Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Dr. Whom]

About Endlessness (2019)

This is so artsy it hurts. Not really a movie, just a very long series of vignettes that mainly deal with melancholy, disappointment and despair. Shot in muted colours and needlessy wide frame, the kind of shots where the camera crew set up their gear, push the button and then go for a coffee.
It is strangely mesmerising, though, and I had no trouble watching it to the end. Film critics seem to love it, but I find it a bit too gimmicky.

Film snob level: over 9000.

[FatFreddysCat]

A bunch of DC's Animated Universe movies were just added to Tubi, so I spent last night on a Batman Binge:

"Batman & Harley Quinn" (2017)
Batman and Nightwing reluctantly enlist the help of Harley Quinn (who's been half-heartedly trying to go straight) to find her former BFF Poison Ivy, who's teamed up with the Fluronic Man in a plot to turn all of humanity into plant people.
A fast paced, funny cartoon action flick in the style of the classic Batman animated series from the early 90s (which is where Harley first appeared), with great voice work by the late Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight and Melissa "Big Bang Theory" Rauch as Harley. The PG-13 rating allows for some salty language and risque' jokes that they wouldn't have gotten away with on the TV show. Fun stuff.

"Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders" (2016)
Adam West and Burt Ward return to voice their iconic characters in this way-cool animated homage to the '60s Batman TV show, in which the Dynamic Duo battle their four most notorious foes (Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman) in a typically wacky adventure involving a duplicating ray, an evil Batman taking over Gotham City, and even a trip to outer space. It's great to hear Adam and Burt back in the saddle again, and the O.G. Catwoman Julie Newmar also returns to voice her character. A groovy trip down memory lane for fans of the kitschy TV series.

[Alex]

Terrifier.

Found it free to watch on Tubi. All style no substance. The characters aren't really developed enough to care if they survive or not, the killer came off as a bit weak when he had to resort to a gun so it all really comes down the kills (which lets face it, is what these films are really about). I can see that the director was doing his best on a limited budget, but there wasn't really anything new or inventive there. Really, the hobbling scene in Misery or when the guy gets his Achilles tendon sliced in the original Pet Semetary made me wince. For a film filled with violence, none of it really had even a slight effect.

The sequel is up there but when it clocks it at nearly 2 1/2 hours if the director can't make me root for the survivors, or make them so unlikable that I cheer for the bad guy to kill them I am not sure why I'd bother. Maybe at some point in the future I'll give it a go, but so far I've seen better and more original. It didn't disgust me or entertain me. I feel completely neutral about it. Ideally I'd prefer something with a bit more tension.

[pacman000]

The Field of Dreams

Odd movie, almost like a dream itself. I find it hard to describe; it says a few interrelated things. First, perhaps, is to follow dreams, & that things do work out. But it also says you shouldn't do so to such an extent it harms others; that you have some greater purpose & duty to perform.

It also says Shoeless Joe shouldn't have been banned for life, & that baseball brings Americans together.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Armed and Dangerous" (1986)
A bumbling former cop (John Candy) and an equally bumbling former attorney (Eugene Levy) become partners when they get jobs at a private security firm. The two screw ups soon learn that their new employers have ties to the Mob, who are planning an armored car robbery. Naturally this leads to many wacky hijinks, car chases, shoot outs, and stuff blowin' up.
This mostly forgotten '80s action comedy is predictable as hell but it's still a fun ride. Candy and Levy make a good team (playing roles that were originally envisioned for Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi) and a young, cute-as-a-button Meg Ryan also appears in an early role. I remember watching this one a bunch of times on HBO when I was a kid, so it was cool to revisit it after so many years.

[Trevor]

The Field of Dreams

Odd movie, almost like a dream itself. I find it hard to describe; it says a few interrelated things. First, perhaps, is to follow dreams, & that things do work out. But it also says you shouldn't do so to such an extent it harms others; that you have some greater purpose & duty to perform.

It also says Shoeless Joe shouldn't have been banned for life, & that baseball brings Americans together.

The final few minutes where Ray is playing catch with his dad and the camera rises above the field to show the hundreds of cars coming to the field 😭😭😭😭

[FatFreddysCat]

"Batman vs. Two-Face" (2017)
Animated sequel to "Return of the Caped Crusaders" brings back Adam and Burt as Batman and Robin and ups the kitschy-cool factor by bringing in William Shatner at Two-Face! Sadly, this would be Adam West's final Bat-related performance; the film was released a few months after his passing and is dedicated to his memory. We miss you, Adam!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Scream" (aka "The Outing," 1981)
A group of river rafters take shelter for the night in an abandoned Western town, and soon they're getting picked off one by one by an unseen killer. Yes, that's the entire plot.
Obviously, this movie has no relation to Wes Craven's 1996 masterpiece by the same name. This is a dreadfully slow moving, ineptly made slasher flick with annoying, cardboard-cutout characters, bad acting full of awkward silences, very little gore, and a story that simply doesn't make any friggin sense. By the end of the movie, absolutely nothing has been resolved or explained.
You can safely AVOID this one unless you are compelled to see every cheap sh*t slasher movie made in the '80s.

[Rev. Powell]

THE VOURDALAK (2023): Robbed by bandits, a French nobleman takes refuge with a family who (correctly) fears that their patriarch will soon return as a bloodsucking vourdalak. A truly uncanny monster makes this Tolstoy adaptation tops in in harpsichord horror. 3.5/5.

[zombie no.one]

Terrifier.

For a film filled with violence, none of it really had even a slight effect.

hmm, I did have a couple of erghhh moments

agree with your overall assessment though. don't understand the hype. a depressing watch. films like this need to have a wicked sense of fun or wit about them to really work, but this one was just like staring at a blank page

[RCMerchant]

the BLACK CAT (1966)

A drunk gets a gift of a black cat from his wife, and he ends up gouging the eye out of (which he is shown cupping in his bloody hand), then murdering . Another identical black cat with a bad eye appears, and while trying to kill that fuzzy little bastard (or "black demon!") his wife stops him, so he plants an axe in her noggin, and bricks her up in the basement. Cops show up, search the joint, and upon hearing a meowing from inside the wall, tear it down and find the cat perched on the rotting head of his lovey dovey. The end.
 A low budget marvel of overacting by the lead and some nice black and white gore plus a bar band that wear eyepatches and lots of BAD dialouge made this an enjoyable chunk of mid '60's sleaze worth a look-see.
It's on Tubi if your curious.

[lester1/2jr]

Visher (2024) - This isn't found footage but it's so cheap it might as well be. There's quite a bit of suspension of belief required (people can't tell the difference between their mom and a guy speaking into a voice changer thingy to sound like their mom?) but it's as clever a story as I've seen in some time and I really liked it.

An internet scammer guy becomes attracted to a woman he's supposed to be scamming. He starts chatting her up and spying on her with the cameras in her house. What a revolting development! It's like "14 Sensitive Cameras" or something.

Whoever wrote it understands modern horror but is also intent on adding some campy, deranged off Broadway type stuff too. It's basically a "I'm gonna have the characters do whatever I want and screw the big studios" statement. The ultimate resolution might not be how Tobe Hooper or you or I would do it, but it's something different at least.

4.5/ 5 

It's a bit TOO ridiculous in places, I wouldn't have been surprised if the characters broke out in song, but again, very cool and unexpected stuff for a late night find on tubi

(edit: the director is known for something called "No Sleep" which makes things that  "went viral across the world and have won over 70 awards.")

[Alex]

The Substance.

A film with several related subtexts all around aging and standards mixed up with a large dollop of body horror and nudity. While it can be enjoyed on a couple of levels it isn't going to be to everyone's tastes. Ray Liotta was supposed to be in the movie, but his passing meant his role went to Dennis Quaid instead.

[Trevor]

the BLACK CAT (1966)

A drunk gets a gift of a black cat from his wife, and he ends up gouging the eye out of (which he is shown cupping in his bloody hand), then murdering . Another identical black cat with a bad eye appears, and while trying to kill that fuzzy little bastard (or "black demon!") his wife stops him, so he plants an axe in her noggin, and bricks her up in the basement. Cops show up, search the joint, and upon hearing a meowing from inside the wall, tear it down and find the cat perched on the rotting head of his lovey dovey. The end.
 A low budget marvel of overacting by the lead and some nice black and white gore plus a bar band that wear eyepatches and lots of BAD dialouge made this an enjoyable chunk of mid '60's sleaze worth a look-see.
It's on Tubi if your curious.

I remember seeing that exact pic in Denis Gifford's book and going 😳😳

[Rev. Powell]

QUANTUM COWBOYS (2022): Two drifters from Yuma, Arizona seek a legendary musician who may (or may not have been) shot dead due to the rash actions of one of them; there are also time travelers, a modern camera crew recording certain scenes, and a puppet narrator who occasionally breaks in to lectures on "Intro to Quantum Mechanics." Done in styles ranging from live action to traditional animation to rotoscoping, sometimes mixed in the same frame, the film always looks great, but the script ate one too many peyote buttons: it can't focus, follow through, or distinguish its good ideas from its bad ones. With a pre-Oscar nom Lily Gladstone and cameos from director Alex Cox and alt-country stars Neko Case and John Doe. This near-miss cult film is free on Amazon Prime. 2.5/5.