Alex's Talk

The Fourth Kind

This film is spooky as hell! The editing alone is enough to make you question your beliefs, as they show the actual video recordings in a split-screen with the re-enactment. Here's what really sealed the deal for me: I was very suspicious of the videos shown in the film until I did NOT see the usual disclaimer at the end of the credits that state the film and its characters are purely fictional. Yeah...it wasn't there!

Bottom line: They present the facts, and you're free to believe what you want. They say that in the beginning of the film and again at the end. I've always believed that assuming our planet has the only intelligent life in the galaxy is inexplicably arrogant. Believe what you want.

Nothing But the Truth

Surprisingly entertaining. Vera Farmiga was outstanding in her supporting role. Recommended.

Cinderella Man

Surveillance

Apparently the tainted apple hasn't fallen far from the Lynch family tree. recommended.

Two Lovers

like watching a runaway train heading for a brick wall....Recommended.

In the Bedroom

You can actually feel Tom Wilkinson's blood coming to a slow boil. Highly recommended.

Owning Mahowny

Hoffman is great and Hurt is a terrific casino boss. Recommended.

Rear Window

The Terrorist

this beautiful and suspenseful film will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to the end... highly recommended.

Pandorum

This film had several good qualities to it, including the ability to make me jump from my seat. Pandorum, in this story, is a form of space sickness that causes paranoia and homocidal tendencies. The stage is set for lots of scary, mind-screwing fun!

The storytelling reminded me of "Resident Evil", where you're shown several confusing conditions and have to follow the characters as they backtrack to piece together a time line.

The horror aspect took its influence from "The Decent", with albino, blood-thirsty mutants hunting those who have awakened from hyper-sleep. These creatures aren't mindless; in fact, they hunt in packs and love a good bout of hand-to-hand combat.

The mind-screwing reminded me of "Jacob's Ladder", where the audience isn't quite sure what is real and what isn't. It's hard to tell who's sane and who's losing their mind, which drives the tension up that much more.

Fear not, for when you think you can't handle another plot twist, all is made clear and everything makes sense. The writers just had fun messing with you until the final 8 minutes of the film!

Taking Woodstock

It Happened One Night

Loved this charming and very funny film from Frank Capra. It deserved the five Oscars it garnered in 1934. Highly recommended.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Terrific Capra tale with a great cast. "What is he, animal, vegetable or mineral? Maybe he's an oyster!" Recommended.

Il Grido (The Cry)

Dracula - Prince of Darkness

The Wicker Man

Cztery Noce z Anna (Four Nights with Anna)

Antichrist

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

Hitch's third film as Director. The first of many to use the wrong man theme and the first Hitch cameo.

The Wizard Of Gore

Is it magic? Or wholesale slaughter?

See the woman cut in half with a chainsaw, see the woman drilled through the stomach with a giant punch press, see the metal spike driven through one gal's head and see the two ladies forced to swallow swords.



Blood, guts, and offbeat surrealism in another crackpot classick from "The Wizard of Gore" himself, director Herschell Gordon Lewis.

This movie has been on my Netflix queue for quite a while so I can safely say that I've wanted to see it since before Juno was out. This is the fourth Herschell Gordon Lewis film I've seen so far and only the second I've liked, the other was Two Thousand Maniacs. This, much like Two Thousand Maniacs, is a good movie. Not because it actually has substance and is well thought out, but because it is a lot of fun to watch and has become a cult classic.

Let's be honest for a minute here, when Herschell Gordon Lewis was directing films, he had no idea what he was doing. As a friend of mine said "he is the Ed Wood of gore films." I have to agree completely. The editing is always choppy and horrible, the music is poorly placed, the acting seems to be straight out of a junior high play, and nothing seems believable. This brings me to the gore. If HGL only got one thing right in his career, it was gore. The gore in this film is awesome and cheesy. He may have made bad films, but they sure are entertaining.

Sorry for going off on so many tangents, I'll get back to this movie. The story follows a TV reporter and her boyfriend who attend a magician's show of blood and dismemberment. They become suspicious of several deaths being linked to the show. It's a simple story but it is a lot of fun. I really like the magician theme. The bad acting factor definitely applies in this movie. I often wonder where HGL found these people. But as always, the gore is magnificent(no pun intended) and almost saves the movie. I had a lot fun with it.

See this movie if you're a fan of Herschell Gordon Lewis and you won't find much of anything new but it is a very good time. Go! Now!