Hello, my friends,
Well, it’s official, true believers. I’m giving up trying to write anything coherent for a while. Truth of the matter is that the Doc has accepted a full-time D-A-Y J-O-B and for the time being, it looks as though my time and energy will be consumed by said employer. It’s a strange place to be, having not punched a clock or sat in a cubicle for nearly 15 years. But the lure of staying in town after several years of being oft on the road, combined with a regular (and semi-healthy) paycheck, resonated somehow. In other words, yes, I’ve sold out.
I kept thinking that I would eventually find the opportunity and inspiration to catch up on the "legit" Views, but instead I just keep falling further and further behind. True, this occurred back at the tail end of last year and I managed to pull it together, but that was with a load of post-holiday spare time on my hands. Unfortunately, spare time seems to be the last thing coming down the pike for a spell.
Therefore, I’m going to catch up on the last two months by undergoing a rather radical change in format, as the sponsors call it: Below is my list of recent views…with accompanying haiku. Perhaps not the wisest critical decision ever made, but hopefully it will prove diverting enough. (I know I’m having fun.) ;-]
That said, I’m still more than happy to keep the dialogue going, so if you see a flick that you recognize or are curious about, please feel free to toss in your two cents – change back will be given promptly and with a smile.
Enjoy!
HORROR:
Dead Meat (1993) (1st viewing) d. Vollman, Tom
Micro budget flick
Guy called the “Senses Taker”
Cuts off ears, nose, eyes
Dread (2009) (1st viewing) d. DiBlasi, Anthony
Barker back again
An interesting attempt
No Midnight Meat Train
First Man Into Space (1959) (1st viewing) d. Day, Robert
50s sci-fi flick
Wrinkled bloated astronaut
Not-bad monster cheese
Let the Right One In (2008) (2nd viewing) d. Alfredson, Tomas
From Sweden no less
Blood, love, friendship, childhood, death
Great vampire film
Omen IV: The Awakening (1991) (1st viewing) d. Montesi, Jorge/Othenin-Girard, Dominique
Why kill a franchise
When all you really need is
A cute demon kid
Roman (2006) (1st viewing) d. Bettis, Angela
Lucky McKee as
Directed by his May star
Pretty darn good stuff
Splice (2009) (1st viewing) d. Natali, Vincenzo
Chick playing Dren fine
Plot and characters silly
Almost but not quite
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) (1st viewing) d. Jires, Jaromil
A dream caught on film
Great visual imagery
not really horror
DOUBLE DIP OF D’AMATO
Absurd (aka Horrible) (1981) (1st viewing) d. D'Amato, Joe
Killer on the loose
Undone by paralyzed girl
Awesome body count
Beyond the Darkness (aka Buio Omega) (1979) (2nd viewing) d. D'Amato, Joe
True love never dies
Even when your girlfriend does
Creepy nasty fun
DEADLIER THAN THE MALE: LESBIAN VAMPIRES OF THE 70s
Vampire Lovers, The (1970) (4th viewing) d. Baker, Roy Ward
Oh yes Ingrid Pitt
Flashes fangs and gets nekkid
Solid Hammer flick
Daughters of Darkness (1971) (2nd viewing) d. Kümel, Harry
Countess Bathory
Fine cinematography
What’s not to like, right?
Blood Spattered Bride, The (1972) (2nd viewing) d. Aranda, Vicente
Newlywed bride meets
Hot man-hating vampiress
No room for groom here
Female Vampire (1973) (2nd viewing) d. Franco, Jess
E'en Lina Romay
Wearing naught but boots and cloak
Can, yes, get boring
Vampyres (1974) (2nd viewing) d. Larraz, Jose Ramon
Atmosphere galore
Vicious, sexy, smart, creepy
Probably my fave
CIVILIAN:
Comunidad, La (2000) (1st viewing) d. de la Iglesia, Alex
Great black comedy
Apartment dwellers will kill
For big bag of cash
Othello (2001) (1st viewing) d. Sax, Geoffrey
Chris Eccleston stars
Terrific adaptation
Cop thriller gone Bard
Perfect Blue (1998) (1st viewing) d. Kon, Satoshi
Gory anime
Hitchcockian twists and turns
Worth your time for sure
Red Eye (2005) (1st viewing) d. Craven, Wes
Undeniably
Silly stuff but still a hoot
Lighten up people
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) (4th viewing) d. Hill, George Roy
Directed The Sting
Slap Shot and this retelling
of my fav’rite book
2010 Totals to date: 157 films, 114 1st time views, 96 horrors, 13 cinema
Glad "Roman" was received favorably... one of the films on my giant stack to get to... might have to bump it up.
ReplyDeleteWatched "Triangle" on Friday due to your recommendation. Thought "Timecrimes" was better, but definitely good.
No question about it - TIMECRIMES is the superior film. TRIANGLE just kind of suprised me, having not heard much about it, so I was perhaps more effusive about it. But yeah, TIMECRIMES, yeah. Great flick.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I saw during the comparable period of time (first-time viewings marked with an asterisk):
ReplyDeleteThe Killer* (John Woo, 1989)
Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990)
Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)
Hollow Man (Paul Verhoeven, 2000)
The Boondock Saints* (Troy Duffy, 1999)
Overnight* (Mark Brian Smith & Tony Montana, 2003)
You, the Living* (Roy Andersson, 2007)
Conquest* (Lucio Fulci, 1983)
Weird Science (John Hughes, 1985)
The Witches of Eastwick (George Miller, 1987)
As you can see, I was on something of a Verhoeven kick that week.