not sure if i should put this in the last western you watched thread since its sorta a mash-up but I put it here for now I guess!
I just got done watching the film “Buffalo Boys” (2018) A very solid, if somewhat underwhelming in some areas given the pitch/idea of the film,western/martial arts/anti-colonial action film from Indonesia about two royal brothers who grew up in wild west era America, and return to Indonesia to fight against a dutch overseer who killed their father!
I have my issues with the film and it never truly goes as hard as it should given the pitch but the payoff at the end is fun and it moves at a good clip so I was pretty entertained by it!
I also watched “kinves of the avenger” (1966) tonight!
A mario bava directed viking film that is basically the plot of the classic American western film “shane” 1953 but set in the viking age and starring a knife throwing wandering viking played by Cameron Mitchell!
Has its pacing issues here and there and its not wall to wall knife throwing action or anything but I honestly loved this little Italian viking western from Bava!
also i love that in America this was doubled featured with the 1st Gamera movie lol!
The last movie I watched was The Battle of Algiers (1966), Gillo Pontecorvo’s harrowing and influential dramatization of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) from French colonial rule. Featuring a great soundtrack from Mr. Morricone and a screenplay by ours truly, Franco Solinas (writer for: A Bullet for the General, The Big Gundown, The Mercenary, and Tepepa). The Criterion Collection 3-Disc DVD features an interview with Solinas about the film and his vision.
Cage’s 2011 medieval romp, Season of the Witch, comes to mind as campy fun. It also has a strangely decent cast: Ron Perlman, Stephen Graham, and Christopher Lee.
A Jake Gyllenhaal double-bill…excellent performances in both films. My estimation of his acting abilities sky-rocketed when I saw him in these exceptional modern-day master-pieces.
I will certainly now be on the lookout for some of his other roles. I understand that ‘Jarhead’ is meant to be very good…?
I watched the Jess Franco euro-horror film “She Killed in Ecstasy” (1971) today!
I found it to be a solid euro-horror jam that is my current favorite Jess Franco film I’ve seen so far! The leading actress Soledad Miranda eyes are some of the most hypnotic in all of cinema, and all of the outfits she gets in this are incredible!
That being said this isn’t quite perfect, it has some slow bits, its very trashy as you might expect from a jess franco film, and it lacks a little something extra at points that I’m not sure how to put into words exactly what it is!
However this is still a very good time if you are in the mood for a 1970s euro-horror film like I was today!
This and Vampyros Lesbos are probably by two favorite Jess Franco sleaze films. Soledad Miranda was absolutely mesmerizing in both films. She died tragically and far too young.
This is for sure the lesser of the 4 mummy movies made by hammer films, but it still does what it needs to do to be entertaining enough for me and my tastes!
It does pick up towards the end with a fun twist/climax, and overall there are a lot more of characters’ hands getting cut off in this movie then I was expecting going in!
Filmed in 1971 by the genius that was Stanley Kubrick…
Chastised by the critics when it was released, this extraordinary vision of the future is now our present…and the visions onscreen that caused such uproar are now, unfortunately, commonplace, and even more abhorrent in daily life.
Excellent casting; most especially the icon that is Malcolm McDowell…eye-boggling direction by Stanley Kubrick…and a tale of woe which begs several questions…
Freedom of the individual (inherently good or bad) to make decisions.
The ‘right’ of Government to dictate, subtly brainwash, intrude and intervene.
The pros of cons of conditioning ‘bad’ citizens…who decides that?
Should the Government attempt to ‘condition’ ‘good’ citizens, so that individual thought is outlawed, and that ‘conform’ is the proposed norm?
When it comes to Bert I Gordon’s directed “things become huge in size” b-movies this one is somewhere in the middle of the pack for most of its runtime but once the titular “cyclops” shows up this is pretty close to being on par with something like “the amazing colossal man” but above something like Gordon’s “beginning of the end” (which I also like but to a lesser degree then some of his other films)!
Overall its barely over an hour, it moves at a good clip, has a fun villainous turn from actor Lon Chaney JR, and a pretty great performance from the leading lady Gloria Talbott for the kind of movie she is starring in!
Produced in 1961, this is one of ‘Hammer Studios’ very best thriller/suspense films…an excellent ‘shocker’, with outstanding performances from the entire cast.
This is indie filmmaker Joshua Kennedy’s best independent feature film since his all out hammer horror homage, “House of the Gorgon” (2019), this one largely succeeds in just about everything it sets out to do, be a goofy as hell “weird science” meets “Barbarella” sci-fi comedy!
Loved all the comic book art that was made for the film and just the overall comic book/cartoony vibe of the film overall!
I watched it via the oldies . com DVD release which is available from both amazon and oldies .com!
Just watched Nobody with Bob Odenkirk. This movie is an over the top, joyride of an action, thriller, dark comedy, crime film. It may not be to everyone’s liking but I had an absolutely great time watching it.
A Belgian slasher? Why not. Slasher movies are by definition low budget affairs, offering bad acting and outrageously gory special effects. Anybody can make such a movie, so the Belgians as well.
Right?
Actually FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is not that bad: Ten teenagers, all so-called influencers, are invited to take part in a reality show and are killed, one by one, by a masked murderer. That’s classic slasher stuff and the killings are particularly gruesome: there’s even a scalping scene, in close up, no less. Moreover these influencer are so damn irritating that you love to see them die in gruesome fashion.
So what’s not to like?
Well, a bit more attention to script and storytelling wouldn’t have harmed the affair. As it is, the film is not too bad, but it could have easily been a lot better. I don’t think this one will get an international release.
Sometimes my ratings can be rather random as there might be a long gap between watching and writing here. Also having some turkish western and arthouse films on The same list makes it sometimes difficult.
As for Midnight Express, I just like prison movies in general so there’s a bit of bonus on the rating here I think.
my humble opinion, of course.