TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2021

Predator (1987)



A special ops team, led by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is sent into the jungles of Guatemala to rescue a group of politicians held by guerillas. However, things turn south once they find out their mission is not entirely on the up and up ANF are soon being hunted by something not human. One of the best action/sci first films out there, with an excellent supporting cast , including Carl Weathers and my man Jesse "The Body" Ventura. I've seen this one countless times and it never gets old.

Watching "Annihilation" during my daily workouts.

Not sure what to make of this one yet; it's pretty slow-moving but there are some interesting concepts here. I should finish it during tomorrow's workout so I'll post my final judgment since the consensus seem to be that the "payoff" sucks.

So far I like it but I will admit it's slow in developing.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Jaws 2

Finished Annihilation today. I ended up not liking it mainly because it just stops without ever really going anywhere. It has its moments and some cool creatures but the "payoff" is really weak nd when it's over you realize nothing much happened.

Last night I watched "The Endless" again.   Such a great, haunting movie.  Just goes to show you what talent can accomplish even with little money.  And I like that even though not everything is completely resolved or explained, enough is so that you can fill in the blanks any way you wish. This is about the 5th time I've watched it and every time I end up thinking about it for days.

tohostudios wrote:

Last night I watched "The Endless" again.   Such a great, haunting movie.  Just goes to show you what talent can accomplish even with little money.  And I like that even though not everything is completely resolved or explained, enough is so that you can fill in the blanks any way you wish.  This is about the 5th time I've watched it and every time I end up thinking about it for days.

On a side note, I think I should point out that watching the previous movie from the Benson/Moorhead team "Resolution" does help make both that movie and "The Endless" make more sense, although I personally hated "Resolution" at the time when I watched it. But it's an integral companion piece to "The Endless" if you want to experience the entire impact of "Endless". Seeing "Resolution" before "The Endless" isn't essential but it definitely makes both films' stories make more sense.

I watched an episode of The Simpsons from the fifth season, titled Rosebud, a few days ago.

Bill and Ted: Face the Music

Silver Streak (1976)



Gene Wilder stars as a book editor,on an L.A. to Chicago train trip, becomes involved in a murder plot, along with Jill Clayburgh and eventually Richard Pryor. Pretty good action comedy with a great supporting cast, including Ned Beatty, Patrick McGoohan, Ray Ralston, and Richard "Jaws" Kiel (even sporting metal teeth to boot).

Destroyer (1988)



A supposedly executed serial killer (Lyle Alzado) stalks a film crew making a movie in the former prison where he was incarcerated in this sub par slasher flick starring Deborah Foreman, Clayton Dinner, and Anthony Perkins.

"Hallowed Be Thy Name" (2020)

Small town Louisiana teens piss off a legendary demon that lives in a cave in the woods. Hilarity does not ensue.
Cheap, poorly acted, talky indie horror crap with a muddled story, no likeable characters, and a cop-out ending.
For the love of God, AVOID.
AVOID.
AVOID.

Started "Bohemian Rhapsody" a couple days ago during my lunchtime workouts.

I can't get over how much the actors portraying the band members actually look like the band members.  I mean, forget Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, look at the rest of the band.  They ALL look like the people they're portraying.  And of course being a huge Queen fan from way back, I love the music.  My only minor quibble so far is that the songs the film uses are from different years than the chronology of the band the film is portraying but probably only a major Queen fan would notice that.

tohostudios wrote:

Finished Annihilation today.  I ended up not liking it mainly because it just stops without ever really going anywhere.  It has its moments and some cool creatures but the "payoff" is really weak nd when it's over you realize nothing much happened.

Yah, I found the ending to be very lacking. It's almost like they didn't know how they wanted to wrap it up, so they threw in some dialogue and just ended the fucking thing... I found a lot of the effects, and creatures, to be fairly well crafted. The script was ok, I guess. Acting wasn't too bad, but Jennifer Jason Leigh seemed to be phoning her performance in. She came across as bored and stiff the entire time. And I don't know why Tessa Thompson gets so much love in Hollywood, as she is average at best.

It was a rather lackluster movie, when all was said and done.

Yeah the creature FX (other than the "alien") were pretty cool. I liked the "bear" that growled with a woman's voice.

"Killer Crocodile" (1989)

Environmentalists investigating pollution in a tropical swamp discover that radioactive waste has caused a local croc to grow to immense size and develop a taste for humans.
This cheap, cheesy-but-fun Italian creature feature wears its obvious "Jaws" influence like a neon sign, even the monster's "attack music" is a thinly veiled ripoff of the Jaws theme! The giant croc puppet is good for a few laughs and there's a whole bunch of gory deaths, so at least the movie lived up to its title. Entertaining junk, followed by a sequel which I will be sure to check out soon.

Murder In The Front Row

"Aenigma" (1987)

A prank on a nerdy college girl goes wrong and puts her into a coma, but she gets revenge on her tormentors from her hospital bed via telekinetic powers.
A couple of cute girls and some decent gory death scenes can't quite save this klutzy Italian flick which is bolted together from bits of "Carrie," "Phenomena," and "Patrick." A late-career swing and miss from the usually-dependable Spaghetti horror maven Lucio "Zombie" Fulci.

Invasion Of Astro-Monsters (1965)



Sequel to Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster, wherein a newly discovered 10th planet asks to borrow Godzilla and Rodan to rid them of the scourge of Ghidorah, who has been attacking them and forcing them to live underground, in exchange for the cure of all earthly diseases. Naturally, the aliens can't be trusted and have something up their sleeve. A fun film which further cemented Godzilla as a "good guy".

007 wrote:

Invasion Of Astro-Monsters (1965)



Sequel to Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster, wherein a newly discovered 10th planet asks to borrow Godzilla and Rodan to rid them of the scourge of Ghidorah, who has been attacking them and forcing them to live underground, in exchange for the cure of all earthly diseases. Naturally, the aliens can't be trusted and have something up their sleeve. A fun film which further cemented Godzilla as a "good guy".

Isn't that the one that has the "classic" scene with Godzilla jumping up and down and crisscrossing his legs? I forget because even though that movie prominently features my favorite Toho monster King Ghidorah I still loathe it because it's so freakin' silly.

Indeed it is !

Thought so; just as goofy as I remember it.

I finished "Bohemian Rhapsody" while on the elliptical today.  What a great and tragic story the life of Freddie Mercury is.  His temporary split with the band because of his lover's machinations is pathetic.  And by the time he reunited with the band his exquisite voice was already failing due to AIDS.   But the climax of the film with Queen performing at Live Aid is absolutely great.  After watching the film I read on Imdb that the vocals of Mercury in the movie were performed by some Canadian guy with the last name of Martel, lead actor Rami Malek and Freddie Mercury himself.  If I hadn't read that I'd never have known Freddie's vocals weren't used for the whole film with Malek lip-syncing.  

Queen was my favorite band growing up so of course I loved it.

"Moonshine County Express" (1977)

A Southern moonshine maker is shot dead by members of a rival organization, and his three lovely daughters decide to take over Daddy's business. Obviously the bad guys are not pleased to learn of their new competition, which leads to lots of car chases, explosions, and general mayhem.  
This fun, fast paced Hick-sploitation action comedy in the "Dukes of Hazzard" vein features some impressive stunt driving and a cast full of familiar faces, incl. former Playmate Claudia Jennings, Maureen "Marcia Brady" McCormick, John Saxon, and William Conrad.

Tuff Turf (1985) starring James Spader