Lord of the Flies (1963):
Didn't feel like waiting so I watched this now instead of whenever I'm free at Halloween. Now I know there's another version from the 90s but all I can say is man oh man, this will be a challenge to make in the PC all female version they're going to make. Torturing and killing animals? Kids dressing up as jungle savages complete with war paint? Fat shaming? And child murder? Yeah, I'd love to see how can they adapt all that!

But the movie itself hasn't aged all that well in some areas. Child actors are terrible with stilted line deliveries and a lot of characters you can't tell them apart because they look so similar and being a B&W movie doesn't help distinguishing them either. But when it focus's on the characters you can tell and care about and when everything goes crazy and savage then it gets good.

7/10

 

I saw it Friday night.

I have come to the conclusion that it is actually pretty depressing.

A man walks out on his wife and kids and the aliens ruined dozens of lives over the years.

 

The Great Wall - My god, I have never seen a movie that tried so hard to pander to every PC group imaginable until now. Who was this movie supposed to be for? It's an Asian movie that had white people in it because heaven forbid an Hollywood film not star white people. It had a forced romance with the lead Chinese girl because heaven forbid we not have a love story involved. Then we have the fact that it was clearly pandering to the feminists because they have to make the Chinese girl be the main leader of the group. Gotta get those ticket sales from creeps who drool over Asian women while also appeasing the Chinese audience. Oh, and let's not forget putting in a hispanic dude because you gotta attract the hispanic crowd.

Thankfully, it was no where near as bad as it could have been, but that doesn't mean it is good. It does have some funny moments and you can actually see the action for the most part. However, the narrative is a mess. I felt like I was watching cut scenes to a video game as there were a lot of scenes that felt incomplete. Hell, Willem Dafoe was absolutely pointless. There was no reason for his role to exist one bit. In fact, if you were to take out his scenes, nothing would change at all. The acting is pretty bad with Matt Damon being the worst actor in the film. I have no idea what the hell they were going for, or if he was intentionally trying to get fired or not, but it didn't work. There were times when he would suddenly have an accent for a line or two, which would then go away for his next few lines. It was quite jarring. Additionally, he had no character growth. We are told he is a despicable mercenary, yet we are never shown this. There is nothing to really make us believe he was a different person before he met the Chinese girl nor why his friend is upset when he decides to help them. He just does because the movie needs him to. There is no motivation behind it.

The monster designs weren't even all that interesting as they just look liked the creatures from the Mortal Kombat movie franchise and the poor CGI didn't help matters either.

In the end, I give it a 6/10.

 

The Founder - 8/10

A very entertaining biopic about the 'founder' (hence the name) of McDonald's, Michael Keaton is his usual terrific self here.

Told in the same vein as The Social Network, only MUCH more interesting, where it's

Spoiler

the guy who takes someone else's idea but elevates it to another level and gets all the credit/success/money that follows...but eventually screws over the original guys.

Occasionally falls into a few clichés as with any biopic, but overall worth your time.

 

The Cat in the Hat - 10/10 best movie ever

 

Haha, I definitely see your point. To be technical she walked out first, admittedly for a good reason because he was turning into a complete nutjob that made her feel unsafe. It really sucks because of the three young children.

I think the very imperfect characters and lack of any strong moral background are part of what make it such an iconic film that stands the test of time though. One can relate to the chaotic family life and senses of fear in the film.

 

Nerve (Emma Roberts/Dave Franco): 9/10

Really enjoyed this. Very fast-paced and the concept feels all too real.

 

Chucky 6: 7.5/10

Surprisingly good, especially for a direct to DVD release.

Abandoned: 5/10

TV movie about survival at sea. It's *ok* but in no way memorable.

Colossal: 4/10

Colossal disappointment.

 

Had ourselves a Vincent Price double feature night.

The Fall of the House of Usher - Fanfreakingtastic! This movie was wonderful. It had atmosphere, it had excellent cinematography, the use of colors during the dream sequence was outstanding, and most of all, for there only being four characters throughout the entire film, they were all engaging. This film flew by at such a brisk pace I could not believe it had reached the climax when it did. Aside from outdated effects, I can't think of anything negative to say about it. A nice 10/10.

The Raven - Unlike Usher, this one didn't grasp me as much sadly. I loved that it featured Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff, but I felt like they were underutilized. Perhaps it was because the movie ended up being more comedy than I anticipated. Or it could have just been that Poe's poem is hard to translate into a film. Either way, I came out disappointed. That does not mean I did not enjoy it though as it was hilarious and Lorre stole the show. It's just that I expected more from having a trio of masters on screen together (for what I believe to be the first time). Thus, I'm going to give it a 7/10 as it is the weakest of all of the Price films I have watched over the last few years.

 

I would actually say he was the one who checked out of the marriage first for the reason you describe. He left them. The wife taking the kids is just her coming to grips with and accepting the fact he is gone from the marriage. It's the reason I could never empathize with his character or enjoy the movie all that much.

 

Which movie are you guys talkinga bout?

 

They are talking about Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

 

You know another thing I liked about seeing it in the theater ?

The little details that you miss on TV. The little background things and Easter Eggs that Spielberg planted into the movie that you really can't notice on the TV. Example: Just after Roy Neary has bis famous contact with the UFO at the RR crossing there is a shot of him driving out in the country with the stars in the sky in background. During that shot, you'll notice a "star" up in the upper left hand corner moving across the sky. I assume that was either the mother ship or one of the individual ships.

Another thing too, and this is one I kinda came up with when I was a kid: The first alien that comes out was the spider type stick creature. You see him once and then you don't see him again. Well, when he lifts his arms up you begin to see a red glow around his head that starts to approximate a red dot. To me, that alien was the "red dot UFO" and it was him turning into his "dot" form.

And last but not least, there are some (SOME!) that believe this movie was "inspired" by a supposed event at Holloman AFB that is sometimes referred to as the "Treaty of Greada". Whether that is truth or just bunk is up to you...

"Hey dad, when we're done can we throw dirt into my window too ?"

One of the best lines I forgot about, lol...

True story here - when I was eight years old (1984) I actually tried ordered a dumb truck full of dirt to be delivered to my house so I could make my own Devils Tower like Roy Neary did. The foreman at the dirt site thought it was weird a little kid wanted to order hundreds of dollars of dirt so he played along for a while and then called my old man to verify it. Of course, my old man wasn't pleased but I think he kind of got a kick out of it.

He eventually let me dig up a bunch of dirt out in the back yard and dump it all into a pile about 3 feet high and I made my own Devils Tower that way. I remember him sneaking up and taking my picture as I was trying to hide behind it. Then he made me fill the hole back up with the same dirt, lol...

Here is another one, when I was in the first grade we did oil paintings for art class and my painting ? The scene at Devils Tower from the end, lol! It had the mother ship, the lights, the aliens, etc... The teacher took one look at it and decided I was a pretty effed up kid, especially after everyone did little stick figures of their pets, etc...

She thought I was about the most weird and peculiar kid ever. I agreed with her, but that was besides the point....

 

Never seen it.

 

That legitimately surprises me.

 

There's actually been quite a few movies I've never seen that I've been told to eventually see. The Abyss and Casino, for example.

 

You need to see the Abyss and Close Encounters. I haven't seen Casino myself so I can't talk about it.

 

IT 8/ 10

Very well done
Not Scary but really good with characters and Pnnywise was awesome too

 

Conan the Barbarian (1982) - 9/10 - Epic '80s Sword and Sorcery.

It's been a while since I watched this from start to finish, and I never realized (or forgot) that Conan actually kills Thulsa with his father's sword...

 

That movie could have been deep-fried dogshit and Basil Poledouris' score would still kick most of its competition into a ditch and fuck their frumpy wife. Thankfully, it's an epic. But fuck me that opening music is just something else.

Anyway: Wonder Woman - 9/10

The iTunes digital release is available now so I watched it on my iPad. I know the movie isn't perfect and the ending could have maybe been gone over a few more times....but that I can watch the No-Man's Land scene a fifth time and still cry....this movie just works for me. Gal Gadot took all my negative impressions and opinions of her and ground them 'neath her mighty tread. And I don't know if its just his old roles shitting me or that Pine was saving himself for a work he personally loved but he brings an incredible amount of genuine heart, charm and charisma to Steve Trevor.

Its the only DC movie I feel was worth making, and if the only net positive of this collection of otherwise shambling monstrosities is this gem and flow on interest in Wonder Woman and more chances of adaptations of other female superheroes in either cinema or TV then I don't care how fucking shitty Justice League is - though I hope it isn't.