The Muscles from Brussels meets La Fille de Saint-Gilles*
*Editor’s note: Saint-Gilles is the municipality of Brussels in which Akerman attended INSAS, an illustrious Belgian film school.
1 Like
Yeah one of the first things I did after finishing the movie was Google the shit out of that character—a queer anti colonial water rights bandit who machetes people to death is hardcore shit and that character kind of embodies a lot of the film’s messages about how people should respond to oppression. Reading interviews with Pereira was fascinating, but yes to a certain extent knowing that character’s gender is like knowing the names of the background aliens in Star Wars. In one of the interviews (I would have to go find it again) there were also a lot of details about other queer characters who I remembered well from their scenes, but hadn’t really picked up on the details of their lives—apparently the folks who are in the outlook station on the road radioing DJ Urso are in a polycule or something? Or the woman with the radio has two husbands? I’ll have to find it again. I bet coming up with all these side characters and coaching the actors on the town’s dynamics and relationships was a really cool part of the project.
1 Like
ETA: In the Mouth of Madness is “I Need a Cigarette: The Movie”. Sam Neal seems to pull out a cigarette in almost every scene in the movie. Indoors, outdoors, it makes no difference, any time is a good time for a cigarette.
10 Likes
me and @digs watched the two venom movies and they fucking rule?? i feel like all the straight people online giving these bad reviews are missing the point. i fucking love how campy and gay and stupid they are. i kind of want to rewatch it immediately
5 Likes
hell yeah. the only things that are bad about them is all the times when they are not that (which is too much, esp in the first one)
3 Likes
i dunno, i found the not-so-gay-and-stupid parts to be few and far between in this one, but the first one has more “i guess we have to do this comic book stuff” scenes in it for sure. in this one i really liked the body horror aspects of the carnage character, so i didn’t mind the scenes they were in so much cuz i thought all the goopy intestine-tentacle-shooting-kidney-stones-at-you stuff was fun. nice contrast from venom’s ‘oil blob asphalt’ kind of look
reminded me of these guys
2 Likes
the shaft aka DOWN (2001) not only predicted 9/11 but may be the closest thing to a raw danger movie that we have
2 Likes
The Last Matinee is only like, an 89 minute movie, but it takes so long attempting to set-up its very small cast of characters that it feels a lot longer and when people start dying, it’s hard to really give a shit especially since you know that because it’s a slasher, everybody has to die except for whoever the mousiest female in the cast is, and you already know from the beginning who that survivor is going to be. Could’ve been a lot more fun if it had picked up the pace faster and made any attempt to subvert expectations as opposed to trying to be just another slasher. It also kills off what arguably could’ve been the most fun character to follow in this situation within ~15 minutes of the movie starting just so it can further set up its final girl. Not every slasher needs a fucking “final girl”, we’re 20 years into the 21st fuckin’ century, there’s nothing wrong with having a “final guy” and actually surprising us at this point. Give us a fuckin’ break with these tired-ass, old tropes.
I watched The Machinist finally after putting it off for like, 17 years because these kinds of movies don’t do much for me. It was pretty much what I expected – something in the same vein as Memento or Fight Club. It’s not hard to get what’s happening even if you aren’t sure exactly what the catalyst is. Christian Bale also looks too much like somebody who lost a lot of weight in a short period of time for a role vs somebody who’s been gradually losing it over the course of a year of misery and I also don’t really think he ever looked all that tired. 
The less said about The Devil’s Pass the better (how can you look at those I Am Legend 2k7-ass computer effects and go, “Yeah, this is definitely scarier than just showing nothing at all”?) . It’s just proof that Renny Harlin still kind of sucks and he’ll never be able to top A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 or Deep Blue Sea (which forever gets a pass for being the inspiration for the lyric, “My hat is like a shark’s fin”, arguably one of the greatest sentences ever written and uttered in a song of any genre). Like, people will mention, “but what about Die Hard 2!”, yeah, so? What about Die Hard 2? The Die Hard everybody forgot about and was arguably the worst Die Hard until they started shitting out worse Die Hards in the 2000s? Die Hard 2 not being the worst Die Hard anymore doesn’t inherently make it a good movie. That would be like saying Wide Screen Anderson’s Resident Evil is a good horror movie because the rest are complete garbage (except for Welcome to Raccoon City, which isn’t great but does a better job of acknowledging the games it takes its name from and makes an attempt at giving fans of the video game franchise at least some of what they’ve been wanting out of an RE movie for 20+ fucking years, finally). And Cliffhanger only survived in the public conscience because it had John Lithgow as the villain (which was, admittedly, a very good decision), but otherwise, it was arguably one of the most boring Stallone movies despite the title implying otherwise.
I put on Prince of Darkness a lot, which I think is one of John Carpenter’s most under-appreciated movies, probably because it doesn’t really have that John Carpenter candy coating (sort of swashbuckling) you expect of John Carpenter post-early 80s. I figure it’s not something people will really appreciate or talk about much until after Carpenter dies and people have the impetus to go back through the majority of his filmography and actually really examine his movies beyond what’s just Goofy Carpenter Fun. I guess it also doesn’t help that it’s overshadowed by The Thing a lot.
It Stains the Sand Red could’ve been decent but it diminishes the threat of the zombies in order to have them basically be a stand-in for the protagonist’s son with the whole movie just being a way for the protagonist to realize she was a shitty mom and now that everything has gone to shit, now she realizes she has to get her shit together and it still takes her most of the movie to realize this. Like… how am I supposed to feel about a character that literally needs a zombie apocalypse to get her act together as a parent? I don’t feel for her, or her son and his shitty haircut, or the zombie she eventually treats like a fucking dog. I don’t care because I have no reason to. It’s not scary, it’s not poignant, it’s not deep, and it quickly stops being any fun once the movie gets its head up its own ass. The whole “the living are the real enemy” shit got old a long time ago, and it’s like, yeah, no shit, the living can think and plot, so of course they remain a threat, but that doesn’t mean the zombies aren’t a threat – they’re sickness and disease, as it were, and sickness and disease are a constant threat and not something you would or should treat lightly, either. Of course, if you’re making an actual horror comedy, then all of that doesn’t matter. But, even in stuff like Return of the Living Dead, the zombies are and remain a threat even when they’re played for laughs. I don’t know, I’m just tired of hack filmmakers that think they’re making the next thought-provoking zombie movie.
4 Likes
Finally got around to seeing the 1967 Soviet horror film Viy after having it on my list for quite a few years. For a while it seemed to be difficult to find, legitimate or otherwise. But now it’s easily available and I saw it thanks to the Shudder trial run I got so I could watch Mad God. (I’ve been surprised at how many good things they have on there; If only I took the time to watch movies more often.)
I wasn’t really sold on Viy at first. It had its moments but the characters weren’t appealing or interesting, the comedy fell flat for me, and things kind of dragged despite some nice visuals. But then I got to those scenes and understood why the film is so highly regarded. Tempted to include a GIF image of my favorite part in this post but I won’t because it was totally unexpected and I don’t want to do anyone who might see the film that disservice.
8 Likes
I just watched it on YouTube https://youtu.be/Amh3uudVMBo
2 Likes
this is me with In the Mouth of Madness
1 Like
In the Mouth of Madness is arguably one of John Carpenter’s top 5 movies. It was also written by the same guy who wrote Freddy’s Dead and if you pay attention you’ll notice several parallels between the two. Freddy’s Dead/In the Mouth of Madness would probably even be a good back-to-back watch for a Halloween Club.
4 Likes
We watched Army of Thieves which was a breath of fresh air because it was a movie with like, writing and solid plotting? Like, it’s not good but it’s the kind of movie I expect to see with a budget this large, and I could understand like, stakes and action and character relations and shit? Really sad to me that “movie that functions as a film” is the bar now but y’know, I enjoy a dumb blockbuster and This is That.
Watched The Foreigner as well, which I really really liked. I couldn’t comment on its understanding of Irish and British politics but taking it as truth in the fiction it was really compelling. Watching Pierce Brosnan wildly switch between Politician and Asshole and Guy Just Trying To Keep Shit Together was a real treat.
I also enjoyed Jackie Chan as “Man with a mission, and that mission is to make stuff explode, but like, in a guerilla way.” He really sold the no-reason-to-live attitude, and…yeah, I just enjoyed watching him terrorize this politician with no end in sight. I wish it was more clear what impact he had on the plot, because other than the very end he mostly existed as yet another threat on Brosnan’s character, but not the main driver of the plot movement. Feels like that’s missing the point a little bit.
2 Likes
well shit now i gotta watch that
i still haven’t seen this but i really feel like it has to be the best thing he’s done since he decided he should no longer be funny and charming in movies. he was talented as hell in the old days and made a bunch of cool movies, but fuck jackie chan! my conspiracy brain 100% believes that he is somehow responsible for donnie yen never really having a hollywood career. no evidence to back this up, just vibes
3 Likes
what are some good camp movies i should watch, having watched venom
1 Like
Carpenter’s great for it if you haven’t dug into his ouvre
Slashers are the campiest things that leap into my cisbrain, and a lot of them are leftist to boot. I feel like you must have seen these already but like The People Under the Stairs, or Society…
I am also a continuing one-man crusade for the essential goodness of the Doom movie, if you liked Venom I feel like your brain is correctly tuned for its exact flavor (tho I do not think it is gay at all)
3 Likes
I was just looking at carpenter actually, i loved the thing, downloading they live, in the mouth of madness & escape from new york
not sure slashers would be good for the collaborative viewing experience here but ill check. i never actually liked them really
hmm will read about this doom movie 
oh yeah deadpool i guess
I had fun with Ghosts of Mars a few months back, it’s real silly (Ice Cube’s martian camo :D)
I like Starman too, not as campy, E.T. for adults (?) Karen Allen’s good
+1 for In the Mouth of Madness, great
avoid: Memoirs of an Invisible Man
re: camp, I just watched Teknolust that might count?
5 Likes
Do you mean camp as it “Cheesy movie” or camp as in the like, theatrical concept of camp? I’ll fire a wide shot and see if anything sounds good:
The Joel Schumacher Batman Films are both fun. I think by this point people have really come around on them. I generally prefer the actually really tight focus on Batman and Robin in Batman Forever more than the pure double barreled blast of broadway energy of batman and robin but I think both are fun and worth watching.
While it’s more on the intentional theatrically camp side, I cannot recommend Phantom of the Paradise more strongly. Fantastic bizarre light musical that is somehow an adaption of at least four classic works of horror. It’s even weirder after you find out the guy behind the concept and music would go on to do all the music in The Muppet Movie. I do consider it Actually Good though, so it may not quite be right here?
Cheesy movie camp I adore Hackers (Except for like, a few very poorly aged jokes like a bad transphobic one in the middle of the film that’s…probably part for the course for this kind of movie from the 90s and before unfortunately). Angelina Jolie is very Transition Style Goals for me and the movie fires on all possible cylinders trying so hard to be cyber cool that it fails spectacularly, and then fails so hard it wraps around to being actually cool again. Another of my absolute favorites.
Maybe Interview with a Vampire would count? The movie takes itself deathly seriously,centering itself on Tom Cruise’ absolutely comically over the top Lestat. It too has some rough patches (Oof…main character is a plantation owner for the first small chunk of the film. Jeeze. It’s shorter than it is in the book but it does always strike me when I watch it so…beware of that), but the stuff outside of that is over the top fun mostly. Ultimately culminating in Brad Pitt fighting an army Theater Vampires.
8 Likes