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[thebiz]

With Halloween on the horizon Ive spent the last couple of weeks watching horror filmsand I stumbled upon the Larry Cohen cult classic Q The Winged Serpent which is free on Amazon Prime. It took me about three sitting to finish but by the end I was rolling on the ground laughing at the silly fun as it definitely gets better as it goes. Its got everyday new yorkers being splashed with blood from above, undercover mime cops, David Carradine and Shaft (richard Roundtree) playing cops hard on the case of aztec ritualistic murders, a great junkie jazz painist bank robber who manages to extort a million dollars from the city in return for telling them that a winged serpent the size of a passenger jet is nesting in the spire of the Chrysler building. Theres some pretty good jokes and a finale that borders on SNL skit with the cultist coming back to life 3 times in about 20 seconds. Definitely worth a look if you want some above average schlocky amusements before you toss out the Halloween candy.


https://m.youtube.co...h?v=nCE3xpqBNdM

[homemadeeye]

I just rewatched Team America World Police for the first time in about 10 years. I forgot how incredible it was. The soundtrack alone is funnier than almost any movie released in the past 5 years. 

[thebiz]

Good to see you HME.  I watched Zoolander last night and think I probably undervalued it in the past.  That's a pretty funny movie as well.  Dumb but funny.

 

Most of my recent recent movie watching has been TCM noir stuff.  Watched D.O.A. and Double Indemnity which are both great movies with a similar perspective.  Also got The Postman always Rings Twice recorded for later.  Another good noir tale of bad men and hot women.

 

Watched The Lighthouse which is now free on Amazon Prime.  Very memorable and amusing.  Kinda like a Guy Maddin 1920s version of the Shining.  Watched Blow the Man Down (Amazon) which also has a nautical theme and reminded me a little of Blood Simple.  Pretty good.  Watched Only God Forgives (netflix) which was memorable as well.  Looked amazing which is good as the story is thin but that's par for the course with Refn.  Felt like a much more serious and much less fun version of Drive set in Asia.

 

Read a pretty cool little review series on Film School Rejects site called The Prime Sublime which highlights unseen gems on Amazon Prime.  The thing about this list is I have never heard of all of the movies on the list.  Last night I watched the first one on the list called The Human Factor.  Its a revenge flick starring George Kennedy (the big oaf from Police Squad and Cool Hand Luke).  George's family gets murdered by heavily armed shitty american political terrorists from Berkeley University and he is determined to pay them back in full using his fists, a handgun and a 1975 NATO nuclear scenario computer (similar to War Games but like 10 years before.  Seriously the tech in this film is pretty awesome for 1975).  Its a solid movie right up till the end when it turns pretty incredible with George going nutso like a homicidal bull in a china shop.  Definitely worth a look if your looking for something you likely havent seen before.  

 

Other Prime Sublime movies in my queue for this week include The Weekend Murders and Crime Wave (a different 1985 flick not directed by Sam Raimi).  They also mentioned a movie called Highway to Hell which very sadly is no longer available on Amazon.  I watched the trailer and holy cow, how have I never heard of this movie?  Seriously take a look at this trailer...

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=e6AeScDSe68

[thebiz]

From the Prime Sublime list (noted above) I watched The Weekend Murders which is an Agatha Cristie-esque Giallo from the 70s. There's a whole mess of over acting going on and seemingly hundreds of whip pan reaction shots from those eager actors.  Still there's a good bit of fun, comedy and more than a passing similarity to Knives Out.  Worth a look for mystery fans.  

 

Watched Machine Gun McCain (1969) starring John Cassevettes (Rosemary's baby daddy) as a cold cold criminal and a young Peter Faulk as an aspiring mob boss.  Few movies boast a longer list of assholes as pretty much every character  here lacks a good side.  Still, McCain grew on me as he shittalked his son to an early death and robs a casino all by his lonesome with a pair of grenades.  In fact, I was really enjoying the flick as McCain was reminding me a lot of Richard Stark's Parker.  Unfortunately the ending was a dud with McCain giving up the ghost without much fanfare.  A better ending would have really elevated this one.  Cest la vie.

 

Watched Good Boys last night.  Every aspect of the movie felt lazy.  I laughed at the 10 year old boys dressed up in bdsm outfits but that was about it.  Not very good.  

 

Finally, watched Extraction on Netflix tonight.  Total by the numbers action film with better than average action sequences.  Kid Millions and I called out all the beats long before they happened...those two will team up, that guy will shoot the hero, he aint dead....ect.  I did enjoy the fights but its several tiers below The Raid movies.  If you wanna see a bad ass action film with fantastic fights go watch The Night Comes for Us (Netflix).  Extraction is fine but not much more.   

[FallenThomas]

I saw a good number of comedy specials this quarantine. Bill Burr's Paper Tiger, Mark Normand's Out to Lunch, Sam Morril's I Got This, Godfrey's Regular Black, Dave Chappelle's 8:46. All of them are excellent if you're looking for a good laugh; the last one, a good sense of the history that we're living through.

 

Criterion Channel has offered me a couple of good flicks. I saw Carnival of Souls, a 60s independent horror film from a director known to make documentary shorts that you would watch in a 50s classroom. The sheer creativity on display with the shoestring budget is awesome. The movie never gets scary, but the atmosphere puts you in a trance-like wonder, watching actors walk through abandoned theme parks and the like. I love the Twilight Zone ending that I already saw coming, just basking in its simple execution. There's little to not like about this. An atmospheric bit of fun that goes by quick in 80 minutes.

 

Another Criterion offering is The Color of Pomegranates. Can't help but relate this visual bravura to Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain. The story is about a 17th century Armenian poet as he goes through life, posing among various sets, costumes, and props, all handcrafted by the director, Sergei Parajanov. The film is meant to be interpreted like a poem, so many sequences make little sense. It takes a lot of forthright to sit through this film, and I can say the payoff is great. Definitely going to have to rewatch this after reading more about it. The symbolism is just way too deep for one viewing.

 

Finally, I watched Milos Forman's Loves of a Blonde. Such a cute little film. I love how the actor's look and portray people. Not characters but people you would see in real life. The scene where the soldiers are nervous to approach the girls, then 2 of them stand up but only 1 stays seated, and they all get uncomfortable standing around looking like fools. The cinematography in this is great, and it emphasizes the loneliness felt by the people in the frame. This film left a big impression on me after my initial viewing in film school I just had to revisit it. I recommend all three mentioned.

[thebiz]

Good stuff FT!  That Criterion channel is pretty tempting. 

 

Recently watched Out of the Past (Robert Mitchum is the MAN and this one has a great villain role for Kirk Douglas) and Kansas City Confidential (Super Strong first half but the ending was a bit weak.  Great title though).  Also watched Stir Crazy (directed by Sidney Poitier...who knew) which I think is one of my favorite Gene Wilder performances and the comradery between him and Richard Pryor sizzles.  However it felt rushed towards the end like the editor fell asleep at the wheel. Still hugely enjoyable.

 

Got a bunch of Japanese crime flicks lined up for soon I think.  However, Amazon added Highway to Hell back to prime so I'm currently watching that.  My lifestyle these days I usually get through about thirty minutes of a movie before I fall asleep.  Not optimal but it is what it is.  Its hard to sit down for two hours of viewing. 

[thebiz]

Finished Highway to Hell.  Not quite great but very enjoyable with outstanding cameos by Gilbert Godfried (almost steals the whole movie with a 30 second Hitler performance), Lita Ford and the whole Stiller Family (Ben, Jerry, Ann and Amy) as well as leads from Rob Lowes brother (Chad), the original Buffy (Kristie Swanson), and that guy Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story, The Natural).  Its quirky, funny and fun and a real easy watch for a 90s movie Id never even heard of.  Take a watch while its available.

 

Also currently watching Kingdom on Netflix which is a pretty good fuedal Japananese zombie show with 6 episodes for each of 2 seasons.  Its gory but with a fun bit of humor and its very well made and very stylish.  I wish there was more fighting as it reminds me a lot of a really great graphic novel called Infinite Kung Fu (Zombies, fuedal but with lots of 70s blaxploitation elements, and lots of Kung Fu).  Still very good if your into zombies and fuedal japan themes...   

[thebiz]

Watched Who'll Stop the Rain last night which stars an incredibly young and sexy Nick Nolte and is a bizarre and kinda pro heroin use kind of flick, which is likely why it doesnt get played all that much.  Nolte is moving a brick of heroin for his Vietnam War buddy and gets persued by dirty cops (Richard Mauser from The Thing and many other 80s roles is particularly great as the creepy heavy) while Tuesday Weld snorts a boatload of smack.  Surprisingly good.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=BNUWm7DSFWI

[thebiz]

Watched Gun Crazy about two sharp shooting gun nuts in love and on the lam, one with a conscious, the other without.  Pretty good 50s crime flick with revolutionary backseat car camerawork in several scenes that felt decades ahead of its time.  I kept wishing the male lead had a stiffer upper lip but his lady friend sported big enough balls for them both I suppose.  Anywho, worth a watch for noir enthusiasts.

 

 

Watched Stagecoach from 1939, which has all the bones of many more modern westerns (The Hatefull Eight comes to mind) and stars a thin (young) white Duke.  Also saw High Sierra with Bogart but was kinda disappointed n this one as Bogie plays the softest hard man ever.  From puppies to cute crippled girls and their ma and pa, Bogart has a soft place for just about everyone and it lands him a bellyful of lead.  Poor Mad Dog Earl.  Ida Lupino has it going on though.

 

 

Finally, tonight I watched A Big Hand for the Little Lady with Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward and Jason Robards.  It a silly little Disney-esque style poker western that kind of sucks (the poker is almost as bad as the fake western town front) but then the ending has an excellent twist that I wasn't expecting elevating the whole thing to passable.  Unexpected twists are always fun.