Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[Sock Monkey]

I took a week off from my rapidly disintegrating workplace to job hunt, AKA "Get the fuck out while I still can!", and have had a lot of movie-watching time at night, so I've been going nuts.

On shudder:
THE STONE TAPE- I've heard about this Nigel Kneale BBC production for decades, so I was thrilled to finally get a chance to see it. The subplot about the washing-machine guy was...weird, and I don't fully get why it was in there, but the obsession with unraveling the whys and wherefores of a haunting for potential gain in the tech market was fascinating, and the end, while primitive looking as hell, was very effective. Good stuff.
WAKE WOOD- A great little folk-horror tale that was predictable, but effective nonetheless. Great performances all around.

I am forever on the lookout for Jackie Chan films, remarkably few of which are streaming, aside from the ones on free channels that have endless commercials. MIRACLES is currently on Max, so I was happy to finally be able to see it. Visually gorgeous, it suffers from the same problems as a a Godzilla movie: There's only so much monster fighting and destruction they can afford to show, so you get a lot of talking in between monsters. Here, you get a Hong Kong remake of ÂÂ POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES, filled with witty banter and wacky slapstick that goes on FOREVER (Two hours and ten minutes!!!), very badly subtitled, I might add. (It's a Criterion Collection film! They couldn't do better with the subtitles???) There are exactly three fight scenes, two of which are very slim, but the finale, which takes place in a factory that must supply giant ropes for pirate ships, was mind-blowing, and made up for all of the boredom.

And I am late to the party, but I finally saw Denzel's THE EQUALIZER, which was also ungodly long. Lots of great vengeance kills, and I guess an old bald black American guy can just waltz in and out of Russia and commit mass homicides without anyone following him or wondering what he's up to, but...whatever. It was fun. Bring on parts 2 & 3!

I didn't know that Shudder had THE STONE TAPE!I'm going to have to carve out some time to check it out. I remember the dvd cover to WAKE WOOD, but I don't think I ever checked it out. I also put this on my list.

I was very shocked with THE EQUALIZER got not one, but two sequels. I thought that the first was entertaining enough, but nothing particularly special. That being said, Denzel Washington is always fun to watch. If I wanted vengeance-filled Denzel, my go-to is always going to be MAN ON FIRE.

[Sock Monkey]

Watched Spring today and really liked it. 3.5 out of 5.

Thanks for the recommendation.



Â

I'm glad you liked it!

[dannyboy121070]

I took a week off from my rapidly disintegrating workplace to job hunt, AKA "Get the fuck out while I still can!", and have had a lot of movie-watching time at night, so I've been going nuts.

On shudder:
THE STONE TAPE- I've heard about this Nigel Kneale BBC production for decades, so I was thrilled to finally get a chance to see it. The subplot about the washing-machine guy was...weird, and I don't fully get why it was in there, but the obsession with unraveling the whys and wherefores of a haunting for potential gain in the tech market was fascinating, and the end, while primitive looking as hell, was very effective. Good stuff.
WAKE WOOD- A great little folk-horror tale that was predictable, but effective nonetheless. Great performances all around.

I am forever on the lookout for Jackie Chan films, remarkably few of which are streaming, aside from the ones on free channels that have endless commercials. MIRACLES is currently on Max, so I was happy to finally be able to see it. Visually gorgeous, it suffers from the same problems as a a Godzilla movie: There's only so much monster fighting and destruction they can afford to show, so you get a lot of talking in between monsters. Here, you get a Hong Kong remake of   POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES, filled with witty banter and wacky slapstick that goes on FOREVER (Two hours and ten minutes!!!), very badly subtitled, I might add. (It's a Criterion Collection film! They couldn't do better with the subtitles???) There are exactly three fight scenes, two of which are very slim, but the finale, which takes place in a factory that must supply giant ropes for pirate ships, was mind-blowing, and made up for all of the boredom.

And I am late to the party, but I finally saw Denzel's THE EQUALIZER, which was also ungodly long. Lots of great vengeance kills, and I guess an old bald black American guy can just waltz in and out of Russia and commit mass homicides without anyone following him or wondering what he's up to, but...whatever. It was fun. Bring on parts 2 & 3!

[Ben Staad]

Watched Spring today and really liked it. 3.5 out of 5.

Thanks for the recommendation.

I really like Spring and I actually think it's their most accessible film. As for Dirt, I remember feeling both that there was some very compelling ideas they were tackling--especially the idea of isolation breeding the acceptance of wilder and wilder conspiracies--and also feeling that the film was about 20 minutes too long. I've enjoyed their other films enough that I can forgive the misstep.

In related news, they are supposedly at one point working on a sequel to The Endless that will either be a TV show or a movie.

 

[Ben Staad]

Interesting news indeed. Fairly certain I would be down for that.

In related news, they are supposedly at one point working on a sequel to The Endless that will either be a TV show or a movie.

 

[Sock Monkey]

I watched WHEN EVIL LURKSÂ on Shudder last night. I had high hopes, after all of the acclaim and hoopla, and it was...eh. Very small in scale and cramped feeling. The concept of a contagious infestation of demonic possession was interesting, but the rules and mythology were confusing. It had a few really effective shocks, mostly in the beginning, and some gnarly effects, but it didn't do much to change my general distaste for foreign Horror films.

You know, I liked this one quite a bit, but I saw it at a film festival with no previous expectations. I do agree with your complaints about the confusing mythology, though. I kept waiting for payoffs to rules they discussed that never came. Ultimately, I felt that the first half was much stronger than the second.

[dannyboy121070]

I watched WHEN EVIL LURKS on Shudder last night. I had high hopes, after all of the acclaim and hoopla, and it was...eh. Very small in scale and cramped feeling. The concept of a contagious infestation of demonic possession was interesting, but the rules and mythology were confusing. It had a few really effective shocks, mostly in the beginning, and some gnarly effects, but it didn't do much to change my general distaste for foreign Horror films.

[Sock Monkey]

SOMETHING IN THE DIRT is where I checked out on their films. It was just too boring. SPRING is probably my favorite of their movies.

I really like Spring and I actually think it's their most accessible film. As for Dirt, I remember feeling both that there was some very compelling ideas they were tackling--especially the idea of isolation breeding the acceptance of wilder and wilder conspiracies--and also feeling that the film was about 20 minutes too long. I've enjoyed their other films enough that I can forgive the misstep.

In related news, they are supposedly at one point working on a sequel to The Endless that will either be a TV show or a movie.

[dannyboy121070]

Yeah, I'm actually a pretty big fan of Benson and Moorhead's stuff. I enjoy the fact that they tend to take big swings conceptually with their film, even if their reach exceeds their grasp sometimes. Like dannyboy mentioned, The Endless ties into their first film Resolution, but also has some tangential relationship to their film Spring. I really need to rewatch Something in the Dirt because it was very different than what I was expecting and, in hindsight, I'm not too sure where I landed on it. The film of theirs that I liked the least was Synchronic as it just went places that I didn't find as compelling as the set-up.

SOMETHING IN THE DIRT is where I checked out on their films. It was just too boring. SPRING is probably my favorite of their movies.

[Sock Monkey]

The Endless. 3 out of 5 stars.

This was a low budget film regarding brothers who fled, and then returned, to a UFO Death Cult. Interesting Sci-Fi/horror flick with an intriguing concept/story. It was lacking in several areas but kept my interest through the whole thing.

Has anyone else seen this one? The undertones are about life, family, and how individuals chose to observe these things.Â

Yeah, I'm actually a pretty big fan of Benson and Moorhead's stuff. I enjoy the fact that they tend to take big swings conceptually with their film, even if their reach exceeds their grasp sometimes. Like dannyboy mentioned, The Endless ties into their first film Resolution, but also has some tangential relationship to their film Spring. I really need to rewatch Something in the Dirt because it was very different than what I was expecting and, in hindsight, I'm not too sure where I landed on it. The film of theirs that I liked the least was Synchronic as it just went places that I didn't find as compelling as the set-up.

[jeffingoff]

I like the JOHN WICK films, but they seem to get longer and longer, with the 4th, which I haven't seen yet, reaching LORD OF THE RINGS epic-length...too long for an action film. Plus, the third ended with him shot in the heart and falling off a high-rise......how can he get outta that???

John Wick 4 made me question how much action I want in an action movie. The fight scenes are ridiculously long. I know people usually scream for more, but JW4 was like the Ironic Punishment Division in The Simpson's version of hell. The one where the demons feed an endless supply of donuts to Homer who is strapped into a chair and forced to eat. You might think you want more of something fun, but JW4 is TOO MUCH. I'm happy to report that Homer exhausted the supply of donuts and did just fine. But most people would crumble. ALSO my son and I can't look at concrete stairs without laughing anymore. 

[dannyboy121070]

The Endless. 3 out of 5 stars.

This was a low budget film regarding brothers who fled, and then returned, to a UFO Death Cult. Interesting Sci-Fi/horror flick with an intriguing concept/story. It was lacking in several areas but kept my interest through the whole thing.

Has anyone else seen this one? The undertones are about life, family, and how individuals chose to observe these things. 

I saw it a while back. I remember that it was closely tied to their film RESOLUTION. Both films were decent, but nothing special, IMO. I think Benson & Moorhead films just aren't my cup of tea.

[Ben Staad]

The Endless. 3 out of 5 stars.

This was a low budget film regarding brothers who fled, and then returned, to a UFO Death Cult. Interesting Sci-Fi/horror flick with an intriguing concept/story. It was lacking in several areas but kept my interest through the whole thing.

Has anyone else seen this one? The undertones are about life, family, and how individuals chose to observe these things. 

[mhatchett]

I was just thinking about this movie yesterday for some reason....weird.

I recall thinking it was a decent film, but I called the twist right away.....I mean, there's really no reason for the film to be telling these stories side by side without the twist, so it seemed obvious to me.

Mangold is one of these filmmakers that, when I hear they are attached to some upcoming film, it makes me feel sad. I was excited to hear about the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic, and when I heard Mangold was directing....sadness. I don't think he's EVER made a film that I truly enjoyed. He came close with COPLAND, a film that grew on me with repeated viewings, but his two Wolverine movies were such wasted opportunities, and he should be in Director's jail for his Indiana Jones travesty.

The Indiana Jones Movie just made me sad. From now on, pretty much like Star Wars, I'll only revisit the first three films. They were so good. Last Crusade is a great note to end on. He choose poorly!!

[dannyboy121070]

I like the JOHN WICK films, but they seem to get longer and longer, with the 4th, which I haven't seen yet, reaching LORD OF THE RINGS epic-length...too long for an action film. Plus, the third ended with him shot in the heart and falling off a high-rise......how can he get outta that???