Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

^ i saw this in some arthouse theater back in 99/2000 only knowing it was an anime and was completely thrown by how dark it was and didn't like it. I really should revisit it
I also caught Mononoke, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust and Jin Roh in a similar fashion, but enjoyed those.

^ I was completely floored by how it was a totally different genre than I thought it would be, but once I realized it was a giallo it all made sense and I think it's one of the best of the genre!

Shaun of the Dead - Just amazing all of the way around. 10/10

BTW, Perfect Blue is one of those near perfect anime films.

The World's End - This is actually the first time I've watched this movie since I saw it in theaters, but I still loved it. God damn was it great to view again. 9/10.

^ as many times as I have rewatched Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, i haven't revisited World's End since the theater

Hot Fuzz is my favorite of the trilogy. It's supposed to be an action movie parody, but it veers into horror in such an interesting way.

Edgar Wright is doing his first full-on horror film now and I can't wait to see the results!

For the greater good.

Shuan is my favorite of the three. Well actually my ranking of each movie is the order they came out in, but they're all great. I'm not sure why I never watched TWE outside of the theater, but then, this was my first time actually watching any of these movies since I saw TWE in theaters.

It was really hot in my area the last 2 days, so I went to watch Ma so I could avoid the heat for a few hours. It was decent. Mostly a campy b-movie, but the acting was good (especially Octavia Spencer).

Girl in the Spider's Web - Like holy "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!", did they even try to make a movie? Or is the fanfiction source material so bad this was the best they could come up with? The plot was utterly boring. None of the characters had any sort of development or build up or pay-off or anything to make you care about them. The girl they got to play Lisbeth was atrocious. She's pretty much just a low rent bootleg of Lisbeth as she had no energy, charisma, or personality to her character at all. The entire plot with her sister was so god damn stupid, predictable, and pointless that it makes me wonder why they ever bothered. Bloomkvist served no purpose at all and Lakeith Stantion was the only actor that seemed to giving it their all in this wannabe Jason Bourne borefest. All this movie accomplished was that I am never going to watch anything ever again from this universe. It may not be the worst movie of 2018, but it sure as hell is one of them. A generous 3/10 and that is all solely for Stantion.

Life After Flash A pretty entertaining and enlightening new Bio surrounding the filming of Flash Gordon, and how actor Sam Jones struggled afterwards, and bounced back, to a certain degree. I had no idea that he and producer Dino De Laurentiis had such a falling out, which is why no sequel was ever made. Additionally, I was unaware that most of Sam's dialogue was dubbed over because he refused to return to set for dialogue looping. They say it is pretty obvious when the voice changes, but I cant tell, and I love that film. Many of the actors at least make one statement or two. Of course Timothy Dalton isn't involved, or Max Von Sydow (I would have loved to hear his take on things), but most of the others are there. Brian Blessed and Peter Wyngarede are especially entertaining and insightful.

There is no *bad guy* in this story, just a lot of egos that didn't work well together. it is odd though, Dino De Laurentiis himself (or by extention his production company) had a hand in many of my favorite films as a child, but the more I hear about him, the more of an a-hole he seemed to be.

Toy Story - Gotta get ready for the new one, so here we go. 9/10.

Went to see Godzilla KotM for a second time with a friend who was out of town during its opening weekend. I think there were maybe 10 people in the whole theater...heh...But anyway, it was still a great film the 2nd time around. I didn't notice before when Godzilla went into burning mode, that there was a *mothra* effect in his fireblasts, that was pretty cool. Only problem was, the sound was up way too high. I like a theater to have sufficient volume, but when gunshots actually hurt your ears, its just too darn loud..... Yeah I definitely had a headache at the end.

Toy Story 2 - 8/10.

I've never felt any personal connection to the Toy Story Franchise, though I do admit how powerfully they do resonate with an entire generation, and that they are well written and entertaining films. The first one came out when I was 19, and saw it reluctantly in the theater with some friends. I saw the 2nd one while dating my wife, I think we rented it from BBV in 2002, We saw the 3rd one in the budget theater towards the end of its run, my daughter was 5 and son was 4. Some of the story elements of the 3rd one actually scared my daughter, and of course that scene at the end where it appears they are all going to perish got to her as well. She eventually got over it, but believe me, I am not one to shy my kids away from emotional experience of film. I of course didn't torture them with inappropriate things, but I did like them to feel a range of emotion.

My kids are 13 and 14 now. They have no interest in seeing Toy Story 4, but I have no doubt it will eventually make its way into our home viewing via streaming service. They did watch the other films a handful of times when they were on Netflix, but there's just never been a high demand for them in my home. It's odd, there is an entire generation that adore's these films, it was just all sandwiched after the time I was an adult, and when my kids were born...

In fact, as great as the Pixar films are, there isn't one that I personally connect with. The Incredibles is probably the one I'd say was more-or-less my favorite, same for my daughter. For my son it was Cars. I've seen them all except for A Bug's Life, but I'll gladly watch Shrek, any How to Train Your Dragon film (basically any Dreamworks film made between 1998- 2011) before a Pixar film.

Tampopo

This Japanese film from the early 80s is... I think it's almost indescribable. The plot, minus dozens of digressions, largely involves a woman with a subpar ramen shop attempting to become a great ramen chef who can be proud of her work, but what the movie is is essentially a long essay about how good food is. I mean, cooking programming has often been labeled "foodporn," but this film approaches the concept of foodporn as something like a foundational spiritual part of existence, and more than a few times in the movie compares it to sex. Incredibly fancy food can be delightful, but according to this film so can something very simple that anyone can make.

It's frequently cartoony and almost always funny, but also beautiful and incredibly sincere. Our boy Ken Watanabe has in it, and he looks like a baby!

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

What a rip off! She only attacks in the last 5 minutes and she's off screen most of the time once she gets big. The actress in the title role is actually really good, and in the earlier parts before she gets big turns out a very sincere performance that's almost too good for the movie it's in.

^ Original on Svengoolie last Saturday (Beast From 20,000 Fathoms this weekend!).

"Batman" (1989). Was very curious in seeing this for the first time in years. 30th anniversary, yes, so feeling a bit nostalgic. I've only see this movie a grand total of two times. In the theater in 1989 and on home video, sometime in the early 90s. Unlike many others back in 1989, I did not think much of this film. However, I decided to watch and see if I have mellowed out in that 30 year span.

I can really appreciate the look and the visuals a lot more. Everything is hands on, no heavy CGI, which I found very refreshing. The story was fair. Nicholson was Nicholson. I did not buy Michael Keaton as Batman at that time. I think I have mellowed out on that. Still, this movie did not strike me as something great or a classic, as others have deemed it. It does drag at times. I had forgotten that Prince provided some of the songs, none of which, I found memorable.

Of course, the big talk back then was Nicholson as the Joker. While I enjoyed this backstory, if there one character that has been well over-exposed these past 30 years, it has been the Joker! (with yet another movie coming out soon).

In 1989, I gave this movie **1/2 stars. In 2019, though some feelings have changed, I still overall, have to give it the same score.

Mulholland Drive

... hmmmm, gonna have to watch that one again. Very close to the weirder Twin Peaks stuff.

Toy Story 3 - 10/10

Spider-Man Homecoming - 10/10

7th grade... wow... I was in 2nd grade when the movie came out and didn't see it until I was in 3rd game. lol It ended up becoming the first VHS tape I ever saved up for because I watched my friend's tape about 5 times before I gave it back to him.