Topic: KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010

[KinkyCyborg]

It was one of the rare movies of his that did not have a theatrical release and went straight to video. I could see why none of the major studios felt it worthy of the big screen. Would have been a colossal box office flop.

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:Love Lies Bleeding
Year: 2007
Director: Keith Samples
Rating: 18A
Length: 94 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
Chris Ashworth
Josh Berry
Frank Bond
Gerard Brodin
Jeremy Burnell

Plot:
Money changes everything, at least that's what Duke and Amber would like to believe - especially after Duke, a hapless Iraq War vet (Brian Geraghty - I Know Who Killed Me), stumbles onto a drug deal turned deadly and finds a duffel bag stuffed with dirty money. After stopping for a quickie wedding, Duke abd Amber (Jenna Dewan - Take The Lead) hit the road to start the life they've always dreamed about. The dream quickly turns into a nightmare when Polen (Christian Slater - Bobby), a corrupt DEA agent, comes to reclaim what he believes is rightfully his. The chase begins with non-stop, hair-raising action as Duke and Amber are forced to outwit the increacingly crazed Pollen - and fight for their very lives.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
DVD-ROM Content
Alternate Ending

My Thoughts:

Much better than I was expecting for a straight to video flick with Christian Slater, another who seems to be relegated to b-movie status.

Good action, great storyline and Slater is quite believable as a badass, crooked DEA agent. The ending left a couple of unanswered questions but not enough to detract from the overall experience. Worth a watch! 

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:Harum Scarum
Year: 1965
Director: Gene Nelson
Rating: NR
Length: 85 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Elvis Presley
Mary Ann Mobley
Fran Jeffries
Michael Ansara
Jay Novello

Plot:
"Go East, Young Man," sings show-biz star and martial arts wiz Johnny Tyronne. To hear is to obey. A clandestine group called the Assassins kidnaps Johnny and whisks him to a remote Arabian realm isolated from the world for 2,000 years.

Sheik meets desert chic when Elvis Presley plays Johnny and teams with former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley (Presley's Girl Happy co-star) in this tuneful frolic shot on the original 1925 Cecil B. DeMille set from King of Kings and directed by movie musical veteran Gene Nelson. The kidnappers want Johnny to use his fighting finesse to kill a desert king. Johnny a hitman? No, he's a hit, man, a top singer of songs like Kismet, Harem Holiday and nine more, all part of the jammin.' swashbucklin' fun of Harum Scarum.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Three out of my next four reviews are going to be Elvis movies as I randomly selected an Elvis triple feature. First up... Harum Scarum.

I sure hope they get better.  Not that his movies were ever very good but this one is quite terrible. He sings the majority of his lines and most of the songs were created just to fit the movie and they are among some of the worst he has ever sang. The acting is poor and the story is ridiculous... full of blatant cultural inaccuracies.

The one consistently good thing about his movies are the scads of good looking women he tends to surround himself with. 

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:Speedway
Year: 1968
Director: Norman Taurog
Rating: NR
Length: 94 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Other

Stars:
Elvis Presley
Nancy Sinatra
Bill Bixby
Gale Gordon
William Schallert

Plot:
He races. She chases. Yet love and laughter find a way when "World 600" stock car driver Elvis meets Internal Revenue Service collection agent Nancy Sinatra in Speedway. "There Ain't Nothing like a Song," pedal-to-the-metal Elvis and go-go-booted Nancy sing. For the first time since he and Ann-Margret proclaimed 'Viva Las Vegas', Presley pairs with a high-octane singing, dancing leading lady. Bill Bixby is the manager who mismanages Presley into a $145,000 jam with the IRS and laughs are further fueled by veteran TV funnymen Gale Gordon ('The Lucy Show') and Carl Ballantine ('McHale's Navy'). The supersonic songlist includes 'Let Yourself Go', 'Your Time Hasn't Come Yet', 'Baby' and 'Your Groovy Self'. Have a groovy time!

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Days Of Thunder The Musical... 

Much better than Harum Scarum all around. Better music, better story and better acting. Bill Bixby was a hoot as The King's racing manager. They also figured out how to make Elvis's cheesy songs sound better... they got Nancy Sinatra to sing! Yeeesh! The only thing worse than her singing was her dancing. It was like watching a medical show on Cerebral Palsy set to snappy music.  At least Elvis had some moves.

I've noticed a common theme with Elvis movies and that is the inclusion of young children. He always has a singing number just for them and you can see through his acting and tell that he genuinely loved working with the kids which I think is great.

My next one I get to pick before I watch the final Elvis movie... I wonder what it will be...

KC

Rating:

[Antares]

4 Elvis movies in a row!!!!

I'd rather have 12 inch needles stuck into my eyes. 

[KinkyCyborg]

Actually it's only a triple feature and I will be watching something else before the last one just as a breather... but I hear ya.  I'll be all Elvis'd out by the time I'm done the third one. 

[Antares]

Last month TCM did a month of one day marathons starring one particular actor. Towards the end, they did 24 hours of Elvis, it was awful. No wonder he ate drugs like candy.

[Najemikon]

But Kevin, do you actually like Elivis? As a musician, or whatever.

[KinkyCyborg]

Yes, I must admit that I do like him as a singer and entertainer. I grew up on country and oldies music and Elvis was always a favorite in out home.  His movies however are a bit lacking as he rarely sang any of his big hits in them save for perhaps Jailhouse Rock and Flaming Star... the rest of the music was often whipped up to cater to the scenes of the movie and basically amounted to him singing his dialogue. Still, they make for an interesting character study.

KC

[KinkyCyborg]

Last month TCM did a month of one day marathons starring one particular actor. Towards the end, they did 24 hours of Elvis, it was awful. No wonder he ate drugs like candy.

My dad loves those TCM marathons with John Wayne all day, all night, all the time being his favorite. Drives my mom nuts.   

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:2012
Year: 2009
Director: Roland Emmerich
Rating: PG-13
Length: 158 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French

Stars:
John Cusack
Amanda Peet
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Thandie Newton
Oliver Platt

Plot:
From Roland Emmerich, director of The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, comes the ultimate action-adventure movie, exploding with groundbreaking special effects. As the world faces a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions, cities collapse and continents crumble. 2012 brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.
Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover and Woody Harrelson.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Music Videos

My Thoughts:

Kiss your ass goodbye!   

Given that I am in the midst of a mini Elvis marathon, which most of his movies were disasters I thought I would keep with that theme and watch 2012... a movie about a disaster.

Well... I know where I want to be when the world is ending... wherever John Cusack is because apparently he is the luckiest sumbitch on the entire planet!

Great action, superb effects, beautiful destruction, but after awhile I started to feel like I was watching the 5th installment of the Final Destination franchise as Cusack and his family cheat death by mere nanoseconds for a good hour and half straight. I'm sure even die hard action junkies were groaning 'Awww, c'mon...' Somebody please tell Roland Emmerich that reality does not have to be sacrificed in order to achieve thrills.

What is scary is that a good deal of this vision of Armageddon could potentially happen. I don't buy into any of that Mayan calender crap but the massive quakes, California sinking into the Pacific Ocean, monstrous tsunamis... gonna happen some day. I just hope I am long gone before it does. 

I enjoyed this and I think it has great rewatchability.

KC

Rating:

[Rogmeister]

I like marathons on cable but it depends on the actor or actress.  I don't usually watch the John Wayne marathons since I have all my favorite Duke films on DVD anyway.  Still, if I am channel-hopping and Rio Bravo comes on, I'm hooked...

[Dragonfire]

I watch some stuff on those marathons.  I've seen some good movies that way that I'd never seen before.  Last month I saw a few with Bob Hope that I enjoyed.  I think they were the first of his movies I'd ever seen.

[Najemikon]

Yes, I must admit that I do like him as a singer and entertainer. I grew up on country and oldies music and Elvis was always a favorite in out home.  His movies however are a bit lacking as he rarely sang any of his big hits in them save for perhaps Jailhouse Rock and Flaming Star... the rest of the music was often whipped up to cater to the scenes of the movie and basically amounted to him singing his dialogue. Still, they make for an interesting character study.

KC

Ah, right. Yeah, that's how I am. I was just wondering if you were watching the movies just to review them or you actually had at least a passing interest in him.

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:The Trouble with Girls
Year: 1969
Director:
Rating: G
Length: 99 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Elvis Presley
Marlyn Mason
Nicole Jaffe
Sheree North
Edward Andrews

Plot:
It's like a carnival midway and a week at some highfalutin, East Coast college all in one. The Chautauqua, a traveling 1927 tent show, has come to Radford Center, Iowa. And so has a heap of trouble. In a change-of-pace role, Elvis Presley portrays Walter Hale, the white-suited impresario overseeing the Chautauqua’s novelty acts, lectures and close harmonies. The supporting cast is as colorful as the film's vibrant Americana. Vincent Price's Mr. Morality holds forth on immorality. John Carradine appears as a nimble-minded Shakespearean actor. Marlyn Mason, Joyce Van Patten, Sheree North, Edward Andrews and Dabney Coleman also star. And Elvis sings as only he can, from the tender ballad Almost to the rousing traditional Swing Low Sweet Chariot and the untraditional rouser Clean Up Your Own Backyard.

Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Last entry in my Elvis trilogy. Quite a confusing movie that had some great individual performances but in the end I'm left asking myself what was the point and what did the title have to do with the story??!

Some noticeable differences from the other 2 movies I watched. Elvis did much less singing in this one. It was almost 40 minutes into the film before he sang his first song but it was one of his rocking gospel numbers and it was top notch. His only other main singing performance was near the end of the movie and it was also one of the best songs he sang in all three movies.

Another interesting thing I noticed was that he surrounded himself with gorgeous women in the first two movies but in this one his love interest was quite the plain jane. I'm almost led to believe that this was an attempt at a semi-serious movie in order to avoid being typecast as a rocking crooner who makes bad movies. Noble, but in the end it failed.

Vincent Price made a brief but memorable appearance in this one as Mr. Morality, a carnival philosopher who preached about the sin in us all. I've never been a huge Price fan but I thought he was rather prominent and regal in his cameo.

I went into these Elvis movies expecting little... almost turning it into a case study. I think there were positives to be taken from his films but they will always be overshadowed by the tacky productions and the almost compulsive need to have him sing at every opportunity. I have quite a few more unwatched Elvis movies in my collection but I'm in no particular hurry to watch them.

KC

Rating: