Watched Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll. It’s sort of a Spanish Giallo. The first hour was pretty bad but the ending is awesome.
The Sister of Ursula - a forgotten entry into the giallo genre. Not bad. It’s very predictable but the huge amounts of nudity and the unique way the women are killed make it worth watching.
Venture Brothers Season Two. Season one was ok but season two was awesome. Can’t wait for season three.
Today it’s Lost Highway and maybe something called Steep, which will smurf with my vertigo.
My friend’s mother rented this when I was 14. so my sensibilities are based on that. I do remember being stunned with big eyes during the floating “stick your hands in me” scene.
just finished watching my latest batch from netflix.
retribution-new j-horror by the director of the original pulse. this film was a mistake to rent it was plodding, and the acting was stilted, and it was basically a paint by the numbers j0horror film. the ending was decent but it didnt save the movie.
the backwoods-a sapnish version of stra dogs basically, but pulled off really well, with great performances by gary oldman and paddy considine. Great atomspheric flick.
juno-i was worried this film was way too overblown by the hype but I really enjoyed it, has the feel of something written by kevin smith or joss whedon. Plus you got to love a scene that argues the merits of hg lewis vs dario argento.
before the devil knows your dead-theis was a great crime dram by sidney lumet, all the acting was great. phillip seymour hoffman, ethan hawke, marisa tomei and albert finney/ it was great plus you have tons of naked marisa and that is always good.
Just started in on the 8-Film Horror Fest group. Some parts of The Deaths of Ian Stone didn’t suck. The idea was awesome, but it went nowhere, the “bad guys” were stupid to say the least, and what is it with the leather outfits with sunglasses? Ugh! The effects were cool but it looked like they uesd the same clips ones over and over.
Bordertown was better. I actually like really of how stupid people are nad where it leads them. AND a good revenge/asskicking in the end is ALWAYS GOOD!
I am not looking forward to Mulberry Street because Mutant Rats??? I feel some crappy FX coming up.
Hower, per some podcasrt comments, I am going to go into it with a (half)open mind & we’ll see.
Watched Giuliano Carnimeo’s Exterminators of the Year 3000. This early 80s, post-nuke flick rates as probably the biggest rip-off of the Road Warrior, but with characters with names like Trash, Alien, and Papillion, I cut it a lot of slack. This was the Carnimeo swan-song of the 80s, along w/ Ratman, after helming a number of decent westerns.
Watched Eyes of the Beast w/James Van Der Beek. A recent dtv monster flick. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it. V. little monster action, until the Jaws-like hunt at the end. But at the heart of the story was a romance and it was quite endearing. Anyhoo, before I start crying on my keyboard…
I just got WKW’s My Blueberry Nights in the mail, today. I cannot wait to watch this one tonight after work. Late.
Watched Shriek Show’s recent release of Amok Train (aka Beyond the Door 3) (1989). Like a lot of horror films from made at the cusp of the 90s, this one was pretty weak. Ovidio G. Assonitis, who directed the unrelated first in the series, serves as producer here. This one is set in Yugoslavia, wherein a group of American college students come to see an ancient ritual performed only once in a hundred years. Lucky them. Anyway, a young female of the group of Serbian descent bares an odd birthmark on her chest. I know, because it was revealed in her nude shower scene, slightly below her breasts. Anyhoo, she’s pretty important to the ritual. The title train is where the majority of the plot lies—a runaway train flick, pretty much. Some sleaze and a lot of cheese, I would say pass on this one, if your a casual fan of the genre. Late.
I watched WKW’s My Blueberry Nights w/ Norah Jones, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman. This one is unlike the somber, medative In the Mood for Love and 2046; and is a return to the Chungking Express/Fallen Angels days. Inevitable that WKW would make an English-language film w/ Western stars, considering that Sofia Coppola is currently making Western WKW films, like Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. I admit I love everything that WKW makes: his films are always about shy, introverted characters who have trouble articulating their feelings, especially love, to those around them. He has a fancy of allowing the camera to linger on characters in medative poses. Really anti-film in a lot of ways, because WKW makes movies about characters with internal, subjective conflicts. That I admire. Norah Jones reminds me a lot of Michelle Rodriquez, minus the sass. I can see people dismissing this film as being v. similar to the overwhelming majority of WKW’s work, minus his last two flicks, but I still love his work. And this one is no exception.
Got Carlos Reygadas’ latest, Silent Light, and going to give that a spin, probably tonight. Late.
I just saw The Brood. It gets a nice 9/10, I think. Great movie. The climax was what really did it for me.
Professor DZ is handing you homework, grasshopper. Look up Cronenberg on IMDB and only come back once you’ve seen all the films he’s directed. NOW!
I already have 50+ movies in my Queue, there’s no way I’m squeezing in Croenenberg’s entire line of work as well. I’ll tell you what, how about you recommend two must-see films by him? I’ve seen Spider, The Fly, half of The Dead Zone, and… well, The Brood.
Hans: I’m a big fan of WKW as well, and haven’t heard too much in the way of positive things about blueberry yet, but your review gives me some hope. Did you hear that he’s putting out a director’s cut of Ashes of time for Cannes? should be interesting.. Do you like Johnnie To? His new one “The Sparrow”, which is about pick pockets(and starring To favorite Simon Yam) looks like a departure for To, but looks pretty good none the less..
Hans: I’m a big fan of WKW as well, and haven’t heard too much in the way of positive things about blueberry yet, but your review gives me some hope. Did you hear that he’s putting out a director’s cut of Ashes of time for Cannes? should be interesting.. Do you like Johnnie To? His new one “The Sparrow”, which is about pick pockets(and starring To favorite Simon Yam) looks like a departure for To, but looks pretty good none the less..
I love Johnnie To. He is what makes HK cinema still exciting today. I have Triangle and Mad Detective sitting on my floor next to my tv to watch soon.
Ashes of Time: Director’s Cut? I’m stoked. If only the Criterion Collection will subsequently release this one as a 3-disker…
As for My Blueberry Nights, it’s vintage WKW. I really love WKW, so he can do no wrong in my eyes. I got the HK R3 pretty cheap or you can wait for the R1, Wily. Either way, I think that you’ll enjoy it. The primary argument against Blueberry, according to the critics, is that WKW is “recycling” his ideas, eg nothing new artistically. My response is: so what?
