Movies 2020 MOVIE DISCUSSION

[Curt McGirt]

I caught the end of that the other night and it was pretty gnarly. Reminded me of a '70s New York version of Colors. Though I didn't get to see the whole thing I get the feeling you put them side by side and a lot of stuff might line up plotwise. 

Should I just erase Deathsport from my DVR? I keep wanting to watch it because I love Death Race 2000 but if it's total shit then I'll just get mad. Cherry 2000 was on there too but has since been erased. (Speaking of Roger Corman, I watched Forbidden World on Prime the other night. That is some prime New World sleaze right there, total Alien ripoff with as much tits and gore as you can throw at the screen.)

Ravenous is a favorite of a good friend of mine. If you can buy into the irrationalities it is pretty good. 

[tbarrie]

On 3/23/2020 at 2:42 PM, Tabe said:

For reasons I will never understand, anytime somebody mentions The Usual Suspects I think of the movie Mystery Men instead.  Every.  Single.  Time.

Yeah, I suspect you're not the only one who will never understand that.

Does it work in reverse too? Or is there some longer chain that ends back at The Usual Suspects? (Like, mentioning Mystery Men makes you think of Citizen Kane. But mentioning Citizen Kane makes you think of Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and "Scott Pilgrim" makes you think of Il Postino, mentions of which send your brain back to the Usual Suspects.)

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, caley said:

Across 110th Street: 70s crime drama with old-fashioned violent white cop (Anthony Quinn) trying to adjust to life as a subordinate to new college-educated black cop (the always awesome Yaphet Kotto) trying to solve a mafia-related robbery/murder in Harlem.  This is pretty by-the-numbers blaxploitation/cop drama, save for the terrific Bobby Womack score and Huggy Bear as a getaway driver.

 

1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

We did Across 110th Street during last years Ernie Ladd project. 

 

48 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

I caught the end of that the other night and it was pretty gnarly. Reminded me of a '70s New York version of Colors. Though I didn't get to see the whole thing I get the feeling you put them side by side and a lot of stuff might line up plotwise. 

Paul Benjamin, who sadly passed away last year, was a great character actor. However, that man had the driest afro in the history of black film and TV. Never was it more evident than in Across 110th Street. But hey, maybe his rough look helped him get roles. What the hell do I know?

[elizium]

I'm doing a cult movie quarantine, here's a few things I've been watching.

Savage Streets: Linda Blair revenge flick that takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the revenge part. Still some great 80s fashion, the revenge is pretty satisfying and some classic 80s film street punks. It seems really confused about how old it wants to make all the characters. The movie spends a surprising amount of time on high school classroom scenes and detention scenes with John Vernon. Yet one of Linda's girlfriends is talking about getting married the next week and how her and her boyfriend are planning on buying a farm. It's not an impossibility that someone could get married in high school, but the tone is really confused. The rape of Linda's little deaf sister is pretty uncomfortable. I don't think they ever say how old she is, but since Linda and her friends are 17/18 you have to figure she's 14-16. I know the actress was over 18, but it was still inappropriate to have her do full frontal nudity there.

Chopping Mall: a How Did This Get Made classic. Mostly fun and absurb movie about a group of teens having an after hours party in a mall furniture store (as you do) and getting picked off by malfunctioning security droids. The droids are basically Johnny 5 on steroids. Even still, it is a bit forgettable except for some horndog teen (all look 30+) dialogue and the odd bit nudity. Most memorable bit is Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov showing up at the beginning as their Eating Raoul characters, with no explanation of who they are or why they are there. The invaluable Dick Miller shows up to get electrocuted.

Cannibal Ferox: Your basic Italian Cannibal movie boom trash. Decent gore. I forgot about the scenes of actual animal abuse, so had to fast forward some parts. Fuck that shit.

Dead End Drive In: This was the shit. Pretty much everything you want in an 80s Australian flick: dystopian, muscle cars and lot of street punks. Seriously, nothing beats the street punks of 1980s movies. Guy and his girl go to the drive in, but it turns out that the police and the manager use it as a type of prison for undesirables and they can't leave the next day. Ends up being pretty interesting, as everyone trapped in there pretty much accepts and enjoys it. The world outside sucks, so why not stay in this place that they pretty much have free reign of? Really fun if you ignore the logic of it; even being electrified it's still just chain link fence and one middle aged dude keeping them in. Big recommendation.

Doom Asylum: Spoof of slasher flicks or movie so terribly acted they after the fact tried passing it off as a parody? Doesn't matter it is fun as fuck. Super wooden acting, fun gore (not to spoil it or nothing, but someone gets turned into a meat cube), more punks, Kristin Davis in a role she probably doesn't talk about much (she should, she's funny. She's a psychology obsessed student that tries getting through to the killer with therapy and reasoning), a baseball card obsessed nerd (Did you know that the Niekro brothers are the winningest brother combination in baseball history?) and more. Plot? A group of stupid teens go to an abandoned insane asylum for a picnic. Murder ensues. Barely over an hour and that's with padding the run time with about 5 minutes or so of clips of the 1936 adaptation of Sweeney Todd. That kind of audaciousness just makes me like it more.

Necropolis: Ladies and Gentlemen, I am in love. Tonight I discovered LeeAnne Baker. She made 7 grindhouse movies between 1986 and 1987 and then retired from acting. As far as I know, this was her only starring role out of them. She is gorgeous. She's a reincarnated or maybe immortal witch in 1986 NYC. It's unclear which, the movie literally cuts from her in the 1700s to sitting on a motorcycle in New York, but all the synopses I've read mention reincarnation (there are other characters that are definitely reincarnated). The whole movie is her walking about to random people, seducing them with witch powers and then murdering them. Meanwhile a reporter and a priest that seems to have way too much knowledge of the situation try to solve the deaths. Even though Total Recall hadn't been made yet, it totally blows it out of the water by going "3 boobs? Fuck that, we're going to 6!" There's really not much to the movie, but goddamn does LeeAnne Baker's presence absolutely carry the whole thing. Unbelievably striking.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by elizium

[J.T.]

That deserves to be in its own thread, dude.

Yeah, never been a big fan of cannibalsploitation given the heaps of actual animal abuse going on.  I still tend to place human worth well above animals, but killing a turtle and eating it raw is still pretty loathsome.  To this day, I hate Cannibal Holocaust and her inbred offspring.

Chopping Mall is a regular on the streaming services and even surfaces on TCM Underground every now and then.  Curt loves that fucking movie.

And yeah, Lee-Anne Baker and her magnificent short blonde 80's porn hair has carried everything from Necropoilis to Bad Girls Dormatory.  She is an unsung siren of trashy cinema.

Edited March 25, 2020 by J.T.

[Curt McGirt]

I didn't see Dead End Drive-In for years and then when I finally did I was disappointed that they didn't end up revolting. I guess the reasons you gave are pretty good, but it's still such a downer. 

[elizium]

4 hours ago, J.T. said:

And yeah, Lee-Anne Baker and her magnificent short blonde 80's porn hair has carried everything from Necropoilis to Bad Girls Dormatory.  She is an unsung siren of trashy cinema.

Between Tubi and downloading, I've managed to find 4 of the 7 movies; Necropolis, Mutant Hunt, Psychos in Love and Breeders. I no longer have Amazon Prime, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were on there as well.

13 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

I didn't see Dead End Drive-In for years and then when I finally did I was disappointed that they didn't end up revolting. I guess the reasons you gave are pretty good, but it's still such a downer. 

I loved that they all decided to stay, such a depressing and pessimistic outlook. I thought for sure the last shot was going to be all of them running out of there, but I bet they rebuild it instead. Why go out into the world when the box is so comfortable? Maybe I was just in the right mood for it, during these quarantine days...

[J.T.]

10 minutes ago, elizium said:

Between Tubi and downloading, I've managed to find 4 of the 7 movies; Necropolis, Mutant Hunt, Psychos in Love and Breeders. I no longer have Amazon Prime, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were on there as well.

I have Breeders and Bad Girls Dormatory somewhere on disreputable bootleg, but that's because I had a huge crush on Teresa Farley back in the day. 

She was to 80's schlock cinema what Pam Grier and Alice Jubert were to 70's blaxsploitation.

Edited March 25, 2020 by J.T.

[Octopus]

Nervously stepping out of my usual posting spots. Big movie fan. With all this free time I’ll have I’m aiming to chop away at my watchlist. 

I used the search function and didn’t see a thread for it, so I apologize if this has been addressed, anyone here want to post their Letterboxd name. I’m DavidTheOctopus and have fun seeing fellow cinema nerds’ tastes and preferred filmmakers. One of my favorite jobs was running the dvd department at a Barnes and Nobles, talking Criterions and sharing recommendations. I made a few good friendships of customers from that, that still talk movies with.

Last year I messaged my friends asking who their 3 Film People are. That could be fun here. It can be anyone in Cinema from a director, producer, actor, favorite sound mixer, etc. Only three, that defines you. Fun way to see an individuals preferred taste and narrowing down what they enjoy.

 

edit: hopefully this is the right thread to ramble in.

Edited March 29, 2020 by OctopusCinema

[(BP)]

I open up a box of Havanas, I light up, I pour myself a cognac, and I watch The 14 Fists of Mickey Rourke. What a picture. 

 

[Execproducer]

3 hours ago, OctopusCinema said:

Last year I messaged my friends asking who their 3 Film People are. That could be fun here. It can be anyone in Cinema from a director, producer, actor, favorite sound mixer, etc. Only three, that defines you. Fun way to see an individuals preferred taste and narrowing down what they enjoy.

Keeping in mind that on any given day this could be an entirely different list. Tomorrow it could be Ida Lupino, Val Lewton and Clint Eastwood.

 

Humphrey Bogart- Before Miles Davis this was the original Birth of the Cool. Primarily regarded as a persona-driven Movie Star he actually had great acting chops. If you plucked The Maltese Falcon era Bogie and dropped him into our time, he'd still go over. He might never be as famous and it would be difficult to accept him as a tough guy but he would still pop on-screen.

Preston Sturges- When I was a kid, whenever I wasn't in school, I'd watch the Million Dollar Movie. Usually it would be a drama starring Barbara Stanwyck or Greer Garson or some other actress of the Golden Age. Sometimes a film noir. But if I was really lucky I'd get to see a screwball comedy. For me, standing a rung above Hawks, Capra, and Lubitsch was Preston Sturges. His films were worlds I wanted to live in and it probably helped that there were so many familiar faces. As good a director as he was, I think he is top 10 all-time as a writer, regardless of genre.

Chow Yun-fat -  Nearly as cool as Bogie but what he represents for me goes way beyond HK cinema and encompasses the 90's when my love of cinema really blossomed. Hearing about The Killer led me to buying film magazines, everything from Video Watchdog and Asian Cult Cinema to Cinéaste and Film Comment.  Mags like ACC and Watchdog directly led me to the world of grey market tapes which not only unlocked the gates of HK cinema ( a few years before I found Tai Seng and similar companies) but also exposed me, for better or worse, to the films of Jess Franco, Paul Naschy,  the Edgar Wallace krimis and a ton of Italian films that went beyond Sergio Leone. And Japanese films that at that time I wasn't going to find anywhere else.  Film Comment and Film Threat educated me to the indie film wave that was hitting at that time. QT, Abel Ferrara, Hal Hartly,  Jim Jarmusch, etc.  Best tip I got from Film Threat was Muriel's Wedding. Fucking love that film.  The more rabbit holes I went down, the more opened up. Eventually I dropped nearly a grand on a LD player and started collecting discs.

And most of that doesn't happen if I don't read an article somewhere about The Coolest Actor in the World and the film that was the talk of the world.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Execproducer

[Octopus]

On 3/29/2020 at 7:42 PM, Execproducer said:

And most of that doesn't happen if I don't read an article somewhere about The Coolest Actor in the World and the film that was the talk of the world.

Isn’t it crazy how stumbling on a random article can have such an impact on your future taste like that?! For me it was killing time in a mall while my mom and brother were buying pots and pans. I was aimlessly walking through the dvd department of a Barnes & Nobles. I loved movies at this point and my favorites at the time were There Will Be Blood (which brought me to movies being an obsession, more than just a fun thing Jim Carey did) and probably Blue Velvet. Meandering through I notice a section called Criterion that had really cool covers. I awkwardly ask the guy back there for a pen and paper and he gives me a tiny note scrap and a small pencil, maybe the size of a finger tip to knuckle. I flipped each DVD over, read the back, and wrote down the ones that interested me. Bergman, Bunuel, Tarkovsky, Kurosawa, etc. It was like a whole new world opened up. 

After eating Chinese food I googled each of the titles I wrote down. The endless stream of Wikipedia clicks. There was so much I didn’t know and so much I wanted to discover. All because, like your reading of that article, I was in the right place for me to see something.

On 3/29/2020 at 7:42 PM, Execproducer said:

Humphrey Bogart- Before Miles Davis this was the original Birth of the Cool. Primarily regarded as a persona-driven Movie Star he actually had great acting chops. If you plucked The Maltese Falcon era Bogie and dropped him into our time, he'd still go over. He might never be as famous and it would be difficult to accept him as a tough guy but he would still pop on-screen.

Preston Sturges- When I was a kid, whenever I wasn't in school, I'd watch the Million Dollar Movie. Usually it would be a drama starring Barbara Stanwyck or Greer Garson or some other actress of the Golden Age. Sometimes a film noir. But if I was really lucky I'd get to see a screwball comedy. For me, standing a rung above Hawks, Capra, and Lubitsch was Preston Sturges. His films were worlds I wanted to live in and it probably helped that there were so many familiar faces. As good a director as he was, I think he is top 10 all-time as a writer, regardless of genre.

Chow Yun-fat -  Nearly as cool as Bogie but what he represents for me goes way beyond HK cinema and encompasses the 90's when my love of cinema really blossomed. Hearing about The Killer led me to buying film magazines, everything from Video Watchdog and Asian Cult Cinema to Cinéaste and Film Comment.  Mags like ACC and Watchdog directly led me to the world of grey market tapes which not only unlocked the gates of HK cinema ( a few years before I found Tai Seng and similar companies) but also exposed me, for better or worse, to the films of Jess Franco, Paul Naschy,  the Edgar Wallace krimis and a ton of Italian films that went beyond Sergio Leone. And Japanese films that at that time I wasn't going to find anywhere else.  Film Comment and Film Threat educated me to the indie film wave that was hitting at that time. QT, Abel Ferrara, Hal Hartly,  Jim Jarmusch, etc.  Best tip I got from Film Threat was Muriel's Wedding. Fucking love that film.  The more rabbit holes I went down, the more opened up. Eventually I dropped nearly a grand on a LD player and started collecting discs.

Your gravitation towards “cool” individuals makes me like to think of you as a mix somewhere between the laidback yet raw-suaveness of a James Dean and the fly presence of Thelonious Monk. Can I sit at your lunch table?

I've actually never seen a Preston Sturges film. That time period and style is a big gray area for me. Anything you’d be willing to recommend, I’d appreciate it.

[Execproducer]

3 hours ago, OctopusCinema said:

I've actually never seen a Preston Sturges film. That time period and style is a big gray area for me. Anything you’d be willing to recommend, I’d appreciate it.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Considering it was made during the time of the Hays Code, it is a miracle it was ever released. Betty Hutton, Eddie Bracken, and the great William Demarest.  About a small town girl who marries and gets knocked up by a soldier going off to war. Problem is, she doesn't remember it happening or the soldier because it happened at a USO party and she was very drunk. She turns to her friend for help. He is a 4F reject who has been in love with her forever. Comedy ensues.

But you can't go wrong with any of the more famous ones. Sullivan's Travels, The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, Unfaithfully Yours, etc.

Edited March 31, 2020 by Execproducer

[odessasteps]

Also Sullivan’s Travels & The Lady Eve are definitely worth watching.

[Curt McGirt]

EDIT: Forgot to mention that the other day I saw people standing in queue along with cars around Taco Bell all the way to the street -- in the pouring rain. So not much has changed except people on foot

Edited April 1, 2020 by Curt McGirt

[The Natural]

Insightful piece on Mark Kermode, the movie critic IMO:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/mar/29/home-working-jobs-observer-critics-mark-kermode-kitty-empire-laura-cumming-rowan-moore-bidisha?fbclid=IwAR1L8CU2ooriuba6LGoqiLnHjCL5eOCOgRPF_bhTXwVrbd7_tEiIfG9wq0Q

[AxB]

Edit: Never mind.

Edited April 2, 2020 by AxB

[Curt McGirt]

Dude, scroll up literally one post above Natural's

[RazorbladeKiss87]

So I have only ever watched the original Godzilla and then the one that came out a few years ago in the US. Do I need to watch the older films in any specific order? Is there a lot of continuity between the films? Also, is this a series that the dubs are worse than the subtitles or can I kind of roll with whatever I find? I'm not able to purchase any physical media and I don't have a blu-ray player so I'm limited to what is available on the net so my options might be limited on the sub vs dub front is the only reason I ask.  

[Curt McGirt]

I think there is some continuity in the early heel Godzilla ones but once he turns face it's Monster of the Week. At least that's the way it is in the Showa Era (1954-1975). I'm not as familiar with the Heisei, Millenium, and Reiwa Eras. The only subtitled Godzilla I've ever seen is Gojira so that's also somebody else's question.

EDIT: vs. Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla have intersecting plots 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Curt McGirt

[Brian Fowler]

There's very little continuity most of the time, except really the 90's movies/vs. series. Even those mostly stand on their own, but they are definitely better if watched together.

The subs are definitely better, but most of the dubs are fine, especially if you are watching the cheesy 70's movies.

[Curt McGirt]

Correction, I have seen subtitled Millenium ones on satellite I believe. But even those tend to be dubbed.

[Octopus]

Dead man’s Letters (Kopushansky, 1986)

Thanks to the Committee of Soviet Scientists for Peace Against Nuclear Threat. Woof. This is an intense watch. Post-Nuclear Armageddon, a man is writing letters to his “lost” son and taking care of his sick wife. Of course, this is a depressing watch, so watch carefully.

Fun Fact: the director was the assistant director for Andre Tarkovsky’s Stalker. 

You can find this on YouTube with closed captioning subtitles. 

Edit: posted link. If it’s against a rule to post YouTube links to movies then I’ll edit it out.

Edited April 3, 2020 by OctopusCinema

[RIPPA]

Since y'all you use a laugh. Here is my sister randomly reviewing 7 Year Itch in an email I got from her this morning

Quote

Billy wilder is one of the best directors and at the end, the female tcm host said that they had to reshoot the famous subway grate white dress in air scene 28? 43? more times on a sound stage due to sound issues on the NYC street.  Mom and I did laugh and M. Monroe was good and young and very pretty.

 

[Control]

Watched GHIDORAH, THE THREE HEADED MONSTER last night, and I don’t know if I need to see another Godzilla film—I think that had all the monster madness I needed.