Last Seen Contemporary Movie

[Amaltheaunicorn2023]

[IMG]ht

[FryeDwight]

BATTLEDOGS (2013).>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >
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SYFY offering that isn't perfect, but miles beyond what they normally offer. A young journalist (Ariana Richards from JURASSIC PARK) is bitten by a wolf in Canada and while in NYC airport transforms into a werewolf causing mucho destruction. While he and others are held in protective custody, a Army General (Dennis Haysbert is great here) gets the notion that aggressive powerful werewolves would be a great addition to our fighting forces. Things only get more dicey as the werewolves escape and plunge downtown Manhattan into chaos.
Script is silly and the werewolves could be better, but I can honestly say BD was enjoyable and worth a watch. ***

[Tommy Jarvis]

Lurking 2022 ★★½

A slow burner that picks up towards the end.

The first part focuses on the razzle dazzle filmmaker Kurt Duplass (apparently a nod to Creep) and his reluctant partner John.

It's only when they find a walkie talkie and get in touch with "Travis" that things get intense. The bit in the tunnel is intense and the part with the "finder" is well done.

Have I seen better in the genre? Sure. But it's still a nice addition to your collection.

Critters 3 1991 ★★★

DiCaprio (to his father): I hate you! I wish you were dead!
Crites: Well... THAT can be arranged.

The perfect dose of cornball fun you could expect from a horror comedy sequel. Not as out there and gory as the first two and the cover pulls a bit of a Jason Takes Manhattan. But overall, it's still fun, with all the silliness they have going on.

The Critters look a bit more sneaky than in the first two installments. But they still get in the same food related shenanigans. And we get a West Ham United-Critter, who's forever blowing bubbles.

The characters are as silly as you can expect, but still enjoyable. I like how Marcia is portrayed like a take charge kind of character, even though she gets into her share of silliness. And DiCaprio only gets the "annoying kid coming around"-arc.

Patient Seven 2016 ★★★

I went in with low expectations, but Patient Seven turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Doctor Michael Ironside going through mental patients supplies us with the background for the separate stories. My personal favorites are British Dexter and Icelandic zombies. The twist at the end of the haunting story was pretty sweet too.

Near the end, it pulls an Identity-like switcheroo on us, except that this one is more predictable. Which keeps it from going beyond entertaining. But entertaining nonetheless. And available on YT.

Hostel 2005 ★★★★

I fed my inner gorehound today.

Eli Roth deserves credit for bringing gore back to the horror mainstream after a slew of PG 13 horror films. Sure, Paxton may not be very likable, but then again, that's not really the point either.

But the pay off worked and that's the point more than anything else.

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later 1998 ★★★½

The opening kills are both entertaining and insightful. Where Jason-fans appreciate the creativity with gardening tools, Michael usually tends to stick to traditional stabbing. Which is why the ice skate skill is a nice switch from the usual.

You would think this would be bland and forgettable, but it's actually pretty entertaining. Steve Miner brought his experience from Friday to the table. The characters are okay. While the kids have bits of sarcasm here and there - the seed for the 2000s snark is perhaps already present - but for me, the balance tends a bit more towards the positive side of the line. And the funniest moment is the scene with Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis, where the prior talks about getting "maternal".

Quite a bunch of talent in this one, mind you: Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, LL Cool J,... How you rate them individually is a matter of taste, but they all went to do big projects. Hartnett shows his potential as a heart throb and LL kind of goes back and forth between comic relief and black Ben Tramer.

The atmosphere is definetily present. Best example being the shot on all the box covers of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers with just a door between them. The kills are okay too, though some are offscreen. The final confrontation between Laurie and Michael makes for a worthy ending to the franchise.

The Redwood Massacre 2014 ★

The most fun about this one was trying to pinpoint the accent(s).

Are these Scots? Or Englishmen trying to sound Scottish? Or was there perhaps a Manchester accent in there as well? Or somewhere else up north? Or Irish?

As far as the rest is concerned, the keyword is bland. Bland plot, bland kills and bland gore. Bland across the board.

Though I will give credit for the mask. Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow meets The Punisher. That looked kind of cool.

The Purge 2013 ★★★

People reviewing have been pretty harsh on this one, claiming it was nothing more than just a home invasion movie. So is is that or does it offer relevant social commentary?

I on my end would be somewhere in between. I would like to point out that it does hint at the consequences. Think of the man describing his loss in the end credits. Or the fact that the homeless man that the kids are chasing is a black man. Hinting at an excuse for racists to "do their thing".

I also liked the idea of looking at things like the guy wanting to kill his boss, or the envious neighbours. In my opinion, this sort of petty motives for killing are probably a lot closer to what a real life purge would be like. Callous businessfolk and ditto politicians would be safe, but that one guy who cuts me off in traffic? Oh, he's getting it. Or the dad standing in the way between me and my girlfriend.

Or of course the conflict the Sandinds find themselves in. Do we take in the homeless man? Do we hand him over to the killers?

This is often done not too subtly, but then again, subtlety is not really Platinum Dunes' strong suit.

Are things to be said about The Purge? Certainly. Pretty much everybody agrees on the intriguing starting point AND that more could have been done with it.

The story focuses too much on the Sandins alone. In order to really do social commentary, you could have focused on more families, or more parts of the Sandins. Aunts, cousins, grandparents,... A few live in Canada, a few live in poverty,... The runtime would be a bit longer, but with only 85 minutes, that should not be a problem. You can even keep the subplots about the jealous neighbours and flesh them out more.

The characters are a set of clichés: the self made man, the trust fund brats going out to do some killing, the weird son (who turns out to be the soft one),... So yeah, they could have used more nuance and subtlety, but like I said before...

That said,I would like to end on a positive note. This one may not have fully lived up to its potential, but it did open the door for the sequels to do so.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Cub 2014 ★★★½

Cub (or Welp in Dutch) is a Belgian horror flick on a group of boy scouts who are with a monster best described as Mowgli going off the tracks. And then escalating quickly.

The film gives a lot of attention to the boy scout culture: the group feel, the peer pressure, the discipline, the bullying,... I myself have never been a boy scout, so I cannot really relate to the group dynamics. Is that what keeps me from giving it four stars? Maybe.

Props to the actors for their performances, though. Titus De Voogdt and Stef Aerts are believable in their respective roles as the "decent" scouts leader and the total douchebag with the dog as an extension for his dick. Though I cannot see Stef Aerts without thinking of Wesley "uhnts uhnts uhnts" Biets.

The ingenious nature of the kills makes up for the relatively small death toll. With nice bits of gore like the stab in the eye. And at least Balou gets it good and proper. Best kill in the film in my opinion.

The reveal at the end is not that big of a shock, despite the fact that the character does it to pretty much the only the one who was somewhat nice to him. And the final shot of Jasmijn is excellently done.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Destination: Infestation 2007 ★★

Between Ants on a plane (suitable, since it's clearly a Snakes on a plane-rip-off), Swarm (lame) and Destination: Infestation (lame), this sure has a few different titles floating around.

It's not great, but not as terrible as I expected beforehand.

It ticks off some of the beats in SOAP like the main character getting with the single mom. Bratty/cheeky child included here. A few douchy characters who get their come uppance in the end, the pilot who is two days away from retirement, the scientist quarterbacking from the ground,... Having recently seen a report on the plane ride from hell, I wonder how the David Arquette-lookalike got so bombed during a 3 hour flight to be denied service (an annoying red thread throughout the movie), but these movies are not really about plot consistency.

The cast is pretty much what you expect from this type of movie. Jessalyn Gilsig is solid as the entymologist Dr. Ross, but Antonio Sabato Jr. is miles away from the charisma that Samuel L Jackson has.

Greta 2018 ★★★★

Watching this one reminded of a joke Bill Maher did on Anthony Hopkins: "I'm not afraid of any danger I can avoid by taking the stairs two steps at a time."

I was first intrigued by the trailer, then it kind of went off my radar and resurfaced after having it recommended somewhere recently. I must say, it did not disappoint.

It starts with a good idea about how a random object and a random act of kindness can get you to meet a new person. But then, there is more to this person than you have bargained for. The chills particularly come towards the end when all the foreshadowing pieces fall together. It's all perfectly set in New York, a city where a lot of people are lonely and where the wheels of justice can grind very slowly.

The ending itself is a tad predictable. Once the scene starts, you pretty much immediately catch on as to what the reveal will be and I wonder how the ever alert Greta did not catch on.

That said, I must add that the reveal was done in style. Don't get me wrong, you are caught up in the action and on the edge of your seat, rooting for the characters.

Credit for that certainly goes to the actors. Isabelle Huppert delivers a strong performances as the titular Greta. At first, a sweet, gentle woman looking for company. Huppert does a very good job portraying the madness and sadism underneath. Wonder where she got her inspiration. Cathy Bates in Misery? Real life cases?

When it comes to Chloe Grace Moretz... Not sure what to make of her performance. She has very good moments (she can certainly do frightened and you completely buy Frances and Erika being friends), but I was somehow never completely convinced. I understand from other film fans that her performances are a bit hit or miss. Where do you stand? Maika Monroe on the other hand was amazing as Erika. Her character was set up perfectly fine and she aced it.

Four stars. Check it out.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Lilith 2018 ★★

Bit of a revenge-story today.

Felissa Rose stars as the avenging angel/demon Lilith, catching up with and torturing all sorts of scummy men in a collection of separate stories.

The score and the gore are okay. The coherence, however, leaves a bit to be desired. The combination of different actresses playing Lilith and the constant switching between stories makes the experience a bit confusing.

It also does not help that the delivery in the demon-bits (in the overarching) is often a bit less Exorcist and a bit more Ten inch mutant ninja turtles.

For fans of Felissa Rose or if you like torture porn.

Braindead 1992 ★★★★★

Peter Jackson delivers a splatstick masterpiece, building on the last 30 minutes of Bad Taste. Nearly every scene is brilliant in its glorious silliness. Between I kick ass for the lord and Party's over, it's a veritable feast of hilarious dialogue and quotable oneliners.

Some of the top scenes have an over the topness and cruelty that remind me of Roald Dahl, with buckets of blood added, of course. Speaking of blood, seeing Lionel slipping over the blood also has hints of the Keystone Cops in it. So is Braindead Roald Dahl meets Eli Roth? Or would that be silly?

The opening scene already makes it pretty clear that the story is of lesser importance here. Yes, Lionel starts off as a wimp and has some sort of character arc. (Then again, when you see the greasers who call him a freak... I(!) am boozing in a graveyard and pissing on a grave, what are YOU doing?) And at the end he stands up to his controlling mother and eliminates all the remaining zombies. Credit where credit is due, uncle Douchwig McRaperface gets in his fair share of zombiekills too.

That's all secondary to the priest doing martial arts, the ear in the pudding, the zombie with the lightbulb head, the mohawk zombie baby,... It's a horror comedy and all you need to do is soak up the gore and cackle your ass off at the silliness. And I loved every second of it.

Braindead 1992 ★★★★★

Peter Jackson delivers a splatstick masterpiece, building on the last 30 minutes of Bad Taste. Nearly every scene is brilliant in its glorious silliness. Between I kick ass for the lord and Party's over, it's a veritable feast of hilarious dialogue and quotable oneliners.

Some of the top scenes have an over the topness and cruelty that remind me of Roald Dahl, with buckets of blood added, of course. Speaking of blood, seeing Lionel slipping over the blood also has hints of the Keystone Cops in it. So is Braindead Roald Dahl meets Eli Roth? Or would that be silly?

The opening scene already makes it pretty clear that the story is of lesser importance here. Yes, Lionel starts off as a wimp and has some sort of character arc. (Then again, when you see the greasers who call him a freak... I(!) am boozing in a graveyard and pissing on a grave, what are YOU doing?) And at the end he stands up to his controlling mother and eliminates all the remaining zombies. Credit where credit is due, uncle Douchwig McRaperface gets in his fair share of zombiekills too.

That's all secondary to the priest doing martial arts, the ear in the pudding, the zombie with the lightbulb head, the mohawk zombie baby,... It's a horror comedy and all you need to do is soak up the gore and cackle your ass off at the silliness. And I loved every second of it.

Primal Fear 1996 ★★★½

This movie is mostly carried by the actors. Or rather, one actor. Edward Norton's excells as Aaron/Roy in a performance that earned him a well deserved Oscar nomination. And there is of course the ever present charm of Richard Gere, which is not to be ignored.

The story is a solid courtroom drama. You can denounce the clichés like the crooked poltician/real estate developer and the diddler priest, but it flowed along quite nicely and some of the beats were brought to the table well, like the backs to the wall moment after the first session and the eureka moment before the deciding testimony. And of course the twist. The look on Gere's face when he pieces it together out is fantastic.

Recommended for fans of courtoom drama, people who can handle the truth.

[Tommy Jarvis]

Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 2022 ★★★★

This review may contain spoilers.

Netflix documentaries sometimes get a bad rep. This one has its flaws too, but it's certainly worth watching.

Over the course of three episodes, you get a detailed image of what went wrong in the months leading up to Woodstock and the climax at the festival itself.

The seeds were planted in the aftermath of Woodstock 94 and the days leading up to Woodstock 99. 94 did not make enough money, so they wanted 99 to compensate for that by cutting costs and maximizing profits. To subcontractors who inevitably did not deliver. Who woulda thunk it?

This leads to the type of price gouging and bad service that only served to (further) infuriate the crowd.

A crowd that over the course of the festival became
- drugged up
- dehydrated
- undershadowed - is that a word?/sunburnt
- taken for a ride (and not in a good way)

Agression released by Limp Bizkit, escalating in a night of debauchery, a lot of consensual sex, and a lot of non consensual sex. The security was a joke (because of course, cost cutting), so nobody had the authority to stop it.

And then the third day. Between an in hindsight infuriating press conference (everything is well Madame Marquis), the infected water, a surprise super headliner who was not there,... And the candles... Oh my goodness, the candles,... As well intentioned as it may have been... if the organisation had any idea of what was going on in the field, they would have realized the boneheaded nature of this idea. The saddest part is that, at first, it seems to go well. But then of course all hell breaks loose. And then a celebration of peace and love ends with the organisation barricading their own offices and having to call in the goddamn national guard.

The musicians only get a short bit of speaking time and only Fatboy Slim does a bit of introspection. Jonathan Davis is right about security, but how much has he reflected on his own part in all of this? And where was Fred Durst? Why did this tough guy nu metal rapper did not have the time or courage to answer a few tough questions?

Sadly, the people in the organisation rarely show any intropsection themselves or admit much guilt to what happened.

The only silver lining is that some of the women in the documentary credited the events for planting the seed of ideas and thoughts what would later become the metoo-movement. Other than that, it's just a very sad story.

Death Dive 2015 ★★★½

Death Dive – or Le Scaphandrier, as it is known in its native Quebec – is a bit of an odd offering in that in it starts with your standard slasher to then throw in elements from monster films/creature features and a bit of zombies towards the end.

The story revoves around retrieving a boat named Princess of the north. (Just for the way the characters say this name, I recommend watching it in the original French version. And for those hating subtitles: suck it up.) A monster appears from the ship, killing everyone out to retrieve/steal its contents and/or the possessions of the original passengers. Wearing what is quite possibly the least comfortable killer outfit ever: a diving costume.

The kills are done nicely gory. The second one has a shade of the original My Bloody Valentine over it and the researcher/vintage horror fan gets a kill not unlike Axel in The Final Chapter. On the upside: we do see the consequences. On the downside: the big moment is more than once offscreen.

That said, this movie has other things going for it too like he two diving suits in the researcher kill (you'll see when you see) or a shot that has to be a nod to Quint from Jaws. The ghosts haunt the car engine, putting a bit of a spin on the “car won't start”-trope. And I won't psoil it, but the ending has a touching moment that gives the killer the sort of extra touch that sets this movie apart from the standard.

Check it out.

Evidence 2011 ★½

Evidence is a pretty uneventfull found footage that does not bring many new things to the table. The first forty minutes are the typical stuff about friends going on a trip. One of them needs to record everything for some vague reason about a "documentary". The group falls apart and bicker amongst each other.

Then it makes a sharp turn in the second half, but it does not add anything apart from a few jump scares. Just a lot of shaky cam, sceraming and running around.

The rest? Bla bla conspiracy bla bla secret government project gone awry. Bla bla shouty bits bla bla bursty bursts. Something vague about zombies... who cares... something something another jump scare... At times, it just feels like a dull level of Doom.

[FryeDwight]

[QUOTE=Tommy Jarvis;1051282]Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 2022 ★★★★

This review may contain spoilers.

Netflix documentaries sometimes get a bad rep. This one has its flaws too, but it's certainly worth watching.

Over the course of three episodes, you get a detailed image of what went wrong in the months leading up to Woodstock and the climax at the festival itself.

The seeds were planted in the aftermath of Woodstock 94 and the days leading up to Woodstock 99. 94 did not make enough money, so they wanted 99 to compensate for that by cutting costs and maximizing profits. To subcontractors who inevitably did not deliver. Who woulda thunk it?

This leads to the type of price gouging and bad service that only served to (further) infuriate the crowd.

A crowd that over the course of the festival became
- drugged up
- dehydrated
- under-shadowed - is that a word?/sunburnt
- taken for a ride (and not in a good way)

Agression released by Limp Bizkit, escalating in a night of debauchery, a lot of consensual sex, and a lot of non consensual sex. The security was a joke (because of course, cost cutting), so nobody had the authority to stop it.

And then the third day. Between an in hindsight infuriating press conference (everything is well Madame Marquis), the infected water, a surprise super headliner who was not there,... And the candles... Oh my goodness, the candles,... As well intentioned as it may have been... if the organisation had any idea of what was going on in the field, they would have realized the boneheaded nature of this idea. The saddest part is that, at first, it seems to go well. But then of course all hell breaks loose. And then a celebration of peace and love ends with the organisation barricading their own offices and having to call in the goddamn national guard.

The musicians only get a short bit of speaking time and only Fatboy Slim does a bit of introspection. Jonathan Davis is right about security, but how much has he reflected on his own part in all of this? And where was Fred Durst? Why did this tough guy nu metal rapper did not have the time or courage to answer a few tough questions?

Sadly, the people in the organisation rarely show any intropsection themselves or admit much guilt to what happened.

The only silver lining is that some of the women in the documentary credited the events for planting the seed of ideas and thoughts what would later become the metoo-movement. Other than that, it's just a very sad story.

TJ...once again, You review stuff right before I see it!

This was VERY good, although CLUSTERFUCK might have been a good subtitle as well. Such POOR planning by the organizers, such greed (taking away the attendees food/water and charging such high amounts-$4 for a bottle of water?!?), having the event on tarmac in the middle of summer with the heat index so high and no shade, way too much stimulation (all the Nu-Metal bands plus the various tents throughout), a lot of drunken Frat boy types with no worries about answering for their behavior and lastly, very destructive Mob mentality.
I realize and understand that the promotors wanted to make a profit, but there is also disgust how they didn't seem to admit to any problems or take blame. By the way, I don't think Fred Durst could walk and chew gum at the same time. A good performer knows how to keep the excitement level up, but if necessary, tone things down. He was beyond foolish to exhort the crowd to "Break stuff", and not realizing what would happen.
Watching things like this make Me feel more than ever that there should be a limit on alcohol at events, especially large ones like this. I can't even begin to imagine how wasted they were, especially during the Port-A-Potty snafu.

I would give this **** also

[Amaltheaunicorn2023]

[IMG]https:96&ssl=1[/IMG]

[Tommy Jarvis]

Originally Posted by FryeDwight

TJ...once again, You review stuff right before I see it!

Is it any comfort if I say that the original review dates back to august of last year?

Glad you enjoyed it.