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.