Rogue - Megan Fox, mother of three, has been screaming for attention lately so I gave her some. Fox plays the leader of a group of mercenaries terrorized by local rebels and by a rogue lion. I found this to be just as good as a you would expect a movie where Megan Fox leads a group of mercenaries to be. (hulu)

Buffaloed - Lea Thompson's daughter has her moments in this, but the movie just wasn't clever or insightful enough to really be worth watching. (hulu)

I liked Buffaloed and thought it was a good movie

Rogue now that was a shitty movie.

My Fair Lady 4K UHD
"My Fair Lady" is an Absolutely beautiful disc.


The Hand Shout BD
Michael Caine. Directed by Oliver Stone. 1981
A famous cartoonist (Michael Caine) loses his hand in a car accident. Soon, his career is in ruins and his wife has left him, taking their child. As he tries to put his life back together, his lost, amputated hand seems to be finding its way back to him and taking out his perceived enemies along the way.

"The Hand" was an early failure in Oliver Stone's directing career. Stone recalls that Caine hurt his feelings by openly ridiculing the film and saying he only did it for the money. That being said, Caine gives a terrific performance, reminiscentof "Dressed to Kill". "The Hand" is a solid Psychological Thriller for the most part, occasionally undone by some pre-CGI effects work that often looks odd or silly.

A Tarantino knockoff

Unless you are dying to see Crispin Clover play a hit man with a French accent avoid this.

Hulu

It was not LOL funny and could have been better.

Jenny Slate was not afraid to take her clothes for this movie

A rare Zach Galifianakis sighting

Not sure if he is not doing a lot of movies over the years or semi-retired or he is more picky about the roles he gets.

I did not think it was as bad as the reviews and it does not hurt to look at Lily James for more than 2 hrs

I was expecting a bigger twist or surprise at the end.

I wish I lived in that estate or manor that was shown in that movie.

It is expiring from Netflix so I checked it out

It could have been better with that premise

I own it.

it still holds up.

Surprised it never got a sequel or somebody tried to reboot it except for a TV show with Jennifer Aniston.

I always thought Art of Noise did that Oh Yeah song

Not the most upbeat movie but worth seeing for Hopkins and his Oscar winning performance.

Maybe it could be a mystery or thriller without the gore or scares or maybe real life scares

I would be scared if this happened to me or any of my loved ones.

Army of the Dead (2021)

Perfectly average film that surprisingly went by fast, despite its 148-minute run-time, which is due in part to a lot of fun action scenes being strung together.

The Tuxedo (2002) — Came out when Jackie Chan, Jet Li or Chow Yun-fat was doing anything thrown their way in Hollywood, probably thanks to the success of the Rush Hour franchise. The Tuxedo is a middling action-comedy that never really works though you get plenty of gratuitous shots of Jennifer Love Hewitt's cleavage. Has some moments but pretty forgettable even with Chan's martial arts skills on display (but diminished with CGI). **½/*****

Mystery Road (2013) (Hoopla)


This is a police procedural/noir/western/crime thriller fusion in the outback. Just for good measure, it weaves in commentary about the treatment Indigenous people in Australia and has a member of that community as its lead. This is a slow-burn, primarily because according to writer/director/cinematographer/composer Ivan Sen, he wants the audience to walk in the shoes of the protagonist to understand where's coming from.

That leading man, Aaron Pedersen, is a largely stoic hero who has little choice but to tackle the case of a murdered Indigenous girl alone. He is the lone non-white detective on the local police force, which might have something to do with his colleagues being 'too busy' on other cases to help out with his investigation. Pedersen's Detective Jay Swan is in a difficult position not just because he is an outsider amongst the police, but because his people view him with suspicion and disdain for wearing a badge. He's not without flaws as we find out when the film reveals some of his personal life which gets entwined in the case.

Ivan Sen has a great eye for framing shots and beautifully captures the incredible outback scenery using frequent wide shots. Like No Country For Old Men, this movie immerses you in its setting, rarely disrupting the natural soundscape with music. (A number of online comments claim there is no soundtrack, which isn't surprising given how there are just a couple of minutes' worth of music in this two-hour movie.)

People who hate too much exposition will appreciate how much information Sen conveys visually. He provides clues throughout the movie, but you have to be observant and engage your brain to fit together all the pieces. Also, the economy of casting only partially applies in this movie. The big name definitely plays a key role, but this isn't a big studio movie, so things don't play out the way they would in your typical Hollywood fare.

This is one for fans of deliberately paced movies in settings not often seen on film.

A double-feature blu-ray from Shout!

Race With The Devil 1975
Peter Fonda, Warren Oates. Directed by Jack Starrett. 1975
Two couples vacationing together in an R.V. from Texas to Colorado are terrorized after they witness a murder during a Satanic ritual.

I tend to think of this film as a "Chase" film, with Fonda and Oates flying down the road in their RV, fighting off the cultists as they attack them from all sides, -that's certainly how it was advertised. Watching it again, I see that's only one section in the third quarter of the film, but it's a terrific section, with great stuntwork. The bulk of the movie is a paranoid thriller, and a good one at that. An interview with Peter Fonda is included and he greatly enjoyed making the movie; not only did he work with his pal Warren Oates, he had points in the film and made a great deal of money (as he had with "Dirty Mary...").


Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry
Peter Fonda, Susan George. Directed by John Hough. 1974
Down-on-their-luck racers Larry and Deke steal from a supermarket manager to buy a car that will help them advance their racing chances. Their escape does not go as planned when Larry's one-night stand, Mary, tags along for the ride.

"Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry", on the other hand, is a "Chase" movie, and a cult favorite. There are excellent car stunts throughout and a few surprising turns for a "Formula" film. It's Fonda and Susan George who get most of the attention, and I tend to forget that Adam Roarke is even in it, as Fonda's partner-in-crime. And, yet, he has a scene near the end that he pulls off with a lot of finesse and I was really impressed with that. Much like "Vanishing Point", -another "'70s "Chase" movie, -there's a little bit more to it than meets the eye, and both are definitely products of their times. Ten years later, it would be "Smokey and the Bandit".

A good package from Shout, which re-purposes some supplemental material from the old Anchor Bay DVDs of the films.

Scar Jo back in 1996

Did not know she did movies back then.

Once they kidnapped the nurse I lost interest and it was a boring movie.

Rat Race (2001) — Given the ensemble talent involved, and the director, this should've been so much better. I did manage to laugh a few times here and there but otherwise never quite worked. **¾/*****

The Saint (1997) — By no means a great movie but for some reason have been drawn to this one, seeing it 3-4 times over the years. For the most part entertaining though the dialogue was pretty bad, however I like Val Kilmer in the lead and shares some nice scenes with the lovely Elisabeth Shue. ***½/*****

Starts out as a comedy then becomes a Purge spoof

Maybe one or two funny scenes or lines but overall a stupid movie

Except for looking at Julianne Hough's fine ass this is something to avoid.

The acting was not that great either including Dennis Quaid and Miles Teller

Cannery Row - I liked some of the production value, but the story never connected with me. (HBO Max)

John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King

!!!!

Oh, wow, I didn't realize there was a movie--I just watched season 1 of the series Mystery Road, also on Hoopla. According to wikipedia, there are two movies and two seasons of the show, with Pedersen starring in all of them. Season 1 of the series takes place between the two movies and costars Judy Davis as a local police officer. The series is a bit heavy-handed sometimes with its message, but I do like the Swan character. Thanks for posting about the movie, I will check it out now.

ETA: Looks like the second movie, Goldstone, is available on Amazon Prime Video or on Roku Channel (with ads).

Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Shawkat, and Patrick Stewart as a racist and it was still a boring movie.

The 13th Warrior

Netflix streaming

It had its moments but was expecting more

Napoleon Dynamite.

Never saw it before, it was on my "Hmm, I should watch that sometime" list. Finally did.
Pretty enjoyable. It almost hit Royal Tenenbaums level of pretentious and disaffected, but not quite.
Napoleon was pretty hard to like for the first part of the movie, but then I thought, hmm, he's pretty much just like I was, and just like my teenage son has been for the past couple years.

The Beguiled (2017) - Finally got around to watching S. Coppola's adaptation/remake of the novel/1971 film. The film looks beautiful, and works in parts, but changing the center of the story from the soldier's POV to the women make his character less interesting. (VUDU)