Topic: Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews)

[Jimmy]

Have you seen their TV: The Movie?

This looks so original... Ken Shapiro already did that in 1974 with The Groove Tube

It's John Carpenter's Vampires

I always remove actors/directors names from movie titles (well... apart from Being John Malkovich etc of course). I hate it.

I always removed them too, but it was a good opportunity to bring back that old controversy

[samuelrichardscott]

Bugsy Malone (1976) Region 2 United Kingdom

Overview:
New York, 1929. A war rages between two rival gangsters, Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Dan is in possession of a new and deadly weapon, the dreaded 'splurge gun'. As the custard pies fly, Bugsy Malone (Happy Days' Scott Baio), an all-round nice guy, falls for Blousey Brown (Florrie Dugger), a singer at Fat Sam's speakeasy. His designs on her are disrupted by the seductive songstress Tallulah (double Academy Award® winner Jodie Foster) who wants Bugsy for herself.
Written and directed by Sir Alan Parker, this gangster musical satire is one of the best loved movies of the 1970s. It features a great cast, catchy song and dance routines and hilarious slapstick comedy.
Now is your chance to join in the fun and sing along with Bugsy and the rest of the gang to classics including 'So You Wanna Be A Boxer?', 'My Name Is Tallulah', 'Fat Sam's Grand Slam' and many more.

My Thoughts:
Bugsy Malone is a well loved film for a reason. Where else will you find an entire family glued to the screen as they watch kids playing adult mobsters having gun fights consisting of splat guns that fire a substance that looks like mash tatties? Where else will you find these mobsters going up and down the road in pedal cars? OK, so the production values aren't exactly great, but the film is fun and for what it aims for it hits the target bang on. A fantastic musical score by Paul Williams (The Rules Of Attraction) and a great little story that is a little thin at times by Alan Parker (who also directs), Bugsy Malone is a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family on a Sunday afternoon. The kids being dubbed by adults for the songs is a little annoying though. 3.5/5

[goodguy]

In the "kids playing adults" genre, this recently came to my attention. Haven't seen it yet, but it's a Hungarian film, so Jon might be interested. 

[samuelrichardscott]

Mad Foxes (1981) R0 Switzerland

Overview:
Hal, driving a fancy Stingray kisses Babsy, as a band of bikers roll up. Their leader taunts Hal and spits on him. Hali forces one of the bikers into a fatal accident. Hal gets Babsy at a club, the bikers, waiting outside beat him up and Babsy is brutally raped.
Hal hires a friend who runs a kickboxing school. At the bikers funeral for their fallen buddy, the kickboxers show up, beat than and castrate their leader. The bikers retaliate, at the kickboxing school with machine guns.
Two nude lovers on a beach get dressed and start hitchhiking when Hal drivest by. Lily, gets in the car with Hal. Lily and Hala end up at his parents' estate. As Hal and Lily make love in the forest, thet bikers show up and kill the family and servants. Hal, armed with guns and grenades, finishes off the bikers.
The surviving castrated leader holds Hala and Lilyi at bay with a bomb, which he blasts.
A must for fans of the absolute extremes.

My Thoughts:
Every now and again I come across a film which I know is bad, yet is so insane, and so unintentionally hilarious I get a little bit of enjoyment out of it. Mad Foxes, a lesser known entry into the exploitation genre, is one of these movies. It has everything, from ridiculous dialogue to completely bizarre situations. A biker gang getting beat up has one of their 'members' castrated by martial arts fighters after raping a man's 18 year old nubile girlfriend. Of course, this kicks off a chain of events including grenades, machine guns, and a full on bomb. It's a bad film, but enjoyably bad. 2.5/5

[samuelrichardscott]

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) R1 USA

Overview:
One of the most popular screen westerns ever made, this Academy Award® winning classic blends adventure, romance and comedy to tell the true story of the West's most likeable outlaws. No one is quicker than Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) when it comes to get rich quick schemes, and his sidekick Sundance (Robert Redford) is a wizard with a gun. When these two bungling bank and train robbers tire of running from the law, they set out for Bolivia with Sundance's girlfriend (Katharine Ross). Though they can barely speak enough Spanish to communicate 'This is a stick-up', that's only a minor detail to the two nicest "bad-guys" who ever rode the West.

My Thoughts:
Robert Redford and Paul Newman make up one of the best pairings ever as Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, a film which might not be the best western ever made, but it's certainly up there with the pack. It has some great action scenes, a little bit of drama and a bit of romance, not to mention some perfectly added funny scenes (the blowing up of the train safe the second time around). Whilst the script and the direction are both of a very high standard, what really shines is how well the two main characters manage to gel together with their strong friendship, made even better by the screen presence held by both Newman and Redford without either outdoing the other. The photo montages are a great little touch to the picture and whilst a Burt Bacharach track should feel out of place, it really doesn't. Highly recommended. 4.5/5

[samuelrichardscott]

RoboCop (1987) R2 United Kingdom

Overview:
There's a new law enforcer in town...and he's half man, half machine! From the director of Total Recall and Basic Instinct comes a Sci-Fi fantasy with sleek, high-powered drive about an indestructible high-tech policeman who dishes out justice at every turn!
When a good cop (Peter Weller) gets blown away by some ruthless criminals, innovative scientists and doctors are able to piece him back together as an unstoppable crime-fighting cyborg called "Robocop". Impervious to bullets and bombs, and equipped with high-tech weaponry, Robocop quickly makes a name for himself by cleaning up the crime-ridden streets of violence-ravaged Detroit. But despite his new, hardened exterior, Robocop is tormented by scraps of memory of his former life, and relives vivid nightmares of his own death at the hands of the vicious killers. Now he is out to seek more than justice...He wants revenge!
Fast, furious and entertaining, Robocop is a fiercely paced action film that doesn't let up on the thrills.

My Thoughts:
I can't decide between RoboCop and Starship Troopers as to what is my favourite Hollywood Verhoeven movie of all time (his Dutch film Spetters is my favourite overall) though RoboCop has it all as far as action movies are concerned. The script is a lot of fun and Paul Weller excels by actually making the viewer care about RoboCop through his emotions and memories, despite the fact his face is covered for the most part by a mask. Special effects are generally very good and the set pieces are fantastic to watch. The violence is completely OTT and makes for some very fun scenes but what really steals this film is RoboCop is fighting against villains on two different levels; the corrupt upper class high level Dick Jones (played by Ronny Cox) and the low end street scum like Clarence (Kurtwood Smith). Highly recommended. 4.5/5

[Achim]

I can't decide between RoboCop and Starship Troopers as to what is my favourite Hollywood Verhoeven movie of all time

That is a tough call to make. I think I'd give RoboCop the edge, as it's the tighter film. I wish there was a good Bl-Ryan out there I could upgrade to...

[samuelrichardscott]

Quills (2000) R1 USA

Overview:
Academy Award® winners Geoffrey Rush and Michael Caine join Oscar® nominees Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix in this provocative film filled with delicious desire and wicked wit.
Rush gives a tour-de-force performance as history's most infamous sexual adventurer, the Marquis de Sade. A nobleman with a literary flair, the Marquis lives in a madhouse where a beautiful laundry maid (Winslet) smuggles his erotic stories to a printer, defying orders from the asylum's resident priest (Phoenix). The titillating passages whip all of France into a sexual frenzy, until a fiercely conservative doctor (Caine) tries to put an end to the fun, inadvertently stoking the excitement to a fever pitch.

My Thoughts:
Many people give Shakespeare in Love credit as Geoffrey Rush's best role but I have wondered on occasion if these people had seen the magnificent Quills in which he plays the Marquis de Sade in an insane asylum extremely well. He is surrounded by a great supporting cast including Michael Caine, Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix all putting in brilliant performances. The screenplay by Doug Wright is very well written and packs a punch when required, managing to give all the characters the right amount of development throughout. The most interesting aspect for me was the 'friendship' between the Marquis de Sade and Abbe (Joaquim Phoenix), especially as they are different in the extremes in the fact that Abbe has chosen a life of chastity and the Marquis de Sade writes explicit manuscripts and implores people to open up to their sexual thoughts. The ending was excellent also. If you're a fan of well-written, well-acted period films, Quills is highly recommended. 4.5/5

[samuelrichardscott]

The Reptile (1966) R2 United Kingdom

Overview:
Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) and his wife Valerie (Jennifer Daniel) are shunned by the locals when they move to Clagmoor Heath in Cornwall. Soon after, village eccentric Mad Peter John Laurie becomes the latest victim of the village's 'Black Death'; he dies in agony, his skin discoloured and his mouth choked with foam.
The Spaldings' distant neighbours, Dr Franklyn (Noel Willman) and his disturbed daughter Anna (Jacqueline Pearce), are secretly tormented by their Malay manservant (Marne Maitland). The Malay warns the Franklyns that they will never be able to leave.
Harry and pub landlord Tom Bailey (Michael Ripper) discover that the bodies of the plague victims bear neck incisions, Harry visits the Franklyns' mansion and is seized by a grotesquely transformed Anna. He is unable to resist as she sinks her fangs in deep...
The Reptile features many of Hammer's best-known supporting players as well as a memrable leading role for Jacqueline Pearce (Blake's 7). Directed by John Gilling and released in 1966, this is one of the most disturbing and atmospheric Hammer horrors of the decade.

My Thoughts:
Whilst a lot of the usual Hammer signatures are in the film (period dress, buxom ladies, death, terror) the move away from the more conventional gothic horror themes wasn't necessarily a good one. Whilst the second half of the film is a lot of fun, the first half takes far too long to get going and barely develops the story. The film doesn't contain a single major Hammer actor/actress but does have a lot of the regular supporting cast including Jacqueline Pierce, Noel Willman and John Laurie who do a decent job with what they have been given. Although the film doesn't contain much in the way of atmospheric music, it does boast some of the best make-up for a 'monster' in any of the Hammer films I've seen but unfortunately it doesn't save the film from being average. Recommended for Hammer fans only. 3/5

[samuelrichardscott]

Tunnel Vision (1995) R0 United Kingdom

Overview:
Mrs "Oasis", Patsy Kensit, plays detective Kelly Wheatstone. There she is, sitting a, her desk replaying a tape on her cassette - the only clue she has to a bizarre series of rapes and murders and abstractedly she glances across at her partner frank Hampton... lights are on but no-one's home! Frank you see has other problems... big time! He thinks his wife is having an affair with her boss David de Salvo, which is occupying rather more of his mind than either the cassette on Kelly's desk or the serial rapist!
When de Salvo is found dead, Frank is implicated and a warrant for his arrest is issued, but Kelly is convinced he had nothing to do with it and sets about trying to prove his innocence.

My Thoughts:
I've heard this one referred to as an Ozploitation movie in the past (Australian exploitation), but, with it's murder mystery and red herrings, it is far closer to being an Australian attempt at a giallo. Unfortunately, it isn't a particularly good film. Patsy Kensit wasn't a great choice for the lead and struggles with the various emotions needed. Whilst she was OK in Lethal Weapon 2, she's certainly more at home as a soap actress, which she recently was in the UK's Emmerdale. Well Kensit plays a detective trying to find out who murdered David de Salvo and the murderer has left all clues pointing to her partner Frank, the man she is determined to clear. The script is a little lazy and never really gets going until the reasonably good ending, losing all sense of pace almost immediately and the supporting cast, like Kensit, are simply not up the task. The music by David Hirschfelder is a high point in an otherwise dull affair that isn't worth seeking out. 2/5

[samuelrichardscott]

The Firm (1989) R2 United Kingdom

Overview:
Gary Oldman is Bex Bissell, a respectable estate agent who loves his wife, loves his son and loves his violence. Bex is the leader of a gang of football supporters known as the Inter-City Crew - his firm. He plans to unite rival firms and lead them all to the European Championship in Germany, a chance to take on the locals. But that's a position he's going to have to fight for.
With its graphic scenes of running battles with knives, sledgehammers and baseball bats, 'The Firm' caused huge controversy and there were demands for it to be banned.

My Thoughts:
For those who don't know, in the UK a firm is a group of football 'fans' (I use that word lightly) who support a particular football team and fight with other firms to gain notoriety and 'respect'. Of course, the UK has long had a history with football hooliganism but it was at its height in the seventies and eighties, and this TV movie made for the BBC as part of "Screen Two" is one that is often held as the benchmark of hooliganism films along with ID. Whilst the punch-ups look a bit silly in this, the rest of the violence is quite extreme in the manner of how it is portrayed, with Gary Oldman insanely scary as Bex. The story, whilst short, is very well put together and shows how casual football violence is something that is taken part by not just the lower class, but also by people with highly regarded jobs and how it affects their lives and the people around them. The Firm doesn't hold anything back, packing a punch that takes you into the minds of the football hooligans portrayed, especially in the final scene where they talk about the fact they do it because they love the rush, whether for their club team, or following England. Recommended. 4/5

[Jimmy]

I like this one. Even if this isn't really a north american phenomena that was fascinating to watch, but thanks subtitles are included in the Blue Underground release because the accents are hard to hear

[samuelrichardscott]

I like this one. Even if this isn't really a north american phenomena that was fascinating to watch, but thanks subtitles are included in the Blue Underground release because the accents are hard to hear

Those are probably the easiest accents to understand in the UK

My Dad is a Glaswegian and sounds like this:

[samuelrichardscott]

Zookeeper (2011) Region Free - United Kingdom

Overview:
A group of zoo animals decide to break their code of silence in order to help their lovable zoo keeper find love -- without opting to leave his current job for something more illustrious.

My Thoughts:
Kevin James gets a bid of a bad rap at times, yet I find that although he isn't a particularly good actor, I still enjoy his output as something to pass the time if nothing more. In Zookeeper he teams up with regular Sandler director Frank Coraci and actress Rosario Dawson in what is a strictly by the numbers affair and despite generally poor reviews, a few big critics like Ebert have given it recommendations. It's true, there is nothing new here, and it does feel like a romantic version of Dr Dolittle in a zoo setting, but yet I still found myself enjoying it. The animal effects are reasonably good, the main cast are fine and the supporting live cast, including the likes of Joe Rogan and Ken Jeong is surprisingly good. Of course, the voice cast has some big names including Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone and Cher, and all do a capable job. There aren't many laugh out loud moments (though Bernard's first attempt at driving was hilarious), but there are enough chuckles for a rainy day. Rent it. 3/5

[samuelrichardscott]

Something Borrowed (2011) Region B United Kingdom

Overview:
Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a talented attorney at a top New York law firm, a generous and loyal friend, and, unhappily, still single... as her engaged best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson) is constantly reminding her. But after celebrating her 30th birthday, perpetual good girl Rachel unexpectedly ends up in the arms of the guy she's had a crush on since law school, Dex (Colin Egglesfield)... who just happens to be Darcy's fiancé.
As one thing leads to another in the frantic weeks leading up to Darcy's wedding, Rachel finds herself in an impossible situation, caught between her treasured friendship with Darcy and the love of her life.
Something Borrowed also stars John Krasinski as Ethan, Rachel's constant confidante and sometimes conscience, who is busy evading the affection of Darcy's hopelessly lovestruck friend Claire (Ashley Williams) while harbouring a secret crush of his own; and Steve Howey as the charming and irrepressible Marcus, whose designs on Rachel don't necessarily exclude any other woman who catches his eye.

My Thoughts:
Much more of a romantic drama than a romantic comedy in my opinion, Something Borrowed includes genre favourites Colin Eaglesfield and Kate Hudson in its cast. Although Hudson puts in a performance slightly above average for her rom-com roles she is outdone by Ginnifer Goodwin who is great as Rachel. The story is formulaic and it's fairly obvious from the outset what is going to happen and whilst it has a few slow moments, it is well written compared to other Hollywood movies in the genre, and well structured. The music tracks selected for the score range massively from nineties indie, through to a rather funny scene revolving around Salt N Pepa's Push It and generally are well suited for the scenes selected. The film won't win any awards but if you're a fan of any of the cast it is worth a look. 3/5