Topic: KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:Light Sleeper
Year: 1991
Director: Paul Schrader
Rating: R
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Willem Dafoe
Susan Sarandon
Dana Delany
David Clennon
Mary Beth Hurt

Plot:
John LeTour (Willem Dafoe) is a good man in a bad business working for Ann (Susan Sarandon) on the wrong side of the law. When Ann decides to close up shop, LeTour has to go straight and come up with a future. But time is running out on him as he must dodge the cops, confront a killer, and find his heart before he can leave his past behind.

Extras:
Scene Access

My Thoughts:

I remember when I first picked this movie up thinking to myself how come a movie with this kind of star power be one I have never heard of? Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon in a movie written by Paul Schrader of Taxi Driver fame should be of major significance and yet it seems to have flown under the radar.

While not in the same league as Taxi Driver it is quite good. You quickly pick up on some of the similarities between the films, particularly the sleazy, cesspool of a city as a backdrop. Willem Dafoe was stellar and Sarandon solid. Look for both Sam Rockwell and David Spade in minor roles early in their careers. Dana Delaney is a tasty treat who makes you want more. 

Two thumbs up!

KC


Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Year: 1964
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Rating: PG
Length: 93 Min.
Video: Widescreen 1.66:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, French: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: Spanish

Stars:
Peter Sellers
George C. Scott
Sterling Hayden
Keenan Wynn
James Earl Jones

Plot:
U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper goes completely and utterly mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Device" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth.

Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy: British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only person with access to the demented Gen. Ripper; U.S. President Merkin Muffley, whose best attempts to divert disaster depend on placating a drunken Soviet Permier; and the former Nazi genious Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that "such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious". Will the bombers be stopped in time, or will General Jack Ripper succeed in destroying the world ?

Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

Kubrick's brilliant comic take on nuclear Armageddon. First time watching it and it was great. George C. Scott's performance as the bubble gum chewing Buck Turgidson is a revelation.

Long before Eddie Murphy and his broken record comedy flicks, Peter Sellers was plying the art of multiple roles in film and each of his three characters in Strangelove were hilarious!

Slim Pickens riding the ICBM to the ground like a rodeo bull is one of the classic cinema scenes of all time. A young James Earl Jones plays the bombardier.

What is funny about this movie is that through about the first 30 to 40 minutes, before the slapstick elements appear, it plays out like a serious and accurate depiction of military procedure and protocol.

A must have in anyone's collection.

KC

Rating:

[Achim]

Long before Eddie Murphy and his broken record comedy flicks, Peter Sellers was plying the art of multiple roles in film and each of his three characters in Strangelove were hilarious!

My favorite is him as the officer with Sterling Hayden as his nutcase superior, talking about bodily fluids and such.

[Antares]

Long before Eddie Murphy and his broken record comedy flicks, Peter Sellers was plying the art of multiple roles in film and each of his three characters in Strangelove were hilarious!

And before Sellers, there was Alec Guinness.

Kind Hearts and Coronets


You should check this film out.

[KinkyCyborg]

Long before Eddie Murphy and his broken record comedy flicks, Peter Sellers was plying the art of multiple roles in film and each of his three characters in Strangelove were hilarious!

And before Sellers, there was Alec Guinness.

Kind Hearts and Coronets


You should check this film out.

Alec Guinness (1914) as The Duke / The Banker / The Parson / The General / The Admiral / Young Ascoyne / Young Henry / Lady Agatha..... that's hilarious!  I will have to check that one out for sure. I've always liked Guinness too.  Thanks!

[Achim]

Kind Hearts and Coronets is a good light-hearted film (despite being about murder, but hey, it's British black humor). I recommend it as well.

[Rogmeister]

On Jeopardy! (a U.S. game show) the other day, this movie came up.  The question was to name the two actors who were nominated for Oscars in films in which they played multiple roles.  I guessed Peter Sellers in this film and I was correct.  I forget who the other actor was, though...

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:National Lampoon's Pledge This!
Year: 2006
Director: William Heins
Rating: NR
Length: 91 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Paris Hilton
Paula Garcés
Sarah Carter
Kerri Kenney
Simon Rex

Plot:
Get ready for National Lampoon's WILD and OUTRAGEOUS, UNRATED college comedy; Pledge This! - the version that couldn't be shown in theaters.

School's starting and the boys are hot and ready for the new crop of girls. At South Beach University, Gloria ('PAULA GARCES', 'Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle') and her naïve freshmen friends join a whirlwind tour where anything goes - free love, girl-on-girl action and much more. Life becomes a series of hilarious adventures from condom roundups to naked parties. But when Victoria ('PARIS HILTON', "The Simple Life"), the queen of mean, declares war on the freshmen, things really get hot!

Pledge This! is a hilarious comedy in the over-the-top tradition of National Lampoon comedies like 'Animal House' and 'Van Wilder'.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Featurettes

My Thoughts:

There have been some bad entries in the Lampoon series but this has got to be the worst. I'm all for lots of boobies but to think a movie will be funny and liked by flashing a pair of tits every 3 minutes is beyond stupid. You expect at least a laugh or two from a Lampoon flick but there wasn't anything even remotely funny about this.

This played more like a vehicle strictly to promote Paris Hilton who is truly detestable and as far as I am concerned completely unattractive.   

Should've been called Skip This! 

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:Demonic
Year: 2005
Director: Johannes Roberts
Rating: R
Length: 83 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles:

Stars:
Tom Savini
Daniel Maclagan
Nicole Petty
Sophie Holland
Richard Cambridge

Plot:
Tom Savini (Land of the Dead) leads a terrifying trip into the darkness of desire...when five teens become stranded in a forest roamed by beautiful and deadly creatures who seduce unsuspecting victims to their death.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Audition Tapes

My Thoughts:

Ultra low budget British horror flick... and another movie that apparently measures success by how many naked bodies it can parade in front of the camera.

Terrible acting, huge gaps in the plot and only one decent scene of gore throughout the whole movie.

This one is a dog with fleas. 

KC

Rating:

[Najemikon]

Tom Savini normally lifts a movie by his mere presence! I don't mean to say he's a good actor, but he is enthusiastic and has a certain look about him. I can't think of his transformation in From Disk Till Dawn without laughing!

[KinkyCyborg]

Title:Wanted
Year: 2008
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Rating: R
Length: 110 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
James McAvoy
Morgan Freeman (1937)
Angelina Jolie
Terence Stamp
Thomas Kretschmann

Plot:
Wesley's (James McAvoy) life is over – his pathetic, old one, anyway... Fortunately, it is all because of a girl. Enter sizzling-hot Fox (Angelina Jolie), who crashes into his life and introduces him to the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins, led by the enigmatic Sloan (Morgan Freeman). Seems Wes's long-lost father was killed while working for the Fraternity and Wes has been selected to target the rogue member who murdered him. But before he can complete his assignment, Wes must first uncover the dark secrets behind the Fraternity in order to determine his own destiny.

Extras:
Scene Access

My Thoughts:

Movie #10 means I get to pick and I picked Wanted.

About as far fetched as a movie can get and yet it's still a slam-bang, grabastic, thrill ride of epic proportions. Death served up with a sense of humor and moments of pure comic book action.... this rates high for originality and creative kills.

Angelina Jolie, in my mind, is the only sustainable female action star out there right now. I might have thrown Uma Thurman in there too had she done more action beyond the Kill Bill movies. Any other actress I can think of have only basically done one-offs and don't really qualify. Jolie delivers a knockout punch in this movie and I suspect she will in her upcoming spy flick Salt which I hear had Tom Cruise originally cast in the lead role and they decided to (thankfully) go in a different direction. I've seen the trailer and it looks great.

James McAvoy seemed an odd choice at first as the would-be assassin as I've found him to be rather docile in his other roles but he surprised me with a good performance that I think he can sustain in upcoming sequels that I'm sure are coming.

I just bought the bluray of this so I'm looking forward to a re-watch down the road. Wanted has franchise written all over it. 

KC

Rating:

[KinkyCyborg]

Upon reflection I have to add Milla Jovovich as a bonafide female action star. 

[Achim]

Have you seen the two Russian films by Timur Bekmambetov, Night Watch and Day Watch...? I guess you could bascially call them vampire flicks, but his style already showed and they are of epic proportions.

[KinkyCyborg]

Have you seen the two Russian films by Timur Bekmambetov, Night Watch and Day Watch...? I guess you could bascially call them vampire flicks, but his style already showed and they are of epic proportions.

I've watched Day Watch and liked it. I'm sure it was quite groundbreaking for Russian film making with it's spectacular effects and certainly had a Hollywood feel to it. Haven't seen Night Watch yet... which is unfortunate as I appear to have watched them out of order. It's on my wish list.

[Achim]

Well, yes. Nightwatch is the first one and, in my opinion the better one. I guess in the recap you now already had the "big surprise reveal" of part 1 spoiled for you, but well, it's still a great film. There is a DVD with floating around with a special set of subtitles, which almost add to the film (like one time, the subtitles are red and then dissolve within an underwater shot which also shows blood). You can find samples on YouTube. Unfortunately not all releases have them, especially the Blu-ray omitted them.

So you know already how the story wrapped up. At the time there was rumor they would make a thrid film (Dusk or Twilight Watch), then based in a Western country and filmed in English. Personally I feel it's not needed and they should leave it as is. Anyway, Timur seems to busy otherwise.