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Avanpost (2019)
wooden dialogue
What has previously been said about the dialogue is very true.
It was as if the people do the subbed dialogue had no interest in the movie or maybe were not actors. A lot of it just sounded as if the people were reading it off a page and for the first time, flat and emotionless.
Other than that, it seemed to be a pretty good movie and it had an interesting premise of introducing the colonists to a "cleaned" world, although it does seem that they would have done the cleansing a few hundred years before the colonist's ship was due. The reason is simple, either leave the insects out of the bio-cleanse of introduce a new insectoid, like ants, to clean up the biological mess left over from the alien bio-cleanse.
There was none of that "prime directive" business that has seems to be the order of the day since the original Star Trek.
Also, at the end, leaving the children alive to become adult RA's or similar seemed to be less than a good idea.....
Creepshow 3 (2006)
Based on previous franchise entries i watched it
Noting the IMDb Rating of 3.1, i went ahead and watched this last night thinking it would probably be no worse than watching a few episodes of "Tales of the Crypt"
I was wrong.
I did watch the whole thing, thinking that it may surprise me and have a redeeming feature.
I was wrong about that, too.
I rated it as a 3 on IMDb.
The Northman (2022)
what you should get for $60 million
When i saw the Valkyrie in full face scream (or whatever) on the way to Asgard, and she had braces on her teeth, I thought for $60mil you should at least get an historically accurate character -- or maybe dentistry in 10th century Asgard was much further advanced than I thought.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
It worked and was good
Another movie I love and this time because its just so much fun.
It really did not intend to be anything else, or maybe to enjoy it, it is best not to expect it to be anything but entertaining.
A real attempt at creating a 40's retro movie today and it really works. The mood, the clothes and everything else was true to the time period in which it was set.
The story is a basic save the world form Dr. Evil adventure romp, in other words -- a retread, with some great lines.
I think its real strength is visual.
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
The trilogy of apolcalypse
I had heard that this film was the third film in Carpenter's "Trilogy of apocalypse. Perhaps i had an advantage in seeing all 3 films close to each other.
It was not until i had seen all 3 that i realized that this was not an "after the fact" 'hammer-to-fit' situation about an "apocalypse trilogy" and now i see how it fits with "...mouth of madness" being the 3rd and final one. In the first two there were certainly humanity-ending events that almost happened, but people sacrificed themselves to prevent them from playing out. This, being the third film of the trilogy, did NOT have a saving grace to prevent the apocalypse.
The three films were:
1. The Thing,
2. Prince of Darkness,
3. In the Mouth of Madness.
Hangover Square (1945)
Spoiler - A crescendo in several ways
Having read most of these reviews, i have not seen any treatment to a definite SPOILER which would be the ending scenes.
The score for the concerto was written by Bernard Herrmann who was invited to see the filming after it was finished and exclaimed that his music had been photographed.
The ending was Bone (Cregar) stridently playing the piano with force in the crescendo of the concerto while this was accompanied by the philharmonic hall, including the room where he was, ablaze fiercely in accompaniment to the the piano. The character had said that he gave his life for music and he put the truth to that statement. This was the crescendo for the philharmonic hall, the concerto, the character and also was also the acting crescendo for Laird Cregar.......
The Outer Limits: Last Supper (1997)
The kid was Just That
An excellent episode that has a lot in common with the Twilight Zone episode "Long Live Walter Jameson". Except there were differences in detail.
I believe the kid here was the ultimate creep.
Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
B movie? I don't think so.....
I am surprised how people can call a movie with a 30 million dollar budget(even in 2002) and a box office of about 70 million dollars worldwide, a "B" movie...
I thought it was reasonably good, with mostly decent acting and gave it more than the IMDb weighted average.
Supernatural: Swan Song (2010)
Not the end of the series.,...
Everyone seems to be talking about how this was supposed to be the end of the series. But i will say unless the last scene was a "tack-on" it was not.
In the final scene, Dean is enjoying the company of Lisa and Sam is shown under the streetlight outside looking in.
The implication is that Sam is still under demonic possession or maybe it is just after effects, because the streetlight above him goes off in that demonic way.....
Blue Velvet (1986)
Might be a radical idea, but I believe.......
I have only seen maybe 400 movies since i saw this one and this might be a radical idea, but i believe it is possible that Kyle McLauglin's character never left the classic white lawn chair in the backyard until the end of the movie.
That the whole movie was a dream sequence until he was awakened in the backyard.
I have heard that dreams can begin and end in a matter of seconds and be completely fleshed out for long time periods in that brief time.
Notice how the movie is bookended, beginning and ending, by essentially the same scene of the firetruck passing by the red roses (somehow the roses must be important).
Now, I will briefly scan about 800 user reviews to see if anybody else thought something similar......
The Evil Dead (1981)
Always a first time.
I have been rating movies here a long time -- although the reviews have been sporadic.
I don't make it a point to point out the bad ones. This one was so bad that it is the exception.
It was a bad film, no plot, no caring for characters, no character development, nothing. I am amazed that at this time it is rated on the IMDb weighted average at 7.5.
I feel i was very generous with a 3.
Carnivàle: Damascus, NE (2005)
One of the best episodes
I am not sure why there are no specific reviews for episodes here but i will make one -- this was a pivotal episode.
When Ben "heals" his father's face, his evil shadow, Stroud, is in the room and is stricken as well as the other people visible in the hotel lobby and i believe one on the street as recompense for the healing and "balancing the scales" as Ben was originally told in Season one. It was a stronger response than the die-off of the fish in the pond when he healed Gabriel's wrist in the pond. The people appeared to be having heart attacks. Apparently bringing the kitten back to life (first episode) had no consequences. It was necessary that he kill Lodz in order to heal Ruthie from the snakebite.
There were other events in the episode, such as the killing of Belyakov -- "management" -- by Ben with the knife that his Grandmother gave him. Whether Belyakov got his hideous injuries from the train derailment that he thinks killed Alexi (Brother Justin) and Iris, i don't know.
Dog Soldiers (2002)
Taking the bookending scenes and giving an opinion on that and the werewolf makeup
In the first scene a girl gives her camping mate a silver knife (letter opener or something.) and then a few months later, the human bad guy Ryan (Liam Cunningham) kills a german shepherd for no reason.
(apparently the werewolves who ate the campers saved the letter opener and it came into the possession of Cooper while they were besieged.)
In the end scene, Ryan who has turned into a werewolf, is about to kill Pvrt. Cooper (Kevin McKidd, who refused to kill the dog for no reason in the opening) ---
So, at the end of the tale, a small long-haired shepherd-like dog who has decided that Cooper is his BFF, jumps on the back of Ryan the werewolf and distracts him long enough for Cooper to stab the werewolf that Ryan has become with the silver blade, which, following classic werewolf lore, kills him instantly.
--- In other words, the story came full circle.
The makeup of the werewolves left them man-like in several ways which added to the terror of being attacked by them. They were about 7 feet tall and walked upright and their arms were largely unchanged except for the hands.
It really was a great movie.
Studio 57: Young Couples Only (1955)
For 1955, exciting in more than one way
There are not many TV shows form 1955 that end in anything other than "and everyone lived happily ever after" The closing scenes of this anthology TV episode is one of the few as the residents of the apartment building watch the receding earth as they enter space. Perhaps there was some sort of transparent shielding that allowed them to exit the building to the front steps and not be blown into space. That being the major way that I found this exciting. the other way this is exciting, also being a 1955 anomaly, is that there is no "oh, that was her imagination" moments explaining the odd (to say the least) discoveries of Ruth the wife.
Also, i have not seen the name of the original Richard Matheson story but i do see the possible seeds for inspiration of a TOS outer limits episode "A feasibility study" and a Stephen King short story (The House on Maple Street).
I wonder what the dog was being used for but I note that Lorre's character assures him that he will not be harmed.
Also, to remove the taste of the (at this time) other user review out of your mouth you might read the critics review and the praise for Peter Lorre's efforts here.
I find this early TV offering to be recommendable.
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
reflection of life
I did not just see this movie. However, an aspect of this movie has been with me for years. That is because it is a reflection of life.
Woody Allen, as Cliff Stern, seriously does not like Martin landau, as Judah Rosenthal. I am not sure what the reason is but he illustrates very well that too often, when a person has decided to dislike another person then anything that other person does, no matter how selfless, no matter how charitable, becomes confirmation of their generally terrible personhood and the good act was only performed for some nefarious ulterior motive.
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
realeased 2/6/42
Since submitting a title correction for this film is ridiculously complicated and obstinate, veronica lake was 9 years old in 1931
Science Fiction Theatre: Are We Invaded? (1955)
a slight change in approach
This one was a little different in that they actually showed the saucer (looked more like a hat) A guy and his young girlfriend were parked on a hill (i would have sworn it was a Mulholland drive overlook) and he looked too old for her and for doing that sort of thing. He seemed younger later though. I really wonder if it was the same actor. In my opinion, this was one of the better ones.
Science Fiction Theatre: Project 44 (1955)
A Good Representation of Fifties Optimism
The space race was heating up at the time of Initial broadcast and though his supposition was correct about off world travel (moon before 1970) the "interplanetary" part of the travel timeline was overly optimistic, Having grown up at this time (elementary school) i will ask just where are our commercial outposts on the moon and the planets? Are they the same place where you will find our flying cars?
Refinements in Love (1971)
surprisingly boring
Some of these early porn films actually had an interesting story. This was not one of them.
Love, Death & Robots: Fish Night (2019)
Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw
This was one of the better offerings, even if it did not ghet the popular following.
The historical story facts about the area once being an inland sea (not really ocean, but probably Lake Bonneville), though they did not give a good location, was factual.
The interesting part of the short(~10min) video is that the shark ate the boy where the other animals passed through him, though he did mention that he could feel them. Apport? Or something different? This short clip does give food for thought. Was it animal spirits? Or was it the spirit of the millenia gone glacial lake? The trailing blood cloud after the shark was a nice touch......
Camille 2000 (1969)
a question about symbolism
At just at the halfway point, literally, Marguerite and Armand are talking above a church scene taking place far below them and, there, it is the end of a funeral where the pallbearers come out and carry the casket down the steps to load the casket into the hearse.
This is where she first pledges fidelity after her seen infidelity resulting in the "messenger" with the note on her back played by Dominique Badou.
Marguerite is promptly unfaithful and i wonder what the symbolism of the funeral below was.
Was it the death of Armand's good judgement?
Masters of Horror (2005)
A Mixed bag -- Something for Everybody
I may be treating only a limited number of episodes here, and that is for reason of example.
Since i am in the habit of watching even anthologies sequentially by season and episode my introduction was "incident on and off a mountain road" and quite honestly i found that to be more of a slasher film than a horror film.
I am up to season 2, episode 9, now.
There were some good ones between "incident...." and "Deer Woman" though. The fair-haired child one sticks out as memorable. I like Deer Woman for a completely different reason. It had some funny parts, and in actuality, the whole premise was amusing.
I would say that last night i revisited this series for the first time in a while and saw maybe the best episode so far -- it was for me anyhow. The episode was Season 2 episode 8 and named "Valerie on the Stairs" and was a true horror story. There was tension as well as frights. There was actually a story, too.
So i feel the title i gave this little review applies........
Masters of Horror: Valerie on the Stairs (2006)
Possibly the best of series, so far, AFAIAC
When i looked and saw that it was taken from a Clive Barker story the wonder why it is an A1 horror story was dispelled, in my opinion. When he was hot --- was it the mid-80s -- Clive barker was touted by Stephen King and said to be the next Stephen King. It also explores a theme that King did in two short stories and one major novel (the dark half).
The Last Seduction (1994)
seldom have i seen a movie where i wished more for justice of the evil-doer
The title of my review is the point i want to make/say. I am not a person who thinks that life is fair or that the wicked are always punished. But this was a story where i really looked forward to seeing an evil character get her earned comeuppance.
Mr. Mercedes: Ándale (2018)
final scene got me
This had been pretty much without event and then there was the final scene and a very shaken, previous opponent in principle of Bill Hodges, has had a visitor who left a calling card in Latin. I was going to rate it a 7 but the last scene pushed me to an 8.