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Puppet Master 3:- Toulons Revenge

These films are so stupid, but weirdly enjoyable.
This one revolves around villain of the previous films Toulon, when he was still a good guy puppeteer before the Gestapo kills his wife, and he goes on a revenge spree.

Of course this brings up questions like "If he's such a good guy, why has he already made a gaggle of murderous puppets?" and "What sort of moron thinks putting on anti-Nazi puppet shows in 1940's Berlin is a good idea?" just don't expect any answers.

That series and similar are not even slightly guilty pleasures of mine

Dolls is particularly good fun.

I tried it, but the Puppet Master films are just a mess, aren't they. Latest one I saw I think was 5. The story and even rules for the puppets are kinda all over the place, the puppets are of limited charm to me. I get the appeal, and I'll watch a Puppet Master film when asked, but I don't hold the series in particularly high regard.

A friend of mine LOVES the Puppetmaster films. I haven’t yet been able to sit through a whole one. Maybe some day I’ll be in the right mindset when he puts one on…

They’re definitely for a certain taste of audience.

Speaking of which!

Weird, The Al Yankovic Story

A largely fictionalised biopic of probably my favourite musical satirist. Daniel “look, when you’re Harry Potter? You can do whatever you want career wise after” Radcliffe as Al.

Opening was a bit wonky for me, as I had to the my brain into the style it was going for. Specifically, it’s not only spoofing Al’s life, but similar musical biopics.

And I’m absolutely loving it. Available to stream for free on Prime, at least in the UK.

Mr Radcliffe has rightly decided that as he doesn’t really need to work again, he am basically do whatever project tickles his fancy at the time

Yup. And more respect to him for it.

Congratulations! Weird is one of those films that wholeheartedly commits to its own premise. And it is hilarious to watch where it wanders. I watched it with my son, who knew nothing of Weird Al, and it greatly enhanced the experience as he constantly asked- did he really do that?

It is a Very Silly Film.

In the best PAWSIBBLE taste!

 Flinty wrote:
Mr Radcliffe has rightly decided that as he doesn’t really need to work again, he am basically do whatever project tickles his fancy at the time

Yeah, he's rather remarkable.

Love Lies Bleeding

If you like crime stories like Fargo then you'll probably enjoy this. In a small New Mexico town Lou (Kristen Stewart) manages a local gym where she meets a woman, Jackie (Katy O'brien), stopping in the town on her way to a body builders competition in Las Vegas. The find an emotional (and physical) connection but their personal demons have more overlap than the two realize and a grotesque act of violence leads to another and another as things spiral out of control. The characters have good chemistry and really feel like people who care about each other while also still having problems. Ed Harris as the local crime lord has a quiet and intense menace to him and an unforgettably bad haircut. It also really captures the aesthetic of the time period very well; the whole place seems lived in and authentic for the period. It does dabble in visual metaphor in a few spots which might be a bit off putting to some but I thought within the context of the film worked well. It also touches on generational trauma without being to on the nose.

The Contractor

Chris Pine is booted from the Army Rangers and decides to become a PMC for money. Things do not go well for him.

This is the type of action movie, where the action is focused on realism. Therefore, the gun play is very not exciting, but the hand-to-hand is always a bit brutal.

This is not a pleasant movie to watch.

Gunpowder Milkshake (2021, Netflix)

I know I started watching this at some point but I guess it fell off of Netflix, or maybe I just left the country. So I finally got to see Karen Gilliam play John Wick in a remake of Lone Wolf and Cub. Or something.

It's silly, it's neon and colorful, it's absurd and at times almost as good as it should be.

Almost.

3 stars, add 29 more stars if you're a huge fan of pale red headed time traveling girls.

Oh, you mean Karen Gillan? 🤣🤣


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Predator

A classic.

And I don’t know if it’s revisionist, but possibly a satire on US Militarism?

It definitely upends the 80’s meathead gun movie trope, and has clear inspiration from Vietnam.

In the modern day, especially when Mack and the rest vent their fury and ammo impotently into the jungle with barely any results? The satire could be contrived.

But idiot analysis entirely aside, it is a bloody good film because of how it upended and inverted the tropes of its day.

Not that I have the authority, but I’m declaring Spooky Season open.

Sometimes They Come Back

Above par TV Movie based on a Stephen King short story. Greasers murder a kid in front of his little brother whilst proving how hard they are by picking on kids they outnumber 2:1. They then get squished to death off a train.

In the modern day, they’re back for revenge. And get squished by a train.

Interesting premise, and very well made for a TV movie.

Alien: Romulus

My view - we now have 5 Alien Films!
This has all the ingredients of a solid Alien film served up in a great way and it fits into the original narrative without breaking anything.

It retains a sense of "the horror just won't end" which I think honestly is something we've not had in Alien films, esp since they went more action orientated.

Age of the characters also works great, it gives them enough maturity and age to do things, but the situation and all also means that they do immature things as well and that fits really well.

 Hulksmash wrote:

Roadhouse (the new one)

This one was oddly decent. I never saw the original as it was just enough before my time that when I was getting into movies it didn't rate a watch but I know it has a cult following. This one was fun. Jake Gylanhal(sp?) does his normal bang up job of acting. Some famous MMA fighter chews up some serious scenery. The movie just shoots along as a fun and mostly brainless film with some good moments. Exposition is basically zero. The only let down is the final fight scene which takes the mostly grounded fighting from earlier in the film and goes nuts.

The missus basically forced me to watch the original before we got down to the new one. . . The original had this bizarre and semi out of place love interest story to it that they opted to largely just ignore for the remake. Honestly, the way the new one handles that whole story arc makes more sense for this new movie.

All in all, it's not bad. Not sure I expect I'll go watching it again, but it was indeed what you want in a mostly brainless action flick.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Not that I have the authority, but I’m declaring Spooky Season open.

Sometimes They Come Back

Above par TV Movie based on a Stephen King short story. Greasers murder a kid in front of his little brother whilst proving how hard they are by picking on kids they outnumber 2:1. They then get squished to death off a train.

In the modern day, they’re back for revenge. And get squished by a train.

Interesting premise, and very well made for a TV movie.

I saw it and it felt very Stephen King TV movie to me. I mean, the Greasers, the boy and Dad relationship, Bullies, old cars, the nostalgia was dripping off it. Not to say it was bad, but it reminded me strongly of Riding the Bullet and various derivative King works.

Revisited 2012. Given that you witness the horrible deaths of thousands of people, this movie is such a fun ride. The heroes should die in every scene they are in but have the thickest plot armour ever observed on film.

And Putin’s psychosis has allowed me to confidently challenge when the fat ugly dude states that the Antonov cargo plane they nick is Russian.

All they aside, John Cusack is as watchable as ever, Woody Harrison does some epic chewing of scenery and pickles, good guys die noble and bad guys are redeemed. Love it

Stir of Echoes

How have I never seen this before? A superior supernatural thriller, in which Kevin Bacon acquires the ability to see the dead, and from there our murder mystery begins.

It’s just really well made and very enjoyable - though there are some scenes which are genuinely upsetting.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Dollman

Sci-if comedy action flick, starring the wonderfully named Tim Thomerson as the daftly named Brick Bardo, space cop. Oh, and Jackie Earle Haley, who’s always welcome on my screen.

Starts off as per more usual Dirty Harry knock offs, with a ridiculous gun, cheesy dialogue and a baddie that after having fallen foul of Bardo enough times that he’s reduced to a very 40K Head On A Floaty Platform, trying to take revenge for becoming Head On A Floaty Platform. Then all his men (all two of them!) suffer explodey bang death from Brick’s handgun, and a space ship chase leads Baddie and Brick….To Earth. New York to be precise.

Where we find out they’re really really tiny, hence the title.

What follows is your usual Maverick Cop Cleaning Up The Town.

Overall, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was originally written as a straight sci-fi, as the comedy side is fairly light, but necessary to make the silly premise work.

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom

The first follow up to Gundam Seed in animated form in just about 20 years. feth I'm old.

It's okay.

Really if you liked the sort of character drama and angsty scenes from Seed and Destiny, this movie is basically made for you. Kind of a 'give the fans what they want' sort of deal. It's all about pleasing people who liked Seed and Destiny and I'll give them that it's probably a better move than trying to win over the critics who disliked one or both.

If you were on the side of hating Destiny because all the characters seemed to forget their character development for the sake of dramatic moments... Well. Freedom has a lot of that too. It hits Kira and Lacus especially hard which is a shame since they were the only two characters who were fairly consistent in Destiny in sticking to their development. Which they forget in this movie for the sake of drama. In an even bigger irony fething Shin 'mega murder baby' Asuka is the person who actually sticks to his character development!

Other than that; big robots go ZAP. The animation quality leans heavily on CGI that stands out poorly in some spots and they made some... Well let's just say I'm curious who the animator for some of this anime was because every woman in it is animated in a certain way, that I associate with the kind of 'animated product' you don't show anyone under the age of 18. And that's weird. But also fitting, given Seed played for sex appeal a lot more than most Gundam shows.

Troma’s War

There’s something reliably special about the nonsense Troma Studios puts out.

This time, they go a bit Rambo and a bit Lost with residents of Tromaville suffering a plane crash on an ocean island - which is being used as an infiltration training camp by Naughty Terrorists.

And it’s every bit as bonkers as it sounds and you might expect. And for my money? Superior to Hots Shots! and Hot Shots Part Deux. The battles are surprisingly large, the baddies shockingly inept dying as they do in absolute droves. And yes, the goodies have auto aim, infinite ammo and ridiculous plot armour. And the soundtrack is just pure action cheese nonsense.

Don’t expect anything even vaguely approaching good taste. But do expect a bloody good time. This is exactly the sort of film Troma is famous for, and some will insist “you can’t make films like that anymore”. Truth is? They’re just really hard to do well.

All The Old Knives

More Chris Pine led cloak-and-dagger, except this one is actually good.

A CIA operative is asked to re-investigate an air jacking that went wrong 8 years ago. However, it is complicated by the fact that he and another agent involved in the investigation were previously lovers.

This is a slow burn drama and thriller that delivers in the end. Do not look for gun play, or stunts. This is a traditional spy flick that focuses heavily in the dialogue and putting the pieces together.

The Martian

Matt Damon!

Yeah, it is good. Much more hopeful and uplifting than I was expecting.

This is a great movie for families, even if there is a bit of naughty language.

Re: Dollman,

He was the guy from Trancers, right? I remember him displaying almost Bruce Campbell levels of knowing cheese.

Did they have a movie where he fought the Demonic Toys, or am I imagining it?

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Re: Dollman,

He was the guy from Trancers, right? I remember him displaying almost Bruce Campbell levels of knowing cheese.

Did they have a movie where he fought the Demonic Toys, or am I imagining it?

That was Dollman Vs Demonic Toys.

The title was very imaginative.

And yeah, the first Dollman is an Albert Pyun (RIP) film, a real goldmine of a director for enjoyable low budget movies, such as the 1990 Captain America film.

Dollman vs Demonic Toys is tonight’s tea time treat!

Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice...or just Beetlejuice 2? BJ2? Whatever...

Short but funny sequel to the 1988 original and feels like it was...shot in 1990 but the studio felt there was too many "2"s that year and its been in the vaults ever since, with fans campaigning to have it released for the last 30-odd years...?

I haven't seen Jenna Ortega in anything outside of Youtube SNL sketches, but it seems that fate itself decided that Jenna was destined to cross paths with Burton and Ryder.

Only downside is no Geena Davis or Alec Baldwin this time around, although they're not forgotten. On the other hand I'm glad they didn't slap in the movie for the sake of nostalgia. This sequel had enough going on without all that nonsense weighing it down, and is refreshingly lean...much like any sequel that came out in 1990!

Jenna Ortega put in an excellent showing as Wednesday Addams in the recent Wednesday series. Makes sense to tag her in for this.

 Flinty wrote:
Jenna Ortega put in an excellent showing as Wednesday Addams in the recent Wednesday series. Makes sense to tag her in for this.

She has done quite a bit of good stuff - first "heard" her in Camp Cretaceous

 LordofHats wrote:
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom
....

Interesting. I watched the first three Gundam films this spring. Love me some Gundam. Mostly because of the (somewhat) realistic stuff that's going on, but I don't want to deal with too hefty CGI, digital drawing or anime high school drama stuff. Should I carry on watching these films or leave it be? I still got Char's Counter-Attack to watch, which I will do, but from then on I'm not sure. Any suggestions? Thanks.


@Easy E: I watched the Martian at the cinema and was really impressed with the landscapes. But yeah, it's a nice film. I chuckled when they got Troy to explain all the sciency stuff. IIRC they wake him up, and it very much reminded me of Troy and Abed lying in their bunk bed. Also shows the versatility of Jeff Daniels. Or maybe I just imagine it because he was in Dumb and Dumber (and I think also in a pretty silly bowling film).


Last week I met with people, we decided to stop watching the weird dog show and zapped around when Platoon came up! They'd never seen Platoon (1986). I first saw it in high school when our religion teacher showed it to us. Hadn't seen it in ages. The cast in this is pretty amazing. I'd never noticed that Johnny Depp was in this one. Or Keith David for that matter. He's great in everything. Not to mention the usual suspects you instantly remember being in that film. (Charles Sheen, Thomas Berenger, Willie Dafoe, ...)

Well, Platoon is really good. If I was to rank the 'big 3' US Vietnam films (never seen Born on the 4th of July, mind you), I think that they would look like this currently.
.) Apocalypse Now
.) Platoon
.) Full Metal Jacket.

But of course they're all good. I was surprised how 'watchable' and concise a film Platoon is. It's kinda like the antithesis to Apocalypse Now. Very different angle, very straightforward, some amazing shots and some nasty gut-punches (pretty much everything that happens in that village).

Great film, Watch It.


Right after that we watched the second half of Con Air. I'm not a huge fan. I mean all the convicts being broad (very, very broad) characters is kinda fun, but it's so stupid. And I despise Jerry Bruckheimer's "civilian characters". In this film every character is either a cop or a robber, everybody else is either Nicholas Cage's poster family or comic relief. Maybe Con Air isn't the best follow-up to Platoon either.