Every Film You've Watched in 2023

[Donomark]

13 hours ago, slothian said:

Half of it is Don talking about Macy Gray and "you people".

It is

 

Black Caesar: Directed by Larry Cohen, starring Fred Williamson

I tried watching Three the Hard Way but it's unavailable online, so I went with Black Caesar based on this killer badass trailer. It was quite a viewing experience. Blaxploitation movies have to be put into so many different contexts depending on the film, and the fact is that half of them are about gang lords, drug dealers and pimps. The term blaxploitation comes from the NAACP despising how these stories constantly presented the worst black stereotypes to mainstream white audiences, but in the moment they were mostly films starring black leads and putting them in powerful stories that went against the grains of sidekicks and tokens. Films like Shaft and The Mack were trendsetters more than following a trend, with 1973 being the hotbed for these movies sprouting up. But Fred Williamson had been acting for several years before this lead role. This is definitely what set him on the map, as it's a true star-making performance.

The problem is that Tommy Gibbs is ultimately a thug. There's very little redeeming qualities about him, but a popular narrative is that he's a "hero". Perhaps in the larger context of the black community (Michael Jai White said any Fred Williamson movie had its own "dead whitey" count, and this one for sure ranks high), he strikes an indelible image. But in-universe he's not only a murderer and a crook, but an unapologetic rapist. It's his first "love scene" with Gloria Hendry - who is great in the movie but treated like shit throughout - and his hatred from beginning to end makes any scene with women something to be on high alert for. There's more to get into and analyze regarding black masculinity than this one post can try to, but anyone watching with modern eyes writes the character off pretty early on by the end of the first act. 

At the same time, Fred Williamson really is terrific. Not only can he rock sweet suits and carry himself intimidatingly with that semi-auto handgun he's clutching, but he's got a brilliant command of charm channeling fury and indignation in nearly every scene. Out of the handful of blaxploitation movies I've seen, he's at the top in terms of main character performance, along with Ron O'Neal. At the end of the day, I take Black Caesar as a story about a man ruined from a young age by racism and used that anger to wreak vengeance on life. He's not anyone to look up to, really, but the performance and directing make it a compelling watch, even if it does feel like one of the many white directors were jumping on a trend with an outsider's view of the subject matter. 

[Dread]

14 hours ago, Donomark said:

You listen to the Flickchart Forum episode we did last year on the Spidey flicks?

I did way back then. Maybe, I'll check it out again. Funny you mention that...

 

13 hours ago, slothian said:

Half of it is Don talking about Macy Gray and "you people".

🤣

[Dread]

21 minutes ago, Donomark said:

It is

 

Black Caesar: Directed by Larry Cohen, starring Fred Williamson

I tried watching Three the Hard Way but it's unavailable online, so I went with Black Caesar based on this killer badass trailer. It was quite a viewing experience. Blaxploitation movies have to be put into so many different contexts depending on the film, and the fact is that half of them are about gang lords, drug dealers and pimps. The term blaxploitation comes from the NAACP despising how these stories constantly presented the worst black stereotypes to mainstream white audiences, but in the moment they were mostly films starring black leads and putting them in powerful stories that went against the grains of sidekicks and tokens. Films like Shaft and The Mack were trendsetters more than following a trend, with 1973 being the hotbed for these movies sprouting up. But Fred Williamson had been acting for several years before this lead role. This is definitely what set him on the map, as it's a true star-making performance.

The problem is that Tommy Gibbs is ultimately a thug. There's very little redeeming qualities about him, but a popular narrative is that he's a "hero". Perhaps in the larger context of the black community (Michael Jai White said any Fred Williamson movie had its own "dead whitey" count, and this one for sure ranks high), he strikes an indelible image. But in-universe he's not only a murderer and a crook, but an unapologetic rapist. It's his first "love scene" with Gloria Hendry - who is great in the movie but treated like shit throughout - and his hatred from beginning to end makes any scene with women something to be on high alert for. There's more to get into and analyze regarding black masculinity than this one post can try to, but anyone watching with modern eyes writes the character off pretty early on by the end of the first act. 

At the same time, Fred Williamson really is terrific. Not only can he rock sweet suits and carry himself intimidatingly with that semi-auto handgun he's clutching, but he's got a brilliant command of charm channeling fury and indignation in nearly every scene. Out of the handful of blaxploitation movies I've seen, he's at the top in terms of main character performance, along with Ron O'Neal. At the end of the day, I take Black Caesar as a story about a man ruined from a young age by racism and used that anger to wreak vengeance on life. He's not anyone to look up to, really, but the performance and directing make it a compelling watch, even if it does feel like one of the many white directors were jumping on a trend with an outsider's view of the subject matter. 

Black Caesar is one of my all-time favourite movies (you have to see Three The Hard Way). Gibbs is less reprehensible than Tony Montana in another movie that stole Shakespeare's Julius Caesar plot. I like BC a lot more than Scarface too. I'll take Fred Williamson over almost any other actor on earth, any day. 

[Dread]

Cruel Jaws: oh lordy. Monday's Dread Media will have my review for this...thing.

• Features: 88
• Shorts: 1
• Documentaries: 8
• Rewatches: 5

[Dread]

Mother: the latest movie I caught with my lady is this Netflix misstep. I can't really buy Jennifer Lopez as an actress (Out of Sight and The Cell notwithstanding) let alone a badass action hero. Never got comfortable with that in this movie, so I was not proved wrong. Pass.

• Features: 89
• Shorts: 1
• Documentaries: 8
• Rewatches: 5

[Davedevil]

Speed Racer: I'm glad this movie found its audience in the years since it came out. I respect what the Wachowskis were doing here, and even got into it a few times (the race with the ice caves and the final one had me giddy as hell) but there's so much going on visually for a fairly lengthy film. It does have a ton of heart to it though, I enjoyed John Goodman quite a lot, Cristina Ricci is fun, and I really liked Racer X. Overall, I get why it works for its fans, but I'm not sure if it's totally for me.

[S-T]

Saw 10 - As a stand-alone film, it is bad. As a sequel/prequel, it is even worse, as well as incomprehensible.

This must take place between Saw 1 and Saw 2. It could potentially take place between Saw 2 and 3, but is most likely is the former. The movie is not clear when it happens.

But as I said when I addressed the trailer, both Jigsaw and Amanda look 20 years older than they should be for the timeline of this movie, because Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith are twenty years older than they were when the first movies were made. Same with Hoffman, who shows up in a mid-credits scene. If you made a movie with me in 2004, I would not look the same either. I have a bald spot that I didn't have then, my hairline is farther back, and I have a lot more gray than I did when I was 31. People age. They made no effort to hide that at all.  

And again. Is this the treatment that would have saved him in Saw VI? If not, why choose this shady operation (which looks straight out of InfoWars) instead of the option from 6? Is Jigsaw a big fan of Alex Jones? Is Jigsaw afraid that Big Pharma is conspiring to kill him?

Something else I considered: Jigsaw is an American serial killer. He goes to Mexico and kills people. Seems like the Mexican government would want a piece of him.

Now to spoilers.

Spoiler

The eye trap, which is the featured trap, takes place only in Jigsaw's imagination. Ridiculous bait and switch.

Jigsaw tortures his cab driver, who gives up the location of the medical scammers. Shockingly, he actually survives his trap. So what happens to him? Why doesn't he come back in Saw 2 and beyond? Doesn't he want revenge? Doesn't he want to contact the police?

A woman has to cut her own leg off and suction bone marrow into a device or her head gets cut off. She has three minutes to do this, or she dies. She would either pass out from the pain of cutting her own leg off, or she would bleed to death. There is no way to survive this trap.

A man has to cut off a piece of his own skull and yank out a piece of his own brain. Yes. That happens. Just like the woman, he has three minutes to do this. Obviously, he fails. There's no way any human being could physically do this to himself without passing out, having a seizure, or disabling his own brain in a way that he would be unable to function. This is self-parody.

Jigsaw again claims he is not a murderer. He gives people the chance to live. That's nonsense. Someone who wants people to live would not put a three minute timer on these things.

Amanda has compassion for a drug addict, her relationship with Jigsaw is built up so she can continue his "work." Why? We know she fails to follow the rules, and she fails her game in Saw 3. What is the point of doing this, when we know how it ends?

The woman who was the ringleader for the whole scam is left alive at the end of the movie. Why doesn't she show up in any movie that takes place after this one, from Saw 2 onward? Seems like she would want revenge on Jigsaw. What happens to her? Does Hoffman or Amanda put her in an inescapable trap?

Putting a child in a deathtrap, where he gets waterboarded with blood, is cheap heat in the extreme. No reason for it at all.

Jigsaw gives him all of the cash the fraudsters stole. Because they wouldn't have that money in a Swiss bank account or something. They would have it in cash. Does the criminal fraud operation - which operates a paramilitary unit, by the way - go to this boy's house and take the money back? What happens to the paramilitary unit? Why don't they come back?

A bunch of people applauded at the end.

I hope @James D. and @Missy review this one.

[S-T]

One other thing:

Spoiler

The criminal fraudsters' ringleader (Cecilia Pederson) reveals she knows John is Jigsaw.

And you still defrauded him, knowing who he is? You didn't call the cops as soon as you realized who he was? Was it public knowledge at this point? If so, why is Jigsaw allowed to run around in public and go to coffee shops and such? Hoffman didn't kill the entire police department until Saw VII.

By the way, where is John's wife, Jillsaw?

[Dread]

The Venture Bros.: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart: I watched this twice last night. Still thinking about it. Will probably review it on the podcast.

Drag Me To Hell/Oz the Great and Powerful/Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: yikes.

Phantasm: stone cold classic. So innovative.

• Features: 94
• Shorts: 1
• Documentaries: 8
• Rewatches: 6

[Donomark]

Because I didn't post it, I also watched Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart. Perfectly decent as an extra-long episode, but IMO unsatisfying as an ending to the series, which Doc and Jack could not help. They've been very open about their disappointment on being cancelled and wish they were given space for a proper final season, so none of my reaction is any antipathy towards them. It's just that previous finales have been done better. IMO the absolute peak of the series storytelling was the Season 3 episode "The Orb", Season 4 finale, and the conclusion to the Blue Morpho arc last season. With the film, it's generally shenanigans for much of its runtime, with only the last few minutes giving us real answers to the show's mysteries. And those answers are indeed satisfying, but the delivery of them yearns to be better paced. Also Brock is barely in this, something that the creators - again - have expressed regret in interviews.

[Dread]

1 hour ago, Donomark said:

Because I didn't post it, I also watched Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart. Perfectly decent as an extra-long episode, but IMO unsatisfying as an ending to the series, which Doc and Jack could not help. They've been very open about their disappointment on being cancelled and wish they were given space for a proper final season, so none of my reaction is any antipathy towards them. It's just that previous finales have been done better. IMO the absolute peak of the series storytelling was the Season 3 episode "The Orb", Season 4 finale, and the conclusion to the Blue Morpho arc last season. With the film, it's generally shenanigans for much of its runtime, with only the last few minutes giving us real answers to the show's mysteries. And those answers are indeed satisfying, but the delivery of them yearns to be better paced. Also Brock is barely in this, something that the creators - again - have expressed regret in interviews.

My thoughts are pretty similar.

Phantasm II: I'll save my thoughts on this, the action sequel, for the podcast I'm obviously covering the whole franchise on and just point out that though this is the only Phantasm film to be considered a studio film, it was still the lowest budgeted movie that Universal released IN THE ENTIRE 1980S.

• Features: 95
• Shorts: 1
• Documentaries: 8
• Rewatches: 6

[Donomark]

Hell up in Harlem: The sequel to Black Caesar, once again written and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Fred Williamson

Was always going to check this out when I had the time. While Black Caesar was a challenging watch, I was curious to see how it was followed up, especially with it being a sequel in the same year as the predecessor. Pretty funny at first. The original ends with a stark scene of Tommy Gibbs mugged by a gang of young kids, left for dead in the middle of a vacant lot. This movie retcons that right away to show that he called for help and was taken to the hospital in time. It's an entire third of the first act, with repetitious dialogue and a LOT of exposition, which characterizes the film throughout. Sometimes in Black Caesar, there was not enough information delivered to always follow what was going on. Here, character state their contexts so loudly that it would drive Robot Devil insane. Julius Harris plays a closer part to Tommy in this, quickly (and somewhat contrivedly) becoming part of his criminal operation. Harris is the greatest, right up there in acting talent with Williamson. Whenever he's on-screen, it's magnetic. 

This film is probably technically worse than Black Caesar in that it's a louder movie with more action and violence than character drama, but at the same time I think it's more watchable for easy entertainment. If you can choose to ignore Tommy's rapist character in the first film, this movie makes him more of a definite hero - actively using his criminal organization to get rid of drug dealers and control crime across several states. The evil he does is defined as killing people, and mainly corrupt white politicians who have it coming. Maybe that's what fans of this series remember over Black Caesar, which was more upfront on how spiritually fallen Tommy was. This film has some pablum about Tommy's soul being driven to violence and how that's bad, and it is, but the film doesn't really believe that. Not when there's shooting to be done. 

The worst elements are still everything with Gloria Hendry. I don't know if Larry Cohen personally hated her or if it's simply misogynoir left unchecked, but every scene with her just works to make her character's existence a living hell. The opening scene works as a retcon in her characterization, and the movie tries to re-frame her and Tommy's relationship as a lost romance when originally she rightfully hated him and worked to free herself from his clutches. It's the kind of disrespect that recalls very bad anime, or those soap operas where a romantic lead rapes his love interest and that's treated as a minor inconvenience. I'm entertained by these two films, but the other blaxploitation movies I've seen didn't have the leads - no matter how crooked they were - rape their women, nor their female leads treated with such utter contempt. That keeps this Fred Williamson duology below a certain quality floor at the end of the day. I'd still recommend them because "part of the times" and all that, but both have that Gloria Hendry factor that's just unforgivable. I blame Larry Cohen, being part of the trend in these films to want to make popular movies in a profitable genre but didn't care enough about the people he was making these stories about and for regarding how their image is utilized. 

[Dread]

Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead: still action-y but gets the franchise back on track.

Phantasm: OblIVion: now we're fucking talking.

Phantasm: RaVager: hoo boy...

V/H/S/1985: review forthcoming, but we have a franchise worst on our hands.

• Features: 99
• Shorts: 1
• Documentaries: 8
• Rewatches: 6

[Davedevil]

Conan the Barbarian: I was kinda floored by this movie? Knowing him from when they leaned into his inherent goofiness, I was surprised by Arnold's acting in this. I really bought into the character of Conan through this whole thing, even as he didn't speak a whole lot. The rest of the cast is great too, especially James Earl Jones.

The action is incredible, everything feels so weighty. Killing someone is a lot like chopping down a tree in this. The massive sets look fantastic too.

I was expecting a much more straightforward revenge story but this was an amazing adventure and really contemplative in a lot of places. I can easily see myself putting this on again sometime soon.

[dc20willsave]

Do yourself a favor Dave: Whenever you watch Conan The Destroyer, try to go in with no expectations because it is far and away a very different film. I quite enjoy it but I know it can be disappointing if you expect more of the same from the original.

[Davedevil]

Noted! I'm a fan of sequels that try to do different things but end up messy, at least. Honestly, that ending narration (which felt very RPG, like I was watching an epilogue in a Fallout or Dragon Age game) was enough of a wrap-up to the story they were doing in the first movie that anything more they do is totally separate.

[Dread]

2 hours ago, dc20willsave said:

Do yourself a favor Dave: Whenever you watch Conan The Destroyer, try to go in with no expectations because it is far and away a very different film. I quite enjoy it but I know it can be disappointing if you expect more of the same from the original.

It's very much a "hey, the first one was successful in its brutality and stark, unrelenting nihilism. Let's make the sequel for kids! Then, they would continue that slide with a Saturday morning cartoon. I too enjoy "...The Destroyer" as well as "Red Sonja" (he's not Conan in that but he might as well be). But nothing in the sword and sorcery genre touches the first film.

Also probably the best DVD commentary ever.

[Dread]

Rejuvenator: review forthcoming

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster: review forthcoming, but wow. Pretty good.

• Features: 101
• Shorts: 1
• Documentaries: 8
• Rewatches: 6

[Missy]

On 10/11/2023 at 10:42 AM, Dread said:

It's very much a "hey, the first one was successful in its brutality and stark, unrelenting nihilism. Let's make the sequel for kids! Then, they would continue that slide with a Saturday morning cartoon. I too enjoy "...The Destroyer" as well as "Red Sonja" (he's not Conan in that but he might as well be). But nothing in the sword and sorcery genre touches the first film.

Also probably the best DVD commentary ever.

I don't think I've ever actually seen the Arnold Conan. Parts, sure. But never the whole thing.

[Dread]

13 hours ago, Missy said:

I don't think I've ever actually seen the Arnold Conan. Parts, sure. But never the whole thing.

Dude. I feel like we should review it.

Spiral: From the Book of Saw: my friend Mo put it best: "this is like a gore film version of Bad Boys." Chris Rock is great, but without him, this is a turd. 

• Features: 102
• Shorts: 1
• Documentaries: 8
• Rewatches: 6

[dc20willsave]

On 10/12/2023 at 2:33 AM, Dread said:

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster: review forthcoming, but wow. Pretty good.

Of the new watches I've made so far this season, I feel like this was the best one so far! Sooo good!

16 hours ago, Missy said:

I don't think I've ever actually seen the Arnold Conan. Parts, sure. But never the whole thing.

Okay, I am very happy that I held off on picking the second one for WHXN when I was thinking about it last season. I'd hate for that one to be the first of the two you see.

[Missy]

10 hours ago, Dread said:

Dude. I feel like we should review it.

I'm down.

8 hours ago, dc20willsave said:

Okay, I am very happy that I held off on picking the second one for WHXN when I was thinking about it last season. I'd hate for that one to be the first of the two you see.

Watch, it'll turn out that's the one I've seen clips from.

[S-T]

Ma - I have been meaning to watch this one for a while. This was very good but kind of went off the rails in the third act. I am not sure what the villain's plan was when she ramped everything up at the end, or how she thought she would get away with it. The movie does do a good job of keeping her sympathetic while also not making her so sympathetic that she's not clearly a villain.

The Substitute - Decent action movie. The high school students were played by actors who are very clearly too old to still be in high school, but that is a pretty common thing in Hollywood. Ernie Hudson was excellent as a villain.

[S-T]

On 10/12/2023 at 10:01 PM, Missy said:

I don't think I've ever actually seen the Arnold Conan. Parts, sure. But never the whole thing.

It's on Netflix until 11/1.

[You Know Who]

The House That Dripped Blood - Watched it based on Channel 37’s review of it last year. Me likey.

The Raven (1963) - Directed and produced by Roger Corman, written by Richard Matheson, and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and baby Jack Nicholson. @Dan @Missy @dc20willsave @Mr Mockery — please, please — PUH-LEASE — cover this on Channel 37 someday. It’s insane!