Denree Made Me Hungry

The City of Lost Children (1995) La cité des enfants perdus
Dir - Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Beautifully shot, directed and acted. This movie, as most anything Jeunet has done, has such a wonderful look. Every little detail is fine tuned into this surreal world with steampunk-ish cyclops, askew everyday items and an intriguing cast. Love, love, love! Tim Burton probably saw this and cried because he could only wish.

From Bronson to Statham

The Mechanic (2011)
Dir - Simon West

It may have hurt my viewing of this film to have just watched the original. It could have also been the horrible crowd in the theater. Everything seemed shinier and polished but that is not always better. One of the great things about Bronson is that he looks more like a normal guy than a ruthless killer. Statham, while quite awesome, looks like a hitman so it's not much of a stretch. There were some weird character traits that seemed a little contradictory and things were a bit dumbed down. Ben Foster was pretty great though and there is one sweet fight scene that will bring a smile to your face.

Smile, Smile, Smile

The Shopworn Angel (1938)
Dir - H.C. Potter
Jimmy Stewart Sunday

I'm rather conflicted on this movie. Overall I did like it, but the way Margaret Sullivan treats Jimmy Stewart and Walter Pidgeon just rubs me the wrong way. I understand her reasoning but it didn't make me happy. Can't really say much more about that without spoilers. Still, it was well made and had some great moments. I only wish the army still wore uniforms like they did in WWI.

Ka-Boom!

The Mechanic (1972)
Dir - Michael Winner

Had to watch this before I could go see the remake and while I'm sure it's not one of Bronson's best I still enjoyed this film quite a bit. Some great car/motorcycle chases that end in some great crashes too. Most notably the next to last car destruction scene we see is insane and awesome. I MUST watch more Bronson movies ASAP. This is something my life is sorely missing.

The Final Frontier

Starcrash (1978)
Dir - Luigi Cozzi (credited as Lewis Coates)
Bad Movie Night

This is a pretty fun Star Wars rip-off with a lot of cheese and some great (cheapie) FX using a lot of miniatures and stop-motion Harryhausen-esque robots. I love that! There are some very odd things in here involving space's atmosphere and a robot with the voice of a late-19th century gold prospector. That, and the multitude of space thongs, aside there is tons of great color in here and the Blu-Ray transfer is gorgeous. You can now see the full vibrance of the out-of-focus Christmas light looking stars and the rainbow colored floating space city. Oh, and David Hasselhoff!

There are some better posters for this but I felt like including the one that most ripped off Star Wars. I had a good laugh when I saw it.

Something About a Bigger Boat...

2010: Moby Dick (2010)
Dir - Trey Stokes
Bad Movie Night

I used to be against The Asylum because of their mockbusters, but over the past year or two I've come to really love them. This is a rather loose adaptation of Melville's novel set in modern times starring Barry Bostwick. I can die happy now having seen a peg legged Bostwick laughing maniacally while going against a ~600 foot whale. Fun film to watch with friends. Just remember... "where there's squid, there's whales."

That's a Tiny Phone Booth

Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)
Dir - Paul Flaherty

Gotta love John Candy. Even if a movie is horrible he elevates beyond. Nothing too special about this but I did laugh out loud quite a few times. Candy looks great in his undercover costumes, especially as Vijay. Another plus of this film is seeing a young 18-19 year-old Shawnee Smith looking very cute.

The Last of the Independents

Charley Varrick (1973)
Dir - Don Siegel
Weird Wednesday

I always thought Walter Matthau was awesome, as is exemplified perfectly in this film. A sympathetic bad guy on the run from the likes of Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. Some great chase scenes and some smart criminal activity from Matthau when he knows what is coming. This is the kind of 70s crime film you want to see. 110 minutes flies by and leaves you wanting more.