AL..'s Talk

Mary Engelbreit's The Night Before Christmas

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to those who celebrate the holidays!! See ya in 2008!!--CJ.

A Child's Christmas in Wales

A maj holiday fav. A traditional Christmas story with words by Dylan Thomas. See it with A CHRISTMAS STORY & A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS to get u in the holiday spirit for those of u who want to be in the holiday spirit lol.

Spirits of the Dead

In 1968, three of the great names of European cinema came together to make a film based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. The result was Spirits of the Dead (Histoires Extraordinaires), an anthology of three separate stories revolving around themes of lust, guilt and retribution.

Each of the three directors takes a very different approach to bringing Poe to the screen and the results range from the workmanlike to the outstanding. All three films work on their own terms and the anthology as a whole is well worth getting hold of.

More here

War (Rogue Assassin)

Jet Li and Jason Statham starring as leads in a movie titled 'War' sounds like every action fans dream. Even the trailer looks promising, it's nothing but action. It's a shame the actual film is such a wasted opportunity. Then again many would argue the same case for 'The One' (including me).

There's little war in 'War', but there is a lot of bore. The film basically consists of Li standing around looking evil, while saying close to nothing, and Statham showing up to crime scene after crime scene putting on his angriest face. 'War' is a cliche action film, well it's promoted as one, when really it's anything but. There is no actual action, and any attempt at it is badly shot and just plain boring.

This is one war you have no reason to sign up for. THIS WAR IS POINTLESS!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

A Halloweeen classic. Still has some slow parts, but very much a part of my Halloween tradition since I was a kid. See it at YouTube.

Lik Wong, (Riki-Oh - The Story of Ricky)

Absolutely mad and ridiculous Hong Kong movie about a man (Fan Sui Wang) who is imprisoned for avenging the death of his girl friend at the hands of drug dealers.
Ricky punches his way through people's torsos, heads, arms and even walls with super- human strength he acquired from a friend of his dead father.
This film excesses in so many areas. The gore is completely OTT. Want to see someone cut out his own intestines and try to strangle someone with them? Or someone havig their brain literally pnched out of their head? This is the film for you.
The characters are almost as ridiculous as the plot and gore. My fav being the deputy prison warden with a glass eye within which he keeps his supply of mints! while surrounded by porn videos in his office.
A great beer and popcorn movie.

The Matador

Great sleeper film. A good story well told and cast perfectly. See this.

Joshuu sasori: Kemono-beya (Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable)

If David Lynch made a Japanese Women In Prison film this would be it!

Tim Lucas summed it up "An astonishing piece of work"

Suture

A surreal, Hitchcock-esque, neo-noir filmed in gorgeous black & white. Impressive for a 90s flick. A bit SPELLBOUND, a bit MEMENTO.

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.

Fascinating, disturbing, strangely funny for a documentary.

Mannaja (A Man Called Blade)

Sergio Martino's 2nd and last foray into the western genre.
A violent, surreal and stylish film with narrative elements taken from Once Upon A Time In The West and A Fist Full Of Dollars.
Some great muddy fist fights, heavy use of slo-mo and a very strange theme song.
A must for Spaghetti western completists and a curiosity worth seeking out.