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June flicks. I kind of stuck with good rewatches and crap new watches starting with:
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)

This was okay. An aunt has her teenage nephew living with her due to an accident involving the teens parents and she develops a bit of a crush on him, which is not all too good and leads to murder(s). The Detective investigating the murders believes that the kid is the murderer because he is a homosexual and that's what they do. That's the angle they go with and they aren't shy about letting the Detectives feelings known. Anyway, Susan Tyrell is the crazy Aunt and she's very good at being crazy, again. She's always weird, goofy and entertaining. Other than that, the rest of the cast - eh. Bill Paxton, also of questionable character, shows up as the rival of our main character and Julia Duffy plays the love interest. This wasn't bad but I wouldn't recommend it if you want a real crowd pleasing experience. It was unique.


***
Stripper: "The only thing that's gonna save her now is a great set of t**s "
*top comes off*
Stripper: "Not bad "

This is the kind of poster that really grabs my attention and pretty much have to see what inspired it. Happy to see that it stars a brunette and pre-Friends Lisa Kudrow (for about 2 minutes), a horribly miscast Martin Mull as a sleazy, strip club owner and Maxwell Caulfield who was in Grease 2. This is a terrible movie but seeing as how it's a low budget affair about strippers being murdered by a serial killer you should know what to expect going in. A journalist goes undercover at the strip joint because she thinks the strippers are holding back from talking to the police and they are. No explanation is given it's just the code of the strippers, apparently, that when you are being hunted and murdered you don't talk to police. **** tha Police! and no, this is not Old Town. Anyway, in order to fit in the journalist is going to have to, ya know, get naked and her first striptease is awesome. She's absolutely terrible but the worst part may be that her boss showed up for the premier, to calm her nerves or something. Offer her a little support, perhaps. Nah, he's a pig. Yeah, he was way too enthusiastic to see his employee disrobe, like Tom Cruise on Oprah enthusiastic. Cringy. It's an awful(ly) funny scene. As soon as everything's off, and it's just her and the pole, she finds her groove, which is still pretty bad but somehow she does become the clubs star attraction. Of course that draws the attention of who? Uh-huh. This has slightly more plot than Orgy of the Dead but it's still pretty thin and the only reason it reaches a real movie runtime is because of the stripteases. Credit where due - all the routines are different and have interesting levels of bad. There are a few unintentional laughs to be had with this one. One scene, I called Ms. Fredrick in to watch. "You see anything weird about this scene?" I ask as a woman in gold body paint does her routine. "Yeah," she says "Her boobs don't move." That took all of two seconds but she has an eye for that sort of thing.


***

Vigilante (1982)

Thought his was pretty good. Stars Robert Forester as a man who sees the gang bangers who beat his wife and kill his child beat the rap because of a shitty judge. After the verdict is read, Forester ends up in jail due to a little contempt of court, meets a tough guy prisoner (a wonderful Woody Strode) who takes him under his wing, learns a few things the hard way and is back on the streets to get a little justice. I love the NYC that is presented here. It's a dirty, sleazy, Taxi Driver looking NYC. Fred "The Hammer" Williamson co-stars as the leader of a vigilante squad that hunts down bad guys in an effort to reclaim the neighborhood. Forrester works with The Hammer to find the punks and dole out some street justice. Joe Spinell has a small role as the oily, douche-bag lawyer who gets the thugs off.


***


Mother's Day (1980)

Okay, maybe Dance With Death wasn't the worst movie I watched last month. How about a film about a couple of rednecks whose Mother likes watching them rape, torture and murder? What a great idea for a movie. Well, I'm one of them people PT Barnum was talking about - there's one born every minute....As soon as I heard the familiar sound of the Troma synth come out of the speakers I knew I should skip it, like I usually do, but I went with it instead. So this is a bad movie but what really makes it weird is the tone goes from silly Toxic Avenger humor to some pretty nasty stuff in the manner of seconds.


***


The exact opposite of what was happening on screen was happening to me. I made a loaf of sourdough from scratch, rebuilt my car engine, counted to a million, walked into he living room and this was STILL going. People on vacation go to a beach and begin to rapidly age and die. I'm done with Shyamalan. DONE! I know I'm not going to like what he's peddling but I check it out anyway hoping for something different. Like PT Barnum once said....There's one born every minute.


***


The Triple Wedgie from Jackass Forever

It was a good run but it's about time to retire, guys. I'm not even gonna get into the plot as a lot of it has already been told in previous Jackass films. Funniest bit- Preston Lacy's speed bag balls getting punched by a reciprocating saw adorned with boxing gloves. Or Dangers' encounter with the bear. Maybe the triple wedgie. The vultures molesting Wee Man was funny. I laughed frequently but not as hard as usual. A lot of the stuff seemed recycled and the new cast was ok. A little PSA - if you gonna be showing your junk, gooch this often clean it up a little. This is the grossest of all the films and they look like they smell real bad.


***


The original [rec] made my top 25 horror films here at MoFo. This one was awful. Everything everybody did was the opposite of what should have happened. If, after being attacked by a "zombie" thing another "zombie" thing comes running at me and I'm armed, I'm unloading on it. That's logical. It's been in the zombie manual since 1968. But that doesn't happen. Why? I don't know. Suspense? That's just a taste of the dumb in this movie. The only good thing about this was Manuela Velasco showing up again.


***


Arabella: Black Angel (1989)

I was having a bad day so why not pile on. I guess this is a giallo, not a fan of the genre, and it has a ton of sex/nudity, really red blood and a it's a mystery. From what I got, a woman is married to a writer who is in a wheelchair. He can't *ahem* do it for her so she looks elsewhere. The catch is all the dudes she finds and bangs end up kind of dead after she uses them. The weapon of choice for the murderer is a pair of scissors. Sounds cooler than it is. Gonna give it a
just because it is such a try hard piece of sleaze. Feels longer than it is.

***


Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe

Not a bad follow up to Do America. What it gets right is this doesn't feel like there's been a 25+ year lay off for these guys. It fits right in with what they've always been. They're still dumb and thanks to a science fair gone awry and a sympathetic Judge they may get a chance to score with an astronaut. As the title suggests, this time they go to space where they cause a Gravity level disaster, get abandoned, eventually get wormholed and end up in 2022. This is where Judge shines. 2022 B&B are not the most...they aren't built for today's sensitivities, as we find out. There are a few very funny moments (white privilege anybody?) in BaBDtU and it's apparent that Mike Judge hasn't aged past these guys through the years very much, if at all. He can write these guys in his sleep. For fans only. [rating]3[rating]

Rewatches:
Risky Business
Predator
Michael Clayton
Raising Arizona
10 to Midnight

Others:
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
Unfriended





RW: Withnail & I (Robinson, 1987) -

The Platform (Urrutia, 2019) -
++
RW Fargo (Coen Bros, 1996) -
+
The Gift (Edgerton, 2015)-
-
Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton/Faris, 2006) -
+
Witness for the Prosecution (Wilder, 1957) -

RW: Shrek 2 (Multiple, 2004) -

You're Next (WIngard, 2011) -
-
Our Father (Jourdan, 2022) -
-
Top Gun: Maverick (Kosincki, 2022) -

Death Sentence (Wan, 2007) -
--
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999) -


I want to give a special shout-out to The Platform. I'm a sucker for prison, and some sort of unique trapped architectural plot- but damn did The Platform do it well. The concept is interesting enough that you could've had nearly any director tackle it, but I'm not sure how many could've provided such intense sequences and anticipation for what's next. The first act is particularly special.



__________________
Yeah, there's no body mutilation in it



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)


Classic screwball comedy doesn't get much screwier than this. Paleontologist David (Cary Grant) receives the intercostal clavicle of a brontosaurus which will complete his reconstruction of the fossil dinosaur for his museum and proceeds to the golf course to try to obtain a million dollars from the lawyer of a rich benefactor. He immediately becomes entangled with flighty Susan (Katharine Hepburn) who just happens to be the niece of the benefactor (May Robson). Susan is taking care of her brother's pet leopard Baby, and when David visits her home, Baby escapes and the family dog becomes interested in David's bone and proceeds to take and bury it somewhere. What started out as manic turns into insanity as a visiting big game hunter (Charlie Ruggles) tries to hunt the leopard, and another, wild leopard gets added into the mix. Grant is an expert farceur here and plays well against Hepburn's slightly-quieter, yet equally-outrageous manner. There is no doubt that there's sexual attraction between the two leads, at least as much as possible between scientific "Dr. Bone" who "just went gay all of a sudden" and a 12-year-old girl running around in a 30-year-old's body. (Trust me, that last line makes sense.) Screwball comedies are basically romantic comedies at heart, but they just try to disarm you with crazy laughter before you accept the fact that the couple is a match made in heaven... or at least in this case, movie heaven. Or in Miss Vicky's case, movie hell.

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



July, 2022 movies watched-

The Promise (1996)
Has a very authentic feel about it.

Vengeance is Mine (1979) Repeat
Up there with the best "true story" movies.

Tomboy (2011)
+ A younger and lighter version of Boys Don't Cry.

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)
Very enjoyable with a violent ending that doesn't feel out of place.

Goldfinger (1964) Repeat
- My best viewing of a Bond film since I was a teen.

Last Night in Soho (2021)
Aesthetically pleasing at times but a real chore for this viewer.

Anomalisa (2015)
- Very good but to get the most out of it I needed to feel it, and I didn't.

Das Boot (1981) Repeat
I watched the director's cut, which was my favorite of the 3 versions I've seen.

A Moment of Innocence (1996)
One of the most fascinating movies I've seen.

Stroszek (1977) Repeat
Not as funny as I remembered but more powerful.

The Year My Voice Broke (1987)
Australian coming of age that skips the humor and embraces realism.

Total-11
2022 total-51





Features:
RW: Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990) -

The Impossible (Bayona, 2012)-
-
Life of Brian (Jones, 1979)-
+
His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940)-
+
Groundhog Day (Ramis, 1993)-
+




Shorts:
Make me a Sandwich (2019)-
-
Next Floor (2008)-
-
Don't Look Away (2017)-





July, 2022 movies watched-

The Promise (1996)
Has a very authentic feel about it.
Never heard of this one, but sounds amazing. Will check it out



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)


Some Like It Hot is a hilarious sex comedy and so much more. As you can see, the photography is great in this movie, as are the music, sets, costumes, etc. All the acting is great too with Marilyn being both sexy and vulnerable. The plot makes total sense too. (Well, it is farcical, but why they're hiding out as women to get away from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre gangsters is fully explained). This is Billy Wilder's second-best film to me, only after the under-seen One, Two, Three. Two hours of superlative entertainment!


If Billy Wilder were making movies today, he would tackle more topical subjects, but he was always attracted to sardonic satires, romantic comedies and frenetic farces. Even in 1959, Wilder set Some Like It Hot 30 years in the past to make the subject more palatable to contemporary audiences. Some old comedies and classics do get a pass based on reputation, while some actually deserve their status and are timeless. Others may disagree to various degrees, but Some Like It Hot is on my great list, and I ain't kissin' Billy's or Marilyn's ass, although that last thought is mouth-watering.



Didn't watch too many new movies last month. A lot of rewatches.


Mean Girls - Not bad. Laughed a few times but hardly think I'm the demo it was going for.
So ultimately:


**__**

Dave Made a Maze - A slacker builds a cardboard maze in his living room that is "bigger than it looks" In fact, it's so big he got lost in it. The worst part - it's loaded with deadly booby traps and an angry minotaur. So when his friends go in to save Dave they are essentially being put on the slab. If the Indie films of the 90's are your thing, Being John Malkovich and such, this may be worth your time. I'll give it 5 stars for creativity, there's nothing like it, but I did start losing interest towards the end.




**__**

The Hunt was pretty stupid but I had a good time for awhile. A bunch of folks decide hunting political rivals for sport is fun so they do and they get more than they bargained for thanks to one very tough and resilient woman. Pretty funny in parts, completely over the top but ultimately fizzles out.


**__**

The Parallax View - I'm not a big fan of Warren Beatty but this was pretty good. It's an assassination, conspiracy, where does it all lead to movie with Beatty being the reporter who is getting too close to the truth and must be stopped. This is a movie like so many others where the fashion steals the show. Looks very 70's, feels very 70's and that never a bad thing. It's not as good as Z or The Manchurian Candidate but it's that kind of movie with more than a touch of Erin Brokovich or Silkwood




**__**

Robo Vampire - This is a batshit crazy riff on Robocop...and vampires and kung fu. It's a so bad it's good and works well with whatever potion you think makes you more creative, interesting and better looking. The fx are terrible but they fit in nicely with the terrible acting, script and basically everything that has to do with film making. It's not bad.
but I could see this going up after I watch it a few more times. Look at that ↓ WTF?



**__**

Dangerously Close, in keeping with the flow, is another
movie. A rowdy school needs a little cleaning up so what better way to clean up than to have a secret group of students decide your fate.

"It is the opinion of the entire staff that Dexter is criminally insane... "
"What should we do?"
"Kill the motherf-----, of course."

Couldn't find an accompanying gif so that means it wasn't a bad enough movie to be worthy of one or good enough to be worthy of one and that's kind of how I felt. It's bad but not that bad. I think this could be a really good movie if remade but it would have to be done by somebody who doesn't give a crap and really pushes the envelope. Has a little of The Hunt vibe going on.

As for rewatches we hit up There Will be Blood, Commando, Bachelor Party, Deliverance and Schindler's List.



August, 2022 movies watched-

The Domestics (2018)
For those just looking for a good dose of action/horror this movie delivered.

What Have They Done to Your Daughters (1974)
+ Well worth watching if you like a combo of giallo and poliziotteschi.

Office Space (1999)
Solid comedy but I'm surprised by it's enormous popularity.

Enthiran (2010)
Crazy and entertaining Indian film.

The Innocents (2021)
A slow but unnerving horror film.

Prey (2022)
A very good watch but no wow factor.

Titane (2021)
- Wow

Tell No One (2006)
For a mystery/thriller you can't do much better.

Tsotsi (2005)
+ Best foreign language Oscar winner that I think most people would get something out of.

Life is Sweet (1990)
Solid slice of family life in the London area.

Tank Girl (1995)
Should be a midnight cult movie.

The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
British historical costume flick, Peter Greenaway style.

The Gray Man (2022)
- High marks for the action.

Chop Shop (2007)
+ A realistic look at tough living, unusual for an American film.

Total-14
2022 Total-65



August seen list (newly rated only):

Missing poster is Tea Break





Recent Watches:
RW: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -
+
Shaun of the Dead (Wright, 2004)-

Unchartered (Feischer, 2022)-

House of Gucci (Scott, 2022)
-





Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Robo Vampire - This is a batshit crazy riff on Robocop...and vampires and kung fu. It's a so bad it's good and works well with whatever potion you think makes you more creative, interesting and better looking. The fx are terrible but they fit in nicely with the terrible acting, script and basically everything that has to do with film making. It's not bad.
but I could see this going up after I watch it a few more times. Look at that ↓ WTF?

I feel this masterpiece went right over my head when I first watched it years ago. The poor-quality rip doesn't help. I wish they released it in HD. It'd probably blow our minds, then. Godfrey Ho takes no prisoners!!!
__________________
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



I’m not a Godfrey Ho expert, but I had fun with Ninja Terminator and The Dragon, The Hero. The former has the famous Garfield phone moment, while the latter feels as confusing as one of his usual cut-and-paste jobs but was actually made entirely by him. It has some great fight scenes though, so any failings are easy to forgive.



I’m not a Godfrey Ho expert, but I had fun with Ninja Terminator and The Dragon, The Hero. The former has the famous Garfield phone moment, while the latter feels as confusing as one of his usual cut-and-paste jobs but was actually made entirely by him. It has some great fight scenes though, so any failings are easy to forgive.
Adding Princess Madam to this, which is surprisingly coherent (by the standards of his movies and of the genre) and has wall to wall great action scenes. The shit with the grenades? Moon Lee turning into Chow Yun-Fat during the climax? Shoot it in my veins pls



September, 2022 movies watched-

Naked Lunch (1991)
+ Fairly compelling but it started to feel too long.

I Came By (2022)
Netflix thriller that kept me on edge.

The Age of Innocence (1993)
It's a little subtle for me but I felt a lot of appreciation for it.

Nomadland (2020)
It really started to win me over about half way through.

The Servant (1963)
Classic psychological games from the British films list.

Plus One (2013)
Enough babes, booze, and blood to be worth it.

The Square (2017)
Great qualities but I also felt it got preachy.

Certified Copy (2010)
1st movie that worked for me out of the 4 I've seen from the director. A surprise delight.

Ernest & Celestine (2012)
As cute and sweet as a film can be.

Blue Jay (2016)
Excellent for what it is.

CODA (2021)
+ It really needed to win me over and it did.

Holy Motors (2012)
Positive feelings but some of it is a little out there for my taste.

Mustang (2015)
+ A tough look at what some girls/young women have to deal with in certain parts of the world.

The Body (2012)
A new favorite mystery/thriller.

Restrepo (2010)
#50 on our Documentary list.

The Yellow Sea (2010)
Possibly my new favorite South Korean film.

The Voices (2014)
Starts out good but gets silly fast.

Still Life (2013)
A very good watch but it probably won't stay with me.

Frankenweenie (2012)
Re-animating a dog is always a winning formula.

The Gentlemen (2019)
Just very entertaining.

Total-20
2022 total-85



September Watches (33 total)
*First time watch

The Favourite* (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)

What We Do In The Shadows* (Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, 2014)

Ethel & Ernest* (Roger Mainwood, 2016)

Lilting* (Hong Khaou, 2014)

Lady Macbeth (William Oldroyd, 2016)

My Life As A Zucchini (Claude Barras, 2014)

Song of the Sea* (Tomm Moore, 2014)

The Way He Looks* (Daniel Ribeiro, 2014)

The Raven (James McTeigue, 2012)

A Ghost Story* (David Lowery, 2017)

Capernaum* (Nadine Labaki, 2018)

Happy Death Day* (Christopher Landon, 2017)

Acts of Vengeance* (Isaac Florentine, 2017)

The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016)

Wreck-It Ralph (Rich Moore, 2012)

Love is Strange* (Ira Sachs, 2014)

Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011)

Moana (Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker and Chris Williams, 2016)

Skin* (Guy Nattiv, 2018)

Still Life* (Uberto Pasolini, 2013)

Safety Not Guaranteed (Colin Trevorrow, 2012)

Arrival* (Denis Villeneuve, 2016)

Sausage Party (Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, 2016)

I Lost My Body* (Jérémy Clapin, 2019)

Aferim! (Radu Jude, 2015)

Clash* (Mohamed Diab, 2016)

Sing (Garth Jennings and Christophe Lourdelet, 2016)

Quality Time* (Daan Bakker, 2017)

The Red Turtle* (Michael Dudok de Wit, 2016)

Wrinkles (Ignacia Ferraras, 2011)

God's Own Country* (Francis Lee, 2017)

Who Killed Captain Alex?* (Nabwana I.G.G., 2010)

Pawn Shop Chronicles* (Wayne Kramer, 2013)


Reviews: The Resident Bitch Prepares for the MoFo 2010s Countdown



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I Know Where I'm Going! (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1945)
+ 7.5/10


Beautiful film about headstrong Wendy Hiller who decides to marry a wealthy man on a Hebrides island because she'a always dreamed of doing such a thing. She doesn't count on the winds being so strong when she gets there making it nigh on impossible to reach the island of her fiance whom she's never met; she has to stop at the nearest one. She also doesn't count on meeting naval officer Roger Livesey whose simple thoughts on life attract her.

This is the set-up for several odd but totally relatable characters and their customs, legends, music, etc. I especially love the B&W photography, the castle with rhe curse in it, the falconer, the strangely-placed telephone, the Cèilidh for a diamond wedding anniversary with all the singing and dancing, the three pipers, the Corryvreckan whirlpool, and how romantic the whole thing is. My fave supporting actor has to be Finlay Currie although a very young Petula Clark ("Downtown") is also present.

Powell's direction is incredible from the unique opening credits to the train trip to the wedding ceremony to a corporation and his usual incredible sense of place. One of his best and one of my wife Brenda's two favorite films.