Vipper II

Yes Day - it's pure fluff and nothing more, but I was entertained.

JeffTheAlpaca

It was not horrible but I thought it would be loaded with special effects but more of a drama.

There was a Twilight Zone episode where a family was prepared and had a bomb shelter and the others despised them and kind of reminded me of that.

Cellar Door

Synchronic - Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan star in the new movie from the directors of Resolution, Spring, and The Endless.

DWilson

The Honest Thief Amazon Prime
Liam Neeson.
A bank robber wants to turn himself in to the FBI after he finds Love, but a crooked Fed frames him and he ends up on the run.

Entertaining, -in a well-thumbed paperback novel sort of way. The script jumps through a lot of narrative hoops to keep Neeson's character sympathetic, and for a smart guy, he gets into all this trouble by being shockingly naive.

Frankenstein Created Woman Shout Factory BD
Peter Cushing
One of the better Hammer Gothics. More of a Science-Fantasy than Science-Fiction, as Frankenstein transplants the soul of wrongly executed man into the body of his dead girlfriend, who then goes on a path of bloody revenge. Shout did some nice work with this package and their are some nice supplements. I'd only ding it for a few scenes that were shot "Day-for-Night" and the "Night" filters are missing; the film cuts from an interior night scene to the outside at the same time and it's bright as day.

mwbmis

The Bourne Supremacy - The next Bourne movie. I remember this being my favorite of the first three. I don't know if that is still the case. (MA)

JeffTheAlpaca

Amazon Prime

Great performance by Jamie Bell and Vera Farmiga was good as the hag.

I was all in the begining and then lost steam in the middle but picked up near the end.

mwbmis

Thor: Ragnarok - The next Marvel. This is probably the one I've revisited the most in recent years.

L Everett Scott

Sheitan (2006)


Apparently, if you're about 20 years old, love French gangsta rap, and are looking for a secluded place to hook up, going to the backwoods of France is not a good idea. Sheitan has a premise not too far removed from Texas Chainsaw or Wrong Turn where kids take a trip out to the sticks and meet some locals who don't seem right.

In this movie, the country folk are actually pretty friendly but do weird things like offer you milk...which you have to drink by getting down on all fours as it's squirted into your mouth straight from a goat. The fellow doing the offering is a farmhand named Joseph (Vincent Cassel) who sports a shit-eating grin that would make The Joker really nervous. He seems warm and welcoming but also completely oblivious to how offensive he's being to the kids (which include a Middle Eastern girl, a Black fellow, and an Asian) by referring to them using racial slurs. The group of youngsters just go with the weirdness of Joseph and the other locals because they drove a long way at the invitation of a hottie from the area and might get themselves some tasty Christmas pudding if they play their cards right.

Mind you, it's tempting to think that these kids deserve exactly what's coming to them when they arrive at the farmhouse and find a creepy workshop with dismembered parts of dolls that would be creepy even if they're properly assembled...and they decide to stick around. Joseph's very pregnant wife, Marie, also lives there but she's not greeting the visitors because (unknown to them) she's busy making one of those creepy dolls in preparation for...something. The gang still don't take a hint when at Christmas dinner Joseph starts telling a story about a man who made a deal with Satan during the most wonderful time of the year. Just remember, these kids have a working vehicle, so their decision to stay at this place is totally on them, making them seem less sympathetic when the Worst Christmas Ever erupts.

This is a film that works pretty well for about 2/3 of its running time. From what I've read, the unknowns who make up most of the cast had no acting experience, but it doesn't show as they're all quite good. But they're nowhere near the level of Vincent Cassel who is almost unrecognizable with a bushy moustache, some impossible-to-ignore false teeth, and a constant lunatic grin. He's the main reason to see this movie because he puts on a masterclass of how to come across as somebody who's not entirely balanced but is friendly enough that you don't want to offend him.

The movie gets the vibe right by creating a sense of there being something wrong with the country village without resorting to anything that's over the top. The young locals are like Joseph--there's something that's a little unsettling about them but it's hard to pinpoint exactly what. Joseph introduces one of the visitors to his niece, and he seems quite eager for them to like each other. She's definitely like her uncle: a little too friendly and likes to laugh for no reason.

Sheitan builds to Christmas Eve where you know the proverbial fan is getting into a collision. The movie doesn't disappoint as all the insanity that's lurking beneath the surface for most of the film gets unleashed. But then the film forgets (or doesn't bother) to explain things. Violence explodes because somebody gets provoked but then it just continues and escalates seemingly because the angry individual can't put on the brakes. Marie (remember her?) shows up to deliver one of the more shocking moments in the movie while the visiting kids get into a high-speed chase, fights, and a hit-and-run. When they finally come to their senses and attempt to escape, they're not in agreement about the 'no one gets left behind' policy so you're not sure where everyone is by the time the end credits roll. Just for good measure, there's a sequence thrown in during all the chaos that's not at the farmhouse, and it appears to be in the movie primarily to mess with you and make you have doubts about everything you saw up until that point.

Sheitan has a lot of good elements in it, and I'd go so far as to say it's a good horror movie for the most part. The last third, though, is a bit of a mess and feels like it was rushed. It might be that the filmmakers had most of the movie figured out but only had vague notions about what would happen in the last part and didn't bother to nail down the ending before filming. That's a shame because the movie really seemed to be headed somewhere, but the wheels come off just when it gets to the really interesting bit.

asianxcore

The Killer (1989)

Love this film.

Re-watching it for the millionth time was just what I needed yesterday evening.

mwbmis

Joe's Palace - Odd film about a simple young man who works as a security doorman for the large mansion of an eccentric billionaire. It didn't entirely work for me, but there were some interesting moments. (HBO Max)

See No Evil - Glenn "Kane" Jacobs stars as a slasher killer in this 2006 film. I really don't have any idea why I watched this. (HBO Max)

The Night Before (1988) - I had never heard of this, though I did recognize the poster box so I must have seen it on VHS tapes in video stores through the years. Keanu Reeves stars a nerd highschooler who gets to take the popular girl (Lori Loughlin) to Prom because she lost a bet. Hijinks ensue. It was nothing you haven't seen before in better movies. (HBO Max)

JeffTheAlpaca

If somebody placed a bet with you in 2006 that in 14 years Nnamdi Asomugha from the Raiders would be one of the leads in a movie streaming on Amazon nobody would believe you.

This was not that bad and usually not my favorite genre so that says something. I liked the old time feel and look of the film and Tessa Thompson another good performance.

JeffTheAlpaca

Amazon Prime

Kyle Allen from the Washington football team and Kathryn Newton are in it.

Maybe a Palm Springs wannabe.

It was not horrible and I liked it but not loved it. Maybe others might think it is a masterpiece.

DWilson

RAD Showtime

I had never heard of "RAD" until it recently turned up on blu-ray and 4K and people on the boards seemed pretty jazzed about it. It's directed by Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit) and it's an "underdog" Sports story about a teen who gets a shot at the big time when a major BMX competition comes to his small town. It's pretty much a prime slice of '80s cheese that hits all the cliches of the era. It didn't do much for me, but I don't fault anyone for enjoying it, -I can't explain why I bought that "Breakin'" two-pack a few months back.

Why So Blu?

Zack Snyder's Justice League

JeffTheAlpaca

I don't understand the harsh reviews

It was weird but in a good way

JeffTheAlpaca

Maybe fans of Cronenberg films will love this directed by his son.

JeffTheAlpaca

It was hard to believe that the Rashida character who could not find any guy that could satisfy her is attached only to Samberg's character

Why So Blu?

ZSJL
The Ten Commandments

Good thing I had the day off today!

DJariya

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

Way better than the hacked up sabotaged theatrical version.

8.5 out of 10 and a B+ from me. We likely would not have gotten a 4 hour version in theatres (probably 3 at most), but this was or should have been DC's version of Infinity War and End game.

rbrown498

It's rather astounding how influential this film has been. Buster at the top of his game.

JeffTheAlpaca

Amazon Prime

This was not that bad and based on a true story.

Probably it would have been amazing to see on the big screen.

You could not pay me enough money to go in a hot air balloon.

JeffTheAlpaca

CInemax

I tried to give it a second watch and it still sucks

Cellar Door

Skylines - third movie in this trilogy, it was just added to Netflix. This was easily the weakest of the three. It's pretty much just a series of fight/battle scenes strung together with a thin plot.

Nick Danger

This week we're watching movies that everyone else has seen before.

Lilo and Stitch. It wasn't one of Disney's better efforts. I didn't really start enjoying myself until the last act. The aliens were good looking. Mrs Danger loved the character design of four-eyed scientist. Ving Rhames was great as the menacing social worker.

Mission Impossible (1996). It was full of old cinematic ideas that were worn out, and Brian DePalma made them work again. I'm still smiling and happy. Ving Rhames played the boring role of being the one person we could trust.

DJariya

Raya and the last Dragon (2021)

Saw it in the theater tonight. Really entertaining and beautiful looking animated movie with great characters, beautiful animation and a good story with heart and humor.

8.5 out of 10 and a B+