Last film you saw, vol. 6

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Fury (2014)

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Monsters: Dark Continent (2014)

"Why am I here?"

The idea of this sequel was pretty decent (that even in a monster-plagued world soldiers would have to deal with terrorists), but it didn't pan out.

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Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

"Sir, do we get to win this time?"

You should check out the old Mad TV skit, "When Harry Met Willy" . . .

"I'm a mammal, dammit." Not bad.

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Big Eyes (2014)

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Saturday Night Fever (1977)

"You can save a little, build a future.
-Oh, f**k the future!
No, Tony! You can't f**k the future. The future f**ks you! It catches up with you and it f**ks you if you ain't planned for it."

If anyone has avoided this (or only seen part of it) because they don't like disco (I don't either), I'd advise checking it out. I had avoided it for that reason, but finally broke down and watched it (maybe in my college years) and it's really good. Gene Siskel loved it.

I saw SNF a few years ago and was pretty impressed. The disco music is really just background, for the actual story of the film, which is really serious and very dramatic.

I saw this film fairly recently as I had fond memories watching it as a kid because of the dancing and disco. However, I did not like this in my recent viewing. I thought the characters are so unlikable and there are some ethical issues with my adult sensibilities, such as the rape scene in the back seat of the car and the "suicide" scene at the end of the film that doesn't hold much weight. And from a technical point, IIRC they played the theme music several times, which I found annoying.

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Kickboxer: Vengeance (2016)

"Remember: he's just a man, like you. His bones can break and he can bleed."

I saw this film fairly recently as I had fond memories watching it as a kid because of the dancing and disco. However, I did not like this in my recent viewing. I thought the characters are so unlikable and there are some ethical issues with my adult sensibilities, such as the rape scene in the back seat of the car and the "suicide" scene at the end of the film that doesn't hold much weight.

I agree that there's no real good guys in it. Tony is somewhat sympathetic, but does some nasty things and overlooks other nasty things. But I think it's a product of its time. In the late 60s and into 70s there seemed to be a rash of these movies where the morality is not black and white and no one is exemplary. It feels like it fits in that. That's not a defense of it. I've had the same criticism with other movies that are generally well regarded (like Bonnie and Clyde). For some reason, that doesn't happen with me here, but I could get that. It's certainly not a feel-good movie.

I do think that you're supposed to believe Tony has a shot at escaping the destructive tendencies of his neighborhood and his family with his decisions at the end (both at the competition and about moving).

And from a technical point, IIRC they played the theme music several times, which I found annoying.

IIRC, they play "Staying Alive" twice and "How Deep Is Your Love" three or more times.

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Midnight Special (2016)

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Rambo III (1988)

"God must love crazy people.
-Why?
He make so many of them!"

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I agree that there's no real good guys in it. Tony is somewhat sympathetic, but does some nasty things and overlooks other nasty things. But I think it's a product of its time. In the late 60s and into 70s there seemed to be a rash of these movies where the morality is not black and white and no one is exemplary. It feels like it fits in that. That's not a defense of it. I've had the same criticism with other movies that are generally well regarded (like Bonnie and Clyde). For some reason, that doesn't happen with me here, but I could get that. It's certainly not a feel-good movie.

I do think that you're supposed to believe Tony has a shot at escaping the destructive tendencies of his neighborhood and his family with his decisions at the end (both at the competition and about moving).



IIRC, they play "Staying Alive" twice and "How Deep Is Your Love" three or more times.

Yeah, I get that Saturday Night Fever was reflective of the times, but I didn't recall it having such dark elements when I watched it as a kid. I remember it as a fun and dance movie, so it was kind of distributing to see the darker elements of film. And as such, I see the film totally differently than when I saw it as a kid.

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Claws (1977)

"It's a kind of punisher."

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The Nice Guys (2016)

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Rambo (2008)

"Peace is an accident."

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Started to watch William Girdler's "Claws" (1977) last night, didn't really like the upload quality and that was just icing on the "I'm not enjoying this even as a popcorn flick" low-bar the film overall set for me. Jumped to another flick after about ten or fifteen minutes. Only thing I liked about it was the intro.

My alternate choice? Snowbeast (1977). It's done better overall, I feel, with some good locale shots of a ski resort on a snowy mountainside, with the plot being that an abominable snowman is murdering skiers. You get growl-laced POV shots from the titular character's eyes, and he has a damn awesome theme (made me think of the Jaws theme, actually).

The characters were nothing special, pretty much stock, but of a good quality. You have the former skiing champ, his wife, the grandson of the resort's grandmother-owner, and the sheriff. At a late point in the film, you actually get a couple good scenes, one with the wife and grandson where she tells him why she married the former champ, and another where the champ tells her why he stopped competing.

As for the title monster, I think it was handled both well and poorly.

WELL --- badass theme; great "howl" that sounded like a scary blowing of the wind; gruesome kills (when you see them...which isn't very often); a good cabin attack scene; good log-pile scene

POOR --- almost never a good shot of the monster (you get a single real face shot when he inexplicably attacks a high school talent show); kills are hardly shown; a suspenseful ending-hunt showdown ruined by a lousy method of victory by the one hero (I can get why the move would be appealing, but it is very poorly implemented here)

Overall, a rather good flick, even with the lack of polish by the crew and characters (why would you leave all your guns in the car when you know the Snowbeast could attack at any moment?). I don't think this needs a beer to watch, but go ahead for extra chuckle power.

(No quote because I can't be bothered to remember the handful of lines that were moderately well-written).

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Chinese Hercules (1973)

"Our boss is a bastard and don't forget it."

Miami Connection (1987)

"He's in there every night with his damn gang, selling that stupid cocaine."

Started to watch William Girdler's "Claws" (1977) last night, didn't really like the upload quality and that was just icing on the "I'm not enjoying this even as a popcorn flick" low-bar the film overall set for me. ..

Yeah, Grizzly was better. Claws did have a supernatural (American Indian folklore) element, but it wasn't really exploited.