Recent Movies You Saw

[Luigi & Peach]

I'm talking about the 1980 made for TV version, starring Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod, Meg Foster as Katrina Van Tassel, and Dick Butkus (who's also a football player) as Brom Bones.

Holy crap, I think I've seen that one! My grandparents had a whole closet full of movies they had recorded off of tv. Is it the one where [SPOILERS!] Ichabod finds out an old guy that everyone thought was dead was alive and pretending to be a ghost? And then when the headless horseman chases after Brom, Ichabod chases after the horseman thinking it's that guy, only to find out that the old guy was somewhere else during the chase?

Anyway, I went to see Malignant today. Dead Silence is my all time favorite horror movie, but after not being impressed by Insidious 2-3, and not being a fan of his Conjuring movies (unpopular opinion, I know) I was worried that James Wan was losing his touch. Malignant was a fun and creative horror movie, though, and probably the one I've enjoyed the most in years. Also, it's absolutely insane. Like, what in the name of Satan's hairy armpit was Wan smoking when he came up with this?

I had completely forgotten about Dead Silence. I don't recall if I've seen it since it was in theaters, but I'm curious if it's streaming anywhere currently. Agree it was a good movie. Super creepy!

[Luigi & Peach]

Just finished watching the first (and still the best!) Ninja Turtles movie. This has stood the test of time, even after 30+ years. The costumes are just timeless, move with grace unparalleled, and are able to express themselves flawlessly (courtesy of Jim Henson). The story line has that perfect balance between light and darkness, and there's too many great moments: Leonar do scoring a legitimate hit on Shredder, Mikey's nunchuk duel, Don and Casey Jones Insult throwing, April's diary monologue and drawings, and so much more. I forgot how frightening Shredder is in this version! Judith Hoag is a great April O'Neal, so is Elias Koteas as Casey Jones, but the show stealer here is Raphael (played body and voice of Josh Pais). Add in in Partners in Kryme's T-U-R-T-L-E Power and you've got a timeless winner!

Keep Practicing....

Agreed, the first (and only the first) film has aged really well. It's a bummer that our parents complained about the violence and overall darker side of the film so much to the studio. It really did change the trajectory of those movies.

Notes on the later movies aside, the first movie is really well done all around. Total agreement with your mini review.

Apparently someone forgot Vanilla Ice rapping "Go ninja, go ninja, go". That alone makes Secret of the Ooze worth the price of admission.

[Zack Burner]

Last night's movie was "They Live" with Roddy Piper, immortalized by the that one scene shades and shotgun in a bank declaring: "I have come here to chew bubblegum, and kick ass......and I'm all out of bubblegum!" Plus other notable lines like "Mama don't like tattle tales!" and "Put on the glasses!". Who could forget the comical street fight between Nada and Frank with some actual wrestling movies such as drop to hold, sidewalk slam, and gutwrench suplex.

[BlasteroidAli]

Last night's movie was "They Live" with Roddy Piper, immortalized by the that one scene shades and shotgun in a bank declaring: "I have come here to chew bubblegum, and kick ass......and I'm all out of bubblegum!" Plus other notable lines like "Mama don't like tattle tales!" and "Put on the glasses!". Who could forget the comical street fight between Nada and Frank with some actual wrestling movies such as drop to hold, sidewalk slam, and gutwrench suplex.

I am so old I watched it at the movies. Also, I was watching and in the titles it is based on Eight o clock in the morning by Ray Nelson, which I had read as a chid. So it was a great movie right from the start.

[Alucard1191]

So, two movies to add here, I guess 3.

I watched Oceans 8, then I watched Oceans 11 to compare directly, then "The Monuments Men."

Alright, so quick review style for these: Oceans 8 I heard bad things about, so I went in with really low expectations. This helped with the experience. The movie isn't great at all, but I feel it's better than the 2nd Oceans movie, Oceans 12. The film's main issue was that it took itself too seriously. Oceans 11 had much more comedic relief moments, didn't take itself super seriously and had a much more brisk plot that was established and well under way by the 18 minute mark. Ocean's 8 didn't even really establish the plot until nearly 30 minutes in and then kept a little bit too much under wraps. A twist or two is nice, and the Oceans movies always have one or two, but in Oceans 8 it wasn't paced well.

I also just think for the most part the Vegas is a more enjoyable scenario/setting than robbing the Met in New York. (The plot of Ocean's 8.)

So Oceans 8 wasn't terrible, but no more than a C grade. Certainly not an F or D movie like I was hearing, I've seen much worse. (Like Monument's Men.)

Monument's Men has an absolutely A+ all star cast. George Clooney, Bill Murray, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, and more. Basically everyone in is recognizable from somewhere and known to be really talented.

Holy crap this movie sucks though. Written and directed by George Clooney, this is a WWII movie with a really good premise, that fails horribly. The premise is this: WWII is going on, and this history/art professor guy is worried that all the great art and sculpting in Europe is going to be destroyed. So with limited blessings from the army he puts together a crew of experts that are not soldiers, that go to Europe to save this art.

It's based on a true story and holy hell it's slow. When there is action most of it is only shown in small amounts then it has these long, long monologues mostly by Clooney though other characters have a few. It's so... boring. A lightning quick scene with the Nazi's stealing something, a main character getting shot, (off screen) and the the film panning over to him dying while a letter is being read over it. The letter take Clooney many minutes to read. The death scene is 30 seconds.

This makes the film just... creep by... so slowly. You keep waiting for something exciting to happen or at least some clever dialogue but no. It's just... slow, boring, and ruins what should be a really really interesting story of older professors/sculptors/etc. becoming genuine soldiers that saved a huge amount of European culture. At the end Matt Damon lists off all the things they saved and it's like... "You couldn't make this exciting? Your list of accomplishments sounds so exciting." But it isn't.

Well, 3 reviews down. Of the 3, the George Clooney Ocean's movie is the only one I'd actually recommend.

[Zack Burner]

There's an older but more effective movie that's in the same vein as Monument's Men. "The Train" with Burt Lancaster as Lambice and Paul Scofield as a Nazi officer. Now this is excitement! High octane train perils and machine gun firing, this is a WWII movie.

[BlasteroidAli]

I watched In finite with Marky Whalberg. Wow this movie is a turkey. The highlander meets the matrix. The obviously spent a lot of cash on it but it was boring and predictable. A bit like those games that want to be Halo and fail. Thinking of Killzone 2. Looks bad plays bad but still is a credible shooter until the 6 axis gets you. It is the same with this movie. starts well, slows down stops goes for conclusion. Very feeble. F
The Call UP. Gamers get to play a VR game and the prize for winning is $100 000. They begin the game then find out when they die they die in real life also. A good if somewhat limited SF movie c plus.

I have seen most of the oceans eleven movies. I cannot remember anything about them. I remember watching the female one. Wow that was low point.

[Alucard1191]

There's an older but more effective movie that's in the same vein as Monument's Men. "The Train" with Burt Lancaster as Lambice and Paul Scofield as a Nazi officer. Now this is excitement! High octane train perils and machine gun firing, this is a WWII movie.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to the list!

[Zack Burner]

Just finished watching the classic "Old Yeller". I watched this several times as a kid, even now I still find myself humming the theme: "Here Yeller! (whistle whistle) Come back Yeller! Best Doggone dog in the West!" Who hasn't got all teary eyed when Travis has to shoot his friend after he contracts rabies (hyrdophobia)? Luckily he gets Young Yeller at the end to make us all feel better.

[Zack Burner]

Just finished watching one of the Universal Studios monster movies: "The Invisible Man" with Claude Rains as the titular character. I loved watching this movie once as a kid, I even was him on Halloween,1997 with all the bandages, hat, gloves, and glasses. My favorite moment is in the early part of the movie where some folk and a policeman confront him and then he yells, "You're crazy to know who I am, aren't you? Alright I'll show you!" and he reveals himself invisible. Even now the effects are convincing enough that puts even CGI to instant shame. Claude Rains has the time of his life in the role and it shows.