Fool’s Views (2/1 – 2/14)

Howdy, folks!

Well, the first half of the shortest month of the year went by in a flash, with most of the flickage once again being supplied by our friends at the public library. Mighty pleased with the fare those good folks provide.

I’m thinking of starting a new feature where I tell why I chose to watch what I did, although sometimes I wonder if the explanation might not be longer than the review itself. For example, I picked up The Last of Sheila because it was mentioned by several people as their favorite Herbert Ross film when I mentioned the director in my recent post featuring The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. Seeing James Coburn in Sheila sparked interest in seeing more of the actor, resulting in What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?

While Silent Night Deadly Night 3 has been on my radar for years due to its more famous predecessors, I finally got to see it thanks to my Belgian blood brother Gert shipping it from a local VHS dealer to the Doc’s office and asking me to forward it on to him. Hara-kiri was prompted by a discussion with a fellow gym member who had seen a pile of Kurosawa flicks I was returning, and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome because, well, “Who run Bordertown?????”

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Fool's Views (1/16 – 1/31)

Greetings and Happy (Bloody) Valentines Day, kids!

Here’s the back half of January, which wasn’t nearly as madcap as the first, being that we had already knocked out all of the SAG nominees and were left to polish off the remaining unseen features from both Michael Haneke and Wes Anderson (strange bedfellows indeed), as well as revisiting a couple Corman quickies. We also got out to the cinema a couple more times, sharing an evening of conversation with Michael Shannon at DePaul University following a screening of Take Shelter hosted by the peerless Peter Steeves, as well as a midnight screening of the cautionary tale that is Wild Beasts (“This is your brain. This is your brain trampled by zoo animals hopped up on angel dust.”)

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

Fool's Views (1/1 – 1/15)

Hello, friends! Hope everyone’s 2018 is going swimmingly thus far.

The Doc’s office has been open for business and thriving amidst all manner of moving images, even extending to a few visits to the multiplex for awards season, which covered the majority of the Views during the first half of January. (Yes, we actually saw enough movies to justify two entries for the month, as the Almighty always intended.)

So, grab your plate and head to the buffet line where you can choose from fare ranging from Lovecraft adaptations and Blumhouse prequels, Kurosawa flicks that didn’t find their way into the player last year, and a bevy of “prestige” films trading time with classic B-movie action fare. Something for everyone, which is just how we like it.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

THE RESURRECTED (1991) Blu-ray review

The Resurrected (1991) d. Dan O'Bannon (USA)

Private investigator John March (John Terry) is hired by the mysterious and beautiful Claire (Jane Sibbert) to uncover what her wealthy scientist husband (Chris Sarandon) is up to with his strange experiments concerning reanimation and immortality. Widely acknowledged as one of the more faithful H.P. Lovecraft adaptations, this retelling of “The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward” (also the source material for the Vincent Price vehicle The Haunted Palace) balances an urbane “modern noir” sensibility, slippery and slimy practical effects that recall Empire-era Charles Band, and the author’s famous sense of the uncanny with predictably uneven results.