A re-watch for me and it fully confirms my belief that this is a very overlooked movie and more people need to see it. A great, atmospheric, horror(?) movie about a girl finding her true power, which is magical and likely immortal.
The movie is only 86 minutes, credits included, but it is really great and I think people mostly ignored it due to its being a “Hansel and Gretel” movie, though it is much better than that. It’s difficult to put into words what makes this movie work, but I like it quite a bit and hope it finds an audience and becomes a cult classic.
*Make sure you are watching the movie directed by Oz Perkins(Anthony’s son). Lots of movies with similar titles.
My son and I are watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
I stand by my belief that this is the worst Indiana Jones movie, not Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We all remember the exciting parts near the end, but it’s not a fun movie the opening hour or so. Just attempts to torture Willie with scares and disgusting food, etc.
It’s an unpleasant movie for a lot of it and I’ve seen George Lucas talk about how his divorce affected the story of this movie. He was really angry when he put together the story beats.
Me, too. And, I agree, it goes downhill from there. I didn’t watch any more Indiana Jones movies after that one until years later, because it soured me on them.
I rank The Last Crusade as one of the best movies of the 1980’s, if not the absolute best movie of the 1980’s. I love it that much.
Crystal Skull is a step down from there, but I think people were overly harsh on it. I kind of love it, just as much as the original trilogy…which does have faults. Had Crystal Skull came out 5 years after Last Crusade, people would have accepted it much more.
Hadn’t heard the story since reading the book in grade school.
I enjoyed this movie. Fine cinematography and good acting. Fun to see My Favorite Martian, Ray Walston in it, too.
The only thing that took me a little out of the story was Malkovich’s portrayal of slow-witted Lennie Small, but I don’t blame him for that. I just couldn’t get the eye- and ear-worm of David Cross’s Slow Donnie from Don’t Shoot Me, out of my mind. They looked and sounded too similar. Lennie just looked funny to me.
These three movies star Christopher Walken and I mainly know them because it seemed kind of strange at the time he was very famous, but starring in two straight-to-DVD sequels. They asked him at the time about these low budget DVD movies and he said that making movies is just his hobby and the people were nice. Whatever makes him happy.
The Prophecy - kind of boring, couple neat moments.
The Prophecy II - I liked this movie much more. Brittany Murphy is in it and I don’t recall seeing her in much during her life. Anyway, solid movie, better than the original.
The Prophecy 3: Ascent - Well, better than the first one, but it’s clear they only had Chris Walken for two weeks. They filmed most of the movie without him. It was OK, but I’ve forgotten a lot of it very quickly.
Recommended by a friend, I tried to watch Dazed and Confused. It was, for me, a laughfree exercise. The movie itself seemed like a way to space out the songs. If I had watched it when I was the age of the characters it may have resonated with me. The paddling scenes were a bit over the top violent. I told my friend I’d be, at the least, slashing some tires after that. I lost interest after sticking around for " all right all right".
Lavender Hill Mob (1951), with Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway (who I only know as Alf Doolittle in My Fair Lady). I’d always heard about “Ealing comedies” but never seen one before … this is a delightful little heist film, and I have to say I was genuinely surprised at the ending.
It has a very young and unknown Audrey Hepburn in a cameo. i didn’t realize it until the credits rolled.
Alec Guinness certainly had the varied career. Starting with Ealing comedies, then David Lean epics (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr Zhivago) and then Obi-Wan Kenobi.
A House on the Bayou (Amazon, 2021) Meh, C-. No one needs to see this so I won’t bother telling you about it. Clearly a COVID film, it can be tossed in the straight-to-video bin.
The antagonist actor, Jacob Lofland, has a good career ahead of him for any directors looking for a creepy vibe, though.
In the Loop
A British political satire loosely based on the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Not enough laughs, although Peter Capaldi is very good as an unprincipled, abusive, hard-charging spin doctor.
The Spy Who Loved Me
Arguably Roger Moore’s best James Bond movie. Hadn’t seen it in years, and it was fun. Barbara Bach is quite yummy as a Soviet spy, and the white Lotus Esprit which turns into a missile-armed mini-submarine is awesome. I noticed, though, that the captured Soviet nuclear submarine crew is never seen - only the American and the British crews are. Hmmm. Wonder what happened to them…?
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
A young author visits Guernsey island soon after WWII and discovers that a folksy book club there is hiding a secret which, of course, she feels bound to uncover. A good-looking and feel-good film.
Gangs of New York
Martin Scorsese’s film about NYC street gangs before and during the Civil War. Well-produced and a fine cast, but much too long, and it badly downplays the racist roots of the July 1863 draft riots. Not sure I can recommend this movie.
Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics
Pretty good new documentary with a self-explanatory title. Worth a look for anyone interested in women in politics generally.
