So, for once, instead of being an idiot, I didn't buy the overpriced 4k-super-duper-awesome-mega-cool-special-collector-overpriced-edition of a movie, but went for the much cheaper and sensible multi-movie pack. Lo and behold, Tremors 7-Movie Collection. The movies really click when Michael Gross' Burt Gummer gets the lead in Tremors 3, but you gotta see the 4th movie, which is a prequel that shows the origin of the town, that's the funniest of the series (after the first), because of Michael Gross, obviously having the time of his life. The movies vary slightly in quality, but they're all enjoyable. They tried to do something with Jamie Kennedy, and I'm glad to say it didn't pan out. There's also a tv series from 2003 that also fun.
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012): How do we go from the original 1992 movie to this? The first one is a perfectly fine 90s sci-fi action flick, almost a B-movie. Then we get this, an artful, somber, deliberately paced flick, with great action scenes that move the story forward. This movie shouldn't exist in that form. The director also did the previous one, which was very good. To me, this is the role Scott Adkins was born to do. One of the bad guys, ex-MMA fighter Andrei Arlovski is pretty good too, which is often not the case from these guys (see the Road House remake). Dolph Lundgren is still the best. I could go on all day about this movie. Master Bromley wrote a thing about the movie, go read it. As a side note, the cinematographer also did the latest Kevin Smith movie, which Master DiCristino just reviewed.
@Casual, I listened to the Pure Cinema podcast episode on Blast of Silence. Allen Baron sure is a character 🤣
Spent my Friday 13th not with our main man J. Voorhees, but rather with a new dude looking to join his mask-laden kid-dispensing slow-walking slasher crew. This flick is very much polarizing the horror lovers and i can see why. It is very minimalist in plot: we get a new unstoppable killer and a fireside exposition back story and then lots o murders, thats it. It is also very minimalist in execution in that we watch things unfold 3rd person POV with virtually no score/music to heighten the tone and often considerably slow setups of walking between kills. Where it is NOT minimalist is the kills department. Here the director takes a note from the Terrifier playbook: if you want to create a new horror icon, you need to up the graphic gore game. There are some phenom and wildly f'd up kills. In the end i liked, but didnt love the movie. My primary issue being that while i originally appreciated the slow walking POV for the first few shots, i could have done with dispensing it and picking up the pace after that. Otherwise its a fun new entry into the genre. Oh, also, LOVE the choice o mask for the killer, very freaky.
There was an episode on The Flop House podcast where they had a film programmer as a guest and they were discussing what how she approached the choosing of films. Patrick, I think you would enjoy it. Everyone else too! Here's a link or on a podcast app it's one of the most recent 2-3 episodes. https://www.flophousepodcast.com/2024/09/fh-mini-111-film-programming-with-cristina-cacioppo/
Subservience (2024): Look, we all know Megan Fox won't win any Oscars anytime soon, but watching her acting like a robot kinda works for her. Other than that, the movie is surprisingly decent. Not a masterpiece, it's redefining the genre, and much better movies have been made on the subject, but it's good. To be honest, Megan Fox made me lower my expectations, so it's a nice surprise that it works
Winner (2024): Last year, Sydney Sweeney did a great little movie about Reality Winner who looked some classified documents. It was a great little movie with a great performance by Sweeney. This one is a proper biopic. It's fine, the tone is kind of weird, but jokey and light, though it gets a bit more serious when she gets to prison, but not that much. So, if you want to know more about this woman, and don't want to read her Wikipedia entry, this is for you. Though I strongly recommend the one with Sweeney (title: Reality), which only cover her arrest at her home.
The Crow (2024): Skip it. Just get a 4-pack DVD of the original movie and the sequels. At least they don't take themselves too seriously.
I could tell that a little movie fatigue set in this week, or it could just be life throwing in distractions to disrupt my concentration. Whatever it is, though focusing was not easy, I got through a few.
THE PLEASURE OF LOVE (1991, dir. Nelly Kaplan) on MUBI – A middle-aged Don Juan comes to a household full of women who seem easy pickings for his charms, but he finds outs that he is the one being played with. This lighthearted French satire, although taking some amusing directions with the scenario, does not do much more than poke fun at the male ego.
A SNAKE OF JUNE (2002, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto) – With the blue tint and rainy visuals, A Snake of June has a very distinct atmosphere. That atmosphere is just as important as the story, which focuses on a young woman who is married to an older man. The woman, who works at a mental health hotline, gets the unpleasant shock of having one of the people she helped blackmail her with compromising photographs. Soon she is being pushed to perform acts that she finds uncomfortable. With a director like Tsukamoto, you know that the film is not likely to be conventional.
BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES (2014, dir. Lu Yang) on Prime – Three members of an imperial security unit find themselves in the middle of a power struggle in this Chinese production. It’s fine, shot and edited together with a lot of polish. Keeping track of the characters and remembering their motives, however, I found very tricky. I even had some trouble keeping the separate stories of the three lead characters straight. Unfortunately, there is a lot of CGI blood effects, and choppy editing can make the fight scenes awkward.
THE SHINING (1980) at the Mahoning Drive-In – I cannot remember the last time I watched this all the way through. It did not seem like a new watch to me, but there was a lot that I had forgotten about. Besides the very Kubrickian visuals, the family dynamic of the Torrences stood out.
THE SEVENTH CURSE (1986, dir. Lam Ngai Kai) – If mixing Indiana Jones, Rambo, and the martial arts into a black magic horror film sounds interesting, this Hong Kong flick might be to your liking. When an expedition to the jungles of Thailand interferes with the ceremonies of a sorcerer/priest, one of the expedition’s survivors returns to Hong Kong with a deadly curse. In order to overcome the curse, he must return and confront the sorcerer and his followers. With scenes shifting from raids into the sorcerer’s temple to comedic romantic scenes, The Seventh Curse had me questioning what I was watching on several occasions. It showcases Chow Yun-Fat and Maggie Cheung in early roles.
FAYE: THE MANY LIVES OF FAYE DUNAWAY (2024) on MAX – A candid documentary featuring the actress herself talking about her life and career. As one of the actresses who benefitted most from the New Hollywood movement, there is a lot of discussion about that period. Her reputation as a difficult actor to work with is another frequent subject, a matter that she partially attributes to being bi-polar. For anyone interested in her or 1970s Hollywood, this should be a worthwhile watch.
Hundreds of Beavers (2024): What the heck did I just watch? This is as silly and weird as it sounds, and I love it. It's a bit too long though, should be at least 20 minutes shorter.
So, for once, instead of being an idiot, I didn't buy the overpriced 4k-super-duper-awesome-mega-cool-special-collector-overpriced-edition of a movie, but went for the much cheaper and sensible multi-movie pack. Lo and behold, Tremors 7-Movie Collection. The movies really click when Michael Gross' Burt Gummer gets the lead in Tremors 3, but you gotta see the 4th movie, which is a prequel that shows the origin of the town, that's the funniest of the series (after the first), because of Michael Gross, obviously having the time of his life. The movies vary slightly in quality, but they're all enjoyable. They tried to do something with Jamie Kennedy, and I'm glad to say it didn't pan out. There's also a tv series from 2003 that also fun.
ReplyDeleteUniversal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012): How do we go from the original 1992 movie to this? The first one is a perfectly fine 90s sci-fi action flick, almost a B-movie. Then we get this, an artful, somber, deliberately paced flick, with great action scenes that move the story forward. This movie shouldn't exist in that form. The director also did the previous one, which was very good. To me, this is the role Scott Adkins was born to do. One of the bad guys, ex-MMA fighter Andrei Arlovski is pretty good too, which is often not the case from these guys (see the Road House remake). Dolph Lundgren is still the best. I could go on all day about this movie. Master Bromley wrote a thing about the movie, go read it. As a side note, the cinematographer also did the latest Kevin Smith movie, which Master DiCristino just reviewed.
@Casual, I listened to the Pure Cinema podcast episode on Blast of Silence. Allen Baron sure is a character 🤣
I likely listened to that episode when it came out, which means a full decade has passed since then. But I still remember that interview.
DeleteDay of Reckoning is what I watched for Scott Atkins' day during Junesploitation a few years ago. It was much better than I thought it would be.
DeleteHowdy F This Fans!
ReplyDeleteIn a Violent Nature (2024 shudder)
Spent my Friday 13th not with our main man J. Voorhees, but rather with a new dude looking to join his mask-laden kid-dispensing slow-walking slasher crew. This flick is very much polarizing the horror lovers and i can see why. It is very minimalist in plot: we get a new unstoppable killer and a fireside exposition back story and then lots o murders, thats it. It is also very minimalist in execution in that we watch things unfold 3rd person POV with virtually no score/music to heighten the tone and often considerably slow setups of walking between kills. Where it is NOT minimalist is the kills department. Here the director takes a note from the Terrifier playbook: if you want to create a new horror icon, you need to up the graphic gore game. There are some phenom and wildly f'd up kills. In the end i liked, but didnt love the movie. My primary issue being that while i originally appreciated the slow walking POV for the first few shots, i could have done with dispensing it and picking up the pace after that. Otherwise its a fun new entry into the genre. Oh, also, LOVE the choice o mask for the killer, very freaky.
There was an episode on The Flop House podcast where they had a film programmer as a guest and they were discussing what how she approached the choosing of films. Patrick, I think you would enjoy it. Everyone else too! Here's a link or on a podcast app it's one of the most recent 2-3 episodes. https://www.flophousepodcast.com/2024/09/fh-mini-111-film-programming-with-cristina-cacioppo/
ReplyDeleteSubservience (2024): Look, we all know Megan Fox won't win any Oscars anytime soon, but watching her acting like a robot kinda works for her. Other than that, the movie is surprisingly decent. Not a masterpiece, it's redefining the genre, and much better movies have been made on the subject, but it's good. To be honest, Megan Fox made me lower my expectations, so it's a nice surprise that it works
ReplyDeleteWinner (2024): Last year, Sydney Sweeney did a great little movie about Reality Winner who looked some classified documents. It was a great little movie with a great performance by Sweeney. This one is a proper biopic. It's fine, the tone is kind of weird, but jokey and light, though it gets a bit more serious when she gets to prison, but not that much. So, if you want to know more about this woman, and don't want to read her Wikipedia entry, this is for you. Though I strongly recommend the one with Sweeney (title: Reality), which only cover her arrest at her home.
The Crow (2024): Skip it. Just get a 4-pack DVD of the original movie and the sequels. At least they don't take themselves too seriously.
THE CROW is destined to be one of those remakes that don't exist like POINT BREAK (2015). Just a nothing movie.
DeleteI could tell that a little movie fatigue set in this week, or it could just be life throwing in distractions to disrupt my concentration. Whatever it is, though focusing was not easy, I got through a few.
ReplyDeleteTHE PLEASURE OF LOVE (1991, dir. Nelly Kaplan) on MUBI – A middle-aged Don Juan comes to a household full of women who seem easy pickings for his charms, but he finds outs that he is the one being played with. This lighthearted French satire, although taking some amusing directions with the scenario, does not do much more than poke fun at the male ego.
A SNAKE OF JUNE (2002, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto) – With the blue tint and rainy visuals, A Snake of June has a very distinct atmosphere. That atmosphere is just as important as the story, which focuses on a young woman who is married to an older man. The woman, who works at a mental health hotline, gets the unpleasant shock of having one of the people she helped blackmail her with compromising photographs. Soon she is being pushed to perform acts that she finds uncomfortable. With a director like Tsukamoto, you know that the film is not likely to be conventional.
BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES (2014, dir. Lu Yang) on Prime – Three members of an imperial security unit find themselves in the middle of a power struggle in this Chinese production. It’s fine, shot and edited together with a lot of polish. Keeping track of the characters and remembering their motives, however, I found very tricky. I even had some trouble keeping the separate stories of the three lead characters straight. Unfortunately, there is a lot of CGI blood effects, and choppy editing can make the fight scenes awkward.
THE SHINING (1980) at the Mahoning Drive-In – I cannot remember the last time I watched this all the way through. It did not seem like a new watch to me, but there was a lot that I had forgotten about. Besides the very Kubrickian visuals, the family dynamic of the Torrences stood out.
THE SEVENTH CURSE (1986, dir. Lam Ngai Kai) – If mixing Indiana Jones, Rambo, and the martial arts into a black magic horror film sounds interesting, this Hong Kong flick might be to your liking. When an expedition to the jungles of Thailand interferes with the ceremonies of a sorcerer/priest, one of the expedition’s survivors returns to Hong Kong with a deadly curse. In order to overcome the curse, he must return and confront the sorcerer and his followers. With scenes shifting from raids into the sorcerer’s temple to comedic romantic scenes, The Seventh Curse had me questioning what I was watching on several occasions. It showcases Chow Yun-Fat and Maggie Cheung in early roles.
FAYE: THE MANY LIVES OF FAYE DUNAWAY (2024) on MAX – A candid documentary featuring the actress herself talking about her life and career. As one of the actresses who benefitted most from the New Hollywood movement, there is a lot of discussion about that period. Her reputation as a difficult actor to work with is another frequent subject, a matter that she partially attributes to being bi-polar. For anyone interested in her or 1970s Hollywood, this should be a worthwhile watch.
Last one for the road
ReplyDeleteHundreds of Beavers (2024): What the heck did I just watch? This is as silly and weird as it sounds, and I love it. It's a bit too long though, should be at least 20 minutes shorter.
OOOOOO been stoked to check this one out! glad you dug!
Delete