What movies have you seen recently?

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Night Tide.

Not particularly good though occasionally haunting 1961 film where a young sailor falls in love with a local woman who poses as a mermaid in a local carnival - - and might actually be one. A couple unintentional homoerotic laughs, and Dennis Hopper looking too young to live.

Bobby

What can one say about this? A film from 2006 which is centred on the visit of Senator Robert Kennedy (aka RFK) to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in June 1968, where he was assassinated shortly after making a speech to celebrate his victory in the California Democratic Primary election. Kennedy only appears in archive footage clips, and the whole thing revolves around the personal dramas of various people in the hotel at that time.

Look at the IMDB reveiews, and they're highly polarized between people who regard this as a masterpiece and give it nine or ten out of ten, and those who see little point in it and award one or two out of ten. Sadly, I'd tend to go with the latter group - most of the personnel just aren't that interesting at all, and after almost two hours of watching this I was still struggling to distinguish Helen Hunt's character from that of Sharon Stone, for example. Lindsey Lohan likewise plays a nondescript individual in an unmemorable personal drama. Interesting to see Harry Belafonte here however, though once again his role wasn't particularly striking. The only scenes that made much of an impact were those involving heated arguments between the staff in the hotel kitchen, which is of course where Kennedy was fatally shot.

Nonetheless, the movie does have very decent production values, and it's quite an ambitious and carefully constructed artistic edifice, so I'd probably give it closer to four or five out of ten.

the thing [1982 john carpenter version]. brutal. deeply flawed ending.

Scars Of Dracula

Numerically this film, made in 1970, comes about halfway through the Hammer Dracula series starring Christopher Lee, but towards the end of the cycle from a chronological angle. Features a very young-looking Dennis Waterman, and the 'Hammer Glamour' content is provided by Anouska Hempel and Jenny Hanley, though interestingly neither of them strip off, which was generally a frequent requirement for attractive young actresses in these sorts of films after the 1969 relaxation of the censorship laws.

It's very gory at some points, most of the carnage being inflicted in the nearby countryside and villages by a rather strange looking oversized vampire bat, rather than the Count, who is confined to his castle for the duration of the movie. His eventual destruction is pretty spectacular, though achieved by somewhat unlikely means.

The DVD came with a commentary by the director and Christopher Lee, who predictably complains about the scriptwriters, and in particular their failure to stay faithful to Bram Stoker's novel. You have to wonder why Lee went on playing Dracula in these Hammer films for 16 years if he was so unhappy with them.

Old School

El Mariachi

Just finishing watching Lovecraft Country.....Open invitation to one and all to watch a masterpiece of art

Elf

Vegas Vacation