TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2019

"The Dark Tower" (2017)

A strangely non-compelling fantasy/action flick based on Stephen King's epic multi-part saga, about a kid from New York and a legendary gunslingin' bad-ass from another dimension (Idris Elba) battling to stop a tyrant (Matthew McConaughey) from destroying both of their worlds. Or something like that.
I've only ever read the first "Dark Tower" book and that was years n' years ago, so I couldn't tell you how faithful this movie is to the source materials. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say "not very," since this movie apparently squashed eight books' worth of stuff down to a brisk 95 minutes. Elba's performance is good, McConaughey's bad guy is a hoot ("stop breathing!") and there are a few cool action sequences, but overall the whole thing adds up to a big "meh."

Fat Freddy wrote:

"The Dark Tower" (2017)

A strangely non-compelling fantasy/action flick based on Stephen King's epic multi-part saga, about a kid from New York and a legendary gunslingin' bad-ass from another dimension (Idris Elba) battling to stop a tyrant (Matthew McConaughey) from destroying both of their worlds. Or something like that.
I've only ever read the first "Dark Tower" book and that was years n' years ago, so I couldn't tell you how faithful this movie is to the source materials. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd say "not very," since this movie apparently squashed eight books' worth of stuff down to a brisk 95 minutes. Elba's performance is good, McConaughey's bad guy is a hoot ("stop breathing!") and there are a few cool action sequences, but overall the whole thing adds up to a big "meh."

I can tell you how faithful it is to the source material. It's not, it's a terrible rendition of the books. The Dark Tower books are some of the best books I've read. I was so excited when I read about this movie coming out, and the sequel they had planned, plus the tv shows that were going to be done in conjunction with the movies. Then I saw this pile of trash and lost all hope for what they had originally planned.

Now it seems that all those plans have gone away, and Amazon is working on making a series out of it. I don't know much of the details about what they plan on doing other than its starting out when Roland was a teen just getting started on becoming the Gunslinger. That's not how the books start out, but it is in the story. Looking forward to seeing what Amazon does, and I hope the series portrays the books like the movie should have done.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

I can tell you how faithful it is to the source material. It's not, it's a terrible rendition of the books. The Dark Tower books are some of the best books I've read. I was so excited when I read about this movie coming out, and the sequel they had planned, plus the tv shows that were going to be done in conjunction with the movies. Then I saw this pile of trash and lost all hope for what they had originally planned.

Now it seems that all those plans have gone away, and Amazon is working on making a series out of it. I don't know much of the details about what they plan on doing other than its starting out when Roland was a teen just getting started on becoming the Gunslinger. That's not how the books start out, but it is in the story. Looking forward to seeing what Amazon does, and I hope the series portrays the books like the movie should have done.

Yep, that pretty much jives with what a buddy of mine said about it. He loved the books, has read them all several times over, and he was SO jazzed for the movie... he went and saw it opening weekend, and I remember him posting a rant on FB the next day telling everyone, "don't bother, it's a f***in' train wreck," haha.

Like I said, I only ever read the first book and it was dog years ago, so I honestly remember nothin' about it. Therefore I was basically going into this movie cold. With that in mind, it was an OK time-waster action flick, but I can see how fans of the books felt shafted by it.

Yeah, if it was just a movie not called the dark tower, and the characters weren't named Rolland, it would be a decent movie lol

The books,are so vast in scope, a series is the only way it can get the justice it deserves. You should read them. The cool thing about them is there are so many other things in his other books that tie in with the series. The Maj in black, is pretty much the devil from The Stand. All kinds of things like that.

Continuing my "oh crap, these DVDs are due back at the library tomorrow" film festival...

"Army of Darkness" (1992)

The third installment in the "Evil Dead" saga plays like a slapstick-horror version of "Monty Python & The Holy Grail," as square-jawed demon fighter Ash Williams finds himself transported to England in the 1300's, where he has to help a castle full of knights battle against a new swarm of deadites - led by an evil version of Ash himself!
Less gory and more goofy than the previous "Evil Dead" installments, "Army" is still a hoot to watch thanks to the way-cool, old school stop motion FX and Bruce Campbell's hilariously badass performance.

Today watched an episode of season 2 of 'Jessica Jones' and been watching a crime series from Denmark 'The Killing'

Finished up NOS4A2

Ring of Honor

I'm into Season 2 of Star Trek: Enterprise.

I think one of the most interesting things about this series is how they're handling laying the foundations for what would become the original Star Trek.

For instance, at this point in the ST timeline there's no United Federation Of Planets and no "Prime Directive".  But as the virgin Star Fleet explorer vessel is finding out (the hard way) they need to be careful about interfering and/or corrupting the cultures of other inhabited planets (hence the Prime Directive).  And since about half the alien species they've encountered so far have been hostile, you can see where the UFP is coming from.

And I really enjoy Jolene Blalock's portrayal of the female, Vulcan science officer.  There's obvious sexual tension between her and several male shipmates (including the captain) but she mostly continues to act like a "female Spock".  Prior to this series I only knew her as the female Amazon love interest of Tealc in Stargate SG1 for about 3 episodes.  She's really good at portraying an obviously hot female who suppresses her emotions as a Vulcan but also wants to explore some of what her human comrades enjoy.  She's great in this series.

I bought alot of those fan packs of Star Trek box sets, and they had one or two episodes of 'Enterprise' and I loved it, and yes Jolene Blalock was a stand out in that series.

Finished the series from Denmark 'The Killing'

Yeah, that's how I discovered the Enterprise series; from the Klingon fan pack.  I was so impressed I bought the entire Enterprise series.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

I am currently watching a movie called House. Not the 1980's movie,but some Japanese movie from the 70's. I only wish I were on acid right now lol

I can honestly testify that I have seen this movie baked and ended up somewhere between two blankets of reality. A visual gonzo kick to the brain.

"Shocking Dark"
(aka "Alienators," aka "Terminator 2," 1989)


A team of commandos heads into the ruins of post-apocalyptic Venice (?) to rescue scientists from a secret laboratory, and are attacked by hordes of slimy, carnivorous something-or-others.

...so hey, kids, did you like "Aliens?" Cuz wow, so did the Italians who made this low-budget spaghetti remix, which spends most of its run time stealing entire scenes from it, and then it ramps up the James Cameron worship (and the WTF factor) even MORE in the last half hour by randomly throwing in a killer cyborg and a time machine!

Directed by the king of Italian ripoff artists, Bruno Mattei, and written by Claudio Fragasso of "Troll 2" fame, this semi-classic cheese fest was never released in the U.S. for obvious legal reasons but it was an apparent hit overseas. They even had the balls to use the title "Terminator 2" in some parts of the world with lax copyright laws!

Attack Of Life : The Bang Tango Movie. Caught this on youtube. Interesting documentary on the band.

These are the last two movies I saw in the cinema.

"Tale of the Fox: The Eric Carr Story" (2000)

Low budget video documentary about the late Kiss drummer's life and career, made up mainly of grainy home movies and video clips. Gene and Paul are nowhere to be seen, but Bruce Kulick tells some good stories and members of Slaughter and Cinderella drop by to share their memories of Eric too.
I dig Kiss and I respect Eric as much as the next fanboy, but overall this was a pretty dull doc that doesn't have much to say besides "Eric was a nice guy and it sucks that he's dead." For diehards only.

"Cool World" (1992)

A comic book artist discovers that the characters he's been drawing for years actually exist in the "Cool World" - an alternate dimension populated by cartoon creatures. When he meets his comic-book dream girl, the femme fatale Holli Would (Kim Basinger) in the flesh -- err, the ink --  it sets off a forbidden romance that could spell doom for both worlds unless a human cop (Brad Pitt) can stop it.

This was supposed to be renegade animator/director Ralph "Fritz the Cat" Bakshi's big comeback vehicle after a decade away from filmmaking, but he battled constantly with the producers behind the scenes and the end result was a PG-13 rated muddle that tanked at the box office.

Bakshi wanted "Cool World" to be a much darker, more adult take on the animation/live action blend seen in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," but while "Cool World" has lots of impressive visuals, the story feels like a bunch of spare parts that never quite come together. On the plus side, it's got a killer soundtrack (incl. tracks by the Cult, David Bowie, Ministry and more), plus Kim Basinger at her absolute peak of hotness as "Holli."

I saw this movie during its theatrical run and I've seen it several times since, it's still a mess, but at least it's an interesting mess.

"Metallica: The Halcyon Days, Part I" (2008)

In yet another "unauthorized" music documentary, the first three Metallica albums are dissected in depth by the usual group of British rock journalists (Malcolm Dome, Dave Reynolds, etc.), with additional input from associates like thrash photographer Harald O, former Music For Nations label boss Martin Hooker, and members of Heathen. (Surprisingly, Brian Tatler of Diamond Head is nowhere to be seen, which is unusual cuz he's been in pretty much every other one of these British metal docs I've seen... )
Anyway, some good stories are told and some of the vintage photos are cool, but if you're a long time Metallica fan you obviously wont learn anything new here. I doubt I'll ever bother to sit thru Part 2.

Watched Amazon's The Boys in my first binge since--I dunno, Lost? Anyway, great show, methinks a bunch of members here would really latch onto it. Dark as hell and gory to boot. Basically an enlightening view on superheroes if they were owned by a corporate entity and abused their celebrity status, collaterally affecting innocents. Still in my thought banks and made a lasting impression. Haven't had this type of experience with a show since Breaking Bad. Highly recommended, even though not perfect (there are some issues I have). And morally ambiguous.

corplhicks wrote:

Watched Amazon's The Boys in my first binge since--I dunno, Lost? Anyway, great show, methinks a bunch of members here would really latch onto it. Dark as hell and gory to boot. Basically an enlightening view on superheroes if they were owned by a corporate entity and abused their celebrity status, collaterally affecting innocents. Still in my thought banks and made a lasting impression. Haven't had this type of experience with a show since Breaking Bad. Highly recommended, even though not perfect (there are some issues I have). And morally ambiguous.

So, it's basically a take on Liefeld's Youngblood? I have to admit, the promos for the Boys didn't really make me want to catch it, but if it is similar to Youngblood, I might just check it out.

007 wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Watched Amazon's The Boys in my first binge since--I dunno, Lost? Anyway, great show, methinks a bunch of members here would really latch onto it. Dark as hell and gory to boot. Basically an enlightening view on superheroes if they were owned by a corporate entity and abused their celebrity status, collaterally affecting innocents. Still in my thought banks and made a lasting impression. Haven't had this type of experience with a show since Breaking Bad. Highly recommended, even though not perfect (there are some issues I have). And morally ambiguous.

So, it's basically a take on Liefeld's Youngblood? I have to admit, the promos for the Boys didn't really make me want to catch it, but if it is similar to Youngblood, I might just check it out.

I think the previews got it all wrong and mis-marketed the show. I had to look Youngblood up (never heard of it), but I can see similarities. Except instead of the govt having control of the supes, it's shareholders. Think of if Justice League were run by a Fortune 500 mega-conglomerate. Perhaps even a bit symbolic of Disney's relationship with Marvel's IP.

Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002)-when the grandson of the villain from the first movie inherits his grandfathers old catering business, he soon becomes possessed by the goddess Ishtar and sets about completing the "blood Feast" his grandfather tried to do once before, using humans for all the ingredients. This long awaited sequel to the 1963 cult splatter film has all the H.G. Lewis trademarks including terrible acting, cheesy dialog and over the top gore. I didn't really have high hopes for this one for some reason, but after setting through it I found it mildly entertaining. I'll give it 2 out of 5.

Leatherface wrote:

Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002)-when the grandson of the villain from the first movie inherits his grandfathers old catering business, he soon becomes possessed by the goddess Ishtar and sets about completing the "blood Feast" his grandfather tried to do once before, using humans for all the ingredients. This long awaited sequel to the 1963 cult splatter film has all the H.G. Lewis trademarks including terrible acting, cheesy dialog and over the top gore.  I didn't really have high hopes for this one for some reason, but after setting through it I found it mildly entertaining.  I'll give it 2 out of 5.

LOL that movie is stupid yet amusing. The first is a classic and I need to see it again. It's been too long.

I love HGL. He knows how to keep a bad movie engaging, even if on a primal level.

"Die Hard With a Vengeance" (1995)

A mad bomber is loose in New York, sending John McClane and a Harlem shopkeeper on a series of "games" around the city to distract from his ultimate master plan.
Bruce Willis' third "Die Hard" go-round is the biggest and most sprawling adventure yet, giving him an entire city to play in, and Samuel L. Jackson is hilarious as McClane's unwilling sidekick. The last great "DH" movie.

Over the weekend, I watched Godzilla vs Hedorah, twice. Once with my wife and once with my 7yo.

Good fun.