The "I'm watching/just watched *movie title* thread....

[onan]

And yet, any superhero movie gets a pass, no matter how cheesy it is.

Someone hasn't seen Howard the Duck.

[analog kid]

Someone hasn't seen Howard the Duck.

We had a satellite dish when I was a kid, which was a manual affair at the time, mainly for hobbyists, and that was on all day, every day. I must have watched it a hundred times. That and stuff like "Spacehunter - Adventures in the Forbidden Zone" and "Yor - Hunter from the Future." I still like Spacehunter. It's a gimmicky 3D movie that has Molly Ringwald in it. I had a monster crush on her.

[coaster]

They have superhero movies in the works until at least 2018. They are not going away. I think the only one i enjoyed watching was the first Iron Man movie. And it was only because i like Robert Downey Jr. China has started to finance a lot of these movies, so if anything, it's just going to get bigger.
I fucking hate these superhero movies. The latest one was I think Batman vs Superman? Isnt Superman invincible? Good luck with that one, Batman. Ya fuckin' fraud.

[onan]

They have superhero movies in the works until at least 2018. They are not going away. I think the only one i enjoyed watching was the first Iron Man movie. And it was only because i like Robert Downey Jr. China has started to finance a lot of these movies, so if anything, it's just going to get bigger.
I fucking hate these superhero movies. The latest one was I think Batman vs Superman? Isnt Superman invincible? Good luck with that one, Batman. Ya fuckin' fraud.

Kryptonite, my friend, kryptonite.

[zeebo]

My fave super-hero flick was the cult classic "Darkman".  I think it really captured that comic-book look & feel.  It was campy enough to not take itself too seriously, but still a dramatic story with engaging characters and great effects for it's time.  I'd probably put the first "Robocop" in that category too.

[analog kid]

They have superhero movies in the works until at least 2018. They are not going away. I think the only one i enjoyed watching was the first Iron Man movie. And it was only because i like Robert Downey Jr. China has started to finance a lot of these movies, so if anything, it's just going to get bigger.
I fucking hate these superhero movies. The latest one was I think Batman vs Superman? Isnt Superman invincible? Good luck with that one, Batman. Ya fuckin' fraud.

The first Iron Man is one of the only superhero movies I've ever liked. It was a decent story about redemption. The second one was terrible and I gave up on those movies.

Making matters worse is the popularity if comic conventions and cosplay. That and the genre's universal ability to tap into people's revenge fantasies. Then there's this thing where the first Spiderman movie (Sam Raimi) had some highly patriotic elements, which being on the tail of 9/11, was one of the reasons it was such a huge hit. Superhero movies have been copying that appeal to patriotism ever since, with great success. They're here to stay unfortunately.

[analog kid]

Kryptonite, my friend, kryptonite.

Your snark has been hilarious, onan.

[akwilly]

Going to try and watch The Hateful Eight tonight. I hear it's really long so maybe I will only watch half.

[akwilly]

I am at chapter 3 of the hateful 8. So far it is OK

[ItsOver]

My fave super-hero flick was the cult classic "Darkman".  I think it really captured that comic-book look & feel.  It was campy enough to not take itself too seriously, but still a dramatic story with engaging characters and great effects for it's time.  I'd probably put the first "Robocop" in that category too.

Same here.  "Darkman" is great.  Hell, it has Liam Neeson and music by Elfman.  The first "Robocop" is a classic.

[21st Century Man]

That sounds really good. Do you know of a way to watch these older films online?

Well, you can view The Wet Parade if you join Warner Archive's streaming service.  You can try it for one month free.  A year's subscription is $84.99 or  you can join on a month by month basis for 9.99/month.  Hope that helps.

[21st Century Man]

Darkman and Robocop were great.  I enjoy the Iron Man series mainly because I love Robert Downey.  I watch a lot of the super-hero films as I used to be an avid comic book collector but I've gotten a bit tired of the movie fad. I'd like to see more historical epic.

[21st Century Man]

    The Crimson Cult aka The Curse Of The Crimson Altar (1968) -  Boris Karloff's last production save for the Mexican quickies that he made in late '68, The Crimson Cult has a pretty cool premise that is basically about a witch, Lavinia Morley, played by Barbara Steele, who in the 1600's was burned as a witch but returns in the late '60's to wreak vengeance on the descendants of those who put her to the stake.  Christopher Lee plays Lavinia's descendant while Karloff plays Professor Marsh, an expert on witchcraft and the occult.

   The actual plot is about an antique dealer, Robert Manning, played by Mark Eden comes to Craxted Lodge looking for his brother, Peter, who has mysteriously disappeared.   He encounters a woman running in a catsuit along a road deep in the woods.  Turns out she is playing an adult version of hide and seek where the lucky guy that finds her undoubtedly gets to copulate with her.  Anyway, he goes to Craxted Lodge where a Swinging 60's party is in full swing.  There he encounters lovely Eve Morley, played by Virginia Wetherell and her welcoming uncle, Squire Morley, played by Lee. Manning is offered a place to sleep at the lodge while he is in the area and he proceeds to do his investigative work  with Eve offering assistance in his pursuit.  At this point, in this viewer's opinion.  Manning seems more determined to bed Eve rather than trying to find his brother.  When Robert sleeps, he has strange dreams of a green-skinned witch, Steele, who tries to get Robert to sign his name in The Book of the Damned.  Troubled upon waking up he seeks help from the local occultist played by Karloff and they seek to find an answer to this mystery.  I won't give away the resolution for those who wish to see this film.

   As you can tell by the plot, the main character, Robert Manning, is the focus of the film and Lee, Karloff and Steele are only peripheral characters.  That is also the main problem with the film.  This viewer wants to see more of those three and not Manning.  Lee has a nice scene with Karloff and you can tell he clearly adores the aging actor.  Karloff steals every scene he is in and is wonderful.  He almost died from pneumonia due to the cold sets and location shooting that he was forced to endure.  Steele didn't have a chance to interact with Karloff and Lee and was relegated to dream sequences. However those sequences were enthralling with a dominatrix in black rubber pasties and thigh high boots whipping another girl and the male servants of Lavinia wearing rubber speedos.  Steele herself was absolutely gorgeous in her greenish-blue makeup and wonderful head-dress and it is a damn shame that her role wasn't larger. This turned out to be her last major horror film of the 1960's. What a waste.

    This movie could have been so much better if the film-makers had dispensed with the Manning character or relegated him to a periphery.  Mark Eden is simply not up to the task of carrying this film. The premise of the movie was great but the plot was lacking.  Steele should have also played Lee's niece, Eve, rather than Wetherell.  I will say that the cinematography was well done  by John Coquillon (Straw Dogs, Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid, Witchfinder General).  Another annoyance is the synth-driven soundtrack that was produced in the 1980's when Orion Pictures couldn't get the rights to the original orchestral score.  Unfortunately on this blu-ray, Kino used that soundtrack rather than the original soundtrack.  The print Kino used was beautiful.

   There is a nice commentary with this blu-ray from a film historian, David Del Valle and Barbara Steele.  They talked about the film as well as Steele's career.  One item that Steele refused to talk about was her participation in the Michael Reeves film, The She-Beast.  I gather that she didn't care for Reeves.

   I give this film 2.5 stars out of 5 mainly because of the 3 horror icons, the kinky dream sequences,  and the nice cinematography.  Oh and for those who are curious there is also a bit of female nudity when Manning succeeds in bedding Eve.

[ItsOver]

For those who enjoy watching classics on the really big screen, Cinemark will be having a mini Kubrick fest this Sunday.  "A Clockwork Orange" and "2001 A Space Odyssey."  I may go just to catch 2001.  I haven't seen it in ages.

http://www.cinemark.com/a-clockwork-orange

[Étouffée]

For those who enjoy watching classics on the really big screen, Cinemark will be having a mini Kubrick fest this Sunday.  "A Clockwork Orange" and "2001 A Space Odyssey."  I may go just to catch 2001.  I haven't seen it in ages.

That last scene in 2001 was when the acronym "WTF" was born.
Also, a lot of people seem to miss an important message in A Clockwork Orange: the power of music.
It would be great to experience both movies on the big screen again.  Thanks, IO!

[21st Century Man]

For those who enjoy watching classics on the really big screen, Cinemark will be having a mini Kubrick fest this Sunday.  "A Clockwork Orange" and "2001 A Space Odyssey."  I may go just to catch 2001.  I haven't seen it in ages.

http://www.cinemark.com/a-clockwork-orange

Thanks for the tip. 

[akwilly]

I finished watching The Hateful Eight. It was OK not great. It was basically Reservoir Dogs set in the old West.

[albrecht]

Thanks for the tip. 

TCM also has some screenings I think in Cinemarks for classics. "On the Waterfront" is next one.

[21st Century Man]

TCM also has some screenings I think in Cinemarks for classics. "On the Waterfront" is next one.

Thanks!    I noticed they had screenings of The Ten Commandments prior to Easter in conjunction with Fathom Events. I saw it on the screen once about 25 years ago.  It was a damn shame what Ridley Scott did in Exodus: Gods and Kings.  It was a pretty good film except for the petulant God-child.  That ruined the movie for me. The Ten Commandments will still be playing when Scott's movie is long forgotten.

[albrecht]

Thanks!    I noticed they had screenings of The Ten Commandments prior to Easter in conjunction with Fathom Events. I saw it on the screen once about 25 years ago.  It was a damn shame what Ridley Scott did in Exodus: Gods and Kings.  It was a pretty good film except for the petulant God-child.  That ruined the movie for me. The Ten Commandments will still be playing when Scott's movie is long forgotten.

"BABYDOLL" was just on. Good film n still seemed unseemly even now. The whole lolita vibe. Tho she was cute, no doubt, and protrayed as 'of age' (and was in reality of course)  in dialogue/plot but often dressed n acted not n weird pledge to abstaine even when married until age?  Fun to see a young Eli Wallach and to see Karl Malden. Not to pull a "Norry" but could some of these actors make it today? Except maybe as minor roles? But all great actors.

[21st Century Man]

"BABYDOLL" was just on. Good film n still seemed unseemly even now. The whole lolita vibe. Tho she was cute, no doubt, and protrayed as 'of age' (and was in reality of course)  in dialogue/plot but often dressed n acted not n weird pledge to abstaine even when married until age?  Fun to see a young Eli Wallach and to see Karl Malden. Not to pull a "Norry" but could some of these actors make it today? Except maybe as minor roles? But all great actors.

Well they definitely wouldn't be playing leads today.  Too many companies seem to think hiring a male model type is the way to go.   It doesn't matter if they have acting skills or not.  Manufactured pap. However many of these would-be actors have a brief life-cyle.  Take Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame.  I haven't seen him in anything lately and he's being reduced to playing second leads and supporting roles.

Baby Doll is a great film and is far sexier the way it is without the nudity and sex that would undoubtedly be used in a modern day production.  It leaves something to the imagination which is far more erotic than anything Hollywood could produce today.  Malden and Wallach are missed.  I especially miss the broad interpretations that Wallach gave to his Mexican roles in The Magnificent Seven, How The West Was Won and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Carroll Baker was quite a sexy lady.  Watch Baba Yaga , a unique slice of Eurosleaze that Baker filmed in the early 70's after her Hollywood career dried up.

[coaster]

Well, you can view The Wet Parade if you join Warner Archive's streaming service.  You can try it for one month free.  A year's subscription is $84.99 or  you can join on a month by month basis for 9.99/month.  Hope that helps.

I'll be looking into it. Thanks.
I am currently watching Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy on Netflix. A great cast and it is an interesting story, but it is so slow that I had to take a break midway through. Part of me wants to skip to the end to find out who the mole is (although I already have a hunch), then again I feel like there will be a plot twist coming up that I won't want to miss.
This is one of those movies that make you feel exhausted, but still glad you invested the time.

[Mind Flayer Monk]

Same here.  "Darkman" is great.  Hell, it has Liam Neeson and music by Elfman.  The first "Robocop" is a classic.

I loved Darkman. I also enjoyed the classic feel of the Shadow.

[albrecht]

I'll be looking into it. Thanks.
I am currently watching Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy on Netflix. A great cast and it is an interesting story, but it is so slow that I had to take a break midway through. Part of me wants to skip to the end to find out who the mole is (although I already have a hunch), then again I feel like there will be a plot twist coming up that I won't want to miss.
This is one of those movies that make you feel exhausted, but still glad you invested the time.

The old series one or the movie? Love both Sir Alec Guiness and Gary Oldman as actors but havent seen Gary's version, would find it surprisingly hard to get the novel into short time for movie. But curious how it was?

[Mind Flayer Monk]

My fave super-hero flick was the cult classic "Darkman".

You must not have seen Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

https://youtu.be/GicYEjTdN8I

[coaster]

I especially miss the broad interpretations that Wallach gave to his Mexican roles in The Magnificent Seven, How The West Was Won and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Tuco remains my favorite movie character of all time. He was far more complex than people realize. His love/hate relationship with Blondie, and the animosity he felt towards his brother and parents. I think Blondie felt the same way about Tuco. There was a mutual respect between the two, even after the drama they put each other through.
The one scene where he gets into a fight with his brother and then heads off with Blondie, sharing a smoke. Tuco smiling at the end. It is one of the most honest scenes I've seen. They were not afraid to show Tuco as more than a "bandit". He was a deep, flawed human and obviously very introspective. Far more than a just a mean ole' bandit.
Anyone who loves film should watch The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The old series one or the movie? Love both Sir Alec Guiness and Gary Oldman as actors but havent seen Gary's version, would find it surprisingly hard to get the novel into short time for movie. But curious how it was?

The 2011 movie. I guess I should go finish it.

[albrecht]

Tuco remains my favorite movie character of all time. He was far more complex than people realize. His love/hate relationship with Blondie, and the animosity he felt towards his brother and parents. I think Blondie felt the same way about Tuco. There was a mutual respect between the two, even after the drama they put each other through.
The one scene where he gets into a fight with his brother and then heads off with Blondie, sharing a smoke. Tuco smiling at the end. It is one of the most honest scenes I've seen. They were not afraid to show Tuco as more than a "bandit". He was a deep, flawed human and obviously very introspective. Far more than a just a mean ole' bandit.
Anyone who loves film should watch The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.The 2011 movie. I guess I should go finish it.

Yes, a great movie. I once had a VHS tape with TGTBTU and Wild Bunch on it and I would just let play and play and play. Never gets old.

Re: "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy" I will check out the new one. The old mini-series with Sir Alec Guinness was really good and if you are into spy stuff, that one and the follow up "Smiley's People" are well worth watching. Curious also if you are going into the movie cold or if you read the novel? "Le Carre" (David John Moore Cornwell) was in the secret services and so his books are very realistic (also he had a cameo in that new movie version you watched.)

[coaster]

Yes, a great movie. I once had a VHS tape with TGTBTU and Wild Bunch on it and I would just let play and play and play. Never gets old.

Re: "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy" I will check out the new one. The old mini-series with Sir Alec Guinness was really good and if you are into spy stuff, that one and the follow up "Smiley's People" are well worth watching. Curious also if you are going into the movie cold or if you read the novel? "Le Carre" (David John Moore Cornwell) was in the secret services and so his books are very realistic (also he had a cameo in that new movie version you watched.)

I never read the novel. The second half of the movie got a bit more exciting, but I was still confused. I wasn't sure if some of the scenes were flashbacks, and they started introducing new characters. I was right with my initial hunch though. But after watching the entire movie, I really don't know how I came to that conclusion. I'd give it a 5/10. It was just sooo dull. A little thrill ws all I asked for. I'm sure the novel is much, much better and it is on my future reading list. The plot itself was great, but the movie adaptation could have been so much more.

[albrecht]

I never read the novel. The second half of the movie got a bit more exciting, but I was still confused. I wasn't sure if some of the scenes were flashbacks, and they started introducing new characters. I was right with my initial hunch though. But after watching the entire movie, I really don't know how I came to that conclusion. I'd give it a 5/10. It was just sooo dull. A little thrill ws all I asked for. I'm sure the novel is much, much better and it is on my future reading list. The plot itself was great, but the movie adaptation could have been so much more.

Le Carre's was always more about the realistic spy-stuff and characters; not action-based shoot-em-up thrillers. The old mini-series was really good but not James Bond style action.

[Hautex]

I finished watching The Hateful Eight. It was OK not great. It was basically Reservoir Dogs set in the old West.

Hateful 8 didn't really impress me. They could have called it the "hateful 800" if they counted their use of the "n" word.. The overuse of derogatory, senseless, hateful language, guess I'm over that kind of "art"