PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Awful Nice 2013

I found Awful Nice on clearance for 2 bucks and took a chance. It's a 2014 comedy directed by Todd Sklar, he co-wrote the script with Alex Rennie. The only actor in it I recognized was Christopher Meloni.

It's about two brothers, they travel to their father's funeral, where they find they've inherited the family vacation house in Branson Missouri. They go there only to find it is a mess, they decide to clean it up and sell it. One brother is level headed and a bit dull, the other is a stupid piece of shit. They annoy each other when they meet up but by the end of the movie they aren't hitting each other so much.

The vacation house has to be sacrificed to the purifying flames of cliche for this advancement in their character. Even though the house is destroyed they come out better than they thought they would.I liked some of the supporting characters better than the nicer brother. That other brother, piece of shit. Glad I never had a brother like that! 

I wished it were better, it's more predictable than funny, and that annoying brother, he can fuck off. He's so annoying I just wanted to slap the shit out of him. Since he's made of shit, that would be a lot of slapping. I got tired just imagining that but I still had the strength to get to the end of the film. I'll keep it but the chances are good that I won't bother watching it again.

Jack Dee - Live At The London Palladium 1994

Jack Dee - Live At The London Palladium is Jack's first live stand up video, it came out in 1994 on VHS. The DVD come out in 2005 and as you'd expect the image is a bit fuzzy. I got it a 5 DVD reissue set. There are 3 other live shows and The Best Of Jack Dee's Happy Hour. The stand up show on LATLP is 69 minutes including the opening and closing credits. Jack does observational humor type stuff, his hook is he complains a lot. Sometimes he's funny as he rambles on and I laughed. Not as much as I did when I watched Jack's 2013 show So What: Live. He hasn't done a DVD since 2013, I wonder if he's got something going over at Netflix. Several comedians have done live shows that are exclusive to Netflix. So far none of them have come out on DVD. Jimmy Carr has one or two, James Acaster has a set of four performances of the same show. Everyone seems to poo-poo the DVD but I'd rather have that than the streaming. Oh well, always behind the curve.

Half-Caste 2004

Half-Caste is a 2004 South African horror picture that's part of a 2 disc 3 film DVD set. It's well below average. I was fast forwarding pretty much after it started. Sebastian Apodaca, wrote, directed and stars. It's about half human half leopard people, they kill to survive, chomping up the locals. Something like a werewolf. Sebastian plays a documentary maker who goes looking for the legend of the Half-caste and finds out, yadda, yadda, yadda. Sadly the movie didn't pull me into the story and I can't think of anything good to say about it. Someone on the IMDb said "Avoid at all costs." Good advice.

Hell's Gate 2004

Hell's Gate is a 2004 Canadian film that's also known as 11:11. Michael Barfaro is the director, he wrote the story with Pat Bermel and Evan Taylor, then wrote the screenplay with Pat Bermel.

It stars Laura Mennell, she turns up in a lot of SF and Horror TV shows and a few movies. The most recent thing I've seen her in was the 2014 season of Haven. In this movie she's the grown up daughter of a woman who was murdered, 11:11 is written in blood beside her mother's body.

There's a supernatural thing going on but the talking and poor acting get in the way of the story. I found my mind wandering more than normal. I started fast forwarding through the long moody scenes where nothing happens. Below average, debatable how much. Another movie that was in a 2 DVD set with 3 horror films.

Science Fiction Sunday 546

King Of The Castle is a 1997 British TV children series that's really more fantasy than science fiction. No matter. It's written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin who some might remember from their days on Doctor Who. Bob is also the writer of some Wallace and Gromit films. It's directed by Terry Harding, Philip Hammond and Leonard White. There are 7 color episodes, the 3rd episode sadly sourced from a VHS tape recorded off of the regular transmission. Even so it doesn't look that bad.

The show's about a young lad named Roland, his family goes to live in that big tower block on the DVD cover. It's got a broken lift, though the place is brand new, and there's a gang of young thugs on the stairwell.

When Roland is chased by the gang he falls down the lift and wakes up in a weird version of his world. It's very Alice In Wonderland like. The show cuts back and forth between Roland's fantasy world and the real world where the adults are trying to figure how to get Roland out of the shaft.

I didn't recognize anyone in the cast but Fulton MacKay and only because I had seen him in Local Hero back in 1983. I've seen him a few other programs and movies since.

Overall I enjoyed the story and got through to the end. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, British TV fans maybe, it's a bit pokey. The DVD is only available from the UK and a Region 2 player is needed.

The Demon Within 2000

The Demon Within is a 2000 film that's also known as The Sculptress. Either way it's dull and below average stuff written and directed by Ian Merrick. Katie Wright is the sculptress and Jeff Fahey is a creepy guy. Katie left the biz after about 10 years and some small number of parts. Neither are awful in their role, they just didn't have that great a script. I didn't care much about either. I got the film as a three film set and it's not off to a good start. Lucky it was cheap.

Forgotten Noir Volume 13

The 13th and last volume of Forgotten Noir goes back to being a double feature. They dropped the and Crime addition of the previous three volumes but snuck in a Plus Mystery-Drama. This volume is more interesting to me, there's an uncut British version of Eye Witness. I have a fondness for Robert Montgomery. All in all I've been happy with the series, even though some of the films aren't noir at all.

Breakdown 1952 Robert Abel adapted his own play The Samson Smasher for the screenplay, Edmond Angelo is the director. It's Edmond's only movie, he's normally a stage director, his wife is Ann Richards.

It's set in the world of boxing, a guy gets let out of prison early so he can return to the ring. William Bishop plays the boxer, Ann plays the romantic interest, Sheldon Leonard plays the fight promoter who gets a politician to get William out of prison early.

It's heavy on the melodrama but still fairly interesting. There's some decent fights and some real sad shit going down because of past fights. It's not a job I ever considered, less body damage isn't something to work toward, better to watch it in a movie. Worth a look but it will be lower down the list to re-watch down the road.

Eye Witness 1950 Robert Montgomery stars and directs in the film that was called Your Witness in the UK. Hugo Butler, Ian McLellan Hunter, William Douglas-Home and Joan Harrison worked on the screenplay. It would be the last movie that Robert would act in, he'd only direct one more film, The Gallant Hours in 1960. Robert is a lawyer in US, he travels to England to help an old Army buddy who's on trial for murder. He investigates the murder and figures out there's someone else who was at the scene. The locals aren't very helpful and there's all the differences in the court systems. A low speed thriller with an entertaining script. I'd watch it over.

Friday Night Movies 746

Incredibles 2 came out in 2018 but I hadn't seen it. I hadn't even picked up a copy. It's written and directed by Brad Byrd. I enjoyed it for the most part, thought it was a bit too long and I didn't like the annoying son. We all like the scene with the racoon.

I didn't care much for Space Raiders, a 1983 Roger Corman production when I first saw it in 2004. The Blu-ray looks much better than the copy I saw on YouTube but it's still not much of a movie. It's written and directed by Howard R Cohen who's also responsible for writing some crap like Deathstalker, Stryker, Vampire Hookers and The Care Bears Family. He directed 5 other films but I can't say I've watched any of the others. I won't be needing a copy of Space Raiders.

Forgotten Noir Volume 12

Treasure Of Monte Cristo 1949 A sailor comes home to get charged with murder. He was set up in an elaborate plot to steal treasure from him. A nice tight interesting story from Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen with William Berke doing a great job as the director. Most of the action is filmed in and around San Francisco.

Roaring City 1951 Hugh Beaumont and Edward Brophy in another movie that was shot to be broken into a TV series. Hugh gets involved with the death of a boxer in the first story. Hugh makes wise cracks and gets knocked. He does figure it all out and save his bacon. In the second story Hugh pretends to be someone's husband and he gets knocked out. William Berke is the director and the script was written by Julian Harmon and Victor West. This too was filmed on location in San Francisco. It was about as good as the other two films in the series, nothing special but watchable.

Sky Liner 1949 An espionage story set mostly on a plane. A government agent is trailing a suspect when a man is murdered on the transcontinental plane. He has to figure out who did it and capture the spy. It's another directed by William Berke. This time the screenplay is by Maurice Tombragel. Worth a look. This is one of the better than average discs in the series.

Age Of Consent 1969

Age Of Consent is a 1969 drama that I found kind of dull. It's based on a Norman Lindsay novel, the screenplay is by Peter Yeldham, Michael Powell is the director. James Mason and Helen Mirren star in this drama.

He's a painter and she's a beach girl on an island in the Great Barrier Reef. Nice scenery but way too much talking and whinging. I doubt I'd get around to this one again.