What ELSE (other than KUNG FU) has everyone been watching?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Home Alone (1990: Chris Columbus): 

Rewatched for about who knows how many times. I know too much about the film. Seriously like the commentary with Chris Columbus and Macaulay Culkin. Do you ever watch a film so much that you will not have anything rational to say about it. I mean I can take aspects of it apart like: how could Kevin know where the two criminals would be. They would have to follow a particular path in the correct order for things to work right (like having socks off first before stepping on ornaments; there are a ton of these). 

Criminals are stupid so you can forgive the turning on the water. People are gullible so you can easily understand people ignoring "fake" police officers (Hey where's your car?). Some of the injuries are just gruesome (increased even more in the sequel). Still I laugh because of the high-pitched wale after the tarantula. Or the Raider's of the Lost Ark reference. Except for that burning head, that just doesn't look right. Also why is the stepping on the nail so damn painful. 

So great to see John Candy. Even in a small role he just dominates. Love his speech about everyone not seeing their family and the time he left a kid at the funeral parlor. Still you can see this as an extension of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, of course the John Hughes connection. For me, one of the quintessential Christmas films. I know Ebert did not like it (didn't hate it; but gave the third film a Thumbs Up). But something about this film keeps me coming back. 

30 years old. That is crazy. Something about being alone at home and surviving burglars and the washing machine. The basement is always a foreboding place. 

 

[DrNgor]

5 minutes ago, masterofoneinchpunch said:

So great to see John Candy. Even in a small role he just dominates. Love his speech about everyone not seeing their family and the time he left a kid at the funeral parlor.

What do you think about the fan theory that he's the Devil?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

20 minutes ago, DrNgor said:

What do you think about the fan theory that he's the Devil?

Just a fan theory unless you are talking about him in general; but then I just watched Silent Partner and he did not have enough presence.

[AlbertV]

The Hex - Reine Swart's directorial debut is a very interesting supernatural film about a British woman who heads to South Africa to investigate her mother's murder and learns of a curse from a witch doctor. Looks like it takes some elements from the likes of Poltergeist and The Ring of sorts, but adds some very intricate twists. I can't wait to see what Swart comes up with next. 

Nine Nights - British film about a mother and daughter who cope in different ways when the son/twin brother is killed in a car accident. The title refers to a Caribbean-style funeral ritual that lasts nine nights for the family to mourn before the actual funeral is held.

Agent Revelation and Agent Intell1gence - Hong Kong filmmaker and actor Derek Ting stars as Jim Yung, an everyman who has been exposed to a dust that grants him superhuman powers, including to ability to see aliens. The second film, Revelation, was released last week and features Star Trek: TNG costar Michael Dorn as his mentor while the 1st is the backstory of how he gained those powers altogether.

[Takuma]

Friday the 13th: Part 2 (USA, 1981) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Surprisingly watchable sequel is functional from start to finish, and even clever at times. That is, the ridiculously long opening recap aside. It is too bad the film's hottest girl had to turn out to be a minor and her nude scene deleted from the film.

Friday the 13th: Part 3 (USA, 1982) [VoD] – 1.5/5
Inept third film bores the viewer to death before the last 3rd finally picks up the pace and delivers some tolerable horror action.

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (USA, 1985) [(VoD] 1.5/5
Universally hated part 5, but not as bad as part 3, thanks to plentiful boobs and a nice little chainsaw scene at the end. The redneck mom-son tag team would admittedly be a new low if there wasn't so much plain boredom (which is even worse) in the series.

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (USA, 1988) [VoD] – 1.5/5
Pedestrian entry gains some momentum towards the end (as usual) and the ridiculous climax makes it feel at least somewhat worth the pain it took to get there. Bad, but marginally better than parts 3 and 5.

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (USA, 1988) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Jason goes on a cruise, and reaches N.Y. 25 min before the film ends. A welcome change of pace, technically more competent than some others in the series, and surely one of the best cruise ship slashers out there? Also contains a punk rock girl and the biggest asshole in the series.

Parts 4 and 6 I had already seen before. They are better than the rest, but I'm still wondering what on earth are people seeing in this series...

[DragonClaws]

22 hours ago, masterofoneinchpunch said:

Do you ever watch a film so much that you will not have anything rational to say about it.

 

Good point, I can apply this to so many movies I've re-watched over the years.

 

22 hours ago, masterofoneinchpunch said:

Home Alone (1990: Chris Columbus): 

Rewatched for about who knows how many times. I know too much about the film. Seriously like the commentary with Chris Columbus and Macaulay Culkin.

 

This movie willl always hold a special place in my heart, being the first film I caught at the cinema. It's played constantly over the festive period on T.V in the U.K.

Have you watched any of the DTV sequels?.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

10 hours ago, DragonClaws said:

...

This movie willl always hold a special place in my heart, being the first film I caught at the cinema. It's played constantly over the festive period on T.V in the U.K.

Have you watched any of the DTV sequels?.

I have not.  I have not even seen the third one (even though Ebert gave it ***/****).  Are any of these worth watching?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Lord of War (2005: Andrew Niccol):  

I ended up liking this. It helps that Nicholas Cage puts in a solid performance as Yuri Orlov with minimum (for him) histrionics (yes I do like his histrionics sometimes or all the time). He is a merchant of death and he does well with it. The ending and other aspects remind me of The Big Year (2011) Owen Wilson character. The have a knack to be the greatest in their field and they will sacrifice everything for it. 

I'm not sold on the brother (Jared Leto). He is put there for mawkishness and of course a counterbalance, a conscience to Yuri. The ending becomes so obvious that you wonder why he brought his brother along. 

Sometimes a bit too didactic with its message, but it shines when it does not dominated (well really Cage's performance is quite good and his belief in his own self-serving dialogue -- which is often true). 

Love this pic with Lenin: 

Like I'm not going to use this image in the future: 

I am glad I finally watched it. It was recommended to me by a friend (who is not much of a movie watcher), but I like Cage so I had to see it -- finally. 

[DragonClaws]

21 hours ago, masterofoneinchpunch said:

Are any of these worth watching?

 

I've only watched the first two movies, and I've yet to hear anything good about the sequels.

[Super Ninja]

14 hours ago, masterofoneinchpunch said:

I have not.  I have not even seen the third one (even though Ebert gave it ***/****).  Are any of these worth watching?

No, all three are a waste of time.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

A Christmas Story (1983: Bob Clark): 

Rewatched over the weekend: yeah like I have not seen this over 30+ times. Still love the film, still know every single thing that is going to happen. Still cannot have a rational discussion on the movie. So my comments will not be rational.  Still can watch this anytime and not just on Christmas or near Christmas or during cold weather. 

One of several quintessential Christmas films. People can argue on the Christmas canon, but this will be on along with It's a Wonderful Life and the original Miracle on 34th Street (and something form Charlie Brown). 

Bob Clark certainly did a strange lot of films. This is my favorite of the bunch I have seen. Will I see Baby Geniuses? Probably not anytime soon (as I look for it and the sequel at FYE and not tell anyone). Yes I've seen Porkys. 

The most hilarious and gross match cut (when a scene changes yet the image matches up with the next scene) in A Christmas Story. I wince every time I see this link up. Not sure if it fits the tone of the film, but man I don't want to eat that. 

After you watch something so many times you start thinking other thoughts like: I wonder how bad Scut Farkus's home life is. Does Ralphie now inherit Grover Dill as a toadie? Isn't it nice have your own toadie? 

Did you know R.D. Robb (Schwartz) is in The Goldbergs in a couple of episodes? Yes The Goldbergs references this film since it is from the 80s. I don't think Ready Player One mentions it. Jean Shepherd's narrations is superlative. 

I have a nice Two-Disc Special Edition DVD set of this. The commentary is pretty good with Peter Billingsley and Bob Clark I really do not want to watch A Christmas Story 2. 

It's a major award! 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Khartoum (1966: Basil Dearden):  

When the two leads Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier (though with poor makeup) are acting and especially on the same screen the film is fascinating. The dialogue and the diction are Shakespearean in the way these two perform. You know they were not going to be outdone by each other (like watching Steve McQueen and Yul Brenner in The Magnificent Seven). The dialogue of the script is well written. The plot drags a bit and could easily have had more scenes added or more taken away. It feels incomplete in a way. 

Scorsese is correct when he wrote in Film Comment: "It isn't very good filmmaking." (Though he likes the movie). The direction by Basil Dearden is pedestrian. Imagine what Anthony Mann could have done with this. The composition in the cinematography is competent. 

The fight scenes by Yakima Canutt feel like a western (though with some impressive scenes mixed in; one moment is analogous to Ben-Hur (1959) which makes an actor looks like he is killed). 

Spoiler: and what is it with Heston's constant need for a decade plus to play characters that die (not quite Tom Cruise, yes Cruise did die in a few; John Wayne died in more films than people tend to realize). 

No idea why they chose this makeup. However, I do love the extra hand in this scene (yes, one too many). These two were great together (should have been in a better film). 

If you see this film you will know why this smile is so creepy. Did you know I have a signed copy of a leather bound book from Charlton Heston? Beijing Diary. 

[AlbertV]

On 1/28/2021 at 7:21 AM, DragonClaws said:

 

I've only watched the first two movies, and I've yet to hear anything good about the sequels.

I liked the 3rd one for using 4 robbers instead of 2 and that John Hughes was still involved. Now as for 4 and 5..yeah the less said the better especially 4 because it was meant to be connected to the first 2...which was complete (censored).

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Ready Player One (2018: Steven Spielberg): 

Rewatched since I just read the book. I still like the movie, a bit less now since the book (as normal) has so much more. There were some interesting changes between the two. I first saw the film in 3-D in the theater. That was done quite well. The film looks good. Playing it where you can pause it has the benefits of seeing so many more "Easter eggs". They are all throughout the film. The book name drops and quotes constantly so there are even many more references there. 

The book has much more of a 80s feel and Atari 2600 feel than the movie (though Adventure plays a big part in both). But it makes sense to have some more later references (as well as more Spielbergian and Zememkis references) here. 

The film condenses everything into one city: Columbus Ohio, while the book has different areas (like where Wade originally lives). Interesting that one Japanese character is Chinese (Sho) for the film. Makes sense for the Chinese market. I think the problem when you read a book you just have so much more: more subplots, more mentions here of gaming (yes I was a gamer for many years), character changes (adding, subtracting characters). 

Where the script (also cowritten by the author) gets it right is avoiding the ecological "peak oil" aspects of the book which sometimes get a bit didactic (also making the weird assumption that electric vehicles are so weak). Also since a film is shorter it gets right to the point. Much more is made in the book of the "non-real" aspect of the gaming (especially in Japan). So here we get a much more fast paced adventure. I liked in the book how he got the extra life more than here. 

But this is a beautiful film -- even in 2-D. Obviously Iron Giant there. Disappointing that Ultraman did not make an appearance like in the book. Though I don't think anyone was disappointed about Iron Giant. 

Monty Python reference. Python was a much bigger part of the book (as well as Real Genius and Ferris Bueller's Day Of). Would love to own one of these. 

All the characters, except the Japanese ones, are more overweight in the books. Art3mis is more interesting in the book (part of the problem of the running time), but also because everyone is more competitive in the book. 

I think the movie handles James Donovan Halliday better, especially the ending, but this ending might lead to the sequel possibly, yes I have the book). Og unfortunately (especially because it is Simon Pegg) gets a bit of a shaft as a character here. 

Here you have several references at once. Oh how I love it. 

A Cannonball Run reference? Awesome! BTW the book references John Woo and The Killer and Hardboiled (there really should have been a Chow Yun-fat and/or Jackie in the film). 

The Shining is not in the book, but a cool usage in the movie. 

[AlbertV]

Happy Cleaners - A Queens, NY Korean-American family struggle when the parents are close to losing the dry-cleaning business they have run for 17 years. Complicating matters is the fact that their son, Kevin, is hellbent on leaving for L.A. after dropping out of college and thinks he has found his calling in cooking. As for daughter Hyunna, she struggles between helping her parents out and keeping her relationship with boyfriend Danny, who dropped out of college to help his family. A really great ensemble cast brings realism to the film and it should be checked out, even once. 

[Takuma]

Combat Shock (USA, 1984) [VoD] - 2/5
Troma Entertainment presents: the most depressing fucking movie you'll ever see. A Vietnam vet haunted by combat traumas wanders around a town while his wife and baby starve in the shittiest apartment on earth. No money, no job, nothing to eat, and everybody are abusing them. An odd, depressing score keeps playing non-stop. Utterly unforgettable, undeniably effective, and almost unwatchable piece of genuine nihilism that will make the viewer feel like absolute shit.

Class of Nuke 'Em High (USA, 1986) [VoD] – 3/5
A surprisingly cute love story set in a toxic comic book town. There’s also boobs, splatter, a toxic monster, radioactive marihuana, a post-apocalyptic gang, and a nice rock soundtrack… a seminal 80s high school film. And it really does the locale (Tromaville) better than you’d expect.

Troma's War (USA, 1988) [VoD] – 3/5
You haven't seen war until you've seen it through the eyes of Troma. Uneven, partly exhilarating action / satire / trash epic with plane crash survivors having to fight for their lives against an army of terrorists on an island. Shitloads of action ensues, with the body count reaching 600 (according to IMDb), most of it creditable to a holiday Rambo in Hawaii shirt and shorts. Blood, boobs, grenades, millions of bullets and a great soundtrack, as well as some idiotic Troma humour. The film is at its most outrageously fun when it plays it seemingly straight.

The Toxic Avenger: Part II (USA, 1989) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Toxie goes to Japan, finds more evil to crush. Uneven sequel moves at snail pace at first, with all the usual Troma sins (childish acting, unfunny jokes etc.) in the opening third, then it relocates to Japan and actually becomes rather clever. There are loads of cultural jokes (had a chuckle with 悪魔の毒々モンスター written on Toxie's business card), people killed in uniquely Japanese ways, gruesome gore, a pretty cool cast (Rikiya Yasuoka as Toxie's dad, Angel Guts: Red Vertigo's Mayako Katsuragi as cute girlfriend side-kick, plus cameos like Go Nagai), and even the Japanese language spoken to a decent extent when not resorting to lame-ass dubbing work. Somehow Troma seems to have done their Japan homework better than most Hollywood films with Japan content. Unfortunately the film goes back to Tromaville for the anti-climatic last reel.

[DarthKato]

Just finished "The Ring(2002)" and "The Ring Two(2005)": I had seen the first one several times, but never the sequel. The first is a pretty good Horror/Mystery film. I do think the Japanese original is better, but its still a good film in its own right. The second one was alright, but defiantly weaker than the first. But I will say that its was a heck of a lot better than the awful third film, and ends well enough that there is no need to ever acknowledge the third movies existence . Now I just need to finally see the sequel to the original Japanese version. 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Things to Come (1936: William Cameron Menzies) on the Criterion 660 DVD.  

I was expecting this to be a better film; though I was wary when I knew that H.G. Wells was the writer. Wells's earlier works I have enjoyed like The Invisible Man and The Island of Doctor Moreau. 

But when he became more interested in his ideas and less interested in humanity books like In the Days of the Comet became a choir to read. This movie has the same issues. It is full of archetypes, propaganda and analogous to L. Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth series it is stock characters that represent an ideal or the opposite and none of them feeling human at all. The didacticism runs rampant. For goodness sake, the town in the movie is named "Everytown." How lazy can you be with the script. 

The acting is typical of British 30s acting with a stage influence (not going into Fritz Lang 20s here, but still) and sometimes too wooden of a delivery. The enunciation is good though. The film itself looks fine (the print from Criterion is not particularly good, but the best with the surviving elements), the special effects are quite nice. Not sure about the outfits, but still interesting. 

This is a particularly nice shot. You will certainly see a good use of matte shots in this movie. The special effects are a highlight, but there are a lot of nice composition shots. 

One person's utopia is another person's dystopia. The "perfect" society seems to dress all alike. Hmmmm. One of the more scary quotes I have heard in a long time. But typical of Wells's later writings. 

I see this as an interesting artifact. One that is prescient (though using the colloquialism "the writing was on the wall") on some issues. But absolutely idealistic and overly preachy. On several sci-fi lists, but there are so many better sci-fi films. 

[Super Ninja]

6 hours ago, masterofoneinchpunch said:

On several sci-fi lists, but there are so many better sci-fi films.

I totally agree, it's been years since I've watched this one, and I never understood what all the fuss was about. Admittedly, I've only seen a handful of these pre-50's SF films, but even the mentioned, less ambitious Invisible Man was more impressive, not to mention Metropolis. 

[AlbertV]

On 2/9/2021 at 2:43 AM, Takuma said:

The Toxic Avenger: Part II (USA, 1989) [VoD] – 2.5/5
Toxie goes to Japan, finds more evil to crush. Uneven sequel moves at snail pace at first, with all the usual Troma sins (childish acting, unfunny jokes etc.) in the opening third, then it relocates to Japan and actually becomes rather clever. There are loads of cultural jokes (had a chuckle with 悪魔の毒々モンスター written on Toxie's business card), people killed in uniquely Japanese ways, gruesome gore, a pretty cool cast (Rikiya Yasuoka as Toxie's dad, Angel Guts: Red Vertigo's Mayako Katsuragi as cute girlfriend side-kick, plus cameos like Go Nagai), and even the Japanese language spoken to a decent extent when not resorting to lame-ass dubbing work. Somehow Troma seems to have done their Japan homework better than most Hollywood films with Japan content. Unfortunately the film goes back to Tromaville for the anti-climatic last reel.

I love the Toxic franchise. Well, the last reel of the sequel is within reason. Kaufman shot over 4 hours of footage and under the advice of his wife (who was the New York Film Commissioner at the time), he turned the four hours into both Toxic Avenger II and III. The sequel was also the first film of some guy named Michael Jai White 

One last bit of trivia: The tiger-striped villain who gets an Exorcist style punch in the first big fight scene was actually Ron Fazio, the actor who would play The Toxic Avenger after the original actor, John Altamura (who is Toxie in the fight scene) was fired from production. Fazio would be Toxie for the Japan shoot and finish the films. White and Fazio also doubled for Altamura in long shots as The Toxic Avenger before Fazio would play the role full-time. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by AlbertV

[masterofoneinchpunch]

4 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

I totally agree, it's been years since I've watched this one, and I never understood what all the fuss was about. Admittedly, I've only seen a handful of these pre-50's SF films, but even the mentioned, less ambitious Invisible Man was more impressive, not to mention Metropolis. 

It really is about the politics that pushes this film in some critics minds.  The later part of H.G. Well's writing is atrocious like the worst aspects of L. Ron Hubbard when the "philosophy" becomes more important than characterization and psychology.

The Invisible Man is awesome and so much better, so is Metropolis (even with the insane overacting, characteristic of Lang's silent movies, well German films in general at that time).

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Pixels (2015: Chris Columbus):  

I gave this a **½/**** rating. I thought it was fun enough with a decent idea. I think the ending dropped it down half-a-star for me and got lazy as it went along, but it made me laugh and not want to set fire to things so that is a plus. 

His orange (you have to hear the Lady Sovereign song "Tango") attire was atrocious, but it was made fun of in the film. Doesn't he see more geekish in the movie than nerdlike? But I do like this quote. 

I love that this film fits in well with me watching and reading Ready Player One. Tons of old-school video game references (especially toward then end which will remind you of the avatar usage in Ready Player One).  And all of these fit well with the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007) which I hope you have seen (obvious an influence on this film). Peter Dinklage was made to look like Billy Mitchell. 

An aside: I liked how the Perfect Game was done in Ready Player One for Pac-Man (the book only; the movie ignored this). I thought a "perfect game" should have been mentioned in this film. They should have mentioned the Donkey Kong Kill Screen. 

I do like this shot of the Taj Mahal being destroyed while someone take a selfie. 

Adam Sandler is great at getting cameos in his films (how the hell does he do it; still Al Pacino in Jack & Jill is awesome). I probably love this one a bit too much. 

I will probably use this still on authors on Twitter. There is some good one-liners throughout the film. Also the second one will work as well with the same authors. 

I still think the "cheat codes" for Pac Man were fine. They were part of the game and not sure how the alien race would think it is cheating. Also, how did he cheat at Donkey Kong? Did not quite get that. 

Also another Ready Player One (book) connection is Max Headroom. Played by Matt Frewer (love the short TV series) whose birthday was two days ago. Weird how you can find connections to recently read/watched books/movies. 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940: Lynn Shores):  

Solid "B" detective film. Enjoyed it. The cinematography is good (as I mentioned before, these "B" films are filmed much better than most of today's films). Toler is no Oland, but serviceable. Toler is more healthy than Oland was so he moves better. But he does not have the gravitas nor acting skills that Oland has. The wax museum certainly reminded me of Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) -- worth watching and definitely Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Yeah I know House of Wax (1953), but I hope that is already in your collection -- seriously that needs to be in your collection. 

Given the clues (except for one major one which when I think back does possibly give it away) it is difficult to guess who the culprit is (though there really is more than one in this film which helps the plot). 

It also has a combination of topics from revenge, a plastic surgeon (have to love those plastic surgeon's, especially criminal ones who own a wax museum as a front -- that is so cool). Victor Sen Yung is quite fun in these, even though you know he is going to screw things up. 

This is a good Charlie Chan. There are better ones to start out with, but a solid "B" representation of a detective movie. Quick pace, interesting, good characterization and overall fun. 

[Carjacker]

Been kinda binging on 'Scrubs' the TV series. It's weird, definitely homo-erotic (which is funny but OMG cringe-worthy as I'm a straight male) and far left in many ways, but in today's SJW world, it probably would never see the light of day if it was brought to Holly-weird today. Definitely not PC for today's cultural marxists.

I have a couple films in my queue: 'Train to Busan' 1 & 2, 'Trench 11' and 'Soldiers of the Damned'.....I seem to find myself looking for strange war time supernatural horror flicks lately.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Excalibur (1981: John Boorman):  

I watched this years ago and all I really remember was that I was not that interested in it. So I put it off for a long time. Reading the book Ready Player One made me interested in revisiting all the films mentioned in it that I had not seen or did not remember like this one. Surprisingly this movie is on TSPDT 1000 (which is a compendium of top lists which also would make you think this is a great film which it is not) and some other major lists.  

It is easy to mock the fight scenes. They are poorly done (except when there is a stunt double). Too close in photography, people stumbling around (which could be realistic, but looks bad here). 

The fantastical elements reminds one of a small budget (let's bring in the fog machine for the dragon's breath. I don't mind a small budget if you can get caught up in the story. I just could not do that here. 

Now the dubbed voices are pretty awful. Not quite as good as a low budget 1980s Taiwanese martial art film with local English speakers doing the voice. It is like they picked voices that did not match the person on purpose. 

Arthur is kingly and looks like David Grohl. 

And it is very hard not to think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail which is a much more fun, more interesting and well something I'll revisit again and again so that is probably not bloody fair to compare to this barmy, well to be fair it is OK but not better than that. 

Yeah I'm going to have a HK reference here with the two broken swords. The second pick is the excellent The One-Armed Swordsman and yes a broken sword can be read metaphorically as well.