What was the last movie you've seen?

[Ack]

Brain Damage

Having watched the full Basket Case trilogy, I gotta say, I think I like Brain Damage even more. Definitely more than Basket Case and Basket Case 3, although 2 is my favorite of the trilogy. It's tough to say whether I like BD or BC2 more. I guess I'll just have to declare them equally awesome. Anyway, since this makes for about half of director Frank Henenlotter's non-documentary filmography, I guess I should go ahead and declare myself a fan of his work. At some point I'll have to track down the likes of Frankenhooker, Bad Biology, and Chasing Banksy to see how I feel about them. Frankenhooker seems like my kind of trash.

Anyway, Brain Damage is a story of addiction: Brian, your typical youthful New Yorker, ends up addicted to the blue hallucinogenic liquid that gets pumped directly into his brain by a parasitic sentient leech which may be at least 1000 years old. The only problem? This critter likes to eat human brains, so it makes sure Brian is nice and high off his ass before it goes and takes him out for a bite to eat. What follows is violence, gore, sex, and sexual violence, particularly one scene where a punk chick tries to go for a blowjob and instead gets her thinking cap ripped out the wrong way. Bloody hilarity ensues as Brian struggles to come to terms with what he is now addicted to and stuck with.

Unfortunately to make things worse, Brian's neighbors happen to be the critter's previous "owners," and they're both addicts that want him back. Plus Brian's girlfriend is upset about his behavior, and his brother is more than happy to move in and replace him as soon as he is gone. Between this, the blackouts, the bloody clothes, and the near-constant hallucinations, and Brain Damage ranges from occasionally awkward to flat out weird at times.

There are also some direct tie-ins to Basket Case, most notably one of the neighbors in his building and then the brothers themselves appearing for a very obvious cameo on the subway. It's almost a shame Brian couldn't make it the few years to Basket Case 3, as I'm sure he would have fit right in with the other freaks once his particular peculiarity was revealed.

Also, I don't know why, but between the colorful junkyard freakout, the puking, and the occasional taboo sexuality, I kept having flashbacks to Street Trash the whole time I was watching the movie. That right there...it's a good thing.

Brain Damage gets my seal of approval folks. It is delightful crap of the highest caliber.

[noiseredux]

Brain Damage is brilliant. Probably my favorite of his work.

You'd def like Frankenhooker as well.

[TSTR]

Henenlotter rules. The Basket Case sequels are goofy fun, but not as good/unsettling as the first one. Frankenhooker is a good time too; I really enjoy the lead actor in that one. And yeah, Brain Damage has a special place in my heart too.

"You know you need my juice, Brian..."

Don't waste your time with Bad Biology, though.

[Ack]

It's that time again for your daily dose of crap, folks.



Wheels of Fire

In the post-apocalyptic future, the remains of civilization slowly work to rebuild, making peace with each other and offering up their shared resources. Unfortunately not everyone prefers to play so nicely, and warlords roam the wastelands, claiming whatever gasoline, food, water, and weapons they can. Only one man and his souped-up muscle car can stand between the warriors of the wasteland and the fledgling infancy of a reborn humanity. That's right, straight out of the Philippines, it's a Mad Max knock-off with guns, explosions, car accidents, and boobies!

How much of it is a Mad Max rip off though? Well, for starters our hero, "Trace," bares a remarkable resemblance to a young Mel Gibson, only with less boozing and anti-Semitism. He pretty much uses the same tailor though, and while Max had the last of the V-8s, Trace is more than happy to wheel around in a black armored Mustang with a roof-mounted flamethrower that from far away looks a lot like Max's V-8...if you squint a little and only use your peripheral vision. He roams the wastes, doing his best not to give a damn about anything at all, except his kid sister and her new boyfriend whom Trace doesn't like. But when the evil warlord "Scourge," who looks kind of like a Filipino version of Charles Bronson, kidnaps his sister, Trace joins up with a lady mercenary into falconry, a psychic teenager, and a midget who can't speak and flails his hands about in bad gestures while mumbling gibberish. From there they fight albinos in the desert, meet up with a bunch of hippies building a rocket ship, and go to war with Scourge. You know, just like in all the Mad Max movies.

Also there is sand. And lots of rape. Once Trace's sister, "Arlie," gets captured by Scourge's men, her shirt gets removed. She then spends pretty much half the movie topless and getting raped. Yup, this film is tasteful like that. And just when you think it's going to go full crap, Scourge captures Trace and then gives him a philosophical speech about how he has to fight for his barbarian way of life against the encroachment of civilization because it's his life and civilization must always cast aside the weak in favor of the strong. What? Did this movie suddenly try to be poignant?

In the end, mercenary lady gets shanked by a sword-wielding dude and knocked off a roof, Arlie gets wasted while saving civilization's army from walking into a trap, and Trace literally drops a car on top of Scourge. Also pretty much all the hippies die. Thank God for that at least.

Wheels of Fire. It's exactly the kind of trash you should never admit to your girlfriend that you enjoy, but you know you enjoy it. Just pray that he's out there somewhere...or something like that, I don't really know. I'm still trying to understand why half this movie was about rape and stoicism while also including albino mole people.

[MrPopo]

So something jogged my memory earlier this week of those in-universe gangster movies that Kevin uses in the Home Alone movies to scare people. And I'm thinking that Ack's mission in life is to use all the knowledge he's gained from watching these bad movies to actually turn those two one-scene-wonders into two full films.

[Ack]

So something jogged my memory earlier this week of those in-universe gangster movies that Kevin uses in the Home Alone movies to scare people. And I'm thinking that Ack's mission in life is to use all the knowledge he's gained from watching these bad movies to actually turn those two one-scene-wonders into two full films.

Merry Christmas, you filthy animal.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Wheels of Fire

Nice. I watched Mad Max: Fury Road last night, and while I went into it with exceptionally high expectations, it still managed not only to satisfy them, but to blow them out of the water (or sand, if you prefer). I absolutely loved it, and I am on a kick for more post-apocalyptic films right now. I will probably skip Wheels of Fire, but I may re-watch Fist of the North Star at some point.

[Ack]

Wheels of Fire

Nice. I watched Mad Max: Fury Road last night, and while I went into it with exceptionally high expectations, it still managed not only to satisfy them, but to blow them out of the water (or sand, if you prefer). I absolutely loved it, and I am on a kick for more post-apocalyptic films right now. I will probably skip Wheels of Fire, but I may re-watch Fist of the North Star at some point.

Well, you can probably skip Wheels of Fire, as well as 2020 Texas Gladiators, but you gotta watch Battletruck, The New Barbarians, A Man Called Rage, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, 2019, After the Fall of New York, Endgame, Stryker, Raiders of the Sun, Warriors of the Wasteland, Warriors of the Lost World, and Hands of Steel.

Oh, or if you prefer good post-apocalyptic movies, A Boy and His Dog, Escape from New York, and The Book of Eli all work I suppose...but why would you want to watch a good movie?

[MrPopo]

So something jogged my memory earlier this week of those in-universe gangster movies that Kevin uses in the Home Alone movies to scare people. And I'm thinking that Ack's mission in life is to use all the knowledge he's gained from watching these bad movies to actually turn those two one-scene-wonders into two full films.

Merry Christmas, you filthy animal.

And a Happy New Year.

[Xeogred]

Wheels of Fire

Nice. I watched Mad Max: Fury Road last night, and while I went into it with exceptionally high expectations, it still managed not only to satisfy them, but to blow them out of the water (or sand, if you prefer). I absolutely loved it, and I am on a kick for more post-apocalyptic films right now. I will probably skip Wheels of Fire, but I may re-watch Fist of the North Star at some point.

Well, you can probably skip Wheels of Fire, as well as 2020 Texas Gladiators, but you gotta watch Battletruck, The New Barbarians, A Man Called Rage, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, 2019, After the Fall of New York, Endgame, Stryker, Raiders of the Sun, Warriors of the Wasteland, Warriors of the Lost World, and Hands of Steel.

Oh, or if you prefer good post-apocalyptic movies, A Boy and His Dog, Escape from New York, and The Book of Eli all work I suppose...but why would you want to watch a good movie?

How about The Road? I dug that one.

I think The Day might be related or in the same world or something. Doesn't seem as highly regarded though.