rogerrobert69

Samourais (2002)

Awful France/Japan coprod about an evil demon who gets beaten by a character in a video game! Pure trash.

rogerrobert69

Stake Land (2010)

Although it is yet another low-budget post-apocalyptic zombie/vampire film, there was some good moments in it. Pace was good, some of the scenes were nice and a few characters were worth it. Main Clint Eastwoody- type Man Without a Name (well, he's called 'Mister'!) was a bit weak. But since the actor co-wrote the thing I guess that explains that.
Overall watchable if not original.

rogerrobert69

Legend (2015)

So-so true story of 60s british gangsters the Kray brothers. Film lacks warmth and Hardy, who is usually a great actor, wasn't properly directed I think. His performances lacked fire as did the script. Would have worked better with a more gritty director like Scorsese or Paul Greenglass.

DJariya

Borrowed this movie from the library. It's a "cute" movie. Had some laughs, but I know the intended audience for this is women. J-Lo movies are sort of a guilty pleasure.

This was pre-Hawaii Five-O Alex O'Loughlin and the last theatrical movie he starred in before he committed to TV full-time.

JeffTheAlpaca

Maybe I thought it was hilarious in 1985 but I don't remember laughing hard at any of the scenes except when they were taking the exam and that was not LOL funny.

JeffTheAlpaca

inri222

Psychomania - 2/5

Poorly executed low budget British biker horror hybrid that could have been interesting in more competent hands.

inri222

Faces - 4.5/5

John Cassavetes' classic film about the emptiness in the lives of a couple who on the surface seem to have it all. Some very powerful stuff.

inri222

Eyes Wide Shut - 5/5

Stanley Kubrick’s final masterpiece and IMO one of his best.

Goonies85

Starman - One of the few John Carpenter movies I had never seen. Picked up the new Scream Factory release. First off, the Blu-Ray looks and sounds great. The movie itself? I felt the first 40 minutes or so kind of dragged, but I became completely enthralled after that. While I thought Jeff Bridges delivered a great performance, I thought it was the gorgeous Karen Allen that really carried the movie. She was sublime. Charles Martin Smith was also really good. I also loved the scenery (not sure where it was shot, but I'm sure I'll find out when I listen to the commentary, which I'm very much looking forward to, as Carpenter typically delivers some of the absolute best commentaries in the industry). Not exactly what I expected, coming from Carpenter, but it was a really touching movie, and I absolutely loved the ending. If there are any Carpenter fans out there that haven't seen this, I'd recommend checking it out...

Halloween (2018) - Okay, giant fan of the series (even though it's definitely had it's misfires) and big fan of David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. Was also pumped that Carpenter was coming back to contribute to the score, and Jamie Lee Curtis was returning as Laurie Strode. I also had no issue that they were essentially ignoring every other movie in the series. Overall, I found it enjoyable. The violence was there. The atmosphere was there. Michael Myers really showed no mercy (aside from one scene), which I appreciated (they didn't try to explain him, like they did in the Zombie movies). That said, there's several questionable character decisions in the last 40 minutes or so (as is typical in horror films) and there's one particular plot twist that I absolutely hated. Given that, I thought it was still a pretty solid movie, albeit I doubt I'll revisit it that often.

City Slickers - Loved this as a kid, and still like it now, even though it is a little cheesy and a bit predictable now (that's not just cause I've seen it before; I hadn't seen it in years and could still tell where it was going for most of the movie). Loved the chemistry between Crystal, Kirby, and Stern (who I thought was the standout; his outbursts and frustration is probably my favourite part of the movie). Jack Palance was also great. I also still find the ending enormously touching. Looking forward to checking out some of the special features, particularly the commentary, as I've heard very good things about it (and it has Crystal and Stern, so I'm in)...

When Harry Met Sally... - Believe it or not, I had never actually seen this, despite its lofty reputation. I enjoyed it, although not as much as others. I just thought it was an okay/pretty good romantic comedy. I'm not a giant Billy Crystal fan (aside from the above-mentioned movie) and I've never really cared for Meg Ryan, but they were okay in this. I actually preferred the storyline with Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher. The interludes with real couples were interesting, and I didn't mind those. Ultimately, I'm sure I'll check out the commentaries at some point, but I wasn't overly-enthused by this movie. Unlike many, this probably wouldn't even be in my Top 50 Comedies of All-Time...I did like a lot of the New York scenery, though...

Ride the High Country - Finally got the Warner Archives Blu-Ray release. Just an awesome movie, and definitely one of Peckinpah's best, right up there with Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, The Wild Bunch, The Getaway, and Junior Bonner, etc...The picture also looked great, and is definitely an upgrade over the old DVD...Now if only someone would give a decent release of Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid...

Goonies85

Agreed. Probably my second favorite Cassavetes movie after The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (I like both cuts that are on the Blu-Ray, but probably lean slightly towards the extended cut)...After Faces, I'd say Shadows and Opening Night would be my next favorites...I still like A Woman Under the Influence, but have always felt it was slightly overrated...There's still lotsa other Cassavetes movies I need to watch...

Goonies85

Always thought this was underrated. I especially like the main scene between Cruise and Pollack...I thought that was fantastic...Just the cinematography alone was gorgeous...

Goonies85

Yeah, was definitely disappointed in this. Not sure how different it would've been had John Belushi actually lived to film it (he was replaced with Chase after he passed away)...Given the script, I think the movie still would've been bad, but it's interesting to think about "what could've been"...

inri222

I'm with you, I love the longer cut of TKOACB. I'd put A Woman Under the Influence above Shadows and Opening Night, but below Faces & TKOACB.
Haven't seen Husbands & Love Streams in a while, need to check them out again soon.

inri222

I remember liking this a lot when I first saw it years ago, except for Noriko's Dinner Table I've yet to be disappointed by Sion Son. Need to check this out again and see if it holds up for me.

TheMovieman

First Man (2018) — Effective bio-drama with a stoic, quiet performance from Ryan Gosling that really excels on the Apollo 11 mission and perhaps one of the better depictions of space travel and landing on the moon (loved the drop of sound with the door opening) and good use of "IMAX" (for home anyway) framing. Won't say it's a great drama but certainly well worth a rental at least. 4.0/5

Goonies85

Maelstrom: The Odyssey of Waterworld - Watched the feature length making-of documentary on the new Arrow release. Overall, it was fantastic, albeit I wish they talked a little bit more about the hardships involved (although they definitely covered that) specifically with Costner's dissatisfaction with Reynolds (at times), but they only cover that briefly. Obviously it would've been nice to have Costner involved, but all there really is is like a 30-second old on-set interview with him. Even Tripplehorn isn't featured...And it's too bad they didn't have any vintage interviews with Hopper...But overall, it was very compelling. Kevin Reynolds and Dennis Gassner were especially good interviewees...I'll probably watch the European Cut later on tonight or later on this week...

Lookin' To Get Out - In my mind, probably Hal Ashby's weakest film. Jon Voight is okay...Burt Young is decent...Ann-Margret is good but really isn't in it too much...There's just a few too many slapstick sequences that really feel out of place in an Ashby movie...The ending is good, though...Just could've been a lot better...In terms of this type of movie, I much, much prefer Altman's California Split...

Goonies85

I still need to watch my Blu-Ray of Love Streams...And I hope to pick up the new Criterion of Mikey and Nicky at some point...That looks good...

Goonies85

Yeah, that part that you put in Spoilers particularly drove me crazy...As I watched that, you knew exactly what was going to happen and you were just like, "WTF?"...

rogerrobert69

Hated it when I got the DVD on its release years ago. I feel Ashby, like Altman, had a very see-saw career with sometimes strange choices of scripts. But unlike Altman I think he struggled more to get anything on the screen towards the end of his life. Still, he did some great films in his short life.

rogerrobert69

Seems like there is a Cassavetes revival this week!

rogerrobert69

Lost Embrace (2004)

Interesting argentinian film set in the jewish community of Buenos Aires. Nice portrait of daily life of two brothers and their mother who rent a shop in a small arcade and their relation with the other shopowners. The actual subplot of the different people mingling in the mini-mall was more interesting than the main story of boy looking for his estranged father. Still, overall nice.

rogerrobert69

Sur la piste du Marsupilami (2012)

Another missed attempt to transpose a well-loved 'bande-dessinée' (sort of a european comic book) to the screen. Apart from the antics of Jamel & Chabat (who were both great in Astérix: Mission Cléopâtre) and Lambert Wilson imitating Céline Dion, there is not much here that holds interest.
A journalist goes to a south american country to interview a long lost tribe of savages and ends up discovering a mythical creature and helping it against a mean dictator who wants to capture it.

rogerrobert69

Village of the Damned (1960)

Some spooky moments in this clean cut british sci-fi. I love the general tone and think they did a good job of adapting the incredible novel "The Cuckoos of Midwich". Much better than John Carpenter's awful version.
9 months after a traumatic event where all the villagers of a country town lost consciousness for a few hours, all the women give birth to strange children who grow up faster and becomre super intelligent. But a lot of the people think these 'children' are spooky and might be harmful...

Goonies85

I know at the end of his life he struggled (there's an excellent book biography on him called Being Hal Ashby), but I'd say he had way more hits than misses. Anybody that has The Landlord, Shampoo, The Last Detail, and Coming Home on their resume had a pretty awesome career...