Rock Hard Eight

Dipping into VHS collection I was in need of some Rothrock so I gave Angel of Fury (1992) a spin. Not a very good flick but enjoyable simply because of Rothrock running and chasing and being chased. And kicking some ass in-between. 6 / 10

Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) was also on my blindspot list but for some reason I thought I had seen it before. But soon I realized I had not so it made for a new watch and a good one even though you know how it's attempting to manipulate the viewer. Love Ingrid Bergman in this. 7.4 / 10

Headed out to the theater to finally catch Super 8 (2011), which I had been lukewarm in seeing based on the advanced buzz. And I gotta agree, J.J. Abrams doesn't entirely succeed with this film despite some good character moments. Still a good watch and one I'd certainly watch again. Esp. for the amazing performance by Elle Fanning, who steals the movie. 7 / 10

• June New: 27
• June Re-watch: 3
• June '11 MTD: 30
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 346
  

Ticked Off

Settling in after that amazing weekend in Austin I caught up with a missed Horror Movie Night selection Ticks a.k.a Infested(1993). This a fun bug flick with a pretty good cast including Clint Howard and Seth Green. 6.5 / 10

From my blindspot project I knocked All the President's Men (1976) off the list. Such a quality film with brilliant moments throughout. Hoffman and Redford are so great together. 7.5 / 10

• June New: 24
• June Re-watch: 3
• June '11 MTD: 27
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 343
  

Yeah, Austin

Still in Austin and spent the day with two of my favorite Austinites, Carolee (@leiabox) and Topher (@ThinkZombie). They were gracious to take me out for brunch then to several cool stores (Toy Joy!) and even to Topher's workplace. Afterward we had a few beers at Crown & Anchor (excellent beer bar with Sunday specials and good local beer). I also got to visit their awesome home and have dinner at John & Becky's home. What a great day in Austin with great people!

After dinner we headed down to The Ritz Alamo Drafthouse (my first visit there!) for the inaugural VIDEO HATE SQUAD event, a big screen viewing of a VHS tape! How fucking cool is that? And the movie… David Prior's Deadly Prey (1987) starring his brother Ted. Such a entertaining film in all the best ways of bad. Love this movie so much. David Campbell and Ted Prior were also on hand for a Q&A after the screening. Unreal. Seeing this film on the big screen and meeting Ted made the night and capped an already amazing day in Austin. 7.5 / 10

Huge thank you to my friends in Austin for making this an incredible weekend.

• June New: 22
• June Re-watch: 3
• June '11 MTD: 25
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 341
  

BTSNAT 2.5: BTS Bandits!

Back in Austin at Brian Kelley's home for another awesome installment of BTSNAT! Different set of people for this marathon sitting but still an excellent group to watch movies together for 16+ hours.

As with the last BTSNAT in December, @Noahphex leads with his pick of Scavenger Hunt (1979), a film I had recently watched most of when I discovered it was OOP. Amazing cast yet overly long. Still a fun watch to see these actors interact. Richard Benjamin, Scatman Crothers, Cloris Leachman, Roddy McDowall, Tony Randall, Dirk Benedict, et al. 6 / 10

Next was Micah's (@ReelDistraction) choice of Daryl Duke's Payday (1973), a Rip Torn joint I had seen in recent years after GGTMC covered it. Incredible performance, good film and great ending for this pathetic honky-tonk man. 7 / 10

Josh (@VHSisthetruth) couldn't make this time but provided a hilarious video intro for his film Science Crazed (1991), which is equally hilarious for different reasons. This Canuxploitation film defies all and is nearly inexplicable with its repeated use of footage and bizarre horror. Incredible film bad in every conceivable way yet you cannot stop escape it. 5 / 10 (but one I desperately want to own!)

The only way to follow that was with a little rape-revenge, BK's favorite sub-genre, with his choice of Naked Vengeance (1985). Sleazy and brutal as expected that delivers the goods. Solid entry. 7 / 10

I did locate an adequate David Prior flick for my selection with The Final Sanction (1990), starring his brother Ted Prior along side Robert Z'Dar. Kind of a ridiculous premise to pit two warriors against each to decide a greater outcome between two nations but just go with it. Stupid but good enough for this crowd, thankfully. 6.6 / 10

Jenni, @Noahphex's wife, joined us for this outing and her film was voted next, The Search for Animal Chin (1987). I adore this film and the on-location skating and shredding including the half-pipe at Tony Hawk's home. Good fun and apparently a flick my brother watched a hella lot back in the day. 7.5 / 10

Now it was time for Damon's (@zombiefreak) movie (so glad Damon make the trip as he was missed in December). His original choice wouldn't play but his back-up proved just as worthy as we belly-laughed throughout Pledge Night a.k.a. A Hazing in Hell (1990). Damn riot of a horror flick that is great with a crowd. 7.5 / 10

The final film of the BTSNAT marathon is always a Brian Trenchard-Smith movie. We were treated to his take on the Porky's franchise, Pimpin' Pee Wee (2009) a.k.a. Porky's: The College Years. Been looking forward to this since BK mentioned it at the last BTSNAT. Turns out it's a better-than-average installment that all of us managed to remain awake and entertained. 6.7 / 10

Somehow we managed to cram in an extra film and still finish before 5AM but damn what a marathon of movies and an even better time with friends. So glad I could make it down for BTSNAT 2.5 and hope I'm there for the next one.

• June New: 21
• June Re-watch: 3
• June '11 MTD: 24
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 340
  

Tales of the Evil Side

I'm back in Austin! After an evening of beer and BBQ at the great Salt Lick outside of Austin, a visit to Pinballz and Rivendell, @Noahphex threw on Tucker & Dale vs Evil (2010) to close the night. Having seen it already and loving it, I was game for another viewing. Still hilarious. 8 / 10

• June New: 15
• June Re-watch: 1
• June '11 MTD: 16
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 332
  

Furry Spider

In searching for an ideal movie to take to BTSNAT 2.5 tomorrow I decided it should be a David Prior flick since he seems to be all the talk lately. White Fury (1990) is one such film in my VHS stock so I screened it to see if it was worthy. It's not bad but also not good enough despite a decent premise of crooks taking some teens hostage in a remote cabin in the mountains. Just lacks the punch. 6 / 10

Tarantula (1955) I had recorded from TCM since they started showing B-movies for their Thursday Drive-In programming this month. This is, of course, another Jack Arnold giant monster flick and also features the hotty Mara Corday. Entertaining. 6.5 / 10

• June New: 15
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 15
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 331
  

Body Count

A short while back I caught the trailer for Cop Killers (1973). Instantly I knew this was a film I wanted to see. It's very much a grindhouse flick featuring a couple of asshole hippies that kill some cops then go on run terrorizing others during the chase. Such a cool movie. Wish Walter Cichy had made more like this. 7 / 10

• June New: 13
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 13
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 329
  

Something Happens

For my blindspot project I finally viewed Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934). Certainly a fun film and Clark Gable is excellent. Good chemistry with Claudette Colbert. Didn't love it as much as I wanted to but still enjoyable and a classic. 7.4 / 10

• June New: 12
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 12
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 328
  

Ghoulish Hunt

Sandy Collora's Hunter Prey (2009) was added to Netflix Instawatch and I didn't hesitate to watch it after the viewing the cool factor of Collora's Batman: Dead End. It's a groovy sci-fi western that reverses the human / alien roles and looks great considering its low budget. Very tight. Look forward to his next endeavor. 7 / 10

The Ghoul (1933) was also on NWI and features Boris Karloff in an early take on the Mummy mythology. Enjoyed this quite a bit. 7 / 10

• June New: 11
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 11
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 327
  

Housing Horror

Dark House (2009), a FrightFest flick, I recently picked up for a couple of bucks from a Blockbuster sale. Was interested only because it features Jeffrey Combs and I'll watch anything he's in even if it's not so great. This isn't but an okay watch about a group of people making a haunted house in a haunted house. 6 / 10

• June New: 9
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 9
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 325
  

She be Valeting

Took a trip back to my hometown to visit my father who was visiting with my step-mom to care for my stepbrother (long, sad story). It was my dad's birthday and a rare opportunity to spend time with him again. While there I caught Valet Girls (1987) on NWI, another Rafal Zielinski joint. Cute comedy about a singer working as a valet girl hoping to get discovered. 6 / 10

• June New: 8
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 8
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 324
  

Killing in Flames

Been looking forward to Michael Winterbottom's The Killer Inside Me (2010) for quite some time. Glad my library had it on the shelf. I like Casey Affleck even tho he seems to approach his characters the same way. I appreciate his raspy delivery. Good watch with some gasping brutality. 7 / 10

Also my excellent library the blu-ray of The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009), another film I've been overdue on since watching the first installment. Heard this and Hornet's Nest weren't as good as the first film but I still found this film really enjoyable. It lacks the suspense from Dragon Tattoo but still a solid flick. Might be appreciated more if not compared to the first film. Noomi Rapace is great. 7 / 10

• June New: 7
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 7
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 323
  

No Stopping the Mutants

The other feature on that DVD I rented from Lion Video was White Rat (1972) another forgotten gritty crime flick from the seventies. And not any better than How to Score with Girls. It's as forgettable as it is forgotten. Again context makes it interesting. 5 / 10

Picked up the blu for Unstoppable (2010) from my library. Pretty much what I expected from Tony Scott, a somewhat engaging but entirely silly film. I like Chris Pine here but so over Denzel. 6 / 10

Hit the midnight screening at Showplace 12 for X-Men: First Class (2011) with small audience. Nothing about the trailer or early photos made this compelling to me (other than being another superhero flick) but the advanced buzz was right; this is a good film despite its flaws. Set in the early sixties along with the origin story makes it work. First third is much better than the finale. Fassbender and Bacon steal the show but Matthew Vaughn succeeded in the end. 8 / 10

• June New: 5
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 5
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 321
  

Gettin' Lucky 13

Now that Miike's 13 Assassins (2010) is screening at the Music Box I knew I had to pay a visit to catch this on the big screen. And fortunately they did screen it in theater one. I missed this at Fantastic Fest last year because I opted to see Jeffrey Combs live performance of Nevermore. I don't regret that decision as I knew I'd see 13 Assassins eventually. Thankful that I could see it in the theater as it definitely lives up the high praise. One of Miike's best. Amazing film. 9 / 10

From Lion Video I rented a double DVD that featured How to Score with Girls a.k.a. Cry Your Purple Heart Out (1976). Not a good film as it follows a group of sailors around NYC as they pick up women. But context makes it intriguing nevertheless. 5 / 10

• June New: 2
• June Re-watch: 0
• June '11 MTD: 2
• June '10 MTD: 64
• 2011 YTD: 318
  

May Movie Tally

Here's the round-up for films watched in May...

Watched 48 films in May, another lower than usual total but not bad (still 20 less than last May). 44 were first time views and only 4 were re-watches. Worked on little on my blindspot project but was all over the place. Summer movie season has started so hit 6 films on the big screen (Attack the Block being the best and likely to end up on my Top Ten). Highlight was revisiting Toy Story 3 with my girlfriend, who hadn't seen it and loved it. Currently I'm at 316 films viewed this year.

Breakdown by decade:
2 film from the fifties
3 films from the sixties
13 films from the seventies
10 films from the eighties
2 films from the nineties
9 films from the naughts
14 films released in '10s (7 released in 2011)

List of all films seen (w/my score on a 10-scale):
A Dirty Shame (2004) 7
Almighty Thor (2011) 4
Angels' Brigade (1979) 6
Attack the Block (2011) 9 *cinema
Blacula (1972) 7
Blood Simple. (1984) 7.6
Brewster's Millions (1985) 7
Dead Man's Shoes (2004) 7
Despicable Me (2010) 6.5
Dial M for Murder (1954) 8.5
Dreamaniac (1986) 6 rewatch Horror Movie Night
Due Date (2010) 6.5
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) 7
Explorers (1985) 6.8
Fast Five (2011) 8 *cinema
From Paris with Love (2010) 7.5
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006) 7
H.O.T.S. (1979) 6
Made in U.S.A. (1966) 7.5
Misterio en la isla de los monstruos (1981) 6
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) 8
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) 7
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) 6 *cinema
Priest (2011) 6 *cinema
Raptor Island (2004) 4
Salt (2010) 7 rewatch
Scorpion (1986) 6
Scream 4 (2011) 7 *cinema
Some Like It Hot (1959) 7.5
Sorority Row (2009) 5
Special Effects (1984) 6.5
Spellcaster (1992) 6.5
Splinter (2008) 7.5 rewatch
Student Bodies (1981) 6
Survival Quest (1989) 7
ThanksKilling (2009) 4
The Abomination (1986) 6.5 Horror Movie Night
The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) 6.5
The Green Slime (1968) 6
The Hidden (1987) 7.7
The Ice Pirates (1984) 7
The Naked Kiss (1964) 7.6
The Yes Men (2003) 7
Thor (2011) 7 *cinema
Toy Soldiers (1984) 6
Toy Story 3 (2010) 9.2 rewatch
Trilogy of Terror (1975) 7.5
Vampires Suck (2010) 5

• May New: 44
• May Re-watch: 4
• May '11 Total: 48
• May '10 Total: 68
• 2011 Total: 316