asianxcore

Friday the 13th (1980)

Classic. As many times as I've watched this film, I never grow tired re-visiting it.

I'm always surprised at how likeable the entire cast (of counselors) are, especially Adrienne King.

Cellar Door

The Battery - low budget zombie flick on Amazon Prime. This is pretty amateurish. It feels like a film-school project. A lot of the standard tropes are present, but not used in an interesting way. The whole thing is about these two friends and how they are surviving together. It tries to be somewhat light in tone, but then takes a sudden darker turn at the end. There's a montage in the middle of the guys goofing off and having fun, that just goes on way too long. And then later one of the final scenes goes on and on and on. I think the intent was to build tension, but it didn't--it was just boring. And then there's a quick scene and then the whole thing was finally over.

Skip it.

Eye Candy

Crown Vic on the Plex Roku Channel.

JeffTheAlpaca

From that forgotten era in 2008 when Hollywood made these type of comedies for a theatrical release.

Maybe the second time I saw it and still has some good laughs.

L Everett Scott

^Pretty solid comedy...back in that Hollywood era when Seann William Scott was the go-to sidekick.

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Caught up with this flick which I had been curious about for ages...


This is one of the rare instances where I wanted to check out a film because of the movie poster. It was obviously a fantasy film, but the poster made it look like it was animated. Well, was I in for a surprise.

Ink was apparently made on a budget of $250,000 and is a modern day fantasy involving Storytellers (dream weavers as far as I can understand) and Incubi (the devils on your shoulder who tell you to give into your darker instincts). The title character is like something out of an '80s Muppet movie, a man wearing tatters who has an enormous beak-like nose. He captures the soul(?) of a little girl named Emma and tries to bring her to the Incubi in exchange for some reward, possibly a cure for suffering that he's experiencing. The Storytellers try to prevent Ink from handing over Emma and have several battles with him and the Incubi throughout the movie.

This is a movie that's loaded with ideas and coy about a number of things to give audiences stuff to ponder about. In terms of what's crystal clear, there's a storyline involving Emma and her widowed father, John, who is focused on his work. He's deeply involved in trying to acquire a business for his company when Ink takes Emma's soul, something he doesn't know about since the dreaming world and its inhabitants are completely invisible to the normal world of mortals. John finds out that something's wrong when his father-in-law tells him that Emma has gone into a coma, but the acquisition hinges upon John hand-delivering papers that have to be signed, so he has to choose between his daughter and his work duties.

Anyone who isn't deeply cynical will guess what lesson the movie wants to teach. Obviously, John needs to drop the work stuff and be a good dad to save his little girl. (Just because this particular moral-of-the-story is so hackneyed, I'd love to see movies that go the other way. At the very least, I'd like to see

The nature of the Storytellers and the Incubi aren't really explored. It's clear they're opposing forces, but the mythology behind them is virtually non-existent. The movie just drops hints, such as the possibility that the two groups are essentially angels and demons that people turn into after death.

I think the lack of solid answers regarding these beings is one of the things that fans of this movie have really latched on to. There's a lot to interpret and speculate about, so the dreaming world is the source of endless debates and discussion.

I admire the ambitions behind this movie. As anyone who pays any kind of attention to filmmaking would know, shooting a movie on a $250,000 budget that has to cover special effects is a pretty tall order these days. The prosthetics for Ink show that this is a low-budget production as the character is very obviously an actor in makeup. On the other hand, the design of the Incubi is pretty impressive given the limited resources and quite original, not too mention very memorable. The acting is passable, but no one jumps out as a potential star in the making.

With the budget being as small as it is, it made sense for the story to be set in the present day and the movie does a decent enough job blending the fantastic elements with actual urban environments. (If I'm not mistaken, the movie was shot in Denver. How often do you hear that?)

One of the things that really took me out of the film, though, was the Storytellers' dialogue. It's a bit too modern and prosaic for my tastes and made the movie seem amateurish, like a student film or even a high school play. The oblique way that the Incubi speak is considerably better because their dialogue sells the fantastic element of the story.

I'm also not a fan of quick cutting, and there's *a lot* of it during the fight sequences. I get that not having professional stunt doubles means the actors have to pull off action scenes, and obviously you don't anyone getting hurt, so conveying action through heavy editing is probably the most economical way around the problem. In terms of visual storytelling, it's a bit of a mess, rather distracting, and really takes away from the movie. I'm thinking that maybe hand-to-hand combat wasn't the way to go, that maybe the magic elements should've been played up to eliminate the need for simulated fighting.

Ink is a mixed bag for me. I give the filmmakers props for putting together a movie they're obviously passionate about and for reaching for the stars despite having the constraints of a small budget. Having said that, I can't say that I had a great time watching this movie. I have nothing against small budget films (I actually watch quite a few of them) or fantasy. I just think Ink may have extended itself beyond its reach and left something to be desired in its execution.

LorenzoL

The Big Heat (1953)
First time seeing this Noir and I loved it! I love the cast with Glenn Ford, a young Lee Marvin along and Gloria Grahame in a "scorching" role.

JeffTheAlpaca

Never knew this existed until I browsed Netflix


I liked it and Leto was a bad ass

asianxcore

Dead Alive (1992)

On countless viewings, this film continues to be as hilarious & gross as the first time I ever saw it over 20+ years ago.

It's pure anarchy and I absolutely love it.

asianxcore

Suspiria (1977)

Can't say anything that hasn't already been said about this classic film.

This particular viewing was wonderful, as I got to experience Synapse Films' 4K UHD release of the film.

Absolutely beautiful!

JeffTheAlpaca

It is advertised as a drama but has more comedy than drama

It was ok but seemed kind of cheesy and something that would have came out in the 90's.

It would be nice if Downey did more dramas

asianxcore

Psycho (1960)

Never gets old. Eerie & enthralling throughout.

Runaway

The Hunt (2020)

I am pretty sure the whole controversy was a PR stunt. The movie is just a funnier version of the Purge movies.

LorenzoL

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
The first 20 minutes of this movie is a perfect introduction to Jean Arthur and her onscreen persona. Then she becomes a secondary character, overtaken by the Cary Grant (understandable) and the story. I still love this movie and it's our first introduction to Rita Hayworth.

JeffTheAlpaca

I though Richard Dreyfuss was retired or he made that up since he does not get jobs in the big movies anymore.

Why So Blu?

Tigers Are Not Afraid - it was fucking badass! It's basically City of God mixed in with some Devil's Backbone/Pan's Labyrinth and a dash of Lord of the Flies.

JeffTheAlpaca

You are not missing anything though Fichtner directed it

LorenzoL

The Talk of the Town (1942)
It wasn't what I expected but I liked it. Jean Arthur deciding between Cary Grant and Ronald Colman which I didn't know who she will end up with until the end. I need to remember to always keep a wrench just in case...

asianxcore

The Hunt (2020)

Betty Gilpin is the glue that holds together a film that isn't as smart or witty as it thinks it is.

A few of the death scenes in the film are pretty hilarious.

This was the first of a Double Feature that I was able to see at a local Drive-In Theater (with new COVID-19 rules & restrictions).

asianxcore

The Invisible Man (2020)

I wasn't able to see this while it was in theaters but saw it a bit ago on VOD.

Second-viewing was just as strong as the first due to Elisabeth Moss' fantastic performance as well as a great script from Leigh Whannell.

This was the second of a Double Feature that I saw at a local Drive-In Theater, paired up with The Hunt (2020).

milo bloom

Lego Movie 2 - a lot of fun and a good message. Will Arnett continues to be the second best Batman after Kevin Conroy.

TheMovieman

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) — Cute, family-friendly, comedy that's entertaining enough and sees Jim Carrey back in whacky, over-the-top form that's been missing the past decade plus it seems, and he works so well in this kind of film. Nothing innovative and the visual effects are hit or miss, however Sonic's design was well done (so thankfully the initial version was scrapped and redone from scratch). ***½/*****

L Everett Scott

Dreyfuss was on the Kermode and Mayo Film Review Podcast a couple of weeks back and explained that he was retired and doing academic work at Oxford University. He then revealed that his business manager told him he was in bad financial shape, so he had to take acting gigs again.

That interview is actually quite amusing because he came on the podcast before he was supposed to and overheard the hosts talking about The Deer Hunter. Dreyfuss chimed in and started ripping into Michael Cimino and continued to do so even after the host tried to steer him back to talking about his new movie, Astronaut:


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I was in the mood for a bit of '70s dystopia the other night and caught a film I had never seen before:


This was a fun bit of exploitation, and I was surprised to find out that it predates The Gumball Rally. David Carradine makes an unlikely romantic lead as the gimpish caped wonder, Frankenstein, while Sylvester Stallone is rather one-note but still entertaining as the quick-tempered Joe Viterbo.

Simone Griffeth really got the short end of the stick in this movie even though she's the leading lady because she plays Annie, Frankenstein's navigator, meaning that she's with Carradine in almost every one of her scenes. This is an issue because David Carradine is very clearly the best actor in the movie, so he just runs circles around her in the acting department. Of course, anybody who's seen this movie will be quick to point out that Griffeth has assets other than her thespian skills that the film takes advantage of, and I would certainly not argue that point.

The race itself is well executed with some well-frame shots of some great stunt driving. The added elements of insurgents trying to sabotage the race and the points system requiring drivers to run over pedestrians put a button on the absolutely outrageous nature of the competition and, with luck, will prevent anyone from taking the movie too seriously.

Death Race 2000 is a pretty fun time. It has fast cars, some gratuitous female nudity, vehicular homicide, and David Carradine getting into a fist fight with Stallone before he put on boxing gloves. What's not to like?

John Galt

Sicario - fifth or sixth time I've watched since it came out on video and still just as enjoyable.

EddieMoney

The House That Jack Built (Unrated)

Good one for the family. We all gathered round the TV, six feet apart, and watched Dally Winston bludgeon a woman, slice a chick's tits off, gun down some little kids, and all types of horrific shit to avenge the death of Ralph Macchio,

TheMovieman

The Postcard Killings (2020) — Generally I like these crime-dramas, which I is why I also watched CSI and Criminal Minds when they were on. However, this adaptation of the James Patterson/Liza Marklund novel has some editing problems and sloppy dialogue. There were a couple okay scenes that did surprise, otherwise it kind of plods along at a slow pace. If not for Jeffrey Dean Morgan, this would've been tough to sit through. **¾/*****