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Ti West recommended Bad Taste (1989) in Movies (curated)

 
Bad Taste (1989)
Bad Taste (1989)
1989 | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi

"I can say that, in thinking about it, I was thinking five favorite-ish movies that seemed to be relatively inspiring to me as a filmmaker or something like that. One is a movie called Bad Taste by Peter Jackson. The reason that movie is one of my favorite films is because… two things. One, I saw it when I was very young because it had a very sort of provocative box cover of an alien giving you the middle finger, in the video store; that was very charming to me. It seemed like something that needed to be rented for a sleep over. It’s one of the grossest movies ever, so it was always the benchmark of, like, “Is there a more disgusting movie than this?” And also not a lot of people had seen it so it was like a badge of honor. But more importantly, when I decided that maybe movies was something I wanted to do, that movie was actually the first movie that I think made me think I could maybe do this. Because it was the first time I’d ever seen a movie where I realized how the movie was made. And I realized, “He’s just putting a camera on the back of the car;” “Oh, that’s just him with his friend doing this;” and, “I can see how he built that effect” or “I can see how he used ketchup for blood” or whatever. It was so rough around the edges, yet still compelling and well-made that it kind of gave me this sort of inspiration and confidence to be like, “All I have to do is go do it, like this guy just went and did it.” So that movie is, like, the number one movie that made me think, “Maybe I can try this.”"

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Nick Rhodes recommended Aladdin Sane by David Bowie in Music (curated)

 
Aladdin Sane by David Bowie
Aladdin Sane by David Bowie
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I would say that David Bowie had the biggest single influence on all music that came out of the time period when I started at the beginning of the 1980s. And all other bands in that modern music zone were influenced most by David Bowie. Throughout the seventies we could safely say that he pretty much owned it. If The Beatles owned the sixties, Bowie owned the seventies. I could have picked any one of his albums. I thought about Hunky Dory which I have played most, or Ziggy Stardust... which was the first album I ever bought. I thought about Station To Station which changed things as his influences morphed and then the whole Berlin trilogy which were extraordinary records. I decided on Aladdin Sane as I think it is the ultimate glam album. Musically, it was fuelled with seventies energy. Mick Ronson’s guitar work is spectacular, the tracks all have an anxiety to them – songs like ‘Cracked Actor’ and ‘Panic In Detroit’ really had an edginess. The singles ‘The Jean Genie’ and ‘Drive-In Saturday’ were probably not even the best tracks on the album – ‘Lady Grinning Soul’ is my favourite track on the album – but had an attitude. You could taste the air they were recorded in. It was the album that turned Bowie into an absolute superstar worldwide. I played it a lot when I was a kid and it was one of those records that made me want to be in a band. Also, it’s by far the greatest cover of the 1970s. The image of the flash across Bowie’s face really resonates. It’s held up – I see that the V&A museum are having a big show of Bowie’s career and memorabilia (and so they should) and the image they are using to advertise it is the front cover of Aladdin Sane."

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Halloween (2007)
Halloween (2007)
2007 | Horror
The original Halloween is such a goddam incredible movie, that anytime the franchise has tried to stray too far from its roots, the wheels just come off. The psychic stuff in Halloween 5 just didn't work. The cult stuff in Halloween 6 just didn't work. The found footage stuff in Resurrection just didn't work. This time around, it's a remake of the original, directed by Rob Zombie. His particular brand of hateful characters and nasty dialogue can be effective in other corners of horror, but when applied to the Halloween template, you guessed it, it just doesn't work.
It has its moments - Malcolm McDowell is great as Dr Loomis, and the towering behemoth of a Michael Myers we get her is genuinely fucking terrifying. There's also a fine selection of genre icons here and there - Dee Wallace, Brad Dourif, Clint Howard, Ken Foree, Sybil Danning, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, Danny Trejo, Danielle Harris - it's an impressive roster for sure.
All of this isn't enough to lift this remake above all of its problems however.
None of the characters are particularly likable, and it's off pacing make for a bloated experience, an issue that's further exacerbated by the more widely available Directors Cut, which further pans out its runtime with an horrifically unnecessary rape scene.
I can appreciate the decision to explore the origins of Michael, but the end results are very mixed. When the familiar stuff kicks off halfway through, it's actually kind of boring. It manages to ape the original at every turn, whilst simultaneously feeling disrespectful with it's token RZ tropes.

All in all, Halloween is a remake that I wouldn't take issue with, but the decision to put Zombie in the driver's seat results in a movie that doesn't feel like it belongs anywhere. An inferior re-tread in every aspect, that leaves a bitter after taste.
  
Thunder Force (2021)
Thunder Force (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure, Comedy
2
5.5 (12 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Terrible and unfunny script (1 more)
Wasted talent.
Getting the crabs is never a laugh.
Positives:
- I laughed three times:
  o Jason Bateman's "Crab-man" talking about his ironic star-sign;
  o Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy's love-making scene: the most
    innovative use of butter since "Last Tango in Paris"!
o The duo struggling to get in and out of their Lamborghini supercar: purely
    because it looks just like me these days trying to get in and out of my wife's
    Mazda MX5!

Negatives:
- It singularly fails my "six laughs" test for a comedy. The script by Ben Falcone - McCarthy's husband - is just eye-rollingly unfunny. The pair must have laughed themselves silly over their own jokes. It's just a shame that their sense of humour diverges so wildly from mine (or indeed anyones?)
- Melissa McCarthy must be an acquired taste - one I've never acquired. "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" proves what a class act she can be.... but this does her reputation no good at all.
- It's criminal to have actors of the quality of Octavia Spencer, Jason Bateman and Melissa Leo and use them in such a poor way. Bateman is actually the funniest turn in the piece, but that's not saying much.

Summary Thoughts on "Thunderforce":
There are some movies that you just wish had been drowned at birth. This is one. I normally don't regret spending two hours watching a movie, but this one felt like wasted time. With "Twist" I thought I might have found my worst film of the year. But no, there's a new contender in town.

(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/05/09/thunderforce-getting-the-crabs-is-never-a-laugh/ . Thanks).
  
This One Sky Day
This One Sky Day
Leone Ross | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This One Sky Day is packed full of magical realism and beautiful descriptions of what appears on the surface to be a tropical paradise.
Popisho is a magical land where everyone is born with a special gift or ‘cors’ Some are healers, some have speed or strength, and some, namely Xavier Redchoose, has the gift of cooking the perfect meal for everyone. He is the macaenus of his generation. He has the ability at his fingertips to make food taste delicious, and to cook just what his guest loves and needs the most. All cors are given by the gods.

It’s a story that tells you to use your gifts to make you happy, it talks about politics and how they can be twisted to serve the needs of those who are supposed to who are supposed to serve others, and it’s a story that shows that change is inevitable.

I’m not so sure that I understood everything, but it’s a beautifully written, entertaining story. I never knew what was going to happen next, in a world where literally anything could happen!

I WILL say that I’ve read enough about pum-pums to last me a lifetime. I may even be a little bit traumatised! 🤭

I think the best word to describe this book is “gleeful”. Whilst I was reading it, it felt like the author had enjoyed writing it (whether that’s true or not, I have no idea!), and it was a book that just made me feel happy! 🤷🏼‍♀️

So, whether I’ve managed to grasp the finer details of this novel is immaterial to me - I just really very much enjoyed reading it.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for another great serialisation.
  
Dancing in Circles (Circles Trilogy #1)
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So once again I was stuck for choice for what book to read next so I random number generated (RNG) it and got this, #22, which just shows you how old it is (2012).
I'm hoping my tastes haven't changed that much that I won't like it but we'll see what happens.

Okay, I'm going to DNF this at 35%. It wasn't that bad a story but as I mentioned in my status update, I can't help but picture Robert/Bob as some sort of Mexican thug/drug lord/drug runner with how he talks. I know he's from the wrong side of town but I'm sure they don't necessarily have to talk like he was doing. Then the fact he's in a gang...meh.

The main reason I'm not going to finish this is because I got a little bored. It was a bit too predictable. Bad boy, good girl. Meet, fall in love. Live happily ever after. Now if it had been the other way around; bad girl, good guy...then I might have stuck around for completion because I haven't read that situation often and I find it much more intriguing.

The characters were also a little strange in their actions. Stuff happened that a normal person would freak out about and instead our characters just sort of got on with life as if nothing had happened.

My taste in books has changed a fair bit in the three years since I downloaded this, when I downloaded almost everything that was free in the romance category.

I'm now going to go read something that I've paid for and actively sought out.

Not necessarily a bad book just not to my tastes.