A Clever Puppy Who Yips Loudly In Restaurants

Parts are kinda cute, a couple parts are amusing, and the message is great.

But again, noone who didn’t give a sh1t before will give a sh1t after watching this. And too often it’s just dull and boring.

And I hate the songs.

On Netflix Streaming until 7/7/14.

Grade: D

It’s like One Brother Pizza, only with human compost.

It’s macabre and dark from the start, which goes quickly from cutesy song enjoyment to rather damaging corpse retrieval.

Stays pretty much “dark humor” until about 25 minutes in. BUT – and this is the point – it doesn’t throw that away when it gets gruesome (and it does get gruesome).

It’s got the usual “two psychos” problem: one of them just isn’t as psycho as the other.

Actually gets really clever/funny at one point where the poor sweetheart psycho gets offended by the horrible kidnapped vixen.

And there’s a touching conversation between tied-up girl and her tied-up-upside-down gagged boyfriend that explores some serious issues and has some really positive revelations.

Rather unique tug-of-war with an adorable doggie near the end; but then it pretty much runs out of steam/ideas.

Overall this is a pretty good watch for fans of ‘Tucker & Dale’ and the like.

Inspirational Quote: “All you want…is sex, and drugs, and a good time – it’s not right!”

Grade: C+

7/14/18: The Great Grade Update. Grade: B-

Starts out fairly well with an oblivious couple as people panic around them, sort of ‘Shaun Of The Dead’-ish. The acting seems pretty decent, too…and for some reason I buy them as a couple pretty quickly.

At first the infection is just annoying to them, but things get slowly more tense, in a way that seems believable.

Then the couple’s neighbor, who happens to be a major survivalist and weirdo, takes an interest in the man for some reason and tries to “mentor” him.

The first really bad thing to happen comes as a BIT of a surprise.

It gets pretty dull after that…and stays at dull until near the end when the writer, apparently unable to think of a decent ending, inserts really dumb lines into the script that take the characters OUT OF character and introduce an ending conflict that makes no sense.

On Netflix Streaming until 7/2/14.

Grade: D-

7/14/18: The Great Grade Update. Grade: D

Well…it’s better than ‘Taxi Driver’.

DeNiro’s performance is pretty good, especially as the later LaMotta in the intro and near the end.

Joe Pesci is pretty good as brother Joey, too. I like the walking scene with Pesci talking nicely with Batts – hahaha…funny. You know, just funny, it’s a funny scene…

The problem is the characters themselves and the script are, for most of the movie, either really fcken annoying or really boring.

Lotsa yelling and swearing in the beginning, not much else IMPO.

Then some really dull courting-the-blonde scenes:

LaMotta’s approach: “Hey. Hey. Ya like the car. Wanna go for a ride? Yeah. Hey. My house. Living room. Bedroom. Yeah. Hey, a kiss.”

Really…interesting.

Then there’s more yelling, swearing, bickering…with brief dull interludes.

Hey, what a surprise…Pesci’s character goes psycho and the Batts relationship doesn’t last. You can see that 15 years later (and a lot better) in ‘Goodfellas’.

The politics aspect is somewhat interesting but it takes a long time to get to that, and the last LaMotta/Robinson fight is interesting for the filming as well as for LaMotta’s refusal to go down.

I take back that Scorsese/DeNiro comment I made a long time ago. I prefer Burton/Depp.

On Netflix Streaming until 7/2/14.

Grade: D+

Same-Day Edit: No, it’s not better.  I guess the intimidation factor got to me…I mean, it’s supposed to be a CLASSIC.  But I think it’s pretty d@mn mediocre.  At best.  Grade: D

In a dystopian future where Randian elitists have apparently gained socially accepted control of the system, a person’s genetics are engineered/controlled before their birth to decide with virtual certainty how successful/respected/valued each person will be.

Of course it’s “voluntary” (unlike ‘Brave New World’) and not a guarantee…but it’s still fairly repugnant to me.

The main character is obsessed with joining the space program, and the story centers around his attempts to evade the system’s “safeguards” in order to do so. The part is acted well and his personal story is interesting.

His interactions with his “partner” are interesting as well.

Just when I think it’s getting stale, about to go downhill – it takes a great, moving, emotional upturn. I’m reminded vaguely of ‘The Truman Show”s ending; a monument to dedication, successful or not.

I’m also reminded (vaguely) of ‘Requiem For A Dream’ – only unlike ‘Requiem’, this collection of moments is positive…with a scene near the end that features Nightswimming that is beautiful, a starry night sky, and fade.

I actually smiled as the voiceover ended the movie.

I couldn’t help it.

Perhaps…PROBABLY…a very low B+. But I needed something both uplifting and real, and this is the first such surprise I’ve had in a long time.

On Netflix Streaming until 7/1/14.

Inspirational Quote: “This is how I did it, Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back.”

Grade: B+

7/14/18: The Great Grade Update. F you, ‘Pulp Fiction’. How many movies has Quentin Tarantino caused to be infected by Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, or (as in this case) Uma freakin’ Thurman? Too many. What a drag. But it’s still moving/beautiful at times. Grade: B

Dumb intro and a lot of really bad jokes.

Even worse than I remembered it, and I first saw it when I was 12 or 13. Even then I could tell it was sophomoric.

There’s a few…or a couple…good jokes, but mostly it’s tedious and stupid.

On Netflix Streaming until 7/1/14.

Inspirational Quote: “Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal!”

Grade: D-

The original “Doomsday Machine”…Kubrick edging out Trek by a few years!

I don’t think this is great as either humor or drama.

Pretty good (and brave) satire, though, especially given the date of release.

It’s another one of those movies that I’d LOVE to love.

I do find it interesting and fairly clever. And I chuckled a few times as well. I even laughed once, actually.

One of the chuckles: Emergency-Issue ‘Holy Bible & Russian Phrases’.

My main draw is Sellers’ gradual meltdown as Dr. Strangelove.

Inspirational Quote: “The whole point of the doomsday machine…is LOST if you keep it a SECRET!”

On Netflix Streaming until 7/1/14.

Grade: C+

7/14/18: The Great Grade Update. Grade: B-

Much better in music form.

Full of methane and unsuitable for miners.

On Netflix Streaming until 7/1/14.

Grade: F

Wow. What a disappointment.

Here’s the good part: DeNiro and Foster act well.

Aside from that, it’s FCKEN ANNOYING horns and buildup for an hour and a half, then some fcked up sh1t happens, then a boring ending.

When DeNiro first appears with a mohawk, I dont find it scary, it find it…weird and a little silly.

Vastly overrated.

On Netflix Streaming Until 7/1/14 for the people that care.

Grade: D

Documentary about RotLD.

And ONLY RotLD. In a fairly normal, straightforward fact after fact/interview excerpt after interview excerpt manner.

So if you want all the info you could ever want about the movie, this is for you.

Otherwise it’s a boring waste of time.

I’ll watch the movie again. I’ll never watch this again.

Grade: D

This is three things:
1) A humorous, off-color look at zombies, zombie films, and zombie history.
2) A pretentious examination of same.
3) An informative/surprising presentation of interesting ideas and little bits and pieces I had never seen/read/heard before.

Best when it’s 1 or 3, obviously.  But 2 keeps raising its ugly head throughout, interrupting the amusement/entertainment and occasional thought-provocation with ridiculous nonsensical garbage.

Features a lot of major faces in the history of zombie movies.

There are probably first-sees for almost everyone in this; even rabid zombie fans.  And definitely lots of seen-it-many-times.

So overall it’s a mixed bag, but I’d say it’s worth a watch if you like zombie films of any kind (“serious”, parody, new angle, etc.)

Cool ending, too.

Fav musical bit: Barbra’s song

Inspirational Titles: “When There Are No More Ideas On Earth…The Dead Will Be In EVERYTHING…”

Inspirational Quote: “This is something that’s REAL to them…you know, WRESTLING is real to them.”

Grade: C+

7/14/18: The Great Grade Update. Grade: B-

Some of the attraction/interest is in the direction, which features a lot of quick cuts, alternate shots, and metaphors.

But that would mean next to nothing if the movie itself stunk – if the characters were unbelievable and/or the script was stupid.

Fortunately, neither of those is the case.

The story is basically about loss and (mostly) addiction, and how four different people deal with these things. There’s the mother, her son, his girlfriend, and his best friend. The addictions are mostly drug-based, but one (and the most interesting one, to me, because of the character) is not. There are more than a few scenes that show this clearly as being portrayed as the equivalent of drug addiction, and while they’re not brilliant metaphors, neither are they weak hit-you-over-the-head cliches.

For me, the story of the mother is by far the most compelling. With the son, the girlfriend, and the best friend, you don’t know EXACTLY what’s coming, but you’ve seen this road before (‘Drugstore Cowboy’ for one, parts of ‘Traffic’, etc…). It’s an especially bleak and well-portrayed road in this movie, but to me it lacks the force of the mother’s story.

The mother’s story is also so compelling to me because Ellen Burstyn delivers the best performance of any of the actors, and her character is the only one of the four who truly doesn’t REALLY know that she’s getting into a dangerous spiral until it’s too late…all the others are in touch enough to realize the risks they’re taking, the danger they’re putting themselves in…at least to a certain extent.

In summation, the mother’s story – told as it is visually, acted as it is believably and emotionally – is the draw here. The three others aren’t bad, but none of them can match the power…the disturbing and moving sadness…of hers.

Good (and appropriate) music, too.

Near the end the cuts speed up and take over, and the entire movie takes on a completely hopeless air – musically, visually, and emotionally.

I found myself a bit drained by this, and disturbed…so if you don’t want either of those I wouldn’t recommend watching it. But to me, it was worth it for the very real emotional impact.

Grade: B-

8/29/16: Never never never…throw chips at a driver. Grade: B

7/14/18: The Great Grade Update. Good, already updated. Grade: B