Rate the Last Movie You Saw

[Sock Monkey]

Halloween Horror Movie #1:

FINAL DESTINATION: I kicked off my annual horror movie watching with an oldie but a goodie: the original FINAL DESTINATION. I haven't seen this movie in probably fifteen years, but I always had good memories about it. And after watching again last night, I can say that it still holds up, especially that scene on the airplane at the beginning of the film. The movie was never particularly scary--even when I saw it the first time--and the character development is pretty much nil, but it is a lot of fun and whips through it's brisk 97 minute runtime. A good way to kick off the Halloween season before I dig into heavier movies.

Grade: B

[Ben Staad]

dannyboy121070 I have never heard of this movie and it sounds like a psychedelics fueled fever dream. Thanks for mentioning it. I will be on the look out for this oddity.

[dannyboy121070]

Wow, I just saw THE weirdest movie.......SHANKS.

I first learned of this bizarre film when I saw it listed on TCM a few years back. It was on way too late for me, and I've had my eye out for it ever since. TCM ran it again last week, in the dead of night again, but this time they have it available on their Watch TCM app. It's available until 9/12, and I can't recommened it enough. If you're on this board, you'll really appreciate this film.

What's it about, you ask..? I spent the whole running time imagining how it could be described.

(Spoilers will follow, so if you're interested in this film, I guess don't read the rest of this post!)

SHANKS is a 1973 mime/Horror/fairy tale concoction starring Marcel Marceau (!!!), and directed by the legendary William Castle (!!!!!).

Marceau stars as Malcolm Shanks, a deaf-mute living somewhere in the midwest, with his harridan sister-in-law and her alcoholic second husband. (All three are french, and living in bumfuck America, for some reason.) Shanks is hired out of the blue as an assistant by a weird old recluse (Also played by Marceau), who is perfecting his method of re-animating dead bodies. (!!!!)

The old man dies, setting off a bizarre series of events resulting in Shanks' family being killed and re-animated as his slaves (!!!). There's also Shanks' creepy relationship with a little girl who is probably 13 or 14. "Mom,. can I go on a picnic with this 55 year old mime?" Sure, no problem!

The little blonde girl goes off with Shanks to the old man's castle, he dresses her up like a bride, and uses his corpse slaves to throw her a birthday party. Of course, the party is crashed by that old 70s B-movie bugaboo, the biker gang. The bikers beat up Malcolm, rape and kill the little girl (!!!!!), and the stage is set for the mime zombies vs bikers finale.

This is a jaw-droppingly weird film. TCM host Alicia Malone said that Marceau made Castle tone down the horrific aspects of the film, and make it more of a fairy tale. I'd hate to see how dark it was before the changes, since this fairy tale features CHILD RAPE AND MURDER!!!! You really have to see this to believe it.

I'd love to hear if anyone else has seen this film....

I can almost guarantee that you've never heard of this creepy little oddity, and this description does not even begin to touch how weird it is.

[Ben Staad]

3D gives me a migraine. So I pass on them as well. IMAX also bothers my head but I think that has something to do with the enhanced sound systems in IMAX theaters and not necessarily the screen. IDK but very loud and booming noises don't work well with me in the theater. Feel similar when watching or listening to an orchestra in person. Headache city.

Weird thing is firing my gun or setting off fireworks doesn't bother me.

I believe it was national cinema day across the country. Saw Jaws for the first time on the big screen in IMAX for 3 bucks as well. Never been a fan of 3D as it causes me motion sickness or something there of the like.

[Sock Monkey]

One of the things that I seriously dislike about this message board are the lack of threads...everything that anyone could possibly talk about are tied up in a handful of threads: Random Thoughts, and What are you reading/watching/listening to? Going forward, I'm going to try to start new threads for books that I'm reading, and movies that I've seen recently, to try to spur on a little more diverse conversation around here. I love the movie talk here, but once we start talking about PREY, for example, then the talk about NOPE dies out. I'd like to have more specific threads on the board that people can pop into and have discussions when they finally get around to seeing/reading specific films and books.

That said......My wife and son and I watched PREY last week, and we all loved it. I thought Amber Midthunder did a great job as the hero. Being adorably cute was also a plus. The animal CGI didn't bother me much, because I'm used to iffy animal CGI at this point. I guess the days of filming an actual bear or dog are gone. (I know the dog was real, I was thinking more about the recent CALL OF THE WILD remake, which I really enjoyed, but the fake dog drove me nuts.) PREY seems to be a huge hit for Hulu, so I'm hoping we get some more Predator adventures in different time periods. And it's still not too late for the Arnold/Danny Glover team-up that I've wanted to see for decades......

My wife and I watched THE BLACK PHONE on Peacock last night. We both enjoyed it, but I'm glad that I didn't see it in a theater. Nothing about it needed to be seen on a big-screen. That make me sad to say, since I used to go to the movies every weekend pre-Covid, but most of my trips to the theater post-Covid have been awful. People just don't know how to act in public anymore. Loud talking, phones, tablets, yelling at the screen......I tend to only go see the big spectacles now, early in the morning, before the assholes wake up, and leave smaller films for home viewing. Back to THE BLACK PHONE....I thought there was some great acting on display, especially the little girl, and Ethan Hawke always kills it, whatever he's in. The dialogue was pretty corny at times, especially the kids, who all spoke in that faux-hip Stephen King kids voice, such as the little sister cursing out the cops and calling them "fartknockers".....And as someone who grew up in that time period, in The Bronx: That was maybe THE most violent neighborhood in America! Kung-fu kids beating the teeth out of bullies, knife-fights at the convenience store, rocks bashing heads and faces, plus a serial killer in a black van, which I would think would make SOME nosy neighbor take notice, lol. Good film, great performances.

I'm also about halfway through Netflix's THE SANDMAN adaptation, but I should start a new thread about that.

I like your ideas of threads taking deeper dives into book or movie discussions. I'm wondering if maybe anyone on the forum would be interested in a group read and discussion?

I'm finding that I am very much in the minority in my disappointment in PREY. I don't think it was bad by any means, but I just didn't like the idea of modernized John Wick-type action.

Your thoughts about modern movie-goers is EXACTLY why I don't go to the theater. The fact that a segment of movie-goers feel like they can behave like a theater is their own living room and tend to act offended when their actions are addressed bothers me to no end. In my opinion, it is this factor, not the increase in theater ticket prices or the reduction in home theater components, that is causing the decline in cinema attendance.

I'm about halfway through THE SANDMAN as well and I've been liking it, but it hasn't been knocking my socks off. But, to be honest, the first arc of the comic which the first half of the season is adapting is probably the weakest in what I remember from the series. My wife feels very lost. I try to explain the best I can. I do like Jenna Coleman as the series Constantine, but I really, really want a very hard R-rated faithful adaptation of the HELLBLAZER.