Calvaire (2004): I got a little burned out from the Asian horror so I found my way to some interesting Belgium horror. Laurent Lucas stars as a cabaret singer whose car is broke down in some strange town. He is then saved by a man named Bartel, or is he? This has some shades of MISERY and even TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. I found this movie on On-Demand.
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988): Since the fearful great dane counts in the contest, I thought I would check out this older movie of theirs. This one only features Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy who for some reason are hired to train the daughters of monster legends in their annual volleyball game against some military school boys. These girls are daughters of the Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Werewolf, and even a phantom. For some reason these monsters became all reformed and are now loving fathers. One interesting thing is that Frankenstein's Monster's daughter is named Elsa and is modeled after Elsa Lanchester in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Oh, and did I mention these girls get kidnapped? Well, they do and guess who must save them? Harmless fun here, not the best of the cartoon series and I'm aware that Scrappy is quite unpopular but still fun to watch. The legendary Casey Kasem provides the voice of Shaggy.
The Leopard Man (1943): Now we go into some classic psychological horror where a black leopard gets loose and people start dying. People are very quick to blame this leopard, but some just don't think it is that simple. This has a pretty atmospheric feel to it. My reader Fred the Wolf actually has an actual review to this movie. If he comments, he can tell you about it and you can click his profile to see his many horror reviews since that is more his genre than it is mine.
Saw 2 (2005): Last year, I featured the first one, now I go to the second one which I have surprisingly really enjoyed these movies and this one more than the first. New Kids on the Block alum Donnie Wahlberg stars as Detective Eric Matthews who finds himself being targeted by Jigsaw, played by Tobin Bell. Matthews catches Jigsaw seemingly too easy and learns that his son is part of Jigsaw's latest game along with seven other people who must escape before they inhale too much nerve gas which brings out secrets from everyone. 7TH HEAVEN alum Beverley Mitchell is one of these unwilling players who is no longer a preacher's daughter here. If you don't have a good stomach, you may not want to see this movie. My favorite is the syringe scene.
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960): I now take you to the Hammer Films which stars Paul Massie as the dual role of the scientist whose theory takes over him becoming Edward Hyde. Long time Hammer actor Christopher Lee co-stars as the Jekyll's conniving friend Paul Allen. This has a rather interesting approach with Jekyll being the passive, weak man and Hyde being stronger, more charismatic and even a bit more likable than Jekyll.
Child's Play (1988): Beverley Mitchell's 7TH HEAVEN mom Catherine Hicks stars in this clever horror film, this time as a single mom. When she buys a Good Guys doll for her son, strange things start happening. What happens is that a serial killer named Charles possesses one of these dolls before he dies there creating a horror movie icon. Chris Sarandon plays the cop who shoots the serial killer. Alex Vincent plays the boy who realizes his doll is possessed and after a couple murders, his mom and the cop finally believe him. Brad Dourif plays the killer and does the voice once the killer is in the doll.
M (1931): Peter Lorre stars in this film-noir as a child murderer in a star-making role. This is an interesting German film which starts out with the authorities speculating on the murderer into going into the actual murderer who did not like what he did but it was a disease, something I am sure was very controversial at the time. When the authorities couldn't catch him, the underworld gets involved and finds him having their own trial which was far less compassionate that the actual courts. Fritz Lang directed his first talkie in this one. This actually takes place in the Nazi era where Lorre fled Germany in fear of persecution.
Blue Chips (1994): I used this due to the Horror Movie Marathon loophole for William Friedkin. Most sports movies seem to consist of either football or baseball so here we take a look into the NCAA basketball. Nick Nolte plays Coach Pete Bell who coaches the fictional Western University Dolphins which for years has been the cleanest program in the country. After his first losing season at 15-16, Pete reluctantly sells his soul for a great team. He goes out to recruit some big prospects including country boy Ricky Roe, played by former Indiana University player Matt Nover, Butch McRae, played by Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, and Neon Budeaux, played by NBA standout Shaqille O'Neal. The first two have family who make certain demands have their kids play in the game. Neon does not really ask for anything. Nolte closely observed then Indiana University coach Bobby Knight and actually got Laryngitis in the process. Knight co-stars as himself in the game against Western University. The late character actor J.T. Walsh, who died way too soon, plays the crooked football coach who takes care of things for the basketball team. Larry Bird plays himself in this movie as well as some college coaches like Rick Pitino and Jerry Tarkanian, who years before had a similar scandal with UNLV. This movie kind of hit home with me going into Indiana and featuring Indiana University. They tried to make the basketball game as real as possible.
Play Misty For Me (1971): This is the directorial debut for Clint Eastwood who stars as a radio DJ who meets a strange woman who gets jealous very easy in this pre-FATAL ATTRACTION story. Jessica Walter plays this female and when he ends their relationship, things turn quite deadly when he starts to see another woman. I'll keep this one pretty simple. This is the start of what would become a great directing career for the man of many talents. Check out this unusual psychological thriller from Eastwood.
Hi-De-Ho (1937): I wanted to end on a more upbeat note so I found this short film on TCM On-Demand which stars Cab Calloway as himself in the fictional story of his rise in the music industry. Most notable for some of his great musical numbers.
Well, that is it for this week, now we go into the Horror Movie Marathon where I am a low number 3 out of 6. I found it interesting how predictable I was to Cavepearl with my FERNGULLY move.
Movies
Calvaire (2004): The description is right above. This was a pretty good horror story with just regular people. Probably the first Belgium film I have seen. 666
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988): This was a pretty harmless movie, nothing great but nothing bad and quite fun to watch. 66 1/2
The Leopard Man (1943): Another horror story from Val Lewton. This was a good, creepy low-budget film. 66 1/2
Saw 2 (2005): The second in a long series of movies with part 4 set to be released soon. I have only seen the first two and I have really liked both of them. These are some pretty clever horror films. 666 1/2
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960): This is a pretty decent Hammer film. I hoped that Christopher Lee was the title character but he was still great in his role. 666
Child's Play (1988): This is another pretty innovating horror film creating quite an icon in Chucky, possibly setting fear in adults to buy dolls for their kids. 666
M (1931): This definetly qualifies because the rules said so and it is a very interesting film set in Nazi Germany with the legendary Peter Lorre. 666 1/2
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994): This Coen Brothers film qualifies because Bruce Campbell has a small role as a reporter named Smitty. Tim Robbins stars in this movie as Norville Barnes, a Muncie, Indiana man trying to make it in the rough, corporate New York world. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a reporter who wants to get the story of Norville. Paul Newman plays the head of Hudsucker who appoints Norville the president for his own ulterior motives. This is a pretty hilarious satire of corporate America. Look for Coen alum Steve Buscemi in a very small role. It was pretty cool hearing Muncie, Indiana since that is where I live. 666 1/2
Blue Chips (1994): This qualifies because of the William Friedkin loophole. This was a pretty good basketball film with lots of known basketball personalities. J.T. Walsh's character has some pretty interesting views when he tries to justify his reasoning for working under-the-table. 666
Play Misty For Me (1971): I never thought I would find a thriller from Eastwood but here it is. 666
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992): This is the movie which would later become my favorite tv series. I didn't watch the show at first due to my rememberance of this movie but some friends told me about the show and I started to watch it and those characters in show became my best friends. Now with that being said, I'm not saying I hate this movie but I didn't want to see a show based on this movie. I heard that the TV series is what writer Joss Whedon wanted. In this movie, Kristy Swanson stars as the title character, a valley girl, head cheerleader who learns that she is the chosen one. I guess the name Buffy has more symbolism in this movie than in the tv series. In the tv series, Sarah Michelle Gellar plays the role and she is more mature but it is clear that she was quite the snob in her Los Angeles days. The show might be a continuation from this movie. This movie takes place in L.A. and the tv series takes place in the fictitious town of Sunnydale, California. She had to move there because she was expelled from the City of Angels because she burned down the gym and could not tell people that she was doing it to save vampires making people see her as just a felon. In the tv series. Charisma Carpenter plays Cordelia who is everything Buffy was in the movie with her personality. 90210 alum Luke Perry stars as Pike, who has an unexpected encounter with a vampire and decides to join Buffy's fight. Donald Sutherland is her watcher Merrick, the man who informs Buffy of her calling. I heard that Joss had a hard time working with Sutherland in the movie. In the tv series, her watcher is Rupert Giles, played very well by Anthony Stewart Head. Giles breaks every rule that Merrick mentions about watcher involvement when he forms more of a father-figure relationship with Buffy which is mentioned when Giles gets fired in season 3. We also have a few appearances from some people who would later become quite famous. First we have Hilary Swank as one of Buffy's posh friends, who years later would become quite a star in BOYS DON'T CRY. Next, we have David Arquette who plays Pike's friend who is not so lucky and he would become famous as Deputy Dewey in SCREAM. Last we have Ben Affleck who played an opposing basketball player. Rutger Hauer plays the Master Vampire who looks forward to seeing the next slayer. Former Pee-Wee Herman, Paul Reubens plays his second in command in a pretty entertaining performance. Seth Green was the only person from the series to be in this movie but his part got cut. Many people will like this movie better due to die-hard comedy fans and some will like the more complex tv series and some will hate both. I find the movie worth an occasional view. 66
Gothic (1986): This is the story of what inspired Mary Shelley to write her big novel, FRANKENSTEIN. I will always be grateful to her due to my best performance so far being in that play. This takes place at the party at Lord Byron's house with Gabriel Byrne as Byron and Natasha Richardson playing Mary Shelley with Julian Sands as her husband. This was a very bizarre film with all kinds of sexual fantasies and hallucinations but still quite compelling. I didn't exactly get it and I won't watch this every day but it was still worth a second viewing. 66
Scooby-Doo and the Lochness Monster (2004): I will admit that I wouldn't have watched this movie unless I was in this contest but I figured I would take some time to watch this when I woke up in the morning in my efforts to watch at least 20 movies this week. The Mystery Inc. gang travel to Scotland to visit Daphne's cousin and then they must go into investigation mode when they see sightings of hte fabled creature. Sheena Easton does the voice for the Professor. Once again, fun to watch. 66
Spider-Man (2002): This counts because of Bruce Campbell who plays the ring announcer. Many people had quite a beef with this series of movies and I never really understood why, moreso I experienced in part 2 but that is coming later. This movie started quite a resurgence in super-hero movies with Tobey Maguire playing the title character aka Peter Parker. This movie takes time with Peter's origins which some people I know had issues with that but these were people who read the comics, not everybody reads comic books. Peter obtains a strange gift and realizes that people are in need so he dons a red suit. Willem Defoe plays Norman Osborn, the father of Peter's best friend Harry, played by James Franco. The symbolism with many of these villains is that they had good intentions that went total awry which happens here making Norman the Green Goblin. Kirsten Dunst plays Peter's long-time crush Mary Jane who goes by M.J. OZ alum J.K. Simmons plays newspaper head J. Jonah Jameson who gets good news stories by slandering Spider-Man. Look for wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage pretty much playing himself. I thought Sam Raimi did a great job in this one and the other two. 6666, I may take heat for that one.
Spider-Man 2 (2004): Obviously, Bruce Campbell qualifies this movie. This was probably the least popular winner of my tournament at the beginning of the year. Many people just hate this with a passion and many of my readers decided to insult everyone who likes and who voted for this movie and it was things like that which make not want to have do that tournament again. These movies to me have been nothin but faithful to the Spider-Man series. All the surviving characters from the first movie return but this time Alfred Molina plays Peter Parker's idol Otto Octavius. He is a well-renouned scientist who like Harry Osborn wants to do good but it goes totally wrong turning him into a killer being named Doc Ock by J. Jonah Jameson. They also used the comic book theme of Peter wanting that normal life and trying not to be Spider-Man but he is just too good of person to give it up. 6666
Fargo (1996): Bruce Campbell has a small role as a soap-opera actor on the television near the end of the movie. This could be the Coen Brothers best work in my opinion. It is based on real events in Fargo, North Dakota. Let's start with William H. Macy who plays struggling car salesman Jerry Lundegaard, who is desperate for money so he comes up with a bizarre kidnapping scheme. Enter Steve Buscemi as Carl and Peter Stormare as Gaear, two crooks Jerry hires in his kidnapping scheme and even they question the sense of it. Here is the scheme, Jerry wants them to kidnap his wife, and the mother of his son because he knows her father has a lot of money so when the ransom is paid, Jerry gets half. Now for the investigator of this strange scheme, enter the pregnant Sheriff Marge Gunderson, played very well by Frances McDormand. There is a lot of interesting dark humor with the exaggerated dialects and with the stupidity of the criminals. Macy was phenomenal in the role that was perfect for him and making him a more known character actor. 6666
Television
Reaper: I have continued to enjoy this clever CW show with a hardware store employee named Sam whose parents sold his soul and now Sam must repay or there will be a price for his parents. It's got a lot of good dark comedy to it. 666 1/2
Bummer Vacation, Wig Struck: Mr. Krabs orders Spongebob to take a vacation but Spongebob doesn't know what to do with his time off. I'll tell you right now I'll never be that dedicated to a job.
The Chaperone, Employee of the Month: Spongebob agrees to accompany Mr. Krabs' daughter to the prom and him and Squidward fight for the Employee of the Month award at the Krusty Krabs.
Once Upon a Time: This was a great episode which stars silent-film legend Buster Keaton where he plays a janitor in 1890 and sees that his executives make a time helmet. When he gets it, he transports himself to 1960 and finds it is not much better. It starts out silent in 1890 making Keaton's return to silent comedy and in 1960, it becomes a talkie.
Quality of Mercy: This is another episode taking place during a war, this time WW2 where a soldier sees what it is like to be on the enemy side.
Malice in Wonderland: Here, a demon suspects the Charmed Ones are still alive and Paige learns that Billie is her new charge. Billie, among others get lured into an ALICE IN WONDERLAND type game. This is where Billie meets the sisters.
Run, Piper, Run: Piper's new body gets mistaken for someone else's who is suspected of murder where Piper lands in jail for murder.
Sex and the Single Spy: Jack teaches Emilia on the art of seduction.
The Floundering Father: Ben Franklin is kidnapped by Napoleon to make a weapon for him to use.
Once You Go Jack: An old flame of Jack's returns and wreaks quite a bit of havoc.
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