WestRider Posted August 29, 2019 Report Share Posted August 29, 2019 Humanoids from the Deep (1996 Remake): It actually has some pretty decent second-tier actors in it, and the effects aren't bad, but it is, when all is said and done, a Roger Corman film. It was reasonably entertaining schlock, but you can get pretty much the same story, done better, by watching the Scooby Doo episode The Siren's Song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted September 4, 2019 Report Share Posted September 4, 2019 Life (2017): Essentially an Alien knockoff, but a pretty good one. Deep Shock: Essentially an Abyss knockoff. Not a good one. I was astounded to find out it was from 2003, even as a SyFy original. While watching it, I would have sworn it was one of the wave of deep sea horror flicks that came out in '89 and '90. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfestedKerrigan Posted October 5, 2019 Report Share Posted October 5, 2019 Brightburn Best Superman movie I've seen since Superman Returns. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Head Count: Much better than I was expecting at the start; very glad I stuck with it. As with so many other horror flicks, it's at its best when it's subtle, building mood and tension, and the actual reveals are honestly a bit of a letdown. Fortunately, for the most part, it keeps things implied and hinted at rather than outright shown. It also has great production values for an indie flick, and the cinematography and sound design are a critical part of keeping the mood going. I also applaud the director for deciding not to make this a Found Footage flick. It's the same type of situation as so many of those, but having an "objective" camera lets us see a lot more without wondering why the heck anyone would be filming then. Definitely helps with the immersion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 10, 2019 Report Share Posted October 10, 2019 Joker 5/5 A perfectly painted picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ish Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 Sturgill Simpson Presents Sound & Fury is a recent release on Netflix... and it's kind of hard to review. It's not really a "film" so much as a 41:08 music video. You don't really watch Sound & Fury, so much as you experience it. The music blends the blues, hard rock, psychedelic rock, and electronic synth music. The film is a trippy futuristic, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, samurai film with aliens, mecha, yakuza, and a samurai driving a muscle car drop-kicks a subway train. Here's a taste. (Minor totally out of context spoiler warning.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ish Posted October 12, 2019 Report Share Posted October 12, 2019 Sound & Fury is actually my second-favorite post-apocalyptic, psychedelic, rockabilly samurai film... Because, I guess that’s a genre now. My favorite is still Six-String Samurai... In 1957, the Cold War went hot and the U.S. and U.S.S.R. nuked each other. The only remaining bastion of civilization and freedom in America was a shining city in the desert known as Lost Vegas... and Elvis was crowned king. Years later, the King is dead. Every sword-swingin’, guitar-pickin’ warrior in the wastelands is coming to Lost Vegas to try to become the new King of Rock-n-Roll. But can anybody stand against the power of Heavy Metal? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalmer Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 El Camino on Netflix. Thoroughly enjoyed it, as did wifey poo. We felt it was a great ending for a great character. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ish Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 “‘El Camino’ that’s Spanish for ‘The Camino.’” —Michael Kelso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munkie Posted October 15, 2019 Report Share Posted October 15, 2019 20 hours ago, dalmer said: El Camino on Netflix. Thoroughly enjoyed it, as did wifey poo. We felt it was a great ending for a great character. Agreed. I was pretty apprehensive, but I got pulled in. It was clearly a fan service piece but didn't feel that way. It stood on its own merrits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarbicus Posted October 15, 2019 Report Share Posted October 15, 2019 13 hours ago, Munkie said: Agreed. I was pretty apprehensive, but I got pulled in. It was clearly a fan service piece but didn't feel that way. It stood on its own merrits. The guy who pays Todd should get an Oscar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munkie Posted October 15, 2019 Report Share Posted October 15, 2019 4 hours ago, Yarbicus said: The guy who pays Todd should get an Oscar. He's great. Have you seen Game Night? He's absolutely hilarious in that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted October 15, 2019 Report Share Posted October 15, 2019 Blood Lake and The Beast of Bray Road: A couple of low budget horror flicks from The Asylum. Both feature terrible effects, pretty bad plots and scripts (tho Bray Road is somewhat better) and hit and miss acting, but remain entertaining due to the hits in the acting. The Asylum does seem to do a pretty good job on their casting. Blood Lake tends more toward horror comedy, while Bray Road plays it closer to actual horror. House of the Witch: Similar rating spread to Headcount. Plot and script are decent to solid, effects are weak because low budget, but the direction and cinematography are great, and some of the cast are really impressive. I look forward to seeing more with Darren Mann and Emily Bader in particular. The Heretics: The plot wasn't bad as such, but not to my taste. The real failing here is the effects. With the budget they had, they needed to imply more and show less, and as is, their "demon" looks like what he actually is: A dude with a bunch of stuff glued to his face. Given how much effort went into the non-supernatural aspects of the costuming and makeup, it really sticks out and just wrecks the immersion. That said, Ry Barrett plays a pretty great crazed maniac, and Nina Kiri more or less single-handedly holds the whole thing together, as much as it does stick together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarbicus Posted October 15, 2019 Report Share Posted October 15, 2019 34 minutes ago, Munkie said: He's great. Have you seen Game Night? He's absolutely hilarious in that too. Yup. That guy does pure sociopath like none other! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted October 16, 2019 Report Share Posted October 16, 2019 It comes! Not from the grave! But from beyond! It amuses me that Lovecraft probably would have found the 1986 adaptation far more horrifying than his original story, given that it added in a bunch of psycho-sexual stuff, which he had issues with at the best of times XD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarbicus Posted October 16, 2019 Report Share Posted October 16, 2019 19 hours ago, WestRider said: It comes! Not from the grave! But from beyond! It amuses me that Lovecraft probably would have found the 1986 adaptation far more horrifying than his original story, given that it added in a bunch of psycho-sexual stuff, which he had issues with at the best of times XD I need to rewatch that. Haven't seen it 30 years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarbicus Posted October 29, 2019 Report Share Posted October 29, 2019 Between Two Ferns: the Movie 8/10 I am not a huge Zack Gallifaknickknackpaddywhack but this movie had me laughing all the way through. The guests stars are truly hilarious. The sequence with Peter Dinklage is worth it alone. Dinklage once again proves that he is a god among us mere mortals. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 Seed: Kind of surprised that a movie that generated so much controversy ended up being so boring. Cowboys and Aliens: Finally got around to seeing this. Now I'm even more bummed that I missed it in the theatre. It was a risky move, and they don't always manage to mesh the Western and SF Horror elements successfully*, but it was still a whole lot of fun. *Also, it's really hard for me to buy Harrison Ford as a bad guy. Even when he's got all the elements in place, it just doesn't work. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 1, 2019 Report Share Posted November 1, 2019 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 2/5 This film is everywhere in terms of what's not very good about it. Without specifics, Villians are remarkably close to actual nazi germany. If you find what the nazis did to be horrifying, this film probably not for you. Probably not for your kids, either. Especially if gas chambers are trigger for you. They definitely went a bit too evil on this one in terms of underlying themes. There's a big battle scene that really doesn't make any sense, tactically speaking. Not exactly unusual for this sort of film, but it's annoying all the same. If anyone saw, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the big battle is of similar quality. And the plot centers around a prequel romance that really isn't explored or shown. No humor. And then, somehow, they have a happy ending which really feels out of place. Not really a kids film. Feels like an R rated film that's been edited to be PG rated. There's just no real kids component to this one. Costumes are pretty good. CGI looks good. Nothing wrong with the acting itself. And the plot is easy enough to follow. They did do a good job making all female lead characters into a film that's not about why you should hate/love males (as is often hollywood's failure), so definitely praise deserved there. They also did a good job avoiding talking about religion. Though regarding costumes and acting, the element "iron" is pretty central to the plot and, yet, seems like Iron is portrayed as a weightless material in this film. Iron, apparently, doesn't rust either. Another not unusual thing for this sort of film, but annoying all the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted November 5, 2019 Report Share Posted November 5, 2019 Sharktopus: Close to a perfect low budget cheesy monster flick. The only real flaw is that they had the perfect opportunity for a "I am your creator! You must obey me!" moment and they didn't take it. Grabbers: Another fun one. Blood-sucking aliens land on an isolated Irish island. No one has any real weapons, and the aliens are incredibly resilient anyhow. Their one real weakness? Feeding from anyone with a sufficiently high blood alcohol level is toxic to them XD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 The Omen II: I felt like this one actually held up better than the first one. Better technology, I guess, plus Lance Henrikson always makes everything better. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: Guillermo del Toro was involved with it, so you know it's going to be gorgeous and atmospheric. Some very solid acting and pretty good jump scares, too, altho the CGI has aged kind of poorly, and I really disliked the ending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted November 10, 2019 Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 Forbidden Planet: I didn't actually enjoy it hugely as a film, but it's a great one for historical perspective. The influence on Star Trek alone was immense. Honestly, this feels more like most of the stereotypical depictions of Star Trek than any actual episode of Star Trek that I've seen. Also, Leslie Nielsen before his hair went white. That kept weirding me out the whole time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarbicus Posted November 10, 2019 Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 1 hour ago, WestRider said: Forbidden Planet: I didn't actually enjoy it hugely as a film, but it's a great one for historical perspective. The influence on Star Trek alone was immense. Honestly, this feels more like most of the stereotypical depictions of Star Trek than any actual episode of Star Trek that I've seen. Also, Leslie Nielsen before his hair went white. That kept weirding me out the whole time. It is definitely better if you have studied Shakespeare. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestRider Posted November 10, 2019 Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 15 hours ago, Yarbicus said: It is definitely better if you have studied Shakespeare. I'm familiar with The Tempest, I got that part. It was more just that all the Space Patrol (or whatever their organization was) guys seemed pretty much like jerks. I kept thinking how much better it would have been as an original series Star Trek thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ish Posted November 11, 2019 Report Share Posted November 11, 2019 8 minutes ago, WestRider said: I'm familiar with The Tempest, I got that part. It was more just that all the Space Patrol (or whatever their organization was) guys seemed pretty much like jerks. I kept thinking how much better it would have been as an original series Star Trek thing. Forbidden Planet was also made in the early-to-mid-Fifties (written in `52, filmed in `55). Many of the cast and crew were veterans of WWII and/or Korean War, so the casual-but-still-military attitude of much of the men probably owed as much to the behavior of the shipwrecked sailors in The Tempest as it does with real-world Navy crews in the Pacific Theater. The enlisted guys do a lot of grumbling and grousing, but pretty much hop to whenever the NCOs give them the stink eye. The officers are fairly casual with each other and can be freindly with the enlisted men, but its clear that's a one-way street, all of the enlisted men are always quite formal when talking to the officers. Well, until the giant id monster shows up and they start to panic. The officers and enlisted aboard the United Planets Cruiser C-57D are also kinda sexist horndogs towards Altaira... But, c'mon, it was a long space-flight and it's Anne Francis in a miniskirt. They're only human! There was talk about a decade back of J. Michael Straczynski writing a script for a remake. Seems to have vanished into Development Limbo. But, man, imagine how awesome that would be? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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