My DVDs - Part III

I know, I know, it's campy and corny. Still, this one is a lot of fun. Plus, if you're a fan of the great stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen (like me) you'll enjoy the detail and the artform that died with the advent of CGI. The interaction between live action cowboys and prehistoric dinosaurs is, in my opinion, some of Ray's best work ever.

Forget the corny title, this is a genuinely good film! Ranks among the likes of THE CAT PEOPLE and DEAD OF NIGHT.

Coming soon to a Community Theater near you - Body Snatcher: The Musical! [Written, Produced & Directed by Vidiot49]

My Favorite Things
(This really only works if you sing it)

Bodies on slabs and cadavers on gurneys;
Corpses in boxes nailed shut for their journeys;
Bags full of organs all tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

Widows in black with their veil covered faces;
Chalk outlines on pavement to remember the places;
Lifetimes cut short when the fat lady sings;
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the rent's due,
When the phone rings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Precursor to later episodic horror (i.e. TV's Night Gallery and The Twilight Zone). Five houseguests recount their nightmares to each other with each one a little more sinister than the last. A spine-tingling horror classic that scared me as a child and still today creeps me out.

This "true story" occurred not so far from the town where I grew up and scared the begeezus out of me in 1972. Now, although it's lost much of the fright-factor, it still has a creepiness that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

I like this film more than I should. Technically, it has its flaws. But there is something about this story that keeps me riveted to the tube every time it's on. I've seen it AT LEAST 15 times and it never gets old. Maybe it is the underdog-makes-good theme. Maybe it is my love of college football. Maybe it is a little of both. Whatever the reason, you can bet that in the last minutes of the film I'll be on the edge of my couch chanting, "Ru-dy! Ru-dy! Ru-dy!" (much to the embarrassment of my sons - LOL).

This is one of those films, like The Station Agent, that, after the first viewing, I wasn't sure what to think. Then, I watched it again and decided that it was pretty good. Then... I watched it a third time and concluded that it's even better than I though it was the second time. This is a story that has many layers. Credit Adam Beach, Gary Farmer and Tantoo Cardinal for great performances, and high marks for Evan Adams as the nerdy and insightful Thomas.

"How do we forgive our fathers? Maybe in a dream. Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us too often, or forever, when we were little? Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage, or making us nervous because there never seemed to be any rage there at all? Do we forgive our fathers for marrying, or not marrying, our mothers? Or divorcing, or not divorcing, our mothers? And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness? Shall we forgive them for pushing, or leaning? For shutting doors or speaking through walls? For never speaking, or never being silent? Do we forgive our fathers in our age, or in theirs? Or in their deaths, saying it to them or not saying it. If we forgive our fathers, what is left?"

Arnold has far too many lines

High Noon meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. Definitely at the top of my list of "space-westerns". :)

'50's sci-fi horror movie about a gelatinous mass of shapeless, carnivorous goo from outer space. Besides being a cinematic cult classic, it's also a wonderful film for parents who are having difficulty teaching their children to not touch anything that looks nasty or sticky. "Don't touch that, it might be the blob" is all my Mom ever had to say to get me to leave things alone and undisturbed.

I'm torn. The movie lover in me finds Cutaway bordering on 'unwatchable'. The acting is second rate, the script is full of holes and the direction is, at times, amateurish. But, the skydiver in me never tires of popping this one in the DVD player.

Guy Manos, the director, is one of the most sought after stunt coordinators in the business and his reputation as a skydiver is almost unparalleled. Tired of the phony, green-screen wind effects of such films as Drop Zone and Terminal Velocity, Manos set out to make a REAL skydiving movie with actors who were REAL skydivers. Enter Tom Berenger and Stephen Baldwin. Both actors completed training and did many of their own jumps in the film.

In the end, what Manos has given us is a realistic film that stinks. Even jumpers don't seek this one out for its plot, we watch it for the action, the relative work, the free-flying, and the CReW. In short, Cutaway has very narrow appeal.

Well constructed crime epic with solid performances that really doesn't offer us anything we haven't already seen before. New Jack City meets Serpico.