Track the Films You Watch (2012)

This was fun last year however it also showed I watch a lot of movies. :) Ratings based on 5 stars.

 

01/01/2012 Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - Theater - 4

01/02/2012 The Incredible Hulk - Bluray - 3.5

01/13/2012 Megamind 3D - Bluray 3D - 4

01/14/2012 Men in Black - Starz HD - 4

01/14/2012 Killer Elite - Bluray - 3.5

01/16/2012 Fantastic 4 - Bluray - 3

01/16/2012 Fantastic 4 Silver Surfer - Bluray - 2.5 

01/18/2012 X-Man Origins: Wolverine - Bluray - 2.5

01/19/2012 ID4 - Bluray - 3

01/21/2012 Resident Evil - Digital Copy - 3.5

01/21/2012 V for Vendetta - Bluray - 3.5

01/23/2012 Forbidden Planet - Bluray - 3.5 

01/27/2012 Real Steel - Zune HD - 3.5

01/28/2012 Super 8 - Digital Copy - 4

02/01/2012 Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D - Bluray 3D - 3.5

02/03/2012 Moneyball - Bluray - 3.5

02/08/2012 Knight and Day - Digital Copy - 3

02/10/2012 Virtual Voyeur - Netflix Stream - 1

02/12/2012 The Goonies - Encore HD - 3.5

02/12/2012 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D - Theater - 4

02/12/2012 Transformers: Dark of the Moon 3D - Bluray 3D - 3.5

02/18/2012 Pirates of the Caribbean  - Dead Mans Chest - Bluray - 3.5

02/18/2012 Tron: Legacy - Digital Copy - 4

02/18/2012 Abduction - Bluray - 2

02/19/2012 In Time - Bluray - 3

02/19/2012 Zookeeper - Starz HD - 2.5

02/20/2012 The Touch - Starz HD - 3

02/20/2012 Mars Needs Moms - Netflix Stream - 2

02/25/2012 Furry Vengeance - Bluray - 2.5

02/26/2012 Bad Teacher - Starz HD - 3

02/26/2012 Puss N Boots - Bluray - 2.5

03/02/2012 Flash Gordon - Encore HD - 2.5

03/02/2012 Bangkok Adrenaline - Bluray - 2.5

03/03/2012 Godzilla - Bluray - 2

03/03/2012 Bunraku - Bluray - 3

03/03/2012 Art of War II - Starz - 2.5

03/04/2012 The Code - Bluray - 3

03/09/2012 Immortals 3D - Bluray 3D - 3.5

03/10/2012 Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within - Bluray - 3

03/11/2012 Hugo 3D - Bluray 3D - 2.5 (Movie was a little boring, 3D was fantastic)

03/12/2012 Star Trek - Digital Copy - 4

03/13/2012 Grosse Point Blank - DVD - 4

03/15/2012 Conan the Barbarian (2011) - Digital Copy - 2.5

03/16/2012 Cowboys & Aliens - Digital Copy - 3.5

03/16/2012 The Replacements - DVD - 3.5

03/17/2012 The Three Musketeers 3D - Bluray 3D - 2.5 

03/18/2012 The Adventures of Tin Tin 3D - Bluray 3D - 4

03/22/2012 Antitrust - Netflix Stream - 3.5

03/24/2012 Constantine - Digital Copy - 3

03/24/2012 Mamma Mia - Digital Copy - 2.5

03/24/2012 The Hit List - Bluray - 2.5

03/24/2012 Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins - Encore HD - 2.5

03/25/2012 Hunger Games - Theater - 3.5 

03/30/2012 Apollo 18 - Bluray - 2

03/31/2012 Ninja Assassin - Digital Copy - 3.5

03/31/2012 In Time - Digital Copy - 3

03/31/2012 Spawn - Encore HD - 2.5 

04/01/2012 Patton - Amazon Stream - 3.5

04/03/2012 Midway - Amazon Stream - 2.5

04/06/2012 The X Files: I Want to Believe - Digital Copy - 2.5

04/07/2012 Country Strong - Starz HD - 3.5

04/07/2012 Bridesmaids - Bluray - 2

04/13/2012 Adjustment Bureau - Digital Copy - 3

04/13/2012 The Darkest Hour 3D - Bluray 3D - 2.5 

04/14/2012 Alien Armageddon - Netflix Stream - .5

04/14/2012 Footloose (2011) - Bluray - 3.5

04/20/2012 War Horse - Bluray - 3.5

04/20/2012 Jonah Hex - Bluray - 2.5

04/21/2012 Mission Impossible - Bluray - 3

04/21/2012 Mission Impossible 2 - Bluray - 3

04/21/2012 Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol - Bluray - 4

04/21/2012 Romeo Must Die - Netflix Stream - 3.5

04/22/2012 Mission Impossible 3 - Bluray - 3

04/22/2012 The Last Airbender - Bluray - 2

04/28/2012 Drive - Bluray - 2 (why was this such a great movie???)

04/29/2012 Vexille - Bluray - 3

04/29/2012 Good Morning Vietnam - Bluray - 4 

05/03/2012 Step Up 3 - Bluray - 4

05/04/2012 Against the Dark - Netflix Stream - 1.5

05/10/2012 Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Digital Copy - 3.5

05/19/2012 Underworld Awakening 3D - Bluray 3D - 3.5

05/20/2012 Haywire - Bluray - 2

05/28/2012 Underworld - Digital Copy - 4

05/28/2012 Fast Five - Digital Copy - 3.5

 

Total Movies 2012: 84

Edited by dmiller68 - 5/28/12 at 6:59am

I'll probably just list the movies that I watch in theaters this year so I can compile a best-of list at the end of the year.

January 6 to May 11
Contraband
Red Tails
The Grey
Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance
Wanderlust
21 Jump Street
Jeff, Who Lives At Home
The Hunger Games
American Reunion
The Cabin In The Woods
The Five-Year Engagement
The Avengers (3-D)
Dark Shadows
Edited by TravisR - 5/12/12 at 11:13am

Films seen by date:

ALL RATINGS OUT OF (FIVE) STARS

First time viewings in bold.
 

Total movies seen in 2012: 108
January: 21
February: 21
March: 28
April: 20
May: 18
 

1/01- The Ides of March (2011)
1/02- Young Adult (2011)
1/04- Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011)
1/05- Killer Elite (2011)
1/06- The Arbor (2011)
1/06- Infernal Affairs (Mou Gaan Dou) (2004)
1/07- Walking and Talking (1996)
1/08- A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin) (2011)
1/09- Buck (2011)
1/11- The Guns of Navarone (1961)
1/13- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
1/15- That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
1/16- Our Idiot Brother (2011)
1/17- Mission Impossible III (2006)
1/18- Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (2011) ZERO STARS
1/19- Moulin Rouge (2001)
1/24- Life in a Day (2011)
1/25- Beautiful Girls (1996)
1/27- A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011) 
1/29- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
1/31- Incendies (2011)

2/03- Throne of Blood (Kumonosu-jô) (1957)
2/03- The Thing (2011)
2/04- The Future (2011)
2/05- Dream House (2011)
2/06- Take Shelter (2011)
2/07- In Time (2011)
2/08- Up in the Air (2009)
2/10- A Dangerous Method (2011)
2/11- Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
2/12- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 (2011) 
2/14- Minority Report (2002)
2/15- The Garden (2008) 
2/18- True Grit (2010)
2/19- Claire's Knee (Le Genou de Claire) (1970)
2/20- Coriolanus (2011)

2/21- Immortals (2011) 

2/23- The Smurfs (2011)
2/24- Hugo (2011) 
2/27- The Adventures of Tin Tin (2011)

2/28- We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) 
2/29- My Week With Marilyn (2011)

3/01- The Innkeepers (2011)
3/02- Real Steel (2011) 
3/03- The Interrupters (2011)
3/03- The Apostle (1997)
3/03- Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2011) 
3/04- Tyrannosaur (2011)
3/04- The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011) ZERO STARS
3/04- Tower Heist (2011)
3/05- Carnage (2011)
3/07- Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
3/08- King Corn (2007)
3/10- Idiocracy (2006)
3/11- Citizen Ruth (1996)
3/14- Inni (2011)
3/14- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
3/15- The Rum Diary (2011)
3/16- The War Room (1993)
3/18- The Muppets (2011)
3/18- Anonymous (2011)
3/19- Project Nim (2011)
3/21- The Human Stain (2003)
3/23- The Departed (2006)
3/25- Columbiana (2011) 
3/25- Like Crazy (2011) 
3/26- Anatomy of a Murder (1959) 
3/28- Happy Feet Two (2011) 
3/29- The Way (2011) 
3/31- The Artist (2011) 

4/01- The Skin I Live In (La Piel Que Habito) (2011) 
4/04- Bringing Up Baby (1938) 
4/06- The Sitter (2011) 
4/07- War Horse (2011) 
4/08- Parenthood (1989) 
4/10- The Three Musketeers (2011) 
4/11- Harmony and Me (2010) 
4/12- The Devil's Double (2011) 
4/15- The Iron Lady (2011) 
4/18- Puss in Boots (2011) 

4/19- Hard Eight (Sidney) (1997) 
4/20- The Darkest Hour (2011) 
4/22- Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) 
4/23- Haywire (2012) 
4/24- Ironclad (2011) 
4/25- We Bought a Zoo (2011) 
4/26- Moon (2009) 
4/28- The Cabin in the Woods (2012) 
4/29- Underworld: Awakening (2012) 
4/30- Mary and Max (2010) 

5/02- Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011) 
5/03- Shame (2011) 
5/04- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) 
5/05- The Grey (2012) 
5/07- Chronicle (2012) 
5/09- The Woman in Black (2012) 
5/10- Highball (1997) 
5/12- Michael Clayton (2007) 
5/13- The Crossing Guard (1995) 
5/15- Contraband (2012) 
5/16- Lost in La Mancha (2003) 
5/20- John Carter (2012) 
5/21- Eraserhead (1977) 
5/22- Gone (2012) 
5/24- The Avengers (2012) 
5/25- The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2007) 
5/26- Say Anything... (1989) 
5/28- Tiny Furniture (2010) 

Edited by Brian.L - Yesterday at 12:00 pm

Ratings out of
Total Movies Seen In 2012: 3
Bold Denotes First Viewing

January
02: Final Destination 5 -
02: 100 Tears -
03: Cannibal Holocaust -
Edited by filmfandan - 1/3/12 at 2:32pm

2007
Total films watched 91
New films watched 46 Rewatched films 45
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...-2007-a-2.html

2008
Total films watched 143
New films watched 70 Rewatched films 73
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...-2008-a-2.html

2009
Total films watched 107
New films watched 60 Rewatched films 47
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/280289/track-the-films-you-watch-2009

2010
Total films watched 93
New films watched 54 Rewatched films 39
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/296410/track-the-films-you-watch-2010

2011
Total films watched 104
New films watched 64 Rewatched Films 40
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/307360/track-the-films-you-watch-2011

2012
Total films watched 69
New films watched 40 Rewatched films 29
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/317398/track-the-films-you-watch-2012

New Films Released 2012
Safe House **
The Woman in Black ***
The Hunger Games ****
Titanic 3D ****
Game Change ****
The Avengers ****1/2
Red Tails **1/2

Catalogue Films
Kung Fu Panda 2 ***1/2
Horrible Bosses **
The Debt ****1/2
Rare Exports - A Christmas Tale ***
Point Blank ****
Rise of the Planet of the Apes ****
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Extended Version ****1/2
The Girl Who Played With Fire - Extended Version ***
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Extended Version ***1/2
Paranormal Activity 3 ***
The Dead ***
Anatomy of a Murder ****
The Lady Vanishes ***1/2
We Need To Talk About Kevin ****
Cronos ***1/2
The Transporter **
Carnage ****
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark **1/2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ****
To Catch A Thief ***1/2
The Guard ****
Transporter 2 **
To Kill A Mockingbird ****
Lebanon ***
Puss in Boots ***
Recount ****
The Awakening ***1/2
Underworld : Awakening ***
Haywire ***1/2
Moneyball ****
Black Narcissus ***
The 400 Blows ***
Diabolique ****

Rewatched Films
Forbidden Planet ***
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 ***1/2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ****1/2
Lethal Weapon ***1/2
Lethal Weapon 2 ***
Lethal Weapon 3 ***
Lethal Weapon 4 ***
Back To The Future ****
Back To The Future Part 2 ***1/2
Back To The Future Part 3 ***
Jurassic Park ****
The Lost World : Jurassic Park ***
Jurassic Park III ***
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery ***1/2
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me ***
Austin Powers: Goldmember **
Scream ****
Scream 2 ***1/2
Scream 3 ***
Scream 4 ***
The Lion King 2 - Simba's Pride **
The Lion King 1 1/2 ***
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) ****1/2
Super 8 ****
Captain America - The First Avenger ***
The Relic ***
Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol ****1/2
Psycho ****1/2
Sherlock Holmes : Game of Shadows ***1/2
Edited by Simon Massey - Yesterday at 9:59 am

Theatrical Films Watched in 2012:

January
1/1- The Adventures of Tintin (2011- Digital 3D) ***
1/28- The Descendants ****

February
2/4- Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011- IMAX, second time) **** 1/2
2/5- Chronicle ** 1/2
2/11- The Vow ** 1/2
2/18- The Secret World of Arriety ****
2/18- The Artist *** 1/2
2/25- Wanderlust *** 1/2

March
3/18- Chico & Rita (2011) *** 1/2
3/25- The Hunger Games ****
3/26- Friends With Kids *** 1/2

April
4/19- The Hunger Games (Second Time) ****
4/22- The Cabin In The Woods ***
4/24- Titanic (3D) *****

May
5/5- The Avengers (2012) ****
5/6- The Pirates! Band of Misfits *** 1/2
5/19- Dark Shadows (2012, IMAX) **1/2
Edited by RafaelB - 5/23/12 at 8:50am

Blu-ray
* first time viewing.
out of five.



JAN - Home viewing

Alligator - 3.5/5
The Devil's Double - 3/5*
A Lonely Place to Die - 3.5/5*
Gleaming the Cube - 2.5/5*



"Alligator" - .5

80's monster movie cult classic still holds up thanks to a top Robert Forster performance, fun blood and gore and wonderful model/miniature work.

Does flag a bit, and gets needlessly repetitive with too many sewer visits, that sap the energy at times.
But overall this is good fun, has some great attack scenes, and the FX really make it.
Fuck cheap, nasty SyFy Channel CGI monsters!



"The Devil's Double" -

Fictionalised in parts to sex it up, this is a semi-real take on the time a man spent as Uday Hussain's body double before and after the first (should have ended the regime then!) Gulf War.

It looks sumptuous, has a top soundtrack, good (if sparse) gore and violence, numerous naked ladies and a fun turn by Dominic Cooper as both Uday and double.

It's hyper realistic, is shot in golden hues and saturated colours and entertains for the most part despite the violence against young women (a young girl in one case) being rather harrowing.
Still a fun watch overall, if a bit slow in parts. Interesting, high tech, movie making.



"A Lonely Place to Die" - .5

The highly talented Julian and Will Gilbey delivered good stuff indeed (if you like Brit Gangster flicks) with their first two main films ("Rollin' with the Nines", "Rise of the Footsoldier") and this time they mostly leave gangsterism behind for this superbly made and shot British action film.

Opening with stunning shots of the Scottish Highlands/mountains (this film was made for blu-ray) this starts off as a wilderness thriller before doing an unusual about-turn.
The superb cinematography, solid acting, interesting characters and truly outstanding stunt work all make for a very enjoyable first half with some nice plot twists, turns and tricks being the cherries on top.

But then the film gains extra characters and a full-on backstory (until then it was just climbers rescue child from underground prison) and moves the action out of the mountains.
It's a bold move, even a brave one, and again it shows the twisting cleverness of the screenplay.

Sadly though this portion of the film does move things into a rather unlikely fantasy land and also has some gratuitously silly bystander deaths that should have been left on the cutting room floor, as they seem silly and for the type of experienced bad guys we have, ridiculously unprofessional.

BUT, you are kept on your toes and truly have no idea how things are going to play out or even who will survive. A rare and welcome feat.

So it's a stunningly well crafted, nicely bloody, great looking wilderness chase movie with a top cast and also a tense multi-layered kidnap action film.
And, despite the genuine OTT problems with the final 3rd, it all manages to satisfy in the end (it has a wonderfully satisfying finale and a great last scene) and bodes well for the talented Gilbeys.


"Gleaming the Cube" - .5

It's the 80's!
Sporting an hysterical, big and spiky, blonde hi-lights, hairstyle and a dangly earring, a young Christian Slater is in fine form as a skateboarding teen after his adopted Brother's, Commie sympathising, murderers.

Unlike "BMX Bandits" the skateboarding here plays no part in the actual story (other than a mode of transport!) until the very, very end but there are some top stunts to be seen here and, although they need some help from cars, the skateboard chase at the end is good fun.
There's also a nice (if short) motorbike vs skateboard chase.

But the good cast (as well as Slater we have Steven Bauer, Charles Cyphers and Ed Lauter), gloriously cheesy 80's trappings and general fun time attitude mostly make up for the middle slump and surprising lack of full-on skateboard vs bad guy action.

Blu-ray
* first time viewing.
out of five.


JAN - Home viewing

Alligator - 3.5/5
Alligator 2 - 1.5/5*
The Devil's Double - 3/5*
A Lonely Place to Die - 3.5/5*
Gleaming the Cube - 2.5/5*
Rituals - 3.5/5*
The Redeemer - 3/5*
Tales from the Darkside: Movie - 2.5/5
Tucker & Dale vs Evil - 3.5/5*




Rituals -

Full review/stills - http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvrituals.php


Starting off with a wonderfully comedic plane flight "Rituals" makes itself very welcome.
And the fact we have grown men not teens as the would-be victims is also a welcome change from your normal Slasher set-up.
In fact you can put this down with "Silent Night, Bloody Night"and "Black Sunday" as one of the pre-"Halloween" films that has many Slasher tropes.
We also have some nicely guerrilla style filming of the impressive scenery and lots of atmosphere.

But then things start to go dip and even Hal Holbrook in his y-fronts can't deliver much excitement in this portion of the movie.
A slow burn is one thing but this is just 40 solid minutes of the same medical arguments and back and forth shouting (how are any of these guys friends?!) that really tests the patience.
The in-fighting becomes so OTT it tends to verge on the unintentionally funny as well, especially when one fight breaks out in the middle of a torrential river and they fail to notice one of their injured party floating away!

Lack of gore is okay too, but so much happens off camera during the first half of "Rituals" that most of the danger seems like self inflicted/unexplained accidents instead of the work of a psycho killer who, an hour in. we've seen kill absolutely no one.

Full marks to the actors for going through some major physical hardships though.
It's certainly enjoyable seeing Hal Holbrook ("The Fog") do a Burt Reynolds
.
Thankfully the excellent acting and grim, bleak, cinematography carry the film over these many pitfalls and the film does manage to keep boredom (if not annoyance) at bay.

But after all that negativity lets get to mentioning the great parts of this film.

The motivation/how that motivation is revealed aspect of the killer is pretty unique and intriguing and in the last 3rd some suitably grim sights finally make a welcome appearance.
One such sequence in particular, involving a mutilated body stuck in a chair, is excellent as both a horror and a dramatic moment.
And although all the actors are good this is Hal Holbrook’s' film all the way. His raging, despairing, driven, sweaty, physically wrecked, filth caked, performance is utterly breathtaking at times.
This is a genuine tour-de-force performance.

Talking about tour-de-force moments, the final few minutes of "Rituals" deliver some truly outstanding, screaming, in-your-face moments of horror and violence.
It's searing backwoods horror at its finest and is genuinely disturbing in it's extremity and bludgeoning insanity.
There’s a great looking killer too (real joy from backwoods cinematic nutter fans) a smattering of gore.

The final 20 minutes or so are some of the best, most brutal, atmospheric horror filmmaking you will ever see. Its that good.
Perhaps in fact it comes off this intense because of the very sedate/horror-lite build up.
So stick with it.
Know that the 7th medical morality argument of the day and badly timed in-fighting will indeed lead to a truly stunning final 3rd and a truly amazing finale.
Edited by 42nd Street Freak - 1/23/12 at 2:23am

Feature Films Watched in 2012
First-Time Viewings are in Bold
(And dates are in the format dd/mm/yy - I'm a New Zealander, that's how we format dates here)

02/01/2012 - The Muppets
07/01/2012 - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
10/01/2012 - The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
15/01/2012 - War Horse
22/01/2012 - The Silent Partner
23/01/2012 - Hugo (3D)
18/02/2012 - Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (IMAX)
24/02/2012 - The Artist
25/02/2012 - The Descendants
06/03/2012 - The Skin I Live In
10/03/2012 - John Carter
11/03/2012 - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
14/03/2012 - Gambit
17/03/2012 - We Need To Talk About Kevin
18/03/2012 - It Happened One Night
24/03/2012 - The Hunger Games
25/03/2012 - West Side Story
06/04/2012 - The Shining
11/04/2012 - Real Steel
15/04/2012 - Back to the Future
16/04/2012 - The Asphalt Jungle
17/04/2012 - Margaret
20/04/2012 - Chico and Rita
21/04/2012 - Haywire
22/04/2012 - Back to the Future Part II
22/04/2012 - The Raid
23/04/2012 - Walkabout
25/04/2012 - Marvel's The Avengers
26/04/2012 - Captain America: The First Avenger
28/04/2012 - Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
29/04/2012 - The Muppets Take Manhattan
29/04/2012 - Back To The Future Part III
06/05/2012 - The Apartment
08/05/2012 - Thor
11/05/2012 - Iron Man 2
13/05/2012 - Gone With The Wind
21/05/2012 - World on a Wire (Part One)
20/05/2012 - Black Narcissus
21/05/2012 - World on a Wire (Part Two)
23/05/2012 - Out of Sight
25/05/2012 - Mission: Impossible II
27/05/2012 - Rocky
Edited by MatthewLouwrens - 5/26/12 at 4:21pm

Blu-ray
* first time viewing.
out of five.


JAN - Home viewing

Alligator - 3.5/5
Alligator 2 - 1.5/5*
The Devil's Double - 3/5*
A Lonely Place to Die - 3.5/5*
Gleaming the Cube - 2.5/5*
Rituals - 3.5/5*
The Redeemer - 3/5*
Tales from the Darkside: Movie - 2.5/5
Tucker & Dale vs Evil - 3.5/5*



"Tucker and Dale vs Evil" - .5

Popped up on Lovefilm instant watch. Gave it a go as I thought it would be a one-joke film and get boring fast with no repeat value.
Happily I was proven wrong.

Great characters well played, fun script that took that one joke and did enough with it to keep the film mostly fresh and flowing, some fun deaths and mishaps and a great, feel good, ending.....even if the very start (which it strangely never leads back to) shows that evil still lurks.

Nothing groundbreaking, but lost of fun and Tucker and Dale are great.


"Tales from the Darkside: The Movie" - .5

Average anthology fare (like almost all anthologies) that is basically the unofficial "Creepshow 3", that benefits from a strong cast (Christian Slater, Debbie Harry, James Remar, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore) and some GREAT old school practical FX work.

FX highlights are a superbly gross 'man eating a pussy' scene and a creature transformation - even if creature itself is hokey.
Nothing great, but solid enough.

Places in the Heart (1984)

1/3

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

1/10

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol: The IMAX Experience" (2012)

We Bought a Zoo (2011)

1/16

Shame (2012)

1/18

No Way Out (1987)

1/23

Haywire (2011)

1/24

The Artist (2011)

Contraband (2012) 

1/31

My Week with Marilyn (2011) 

The Prince and the Showgirl (1957)

 

2/5

Stardust Memories (1980) 

What Super Bowl?

2/12

A Dangerous Method (2011) 

2/17

The Messenger (2009)

2/26

Safe House (2012)

 

3/4

The Train (1964)

3/7

Project X (2012)

3/13

Powder (1995)

3/17

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

The Last Hurrah (1958)

3/18

White Palace (1990)

3/20

John Carter (2012)

3/22

Cynthia (1947)

Liz at 15!

 

4/1

Human Desire (1954)

4/3

The Hunger Games (2012)

4/8

Gilda  (1946)

4/13

Ride Lonesome (1959)

4/15

Born to Kill (1947)

4/19

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

4/29

Larry Crowne (2011)

 

5/5

The Richest Girl in the World  (1934)

5/6

Dynamite  (1929)

5/8

Undercurrent  (1946)

The Avengers (2012) 5/9

My Forbidden Past  (1951)

5/27

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

5/28

Broken Arrow (1996)

The Dark Knight (2008)

 

 

 

Edited by Henry Gale - 5/28/12 at 9:26pm

Blu-ray
* first time viewing.
out of five.


JAN - Home viewing

Alligator - 3.5/5
Alligator 2 - 1.5/5*
The Devil's Double - 3/5*
A Lonely Place to Die - 3.5/5*
Gleaming the Cube - 2.5/5*
Rituals - 3.5/5*
The Redeemer - 3/5*
Tales from the Darkside: Movie - 2.5/5
Tucker & Dale vs Evil - 3.5/5*
The Corpse Grinders - 2/5
The Sadist - 3.5/5*
City of Fear - 1/5*
Super - 4/5*
Make Mine Mink - 2/5*
Puss in Boots - 2.5/5* - Cinema
The Condemned - 3/5*


"The Redeemer" -

Full review/Stills - http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvredeemer.php


A mostly forgotten pre-”Halloween” pseudo-Slasher that once again shows how much was already established.
Obviously very low budget, this does still owe more to Exploitation/Grindhouse movies and this is what may throw some unwary viewers.

The eccentric plotting, sometimes post-synched dialogue, deliberate pacing, rough cinematography and general ‘off-off Broadway theatre’ feel to the casting are all well established aspects of Grindhouse cinema and a far cry from the polish of even the worst 80’s Slasher films.

The film would seen to have a puritan attitude and has been criticised for this. But the film never says the killer’s motivations are right. They just are the motivations.
Thankfully most of the characters are assholes or shallow egotists, but not all of them fit this mould and some are petty likeable, thus their 'judgement' can perhaps come off as uncomfortable and a couple of the deaths come across as suitably nasty.

The acting is mostly bad (in that ‘good‘ way) but always suitable and the film revels in that camped up, OTT, theatricality that was the mainstay of so much 70's Grindhouse cinema.
The highlight of which is the ‘Redeemer’ himself.
Not only is the character varied in look (sporting many different, campy, disguises)and entertaining in his method of stalking and tricking his victims, but he’s genuinely scary at times thanks to his screeching, insane, rants.
The highlight is a bizarre puppet/stage show stage show where ‘The Redeemer’, in a creepy mask, gives a fire and brimstone rant about how sinful they all are. It’s florid stuff that is pure 70’s Grindhouse joy.

So, so far so good…if strange.
Sadly though the movie loses its footing a bit during a flat and forced 'explaining my motivation' sequence later on that deflates the growing tension and demystifies the warped killer.
Add to this some pedestrian walking around moments and clunky editing too.

But we do have some fun deaths and at least some minimal bloodshed scattered throughout.
Early on we are treated to a marvelously nasty neck wound, a fun trap set-up that leads to a laughably unlikely but nicely nasty full body burn, a wonderfully (bright red) bloody sword in the head demise and a couple of other little gore/blood moments to liven up proceedings when things start to slack a bit.

Talking of the finale, we have a surprisingly complex bit of plotting and a revelation that is pretty effective once you let it settle into your brain. It’s certainly unexpected to how the film (despite that 70’s weirdness) has been playing out.

The 'Code Red' DVD can be picked up for a good price and the film itself is so off-the-wall and unusual (and full of stuff Grindhouse/underground film fans love) that it’s still an essential purchase.
Just be prepared to expect the unexpected.


"Super" - .5

Marvellous Superhero homage/non-Superhero/comedic/deadly dark/superhero type movie that juggles all those things perfectly.

It's laugh out loud funny, it's great entertainment and yet it's very uncomfortable and it's very serious.
Despite the unfortunate release timing, that had it seemingly ride on the coattails of the excellent (but not as excellent, and far more a proper superhero film) "Kick-Ass", that got it pretty much ignored this is in fact an essential watch and indeed an essential purchase.

Great acting, perfect casting, multi-dimensional characters, brutal action, funny set-pieces, genuine shocks and although it's a treasure trove of geek/fandom nuggets it's also a legitimate and memorable dramatic work of it's own...A proper movie.

It also does what so many unusual films (which this is) fail to do; it provides a very satisfying ending.
Great stuff.



"The Condemned" -

Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones and 8 other death row hard cases go through an internet streamed, fight to the death, reality show that takes in "Battle Royale", "The Most Dangerous Game" and (the awful) "The Running Man".

What's unusual here though (and it manages to pull this potentially tricky problem off) is that this is set in modern times and is an illegal event.
It's not a futuristic, legal, past-time as is normally the case for such plots. Thus an extra level is added to the narrative.

It packs a brutal wallop at times, Vinne Jones is insanely entertaining (and I do mean fucking insane!), Steve Austin is kick-ass and likeable as always, the rest of the cast are solid, it looks good and has some exciting and satisfyingly nasty moments.

But it's also too preachy (and perhaps hypocritical), thinks itself far more serious and worthy than it is and relies on rather too much unlikely event scripting and cliche during the finale.

So it could have been much better, should have been much better, but is still good enough (and looks/sounds nice enough on blu-ray) to make for a satisfying wallow in high tech destruction.
Edited by 42nd Street Freak - 1/31/12 at 11:03am

I have a bunch of these round, disc-like objects lying around, so I'm going to figure out what the hell they do.

 

 

JANUARY (35) features

 

01/02/12: Death Wish (1974) Dir: Michael Winner   

01/03/12: The Thin Man (1934) Dir: W.S. Van Dyke 

01/04/12: In Old Chicago (1937) Dir: Henry King 

01/05/12: After the Thin Man (1936) Dir: W.S. Van Dyke   

01/06/12: Another Thin Man (1939) Dir: W.S. Van Dyke 

01/07/12: Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) Dir: W.S. Van Dyke 

01/08/12: The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) Dir: Richard Thorpe 

01/09/12: Song of the Thin Man (1947) Dir: Edward Buzzell 

01/12/12: Foreign Correspondent (1940) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock    

01/13/12: Flying Down to Rio (1933) Dir: Thornton Freeland 

01/14/12: Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) Dir: John Sturges 

01/15/12: Little Caesar (1931) Dir: Mervyn LeRoy 

01/16/12: The Getaway (1972) Dir: Sam Peckinpah 

01/17/12: Dames (1934) Dir: Ray Enright & Busby Berkeley 

01/18/12: Suspicion (1941) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

01/18/12: The Gay Divorcee (1934) Dir: Mark Sandrich 

01/19/12: Many Rivers to Cross (1955) Dir: Roy Rowland   

01/19/12: The Public Enemy (1931) Dir: William A. Wellman 

01/20/12: The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Dir: Norman Jewison 

01/21/12: Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) Dir: Busby Berkeley   

01/22/12: Stage Fright (1950) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

01/23/12: Roberta (1935) Dir: William A. Seiter 

01/24/12: The Law and Jake Wade (1958) Dir: John Sturges 

01/25/12: Dark of the Sun (1968) Dir: Jack Cardiff 

01/25/12: The Petrified Forest (1936) Dir: Archie Mayo 

01/26/12: Never So Few (1959) Dir: John Sturges 

01/26/12: Murder, My Sweet (1944) Dir: Edward Dmytryk 

01/27/12: Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

01/27/12: Top Hat (1935) Dir: Mark Sandrich 

01/28/12: Saddle the Wind (1958) Dir: Robert Parrish 

01/28/12: The Roaring Twenties (1939) Dir: Raoul Walsh 

01/29/12: Papillon (1973) Dir: Franklin J. Schaffner 

01/30/12: Out of the Past (1947) Dir: Jacques Tourneur 

01/30/12: Strangers on a Train (1951) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

01/31/12: Follow the Fleet (1936) Dir: Mark Sandrich 

 

 

FEBRUARY (55) features, (1) short, (1) TV, (1) video

 

02/01/12: Cimarron (1960) Dir: Anthony Mann 

02/01/12: The Clyde Mystery (1931) (short) Dir: Joseph Henabery 

02/01/12: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) Dir: Michael Curtiz 

02/02/12: Tom Horn (1980) Dir: William Wiard 

02/02/12: The Set-Up (1949) Dir: Robert Wise 

02/02/12: I Confess (1953) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

02/03/12: Swing Time (1936) Dir: George Stevens 

02/03/12: The Stalking Moon (1968) Dir: Robert Mulligan 

02/04/12: White Heat (1949) Dir: Raoul Walsh 

02/04/12: The Narrow Margin (1952) Dir: Richard Fleischer 

02/05/12: Gun Crazy (1950) Dir: Joseph H. Lewis 

02/06/12: The Wrong Man (1956) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

02/06/12: Shall We Dance (1937) Dir: Mark Sandrich 

02/06/12: Day of the Outlaw (1959) Dir: Andre De Toth 

02/07/12: The Spiral Staircase (1945) Dir: Robert Siodmak 

02/07/12: The Asphalt Jungle (1950) Dir: John Huston 

02/07/12: Great Expectations (1946) Dir: David Lean 

02/08/12: A Tale of Two Cities (1935) Dir: Jack Conway 

02/08/12: David Copperfield (1935) Dir: George Cukor 

02/08/12: Oliver Twist (1948) Dir: David Lean 

02/09/12: Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) Dir: Stuart Walker 

02/09/12: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947) Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti 

02/09/12: Carefree (1938) Dir: Mark Sandrich 

02/09/12: Crossfire (1947) Dir: Edward Dmytryk 

02/10/12: Silver Lode (1954) Dir: Allan Dwan 

02/10/12: The Desperadoes (1943) Dir: Charles Vidor 

02/10/12: The Edge of the World (1937) Dir: Michael Powell 

02/11/12: Moneyball (2011) Dir: Bennett Miller 

02/12/12: The Trouble with Harry (1955) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

02/12/12: Hangman's Knot (1952) Dir: Roy Huggins 

02/13/12: Destination Tokyo (1943) Dir: Delmer Daves  

02/13/12: Run Silent Run Deep (1958) Dir: Robert Wise  

02/13/12: Dillinger (1945) Dir: Max Nosseck 

02/14/12: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) Dir: H.C. Potter  

02/14/12: Gilda (1946) Dir: Charles Vidor  

02/15/12: The Rocking Horse Winner (1949) Dir: Anthony Pelissier  

02/16/12: Nothing Sacred (1937) Dir: William A. Wellman  

02/17/12: The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) Dir: Robert Aldrich  

02/18/12: The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) Dir: Charles Walters 

02/18/12: Astaire and Rogers: Partners in Rhythm (2006) (V) Dir: Tara Tremaine  

02/20/12: The Right Stuff (1983) Dir: Philip Kaufman  

02/20/12: John Glenn: American Hero (1998) (TV) Dir: Blaine Baggett 

02/21/12: The Red Badge of Courage (1951) Dir: John Huston  

02/22/12: The Last Wagon (1956) Dir: Delmer Daves  

02/22/12: Gunga Din (1939) Dir: George Stevens  

02/22/12: Hell's Angels (1930) Dir: Howard Hughes & James Whale  

02/23/12: Lust for Gold (1949) Dir: S. Sylvan Simon  

02/23/12: Born to Kill (1947) Dir: Robert Wise  

02/24/12: Land of the Pharaohs (1955) Dir: Howard Hawks  

02/24/12: Mister Roberts (1955) Dir: John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy 

02/25/12: The Proud Ones (1956) Dir: Robert D. Webb  

02/26/12: Moby Dick (1956) Dir: John Huston  

02/26/12: In a Lonely Place (1950) Dir: Nicholas Ray  

02/27/12: The Plainsman (1936) Dir: Cecil B. DeMille  

02/27/12: The Last Frontier (1955) Dir: Anthony Mann  

02/28/12: Meet John Doe (1941) Dir: Frank Capra  

02/28/12: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Dir: Albert Lewin  

02/29/12: The Natural (1984) Dir: Barry Levinson  

 

 

MARCH

 

03/01/12: Clash by Night (1952) Dir: Fritz Lang  

03/02/12: A Canterbury Tale (1944) Dir: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger  

03/03/12: Drive (2011) Dir: Nicholas Winding Refn  

Edited by Pete York - 3/2/12 at 11:00pm

January round-up; - 17 films total. 14 first time viewings. 1 cinema film.


Blu-ray
* first time viewing.
out of five.

JAN

Alligator - 3.5/5
Alligator 2 - 1.5/5*
The Devil's Double - 3/5*
A Lonely Place to Die - 3.5/5*
Gleaming the Cube - 2.5/5*
Rituals - 3.5/5*
The Redeemer - 3/5*
Tales from the Darkside: Movie - 2.5/5
Killer Elite - 3/5*
Tucker & Dale vs Evil - 3.5/5*
The Corpse Grinders - 2/5
The Sadist - 3.5/5*
City of Fear - 1/5*
Super - 4/5*
Make Mine Mink - 2/5*
Puss in Boots - 2.5/5* - Cinema
The Condemned - 3/5*

FEB


Drive - 4.5/5*


"DRIVE" - .5

Full review/stills - http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvdrive.php

Want to see the film that Michael Mann should have made between "Thief" and "Manhunter" instead of the mess that was "The Keep"?
Well here it is.

After the triumph of "Bronson", and the at least interesting and delightfully brutal "Valhalla Rising", Nicholas Winding Refn delivers this astonishing modern 80's throwback that delivers absolutely everything you could hope for.

Anyone who has seen "Thief" will recognise the night time cityscape stylistic flourishes and cool, smooth take on the old 'honourable man on the wrong side of the law' plot and anyone who has seen "Manhunter" will recognise the laid back, dream-like, constantly backed by ethereal synth, dialogue exchanges.
Exchanges made so compelling, even when dialogue is minimal, by the acting and that perfect synth accompaniment, that the slowish build-up becomes a dramatic triumph in of itself.
So much is owed to, and hinges on, this score and its use.

The modern but throwback electro songs and 'Tangerine Dream" style original score by Cliff Martinez (and pink, neon, silk on steel, title graphic and opening credits) all scream prime era Michael Mann too.
This is not only a stunning movie in it's own, 21st century, right but the best Michael Mann film not made by Michael Mann in 15 years.

That's not to say that Refn's own mastery of the art is not in evidence, or to say that it is anything but (well perhaps along with Gasper Noe) Refn's own lashings of astonishingly brutal and graphic violence on display that superbly punctuate this, what he himself has called, urban fairytale.
Nor is it without note that this is very much another Refn study of a singular, driven, coldly brutal at times, man living in an unforgiving world.
But, and despite traces of Melville and 70's U.S. crime films, at its heart "Drive" is without doubt the offspring of 80's Michael Mann.

Ryan Gosling gives a fascinating, multi-layered, performance of a fascinating, multi-layered character (known only as Driver) who is the chivalrous knight one moment, and the gore drenched barbarian the next.
One can not exist without the other in this man's world...not if the pure princess and her innocent child are to be saved.

The support cast is also superb with an almost unrecognisable (who stole his eyebrows?!) Albert Brooks as a measured but ruthless crime boss, Bryan Cranston as Driver's friend, Ron Pearlman as a thick-headed, uncompromising heavy and Carey Mulligan doing a beautiful job as the barely reachable purity in Driver's life, who belongs to another.

Poignant drama, multi layered characters, simple but clever plotting, excellent (and excellently utilised) synth soundtrack, gorgeous cinematography, crisp night-time city dreamscapes, exciting and unapologetically cool car sequences, superb acting and truly brutal and gory action are the gift to the audience...and the pitch perfect 80's/Michael Mann thriller styling are the its wrappings, all brilliantly crafted by writer Hossein Amini and director Nicholas Winding Refn.

One of the best films of the decade at the very least and an essential purchase.

January Viewings (out of ****)

 

40 films seen, 32 for the first time

 

01/01/12 Searchers ***

01/01/12 Sympathy for the Underdog ***

01/02/12 X ** ½

01/02/12 Unjust, The ***

01/02/12 Shiver of the Vampires ** ½

01/05/12 Tree of Life *** ½

01/07/12 Last Hard Men ** 1/2

01/07/12 House that Screamed ***

01/08/12 Claw of Blood ** ½

01/10/12 William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet ** 1/2

01/10/12 Beautiful (2009) **

01/12/12 Prince of the City *** ½

01/13/12 Cowboys and Aliens **

01/14/12 Devil's Wedding Night ***

01/14/12 Grave Encounters ** ½

01/14/12 Love on the Run ** ½

01/15/12 Reason To Live, Reason to Die ** ½

01/15/12 Affliction *** ½

01/16/12 World, the Flesh and the Devil **

01/16/12 Hysteria ** ½

01/16/12 Captain America, the First Avenger ** ½

01/16/12 Roost, The ***

01/17/12 Together (2000) *** ½

01/19/12 Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? ***

01/19/12 Odds Against Tomorrow ****

01/19/12 Strange Invaders ***

01/20/12 Wheels on Meals ***

01/20/12 Daughters of Darkness *** ½

01/21/12 Anderson Tapes ***
01/24/12 Mesrine Part 1: Killer Instinct ** ½

01/24/12 Story of Floating Weeds ***

01/26/12 Amarcord *** ½

01/26/12 Floating Weeds ***

01/27/12 Cry of the Owl ** ½

01/27/12 Nesting ** ½

01/28/12 X Men First Class ***

01/28/12 Phantom of the Rue Morgue ** ½

01/29/12 Dark of the Sun ***

01/30/12 Black Narcissus ****

01/31/12 Better Tomorrow ***

FEB

Drive - 4.5/5*
At War with the Army - 1/5
Stake Land - 4/5*



"Stake Land" -

This got rather lost in the "Zombieland" phenomena and seemed to be a 2nd run rip-off with Vamps instead of Zombies for yet more comic horror shenanigans.

In reality the unfortunate "Land" moniker is extremely misleading.
The very basic set-up is the same though; A Vamp outbreak spreading throughout the World and a tough ass old dude and a male teen orphan travel together, meeting other people, trying to get to some kind of promised land.

But "Stake Land" is as comedic as a bus load of babies being driven over a cliff onto a shelter for abused women.
This is doom-laden, grim, gritty, dark as hell stuff.

The Vamps are genuinely scary and come across as a real threat as they are so brutal and tough to kill.
The violence is messy, cold and remorseless, the picture of much of humanity (not all though, crucially) is bitter and you truly never know who will live or die.

Acting is excellent all round with co-writer Nick Damici superb as the bitter, driven, Vamp hunter especially.
But his co-star Connor Paolo holds his own and both get nice support from Danielle Harris and, an almost unrecognisable, Kelly McGillis.
And Michael Cerveris makes for an effective, religious zealot, bad guy.

This is excellent, tough, exceptionally well made, grown up horror. And as such is most welcome.

FEB

Drive - 4.5/5*
At War with the Army - 1/5
National Lampoon's Animal House - 2/5
Stake Land - 4/5*
Journey 2: Mysterious Island - 2.5/5* - cinema




"The Sadist" - .5

Full review/stills - http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvsadist.php


"The Sadist" is tough stuff in places and has a nihilistic streak a mile wide.

We do have some cheap post-synch dialogue and parts of the script are certainly of its time but "The Sadist" is overall a great mix of 60's Roughie and 30's Gangster flick that delivers everything a modern Horror/Exploitation fan could want.

This is laced with harsh, abrupt, violence and some of the sexual threat (where a woman has a knife held to her throat as the killer rubs his hands over her and rips her dress) is still uncomfortably effective.
As is the (given the tile!) general level of sadism that comes from Arch Hall Jr's unforgettable psycho, Charlie Tibbs.

The standout sequences of physical (and emotional) sadism are when Tibbs literally rubs Doris' weeping face in the dirt and the, cat with a mouse, cruelty he shows to his captives as he plays with their fears of dying.
This aspect is most effective as far as Tibb's treatment of Carl Oliver goes. The main scene between him and Tibbs is genuinely disturbing with a superb performance by Don Russell as Carl, who's also given some extremely powerful dialogue to deliver.

Acting in general is average to good and the characters are mostly engaging.
With all actors (and their characters, except for Tibb's mute girlfriend) getting better as the film goes on.
But above all, towering over the entire movie, is Arch Hall Jr's rightfully iconic turn as Tibbs.
Tibbs is a gurning, leering, cackling, mumbling, hairspray quiff, blonde highlights, WC Fields nose, mono-brow madmen who is a genuinely scary threat.
Arch Hall goes all out and gives us one of cult cinema's great psychos.

The pacing is a little off sometimes, not so much in the plotting but in the very lethargic way some of the non-violent scenes play out.
And again it's Arch Hall's screaming and screeching, utterly insane, performance that keeps the tempo up during the finale chase/fight more than the directing or editing.
Not that this extended finale doesn't pull out yet more shocks and surprises as the film stays true to its surprisingly hardcore nihilistic attitude.

And overall it's this nasty, sadistic, tough, surprising, dark insanity fuelled attitude and style that makes the film a success.
And much of that it down to Arch Hall Jr's epic Mr Tibbs!
Watch it!

Unmoderated spam. This place IS dead!

FEB

Drive - 4.5/5*
At War with the Army - 1/5
National Lampoon's Animal House - 2/5
Stake Land - 4/5*
Journey 2: Mysterious Island - 2.5/5*
Otto: Up with the Dead - 1.5/5*
The Trouble with Harry - 3/5*
My Bloody Valentine (orig) - 4/5
My Bloody Valentine (remake) - 3.5/5
Knowing - 2.5/5*
Big Tits Zombie - 2.5/5*
Law Abiding Citizen - 4/5*


"Big Tits Zombie" - .5

This super low budget (but nice looking) SOV flick is a chaotic mess of a movie about strippers fighting the undead they foolishly let loose on the world.

We have porn starlet Sola Aoi fighting the undead topless with a chainsaw, the lovely Mari Sakurai as a psychotic Gothic Lolita who flashed her knickers a lot, and porno actress Risa Kasumi wielding a Samurai sword. And that's the tip of the iceberg.

We also have bad/fun gore, blood sprayed boobs, a flamethrower vagina, zombie sushi, a blue faced ogre in a plastic well & puppeteer floating body parts...in 3D.

The 3D is only used for about 5 scenes and all are pretty bad, except the GREAT 'floating tentacle limb zombie' scene, where the3D really worked

But don't be fooled. "Big Tits Zombie" is basically a bad film!
Technically ambitious but inept with how it does things, a messy and very silly plot and cheapness that sees so few extras the same zombies appear in different places at the same time.

BUT it was still LOTS of fun! Plus we get so many great WTF moments it overcomes the obvious badness to ultimately entertain.



"Law Abiding Citizen" -

Vastly underrated revenge flick with top performances from a strong cast, some shocking bloodshed, a crowd pleasing attitude of righteous vengeance with at least one legendary bit of nasty ass revenge against a deserving scumbag.
But there is also a "Ms.45" attitude to Butler's character when, like Thana in that film, the vigilante becomes a maniac who crosses lines and must be stopped.

Unlike the truly awful, liberal love-in, anti-vigilante film wrapping itself up in vigilante style to sell tickets, "Death Sentence" (a film that punishes its vigilante for daring to do anything) "Law Abiding Citizen" never fails to satisfy AS a revenge flick.

And don't listen to criticism about the end. The end is excellent, right, and ironically is just what Butler's vigilante was fighting for...Justice before Law.

Own it.

"Red White & Blue" -

Not since the 70's has cult/low budget/underground cinema (even mainstream at times) been so brutal, unflinching, uncompromising, dark pit of hell terrifying as the films birthed since 9/11.

This is one of those films.
A slow burn that turns into the very flaming lake of Hades itself.

An excellent cast all round but Noah Taylor is a truly terrifying force of nature as he rips through flesh for answers and vengeance.
But he's no hero to root for.
In fact there are no good guys or gals here. But no black as pitch villains either.
"Red, White and Blue" is all about grey. The grey areas inside any human being.
This is sketched, but still serious, characterisation that defies expectations.

A film drenched in human tragedy.
A film of brutal,shocking force.
A film of slow beats.
A film of raging intensity.
A film of touching moments.
A film of spit in the face hatred.
A film of utter despair.
And a film you have to see.

FEB

Drive - 4.5/5*
At War with the Army - 1/5
National Lampoon's Animal House - 2/5
I think We're Alone Now - 2/5*
Stake Land - 4/5*
Journey 2: Mysterious Island - 2.5/5*
Otto: Up with the Dead - 1.5/5*
The Trouble with Harry - 3/5*
My Bloody Valentine (orig) - 4/5
My Bloody Valentine (remake) - 3.5/5
Knowing - 2.5/5*
Big Tits Zombie - 2.5/5*
Law Abiding Citizen - 4/5*
Red, White and Blue - 4/5*
Detour - 1/5*
Amazing Transparent Man - 2.5/5*




"Detour" -

Oh dear!
Slooooooow (despite short running time), completely unoriginal, lack of action and nastiness (lots of blood streaked shouting a couple of bullet hits is about it), lack of body count and every sign-posted 'twist' you can think of.

Mad family dynamic adds a bit of interest into this Norwegian backwoods effort (any film with a mad old woman can't be ALL bad) but otherwise this is a miss-fire.



"The Amazing Transparent Man" - .5

ntertaining low budget Z schlock that sadly under-uses the whole invisible aspect.
But the noir style criminal getting the muddy end of the stick, the psycho madman manipulating him to rob banks while invisible, the imprisoned nuclear scientist schtick and a rugged, moustached, rifle toting heavy named....Julian(!) all add up to good times.

Silly, cheap, missed potential...but damn it! Still fun!

FEB

Drive - 4.5/5*
At War with the Army - 1/5
National Lampoon's Animal House - 2/5
I think We're Alone Now - 2/5*
Stake Land - 4/5*
Journey 2: Mysterious Island - 2.5/5*
Otto: Up with the Dead - 1.5/5*
The Trouble with Harry - 3/5*
My Bloody Valentine (orig) - 4/5
My Bloody Valentine (remake) - 3.5/5
Knowing - 2.5/5*
Big Tits Zombie - 2.5/5*
Law Abiding Citizen - 4/5*
Red, White and Blue - 4/5*
Detour - 1/5*
Amazing Transparent Man - 2.5/5*
Rock & Rule - 2/5*
Shadow Man - 1/5*
Terror Toons - 2.5/5*
Shadows Run Black - 0.5/5*
Bridesmaids - 3/5*
Thief - 3.5/5
Kill List - 2.5/5*
Hangover Part II - 3.5/5*
Rawhead Rex - 2/5



"Rawhead Rex" -

Ill-fated Brit/Irish horror based on Clive Barker's short story.
Barker also did the (supposedly) altered during production screenplay.

Nasty, pre-Christian, monster bursts from underground prison to rip the throats out of people who live in caravans, throw topless chicks against trees, corrupt Priests and piss-baptise them and give American writers and their families are real bad day.

The monster itself is a nice design (think GWAR type stuff) but really badly made.
It's an obvious suit with a plastic head on top with glass eyes sporting red bulbs behind them. Not good.
And this hurts the attack scenes, though cheesy fun can still be had from them.

The real pleasure comes from some of the overwrought dialogue and the (more interesting than the monster's own attacks) corruption of the good (Police, Priests) by the evil of Rex.

Zealot, ranting, nutzoid followers are always a hoot and that's no different here. The mad Priest is a wonderful character and delivers lost of great foul-mouthed rants.

Sadly it seems all (or all I know of) prints must be cut from earlier pre-release/festival prints as an old review I read about a nasty child killing and a decapitation (on-screen) during the caravan park attack are absent from the film. One does not exist one is not shown.

So a badly made monster, empty direction, rushed script (and a dreadful final shot that makes no real sense) means this falls below the average scale sadly.
But the odd bit of bloodshed, the general blasphemy and mad follower antics save it from total worthlessness.



"Thief" - .5

Michael Mann's slow burn crime drama has all the classic Mann hallmarks (synth/rock score, no nonsense protagonist, great nighttime city visuals and chrome coated cool) but also a great old school performance by James Caan who's also given some great dialogue to deliver.

A solid support cast (and early, very brief, turns by the mighty Dennis Farina and William Petersen - soon to deliver a superb performance in Mann's classic "Manhunter"), lots of fascinating heist details that drip authenticity, double crosses, blood spattered violence, an anti-hero to revel in, all backed by a great Tangerine Dream score.

The film is perhaps too long and feels strangely padded one moment and then rushed the next. And the Willie Nelson character seemed like rushed and wasted potential.
So it's not perfect, but it's still an excellent slice of classic 80's Mann, with a great central performance, driving score, great visuals and a top finale.

It's what the superb "Drive" owes the most too and that's pretty damn high praise.



Kill List - .5

Some excellent acting, excellent dialogue and interactions. Lightly funny, acid, bleak, nasty stuff.
Certainly fans of Wheatley's earlier "Down Terrace" will find much to fascinate here in the relationships, discussions and semi-improvised dialogue that make up the film's first half, pretty straight, drama. Although this lacks most of that earlier film's humour.

But then it goes very weird. And horrific.
Not that it's out of the blue weird, as strange things (and obvious things) have been signposted.
We KNOW all is not as it seems.
And the basic blueprint for this later set-up is easy enough to understand, but when you add all the other details of the plot that have gone beforehand (things that have happened, things people have done, the way people have acted, how events have played out) the whole thing becomes a mess.

Nothing ultimately makes any sense at all, once you think past the most basic of plot events.
Interpretation of events is one thing...but for that you need to be given those events.
Here we end abruptly with nothing (bar that most basic skeleton of a plot) offered us except utterly unexplained events and no sense of any real closure.

There is some shocking violence here (a scene involving a hammer is grotesque and from an FX point of view a glorious magic trick) and a constant sense of dread washes over the viewer.
And this remains a dark, dark film all the way though despite some amusing dialogue moments.

But you leave frustrated at the nonsensical events that contradict ANY interpretation you could ever come up with and you get the feeling no one knew how to end the film at all in reality.
So they decided to just stop it and call it a...er...ambiguous and deeply intellectual ending.

But we're not fooled.
Give a blind monkey a typewriter and the last page of a screenplay to finish and it too will also type an ending that makes no sense and answers nothing.
That's not clever. It's lazy.
Clever is doing the unexpected and the unusual and the risky, defying our expectations, but then delivering an ending that satisfies, that skilfully weaves these unexpected and bold moves into a whole.

"Kill List" leaves us a mess of jumbled annoyance and not so much a whole as lots of holes.

There's a great film lurking in the shadows here. But lurking is all it does as the endings locks it away never to see the light of day sadly.

Films Watched

 

Feb 16

Tangled (2010)

 

 

Feb 18

The Incredibles (2004)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

 

Feb 19

Cars (2006)

The Little Mermaid (1989)

 

Feb 20

Pinocchio (1940)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

 

Feb 21

Fantasia (1940)

Aladdin (1992)

Toy Story 2 (1999)

 

Feb 22

Bambi (1942)

The Lion King (1994)

 

Feb 23

Dumbo (1941)

Pocahontas (1995)

Ratatouille (2007)

 

Feb 24

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

The Three Caballeros (1944)

WALL-E (2008)

 

Feb 25

Cinderella (1950)

Hercules (1997)

Up (2009)

 

Feb 26

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Alice In Wonderland (1951)

Mulan (1998)

 

Feb 27

Peter Pan (1953)

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

 

Feb 28

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

 

Feb 29

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

 

Mar 1

The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

 

Mar 2

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

 

 

Mar 10

Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Back to the Future (1985)

 

Mar 11

Bolt (2008)

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

 

Mar 12

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

 

Mar 13

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Jungle Book (1967)

Chicken Run (2000)

 

Mar 14

Shark Tale (2004)

Shrek 2 (2004)

Brother Bear (2003)

 

Mar 15

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

Bee Movie (2007)

 

Mar 16

Dinosaur (2000)

The Prince of Egypt (1998)

Madagascar (2005)

 

Mar 17

Winnie the Pooh (2011)

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

 

Mar 18

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Cars 2 (2011)

 

Mar 19

Enchanted (2007)

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Melody Time (1948)

 

Mar 20

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

 

Mar 21

Earth (2007)

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

 

Mar 22

Shrek the Third (2007)

 

Mar 23

Over the Hedge (2006)

Oceans (2009)

 

Mar 24

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

 

 

Mar 26

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

 

Mar 27

Megamind (2010)

 

Mar 28

National Treasure (2004)

 

Mar 29

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

 

Mar 30

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2009)

 

Mar 31

Princess Mononoke (1997)

 

Apr 1

The Cat Returns (2002)

 

Apr 2

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)

Shrek Forever After (2010)

 

Apr 3

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

 

Apr 4

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

 

Apr 5

Tales From Earthsea (2006)

 

Apr 6

Flushed Away (2006)

 

 

Apr 9

Spirited Away (2001)

 

Apr 10

African Cats (2011)

 

 

Apr 14

Ponyo (2008)

 

Apr 15

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

 

Apr 16

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

 

 

Apr 25

Chimpanzee (2012)

 

# of films - 85

Edited by Walter C - 5/7/12 at 7:05am

 

RECAP

 

FEBRUARY (55) features, (1) short, (1) TV, (1) video

 

02/01/12: Cimarron (1960) Dir: Anthony Mann 

02/01/12: The Clyde Mystery (1931) (short) Dir: Joseph Henabery 

02/01/12: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) Dir: Michael Curtiz 

02/02/12: Tom Horn (1980) Dir: William Wiard 

02/02/12: The Set-Up (1949) Dir: Robert Wise 

02/02/12: I Confess (1953) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

02/03/12: Swing Time (1936) Dir: George Stevens 

02/03/12: The Stalking Moon (1968) Dir: Robert Mulligan 

02/04/12: White Heat (1949) Dir: Raoul Walsh 

02/04/12: The Narrow Margin (1952) Dir: Richard Fleischer 

02/05/12: Gun Crazy (1950) Dir: Joseph H. Lewis 

02/06/12: The Wrong Man (1956) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

02/06/12: Shall We Dance (1937) Dir: Mark Sandrich 

02/06/12: Day of the Outlaw (1959) Dir: Andre De Toth 

02/07/12: The Spiral Staircase (1945) Dir: Robert Siodmak 

02/07/12: The Asphalt Jungle (1950) Dir: John Huston 

02/07/12: Great Expectations (1946) Dir: David Lean 

02/08/12: A Tale of Two Cities (1935) Dir: Jack Conway 

02/08/12: David Copperfield (1935) Dir: George Cukor 

02/08/12: Oliver Twist (1948) Dir: David Lean 

02/09/12: Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) Dir: Stuart Walker 

02/09/12: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947) Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti 

02/09/12: Carefree (1938) Dir: Mark Sandrich 

02/09/12: Crossfire (1947) Dir: Edward Dmytryk 

02/10/12: Silver Lode (1954) Dir: Allan Dwan 

02/10/12: The Desperadoes (1943) Dir: Charles Vidor 

02/10/12: The Edge of the World (1937) Dir: Michael Powell 

02/11/12: Moneyball (2011) Dir: Bennett Miller 

02/12/12: The Trouble with Harry (1955) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock 

02/12/12: Hangman's Knot (1952) Dir: Roy Huggins 

02/13/12: Destination Tokyo (1943) Dir: Delmer Daves  

02/13/12: Run Silent Run Deep (1958) Dir: Robert Wise  

02/13/12: Dillinger (1945) Dir: Max Nosseck 

02/14/12: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939) Dir: H.C. Potter  

02/14/12: Gilda (1946) Dir: Charles Vidor  

02/15/12: The Rocking Horse Winner (1949) Dir: Anthony Pelissier  

02/16/12: Nothing Sacred (1937) Dir: William A. Wellman  

02/17/12: The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) Dir: Robert Aldrich  

02/18/12: The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) Dir: Charles Walters 

02/18/12: Astaire and Rogers: Partners in Rhythm (2006) (V) Dir: Tara Tremaine  

02/20/12: The Right Stuff (1983) Dir: Philip Kaufman  

02/20/12: John Glenn: American Hero (1998) (TV) Dir: Blaine Baggett 

02/21/12: The Red Badge of Courage (1951) Dir: John Huston  

02/22/12: The Last Wagon (1956) Dir: Delmer Daves  

02/22/12: Gunga Din (1939) Dir: George Stevens  

02/22/12: Hell's Angels (1930) Dir: Howard Hughes & James Whale  

02/23/12: Lust for Gold (1949) Dir: S. Sylvan Simon  

02/23/12: Born to Kill (1947) Dir: Robert Wise  

02/24/12: Land of the Pharaohs (1955) Dir: Howard Hawks  

02/24/12: Mister Roberts (1955) Dir: John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy 

02/25/12: The Proud Ones (1956) Dir: Robert D. Webb  

02/26/12: Moby Dick (1956) Dir: John Huston  

02/26/12: In a Lonely Place (1950) Dir: Nicholas Ray  

02/27/12: The Plainsman (1936) Dir: Cecil B. DeMille  

02/27/12: The Last Frontier (1955) Dir: Anthony Mann  

02/28/12: Meet John Doe (1941) Dir: Frank Capra  

02/28/12: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) Dir: Albert Lewin  

02/29/12: The Natural (1984) Dir: Barry Levinson  

March Recap

 

35 films seen, 29 for the first time

 

Best films seen for the first time (out of )

 

Skin I Live In, The  ½

Rubber  ½

Krylya (Wings)  ½ 

Martha Marcy May Marlene  ½

Bad Boy Bubby  ½

Drive  ½

Deliver Us From Evil  ½

DVD:
Rituals - TEN THUMBS UP!
Torso - 3.5/5
A Blade In The Dark - 2.5/5
New Years Evil 4/5
Whore (1991) 4.5/5
BD:
A Serbian Film - In terms of conent 0/5 (it's just waaay too depraved to say you actually liked it.) In terms of an "experience" it gets 5/5 - definately the most powerful movie I've come across in many years.

I decided to separate the 2 lists into different posts, since the shorts list is getting really long. So here is the list of shorts watched this year.

 

Feb 20

Tangled Ever After (2012)

 

 

Feb 23

Your Friend the Rat (2007)

 

Feb 24

Presto (2008)

BURN-E (2008)

 

Feb 25

Partly Cloudy (2009)

Dug's Special Mission (2009)

 

 

Mar 11

Lifted (2006)

 

Mar 12

Jack-Jack Attack (2005)

Boundin' (2003)

 

Mar 13

Bellboy Donald (1942)

The Village Smithy (1942)

 

Mar 14

Donald's Snow Fight (1942)

Far Far Away Idol (2004)

 

Mar 15

Donald's Garden (1942)

Trouble Trombone (1944)

A Grand Day Out (1989)

 

Mar 16

Chip 'N Dale (1947)

The Clock Watcher (1945)

The Wrong Trousers (1993)

 

Mar 17

A Close Shave (1995)

The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005)

Donald's Gold Mine (1942)

Home Defense (1943)

Three For Breakfast (1948)

 

Mar 18

Donald's Off Day (1944)

Donald Duck and the Gorilla (1944)

Air Mater (2011)

Hawaiian Vacation (2011)

 

Mar 19

Donald's Crime (1945)

Straight Shooters (1947)

Sleepy Time Donald (1947)

 

Mar 20

Sky Trooper (1942)

Wet Paint (1946)

The Adventures of Andre and Wally B (1984)

Luxo Jr. (1986)

 

Mar 21

The Flying Jalopy (1943)

Fall Out - Fall In (1943)

Lion Around (1950)

Red's Dream (1987)

 

Mar 22

Donald Gets Drafted (1942)

Winter Storage (1949)

All in a Nutshell (1949)

Tin Toy (1988)

Knick Knack (1989)

Geri's Game (1997)

 

Mar 23

No Sail (1945)

Lighthouse Keeping (1946)

Trick Or Treat (1952)

 

Mar 24

Rugged Bear (1953)

Donald's Diary (1954)

Dragon Around (1954)

For the Birds (2000)

Mike's New Car (2002)

 

Mar 25

Mater and the Ghostlight (2006)

One Man Band (2006)

Donald's Double Trouble (1946)

Contrary Condor (1944)

Donald's Tire Trouble (1943)

 

Mar 26

The Vanishing Private (1942)

Der Fuehrer's Face (1942)

The Old Army Game (1943)

Toy Tinkers (1949)

 

Mar 27

Crazy Over Daisy (1950)

Trailer Horn (1950)

Out on a Limb (1950)

Test Pilot Donald (1951)

Chicken in the Rough (1951)

 

Mar 28

Inferior Decorator (1948)

Slide, Donald, Slide (1949)

 

Mar 29

Commando Duck (1944)

Cured Duck (1945)

Donald's Dilemma (1947)

 

Mar 30

Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952)

Corn Chips (1951)

Two Chips and a Miss (1952)

 

Mar 31

The Plastics Inventor (1944)

The Eyes Have It (1945)

 

Apr 1

Duck Pimples (1945)

Out of Scale (1951)

 

Apr 2

Old Sequoia (1945)

Dumb Bell of the Yukon (1946)

Daddy Duck (1948)

 

 

Apr 8

A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)

Day and Night (2010)

 

Apr 9

Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back Alive (1946)

Bootle Beetle (1947)

Drip Dippy Donald (1948)

Donald's Dream Voice (1948)

Dude Duck (1951)

 

Apr 10

Wide Open Spaces (1947)

Sea Salts (1949)

 

Apr 11

Bee On Guard (1951)

Donald Applecore (1952)

Let's Stick Together (1952)

Bearly Asleep (1955)

 

Apr 12

The Trial of Donald Duck (1948)

Working For Peanuts (1953)

Uncle Donald's Ants (1952)

 

Apr 13

Bee at the Beach (1950)

Up a Tree (1955)

Chips Ahoy (1956)

 

Apr 14

Clown of the Jungle (1947)

Soup's On (1948)

Grin and Bear It (1954)

 

Apr 15

Tea For Two Hundred (1948)

Honey Harvester (1949)

Beezy Bear (1955)

 

Apr 16

The Greener Yard (1949)

Don's Fountain of Youth (1953)

The Flying Squirrel (1954)

 

Apr 17

Hook, Lion, and Sinker (1950)

The New Neighbor (1953)

Canvas Back Duck (1953)

Grand Canyonscope (1954)

 

Apr 18

Crazy With the Heat (1947)

Tennis Racquet (1949)

Motor Mania (1950)

Lucky Number (1951)

 

Apr 19

Donald's Happy Birthday (1949)

 

Apr 20

How to Have an Accident in the Home (1956)

Donald in Mathmagic Land (1959)

 

Apr 21

Hare Force (1944)

Hockey Homicide (1945)

Spare the Rod (1954)

No Hunting (1955)

 

Apr 22

The Lone Chipmunks (1954)

How to Have an Accident at Work (1959)

 

Apr 23

Goofy and Wilbur (1939)

Donald and the Wheel (1961)

 

Apr 24

Woman Haters (1934)

The Litterbug (1961)

 

Apr 25

Trolley Troubles (1927)

Punch Drunks (1934)

Knock Knock (1940)

 

Apr 26

Oh Teacher (1927)

Men In Black (1934)

Horses Collars (1935)

 

Apr 27

The Mechanical Cow (1927)

Three Little Pigskins (1934)

Restless Knights (1935)

 

Apr 28

Great Guns! (1927)

Pop Goes the Easel (1935)

Ants in the Pantry (1936)

 

Apr 29

All Wet (1927)

Uncivil Warriors (1935)

Movie Maniacs (1936)

 

Apr 30

The Ocean Hop (1927)

Pardon My Scotch (1935)

Half Shot Shooters (1936)

 

May 1

Rival Romeos (1928)

Hoi Polloi (1935)

Disorder in the Court (1936)

Grips, Grunts and Groans (1937)

 

May 2

Bright Lights (1928)

Three Little Beers (1935)

A Pain in the Pullman (1936)

 

May 3

Ozzie of the Mounted (1928)

False Alarms (1936)

Dizzy Doctors (1937)

 

May 4

Oh What a Knight (1928)

Whoops, I'm an Indian (1936)

3 Dumb Clucks (1937)

 

May 5

Sky Scrappers (1928)

Slippery Silks (1936)

Back to the Woods (1937)

 

May 6

The Fox Chase (1928)

 

May 7

Goofs and Saddles (1937)

 

May 8

Tall Timber (1928)

Termites of 1938 (1938)

 

May 9

Cash and Carry (1937)

Wee Wee Monsieur (1938)

 

 

May 22

Playing the Ponies (1937)

Tassels in the Air (1938)

 

# of shorts - 174

Edited by Walter C - 5/24/12 at 5:51am