What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

Oh wow, I haven't seen that one around in a while. Conquest is actually a Lucio Fulci film, he did it in the early 80s, during the sleazy fantasy boom. It's not very good, the trailer is more entertaining than the whole thing. It might be Fabio Frizzi on the score, don't remember.

Whoops! Sorry guys, I didn't watch the whole thing before I posted I was that excited by a Fulci fantasy movie.

I re-watched the original Wicker Man for the first time at the weekend. Such a well-crafted film, both in terms of acting and directing. What surprised me, though, was how much of the power of the film comes from the mystery and the twist. Knowing what's coming the whole thing feels a bit limp. I'd kind of expected more from such a well-regarded film.

It also makes me sad for the age of spoilers. How many people have had the incredible experience of watching The Wicker Man for the first time utterly ruined just by reading the wrong post at the wrong time?

Just went to see The Accountant. Not bad. One of the better films of its type, especially this year. Affleck being wooden works for this role, and the rest of the cast is solid (JK Simmons, John Lithgow, etc.).

Yesterday I watched the documentary Dear Zachary on Netflix. Man, it's a great one, but just about crushes your soul. I needed to look at pictures of puppies and bunnies afterwards.

Also watched Mascots, the new Christopher Guest mockumentary, also on Netflix. Much as I generally like his films, they feel like they're kind of fading on me since A Mighty Wind (the best one). There are definitely some funny moments and characters in Mascots, but overall it felt kind of flat, especially compared to something like What We Do in the Shadows, which I think is the new high mark for the genre (tied with Spinal Tap). Still, if you're a Guest fan at all, you should watch it. You'll have a decent enough time.

I watched the original Wicker Man with a friend a few years ago, and neither of us had seen it before, or been spoiled by comments. It was a bit creepy, but far from scary. Some of the visuals have stuck with me, but otherwise it seemed a little overrated. I do look forward to seeing the re-make, just for the camp value of

After more than a month without a working dvd/stereo/tv combo at home, I finally go it hooked up and watched a couple of used movies from the grocery bagful that my gf bought me for my birthday last summer.

Predator holds up reasonably well after nearly 30 years. Good setup, nice twist, exciting final section. Several classic lines, and a good cast. However, the big shootout with the locals mid-movie fell a bit flat, with the cartoonish level of gunfire by the good guys and completely incompetent opposition. A later scene where they are all shooting at the predator at once came across as nearly a straight-forward parody of the entire '80s action movie phenomenon.

Kill Bill, Part Two was the half that I didn't see in the theater. I really enjoyed part one, but I think that I was dealing with some huge hassles in my life when part two came along. I did see it years ago on dvd and liked it, but was really struck by the slower pace compared to part one. This viewing was more enjoyable, because I randomly bought a used copy of Executioners from Shaolin last year, and that was apparently the first movie appearance of Gordon Liu's excellent villain Pai Mei. Even so, part two falters in pacing in the final stretch, with the odd confrontation between Beatrix and Bill. Some day I will get around to doing a marathon back-to-back viewing of both parts, but part one is still the one that I would rather watch.

I love part 2, and couldn't understand why many felt it so inferior to part 1, but I did see them both within a few days of each other, so I think that made it seem like they both just worked well together. Part 1 certainly has more ass-kicking and that final battle is just amazing. Nothing in part 2 could have equaled that. But I like the pacing and feel of part 2 as being more contemplative and bringing it all together.

Grudunza wrote: Yesterday I watched the documentary Dear Zachary on Netflix. Man, it's a great one, but just about crushes your soul. I needed to look at pictures of puppies and bunnies afterwards.

Oh man, I watched that a couple of years ago. Just thinking about it again makes me feel like I'm going to tear up.

But back to fun things like puppies and bunnies, watched the new Ghostbusters movie last night. If you like Ghostbusters and you don't get your tighty-whities all in a twist about a female cast you'll like it. I like that they didn't try to redo the original movie, there are some fun nods to the original and some good cameos as well. The inclusion of Slimer felt really tacked on and I would have liked a little more mystery surrounding the villain, but still a fun movie. I loved the ghostbusting sidearms.

I wasn't as enamored with Guardians of the Galaxy as most were, but this poster for the sequel done up like a band photo shoot is clever.

[Edit: Cancel that, no one wants to read complaining]

I watched the Scorsese remake of Cape Fear, which was slightly surreal having only ever seen the Simpson's take on it. It was interesting to see him try his hand at Hitchcock, but it all felt a bit too arch to really work as its own artistic achievement. There are some great tense moments, but it was weighed down with camp.

Maybe you enjoyed Turbo Kid as much as I did. Maybe you also weren't aware of this short prequel film involving Apple.

My wife and I watched Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Everyone hated this movie, but we loved it on so many levels, largely because of the two years we spent in Qatar. Brain: 3/5 Heart: 4.5/5

Watched a couple of horror movies this weekend, because it's that time of year.

Bedlam: This old black and white movie features Boris Karloff and his imposing eyebrows. Although tame by modern standards, there was a strong Poe influence at work. Set in England in the 1700s, the main character is a plucky heroine who leaves her job as an adviser to a local noble when he balks at donating money to the local mental institution to improve the lot of the residents. The devious and manipulative operator of the asylum eventually manages to get her committed in his asylum. In modern hands, this could be a devastatingly scary movie, but filmmakers played it very safe back then.

The Worlds' End: Featuring the same talented folks that did Shaun of the Dead, this movie starts out as a promising comedy. Then a huge, shocking plot twist hits, and everything gets a lot more interesting. And yet, the story manages to cling to the original setup as well. Good characters, especially the lead character who seems to be in a heroic role but is actually, literally mentally ill. If you haven't seen this yet, avoid all spoilers and see it as soon as possible. Fun, funny, exciting, a bit scary, and insightful at times.

Shell, how can you talk about The Worlds' End without even mentioning the action sequences!??

Watched The Witch last night with the wife.

I was all geared up to be terrified...but was over sold. I guess I didn't 'get it'. It was disturbing for sure, but for some reason I thought it was gonna be a horrifying experience that would be hard to watch. Maybe I would have felt better about it had I not had any sort of hype or expectation.