Movies you've just watched

[vol.2]

On the other hand, there's the 1987 TV movie "The Spirit," based on Will Eisner's classic character. It's got low apparent production values in keeping with its design as the prototype for a potential TV show - which never materialized, alas. But its look fits the theme and source well enough and the cast is excellent. I don't know exactly what sunk it because shortly thereafter Dick Tracy, The Flash, and every other thing jumped into the mold, but perhaps it was one of the trailblazers.

I remember that, and it was pretty good for a TV movie. The reason it wasn't more popular is that the US public wasn't into comic book movies yet. Almost all previous attempts at good ones had failed, and everyone was busy being massively disappointed with the Superman sequels. It took Madonna's involvement to legitimize Dick Tracey and, well, Batman was really just so amazing that it spoke for itself.

[Vexorg]

The Proposal: **

Were you expecting a surprise hit, or do you watch these for the humor value?

I watch them mostly because my wife is the one picking the movie. We do generally like to snark at 'em though...

As for other pulp-inspired films, I believe I've seen the 2008 version of The Spirit before (I recall it being a little too grimdark for my liking, and the 14% rating on RT seems to suggest I'm not the only one) and you could probably also lump V for Vendetta into the category as well (It's a better movie but I'm not a fan of dystopian stuff like that.) I think my main issue with The Shadow was that it was trying a little too hard to be like the Tim Burton / Michael Keaton Batman movies, but nobody involved knows how to pull any of it off. In those movies, it's really the villains that define the film. Batman is pretty much always going to be Batman, whether it's Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck or whatever rando they pulled off the street to be the next Murderverse Batman (you probably have to make an exception for Adam West, but that's a completely different era.) For better or for worse, the villains really set the tone of these types of films, and nothing will drag a superhero film down faster than having a bad villain. Batman and Robin, for example, is a trainwreck through and through, but at least Arnie chews his way through the scenery as Mr. Freeze to the point that you can at least reach "So bad it's good" status. Jim Carey's Riddler in Batman Forever, on the other hand, is just nails on a chalkboard the entire time he was on screen, and really drags the film down, which is unfortunate because Tommy Lee Jones' Two Face was one of the better Batman villains.

In the first few minutes of The Shadow, they seem to be setting up a plot involving the mob which sounds like it would have been a whole lot more enjoyable than the "generic megalomaniac with superpowers #7,568 (Mongol flavor)" version we ended up with. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't care much for Superman 2 mostly because General Zod was such a generic and unmemorable villain that it dragged the film down. At least Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor had some character in the first one, but in the second one he was basically reduced to scenery.

Also, watching The Shadow in the current era, I'm pretty sure my first thought on seeing the character was "he's wearing his mask wrong"...

[vol.2]

I watch them mostly because my wife is the one picking the movie. We do generally like to snark at 'em though...

Gotcha. I was just trying to imagine someone taking a blind chance on a movie like that and hoping it would be a diamond in the rough. Long, long ago, I worked retail in a shop next door to a video store. I used to go over there and hang out with the video store guys and watch crappy movies MST3K style.

It was a unique vibe because they always had to have a movie playing on the store monitors (store rule), and you get to find that you're not in the mood for a classic awesome movie everyday all day. So that led to a lot of crappy films getting played on purpose.

I would be willing to bet that that's where the premise of MST3K came from, a bunch of video store clerks forcing themselves to watch crappy movies while hung over, trying to make the best of it.

[Mortificator]

On the other hand, there's the 1987 TV movie "The Spirit," based on Will Eisner's classic character. It's got low apparent production values in keeping with its design as the prototype for a potential TV show - which never materialized, alas. But its look fits the theme and source well enough and the cast is excellent. I don't know exactly what sunk it because shortly thereafter Dick Tracy, The Flash, and every other thing jumped into the mold, but perhaps it was one of the trailblazers.

I remember that, and it was pretty good for a TV movie. The reason it wasn't more popular is that the US public wasn't into comic book movies yet. Almost all previous attempts at good ones had failed, and everyone was busy being massively disappointed with the Superman sequels. It took Madonna's involvement to legitimize Dick Tracey and, well, Batman was really just so amazing that it spoke for itself.

Strange fortune in how The Spirit is the relatively obscure one, if you look at actual Golden Age comics Eisner's were generally head and shoulders above.

Young People Fucking - Comedy / light drama about five couples doin' what the title says. Their stories don't intersect in any way. Made surprisingly good Valentine's Day fare.

[Ed Oscuro]

On the other hand, there's the 1987 TV movie "The Spirit," based on Will Eisner's classic character. It's got low apparent production values in keeping with its design as the prototype for a potential TV show - which never materialized, alas. But its look fits the theme and source well enough and the cast is excellent. I don't know exactly what sunk it because shortly thereafter Dick Tracy, The Flash, and every other thing jumped into the mold, but perhaps it was one of the trailblazers.

I remember that, and it was pretty good for a TV movie. The reason it wasn't more popular is that the US public wasn't into comic book movies yet. Almost all previous attempts at good ones had failed, and everyone was busy being massively disappointed with the Superman sequels. It took Madonna's involvement to legitimize Dick Tracey and, well, Batman was really just so amazing that it spoke for itself.

Were there earlier shows close to this mold? It's hard to believe now, but The Spirit may have felt too similar to the campy comic shows of the late 60s (Green Hornet and Batman) that were on air only 20 years before.

[vol.2]

Were there earlier shows close to this mold? It's hard to believe now, but The Spirit may have felt too similar to the campy comic shows of the late 60s (Green Hornet and Batman) that were on air only 20 years before.

There was the Spiderman movie, and there were a lot of other things that happened like the live-action He-Man movie, but none of them were really that good, or even serious attempts at legitimizing comic book stuff.

Even the campy Batman show was pretty ahead of it's time in being watched by adults. It all has to be understood in it's historical context and the way the public felt about comics. Comics in the US were viewed as being for kids, and the rating system didn't allow for there to be comics for adults. It was either approved and for kids, or not approved. That whole period between the 1950s and the 1990s was the dark ages for comics, and it wasn't until the people who loved the comics grew up that we were able to get real comic movies that were taken seriously.

[Ed Oscuro]

On the other hand, there were some anthology series (Tales From the Crypt, which I haven't seen; Faerie Tale Theatre, Amazing Stories, The Ray Bradbury Theater, ) which often were lighter in tone or at least more fantastic, and these were aimed at adults. Now that we have "serious" comic movies you have a lot of movies which don't try for any comedic or camp elements, which is a shame - I tend to like the lighter moments and sense of wonder in my sentimental "old age." It feels like Hollywood has less interest in the Rod Serling model than in JJ Abrams and Nolan. Not bad, just not my jam.

[vol.2]

On the other hand, there were some anthology series (Tales From the Crypt, which I haven't seen; Faerie Tale Theatre, Amazing Stories, The Ray Bradbury Theater, ) which often were lighter in tone or at least more fantastic, and these were aimed at adults. Now that we have "serious" comic movies you have a lot of movies which don't try for any comedic or camp elements, which is a shame - I tend to like the lighter moments and sense of wonder in my sentimental "old age." It feels like Hollywood has less interest in the Rod Serling model than in JJ Abrams and Nolan. Not bad, just not my jam.

I feel you. I also like the all-ages feel to some of that stuff, and the campy tone of the Tales From The Crypt, etc makes the material fun and approachable (although I can think of some pretty gruesome episodes of Tales like the Steve Buscemi one).

However, those shows aren't the same thing as superhero movies. All of those "adult" shows you listed are Horror, Science Fantasy and Science Fiction, mainly done as suspense. That whole genre was able to skirt around the enforcement of comics ratings because they were all primarily aimed at older audiences, and they never had the expected publication numbers of kids comic books in the US.

I think you kind of have to make a distinction between superhero comics and those comics which were released in the for-adults titles like "Tales of Suspense" and the like (Marvel and DC certainly did).

FWIW, I also consider JJ Abrams to be rather camp. He manages to feel more contemporary by incorporating non-traditional story writing elements and eschewing expected mechanics, but the tone is still more tongue-and-cheek than any of those other directors.

[BIL]

Coincidentally, was reminded after Plague of the Zombies that the film is featured in an old childhood favourite, Amazing Stories' "Mirror, Mirror." One of those shorts you see once as a kid and never forget, you know? Revisiting, I've found it middling - scary concept and makeup, great acting, but a bit shouty/window-divey for my liking - but was surprised to learn on this subsequent rewatch that Martin Scorsese directed it. It's up FO FREE on Daily Movement or one of those, can never recall.

I could swear I marathonned the HBO Crypt, ages ago. I recall it getting veddy British towards the end, for business reasons. A few strong dark eps amidst the bubblegum schlock (remember creepy bubblegum attic girl? oh nooo! meanwhile, in Buffalo Billstown - "I like to hit it FROM THA BACK bitch! Wait no! My penor is caught in the treadmill! Aieee!")

An episode that sticks with me is "Yellow" ("HE'S YELLAAAH!"), starring Kirk and Eric Douglas, with support from the invaluable Mr. Henriksen. Who also kills it as RENO CREVICE in (the much sillier) "Cutting Cards!" "Park it yourself, ASS HOLE!"



1917 The Hard Corps

On the other side of the pond, Tales of the Unexpected has some good stuff in a similar black-comic/horror-lite vein. Roald Dahl could write some eerie stuff, fuckin bee man, brr.

[vol.2]

I could swear I marathonned the HBO Crypt, ages ago. I recall it getting veddy British towards the end, for business reasons. A few strong dark eps amidst the bubblegum schlock (remember creepy bubblegum attic girl? oh nooo! meanwhile, in Buffalo Billstown - "I like to hit it FROM THA BACK bitch! Wait no! My penor is caught in the treadmill! Aieee!")

For damn sure. Crypt basically turned into shock-horror from season 4 onwards. The only reason it didn't get more flack was because it's ratings were already dropping.

On the other side of the pond, Tales of the Unexpected has some good stuff in a similar black-comic/horror-lite vein. Roald Dahl could write some eerie stuff, fuckin bee man, brr.

Oh yeah! I remember that show. It came on public TV in the US in the 80s. It was on at around the same time as Knightmare, the live-action text-adventure game show. I used to love watching that.

As far as RD is concerned, I think he kind of had the kibosh put on him in the early 90s because he was so vocal in his anti-isreal speech. I don't want to get into that debate here because reasons, but AFAIK, he had a very intense opinion about the isreali bombing of palastine in the 80's. Because of all that, it actually was a factor into his work's recognition over here.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Finally checked the long awaited big screen live action film of Capcom's Monster Hunter with a grand total running time of an hour, forty three minutes & three seconds. MH was originally slated for the big screen with it's 3D overall presentation courtesy of Stereo 3D process (perhaps a proper 3D Blu-ray disc release from Sony is possible) and is now available via streaming in SD, HD & UHD formats. Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson with actress Milla Jovovich (Paul's wife in real life) & actors Tony Jaa & Ron Perlman getting top billing. It's been said that the CG EFX took a whopping 18 months to complete, indeed, with a majority of it done by Mr. X. A slick summer action flick worthy of your time.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ed Oscuro]

However, those shows aren't the same thing as superhero movies

Fair points all. I had a feeling I wouldn't get away with that one However I do think that the old pulp stuff, even when it had "costumed" characters, was much closer to suspense, and further from whatever form comic books started to take on in the 60s and so on. Bats himself really changed over the years. I personally think the old Tales From the Crypt comics are usually a masterclass in economy of storytelling and balancing gruesomeness with comedy.

[BIL]

Been doing some catching up with stuff I either half-watched BITD, or just never got around to. Movies, the funnest 1CCs ever!

Ravenous (1999) It is the 1850s! Disgraced war vet Guy Pearce has been banished to Remote Outpost, in outer COLD AS FUCKsville. But when a half-dead Bob Carlyle staggers into camp, telling tales of an ill-fated wagon train gone full CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, Pearce and co are obliged to mount a rescue effort!



Middling Dracula fare, couched haphazardly in the Wendigo legend. Don't be fooled, it's a Dracula flick. Much Darwinist rumination on eating muhfuckas heads off in pursuit of ULTIME power, and also +10 healing factor. Greatly helped by an excellent Robert Carlyle, some gorgeously treacherous settings (OWCH! now that thar be a compound fracture, IN MUH SHIN-BONE!), and a menacing OST.

Bad Lieutenant (1992, Dir. Abel Ferrara) Fucking hell. Paint-strippingly sleazy and rape-wracked, even by Mr. Ferrara's considerable standard. Harvey Keitel's corrupt cop indulges biblically in drugs and prostitutes, blasting his burnt-out brain in vain, as a mounting despair eats through him. Between ripping off drug dealers and chancing his arm with mobbed-up bookies, he can be found catatonic in his cosy suburban living room, surrounded by his nonplussed family. Maybe there's some money in busting the sick fucks who raped that nun? That reward the church put up would come in handy, with his gambling luck gone to shit. THOSE FUCKIN METS $%£^£&



Keitel is outstanding here, shading Bad Cop's futile abhorrence with anguish and remorse, humanising what might've been a mere horrorshow in lesser hands. Despite the long stretches of near-impressionistic malaise, it's an easy film to watch and follow, an even descent to the end. Excellent neo-noir, recommended.

Fatal Attraction (1988, Dir. Adrian Lyne) or Bad Husband. MICHAELDOUGLAS decides to be a COLOSSAL PIECE OF SHIT and jeopardise his happy life with wifey and daughter - using their weekend's absence to hit Glenn Close's CRAZY BPD PUSSY. Hell awaits!



An iconic picture, in the same boat as The Exorcist. Most of its shocks have long since entered pop banality - yet the underlying drama is such a strong, dark one, it's clear the gags were never integral. The horror is in the withering toll on innocent family, not so much the evil force responsible - our intrepid hubby having brought this shitstorm entirely onto his house notwithstanding.

On that note, I couldn't help thinking of that ham-fisted TIM SOMETHINGOROTHER, the latest wrecker of the Terminator series, and his ill-fated proclamation that his sparkly capeshit would "SCURR DEM MUHSOGYNISTS GUD" (scared them and everybody else right away, apparently. haw!) Poor Tim's name is now mud - but he should pay attention, this being a movie to scare men with. Or, to put it in less moronically tribal terms, warn them with. One look at poor MICHAELDOUGLAS, and you know he wishes he'd spent that weekend jacking it to his 80s porno tapes!



A gorgeously shot film - Jacob's Ladder is Lyne's famous Konami influencer, but his eye for the pastoral and grimy alike here will resonate just as well with Silent Hill fans.

[GaijinPunch]

Bad Lieutenant... was pretty bad. Ironically I heard the Nic Cage version was actually good.

[BIL]

I was reading up on that afterward, wondering if it was some belated sequel involving key personnel, ala Chinatown's The Two Jakes. Turns out they'd just lifted the name wholesale, and Ferrara wanted to murder them all.

Watch out for my upcoming action movie Die Hard: Tinkletowne Is A Danger Zone, the story of a tough cop caught in a terror attack at his Travelodge! Starring Monkey Allen from down the pub. It's not a sequel or a remake of the Bruce Willis film, I just like that one, and I think its name will help sales.

Also, me mate Trouser Steve has just wrapped his horror/action extravaganza Predator: It Ain't Half Hot In Majorca, Mum! Imagine: mercs in the bush fight an 'orrible Space Cunt - sort of like the famous Schwarzenegger film! Predator played by his nan - he used the money he saved on licensing to buy her a cheap flight, and a crate of the Grouse.

I would pay MANY of the king's good pounds for a straight Nic Cage remake, the thought alone is tantalising.

[drauch]

I love both Bad Boi Lieutenants. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to jack off in the rain

Herzog's Lieutenant is more just... wacky. It's pretty hysterical and Cage is unhinged, like shaving behind doors waiting to scream at old women (reminds me of Man Bites Dog) and talking about his lucky crackpipe. Shoot his soul; it's still dancing! and Whad're these fawkin iguanas doing on my table

[BIL]

Straight onto the list, much appreciated as always Completely forgot Herzog directed, I was glad to read Ferrara and he smoothed things out! (Herzog always maintaining he'd no idea WTF was going on, and citing his unease when informed of the Ferrara movie). Two of my favourite hard-ass eccentric old dudes from the respective sides of the Atlantic.

[Vexorg]

The Cannonball Run (1981): ***

This is just a weird movie in a lot of ways. Based on the real life cross-country outlaw Cannonball races of the Seventies (and in fact made with the involvement of real life Cannonball Run organizer Brock Yates, and the Transcon Medivac "ambulance" that Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLouise's characters drove in the film was an actual vehicle driven in a Cannonball Run,) it has an ensemble cast with plenty of star power, but never quite figures out how to make use of it. Notable appearances include Farah Fawcett, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Chan in only his second appearance in a Western film and Roger Moore as a delusional "Rich Idiot with no day job" type who's convinced that he's Roger Moore and acts like he's an international spy, complete with cheap knockoff James Bond wannabe music (apparently the producers wanted to have him think he was James Bond but they couldn't get the rights for that.) Suffers from a lot of the same problems that other ensemble cast films tend to where there's so many different stars competing for screen time that there's hardly any room for a plot (the film's short 100 minute run time probably doesn't help here.) The end result feels a bit like a Steven Soderbergh heist movie, lots of stuff going on but none of it really going anywhere. Overall it's did pretty well in theaters back in the day, but I suspect most people who have seen it watched it at 1am on TBS back in the Nineties because they couldn't sleep and everyone else was showing infomercials.

Not the first movie to be made based on the Cannonball Run races; In fact this film came several years after two other Cannonball related films: the 1976 film Cannonball! starring David Carradine was a darker and more violent take on a similar plot, and the 1976 film The Gumball Rally is widely considered to be a better film than this one, albeit without the same amount of star power. Was a huge financial success for the studio and got two sequels: One that managed to get back most of the cast in 1984 and did reasonably OK, and a third movie (called Speed Zone) in 1989 that was a total bomb. There have been rumors of a remake in the works (described as an "Oceans 11 meets Fast and Furious" type film) for several years now, but given the current situation it remains to be seen whether or not it will happen. And Cannonball Runs are still a thing too; during last years lockdowns the record for fastest drive from New York to LA was beaten twice.

[GaijinPunch]

but I suspect most people who have seen it watched it at 1am on TBS back in the Nineties because they couldn't sleep and everyone else was showing infomercials.

That was a rough era to be a night owl.

Spoiler

[BIL]

Roger Moore as a delusional "Rich Idiot with no day job" type who's convinced that he's Roger Moore and acts like he's an international spy, complete with cheap knockoff James Bond wannabe music (apparently the producers wanted to have him think he was James Bond but they couldn't get the rights for that.)

Offhand, this sounds like a great versatile concept - cast an actor in a film as some random jagoff who swears they're the actor, but isn't. Could see it working in comedy, drama and horror contexts alike.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Keitel is outstanding here, shading Bad Cop's futile abhorrence with anguish and remorse, humanising what might've been a mere horrorshow in lesser hands.

Yet again, I couldn't recommend The Duellists (1977, Ridley Scott's feature film debut by the way) enough. In the "holy fucking shit, what is it?" kind of way.

[BIL]

I've been meaning to see that forever, had no idea he was in it! Onto the list, ta Obi.

[xxx1993]

Just saw Boss Level and Sentinelle.

[xxx1993]

I also saw Coming 2 America.

[Mortificator]

Thank you for the update on your current actions, atheistgod's brother. I was just sitting here waiting for the bare, uncritical facts about what your eyes had most recently beheld.

Enemy - A rewatch. Without the shock value of some of the film's more surreal moments, it felt less substantial than in my memory. Still liked it, though, and there were strong performances from Gyllenhaal and Gadon (for all that she appeared). I need to read the book this is based on and see how definitively it handles the whole 'double' thing. And the Walker Brothers song from the credits seems to be stuck in my head.

[GaijinPunch]

Enemy - A rewatch. Without the shock value of some of the film's more surreal moments, it felt less substantial than in my memory.

This has been on my list for a while. Just not gotten around to it. Apparently it's not as highly rated as Incendies which is, admittedly, fantastique.

[GaijinPunch]

24 Hour Party People

Somewhat embarrassingly I had never seen this. The guy that played Ian Curtis was uncanny, at least in movement. What a fun trip through history even though I'm sure loads of it was crap. Hilarious.

[neorichieb1971]

Greenland

Was a bit soap opera and straying from the main storyline but I kind of enjoyed it.

[Mortificator]

Everything is Illuminated - Went into this on my friend's recommendation totally blind and without seeing-eye bitch. I didn't think I would like it at first, but around the train arrival scene it started to crack me up. Writing patois that sounds casually charming in English takes skill (the author's probably drawing from personal experience too, though I haven't looked up his background). It's good this came to me from a sort of insider's scoop so I wasn't wondering if the humor was mean-spirited.

Laughter mostly disappears in the latter half, which takes a very melancholy tone. What's funny is that I almost made a counter-recommendation of Pan's Labyrinth after this film was brought up, decided against it since they might not want to get viciously angry about fascists, and look what ya did to me.

Spoiler

There's a growing implication that the Illuminated grandfather was a Nazi collaborator, yet his obvious guilt turns out to be survivor's guilt.

One criticism is that the familiar faces bit in the ending felt too Wizard of Oz. And I could bring up the coincidence of the collector protagonist happening to hire the one travel agency that had a driver with roots in the past to his family, but that kind of thing isn't unheard of outside cinema. All in all, it's a good watch.

[Obiwanshinobi]

24 Hour Party People

Somewhat embarrassingly I had never seen this. The guy that played Ian Curtis was uncanny, at least in movement. What a fun trip through history even though I'm sure loads of it was crap. Hilarious.

I realise it's not a Granada TV's production, technically, but I suggest looking up some of their shows as well, starting from Cracker episodes written by Jimmy McGovern.