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

[jiujitsu77]

Im really getting in to russian cinema.....just watched their first horror film they ever did in soviet russia circa 1968. its called VYJ. I know there was a remake made about two years ago, and it is based off of Russian folklore from what i gather, but man...for the time? The last twenty minutes were INSANE! I urge ANYONE to look this one up. Starts slow, but it is totally worth it. Russians were innovators in the early days of film, and this shows why. the effects they used for the last reel are simple yet amazing. I think since it is a PD title here, you may be able to watch it on youtube with subtitiles. Check this bugger out!

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Banana Cop 1984

London set crime dramedy starring George Lam, Teddy Robin Kwan and Cherie Chung. Very enjoyable....

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Im really getting in to russian cinema.....just watched their first horror film they ever did in soviet russia circa 1968. its called VYJ. I know there was a remake made about two years ago, and it is based off of Russian folklore from what i gather, but man...for the time? The last twenty minutes were INSANE! I urge ANYONE to look this one up. Starts slow, but it is totally worth it. Russians were innovators in the early days of film, and this shows why. ...

RE: VIY -- I'm looking forward to this, though I was hoping this might get a Criterion release (or a better release than the R1 Image release; I might settle for this one).

Have you seen much from Sergei Eisenstein or silent (or early sound) Russian film? Are you into Andrei Tarkovsky?

[Secret Executioner]

Laurel & Hardy's Block-Heads

Needed to re-watch it for my cinema class paper.

El Diablo de la Dinamita AKA Devil's Dynamite

The unability to understand the dialogues - since I don't speak Spanish - doesn't matter when you have vampires, Ninjas, a Robocop (bad) clone and even a voodoo priest in ONE SAME FREAKIN' MOVIE.

[RogueWarrior]

I have been busy making custom subtitles for the colorized version of Ultra Q.

[AlbertV]

THE MARINE 3: HOMEFRONT - Mike "The Miz" Mizanin takes over and TBH, I liked this one better than 2. Darren Shahlavi has a decent fight scene against Miz

[masterofoneinchpunch]

“Good, Bad, I’m the Oz.”

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013: Sam Raimi)

If you are late for a movie, the trailers do usually give you a nice 10 minute or more buffer. However, if you arrive slightly past the stated time and the line is long combined with the dreaded person who cannot make up their mind you are in for a hair-pulling and anxious wait. It reminds me of when you are driving to get somewhere and you probably would have been on time except that someone decides that a yellow light means to stop the car. It’s that kind of feeling when you watch a person at the ticket line furrow their brow, ask a whole bunch of questions which prevent the line from moving. It also does not help if you are slightly caffeinated where the world appears to be going in slow motion and you also need to use the restroom.

I arrived at the theater just as the credits were beginning to roll, so I did not miss too much. I had to gather my senses, get my night eyes and then try to find the appropriate seat in quite a packed audience. Why did they put this in the smaller theater? A week ago I saw The Incredible Burt Wonderstone in the largest theater with only one person. That was cool. I pick an aisle seat where there was no one behind me and no one directly to the side of me. As always, someone would sit behind me a few minutes later. It was rather warm and the air smelled of popcorn, corn chips, body odor and some indiscernible cologne of the person two seats from me that reminded me of a cross between a hobo and brown sugar. It was time to focus on the film, now only if the kids would shut up. That, of course, would not happen as many with attention deficient disorders would play down the aisle, spout out impenetrable remarks and well act like children who have consumed lots of soda and candy.

I was told to think of Army of Darkness when watching this film. It was quite an apt description because aspects of that film could be seen throughout from the way the witches moved, to the plot archetype, to Bruce Campbell. This is, of course, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz (1939) and has many nods to that film, and sets up some aspects that would happen in the earlier film, except that it eschews the singing except in one “this is not a musical” scene. But I came out of the theater thinking more of the third film in the Evil Dead trilogy than anything else.

As one would expect it started in black in white. It also started in the 1.37 ratio as well. James Franco is Oz a con-man magician who is a womanizer and a marginal con-man. As one would expect you see several of the characters in the black and white section later in Oz. A great tornado whisked Oz away and well we all know where he was going. In Oz, he meets the cute witch Theodora (Mila Kunis) and she falls for him. We know his romantic intentions are not pure by the grimacing of his face when she mentions about long term commitments. He also finds a flying monkey companion Finley (Zach Braff) whom he saved and has sworn to forever help Oz even though he finds out quickly he is a fake. Theodora takes Oz to her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) who is charge of Emerald City, until the prophecy of coming wizard named Oz who has to defeat the bad witch whom Evanora states is Glinda (Michelle Williams) who apparently killed her own father. When he starts his quest to find Glinda, he also picks up a living china doll (Joey King) whose fragile family has been destroyed. The plot from here on out is quite standard once we find out who Glinda really is.

Overall I liked this film. The actors were so-so, something felt missing in James Franco’s performance (yes I would have rather had Bruce Campbell in the lead). Also the way his character treated Theodora was quite bad. I could have imagined him saying one of the quotes from Army of Darkness: “Oh that's just what we call pillow talk, baby, that's all.” I know Captain Kirk would have hit on her in that green face and body makeup. The visual splendor of the cinematography kept me interested throughout. Since it was made for 3-D there was a bit too much of “point things toward the camera”, but still the universe was nice to look at in 2-D. It would have helped if more attention was paid to the humanistic (or porcelain, flying monkey etc…) characters. I liked the Danny Elfman score on first listen as well, but then I generally like his output. But overall the film pales in comparison to the Army of Darkness. But is does have a much better finale than the other Disney retread Alice in Wonderland (2010).

[fatcat]

The Munsters

[AlbertV]

PIETA - Kim Ki-Duk's latest

My review is on my non-MA film blog

http://albertvfilm.blogspot.com

[DiP]

Black Christmas (1974) - Some dull dialogue and out-of-place characters but otherwise a pretty good horror movie and the first one in a trend that spawned movies like Halloween, Friday The 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street etc. The greatest things about the movie are that the killer is kept a secret with technically no background or motive behind the murders, and gets mixed up with the only "likely" suspect among all cast members. Great way of mystifying the horrific moments imo. Rating: 8.5/10

Friday the 13th (1980) - Still scary and thrilling but the teen stuff is too outdated now which kinda ruins the movie tbh. Great choice of antagonist and the finale where all questions are answers make this very satisfying. Rating: 7.5/10

Friday the 13th Part II (1981) - Pretty much the same as the original but with the now famous Jason Voorhees as the antagonist out for revenge and new blood. Rating: 7/10

Friday the 13th (2009) - This could've been great but the makers simply did it wrong in some aspects. They did Jason Voorhees justice though by going back to the roots (having him run after his victims and kill realistically) instead of turning him once again into a supernatural killer he become in the sequels. Now, the wrong turns are that they emphasized on the teen stuff as much (if not more) as the violence and horror and the outcome is only half-good. Rating: 6.5/10

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) - One of the best horror movie remake so far imo. The tight momentum is maintained throughout the story and really add up to the violence and horrific nature behind the killers and their way of living. Rating: 9/10

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) - Predictable prequel on how Leatherface become the killer and how he was raised. This is the downside of making follow-ups horror movies in that variety lacks. But for what it is, it still succeeds giving viewers violence and thrills. The ending was surprising though, a rule broken and one that imo was a good thing opposed to what many feel about it. Rating: 7.5/10

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - I didn't like the original movie tbh because I just couldn't take Freddy Kruger's personality and the overall scary factor and violence seriously. So I was very delighted to see what the makers were able to do with this remake. A subdued but far more frightening Freddy Kruger and he's actually developed here better than he ever was in the earlier movies, showing how his normal life and how he become a nightmare for chosen teens. The acting here wasn't as corny and clichéd either which for me is a big plus. Rating: 9/10

Halloween (2007) - I like how they focused on giving Michael Myers enough back story for viewers to understand the character better. And that is pretty much the strength of this remake. Otherwise, this was not really that good. The casting was weird somehow and the violence was overdone compared to the original. Rating: 6/10

The Last House on the Left (2009) - Haven't seen the original but this was an overall entertaining movie about two teens that get over abused and raped by a vicious gang of fugitives. The acting was surprisingly good where you could actually sympathize with what the girls and the parents have to go through. Rating: 8/10

Independence Day (1996) - First time watching this in more than 10 years. Very entertaining with lots of action and spectacle in form of special effects, sound, sets, explosions. Good ol 90s sci-fi action classic. Rating: 8/10

[Secret Executioner]

PIETA - Kim Ki-Duk's latest

My review is on my non-MA film blog

http://albertvfilm.blogspot.com

Funny, it's currently playing in a theater in my area. Your review was quite interesting.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Great Magician (2012: Derek Yee) Hong Kong/China **/****

While the R1 DVD did come out in 2013, this has been released elsewhere last year. IMDB has it as a 2011 film though it was mostly released in 2012 and the copyright is also 2012. It does not matter too much since it will not be on any top list for either 2012 or 2013.

With the combination of Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Happy Together) and Lau Ching-wan (Mad Detective), who had not worked together since the great noir-ish The Longest Nite (1998) and directed by Derek Yee (Protégé) I was quite looking forward to this. I have a small fascination with magic and it can be quite effective in films like The Illusionist or The Prestige. I am certainly disappointed from this, though I probably should not have been since both Triple Tap and Shinjuku Incident from Yee were average fare.

I read that this was called the Chinese The Illusionist which is completely wrong since the tone here goes into farce (the tonal shifts in the film do get annoying). When the movie is playful it is indeed fun. If they had worked on the plot, explained some of the characters actions more (I thought we would have had more explanation for Chang Hsien leaving his fiancé), removed some characters (did Lam Suet and his wife feel superfluous or what), had a more cohesive script and well spent more time on making the movie. Tony Leung and Lau work well together but the script does not know what they should be doing.

This is one of those films were I do not even want to take a stab at explaining the plot. I was wondering at some point if this was cut from a mini-series (it is not). The magic shown here is mostly CGI and for the most part not “real” (like slight of hand.) The transitions are somewhat cheesy. Zhou Xun (True Legend, Confucius), who plays the love interest, is not as apt in dealing with comedy as the other two.

Look for cameos from Tsui Hark and Daniel Wu.

(the tone from this trailer is completely wrong)

Random comments on:

Les Miserables (2012: Tom Hooper) **½/****

This was kind of painful. I am perplexed by the high IMDB rating, the nomination for Best Picture (AA), Anne Hathaway winning Supporting Actress against better competition, the winning of the Golden Globe and pretty much any accolades that have gone for this film. I have enjoyed the play in San Francisco where they had a revolving set throughout the performance, I love the 1934 Raymond Bernard version though I have yet to see the more famous 1935 version with Frederic March and Charles Laughton (I will try to watch it soon) or read the book.

The film starts off with a somewhat shoddy CGI rendition floating camera shot and when it cuts in has a more impressive set shot of many bodies including Jean Valgean (Hugh Jackman) pulling a large vessel into dock. For me this was a foreboding to what was to come: where I would be both impressed and horrified by what I saw and heard.

I think Anne Hathaway got her award for getting her hair cut. I was more annoyed with her performance than anyone else. It was bombastic, self-pitying and combined with the close-up photography she came off as a bit masochistically mad. Her voice was fine, but I wanted her off the screen quickly. Her downfall happens so quickly that it seems ridiculous. Russell Crowe sometimes had trouble with the range of his lyrics and was often raspy and did not sound well with the recitative. I thought Hugh’s vocal range and acting ability helped him here, though the script does him no favors by having him mention himself Ad Nauseum.

The most successful segment to me was “The Master of the House” with Thenardier (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Madame (Helena Bonham Carter: is she born to play roles such as this?) which is used as a reprieve from the previous doleful scenes though the comedic shift did through me off. I was impressed with the sets and costumes as well.

What was with the kid straight from Charles Dickens? He had the Londoner street urchin accent down and I was expecting him to ask for more gruel.

I am glad I did not see this in the theater. The overabundance of close-ups, hand-held and the overuse of recitative made this sometimes a maddening experience and that was on a small screen. Plus while watching it on a BD (or DVD) you can always push pause take a breather in silence and come back to it later.

Jim Emerson

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

A Killer's Blues... not the greatest movie in any respect. But I really love Ti Lung in those downtrodden melancholic roles that he did alot of in the 80's. He has such warmth, kind features and avuncular personality, that I really feel his pain, and hate his enemies. That's the mark of a great actor. His performance here deserved to be in a better movie.

Just Heroes... not the best John Woo heroic bloodshed flick, for sure. But watching all the great old Shaw stars blasting double guns is still a great watch. And Danny Lee as a triad instead of a cop is also refreshing.

[Secret Executioner]

Iron Man 3

What can I say ? It was entertaining and the action was nice. Besides that ? The comedy wasn't that great (not funny at all most of the time), the movie has some nice plot holes (SPOILER: during the final battle Stark tells Rodes he can't have an armor because they are programmed to answer only to Stark - that would be legitimate if we didn't see Pepper wearing an armor TWICE...) and the reveal of the Mandarin was the worst treatment a movie could give to such a high-level super villain (maybe worse than what was done to Bane in Batman & Robin). I find Mandarin similar to Bane in The Dark Knight Rises actually as they appear to be kick-ass at first (the Mandarin seems like a really great villain at first, pretty scarry guy I must say) but you get quite disappointed in the end. I don't know if it's because of Avengers coming out (and taking place) before this but I wondered (at points) why Captain America and Thor weren't sent/didn't show up to help Iron Man.

That said, the movie was overall pretty good - and as I said, it's really entertaining and the action is nice (though I haven't seen so much shit exploding or flying around since Transformers 3). The new director did a great job here but I don't think this 3rd film was as good as the second one.

[Takuma]

The Last Stand (USA, 2013) [Cinema] – 3/5

Schwarzenegger’s comeback is a modern western with loads of gun and car action. The film is dumb as a horse’s ass, but entertaining enough. Schwarzenegger does quite well in the lead role, and the film isn’t ruined with too obvious CGI blood. Amusingly, there only appears to be about half dozen citizens in Arnold’s city. A far cry from classic Schwarzenegger, but at very least the film has the common courtesy to treat itself with respect. The same cannot be said about Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables 2. Arnold 1 – Sly 0.

The Taint (USA, 2010) [Yubari 2013] – 3/5

Kill Women! An amusing but amateurish Troma film about an epidemic that turns (almost) all men into homicidal killer rapists. “You see, gang rape is ok now!”. The film is utter trash, but takes itself with humor – even too much so. Often playing purely for laughs, the film forgets it would be a black comedy in any case. Too much and too obvious humor makes it less fun and ballsy. Nevertheless, there’s enough well made non-CGI splatter and political incorrectness to make it a sure entertainer. Frequent over-acting and cheap digital video complete the package.

Evil Dead (USA, 2013) [Cinema] – 3.5/5

An unexpected treat: a good remake. The new Evil Dead is an enjoyable bloodbath that amps up the gore factor to 11. Indeed, this is no doubt the goriest film ever passed with an R-rating. Better yet, the visceral bloodletting is almost fully hand-made, with minimal use of CGI. The storyline is a svariation of the original, but thankfully doesn’t replicate scenes too faithfully. There’s a good balance between modern horror and classic cabin horror, with some very stylish use of lighting and visual details. Jokes and postmodern bullshit are thankfully left out, with the only humor rising from the violence that becomes absurdly extreme. The middle third takes a small dive with repetitive scenes of self mutilation and rapid editing, and the film lacks the freshness and charm of the original, but as a whole it’s an effective stomach churning ride.

Invisible Waves (Thailand, 2006) [DVD] – 4/5

Last Life in the Universe director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s fascinating and atmospheric film escapes genre classification. The minimalist film explains very little – so little, that an hour into the movie the viewer still doesn’t know what it’s about. Tadanobu Asano stars, with Oldboy’s Kang Hye-jung and Erick Tsang in supporting roles. Most of the dialogue is in broken English, which for once works perfectly and enforces the feeling of alienation. The cinematography is by Chris Doyle.

[Secret Executioner]

The Batman Adventures: Mad Love (Motion Comic)

Based on the comic Mad Love that is itself based on the New Batman Adventures episode Mad Love (or is it the cartoon that is based on the comic ?), this motion comic tells us the origin of Harley Quinn, Joker's sidekick who first appeared in the 1990s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series.

The animation may seem weird (actually, it's basically comic book panels with people reading the dialogues, sound effects added and some movement here and there) but it's actually pretty fun to watch. For those who have seen these, it's basically the animation style used in the Marvel Super Heroes cartoons from the 1960s (Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Thor). On the (very) bright side, the character design is that of Batman TAS and not the one from TNBA. A positive, especially for the Joker who looked horrible in TNBA.

However, it's divided into 7 parts and you have opening and ending credits for each of these parts. It becomes pretty annoying when you're trying to watch the whole "film" at once.

[Coliseum1972]

Kongen av Bastoy aka King of Devils island 5/6

Bastoy was an island (outside Oslo) where boys were sent if they didn't behave back in the day , today they would call it child abuse but this was 1915-ish , whole other time. There's still a prison there today but w/o the brutality.

Horror of Dracula 55th anniversary (out on blu now with extended death scene)

King Kong 80th anniversary

Next month : Superman 75th anniversary

Time flies.......

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Colt .45 (1950: Edwin L. Marin):

I like Randolph Scott. He may be limited to a few exp<b></b>ressions and temperaments especially in these B westerns, but I always look forward to seeing him. But it amazing how well Budd Boetticher utilized him in such films as Seven Men From Now and The Tall T. Scott plays a traveling Colt salesman and war hero Steve Farrell displaying his pair of new repeaters to a local sheriff.* A released criminal Jason Brett (Zachary Scott) steals the repeaters and kills the sheriff in one of the most hilariously inept moves made by a sheriff you are likely to see. With those repeaters, while everybody has single shots though this ignores how powerful a long range rife could have been to kill his character, Brett becomes the lead of a terrorizing gang that rampages and murders almost everyone they come across. Zachary Scott plays this character with cowardly aplomb. Randolph’s penchant for monomania is shown again as he must get back his guns. Luckily he has a pair of repeater Colts himself.

While the plot is boilerplate, it is fun to see the supporting actors in this. Alan Hale (The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City) is a solid character actor and here he is the corrupt sheriff, in his second to last role though this would be released after his death. Every time I see him I think of his son who looks like his Doppleganger. I was surprised to see Lloyd Bridges (High Noon, Airplane!) here as the conniving Paul Donovan. His wife and love interest of Steve Farrell is Ruth Roman (Strangers on a Train, The Far Country: another most see western.) Ubiquitous Indian of the time Chief Thundercloud (Victor Daniels; he is a real Native American though) is played well here. The Indians are actually the better guys here while the townspeople are ignorant, cowardly or just plain bad. Compare their treatment here toward the Apache’s treatment in Arrowhead (1953: Charles Marquis Warren).** I also like how Randolph dresses all in black for the last half of the film.

This is a decent Technicolor B western with some good performances, a weak plot and some of the most wishy-washy (or just plain ignorant) citizens you will see. There are just too many better westerns to watch though especially if you are newer to this genre then you might do better looking at the films of John Ford, Howard Hawks , Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher first.

I have this title in a three pack with three B westerns: Tall Man Riding (1955: Lesley Selander) and Fort Worth (1951: Edwin L. Marin). If you are a Randolph Scott fan then I think you will like this or even better there is a four pack with one of his best films Ride the High Country (1962: Sam Peckinpah).

* The title of the film is Colt. 45 but the weapon from the time of the film is actually a Colt Dragoon with a .44 caliber. The film takes place around 1848 or 1849. I believe the Polk Administration was mentioned, but I am not completely sure.

** If you have not seen this it has a wonderfully intense and insane performance from Charlton Heston who is one of the more racist characters (though technically only against Apache Indians and he if proven right over and over again) I have seen in years.

[Secret Executioner]

Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors (1965)

A very nice horror movie. It has its clichees but also offers unexpected twists. This one started the trend of horror movies with several little stories linked to one narrative and it does it really well. The onlyother of these movies I have is The Monster Club (1981) and frankly, the scenes in the Monster Club are better than the 3 stories narrated by Vincent Price in his only appearance as a vampire.

[KUNG FU BOB]

The Last Stand (USA, 2013) [Cinema] – 3/5

Schwarzenegger’s comeback is a modern western with loads of gun and car action. The film is dumb as a horse’s ass, but entertaining enough. Schwarzenegger does quite well in the lead role, and the film isn’t ruined with too obvious CGI blood. Amusingly, there only appears to be about half dozen citizens in Arnold’s city. A far cry from classic Schwarzenegger, but at very least the film has the common courtesy to treat itself with respect. The same cannot be said about Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables 2. Arnold 1 – Sly 0.

You've summed it up nicely Takuma. Though I am one of the people that enjoyed Sly's EXPENDABLES films, despite their flaws. Arnie was pretty stiff in those, so I was happily surprised at what a natural performance he gives in THE LAST STAND. I've been bitching for years about the unrealistic depiction of injuries caused by machine gun fire. But this film fixes that! The scene with the Vickers machine gun is perfect! A fun and entertaining film with three extremely sexy ladies in it. And who wouldn't want to drive a 1000 horsepower car and fire a 50 caliber handgun?! 7/10

Invisible Waves (Thailand, 2006) [DVD] – 4/5

Last Life in the Universe director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s fascinating and atmospheric film escapes genre classification. The minimalist film explains very little – so little, that an hour into the movie the viewer still doesn’t know what it’s about. Tadanobu Asano stars, with Oldboy’s Kang Hye-jung and Erick Tsang in supporting roles. Most of the dialogue is in broken English, which for once works perfectly and enforces the feeling of alienation. The cinematography is by Chris Doyle.

So I'm not alone! I had started to wonder if I dreamed this film! I saw this one afternoon back in 2006 at the Philadelphia Film Festival with a lot of sleepy theater patrons (quite a few left during the screening). When it ended, a film critic nearby said to me "Well that's a wasted afternoon that we'll never get back, huh?" I felt completely different though, and enjoyed the film a lot. Hard to recommend, but for me it gets an 8/10.

Horror of Dracula 55th anniversary (out on blu now with extended death scene)

Oh really! Thanks for the heads up.

FAST 6 (2013)- Great cast chemistry, little wasted time, snappy dialogue, and tons and tons of outrageous action. Some of it makes you laugh at how ridiculous it is, yet still remains enjoyable. I expected lots of incredible vehicles and hi-octane action, but the big surprise here is the abundance of well-filmed fisticuffs. Among these, my favorites involved real-life martial arts champ (and hotty) Gina Carano fighting Michelle Rodriguez... twice, and they are hellagood fights. 7.5/10

MANIAC (2012) This remake of William Lustig's 1980 film is just as disturbing. Elijah Woods is creepy beyond belief as the titular character who is nearly only seen via reflections and in dream sequences. The film is shot (about 97%) from the maniac['s point of view. This gives it an extra helping of squirm-inducing nastiness as you see everything through the eyes of this violent, scalp-collecting freak as he tries to deal with his Mommy issues. Not recommended as a date movie! There's plenty of nudity and absolutely horrific violence. Technically it's shot really well, has a fantastic soundtrack, and the graphic FX work is outstanding. 6.5/10

SIDE EFFECTS (2013) Steven Soderbergh's film is an indictment of pharmaceutical companies, greedy, under-informed doctors, commercialism, and many other things. Somehow this slow-boil thriller is all these things but never comes across as preachy. The acting, headlined by Rooney Mara (the US version of GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO), Jude Law, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, is brilliant throughout. 7/10

THE TERMINATOR (1984)- Still a freaking classic! Smart, fast, exciting, intense, romantic, and genre defining. The only thing that aged poorly was Stan Winston's mechanical Arnold head. Otherwise his FX are flawless. A low budget sci-fi/action masterpiece. 9/10

JACK REACHER (2012)- A surprisingly good mystery/thriller/action flick. Strong characters, acting, script, and action. Technically, a beautifully made film as well. Tom Cruise is now 50, and does his Keysi fighting scenes better than most stars half his age. I'd love to see sequels. 8/10

PHANTASM II (1988)- A worthy follow up to the 1978 scare fest. Creative, scary, funny. 8/10

HALLOWEEN II (1981)- An entertaining sequel to a much better film. 5/10

THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958)- 8/10

GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973)- 8.5/10

SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER (1977)- 8.5/10

REPO MAN (1984)- I revisited this thanks to Criterion's excellent Blu-Ray release. It still has that old magic! 8/10

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Pt. 2 (2013)- The second half of this animated version of Frank Miller's comic completely blows away the already very good first part. For those that haven't read (shame on you!) or seen it, I won't spoil anything, but... DAMN! Good stuff! 9/10

CHAPPELLE SHOW: THE LOST TAPES (2006)- Hilarious! 8/10

[Secret Executioner]

SIDE EFFECTS (2013) Steven Soderbergh's film is an indictment of pharmaceutical companies, greedy, under-informed doctors, commercialism, and many other things. Somehow this slow-boil thriller is all these things but never comes across as preachy. The acting, headlined by Rooney Mara (the US version of GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO), Jude Law, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, is brilliant throughout. 7/10

Saw the trailer for Side Effects but I wasn't too thrilled. The topics are interesting though - and very relevant nowadays with all the issues regarding medicine one can hear about in the media.

HALLOWEEN II (1981)- An entertaining sequel to a much better film. 5/10

Funny, I happen to think Halloween II is better than the first Halloween film - which I found quite boring (though the opening scene with the first murder committed by Mike Myers was pretty nicely done). I must say while I'm a big horror cinema fan I'm not much into slasher movies.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Pt. 2 (2013)- The second half of this animated version of Frank Miller's comic completely blows away the already very good first part. For those that haven't read (shame on you!) or seen it, I won't spoil anything, but... DAMN! Good stuff! 9/10

Best Batman graphic novel ever. The trailer for Part 1 was quite nice but I was a bit disappointed with Batman's voice. I still have the 2-DVD editions of these coming.

Batman TAS made a reference to TDKR in an episode where kids were wondering what Batman is like. A whole movie like this would be killer:

LpyHD3pflqE

[hutch]

'The Oregonian' & 'The Rambler'. And 'The Monkees'. Always, 'The Monkees'.

[Coliseum1972]

Halloween '78 , 6/6

H2 , 4.5/6......I find it kinda stale compared to the first.

Fans aren't too impressed by Hammer blus :

Dracula PoD (flashback-scene had to be fixed)

Rasputin (terrible sound)

Devil rides out (added sfx but to their defence they wanted to add sfx back then but did not have technology for it)

Horror of Dracula (colors aren't the best compared to dvd or so I've heard)

[Secret Executioner]

A Simple Life by Ann Hui

I posted my thoughts in the dedicated thread: http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?p=214114#post214114

[AlbertV]

Mama - I heard mostly negative stuff about this, but my wife and I decided to check it out. I actually liked it and the ending alone was just shocking to me.