• Blade Runner - One of the best sci-fi films I've seen. I'm not sure I understood it, but I definitely liked it, particularly the futuristic reworking of noirish, hard-boiled detective story. The visual look of the film was stunning too, and both Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer gave fine performances. I look forward to seeing this one again, and trying to piece everything together.

Cool! I've been wondering if I should look that one up. I recently read the book by Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) and was curious about the film adaptation. I'll have to see if the library has it. Thanks for your thoughts too, GB, SL, and Warrior

Has anyone seen the 1980 Jamaica Inn starring Jane Seymour? I saw it ages ago and remember liking it (of course I'm a big fan of the book too). I haven't been able to find it anywhere; it was only released on video and the copy I had seen was borrowed from the library and disappeared from their collection in subsequent years. Well, on a long shot I posted a request for the VHS tape on the SwapaDVD VHS forum about a year ago. Just last week someone contacted me to ask if I were still looking for it, because he had a copy he didn't want. It came in the mail yesterday and I am excited to watch it again

In other movie news, I have become obsessed with adaptations of Jane Eyre . We watched the old Welles/Fontaine version yesterday. I'll post more about it in the Bronte Special Feature.

I'll be interested to see what you think of Blade Runner, Amy. Be aware that there are a couple scenes of pretty intense violence (two bits in particular made my skin crawl), and also, I believe, a single instance of nudity (which my prof kindly edited out for us). Check the IMDb content advisory page in case you want more details.

Last night I watched A Series of Unfortunate Events with some friends, and found it to be not quite my cup of tea. For one, I've never liked Jim Carrey's acting style—too ridiculous and over-the-top, even for comedy—and this is no exception. I pretty much grimaced every time he came on the screen, and not for the reasons intended, I don't think. Also, while I know it seems silly to complain about it being dark and hopeless when that was the point of the books and film, I don't have to like it. The climax,

, was pretty genuinely disturbing. Also, while I gather that the film is slightly more upbeat and lets us know more back story than the early books in the series do, there's still so much left unexplained. This would be all right if there were to be sequels, but I don't think there are, so now I feel I have to read the books, even if I don't want to. Pretty good art direction, and aside from Carrey the acting is good. My favorite part of the film is undoubtedly Aunt Josephine. I mean, it's Meryl Streep as a batty, realtor-phobic Grammar nut. How much better does it get?

Cultural glutton that I am, I also watched a film on my own last night to continue my old horror movie binge (such as it is). This time I chose The Gorgon, directed by Terence Fischer for Hammer Horror studios, and revolving around a series of unsolved murders in a town haunted by legends about the gorgon Megaera. All in all, this was a disappointment. I was glad to see that it wasn't a gore-filled spectacle relying on cheap scares, which I think is fairly normal for Hammer films, but I don't think it's psychologically insightful or movingly tragic like some fans say. There are a few good scenes—the prologue-like opening between Sascha and Bruno, who are far more compelling than any of the major characters, the first appearance of Megaera in the castle, the chilling scenes in which Carla wanders about with her hood up like some unmovable statue. But in general it all seems prosaic and workmanlike. The cinematography is bland, the love story sudden and unbelievable, and the actual Gorgon quite ridiculous-looking. Horror legends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are present, but Cushing did little for me in this film and Lee has limited screen time, although he brightens whichever scene he's in. A poor entry in my series of viewings, even worse than The Bat, because this didn't have a strong talent like Agnes Moorehead's to build itself around. Maybe I should stop before things continue to spiral downwards.

@ Lys. Since you are watching old horror films, may I recommend the following.....

X, the Unknown (1956). A Hammer Sci-Fi/Horror film that is actually quite well done. Not too gory, somewhat goofy but still creepy.

The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas (1957). Yet another Hammer film, this one about a team that goes on a mission to find a Yeti in the Himalayas. Much more of a psychological film than a horror or monster movie. Very good. Don't expect to see any creatures, though!

The Wolfman (1941). Hands down THE classic Universal monster movie. Plays out much better than Frankinstien and is no where near as unintentionally funny as Dracula. A must see.

The Thing From Another World (1951). Another true classic Sci-fi/Horror film. Solid story, good acting and some truly scary moments makes this stand far above other such films. Highly recommended.

--------------------------

I hope all of that helped.

Thanks for the input, PC. I've been relying on simply what IMDb's affiliates have posted, but since the results have been unimpressive, I may have to check what my college library has on hand. I did have my eye on The Wolf Man and knew of tASotH as well; never heard of the other two.

I just got to see The Road Warrior (1981) on TV and figured I'd toss out a mention here. I cannot lie here...this is a testosterone fueled, non-stop action film about a loner named Max (a very young Mel Gibson) set against the backdrop of the post-apocalyptic Australian outback. After a third world war in which most of the remaining supplies of petroleum are destroyed oil has become a super-precious commodity. Max, a former police officer (in the first film...yes this is a sequel), now a wandering loner, scours the wastes looking for survivial, and perhaps a few gallons of gasoline to keep his super-modified Pursuit Special, "the last of the V8 Interceptors", running a little while longer. Max stumbles across an oil refinery in the middle of the desert and decides to do a little bargaining, performing some dangerous work so he can fill up his gas tank. Things get a little more involved as the refinery is under siege by a masked man-beast named Lord Humungous and a motley collection of scavengers and killers who want all the fuel for themselves.

It's hard to tell who the star of the film is, really. Mel Gibson was relatively unknown in the US at the time, but manages to turn in a really good performance as the cynical and hard-bitten Max Rockatansky. According to http://www.imdb.com Gibson has almost no lines for the entire film but manages to convey everything that needs to be said with a few lines and facial expressions. I'm serious...the man pulls it off in spades and made it look easy. Also look for Bruce Spence (whom most here would probably recognize as the "Mouth of Sauron" from LotR) as the pilot of a gyrocopter who helps Max out more than once during his misadventures.

The film is loaded, and I mean absolutely chock full of cars of every size, shape, and description, all heavily modified with armor plating and weapons and souped up to ludicrous levels. And of course the most beautiful of them all is without a doubt Max's Pursuit Special, a work of art on wheels.

The car is apparently a modified version of a 73' Ford Falcon, and the run of this particular model was under 1,000, which makes these particularly hard to find and popular with car enthusiasts. There's no doubt that the Mad Max movies catapulted the car's fame and made them that much more difficult to find as collectors scrambled to get any existing models they could. Complete with a hood mounted supercharger the beast sounds like a tiger purring when it goes all out. And it's a blast seeing it in action on the screen.

The movie relies heavily on archetype characters, much like Star Wars did and the car chase scenes (featuring some outlandish looking vehicles and a fitting musical score) are worth the price of admission alone. The movie feels almost like a Western but touches a little bit on sci-fi as well. I don't recall there being too much profanity and one slight image of nudity (which you'll miss if you blink), but does have a lot of gory scenes. But scenes of this type are practically stock with films of this type. A very fun movie and one I don't think I could ever get tired of watching.

I don't care for the 'clothing' choice of Lord Humungous and many of his crew but I agree that Mad Max 2 (as it's called here in homeland, Australia) is a great action movie. There's a raw intensity in the final chase that you just can't achieve with CGI. Not heavy on plot but there's a good premise and lots of fantastic, strategic and fast-paced action.

Great review of The Road Warrior Shadow. It was my favourite of the Mad Max Trilogy. But a warning to video renters, the uncut film does have a couple of scenes inappropriate for family viewing usually edited for television.

GB

I don't care for the 'clothing' choice of Lord Humungous and many of his crew but I agree that Mad Max 2 (as it's called here in homeland, Australia) is a great action movie. There's a raw intensity in the final chase that you just can't achieve with CGI. Not heavy on plot but there's a good premise and lots of fantastic, strategic and fast-paced action.

Lord Humungous' attire wasn't nearly as bad as that of Wez (played by experienced "tough" actor Vernon Wells), whose behind was hanging out in half the shots he's on screen. Ironically I didn't even really think of that when I mentioned the nudity issue...in fact I usually sort of laugh at him because he looks utterly ridiculous. I read that when they filmed the movie it was actually very cold out, which probably helped Wells appear more menacing...the guy didn't want the gasoline, he just wanted a blanket.

I agree with you 100% on the final chase scene...it is classic and could never be duplicated by CGI. It was raw and intense and non-stop, and before I write bucketloads more on it I'll simply say it was a very well done sequence in the film. Nothing like a great chase scene!

It was my favourite of the Mad Max Trilogy. But a warning to video renters, the uncut film does have a couple of scenes inappropriate for family viewing usually edited for television.

Agreed. There's some gory stuff going on and a few parts that can and will make people wince if they watch it. It helps to remember that the setting of the story is a barbaric post apocalyptic where law and order have been basically tossed out the window. The TV version does edit out a lot of the worst parts, so that might be the one to start with, although predicting when it will come on might be a bit tricky. Beyond Thunderdome was kind of a letdown. It's like two movies in one (much like Full Metal Jacket in that regard) and the first half I felt was better than the 2nd. It did have Bruce Spence in it though, so plus one star. Speaking of which is Spence's character in Mad Max 3 the same character as he is in Mad Max 2? No one seems to know for sure...

We watched Taken about a week ago. It wasn't either a terrible movie or one of my favorites...
-There was quite a bit that would be inappropriate for children, and, well, really--inappropriate for everyone. Because of the storyline, they had a bit in there that I would not recommend to anyone.

On more world-view issues, the main character did take things into his own hands--Some of the time he was using self defense, but some of the time he was killing it seemed purely out of revenge, not even because it would help him find his daughter, or any such thing. His daughter and he seemed fairly close, and you could tell he really loved her. I was pleased with his concern for her, and I was rooting silently when he was listing off reasons he wasn't comfortable with her going to Paris.

I would have enjoyed it a lot, had it not been for the uncomfortable/inappropriate scenes some of the time, nudity, etc.
Other then that part, I liked it, though as I mentioned, the worldview had a few little things too.

Oh, and just a side note for those of you who don't know: Liam Neeson was the main character pretty much.

Wow, not much action on this thread. Meanwhile, I've been watching many movies—too many, likely as not. But between my Masterpieces of Film class, being quarantined with the flu for a few days, and all these fun old pseudo-horror movies posted on Hulu for Haloween, I think I have a decent excuse.

What I've seen:

• The Village (2004, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Pheonix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, and Sigourney Weaver) - This was a rewatch for me. Indeed, when it came out it was one of my favorite movies, and I still like it very much. The thrills and chills didn't make as much of an affect this time round, but it's such a beautiful movie that I find it hard to resist. The cinematography is beautiful. The music is beautiful. The performances are wonderful. Even if we didn't have anything else to thank Shyamalan for, we could still thank him for inspiring some of James Newton Howard's greatest scores, and for discovering such a wonderful talent in Bryce Dallas Howard. It's sort of sad that she's playing supporting roles in big blockbusters these days, considering what she shows herself capable of here. There's something beautiful (there's that word again) and elegiac about her performance, especially in the scenes where you least expect it. Her

has always stuck in my mind for some reason.

• Push (2009, directed by David McGuigan, starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle, and Djimon Hounsou) - When I first saw the trailer for this several months back, I emitted a mental groan. It looked so corny, and way, way too much like Jumper, which was an experience I didn't want to repeat in the near future. But when I watched this with a group of friends last week I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did it not feature Hayden Christensen (a plus for any movie), but it also had a more varied and interesting plot than Jumper, and was slightly less predictable. Not a great film, but ... nice.

• The Wolf Man (1941, directed by George Waggner, starring Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Raines, and Maria Ouspenskya) - Is this really your favorite Universal horror film, PC? Granted, the only other one I've seen is the silent Phantom of the Opera, but I liked that MUCH better than this. There wasn't really that much wrong with it, but it failed to strike any emotional chord with me. My thought was, "Impressive—but why?" For starters, I really did like the locations, and the Gothic atmosphere was great. Production values were high throughout; you could tell the studio was committed to its monster movies by this point. However, the center of any of these old films is the monster him/itself, and here I was slightly disappointed. I've heard great things about Lon Chaney Jr.'s performance, but to me he came across mostly as a charmless wet rag, at least in his Larry Talbot persona. Also, I didn't particularly like the Wolf Man's makeup. Shocking, I know, but it was a bit ... much. I've seen pictures of the same artist's design for the earlier Werewolf of London, and I find it much more natural looking. Also, the mixture of American and British accents among the various cast members was truly bizarre. That said, I did really love the supporting performances by Bela Lugosi, Maria Ouspenskaya, and especially Claude Raines, who can add a touch of class to any production. Overall I did enjoy it, but after my hopes were set so high I found it slightly disappointing. (Notice that this is the opposite from what happened with Push, although this is probably the better film—reactions to movies are often incredibly emotional, no?)

• Simon Birch (1998, directed by Mark Steven Johnson, starring Ian Michael Smith, Joseph Mazzello, and Ashley Judd) - Viewed for my Masterpieces of Film class, accompanying our chapter on Christianity. I think I had heard of this film before, but I didn't have anything to put the name with, and I was completely unfamiliar with the actors, aside from Judd, who is absolutely beautiful here, and Jim Carrey, who has a small cameo role, and somehow manages not to be annoying. I was impressed. Everyone gives good performances, including the kids, and the film successfully evokes the aura of a time gone by. Some of the theology is questionable. Mostly it attacks organized religion in opposition to simple, almost blind faith. Theology aside, I'm not a huge fan of where the film went.

• Tales of Terror (1962, directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone) - Ever since I watched a documentary on horror actor Vincent Price, I've been slightly fascinated by the glimpses it showed of Corman's [in]famous Poe cycle, although I doubted it would be as exciting in revelation as it was in my imagination. More specifically, I feared the movies would be too disturbing for me, or else so bad as to be a waste of my time. But after seeing several of them showing for free on Hulu, I resolved to try them out, and selected this as my first, thinking that it's three-tale formula would give me a better sampling of the series' flavor as a whole. Before starting, I read all three of Poe's original stories to have a means of comparison, although I really needn't have. The stories here are more variations on a theme than straight adaptations, although the similarities are more striking upon later viewing. (Yes, I've already watched this again—well, part of it, at least. ) My opinion of the film was sealed during the first segment, "Morella." During the opening, what with the terrible matte shot and all the dry ice fog used to cover up scanty scenery, I thought, "Oh dear, this is going to be horribly campy." But once our heroine (played surprisingly well by the unknown Maggie Pierce) got inside the house, the set design turned out to be rather impressive, and the relationship between she and her father (Vincent Price) was quite touching and well-written. Unfortunately the end to this segment, while appropriately frightening, was rushed and left me with questions.

The next segment, "The Black Cat", owes its inspiration not only to the title story, but also to Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." The protagonist of this piece is not Price, but rather Peter Lorre, and he does a wonderful job with this black comedy. Price does appear in a smaller role, as the wine-tasting dandy Giacamo Lucrece, and this ridiculous part suits him to a T. The wine-tasting scene the two share is simply priceless. The last bit, "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," has Price again sharing the limelight with another genre star. Basil Rathbone simply steals the limelight in this story with his devilish performance, while Debra Paget is stunning in the sole female role. An excellent set of shorts, and my favorite of the Poe cycle so far.

• The Comedy of Terrors (1963, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, and Boris Karloff) - Originally I didn't want to see this so soon after Tales of Terror, as I heard it took much of its inspiration from the "Black Cat" segment of the previous film, though it is in no other way related to Edgar Allen Poe's short stories or Corman's resultant film cycle. But once I saw the trailer, and especially Basil Rathbone's wonderful reaction to being informed that he's dead (not quoted here as it does involve some foul language), I couldn't resist. In the end, the similarities to "The Black Cat" boil down to this: it shares the earlier project's three leads (Price, Lorre, and the hilarious Joyce Jameson), all three are involved in a love triangle, and Jameson's husband is a drunk (although in this case the husband is Price, not Lorre). Otherwise, they're pretty distinct products. In this one Price and Lorre are undertakers take a Sweeney Todd-like approach to profitable business, and murder old gentlemen in order to boost their number of customers. The director is Jacques Tourneur of Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie, and though working on a similar budget and for the same people, he bring a lot more class and old Hollywood reserve than the admittedly talented Corman. Whereas I find the latter's films, dramatic or funny, tend to overdo certain camera effects, I am completely behind Tourneur's work. However, I'm not sure that all the gags work, and believe it or not I find Price slightly miscast in the main role; he is better when playing either tormented or hilariously prissy, rather than hilariously debauched. Lorre pretty much reprises his lovable minion role from Arsenic and Old Lace, which this movie resembles in certain aspects, while Karloff is hilarious as Price's deaf father-in-law. One of my favorite scenes is when Jameson launches into her extremely loud, shrieky, pseudo-operatic singing for the first time, and Lorre and Karloff react totally differently to the proceedings. Rathbone steals the show again, however. Aside from the one great moment glimpsed in the trailer, there is another brilliant scene where he reenacts all the parts of Macbeth in the comfort of his bedroom. Not great overall, but moments like this make it worth it.

• The Raven (1963, directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff) - Another entry in the Corman Poe cycle, this one bears even less in common with its source material than the Tales of Terror did, largely because of its schmaltzy comic tone. "The Black Cat" was funny, yes, and so was the spin-off Comedy of Terrors, but sardonically so. This one's almost a spoof, involving a band of dueling magicians. Price is all right here, better cast than in Comedy, but not nearly as memorable as in Tales. Just about every word that comes from Lorre's mouth is hilarious, though, from "Shut up!" to "You dirty old man!" to "Doesn't he speak beautiful French?" (this referring to his on-screen son, played very badly by a very young Jack Nicholson) Boris Karloff is the only one who manages to maintain an air of dignity during the crazy proceedings, and it's amazing how different his character is here from the one in Comedy; I suppose I had always dismissed him as a scaremeister pure and simple, and never realized what a talented and versatile actor he was. The young romantic duo, including aforementioned Nicholson, is pretty forgettable, and while Hazel Court camps it up delightfully, it's obvious that her main function here is to show off her, well, endowments. Worth watching for Karloff and Lorre at the very least, but so far, my least favorite of the Corman-Price-Poe vehicles.

• The Pit and the Pendulum (1961, directed by Roger Corman, starring Vincent Price, John Kerr, and Barbara Steele) - The second of Roger Corman's Edgar Allen Poe adaptations to be filmed, and easily the most thrilling of the three I've seen, although I still think I prefer Tales of Terror. This does have the advantage of having a full hour-and-a-half to tell its story, although only the last ten minutes have any relation to Poe's creation. The pace does drag in places, and some of the cinematography gimmicks that bothered me in Tales reappear here, although to a lesser and more forgivable extent. All in all, good storytelling, but the characters and cast don't fulfill my expectations completely. Price is on good behavior here, and generally gives a good performance, although his hamming works best in the third act. I wonder, sometimes, if his approaches to certain roles are rather too comic, though, and wonder what a young Rathbone or Sanders would do with material like this. All in all, very good, though, and he totally outshines all but one of his costars. That would be Barbara Steele, whose role is small but turns the whole movie on its head, launching us into the climax and, it may be added, the better part of the film. Whoever dubbed her voice should also be praised; the effect is absolutely terrifying, and not at all noticeable. A horrifying performance that will stay in my mind for a while yet. On the other hand, we have John Kerr, who most people know from South Pacific, and who I have yet to see turn in a decent performance. He reads his lines without any feeling whatsoever, and his colorless, loud voices jars terribly with Price's softer velvet. He also has no chemistry whatsoever with Luana Anders, who is left to hold up what is left of a small and rather poorly-written romance. These two are really the most sympathetic characters in the piece, but Kerr turns Francis into a petulant idiot, thus eliminating the possibility of a "hero" for the piece. And I don't think it was intentional on his part either.[

P.S. I Love You - one word, crap. The Irish music was kind of nice though. 4/10

Evan Almighty - sub-par, safe but dull, not terribly funny, theologically incorrect and too politically correct. It was refreshing to see the life-size ark though. Very impressive. 6/10

The Animatrix - animated short movies belonging to the Matrix universe. They range from excellent, to very good, to decent. Overall it is much better than the Matrix sequels. Some disturbing and graphic violent content - not for children! 8/10

Lysander, all that Vincent Price and Poe movies and you didn't watch Masque of the Red Death?

The Village was a good (and underrated) movie and I will still watch it from time to time, but I like Signs better. I always felt that the most interesting thing was that the plot hook of the movie (alien invasion) played merely as a backdrop to the main character's struggle with his faith in God. It was very well done.

W4J, I haven't seen Evan Almighty although I did see Bruce Almighty and that film suffered some of the same issues you mentioned. You know, if they played a movie true to the "original" storyline it would be fantastic. There's so few that do though...Passion of the Christ was a good film but not one I can just sit down to watch easily. I loved the old 1966 John Huston epic The Bible: In the Beginning, especially the Noah's Ark and Tower of Babel sequences. It's surprisingly faithful to Scripture for the most part, although Huston took some creative liberties here and there. Hollywood has to inject their own brand of relativism and political correctness into it though to make it more palatable and inoffensive to our biggest critics. *sigh*

They didn't have that one on Hulu! Is it your favorite of the Poe cycle, then? Or simply one of the few you've seen? It does look pretty good, I must admit. When I get a chance to see it, I will.

I saw part of that Huston film years back! You're right; it was quite faithful. It seemed a little long to me, so much so that I didn't finish it, but now I blame my youth. Huston was quite an accomplished and creative filmmaker, though not without his failures (Annie ). That's another one I should keep my eyes out for.

They didn't have that one on Hulu! Is it your favorite of the Poe cycle, then? Or simply one of the few you've seen? It does look pretty good, I must admit. When I get a chance to see it, I will.

Admittedly it has been a very long time. I think I last saw Masque of the Red Death when I but a wee-high Shadowlandering (maybe about 6 or 7) on TV one Saturday afternoon. I remember Vincent Price, I remember bright, garish colors (the source story is loaded with this very element), and there being a big, wild party going on. And if you've read the story you know the rest. I haven't seen it in quite some time. I always thought Poe's most unsettling work was A Cask of Amontillado and was surprised no one has ever really filmed it (that I'm aware of). That one is pure horror.

I saw part of that Huston film years back! You're right; it was quite faithful. It seemed a little long to me, so much so that I didn't finish it, but now I blame my youth. Huston was quite an accomplished and creative filmmaker, though not without his failures (Annie).

Huston was an atheist, which really kind of surprises me given the unbelievable amount of detail and respect he gives to the Genesis stories. I feel the Noah's Ark vignette is the best of the movie, but the Tower of Babel was definitely another highlight. And his depiction of Sodom and Gomorrah and its destruction was rather eye-opening. It is a shame they don't make them like this. The movie is a bit long in the tooth at times (the Abraham portion stretches out a great deal) but always good to watch.

Some of the plot material from "The Cask of Amontillado" was used in the "Black Cat" segment of Tales of Terror, but it was treated in a comic manner and so not really what you are looking for. Interestingly, Corman also used the theme of being

in The Pit and the Pendulum; there's one particularly disturbing image of. *goosebumps*

For me, Price is a bit of an acquired taste. I still find his status as a horror legend somewhat ironic, as his screen presence has always struck me as basically comic. When I see him doing roles like that of the dandy/wine-taster in "The Black Cat," I can't help but think that he is most inimitably suited to that kind of material. Then again, he was able to churn out fine dramatic performances in "Morella," Laura, and most of The Pit and the Pendulum. Still, he's definitely a ham of the best sort.