TODAY I WATCHED (Movies, TV Shows) 2020

Fat Freddy wrote:

the sentinel wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Dead Heat" (1988)

While investigating a string of bizarre robberies committed by seemingly-indestructible goons, a pair of wisecracking L.A. cops (Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo) learn that a mad scientist (Vincent Price!) has invented a way to re-animate dead criminals.
This action packed (and quite gory) buddy cop/horror spoof totally missed a bet by not calling itself "Beverly Hills Zombie."

Classic!!!  "Kill this guy, would ya?"

"You dont look so good."
"Lady, I'm f*cking dead!"

Back in high school, my buddy Chris and I used to quote this one constantly, along with I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

mikeinfla wrote:

On Amazon Prime. haven't seen it since i was a kid.

Wow! I don't remember that one at all. But it looks like the writer thought: "what if we mix the Goonies with Flight of the Navigator?"

The Redeemer:Son Of Satan (1978)



Six people are brought to their old high school for a 10 year reunion but soon discover that it's a ride to get them there to be killed off for their sinful lives by a masked psycho. It has a slightly different tone to a normal slasher but not really worth the watch.

007 wrote:

The Redeemer:Son Of Satan (1978)



Six people are brought to their old high school for a 10 year reunion but soon discover that it's a ride to get them there to be killed off for their sinful lives by a masked psycho. It has a slightly different tone to a normal slasher but not really worth the watch.

I had this movie on a dollar-store "Double Feature" DVD years ago under its alternate title, "Class Reunion Massacre." It was awful!

The Exorcist (1973)



The classic film about demonic possession in a 12 year old girl (Linda Blair) and the efforts to free her. Somehow, I never saw the whole movie. Glad I was finally able to.

Shock (1977)



A woman, her second husband and her creepy looking son move back into the house that she shared with her first husband up until his suicide. Soon afterward, the boy starts behaving strangely,almost possessed, and begins to exhibit possibly psychic powers. Meanwhile, the woman slowly starts having a nervous breakdown. An Italian import that wasn't too bad of a watch.

Dr. No (1962)



In the first James Bond picture, Sean Connery stars as the suave secret agent investigating the disappearance of a British agent working with the CIA on the cause of Mercury rockets being knocked off course. This leads to Bond discovering the evil Dr. No and the organization he works for SPECTRE. Lots of fun in this one (without any gadgets,yet) and co-starring the beautiful statuesque Ursula Andress.

Southern Belles Of Comedy
Married With Children

"Warlock: The Armageddon" (1993)

Julian Sands is back for another round as Satan's son, trying to bring about the end of the world (again) by collecting six sacred stones that will open a portal to Hell. Fortunately there's a pair of powerful teenagers standing in his way, who've been trained by Druids for just such an occasion.
The first "Warlock" flick had a cast of decent actors but mostly-terrible effects; this time it's the other way around. "Armageddon" is faster-paced and much gorier than the first movie, but the performances are mostly atrocious (even Sands seems to be phoning it in). The few attempts at early 90s CGI are laughable as well. Still, if you liked the first "Warlock" you'll probably dig this one.
As an added metal-nerd bonus, the end credits theme song is "Something Wicked" by Nuclear Assault!

The Crucible Of Horror (1971)



Also known as The Corpse, a mother and daughter scheme to murder the domineering and sadistic patriarch of the family. Although apparently successful, it would appear that he's not quite dead. Good premise, playing out like a Twilight Zone episode, but a horrible head scratching ending. Don't waste your time with this one.

The Blood Spattered Bride (1974)



A newlywed couple moves in to the husband's ancestral home. The wife soon starts having disturbing dreams of woman in a bride's dress stalking her. She also discovers that her husband's ancestor murdered her husband on their wedding night for making her do "unspeakable things". The husband soon encounters a woman who strongly resembles his ancestor and things go south from there. This one is a fairly effective Spanish horror film that fits into that early 70s lesbian vampire genre.

War Of The Colossal Beast (1958)

This is the sequel to 1954's "Amazing Colossal Man".  Glenn Manning, the army lieutenant who grew into a 60 foot giant after being exposed to the radiation of a plutonium bomb test, is now horribly disfigured due to his fall off the Hoover Dam at the end of the first movie.  Other than the hideous makeup this is basically the same premise as the original film with Glenn's fiancé being replaced by his sister for the melodramatic parts of the movie.

I saw this numerous times on Saturday afternoons as a kid and I remember being fascinated by the gross face makeup on the giant and the horrible moans, groans and screams he makes but really it doesn't hold up very well after all these years because it's essentially a rehash of the first movie.

I started a new series on Prime TV called "Museum Secrets" and it's pretty good. They pick a major museum somewhere in the world (London, Ontario, New York, Athens) and tell the stories behind 5 or 6 exhibits there. Pretty interesting stuff, and the narrator has a cool voice. They also posit some cool theories like some of the Greek mathematicians were so brilliant because they were really smart guys who a sort of LSD beer that unlocked their mind's potential and allowed them to come up with ideas that were beyond the normal scope of things.

With no sports or even reruns of sports that interested me, tonight I decided to start rewatching the original Star Trek series (I have all 3 seasons on DVD).

Tonight I watched the first two episodes of Season 1, "Man Trap" (or as I think of it "The Salt Monster")and "Charlie X".

On the Waterfront
Detour

The Equalizer 2

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969)

James Bond (played for the first and only time by previously-unknown Aussie male model George Lazenby) romances a Countess and foils SPECTRE's latest germ-warfare plot in the snowy Swiss Alps.
Bond fans have been split on this movie for years. Some think it's the best film in the series, while others dismiss it altogether, due to Lazenby's lack of acting experience/ability. I think it's a bit overlong and drags in the midsection, but the last 40 minutes are just one cool action sequence after another.  
Lazenby may not have been much of an actor, but he definitely showed some promise in "OHMSS" -- if he hadn't followed the terrible advice of his manager (who said that Bond was a Sixties fad and the character would be "passe" in the '70s) and done at least one more 007 film, movie history might have been quite different.

He may not be my favorite Bond, but I've always found George's story fascinating - I mean, geez, he was a nobody who essentially walked in off the street, bullshitted his way into the most coveted movie role in the world, and then went "OK, I'm done" after only one film. Even if you think he was crazy or stupid (or both) you gotta admit he had balls of steel! I salute you, Mr. Lazenby!

A Blade In The Dark (1983)



A late entry in the Giallo genre, a composer rents a villa in order to score an upcoming horror movie when he gets pulled into a mystery involving some neighbors who disappear (i.e. murdered). Can he solve what's going on? A typical giallo with the usual problems, plot and dialogue/dubbing.

I will never understand the appeal of giallo flicks.  I've seen most of them (esp. the Argento ones) and by and large they bore me to tears.  Except for "Phenomena"; I like that one because it's so totally off the wall, makes no sense and it has the late, great Donald Pleasance in it which is always a plus.

But crap like "Suspiria", "Tenabrae" and a lot of the other Argento flicks?  Pass. 

That's why I was so surprised that I loved his Masters Of Horror entry "Jenifer" so much; it's completely different from that Italian crap.

I watched Monty Python’s Life of Brian last night for the umpteenth time. Mostly cause a needed a good laugh and secondly to see my wife roll her eyes and say “Really? You’re watching this on Easter?”

Blessed are the cheese-makers!

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I watched Monty Python’s Life of Brian last night for the umpteenth time. Mostly cause a needed a good laugh and secondly to see my wife roll her eyes and say “Really? You’re watching this on Easter?”

Blessed are the cheese-makers!

"It's not meant to be taken literally. It refers to the makers of all dairy products."

FOLLOW THE GOURD!

So many good lines in that film.  Over the years I've come to enjoy LoB more than Holy Grail; I simply love the relentless lampooning of "religiosity".

Finished Disc 1 of Star Trek ToS last night.

This disc wraps up with episode 4 in the series,  "The Naked Time", which features a disease that spreads through the crew like wildfire and causes everyone to act on their inhibitions.  Ironically, the disease is caused by a virus.

Watching these episodes again is like visiting an old friend.  I've seen them all COUNTLESS times, both growing up as a kid and in various forms as an adult.  Not to mention the multiple times I've already been through this DVD collection.  I know at least half of the dialogue by memory and also recognize probably 80% of the episodes about 10 seconds after they start.  Old friends.

Over the weekend:

The Platform


A platform (get it?) of fine food is lowered through the levels of a tower housing prisoners 2 to a floor.  Each floor eats what's left from the floor above.  The lowest floors get little to no food, as the ones above have eaten it all.  Once a month, all the prisoners are knocked out and randomly assigned a new floor.  The plot is a crude, ham-fisted knock on the "evils" of capitalism (you'll hear "greedy bastards" a lot...) and an airy-fairy view of socialism ("if only they'd take what they needed, there would be enough for all").  Discard the story, as it's grade school level drivel.  The movie doesn't bother to explain how a platform goes up and down with no ropes, chains, rails, pulleys, etc.  Nor does it explain how the temp can be instantly ramped up or down by the 'overseers'...

If you like gore and violence, this is the one place where the movie has something going for it.  Plenty of high-impact violence, bit of cannibalism, and blood.

I can't for the life of me understand why this film is getting some much love on movie, gaming, and nerd-culture sites.  The acting is decent, but script is pretty shit.  I guess the movie is supposed to "make you think", but the more I think about it the more I realize there are so many MASSIVE holes in the message...

I'd say it's a pretty solid 2/5.  It could have been much better with a few explanations here and there, and a HUGE toning down (or more SUBTLETY) with it's 'message'.

Forensic Files II
Sex And Murder

"The Substitute" (1996)

A mercenary (Tom Berenger of "Platoon") takes an undercover gig in a gang-infested Miami high school after his teacher girlfriend is victimized by some of the students. You can probably figure out the rest yourself.

There's nothing in this so-'90s-it-hurts mash-up of the "hood movie" and action genres that you haven't seen in dozens of other cheap shoot-em-up revenge flicks, but it's an entertainingly silly slab of ultra-violent nonsense.

Followed by three (!) direct-to-video sequels, with Treat Williams taking the place of Berenger.

Fun fact: the teenage gang leader is played by Marc Anthony, who would later marry Jennifer Lopez!