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Post by dirtypillows on Sept 18, 2020 4:46:46 GMT
"Empire of the Ants" --I liked this "The Thing with Two Heads" --Good for laughs "Terror Train" --I liked it better than most slasher films of the time "Airport 1975" --Good air to air transfer action scenes "Burnt Offerings" --I didn't know it was panned-I thought it was a spooky movie-beat the Shining with the house possession plot "And Then There Were None" --I liked this better than Murder on the Orient Express "Blood and Black Lace" -Surprised to learn this was critically panned! Or just by Maltin? Judge Dredd --Great production design. The costumes and city looked great. The annoying sidekick and clone baby plot sucked the life out of it. King Solomon's Mines - I liked it. Herbert Lom was hilarious. Anaconda -- I liked it, Jlo was a bit of a detriment but the others made up for it. Jon Voight is great. Cutthroat Island --watchable enough but I think Davis was miscast and from what I read she didn't want to do it. Van Helsing --had some good elements but goes into CGI porn overkill. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen --I liked it better than the comic. It also has CGI overkill with annoying MTV-style camera edits but has some good things too, especially the Townsend-Wilson fight. Yeah, it was Leonard Maltin who panned "Blood and Black Lace". I am sure there had to have been critics who appreciated and enjoyed it. That's cool you enjoy "Empire of the Ants" and "The Thing with Two Heads". "Thing" is hilarious. Whenever they're on the motorcycle going over the small cliff and Ray Milland yells out "Oh, my God!" I am just dying. What version of ATTWN were referring to? The 1974 movie? The 1945 version is generally considered a **** classic and I would not disagree with that. I love that movie to bits. The perfect setting for an Agatha Christie whodunit! I like the 1966 version pretty well, but I do like the 1974 a little bit more.
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Post by dirtypillows on Sept 18, 2020 4:55:43 GMT
Elvira: Mistress Of The Dark Saw that on Hulu earlier this summer - was a lot of fun. Cassandra Peterson is 69 today and still looks great. Yeah, she's a neat lady. I was watching some interviews with her a few days ago and she is aging extremely well. I'd say she got great genes and she probably takes excellent care of herself. Good for her. There is a pilot for an Elvira tv show that I had never known about. There's Elvira and her aunt - also a witch - and they are just trying to settle into the small town of Manhattan, Kansas. It was actually very funny. Lots of the good ole Elvira schtick. I'd say it was ahead of its time and it didn't take off. But I enjoyed it very much. It's up on YouTube. I was quite surprised to come across it.
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Post by Prime etc. on Sept 18, 2020 5:14:25 GMT
Y "Thing" is hilarious. Whenever they're on the motorcycle going over the small cliff and Ray Milland yells out "Oh, my God!" I am just dying. What version of ATTWN were referring to? The 1974 movie? The 1945 version is generally considered a **** classic and I would not disagree with that. I love that movie to bits. The perfect setting for an Agatha Christie whodunit! I like the 1966 version pretty well, but I do like the 1974 a little bit more. I wish there was a camera on Milland when someone told him the plot! The fact that he was willing to do it is hilarious in itself.
I have not seen the 45 version--the 66 version--eh ok I guess but I saw the 74 version first so I liked that one. The setting was interesting.
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Post by dirtypillows on Sept 18, 2020 5:14:29 GMT
I would rate Visiting Hours an 8/10 and The Fan a 4/10 in the thriller slasher genre. Visiting Hours delivers the goods on the scary/suspenseful scale, The Fan barely even registers in this department for me. I find it a bit flat and its nasty. Visiting Hours is perhaps more violent and nasty too, but it doesn't appear as mean-spirited. Colt is more real and believable as a psycho, Breen is just as confused as the movie and it doesn't resonate as much for me. In what way do you find "The Fan" mean-spirited? Do you think it's more mean-spirited than the other slasher pics? I am interested. (For the "Friday" pics, I am thinking that "Jason Goes to Hell" is the one that stands out as the meanest.) As far as Douglas Breen being a confused character, I agree completely. And I don't know if the character is actually supposed to be confused or not. I mean he seems very gay to me. But then he's not supposed to be gay. But then in order to convince the audience that he is heterosexual, the film has him be interested in the likes of Sally Ross, whose got drag queen blood in her. And then part of the time it seemed more like Douglas actually wanted to be Sally rather than have sex with her. I mean could anybody ever picture these two together? Yes, I admit all this does make the movie seem very confusing. But you know I mostly watch the movie just for super warm-hearted Maureen Stapleton as Belle Goldman.
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Post by dirtypillows on Sept 18, 2020 6:24:45 GMT
I buy his guide almost every year, and, yeah, they get more and more familiar. The thing I miss most from the older editions is the omission of my beloved tv movies from the 80s and (especially) the 70s. They stopped including those many years ago. I guess they were starting to run out of space. I agree with a lot of your picks especially Roller Boogie and Visiting Hours. Empire of the Ants is one of two movies I remember seeing for the first time as a very small child sick with a cold. I got to stay up all night on the couch dozing off and on unable to really sleep because of a blocked up nose and cough. My dad on the couch and mom in the recliner. All I remembered about it was Joan Collins and the part where the giant ants surround them while they are in a small pond or swamp, on a boat I think and the ants' legs keep stalking around at them and the antenna waving. And the noise the ants make. To my young self back then it did not look fake at all. The other movie all I could remember about it was piranhas and a sinking boat and one fish flopping around on deck. Grown, for a long time I just figured it was Piranha but recently seeing Killer Fish on MST3k I realized THAT was it, no question. The diamonds and some of the characters felt so familiar. Karen Black is in it (and Burnt Offerings as you know) which brings me to Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? I've read about it and how offbeat and sweet it is, like Karen herself was, but never seen it (yet) I've always wanted to. I'd watch her in anything. One of her very first movies You're A Big Boy Now is pretty fun and interesting. Especially if you like late 60s/early 70s. Her role is pretty small but pivotal. Anyway, my list without thinking too deep about it -The Apple ❤❤❤ -Norbit -Congo -The Crater Lake Monster That's a cool memory of you and your parents staying up watching "Empire of the Ants", even with the stopped up nose. I think they actually did a decent job with the big, fake ants. I think my favorite scene is the pre-attack bit is near the beginning when everybody is enjoying the free food and liquor underneath the big tent. And Joan Collins is so sassy! I do love the cast! So much fun. I saw "Killer Fish" once a long time ago. Doesn't Karen Black have a suntan in it? I do love her so much. She was just an excellent actress with incredible range. Have you seen "Trilogy of Terror"? That was a tour de force for her. I've never seen "You're a Big Boy Now", but I've always been slightly curious to see it. I think Geraldine Page is in it. I love the entire decade of the 1970s. Early 60s Hollywood was candy-coated technicolor, and I thought 1968 was the first great year for movies in a long time and it was when you could definitely feel things changing. Is "The Apple" the musical about the kids going to New York City, circa 1980? If so, my friend told me about that movie recently. I enjoyed reading your post!
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Post by dirtypillows on Sept 18, 2020 6:48:42 GMT
avocadojoe Back in '68 I was out for lunch when I ran into a girl I knew from college. She said that she and her date had been to a movie. I asked what they saw and she said "Boom!" I asked how it was and she said, "Thud." Even before that I was not much interested in seeing it so her comment put me off completely. Still, looking over the info on it now, I am still not inclined to indulge myself. That was a funny comment from your friend. It's not a movie that a lot of people are going to like. I would say the two main criteria for liking this movie are if you can appreciate Tennessee Williams' excesses and an uncontrolled Elizabeth Taylor. I find the movie fascinating. At any rate, the location filming is gorgeous and John Barry's score is completely unique and spellbinding. The score is on YouTube. If you have any interest in movie themes, you might check it out.
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Post by dirtypillows on Sept 19, 2020 5:02:59 GMT
"Angel" - *1/2/***1/4 - I thoroughly enjoy this borderline sleazy look at the Hollywood/Vine scene from the early-mid 80s. I find this stuff riveting. And I love the make-shift family of misfits. Donna Wilkes is not bad, and Susan Tyrrell and Dick Shawn are very charismatic. Shawn is hilarious.
"Fade to Black" - *1/2/**3/4 - I thought this was a real effort at something different. Dennis Christopher gets a perfect role for his weakling persona (though he was easy to root for in the wonderful "Breaking Away") and the appealing blonde actress was a genuine ringer for Marilyn Monroe. Not bad at all.
"Glen or Glenda" - BOMB/*** - Absolutely fascinating, even sympathetic, docudrama about transvestism in post WW2 America. I can barely imagine such a subject being filmed today let alone in 1953! The film is never boring and there has never been anything like it since. Wow!
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Post by Gourmando the Reindeer on Sept 26, 2020 5:49:38 GMT
Yeah, Karen Black had a tan in Killer Fish and spent most of the movie with her hair wet and slicked back.
She was something special.
Yes, that's the one. I first saw The Apple and then Roller Boogieas part of a double feature night on Turner Classic back in 2009. I have them both on both dvd and blu.
If you everbget the chance definitely give it a watch. Its pure escapist fun!
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