Scanners (1981)
 

I originally saw "Scanners" in 1995 or 1996 and I didn't think much of it, except for Michael Ironside's performance which is memorable to the bone.

I re-watched it last Monday and my impressions are about the same - it's a good film with some interesting subtext and a couple of riveting scenes but it feels incomplete and confused at certain key points.

If you haven't seen it, keep it for a lazy afternoon or an after-party.

Savage streets

Once again I am dissapointed za movie was not as harsh as I expected. I thought it would be a bit more over the top. Linda Blair was rather anoying towards the end as well. Plenty of tits not enough gore.

5/10


Chopping Mall

This movie is a heap of fun though stupid at the same time. The killbots must be the worst shot with a laser of all time.


6.5/10

Asylum (1972)

Always love this kinda horror anthology.

>>: B+

Last seen was August Rush with my mom and my cousin.

Mystic River. Clint Eastwood amazes me with his directorial abilities. This movie is no exception. Penn does an exceptionally amazing role, especially against a cast of other hard hitting actors. Pretty wild that i found myself truly empathizing with an actor. Though a tad long, this flick never drags.

The Hamiltons. Gritty and brutal, this movie had a great twist. i loved the echo-sounding house, which helps expose the emptiness of their home. The twins were awsome in a disturbing way. Ashe.
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Dances with Wolves (1990)

I dug this film. The story and characters were interested and it was directed and acted very well. Enjoyable all around,


-9/10

Cthulhu (2007)

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/3258/cthulhudvd1.jpg

>>: D+

Too bad.

The title sounded so promising. :(

Straw Dogs. Great flick. The acting seemed a little chunky in the beginning, but it mellowed out soon enough. Can't believe that i never saw this one. The flashbacks were pretty powerful in the church party scene. Ashe.
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Drag Me To Hell ... lots of fun (mostly watching the teenage girls scream their heads off) a little too much Evil Dead 2 for me - but it was still fun.


Year One ... abysmal ... fucking terrible. i got up to go to the bathroom with 10 minutes to go to the end of the film and didnt bother coming back.
I've NEVER done that before.

The Naked City (1948)

A crime film that calls upon the naturalism of the New York streets and its people to tell its story. It mostly works; a good ensemble cast helps to accentuate the key players in such an enormous city, and a voice-over narration which acts as a throwback to detective radio shows is almost spot-on. The film is less a film noir and more a docu-drama, calling on rough camera angles and at one point almost anticipating the invention of "shaky-cam", a technique that caught fire in the crime genre many decades later. Well-acted and admirably raw.

187


Decent enough drama, Sam Jackson as a teacher trying to get young gangbangers to learn stuff in the worlds shittest school.

Love that movie...one of the earliest examples of a procedural type police drama.

Yep, Jules Dassin was an advanced crime film maker for sure. Have you seen Brute Force? If not, highly recommended.

Wow, Dustin Hofman is starring it.

Sold!!

He's my favorite actor, I'm a huge fan, and I can say with ease that this is one of my favorite of his roles. It's an exhausting portrayel.

Untill about 10 years ago he was mine as well.

Love his old performances, Marathon Man being my favorite. :)

Evil Aliens

Shaft

Dead Calm

El ángel exterminador (The Exterminating Angel) (1962)

I think I'd have to consider this Buñuel's ultimate masterpiece. While the man famously denied any symbolism or metaphor to be read from his works, there's no doubt that it's there. The surrealist in him lends itself very well to the film, which could be interpreted in as many different ways as there are people that have seen it, but I feel it's a spiritually-driven deconstruction and distillation of those institutions Buñuel felt were toxic: the ever-spited bourgeoisie and the church. The way the film plays with ideas of madness, life, death, and survival give it a pseudo-horror feel; completely engrossing and wonderfully bold.

Buffalo '66 (1998)

This movie gets a lot of crap, but I really enjoy the heck out of it. Sure it's sometimes over-stylized and occasionally pretentious, but I think that, in this case, lends itself well to the story of the main character. Featuring incredible cinematography by Lance Acord, hilarious dialogue, and one of the most giddily happy endings ever, this unique love story is always lots of fun to revisit.

Phantasm 4

They were just trying to confuse us with this one, right?

5.5/10


Plague Town

Pretty cool, it's got a good creepy element to it. The ending lets it down a bit though. just a cop out realy.

7/10

Cloverfield

Outpost. Pretty decent horror flick set in some random insurgency riddled block of Europe. Nothing special, but the eclectic bunch of hardened mercenaries was in itself almost worth 90 minutes of my life.

Antibodies. Up until the very end, i thought this one to be quite good. Pretty twisted story that keeps leading ya down the wrong road. i thought acting to be superb, with the psycho quite realistic. While the ending was not really a cop out, i found it to be a little too contrived and sappy. Also, if one contemplates this flick, there is one whole that a Mack truck could fit through, but then again, i don't always watch films to hone my skills in logical thought.
Ashe.
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Great review, I definately agree with your ideas. I'm glad you enjoyed your revisit- have you checked out Criterion's release of Simon of the Desert yet? One of his funniest and most potent films (the cut production never bothers me, the runtime and ending feel just right) and there's an excellent documentary of the disc which covers his Mexican career.

*edit* Wow, I sound like a spokesman for Criterion.

Jules et Jim (1962)

There is so much energy to Truffaut's direction here that it seems almost impossible to fall for his passion for filmmaking, even if you can't fall for any of the three characters; however, I did fall for them, and I attribute this to brilliant personal development which puts an emphasis on the characters' flaws rather than their charms, making them totally human. We are never a step ahead of these people, and they are never a step ahead of each other or themselves. Their decisions are quick and thoughtless, coming only from the heart (or from a little lower, sometimes), and the free-spirited love triangle that forms is admirable if only for its organicness. In contrast to Truffaut's first feature film, there are no borders or boundaries to the characters; they are not trapped by anything, and neither war nor business can keep the curious entanglement between Jules and Catherine and Jim apart. The director's playful style has similarities to some of his friend Godard's, but Truffaut's seems lighter and more sincere; he actually has fun exploring the world of Jules and Jim, and because of his enthusiasm there is never a dull moment. Funny, charming, strange and poetic.

You ever see STRAIGHT TIME? It's my favorite Hoffman performance and the film is adapted from the Edward Bunker novel No Beast So Fierce which is one of my favorite novels

Thanks, Alky. I definitely needed to rewatch it since the first time I saw it, it was in awful shape, the subtitles were really bad, and I think there were some scenes missing.

I haven't checked out Simon of the Desert, actually! That's one I keep passing over and I don't know why. I'll have to pick it up soon, with it being a fairly cheap release due to the runtime.
Thanks for the rec!

Haha, I feel the same way all the time.

Splinter

Not too bad random creature type flick. Pretty much by the numbers but there are a few genuinely nasty bonecrunching moments and the look of the film is good. Certainly worth a viewing.


The Wrestler

Great film, absolutely top notch. 'nuff said

Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters 2

Day of the beast

It's a pretty fun movie, it offered a bit more than it delivered though.

7/10

The African Queen (1951)

An exhilerating motion picture whose sense of adventure, humor and life are ageless. Revisiting the movie, I was pleasantly surprised at how many shots had been vividly engraved in my memory and at how exciting it was to see them again in all their glory. What I hadn't remembered, however, was just how magnificent the chemistry between stars Bogart and Hepburn was; he has probably never been finer and she brings an indescribable charm to the film. Their magic is made evident by Huston's brave direction. The film was shot on location in Africa, and there is obviously an indefinate amount of luscious environment that could have blanketed the movie in blinding exoticness; instead, he chooses to keep us within the boat to absorb everything about the relationship inside, and the bright jungle and deep river remain only scenery. A classic entertainer and an enduring screen romance full of warmth and grace.

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Did not enjoy this.

The script was very well written, the cast is great and Kaufman's direction certainly fit with the theme of the film...but that does not by any means make for an enjoyable film experience.

I don't think I've ever seen a movie this bleak or depressing - in all honesty I was more upset watching this than I was watching Requiem for a Dream. At least Requiem gives the viewer a chance to slip into naivety on occasion and make themselves believe things will turn out OK...Synecdoche provides no such luxury. From the opening frame through to the end credits, this film is a dreamlike attack on the senses: it assaults our very human nature and shows the inherent pointlessness in our lives. It leaves you feeling cold, empty and FAR too much like Cotard.

I wont deny for a second that this is a good movie: it's incredibly well put together and doubtlessly gets it's point across...but for that very reason, I honestly wish I hadn't watched it.

Amazing turn by Robert Morley as well, as he watches his life's work collapsing around him...

Indeed.

Rumor has it there're finally plans for a region 1 DVD release. About damn time!

Really?! Hope that pans out - I've always wanted to see this one, but it's tough to track down. Fingers crossed!

From what I hear, Paramount owns the rights and is planning to add it to its "Centenial Collection" in 2-disc format.

However, there aren't any internet confirmations by Paramount yet- this is the best I can give you: http://www.dvdtown.com/news/finally-...ca-oct-13/6679

It's sickening that they've held onto the rights for so long without giving thousands of begging fans what they've wanted; I wish they belonged to Warner or that Criterion could have snatched them and given the film the treatment it deserved long ago- it's truly one of the all-time greatest.

Downloading Nancy (2009)

http://l.yimg.com/eb/ymv/us/img/hv/p...mallposter.jpg

Sick of her life, housewife Nancy just wants it to be over and done with, but rather than kill herself, she hires a stranger from the Internet to do the job for her. But fate takes a strange turn when she meets her killer and the two bind in a relationship. Later, Nancy realizes that love and murder do not naturally go hand in hand.

The story concerns basically about [Nancy & her husband (Maria Bello & Rufus Sewell) & the hired killer] three people being unfulfilled, angry, perverse, and miserable. The cast tried their best to make something real out of the script but the director failed to 'download' the complex woman's life in a considerable way. A quite depressing & boring film.

>>: C-


Masters of Horror: Incident on and Off a Mountain Road (2005)

>>: C+

Drag me to hell
Great oldschool mix into modern horror. Hails to raimi`s

TELL NO ONE


Really enjoyed this one. Nice little mystery.

Day of the Dead. This one was a fun watch. Decent zombie flicks never seem to go out of style. i do appreciate it when the zombies are capable of motion greater than that of a baby crawling on its hands and knees. Ashe.
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