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CeeJee
Dec 4, 2001
Oven Wrangler

Waffleman_ posted:

Well, I mean, that's how you get those Pentagon subsidies and access to US military vehicles

It's still an interesting twist on the usual military movie where the US is now faced with a superior technology and has to conduct an insurgency to fight back. There is a literal hostage rescue scene where instead of Navy SEALs in body armor and night vision busting into a cave it's aliens in power armor.
Also the helicopter base attack shows the aliens use (conveniently) red and green for target/non target and while they don't directly attack the kid on the pitch the freeway is a target and gets destroyed, killing tons of people and presumably kids in cars.

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Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


The Sixth Sense (1999)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

A young boy is troubled, and a psychologist tries to help him out. One of Night's first flicks that received a lot of attention. I haven't seen it since it was released, and I thought it was pretty okay back then. 25 years later and it's still okay. I have no complaints about anything, it's just a very safe movie that told an interesting story with a fun twist.

3/5

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


The Prowler (1981)

A local sheriff goes on vacation and it's up to Deputy McSmoove to protect all the college girls for the week. He doesn't do a very good job. An early 80s slasher flick, which was actually a solid watch. The killer isn't anything special, and the body count wasn't too high, but the gore effects were pretty dang good as well as the sound effects and moody music. This was better than a few Friday the 13th flicks I've seen. I had fun watching this.

3/5

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours
I've always thought the killer outfit with the trench knife from THE PROWLER was top shelf, only pillowcase Jason Vorhees is cooler.

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


Stopmotion (2023)
Directed by Robert Morgan

A stop-motion animator has a slow mental decline as her mother falls ill. Uncertain whether she should continue her mother's film that she was helping create, or begin her own. A psychological horror that really becomes unwound with a few wince worthy scenes of gore. It was a pretty well-done flick, and I enjoyed it. Very dark, moody. The stop-motion scenes in themselves were also enjoyable.

3.5/5

Philthy fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Mar 15, 2024

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


Imaginary (2024)
Directed by Jeff Wadlow

A little girl has an imaginary friend who is telling her to do things. The family becomes concerned and the imaginary friend doesn't care for that ONE BIT. Sadly, this was a miss. It just dragged in too many parts. It felt like a Tales from the Darkside episode that was somehow made into a movie. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good, either.

2.5/5

SlothBear
Jan 25, 2009

The House on Haunted Hill (1999)

The first ten minutes of this movie set up a great premise. An old insane asylum where a sadistic doctor tortured his patients until they all burned to death is the setting for the birthday party of a woman whose husband does special effects and fake outs for horror entertainment. Geoffrey Rush delivers a very solid performance as the Vincent Price clone husband and Famke Jannsen does very well as his scheming wife. We see early that they positively hate each other and this setup doesn't ask a lot of us so we're willing to suspend disbelief and just sort of roll with it to get the movie started despite many obvious questions. We're along for the ride of this War of the Roses style drama about this interesting enough couple that put each other through hell constantly and are convinced the other is doing all the spooks just to screw with them. If they had kept that premise and focused on these characters or people who had any connection to them it could have been a much better movie. After the first ten minutes I found myself thinking huh, why did this get panned so hard? It doesn't seem that bad.

Yeah that all goes out the window after those first ten minutes when the movie forgets all of that and just turns into a series of very low budget effects and a completely wooden supporting cast that look forgivably unenthusiastic about being in the movie. I know this is...goddammit....twenty five years old now (gently caress) but it was not just the era it was made in, I mean, this came out the same year as The Matrix. The effects are just plain goofy and are supposed to be the really scary part as the human drama element is completely tossed out.

And that keeps going for another hour. Oof.

1/5

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


Senritsu Kaiki File Kowasugi! File 01: Operation Capture the Slit-Mouthed Woman (2012)
Directed by Koji Shiraishi

The first in a series of 9 films of horror-found footage/documentary by Koji Shiraishi. This first tale is about an urban legend of a tall lady with a slit-mouth. Two people find themselves being haunted by her, so the documentary team works with them trying to figure out who this lady is. It starts off a bit slow, but towards the ending it gets going pretty well. There is also a few great freak out moments. Overall, a decent start, but I feel like it could have been a bit longer.

3/5

Philthy fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Mar 18, 2024

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


Scanners (1981)
Directed by David Cronenberg

People are being born with powers that allow them to scan and control minds as well as a whole host of other unwanted things. However, they are being hunted down and they need to find out why. A pretty cool scifi horror type flick from the 80s. A whole lot of intense staring contests and mystery going on. I hadn't seen this until now, and it was quite a fun ride! Besides the dialogue being a little weird in spots, the movie looked great and had the 80s synth sound going with it.

3.5/5

BeanpolePeckerwood
May 4, 2004

I MAY LOOK LIKE SHIT BUT IM ALSO DUMB AS FUCK



Scanners is an okay movie with an awesome ending.

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug
Yeah, that ending was what pushed it up half a notch for me. It was pretty cool! Well, not just the ending, the whole last act!

Bogus Adventure
Jan 11, 2017

More like "Bulges Adventure"
I just like the gore from Scanners and Michael Ironside chewing the scenery.

Both are fine reasons to watch that film.

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


Older Than America / American Evil (2008)
Directed by Georgina Lightning

A woman faces a troubled past and uncovers horrors of her family's past as Native Americans being forced to attend boarding schools. This just wasn't what I was expecting and ultimately didn't care much for it. I do appreciate the story being told, however.

2.5/5

Egbert Souse
Nov 6, 2008

Getting back into more regular film watching, so here's all my 2024 films so far this year...

Bedtime Story (1964, Ralph Levy) [Blu-ray] - 3.5/5
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999, Trey Parker) [Paramount+] - 4.5/5
Clueless (1995, Amy Heckerling) [theatrical] - 4/5
A Bill of Divorcement (1932, George Cukor) [Blu-ray] - 3/5
The Mothman Tapes (2022, Phillip Mearns) [digital] - 1.5/5
The Blair Witch Project (1999, Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez) [theatrical] - 4/5
Rome, Open City (1945, Roberto Rossellini) [Blu-ray] - 4/5
Paisan (1946, Roberto Rossellini) [Blu-ray] - 3.5/5
Germany Year Zero (1948, Roberto Rossellini) [Blu-ray] - 4.5/5
Dog Soldiers (2002, Neil Marshall) [4K UHD] - 4/5
Speed (1994, Jan de Bont) [4K UHD] - 4.5/5
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023, André Øvredal) [Peacock] - 3.5/5
Love Affair (1939, Leo McCarey) [Blu-ray] - 3/5
Oppenheimer (2023, Christopher Nolan) [4K UHD] - 4.5/5

Bedtime Story is a fun comedy, though I should rewatch its remake Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Kind of fun to see Niven and Brando doing comedy, with Brando being quite good!

I wasn't expecting the South Park movie to be as funny and entertaining as it is, as I never caught it on TV or video before. Seeing The Blair Witch Project theatrically was amazing. It sags a little in the middle, but I think it holds up. Rossellini's War Trilogy was worth seeing finally, with Germany Year Zero being the most powerful and unflinching of the films. Dog Soldiers is one of the most fun horror movies I've seen in a while, really doesn't come off as a low-budget work. Speed holds up amazingly all these years later, it was one of my favorites as a kid.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is worth seeing. Just a good old school horror movie that delivers on frights and mood, plus it's got a good cast.

Finally got around to Oppenheimer and I think it's one of Nolan's best films (only topped by Inception for me). Really love it when a 3 hour movie feels like 90 minutes, it really has incredible pacing. Wall to wall amazing cast, looks incredible, and doesn't hold back. Really liked the surreal flourishes.

Egbert Souse fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Mar 19, 2024

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


Sphere (1998)
Directed by Barry Levinson

A really fun cast and an interesting premise that goes nowhere. The first half of the movie was pretty fun and really interesting, but when the plot started to advance, it got too weird and confusing. I'm not sure that the story was the most interesting one they could have made with that set up.

2.5/5

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch

This one caught me by surprise. The crazy number of known actors in this was impressive. A zombie flick that is probably the most sedate zombie movie ever made. I think overall they did pretty good, and the stupid comedy bits made me giggle throughout. The entire Tilda Swinton bit was great. Bill Murray and Adam Driver interacting was always enjoyable. Tom Waits narrating while looking like the guy from Monty Python. Iggy Pop running around as a zombie. It was a lot of fun.

3.5/5

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug


Beneath (2013)
Directed by Larry Fessenden

A bunch of kids go out on a lake to celebrate graduating. The lake has a monster. This worked so much better as a 20 minute short named "The Raft" in Creepshow 2. This was the worst. So bad. It made me laugh, but not enough to wrap around to be considered good. Ugh.

1.5/5

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug
Welp, my horror-ish movie-a-day streak will come to a close. I'm going on vacation, and I'm pretty sure I wont have much time to watch any horror flicks. :/

October 6th through March 20th. 202 movies watched.

Remulak
Jun 8, 2001
I can't count to four.
Yams Fan
The Matrix (1999)
Just got back from the 25th anniversary screening at Dolby Cinema.
9.5/10, which is bad because I’ve called it one of a few perfect films for a long time.

Bad:
This is the second time I’ve seen the Dolby Vision & Atmos remaster, and the presentation was terrible (for a Dolby Cinema). Audio was way below reference but more importantly only one projector was running, so it was too dark. I hate it that you can’t complain about these things until after the movie starts. Then you need to walk in front of everybody and interrupt other’s viewing and they probably can’t fix anything.

Battery plot point; has been said literally a million times but why not say battery AND processing.

Switch; that death was one of the most unforgettable in cinema history (“not like this”) but a little more time on the one character wearing white was needed (I’m aware of the trans subplot but don’t get it from what is on screen).

Trinity love subplot was way too Fifth Element, it needed Trinity’s feelings to be portrayed better earlier in the film.

It’s obvious that Carrie-Ann Moss was cast instead of e.g. Jennifer Tilly so that stunt dudes could sub in easier, but I’ve never noticed the number of Texas Switches in this movie before. They’re constant, and I know it’s a tribute that I never noticed before but drat.

Good:
Up there with Raiders as the two perfect adventure films, a level I wouldn’t even give to any Jackie Chan or John Woo movie simply because the lighting isn’t as good.

The theatrical re-release doesn’t have that lovely green grade on later DVDs.

I can’t believe how great the pacing is; right when it gets exhausting it slows down, right when I get restless the action starts.

Holy poo poo the action; so many practical effects that would require complete resets if anything went wrong. I’m in loving awe. How many times did they need to reset pillars in the lobby fight? What was involved in that, how long did it take? Also big lol at all the NY reloads, I forgot that.

Who came up with the LINKS along with the shells falling from the helicopter later minigun? I didn’t even know those existed the first time I saw this movie I needed to look it up!

It’s so clear that there were no accidents in this movie, every goddamn shot had something interesting that fit with established visual themes, even the loving doorknobs. And every fx shot was designed around the possible and worked, something that isn’t done consistently YET. Quite the contrast from the unfortunate sequels.

Honestly forgot about the terrifically done body horror elements.

idontpost69
Jun 26, 2023
"just how long do you think this peace will last?"
"as long as it can..."
*discovers how to make algae a viable energy source and immediately liquidates human crop*

F_Shit_Fitzgerald
Feb 2, 2017



The Empire of the Ants (1977): C
MST3K, Rifftrax and The Mads Are Back have given me a real passion for dumb, schlocky films like this one. Actually, this one is not terribly bad at all. Although it calls its shots well in advance and makes it pretty clear which characters are the next fresh meat for the ants, and the characters are exposition machines and mostly a collection of tropes, Empire of Ants is decently well made for what it is. Ants are exposed to radioactive waste (the movie reminds us again and again that this stuff is RADIOACTIVE and DANGEROUS), become eeevil and large, etc etc. You all know the drill.

I had a lot of fun watching this dumb rear end movie and I'd be really surprised if Rifftrax hasn't had a whack at it at some point. EDIT: Apparently not. I'm surprised! Maybe Frank and Trace will do it in a future Mads Are Back...

F_Shit_Fitzgerald fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Mar 22, 2024

idontpost69
Jun 26, 2023
10 Cloverfield Lane: 3/5
I'm a mark for the generic premise of the movie, cozy shelter juxtaposed against an unknown cataclysm occurring just outside, but I didn't find its particular spin on that premise all that compelling, at least not in execution. I was anticipating how the movie would bridge the gap between conflict inside the shelter leading to the characters facing whatever was outside and the movie's answer was...ok. less interesting than I had anticipated going in.

The Caller: 2.5/5
McDowell chewing the scenery is fun but that's the extent I enjoyed it. It felt like the pumped up version of a middling to bad twighlight zone episode.

The Visit: 2.5/5
This legitimately felt like a troll comedy, I suppose a lot of the buzz it got at release was in that vein. As an obnoxious bad movie that's competent enough to have a few good scares it's ok, definitely something to make fun of with friends.

Rick
Feb 23, 2004
When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.
Master and Commander was pretty good. I don't know why I never saw this before, it's very up my wheelhouse as a sea aficionado.

The Perfect Element
Dec 5, 2005
"This is a bit of a... a poof song"

Philthy posted:

Welp, my horror-ish movie-a-day streak will come to a close. I'm going on vacation, and I'm pretty sure I wont have much time to watch any horror flicks. :/

October 6th through March 20th. 202 movies watched.

Thank you for your service :zpatriot: I've been loving your reviews. I am in awe of how many movies you watch.

Woodenlung
Dec 10, 2013

Calculating Infinity
Perfect days: 5/5. We need more films like this.

Full Metal Jacket: 2/5. Maybe Kubrick is just generally overrated. Only the first half was any good.

Philthy
Jan 28, 2003

Pillbug

The Perfect Element posted:

Thank you for your service :zpatriot: I've been loving your reviews. I am in awe of how many movies you watch.

Thanks! I'll start up another streak sometime soon when I can. It probably wont come close to this last one, but it's still enjoyable watching these endless horror flicks. I love comparing my ratings to the other goons on Letterboxd and seeing how so many are super close, while a few are totally off what I rated. It helps noticing things I may have missed after the fact. I've got the worst head cold right now, so I'm knocked flat on my rear end currently. :/

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Rick
Feb 23, 2004
When I was 17, my father was so stupid, I didn't want to be seen with him in public. When I was 24, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned in just 7 years.

The Perfect Element posted:

Thank you for your service :zpatriot: I've been loving your reviews. I am in awe of how many movies you watch.

Yeah I really like them, thank you Philthy.

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