What was the last movie you've seen?

[Stark]

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Still holds up very well. It also begins with a Christmas sequence, so 'tis the season to watch it.

The trailer is out for PROMETHEUS, the Alien prequel. Go check it out. It's almost identical to the ALIEN trailer from 1979.

Dude, I saw this and it is now my most anticipated movie for 2012.

[BoringSupreez]

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Still holds up very well. It also begins with a Christmas sequence, so 'tis the season to watch it.

The trailer is out for PROMETHEUS, the Alien prequel. Go check it out. It's almost identical to the ALIEN trailer from 1979.

Dude, I saw this and it is now my most anticipated movie for 2012.

They're making an Alien prequel? *crosses fingers and hopes*

[Hobie-wan]

The trailer is out for PROMETHEUS, the Alien prequel. Go check it out. It's almost identical to the ALIEN trailer from 1979.

Well that gives me cautious optimism.

[OldSchool_Boy]

Melancholia

Lars von Trier really meant what he said 'No more happy endings'.

[EvilRyu2099]

Mulholland Drive

Mindfuck a Go Go...

probably my favorite Lynch film of all time. Love it.

I prefer Blue Velvet, but liked the acting in Mulholland.. Trippy ending indeed!!

[Michi]

Write up #3 for the week:


Ganja and Hess
AKA, Blood Couple, AKA Double Possession, AKA Black Evil, AKA Black Vampire, and AKA Blackout: The Moment of Terror (*Whew* I think that's all of them )


Ganja and Hess tells the story of Dr. Hess Green, an anthropologist. Dr. Green takes on a new assistant (played by the Director, Bill Gunn) and invites him to dinner. Unfortunately his new assistant is horribly neurotic. The man rambles his way through a very nice dinner (Dr. Green is apparently very well off), has to be talked out of a tree later in the evening, and then later that night, for reasons unknown, stabs Green in the chest with a ceremonial dagger. Driven to guilt and despair, the assistant kills himself


After of course taking a nice warm bath and bloodying up the drains.

but Green isn't exactly dead. In fact, to his surprise he's very much alive and has acquired a taste for human blood. He deals with this at first like any rational man would, not by killing people of course, but instead by robbing blood banks. But when the desire for blood becomes too great he resorts to killing prostitutes (and pimps).


There's a baby crying in the background in this scene. You can see he's really torn up about it. Have fun sleeping tonight.

Enter Ganja, his dead assistants wife. Ganja comes looking for her husband, but quickly falls for the doctor and the two start a life together despite the veritable truck load of literal and figurative skeletons in Hess's closet.


Marlene Clark is really very striking in this film. She was also given some of the better scenes, thank god.

Not sure about how people felt about all the claymation in my last write up about Equinox, but this is a far different beast. Ganja and Hess is a very interesting take on the vampire genre. The word Vampire is not once uttered during the entire 110 min length of the film. There is also no neck biting, no coffins and Mr. Blood Drinker has no problems walking around in the sunlight. (There is quite a bit of religious symbols, so there is that.)

Instead the film treats Green's growing blood lust as an addiction, and commonly refers to it as that throughout the film, treating it as one would a dependancy on alcohol or any other drug. When the need becomes to great he'll resort to drinking it off the floor, but more commonly you'll see him sipping it out of a glass.


That's not tomato juice, people.

For a movie from 1973, the film can be a bit grainy and some of the shots are poorly framed and too long (the aforementioned tree scene is a good example. You see the assistants feet and the top of Hess's head while they have a winded conversation. I kept expecting the camera to pan up or down or something, but it didn't happen.) But after the first 10 minutes or so the movie picks back up, especially after Marlene Clark shows up.

One of the more interesting aspects of the film was the soundtrack. African tribal beats, chants, and calls echo throughout, often picking up tempo and volume as the need for blood intensifies. The beats often give off an ghostly echo in the background, giving the film a very surreal tone. There is also quite a bit of tribal imagery offered in the film, perhaps harkening to Green's anthropological roots or the dagger's.


Yes, this scene is in the movie. Do not be alarmed. It's supposed to be there.

The actors do an exceptional job of keeping the film together despite the movie's surreal tone and often choppy storytelling. Duane Jones, in his only other leading role since Night of the Living Dead, fits into the surreal-ness of the film so well it's astounding and when Marlene Clark shows up she's so warm and human that they're a perfect counter balance to each other.

Mind you, this is not a film that everyone will enjoy. The ethereal tone is enough to turn a lot of people off and the lack of enough vampire lore in a vampire movie will turn off even more. But if you can get past that then Ganja and Hess is a unique movie experience not to be missed.

PS. A word of note, if you're interested in watching this movie make sure you specify the title as Ganja and Hess. The other titles mentioned are edited cuts of the film, made to try to cash in on the Blacksploitation market after the films distributors pulled the movie from theaters after a week long run in Manhattan.

[Weekend_Warrior]

Saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie at the theatre last week. VERY GOOD! I'd recommend it to anyone

[mjmjr25]

Michi - I don't know if i'll ever watch any of this goofy stuff you find, but I certainly appreciate the thoughtful reviews with a sprinkle of wit. Keep it up.

[The Last Horseman]

Watched The Assassination of a High School President. It's... different, but in a good way. It's like a 40's private eye/investigator who gets in to deep movie, set in a current day private highschool. It has a good use of teenager ideas and the large amount of corruption in "better" schools. (I can't for the life of me understand why this stereotype is so true...) The principal, played by (Can't remember the name. The guy from Live Free or Die Hard), is great, especially with his huge hatred of gum.

[Michi]

Michi - I don't know if i'll ever watch any of this goofy stuff you find....

Don't blame me. Blame TCM's late night schedule.


Anyway, this is the last one for the year and I want to get it out now because it'll be too late next week. So write up #4 for the week:



You Better Watch Out
(AKA Christmas Evil, AKA Terror in Toyland)


The story opens on a young boy named Harry on Christmas Eve. After Harry tells his younger brother about Santa (via a very heart warming 'memory sequence'), his brother tells him he doesn't believe in Santa, so Harry goes downstairs (to prove him wrong I guess) and sees something NO CHILD NEEDS TO SEE ON CHRISTMAS EVE


Seriously, people? I'm not here to judge, but do this s*&! in your own bedroom. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!


Naturally the boy is scarred for life (I'd have run screaming from the room) and 30 years later we see just how bad the scarring is. Harry spends his days trying to emulate and live a very Santa life: He sleeps in Santa pj's, his room is completely decorated in Santa imagery, he can make his own toys



Yeah, that big ass shotgun in his lifeless little hands isn't creepy at all.


works at a toy factory, and, in the creepiest emulation of all, spys on the neighborhood children to see who's been naughty and who's been nice



God, I really hope this isn't how the real Santa does it.

Actually, Harry seems to have developed a problem with voyeurism in general, peeking through neighbors, co-workers and even his own brother's windows.

In other words, Harry's downright obsessed with the Jolly Old Elf. Unfortunately, Harry's life isn't as jolly as he'd like it to be. His co-workers don't respect him, his brother represents the success he's failed to capture despite his best efforts, and all the children of the neighborhood aren't living up to his expectations.

Fed up with the holiday hypocrisy and being mistreated at work, Harry finally snaps and decides to transform himself into the mythical figure he loves and most respects.


Hard to tell, but this is actually a chilling scene. He starts out ecstatic, but his jolly "Ho ho ho" quickly turns sad and menacing.


The evening starts out on a bad deed with good intentions, as Harry steals toys from the factory and then delivers them to a local children’s hospital. Receiving such a wonderful welcome Harry's feeling in high spirits, but things quickly take a turn for the worse.



Santa! I knew I'd been good this yea-...Holy S*&%!!!

Especially when Harry goes to confront some of the co-workers who he feels have slighted the spirit of Christmas. He doesn't get a chance, however as he's first confronted by a group of 20 somethings intent on mocking Santa Clause (gracing us with the preppiest accent they can muster) and becomes frustrated


Reeeeeeally frustrated. (PS. I think he made that candy cane hatchet himself)


And he runs off before he can confront them, leaving three dead yuppies in his wake



Don't all rush to help at once.

While the idea of being killed by Santa is creepy enough, Harry comes off as less menacing and more of a tragic figure who wants nothing more than a return to the innocence of his childhood. Despite it all Santa seems to be the last noble thing in Harry’s life, an almost romantic ideal meant to overcome the hypocrisy of those who preach family values while simultaneously acting against it. Harry wants to help others, he yearns for it, but as the movie plays on he's no longer content just playing Santa and instead slowly slips into the role of avenger.

Harry spend the rest of the movie taking revenge on those who've slighted him or his ideal Christmas spirit. He breaks and enters, dances, evades capture and unwisely freaks out a group of parents who keep a suspiciously large stockpile of torches nearby. Yes. Torches.


No, I'm not f*&%$#@* kidding.

For the most part, the supporting actors aren't all that great, leaving most of the movie to be carried by Brandon Maggart and Jeffrey DeMunn (Harry and his younger brother Philip respectively). This isn't an issue at all as both actors do a phenomenal job with the material given. Marggart makes you feel sorry for Harry despite his growing lack of sanity and DeMunn brings an empathy to a man who most likely has an idea of what's going on, but is powerless to stop it. One exception to the supporting cast is a small part by Patricia Richardson. She can do "Pissed off Mom" so well you'll wonder why she didn't smack those idiot kids of hers more on Home Improvement.


You'd be this pissed off too if your spouse kept blowing up the damn house.

Overall, You Better Watch Out is less of a slasher and more of an examination of a man's slow loss of sanity. In that respect it's more like Taxi Driver sans the higher production values or any De Niro. If you're looking for more Christmas gore, I'd steer you towards the Silent Night, Deadly Night films, but if you the gore's not that important or you just looking for something new to watch in between the usual viewings of Black Christmas and Santa's Slay give You Better Watch Out a try. It really ain't half bad.