Look out! He's got a knife!

I just watched a huge amount of movies

OK, let's see if I can remember 'em all.

Update: I've added clips so that you can simulate the experience in heavily truncated form and in the comfort of your own home.

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
Co-written & designed by Dr. Seuss, this '50s children's movie musical is terrific fun. A bit like Invaders from Mars only even better. Here's the elevator scene:

Made In Britain
Tim Roth as a teenage skinhead with a swastika on his face rejects authority in violent fashion and his life goes down the tubes. Very good and tough (script by David Leland, direction by Alan Clark). Not life-affirming though. Here's the first scene:

Better Off Dead
Cartoonish & surreal '80s teen comedy starring John Cusack took a while to warm up but emerged a winner. Contained the best line of the night. Here's the paperboy:

Never Say Never Again
Generally regarded as the poor cousin of the Bond movies, this was actually very solid entertainment with great villains (Klaus Maria Brandauer and especially Barbara Carrera). Here's Carrera in action:

The War Game
Pseudo-documentary about the effects of nuclear war on England that was banned by the BBC from the '60s until the '80s, this was not cheerful. Here's a scene:

Point Break
Surfing, sky diving, and bank robbing are all stylishly filmed by Kathryn Bigelow. The script (partly written by an uncredited James Cameron) is not great and neither is Keanu Reeves, but the director and Patrick Swayze make the most of it. Here's the skydiving:

Inside Deep Throat
The story behind the movie. Pretty interesting and entertaining, but a very skimpy and somewhat sanitized view of the industry.

All the Colours of the Dark
Stylish, sleazy giallo about a woman with a mysterious past who gets involved with a Satanic cult. Here's the Sabbat:

Curse of the Demon
One of the best horror movies ever made, subtle and quietly terrifying. Here's a related thing:

Sunset Boulevard
Downbeat story of Hollywood losers in the '40s is entertaining and full of great dialogue. Here's a clip from Gloria Swanson's never-realised musical version:

The Emperor's New Groove
Amusing Disney movie that isn't a musical. Closer in spirit to Warner Bros. cartoons than most Disney. A compilation of scenes:

The Man Who Saved the World
This Turkish movie from 1982 steals a lot of footage from Star Wars and music from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Transformers to tell the story of two guys who... Um... Well it was quite hard to figure out, but involved how the Earth had been exploded into a cloud of dust and people now live on chunks of it flying through space protected by a coating of human brain, and now an evil magician wants a green brain. Basically an endless series of mind-destroying action scenes (with sound effects seemingly pinched from kung fu movies) strung together by a few surreal dialogue scenes. Aka Turkish Star Wars. Here's clips from it used to make a music video:

Purple Rain
Prince: The Movie, from back when he was easily the best thing about American popular music. Here's a live version of the title song from 1983:

Bodies, Rest and Motion
Mid '90s slacker drama that felt like it was based on a play. [checks] Yep, it was. Slightly dull, but Bridget Fonda was cute in those days. Can't found a clip from the movie, so here's one from the play:

The Yellow Sign
Modern-set adaptation of the Robert W. Chambers short story that changes much of the story while keeping a lot of the tone. Overcomes its miniscule budget with style. Here's a trailer:

La Terza Madre
Dario Argento at his most bugfuck. The trailer:

Devil Doll
Bank president framed for robbery & murder serves 17 years, helps a mad scientist escape, and disguises himself as an old woman so he can use miniature people to kill those who had him put away. He's also the good guy. A clip:

Posted by pearce at March 23, 2008 1:07 AM