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 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Halloween. The original.

This was a good, suspenseful horror movie. It suffers a bit from John Carter syndrome, but still an enjoyable watch.



Freddy Vs Jason

This is a good Freddy movie, a good Jason movie, and a good action-horror movie.

@Halloween: Noah Wyle wasn't even in that film!

@Freddy vs. Jason: This actually was the first Freddy (AND Jason!) film I ever saw I think. And in cinema. At the time I didn't like it a whole lot (because I was a bit stuck-up then concerning US genre films. As you are at that age, I suppose), but over time and having watched a lot more US genre films - especially of that time! - I'm a-okay with watching it.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:


"That's it! Killing you both!"

"Did he just remember he can do that?"
"Your father's an idiot."

Far and away the best lines for me are "MY BABY BOY!" and "I'm sorry" followed by Gohan's shocked 'Wow we are fethed.'

Have you been watching their original shorts, like Yamcha Strikes Out or the HIFL sequence? Those are solid with some fantastic sniping between Freeza and Cell.

Yup. And the Buu Bits for anyone who hasn't seen them.

Basically all the 'good jokes' they'd thought up for the S4 that will never be. Including some really funny bits like Goku getting excited

Plus pay-offs for old bits, that would have been great with a larger series around them, but still work.

"Vegeta, no!"
"Vegeta... YEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!"
*huge explosion*

"Do you need an adult?"
"I am an adult."

The Flash

I totally get the complaints about this, the writing is pretty terrible in places as is the CGI, and I hate how much of a nerdy loser they made Barry Allen.
Despite that, I still found it a fun and entertaining movie.

It's a real shame they brought back the Keaton Batman for this though, instead of a Batman Beyond movie.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Plus pay-offs for old bits, that would have been great with a larger series around them, but still work.

"Vegeta, no!"
"Vegeta... YEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!"
*huge explosion*

"Do you need an adult?"
"I am an adult."

“Best Buddy” comes back hard.

The show also has really clever dumb humor. One of my favorite exchanges is Trunks asking why Goku chose to
Move the fight to the arctic and Goku’s confused “but you have a jacket.” Then, when they’re getting their asses kicked, “Trunks, your jacket is weighing you down!”

And everything they did with TJ and the Wombat was hilarious.

The commentary and the videos about the editing process are really instructive. I need to find their videos on voice acting.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, they have the absolute best in-video advertisements on YouTube. Their recent Surfshark ad done as an espionage thriller is a more exhilarating ride than most actual espionage thrillers.

I seem to be spelunking in the Crypt of Crap.

Because tonight? It’s Lionheart

Written by…..Jean Claude Van Damme

Screenplay by….Jean Claude Van Damme.

Starring….Jean Claude Van Damme.

In a touching romantic comedy about a Lion in Australia adopted by a Kangaroo after its Joey sadly passes away.

No of course not. IT’S FISTICUFFS! And being Jean Claude Van Damme, Footicuffs. Probably with the odd headbutt here and there.


Not that it really matters because no one is here for it? Plot is JCVD’s brother is in the USA, and is burned to death in a drug deal gone wrong. JCVD is in the French Foreign Legion, until he finds out about his bro, deserts the desert, and sneaks into the USA. Funding his travels with underground Street Fights.

This may be Guile’s spinoff back story. Who knows, who cares. We’re here for the Facey-Kicky and this very much delivers!

Lionheart was better than it has any right to be.

Van Damme - out of all the action guys (possibly next to stallone) - is probably the best actor. You can see that in the early (well, earlier) films and in the more recent ones. Lionheart is perfectly nice.
Speaking of van Damme in the Foreign Legion: Legionaire is also alright. It may sound like a silly idea, and the film is slightly daft, but it's got its heart in the right place and gets rather touching in the end.

So around all your Double Teams and your Hard Targets and your Infernos (one of my favourites, I won't tire to say), there's a sort of bracket of good stuff there.

I mean the earlier Segal films are also much better than what came later (and muuuuuuuuuuch better than what came after that), but van Damme's a cut above Segal, in every regard.

 Easy E wrote:
Lionheart was better than it has any right to be.

I’d be very surprised if his Manager in the film wasn’t ad-libbing, because his dialogue and reactions really fill in for JCVD’s somewhat limited acting chops.

I mean, JCVD at least tries, and bless him hovers somewhere just below mediocre for those efforts.

But hey, given he wrote it? He clearly understands his limits. He can do excellent fight scenes, and delivers those. But unlike Stephen Seagull, doesn’t display the ego that suggests that alone will carry it. Also, Seagull is a crap on-screen fighter.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And there’s the ending.

What’s genuinely remarkable about a late 80’s early 90’s fisticuffs flick?

JCVD does it all for…family. He doesn’t win the lady at the end. It’s not a revenge kill flick. It’s really bizarrely wholesome, where his sole motivation is to see and then provide for his niece and sister-in-law.

Not a leg over. Just…family.

You know what? This is going on my Christmas Movie list, because the main character’s motivations, if not his “smack your face out the back of your head” methods, are entirely wholesome.

Also there’s probably some film school ponce argument that whether he stayed with the Foreign Legion or pod-shotted people in underground street fighting he’s still risking his life for a noble cause.

Yeah, I guess at that point these films had a bit of a broader audience in mind than the very self-aware, very cheap 90s action films which only catered to a male 12-22 / 50+ audience.


Men in War (1957)

Black and white war film sat in the then very present Korean War, based on a novel from 1947 about the then very present second world war.

It's a bit of a March of the Ten Thousand story, in which a US platoon - fresh from a horrible battle - have to make it back to friendly lines. Morale is low, the platoon leader tries to get some order back into his men. On the way they pick up Sergeant Montana, who is driving his colonel (great figure. Shell-shocked, mute, tied to the passenger seat of their jeep) back to friendly lines and preferrably away from the war for good.

The platoon leader forces Montana to stay with the platoon, so they can use the jeep to transport equipment. Montana and the platoon leader butt heads about many things.

It's a very, very interesting film, and I think that interesting films about the Korean war are kinda rare. Especially in how it depicts the US military. Obviously, they didn't get ANYTHING (but trouble, zoinks!) from the US military for this film, and it shows in most places. The film looks ratcher cheap and some of the acting is questionable. Last night I watched the german dubbed version of the film (which is okay), which kinda underlined the oddity of the Montana character. He's a proper veteran like and a cynical SoB and all of that, but he's also a bulky fella and maybe not the best actor in the world. He gave me very strong "wrestler acting in a film" vibes. In fact, the whole character and appearance reminded me a lot of what Eddie Kingston's persona would be like in that film.

Anyway, for what it is, and from what time it is, it's an interesting war film. Watch It, if that's your cup of tea.

Demonic Toys vs Puppet Master

A 2004 direct to video type sequel.

Naturally it’s never going to be noted as a work of high art….but it is loads of fun!

Stars Cory Feldman and Vanessa Angel, chewing the scenery like they’ve not eaten in days.

Best thing? The production team clearly knew this was straight to video, and embraced it. And so we end up with an admittedly ropey movie that doesn’t care it’s ropey. Or utterly tasteless.

If you like your B Movies? Give it a watch.

If you don’t like B Movies?

Move along, move along

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Still funny. Still a classic. Watch it with a young person who’s never seen it before, if possible.


Conan the Barbarian

This is also a classic. It’s amazing how effectively they used simple in-camera effects and editing tricks, at least compared to modern big budget blockbusters. The production value is fantastic, the violence brutal and visceral, and the dash of the fantasy element hits with maximum impact. And the Basil Poledouris score brings real excitement to the film.



The Evil Dead

Excellent use of suspense, a living camera effect, and buckets of blood. I wasn’t expecting some of the more disgusting non-blood squoosh effects. Reminds me why I loved Fangoria.

When Evil Lurks (2023)

Probably the best offering from Shudder that I’ve seen in some time, and a great addition to possession horror films.

Pretty twisted horror tale that starts off very hardcore and never really lets up. Some wild, gory imagery that fans of the newer Evil Dead movies might like. Its an Argentine production, so in spanish with subtitles so reading is required.

Sahara

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn and Penelope Cruz.

An early 2000’s failed franchise starter, based on a book from a series of books about Dirk Pitt.

Whilst this didn’t really find its audience, it’s not without its charms. Bit of Bond, sliver of National Treasure and a pinch of Indiana Jones. Perhaps a hint of MacGuyver.

Our heroes are maritime treasure hunters, and seemingly pretty good at their job. The MacGuffin here is a Civil War Ironclad filled with treasure which somehow got to…*checks notes* Nigeria. And there’s a B Plot about Evil Industrialist poisoning the water because Profits.

Ultimately a somewhat far fetched plot, which just misses out on a solid enough execution to be a classic bit of cinema daftness.

Finale is oddly 40K though, with a centuries old cannon being in miraculous working order to blow up the bad guy.

Clive Cussler books are pretty wacky when you sit down and think about them. However, they are a brisk read.

See also: Raise the Titanic for a previous attempt to bring Dirk Pitt to the screen.

For me, there’s definitely room for more such MacGuffin lead swashbucklers.

And whilst every decade has something to offer from that genre, it doesn’t feel like it’s particularly well represented.

Maybe they’re just so inherently formulaic it’s difficult to find enough variety to churn them out in quantity and quality, without your own efforts blurring into one with each other and even competitors?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Fantastic New Worlds: A Handmade Puppet Dreams Collection

Produced by Heather Henson’s IBEX Puppetry, a collection of short films very much in her father’s footsteps.

If like me you’re a sucker for fantasy puppetry, this is going to be right up your street. And at a fairly short 1h 15m, pretty ideal family watching. Perhaps particularly ideal for a comfy sofa watch on a dreech winter’s eve.

Rather than a standard portmanteau of separate shorts with an arcing narrative, this looks to have been a series, but on Amazon is done as a single film.


Which see my comment above about comfy sofa watch on a dreech winter’s eve? Could be ideal “one more show before bedtime” type viewing.

OH GOD I WAS WRONG! This is not really for kids! Some segments, yes. Others? Aaaaabsolutely not.

I will not recommend movies whilst still watching

I will not recommend movies whilst still watching

I will not recommend movies whilst still watching

I will not recommend movies whilst still watching

I will not recommend movies whilst still watching

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Sahara

To give some perspective, Sahara was 2005.
The first two Mummy movies were 1999 and 2001, National treasure 2004 and first two Tomb Raiders 2001 and 2003. I'm sure the screenplay had been kicking around for yonks and you absolutely can't blame them for thinking this was the perfect time to try it.

Shame for them it didn't work out, but judging by the few Cussler books I was encouraged by others to read, I don't think culture as a whole has missed out on anything noteworthy.

As a one off, Sahara was great fun. I can see an extended series I can see it getting stale quite quickly.

Well, Clive Cussler has literally written hundreds of Dirk Pitt adventure stories.

They are good fun in an airport paperback read kinda' way. Nice and pulpy, heavy on the action/adventure.

 Easy E wrote:
Well, Clive Cussler has literally written hundreds of Dirk Pitt adventure stories.

Well, no. There are 27. Some were 'co-authored' by his son, and the last few written by his son alone. His other books have a variety of co-authors that became solo authors.
Like James Patterson or Tom Clancy, 'Cussler' became a brand for a publishing house, with minimal to no contribution from the name at the top of the cover. (Which is, at this point, part of the title, not an auhor credit. Though Patterson is still alive and smart enough to write the first chapter to keep the writing credit, then let his co-author deal with fleshing out the rest of the outline).

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Still funny. Still a classic. Watch it with a young person who’s never seen it before, if possible.


Conan the Barbarian

This is also a classic. It’s amazing how effectively they used simple in-camera effects and editing tricks, at least compared to modern big budget blockbusters. The production value is fantastic, the violence brutal and visceral, and the dash of the fantasy element hits with maximum impact. And the Basil Poledouris score brings real excitement to the film.



The Evil Dead

Excellent use of suspense, a living camera effect, and buckets of blood. I wasn’t expecting some of the more disgusting non-blood squoosh effects. Reminds me why I loved Fangoria.

Now that sounds like a fun night.

They were three different nights. I just tend to wait until I have enough to say before I post.


The funny thing is that the effects that wowed my son the most were some of the easiest and oldest to pull off, such as Thulsa Doom turning a snake into an arrow by lowering his hand with the snake out of frame for a second and pulling the prop up into frame.

Voss wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Well, Clive Cussler has literally written hundreds of Dirk Pitt adventure stories.

Well, no. There are 27. Some were 'co-authored' by his son, and the last few written by his son alone. His other books have a variety of co-authors that became solo authors.
Like James Patterson or Tom Clancy, 'Cussler' became a brand for a publishing house, with minimal to no contribution from the name at the top of the cover. (Which is, at this point, part of the title, not an auhor credit. Though Patterson is still alive and smart enough to write the first chapter to keep the writing credit, then let his co-author deal with fleshing out the rest of the outline).

Since we are taking my "literally" literally in my quote. 27 is a lot of books, and could be a lot of movies. Not all his books are even about Dirk Pitt, some are just NUMA stories or the folks that were going to replace Dirk, Al and the NUMA gang (whose names escape me).

That said, you are spot on. It is mostly just a brand name now for the publishing house and other people are writing them. Still, not bad for old Clive to still get some $$$ out of the deal and not write any books!

Stalker 1979

Weird. Interesting but weird.

Figuratively, Cussler has written thousands of books.

 Ahtman wrote:
Figuratively, Cussler has written thousands of books.

Indeed, what I should have said.

I have learned a valuable lesson and am suitably chastened.

All you should see the wiki page of all his allegorical and metaphorical work. It'll blow your mind.

The Batman

A pretty good film but, for me at least, it suffers from the same problem the Nolan Batman trilogy did, it just takes itself far too seriously. I like my cape flicks to be a bit more "cartoony" for want of a better term.

Hopefully he gets a bit better at fighting in the sequel too, dude relies way too much on his body armour.