348. Anna Karenina (2012)

September 12, 2014

Once again, I'm not a fan of Kiera Knightley, and in 'Anna Karenina' she plays a raving lunatic who cheats on her husband in the name of love, despite her husband being an overall good guy, and then must face the consequences of her actions all while falling deeper and deeper into an all-consuming madness. I know movies like this have their own fans, and I'm not their target audience, but do they have to be so boring? Not surprisingly, my wife wanted me to watch this with her, so I obliged. A lot of times when she has me watch one of her movies, I'll admit to finding them somewhat charming, if not actually entertaining, but some of them are just garbage. 'Anna Karenina' was garbage.

347. Lawless (2012)

September 12, 2014

Anytime Nick Cave has anything to do with a movie, you can bet I'm going to see it. He wrote the screenplay for 'Lawless' and John Hillcoat directed it. I've seen this movie twice now, and I think it was better the second time. It is a really good movie set during prohibition, and it involves a family of bootleggers who stand up against crooked authorities who threaten their friends and families in exchange for a cut of their business. I'd definitely recommend seeing it if you haven't already.

346. Neon Maniacs (1986)

September 11, 2014

This was the second time I watched 'Neon Maniacs' this year. I showed it to some friends of mine who probably think less of me now for showing them something so weird and silly. Well, I still love it. Twelve maniacs with strange characteristics, living under the Golden Gate bridge, terrorize San Francisco by night. Despite living under a bridge, they're deathly allergic to water, and try to avoid it at all costs. Some kids try to kill them before they get killed. I don't care what anyone says, this movie is awesome.

345. Black Roses (1988)

September 10, 2014

Since the untimely passing of John Fasano in July this year, I've been meaning to re-watch all of his films. I've obviously been running behind on that, but I do plan to have a John Fasano Tribute bad movie night pretty soon... 'Black Roses' is an intentionally awful, low budget film about a heavy metal band starting their tour in a small town against the wishes of many worried parents and townsfolk. The kids think it is great, and they all go to the show and become hypnotized by the band members (who are actually demons). The band plays for several days in the same town for some reason, and the kids don't miss a performance. They stop paying attention at school and start killing their parents and other people because the music is turning them evil. If you're into fun, bad movies, you really need to see this one.

344. The Prowler (1981)

September 10, 2014

Tom Savini has said before that the best special effects he ever did were on 'The Prowler', and I believe him. This movie was awesome! Released in the prime of the slasher boom, 'The Prowler' is often overshadowed by it's heavyweight peers. Just like 'The Burning', 'The Prowler' deserves a resurgence and a much bigger following. Taking place during a college spring formal dance, a series of intense and suspenseful murders recreate events that took place over 30 years prior, sending several people into a panic. It is a slasher movie through and through, and enthusiasts will no doubt be familiar with this movie, but I honestly believe more people need to see it and realize just how great it really is.

343. Ginger Snaps (2000)

September 6, 2014

There aren't enough good werewolf movies out there. Sure, there's 'An American Werewolf in London' and 'The Howling' and 'Dog Soldiers' and a few others, but when you factor in all the vampire movies and haunted house movies, I'd say the werewolf sub-genre is relatively untapped. 'Ginger Snaps' is one of the good ones, in my opinion, and one that is regrettably under appreciated. Katharine Isabelle stars as Ginger, and together with her sister Brigitte (Emily Perkins), the two high school outcasts fantasize about death and other morbid curiosities. When Ginger is bitten by a werewolf she begins changing both physically and mentally. Scared by her sister's changes, Brigitte consults with a local drug dealer to find a cure for Ginger's new-found lycanthropy. Scream Factory just released a nice looking blu-ray, so go pick up your copy and check it out.

342. Triangle (2009)

September 2, 2014

This was a pretty strange film. It featured a handful of teens on a yacht trip that find themselves trapped in stormy weather. When the weather subsides, they see their boat is ruined. As they're going under water they see another ship coming and climb on board, but the ship is abandoned and strange things keep happening. A hooded figure keeps killing them, with a twist that I won't divulge in here. It is worth watching just for the curiosity of it all. I would recommend watching this one.

341. Blood Creek (2009)

September 2, 2014

Joel Schumacher has made his fair share of duds in his career as a director, but 'Blood Creek' has got to be the worst. It has a small following of people who seem to think it was good, but I can't for the life of me figure out why. I was initially excited to see it because I wanted to see Michael Fassbender and Henry Cavill in a horror movie together. Unfortunately that excitement died pretty quickly. Fassbender plays a Nazi who visits a small farm and finds a stone wall covered with Nazi and occult symbols. He tricks the family into allowing him to do experiments there, which leads to the family becoming immortal as long as they provide Fassbender with human sacrifices. One of the attempted sacrifices was Cavill's brother and, upon his escape from the farm, he goes back and brings Cavill with him to kill the crazy farmers (unaware that Fassbender was the true evil on the farm). Together they fight to stop Fassbender and end the Nazi curse. Everything about this movie should have been better. I would recommend avoiding it.

340. Blue Ruin (2013)

September 1, 2014

When a homeless man living in his car on a beach gets the news that the man responsible for killing his parents has been released from prison, he finds and kills the man, putting his life and the lives of his sister's family in danger from the man's family when they plot their own revenge. With several twists and turns along the way, 'Blue Ruin' was a solid and surprisingly good independent film. It is a slow burning film that packs an explosive punch, and I would definitely recommend it.

August 2014 Recap

I watched far too few movies this month, and while one of the top 5 may be the best movie of the year, it was hard to find 5 movies that were the best and 5 that were the worst.
Without further ado, here are my top 5 and bottom 5 for August, 2014:

My top 5 (in no particular order - aside from Guardians of the Galaxy which is easily the best):
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Jodorowsky's Dune
3. Brainscan
4. Curdled
5. The Past is a Grotesque Animal - A Film About of Montreal
Runner Up: none

The bottom 5 (in no particular order) *
1. Johnny Mnemonic
2. Undefeatable
3. Sharknado 2 - The Second One
4. Lust for Freedom
5. Begin Again
Runner Up: none

*I feel bad picking any of these movies to be in my bottom five because they're all basically so bad they're good. Then there is Sharknado 2, whose sole purpose is to be a bad movie. I don't know, August just wasn't the best movie watching month for me.