Recently watched movies!

[Mac]

The Mechanic - Maybe my favorite Charles Bronson film.

Armour of God - Surprisingly poor effort from Jackie Chan. The first Hong Kong film of his I've outright disliked. The Amazon fight was the only noteworthy scene.

[lhb412]

Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

Finally got around to watching the second feature on Criterion's release. The fact that this film looks this good is a miracle. I'm really blown away by it. I mean, a remastered version of Gojira was always a dream, but still plausible, but who knew we'd get a version of King of the Monsters so clear you can count the flecks of dust in Raymond Burr's hair?

[jellydonut25]

The Gate - It's mega-80s and a little on the slow side but I like it. The creature at the end is really cool.

[Destroysall]

Akira

I love this movie and pray for the live-action "remake" to not go into production.

[lhb412]

The Searchers

Been meaning to see more Hollywood westerns. It's been on my list for a very long time, so this nifty Blu-Ray set of this film, How The West Was Won, and the Wild Bunch (for the price of one film!) seemed like a great buy! Even if I don't care for the other two films this one was worth the price. It's gotta be one of the most beautiful films ever made. It was made in this format called VistaVision. I don't know the specifics of this format, but it basically translates to everything, no matter how far away, being in crystal clear, high-resolution, so you can see every wrinkle in John Wayne's face and every crag in the mountain behind him. There are few closeups, almost everyone's filmed in the middle distance with tons of scenery in shot.

The story is very interesting, about a multi-year search for a young girl kidnapped by Commanches. The racism on the part of the Commanches is reflected in our white heroes, too, so it's far darker and morally complex then most people would think flew in '50s, Hollywood westerns.

[DannyBeane]

[Green Dragon]

[canofhumdingers]

[king_ghidorah]

A Dangerous Method

First, I must say that I'm a huge Cronnenberg fan. Love his work, perhaps less so the older I get. Eventually, nihilism and cynisism start to weigh heavy on the soul and I find myself not being attracted to such depressing works of fiction as I used to when I was younger (I don't dig heavy metal as much as I used to as well so there's probably a correlation there).

Anyways, love his work. I don't know if I could stand to do a Cronnenberg marathon like I could a John Carpenter marathon but Cronnenberg is easily one of the most impressive film directors working today.

That being said, I was dissapointed with this film. The scope of this film was too large. We only get bits and pieces of personel conflicts. Characters aren't really fleshed out all that much (though the preformances are amazing). This film feels like a slightly raunchy version of a pseudo documentary that you'd see on BBC or even PBS. Nothing truely visionairy here. The film's actually kind of tame, but after you've done the things Cronnenberg has done you eventually can't shock people anymore.

The only thing that's not tame about this film...is it's tone. The film ends on a bleak note (actually the ending is a text book example of a "That's it??" moment) after having it's entire run time be rather bleak. It seems that we are only meant to suffer according to this film and that personel relationships always end in pain. Some truth to that obviously, but there's a cheerier argument to be had that's just as valid. I dunno...might just be the mood I'm in tonight, just wanted to watch something different I guess.

Now, I'm going to watch an episode of the insanely hysterical Kamen Rider OOOs to cheer myself up

[MouthForWar]

[jellydonut25]

[king_ghidorah]

[MekaGojira3k]

[lhb412]

Jewel Robbery

Slight yet charming romantic melodrama from the early '30s starring William Powell (he provides the charm). This seems to be before the Hayes Code swept in, what with sex and marijuana use (of a Cheech and Chong comic variety) present.

[king_ghidorah]

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3

A New Nightmare

Yes! Love these films...flaws and all

[MekaGojira3k]

[heroforhirerob]

[jellydonut25]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

[lhb412]

Jason and the Argonauts

Like I need to explain why this film is great? Some of Harryhausen's best creatures and set pieces along with probably the best script and direction of his films. The only question for me is whether I prefer the more impressive skeletons or poor ole' Talos (who was just doing his job).

Also, this Blu-Ray comes with the Leonard Nemoy narrated Harryhausen doc from '98 which introduced me to Harryhausen back when I was 10!

[jellydonut25]

[king_ghidorah]

Cabin in the Woods

Not too bad. I think my expectations were a little too high, and I figured out the twist after I saw the first trailer. Lame. Seriously, had I gone into this totally unexpecting the twist I might have had my mind blown, but now I'll never know.

A good concept. A VERY interesting and original idea. The cast is decent. The Whedon dialogue wears a bit thin at times and the "stoner" character annoyed the hell out of me. Oh well. Not a perfect film, but pretty good.

One last thing...if you see this film...that ending and the choice the survivor(s) make...wtf!?!?! Someone needed to man the hell up and take one for the team!

[MouthForWar]

[Reaper G]

"Picasso Trigger"

An Andy Sidaris adventure yarn featuring some 1980s Playboy Playmates. Lots of nudity, unnecessary explosions, horrible acting, writing, and editing, and lots of nudity.

I've collected over 500 issues of Playboy, going as far back as 1956, and this flick made me want to set fire to the whole lot.

[lhb412]

This weekend I saw both Cabin in the Woods and The Secret World of Arrietty in the theater. Made for quite a memorable birthday weekend!