Movies I Have Seen Lately

[The Baron]

Saw a Takashi Miike picture called The Great Yokai War. "Yokai" is a Japanese term for monsters from folklore, as opposed to the more familiar kaiju. It's a kids' picture, about a young boy from Tokyo sent out to live in the countryside with his older sister and his intermittently senile grandfather. When a vengeful spirit appears, the boy gets caught up in a war between warring groups of yokai and must find his courage to become the "Kirin Rider", the hero who will set everything to rights. It's not a bad picture - nothing deep, but an amusing story. Some of the yokai are really trippy, Japanese folklore can get pretty "out there", apparently.

[Captain Comics]

If you're wondering -- and of course you are -- if Captain Comics ever watched Flesh Gordon, the answer -- and of course you knew it already -- is "of course he did." And it's exactly as described above. It's a parody with boobs, and yes, Bob, you will think "this is badly written!"

[JD DeLuzio]

Hmm... Let me get back to you on that.

The Baron said:

Is it for all tastes?

JD DeLuzio said:

Warning: this not-for-all-tastes film, which is not for all tastes, is not, in fact, for all tastes.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

This brings to mind a movie I saw when I was writing (mostly) horror movie reviews for the Village Voice: Lucky Bastard, about a porn site contest winner who gets invited on set to film a scene with one of their stars. (The secret being these guys are never up to the standards expected of porn stars, and wind up humiliated.)  It's a found-footage slasher movie taking place in a house outfitted to film porn in every room, so all the cameras are already there. From what I recall -- and it's been almost a decade -- it was a lot better than I'd expected it to be.

JD DeLuzio said:

X (2022), Ty West's deranged and frequently effective horror movie, clearly the product of someone obsessed with (a) the history of horror movies  and (b) 70s trash pop culture. In 1979, a small group, hip to the nascent straight-to-video market, head to a remote rented farmhouse to make a porn movie. Since they're in a horror movie and they've gone to a remote location, you can guess that their shooting schedule may require some reworking, and it's doubtful they will all be returning home. Nevertheless, it is well made, often thoughtful, and subverts many of the expected slasher tropes. Think The Old Dark House meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Boogie Nights meets Psycho-Biddy, at the local Grindhouse on Halloween. 

Warning: this not-for-all-tastes film, which is not for all tastes, is not, in fact, for all tastes.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I finished Seven Chances, and there's a lot to like... but it's also got more than a little casual racism and antisemitism, which is disappointing.

But that chase sequence is amazing. And watching Keaton run from an avalanche -- that looked real at the beginning, although fake rocks were later added -- all I could think of was how there's an element of Jackass in his work -- just pure amazement at how these stunts happen and that anyone would be foolish enough to try.

I also just learned that this was remade as The Bachelor in 2007, starring Chris O'Donnell.

[Richard Willis]

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

I finished Seven Chances, and there's a lot to like... but it's also got more than a little casual racism and antisemitism, which is disappointing.

It's not overt and it is from 97 years ago.

But that chase sequence is amazing. And watching Keaton run from an avalanche -- that looked real at the beginning, although fake rocks were later added -- all I could think of was how there's an element of Jackass in his work -- just pure amazement at how these stunts happen and that anyone would be foolish enough to try.

There are a couple of scenes in which Keaton and another character appear to be almost hit by a train. Also, at one point Keaton is hanging from (and swinging from) a moving, rotating crane. I hope his hands were securely strapped to it.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

SCARLET STREET: A 1945 film noir by Fritz  Lang starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett. It was recommended to my by Rob Staeger. (Thanks, Rob!) This film was quite Hitchcockian in a lot of ways. I thought it would have a different ending. I can't say what I thought the ending would be without giving away what it is, but I can recommend this film to anyone who likes film noir.

[Richard Willis]

Scarlet Street impressed me so much that I made a point of buying the Blu-ray.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

THE THREE STOOGES: After watching the Leonard Maltin documentary "The Lost Stooges" last week I decided to watch some of the Stooges' early movies in their entirety after all. Between 1930 and 1933 the Stooges made both features films and shorts with Ted Healy. Having seen "The Lost Stooges" before, I knew that that best bits of the films and shorts were included in the documentary, but a few of the features are pretty good in their entirety.

"The Lost Stooges" includes scenes from the features Dancing Lady, Fugitive Lovers and Hollywood Party, and that's really enough of those films for me. As far as I know, I don't think the documentary contains footage from the features Myrt and Marge or The Prizefighter and the Lady, but I may be mistaken about that. Also included in the documentary, in addition to scenes from several shorts, are scenes from the movies Soup to Nuts (1930) and Meet the Baron (1933) which I also happen to have in their entirety. 

These movies and shorts are important because they give a clear indication for posterity of what their vaudeville act was like.

NEXT UP: The Captain Hates the Sea (1934)... without Ted Healy. 

[The Baron]

Now you make me want to break out Soup to Nuts again.  My impression has always been that the Stooges were better off without Ted Healy.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Oh, absolutely. 

[The Baron]

Of course, now I can't find my copy of it, so maybe not.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Oh, absolutely. 

[JD DeLuzio]

Giant Little Ones (2018): indie coming-of-age movie with some strong performances (and Kyle McLaughlin in a key supporting role as the protagonist’s dad) in an examination of identity, reputation, rumour, orientation, and toxic masculinity. The teens are played by 20-21-year-olds, so they’re passable. So is the film, especially in the second half. However, I mainly watched it because it was shot on location in my childhood home town. Of course, it was mainly filmed on those locations that could be from any town, though there was one shot of the bridge and a few taken in the park.