TheMovieman

L.A. Story (1991) — Quirky and off-kilter romantic-comedy that shines thanks to Steve Martin's unique delivery and some weird humor that involves an omnipresent freeway billboard. Seen this one a few times over the years and still holds up; just an easy-going movie. ***¾/*****

Nick Danger

I was going to say, "It helps to have read the book." It's very loosely based the book, but at least the book explains the background.

Nick Danger

The Wages of Fear (D: Clouzot). Desperate men are hired by a ruthless oil company to deliver a ton of nitroglycerine through three hundred miles of bad road in South America. An entire hour is spent describing the characters and their situation before the trucks start rolling, which wouldn't be included in a thriller today, but I think it was time well spent. Mrs Danger actually got jumpy from the tension of the second half. The movie left me all wound up, and I won't be able to go to bed very soon.

Remade as Sorcerer by William Friedkin.

d2cheer

Yeah I dig this one and just watched it a few months back.

JeffTheAlpaca

I saw that last week and it was good. I did not know he was a big Opera fan.

I hope he has some movies or still wants to direct since he is a one of a kind talent.

JeffTheAlpaca

Starz

It was ok for a Tue night as a time killer but would not recommend.

Cricket Brown the woman who played the lead needs acting lessons though she bears a strong resemblence to Brit Marling.

JeffTheAlpaca

It looked like it had some cool visuals but it was kind of a lame forgettable movie though Ferguson in that red dress was nice to look at.

JeffTheAlpaca

It was ok but would not buy or watch again

there are other female assassin movies (Point of No Return and Anna) that were a lot better than this

davidlynchfan

Michael Jackson’s This is it (2009) - I thought I was going to see MJ perform in concert but it was just some backstage rehersaling junk. And for nearly 2 hours too - zeh. 1/5.

The Choirboys (1977) - Now, here’s a little gem I just discovered. It’s like the Police Academy series but with an even meaner and nastier streak. Sensitive/SJW type of people will surely be offended but I love every moment of it. 4/5.

Kurt D

Mortal Engines - Pleasantly surprised! Super eye-candy CGI action (I streamed in 4k) with a plot that was both derivative and engaging. Cool characters, great action, nifty ideas and just overall fun. 4/5

JeffTheAlpaca

I don't see why Larson, Murphy, and Hammer flocked to this movie and Scorsese was the executive producer?

Was he doing a favor for a friend?

It was funny in the beginning but then became boring and could not wait for it to end.

JeffTheAlpaca

Cinemax

I saw it was featured in a episode of Eli Roth's History of Horror and decided to check it out.

The special effects don't hold up

It was not bad though not great either but nice seeing a young Blair Brown naked. She was a hottie back then.

The guy with the Southern accent was chewing up the scenery.

I imagine they could do a reboot today with updated special effects or CGI.

JeffTheAlpaca

Netflix streaming


This got horrible reviews and I enjoyed it and did not see the twist coming but wow that really changed the whole movie and it was not as generic as I thought it would be.

DWilson

The "southern accent" was Charles Haid, who had a long run in "Hill Street Blues" and then went on to be a TV director. There was a lot of BTS drama with the film, generally involving the film's writer, the infamously contentious Paddy Chayefsky (the film was based on his novel). The story goes that he had a deal that they had to read every single line he wrote, so they were just trying to get it all in anyway they could. The legendary Dick Smith was the make-up man, and he introduced the air bladder effects that would later turn up in "The Howling" and "American Werewolf" and were over-done in some lesser films. This also introduced William Hurt as the lead who was perfect for the role.

TheMovieman

Been a while since I saw this one, but remember thinking pretty much the same. Might've worked as a short film, not feature length.

Vipper II

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions - I liked it, probably more than I should. In fact, I watched it a second time, but it was the extended cut, which was drastically different. First and third acts were nothing like that of the TC's.

TheMovieman

The Last of Sheila (1973) — Starts off on the slow side but by the end found this to be a great whodunnit with a solid cast. There are some good twists and turns (including clues right in front of your face) and the performances from this ensemble were well done, headlined by Richard Benjamin. ****/*****

TheMovieman

Vanilla Sky (2001) — With the newest Blu-ray coming out, watched this one for, IDK, the fourth or fifth time (including once in the theater back in '01) and still love it. Great visuals from Cameron Crowe and the performances from Tom Cruse, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz were top notch, and honorable mention to Jason Lee. Still tug at the heartstrings at the end. ****½/*****

Kurt D

Tammy & The T-Rex: Dumbass movies like this aren't supposed to work this well. Funny and tons of fun, with a fair amount of comic gore too. If you're ready to get stupid, hit it. 4/5 streaming on Shudder

Inhumans99

Black Widow - Disney+. I did not see this in theaters as it was released when I was still much more wary of seeing films in theaters (I saw Shang-Chi in a theater with my brother on the 1st or 2nd weekend when it was out), and I finally watched it yesterday evening and I even made sure to not use my tablet while watching.

This was a real pleasure to watch and putting aside Disney's mishandling of the lawsuit that Scar Jo filed against them because it was released on D+ and in theaters at the same time, it does nothing to detract from my pleasure at watching a film with great action, some humor, and real heart.

While we may never get a Black Widow 2, I do hope that Florence Pugh's character works its way into multiple films in the MCU. I also enjoyed the behind the scenes of Black Widow episode that is part of the Assembled series on D+.

Cellar Door

Promising Young Woman - interesting movie. I was really liking it, but felt disappointed by the ending.

asianxcore

Dune (1984)

While I have not yet watched Denis Villeneuve's 2021 adaptation, I find myself appreciating Lynch's film in small increments after each repeat viewing.

It's far from the perfect adaptation of Herbert's novel but as a film, there's a lot of enjoyable pieces here.

Nick Danger

Onibaba. A moody horror movie. During the wars in medieval Japan, a teenage girl and her mother-in-law survive by murdering soldiers and trading their equipment for food. A neighboring farmer turns up, having escaped an army, and disrupts their lives. This movie has no open spaces; even walking outdoors is eternally pushing through grass that's as tall as corn. Gorgeous B&W cinematography. Good stuff if you enjoy horror movies which are mostly tension.

DWilson

Great White Shudder 2021
A fun filled flight to a remote atoll turns into a nightmare for five passengers when their seaplane is destroyed in a freak accident and they are trapped on a raft, 100 miles from shore with man-eating sharks lurking beneath the surface.

This is one of those films where once the premise was established, I immediately guessed who would survive and who would be killed and in what order, -and I was right. I'm sure everyone involved put in the work but the low budget betrays the sets and the CGI and keeps it from being very convincing.

V/H/S/94 Shudder 2021
A police S.W.A.T. team investigates about a mysterious VHS tape and discovers a sinister cult that has pre-recorded material which uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy.

An anthology film of "found footage" Horror stories. The framing story seemed a bit shaky and not as clear-cut as the tag-line would suggest. However, the three stories presented within the framework are often genuinely creepy and some of the jump-scares worked.



A fun filled flight to a remote atoll turns into a nightmare for five passengers when their seaplane is destroyed in a freak accident and they are trapped on a raft, 100 miles from shore with man-eating sharks lurking beneath the surface.

DWilson

Terror Train Shout Factory BD
Jamie Lee Curtis Directed by Roger Spottiswoode. 1980
Three years after a prank went terribly awry, the six college students responsible are targeted by a masked killer at a New Year's Eve party aboard a moving train.

This was pitched as "'Halloween' on a train", but it's not quite that. While Spotiswoode would do some serviceable films down the line ("Under Fire", "Tomorrow Never Dies"), this is pretty conventional and rote and lacks the creativity and fun a good "Slasher" needs. Veteran character actor Ben Johnson brings some "old pro" magic to the proceedings.

Stripes Sony 4K UHD

I saw this in the theater on it's opening weekend, but I probably haven't watched it straight through in a couple of decades. While it still holds up for old dogs like me, you can't help thinking at various points "They couldn't get away with that anymore". This includes the Theatrical Cut, which hasn't been available on blu-ray (only the bloated "Extended" version). This also includes a new 40-minute "Zoom" call between Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman discussing the film. It's nice to see Murray in a normal conversation, and it's a great feature. It's not mentioned, but watching them trade stories I'm glad Murray was able to make amends with Harold Ramis and put aside their feud before he passed away.