What was the last movie you saw?

The Mist (2007) - Not a bad Stephen King adaptation from a novel, movie. Nice creepy vibe, and interesting to see a film that makes you think about what you would do in this monstrous situation. I've wanted to see this for a while, and I wasn't disappointed.

The Mist. Fine, but the worst ending ever. A lot of people despise it, revile, abhor, are repulsed by... but, as far as ET monsters terrorizing people in a supermarket goes, it could be one of the best.
Here, the new Woody Woodpecker movie was on, but I only saw a few minutes. Review: >>> HaHaHaHaa-Hah! (woodpecker sound fx).

Wonder Woman
Yikes! Another superhero I wouldn't want to make angry.
Excellent!

Ex Machina (2015). Really good and quite unsettling.

Disaster Movie & I Survived a Zombie Holocaust. Also watched Wonder Woman, but that was last week. Nothing like the old TV show, very dark-- that is scenes lacking in luminosity. Not yer daddy's WW, for sure! I really could find little in the plot that was recognizable. I do not think I was ever into WW comics, so I am just going by the TV show. It was good, though.

Disaster Movie had some really funny parodies, Alvin & the Chipmunks was great, but the Speed Racer parody was hilarious! Laughed myself to tears!

I Survived a Zombie Holocaust, was very different from the many other Zombie movies I have see. They were making a movie about a Zombie Holocaust, when suddenly -- a real Zombie Holocaust occurs! The description gave it a rather low rating, but it was indeed funny.

Despicable Me 3
somewhat disappointing.

Roman J. Israel, ESQ
Interesting idea, poorly executed.
Denzel Washington and Carmen Ejogo really brought out their character's but Colin Farrell could have been substituted with a cardboard cut out.

Blurred Lines: Inside the art world

I knew the Modern art world was a cesspool but WOW It sure runs deep.

They're Watching (2016)


This was really a good, scary movie!

Right up to about the last 15-20 minutes.

The story is about a film crew in (Afghanistan?) for a TV Show that presents renovated homes around the world. The filming of this episode, however, is marred by (what seems to be) paranoid, superstitious country folk, fretting over the history of the local witch. Strange things happen, all of which are easily explainable by the constant, threatening presence of these overly-superstitious people.

Having seen dozens of these kind of movies, it wasn't surprising to me that the witch was still alive, or who she was.

What was surprising was how badly an otherwise good horror story could be screwed up in the final segments. Witch? Okay. Ultra-powerful, unbeatable force with god-like powers? No. Anything that had previously occurred becomes moot when she reveals her strength. She could have gotten what she wanted anywhere in the world, with as much violence and notoriety she wanted - no one could have stopped her. And, apparently, that's what she wanted - for the world to know her and see her power.

So why all the deception and hiding before? It makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever.

And that's sad. Because a good ending is all this movie needed to become a "New Classic Horror" film. Instead, they decided to destroy it.

The Monster Squad (1987)

A bunch of preteens battle the Universal monsters. That sounds like a recipe for disaster, but this was a pleasant surprise. The film is wise enough to treat the monsters seriously, and leave the comedy to the humans. Nifty monster designs by Stan Wilson. Recommended for anyone who used to be a twelve-year-old monster fan.

Terror in the Midnight Sun (1959)

Swedish-American space invasion flick. A "meteor" (spaceship) lands in Lapland. Some science types go check it out. Out comes a giant furry monster and some guys who look a lot like Death in The Seventh Seal. Not much happens for a long time. Time is filled up with snow, ice, skating, skiing, nightclub singing, and romantic comedy hi-jinks between a young science guy and the pretty daughter of an older science guy. Some nice outdoors scenes filmed on location above the Arctic circle. A long line of Lapps rushing by on skis, carrying torches, and shouting as they go after the big monster is striking. Overall, pretty dull, although, from all reports, the version that was chopped up and mixed with new footage, under the title Invasion of the Animal People was much, much worse. Hang around for the end credits, over which the haunting song "Midnight Sun Lament" is sung.

The Hippopotamus. Based on the novel by Stephen Fry, this is a sometimes funny, sometimes witty, and sometimes cracked film that probably doesn't live up to the book. I think you need to go in with a very wry frame of mind to get the most out of this one.

Saw Black Panther in New Zealand of all places. Great movie, really stuck to the comics with the characters and setting.
Some kids got kicked out of the theater because they were making stupid noises. I didn't hear them much, but the adults were getting mad at them.
Found it funny; if you don't like black people why would you spend $10.50 to go to a movie about black people? Must be some sort of masochists.

Hangar 18 (1980)

UFO/government conspiracy flick. Space shuttle releases a satellite that bumps into an alien spaceship, killing one astronaut, blowing up the satellite, and sending the alien ship crashing into Arizona. Science types study the spacecraft (which contains two very human dead aliens) while the two surviving astronauts conduct their own investigation of the cover-up. Lots of familiar TV actors, and the whole thing feels like a mediocre made-for-TV movie. The alien spaceship is moderately interesting, although it's obvious that the supposed interior of it is much, much larger than the outside. The sudden ending is the equivalent of "and then they were all hit by a truck."

Jabberwocky - 1977 Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin. Lots typical Pythonisms in this one.
"Now hear this. The King, that cloud of chivalry, that Prince of monarchs, that paragon of potentates, is going... to speak.
Hear the wisdom... witness the wit, observe the oratoracle eloquence, lend-an-ear! To... the mellow voice, the tender tones, the voluptous vowels, the corruscating consonants...of his majesty's voice - King Bruno. Who is going to give it to you straight - illuminate the essence,
clarify the conundrums, dazzle us, with logic. My lord, your grace, your honor... the King."
King Bruno the Questionable and other character actors steal the show, though Palin is quite good as Dennis.

The Clones (1973)

Probably the first film to make use of the theme of human cloning. By "cloning," we mean, of course, "making an exact duplicate of an adult human being with all knowledge, memory, and personality intact." Starts off as a paranoid nightmare as a scientist confronts his duplicate and gets chased by the cops and the government as an impostor. Turns into a typical chase film for most of its running time. The cloning turns out to have something to do with a plot to control the world's weather. Made earnestly on a very low budget, with the feel of a made-for-TV flick. Notable for Gregory Sierra and Otis Young as two rather lighthearted government hit men after the scientist, Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones from The Trouble With Tribbles) as a Mad Scientist, an irrelevant psychedelic dream sequence, and a final scene at an amusement park.

The Horrible Sexy Vampire (1971)

Ridiculous English title for a Spanish flick more sedately known as El vampiro de la autopista ("The vampire of the highway.")

Dracula-style vampire kills his victims by strangling them (?) while invisible (!), which must have saved a lot of money for the filmmakers. His look-alike descendant (same actor, but with Andy Warhol pale blond hair instead of the vampire's moderately pale blond hair) goes to the ancestral castle. Vampire begs descendant to give him eternal rest by killing him but still fights him off; "instinct," you know. He eventually does, the end. Nothing particularly "horrible" happens in this nearly bloodless film, but every time a pretty young woman shows up she's got her clothes off in a matter of minutes, justifying the "sexy."

Suspicion (1941)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Nigel Bruce. Fontaine won the Academy Award for this one, though I’m darned if I know why (she was up against Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwick, among others) since I found her acting a bit over. But it was the ‘40s, there was a war and melodrama was all the rage. Bruce is comic relief and he and Grant seem to have more chemistry than Grant and Fontaine. The question of whether Grant’s character is just a cad or a criminal … well, it’s hard to think of Grant as a murderer, which made Hitchcock’s task all the harder and for one of the few times in his career, the balance isn’t struck as well as a viewer might like. Not one of Hitch’s best, though serviceable.


Charade (1963)
Directed by Stanley Donan, starring Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, James Coburn, George Kennedy and Ned Glass. Grant only made three more movies after this, and this is one of his best. The producers of the Bond movies had originally wanted Grant as James Bond, and this gives pretty good indication of why since he’s smooth and charming, but also capable of carrying off the action requirements – he has a fight with George Kennedy in this that is well choreographed for the time. Hepburn’s husband is killed. She’s away with her friend and her friend’s son and meets Grant. When Hepburn returns home she learns of her husband’s death and finds their apartment gutted, all furniture and paintings gone. Grant shows up having read of the death in the newspapers to see if he can help. And that starts a grand chase to find the money Hepburn’s husband stole from the U.S. government during the war. Coburn, Kennedy and Glass were his confederates who he cheated out of their shares; Matthau is an embassy bureaucrat trying to locate the money to return it to the U.S. government. But Grant and someone else aren’t exactly what they seem to be, and Hepburn has to negotiate their duplicity to find the money and save her life. A romantic comedy thriller, with a terrific score by Henry Mancini, and one of my favorite movies from the early '60s, and often called the best Hitchcock movie not directed by Hitchcock.


Randy M.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017) - It was a 50/50 movie for me. I was half surprised at what the story was about, and not surprised that the film seemed to go-by-the-numbers, in a typical manner that most films do. Overall I thought it was very good, not great, but a very good drama.

Alien: Covenant (2017) - It explained a great deal further as a prequel movie, and fit like a puzzle piece, but I had to hold back my critical observations, and let it play out as a story. Then, I made my decision about the film. I liked it. Even though, it was a bit predictable to me, I enjoyed the visuals and effects.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return (2017) - Not a bad continuation of the show. The new take on the series (now #11), with new characters and using a different setting, but keeping the original concept, (though a bit rough around the edges) still has it's charm. I watched two experiments (episodes), featuring the giant monster movie, Reptilicus (1961) & a Sasquatch film called, Cry Wilderness (1987). The second installment had a nice surprise for fans of the original series.




Rewatched:

Mystery Men (1999) - still a great comical and comic book-like superhero tale. One of my all time favorites. Awesome cast.

Day of the Dead (1985) - I love this zombie film. It's outrageous and a unique horror flick about an underground outpost, trying to discover a way to deal with the worldwide zombie problem.

The Deer Hunter (1978) - A tremendous drama about a group of friends who are traumatized by the Vietnam War. (won 5 Oscars) Awesome cast.

Commando (1985) - Fantastic over-the-top and cliched, faced-paced action film, about a man trying to rescue his daughter within eleven hours. One of Arnold Schwarzenegger's best movies.

Agree about the Deer Hunter, fabulous film. Commando was fun but really silly.