What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Markgway
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Inconceivable (2017) **
Pedestrian TV movie-like thriller.

Knuckleball (2017) *½
Ugly, illogical Canadian horror.
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Baby Driver (2017) **½
Edgar Wright raids his dodgy vinyl collection for this robbery-chase thriller set to music.
The cast is fine, there are many good scenes, but it's just a bit too self-aware.
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chazgower01
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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The Outsiders (USA, 1983) hulu 4.5/5
The Outsiders may have been one of the first movies I ever saw where I had actually read the book first. In that, I remember my initial disappointment in it back when it was released. When it came out on VHS, that quickly faded and it became a movie that would become an all-time favorite of mine, and one that is still enjoyable today.

Ponyboy Curtis (C. Thomas Howell), whose parents have died, lives with his older brother Sodapop (Rob Lowe), and oldest brother and guardian Daryl (Patrick Swayze). They are all 'greasers', poor kids who slick back their hair, get in fights and live on the bad side of town. Ponyboy's best friend is Johnny (Ralph Macchio), whose parents are abusive to each other and him. They look up to the town hoodlum, Dallas (Matt Dillon in true James Dean form), and bum around, smoking cigarettes and looking for fun.

On the other side of the tracks are the 'Socs', the rich kids who drive mustangs and date pretty cheerleaders from school, led by Bob (Lief Garrett), who spend their time driving around looking for fun and... to beat up Greasers. This is a story of a night that would change all of their lives.

With such a large cast that also included Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, and Emilio Estevez, some of the characters get a bit shortchanged in the story, but it includes enough of the specifics and moves at such a great pace that, it just unfolds perfectly before your eyes. A classic.

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Cold Pursuit (2019) **
Darkly comic thriller never hits its stride.
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Escape Room (2016) **½
Four horror fans are trapped in titular amusement with demonic killer.
Low budget DTV horror, but reasonably well done.
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To Live and Die in L.A. (USA, 1985) bluray 4/5
Still a pretty great crime thriller with William Petersen (in his first starring role) as the Secret Service Agent trying to avenge his partner's death (by any means) at the hands of a super smart counterfeiter (a young Willem Dafoe). Also with a young John Turturro (in one of his first meaty supporting roles), John Pankow (many years on 'Mad About You), Dean Stockwell, and a young, sexy Jane Leeves (Daphne on Frazier) in a garter, bra, and panties.

Petersen's partner is shotgunned to death while going solo to check on a lead involving Dafoe's sleazy counterfeiter. They used real counterfeiters to teach them how to make bills in this movie and actually SHOWED the process. The FBI said some of those bills made it out into circulation and they'd recover them years after this movie. Anyway - he gets a new partner (Pankow), who's not quite the 'any means necessary' cowboy HE is, and so there's tension there. He also has a hot informant, sexy Darlanne Fluegal (I remember her best as the bitchy ex-wife of Billy Crystal in 'Running Scared') who he pays for inside tips, while occasionally giving her some of his own inside tip.

Beautifully shot, and grittier than it's competition at the time (and by grittier, I mean realistic - or MOVIE realistic anyway), this feels more like 1989-90 than 1985. Not director William Friedkin's absolute best (how you gonna top 'The Exorcist' and 'The French Connection'?), but most definitely a highlight of his career. Petersen never became a big star, though you can tell Friedkin's camera is quite infatuated with him, but he'd do other good work (Manhunter) before moving into a long career in TV.

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Schizo (1976) **
Pete Walker's psychological slasher produces moderate suspense, but the script and performances aren't up to scratch.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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10 to Midnight (USA, 1983) dvd 3/5
Charles Bronson as his usual badass self in this exploitation vigilante treat that played regularly late nite on HBO and Cinemax back in my early 20’s. 
Gene Davis is disturbingly creepy as the young killer who, while butt ass naked(no blood stains on his clothes), stabs women that previously rejected him. 
Equal parts police procedure, titty flick, slasher movie, and moral message; it also has lots of regular’s from the 80’s and beyond: Andrew Stevens as the new partner with a conscious, Lisa Eilbacher (Fletch) as Bronson’s vulnerable daughter (and a young Kelly Preston as her uncredited roommate)... and with Wilford Brimley and Geoffrey Lewis.
Doesn’t really tread any new ground, but extremely watchable thanks to Bronson being himself and a great performance by Davis - and the ending, of course, is classic. 
Critics hated it, naturally, but this is exploitation to the hilt. 

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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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chazgower01 wrote: 07 May 2019, 03:15 10 to Midnight (USA, 1983) dvd 3/5
It was also an obvious... "influence" on Bret Easton Ellis when he wrote American Psycho.

Dragged Across Concrete (USA/Canada, 2018) [DCP] - 4/5
Zahler's new film is almost 3 hours long but I never even noticed. Gritty, suspenseful and with a number of steller performances. Mel Gibson, Tory Kittles and Jennifer Carpenter - in a short role that ends with the film's most vicious punch to the gut - are the standouts on the acting front. That it's also ridiculously gory and doesn't give a shit about current year political correctness goes without saying. I enjoyed it more than Brawl in Cellblock 99 and it may eclipse Bone Tomahawk as well with future viewings.

Dawn of the Dead (USA/Italy, 1978) [35mm] - 4.5/5
First time seeing it theatrically and in 35mm. Glorious. 0.5 deduction from a perfect score for having been the unrated Romero cut instead of the Argento cut I slightly prefer.
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Guro Taku wrote: 07 May 2019, 17:18
chazgower01 wrote: 07 May 2019, 03:15 10 to Midnight (USA, 1983) dvd 3/5
It was also an obvious... "influence" on Bret Easton Ellis when he wrote American Psycho.
That makes sense...
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Re: What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

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Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (Italy, 1972) [BD] – 3.5/5
A marriage drama on acid gone giallo by Sergio Martino. Captivating, beautifully filmed, with great score and terrific lead performances by Luigi Pistilli as a violent husband and Anita Strindberg (absolutely stunning) as the suffering wife. The plot could do without some of the Poe / Black Cat stuff that feels a bit shabby, as do some other plot developments towards the end.
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Whoops...
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Escape Room (2019) **½
Suspense thriller is not to be confused with the 2016 DTV film.
This one, naturally, has a bigger budget and is considerably more elaborate.
It's actually rather well done, but is far-fetched, and has too many endings.
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Brainwaves (1982) **
Bland horror from Ulli Lommel.
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Halloween 4 (USA, 1988) [DVD] - 3/5
Watchable but mind bogglingly stupid sequel plays the slasher concept as an action film. I couldn't quite decide if it was entertaining or just dumb until the last scene... which is fucking brilliant! Almost earns the film a 5 star rating.
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Wacko (1981) *
Stupendously awful slasher spoof.
Pretty obscure and justifiably so.
Joe Don Baker and George Kennedy embarrass themselves for meagre paychecks.
Andrew (Dice) Clay and Elizabeth (E.G.) Daily make early film appearances.
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Pure Luck (1991) **
Mild slapstick comedy, innocuous time killer.
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The Girl on the Train (2016) ***
Fine mystery-drama with an excellent Emily Blunt as an alcoholic involved in the disappearance of a young woman.
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The Super (1991) **½
Fair social satire/comedy vehicle for Joe Pesci.
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Feardotcom (2003) *
A vengeful virus, a serial killing surgeon; repellent drivel is just too silly to describe.
Terrible acting, direction.

Fading Gigolo (2013) **½
An ordinary bloke is pimped out to rich women by his best friend, falls for a Jewish widow.
John Turturro writes, directs and stars in this Woody Allen-esque dramedy that happens to co-star Allen himself.
Sensitive rather than raunchy, given the story, but hardly believable.
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Halloween 5 (USA, 1989) [DVD] - 2/5
A bit of break for the teens as Michael spends the entire film trying to kill a little child. Who the hell thought that was a good idea? Though actress Danielle Harris, 11 or 12 at the time, appears to have been fine with it, it still feels distasteful on both sides of the camera. There's also some nauseating camerawork and a terrible attempts at making the film trendy and modern (dear god at the opening credits). On the positive side, Dr. Loomis is completely insane in this one! I'm being generous with the rating, mainly because the film is at least not boring.
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King Ralph (1991) ***
Royal comedy is funnier than I remembered.
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The Bedroom Window (1987) ***½
First rate Hitchcockian thriller.
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La La Land (2016) **½
A good character drama about two struggling artistes packaged in an artificial candy box, punctuated with self-consciously twee numbers that add little to the story. Anachronistic attempt at recreating the Golden Age of the Hollywood musical proves that you really can't make 'em like they used to. Many people loved this, but I couldn't put my cynicism aside, the way I could had this starred Fred Astaire, a REAL dancer.
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Heart Condition (1989) **½
Racist cop Bob Hoskins gets heart transplant from murder black lawyer Denzel Washington.
Concept comedy with two good stars takes getting used to, but works out alright.
Chloe Webb is a distraction as a flaky love interest.

Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993) ***
Rambo spoof scores 100 laughs a minute; so many you can forgive the clangers.
Lloyd Bridges stands out among funny cast.
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