The Magic Sword (1962)

I really cannot say when I saw a pre 2000 movie I had seen for the first time.

And this is one of the rare instances

Movie companies are really digging into their old movie libraries and remastering them for FHD release either on physical media (Blu-ray disc) of streaming service.

For the life of me, I am at lost as to why I have not had watch this movie before.

Surely it would have been shown on RTM or release on some form of media, and alas, info is quite sketching about media release for this.

Rotten Tomato rates this fairly lowly

And I have to say, I found it... entertaining.

This is loosely based on the tale of St. George.

Gary Lockwood (I thought he looked familiar, search on IMDB reveals he is in 2001: The Space Odyssey) plays Sir George.

Estelle Winwood (from Bewitched) plays Sybil, his sorceress mother.

This is your basic, boy meets girl in magic pool, boy loses girls to an evil sorcerer.

Boy rescue girl after going to a quest...

This is by no means a "big budget" movie. There is "special effects" and I think Ray Harryhausen was too expensive for they went with the other guy...

Still, it is a charming movie, and pretty good for a lazy Sunday afternoon matinee...

Camp to the max

Nuff said

My Two Sen

Martial Law (1990)

So in 1990, the most Lethal Weapon against crime and illegal smuggling is... karate?

I avoided this like the plague when it was first release on VHS, Laserdisc & DVD

Now in the sge of FHD, I am watching it?

Why not!!

They don't make movies like they use to, right.

Boy, is the above ever right!!

This movie is lead by Chad McQueen (student of Chuck Norris, Son of Steve McQueen and father of Steven McQueen [Vampire Diaries anyone]) & Cynthia Rothrock. Fan of H.K. action movie in the 80s & early 90s will know her.

So with that out of the way...

Wait there is another big name here,... David Carradine is also here!!

So with this pedigree, how is the movie.

Well, my initial instinct about this movie is right, bad...

Is it, it is so bad that it is good.

No, just plain bad!!

Bad Direction

Bad Cast

Bad Script

Just Plain BAD!

Let me illustrate, the best lines in the movie, are from the police extras

Cop 1: My wife ask me to pick up some stuff for her at the pharmacy

Cop 2: So?

Cop 1: They turn out to be birth control pills!

Cop 2: Okay....

Cop 1: I had a Vasectomy 12 years ago...



THAT was the best line in the movie...

On That note

My Two Sen

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Dec 22 2019, 11:28 PM

I believe so.

Too bad the sequel...

We are.... going thru interesting times...

So many a people find themselves at home and I for one had been using it to clear junk out of my DVD/Blu-ray collections and to catch up on stuff that, "If Only I Had The Time To Watch" movies/documentaries...

It is during this time (after watching a Chris Stuckman's review) I came across a documentary In Search Of Darkness which talks about horror movies and discovered that there are actually alot of 1980s horror movies that is recommended in the said documentary that I have not scene.

Taking this opportunity to track down and watched, said movie.

If this is your cup of tea, enjoy!

The Changeling (1980)

This is NOT the one with Angelina Jolie...

I have not watched or heard of this before... until I had watched the movie.

One scene reminded be of a snippet of dialogue I remember hearing from my eldest brother about an R rated movie he watched, and then I remembered, oh this was the movie he watched...

This movie is... rare...

It has George C. Scott as the leading man.

It is a Canadian production (see, rare).

Even with a very old school approach to the way the movie was made, it foundation (the story) is actually quite good.

It is about a haunted house.

The reason George C. Scott ended up staying at the house is quite gruesome.

The premised for the house being haunted (infanticide), is even more gruesome. And all because of a subject matter that is very familiar with politicians, good old greed.

I love the house set.

I love the music "composed" by the role played by George C. Scott and it turned out to be the music from the music box.

The ending as a little uneventful, and since Hollywood loves to do remake, I actually would not mind if James Wan or Leigh Whannell redo this and make the ending better.

My Two Sen.

Society (1989)

In ALL fairness, this movie is NOT for everyone

It is OUTRIGHT... WEIRD!!!!!!

Supposedly this movie was finished in 1989 and was never release to the general public until 1992 (rating issue perhaps).

I had never watching it in the 90s (initial release) and had only watched it is the past few days.

Now this movie is 80s to the MAX

The clothing.

The hairstyle.

The... plot line.

The protagonist is William "Bill" Whitney (played by Billy Warlock) has it all.

He is young, good looking, popular in high school (he is running for school president) but Bill has an issue.

He feels... "alienated" from his family.

So he seek consultation from a therapist, who informs him that the feeling is all, in his own perception.

So he goes on with his life until his sister's ex boyfriend who had been stalking his sister, since their break up, played to Billy a recording of his sister and they parents doing... the unmentionable...

Billy investigates and...

And in the end we see... "the shunting".

I am NOT even going to attempt to describe it to you.

Let's just say that once you see it, you cannot possible unsee it...

So, to cap up, the antagonist in this movie... is upper society???

Again, I warn you, this movie is NOT for everyone

You have been warn kiddies. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

My Two Sen

Ghost Story (1981)

Another 1980s horror movie I had missed during the 80s.

And it turns out it is another R rated one.

What attracted me about this movie is to see what kinda movie Fred Astaire and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. later in their respective career.

The pacing of this movie is a little old school

It is a slow burner. Although this happen, they are almost pedestrian, the viewer does not get engage...

And also and editing is a little confusing at times.

Then third act happened and everything picks up!

Part of the confusion for me is Craig Wasson plays two characters, namely Don / David Wanderley.

One twin died in the beginning and the other twin had to go back to their home town for the funeral. Guess who is the under achieve amongst the two...

This movie also has a very young Alice Krige (Queen Borg anyone) who does not seem to age...

What happened to her is criminal.

So, in conclusion the movie started slow, almost uneventful and have to add, when things unveil, everything clicks into place, and just like that, I like the ending.

My Two Sen.

I have been doing a little spring clean on my DVD collction, and am clearing some stuff out.

Am going to reviews stuff here that caught my attention and deserves some king of mention

Cheers

Cold Creek Manor (2003)

Director: Mike Figgis

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Stewart, Christopher Plummer

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Okay, I am actually a fan of Dennis Quaid.

Not so much of Sharon Stone.

This movie does not be familiar to many a person.

Honestly, in 2003, when I read/heard the title, I thought it was a horror movie.

Turns out to be not horror but a thriller.

This has a very young Kristen Stewart.

The plot line is basically, what if you bought a house from a bank auction, you move in, and the previous owner is NOT too happy with it...

Director Mike Figgis did not do much after this movie (Mainly in documentary)

Direction is actually decent.

Plot is good

Most of the actors did their part.

One important role was badly cast, and it is the role of the wife, Leah Tilson, played by Sharon Stone, who is quite rightly named.

She does not come acrossed as motherly... good wifey... etc.

The deleted scenes did show that originally, the intention was for her role to go another direction, and in the editing, they wanted she to come acrossed more... sympathetic, and have to add, I did not find it convincing...

And also in the deleted scene, I like the alternative ending better than what was the ed result, C'est la vie.

So, people like ratings here...

I will give this a 2.9 out of a 5

My Two Sen

Along Came a Spider (2001)

Director: Lee Tamahori

Stars: Morgan Freeman, Michael Wincott, Monica Potter, Mika Boorem, Anton Yelchin

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Who here does not like Morgan Freeman, here?

Okay, granted, he was in movies like Olympus Has Fallen etc, and have to add everyone's got to eat...

It is investigative.

It has a VERY young Anton Yelchin (whom I did not recognized).

You feel for the little girl who got kidnapped.

Morgan Freeman plays the FBI investigator, Alex Cross who is trying to rescue her from the kidnapper and then THAT happened?

Again one of the little gems that got lost in the crowd, that I feel deserves some mention.

I rated this a 3.5 out of 5

My Two Sen

Date Movie (2006)

Directors: Aaron Seltzer, Jason Friedberg

Stars: Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Fred Willard, Sophie Monk, Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie anyone?)

This movie is a satiric look at... comedies??

Namely,

Shallow Hal (2001)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Dodgeball (2004)
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
Hitch (2005)
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
etc

It is actually quite painful to watch.

Adam Campbell did not do a good job. He was terrible here...

One would watch this is they want to see Sophie Monk I supposed...

Wait, they even make fun of King Kong (2005) here...

My Rating 2 out of 5

My Two Sen

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Director: Martin Campbell

Stars: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones

This movie was a hit in 1998

It has a good script.

It has a great cast.

Martin Campbell (director of James Bond Movies) directed this (bare inn mind, he also did Green Lantern 2011). It is obvious he is movie comfortable with this material, compared with that.

The main 3 leads did a great job, with their roles.

To top it off, it had a great theme song, I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You, performed by Marc Anthony and Tina Arena. A power ballad that still works today.

This cost Sony USD 98,000,000 to produced (which is USD156,128,034.72 adjusted to inflation, in 2020) and made worldwide it made USD250,000,000.00 (which is USD398,285,802.85 adjusted to inflation, in 2020).

Not Avatar of Endgame standards, and I believe back then, marketing a movie is not as extravagant as it is now, so it was a money maker for Sony

For the uninitiated, this is a fun sword-swashing movie, for all ages.

It is recently re-issued in 4K and I am amazed.

Watch this if you can.

I rate this at 3.8 out of 5.

My Two Sen

The Haunting (1999)

Director: Jan de Bont

Stars: Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, Lili Taylor



I have a hard time getting a good copy of this.

Not everyone would enjoy this.

This is a remake of a 1960 movie (same title).

Also a follow up of Jan de Bont success streak in Hollywood (Speed (1994), Twister (1996))

Right off the bat, the production value of this movie is off the chart.

The haunted house set is amazing!!!!

I do not know what is it about movies from this period, the color is so vivid and beautiful

That's the the irony about the movie, the movie is beautifully shot about this horrible, horrible haunted house...

Granted the director is better know as a director of photography.

Everyone in the movie brought their best, and at the end of the movie... unfortunately, the movie comes acrossed a little... flat.

In the original movie, it forces the viewer to decide if the house is haunted, or things occurs as a series of unfortunate events.

Here there is no doubt that it is haunted.

The director made Speed 2 before this.

And fater this movie, with both movie getting ripped apart by the critics, the director never directed another movie...

My Two Sen.

This post has been edited by Mov_freak: Jun 1 2020, 10:43 AM

Two on a Guillotine (1965)

Director: William Conrad
Stars: Connie Stevens, Dean Jones, Cesar Romero

This is a horror movie.

I found two points of interest about this movie

1). This movie is produced by William Conrad Productions. Yes, THAT William Conrad from the TV Series Cannon (1971–1976) and much later Jake and the Fatman (1987–1992)

2) The main lead is Dean Jones (Herbie anyone?)

It is in black and white and is actually nicely remastered by Warner Brothers.

As for the actually story itself, there is nothing original about the movie.

I believe when this movie is made, alot of the hooks have already done by other movies, they were done better (eg was William Conrad trying to be William Castle?).

Another noteworthy thing about this movie, is It is the first movie when Rock and Roll is "featured" (at least by the thinking of Warner Brothers Executive) to make this a must see movie for "teenagers".

A decent "horror" if you have nothing better to watch. It is just that there is nothing surprising to the modern audiences.

My Two Sen