Toby Dramit

Love this flick! Saw it in the theatre with a buddy when it first came out ...

Boondock Saint

JeffTheAlpaca

MGM +

I know it hot horrible reviews but it was a nice diverson and can't go wrong looking at Evan Rachel Wood.

asianxcore

The Equalizer 3 (2023)

The sheer amount of violence was amusing but I didn't care for much outside of it.

DWilson

Daddy's Gone A-Hunting Turner Classic Movies
Carol White, Scott Hyland. Directed by Mark Robson 1969
A mentally disturbed man stalks a woman, -now a wife and mother of an infant son, -who once aborted a child he fathered.

Someone told me about this film years and years ago and I always meant to watch it, but this is the first time it's actually crossed my path. It's a polished Psychological Thriller of the type that was popular in the '60s, like "Experiment in Terror". However, the lead actress (a Brit I was unfamiliar with) has an off-putting quality, and there are a few too many contrivances and conveniences required to keep the plot going. That said, once I started the film I had to see where it was going, and the last half has some fairly twisted ideas for a film dealing with a kidnapped baby.

JeffTheAlpaca

Showtime

Abbie (Billy Crystal), a successful New York surgeon, has a heart attack and realizes he should reconnect with his father, Abe (Alan King), before it is too late. With his fiancée, Lisa (JoBeth Williams), he flies to Los Angeles, where Abe has made a career for himself as a film and television extra. Moreover, Abe regards his fellow background players as family, and they look up to him as their elder statesman. Abbie finds he must compete with Hollywood's unknowns for his father's attention.

It was ok but probably appreciate it more in 2023 since they don't really make a lot of movies like that anymore.

Sean Connery made a cameo in what looked like he was working on the set of the Presidio

Second JoBeth Williams movie I saw this week and the scene where she makes out with Crystal is kind of hot.

Not because of Crystal

OldBoy

The Dead Pool
The Ice Storm

JeffTheAlpaca

2014

It is called Balls Out when I watched it on MGM +

It had some laughs and maybe a spoof of sports movies with 3 former SNL castmembers Kate Mckinnon, Jay Pharoah, and Beck Bennett.

Mike86

Child’s Play 2- what a great sequel. Truthfully in a lot of ways I like it more than the first one. The end sequence in the factory is so memorable. Also like the secondary character of Kyle teamed up with Andy.

kahuna

Amazon Original - A Million Miles Away - Amazon Prime

Boondock Saint

OldBoy

3 Days of the Condor...fantastic.

DWilson

Unman, Wittering, and Zigo Arrow Blu-Ray
David Hemmings. Directed by John McKenzie. 1971
Mr. Ebony, -the replacement teacher at a British Boys School, -is quietly terrorized by his students, who claim to have murdered his predecessor and gotten away with it.

A respectable Thriller that Arrow has rescued from obscurity. David Hemmings is quite good as the teacher, who feels as powerless as the viewer to do anything about this amoral gang of schoolboys. The film builds to a suspenseful climax, but the scenes that follow are more unsettling than impactful. Let me say that it is a very British film, -the school system, the behaviors, -and the teacher's relative impotence is both understandable and very frustrating to watch at times. He's forced (or chooses to) to cooperate with these kids and you can't help wanting him to explode. Personally, I prefer the American exploitation film "Class of 1984", which is dated but still delivers the goods.

DWilson

Joy Ride Lionsgate Blu-Ray
Ashley Park, Sherry Cola. Directed by Adele Lim
Four Asian-American women bond and discover the truth of what it means to know and love who you are, while they travel through Asia in search of one of their birth mothers.

I heard a lot of good word-of-mouth about this film, as well as a lot of talk about its in-your-face raunchiness, and planned on checking it out once it hit video. I hadn't seen the trailer and for some reason I assumed it was a female version of a teen-age buddy comedy like "Superbad". So, I was surprised when it turned out to center around a successful young attorney and her artist pal, joining with two other friends for a trip to China. It is raunchy and sometimes that works and other times it's obvious and clumsy. However, the overall tone is pleasant enough and the actresses (all unknown to me) have good chemistry. There are even some genuinely touching moments in the final third.
Note: It's probably good that I avoided the film's trailer, -it's included on the blu-ray and there's no way in hell I would have watched the lame comedy it was selling.

DWilson

Obsession Shout Factory Blu-Ray
Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold. Directed by Brian DePalma 1976
A rich businessman wife and daughter are killed. Years later he meets a woman with an uncanny resemblance to his late wife.

Worst sleeve art ever. Thankfully, the inner case art is reversible, with the original poster art on the opposite side. DePalma's "Carrie" is one of my favorite films, and I saw "Obsession" a few months after that. It couldn't help but be a bit of a letdown. That isn't fair to "Obsession", which I've come to appreciate more as I've watched it over the years. It's actually a bravura piece of visual storytelling by DePalma, and a huge homage to Alfred Hitchcock. The script by Paul Schrader is smart, and there's a lot of little details I've noticed on a second and third watch. However, it goes a bit long in setting up the rather complicated finale (to say the least). This is one of those films where you're left wondering "What happens next?" to the characters after the final scene plays out. I can't help but wonder if different actor might have better pulled off the lead role and Robertson is rumored to have been difficult on the set. This is the first time I recall seeing John Lithgow (in a key supporting role) and he made an indelible impression. The film has a magnificent score by Bernard Herrman.

Inhumans99

Slash/Back -Hulu. A quick and easy watch. Not a great movie but good enough, and the young actresses were the highlight of the film. They had to carry the film on their shoulders.

D.E.B.S. - Hulu. Okay, so apparently Roger Ebert did not like the film, which bums me out a bit. I had read that this is a fan favorite film, and I can see why. So much fun to watch. Great cast, and I had no clue it is also a LGBTQ+ film before watching, but if I had googled before watching I would have realized that the director is a gay woman who went on to work on The L Word show, so there you go.

Cellar Door

The Little Mermaid (live-action) - Disney+

DWilson

Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren and Stimpy Story You Tube
Directed by Ron Cicero and Kimmo Easterwood
The feature documentary explores the rise and fall of the groundbreaking animated series Ren and Stimpy and its controversial creator, John Kricfalusi.

A friend of mine found this available for free on you.tube (and it's a quality transfer) and tipped me off. I'm glad he did because it's an excellent documentary that tells both the story behind this very influential cartoon, and is a celebration of the creative process. It's also the sad, and occasionally creepy story of Krisfalusi's ascent, his controversial management style, and the allegations that have led to his premature "retirement".

DWilson

Gladiator Paramount 4K
Russell Crowe. Directed by Ridley Scott 2000

This is the first time I've watched "Gladiator" since the DVD era. I remember buying the original blu-ray, which had a transfer so poor that Paramount was shamed into issuing a remastered version and offering previous buyers a replacement. The film still holds up as a great piece of entertainment. Its nearly three hours, but the story remains clear and easy to follow, yet nuanced and adult. And, of course, there's plenty of action. The 4K offers a top-notch experience; I was particularly impressed with the sound mix.

Nick Danger

The House with a Clock in it's Walls. A fairly fun movie, but flawed. The good parts were great. But the movie doesn't dare commit itself to the story.

Imagine this: The evil wizard is in the house, menacing the boy. The adult characters hear the boy yelling, but they are locked in a room and need to escape. Jack Black is not athletic, but he's desperately struggling to get through the transom window to rescue the boy, and . . . they stop the plot to make a poke-in-the-groin joke.

Cate Blanchett is good. Jack Black doesn't have the acting chops to handle anything more than the light comedy scenes. When things get dangerous, he can't play fearful with conviction.

DWilson

The Andromeda Strain Arrow Blu-Ray
James Olson, Arthur Hill. Directed by Robert Wise 1971
A team of scientists work feverishly in a secret laboratory to discover what has killed the citizens of a small town.

I saw this film back when it opened in 1971. I was in Junior High and my parents would only drop me off to see G-Rated films, and "Strain" was rated G, but warned "may be too intense for younger children". There's actually a lingering shot of a bare-breasted young woman's corpse, so I felt like I got away with something. The film remains a classic in my view, one of Robert Wise's best. What's amazing about it is that its a Sci-Fi film that feels more Science than Fiction. There's little if any unnecessary melodrama to help sell it to the audience. "Strain" is very talky and is almost entirely "procedural", yet I find it tense throughout, and the finale exciting. The Arrow blu-ray includes a nice selection of extra features.

stvn1974

Constatine (2005)
Conan The Barbarian (2011)
Snow White And The Huntsman
The Huntsman Winter's War
Terminator Genisys

I had seen all of them exept The Huntsman Winter's War before, but it had been so long since I had watched the others that it was like seeing them for the first time. I enjoyed all of them.

JeffTheAlpaca

Netflix disc rental

Maybe one of Jesse Buckley's earlier roles


In a small island community, a troubled young woman falls for a mysterious outsider, who empowers her to escape her oppressive family. When he comes under suspicion for a series of murders, she defends him at all costs.

TheMovieman

Kiss the Girls (1997) — Watched this one again last night and still holds up as a solid 1990s crime-thriller based on the James Patterson novel with a great cast headlined by Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd as well as Cary Elwes, Tony Goldwyn, Brian Cox, Jay O. Sanders and Jeremy Piven. ***¾/***** (4K Ultra HD)

DWilson

Maggie Moore(s) Screen Media Blu-Ray
John Hamm, Tina Fey. Directed by John Slattery 2023
Police Chief Sanders investigates the bizarre murders of two women with the same name, and unravels a web of small-town lies. He meets and quickly falls for Rita, a nosy neighbor who is eager to help solve the mystery.

This is another "shaggy dog" Crime story, as much about its off-beat characters as it is about the story. "Fargo" immediately comes to mind, but there have been plenty since then. The movie takes a lot of pride in its eccentricity. The characters are well-developed, the performances are fine, but the whole thing proceeds at a rather leisurely pace.