The 2008 Movie Genre of the Month Club

[LivingDeadGirl]

I'm not gonna get very many points this month b/c I"m so behind... but I DID watch Saw4 last weekend so I guess that would count. Definately not my favorite of the series. 2/4

[Heineken Skywalker]

HBO has been playing the hell out of this trilogy lately, so never having seen either of the sequels, I thought I'd give them a shot.
Should've known better.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS IN BREAKING TRAINING (1977)

3/10

THE BAD NEWS BEARS GO TO JAPAN (1978)

1/10

Two of the most ill-conceived and badly executed sequels to a popular movie ever made. No Walter Matthau, no Tatum O' Neal, extremely weak plots, paper-thin characters, and just not funny. No real reason for these movies to exist other than the studio wanted to milk the success of the original for all it was worth.
Don't waste your time. Watch the original, or even the Billy Bob Thornton remake, either of which is far better than either of these lame sequels.

[slayrrr666]

I don't remember if this was covered, so just a little reminder is fine with me:

I know the rules state that the entries are theatrically based, but does it matter if the first one went theatrical while the others in the franchise went straight-to-video/DVD? I'm thinking like The Crow films or Highlander, as I've never seen any of those and they're coming up in the upcoming weeks, just wanting an official opinion on them.

[Heineken Skywalker]

May 21, 2008 10:20:40 GMT -5 slayrrr666 said:

I don't remember if this was covered, so just a little reminder is fine with me:

I know the rules state that the entries are theatrically based, but does it matter if the first one went theatrical while the others in the franchise went straight-to-video/DVD? I'm thinking like The Crow films or Highlander, as I've never seen any of those and they're coming up in the upcoming weeks, just wanting an official opinion on them.

From the rules:

NEW RULE 5. All movies watched have to have been theatrical releases. There have been a few film franchises that have had direct-to-video sequels, ie: AMERICAN PIE, VACATION, etc. Only the actual movies that were released in theaters will count and at least three movies in the series have to have been theatrically released. The same rule applies here that has applied for all previous categories. No made for tv or made for cable movies. Movies that first aired on HBO, USA, Showtime, Sci-Fi Channel, etc., are not eligible. No television mini-series or direct to home video features either.

I'm not 100% positive, but I think only the first 2 Crow movies were actually theatrically released and the rest were direct-to-video, if that's the case, that franchise wouldn't count for this. All of the Highlander films were theatrically released, so have at it. And if you've never seen any Highlander movies, I strongly recommend watching the original one first, for the sake of just understanding what the hell is going on.

[Bartwald]

Now let me join the Indiana Jones craze, too...

Yesterday I saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which is - surprise, surprise - my favourite film in the series. Somebody said before that it's the darkest and most violent of all Indy movies - and perhaps that's why I love it so much. Also, it was great to see Ford's character being bad for a while, Ke Huy Quan was a surprisingly good - and funny - sidekick (just watch him playing cards with Indy - the chemistry between these characters is GREAT!), and most of the set pieces are still amazing. Oh, and Kate Capshaw is sexy here, too. A pity she didn't play all that much after marrying The Beard. 10/10

And today I saw - but of course! - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The beginning is spine-chilling, mostly because it's great to see one of your favourite characters on the big screen again after almost 20 years, and realize he still has the same spark in his eye. Yeah, Ford sure hadn't lost it. From the very start, however, this entry feels quite different from the previous three ones (I mean, Indy Vs. the atomic bomb?!), and the overuse of digital effects in the finale emphasizes the difference even further. This is my main problem with this new movie: near the end it too often looks like a computer game. I loved the humour, though, the acting, the soundtrack, and most of the photography (although the soft lenses on Cate Blanchett bothered me a bit). The weakest of them all, but still very good. 8/10

[ZapRowsdower]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, Steven Spielberg)

Welcome back, Indy! Pulp pretty much nailed it in his review. Harrison Ford can still kick ass, Shia Lebeouf makes a great sidekick (with rumors that the next two installments, provided they happen, will revolve around his character), and it was great to have Marion back. John Hurt was great, as was Ray Winstone. Cate Blanchett, in spite of her accent slipping a couple times, managed to creep me the Hell out. Overall, this is a welcome entry to the series, and I'd rank it above Temple of Doom... I should mention my expectations for this film were way too high... and they were met. Spielberg is a genius. 10/10

[Pulpmariachi]

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

[Heineken Skywalker]

FINAL DESTINATION 2 (2003)

The only one of the trilogy I hadn't seen before, and I liked it just a little less than part I, and maybe just a hair more than part III. All three are fairly even in quality. These are simply guilty pleasures for me. I've never bothered to see any of them in a theater, but I do enjoy them on the completely raw level of, "How spectacular is the opening accident going to be?" and "How creative are the following deaths going to be?". The opening "accident" here, the highway pile-up, is one of the best in the series. Though a couple of things rang false about it, the cop driving around with the styrofoam coffee cup with no lid on it, for one, (Who does that?) and the guy doing coke while driving on the freeway, just didn't seem right. But I guess if I'm going to buy into the whole concept of Death chasing after people who slipped through his boney fingers, then I have to buy that the characters in these movies will do stupid things.

6.5/10

SAMURAI I: MUSASHI MIYAMOTO (1954)

First in the trilogy by director Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Toshiro Mifune as the title character. As far as samurai films go, this one was average and didn't really get interesting until Takezo (Mifune) is captured by a monk and forced to learn the samurai code. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen until more than halfway through the film. Clearly a set-up for the rest of the series.

5/10

[slayrrr666]

Death Wish 3-1985
The 80s era of cheese reaks high in action films as well as horror/sci-fi, and this one here is one of the greatest non-horror examples of that. From the lines to the action to the fact that, during several of the footchases Bronson is seen about ten to fifteen feet behind the target yet close-ups during it show him to be nearly an arm's length behind them. Funny stuff, and it's fun to spot stuff like that. Of course, the big showdown at the end is one of the best scenes in the history of the genre, nearly as good as some of the other big action films of the decade, and is nearly responsible for most of the good will this generates. This is my kind of film, though it's not for all.
9/10

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown-1987
Not nearly as much fun as the previous one, mainly due to the removal of most of the cheese and trying to build a more serious film around the same sort of film, it ends up being a little hurt by the process. This one calls out for a little of that cheesy atmosphere, but there's still some fun stuff to be had. The ending chase is really great, the destruction of the drug factory is at least close enough in spirit to the showdown in part 3 and even the brawl in the apartment complex is really nice. Really worthwhile for the fans of the series if nothing else.
7.5/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

Slayrrr, ironically, I just received the original DEATH WISH yesterday from Netflix which I plan to watch as part of the Genre of the Month. Haven't seen it since I was a kid.

Watched yesterday:

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III (1993)

Hadn't seen this one before and what can I say, it's crap on a halfshell. Kiddie fare about the Turtles going back in time to Feudal Japan to rescue their buddy April O'Neil.
Harmless nonsense, but not as good as the original and not for me. The guys in the Turtle costumes' martial arts prowess is pretty impressive considering they're wearing those rubber turtle costumes though.

3/10

[ZapRowsdower]

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997, Steven Spielberg)

Haven't seen it since it was in theaters, but I do remember liking it a lot. Of course, being only 11 years old at the time, anything with special effects blew me away - not to mention how much I loved the first one. Watching it today, of course it loses some of the power it had when I was younger, but... I really do think it's better than many give it credit for. Much like comparing the Indy sequels to Raiders creates pretty much unrealistic expectations, comparing this movie to Jurassic Park was also kind of unfair. There's a lot to be enjoyed here. While the raptors were underused, I did enjoy watching the T-Rex (which to this day remains my all-time favorite special effect) taking up more screen time - especially in its little trip to San Diego. While I feel that conflict was resolved a little too easily, the Lost World makes for a pretty damn entertaining movie, even if it's inferior to the first one. And for the record, I enjoyed it more than part 3. 8/10

[Quorthon]

May 21, 2008 17:05:16 GMT -5 Bartwald said:

Now let me join the Indiana Jones craze, too...

Yesterday I saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which is - surprise, surprise - my favourite film in the series. Somebody said before that it's the darkest and most violent of all Indy movies - and perhaps that's why I love it so much. Also, it was great to see Ford's character being bad for a while, Ke Huy Quan was a surprisingly good - and funny - sidekick (just watch him playing cards with Indy - the chemistry between these characters is GREAT!), and most of the set pieces are still amazing. Oh, and Kate Capshaw is sexy here, too. A pity she didn't play all that much after marrying The Beard. 10/10

And today I saw - but of course! - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The beginning is spine-chilling, mostly because it's great to see one of your favourite characters on the big screen again after almost 20 years, and realize he still has the same spark in his eye. Yeah, Ford sure hadn't lost it. From the very start, however, this entry feels quite different from the previous three ones (I mean, Indy Vs. the atomic bomb?!), and the overuse of digital effects in the finale emphasizes the difference even further. This is my main problem with this new movie: near the end it too often looks like a computer game. I loved the humour, though, the acting, the soundtrack, and most of the photography (although the soft lenses on Cate Blanchett bothered me a bit). The weakest of them all, but still very good. 8/10

I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark about two weeks ago, and Temple of Doom a few days ago with my kid, and then we went to see Crystal Skull. The only Indy I haven't watched this months is Last Crusade.

[Quorthon]

May 21, 2008 15:15:29 GMT -5 Heineken Skywalker said:

May 21, 2008 10:20:40 GMT -5 slayrrr666 said:

I don't remember if this was covered, so just a little reminder is fine with me:

I know the rules state that the entries are theatrically based, but does it matter if the first one went theatrical while the others in the franchise went straight-to-video/DVD? I'm thinking like The Crow films or Highlander, as I've never seen any of those and they're coming up in the upcoming weeks, just wanting an official opinion on them.

From the rules:

NEW RULE 5. All movies watched have to have been theatrical releases. There have been a few film franchises that have had direct-to-video sequels, ie: AMERICAN PIE, VACATION, etc. Only the actual movies that were released in theaters will count and at least three movies in the series have to have been theatrically released. The same rule applies here that has applied for all previous categories. No made for tv or made for cable movies. Movies that first aired on HBO, USA, Showtime, Sci-Fi Channel, etc., are not eligible. No television mini-series or direct to home video features either.

I'm not 100% positive, but I think only the first 2 Crow movies were actually theatrically released and the rest were direct-to-video, if that's the case, that franchise wouldn't count for this. All of the Highlander films were theatrically released, so have at it. And if you've never seen any Highlander movies, I strongly recommend watching the original one first, for the sake of just understanding what the hell is going on.

I thought that fourth one with the guy that isn't Christopher Lambert was direct-to-DVD.

[Heineken Skywalker]

DEATH WISH (1974)

After his wife is killed and daughter raped, Charles Bronson goes vigilante on thugs and muggers. A more realistic version of a Batman-style revenge fantasy. No superheroics, just a normal guy who gets pushed too far.

7/10

SAMURAI II (1955)

Second part of the trilogy starring Toshiro Mifune. Much better than the first movie. Better story, not as melodramatic and more action.

7/10

TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003)

The weakest entry in the series is still a pretty worthy addition to the mythology.
A newer more powerful Terminator, good acting by newcomers to the franchise, Nick Stahl and Claire Daines, and some action-packed sequences definitely keep things moving. A couple of lame jokes, but nothing too distracting.

7.5/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

May 27, 2008 8:37:10 GMT -5 Quorthon said:

I thought that fourth one with the guy that isn't Christopher Lambert was direct-to-DVD.

The fourth movie, HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME starred Christopher Lambert (Star of The Highlander movies) and Adrian Paul (Star of The Highlander TV series) and did play in theaters. The fifth movie, THE SOURCE only played in theaters outside the U.S. In the U.S. it premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel. Believe me, my wife is a huge Highlander fan, that's why I know this stuff.