Maniac / Murder Rock

FRIDAY AT THE GRINDHOUSE


Maniac
Tonight, I decided on a slasher double feature.
I been wanting to see this one for a very long time.
This was freaking bad ass for a grindhouse
slasher flick.
I love the slasher and his crazy personality.
I liked that he wasn't a 2D character.
He wasn't bland.
This guy talks to himself and his
mannequins/victims.
The death scenes were pretty crazy.
My favorite was the gunshot to
Tom Savini's head (which by the way,
Tom Savini did all the effects on this movie).

Good movie to start this Grindhouse night.
A must buy.

Murder Rock
An 80's slasher/dancing movie by
Lucio Fulci.
This one was weird.
I'm glad I decided to watch this very late.
It's got the 80's feeling throughout
the whole thing.
The kills weren't all that.
And the plot wasn't that good.
But, it's an alright late night movie.
It reminded me a little of "Black Swan"
except this one has lots of nudity
and cheesy dialogue (especially the cop scenes).
This movie keeps you guessing on
who the killer is.
A few surprises, but that's it.

Overall, not bad for a double feature.
I might not watch it again.

Fire of Conscience

Fire of Conscience
Predictable movie.
Decent action sequences but
overall, I didn't feel this movie.
I mean, we have the right formula:
crooked cops, drugs, and several gun action.
But, I felt that there was nothing new and
fresh about it all.
I love Hong Kong cinema.
That was the only reason for watching this.
That, and the fact that it played at Fantastic Fest.

Go see Infernal Affairs better.

Terri (2011)

Terri
This movie sucked.
It's not the Chardonnay or the Risotto talking.
Or the fact that I saw this pretty late.
There was no exciting moments in the film.
Supposed to be a dramedy.
It's just a fat kid dealing with his problems.
Nothing new or original.
There was only one moment in the film that
was "cute."
The part where Terri and that one raped girl
exchange notes in class.
This played at Sundance and SXSW.
Another reason why I love Fantastic Fest better
(it's a film festival with the boring parts cut out).

If you follow my opinion, avoid this if you can.

Ben X

Ben X
An alright film from Belgium.
Lots of mean bullies teasing poor old Ben here.
Why don't they leave him alone?
If they do, we don't have a movie.
I thought Ben was going to go into a killing spree.
That would of been sweet.
But this movie doesn't take that route.
There's a little bit of revenge but
it's mostly about dear Ben here dealing with his life.
There's some unexpected moments at the end which
were kind of cool.
Fooled me.

If you're interested in a drama about an autistic teenager
who's living in a computer game world, this one is for you.
Alright to check out for one time.

Graveyard of Honor

YAKUZA NIGHT THURSDAY

Every third Thursday of every month of this year,
I'll be watching a yakuza flick.
Love the yakuza genre but haven't really seen a whole lot.
There's a lot of classics out there.
This will help me explore these Japanese movies.
I'll be watching a few from directors,
Kinji Fukasaku, and Takashi Miike, as well other
yakuza flicks from the 60's and to the present.


Graveyard of Honor
Another Kinji Fukasaku classic.
I saw the remake by Takashi Miike one year ago.
I do prefer the remake more.
But, this original was pretty good.
It's fast paced and short.
Kinji Fukasaku came out with a crap load
of yakuza movies back to back during the 70's.
I think he did like 3-4 yakuza movies a year.
So, all his films look and feel the same.
This one wasn't anything special in my book.
But, I'm being bias because I kept thinking about
the remake in my head while watching this one.
I wish I would of saw this one first.
This original starts out with a little documentary about
the main character before jumping to the movie.
This guy is psycho and ruthless.
But the fast paced editing and dialogue
made it hard for me to follow the movie.
I must also note that I was drinking a 6 pack of Asahi beers.

Check out the remake.
Good character story with lots of crazy moments.

The Last Circus

The Last Circus
War movie? Check!
Clown Love Story? Check!
Violent Circus? Check!
A kid with cotton candy? Yeah, there's one shot.
This movie from Spain was wickedly fun.
It's from the same director who did "La Comunidad"
(a great dark comedy I saw years ago).
Love the colors on this one.
I love the main character, the sad clown.
Man, this clown gets freaking crazy with his
machine gun. That's probably my favorite scene.
There's a lot of comedy on here
with a tragic closure.

I'm adding this to my collection.
Worth checking out.

Red State (2011)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


Red State
I'm a Kevin Smith fan.
As a fan, I have to see every film he comes up with.
This is his latest film.
A different film he's never done before.
But, I heard it's his most personal film.
I didn't really like it.
No surprise there.
I went in with low expectations.
I wasn't impressed.

Spoiler Alert:
The only two parts I did like was the
stupid teen who started shooting and ended up shooting
himself and the last shot at the end
where the preacher (Michael Parks) sings
while in Jail and they tell him to
"Shut the fuck up."

Other than that, everything else felt like a waste of time.
Religious freaks versus Twilight horny teens.
I hate religious freaks.

I'll get it one day, under five bucks,
for the Kevin Smith collection.

Memento Mori

Memento Mori
I always say you can['t go wrong with any Korean movie.
Well, this one is a rare exception to that saying.
It was kind of boring.
And I was kind of lost throughout most of it.
It goes back and forth.
It's kind of hard sometimes.
The supernatural ghost stuff doesn't
kick in until about 20 minutes before it's over.
And it wasn't all that either.

I was let down with this one.
Not recommended.

Elite Squad

Elite Squad
I saw part two to this movie at this year's Fantastic Fest.
It was a bad ass movie and one of my favorites.
I had to see part one.
Wow, this was as equally as awesome.
Good structure and good flow.
Part two focused more on the action
while this one was more on the drama side.
But the last 30 minutes of this film was
intense. When it finished,
I was pumped up with energy.
Not a lot of movies do that to me.
Never mess with any member of the Elite Squad.
They will mess you back in ways you never imagined.
Perhaps they can use a bag to torture you, if not,
a big stick.

Need to buy this one as well as the second movie whenever it comes out.

Mid-August Lunch

Mid-August Lunch
An alright Italian movie to drink wine to and to eat
lots of great Italian food.
This movie had no real point.
Just a guy taking care of some old ladies.
He cooks for them and he sits down and conversates
with them while drinking white wine or a beer.
And that's all that happens.
So, yeah, not a movie I would want to see again.
Enjoyed looking at this guy cooking.
Especially the dish with asparagus and stuff.

The good side to this movie is that it was very very short.
Under 1 hour and 20 minutes long.

Silence of the Lambs

SHAME ON ME WEDNESDAY

[The second Wednesday of every month
I'll see a movie that I am ashamed
to admit I've never seen before.
A movie that most have seen
and it's usually referenced in pop culture.
As a fan of cinema, I shouldn't have missed
these movies, but I did, so shame on me.
This will give me the chance to catch up on those
movies.]

This month, my focus is Horror films.

The following five horror films I've never seen
before:
American Warewolf in London
Fright Night
Silence of the Lambs
Rosemary's Baby

Silence of the Lambs won by majority votes from my film experts.

Runner Up: American Warewolf in London



Silence of the Lambs
I didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to because
my mind was somewhere else.
But from what I saw,
this was great. I like the serial killer.
Very creepy, yet what a gentleman.
And let's not forget our main attraction,
Anthony Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter.
I wouldn't want to get near that cell.
I saw the movie, Hannibal, a long time ago.
Everybody talks about Silence of the Lambs being
a greater masterpiece.
It is referenced in lots of movies.
Blah, blah, and blah.
The ending was cool.

I might have to see it again one day with a clear mind
to fully enjoy it.

Submarine

Submarine
Sweet independent movie.
The story focuses more on this kid and his relationship
with his girlfriend but at the same time,
he's trying to save his parent's marriage.
Most of the movie was narrated.
I saw this in two sittings.
It was okay to see.
Love the part where our main character plays
the tape his dad made for him.
It's a tape with music that helps with a relationship
all the way to the break up.
The shots were wonderful.

I wouldn't buy it but okay to check out if you like these types
of films.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

X-Men: First Class
Wow, impressive movie.
Probably my favorite comic movie this year.
Yeah, there were silly moments like
that one girl flying with her silly wings.
And the guy turning into Beast.
But, good kick ass entertainment.
This made me want to see the rest of the movies
again. Magneto kicks ass.
Once again, I'm not familiar with the original comics
or big on them but I like the story here.
I like that there were a bunch of drinking scenes in the
first half (and I'm all about that).
I like that there was hardly any action or big
battle scenes. There were a few but mostly was about
the characters and the beginning of the X-Men.
Kudos to Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass).

Recommended. Can't wait to see it again along with all the other ones.

Antibodies

Antibodies
Serial killer movie from Germany.
Started out crazy.
I was bummed out that we didn't see
any actual killings.
The serial killer gets caught right in the beginning.
And now we have a Silence of the Lambs kind
of movie (even though I haven't seen it yet). They even reference it here.
Antibodies is a whodunit movie.
Police are trying to find out who killed this little girl
and only the serial killer knows for sure.
Big twist at the end.
Would of wanted a similar ending like
the one from "The Mist."
But, oh well.

Alright to see one time only.
Some good shots.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

MUSICAL MONDAY

[To expand my knowledge in this genre
and for the sake of trying something different,
every first Monday of every month this year,
I'll be checking out a musical I've never seen before.]



The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Finally got to see this weird dark musical.
Was waiting for October to see it.
Well, I can't say I was a fan.
But, it was alright.
My favorite songs are in the first act.
I didn't know Susan Sarrandon was in this until
I saw her.
It wasn't as dark as I thought it was going to be.
It was a bit trippy, yes.
I don't even want to imagine seeing
this under the influence.
My favorite musical number was the first
sequence when they enter the castle and everyone
dances.

Tim Curry on stockings, it's worth
a peek, I guess.

50/50 (2011)

50-50
Sweet depressing movie.
I liked it.
Funnier than I expected.
Of course, my favorite parts are the marijuana scenes.
Kudos to both Levitt and Gordon for
their acting and chemistry together.
No spoilers here about what happens at the end.
All I can say is that it was alright.
Another good part is the messing up the ex girlfriend's painting:

I was depressed this weekend
over some family issues so this movie
was a bad movie to see when you're sad and depressed.
I should of waited until I was in a more
neutral state, but, oh well.