Ended up watching a few DOUBLE BILLS w/o planning to. 😛
'ESCAPING THE [FEMINIST] ISLAND 2026': SEND HELP (AMC DOLBY CINEMA), WORLD BREAKER (USA/IRELAND, THEATER) I hated every character in Sam Raimi's latest pic (except Dennis Haysbert for the couple of minutes he's on-screen), including Rachel McAdams' Linda Liddle (get it?) before/after the corporate jet crash that strands her and boss-from-hell Dylan O'Brien in a "Lost"-type island. If the narrative had a "Drag Me To Hell"-caliber denouement l would have enjoyed the mixture of Raimi-intense extremes contrasted with its character/class study dynamics. Alas, we're supposed to take sides on the LIDDLE V. O'BRIEN battle of the sexes even though l wanted the CG boars to eat them both. 'It's fine' but l expected better from seasoned ol' Sam. 😔
"World Breaker" feels like discount brand "28 ____ Later" post-apocalyptic horror, spending its first 30 minutes in mainland Europe establishing the inner-Earth threat of half-giant spider, half-man torso monsters (and the zombie-like humans resulting from the creatures scratching humans) with Milla Jovovich doing her "Resident Evil" sword-wielding, slomo-run hero thing. The last hour is grizzled Luke Evans training his (and absent Milla's) teenage daughter (Billie Boullet's Willa) at an isolated-but-visible-from-the-coast island, not just with fighting/survival skills but also a "300"-type enhanced oral history of the conflict. Clearly done on a shoestring budget, "World Breaker" is OK but you'll likely forget it as soon as you finish watching it.
'BUTTER-UP': LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972, 4K UHD), BEING MARIA (2024, DVD) Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando can both be giant a-holes and great filmmakers for the crap they (allegedly) pulled on poor Maria Schneider during that infamous, hard-to-watch scene in the '72 picture that earned Brando back-to-back Best Actor Oscar nominations. "LTIP's" first two acts are basically an emotionally wounded widower taking out his frustrations on a willing/vulnerable young woman naive enough to let herself be taken advantage of. Then the final 30 minutes (after Brando's tour-de-force monologue to the corpse of her deceased wife) switch the power equation as Jeanne, freed from the apartment's rules, can judge her secret lover with a clearer perspective. Gato Barbieri's often-at-odds-with-the-pictures music score, Vittorio Storaro's cinematography and Jean-Pierre Leaud essentially playing a cartoony 'Nouvelle Vague' version of Truffaut are highlights in a picture whose power to shock hasn't diminished in the past 44 years.
"Being Maria" starts when young Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei) lands the "LTIP" opportunity of a lifetime, which becomes a nightmare when her Italian director (Giuseppe Maggio) and American co-star (Matt Dillon) conspire to literally sandbag her. 🤢🤮 Directed by a woman (Jessica Palud) and focusing on her struggles with typecasting/drug addiction after "Tango" colors Schneider's life/career, "BM" is a low-key but interesting study of the price sudden showbiz fame brings on a woman not ready to handle it. Céleste Brunnquel leaves an impression as Noor, a young woman Maria briefly falls in love with.
TWO FILMS BY MARGUERITE DURAS: INDIA SONG (1975), BAXTER, VERA BAXTER (1977, BOTH CRITERION BLU-RAY) A writer with dozens of published books (most notably "The Lover"), Marguerite Duras also dabbled in experimental, artsy French cinema from 1969 to 1981. "India Song" and "Baxter, Vera Baxter" defy easy classification or plot summaries. The former takes place in the 1930's French embassy in India as diplomatic wife Delphine Seyrig entertains guests... except when the camera/sound focuses on other people or shows the same building/surrounding pond as abandoned relics of France's colonial past. The latter follows a couple (mostly Claudine Gabay's wife perspective) whose relationship is either falling apart or strengthened by their infidelities. Neither film can be fully understood until rewatches and the Criterion bonus features do their thing. Worth a try.
I saw Send Help last night with friends. We liked it a lot, but I also agree with your assesment. It just made me want to rewatch Drag Me To Hell, because it's the last time Raimi was truly interesting as a director
"Send Help" is not without merit and can be fun at times, but the way it wraps up ruined it for me. "Drag Me To Hell" Sam Raimi is dead. Long live THAT Sam Raimi! 😢😓
Lightening round! Short, quick reviews of some extra movies l've caught over the past couple of weeks.
DEAD MAN'S WIRE (2026, THEATER) finds Gus Van Sant pulling a "Dog Day Afternoon"-style 70's hostage drama (with elder Al Pacino playing wealthy father to his hostage son) with Bill Skarsgård as the grieved everyday man that snaps. Coleman Domingo plays a jazz DJ. 'It's fine.' 🙄
Rebecca Ziotowski's A PRIVATE LIFE (2025, FRANCE) wants to be a tension-filled comedic thriller about a psychiatrist (Jodie Foster in a great bilingual performance, mostly in French) dealing with the apparent murder of her patient and the subsequent cover-up she and her ex-hubby try to solve (and the effects this mini-adventure has on her shaky personal life). I think it veers awfully close to Woody Allen's "Manhattan Murder Mystery" levels of ironic detachment. Another 'It's fine' flick but l expected more/better from Foster and Ziotowski.
Never seen a Christopher Guest-helmed mockumentary, so might as well get started with WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996, ROKU'S HOWDY). Great cast of Guest's regulars (including co-writer Eugene Levy and Catherine R.I.P. O'Hara) entertain as residents of the small Missouri town of Blaine trying to get a musical theatrical show in time for the show's sesquicentennial (!) anniversary. Hilarious hijinks ensue. Parker Posey, Fred Willard and Guest himself are my favorites, but there are no weak parts... only old men auditioning with "Raging Bull" foulmouthed dialogue. 😳🤣😅
Somehow went to IRON LUNG ('26, AMC PRIME) without knowing anything about it (premise, production backstory, videogame origins, etc.). My opinion of the movie-watching experience and not the hype surrounding it? Miserable, joyless, endlessly frustrating and not the least bit interested in rewatching or thinking about this ever again. Shame. 😪
ATROPIA ('26, THEATER) continues the string of war movies about USA's armed involvement with Iraq in the 2000's that fall short (l hated last year's "Warfare") and are quickly forgotten. At least this attempt at a comedy scores a handful of big laughs (Channing Tatum and Tim Blake Nelson cameos) from its ludicrous premise, but leading lady Alia Shawkat and a miscast Callum Turner aren't compelling enough to hold the main narrative. Worth trying when it hits "free" streaming.
I have more reviews but work break is over. 😢 See you next week. 👋😃
Broken Arrow (1996): Hey, it's the 90s again. John Woo had a lot of ups and downs in his career. This is not exactly an up, but it's not a down either. It mostly feels like Woo is trying to emulate Tony Scott (mostly because of Hand Zimmer music), which I don't hate, because Tony is cool, but it's still very much a Woo flick. Smarmy Travolta, cool Slater, and a bunch of other dudes that we like. Plus, Samantha Mathis, who I miss in cool movies like this. Oh, and because I just bought the blu-ray, there's a 75% chance a 4k will be announced in a few weeks, at least it will have extra features. I'm cursed. Side note, I GOT THE Red Cliff blu-ray... guess what I'm watching today!
Cool Runnings (1993): I swear I'm not doing a 90s marathon on purpose, it's just a happy coincidence. It's super cold outside, the Olympics are coming, and the movie is simply very good. Who doesn't like an underdog story. I know they took some 'liberties' with the real story, but it's still fun.
The Movie Orgy (1968): What came over me to buy this blu-ray? Hhmmm, it's a mystery (I also got a couple of things on Vinegar Syndrome, that I'll talk about later). There are multiple accounts of people talking about seeing it in a theater with a crowd, and everybody is having a good time. But watching this alone at home, at night, after eating my diner, it mostly feels like I'm an insomniac flipping through channels at 4am. Still a fun time.
Young Frankenstein (1974): I saw the Mel Brooks documentary last week, so of course I wanted to watch some of his stuff.
Never seen "Cool Runnings." Still haven't seen "Young Frankenstein," but only the decades-old BD is available. 🧐☹️ "Movie Orgy" needs a theater crowd to help everyone keep up with its running gags and obscene length. I can't imagine ever getting anything but a sore butt from a home viewing. 😵🥴
Enjoy "Red Cliff," guaranteed to be a better John Woo cinematic action experience than "Broken [freakin'] Arrow"! 🥵🥶
It is best to give yourself the time to take in Red Cliff. There is nearly five hours of movie to absorb. I also ended up watching most of the extras. Even more time.
Started the weekend finishing up my Ridley Scott re-watch with The Counselor and Kingdom of Heaven Roadshow Cut.
The Counselor (2013) is a nasty piece of work. I'm not sure that is a bad thing, but it didn't really work for me. In a movie where everyone else is doing a lot, having it be centered on such a cipher as Fassbender's title character made it feel a little empty to me. It feels like a movie where rewatching it might be rewarding, but I'm not sure I'd want to rewatch it.
Kingdom of Heaven (2005) is a masterpiece. At least, the extended roadshow version is. I haven't seen the theatrical cut in nearly 20 years, but it didn't make much of an impression on me. You've got big spectacle in the desert; vicious, exciting battles, and contemplations on religion, faith and what it means to be a good man. Here having something of a cipher of a protagonist does work. We know a little more about Balian, but what we know is that he wants to be a good man. "What man is a man who does not make the world better." But the struggle is what is the right thing. Sibylla (Eva Green has never been better than she is in this movie) tells him at one point that he will wish he committed a small evil to prevent a greater one, but the core of Balian at that point is that he will not make that compromise of his virtue. He's already hashed that out with Ed Norton.
I can't get over how much I liked Kingdom of Heaven. I really want to put it on top of my ranking of Ridley Scott movies, but then I remember that Blade Runner and Alien exist. But if the worst thing I can say about a movie is that it is not as good as Blade Runner, that still seems pretty good.
Eh, what do I know. I'm the guy who likes Exodus: Gods and Kings (You found him, its me, the only one).
I have Kingdom of Heaven 4k in my pile. Waiting for the right time to watch it. Every reviews say the Roadshow version is the one to watch and to avoid the theatrical cut at all cost
I'm a "Gods of Egypt"n, mostly because of Alex Proyas. But l've never known a single person admitting to seeing Ridley's "Exodus...", let alone liking it. 😳🫵🧐
The fact the extended version of "Kingdom of Heaven" was released on 4K and not the theatrical cut speaks loudest of which is the preferred one. 😎👍
SEND HELP (2026) Sam Raimi goodness! Okay, I guess you could argue that the many twists are predictable, but it was a lot of fun getting there. The boar might not look real, but I loved how that scene went full Army of Darkness.
LA JETEE (1962) The movie that allegedly inspired 12 MONKEYS. What’s interesting is how the whole movie is done with still images, slideshow-style. It didn’t quite work for me, but I wonder if some clever filmmaker could do more with this format.
WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996) I’ve also never seen any of these Christopher Guest mockumentaries before. I liked how this was more low stakes and slice-of-life than screwball wackiness. Looking forward to checking out the others.
THE WRECKING CREW (2026) I made it as far as the helicopter chase, and then I DNF’d it. There’s only so much dudebro-ism I can take.
And now for F This Frog: THE MUPPET SHOW (2026) is an absolute delight. I had my doubts they could pull this off, but I should’ve known I could count on Kermit.
Slashers (2001): I doubt anybody ever saw this, but it's right up this site's alley. It's a cheap slasher (duh!) movie, shot on HDCam, with a bunch of amateur actors who are trying their best. The story is a Japanese game show where contestants need to survive the night. The funny twist is everybody stops doing anything during ad breaks. It's a fun y little movie that probably wouldn't work as well with a regular production value. It's shot as if it was one long camera shot. My friend saw some of the director's other movies and say they're as good as this. He loved End of Line (2007), which I need to find.
Kicked off 2000s month with a rewatch of the Whole Nine Yards. Probably haven't watched it in 20 years and...it pretty much holds up? Theres a few things that are horribly dated (Michael Clark Duncan's wardrobe is insane) and a few moments of cringe gay panic, but the performances were mostly very good, especially from the leads. Bruce was coming off a late 90s run where he was either too silly or too serious, but I think he finds a good balance here. Matthew Perry doesnt exactly make a movie star turn here, he's very Chandler Bing-y here, but he does bring a certain level of charm. If its been a while, I think its worth a rewatch.
Around a half-hour from home, The Gap Theatre is not a big sacrifice of sleep after a day at work. I was there two nights during the week for screenings that I did not want to miss. The fact that I can see these kind of films in a theater close to where I live amazes me.
Having The Gap and the Mahoning Drive-In nearby has brought a sense of community into my life. Sometimes I look forward to socializing as much as watching a film.
I am doing my best to avoid Blogger's censorship this week.
On Tuesday, there was a double feature of TURTLE VISION (1991) and RAFURESHIA (1995). These are two films from the Japanese pink director Hisayasu Sato that are included in the recent Vinegar Syndrome releases. (The restorations were the versions shown.) Working in "e-r-o-t-i-c" films did not stop Sato from exploring complex themes and having a distinct style. Turtle Vision deals with v-o-y-e-u-r-i-s-m and trauma in a manner that gets abstract. Rafureshia is a twisted and zany comedy that I had seen before and enjoyed just as much this time. It is very lighthearted for a Sato film.
Last night I was back at The Gap for a secret grindhouse triple feature on 35mm.
FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET (1972) - The night began with Andy Milligan's scuzzy masterpiece. The desperation of the characters is visceral. I know the film well from the VS release, which actually features sections of the print that was shown. (The theater operator has one of the biggest print collections in the U.S. Most of the films shown at The Gap are from it.)
HIGH YELLOW (1965, dir. Larry Buchanan) - Switching to black-and-white film with a melodrama focusing on a mixed-race black woman who comes to a Hollywood producer's house to work as a maid. It is a peculiar combination of family dysfunction and racial identity crisis, but it works. Having watched a few of the director's films before, I was shocked by how well High Yellow is put together.
HOT HANDS OF LOVE (1966?) - The night concluded with what is a essentially a "lost film" now. A gang of jewel robbers and r-*-p-i-s-ts go on a crime spree while a family of jewelers live the good life. Their paths will cross by the conclusion. The filmmaking here is abysmal but typifies s-e-x-p-l-o-i-t-a-t-i-o-n roughies in its own shoddy way. The bad dubbing and tonal switches did make us laugh sometimes.
During some of the duller moments of Hot Hands of Love, I gazed around the theater. I guessed that there were around 40-45 people in there with me sharing the experience. The glow of the projector and the screen casts a unique light over everything. I appreciated the moment, one that you cannot get watching a movie at home.
Enjoy those communal theater experiences watching rare, non-mainstream repertory features. Even in NYC those are becoming rarer, more infrequent and gradually priced/scheduled beyond my means. 😢🫤 Only seen one of those 5 flicks (the Andy Milligan), so very jealous of your theater options... where exactly (city, state)? 😵
I am not very far from where you are, J.M. My home is in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley is less than an hour away. The Gap Theatre is in small-town Pennsylvania close to the Lehigh Valley. The Mahoning Drive-In lies near the town of Jim Thorpe in what was once coal country. Those are not places where you would expect to find a retro theater scene. It is the New York and Philadelphia regions being both around two hours away that sustains everything. Few of the people I meet at screenings travel less than an hour.
For some reason Blogger did not like my post about the Arrow sale. Oh well.
Another try with it.
After much thought, I chose Shawscope Volume 4, Erik The Conqueror, and the Sister Street Fighter collection. The box arrived quickly. Shawscope was the main draw because I love several films in that box. Erik was picked up to add to my Mario Bava collection. It is a fun film in its own right, though. Sister Street Fighter is a series I am curious about after seeing the first film many years ago on TCM Underground.
The House That Screamed was a strong candidate but not chosen because I already own the Scream Factory release. It did not make much sense to get another version of that when there are other titles I do not have and my budget is limited.
I was looking at the Sister Street Fighter films today. Each of them seems to be doing something different. The Return of Sister Street Fighter caught my attention the most, though. It seems to be the craziest entry.
Ended up watching a few DOUBLE BILLS w/o planning to. 😛
ReplyDelete'ESCAPING THE [FEMINIST] ISLAND 2026': SEND HELP (AMC DOLBY CINEMA), WORLD BREAKER (USA/IRELAND, THEATER)
I hated every character in Sam Raimi's latest pic (except Dennis Haysbert for the couple of minutes he's on-screen), including Rachel McAdams' Linda Liddle (get it?) before/after the corporate jet crash that strands her and boss-from-hell Dylan O'Brien in a "Lost"-type island. If the narrative had a "Drag Me To Hell"-caliber denouement l would have enjoyed the mixture of Raimi-intense extremes contrasted with its character/class study dynamics. Alas, we're supposed to take sides on the LIDDLE V. O'BRIEN battle of the sexes even though l wanted the CG boars to eat them both. 'It's fine' but l expected better from seasoned ol' Sam. 😔
"World Breaker" feels like discount brand "28 ____ Later" post-apocalyptic horror, spending its first 30 minutes in mainland Europe establishing the inner-Earth threat of half-giant spider, half-man torso monsters (and the zombie-like humans resulting from the creatures scratching humans) with Milla Jovovich doing her "Resident Evil" sword-wielding, slomo-run hero thing. The last hour is grizzled Luke Evans training his (and absent Milla's) teenage daughter (Billie Boullet's Willa) at an isolated-but-visible-from-the-coast island, not just with fighting/survival skills but also a "300"-type enhanced oral history of the conflict. Clearly done on a shoestring budget, "World Breaker" is OK but you'll likely forget it as soon as you finish watching it.
'BUTTER-UP': LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972, 4K UHD), BEING MARIA (2024, DVD)
Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando can both be giant a-holes and great filmmakers for the crap they (allegedly) pulled on poor Maria Schneider during that infamous, hard-to-watch scene in the '72 picture that earned Brando back-to-back Best Actor Oscar nominations. "LTIP's" first two acts are basically an emotionally wounded widower taking out his frustrations on a willing/vulnerable young woman naive enough to let herself be taken advantage of. Then the final 30 minutes (after Brando's tour-de-force monologue to the corpse of her deceased wife) switch the power equation as Jeanne, freed from the apartment's rules, can judge her secret lover with a clearer perspective. Gato Barbieri's often-at-odds-with-the-pictures music score, Vittorio Storaro's cinematography and Jean-Pierre Leaud essentially playing a cartoony 'Nouvelle Vague' version of Truffaut are highlights in a picture whose power to shock hasn't diminished in the past 44 years.
"Being Maria" starts when young Schneider (Anamaria Vartolomei) lands the "LTIP" opportunity of a lifetime, which becomes a nightmare when her Italian director (Giuseppe Maggio) and American co-star (Matt Dillon) conspire to literally sandbag her. 🤢🤮 Directed by a woman (Jessica Palud) and focusing on her struggles with typecasting/drug addiction after "Tango" colors Schneider's life/career, "BM" is a low-key but interesting study of the price sudden showbiz fame brings on a woman not ready to handle it. Céleste Brunnquel leaves an impression as Noor, a young woman Maria briefly falls in love with.
TWO FILMS BY MARGUERITE DURAS: INDIA SONG (1975), BAXTER, VERA BAXTER (1977, BOTH CRITERION BLU-RAY)
A writer with dozens of published books (most notably "The Lover"), Marguerite Duras also dabbled in experimental, artsy French cinema from 1969 to 1981. "India Song" and "Baxter, Vera Baxter" defy easy classification or plot summaries. The former takes place in the 1930's French embassy in India as diplomatic wife Delphine Seyrig entertains guests... except when the camera/sound focuses on other people or shows the same building/surrounding pond as abandoned relics of France's colonial past. The latter follows a couple (mostly Claudine Gabay's wife perspective) whose relationship is either falling apart or strengthened by their infidelities. Neither film can be fully understood until rewatches and the Criterion bonus features do their thing. Worth a try.
I saw Send Help last night with friends. We liked it a lot, but I also agree with your assesment. It just made me want to rewatch Drag Me To Hell, because it's the last time Raimi was truly interesting as a director
Delete"Send Help" is not without merit and can be fun at times, but the way it wraps up ruined it for me. "Drag Me To Hell" Sam Raimi is dead. Long live THAT Sam Raimi! 😢😓
Delete[CONTINUED FROM FIRST POST ABOVE]
ReplyDeleteLightening round! Short, quick reviews of some extra movies l've caught over the past couple of weeks.
DEAD MAN'S WIRE (2026, THEATER) finds Gus Van Sant pulling a "Dog Day Afternoon"-style 70's hostage drama (with elder Al Pacino playing wealthy father to his hostage son) with Bill Skarsgård as the grieved everyday man that snaps. Coleman Domingo plays a jazz DJ. 'It's fine.' 🙄
Rebecca Ziotowski's A PRIVATE LIFE (2025, FRANCE) wants to be a tension-filled comedic thriller about a psychiatrist (Jodie Foster in a great bilingual performance, mostly in French) dealing with the apparent murder of her patient and the subsequent cover-up she and her ex-hubby try to solve (and the effects this mini-adventure has on her shaky personal life). I think it veers awfully close to Woody Allen's "Manhattan Murder Mystery" levels of ironic detachment. Another 'It's fine' flick but l expected more/better from Foster and Ziotowski.
Never seen a Christopher Guest-helmed mockumentary, so might as well get started with WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996, ROKU'S HOWDY). Great cast of Guest's regulars (including co-writer Eugene Levy and Catherine R.I.P. O'Hara) entertain as residents of the small Missouri town of Blaine trying to get a musical theatrical show in time for the show's sesquicentennial (!) anniversary. Hilarious hijinks ensue. Parker Posey, Fred Willard and Guest himself are my favorites, but there are no weak parts... only old men auditioning with "Raging Bull" foulmouthed dialogue. 😳🤣😅
Somehow went to IRON LUNG ('26, AMC PRIME) without knowing anything about it (premise, production backstory, videogame origins, etc.). My opinion of the movie-watching experience and not the hype surrounding it? Miserable, joyless, endlessly frustrating and not the least bit interested in rewatching or thinking about this ever again. Shame. 😪
ATROPIA ('26, THEATER) continues the string of war movies about USA's armed involvement with Iraq in the 2000's that fall short (l hated last year's "Warfare") and are quickly forgotten. At least this attempt at a comedy scores a handful of big laughs (Channing Tatum and Tim Blake Nelson cameos) from its ludicrous premise, but leading lady Alia Shawkat and a miscast Callum Turner aren't compelling enough to hold the main narrative. Worth trying when it hits "free" streaming.
I have more reviews but work break is over. 😢 See you next week. 👋😃
Broken Arrow (1996): Hey, it's the 90s again. John Woo had a lot of ups and downs in his career. This is not exactly an up, but it's not a down either. It mostly feels like Woo is trying to emulate Tony Scott (mostly because of Hand Zimmer music), which I don't hate, because Tony is cool, but it's still very much a Woo flick. Smarmy Travolta, cool Slater, and a bunch of other dudes that we like. Plus, Samantha Mathis, who I miss in cool movies like this. Oh, and because I just bought the blu-ray, there's a 75% chance a 4k will be announced in a few weeks, at least it will have extra features. I'm cursed. Side note, I GOT THE Red Cliff blu-ray... guess what I'm watching today!
ReplyDeleteCool Runnings (1993): I swear I'm not doing a 90s marathon on purpose, it's just a happy coincidence. It's super cold outside, the Olympics are coming, and the movie is simply very good. Who doesn't like an underdog story. I know they took some 'liberties' with the real story, but it's still fun.
The Movie Orgy (1968): What came over me to buy this blu-ray? Hhmmm, it's a mystery (I also got a couple of things on Vinegar Syndrome, that I'll talk about later). There are multiple accounts of people talking about seeing it in a theater with a crowd, and everybody is having a good time. But watching this alone at home, at night, after eating my diner, it mostly feels like I'm an insomniac flipping through channels at 4am. Still a fun time.
Young Frankenstein (1974): I saw the Mel Brooks documentary last week, so of course I wanted to watch some of his stuff.
Never seen "Cool Runnings." Still haven't seen "Young Frankenstein," but only the decades-old BD is available. 🧐☹️ "Movie Orgy" needs a theater crowd to help everyone keep up with its running gags and obscene length. I can't imagine ever getting anything but a sore butt from a home viewing. 😵🥴
DeleteEnjoy "Red Cliff," guaranteed to be a better John Woo cinematic action experience than "Broken [freakin'] Arrow"! 🥵🥶
Sadly, there's a change of plans on the Red Cliff viewing. Hopefully this week.
DeleteIt is best to give yourself the time to take in Red Cliff. There is nearly five hours of movie to absorb. I also ended up watching most of the extras. Even more time.
DeleteStarted the weekend finishing up my Ridley Scott re-watch with The Counselor and Kingdom of Heaven Roadshow Cut.
ReplyDeleteThe Counselor (2013) is a nasty piece of work. I'm not sure that is a bad thing, but it didn't really work for me. In a movie where everyone else is doing a lot, having it be centered on such a cipher as Fassbender's title character made it feel a little empty to me. It feels like a movie where rewatching it might be rewarding, but I'm not sure I'd want to rewatch it.
Kingdom of Heaven (2005) is a masterpiece. At least, the extended roadshow version is. I haven't seen the theatrical cut in nearly 20 years, but it didn't make much of an impression on me. You've got big spectacle in the desert; vicious, exciting battles, and contemplations on religion, faith and what it means to be a good man. Here having something of a cipher of a protagonist does work. We know a little more about Balian, but what we know is that he wants to be a good man. "What man is a man who does not make the world better." But the struggle is what is the right thing. Sibylla (Eva Green has never been better than she is in this movie) tells him at one point that he will wish he committed a small evil to prevent a greater one, but the core of Balian at that point is that he will not make that compromise of his virtue. He's already hashed that out with Ed Norton.
I can't get over how much I liked Kingdom of Heaven. I really want to put it on top of my ranking of Ridley Scott movies, but then I remember that Blade Runner and Alien exist. But if the worst thing I can say about a movie is that it is not as good as Blade Runner, that still seems pretty good.
Eh, what do I know. I'm the guy who likes Exodus: Gods and Kings (You found him, its me, the only one).
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI have Kingdom of Heaven 4k in my pile. Waiting for the right time to watch it. Every reviews say the Roadshow version is the one to watch and to avoid the theatrical cut at all cost
DeleteI'm a "Gods of Egypt"n, mostly because of Alex Proyas. But l've never known a single person admitting to seeing Ridley's "Exodus...", let alone liking it. 😳🫵🧐
DeleteThe fact the extended version of "Kingdom of Heaven" was released on 4K and not the theatrical cut speaks loudest of which is the preferred one. 😎👍
SEND HELP (2026)
ReplyDeleteSam Raimi goodness! Okay, I guess you could argue that the many twists are predictable, but it was a lot of fun getting there. The boar might not look real, but I loved how that scene went full Army of Darkness.
LA JETEE (1962)
The movie that allegedly inspired 12 MONKEYS. What’s interesting is how the whole movie is done with still images, slideshow-style. It didn’t quite work for me, but I wonder if some clever filmmaker could do more with this format.
WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996)
I’ve also never seen any of these Christopher Guest mockumentaries before. I liked how this was more low stakes and slice-of-life than screwball wackiness. Looking forward to checking out the others.
THE WRECKING CREW (2026)
I made it as far as the helicopter chase, and then I DNF’d it. There’s only so much dudebro-ism I can take.
And now for F This Frog: THE MUPPET SHOW (2026) is an absolute delight. I had my doubts they could pull this off, but I should’ve known I could count on Kermit.
🐸😸
DeleteSlashers (2001): I doubt anybody ever saw this, but it's right up this site's alley. It's a cheap slasher (duh!) movie, shot on HDCam, with a bunch of amateur actors who are trying their best. The story is a Japanese game show where contestants need to survive the night. The funny twist is everybody stops doing anything during ad breaks. It's a fun y little movie that probably wouldn't work as well with a regular production value. It's shot as if it was one long camera shot. My friend saw some of the director's other movies and say they're as good as this. He loved End of Line (2007), which I need to find.
ReplyDeleteI saw this one recently! Sought it out because I'm a big End of the Line fan.
DeleteI actually almost wrote "i'm sure Patrick already saw this" 🤣, but I didn't want to assume 🤣
DeleteKicked off 2000s month with a rewatch of the Whole Nine Yards. Probably haven't watched it in 20 years and...it pretty much holds up? Theres a few things that are horribly dated (Michael Clark Duncan's wardrobe is insane) and a few moments of cringe gay panic, but the performances were mostly very good, especially from the leads. Bruce was coming off a late 90s run where he was either too silly or too serious, but I think he finds a good balance here. Matthew Perry doesnt exactly make a movie star turn here, he's very Chandler Bing-y here, but he does bring a certain level of charm. If its been a while, I think its worth a rewatch.
ReplyDeleteTwo words: Amanda Peet. 🤩 Don't remember/like much about this movie, but l'll never forget Peet's.... err... scenes! 😉😍
DeleteI recently listened to an interview with Kevin Pollack, where he talk a bit about the movie. Made me want to rewatch it
DeleteAround a half-hour from home, The Gap Theatre is not a big sacrifice of sleep after a day at work. I was there two nights during the week for screenings that I did not want to miss. The fact that I can see these kind of films in a theater close to where I live amazes me.
ReplyDeleteHaving The Gap and the Mahoning Drive-In nearby has brought a sense of community into my life. Sometimes I look forward to socializing as much as watching a film.
I am doing my best to avoid Blogger's censorship this week.
On Tuesday, there was a double feature of TURTLE VISION (1991) and RAFURESHIA (1995). These are two films from the Japanese pink director Hisayasu Sato that are included in the recent Vinegar Syndrome releases. (The restorations were the versions shown.) Working in "e-r-o-t-i-c" films did not stop Sato from exploring complex themes and having a distinct style. Turtle Vision deals with v-o-y-e-u-r-i-s-m and trauma in a manner that gets abstract. Rafureshia is a twisted and zany comedy that I had seen before and enjoyed just as much this time. It is very lighthearted for a Sato film.
Last night I was back at The Gap for a secret grindhouse triple feature on 35mm.
FLESHPOT ON 42ND STREET (1972) - The night began with Andy Milligan's scuzzy masterpiece. The desperation of the characters is visceral. I know the film well from the VS release, which actually features sections of the print that was shown. (The theater operator has one of the biggest print collections in the U.S. Most of the films shown at The Gap are from it.)
HIGH YELLOW (1965, dir. Larry Buchanan) - Switching to black-and-white film with a melodrama focusing on a mixed-race black woman who comes to a Hollywood producer's house to work as a maid. It is a peculiar combination of family dysfunction and racial identity crisis, but it works. Having watched a few of the director's films before, I was shocked by how well High Yellow is put together.
HOT HANDS OF LOVE (1966?) - The night concluded with what is a essentially a "lost film" now. A gang of jewel robbers and r-*-p-i-s-ts go on a crime spree while a family of jewelers live the good life. Their paths will cross by the conclusion. The filmmaking here is abysmal but typifies s-e-x-p-l-o-i-t-a-t-i-o-n roughies in its own shoddy way. The bad dubbing and tonal switches did make us laugh sometimes.
During some of the duller moments of Hot Hands of Love, I gazed around the theater. I guessed that there were around 40-45 people in there with me sharing the experience. The glow of the projector and the screen casts a unique light over everything. I appreciated the moment, one that you cannot get watching a movie at home.
Enjoy those communal theater experiences watching rare, non-mainstream repertory features. Even in NYC those are becoming rarer, more infrequent and gradually priced/scheduled beyond my means. 😢🫤 Only seen one of those 5 flicks (the Andy Milligan), so very jealous of your theater options... where exactly (city, state)? 😵
DeleteI am not very far from where you are, J.M. My home is in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley is less than an hour away. The Gap Theatre is in small-town Pennsylvania close to the Lehigh Valley. The Mahoning Drive-In lies near the town of Jim Thorpe in what was once coal country. Those are not places where you would expect to find a retro theater scene. It is the New York and Philadelphia regions being both around two hours away that sustains everything. Few of the people I meet at screenings travel less than an hour.
DeleteFor some reason Blogger did not like my post about the Arrow sale. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteAnother try with it.
After much thought, I chose Shawscope Volume 4, Erik The Conqueror, and the Sister Street Fighter collection. The box arrived quickly. Shawscope was the main draw because I love several films in that box. Erik was picked up to add to my Mario Bava collection. It is a fun film in its own right, though. Sister Street Fighter is a series I am curious about after seeing the first film many years ago on TCM Underground.
The House That Screamed was a strong candidate but not chosen because I already own the Scream Factory release. It did not make much sense to get another version of that when there are other titles I do not have and my budget is limited.
I approve! 😁👍
DeleteTwo excellent set. I loved the Sister movies
DeleteI was looking at the Sister Street Fighter films today. Each of them seems to be doing something different. The Return of Sister Street Fighter caught my attention the most, though. It seems to be the craziest entry.
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