Category Archives: Movies

Pre-parodied Poster

Here’s the poster I’m seeing everywhere for Jim Carrey’s new (irritating-looking) vehicle, Yes Man:

Every time I see it, I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve seen it before.
And recently.
Like this past summer.

As part of the promotional materials for Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder, there was this poster for one of his character’s previous Oscar-baiting [...]

Geek heaven!

Thanks to all of the various people who’ve ordered things from Amazon through the links on this site, I got a credit, and ordered a gift for myself.
It wasn’t supposed to arrive till tomorrow, but I got it today!

I’m going to have some fun this weekend. (I almost want to [...]

The Bat, 1959

This is the movie Vincent Price made right after The House on Haunted Hill, it seems, and you can sort of see why he agreed to be in it. It’s another gimmicky story, set mostly in one location, that seems like it should be having fun bringing the audience in on the joke.
Except that [...]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1920

This is a silent movie (of course, given the year), and as such will be of limited interest to most people. However, it is worth seeing at least once.
The main reason to see it is John Barrymore’s performance as the two titular characters. While saying that he pulls off Hyde without [...]

Apocryphal John Wayne Story (that should be true, darn it!)

A comment from Quint’s A Movie A Day review of Flying Tigers:
Many years ago I had a friend who was a combat pilot in Vietnam. He would tell the story about his old fight commander (let’s call him Frank), who had been one of the pilot the military loaned to Republic for the production of [...]

Kurt Russell — A Real Man

Kurt Russell won’t be getting invited to Inside the Actors’ Studio anytime soon1:
“To go on about acting as art is ridiculous. You don’t have to be gifted just to hit a mark and a line. As far as I’m concerned that’s 90 per cent of the job. Anyone who finds acting difficult just shouldn’t be [...]

The Alpha Incident, 1977

Suppose you were in charge of a government operation. The purpose of that operation, for the moment, is to transport some hazardous material cross-country, without drawing attention to it. Suppose further that you don’t have much knowledge of how dangerous (or not) this material might be. And that it came from Mars, [...]

The Spook-a-Thon that just won’t die!

Yeah, I’m something like two weeks behind on the Spook-a-Thon. I’m not quitting, though. I’ve just had to deal with some personal stuff, which was, as per usual, emotionally draining.
I think I’m going to take some time on at least one of the posts. I intend on re-watching and re-reviewing Night of [...]

The Bloody Brood, 1959

I’ll bet you didn’t know that Peter Falk was a badass.
This film was interesting, and would make an excellent companion piece to Roger Corman and Charles B. Griffith’s Bucket of Blood. They were produced the same year, a continent apart (Bucket in Los Angeles, Brood in Toronto), and both examine the beatnik life in [...]

Gammera the Invincible, 1966

Ah, Gamera.
One of the major joys of Mystery Science Theater 3000 was the onslaught of Gamera movies (dubbed courtesy of Mr. Sandy Frank) in the third season. I saw every one they did, and have since seen at least one Gamera film that eluded them (the dubbing of that one provided, somewhat more competently, [...]

The Wasp Woman, 1959

Produced and directed by Roger Corman, but without a script by either Richard Matheson or Charles B. Griffith. That should be enough to tell you, assuming you are a bad movie lover, more or less what level this movie is playing at.
If not, then allow me to clue you in. It means that [...]

Murder Mansion, 1972

A bunch of people get lost in the fog, and somehow all end up at the same dark, mysterious, not very large mansion, which overlooks a graveyard near an abandoned village. They spend most of the time rehashing (or flashing back to) their personal lives, and some of the time getting stalked and killed [...]

Watchmen poster

Damn:

It’s just… wow.

Horror Express, 1971

Christopher Lee.
Peter Cushing.
And… Telly Savalas?????
Yes, Telly Savalas. His role is more of a glorified cameo than a full part. It is, however, quite glorious.
Somewhere in remote China, around about 1910, Christopher Lee has dug up something that will set the scientific world back on its heels, a body that he thinks is a [...]

Creature from the Haunted Sea, 1963

This movie kicks ass.
Really, need anything more be said?
OK, I guess I could go on a bit.
Years ago, I had a religious experience when I read Roger Corman’s autobiography, How I Made 100 Movies In Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime. This movie gets heavy mention in it because a critic once [...]