What movies have you seen recently?

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In order of my favorites I have watched in the past few months, from 5 to 1

5. Evil Dead 2013 Remake
4. Jack Reacher
3. Parker
4. A Good Day To Die Hard
5. Jack The Giant Slayer

I've recently seen Mockingbird Don't Sing on Youtube - it's a 2001 indie film about the events following the discovery of "Genie," a teenage girl who was kept isolated from the world until 1971. The film follows the PBS documentary "Secret of the Wild Child" (also on Youtube) very closely, I found. Genie's story has been an interest of mine since I watched the PBS documentary when I was a freshman in high school.

Bride of the Gorilla (1951)

Ten years after writing The Wolf Man, Curt Siodmak was writing and directing Bride of the Gorilla, which is more or less a remake. The big difference, other than the fact that a curse transforms a man into a gorilla this time instead of a werewolf, is that it's really all in his head. Lon Chaney Jr shows up again, but as a cop instead of the cursed man; Raymond Burr gets the curse this time. Chaney can't act worth a damn, but Burr is good enough to make it work.

Miller's Crossing

Gangster movie by the Coen brothers. A Prohibition-era crime boss and his advisor both fall for the same woman while dealing with warring mobs.

Excellent movie. Perfectly captures the tone of the Dashiell Hammett novels on which it's based.

I read somewhere that the Coens wanted to film Hammett's Red Harvest but couldn't get the rights, so they wrote an "original" screenplay that combined Red Harvest with The Glass Key. Lawsuit avoided.

Watched My Fair Lady (1964) two days ago.

And while I normally despise any current movie that even remotely hints towards romance, I still find the classics remarkable amusing.

And Dogma (1999) last night, but I still have to watch half of it because I got distracted again, though I can easily do without since I remember most of it from the last time I watched it anyway.

Pacific Rim

I liked the movie a lot. The fights were awesome and it wasn't just a stupid action movie like Transformers was. Also, my favourite characters were the two scientists.

Anyone who likes The Hitcher (1986) should check out this earlier movie, which is basically the same story done three decades earlier. It's very well-directed (by Ida Lupino, one of the few women to have directed a classic film noir) but it's William Talman's performance as the psychotic hitcher who really makes the movie. Check out his creepy paralyzed right eye, which stays open while he's sleeping. The only disappointing thing about the film is the rather anticlimactic ending. Other than that, I love it. It's in the public domain, so you can watch it for free on YouTube or download it at the Internet Archive.

I loved the original The Hitcher, and I think this would be right up my alley!

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

They're not quite the same, but they're similar enough in plot, tone, and quality that I can't imagine someone enjoying one but not the other. And since it's in the public domain, you don't have to expend any time, money, or energy to see it. I highly recommend checking it out in the links I posted if you haven't already.

I've actually been going through a lot of public domain stuff recently, and I've been surprised at how many lost gems there are, hiding amongst the crap. I'll be posting more about them in this topic as I watch them, with download links to YouTube and the Internet Archive if I feel it's a good enough watch.

Despite Pacific Rim not making a lot of money at the box office, it is getting a sequel.

It's going to be Dredd all over again. Dredd bombed in theatres but absolutely exploded on DVD and Blu-ray. I can guarantee the same will happen with Pacific Rim.

Now if we can just get a Dredd sequel going. Karl Urban and Alex Garland have been talking about trying to get it made, and petitions are doing the rounds online.

Watched Hellboy yesterday.

The Rock

Michael Bay movie where a rogue U.S. Marine General and his men take over Alcatraz, hold tourists hostage, and threaten San Francisco Bay with biological weapons.

That is a great movie, IMO Hellboy 2 is much better.

Let's cross our fingers that GDT films either At The Mountains Of Madness or a remake of Slaughterhouse 5 before he films Pacific Rim 2 or Hellboy 3.

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I would be more than happy to see his rendering of either Lovecraft or Vonnegut to the big screen.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer