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HARD TIMES
(1975, Hill)
A film with a title that starts with the letters G or H



"I don't look past the next bend in the road"

Set in the 1930s, Hard Times follows the struggles of Chaney, who moves from town to town making ends meet in illegal street fights. His pedigree and schedule sorta ramps up when he pairs up with Speed (James Coburn), a shady hustler that wants to make money off of him, which also puts him at odds with some dangerous elements.

As Chaney moves up the ranks, he is often described as reliable and efficient. My experience with Hill's work is limited, but it seems that he abides by that same rule. Hard Times is not a complex film at all; it's rather simple. But it's as reliable and efficient as it can be, and much like those fights, a lot of fun to watch.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot and the HOF24.
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And don't forget, it inspired this song as well:





I don't follow/listen to a lot of Iced Earth. Have heard songs here and there, but that's good stuff



I've never seen it but we should make a game out of this and try and name the actors based on the drawings. Danny Trejo is easy. And I'm going to say that the guy in the slouch cap and red bowtie is Peter Bonerz. The guy playing the piano looks sort of like Richard Dreyfus. That's all I got.
Trejo is really the only name actor in the cast.



Those are the exact same problems I had with it. I remember feeling the same way while watching Seven Psychopaths. I could almost picture the lines in the script as they were being recited. And you're also right about Erivo. She was the best thing in it.
Yeah, both films for me just tread that line between clever writing and writing that constantly pokes you in the arm going "I'm clever!". The stronger actors can sometimes find a way around it, but the cumulative effect is an inescapable artificiality.





Re-watch. Very good movie recalling the shambolic election of 2000.
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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.



HARD TIMES
(1975, Hill)
A film with a title that starts with the letters G or H





Set in the 1930s, Hard Times follows the struggles of Chaney, who moves from town to town making ends meet in illegal street fights. His pedigree and schedule sorta ramps up when he pairs up with Speed (James Coburn), a shady hustler that wants to make money off of him, which also puts him at odds with some dangerous elements.

As Chaney moves up the ranks, he is often described as reliable and efficient. My experience with Hill's work is limited, but it seems that he abides by that same rule. Hard Times is not a complex film at all; it's rather simple. But it's as reliable and efficient as it can be, and much like those fights, a lot of fun to watch.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot and the HOF24.
This is my favorite Bronson flick. And my favorite Walter Hill too.



Cold Pursuit (2019)

Great, another stinker on the same day. One of these latter-day Liam Neeson revenge flicks. It tries to be witty, but the dark comedic elements fall flat on their arses. Almost imaginative in its lack of imagination. Driving a snowplow must be much more fun than watching this.
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Funny you mention it, I had the same experience of seeing the VHS box at Blockbuster back in the day and being curious and no idea why I never rented it, it's certainly a compelling image. When I finally watched it (maybe a dozen years ago) it wasn't whatever I was expecting from the box-art, but it was good and memorable.
I remember I would spend like an hour or more wandering up and down the aisles of my neighborhood BB. I wish it was still around. I did however find Dead & Buried on Prime and added it to my queue.



Cold Pursuit (2019)

Great, another stinker on the same day. One of these latter-day Liam Neeson revenge flicks. It tries to be witty, but the dark comedic elements fall flat on their arses. Almost imaginative in its lack of imagination. Driving a snowplow must be much more fun than watching this.
I'd recommend the original Norwegian version, In Order of Disappearance, with Stellan Skarsgård but I didn't think it was that much better. And I usually end up preferring originals to the Americanized product.



I'd recommend the original Norwegian version, In Order of Disappearance, with Stellan Skarsgård but I didn't think it was that much better. And I usually end up preferring originals to the Americanized product.
I didn't even know it was a remake when I started. It just was on a local TV's streaming service and I childishly expected another Taken.



Registered User
Raisin in the sun (1961) 3/5 popcorns.


I know it's considered one of the finest American movies ever made, but it simply hasn't aged very well. It's a sad and angry movie about a family of no-accounts all hoping to sponge off of big mama's insurance check. I kept thinking that if I was in her shoes, I'd cash that check and secretly leave on the first bus heading out of town. Poitier overacts his scenes from the first to the last. An angry man-child with a wife and son, and his only responsibility is being a chauffeur, and he can't even do that job very well. His wife is an uncaring unloving harridan who rides her husband relentlessly (he deserves it, but jeez!), and a sister with dreams of becoming a doctor, but needs big mama's insurance money to pay for her education.

Not even getting into the racial aspect of the movie, I don't blame the guy who offers to buy their house. I wouldn't want them living next to me! Poitier seems to spend his evenings as an angry drunk, everybody except big mama is loud and always shouting at each other. I wouldn't want to spend every evening after work on the phone with the cops complaining about my stupid no-account neighbors and their constant fights.



The Omen follows Richard Thorn (Gregory Peck), a US diplomat that accepts to take over an orphan baby boy after his wife's stillbirth. What they don't know is that the boy is actually the Antichrist himself, who ends up wreaking havoc in Thorn's life and those around him.

It had been a while since I had seen it, so I was thrilled to see it was available on Hulu. As I revisited, I'm glad to say it held up pretty damn well. The atmosphere that Donner builds from the first scene is undeniable, his use of light and shadows in the hospital or around the Thorn house, and that haunting scene with the nanny... all of that creeps up on you as you see this evil force engulf this family.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot[/quote]

"Bugenhagen"!



Agreed Stirchley, could be a great, I find his expressions so inscrutable! Cheeky smiles here and violent stares there!





Tokyo Drifter, 1966

A Yakuza gunman named Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari) heads out for a new life after his gang disbands. But when he goes up against another gang who tries to recruit him, he gets sucked back into a world of violence.

I feel like I can barely write a review of this film. It's all bold color palate and stylistic excess that works precisely because it leans so hard into such extremity. I mean, look at this nonsense:









The film rolls along with its plot of double crosses and scheming. Honestly, this was like a 90% visual experience for me with the narrative just serving as passable connective tissue.






Yes Day, 2021

Allison (Jennifer Garner), a once-adventurous woman, is disheartened to come to the realization that her children regard her as a joyless dictator. While husband Carlos (Edgar Ramirez) gets to be the fun one, Allison is always laying down the law. On the advice of a fellow parent at a school function, the couple decides to give their kids a "Yes Day"--a day in which they agree to anything the kids want.

I have to wonder a little bit who exactly this movie is for. I felt like a lot of the drama centered on the parents, and that those parts would be boring for kids. But I also felt like the comedy was way geared toward a younger audience.

I did appreciate quite a few things about the film. I loved the no-nonsense portrayal of a bilingual household, and Garner and Ramirez have solid chemistry as the beleaguered parents. I thought that some of the activities portrayed were decent models of what a real "Yes Day" could look like. I also appreciated that the film hashed out the dynamics of the parenting. For a while, it seemed like the film was going to be about Allison just learning to "be more fun". But just saying yes to everything isn't good parenting, and I appreciated that the film gave a nod toward the need to set boundaries.

On the other hand, though, and maybe I'm just too cranky for a film like this, I felt like some of the "Yes Day" activities made the kids (and parents) come off as obnoxious and even stupid. Going through a car wash with the windows down? Stupid. Dangerous. The film is a bit too "real" for these moments to be all that funny to me, and too over-the-top to be genuine. I thought that overall the writing was okay when it came to the kids, but why is it so hard for people to write child characters who aren't sarcastic, screamy whiners?

Maybe something a 3rd or 4th grader would like?






Blood Moon, 2021

A woman named Esme (Megalyn Echikunwoke) arrives in a small town with her son Luna (Yonas Kibreab) in tow. She manages to get a waitress job at a local place, but immediately lands on the radar of the local sheriff. As Esme builds a cage in the basement and marks off dates on a calendar it becomes clear that the mother and son are both in danger and dangerous.

I can only describe this movie as passable. It's not bad, but merely serviceable. The plot kind of just rolls along with many familiar sequences from countless werewolf films. Echikunwoke is good as Esme, but the film doesn't give her a ton to work with. She is stressed out. She endures harassment from the sheriff. She is perpetually on edge.

Maybe the best aspect of the film is the tentative friendship that forms between Esme and a man named Miguel (Marco Rodriguez). It's nice to see the film sidestep the obvious choice to develop a romance between the two, instead building up the most real feeling relationship in the movie.

The point where the film feels the thinnest is in the numerous flashback sequences to Esme's past with Luna's father. The scenes simply don't illuminate as much about the characters as they should and they feel more like padding than an essential part of the movie.

I wouldn't warn anyone away from this one, but it's not strong enough to recommend either.




I don't follow/listen to a lot of Iced Earth. Have heard songs here and there, but that's good stuff
Heck yeah! Yeah, you can't go wrong with any the old records IE did with Matt Barlow on vocals, which was everything from Burnt Offerings through Horror Show, so here's another must-listen from 'em in case you haven't heard it yet: