Watched in 2011

Yesterday He Was a Decent Man Living a Decent Life.
Now He is a Brutal Savage Who Must Slaughter to Stay Alive.

Seems to me to try too hard to be a sleazy, "grindhouse style" exploitation film, but not much more. In the end though, this movie is, obviously, all about the action - cliches and all - which it has a fair share of. If that's all you're looking for in a movie, then this will likely float your boat. Leave your brain at the door.

Watched on: Jan. ??, 2011

More fun than games!

The movie was/had pretty much everything I expected, so I wasn't disappointed. By no means a masterpiece...or even good...but if you are into schlocky 80s teensploitation flicks, and/or videogames, then this is probably right up your alley. It is what it is.

To break the driver, the cop was willing to break the law.

Must see for anyone that digs movies with cool cars, and car chases. Some awesome stunt driving, solid story, and solid acting make this a fun little trip. I like the fact that no one really has a name, like in Two Lane Blacktop. It's "The Driver" versus "The Detective". Nice and simple, and it's better for it.

Great little docu, if you're into cinematography at all. Has LOTS of cinematographers sharing their insights, and stories. The only gripe I have with it, is that it's done all in these short little cuts, so you never really get to hear too much from any one cinematographer. There is over 100 of them here, so I can see why they didn't spend too much time on each, but I still would have liked to hear more from each of them, instead of just a couple sentences at a time about the given topic.

Some very funny business.

Being a Landis film, I knew I'd enjoy this one on some level. Solid comedy, and good choice of stars. This is John Landis, Eddie Murphy, and Dan Aykroyd in their prime...Though I have to say that Aykroyd has had better performances before and since. I just didn't care for his character as much as I would have liked in this movie, but he still does a good job. Eddie Murphy, on the other hand, made me chuckle in most of his scenes. This was before he started wearing "fat-suits" and doing garbage like The Nutty Professor.

Humanity's last hope... Rests on a high power machine gun!

Some cool zombie makeup, and overall decent gore effects are the highlights of this wannabe oldschool "grindhouse" splatter film. Not a fan of the casting choices, much like Machete. Overall though, I suppose it's a fun little no brainer, if you dig gore, and some occasional cool makeup efects.

The Strangest Vengeance Ever Planned!

Great cinematography, great writing/story, great acting, and gorgeous Janet Leigh to top it all off. Great movie. Let's put it this way...If this movie only consisted of the awesome opening tracking shot, I'd still give it a 9. They should have had a real Mexican, or Spanish person playing Heston's role though. He did a decent job, I guess, and he doesn't play a stereotypical Mexican, which is good, especially considering this was the 50s, and racism, and racial stereotypes were still pretty common. He just didn't sound or really seem Mexican, besides his darkened face (makeup? tan? I don't know). I suppose they needed stars in the leading roles though.

A Girl Can Lift A Fellow To The Skies!

Paul Newman is great as Rocky. Classic rags to riches story. Have never read the book, and don't know much, if anything, about the real Rocky Graziano, but it was still enjoyable none the less. I have to wonder if Rocky (1976) was influenced by this movie/story...they do have a couple of similarities (both rags to riches stories, with italian american boxers, both named Rocky). IMDb doesn't mention any connection between the movies though, so maybe it's just coincidence.

You Don't Have To Go To Texas For A Chainsaw Massacre!

Total trash, in the best way. A lot of the acting is pretty awful, but in a "so bad it's good" kind of way, and the awfulness is exaggerated by the dubbing, if you're watching the English dub. Some of the acting isn't too bad though, honestly. I've seen worse. The movie is mostly gore, and sleaze, with a fairly simple slasher framework, and a few twists, to hold it all together. The gore effects aren't bad most of the time, actually, and call me a pig, but I can't argue against some nude women here and there. The soundtrack, though fairly simplistic, isn't too bad either. Nothing too exciting in terms of cinematography. A sprinkling of good shots. Oh...and I can't forget to mention the "kung fu professor" scene. WTF. This is the kind of movie that Planet Terror, Machete, and to a lesser degree Death Proof, can only aspire to be. Overall, a prime example of trashy cinema.

The nightmare world of a virgin's dreams becomes the screen's shocking reality!

A great, slow descent into madness, with a swingin' 60s soundtrack, and some stylish cinematography. Well worth a watch, if you dig psychological horror, and don't mind a slower paced film. Catherine Deneuve does a great job playing the shy, disturbed girl, Carole, and looks gorgeous doing it too.

Bill Cosby as you've never seen him before... Invisible.

Average. That pretty much sums this movie up. The only reason I watched this, is because it was on TV. The tagline should actually read "Bill Cosby as you've never wanted to see him before...Invisible. I don't think I'll be watching this again any time soon. Even Leonard Part 6 was better, IMO.

Eric's new in the neighborhood. Mac's new on the planet.

This movie deserves a better rating than a 3 - 4. It's by no means a great movie, and is obviously a rip off of E.T., but I've seen much worse. It's a slightly above average family film, with a few "so bad it's good" moments. I have to say though, that the aliens are pretty creepy looking, and not at all as "cute" as I think they meant for them to be. It also looks like they wanted to make a sequel, judging by the ending, but alas, it never happened. Too bad. Worth a watch, even if only for the hilarious wheelchair/cliff scene, the girl/vacuum scene, and the McDonalds dance scene.

The mob wanted Harlem back. They got shaft...up to here.

The man...and the motion picture that simply do not conform.

From the creators of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" - something even faster.

Your countdown to Hell is about to begin!

You know a movie is going to be good when the title is accompanied by some flashing and "laser" sound effects. This Alien knockoff is by no means "good", but has some redeeming values. The acting is SBIG (So Bad It's Good), and there are even a couple of notable actors here; Ray Walston, Robert Englund, and Sid Haig. Another person of note is James Cameron, who designed the sets, which are pretty good for a low budget movie. From alien rape, to giant shurikens, to gore, to cartoon sound effects, to inept music...this movie has lots to love. If you dig schlock, it's worth a watch. And I guess I should say that it's not a total ripoff of Alien, as it has a number of differing elements...but it is certainly heavily influenced by Alien.

Trust us.

Not Zemeckis's best work, but the movie wasn't bad overall. Decent writing, and decent acting hold it together. Nothing too notable about this one. I'm not sure it needed to be 2 hours long though.

Gene Hackman is a cop who's lost his paitence. Dan Aykroyd is his partner who's lost his mind.

This movie goes to show how poor writing can ruin a movie, even with good leading actors. Definitely a low point in both Hackman's and Aykroyd's careers, if you ask me. Pretty much a typical buddy cop movie, with Hackman playing the unconventional "hard-nosed" cop, and Aykroyd, his partner, a mentally unstable cop with multiple personalities. The problem here is that Aykroyd's other personalities, which are supposed to offer comic relief, aren't really that funny (IMO). They usually consist of mediocre impressions of cartoon characters, or movie/TV icons. Also, the chemistry between Hackman and Aykroyd is a little lacking. I guess Hackman's performance is decent though. Overall, pretty average, bordering on below average.

Beyond 1984, Beyond 2001, Beyond Love, Beyond Death.

Holy crap. What did I just watch? Was that Sean Connery wearing a red diaper (or whatever it is), and thigh high leather boots? Yes it was. Did that giant, flying stone head just puke up a bunch of guns and ammo? Yes it did. I'm not even sure what to say about this movie, so I will just quote a line from from it:

"The gun is good. The penis is evil..."

There is a little more after that, but that segment pretty much explains everything. Definitely worth a watch, if only for it's obscurity, and a chance to see Connery in a red diaper, and thigh high boots. Actually it has some interesting ideas, solid acting, and good cinematography - if you can see past the strangeness/goofiness, which can be hard at times.

Put your hands on our hands and feel the... VIBES.

I've never been one for romantic comedies, but occasionally I'll see one that I like (Benny & Joon, or What's Eating Gilbert Grape, for example). This one was only OK. It probably only really deserves a 5 - 5.5, but I enjoy Jeff Goldblum, and Cyndi Lauper, so it got a 6 out of me. The film isn't all that great though, to be honest, with fairly weak story, writing, and acting.

Watched on: Feb. 6, 2011

Any resemblance between Father and Son is purely hysterical.

Caught this on TV. Deserves a bit better than a 5.2. Not a great film by any means, but a bit better than average. Gave me a chuckle here and there, and that's all I expected from it. Denzel Washington isn't all that great in it though, to be honest. Not the greatest start for him, I don't think, but not horrible.

Watched on: Feb. 7, 2011

It's about falling in love...for the first time.

That's 2 romantic comedies in about 2 days...normally I'd average maybe 2 a year, but I'm trying to be more open to all genres of film lately. This is a great coming of age romantic comedy. Good writing, good acting, solid direction, and solid cinematography. Corey Haim is in his prime here, with Charlie Sheen, Kerri Green, and Winona Ryder also giving solid performances. An essential 80's coming of age film.

Watched on: Feb. 8, 2011

Please don't reveal the secret of The Other.

The 70s spawned a few notable "creepy children" films, with The Other being one of them. Not a great movie, and can be a bit cheesy at times (not necessarily a bad thing, if you're like me), but has some nice cinematography here and there, occasional atmosphere, and a decent enough story to hold it together. The acting isn't great, but not bad. Truly good child actors are few and far between, but the kids in this do a decent job. Going to have to read the book sometime. I'm sure it's 100x better than the movie, as is usually the case in book adaptations.

Watched on: Feb. 9, 2011

Judge, Jury, and Executioner.

Saw the VHS for this in a rental place when I was younger (had to be at least 15 years ago), and always dug the cover art (same as the poster), but never rented it for some reason. Finally found a copy, and gave it a watch. It's absolutely ridiculous - in the best way. I don't know why, but it seems they dubbed a lot of the dialog in this, but did a poor job doing it. The main protagonist is dubbed by this stiff sounding dude (or maybe it's the same actor?), whose voice sticks out like a sore thumb, due to some piss poor mixing I guess. Besides the bad dubbing though, this movie is "direct to video" gold, with enough cheese and low budget action to keep anyone like me satisfied. It's basically a poor man's Robocop/Terminator, but infinitely crappier. A must watch for any lovers of low budget cheese.

Watched on: Feb. 10, 2011

In the wasteland...only the strong survive.

Bitchin' hairdos, bitchin' outfits, bitchin' synth soundtrack, plenty of cheesy action, some occasionally rad gore effects, and more stabs (often used in conjunction with a jump scare in horror movies) than you can shake a stick at. It shares a few similarities to The Road Warrior (the cars, the two rival groups, some of the situations), but has enough differences to set it apart. Compared to The Road Warrior, it has more action, more violence, more fleshed out characters, multiple heroes, and a little more backstory. A fun/entertaining little movie (like all of Castellari's movies I've seen). Another one for low budget cheese lovers.

Watched on: Feb. 11, 2011

Help is on the way!

A lot of people seem to really enjoy this movie, judging by the reviews on IMDb. I'm not exactly sure what they see in it, but I think I'm missing it. It's not a bad movie by any means, but it's not great either, or at least I didn't think so. I found it to be a mildly entertaining, and mildly charming movie, with a good message. I guess it might be great if you're a big Ritter fan, or love all things superhero related. Overall a solid romantic comedy, with a bit of action for good measure.

Watched on: Feb. 13, 2011

It's Tremendous! It's Stupendous!! It's Fun!!!

"I am Hercules!"

That could very well be Arnold's first ever trademark one liner. Schwarzenegger goes by a shorter, more North American friendly name (the very unoriginal "Strong") here, like a lot of foreign actors do. This is the only time he ever used that name. This is an awful little film, but in a SBIG way. Schwarzenegger speaks poor English, his acting is very wooden, and his face lacks any expression. The upside to that is that almost everything he says is chuckle inducing. Stang, on the other hand, is actually pretty good, playing Schwarzenegger's "nebbish" little buddy. It's too bad there isn't more of him in the movie. Overall a pretty tame, and even slightly boring, family film, with a few chuckles here and there, thanks to Schwarzenegger's inept acting.

Watched on: Feb. 14, 2011

N/A

This film was made in 1974, but wasn't released until 1997 because, according to IMDb, the producer "was killed during the final stages of production. His entire estate (including the sole unfinished work print of Rabid Dogs) was seized and impounded by an Italian court". That is unfortunate because this is actually a pretty good heist film. I call it a heist film, but the heist really only takes up the first 10 minutes or so of the movie. The rest takes place on the road, mostly inside a cramped car. The plot, and characters, are what make this movie interesting though. The movie goes from a heist film, to something like a road film, with a few twists. There are actually two different versions of this movie (Rabid Dogs and Kidnapped), but I watched Rabid Dogs, which is considered by most to be the better version. Worth a watch if you enjoy Bava's films, or a good crime film, and don't mind a bit of sleaziness.

Watched on: Feb. 15, 2011

N/A

The above video is actually the entire short. Watch it.

A part of Disney's past that most people don't know about, and that Disney, for obvious reasons, doesn't really advertise or tout. Disney was involved in making quite a number of anti-Nazi propaganda shorts during WW2. I was torn on whether to give this a low rating, because it's shamelessly racist, and a piece of propaganda, or to give it a higher rating, because it's wonderfully animated, and chuckle inducing because of it's absurdity. I settled for a 3 star rating. I really dig the animation, but I don't dig the racism, or propaganda.

Watched on: Feb. 16, 2011

There's A New Name For Terror... Parents

A bizarre little black comedy from Bob Balaban, with good writing, good acting, and some good cinematography. Deserves better than the 6.1 it has on IMDb. This film has an occasionally surreal, suburban nightmare quality to it that I really dig, and the 2 child actors in it (Bryan Madorsky & London Juno) do a fantastic job, not to mention everyone else. Bryan Madorsky in particular is quite good as the introverted, suspicious/paranoid son, and I'm surprised he didn't go on to do more movies. Definitely worth a watch for anyone that enjoys a good black comedy.

Watched on: Feb. 16, 2011