October movies

[Jeff Stehman]

My wife decided we needed to do all our monster movies this month. We started the month with the first two episodes of Angel. Then Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, and Van Helsing. I suggested we watch Much Ado About Nothing today, going for the surreal with a Kate Beckinsale four-in-a-row thing, but that apparently didn't fit into her theme, so we watched Dog Soldiers tonight. Great movie.

We're going to close out the month with Mummy and Mummy Returns, the first one arguably being the best of our October movies. There's also four Harry Potters, three Blades, two Chinese Ghost Stories (the first two), and a patridge^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^HResident evil (the first one), Sixth Sense, Sleeping Hollow, and Pirates of the Caribbean. There might be one or two others in there. We'll use Angel for filler, but I do want to watch the voiceless episode of Buffy--that one is the most unnerving of them all.

We do have a few thrillers that can give you a jump, but I'm told we're going for monsters, not horror. Aliens is apparently borderline, and Shrek is out.

--Jeff Stehman

[von Darkmoor]

Interesting.

Angel, good.
Underworld, good; Underworld: Evolution, okay.
Van Helsing, not so good.
Much Ado About Nothing, not so good.
Dog Soldiers, did not see.
Mummy, good fun; Mummy Returns, good.
4 Harry Potters, all okay or better.
3 Blades, first 2 good, last one, not so good.
2 Chinese Ghost Stories, haven't seen.
Resident Evil, haven't seen.
Sixth Sense, very good.
Sleeping Hollow, good fun.
Pirates of teh Caribbean, good fun.
Buffy, never got into.

Will you be reviewing any of these for SFWatcher?

-------------------------------------------------------
J Waltz
~ Read My Reviews @ www.vondarkmoor.blogspot.com
~ Take The Challenge @ www.finepoll.com/display-poll~poll~124.htm

[Suuran Songforge]

I'm a Van Helsing fan myself.

Plot, coherence, rationality, deep characterization? Who cares? It's just so darn...COOL!!!

Sean T. M. Stiennon (AKA Suuran Songforge)

Check out my author page at www.sfreader.com/authors/seanstiennon

[davidolson22]

Your wife sounds like a goofy but fun woman.

read free fiction and poetry at http://www.geocities.com/davidolson22/index.html

Part dark, part light. And gooey in the middle.

[ChristopherS]

Monster movies. Might want to try Tremors (a personal favorite), Deep Rising (a guilty pleasure), The Relic, and The Thing (1982).

Chris
www.zumayapublications.com
Blog: http://norman1955.blogspot.com/

[Kane]

Dog Soldiers is an excellent film! Anyone here who has not seen it needs to get out there and either buy or rent it. NOW!


A few films that I would reccomend;


The Horror of Dracula


The Countess Dracula


Hellraise


The Curse of Frankenstein


Ginger Snaps


Wolf





You say God's spark has kindled my eye,
As the sun-rise reddens the east;
Into your beards I roar the lie-
'Tis the gleam of the stalking beast.
Robert E. Howard

[Frank]

Underworld and Van Helsing were fun the first time around but I don't think I'd watch either of them a second time. My biggest complaint in both cases was Kate's constant frowning. If you have an actress as beautiful as Kate make damn sure she smiles in as many scenes as possible. The angry look on her face throughout both movies really got on my nerves.

[Jeff Stehman]

Howard von Darkmoor said...
Will you be reviewing any of these for SFWatcher?

No, but I can give you my rundown on them.

Angel, like Buffy, is hit-n-miss from episode to episode, but overall good. The absolute hightlight for me, however, is the transformation that Wesley goes through. He goes from buffoon to very hard and very dark. (On several occasions I have sat down with all the DVDs and just skipped through the scenes that were important to his character.) Neither series is as good as the short-lived Firefly, both for the mix of humor and tension and for the wow moments, but they're definitely classic Joss Whedon material.

Underworld is good fun. I particularly like the way they maintain the usual Euro-trash atmosphere and sneer at it at the same time. Underworld: Evolution is not as good, but I like the character of Alexander Corvinus. More importantly, I love Michael in monster mode. He's not afraid of anything and he kills in the most matter-of-fact ways that it often makes me laugh. The bodycount is absurd, which makes each step of the plot predictable.

Van Helseng is good fun, in large part due to Carl (David Wenham), who is very, very funny. It's also a very good looking movie, although frequently silly. I think Hugh Jackman was the wrong choice for the lead role.

Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite Shakespeare adaptation on the big screen. Brilliantly done, but it doesn't have a place in this list.

Dog Soldiers is a soldier movie that has werewolves, not a werewolf movie that has soldiers. Very well done, with Sean Pertwee's 'I'm a professional soldier' speech a highlight of the movie for me. Also, pretty much any scene with Spoon is a lot of fun. ('We need a decoy. Something fast and loud.' [all turn to Spoon, who wasn't listening] 'What? You what?')

As I said, Mummy will probably be the highlight of our October movies. There's not much criticism I can offer on this one. Mummy Returns is not as good, but has it's moments (none of which are ripoffs of the first movie, the typical point of failure in most sequels).

The four Harry Potter movies are, well, Harry Potter movies. There's a lot wrong with them, but if you've enjoyed the books, you'll probably enjoy the movies. If you haven't read the books, there's not enough in the movies to let you know what's going on. In my opinion, the best thing going for the movies is absolutely brilliant casting.

The first Blade is very good. The second is, fortunately, different and good. The third is weak: Snipes obviously wasn't interested and the vampires had degenerated to the point of being comical. Drake, the bogyman for the movie, wasn't bad, but the one and only true highlight of the movie is Ryan Reynolds. Most of his dialogue is very funny.

Chinese Ghost Story. Hmm. If you like the sort of thing that these are, you'll like these. The special effects are on par with old Dr Who episodes--the monster in the first movie is usually a giant tongue. What makes them special is Leslie Cheung, who was a brilliant actor, could deliver on the humor when it's called for (which is often), but also deliver on the tender moments without making them seem hokey, despite the setting. In the first movie, there is a scene in which he destroys several animated skeletons trying to kill him without ever realizing they're there. Very funny. In the second there is a scene in which a Hold Person spell goes wrong. It leaves me struggling to breath. All in all, the first movie is very good (again, if you're into that sort of thing). The second movie is okay, but the ending is long and bad. There is a third movie, but everything I've read says don't bother. Leslie Cheung is not in it.

Resident Evil is glossy slick. Not much more to say than that, other than they did take a satisfyingly long time to reveal the zombies to the heroes. When you're done watching the movie, listen to the commentar; Jovovich and Rodriguez steal the show, and this is the only movie where listening to the commentary tipped my hand as to whether or not to buy it.

Sixth Sense. I'm a fan of every movie Shyamalan has made since this one, but it is still his best. It's one of those that must be watched twice and can be enjoyed both times. (Of course, there's nothing wrong with a few dozen more watchings.) A very well-told story, and Haley Joel Osment wows. (Very tough competition for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award that year, but he deserved the nomination.)

Speaking of Shyamalan, The Village is another movie we will be watching this month. I like that the monsters are in the first half of the movie--and offer up a very tense scene, too--but what impresses me in this one is the acting, and Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix shine.

Sleepy Hollow. Come on, Johnny Depp as a comical detective, Tim Burton doing what Tim Burton does, Christopher Walken as the monster. This movie's just plain fun.

Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp as a comical pirate, and several other solid actors turning in good performances. This movie is also great fun, and it has a solid plot.

As you can see, most of the monster movies we're watching this month fall into the 'good fun' catagory. We don't do much in the way of horror.

One movie we don't own that, at least this month, I wish we did: Shaun of the Dead.

--Jeff Stehman

[carnifexpress]

Shaun of the Dead was another fun, goofy horror movie... or, more appropriately, a comedy with horror. I watched it a couple of times late at night, and I like most zombie movies for what they are... cliche' zombie movies.

Armand Rosamilia

Visit Carnifex Press for more information!

http://www.CarnifexPress.net

Freehold short stories:
"Like A Thief In The Night" http://gryphonwood.blogspot.com/2006...d_archive.html
"Dew Scented" Stalking Shadows anthology


The Freehold site is now up!
http://www.angelfire.com/indie/freehold

[Jeff Stehman]

carnifexpress said...
a comedy with horror.

That reminds me of a great movie for this month: The Comedy of Terrors. Vincent Price is an undertaker who starts to, shall we say, encourage his customers. Delightful.

--Jeff Stehman

[Frank]

Shawn of the Dead, as an answer to 30 Days, is just so bloody brilliant!

[ScrewMoonshine]

I know it's supposed to be a comedy(and only rated 'PG' at that), but 'The Burbs' absolutely terrified me when I saw it as a kid. Big time trouble sleeping for a week. You might add that one to the list for filler...

Robert Orme

Out now:
'Such Dreams' in Amazing Journeys Magazine #12
'On the Tree Top' in Ultraverse vol.3 #5 (<u>www.ultraverse.us</u>)

[Jeff Stehman]

This evening's movie was Army of Darkness. Ah, B movie goodness. However, we watched the director's cut, and for the most part I prefer the theatrical version.

--Jeff Stehman

[von Darkmoor]

Hey, I'm getting together with some folks to watch Army this Saturday - I'm smiling already!

-------------------------------------------------------
J Waltz
~ Read My Reviews @ www.vondarkmoor.blogspot.com
~ Take The Challenge @ www.finepoll.com/display-poll.asp?poll=124

[erazmus]

I have to say that, while the episode to episode quality varied widely, Buffey the Vampire Slayer did have some of the finest television I've ever watched, usually one or two episodes every season were just stunning. My personal favorites are 'Hush' (the silent episode), 'The Body' (where her Mom dies), 'Once More, With Feeling' (the musical episode), 'Talkng with Dead People' (season seven), and most of the season finales. Angle has some good ones but the show sticks with its arc more and has less standout solo episodes, though the one where Angle is turned into a puppet (Smile Time) and 'The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco' (both from season five) are personal favorites.
But any episode of Firefly is on my best of television list.
The biggest deal for me this month was the release of Gojirah on DVD. A much better, very different movie than the americanized version (Godzilla).
Mike

Michael D. Turner
'Psyched Up' in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
'Dutchman Rescue'in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm

'An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern' in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises

[Jeff Stehman]

erazmus said...
'Once More, With Feeling' (the musical episode)

This was the point where my wife and I decided the man's a genius. He decided he wanted to do a musical, taught himself what he needed to know in order to do it, did it, and did it well. His brilliance has broad scope, and that's unusual these days.

--Jeff Stehman

[erazmus]

I think it displayed an incredible rapport with his actors. The episode required an incredible amout of trust from everyone involved.
Mike

Michael D. Turner
'Psyched Up' in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
'Dutchman Rescue'in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm

'An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern' in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises

[Melkor]

I wouldnt recommend Resident Evil. 28 Days Later should have been Resident evil.

'By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers:.... For neither do men live nor die in vain' - H.G.Wells - The War of the Worlds

[PaulMc]

Good going.

One of these Octobers I will do 31 horror movies in 31 days.

But, I won't make the goal this year!

I've only watched The Mummy's Tomb (1942) and Horror of Dracula (1958) so far.

-- Paul McNamee

My Writings
The Tales of Doran Coyle
Managing Editor, SwordAndSorcery.org
NOW APPEARING, 'The Repairman' at The Sword Review October 2006

[Jeff Stehman]

We're in the middle of Resident Evil now. (Wife called a halt to make some tea.) I think it's a fine summer blockbuster, and like I said, very slick. Of the movies we'll watch this month, it's probably the closet thing to horror.

28 Days Later is a great movie, but we don't own it. I got my wife to watch it once, and she thought it was good, but I doubt she'll ever watch it again. It does have a very important moral lesson: don't piss off a bicycle messenger. [img]/emoticons/smile.gif[/img]

Going through the movies again to make our decision on today's showing, we added Big Trouble in Little China, which is kind of a ghost story (and easily has a place in my all-time top-ten movies list), and Harvey, which is technically a pooka story, we figured that still fits with the, well, spirit of our theme. Of all the classic movies, Harvey is my favorite. A delightful tale.

--Jeff Stehman

[erazmus]

I just watched, in my own October special, which usually lasts from September 15 until sometime in November, _The Corpse Bride_, which I enjoyed greatly, and _Hostel_, which was scarier than S__T, made me retch, gave me the shivers and completely delighted me. Not for the faint of heart, queasy of stomach, prudes of any sort or small children. Or large children for that matter. Particularly delightful was the cameo appearance from one of my favorite directors, Takashi Miike. With caveats, I highly reccomend it.
Mike

Michael D. Turner
'Psyched Up' in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
'Dutchman Rescue'in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm

'An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern' in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises

[Jeff Stehman]

I haven't watched Hostel (and probably never will) or Corpse Bride (it'll be on my Netflix list come January), but I picked up a pretty intense movie from the library for last night's showing; Wallace & Grommit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Let me tell you, not for the faint of heart! Given your reaction to Hostel, you might want to give it a miss.

--Jeff Stehman

[ChristopherS]

Hostel is a hard horror film. Not for the faint of heart. The Dutch Businessman will probably start showing up on best villain lists. I reviewed it for Dred Tales (http://www.dredtales.com/). The biggest problem with Hostel is the last third of the film falls apart. Roth needed someone to tighten his screenplay for him. It is coincidence after coincidence instead of the hero solving things on his own. Too bad. It could've been a solid horror effort.

Chris
www.zumayapublications.com
Blog: http://norman1955.blogspot.com/

[Jeff Stehman]

We watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets tonight. There's an interesting feature on the extra DVD; an interview with JK Rowling and Steve Kloves, who has written all the screenplays for the HP movies. Rowling said she has told Kloves more about what happens in future novels than anyone else, but she still doesn't tell him everything. He talks about how frustrating it is to have to work that way. It's a fairly long interview with many interesting things said, from a writers point of view. I recommend watching it if you get the opportunity.

--Jeff Stehman

[erazmus]

Christopher,
I think the problem with Hostel was that the director took too long setting things up and getting them going. Clues were not looked for until things were all ready out of hand and his trio of backpackers were essentially clueless anyway. It still had its high points, though right up until the last few minutes I figured it was going to be one of those films where everybody dies at the end because they were stupid. It might have been more satisfying if the movie had gone that direction.
Mike

Michael D. Turner
'Psyched Up' in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
'Dutchman Rescue'in Continuum SF #6
www.continuumsciencefiction.com/orders.htm

'An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern' in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises