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What did you hot maniacs watch this week? (04/14-04/20)


My week:

The handmaid’s tale Season 1: I bought the first two seasons for cheap a few years ago and quite a few people told me I should be watching this show. Recently, my brother brought it up again so I decided it was time to give it a shot.
Episode 1: Alright but a bit boring. Hope it will pick up the pace. 6/10
Episode 2: Even slower and all that baby stuff didn’t pull me in. The highlight was a game of Scrabble. This show might not be for me… we’ll see. 5.5/10
Episode 3: Better but still, not very exciting or enthralling. They should’ve start with something like this. At least I would’ve been hooked since the start. 6.5/10
Episode 4: Maybe it’s because this is the first episode I watched at night or maybe because I was plenty high but this one was mesmerizing and beautiful. Agin, slow, not much happened but it was very good nonetheless. The style reminds me of Korean director’s Kim Ji-Woon. There was another game of scrabble too. 8/10

Madman (Friday night special): The killer’s momentum is a bit slow and there is a lot of padding (like scenes of legs of victims being dragged away on the ground, scenes of people looking through trees and bushes or slowly walking about the house or outside trying to find something or hide from someone) but truth is, there is more good than bad to this movie. First off, I quickly realized by switching from Tubi to Amazon prime that the movie was not crappy. It was the transfer on Tubi that sucked all the life out of it. On prime I was able to appreciate it with better picture and sound quality. The actors were fun to watch getting killed. I think there were a few unintentional funny moments, which is always appreciated. Not a bad early 80’s slasher. Not a bad one at all. My rating: 6/10

Maniac (Friday late night special): As weird as it sounds, this movie fitted the bill perfectly for a MCMC Friday night pick. I think everyone enjoyed it in some level and me, maybe a little more than most. It was very brutal and dark yet stylish and cool. My rating: 7/10

Under the silver lake (Saturday night pick): I watched 1h30 of this film on Saturday night and had to finish it the next they and that was not a good idea because this entire movie unravels and accomplish itself in the final act. So the first night I just felt like this was leading nowhere and it was just mental madness operating but they somehow managed to have this huge mess of a mystery make some sense in the end and let me tell you, it was done with epic panache! It’s just sad that they cast an actor I don’t like for the role. I would’ve preferred someone like Patterson or Dehaann or even switch with Topher Grace. But anyway, the last 45 was very good. My rating: 7/10

Jurassic city (Friday late night special): I’m really not a fan of this kind of movie. To me it’s just grown-up men dressed as soldiers shooting blanks at CGI creatures and lots of CGI gore. I’m more more of an old school cheap practical effects kind of guy. That being said, I applaud how they worked hard to make something decent out of this crap. I would say this is a polished turd of a b-movie. I preferred this over Sharknado. It could have had a tiny bit more of a sense of humour though. My rating: 4.5/10

10: Masterpiece/Favourite

9.5: Near Masterpiece 

9: Absolutely Outstanding 

8.5: Most Excellent
8: Great

7.5: Very good

7: Good

6.5: Pretty good

6: Above average

5.5: Average

5: Below average

4.5: Pretty bad

4: Bad

3: Very bad

2: Pure rubbish

1: Dreadfully Abysmal and insulting

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Yes, I am a hot maniac. Or maybe just a maniac. Or a hot mess.

Madman 6/10
I haven't seen the remake of Maniac, but I liked the original.
Under the silver lake 8/10
Jurassic City 6/10

I watched:

Boarding House Blues 1948 5/10 This wasn't very funny or entertaining, but it is a somewhat interesting time capsule.

The Inspector General 1949 6/10 Danny Kaye is wonderful here, but the film itself is only moderately amusing.

The Retirement Plan 2023 7/10 This was entertaining and fun.

Mom and Dad 2017 7/10 This was enjoyable crazy fun, for the most part. The ending felt too abrupt and wasn't satisfying though.

Roula 1995 7/10 I thought this was an interesting and effective drama. The characters were complex and well written and the film has some powerful and memorable moments.

Between Worlds 2018 7/10 I enjoyed Cage's crazy performance and the movie is a lot of fun.

Pay the Ghost 2015 6/10 This was alright overall. I thought Cage was good in it and there are some effective moments.

Primal 2019 5/10 This should have been more fun. Needed more Cage and more of the animals.

Immaculate 2024 7/10 This takes a little too long to get going, but it really picks up steam towards the end. Sydney Sweeney is effective here and there are some good moments in the latter half of the film.

A Woman Like Eve 1979 7/10 I thought this was an interesting and well acted film.

Trespass 2011 5/10 This felt longer than it is and is not as entertaining as it should be. Cage has some fun moments though.

Late Night with the Devil 2023 7/10 An interesting concept and there are some effective moments. It's nifty and mostly fun, but never quite reaches greatness. I wouldn't consider it one of the best recent horror films, but it is an enjoyable and satisfying watch.

continued...

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Abigail 2024 8/10 Abigail is wildly entertaining and bloody good fun. Alisha Weir is fantastic in a delightfully demented and brilliant performance. The rest of the cast are good too. Abigail is my pick for the best horror film of the year so far.

Abigail 2019 4/10 The writing in this isn't very good and the acting isn't convincing or effective. It's also too long and not very entertaining. I did like some of the visuals and there are a couple sort of cool moments.

Under the Silver Lake 2018 8/10 (rewatch) I like that the film just goes for it. It's ambitious, original, and weird. I also dig Andrew Garfield's performance. Not sure if it all works or what it all means, but it's an interesting journey.

Jurassic City 2015 6/10 Decent performances and I liked the dinosaurs. Silly dino fun.

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Mom and dad: It was weird. A simple but good idea is under-developed with sublevel characters and a 5 pages thin screenplay. It had its moments, the editing is fast and furious and the weirdness of it all made it interesting, to say the least. My rating: 5.5/10

Trespass: Yes. Disapointing it is. Its moments it had. 5/10

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1. The First Omen 3/5
2. Monkey Man 3/5
3. Chasers 4/5
4. Dredd 3.5/5
5. Mad Max 4/5
6. Demolition Man 4/5
7. The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug 2/5
8. The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies 2.5/5
9. Madman 3/5
10. Maniac (2012) 3/5
11. The Greasy Strangler 4/5
12. Jurrasic City. 2/5

I'll be posting my recap later tonight.

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Listen to the most recent episode of my podcast: Movie Club Recap APR 19-20 https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joseph-papp/episodes/Movie-Club-Recap-APR-19-20-e2imrrf

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Hearing you describe the movie Maniac was the best. Good show, good show. 😁

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Only 3.5 out of 5 for Dredd?!

Five days in an iso-cube for you!

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Sorry. It's good enough but the Stallone Dredd matched the earlier comics better aside from the helmet.

I came to that conclusion after reading the first 15 years of the comic.

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Six days now.

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In that case, I'll start an all out block war between Andy Roony and Sopia Lauren. Both are suffering infrastructure issues and gang activity. You'll need another judge.

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Judge Wapner has my back.

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Dredd: 7
Mad Max: I know, I know, I need to watch this one.
Demolition man: 7.5/10
The desolation of Smaug: 7/10
Battle of the five armies: 7/10

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Paint dry.


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Before I Go To Sleep (2014) - 7.5 out of 10, entertaining, go into it without any info, as its easy to spoil

V/H/S 94 (2021) - 7 out of 10, mixed bag but still liked it

SiREN (2016) - 7.5 out of 10, nice VHS spin off

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I'll see if I an catch those on my radar.

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Binge watching ‘Dark’ (Netflix) Season 1 and 2 - Excellent, intricate, intelligent (no spoilers) 8/10.

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I'll duely note your recommandation.

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I watched all three Equalizer movies starring Denzel Washington. Denzel is a badass in these movies, he wrecks anyone that gets in his way!

I’m also watching Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force. There are three seasons of it on TUBI. The U.S. Marshalls are really tough, they track down very terrible criminals. If the Marshalls are after you you are done for!

Shogun on HULU is very good, I’m just a few episodes in but it has the feel of the Clavell novel…Everyone, even the lords, are trapped by fate and tradition. Feudal era Japan was a violent, crazy place.

I like to watch a few eps. of Bob Ross each week as well. Sometimes all the shootings, stabbings and punchings can be sort of a downer. Ross is always upbeat with his happy little trees and rustic barns😃

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The first Equalizer was OK, the second one was better, haven't seen the third one yet.

Can't wait to start Shogun but Im on Handmaid's tale right now.

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More like luke-warm weirdo, but I'll take hot maniac, sure.

Caught up with all recent episodes of Shogun, pretty big cliff-hanger in the last episode I watched 8/10

Binged all 3 seasons of Alex Rider, season 3 was the weakest, but I'm still sad it's cancelled 7/10

Watched new series Big Mood, I do recommend it but one of the main leads really frustrated me, probably as the writers intended 6.5/10

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Thanks for the recommendations!

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Dawn of the Dead (1978) 5.85/10 I'd never seen it and an art house theater was going to play it. Too much trouble and not worth the cost. So I found someone's HD "best version available" on YouTube. With Xfinity's APP section, I could play it on an HD TV. It was really sharp. But it was also the extended cut, adding about 30 minutes. It dragged too much.

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I've seen the remake but don't remember seeing this one.

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I've seen the remake too, which is a much higher quality and a better story, also set at a mall. Purists would disagree and love the 1978 original. It was almost impossible to find it. It was supposed to be a social commentary about materialism. Film Critic Roger Ebert recommended it.

I'd heard of it for years and found a very blurry copy on YouTube a year ago. I never watched it and the link was deleted. Then I found the sharp HD copy noted above.

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I hear ya

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