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Reviews
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
But it goes up to 11...
To address a few earlier negative reviews;
NO, it wasn't representative of everything heavy metal. NO, it wasn't supposed to make you feel guilty about putting on your old Ozzy records.
What it was, was a comedy. A bit too subtle for some, but for its audience the most brilliant movie of its genre. I've known several people that couldn't understand why they went to the trouble of making a movie about a band that no one had ever heard of... that says more about the viewers than about the movie. This is Spinal Tap is a comedy that requires the viewer to pay attention.
Ator 2: L'invincibile Orion (1983)
Maybe not the worst movie ever, but...
I saw this one on the late, late, late, late show back when MST3K was just a twinkle in Joel Hodgson's eye. I had the privilege of seeing it without knowing exactly how bad it would be. I didn't know that a woman with an arrow in her chest could run "to the ends of the earth" in about an hour and a half (thank God her father gave such specific directions) and then take days to make it back to the castle with help. I didn't know that a sword wielding barbarian-type could run into the forest and create a hanglider and flash powder bombs in under 30 seconds. I had no idea how disjointed a movie could be.
It's a bad thing children, a very bad thing. If you enjoy bad movies, go for it.
La cité des enfants perdus (1995)
simply wonderful
Would that I could have seen it in the theater. After seeing the trailer for City of Lost Children on another video (Heavy Metal, I think) my friends and I spent the better part of a year trying to find a copy. I finally found and rented the subtitled version. I had no idea there was a dubbed version of CoLC; whoever decided to dub it into english should be shot. I would recommend this film to any fan of surreal cinema (such as the works of Terry Gilliam).
Doragon Hafu (1993)
I love it, I love it, I love it!
I laughed so hard, I thought my lungs would collapse. We actually had to stop the VCR for fear we would miss something. This is THE anime that knows what is funny about anime and anime related culture. The goofy implausible character backgrounds, the battle sequences (extra points for the demon in episode 2 who doesn't realize that he was cut from the first episode), the self absorbed teen heartthrob/warrior Dick Saucer (with his own theme song!) and ROSHI!!!! Even the closing song is a riot. IMPORT MORE EPISODES DAMMIT!!!!
C'era una volta il West (1968)
My favorite western, bar none
I was drawn in from the opening sequence. Three hard men (led by Jack Elam) stake out the train station, waiting. We watch them for EIGHT MINUTES, learning their personalities, watching how they work. 8 minutes with almost no dialog, no sound other than the creaking of the turning windmill in the background. Then within a minute of the hero's arrival, they are dead. Eight minutes dedicated to developing characters we will never see again. No, this is not a movie for the average 1990's viewer; 3 minute attention span between explosions, but for anyone willing to watch and see the craft involved on all levels this is one of the most brilliant movies ever made.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is undoubtably the best remembered of Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns" but this is by far his best work. Never a more evil villain than Fonda. Eastwood's Man With No Name was never as inscrutable as Bronson's Harmonica. The viewer knows from almost the beginning of the movie that Fonda and Bronson are destined to meet, and that one of them will die. We spend the entire movie figuring out, Why? As trite as it sounds, it's true; they don't make them like this any more and the world is poorer for it, thank God we have these to enjoy.
Warrior of the Lost World (1983)
Mad Max it ain't
Thank god for MST3K otherwise I might never have seen this "gem." Bad special effects, an annoying onboard (onbike?) computer, and Robert Ginty (aka the Paperchase guy) make this a bad movie lovers delight. The hero mumbles, the bad guys dress as nazis, I could go on and on but, see it yourself. There are worse movies, but not many.
McQ (1974)
Nobody told me this was a comedy
Some actors were born to play the tough-as-nails, "Dirty Harry" style cops. John Wayne was not one of them.
There is something to be said for any movie that has the Duke running down the street, Ingram in hand, to bad 70's "wakka-chikka" music. I love it. Extra points for Roger Mosley (T.C. from Magnum PI) as the way too pimped out pimp (who gets the most memorable line in the movie, "Baby, why don't y'all go get daddy a hot dog.")
High Plains Drifter (1973)
My favorite Eastwood film.
It's all about revenge, pure and simple. Eastwood plays the ghost (avenging angel?) of a dead marshall come to exact justice on the town that murdered him. He displays a coldness not found even in Eastwoods other films. The karmic retribution is played out, each character getting what they most deserve. The end scene still gives me chills all these years later.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
A vampire film for people who don't like vampire films
First off, this movie gets points from me for making the redneck couple seated ahead of me leave midway through. From Dusk Till Dawn is at once brilliant and mindless. Who else but Quentin Tarantino would attempt to make a Thug (George Clooney) and his deranged rapist brother (Tarantino) the protagonists of the story? More to the point who else could have succeeded? As long as the viewer goes in recognizing that this IS a Tarantino script and that there won't be any "angst-ridden" vampires going on and on about the existential rammifications of their conditions, the ride is more than worth the price of admission. 8 out of 10
Akira (1988)
Easily one of the best anime ever
About 7 years ago, with little prior exposure to anime, my roomate set me down in front of the set and blew my mind. I watched his subtitled version of AKIRA over and over. It was the first anime movie I ever bought. Packed with stunning visuals, AKIRA showed me what could be done with animation. No, it ain't for kids. Its an animated Hong Kong action film in a sci-fi setting.
10 out of 10
Up in Smoke (1978)
You've never seen Up in Smoke??? What are you doing here, go get it!!!
The drug culture comedy, period. Even people who might not get into gratuitous drug films (such as some of C&C's later work) should find Up in Smoke a hilarious watch. Not exactly the most subtle film ever, though.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Ecch!! One of the WORST movies ever
Words fail me, I feel for the MST3K people who had to sit through this film without the benefit of the snide remarks. This movie is free-form and unfocused, the "hero" is an idiot, the Master, the evil, terrible villain is just... god, what a loser. But, I gotta admit, Torgo Rules!!!