What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[HungFist]

The ABCs of Death (USA, 2012) [Yubari Fanta] – 3/5
26 ways to die by 26 directors. An uneven but entertaining episode film with some bad, many good and a couple of excellent shorts. Timo Tjahjanto’s brilliantly disturbing L is for Libido stands out as the best, followed by Jason Eisener’s twisted Youngbuck and Marcel Sarmiento’s visually mesmerizing Dogfight. Xavier Gens’s XXL is the most brutal of the bunch, while Jake West (Speed), Adam Wingard (Quack) and Jon Schnepp (WTF) deliver utter crap. Japanese madman Yoshihiro Nishimura’s satisfying Zetsumetsu closes the film with enough nazi mutants, penis swords and 9/11 references to make it near unscreenable in half of the world.

Father’s Day (USA/Canada, 2011) [Yubari Fanta] - 4/5
“Long, long time ago there was a bad, bad man who raped and killed dads…”. New action/revenge/vigilante trash from Troma, nearly hitting the bull’s eye. From relatively good tech credits to (mostly) passable acting and functional screenplay, there’s enough professionalism on display to raise the film far above amateur productions. The soundtrack especially is a fucking blast! This is closer to real grind house than most of the pathetic postmodern jokes that have been flooding the market in the recent years. Where the film stumbles is indeed the unfortunate postmodern moments of “turning it into a joke”, which thankfully are not too numerous. Fans of more serious splatter-action in the heels of Hobo with a Shotgun should be pleased most of the time.
- trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Fg_K08YIA

[saltysam]

Wrong Turn 5:Bloodlines 1/5 Awful DTV dreck shot in eastern europe on a zero budget utilising mainly young cheap and pretty bad english actors.Doug Bradley is the only recognisable face and he's just a poor man's Hannibal Lecter here.Very gory and very mean-spirited to boot.

Westworld 3/5 70'S sci-fi thriller from Michael Crichton is a little dated but still an enjoyable,well paced tale.Certainly can see where some ideas for The Terminator came from with this.

[Markgway]

Limitless (2011-USA) ***
Original, energetic, and entertaining mainstream thriller.

The Expatriate (2011-USA-Canada-Belgium-UK) **
Muddled Bourne-like thriller, watchable though.

Trapped (2002-USA-Germany) **
Intense, unpleasant thriller strains credibility throughout.

Mama (2013-Spain-Canada) **
Routine spooky pic (with the expected jolts) until overblown conclusion.

[gasteropod]

Side Effects (2013) - 4/5

I was enjoying it more when it initially just seemed like a genuine dig at the pharmaceutical industry, but it's still a very good thriller.

[Markgway]

Gambit (2012-USA) **
Uninspired caper/farce with too few laughs.

Tower Block (2012-UK) **½
Tense thriller struggles with plot holes.

Silent Night (2012-Canada-USA) *
Utterly repellent remake of notorious 80s slasher; explicitly nasty and stupid.

[HungFist]

The ABCs of Death (USA, 2012) [Yubari Fanta] – 3/5
26 ways to die by 26 directors. An uneven but entertaining episode film with some bad, many good and a couple of excellent shorts. Timo Tjahjanto’s brilliantly disturbing L is for Libido stands out as the best, followed by Jason Eisener’s twisted Youngbuck and Marcel Sarmiento’s visually mesmerizing Dogfight. Xavier Gens’s XXL is the most brutal of the bunch, while Jake West (Speed), Adam Wingard (Quack) and Jon Schnepp (WTF) deliver utter crap. Japanese madman Yoshihiro Nishimura’s satisfying Zetsumetsu closes the film with enough nazi mutants, penis swords and 9/11 references to make it near unscreenable in half of the world.

another opinion: "Grade Z...thoroughly disgusting and extremely lewd...attacking the United States and capitalism...may be the worst, most perverted movie ever made."
- The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment

[grim_tales]

Oz: The Great and Powerful - 2.5/5 - 3/5

I quite enjoyed it, while its obviously not a patch on the original it was pretty funny in places and I liked the nods and links to the original. It was neat seeing why lions have no courage, where scarecrows come from etc. and when he speaks to Annie who's going to marry 'John Gale' - so is Annie Dorothy's mum?
Starting the film off in black and white (and 4/3) changing to 21/9 and beautuful colours in Oz was quite cool
Unfortunately James Franco is an unlikeable arsehole for most of the film to be honest,
I did feel sorry for Theadora though who had her heart broken and was tricked by her sister No redemption for her Her transformation was too quick, a gradual one (maybe just that shot of the hand a coming over the table at the end) would have been more effective. Sadly miscast even as a cackling stereotype (even if she was green, I would, wouldnt you? ) Conversely I thought she did OK as the innocent good witch - Rachel Weisz on the other hand, gets by channelling the Wicked Queen from Snow White and is more manipulative giving a much better performance overall.
A good movie, but could have been better. The Wizard is still a cheat and fake in my eyes. Some of the 3D worked well I thought.
I was also thinking the film has lots in common with Army of Darkness
Both Ash and Oz are womanising, manipulative folk
Both are sucked into another world/time
Both fall in love with the first woman they see
Women they fall in love with turn evil (Theadora turns into the Wicked Witch of the West and Sheila becomes the Deadite Queen).
They say they arent the chosen one and plan to go home without helping anybody
Modern science/technology shown to the people

[Markgway]

The T.V. Set (2006-USA) **½
Decent satire on Network sitcom production, fine performances, but unlikely to make much of an impression on most viewers.

Under Cover (1987-USA) **½
Watchable Cannon-produced thriller, the obvious inspiration for 21 Jump Street.

Here Comes the Boom (2012-USA) **
Not bad for what it is, the MMA crowd might rate this predictable comedy higher.

The Runaways (2010-USA) **½
Not a fan of musical biopics, but this sleazy rocker was reasonably interesting (once it got going).

[gasteropod]

Stolen (2013) - 3/5

We had a fun time, it's an enjoyable hour and a half if you like Nic Cage.

[Markgway]

Stolen (2013) - 3/5

We had a fun time, it's an enjoyable hour and a half if you like Nic Cage.

I thought it was pants.

[Markgway]

A View to a Kill (1985-UK) **
Not 007's finest two hours with extensive (and obvious) doubling and too many jump-the-shark moments. Never less than watchable though.

Identity Thief (2013-USA) *
Thoroughly obnoxious alleged comedy whose message seems to be that it's OK for a foul-mouthed chubster to wreck lives if she grew up an orphan (or some such syrupy shit). People have been waterboarded for less.

[grim_tales]

Stolen (2013) - 3/5

We had a fun time, it's an enjoyable hour and a half if you like Nic Cage.

When I saw the title and poster I immediately thought of Taken

[gasteropod]

When I saw the title and poster I immediately thought of Taken

Yep

[Markgway]

It's basically a bad rip off of Taken.

[grim_tales]

Parker: 2.5/5

It was OK I guess, Statham looks the part (but why does he seem to play the same part in every film I've seen him in?) and there are some old-school violent fisticuffs, which are fun, but the film is at least half an hour too long. Could have done with some trimming.
J-Lo has aged well though

[gasteropod]

Diabel (1972) - 4.5/5

For the first half hour or so I wasn't quite following it but as it went on I got more into it and it ended up being an excellent film, I can't wait to watch it again.

[gasteropod]

Gremlins (1984) - 3.5/5

I never saw this as a child so I don't have that nostalgic love, but I can see it's good, the gremlins were pretty funny.

[Markgway]

Waxwork (1988-USA-Germany-UK) **

Cheesy, gory horror boasts an imaginative premise that's undone by unimaginative execution - perhaps partly due to obvious budgetary contraints (film often looks like a cheap TV episode) - and an inconsistant tone (at times tongue-in-cheek, bordering on spoof, at others played relatively straight).

[saltysam]

Dracula (1958) 3/5 Hammer's classic is a little dated but remains an atmospheric,well made horror.Lee & Cushing are excellent though watched today some the film's logic is awry Dracula locks Harker in his bedroom,seemingly forgeting he can amble out of his window,When Harker finds the crypt he passes up the opportunity to stake Dracula first and does in the female vampire the BD offers a nice restoration.

[Markgway]

Yeah, I came to Dracula as an adult, and it doesn't hold up too well IMO, but nice to see it's (finally) available uncut... And isn't Michael Gough the biggest ham ever?

[Shingster]

Caught Dracula during a mammoth film marathon over last Halloween and thought it was dull as dishwater, it's basically 90mins of Christopher Lee running around stagey sets. I actually preferred the incredibly clunky 1931 film!

[Markgway]

The Silence (2010-Germany) **½
Carefully crafted, but almost painfully slow thriller.
If you're looking for a popcorn crowd-pleaser, keep looking...

Beneath (2006-USA) **½
Ignore the 'MTV presents' credit; this chiller is smarter than you'd expect.
The ending is pretty fucked-up though (thematically speaking).

[saltysam]

From Beyond 2.5/5 Not as much fun as i remembered,nicely done gooey effects but a pretty stupid movie overall.Good cast though and the uk blu-ray looks very nice.

[Markgway]

Never got around to From Beyond... but then I wasn't as mad on Re-Animator as some.

[gasteropod]

Trance (2013) - 3.5/5

Good, but very confusing.