Change Your Image
sumdenguy
Reviews
Prehistoric Bimbos in Armageddon City (1991)
total classic...of what, who knows?
Hey man, Todd Sheets has made a bunch of movies. All are shot on video, poorly acted etc., but the fact is, he did 'em. This flick gets 90 mins of playtime, and I'm probably the only person on Earth who likes it. I LOVE the Todd Sheets' metal band written and performed theme song...I LOVE the mutant bug costumes, and the evil claw guy's outfit....I LOVE the weird fat lady in tin foil being zapped, I LOVE the perfectly juxtaposed classical music...I LOVE the bike vs. scooter chase/fight scene....and I LOVE the dude who says he'll watch the robots, and then promptly puts a newspaper over his head, and falls asleep while the music crescendos(look it up). BEST. SCENE. EVER.
Oh heck, all ya friggin' moronoviches will hate this flick. But you're never gonna be able to see it anyway. This ain't in print and it won't be anytime soon. For now it sits proudly in my movie collection in between Carl J. Suckenic's Alien Beasts and J.R. Bookwalter's The Dead Next Door.
2009 loseuteu maemorijeu (2002)
zzzzzzzzzz.......
Total disappointment and total snoozer. Just far too long, WAY overly dramatic and the orchestral score is mind numbingly overbearing. This film was just SLOW and I cannot recommend it. Did I mention it's completely boring? I usually reserve the fast forward treatment for straight to video US craud, but if it hadn't been for the FF button, I never would have made it to the end.
Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)
WOW! WOW! WOW!
RIFIFI
This was a fantastic film by Jules Dassin. Great characters, heist, villains and photography. This was the complete opposite of Kubrick's The Killing. With very little expository dialogue in the script, so much of the movie was told through actions and glances and was left up to the viewer to decipher, whereas The Killing had a narrator helping the audience feel stupid. What I really liked was the main character---he was such a bad-ass that he had a `The' before his name...Le Stephanois.
The passage of time has been very good to Rififi and I think today's audiences will be surprised at how many of today's directors have borrowed form Rififi. Paul Thomas Anderson's HARD EIGHT comes to mind, as the character Sydney is very similar to Le Stephanois. Also recently, Steven Soderbergh's THE LIMEY comes to mind as being influenced by the characters in Dassin's masterpiece. The story is classic film noir: Bad guys pull off heist, get duped at the end. I think today's audiences will like the story. The only thing that doesn't quite hold up is the scene with the woman singing Rififi in the nightclub. It's quaint to watch, but there aren't many(if any) clubs left like this today. Other than that, it holds up excellently.
It was easy to root for Le Stephanois because he was such a decisive man of action. He knew what to do, how to do it, and you know he would get it done. The villain was cast perfectly. He and his junkie brother were wholly contemptible and you REALLY didn't want him to get the money from such an exhilarating heist.
The scene in the film with Le Stephanois trying desperately to make it to Joe's home is brilliantly juxtapaosed with the boy gleefully riding in the covertible as if it was a carnival ride. It was truly a creepy film moment and one of the only times where there was no sound effects and just soundtrack music playing.
Wow, this is the coolest film noir ever. The infamous hush-hush(20 min.) heist scene, and the fact that a blacklisted American makes the ULTIMATE film noir while in Paris, FRANCE...if you haven't seen it...what the HECK are you waitin' for!?!?!? HURRY!!! HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS!
Hei tai yang: Nan Jing da tu sha (1995)
unique war film
It's not often you hear about the Japanese atrocities committed against the Chinese. Black Sun : The Nanking Massacre unflinchingly tells the true story of the over 300,000(that's 300,000!!!!) Chinese people who were brutally killed by the occupying Japanese army. Mixed with real film footage and photographs of the actual events, the film really shows the atrocities of war. It's mostly told from the Japanese point of view, and several conversations between Japanese commanders and soldiers are chilling. There are some exploitative gross out moments, like an unborn baby being pulled out of a pregnant woman's stomach via bayonette...but it always feels true. There are so many scenes of crowds being machine gunned down that you can be desensitized pretty early on in the film. The scary thing is, is the Japanese really WERE this barbaric. They slaughtered babies, infants, children, women, men and monks alike. The scene of hundreds of bodies being burned on the beach is a truly haunting moment. While it is an absolute must see for war film fans or historians...the film, however, is gory enough to make splatter fans happy.
Sat sau woo dip mung (1989)
Classic tragic hero film
This film is one of the best gangster flicks ever to come out of Hong Kong. Incredibly photographed, it is the classic tragic hero film. Unfortunately, the original print is forever destroyed, therefore, this movie will ONLY be available on VHS. The ending is one of the bloodiest, most brutal gunfights ever captured on film...easily puts John Woo choreography to shame. Parts of it don't hold up to todays standards but believe me when I tell you to seek out and watch this movie at all costs.
Devil's Playground (2002)
time well spent
This was a decent documentary. It gets all the partying out of the way early and then digs deeper into what drives these Amish kids. I thought the best interviews and most insightful comments came from the adult Amish they talked to. I'd love to hear more about how they gave up the Rumspiga for the Church...but alas, those wacky Amish aren't really into talking to the english. Anyways, check it out, it's really the only peek you're gonna get into their world.
The Low Life (1995)
man...
This movie is really good...easily Rory Cochranes best movie as well as Sean Astin's best movie. Sean Astin's character is so easily relateable to if you ever were a geek. The first time I saw this movie, I gushed tears at the end when they played that Journey song. Ron Livingston is always great to watch too. My buddy painted a picture of the end when Rory's character is walking along the street next to the parking meters and as soon as I saw it, I bought it from him. I honestly can't believe that this film has not been put on DVD. Anyways, you need to see this movie. It came out at a time when the Gen-X movies were in full swing and almost cliche, but Sean Astin's character breaks those cliches(when he crumples that lamp, you'll die), it will give Sean Astin a free pass much like Emilio gets a free pass simply because he was Otto.