What did you watch on this sports week? (26/07-01/08)

Greyhound (2020) - It is a CGI fest but it captured the pressure and stress of The Battle of the Atlantic. I know why my father was exhausted after 6 years back and forth across the Atlantic. 7/10

Sudden Fear (1952) - Finally saw it. I don't get the 7.5 rating. I love Crawford but there was a lot of overacting in this. Jack Palance was a miscast. Gloria Grahame was good. The plot was contrived. 6.5/10

Five Graves to Cairo (1943) - This had a propaganda feel to it (the war was still ongoing) but it had a Casablanca feel to it. Tone was great in the lead role. Some interesting characters and a very cute and young Anne Baxter. 7/10

Copycat (1995) - This is a "fun" serial killer movie. A current serial killer follows the patterns of some of the best known serial killers of the 20th century. Weaver was very good. There were plot issues but it was fine by me. 7/10

The Blue Gardenia (1953) - A standard film noir with a fine cast. They could have done a lot more with this. It was a bit too light. Raymond Burr is great as the creepy sex deviant. 6.5/10

Habs won!!!

Sports are fine, but movies are better!

Facing the Giants 7/10
The F word 7/10
My neighbour Totoro 10/10

What I watched:
The Assistant (2019) 9/10
Reform School Girls (1986) 8/10
Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987) 5/10
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020) 9/10
Emma. (2020) 7/10
Maximum Risk (1996) 5/10
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) 8/10
Banana Split (2018) 7/10
Clara’s Ghost (2018) 8/10
The Girls on F Street (1966) 6/10
The Initiation (1984) 7/10
Candyman (1992) 8/10
Scoob! (2020) 6/10
Shanty Tramp (1967) 6/10
One Shocking Moment (1965) 5/10
Host (2020) 7/10
Choke (2020) 6/10

Cam 2018... 8/10 ...In Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei's paranoid horror thriller "Cam," an erotic webcam performer finds her followers stolen by a doppelganger who hijacks her channel, pushes the sexual envelope further, and otherwise seems determined to destroy her life. Call it identity theft of a possibly supernatural kind.
...One of the best horror/mysteries I've seen a long time. The main actress Madeline Brewer is excellent, and on the rise. I'm working my way through the Blumhouse productions movie list and Netflix listed this as one of their top 5.

Fantasy Island 2020 Silly and all over the place with plots, but I never got bored..7/10

Greetings Stonekeeper,
My entire family got tested Saturday at a rapid test clinic and everyone was negative. We went there because I couldn’t take the waiting so I know where your coming from.

My week:

Someone Behind the Door (1971)
This one is a VHS thrift store purchase that turned out to be a great find. Bronson is an amnesiac being taken advantage of by an evil doctor, played by Anthony Perkins, in this obscure drama. Nice to see Bronson in such an out of the norm character role.

Opera (1987)
The young star of “Lady Macbeth” is forced to watch the murders of other cast members. This is probably one of Argento’s better films behind Suspiria. Recommended for genre fans.

Moonshine County Express (1977)
This one is like an amped up Dukes of Hazzard episode where people actually get killed. The most enjoyable thing is probably the interesting cast: John Saxon, Maureen McCormick, William Conrad and Claudia Jennings. Only watch if you like twangy banjo music in every other scene.

Wake in Fright (1971)
Aussie film here about an outback teacher’s fall from grace when he’s stuck in a town full of degenerates. I absolutely loved this film and it’s probably Donald Pleasence’s best performance. Only downfall is the actual animal cruelty shown, and it’s sad because it could have been left out. Be careful who you get drunk with.

Savage Streets (1984)
Linda Blair seeks vengeance for the rape of her sister and the killing of her best friend. This one accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. Cult classic.

Molly's Game: 7/10
Facing the Giants: 7/10
The Lodge: 8/10
My Neighbor Totoro: 8/10

The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) - It was pretty good, not quite up to the standard of most of the other Studio Ghibli movies I've seen so far. (7/10)

Ponyo (2008) - Very good and imaginative. Definitely an enjoyable watch. (8/10)

Porco Rosso (1992) - Good story and interesting, there was one part at the end that brought it down for me. (7/10)

Gone with the Wind (1939) - Thought it was very good. Now officially the longest movie I've ever seen. Thought a lot of the characters were pretty interesting. (8/10)

Double Indemnity (1944) - I know this is popular, but it was a big disappointment to me. I honestly found it to be quite boring. (6/10)

In the Name of the Father (1993) - Hadn't heard of this movie until recently. It was really good. It gets more interesting as it goes on. (8/10)

hi there, sk.

i agree that the lodge is a bit wobbly, but i found more to enjoy in it than dislike. totoro is an all time great film in my books, a perfect movie.

my week:

born in flames (1983) 4 faux documentary that depicts the actions of lesbian feminists in an america with a socialist government. fascinating & annoying document, & instructive in the ways it shows that socialists really don't change their tunes. when i hear people, young people, banging their anti-capitalist drums these days, what's so clear to me is not their new, bold ideas, but how old and dreary and terribly tired their notions are.

there was a time, not that long ago, when it felt like we were in a new era, that a fight was won - that free trade & economic freedom were self-evident virtues every bit as important as personal freedom.

that was ephemeral, sadly, and we now have to fight the same fights all over again, because the same ideas, that we can control and regulate and restrict our way to prosperity and a better world, never ever die.

field ni**as (2015) 4 as an experimental doc, this is a triumph. one of the best i've ever seen in terms of taking materials and forming them into something interesting & hypnotic.

i have a frustration with it, and it's the frustration i have with so many of the dialogues we have around outcome disparities in all its forms now: when the director points his arrow at what he seems to think torments the people he studies, it feels to me grievously misdirected.

genius film, regardless.

dark horse (2011) 4 this is a bit low on my rankings of solondz films. probably at the bottom.

but it is still bitter, mean & brutally hilarious, and i love it.

hereditary (2018) 4.5 my third watch confirms that the first hour is so great, the most dark, twisted version of ordinary people you could imagine.

i still feel myself pushing back against the direction it takes right at that mid-point. but it's still full of great stuff, and i enjoy it more every time i watch it.

anonymous 616 (2018) 3 army vet gets strange anonymous messages while at a dinner party. pretty cool, weird, mean slasher/thriller. has its weak spots - the acting is wobbly, the ending is silly & there are a few moments of iffy cgi at the beginning and end that really were unnecessary - but overall it's a neat little film.

psycho 2 (1983) 3.5 mostly a very pleasant surprise. did everyone besides me know that this is actually quite good?

perkins is sad & sympathetic, tilly is annoyingly sexy, and the story works as an interesting mystery.

dude bro party massacre 3 (2015) 5 i love these dude bros.

variety (1983) 3 repressed young woman gets a job selling tickets at a seedy porno theatre.

did you know there is more bacteria in a single gram of human feces than there are people on the face of the planet?

anti matter (2016) 3.5 sexy young scientists meddle with things they don't understand and create a bit of a mess. pretty fun micro budget sci-fi. some of the acting is a little wobbly, and it definitely gets bogged down in some silly star trek science babble, but it's a neat, goofy, properly paced good time.

star trek 2: the wrath of khan (1982) 5 every line ricardo m has in this film is gold.

i'm 50 but i still get emotional at the end.

a few weeks ago, i declared my love for the first st film, and i believe i said it was my favourite one. i'm pulling that opinion back, and calling this the clearly superior film, and one of the best sci fi films ever made.

turkey shoot (1982) 3 i'd like to give this a 3.5, but every time i watch this i feel so disappointed that i don't get to watch jennifer torment rita. they lead us right up to that point, then cut away.

but it's good, fun ozploitation despite that. some boring bits, some fun silly action, cute girls.

frownland (2007) 4.5 maladjusted loner tries to eke out something close to a normal life.

at 12 minutes, the lead gave a woman a spatula to use as a mirror, which reminded me of how i used the side of my toaster as a mirror for about 14 months because i was too cheap to replace the one i broke in my washroom.

i gather there's a safdie connection somewhere in here. makes sense.

this one cut a little too close to the bone for me. it was like watching a slightly more normal, well-adjusted version of me and my life on screen. it wasn't pleasant, it didn't make me happy, but wow did it feel true to life.

Movies

-Leprechaun (1993)
Horror movie starring Jennifer Aniston. Well, I though it had the potential to be a decent black comedy, but it was neither funny nor suspenseful and gory enough. And worse, just boring.

-Troll (1986)
Supposedly Troll 2 had nothing to do with this movie, but I think they actually have a lot in common. It's almost just as bizar, although less entertaining. The best part was the movie within the movie: "Yes, your canary is a pod person from the planet Mars!"

TV Shows

-The Bold and the Beautiful - marathon of very old episodes

-The Golden Girls - marathon

-Fawlty Towers - "The Psychiatrist"

-Harper's Island - "Sigh"
Last episode. It was a decent slasher stretched out over 13 episodes. I thought the finale was very disappointing, though.

-Charmed - marathon

-666 Park Avenue - Pilot
Was looking for a horror series with not too many episodes. The first episode was okay, but I'm not liking any of the characters.