Saturday, May 28, 2016

Weekend Open Thread

Q: You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning?

A: It croaks! BAM. That's how you tell a joke, Ororo Munroe.

Seen anything good lately? We're just a few days away from Junesploitation! Is everyone getting excited yet? Picking out what you're going to watch?

95 comments:

  1. I am faced with a conundrum that has plagued mankind throughout the ages: does Squirm count for bugs! day? Because worms aren't bugs, but my feeling is they're little and creepy enough to count. Also, I've never seen it but the commercial scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.

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    1. Technically, spiders aren't bugs either, but I'm sure there are plenty of people (myself included) watching spider movies on Bugs! day. So I wouldn't feel too bad about seeing Squirm.

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    2. I think you can get away that, any type of creepy crawlies works for me

      It might be too much on the nose but I'm gonna watch 2006 Friedkins film Bug

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    3. Make sure you have a comedy on deck for when it's over, because it's ROUGH.

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    4. I watched Tremors last bug day, which are giant worms. Junesploitation is flexiblesploitation!

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    5. I had the exact same question you posed, JP, though for a different title. I'm glad this has been cleared up.

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    6. Btw, Squirm f'in sucks. I get wanting to get caught up on a childhood To-Watch movie, but prepare to be disappointed.

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    7. I just love that people are worried about this. Awesome.

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    8. I would say that worms and spiders aren't "insects", but they definitely are bugs.

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  2. I may have over-prepared for Junesploitation a touch. I have at least three movie choices for most days. Some days I'll have time to see them all but most days there will have to be some tough choices made. Oh well, I guess I'll have fun stuff to see in July, at least.

    Starting off with a bang, for Sci-fi! day I have a Finnish movie from 2005 and a Soviet movie from 1973. Excited!

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    1. I've been doing the same thing you have, Mikko. Got at least three choices picked out for most days. That way I still feel as though I can enjoy a bit of spontaneity over the course of the month (and I absolutely reserve the right to throw my choices out the window the day of and pick anything I feel like.) I am amped about this month. AMPED!!!

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    2. Also, this way if one of you donks ends up watching something I'd planned to before I do, I've got backup titles ready. I'm not digging as deep as usual this year because I'm trying to check off some of the more iconic exploitation titles that I've been slacking on, so I might match some of you guys (Richard Dawson style.)

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    3. I'm with you guys. I've got 3 for each day. I went pretty insane because I'm doing all but 3 of my categories from 1982.

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    4. Same here. Got some backup picks on the off chance my initial selections are unceremoniously pulled from Netflix or YouTube.

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    5. Aw shit, man! Watch Raw Force if you haven't seen it already!

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    6. @Brent All but 3 from 1982??? Man, you're as hard as a rock. Good year, though.

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    7. Raw Force is on Blu-ray and ready to be watched for Zombies! Day. Bugs!, 90s Action! and New Horror! were the only 3 that I couldn't make happen. I'm counting Parasite as my only Bugs! in '82.

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    8. 1982. Brent. YOU ROCK


      That is great, you do know my favourite movie from all time is 82
      Xtro. Please put it on you list if you have it?

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    9. God damn 1982 has so many good Horror movies it is almost illegal

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    10. For New horror you can watch a new horror that is a remake of a 1982 movie, The Thing for example, sorted

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    11. For Bugs. Halloween 3 with the bugs behind the masks, I'm stretching I know, and 90s action ??? Best I can come up with is Xtro 2 is a sequel to a film from 82, a bad sequel, but it kinda ties 90s action to 82. :)

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    12. Thanks, Dennis! Halloween III is one of my favorites but I'm trying to watch things I haven't seen. I could put Xtro in a couple of different spots but I'm not sure where, though. I also had to be pretty liberal with the Eco-Horror! Day but I will try and rationalize why the movie or movies I pick could be in the category. Are you going to try The Brain for one of the days?

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    13. For New horror you can watch a new horror that is a remake of a 1982 movie, The Thing for example, sorted

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    14. I just bought it on ebay cheap enough, so yes I am watching it June. The 1988 version with David gale, Damn its got Carl Hill from the Reanimator films in it, so cool, I'll report back once I've seen it
      Xtro is like an all categories film, its that crazy, its got Animals, Aliens, Sci Fi, Slasher, you could even out it in Eco Horror, if these Aliens take over they will certainly change the ecology, You should see what they do to child birth, literally The Best Child Birth scene you will EVER see, its number 1,

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  3. What are you guy's thoughts on Bride of Reanimator? I watched it this week. While its obviously of much lower quality than the original, I had a lot of fun with it. It actually found a way to go even more bonkers crazy in the final act than the first. Now that is impressive! I liked that they turned it from a mad scientist zombie story to a mad scientist frankenstein story. And of course it's great to go back to those characters again. Jeffery combs is the best and he has several terrific monologues here. Obviously it's far from perfect. For instance I found the detective character pretty annoying. But overall I dug it.

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    1. I haven't seen any of the Reanimator movies, but I plan to fix that this June.

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    2. Honestly, I think the first one is one of the most fun horror movies you'll ever see. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

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    3. Holy coincidence, Batman! I just watched Bride of Re-Animator yesterday! Not as good as the original, but a really fun romp nonetheless.

      I agree that Re-Animator is definitely one of the most fun horror comedies out there. I saw it for the first time last October, and I've seen it twice since. I've been thorougly entertained each time.

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    4. I literally watched it yesterday. That is insane. haha

      Love the hybrid creatures.

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    5. Me last week, Crazy Yuzna

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    6. Me last week, Crazy Yuzna

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  4. Has anyone seen The Lobster, The Meddler, A Bigger Splash or Love and Friendship? Any good?

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    1. I saw The Lobster back in January. There's been some ridiculous trend recently of releasing movies to VOD temporarily and then putting them in theaters months later (movie news sites have been hyping the theatrical trailer for Clown, which hit VOD a year ago, I think?) Anyhow, The Lobster's very good, but the trailers are selling it as a comedy, and it's brutally depressing and dark.

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    2. I thought The Lobster was brilliant. It was quite depressing but I also found to be very funny. If you're someone who frequently dates, you'll probably find it more depressing than funny.

      But it was all around unique and the cinematography was beautiful.

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    3. The Meddler was ok. Worth seeing, I would say, for Susan Sarandon's performance.

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    4. Just saw The Lobster. It's well made and accomplishes what it wants to. That said I really didn't like it.

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    5. What didn't you like, Adam? Or can we expect a review next week?

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    6. I liked Love and Friendship, but that might have had to do with me being in Austen land.

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    7. No review probably. There were many reasons I didn't like it. I don't want to knock a movie you like though. It just was almost the opposite of what I like in movies though which is fine. All movies aren't for everyone.

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    8. Write a review. It's just as interesting to know what you didn't like about it than what you did like.

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    9. I don't know. I really didn't like it and I don't want to offend anyone. My review will offend people. I think I'll decline.

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    10. As someone who enjoyed the movie enough to watch it twice and who almost always disagrees with your opinions on movies, your statements have me fiending for your review.

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    11. Also, don't worry about offending people, Adam. Almost everything you say offends me anyway. It's a bigger disservice to not just say what you mean.

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    12. Um...yeah no I'm not going to write a review. Mostly because I don't want to live in the headspace of that movie anymore.

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    13. A Bigger Splash is really awesome. It's the sexiest movie I've seen in a while. It's very art house/foreign but entertaining as hell. Cast is perfect.

      Love and Friendship is a perfect film. It's definitely for people of a certain age and I can't see anyone but JB liking it as far as the crew goes. It's just like Barcelona or the other Stillman films in that the dialogue is razor sharp and witty and moves along the plot quite ferociously. it's the costumiest costume movie ever and so elegant but hilarious.

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  5. Watched 13 Hours. Typical Bay masturbation BUT, holy shit that movie is intense and exhausting as all hell! The nearly 2 and a half hour run time flew by. I think I liked it, actually.

    The Other Side of the Door is pure garbage. One of the worst Mom's in the history of cinema.

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    1. Interesting, I thought it was mediocre, maybe because I love Black Hawk Down so much. That one is really intense.
      13 hours is just a copy and I felt it was 30 minutes too long. Also the action was totally disorienting, also the exact opposite of Black Hawk Down, where you always know where you are at the moment, despite all the mayhem happening.
      I agree that 13 hours was typical Bay masturbation but at least it was the best masturbation he made maybe since the first Transformers.

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  6. This week I watched the Bourne Trilogy. I'd seen the 1st before, and it was good like I remembered it. Damon showed he can do action.
    Number 2 was tiresome. Mostly a rehash of the tropes of the 1st. And they killed the girl right at the start, goddammit! However, the director did expertly create a sense of thrill and urgency by SHAKING THE CAMERA VIOLENTLY throughout the movie! Calm down there laddie. Could it have been edited more choppily? What is going on, where did those crashing cars come from, where are those people running to, who is he fighting...that's just a 1 second cut of the movie. I very nearly stopped watching half way through, as it was boring, despite the frantic pacing.
    I was really apprehensive about the 3rd, but it was watch it now, or never. It had the same overuse of shaky camera work, but less so than the 2nd. The story was quite good and kept me engaged. The conclusion was more or less satisfying, as we (kind of) learned why he became Jason Bourne, but not how he became a "super human".
    RIP so many vehicles.

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    1. Number 2 was my favorite, but I know mine isn't popular opinion. Also I haven't seen them in years. I'll see if #2 holds up.

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    2. I marathoned 1 and 2 the same evening, so maybe I was just getting tired. 3 was a couple nights later. I enjoyed the Trilogy, but doubt I'll be revisiting them anytime soon.
      I'm curious whether the new one this year will be any good. Not super happy that Paul Greengrass is again directing (Although I did enjoy Captain Phillips).

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    3. I marathoned all three a few weeks ago and I still love them as much as I did when they were released in cinemas. I normally don´t like this shaky cam nonsense but here I found it to be a great gimmick to put you right in the seat with Matt Damon. Of course those sequences work best on the big screen.
      To me one of the best action series. I´m looking forward to the next one.

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  7. Did anyone see X Men? Apart from a couple scenes and a couple performances, I thought it was pretty bad. The CGI sucked, which still makes absolutely no sense to me how a 200 million dollar movie could look so bad.

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    1. I watched X-men 3: The Last Stand last night! I'm slowly working my way through the series, and should be caught up by the time the latest is available on VOD. I can't believe how many characters they killed/de-mutanted in that movie, although I suspect it's not for long.

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    2. I just got back from watching it, I actually kind of loved it. It was super cheesy and schlocky in the right places which really just worked for me. When I was ready for it to start getting bad, something exciting or funny happened that pulled me back in.

      Even some of the bad CGI I enjoyed, in it's own schlocky kind of way. Went in with really low expectations, left laughing and having a good time.

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    3. I´m kind of in the middle. After the very mediocre trailers I surprisingly liked it much more than I thought I would. And with a running time of 144 minutes it was pretty entertaining. It felt half as long as BvS. It had some really interesting parts and some not so. Loved the Quicksilver sequences and felt sorry for Oscar Isaac`s thankless blue role.
      All in all I think it´s an ok entry, not the best, not the worst.

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    4. It was the most Brian Singery of all the Brian Signer X-Men movies. It was way too cheesy and blunt at times (HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE WHOLE GOD DAMN WORLD!) and I know the title of movie is Apocalypse but I'm getting tired of every X-Men moviE revolving around some huge catastrophic cataclysmic event. Can't they take on a mediocre villain for once and spend some time developing the characters? The strength of that movie is the cast but almost everyone is underused, the exception being Wolverine. There's so many interesting characters there and Singer has no idea how to use them effectively. I can't remember how many times the horsemen were just standing around not doing anything, it was annoying. Also why is Psylocke the only horseman not in some awesome armor? And the Auschwitz scene bordered on offensive.

      All in all, it was fun but cheap shallow fun. I think they really took a step back from DOFP (which I thought was excellent).

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  8. Can someone clarify some of the Junesplotation categories for me? Thanks.
    "Scream Queens" - Is this any movie with lots of women screaming?
    "Masters of Horror" - ???

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    1. Scream queen- Actresses who are strongly linked to horror movies through their appearances in multiple and iconic horror movies

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_queen

      Masters of horror - Directors who are strongly linked to the horror genre from having directed one or multiple iconic or influential horror movies, i.e.: John Carpenter, George Romero, Wes Craven, Dario Argento, etc.

      I hope this helps! Have fun! :)

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    2. Just so you know, Reanimator works for both those days. haha

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    3. Totally watching Re-Animator for Scream Queens! Thinking of the Fog if I have I have time, due to some added Atkins action.

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    4. And of course Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh and Adrienne Barbeau.

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    5. Yea watch both of those if you have time. They are essential and great for any horror fan.

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    6. You could watch the Fog for masters of horror day

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    8. Yeah totally! I have mulitpal movies listed for each day (and I really want to see the Fog and Re-Animator and a whole bunch of others and am going to get over my zombie fear) so there will be a lot of re-gigging during June :)

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    9. Watch funny zombie movies like Dead Alive and Shaun Of The Dead to get over your zombie fear lol Re-Animator is hilarious too so you'll be fine with that one.

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    10. Thanks everyone for the clarification. Makes sense now...
      Also, The Fog is an excellent selection. Haven't seen that in ages. I could do a whole month of Masters of Horror!

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    11. Dead or Alive is a great recommendation, thanks! That might be the last Jackson movie I need to knock out.

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    12. The Fog is so great. That movie feels like a warm blanket of camp fire ghost stories.

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  9. I started Junesplotation a little early. I watched Happy Birthday To Me which has to be one of the weirdest slasher I've ever seen. I have to give it points for keeping me guessing the entire way through because it has a batshit ending that there's no way anyone could've figure out, which makes sense since I found out after reading some trivia on it that the filmakers didn't even know what the ending was going to be until they were actually shooting it. It's way too long for a slasher, almost 2 hours, so it drags at parts but there's a couple of inventive kills and it really is worth it for the fucking bonkers ending. If you're a slasher fan I'd recommend it.

    I watched Double Impact and Lionheart because I'm going through a Van Damme phase so I'm catching up with his movies that I've never seen. Double Impact I thought was silly but cheesy fun. Just seeing Van Damme play 2 characters is worth the price of admission and there's a part where Alex the criminal brother thinks that Chad the pretty boy brother is having sex with his girlfriend so he goes into a drunken rage and imagines the best sex scene ever between the two of them. It's pretty epic. I highly enjoyed it. Lionheart is a little generic but I liked it. Some cool fight scenes (one in a racquetball court and an empty pool... which was low budget interesting) Its just Van Damme doing what he does best. I'm excited to continue my Damme journey.

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    1. "My Damme journey" Haha, love it!

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    2. For some reason, Lionheart is one of my top favorite Van Damme movies. I really love that movie.

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    3. I think it's underrated in his filmography because it's one I'd never hearD much about before. It's enjoyable.

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    4. I'm going to include a couple Van Damme movies this month too. I'm surprised how little of his stuff I've seen.
      No Retreat! No Surrender! is very good and total Karate Kidsploitation. I've watched it twice already this month, so I'll be moving on to new stuff in June.

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    5. I'm still trying to figure out what reality Happy Birthday to Me exists in.
      They make it clear that these are high schoolers but the they appear to be regulars at the local bar.
      A character gets hit in the head by propellers of a tug boat and not only survives but is able to rejoin their classmates Senior year as if they never missed a day of school...
      "Honey, I don't want you obsessing over your mother's death...that's why I put her grave in the backyard."
      There's probably more but it's been awhile since I've seen it. But, the ending just seemed par for the course with this one.

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    6. Oh my god that's an excellent point Kathy I totally forgot they said they were high school students but it's so obvious it's a college haha this group of friends also seems to be totally cool with swapping sexual partners very casually as well. They just seem to date everyone in the group lol its an insane movie.

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    7. Yeah, they were "college" students that the teachers were nagging that they wouldn't get into Harvard if they didn't study.
      Don't remember a lot of partner swapping in this one. I remember some girl being upset that Melissa Sue Anderson was hugging a guy....
      And that we again had another killer who is mad at everybody except the person who ruined everything.

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  10. Holy HD transfer, Batman! Got the Blu-ray boxset of the 60's Batman TV show in the mail today. Hugely fun stuff in small doses, but I couldn't stomach watching more than a couple episodes at a time. Still, I'm glad I bought it.

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    1. I'm right there with you Mikko. Picked it up last Black Friday. The transfer is really remarkable. Like you I can't do more than about an episode a week but I have been enjoying it while pacing myself.

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  11. Count me in on getting an early start on Junesploitation. Mostly I’ve been getting through some flicks on my Netflix watch queue before they leave on June 1. I did catch 24 Exposures (my former Sexploitation! pick) a mere hour before it left streaming on 5/26, and it was...fine? I guess. It pulls the rug from under the viewer one too many times for my liking, but it did keep me moderately invested at 3am. I'll definitely get around to some of Joe Swanberg's other movies (like Drinking Buddies) one of these days.

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    1. I watched it after it was featured on Netflix This Movie a month or 2 ago. There wasn't a whole lot to it I felt. The one bit that stuck with me, was when the 2 men were sitting in a bar, and the photographer explained what drove him to that type of photography. This could equally be applied to "why on earth would someone make a horror movie". This bit was interesting, the rest merely soft and round and coming in pairs.

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  12. Just watched Some Kind of Hate on Netflix.......oh man. Wow. What a mess. Interesting premise, dreadful execution.

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    1. Yeah. I was not a fan either.

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    2. Bad movie but some good Phipps in that one!

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    3. I liked it because I liked the characters. I'm aware the villain doesn't work at all.

      Maybe it's my Grace Phipps crush talking...

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    4. You're gonna be fighting Riske on that crush! Luckily, I crush on old women, e.g. Ilene Graff (my GIRL!), so I got no competition.

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    5. I honestly liked the first 40 minutes or so. But I'm unable to decide if I'm just crushin' on Grace Phipps or not.

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  13. "You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning?"

    A Director says: "Gentlemen...we've found our Catwoman"

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  14. The Do-Over, the new Sandler/Netflix movie, was surprisingly good. Not a great movie, but pretty entertaining and even funny at times. It had a plot and everything. Color me surprised after The Ridiculous Six.

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    1. I watched that too. I thought it was ok. They seemed to be putting forth a little bit of effort. I laughed a few times and I'm kind of in love with Paula Patton. It wasnt bad for a netflix free watch.

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  15. Have loved re-animator for years but have never watched the sequels (like with basket case). Are you guys watching bride of re-animator off of a streaming service on line or iTunes? Would love to check it out. Also the Yuzna reference made me think of society. Haven't seen it in 20 years. Anyone seen it recently? It worth seeking out?

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    1. I have a netflix DVD account so I rented it there. That's often the cheapest way to see obscure stuff without buying it.

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