen it yet)

    The 39 Steps- Trying to explain the plot of this to my wife when it had ended, I realized how little of it makes any sense. Rather than discouraging me from liking it, I found my fondness for Hitchcock's mastery of the craft grow. Never once while this was playing was I looking at the motivation angles the various characters might have, the vignettes of "the wrong man's" journey entertained me even more than The Man Who Knew Too Much. An obvious forerunner for North by Northwest and others, but none of them have Mr Memory.

    Secret Agent- Here I cooled down from the previous two highs. I see a great movie in the concepts of this story (especially the reactions following the murder of an innocent man), but a low-grade DVD transfer mixed with a hero who seemingly wants nothing meant this was a ride I did not much enjoy. There was still obviously much more effort put into it than previous movies which Hitch was forced to make, there just seemed to be a few miscalculated decisions, as the director himself admitted later on.

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    1. I do love The original Man Who Knew too much also! I have a big fondness for 39 Steps. If your ever in London we should see the play, it is hilarious :)

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    2. The play passed through here about a year ago and I've been kicking myself ever since that I never bought tickets.

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  12. watched a double feature tonight of Blood Lands a.k.a White Settlers and the Curse Of.Downers Cove. Not happy about doing that.

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  13. I just finished my slasher marathon with the Elm Street remake. The 30 movies fit neatly into three categories: good ones, bad ones and funny ones (either intentionally or not).

    THE GOOD
    1. Halloween (1978)
    2. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
    3. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
    4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
    5. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
    6. Halloween (2007)
    7. Friday the 13th (1980)
    8. Halloween II (1981)
    9. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
    10. Friday the 13th Part III (1982)

    THE BAD
    1. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
    2. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
    3. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
    4. Friday the 13th (2009)
    5. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
    6. Halloween II (2009)
    7. A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
    8. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
    9. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
    10. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

    THE FUNNY
    1. Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986)
    2. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
    3. Jason X (2002)
    4. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
    5. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
    6. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
    7. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
    8. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
    9. Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
    10. Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)

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    1. I like this list, I want to try doing this marathon myself. I think you got it right for the most part, but Nightmare 2 is just plain bad, I would swap it out for Nightmare 4 which I think is funnier and not as bad as 2. I get it, Nightmare 2 is the 'gayest horror movie ever' and looking back at it now, every time Mark Patton screams like a girl you can't help but laugh, still there are so many problems with the 'Dream rules' that the first movie came up with, it's hard to overlook the mistakes made, luckily Part 3 got the series back on track. I would also argue that New Nightmare is not bad but good and Friday Part 2 is bad. I need to revisit the Friday the 13th movies, I don't know if I've ever seen the entire series off of cable tv. I usually catch them during an AMC marathon, sometimes on HBO or Premium Cable, but not often. I know I'm probably missing out on some stuff with the cable versions. I would still argue that the Nightmare series > Halloween series > Friday the 13th series, but it's pretty close across the board. It's all a matter of taste I suppose, I've always found the dream world more interesting and Freddy more entertaining.

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    2. I really like the idea of a dream killer but I don't think any of the movies really take full advantage of the endless possibilities (though I understand much of that is due to budgetary constraints).

      Friday the 13th is the franchise I enjoyed by far the most out of the three (as you can probably gather from the list).

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    3. There seems to be such a thin line between Mikko's definition of 'bad' and ;funny.' I see flicks on both lists that I think belong on the other list, but the 'good' list is rock solid.

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    4. Nightmare 2 is hilariously bad so I think he's right for putting it in the funny column. The backstory how they didn't know about the gay subtext adds to my enjoyment of it. I've watched the 1st Nightmare a lot and I just can't get on board. I'll take the 1st Halloween any day. I think the worst movie is Resurrection. It makes me angry just thinking about it. I also really don't like Rob Zombie's Halloween 2. It's garbage. Friday 8 is my guilty pleasure. It makes me laugh more than any other in any series. I can find joy in the bad Friday movies but not in the other two. Friday's just more rewatchable and that's the most important thing when wanting to own an entire series. To me, the 1st Halloween is miles above anything else. Over all, great list!

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    5. JM, it's definitely a fine line. A lot of the films might switch columns on a revisit, but that's how I feel right now.

      Brent, I agree with pretty much everything you said! Great minds think alike.

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    6. Mikko, have you gone back and listened to horror series podcasts with Mike and Patrick after watching all these? Whenever I go through each series, I go back and listen to those. They are my favorite. I'm excited to hear what series they are going to do this year.

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    7. Of course I have. There are a lot of episodes I still haven't listened to because I want to see the movie first. The Halloween and Elm Street episodes and the Friday the 13th Part 3 commentary were among them but now I've remedied that.

      Some movies I've watched (or added to my watchlist) only because there's an FTM podcast on them.

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    8. What are you guys doing! It is almost October?!

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  15. Well, I finally crossed a movie I've been meaning to watch since forever off my shame list: Steven Spielberg's HOOK (1991). Thank you, Amazon Prime! While I don't hate it as much as Patrick does (his FTM podcast is an epic slam against the film even existing) it's a bloated and troubled production (Julia Roberts' Tink is a creepy, needy pseudo-stalker) that is made tolerable by Dustin Hoffman's entertaining and theatrical take on Capt. Hook. Rufio is a punk, but I want to fold Smee into a teddy bear and squeeze him late at night. :-) "Hook's" trailer is one of the best previews for a film I've ever seen (epic tune by John Williams and a great tease for the not-shown Neverland and Hook), but the actual movie doesn't live up to the tease.

    Other films I've seen recently in no particular order: FIRST BLOOD (considering the decaying cartoon action figure he's become of late it's hard to believe Sly Stallone's action career started in a character-driven, story-first dramatic re-imaging of "Deliverance" in the Pacific Northwest), THE WRAITH (the shit I'll watch just so I can hear Patrick talk about it with the Projection Booth folks; I'm genuinely terrified that "Solarbabies" will be just as bad!), MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (surprisingly entertaining and cheesier than a Wisconsin factory; Man-at-Arms looks like Will Ferrell's father and Evil-Lyn is smoking, but Langella's Skeletor rules... plus he'll be back), RICKI AND THE FLASH (Demme's infatuation with music and Diablo Cody dialing back the snark make for a surprisingly simple and generic mainstream movie; Kevin Kline phones in his performance, yet he's easily the best thing in it), DOUBLE DRAGON (what the fuck are the T-1000 and Samantha from "Who's the Boss?" doing here? Shame on you, Scott Wolf), THE OCTAGON (Chuck Norris versus an army of ninja should equal fun but doesn't; best look at the hardship of going to assassin school isn't enough to save it), DAYLIGHT (disaster movie with minimal CGI, maximum set/miniature effects and Sly Stallone in full hero mode; not bad, but not really good either), LIPS OF BLOOD (Jean Rollin joint that's light on lesbianism, all in with the naked nubile vampires and far out with a plot too esoteric even for him) and, last and certainly least, APOLLO 18 (found footage horror on the moon with NASA and US government as the bad guys... FUCK THIS SHIT!!!).

    Click on my name to read more in-depth reviews if you feel like wasting a few minutes. ;-)

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  16. I have binge watching The Bond movies and finally got to the Brosnan ones. I have to say A view to a kill is one of the most ridiculous things. I wish actually it would have just embraced that and it was a movie about Grace Jones as the villain instead of that incredibly dull horse rubbish. The Living daylights is definitely in my favs now. As is Michelle Yeoh. Man she is awesome.

    I absolutely loved Paddington also, very charming. Sally Hawkins is so adorable.

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  17. Just watched the original Scream, it's been kind of a Wes Craven weekend for me. That opening scene is still awesome, might be the best part of the entire movie. Gotta love that line that Craven put in there to stick it to New Line and the Nightmare sequels. Some of Drew Barrymore's best work probably ever.

    Did anyone check out American Ultra this weekend? I'll be going on Tuesday, kind of my ritual now, since it's 5 dollar night, lol.

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    1. Saw American Ultra today, I didn't read any reviews going in and now I wish I would have, it was very disappointing. I didn't know that Jesse Eisenberg could be in a bad movie, but this certainly is not a good one. It's really too bad, Max Landis is certainly in denial over this flop of a movie. He's trying to blame people for not wanting to go out and see 'original' movies anymore, but that is not the problem here, people will go see original movies if they're good. I never thought that I would find this movie boring going in, I thought, 'at the very least, it should be entertaining and smart.' Coming from the writer of Chronicle, which I enjoyed a lot, I had high hopes. They had a great cast, seemingly strong writer and director, but they just couldn't put it all together. It's at best a 5/10 and that might be generous.

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    2. I think Max has somewhat of a point. The movie's not great, and will probably do better as a party movie on video. With that said, the top 5 last weekend were made up solely of franchise films. I saw American Ultra in a theater with very few people, but we all seemed to like it all right. Everyone laughed their asses off. Your 5/10 is about right, I think. It has a 46 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. I think it'll appeal to fans of the director's previous film, which was Project X, and will probably fall closer towards fans of 30 Seconds Or Less for Jesse Eisenberg's camp. And I thought Kristen Stewart faired nicely, and I don't say that often. I think people will go to see original films if the subject matter in the trailer is appealing to them, and if nothing else that's playing is appealing, and, clearly, judging by this past weekend, that wasn't the case. A trailer is no indication that a movie is good or bad, just as an opening weekend only proves whether a movie's marketing campaign worked or not. You say people will go see an original movie if it's good, but how will you know if it's good unless you see it? The majority of people who like movies like American Ultra don't tend to go to the theater to see them, though. Considering what's popular at the box office at the moment, I don't think a bigger marketing campaign would've helped.

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    3. The marketing for this movie was lousy, not in that there wasn't enough of it, but the way they went about it was all wrong. They played up the fact that Eisenberg was a stoner way too much in my opinion. It's like okay I get it you want to market toward that section of the audience, but you can't just rely on a single demographic anymore. There were a lot of different ways they could have played it. I still remember the first time I saw an ad for the movie, it was Jesse Eisenberg on a screen with smoke coming out of his mouth and some stupid tag line on one of the screens in the lobby at my local multiplex that plays trailers the whole time. I totally get what Landis was talking about, but the movie was just simply lacking, kind of boring and predictable, I expected a little more from him to be honest. It's not a bad movie, but it's not a good movie either. I think people go see good original movies based on word of mouth, good reviews always help too, there wasn't a lot of buzz going on with this movie, it seemed to just get lost in the shuffle of what has been a surprisingly good end of the summer movie season with gems like The Gift.

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    4. Could they have used multiple marketing campaigns for the movie? Sure. But if their marketing budget is limited, they only have limited options. The standard for marketing costs today is insane. Small movies can really get lost in the shuffle. I know they're considered dump months, but the film probably would have faired better in January or February. I don't think The Gift really compares. It had better backing, for one thing, obviously a better marketing budget, and was made for a totally different audience.

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    5. And even if the reviews were across the board bad, if the trailer appeals to me, I'll see it. I'll usually trust word of mouth and wait for video if the trailer itself gives me pause, but I'll never entrust my theater-going solely on reviews. I always have to see it for myself. I only trust a handful of critics, but I tend to go with my gut more. The author Joe Hill posted his own rant today about Rotten Tomatoes and the current state of film criticism. I'll post it here in a little while. It makes a strong case for aggregate, metric style criticism. I think.

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    6. https://medium.com/@joe_hill/something-rotten-4366cab5b3a9

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  18. I just saw 11 horror/genre movies this weekend. There's some good ones on the horizon, F-Heads!

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    1. 11. Damn that's going for it, I hope there is a real turkey in there too, am I wrong in feeling happy when you see a bad movie so I can enjoy the review?

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    2. Did you happen to see The Final Girls? Not the Abigail Breslin one, the other one, where the group are transported inside a slasher movie. The trailer for that looked interesting.

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  19. I watch Robert Altman's 'The Long Goodbye'. I loved it, though I am loving anything made in the 1970s at the moment. But just the way Elliot Gould moves though. It may have not been hard boiled but Chandler's material totally suited Altman's style.

    Oh and I saw the trailer for Turbokid, f-ing wow! I wish I gotten my act together and saw it at the Melbourne Film Fest.

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    1. Have you seen Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice yet? If you haven't, I'd be curious as to your reaction to it after having seen The Long Goodbye.

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  20. The world is finally a little more balanced - just got my Last Dragon Blu Ray in the mail.

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  21. I saw American Ultra over the weekend too. I thought it was all right, nothing fantastic, but fine. It's trashy and cheap looking, but I thought it had its heart in the right place, and will make a fun party movie when it hits video, I think. It's from the director of Project X. Is there even a cult audience for Project X yet? As Jesse Eisenberg movies go, it's somewhere around 30 Seconds Or Less. Is there even a cult audience for 30 Seconds Or Less? As for what Max Landis was lamenting about, and Kersey's response to it, I don't think this movie was marketed well at all. I also don't think you can tell if a movie will be "good" or "bad" just by watching the trailer. All a trailer can do for me is get across whether the subject matter appeals to me. Landis's rant about original movies being unpopular this weekend seem accurate. The top 5 this week is made up of franchise titles, if I'm recalling correctly. The only reason Hitman made money is because it's Hitman, and Fox marketed the hell out of that movie. I truly doubt American Ultra had a shitty marketing budget, but as the weekend shows, the studio would have taken a bigger bath if they'd marketed it better. It's probably not going to hurt Max, he has a few more movies coming, so the bad business of American Ultra won't really hurt him. And the reviews weren't terrible. It's at 46 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Hitman got worse reviews than American Ultra, and it's in the top 5. Like that review score, reaction to this movie is going to be 50/50. Attendance was slim in the theater I saw it in, but we all seemed to like it. Everyone in the theater were laughing their heads off. What can I say, it's fun, but nothing exceptional. With that said, there's no way to determine how a movie is gonna play by watching the trailer, or if it's good due to box office performance on opening weekend. A good opening weekend just proves the marketing campaign worked. The following weekend will determine if it has good word of mouth. I doubt it will. The majority of people who like this kind of movie don't buy tickets.

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