Friday, September 13, 2013

Netflix history quick hits

I watch movies of all kinds -- mostly crappy ones -- but my favorite kind of movie is FREE*. So I watch many of the craptacular movies Netflix and Amazon have to offer streaming. Here's a quick recap.

* - Free, with subscription.

Reverb (2008) - "Don't Answer the Phone" meets "White Noise" -- combine those movies, give it to an editor who is addicted to quick cuts and you have a seriously mediocre movie. Also would help to have people who could sing if you're making a movie about music. Anyone ever heard of Autotune? JSS Rating: Bad/Bad.

The Bay (2012) - Barry Levinson, you've fallen so far since "Diner" (one of my favorites). The Bay is a better done version of most "found footage" movies out there... at least it has a bit more story. Rewatch Cloverfield if you want a found footage movie. JSS Rating: Bad/Bad.

The Tall Man (2012) - Kind of interesting. I would say that other than the annoying chase scenes, it has some merit. Jessica Biel is almost seems like a passable actress in this movie. JSS Rating: Good / Bad.

Rubberneck (2012) - Bring an iPad or a laptop while you watch this one. Snoozer. I actually think they thought they were making a good movie here. Fail. JSS Rating: Bad / Good.

Saturday Night Fever (1977) - If you haven't seen this already, you really must. I kind of hate the Verrazano Bridge scene though. Most coming of age movies seem to require death. JSS Rating: Good / Good.

Dredd (2012) - Violent and thankfully short. I enjoyed it. JSS Rating: Good / Bad.

Erased (2012) - I only watched this three weeks ago and could barely remember it. Bad sign, right? I do remember it being entertaining as something to put on while on the computer. JSS Rating: Good / Bad.

Monsters (2010) - Buddy travel movie where they run into several plot devices that keep them together. That said, really not bad given the no-budgetness. JSS Rating: Good / Bad.

Branded (2012) - Unwatchable. JSS Rating: Unwatchable.

Leviathan (1989) - Ah, one of my old stable movies that I'll pull out when I'm bored and need something in the background. I really enjoy this movie. Horror, but still fun. JSS Rating: Good / Bad.

Impostor (2001) - Not bad. I am chase-scened out for this life and this movie has a bit much of it, but the overall idea is solid and interesting. JSS Rating: Good / Bad.

Stormhouse (2012) - More like BOREhouse. It's a watchable no-budget scare flick with a couple good moments. JSS Rating: Bad / Bad.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - I enjoyed it, but all of these comic book movies are from the exact same script these days. The overall beats of the movie are indistinguishable from any other Marvel movie of late. I'm also totally over Hugo Weaving. Why do people still cast him? JSS Rating: Good / Good.

The Faculty (1998) - I love this movie. Robert Rodriguez FTW. Do they still make "the teachers are all monsters/aliens/killer-robots" movies? If not, rewatch this. JSS Rating: Good / Bad.

Superman III (1983) - Gee, now I remember why I haven't rewatched this in about 20 years. Dreadful. JSS Rating: Bad / Bad.

Fire in the Sky (1993) - If alien abductions are real, maybe they can take some filmmakers. JSS Rating: Bad / Bad.




For those who don't know, my rating guide: a movie is rated by what it really was, and what the filmmaker intended. A "Good/Bad" movie would be Evil Dead 2. They didn't think they were making Citizen Kane, but it was still great. Forrest Gump is an example of the opposite (a "Bad/Good"): they thought they were making a good movie, but it was actually dreadful.

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