greensmoke

Watched 'A Man Apart' (2003) last night. Considering it's a revenge movie starring Vin Diesel, the action was pretty dull; the suspense un-suspenseful. I fell asleep.

JeffTheAlpaca

Maybe one of Peter Fonda's last roles

He plays a bong smoking dude who likes karate movies.

rogerrobert69

The Call of Chthulu (2005)

Nice 'false' silent movie based on Lovecraft's short story. Made by two passionate Lovecraft fans in their backyard and old house, this low-budget b&w silent epic is actually really good. The old looks and cheap sfx that the guys chose (as if the film was done at the time of publication, 1928) make it work probably better than it would have in colour and sound. Very enjoyable, including the creature in frame by frame animation.

TheMovieman

Child's Play (2019) — I'm not a fan of remakes but I will say and the 1988 Child's Play is great, but this updated version actually was not at all bad. Unlike The Hustle which was almost a scene-for-scene remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, just gender-swapping the main characters, this one has its own 21st century spin and honestly, it mostly worked. The dark humor and horror really blended well with director Lars Klevberg avoiding the tired jump scares.

An added bonus, Mark Hamill made for a great voice as Chucky, though certainly Brad Dourif is still the best. Also doesn't hurt to have the lovely Aubrey Plaza, but does make me feel old seeing her play a mom... 3.75/5

JeffTheAlpaca

I thought I would give it a second chance but it still sucks

JeffTheAlpaca

This was awful except for maybe the scene with Will Ferrell and Colin Quinn.

No wonder it was released directly to on demand and video.

JeffTheAlpaca

It was not that bad though it was more of a comedy than a action movie but probably funnier than most comedies.

Maybe not worth it to go see in the theater but better as a rental.

asianxcore

Ad Astra (2019)

Enjoyed the first half of the film.

Wasn't too hot on the rest, as it felt a bit aimless.

asianxcore

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

Instead of slaughtering Burmese, John Rambo sets his sights on slaughtering Mexicans.

Everything about this film is pretty standard but the over-the-top violence is hilarious.

greensmoke

Watched 'Monster' (2003) again. What a movie. I never would have guessed that Charlize ever had a performance like that in her.

Christina Ricci never surprises me anymore - she's a magnificent actor. But Charlize? Where did that come from?

L Everett Scott

Wolf Warrior (2015)

One line review: Now I know how those Cannon films starring Chuck Norris must've looked to people abroad.

Longer review: Jacky Wu Jing stars as Leng Feng, a member of the People's Liberation Army who gets recruited to join the Wolf Warriors, China's answer to Delta Force. The rest of the plot involves a crime lord who wants revenge on Leng for killing his brother. That same crime lord enlists a band of mercenaries led by Scott Adkins to enter China and bait the PLA into a skirmish (because that's just what you do when you set foot in a heavily militarized communist country).

If you were to replace the Chinese flag with Old Glory and digitally map American faces onto the soldiers in this film, you'd probably think you were watching a Michael Bay movie. There is some serious military porn in this thing--tanks, helicopters, APCs, land mines, sniper rifles, and whatever else you can name are all in this film. China has never been shy about using actual military equipment and personnel in their movies and Wolf Warrior is especially not shy.

The action is passable but is more about quantity than quality. The movie lays some groundwork early on to establish Wu's character and to introduce the crime lord, but once Adkins and his group engage the PLA (about a third of the way into the film), it's wall-to-wall gunfire, explosions, and knife fights.

The action might be enough to keep some viewers occupied, but the chest beating and flag waving will really test your tolerance for that sort of thing. Just to give you an idea of what you're dealing with, before the PLA go in pursuit of the invading mercenaries, each man puts on a red patch featuring the Chinese flag and a motto that reads (in Englsh) I FIGHT FOR CHINA. These patches get some close-ups just to make sure you can see them clearly and actually figure into the final showdown between Adkins and Wu.

So is Wolf Warrior worth watching? As an action film, maybe...depends on how much Chinese nationalism you can handle. As a curio, most definitely--if you wanted to see a Delta Force or Rambo movie where the Asians are the protagonists then you need to watch this movie.

One last thing: Wolf Warrior contains a PSA that's shown up in many war films. The movie reminds you once again that if you're in the military, don't show pictures of your family to anybody because that's just asking for it.

JeffTheAlpaca

It was boring.


They had to find a role for Tiffany Haddish in this movie

greensmoke

I watched the 2011 remake of 'Straw Dogs'.

Compared to Peckinpah's 1971 original, this Rod Lurie misstep is truly weak. And he knows it too - he spends the entire commentary track trying to justify his changes. He's not one bit convincing.

Everything that was great about the Peckinpah film - the locale, the acting, the reality, the believable-ness of the situations and narrative, the complex psychological undertones - are utterly inferior as filmed in this remake.

Where Peckinpah's version is a 9.5, Lurie's is a 4.5.

TheMovieman

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) — Beautiful movie from Guillermo del Toro and while I did like the movie and its World War II-era plot, I can't say I was totally in love, feeling this was more style over substance, though the acting from the young Ivana Baquero was really good. 4.0/5

Shaft (2019) — Unnecessary and forgettable but still somewhat entertaining flick that excels due to Samuel L. Jackson, while Jessie T. Usher shows he's a really bad actor. Nothing special but still managed to beat my low expectations. 3.0/5

JeffTheAlpaca

Maybe the most annoying Paul Rudd character ever but watchable for the chemistry between him and Reese.

Christine Taylor (Ben Stiller's ex) was smoking hot.

I don't think this was released in the theaters back in 1996.

TheMovieman

Inside Man: Most Wanted (2019) — Throwaway sequel that had been long gestating before someone else took up the mantle and made what is an otherwise serviceable but forgettable movie. Acting was so-so with Aml Ameen seemingly doing his best to play the similar cocky character as Washington in the first, I will give it credit for tying to the original at least rather than one of these sequels-in-name-only. 2.75/5

JeffTheAlpaca

Almost everybody in the cast from this 2006 film James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dominic Cooper, and Rebecca Hall have gotten leading roles in movies and TV shows.

James Corden played the metalhead

asianxcore

Gags The Clown (2018)

While the sporadic nature of Gags The Clown himself is creepy, the entire film doesn't deliver a whole lot of tension or scares.

asianxcore

Wildlife (2018)

Beautifully shot. Performances from Mulligan, Gyllenhaal & Oxenbould are great, even though the situation they are in is a bit over-the-top at times.

asianxcore

The Siren (The Rusalka) (2019)

Solid casting. Beautiful film.

Though at 80-minutes, it still felt a bit long and repetitive.

rogerrobert69

Amos 'N' Andy: Check and Double Check (1930)

These guys would be put on death row nowadays if they tried a whole black face movie like that. It was totally stereotyped back then and somewhat racist but in our politically correct era (full of mean elected bigot morons ironically!) it would be unthinkable. To their defence it was a radio show written and voiced by two white actors doing black characters in Harlem so when they moved to the big screen they had a big dilemma. They did black face them but both regretted it and when they did a TV show a few years later they hired black actors to play the parts.
Other than the historical and sociological curios from the film, it's pretty forgettable comedy.

rogerrobert69

The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb (1993)

Insane and bizarre and gross a lot of the time animated stop. motion picture. Tim Burton without restraints or Terry Gilliam let loose! In a baby factory, something goes wrong and a normal baby turns out miniature. His parents are happy but the state police comes back to claim the defective child. Tom will escape from their grip and try to find his parents again. But all goes sour for him one scene after another!

rogerrobert69

Flavia the Heretic (1974)

Nunsploitation based on a true story of 14th century 'feminist' who falls in love with a muslim invader and is sent to a convent. Disgusted by the forced submission of women in her entourage and society in general she'll lead a rebellion against Christians, her family, and the whole shebang the first chance she gets. But since it was all too historical and serious, the director/producers added a drug-induced dream sequence where the nuns have an orgy with the soldiers in the convent. And then everyone is massacred bloodily! It wouldn't be a good old nunsploitation without it!

rogerrobert69

Julieta (2016)

One of the most recent Pedro Almodovar is more serious than some of his earlier stuff. Enjoyable well-crafted drama about a single mother who looses her teen daughter to some sort of sect and doesn't get to see her for over a decade. When she tought she could get her life back on track, news of her daughter come up and mess her plans (and mind) real bad.
Nice and not as weird as some of his other ones. Hardly any transvestites in this one!

rogerrobert69

Don Quichotte (1992)

Orson Welles shot mostly silent footage over a period of 12-14 years for this very personal project. He died before he could edit it and didn't leave any script nor dialogues - which he kept in his head for fear producers would take the project from him as they did most of his films- just a few notes. Jess Franco, of all people, took the rushes he could find and built his own vision of what Welles' film might have been like. Dialogues, plot and pace. Intercut with some footage of Orson himself as if he was filming it and interacting with the two actors (but in fact taken from a documentary on the director). The picture within the picture.
Its a bizarre end result, with a good first half and then a weird and not so interesting second hour without Don Quichotte (stuff shot in Spain during Franco's dictature a country the actor had fled because of his republican convictions) where Sancho errs in modern times and is mystified by television and missiles shooting planes down. It left me only wondering what it might have been if Welles had completed it himself. An interesting experience for film lovers but not at all essential viewing by far.