Topic: Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVD's

[addicted2dvd]

Weekend Movie Marathon
Unwatched DVD's
Time for another Weekend Movie Marathon. I am hoping to get several movies watched this weekend. As long as real life don't get in the way too much I should be ok. There will be no real theme to my marathon this weekend... but I will be watching movies off my unwatched shelf... after all I have to make room for anything else I may get for Christmas don't I? Now in these cases I may have seen the movie before... but just not since I got them on DVD. So this weekend I decided to watch...

Dec. 19th:

I am Legend
The last man on earth is not alone. Will Smith plays that lone survivor in 'I Am Legend', the action epic fusing heart-pounding excitement with a mind-blowing vision of a desolate Manhattan. Somehow immune to an unstoppable, incurable virus, military virologist Robert Neville (Smith) is now the last human survivor in New York City and maybe the world. Mutant plague victims lurk in the shadows...watching Neville's every move...waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find an antidote using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered...and quickly running out of time.

My Thoughts:
This is a movie a good friend gave me as an early Christmas gift this past week. This is one of those movies I have seen before... but not since it was first released on DVD when my sister-in-law got it and brought it over for me to watch. But that has been a while so I went into this one not remembering all that much about the movie. I did enjoy this movie quite a bit... but that is without reading the book and never seen Omega Man. I have however seen Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price. I did have a problem with this movie though. Even though it was really enjoyable... the CGI creatures did take away from it for me a bit.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Najemikon]

Did you watch the alternative ending, Pete? In fact I seem to remember the second disc is the whole film with a couple of extra scenes to support the different ending.

[addicted2dvd]

Nope... at this point I just watched the movie on the first disc. I figured I would save the other version for next time. 

[Najemikon]

It's not worth it. Skip to the last chapter, you'll get the gist. Not to tell you too much, but it's closer to the idea of the book (commendable) but all it does it make a complete mockery of the CGi as the creatures need to do a lot more. Pathetic!

[addicted2dvd]

Thanks for the warning Jon!

[addicted2dvd]

It don't look like I was meant to have a marathon this weekend... I wasn't able to get to a movie at all today.

[addicted2dvd]

Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing is the perfect blend of thrills, chills, "winsome humor" (Roger Ebert) and amazing special effects from master of horror Wes Craven.

Deep in the Florida everglades, a brilliant scientist, Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise), and a sexy government agent, Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau), have developed a secret formula that could end world hunger. Little do they know, however, that their arch nemesis, Arcane (Louis Jourdan), is plotting to steal the serum for his own selfish schemes. Looting the lab and kidnapping Cable, Arcane douses Holland with the chemicals and leaves him for dead. Mutated by his own formula, Holland becomes "Swamp Thing" - a half-human / half-plant superhero who will stop at nothing to rescue Cable and defeat Arcane...even if it costs him his life!

My Thoughts:
This is a movie I have seen many years ago. Maybe about 20 years ago. About the only thing I remembered is that at the time I enjoyed it. And I still did enjoy it... only not as much as I remember I did when I was in my early teens. I don't know if Swamp Thing was a comic book before it was a movie or not.. but it definitely has that comic book movie feel to it. I am actually kind of surprised this movie was written by Wes Craven as it doesn't have the feel of the movies that I relate with his work. So I guess what it boils down to for me is that it is a good movie... just not a great movie.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Hostel Part II
Presented by Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Vol. 1 & 2) and written and directed by Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever), HOSTEL PART II is the shocking and gruesome sequel of the underground torture ring where rich businessmen pay to torture and murder their victims.

The second installment to this terrifying franchise centers around three young American women (Lauren German, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Bijou Phillips, Bully and Heather Matarazzo, Welcome to the Dollhouse) who are studying in Rome. They are lured into a hostel by a beautiful young woman who sells them as the next victims of a murder-for-profit business.

My Thoughts:
This is another movie I got for an early Christmas present. I got this from the same friend that gave me the first part when she cleaned out here DVD collection a little. I really enjoyed the first one... even though was a very shocking style of a gore-fest. This one definitely still has the gore... a little less on the shock value on this one. Although there was definitely a cringe-worthy part towards the end... a scene that I will not soon forget. But this one adds a little something the last one did not. That is showing more about the "Hunters Club"... for their bidding on the girls to actually having them in the rooms. I really enjoyed the fact that it wasn't just the first part over again... only with girls. That is a sign of a good sequel... and I am looking forward to watching this one again along with part one sometime in the future.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Scanners
Welcome to the world of the Scanners -- a race of humans with telekinetic powers that can wreak havoc beyond your most dreaded nightmare. Writer/director David Cronenberg (The Fly, Naked Lunch) brings the terror closer than ever before - he brings it right into your mind. Cronenberg is a modern-day horror master whose name fits easily with the likes of King, Craven and Carpenter...and Scanners, with its spectacular and shockingly realistic special effects, is a startling masterpiece of the genre.

When a rogue Scanner of unparalleled power (Michael Ironside) wages a bloody war against the "normals," young empath Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is recruited to track him down. But Vale is inexperienced -- and a battle with another Scanner could mean a grisly death...or worse. Can Vale vanquish his insanely violent, power-mad adversary? Only one thing is certain: Scanners "delivers chills-down-your-spine, heart-in-your-throat, you-can't-watch-but-you-daren't-leave goods" (Time)!

My Thoughts:
This is another one that I know I have seen back when I was a teen.... but it has been at least a good 20 to 25 years since I seen it! So I went into this one not remembering anything other then the fact that I liked it when I was a kid. I still enjoyed it... but it was a little more on the slow side then I remembered. Not really the best movie I ever seen... but I have seen worse.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Dragonfire]

Isn't Scanners the one mentioned in The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon was trying to explode Leonard's head?

[addicted2dvd]

Yup... That's the one!

[Dragonfire]

Cool
I haven't seen that one and didn't even know what it was about before.  I'll have to see it sometime.

[addicted2dvd]

To give you an idea... here is the scene that they talked about on the show... The Head Explosion...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY-03vYYAjA

[Dragonfire]

Interesting.