What was the last movie you watched? Part 2

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Demons (1971)
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Un ami parfait / A Perfect Friend (2006)
The New Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1976)
Vieille canaille / Old Rascal (1992)
Il pistolero segnato da Dio / Two Guns and a Coward (1968)
The Shadow Strays (2024)
El rojo / Rojo (1966)
Bad Hombres (2023)
A Fool and His Money (1989)
Saloum (2021)
Agent Recon (2024)
The 4:30 Movie (2024)
 
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (AKA The Night She Rose From The Tomb, AKA Evelyn Raises the Dead ~ 1971)

Italian hybrid giallo/gothic horror, directed by Emilio Miraglia, and starring Anthony Steffen, Marina Malfatti, and Erika Blanc. Lord Alan Cunningham (Steffen) is released from a mental institution after suffering a breakdown following the death of his wife, Evelyn. On his release, to help cope with his loss, he entices strippers and prostitutes to his castle and murders them. This novel therapy isn't enough, so on the advice of friends he remarries. But as Cunningham and new wife Gladys (Malfatti) adjust to married life, strange occurrences soon have Alan suspecting that Evelyn may have returned from the grave, angry at his remarriage. At the same time, members of Alan's family who live on the estate start to be murdered by an unseen killer. However, Alan's fragile mental state leaves him in no condition to deal with either situation, and events both natural and seemingly supernatural escalate.

Bizarrely, around the half-way mark the film asks us to start rooting for a guy who we know murders prostitutes. The normal response would be 'well, he's got it coming', but here they try to paint him in a sympathetic light - as though his belief that his late wife was having an affair (never confirmed) somehow justifies what he later did. Still, it's a fun film. It really leans into the gothic aspect - although set in then present-day 'England' (but clearly actually Italy), it has neglected castles, storm-lashed graveyards, cobwebby family crypts, a seance, creeping shadows, a haunting portrait, and ghostly figures at the windows. However, Miraglia's crafty inclusion of strippers and hookers ensures the requisite amount of sex/nudity for the giallo side of things (shoutout to jaw-dropping genre favourite Erika Blank as the top-of-the-bill 'exotic dancer')! Absolutely worth a watch. 7/10
 
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movie (release year)genre(s)my rating
Heretic (2024)horror, thriller★★★★★
Trap (2024)thriller, crime★★★★☆
Woman of the Hour (2024)crime, drama★★★★☆
Circus of Horrors (1960)horror, crime★★★☆☆
The Fog (1980)horror★★★☆☆
Late Night with the Devil (2023)horror★★★☆☆
Longlegs (2024)horror, thriller★★★☆☆
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)drama, horror★★★☆☆
The Tourist Trap (1979)horror, fantasy★★★☆☆
Twisters (2024)action, adventure★★★☆☆
Apartment 7A (2024) [prequel to Rosemary's Baby]horror, thriller★★☆☆☆
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1972)horror, mystery★★☆☆☆
The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)horror★★☆☆☆
The Brides of Dracula (1960)horror★★☆☆☆
Carnival of Souls (1962)horror, mystery★★☆☆☆
Hell House LLC (2015)horror, mystery★★☆☆☆
Ice Age (2002)animation, comedy★★☆☆☆
Immaculate (2024)horror, mystery★★☆☆☆
Invitation to Hell (1984)horror, tv movie★★☆☆☆
The Camp Host (2024)thriller, horror★☆☆☆☆
Eternal (2004)drama, horror★☆☆☆☆
It's What's Inside (2024)comedy, mystery★☆☆☆☆
Sorceress (1982)action, adventure★☆☆☆☆
Somewhere Quiet (2023)drama, thriller★☆☆☆☆
Uglies (2024)sci-fi, drama★☆☆☆☆
Untold: The Murder of Air McNair (2024)documentary, crime★☆☆☆☆

Watched entirely too many duds over the past four months. Some notes:

Heretic had fantastic performances and characters, a simple yet effective plot, and a hell of a lot of effective tension.

Trap may not be the smartest movie ever written but it's the most fun I've had with an M. Night movie in a long ass time and it was was surprisingly deliberately funny.

Twisters just ended up being pretty fine and mediocre but nothing memorable to really stamp it.

Longlegs left me colder than I was expecting the more it went on, didn't click with me the way his other stuff like The Blackcoat's Daughter did.

Immaculate is the weaker movie than its 2024 rival, The First Omen prequel. Sydney Sweeney is good at emoting but not when delivering dialogue, where she is more bad than good.

Uglies is so late to the YA craze and it's also among the worst I've seen of those types of movies.

How my rating scale works:

★★★★★★★★★☆★★★☆☆★★☆☆☆★☆☆☆☆
:up::up:
:up:
:up::down
:down
:down:down
~8 to 10​
~6 to ~8​
~4 to ~6​
~2 to ~4​
0 to ~2​
excellent /
rewatch worthy​
good /
rewatch worthy​
average /
passable /
mixed​
bad / dislike​
horrible /
big waste of time​
 
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The Skulls
9/10


The Skulls is an unforgettable great thriller that focuses on the dangerous Secret Society known as the Skulls.
I do enjoy that this movie has a very cool looking poster that is truthful for what the movie is about very similar to Blade, All POTC Movies, Guyver Dark Hero, Ferrari, Ford Vs Ferrari, Men Of War (1991) Point Break, The Untouchables, 48 Hours, Tango And Cash, (1987) Robocop, The Terminator, Terminator 2, Iron Will, Mystery Alaska, (2000) Gladiator, Marked For Death, Under Siege, Under Siege 2, all John Wick Movies, (1989) The Punisher, (2004) The Punisher, Drop Zone, Jaws, Remember The Titans (1991) Born To Ride and vast other movies.
Also very similar to Jaws and other movie posters, it has a scene from the movie shown on the Movie Poster.





It is a very well-written thriller movie that is fast-paced, the stakes are very high including for the nefarious charismatic main antagonist, mostly an original soundtrack with songs that fit the scenes, a variety of locations including outside of the Yale Campus area, a likable sympathetic Skull member that is Caleb which has the same negative relationship with his father similar to Norman aka Green Goblin views his son as the unworthy soon mostly because he isn't the science expert that Peter Parker is, good dialogue, existing songs are used smoothly because of fitting the scenes including Higher by Creed, memorable lines, solid world building with details about the Skulls talked about including the sensible money system for whom is paying for the Secret Society, a high stakes climax involving 2 fleshed out characters, multiple thrilling chase scenes, drama that is not contrived because of solid wrting, very entertaining action scenes, an existing mystery that gets resolved, 3 memorable distinguishable relatable protagonists that is Luke and Will which is the bromance of this movie, and Chloe that Luke's classmate and love interest, an entertaining flawed US Senator that is mostly a father to Luke even though this is never directly stated because the screenwriter respects the audience to see this detail in scenes without it being directly stated, compotent badass antagonists that do the messy work for the Skulls, a satisfying ending that is open ended similar to (2014) The Guest, the great movie remake of The Italian Job, Sky High, Hard To Kill, except didn't set up a direct sequel like Max Steel, (1993) Super Mario Brothers, Blade, X-Men, Spider Man, (1989) Batman, Batman Forever, The Matrix, John Wick 2, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and multiple other movies.

Detective Sparrow played by Steve Harris that is recognizable from The Practice drama tv show isn't the focus in this movie, however he is proven to be a compotent likable character with making the most of scenes that he's in including him seeing a huge flaw for a crime scene he investigated which he states to Luke which isn't shoehorned in or contrived because of good writing.

Also, a scene that stands out is a Batman-style scene where an antagonist uses a hidden switch that results in access to an area that has recorded tapes of the Skull's monitored areas including the War room.

This is a coming-of-age movie that has Luke making the faust-style deal to get what he thinks he wants. It's believable why exactly he would give a stunning classic car that is a 1963 Red Ford Thunderbird to a friend after stating what exactly he wants in return from the group of friends that he still talks to even though they aren't going to college.

The unforgettable amazing scene that I could repeatedly watch more than 800 times in 1 day without getting bored is the new Skull Members moving fast to their fancy Sports Cars including a 1963 Red Ford ThunderBird, a 1995 Ferrari F355 Spider which has stunning pop-up headlights that get shown off after a character starts the car, then all the new Skull members are shown driving their stunning impressive Sports cars on the road.
It is mostly a promotion for the High Life leaving people wanting to get a very high-paying job so that she or he can own a 1963 Ford ThunderBird, a Ferrari Pista, any other beautiful Ferrari car, or any other expensive sports car that looks beautiful, also is impressive and charismatic because of the impressive thundering sound it makes when moving fast.


Huge nitpicks are it's very unbelievable that Luke decides to make the unwise decision to read Law School cost information while he's sitting at a table during a College Class since the Professor does see that detail instead of after the class is over.
I understand he's eager to find out the exact high cost of Law School since his main passion is to be a Lawyer which the movie fleshes out as to why other than he can make a high amount of money from that occupation.
A other obvious flaw is it's never shown what is the Skulls organization solution for keeping former members quiet if any of them decide they don't want to continue to be a Skull for Life.
Also, why exactly would they have the brand on the wrist area which is going to become visible because since a normal yearly appointment with a Doctor that inspects a patient's body to make sure no issues with the feet, hands, legs, arms, and all other parts of the body including ears, eyes, nose, etc.
Also, the whole build-up to a scene with Luke talking to Caleb doesn't have much suspense because it ends quickly while in A Few Good Men, The Lincoln Lawyer, Black Panther, Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, (2016) Doctor Strange, Under Siege, (1989) Batman, (2003) The Italian Job, The Untouchables, Training Day, Green Lantern First Flight, Two For The Money, Cobra, GhostBusters 2, (1989) The Punisher, and multiple other movies have scenes of tension between 2 characters that are well written since the scenes don't end quickly.


These are minor flaws that don't diminish the great quality of a very well-written thriller movie that is solid in all measurable areas including consistent tone, a variety of locations, great acting, fast pace, strong world-building, good dialogue, great soundtrack with songs that fit the scenes, fleshed out distinguishable characters that have believable motivations for their achievable goals, etc.
Why exactly does Luke think that a romantic relationship with Chloe won't happen is given a solid realistic explanation by him when he's talking to Will about the why. It's a explain his answer scene which satisfied me including stated information that Chloe is in the high-class money league.
Mostly it was very similar to Hooper in the masterpiece movie Jaws when he talks to Chief Brody and Brody's wife for why exactly did he become interested in studying Sharks.


Where exactly he intends to go to Law School is stated by him which isn't surprising because it's prestigious, how he makes money is shown so it's believable he has a bicycle for getting to locations instead of a car because he doesn't make enough cash with the job that he has that could afford a car.
Also, he is shown to be a compotent rower of the Rowing team which does get shown in the rowing race which is suspenseful with the multiple actors of the stated College teams doing the challenging physical work of rowing during the rowing race scene.
Luke does have a smooth short length hairstyle similar to Dean Winchester which is practical because long hair would make it challenging for him to row on a rowing team with a long hair style.



The plot is based on some conspiracy theories about the Skull and Bone's Secret Student Society.
The Skulls is a fictional movie with fictional characters, except not entirely because Skull and Bones is a real Secret Student Society located on the Yale campus area.
George W Bush, George H.W. Bush, and William Howard Taft were Skull and Bones Members before all of them became the US President during different years in United States History.
That is a factual reason that the details about The Skulls given at the beginning shown on the screen are indisputable facts not lies created by this thriller movie.

I did notice that Will and Luke have the same portable black telephone in their Dorm room that my family had in the past when telephones were very common. Also, a box of wheat thins is visible in the Dorm area during the dramatic scene of Caleb giving an unambiguous warning to Luke that he'll dig his own grave if Luke doesn't quit digging.

Anything that should get explained does get explained including a believable explanation for how Judge Litten Mandrake is able to persuade Senator Ames Levritt to change his vote for a stated change.
Judge Mandrake mostly outright states how dreadful it would be for Senator Levritt if he released this awful dark secret about Senator Levritt to the general public.
Judge Mandrake is a ruthless nefarious irredeemable antagonist except the audience can't deny he's right when stating it would be dreadful for Senator Levritt if Judge Mandrake released the abysmal dark secret of what Senator Levritt did to the general public.
It's in the whole category of this Evil Character is right trope with some stated detail which did get shown in Happy Gilmore, The Running Man, POTC Curse Of The Black Pearl, Die Hard, Training Day, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Black Panther, The Rock, etc.



The movie succeeds in showing scenes that the Nefarious Main Antagonist isn't a good character because 1 scene shows him shadowed while stating a dark detail that disreputable actions worked even though he agrees with the criticism the actions that worked are wrong, also he gives a believable explanation for why Skull Members didn't use a sensible solution to fix a immense flaw in response to Luke stating what a talked about main character could have done to resolve a flaw that this movie showed.
I did enjoy this movie has a character explaining his answer trope which is strong writing. The Professor gave Luke details for the critical thinking question about the United States, and Luke provided a strong explanation for his answer.


The Skulls is a stand-alone wrapped-up story that satisfied me similar to (2003) The Italian Job, (1991) Born To Ride, Turner and Hooch, The Guest, Marked For Death, Remember The Titans, The Untouchables, Any Given Sunday, Broken Arrow, Joshua Tree aka Army of One, Men of War, etc.
The Skulls has 2 sequels except those are stand-alone sequels so it isn't undoing everything the first movie achieved in other words it doesn't have the inane frustrating retcon which happened in Terminator 3, Halloween Resurrection, Halloween 5, Batman and Robin which has the inane retcon because tension between Robin and Batman makes no sense since we saw Robin and Batman began to have a smooth partnership with tension ending before Batman Forever ended, etc.
 
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(1988) Red Heat
9/10

Red Heat is an entertaining Bromance buddy cop Action movie with 2 distinguishable Cop characters searching for a remorseless nefarious Soviet Drug Smuggler who killed Ivan's partner. That is the believable reason why it's very personal for Ivan Danko.

The main antagonist Viktor Rosta is a remorseless nefarious antagonist who is a Criminal Organization Leader very similar to Clarence Boddicker of Robocop, and it's not shoehorned in when a protagonist states the crimes that Viktor is responsible for to other protagonists.
The movie succeeds in showing that he is an entirely irredeemable antagonist which works because Captain Danko wants violent vengeance since he knows Viktor is responsible for murdering Captain Danko's partner without hesitation much like Hans Gruber of Die Hard or Steve from the great remake (2003) The Italian Job.



What stands out is that Ivan Danko from Rocky 4 has the same initials as Ivan Drago which is astounding because like Ivan Drago he has the same smooth long Spiky style, is a Russian Soviet, and also has a hefty body.

It's a cat and mouse action buddy cop hardcore Rated R Action movie set mostly in the Midwest Metropolis that is Chicago, and the movie had a big enough budget to film on location in Chicago.
Art Ridzik is a Chicago Police Detective played perfectly by Jim Belushi because Walter Hill and the ScreenWriter utilize his strengths as an actor. After all, Art has a foul mouth and succeeds with comedic lines much like a similar Walter Hill movie that is 48 Hours.
Also, Jim Belushi was raised in a Chicago suburb so he's entirely perfect playing a Chicago Police Detective much like Mark Wahlberg plays a badass hardass from Boston in the Oscar-winning movie The Departed which is set in Boston.

Red Heat greatly succeeds at being a fast-paced action movie that doesn't waste any time showing it's set in a dangerous world similar to 48 Hours, Marked For Death, etc.

I'm thrilled that this fast-paced action bromance movie succeeds with being set in a realistic action movie universe including characters don't just instantly die when they get shot in not fatal areas, realistic consequences for violence other than gunshot wounds, guns have limited ammo since characters are shown reloading guns, the Chicago Police Department being sued by an Informant because of physical coercion which no protagonist attempted to halt physically, etc.

How exactly did Captain Danko get an impressive handgun that looks very Robocop-inspired past customs does get asked Detective RidZik, and because of great writing Captain Danko provides a believable solid explanation which I enjoyed because it would be a glaring plot hole if Captain Danko gave a inane unbelievable explanation that's insulting to the audience.

It's very outside the box of dime-a-dozen movie cliche since the airplane doesn't land in New York City instead it is in Chicago which is the third most populated city in the USA.
Much like 48 Hours was set in San Franciso and filmed on location, this Action Bromance movie also directed by Walter Hill succeeds at showing off Chicago including Chicago trains moving in Downtown Chicago areas, and other recognizable locations which makes it unmistakable that this is an action movie set in Chicago, and was filmed on location in Chicago.

The original soundtrack has songs that fit the suspenseful scenes, characters consistently act realistic including Captain Danko saying that Soviets drink vodka as a way of dealing with stress and tension when asked by Commander Lou Donnelly how Soviets deal with tension and stress, characters asking other sensible questions, and characters reacting realistically including when Detective RidZik is able to see a flaw for Captain Danko's explanation for how exactly was Viktor's wife was able to escape since Ridzik has seen visible information that Captain Danko has good running speed.
The movie has a realistic progression of tension ending between Captain Danko and Detective Ridzik. Also, the movie gives us an unmistakable scene in a Chicago Airport that shows their relationship is in the amicable area which made me very happy.

1 character in a scene is shown wearing a Cubs T-shirt, also Captain Danko and Detective RidZik are shown watching a White Sox Baseball scene.
This seems intentional because the screenwriter wants both White Sox fans and Cubs fans to both be very happy that Cubs got some focus mainly an unstated character wearing a Cubs t-shirt for 1 scene , and the 2 protagonists from different cultures both shown relaxing by watching a White Sox game so the White Sox team wasn't excluded in this action bromance movie set in Chicago.

It's very ridiculous except very entertaining that during a hand to hand combat action scene the punching sounds are thundering like a Shotgun, or like it's Superman fighting Doomsday or General Zod.

This movie does stand out as being very retro since it's an 80's movie including The Telephone booth, 80s 80s-style clothes, a common 80's rectangular Radio that has a tape player, a common 80's era TV, etc.

Mostly anything that should be explained does get explained so suspension of disbelief doesn't get broken.
This includes a believable explanation for why does Catherine Manzetti remain married to Viktor since she knows he is a remorseless nefarious Criminal Boss that is responsible for predatory nefarious actions.


As a result, this action movie does give us moral ambiguity with a morally gray character or complicated character that I viewed as likable, and the screenwriter of Red Heat respects the audience by not stating directly how to view Catherine as a character because it's left up entirely to the audience.

Captain Danko is very similar to a T-800 aka a Terminator because he's shown to be fearless, doesn't fear pain or gunfire, and he is an impressive shooter similar to the badass cybernetic organism known as a T-800 aka a Terminator.
Captain Danko and Detective Ridzik both are wearing suits, however both are different styles so they remain very visually distinguishable.

It's not shoehorned in that Ivan is able to acquire a 44 Magnum same as Dirty Harry, along with the believable explanation for why Detective Ridzik has that exact spare gun in a storage area in his car.

A huge nitpick is in the third act is Viktor using an inane action that has a glaring flaw because it has a huge flaw mainly for him, and the movie doesn't have Viktor provide a sensible explanation for why he won't have to worry about the immense drawback.

The Climax is thrilling with high stakes, a variety of action scenes, the build-up before the anticipated showdown, etc.

The movie doesn't have any cliffhangers and no scene that sets up a sequel which is why I'm satisfied with the ending because Red Heat is similar to the great The Italian Job movie remake, (1991) Born To Ride, Marked For Death, (1991) Point Break, Cellular, and other very well written movies that are designed to stand on its own.

The whole line being parked in a red zone said by Detective Ridzik isn't shoehorned in before saying no offense to Captain Danko since this is an example of negative red.
 

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