Nesbit

Smokey and the Bandit: 2 1/2 stars

A thrown together messy film that was partially saved by the likability of Reynolds and Gleason. For some reason the tvesque freeze frame cut to the closing credits along with overplayed theme song really cracked me up. Rewound it a good five times to watch.

Nesbit

God I love the last third of Beneath. It’s one of the most bonkers endings ever and I’m all in on it. I meant to go through the whole series again before Kingdom but didn’t get to it. Might need to at least do 2-4 of the original series anyways.

DWilson

Split Image Kino Lorber
Michael O'Keefe. Directed by Ted Kotcheff. 1982
Young man is sucked into an unnamed religious cult by beautiful girl and gets increasingly under the mind control of the cult leader. After his parents fail in their efforts to talk him out of it, they hire a guy who kidnaps and then de-programs him.

I saw "Split Image" in the theater back in the day because I was a fan of the director, Ted Kotcheff. It was a well-made Drama with a terrific cast, and a title that provoked apathy. Nobody came to see it and it didn't surprise me.

It still remains a good, solid film for the most part. Michael O'Keefe is quite good in the lead role, and Karen Allen is radiant as the girl who lures him into the cult. Brian Denehy and James Woods give ferocious performances, with Dennehy as O'Keefe's father, and Woods as the rather sleazy de-programmer Dennehy hires. Peter Fonda is a bit laid back as the cult leader, and his motives are kept opaque. The biggest problem with the film is that O'Keefe is such a charming kid at the start of the film with so few problems that the speed of his complete brainwashing seems a bit extreme, but perhaps that's arrogance on my part. Also, the film only looks at the cult from the outside, -it's very unspecific, - which makes the nature of the cult and the size of the operation a bit of a mystery.

JeffTheAlpaca

Hulu

All it was missing was Jonathan Rhys-Meyers

What was up with Jaime King's hair or wigs?

She had two completely different ridiculous hairdos and maybe they forgot to look for continuity errors but not a shock since they did not care about making a good movie.

DJariya

Gung Ho (1986)

Watching this on Hoopla. I have not seen this movie since probably 1987. There was a spinoff TV series that starred Scott Bakula (playing Keaton's part) But, I don't think I ever watched.

Anyway, it was not funny at all. Zero laughs. I mean it's not bad, but for a comedy, it just wasn't funny and it's also super dated and there are a lot of stereotypes of Japanese people. I felt like this was more of a dramedy than a comedy.

There are just some movies from the 80s that don't work well now.

DWilson

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth. Directed by George Miller. 2024
As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Getting the negatives out of the way, "Furiosa" is too long by about fifteen minutes. The film is divided into five chapters and I think that slows the flow of the story just a little bit. There are the occasional "shot against green screen" scenes that are a little janky, but for the most part George Miller continues his very singular and breath-taking Post-Apocalyptic world.

"Furiosa" is a very good film; I'd rate it not quite up there with "Fury Road", but much better than the overly sentimental "Beyond Thunderdome". Chris Hemsworth is terrific as "Dementus" and he steals most of his scenes. If you didn't know, you'd never guess that it was him. Anya Taylor-Joy doesn't show up until about 40 minutes in (earlier scenes feature "Furiosa" as a child), but she slowly and convincingly becomes the character established by Charlise Theron in "Fury Road". There's a lengthy multi-vehicle chase about mid-way through the film that's your typical George Miller jaw-dropper.

JANK

Agree for the most part with DWilson's review above. I did notice a little bit more CGI than Fury Road BUT quite forgivable. I disagree with reviews elsewhere that describe Hemsworth as 'cartoonish' - the redemption for his behavior is the scene where he explains and decrys his lost family symbolized by the teddy bear. There is a great deal of character dev in this one and those who wish for MORE ACTION are those who also criticize these action movies for more depth. Well, this movie has both and it worthy of Fury Road if not it equal!

DWilson

The Gate MVD/Lionsgate Blu-Ray
Stephen Dorff. Directed by Tibor Takacs. 1986
Three young children accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard.

This is another one of those "Kids (or Adolescents) vs Monsters" flicks that were popular during The '80s. "The Gate" takes its time to get going, probably because of its limited budget, but it uses the time to build believable characters and a well-developed story. The kids at the center of the story seem quite authentic. They're not "Disney Kids" (Then or Now), nor are they pint-size smart-asses. The parents and their homelife is treated with respect, -at least until the monsters show up. And the monsters do show up, with a clever mix of practical and prosthetic effects and even stop-motion. Overall, it's a good little Horror film, -darker and gooier than you'd expect, but it all comes together in the end and doesn't overstay its welcome.

The picture quality is good, but a bit dull in terms of color, though that might be "baked into" the source. This is another entry in the Vestron Video Collector's Series and includes a nice collection of featurettes and BTS material.

Cellar Door

Dune 2

DWilson

Planet of the Vampires Kino Lorber Blu-Ray
Barry Sullivan. Directed by Mario Bava. 1965
In the near future the two spaceships Argos and Galliot are sent to investigate the mysterious planet Aura. The explorers discover the existence of a race of bodiless aliens that seek to escape from their dying world...

As a kid, I'd always watch the "Chiller Theater" or whatever it was called, every Friday night on the local UHF station. I used to hate it when they'd run Italian Sci Fi films because I hated the badly matched dubbing, and they always seemed to wear these cornball costumes. Give me "Queen of Blood" with John Saxon or "It! The Terror from Beyond Space!"

Of course, over time I eventually came to love Italian Horror and Sci Fi, and Mario Bava in particular. I especially appreciated the way Bava used Color. Now the costumes remind me of Pulp Sci Fi novels and "Weird Science" from EC Comics. In that sense "Planet of the Vampires" is very much a Comic Book movie in the best way., colorful and moody and production designed to a fare-thee-well, even if there's not a single Vampire in it. The twist ending is an old chestnut of the genre, but it stunned me at the time and I remembered it all these years later.

JeffTheAlpaca

I own this

The wrong war movie to watch before Memorial Day?

It had been awhile since I saw this.

Had to get a Kleenex with the James Horner score when they were on the beach just before the final battle.

RIP Andre Braugher and James Horner.

JeffTheAlpaca

Netflix

It was not as bad as everybody says it is but it is not really good either.

It had a decent or strong cast for such a mediocre movie and did not expect to see Adam Scott in this.

For a comic book movie it did not have a lot or almost any superhero action.

I bet since Sony owns this they would not continue the storyline with a streaming series.

kahuna

K-Movie - Concrete Utopia (2023)

kahuna

K-Movie - Citizen of a Kind (2024)

DWilson

The Lion in Winter Kino Lorber Blu-Ray
Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn. Directed by Anthony Harvey. 1968
King Henry II and his queen, Eleanor, engage in a battle of royal wits that pits elder son Richard against his brothers, while the cunning King Philip of France takes advantage of the internal fracturing in his bid to destroy their kingdom.

"The Lion in Winter" plays about every six weeks on TCM and it's easy to see why. You have two great "Elder Statesman" actors, Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn and two then-up-'n'-comers Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton firing clever and vicious dialogue at each other for two hours and change. The Kino disc is much more visually dynamic than the broadcast version.

Vipper II

Rope - Hitchcock

DeFan

Amazon - In Restless Dreams. Other than some promotional stuff from his latest album and some discussion of his health this covers up to 1991. Which is great since that's the period when I liked his music. Lots of great archival footage and it doesn't shy away from the controversies. The best part is that there aren't a bunch of talking heads, most of the commentary is provided by Paul. himself.

Inhumans99

Atlas - Netflix

I am aware it has a 17% Rotten Tomatoes score but I actually enjoyed this film and would not mind seeing more J-Lo mech action in another movie.

JeffTheAlpaca

Hulu

I wanted to like it and love it but it was long and boring.

Penelope Cruz fighting with Adam Driver was the only entertainment.

JeffTheAlpaca

"An unhappy new mother (Juliette Lewis) banishes the blues through her friendship with a mischievous teen (Jonny Weston) who has a spinal injury."

DWilson

Submarine Command Kino Lorber Blu-Ray
William Holden. Directed by John Farrow. 1951
Submarine Commander Ken White is forced to suddenly submerge, leaving his captain and another sailor to die outside the sub during WWII. His life spirals downward from guilt, then he is reassigned to the same submarine during the Korean War.

A fairly engrossing and intelligent Naval War Story that stresses authenticity and character drama over slam-bang battle action. Being this is a William Holden film, he gets to play a bit of a bastard for the middle section of the film, before he finally wises up and redeems himself.

kahuna

K-Movie - 12.12 The Day (2023)

kahuna

K-Movie - Noryang: Deadly Sea (2023)

DWilson

Bad Company YouTube (Free)
Chris Rock, Anthony Hopkins. Directed by Joel Schumacher. 2002
A street-wise con man learns that he had a twin brother who served in the CIA. The brother was killed on an op and the CIA needs somebody who can replace him to complete a deal for nuclear weapons.

I was just browsing through you.tube's free (with ads) movies and came across "Bad Company", a film I hadn't thought about for 20 years. But it's a Jerry Bruckheimer Action Flick directed by Joel Schumacher, so maybe I discovered a long-lost treasure.

Not really. It's fairly pedestrian, offering nothing new to the genre, nor does it re-package the old reliable in an interesting way. It's harmless, though.

JeffTheAlpaca

Starz

"A young man turns to a life of crime when he moves to the United States to search for the American dream."

I was into it for maybe a hour and 15 minutes

Tony Sirico maybe in one of his final roles played a pawn shop owner.