What was the last movie you saw?

[CupofJoe]

Power Rangers [2017]
A surprisingly enjoyable teen superhero movie. It is not a great movie, there is nothing exceptional about it, but it was far better than my expectations based on having watched the 80s TV show. It was far more like the current Spiderman films in tone but with less jokes. The film took itself seriously [as far as you can with giant dinosaur mechas].
The ensemble cast was up to their tasks. I liked that I didn't recognise any of them, so no preconceptions were weighing on them. I'd have liked a bit more character building as they went from nobody teens to superheroes in about five scenes. But that lack kept the pacing up.
The plot [not that there was a lot of it] is that 5 teens discover that they are the next generation of Power Rangers and have to learn how to harness their powers and work together to stop the villain [Rita] from taking over. Cue monsters, robots, mechas and mega monsters and bigger mechas.
It was obviously a setup for a franchise that so far has not appeared. But a reboot may be in the works!

 

[Randy M.]

Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) dir. Alfred Sole; Linda Miller, Paula Shepard, Mildred Clinton, and a whole buncha people I didn't recognize, except for a very young Brooke Shields

Psychological horror story about a single mother (Miller) with a close friendship with her priest, both concerned about the mental state of her oldest daughter, Alice (Shepard). Her youngest daughter (Shields) seems perfect, but also picked on by Alice. When the youngest daughter is killed, suspicion falls on Alice.

Remarkably effective low-budget horror movie that frequently looks like it'll become predictable, but mostly avoids doing so. Even though it tips its hand a bit early and obviously, Sole maintains the ambiguity of just how badly damaged Alice is throughout. Shepard is pretty good and I'm surprised to see in IMDB that she was only in one other movie.


The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) dir. Nicolas Gessner; starring Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith, Scott Jacoby

Not a movie that would likely be made now. Nope. Not like this, anyway.

Foster, 13 or 14, plays Rynn, 13, maintaining a new home while her poet father works. He's fine with leaving her home while he jaunts to New York for business; she's home schooled at a time that wasn't really a thing, and she's extremely protective of her home and her father. Alexis Smith leased the house to Rynn and her father; Martin Sheen is her son and also a pedophile (easy to forget that before playing President, he'd been quite good at playing even less savory characters). By this time Sheen was an established pro, and Smith had been in movies since the '40s, and Foster has no trouble matching them in every scene.

The theme appears to be that you can't judge individuals and their abilities by the groups -- in this case, age group -- they belong to, and the normal social safety nets are not one-size-fits-all. I'm not sure there was ever a young actor better able to embody that than Foster.

I didn't remember controversy about the movie until Foster's nude scene. It's still shocking, even though it makes sense within the context of the story being told. I suppose there should be trigger warnings for contemporary audiences, still that shouldn't overshadow just how good Foster was at a very young age.

 

[JunkMonkey]

I didn't remember controversy about the movie until Foster's nude scene. It's still shocking, even though it makes sense within the context of the story being told. I suppose there should be trigger warnings for contemporary audiences, still that shouldn't overshadow just how good Foster was at a very young age.

She was wasn't she. She stole Kansas City Bomber and she's only in it for a couple of minutes.

 

[KGeo777]

PLAY MISTY FOR ME 1971 - Not really a horror film I guess but it does have some scary moments. Good humor too.

SCHIZO 1976 - This feels like a dark comedy at times--the red herrings were used effectively to throw you off who the killer was. Took 2/3rds through the movie before I figured it out.

 

[alexvss]

The Faculty (1998). A teen horror movie. A group (stereotyped) students suspect that aliens have taken over the faculty and are silently invading the world. It’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982).

The protagonists are the school stereotypes: the jock, the nerd, the goth… It’s basically Breakfast Club (1985) but they are all jerks for no reason and can’t stop swearing. It takes place in the 90s, and it’s a 90s movie through and through, so I thought I was watching uncensored Power Rangers.

Ryan Hollinger, a youtuber who talks about Horror movies, says, “It was supposed to be the Sci-fi equivalent of what Scream (1996) did to slasher movies. But the director is the crazy Robert Rodriguez, so that didn’t turn out as expected.” Still, I gave some good laughs.

 

[Vince W]

Silverado. One the best and most underrated westerns of all time. Grabs you in the first scene and never lets you go. The writing is first-rate and the entire cast is perfect.

 

[dask]

Family with history of mental illness inadvertently compete amongst themselves to see who can kill the most people but need to hide some bodies first and can’t agree on the best way to do it. The score is currently tied: 12 for the mass murdering aunts, and 12 for their degenerate nephew and his cohort just returned after a long absence. Obviously it’s a comedy and yes, it’s funny.

 

[Jeffbert]

A NOIR ALLEY film that Muller said he really disliked.

THE DARK PAST (1948) because, among other things, unlike Blind Alley (1939), of which this is a remake, this one has the villain Al Walker (William Holden), taken into police custody after the psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Collins (Lee J. Cobb) helps him end his nightmares, rather than being cut to pieces by police machine gun fire. I saw Blind Alley several times, & thought it had similarities to High Sierra, also noted by Muller.

So, the shrink and his family spend a few uneventful days at the lake house, or so they had hoped, until the escaped criminal psycho arrives, intending to wait there for his friends to arrive by boat, and take him to safety. Naughty people arrive and hold them hostage. Tension mounts as the shrink apparently annoys no, not the right word, challenges the boss of the crooks to tell him of his recurring nightmare, etc., which really angers him.

I was searching my memory for a film in which I had seen Holden, & nothing but Stalag 17 came up. I have seen him in other films, now that I look at his filmography but this one just did not seem right for such a clean- cut guy.

 

[Jeffbert]

Two with William Powell 1 with Myrna Loy.

LOVE CRAZY (1941) A married couple is about to celebrate their wedding anniversary, when the wife's mother comes calling. As a gift, she brings with her a small circular carpet, upon which she slips, and hurts her ankle. Too bad, because she was going to the train station to meet somebody, but now the wife (Myrna Loy) must go. So, mother-in law stays there and annoys her son-in-law (William Powell) until, he steps out on the balcony, and by chance sees his old girlfriend, on an another balcony. The girlfriend is now married to an artist, who is up in his studio, working, so she invites him over to chat. He makes an excuse to mother, who, despite her ankle, had been eavesdropping as the two talked from their balconies.

Things happen & the wife wants a divorce. To postpone the courtroom drama, husband feigns insanity. Soon finds himself in the nut house. A wonderful screwball comedy!

1st rate supporting cast; Sig Ruman as the nut house director, the psychiatrist with the German accent. Others seemed right for their roles. A very young Elisha Cook, Jr. as the Elevator Boy.



HIGH PRESSURE (1932) A talented promoter Gar Evans (William Powell) who drinks himself into a stupor once a year, is in that condition when his associate Mike Donahey (Frank McHugh) rouses him and sells him on the idea of making synthetic rubber for sewage. Ginsburg (George Sidney) has the details. Apparently, chemist Dr. Pfeiffer (Harry Beresford) has made the discovery; but he is nowhere to be found. Evans decides to get a high class suite in a 1st class office building, and graciously allows the building's owner to name the building after the business, which never amounts to anything beyond the salesmen who hawk the shares, the fancy office, and a few friends in high-ranking positions, and one guy whom he hires only because his name is 'Vanderbilt.'

One other important person is Francine Dale (Evelyn Brent), whom Evans regards as his good luck charm, without whom he cannot succeed. But, after so many times he had left her at the alter, she is tough to persuade into just one more chance.

After a week without Dr. Pfeiffer showing up, the BBB and the legitimate rubber businesses are there to put a halt to what they consider to be a fraud. Mr. Banks (Charles Middleton better known as Ming, the Merciless), representing the other rubber companies is constantly demanding to see a demonstration of the process, which he is certain is a fraud.

Finally the chemist arrives, but soon proves to be a nut. Now, Evans is in for it, as the whole thing is fraud, though he had believed otherwise.

Not as funny as LOVE CRAZY, but well worth a watch.

 

[Rodders]

I went to see John Carpernter's "The Thing" at the Prince Charles Cinema yesterday. It looked awesome on the big screen and i swear that there were scenes added that i hadn't seen before.

 

[KGeo777]

DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS 1971 --Re-watch. John Karlen goes from Dark Shadows to a Euro Gothic vampire film which I assume was the basis for The Hunger becomes the plot is identical.

 

[Randy M.]

DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS 1971 --Re-watch. John Karlen goes from Dark Shadows to a Euro Gothic vampire film which I assume was the basis for The Hunger becomes the plot is identical.

Huh x 2.

1) Having watched the movie version of The Hunger not long ago, I'll have to look out for this one.
2) Seeing John Karlen in an early to mid-'70s movie as a hip, groovy kinda guy was weird after years of seeing him as a husband on Cagney & Lacey.

 

[KGeo777]

MY BLOOD RUNS COLD 1965 - It starts with a passage from a Lord Byron poem read by director William Conrad. I am not sure it makes any sense for the rest of the film but sent up the soap opera pretentiousness to follow. Biggest problem with this film is the nutty script. It doesnt really work for suspense or romance, especially with the limited acting range of the stars. Joey Heatherton and Troy "You might remember me from..." Donahue-who does wear a sweater like the one that is worn by his namesake from the Simpsons (and may have been borrowed by Doug McClure for the Land That Time Forgot).
Now they do make a nice looking couple but are not likable at all. Barry Sullivan and Jeanette Nolan provide the only real emotional acting and it doesn't make much sense when you think about it since they start talking about a character who I presume was another daughter and something bad happened to her but it's dropped right after.
It gets laughably bad towards the end with the poor acting of the leads.


TERROR 1978 - This is my third Norman J Warren movie-I liked the first two I saw -Satan's Slave and a 1977 film --ALIEN PREY--which both had good acting with a somewhat sleazy exploitation story. The acting in this good-but the story is just bonkers and incoherent--but I suspect it was intentional. At times it is a comedy and feels like a forerunner of SCREAM. I can't hate it-not eager to re-watch it, but that's out of the way and INSEMINOID is coming up this weekend.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Attack the Block (2011). I was pretty entertained throughout the movie and liked how unique the aliens were.

 

[AE35Unit]

Villeneuve's Dune. Watched it last night on the movie theater. The contemplative style of Villeneuve really fits here, much more than it does in Blade Runner or Sicario and, nevertheless, I was never bored.

Is that a film or a series?

 

[alexvss]

Is that a film or a series?

A movie that feels like an abridged series

No, seriously. Have you been living under a rock?

 

[AE35Unit]

A movie that feels like an abridged series

No, seriously. Have you been living under a rock?

I tried that once but I wasn't keen on the decor

 

[Parson]

2008 Outlander --- decent sort of movie in a highly predictable way.

 

[KGeo777]

I tried that once but I wasn't keen on the decor

That's a great a line I have never heard before.
I hope I get a chance to use it.

 

[KGeo777]

THE MONSTER CLUB 1981 - Some really bad songs detract but overall it is a pretty good trio of stories. It is often said Vincent Price established himself with younger audiences thanks to Michael Jackson--I don't think that is really true--he was already appearing in modern cultural venues--he is on a disco dance floor here and he was on the Muppets.