Recently watched movies!

[Dr Kain]

Moana - I'm not sure where to really start as I feel like my reviews for Disney movie are getting stale since there isn't really too much more to say that I didn't say throughout the year with Civil War, Doctor Strange, Jungle Book, and Zootopia. This was another top notch animated adventure that is easily one of the year's best movies. It does have its slow moments, but the end result is an original unique tale that delves into mythology we don't see very often. The songs are pretty enjoyable, however I don't see the movie having anything that will become a hit like "Let It Go." It also doesn't have a villain, which has been a major let down these days. Nevertheless, it's fun, entertaining, gorgeous to look at, the voice acting is top notch, and the scene after the credits is quite funny. Lastly, the opening short was great. I give this grand Wind Waker-esque adventure a 910.

[Dr Kain]

To Live and Die in LA - This was hands down a beautifully shot movie. Not to mention the music is outstanding. The plot is quite good and while the characters don't have the greatest amount of development in cinematic history, they are still well done. Dafoe is fantastic in this and the two main actors have excellent chemistry together. The ending is also quite shocking with a nice unexpected twist. I give it a 9/10 stars.

The Darkness - I would write an entire review on this, but instead I will leave it with this quote from Bart Simpsons. "You know what would have been better than nothing? ANYTHING!!" 2/10.

[Dr Kain]

Pumpkinhead - I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this one. It has excellent atmosphere, terrific lighting, Lance Henrikson is awesome, and the first 45 minutes are fantastic with a great build up. Then it kind of falls apart when the movie starts focusing on the piss poorly acted teenagers. Add on top that I just don't give a damn about these lowlifes enough to want to see them live. Still, for what it's worth, it was entertaining, so I give it a 7/10.

[lhb412]

Haven't watched any movies in a few weeks. Since the election I've sealed myself into a MST3K bubble and have watched a dozen or so episodes. This, apparently, is my happy place.

[Dr Kain]

Criminal - The only thing criminal about this movie is how boring it was. The concept was unique but the execution was extremely disjointed as if the filmmakers had no idea with what to do with it. There was very little in the way of character development and the ending was just so one dimensional. There's not much to really talk about here since not much really happened. It's not the worst movie at all, but it is one of the most boring, which is sometimes worst. I give it a 5/10.

[O.Supreme]

Noticed some new Rifftrax on Amazon Prime.

Kingdom of the Spiders-Bill Shatner's epic weird tale of Killer Tarantulas (normal size btw) taking over a small town in AZ. I thought MST did this already but apparently they did not. They did do 3 other films with the word "Spider" in the title but apparently this was not one of them. It was all the cheese I expected, except for the ending. have to admit I did not expect that...
Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe dear lord...this was always one of those films I saw at Blockbuster video, but never rented because it looked so bad. I fell asleep on this one, even the riffing could not save it. One of the best was when Mike pointed out the effects were not too bad for a 70's film, until Bill pointed out to him the film was made in 1990 . Jesse Ventura is just awful...

[Dr Kain]

Arrival - This was a nice spin on the alien invasion movie by doing the things you would least expect it to do. The actors are all did a phenomenal job with the roles they were given and the visuals were outstanding. It is a truly unique experience that is far from flawless. The pacing can sometimes be a chore to sit through as there are a few areas where the movie comes to a stall in its narrative making this 116 minute adventure feel like it was 2 and a half hours long. It does have a lot of well done shots but I would not put this movie in my top 5 for the year. Nevertheless, I give it a nice big 8/10 as it is definitely a must see even if I doubt there is much in the way of replay value.

[jellydonut25]

I've been watching a lot of movies lately but some notable standouts that I/we haven't all already gone over many times include:

Basket Case 2 - if you like the bonkers moments of the first but are a little offput by how insanely unpolished the whole thing is, this might be more up your alley as it was for me. It's fun, and insane, and where else are you gonna get a sex scene between two amorphous blobs of skin with no discernible sexual organs?

Taking Woodstock - This is a decent coming of age film that focuses more on what it meant for people (albeit in a whistful, rear view kind of way of putting a significance on it that most people weren't as aware of at the time) rather than the music. I enjoyed it but don't know if I'd ever sit down to watch it again.

Return of the Living Dead 3 - we've all seen 1. Skip 2, because it sucks and has nothing to do with this and go see 3, it's one of the best zombie movies.

Enter the Dragon- maybe not the best narratively, or in terms of acting, but excellently paced, scored and choreographed.
It's an all time type of movie for a reason and you can feel it as you're watching.

Brokeback Mountain- this is one of those movies I've been meaning to see for YEARS, but just never have. It was on sale for $1.70 so, seemed like a good time to check it out. It's good. It's really good. The performances drive it and they're spectacular. It's got some flaws in the makeup department (it's supposed to take place over like 25 years but nobody hardly ages), and there's a kind of big moment that is handled a tad clumsily (when Ledger's wife sees them together...it didn't need to be so baldly obvious, though that does actually increase the tension a tad by making yo wonder when she's gonna actually do something), but it's just acted so well and really well written too.

[DannyBeane]

[Dr Kain]

I've actually never seen any of the Return of the Living Dead movies. Never had an interest in them before.

[DannyBeane]

[Dr Kain]

Money Monster - Not really sure what I can say about this movie as it kind of goes as you would expect it to, but that doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable in the slightest. It was really good, made some really excellent points that hold true especially now, and the actors did a graet job. It also does a nice job at highlighting how fickle and selfish our society really is. Unfortunately, the first hour moves at the pace of a snail to the point that 20 minutes should have been cut out from its first hour. The last half is great though especially when things leave the studio. It isn't going to win any awards or anything, but it definitely deserves at least an honorable mention in this year's cream of generic crap. I'm going to give it an 8/10.

[lhb412]

Spirited Away

Great seeing this in the theater: so much of that Miyazaki/Ghibli splendor to soak in on the big screen. Unfortunately, a family of excessively loud people ruined the first fifteen minutes or so, but we relocated during the scene in the boiler room. It was hard to find other seats though: the theater was almost entirely full!

[Dr Kain]

A Christmas Carol - Kicked off our Christmas movies with this great Alistair Sim adaptation. A 9/10.

[lhb412]

Krampus

Wonderfully old-fashioned monster movie with wonderfully old fashioned (puppet and man-in-suit) monsters! I was a tad disappointed that they didn't base the Krampus so much on the classic, Germanic traditions and instead opted on an evil version of our American idea of Santa Claus, but only a tad. I did like that the group of evil elves were basically a collection of people in traditional Krampus costumes, which to me invokes the idea that we tell kids the reason there are so many Santas around during Christmas is because these aren't the genuine Santa, but rather a fleet of helpers. All those Krampuses you see roaming about during the holiday season in parades and such? Those are all his helpers! Best monster? Beside the imposing figure of the Krampus himself, it's hard to beat the Jack-in-the-Box.

Movie also did a pretty good job of making everyone unlikable at the beginning (sufficiently 'naughty' to precipitate the wrath of the Krampus) and humanizes them as the movie goes along.

[Dr Kain]

LA Confidential - This was a good "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" movie!! My god this was amazing. All of the characters were great, it had some truly outstanding performances and jaw dropping moments, the soundtrack was blissful to the ears, and the over arching stories worked phenomenally. I know the director said he didn't go out to make a Noir, but he did, and he made one that is just as stellar as the likes of Double Indemnity, Touch of Evil, and The Maltese Falcon. I'm giving this masterpiece a 10/10.

[Rody]

[Dr Kain]

Evil Dead II - 8/10

Home Alone - 8/10

Christmas Vacation - 8/10

[klen7]

Keanu - If you like Key & Peale skits, you'll probably like this movie. It's fun movie and i found myself laughing out loud on a few occasions.

War Dogs - It's not a bad movie, but it is a complete waste of potential. The true story is based on a rolling stones article (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/ne ... s-20110316) but the article itself is far more entertaining, with more twists and turns. I was hoping someone would have made a film more like "Thank You For Smoking" which would have added comedy and satire to the subject of Gov't contracting while following the scandal, but it seems Todd Phillips was more interested in making another "party movie".

Yoga Hosers - One day film students will write thesis papers on Kevin Smith's career. I am not sure what the purpose of this movie was, but it seems like it wasn't made for a general audience. There were more cringe worthy moments than any of his other films. With Red State and Tusk, you at least had Micheal Parks delivering scene stealing scene after scene, but all you have here is a return of Johnny Depp as the ridiculous Guy LaPointe. I did watch it all the way through, and still plan to watch "Moose Jaws" if that ever comes out, so there's that.


In case your looking for something a little different, i noticed these two films were available:

Nacho Vigalondo's (who has an upcoming kaiju film that has picked up some decent reviews) film Timecrimes is available for streaming to Amazon Prime subscribers. Its worth a watch to see what he can do with a relatively small budget. It's a bit of a mystery/scifi/thriller. To say more would be a disservice to the film.

The Wailing - One of the movies i have in my top 5 of 2016 is a korean supernatural thriller/mystery/drama by Na Hong-jin (The Chaser) and is now available for streaming on Netflix. The ending to this movie has really stuck with me.

[Benjamin Haines]

[klen7]

^ Interesting, i thought it was an R-rated flick, but i guess it managed a PG13... i can't say its a movie i'd find appropriate for a 10 year old.

[Dr Kain]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, that's that movie that stars the daughters of Smith and Depp, isn't it? Yep, not watching it. They are just banking on their dads name rather than actually being actors.

Also, watched the original Black Christmas tonight.

[klen7]

^ the girls were fine - the rest of the movie was all over the place. I expect we'll see more of Lily Depp outside of Kevin Smith movies

[Dr Kain]

[klen7]

I think she's going about it the right way so far with smaller budget, independent films, rather than how Will Smith has had his son cast in big budget films. If she was getting a lead role in the next Pirates of the Caribbean flick, it would be a different story. At this point she's still a kid, so you can't fault her too much for not making her own name yet.