R.I.P.D. - This was actually slightly better than I expected, but only because I expected to turn it off before it ended. Very wanna-be Men In Black, but without the same level of wit and charm. I do enjoy watching Jeff Bridges work, especially when he teeters on the edge of the deep end, so I wouldn't say it was as bad as the reviews made it out to be. But, it
was extremely bland and in some ways, that's almost as bad as being terrible. Maybe. Sort of. I don't know.
Manhunter - I'd never seen this, despite it being a Michael Mann film. And it being an adaptation of Red Dragon. The movie is incredibly dated-looking. It's so 80's I half expected Culture Club to make a cameo, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it quite a bit. It's unfortunate that Brian Cox, who plays Hannibal here, doesn't get much screen time. His version of Hannibal is very different from Anthony Hopkins' and I think it would have been interesting to see what he would have done with the character because, man, I ****ing love Brian Cox. It's an effective, moody little movie and if you can handle the synth soundtrack and the clothes and hair, you might be surprised. It's no Silence Of The Lambs, but I think I like it better than Red Dragon.
Kick Ass 2 - Had it's moments, but I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did the first one. Which is also how I felt about the comics.
The Naked Kiss - Dafuq?! This movie is weird. It straddles the line between serious and parody so closely that I honestly have no idea which one it was meant to be. The opening scene is so bizarre that I was
sure I was going to be watching an intentionally weird/bad movie, but the further I got, the less sure I was. It doesn't play it up the way you would think an intentionally bad movie was, but it never really feels like it's taking itself overly seriously, either. So I don't know.
I would say I enjoyed it, but I don't know how much. It's the kind of thing that I would love to show if I owned a theater just to gauge/watch people's reactions. I don't really do movie parties anymore, but if I did I would totally buy this for that. But just for watching it myself? Maybe if it's on TCM again.
Stray Cat Rock: Beat '71 - Finally. The only Stray Cat Rock film I'd yet to see because I couldn't find a bootleg with english subs. There's a Blu-ray set coming out in the UK soon, but when I saw this on eBay I snapped it the **** up. I don't care if it's a burned DVD that I'm paying $10 for. Gimme. The Stray Cat Rock series is a series of 5 movies that have nothing in common, other than they are all about gangs of youths in the early 70's in Japan and they all have Meiko Kaji and Tatsuya Fuji in them. Some of them, like Sex Hunter, are awesome. Others, like this one, are less so.
I'm pretty sure the biggest reason the previous 4 films have made it out as bootlegs with english subs is because of Meiko Kaji's post-Kill Bill popularity, so it stands to reason, then, that bootleggers might not be as interested in this one because she's barely ****ing in it. And because all the cool leather jacket motorcycle **** you see in the press materials is nowhere to be found in the actual film. Sigh.
What you get, then, is a fairly run-of-the-mill youth gang story, the kind that Japanese directors made a whole bunch of during this period. And it isn't terrible, but it's outshined by many of its contemporaries. Recommended only for obsessive completists. So: me.
A Bridge Too Far - 'Dat cast!! Pretty solid movie about a losing effort in WWII that suffers some from having too many characters that are hard to keep track of, even if most of them have recognizable faces. This is the kind of thing that would make a good mini-series nowadays. I liked it, but didn't love it.
Red 2 - I want to say this one wasn't as good as the first one, but I can't think of any reasons why, really. There's not much difference. It's fun, empty entertainment. I'd definitely put it above something like RIPD, but not too far.
Possession - Oh, you guys, the new limited edition Blu of this movie is soooooooooooooo goooooooooooood. Worth every penny. I hadn't seen it in a long time and was very happy that it was just as good as I remembered it being. So crazy and ****ed up and weird. So good.
Enemy Of The State - Hadn't seen this before. Pretty enjoyable. Interesting to see just how prescient it was. Would have liked to have had more Gene Hackman, but it was fun.
To be continued again...