phantom-20

One of the greatest movies of all time, winning 11 Academy awards and it only gets an 8.1 on IMDB? Really? Seriously? I guess it would score higher with cine-morons, if it were a superhero movie. Dummies! A timeless epic from a classic book that is a tale of religion, conquest, survibal and revenge, punctuated by the greatest action scene ever put on film stock! Yes boys and girls, even betterthat the CGI dreck in the Ft and Furious flicks! Ewverything about this cinematic achievement is top tier. The story, acting, direction, special effects, score,sets, cinematography, editing and so on down the line. John Ford, patron saint of cinema, pray for us!

Predator got woke,,,Nuff said! Pretty good though, interesting premise and not as crappy as every other Predator flick, except for the original. The new HGollywood insider slogan..."Go Woke, go broke!". Ask the idiots who made the Batgirl movie!

What a great 70's action film cast and what a piss poor movie! It looks like it was shot on Super 8 and they made it up as they went! Awful in every department, including the action!

My only issue with this great-classic horror film, is that I thought it wasv a bad creative choice to show young Michael's face. Dr Loomis' description should be enough to keep the audience pondering.

WTF is wrong with people. The rating on this is only a 7.9? Really? One of the greatest monster flicks ever? And rating the classic Universal monster movies in the 6's and 7's? I think people's minds have been destroyed by today's torture porn, gore fest swill! Some of you morons wouldn't know great cinema if it hack sawed your foot off! Jumping Jesus Christ!

"There is nothing wrong with your television set...". One of the most famous opening lines to one of the greatest sc-fi series of all times, "The Outer Limits"(1963-65 - 49 episodes). I've been re visiting this ground breaking, awesome anthology series. I have fond memories of watching this late at night, as a 12 year old...Under the covers of my bed and peering out...And having my mind blown by some of the head-y sci-fi concepts and story lines. In the pilot, "The Galaxy being", scientist Cliff Riobertson converses with an alien from the andromeda galaxy about such things as what death is and the concept of God! A great show, with great writers (Like Harlan Ellison), actors (Like Robert Culp. David McCallum, Bruce Dern, Martin Sheen and Cliff Robinson) and veteran sci-fi directors like Byron Haskin. The show was years ahead of it's time and featured some truly memorable creatures and aliens. The influence of the show also spread later on to shows like "Star Trek" and "The terminator"(based loosely on two famous episodes, "Soldier" and "Demon With A Glass Hand"). If you have never seen it, THIS is must see sci fi TV. Here are my 10 favorite episodes, which I also highly recommend, but you really can't go wrong watching any of them!

1 - "The Sixth Finger" 2 - "Demon With A Glass Hand" 3 - "The Galaxy Being" 4 - "Soldier" 5 - "Nightmare" 6 - "The Zanti Misfits" 7 - "It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork" 8 - "A Feasibikity Study" 9 - "Archetects Of Fear" 10 - "Corpus Earthling"

Crappy story, crappy directing, crappy acting, crappy badly shot and edited action. Did I say this is crappy? But still better than some of those crappy Merhi martial arts disasters. But still crappy!

This entry into the franchise easily makes my list as the worsts James Bond film ever! Nothing here works as a Bond film. It is dark, depressing, humorless and has no sense of fun. Even more serious 007 films like "Dr No" and "From Russia With Love" had a sense of fun and adventure and that is all missing here! Even weaker entries like "A View To A Kill" had a likeable, fun quality. Good luck finding it in this celluloid mess! And that weasel on speed editing!!!!!

I always loved this little WWII action gem. Ever since I saw it on the Million Dollar Movie as a kid. This isn't a deep, moving, war is hell message movie like "Saving Private Ryan". It's a WWII, pop corn action flick like "The Dirty Dozen" or the TV series, "The Rat Patrol". Men on an impossible mission, with danger, obstacles and plenty of cool action, stunts and Oscar nominated effects along the way. Great cast, story, music, direction and several great action scenes. Including the final raid on a huge gun emplacement and an explosive assault on Rommel's fuel bunkers. Just a really cool little underrated action gem that should not be missed in this current world of 150 million dollar garbage!

Re-visiting "Uncommon Valor"(1983) Arguably he best "Going back to "Nam' to rescue the POW's flick!...And the first. What a cool, underrated movie this is and what a cast: Gene Hackman, Fred Ward, Robert Stack, Reb Brown, Patrick Swayze, Tim Thomerson and Randall "Tex" Cobb as the scene stealing "Sailor". The plot is simple: Ten years after his son went M.I.A. in Vietnam, U.S. Marine retired Colonel Jason Rhodes assembles a private rescue team to find Americans held in P.O.W. camps in Laos. What really makes this work is top notch acting, great action, the comradery among the group and the nail biting finale. By the end, you are so invested in the characters and objective, you really feel bad when any of the characters buy it. Very tight and good direction by Ted Kotcheff ("North Dallas forty" and "First Blood"). Really, a good movie and well worth a visit or re-visit!

N a nutshell, I liked "Godzilla, King Of The Monsters". I thought that it was a good Kaiju flick, a good Godzilla flick and much more on target than the 2014 entry. There is a lot to like here, the appearance of the popular Toho classic monsters, more monster battles, the score (with familiar Toho classic strains) and a number of Easter eggs and references (Like referring to King Ghidrah as "Monster Zero"). All in all, a satisfying experience for any Godzilla and Kaiju fan. I would give it 3 out of 4 stars. My biggest gripe was with the way they shot and cut the monster sequences. It seems like the filmmakers went out of their way to cloak the monsters and the battles with darkness, night sequences, storms, rain and fast cutting between dizzying camera moves and close ups. I like to see the monsters clearly, see the action clearly and not be confused or have to guess and not savor what is going on. Part of the reason that my heart will always belong to the Showa era of Godzilla and Kaiju films (1954-1975). It seems like there is a Hollywood mindset that if you show less of the monsters and hide them in dark sequences, they will somehow be more believable to the audience (Much like getting rid of the bright colors and making superhero costumes darker and more drab). This stuff was never created to be BELIEVABLE!...But to be enjoyed! In the 50's monster movies, they didn't spend 30 minutes of screen time, trying to explain the believability of a 50 foot tarantula crawling down the street. Just a "Must be the product of radiation from A bomb tests" pretty much covered it! As a side note, I watched 7 trailers before the movie began and all the action and fights looked the same and the CGI action looked very cartoony!

Just got back from a matinee of "Avengers: Endgame"(2019). In short, a spectacular, satisfying and enjoyable finale to the Marvel Universe movie series. They hit so many "right" notes and gave the characters their respect and moments and manage to fit in so much material coherently in one movie. Without giving anything away, the final scene is just so right and the whipped cream and sprinkles on the sundae. My only real gripe? (drum roll), some of the action. That hyper-shot, dizzying camera moves and hyper editing style that I've come to despise in the last 20 years. A big screen Xbox game with a 6 year old at the control, who has ADD! I think some of the action in other Marvel Universe movies was shot and edited better. Having said that, this entry is right at the top of the summit of the super hero genre and should make a quadrillion dollars at the box office.

I got douche chills when I originally saw the new series trailer. It typified a lot of what I find wrong with Hollywood these days! I watched the pilot and it was as underwhelming and ill conceived as expected. Why not go full PC and make T.C. a female combat pilot and Rick trans gender while they are at it? Anxiously awaiting that re boot of "F Troop" starring David Hasselhoff and Kevin Hart. All the enjoyment of drinking warm, flat soda. Ugh...Meh! Hollywood really can screw up toast!

How the hell does this classic masterpiece only rate an 8.5? One answer is the army of eye raped pseudo cinephiles who prefer the Fast and the Furious movies! Put down the crack pipe and broaden you cinematic horizons! 8.5, my ass! I love TCM and Fathom events and love them even more for bringing movie classics back to the BIG screen on a monthly basis. I saw "Casablanca" today for it's 75th anniversary. A truly awesome cinematic experience. Hollywood during it's early glory days, firing on all cylinders. Bogie and Bergman at their best and in their prime (You can see why they were friggin' stars!). The incredible cast, writing, direction and onslaught of memorable and most quoted lines...All there, where it should be, on the big screen and with an audience I urge anyone who loves movies to start going to these classic screening and see what real movies were all about!!! "Here's looking at you, kid"... This is unarguably a 10!!!

Just got in from seeing "Blade Runner 2049"...crappy poster, excellent movie! It is a solid and worthy sequel to "Blade Runner"(1982) and manages to recapture the look, feel, tone and cerebral nature of the original. A true sequel and not some reboot piece of sh*t! Solid story, characters, acting and music reminiscent of the original. Outstanding visuals, effects and art design. Musy be seen in Imax...Seriously! My only issue is the 2 hour and 45 minute running time! It is a 2hr & 15 minute movie trapped in a 2hr & 45 minute body! But if you are in for a penny, you are in for a pound, I guess. The pacing is my main issue with the original as well. As much as I love "Blade Runner", it's like watching a movie through the prism of a fish tank... If you liked "Blade Runner" you will dig this one (especially the nods to the original and some nice cameos)...If you don't like, or have not seen the original, this will totally be lost on you. It will be interesting to see how this does at the box office, since the original is a cult classic but flopped at the box office during it's initial run...It really needs to be nominated for "Best Cinematography"

Just witnessed the train wreck that is "Birth Of The Dragon"...and I wish this birth had been aborted!!! This is an infuriating movie...An appropriation of Bruce's name and legacy! They had the money, people and toys to make a really good Bruce bio-film, but somewhere along the line, the filmmakers decided to do black tar heroin with an LSD chaser and see how bad they could purposely louse this up! If you look at it as just a martial arts flick, it isn't that bad in a 70's Bruce Lee imitator flick kind of way (That is, if you pretend this isn't about Bruce Lee)...But when you put Bruce into the equation, it becomes jaw dropping and not in a good way! This is about as accurate to Lee's life as "F Troop" is to the history of the west. The kind of astounding movie that would make Bruce Lee rise from the grave to kick the filmmakers rear ends! Instead of sticking to the real events, people and fight (Which would have been cool and interesting enough)...The filmmakers decided to make "Bruce Lee vs Kwai Cheng Cain" with wire work. A big chunk of the movie features a white character named "Steve McKee"(Really???) and how he trains in Kung Fu and falls in love with a Chinese waitress, who is in reality a slave to the Fu Manch like dragon lady of Chinatown! I kid you not! And after their legendary "Wire Fu" bout, Wong Jack Man, Bruce and Steve McQueen,,,Er, I mean "McKee", go to Chinatown, take out the triad goons and free ALL of the female Chinese waitress slaves...And I am not frigging kidding! It makes me pine for the good old days, with Bruce Lee rip off films starring Dragon Lee, Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Leg, Bruce Schwartz and so on! Christ, these guys really urinated in my Cheerios!!!

Finished up watching "The Defenders" and I stand by my analysis of the first half. It didn't WOW me, but I liked it, I thought it was solid and I liked the interactions of the characters. As I stated before, I liked Iron Fist and his fighting better in this series (For the most part)...Although I thought the overall fighting and action was a mixed bag. Sometimes it was shot and edited very well and sometimes it degenerated a bit into that shaky cam, hack and slash editing style I detest!!!! High points for me? The main cast, Scott Glenn, Electra, Sigourney as the villain, Luke Cage and Iron Fist's first "meeting", the first united defenders brawl against "The Hand" minions, the cameos and references to the other series and the look and feel of the series. What I didn't love? Again, I have very mixed feelings about the Jessica Jones character and Krysten Ritter as an actress. At times it works for me, but other times I feel like I am watching someone's annoying, obnoxious niece cos play Mike Hammer. By the end, she had grown on me a bit, but not that much! I also feel that the whole "The Hand" thing is starting to wear a bit thin. I get it, they are the SPECTRE to James Bond, but even JB had to take a break from then and deal with other villains and missions. Just me... Some interesting twists, turns and losses and more dismemberments than a "Star Wars" movie. I'm also starting to get a little annoyed with some of the characters naiveté...I mean, a horrible, mystical evil force is going to destroy New York and take over the world and the Defenders are hemming and hawing about hurting people too bad or moralizing over property damage? Stick is the only one who makes sense about how to deal with these evil forces! I also had issues with Iron Fist being the ultimate Kung fu bad ass hero, when by the end he is regulated to ineffective hero status and fails to deliver the goods in key moments. I wish they had done Iron Fist better...And we still don't get to see him in the costume! Over all, I liked it, but I still think that "Daredevil" Season II is still the best of all the Netfilx marvel hero series. PS - Does any super hero have time to bath and shave and wear clean clothes???

So, it is 1:00 am and I am up watching "The Wild, Wild Planet"(1965) - Off the hook, certified wacky goodness! If you like movies like "The Green Slime", this is a must see! Almost beyond description, but here goes... A deranged scientist is using his employer's top-secret bio-laboratory to engage in clandestine eugenics experiments. When he starts kidnapping leading citizens for use in his twisted tests, it's up to rogue cop Mike Halstead to come to the rescue of all and sundry, including his lady friend Connie, who is also being held captive by the madman. This entry is part of the Gamma I Quadrilogy space adventures (Yes, there are 4 of these!), directed by Antonio Marghereti (aka Anthony Dawson). Also starring a very young Franco Nero! This was a staple on WPIX channel 11 when I was a kid and some of my "Older" Facebook friends may remember watching it with me back then! What can I say, dumb, 60's mod sci-fi fun all the way. Sexy babes, cheesy effects, 4 armed assassins, 60's style martial arts, shrinking people to the size of dolls, turning people into half men/half women (Just like Denny's on a Saturday night in Hollywood!). God help me, I love this sh*t! Just go find it and watch it!

"There is nothing wrong with your television set...". One of the most famous opening lines to one of the greatest sc-fi series of all times, "The Outer Limits"(1963-65 - 49 episodes). I've been re visiting this ground breaking, awesome anthology series. I have fond memories of watching this late at night, as a 12 year old...Under the covers of my bed and peering out...And having my mind blown by some of the head-y sci-fi concepts and story lines. In the pilot, "The Galaxy being", scientist Cliff Riobertson converses with an alien from the andromeda galaxy about such things as what death is and the concept of God! A great show, with great writers (Like Harlan Ellison), actors (Like Robert Culp. David McCallum, Bruce Dern, Martin Sheen and Cliff Robinson) and veteran sci-fi directors like Byron Haskin. The show was years ahead of it's time and featured some truly memorable creatures and aliens. The influence of the show also spread later on to shows like "Star Trek" and "The terminator"(based loosely on two famous episodes, "Soldier" and "Demon With A Glass Hand"). If you have never seen it, THIS is must see sci fi TV. Here are my 10 favorite episodes, which I also highly recommend, but you really can't go wrong watching any of them!

1 - "The Sixth Finger" 2 - "Demon With A Glass Hand" 3 - "The Galaxy Being" 4 - "Soldier" 5 - "Nightmare" 6 - "The Zanti Misfits" 7 - "It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork" 8 - "A Feasibikity Study" 9 - "Archetects Of Fear" 10 - "Corpus Earthling"

Just got in from "Wonder Woman". some random thoughts...

I liked it, but I didn't love it. I thought it was pretty good, but I didn't think it was great. It didn't "Wow" me...I would however,recommend it and give it a thumbs up...I know some will disagree with me.

I think the two best things about the film were: 1 - Gal Gadot nailed it as Wonder Woman. Fine acting, fine look and fine physicality (When it's not a CGI Wonder Woman leaping around). She was clearly the best thing in that Superman/Batman train wreck movie and pretty much carries this movie and franchise squarely on her shoulders. 2 - All of the scenes featuring Diana's naive and humorous interactions with the civilized world. Welcome light moments in the very dark DC movie universe.

I also like the vibe that they really tried to make a good Wonder Woman movie and not hack out the same old usual dreck (And succeeded most of the time).

What I didn't like... - I liked the parts better than the sum of the whole (The same way I feel about movies like "Remo Williams")...I just really didn't care much about the Ares super villain story line, I was more interested in her dealing with the horrors of WWI. That was a more interesting movie to me. The whole Ares thing just seemed "standard" and lackluster and the only thing missing was some magic orb!. - While I liked some of the action, I felt that the bad camera work and uber hyper editing during the action scenes, deterred from some solid choreography. When are these people going to learn how to shoot and edit action, so that people can see, comprehend and enjoy it, instead of being visually assaulted!

Overall, I liked it, I liked Gadot, it will make many quatloos and the franchise will move forward.. I'm just glad it wasn't a Marvel movie, otherwise Stan Lee would have shown up somewhere as a German soldier or a baggage handler.

Trying to watch "Jason Bourne" on HBO, but I'm getting motion sickness! Every shot is a moving camera...EVERY STINKING SHOT! Back in the day, crap like this would have gotten an "F" in film school! It sucks the enjoyment right out of the movie! It is bad enough these days when they do it in action scenes, but this flick does it in dialogue scenes and throughout the whole damned movie. Add the current editing style of weasel on speed butcher cutting and you have one dizzying experience. Greengrass is a horrible visual director and all of his films are shot and edited in the same crummy way! he needs to be tied to a chair, like Alex in "A Clockwork Orange" and forced to watch classic, well made movies. Enough of this filmmaking style already. Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

Pretty damned impressive! nuff said! it Maybe not! it is pretty damned sad when a fan film is better than the three prequels. The story is good and fits in the "Star Wars" universe. I hate when fans whine about how a studio screwed up a franchise and how they could do it better...Only to turn out terrible, amateurish drive;l! Not so here! This director has a future and all of the acting is solid, something devoid in your average fan film. The actor who plays Solo, just doesn't ape Harrison Ford, there is acting and a character going on As a stuntman and stunt coordinator, i have to commend you on the fight scene. Shot sp you can see what is going on, without shaky cam and weasel on acid hyper editing. Bravo, well done

Just got back from a matinée of "F8 The Fate Of The Furious"(aka: "The Fastest And The Furiest"). My God!!!

Okay, I have always had a love/hate relationship with this franchise. I find them likable and enjoyable on some level, but they represent everything I have come to hate in Hollywood action films in the last 15 years! Each film gets more preposterous than the last and now they are just over budgeted Wile E. Coyote - Road Runner cartoons, with more and more CGI heavy stunts. I hate the way the action in these films is shot and edited. Shaky cam, hyper moving cam, weasel on speed editing...specially during the fights, where the cameramen must have Parkinson's and the editors are paid by the cut! F*cking inexcusable! Any director who does an action film should be required to watch movies like "Ben Hur", "Bullit", "Enter The Dragon", "The Road Warrior" and "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" to see how action is shot and edited properly! It makes no Gad damned sense to take the time, effort and money to stage big action and then shoot and edited it like an amateur filmmaker! The gang is back and in fine form, but I just never got the Michelle Rodriguez thing! I think she is a terrible actress and action star(?)...Who has only one facial expression, that "Who farted?" look. What do I know, it will probably make a quadrillion dollars! God help me, I really am a cinema masochist!

I'll make this short and sweet....What a rancid piece of baboon sh*t!...just kidding! Actually, I consider this one of, if not the best film in the "Marvel universe" series! It also has, IMHO, the best super battle ever put on film, digital, whatever! Everything is here and it is a fan boy's wet dream and it is done so well. The filmmakers get it! My biggest issue is that there is way, WAY too much shaky cam during some of the fight scenes (Especially the action scene that opens the film). To get everything else so right and just not lock the f*cking camera down, so we can see and savor the action is frustrating. Thank Odin, they kept it to a minimum during THE epic super battle! Shaky cam just needs to be banned altogether. Period!!!!!! Anyway, it's great, it kick's ass and there is even a very poignant Agent Carter scene. Stay for all of the credits, cause there are 2 Easter egg scenes. Can't wait for more! PS - Tom Holland IS Spiderman and he rocks in this movie...Although I do have an ingrained vision in my head of what "Aunt May" should look like...And it doesn't look

Just watched a screener of "Osage County"...If 2 hours of well acted human misery is your cup of tea, you've struck gold! Even more misery here than "Les Miserables"! And just when you think things couldn't get more miserable, they get more miserable! Angry, bitter hurtful women and ineffective, brow beaten men verbally duke it out (And go for award nominations in the process!). I don't know how the cast didn't turn into raging alcoholics after living these characters and this life for several months. Suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, cancer, incest, infidelity, verbal and emotional abuse, angst, betrayal, abandonment, etc...etc...etc... Makes "Macbeth" look like light comedy. One of those movies that makes you wonder where the Hara Kiri knife is! Having said that, I still think that Mery Streep is the finest American actress of the last 35 years!