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Shirl: The Life of Legendary Larrikin Graeme 'Shirley' Strachan
Book
Chippie, surfie, glam rocker in bib 'n' braces, kids show host, breakfast DJ and straight-talking...
TC
Turner Classic Movies Must-See Musicals: 50 Show-Stopping Movies We Can't Forget
Book
Spanning nine decades and showcasing the most memorable songs, dazzling dancing, and brightest stars...
Zombies: A Cultural History
Book
The zombie has shuffled with dead-eyed, remorseless menace from its beginnings in obscure folklore...
Classic Era of American Comics
Book
The world has never seen the like of the American comic book. In their heyday, the top 500 comics...
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated It: Chapter Two (2019) in Movies
Feb 18, 2021
A textbook example of how to have a lot going for you and still show a flagrant disregard for the intelligence of your audience. On paper the grown up cast, representing the gang of kids from the first movie 27 years later, is stellar. But after several back to back scenes of exposition, catch-up and backstory nonsense, even the likes of James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain have lost the will to live (as actors, their characters just won’t fucking die). This film is almost 3 hours long! And I just can’t explain why anyone thought that was necessary. It isn’t as if it is super complicated. It is basically a repetition of hide and seek jump scares painted large in awful CGI over and over again, whilst the “plot” gets more and more lost and we care less and less about the adult kids by the minute. I guess, like the first one, it is almost watchable if you don’t want to think too deeply and don’t mind watching every horror cliche ever rehashed ad nauseum. The end is bonkers too, by the way. Minor cult status, but that is… it.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Lord of Illusions (1995) in Movies
Sep 23, 2020
The Illusion
Lords of Illusions- is Clive Barker's last film he directed. He only producted movies and was a writer for movied afterwards. And wow what a good movie. Im not the hugest fan of hellraiser and didnt see nightbreeds yet. So i went into this film blind. I have heard of this film and wanted to see it for couple of years now. And it turns out that i liked it.
The Plot: Private eye Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) travels to Los Angeles and meets with a new client, Dorothea Swann (Famke Janssen). Swann reveals that she and her husband -- famed magician Philip Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor) -- have been targeted by a religious cult experimenting with reincarnation. After Philip dies on stage in the midst of a dangerous trick, D'Amour must struggle to protect Dorothea from the ruthless cult members and their newly reanimated religious leader, Nix (Daniel Von Bargen).
Its a good psychological film cause it does mess with your mind alot and in the end it is a good horror flick. I do recordmend it to others.
The Plot: Private eye Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) travels to Los Angeles and meets with a new client, Dorothea Swann (Famke Janssen). Swann reveals that she and her husband -- famed magician Philip Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor) -- have been targeted by a religious cult experimenting with reincarnation. After Philip dies on stage in the midst of a dangerous trick, D'Amour must struggle to protect Dorothea from the ruthless cult members and their newly reanimated religious leader, Nix (Daniel Von Bargen).
Its a good psychological film cause it does mess with your mind alot and in the end it is a good horror flick. I do recordmend it to others.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Leprechaun: Origins (2014) in Movies
Dec 7, 2020
Let's not beat around the bush, Leprechaun: Origins is absolute piss, and let me tell you why.
- It's kind of a reboot, so gone is the wise cracking, annoying but kind of lovable Lep of old, and is replaced by a snarling feral beast who looks like what I can only describe as one of Gollum's testicles. This decision automatically saps any fun out of proceedings.
- The turn away from horror-comedy results in a by the numbers, boring teen slasher. None of the characters are remotely likable.
- The Leprechaun looks so shit, that most of its scenes are presented in a rip-off Predator POV manner that is just fucking terrible. The shots of the creature itself are mostly blurred to disguise it's shitness.
- The camerawork is all over the place. Having the camera on a constant slight tilt does not make a movie artistic, and there is shaky cam spaffing out from all directions.
If it was called anything else, it would still be shit, but the fact that it's a Leprechaun film makes it so much worse. Kill it with fire.
- It's kind of a reboot, so gone is the wise cracking, annoying but kind of lovable Lep of old, and is replaced by a snarling feral beast who looks like what I can only describe as one of Gollum's testicles. This decision automatically saps any fun out of proceedings.
- The turn away from horror-comedy results in a by the numbers, boring teen slasher. None of the characters are remotely likable.
- The Leprechaun looks so shit, that most of its scenes are presented in a rip-off Predator POV manner that is just fucking terrible. The shots of the creature itself are mostly blurred to disguise it's shitness.
- The camerawork is all over the place. Having the camera on a constant slight tilt does not make a movie artistic, and there is shaky cam spaffing out from all directions.
If it was called anything else, it would still be shit, but the fact that it's a Leprechaun film makes it so much worse. Kill it with fire.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Final Destination 3 (2006) in Movies
Oct 18, 2020 (Updated Nov 26, 2020)
Rather chintzy and objectively garbo but a complete and utter blast almost from start to finish. Just plain cruel, reeks with the stench of death - whereas in the others the characters pretty much all reacted to impending demise with paranoia and/or denial, here we see them react with sardonicism, competitiveness, and even boredom. The deaths nor the effects aren't as good but this is infinitely better than the second one because the melodrama filler is actually back to being semi-entertaining (if never 'real movie' status) and has some pretty interesting musings about death's presence in these films. The whole product seems rushed out the door but has a good talking + dying ratio and it's also super funny with as enjoyable characters as can be expected for a mid-2000s horror sequel with none of the original cast. Plus the acting's decent again! Feels like Wong is winging it but even most half-assed Wong products look better than Ellis at his best. The tanning beds are one of the elite deaths in the entire franchise - and then the smash cut to the coffins right after? Lmfao, dug it.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Galaxy of Terror (1981) in Movies
Oct 20, 2020
Listen, I enjoy a trashy Roger Corman horror effort as much as the next person, but Galaxy of Terror is a chore to get through.
These films are known for being cheap, but they usually have a sort of charm to them, that I just found lacking here. The main issue is that it's not very cohesive. Various aspects of the narrative are so unexplained and seemingly random, that it's ultimately super boring, and very easy to zone out. I mean, I watched it earlier today and I've already forgotten how it ended...
Even the usually reliable gore is mostly rubbish, with the exception of a couple of half decent practical effects.
The only aspects that I found positive was seeing Sid Haig, Robert Englund, and Grace Zabriskie in early roles and some of the synth music is fun but other than that, it's straight up bollocks.
A lot of films tried to ride the coat tails of Alien following it's release and Galaxy of Terror does nothing more than remind you that you could be watching that instead.
Final note - definitely in the running for Most Misleading Movie Poster Ever.
These films are known for being cheap, but they usually have a sort of charm to them, that I just found lacking here. The main issue is that it's not very cohesive. Various aspects of the narrative are so unexplained and seemingly random, that it's ultimately super boring, and very easy to zone out. I mean, I watched it earlier today and I've already forgotten how it ended...
Even the usually reliable gore is mostly rubbish, with the exception of a couple of half decent practical effects.
The only aspects that I found positive was seeing Sid Haig, Robert Englund, and Grace Zabriskie in early roles and some of the synth music is fun but other than that, it's straight up bollocks.
A lot of films tried to ride the coat tails of Alien following it's release and Galaxy of Terror does nothing more than remind you that you could be watching that instead.
Final note - definitely in the running for Most Misleading Movie Poster Ever.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Viy (Spirit of Evil) (1967) in Movies
Sep 21, 2021
Soviet horror movie from the 1960s rather unexpectedly turns out to be a close spiritual cousin of the kind of films that Hammer et al were making in the west at the same time. A trainee priest finds himself compelled to spend three nights reading prayers over the body of (supposedly) a wealthy landowner's daughter - but the corpse bears a striking resemblance to that of a witch he earlier killed...
Not the longest of films, which is just as well as the pacing may require patience on the part of the viewer; after a very eerie sequence early on, there's a long wait until the stuff with the protagonist's vigil in the second half. Nevertheless, it's worth it, mainly because the special effects are remarkably good, well up to the standard of equivalent western films of the same period (and probably better). Not particularly scary or graphic by modern standards, but the climax has a creepy sort of power to it and the overall impression is of a classy and well-made film; if there's a political subtext to it, it's very well-hidden.
Not the longest of films, which is just as well as the pacing may require patience on the part of the viewer; after a very eerie sequence early on, there's a long wait until the stuff with the protagonist's vigil in the second half. Nevertheless, it's worth it, mainly because the special effects are remarkably good, well up to the standard of equivalent western films of the same period (and probably better). Not particularly scary or graphic by modern standards, but the climax has a creepy sort of power to it and the overall impression is of a classy and well-made film; if there's a political subtext to it, it's very well-hidden.