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.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

The Baron said:

I remember seeing an ad for Flesh Gordon, which cannot possibly have lived up to that name.

JD DeLuzio said:

I saw it years after the fact. It's as bad as you could imagine, but what fascinates me is that the filmmakers, making a softcore parody of the old serials, were clearly more invested in getting the parody right than in the softcore parts. The performances, directing, and tech, on the other hand....

To quote my old review, "It says as much about the filmmaking as it does the reviewer that I started fast-forwarding through the orgy sequence....The Princess of Darkness's orgasm is the closest anyone comes to acting in this thing."

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I've never seen Flesh Gordon but, having just watched the trailer, I think I might enjoy it more now than the 1980 Flash Gordon. 

Richard Willis said:

That's probably true. I vaguely remember the 1980 Flash Gordon. The costumes were well done and that's about it.

When it was open, I was seeing a lot of double features of older movies at a wonderful old theater. I saw Flesh Gordon there. I'm surprised none of you mentioned Ray Harryhausen's contribution, the giant monster Porno (of the planet of the same name). Flesh's ship and another monster have a remarkable resemblance to the male sex organ (but not too close).

I'd be surprised if anyone watching this movie became sexually excited. It's basically a comedy with boobs. You could probably watch it with Tracy. I think she'd laugh at it.

FLESH GORDON: I can honestly and accurately say that this movie is exactly what I expected. I did not (and, now that I've seen it, would not) share it with Tracy. NOTE to Bob: It does live up to its name.

[JohnD]

Sorry for the break here; but, I just watched a Youtube video featuring all the trailers shown at Comic Con, for 2022; and, all I can say is: Wow, there are a lot of movies with dragons in them coming out!

Never seen Flesh Gordon. I did hear rumors of a sequel, at one point though.

[JD DeLuzio]

JohnD said:

Sorry for the break here; but, I just watched a Youtube video featuring all the trailers shown at Comic Con, for 2022; and, all I can say is: Wow, there are a lot of movies with dragons in them coming out!

Never seen Flesh Gordon. I did hear rumors of a sequel, at one point though.

A new cast assembled for Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders (1990).  Despite that inspiring title, the first film pretty much satisfied my morbid curiosity regarding boob-and-locker-room-joke-filled parodies of yesteryear's space heroes.

Someone should do a dragon show with.... Oh, wait....

[The Baron]

Never was a big fan of porn. Not out of prudishness or a lack of interest in such thi9ngs, I'm just the kind of person who could watch a film depicting people perpetrating naked shenanigans and think, "Wow, this movie is badly-written!"

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I wouldn't exactly call it "porn" per se. I thing Richard put it best above when he said, "I'd be surprised if anyone watching this movie became sexually excited. It's basically a comedy with boobs." 

[doc photo]

Elvis. Worth checking out if you are even a casual fan of EP  When I saw a preview I didn't think Austin Butler worked as Elvis. I was wrong. He turns in an outstanding performance.

[Richard Willis]

If you have 45 minutes to devote your entire attention, I just watched this Buster Keaton silent on TCM. You won't regret it. It's very funny and inventive, and is on TCM.COM:     Seven Chances (1925)

Here's the trailer:      Seven Chances | IMDb

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I started watching Seven Chances last night in the wee hours, but I'll need to finish it up later. (It's on the TCM app until August 9, so I've got a few days.) It's great so far!

On the other hand, I watched Zeta One  (also called The Love Factor) on Kino Cult, and shades of Flesh Gordon! It's a British spy spoof that's basically an excuse to show a bunch of naked alien women pointing their fingers and zapping a bunch of tweedy aristocrats. Never have so many nude women worked so hard to bore me so thoroughly. It's creakingly dull, and somehow never the least bit sexy.

[Richard Willis]

Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:

I started watching Seven Chances last night in the wee hours, but I'll need to finish it up later. (It's on the TCM app until August 9, so I've got a few days.) It's great so far!

I'm glad you're enjoying it. The trailer is good but there are a lot more crazy things than it shows.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

The restoration of this film is so great -- the picture is so crisp! 

[JD DeLuzio]

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.

[The Baron]

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.