Explore
 Lists  Reviews  Images  Update feed
Categories
MoviesTV ShowsMusicBooksGamesDVDs/Blu-RayPeopleArt & DesignPlacesWeb TV & PodcastsToys & CollectiblesComic Book SeriesBeautyAnimals   View more categories »
Listal logo
All reviews - DVDs (113)

cool although,,,

Posted : 13 years, 3 months ago on 30 December 2010 07:40 (A review of Frankenstein)

i thought this was pretty damn good albeit a tad slow...but then it ended abruptly. i immediately looked for part 2. yeah its that interesting. its not perfect but its a bizarre and compelling version of the concept. its dark and weird and yes a bit on the graphic novel side style-wise. there is no part two yet and considering this is going on 7 years old at this point, there probably won't be. there is some suggestion that this was a pilot for a series and the ending certainly seems to be done to say "this is were it began". but there is no series either. so what we're left with is a very promising beginning and nothing else. tragedy.
i'd give it something like a 8 or 9 if it continued from here but as it is i have to forewarn anyone watching it to expect to be left wanting more of an ending.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

amateur hour 80's art scene

Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 2 July 2010 03:33 (A review of Downtown 81)

the 80's art scene will be something that is studied again and again. art as a commodity and the wild times that brought it about. this movie represents it in an interesting way. but is it good?

the short answer is no. the film is clearly amateur right down to poorly dubbing synchronization of the voices. in the narration this is fine, and in some parts that warp into a kind've drug haze or or surrealist slant, but this error happens in normal parts of the film that have no business being this way.

story wise the movie is useless. a poor artist man just out of the hospital, where hes been for some time, randomly meets a random model who is driving by him. she for unknown reasons decides she likes him, picks him up and precedes to promise to take care of him "for life". almost immediately he looses her and then spends the rest of the movie looking for her...which is a simple set up to get his character to walk though a bunch of live performances of different bands playing. at the end, to round things out, he meets her again and "realizes" he doesn't need her help.

its awesome to see jean-michel basquiat himself and as i said before the film is significant as it records a moment in time in a expressive (or an attempt of expressive) way. but otherwise its very random, a bit annoying, and just not very good.

so as far as whether or not you should watch this: if you are interested in 80's NY art scene or jean-michel then its a must see, for everyone else---avoid this like the plague!


0 comments, Reply to this entry

shallow suspense

Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 27 June 2010 05:19 (A review of The Woods (Widescreen Edition))

a good creepy feeling over this girlschool creepfest.
much time is spent trying to confuse you as to what or who is going to be the good or bad in this story and it's all pretty decently done. in the end theres no surprise however...and maybe that was meant to be the surprise. ultimately it comes off a bit shallow. especially with its weird mystical ending thats kind've just silly. of course its campfire girlschool set up for the background story shouldve already given that away.

bruce campell makes an appearence and that says a lot....he's out classed and out acted by...well....everyone. its a bizarre oddity that he's in this movie. you'll wish he wasn't. he's a weak link.

all in all a good creepy if not scary movie.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

psycho again

Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 26 June 2010 05:33 (A review of Black House)

not the over the top crazy spectacles that we're used to these days but a decent movie that holds up well.

its a simple tale of people trying to collect on an insurance policy by killing and making it look like murder. or injuring and making it look like its an accident. and then the insurance agents and police that get caught up in the murderous schemes. who's the next victim? who's the real killer? its standard stuff and the surprises are somewhat diminished because of this. still there's enough here to keep it interesting.

filming is not the current over the top spectacle either. this is pretty much straight forward police drama with some decent gore elements. the only real CG moment is so poorly done that you kind've wish they would've left it out (it wasn't necessary anyways).

all in all a worthwhile movie. it won't be the best you ever saw, but its good simply put.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

erase me

Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 8 June 2010 11:54 (A review of Eraserhead)

eraserhead is a mess of a movie. david lynch who both wrote and directed this is a cult figure. "cult" is the key word here. you have to want to think theres something here to enjoy this.

i'm sure there are people who spend ample time trying to figure out what this movie is about. its clear to me after one watch that it is about nothing with a few hints that it may be about something. lynch is either purposely trying to make this confusing or incapable of making it make sense. either way it makes for a long tedious watch with little reward. its a shame really because there are some awesome visuals, good acting, and potential for a great story. all of which lynch has failed to capitalize on.



0 comments, Reply to this entry

fair kids movie

Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 11 January 2010 03:27 (A review of Funky Monkey [DVD] [2004] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC])

this is pg as pg can be. theres maybe a handful of obscured adult jokes but for the most part this is clearly made for kids. in that respect its a fun little movie with not much reality involved.

a monkey (chimpanzee) is trained to be a military fighter but his trainer finds out the evil plot and breaks him out. they flee to california and monkey business ensues. of course the bumbling bad guys try to get him back and fail. and of course a kid befriends the chimp and his mother and the trainer fall in love. etc etc.

still for what its worth its not the best but a mildly entertaining and totally kid safe movie. family time nonsense.




0 comments, Reply to this entry

still good

Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 10 January 2010 03:56 (A review of Deadly Friend)

deadly friend is still good and still watchable after all these years.
wes craven doesn't do his best to shock here but its a worthy effort that avoids most of the pitfalls you'd expect the film to have. mainly he avoids the techno jargon when dealing with the robots and reanimation, which leaves only the bad fashion to remind us how dated the film is.

the plot is about a genius kid and his robot. etc etc. boy meets girl, falls in love; girl dies; boy uses genius to put robot brain into girl. girl becomes killer robot. check your logic at the door, please! and enjoy.





0 comments, Reply to this entry

slow and short on substance

Posted : 14 years, 3 months ago on 19 December 2009 06:58 (A review of Gozu)

gozu is exceedingly slow. i'm fine with slow movies; i'm fine with silent era movies...gozu is just slow.

the entire story is not much really. a yakuza boss sends one of his hitmen to the "dump" (the place where he will be killed). the hitman's 'brother' is charged with taking him and doing the job. the hitman dies before they make it there and the brother losses him. he spends most of the movie trying to find the guy meeting a cast of odd characters (odd but not terribly interesting). all of which takes about 2 hours to lead up to an ending that isn't so much surprising as it is just weird. by the time you get to the end you've sat painfully through too much of nothing.

the biggest surprise and most interesting thing about this movie is not entirely answered in the film. the hitman is transformed into a woman in a car demolition lot. and seemingly has done so to exact his plot to kill the yakuza boss by luring him into sex and getting to him in private. he doesn't succeed because the boss is killed by the brother who has fallen in love with the now-woman. they begin to have sex and the brother comes back out of the woman in the only gorey part of the entire film. its far from believable and frankly kind've silly. thats the end except for a scene of the hitman, brother, and woman in the city.

i'm not sure why this movie get such great reviews. theres nothing great about it. its not that its bad actually. it just should have been about half as long and somewhat more bold.

this from the man that gave us ichii the killer....hmm. watch ichii skip this.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

attack of the atomic ants!!!!

Posted : 14 years, 3 months ago on 7 December 2009 03:45 (A review of Them! (Snap Case))

straight up 1950's atomic sci-fi horror show!!!!!!!!!!

the first atomic bomb test produced a genetic mutation of 8 foot ants that when starved for foot become carnivorous. and when the nest is found...two new queens ants have hatched and flown away....can the world be saved?!!! well its a 50's movie so of course.

everything thing about this movie is typical: the plot, the acting, the effects, the filming, and so on. but that shouldn't stop anyone from watching it. its exactly what it should be and its great!



0 comments, Reply to this entry

i "shop" with dead people

Posted : 14 years, 3 months ago on 7 December 2009 03:38 (A review of Cursed [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC])

cursed is a pretty straight forward movie really although with bad translations and a washy plot it can be difficult to follow.

the beginning sequence is actually the end...which is usually a pet peeve of mine but i'll give it the shock value it has.

the plot: difficult to say what the plot is beyond a store that is cursed because the builder used crushed tombstones to make concrete (sure!). the owners are creepy sometimes and totally off their rockers other time, and yet comatose other times. they refuse to sell to a bigger corporation that wants to buy it and the woman who is sent there to try to convince them to sell (a second time) for some reason begins taking inventory in the shop. the two workers, on day and night shift, a girl and a boy are falling in love. much of everyone who comes into the store gets cursed and is killed or, as we learn about the original man who offered to buy the store, commits suicide. the only two people in the store that survive both see the odd things about them and in the store as well.

what ever you make of the movie, parts are like a tv soap opera and some are more cinematic. nothing really surprises, scares, is particularly gross, or that dramatic. its a bit middle of the road really. nothing great, an interesting cast and cursed store, but not phenomenal by any means.


0 comments, Reply to this entry


« Prev12 3 4 5 6 7 » 12 Next »