Jesus, totally forgot about that one, but yes, it leans so hard into it that it absolutely can count as camp!
(also wondering about Survive Style Nr 5 now, because that also goes all in…)
(… so what about the Calamari Wrestler)
(wait, there’s no end to it! 
)
Survive Style 5+ is perhaps too self-aware to be camp, but it is real good
Martha Inc and serial mom as camp o rama double feature
the opening seige/looting/betrayal sequence is great but it’s upper-class jennifer jason leigh suddenly suggesting with a grin that she and her new boyfriend dig the cum weed out of the dirt and eat it under the dangling corpses that’s the real statement of intent. incredible scene
I saw The Green Knight a few months back and it seemed like it could possibly fall under the camp with a large budget department, but I only watched it once so I’m not entirely certain and I also watched it with closed captioning and no audio, so.
Also, stuff that isn’t really campy but still over-the-top goofy fun would be like, They Call Me Bruce?, The Last Dragon, and even A Chinese Ghost Story. A Chinese Ghost Story had the rapping Taoist priest, right? I always forget if it’s A Chinese Ghost Story or like, a Mr. Vampire that had that. A Chinese Ghost Story 2 also features a lot of over-the-top goofiness generally centering around people mistaking the identity of the protagonist as a magical priest and getting him into situations as a result. Rumble in the Bronx, as well, which feels like the sugar coma dream of the kid playing a gameless game gear.
Oh, and Double Dragon and Street Fighter (Raoul Julia is great at being over-the-top and being good at it, he’s like the movie equivalent of downing a bunch of pixy stix – pleasantly sugary sweet and delicious with a rush), again, not specifically campy but frequently over-the-top and a bit strange (the latter applying more to Double Dragon, I think, than Street Fighter).
I was puzzling over this for a bit a day ago but I just said “I’m not afraid anymore!” like the kid in the counseling VHS from Donnie Darko and the whole Patrick Swayze/Sparkle Motion subplot is definitely camp even if it clashes with the rest of the movie. I think the same is true of Southland Tales — some characters are doing camp by themselves in a wry discount Pynchon thing
The clashes tend to elevate it, I think
I continue to watch Johnnie To films. Saw The Mission. At 81 minutes, with content entirely composed of Bros doing absolutely adorable Bro Shit and being extreme hardasses in gunfights, it is the most concentrated Johnnie To material I have seen so far.
It’s very very small-feeling compared to the other Johnnie To movies I’ve watched, which were all either complex clockwork adventures with massive casts, or expansive meditations on love and healing and aggression and survival. But The Mission being smaller actually works super well–sometimes I want movies to have the most limited ambition possible and just be laser focused on something, and this is one of those. I really loved it! The scene where the Boys kick a paper ball around the floor of their boss’s office is so good. Bros forever IMO
It’s almost like Sigourney Weaver’s character is trying to cope with having been hung by the neck in a public bathroom in broad daylight by a serial killer while having to watch aforementioned serial killer also murder the person who came in to help her, you stupid, absolutely god-awful, judgmental sack of shit. She’s talking all this shit about Sigourney Weaver behind her back minutes after barging into her home, dropping a bunch of photos of dead people on her coffee table, and basically asking her to do her fucking job for her while also completely disrespecting her and her qualifications in her own home. And she has the audacity to finish her rant against Sigourney Weaver while this guy is giving her a look like he can taste every disgusting ounce of fetid bile coming out of her goddamn mouth. 
This weekend I watched two additional Johnnie To movies—Exiled and Election 2.
One of the things that impresses me about his work is how he continues evolving the story he’s telling right up until the last moment of the movie. Exiled is particularly intense at doing this—its back half turns into this fascinating shaggy dog story with a whole new charismatic character, a whole new chunk of major motifs, etc. Election 2 also does this… there’s a few twists that come one right after another in the last fifteen minutes of the movie that I really enjoyed.
Well, enjoyed as much as you can enjoy a super grim fucking movie about political violence and greed! But yeah, that one has some incredible imagery. Jimmy standing alone in the dark room with the heap of bloody cash behind him is like Johnnie To walloping you over the head with a giant hammer that says THEMES!! on it. Great stuff, haha.
I think I liked Exiled a little less… I think if I’d put some more time between seeing that one and seeing The Mission I would have enjoyed it more. The movies are super similar.
We’re going to watch Sparrow next! I guess that’s gonna be the first one of these I get to see where Simon Yam doesn’t have to play the villain? Neato
If you ever have 5 hours to spare, watching Until the End of the World is a pretty good idea. It is the most luxurious movie I have ever seen, expansive and expensive. Fortunately the money is well spent on set design, costuming, cast, and on-location filming. To think I wouldn’t have seen this or known about it if an SB friend had not recommended it in the film poll.
The sci-fi in it is very good. There is a camera that can record images for blind people to see. It is not an easy or perfect process. The images aren’t clear like from a camera and it takes serious mental clarity on the part of the recorder. Since the film takes place in 1999, the rest of the technology is only slightly ahead of the then present. There are so many good TVs. The colors and shapes of everything are marvelous and stunning in this 4k reprint!
Finally got to see Righting Wrongs, wasn’t disappointed.
That ending though, Jesus.
If Vinegar Syndrome or Arrow or whoever isn’t fighting to snatch up Yes Madam for release, especially with Michelle Yeoh back in the spotlight…damn.
watched killer Joe again because it’s fucking amazing. the voice of reason being the most evil mother fucker who also happens to be a fantasy of every serial killer loving 12 year old is such a tightrope to walk and its SO FUCKED UP THAT IT WORKS. I rewatched cuz I had chicken legs for dinner. never give a man a drumstick when he wants a leg!!!
oh yeah when the credits rolled I didn’t even think about it! like I yelled Matthew McConaughey WAS STROKIN ALRIGHT but god it’s so much funnier than that
i had no idea strokin had been used in a motion picture at all, incredible fortitude
I watched Lifeforce (1995) on a lark, because I remember always being curious about the VHS box at the video rental store as a kid. Turns out this movie fucking owns.
It’s by the director of the Poltergeist, the story is fairly nonsensical, the effects are fantastic, and it’s fun. I think the only thing going against it is that it is like 20 minutes too long, and those 20 minutes are boring as shit and happen directly in the middle of the movie.
Overall, really loved it. Want to find more like it.
The entire intro, entry into the creepy-ass vampire ship, and retrial of the vampires:
LifeForce - Space Vampires - Part 1 - YouTube
This absolutely dope scene where Patrick Stewart’s character vomits blood out of every orphice on a helicopter and it forms into a clot demon vixen that then explodes:
Lifeforce (1985) - Space Girl Escapes Scene (7/10) | Movieclips - YouTube
This awesome zombie body animatric thing they made
Lifeforce (1985) - Back From The Dead Scene (3/10) | Movieclips - YouTube
do NOT listen to william friedkin talk about birth of a nation…this is my vital tip
Demonic is total nonsense. I think the worst part is when the protagonist needs to know what’s going on, so the movie has her arbitrarily go talk to one of her childhood friends who she apparently hasn’t spoken to much in years he just happens to know exactly what’s going on, and even has a picture of something she saw. How convenient. And then she ignores everything he tells her and walks out on him even though she knows that what he’s saying is correct. Also, if weird shit is going, you probably wait until the sun comes out before you decide to go into the forest. Even if weird shit isn’t going on, I’d still avoid the forests at night.
What’s the deal with the Venom movies? I thought Venom was a bad guy based on my very limited knowledge of the character via my vague recollection of the cartoon, the Topher Grace version, and the action figures I had. I think the worst part of these movies are the villains. The first one’s villain is some boring head of a corporation and then the villain in 2 is a shitty serial killer and his shitty girlfriend, except in part 2, they seem to want the audience to feel bad for them judging by there being at least 2 or 3 scenes where they feed us their sappy backstory. Like, fuck them. Carnage doesn’t even look like the action figure I had as a kid. I would’ve just made Venom 1 be High Fidelity but with Venom and then the sequel would’ve been Planes, Trains, and Automobiles but with Venom. John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity is a detestable sap so he’s basically the villain of the movie which fits (in my mind) with the Venom character, and then in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Steve Martin is a detestable sap so he’s basically the villain of the movie (John Candy would be the Symbiote).
Resolution feels like proto-Evil Dead 2013 except without any of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis shit.
I’m a big fan of Blomkamp’s movies, but yes. This one was bad. Too bad he didn’t have the budget to focus on those church soldiers, replacing the talking parts with action scenes.
