Scarecrow's Blog From the Darkside

This is a really personal blog entry so it may get a bit longish, just to warn you ahead of time. I was probably maybe seven or so years old when I first caught Risky Business late one night on HBO. I have been an insomniac at times for most of my life. Stress has been a constant bedfellow--but most of us have discomforting events that truly sneak away bits of our happiness. That's not what this is about, I promise you. Christianne had mentioned in a review for Friday the 13th that HBO used to show a lot of their saucier, more adult features later into the night, early morning, and I happened to know this all too well, all too young. I think there is that specific moment, for man and woman, that we first experience arousal. A woman or a man comes across the screen, whether heightened by movie magic, a wind machine, music that has the right type of theme that resonates alongside the image, but primarily by how they project a certain sexiness, their body with the right type of fi

I finally watched this movie after the dvd has been sitting in my bedroom in various places for the last few years. I wrote down some thoughts, a review of sorts of the bloody violent movie. There are a lot of scenes of faces with holes; come to think of it, there are a lot of holes, and missing bits and pieces, plentiful mutilation from the likes of throwing stars, swords, and a home made machine gun. There's this scene that I couldn't help but laugh at where the Yakuza boss "recruits" the mourning parents of their talented ninja children who serviced the heroine as machine gun chow. Here was a collection of things that formulated watching the film. To kind of get the plot out of the way (since, this is more about over the top sadism and bloodshed than hitting you in the gut with a potent story, although the frame work of revenge due to the loss of the only person you have left in the world is presented as a means to understand why our heroine (well, we cheer h

Does John have it in him? Scott and I were talking about The Ward in Christianne's What Horror Movies Did You Watch Last Week thread On Sunday night after I had posted to his weekly line-up review for the last movie Carpenter directed. He had mentioned like others that The Ward just was not a return to form as he so hoped, and I recall that sentiment quite common among many horror fans, a general consensus lamenting that perhaps he doesn't have another great one in him. I guess some directors would like to have just one great horror film, so if Carpenter never makes another film, at least he has that. It was funny, I didn't know Carpenter contributed to the soundtrack of Planet Terror --I guess I will have to pop that dvd in one night and give a listen. I think I will watch The Ward this week, although it looks like more overtime at work could cause complications. If anything I can gaze at Amber Heard for a while... Regarding this blog entry's title movie, I kno

You know, certain films just stay with you after that first viewing. Maybe it is the marriage of music and image; those scenes where our heroine does battle with a machine that repaired itself with the parts available to it, especially in the shower, left quite an impression on me. I have admitted in the past that rips from movies like Robocop, The Terminator, and Alien (among others) are irresistible to me. Maybe it is because I respond to low budget variations on themes that interest me. The man-made machine that rebels against its programming, the fusing of man and machine, the innovative methods of survival when man has no choice but to protect himself against those he creates, etc. I also respond well to films where it is a woman who must protect herself against what man creates. Alien opened doors for female heroines, and I think sexy, capable, strong women in the roles often occupied by men appeals to me. The actress in this film, Stacey Travis is her name I think, I couldn&

I bought this blind a few months ago on blu-ray. Walmart had the Extended cut for $7.50 so I thought that even if it wasn't that great, what harm have I seriously done? I have noticed its reputation is not that great and I'm not a fan of Ryan Reynolds, but it is said to have nice visual effects (the screen bleeds green). I haven't been that inspired to watch it yet because of its reputation, but I might find myself surprised just because my expectations are so low.

Just to establish it right here, I will be posting a lot about Bond movies and my experiences with them afresh on this blog, just letting those who pass by know ahead of time. I have had some wonderful fun with some of the movies I have seen in full or bits and pieces. While it wasn't on par with other Bond movies, I didn't really hate or even dislike License to Kill. Sure it felt like the Bond version of Lethal Weapon, considering it is a Latin drug cartel targeted and the motive behind 007's agenda is revenge, I have to say that Lowell was fetching; I liked her spunk and I don't give a shit what other Bond fans feel, I flat dig Timothy Dalton as 007.

Encore has used July as Bond Month this year, where a Bond movie comes on every night on Encore during the entire month at 7:00 pm Central. What I always get giddy about is that once this is over, a Bond movie shows up all over the package of Encore channels afterward. I just love the fact that a Bond movie could be on at any time I turn to one of the Encore channels. Life (particularly, family life) sometimes interferes with the ability to just sit and watch them in full, but what I saw of Octopussy was actually a pleasant surprise. I don't remember watching this one much as a kid, even though I'm sure it played on HBO all the time; View to a Kill , considered by Bond fans to be one of the worst of the franchise (although, I guess I am in the minority, because I always enjoy it, even if I admit it is one of the weaker entries; nostalgia dictates I will always be drawn to it), was on regular rotation back in the day . Octopussy just doesn't let up, man. It has everything a

Nah. I didn't necessarily mind the industrial score, Nispel has a flair for the visual, the way the camera captures a lot in a scene, the set pieces involving Jason's childhood home, and even the principles aren't all that bad--especially considering the usual casts who occupy these movies--but I dunno, it just lacks a certain charm. There was plenty of tits, a protracted erotic-less sex scene, water-skiing without a top, all of this accompanying Jason's predatory pursuit of college student targets. Mears, as Jason, is all business, nothing behind the hockey mask exists but menace. I thought he was good. I think you do what you can when wearing the hockey mask. Some are just walking stuntmen, but occasionally you get some personality and specific movements, gestures, and posture that speaks when no voice is present. I won't bitch about the nit-picky stuff like how Jason built that underground installation (was he selling some of the dope to afford it?), why he w

I just want to let off a little steam here...don't show me a fuckin' band saw up close in a tool shed if you don't plan to use it; damned cockteasers. I don't  know, I guess I'll let them off the hook, dude does get  it in the throat slowly with a screwdriver. This makes me sound like a psychopath, doesn't it? Us slasher fans are quite the critix.

I may not care much for the movie, but this image is  going up on my blog somewhere.

However I  may feel about the movie as a whole, there are a couple of kill sequences I thought were pretty righteous. The arrow through the head comes out of nowhere to that poor bloke driving the motorboat and the machete stab to the head while the female victim is hiding under a pier is really effective without being overtly gory (it's the sound effect that I think sells it, but the pull of the blade which thrusts the girl's head knocking against the wood is rather holy crap; it just flat worked for me, I guess). I have to say, though, that the discovery of the hockey mask was uninspired. I remember watching  this scene in the theater feeling rather annoyed that this was the best they could come up with. I tell you I still remain awestruck by the one scene where the machete-to-the-head girl sees Jason from afar while trying to keep her bearings after that bad ass boat slam to the head that left her disoriented for a moment. Director Marcus Nispel has his Jaws moment shooting

Non fans of the slasher series will probably just pay little attention to this "holiday for Jason fans" but I often ponder which of the movies I will watch during the later night when the kids are safely tucked away in their beds and I am finally free to check out something that doesn't challenge me. Yes, I grew up watching the movies and they were a tradition during my birthday hangovers when buddies and cousins would spend the night (if only Mama knew, haha). So, for better or for worse, I watched them all the time. I may pick the second film (one of my favorites) and the remake (I have only watched it the one time in the theaters) for tonight's viewing. We'll see. I plan to drop a little blog entry on Bond and Encore's July month showings of most of the entire series (exceptions being the Daniel Craig duo, two I didn't really care that much for anyway). I have plenty to say, but time has run out at the moment.

I happened to stumble upon this while messing around on Youtube. I have a few of them. The series was short-lived and probably not as good as one would hope, but I believe I watched some of them when Direct TV's Chiller channel was showing them. Chuck Connors is this evil werewolf who took everything away from a young man--his family, I think--and the kid is out for revenge. I think the show also follows the young man as he hunts for Connors. I think Connors pops up from time to time, but the show was more of a weekly adventure where the kid goes from place to place, a journeyman with no home, only a quest for revenge. Most of the episodes appear to be on Youtube so I look forward to watching them and adding user reviews on imdb.com. I haven't really checked to see what movies will be playing at the local theaters this weekend. Probably the same stuff as last week but after getting burned by Savages, I'm not sure I won't just stay home. I'm really kind of yearning f

I was at Blockbuster, kind of scanning through the aisles of the Drama section because for some strange reason thrillers aren't given their own section which is odd to me, and noticed In the Cut a movie that was rather notorious if I remember for being a Meg Ryan movie noted for its provocative, dark nature. That, I must admit, is what attracted me to it, renting it for the week (my Blockbuster Brick and Morter has a deal where you can rent 7 old releases for seven days for 7 bucks). If I'm correct, this really set Ryan's career back, never to quite recover. We were talking about Ryan at work, getting on a conversation about her stemming from, of all movies, the Eugene Levy/John Candy comedy, Armed and Dangerous (yes, I enjoy it, so sue me), and the fact she had work done on her face became a notable topic. I hate when looks becomes a part of a conversation in an actress' work, but sometimes plastic surgery and its ill effects on people who star in the movies does ca

I was ironing my clothes for tomorrow, and a few details I would like to add while they are on my mind. *Oliver Stone is in love with Lively's face and if you find her beautiful then you are in luck because he is persistent in shooting her up close practically the entire movie. Like the two men in her life, Lively is covered in tattoos. *Oliver Stone uses the Sunset Boulevard narrative technique where Lively explains to us that she may not be alive even though she's communicating this film's story to us. Ugh. *Stone incorporates a lot of heightened dramatic music for the heroes but I cared so little about them that this had no effect on me. *I know: this is a drug movie and explains this in the trailers. I was just hoping for something profound. Ha, in retrospect, it's my own fault. I deserve to lose my money on this movie.

Well, that sucked. I wish I could get a refund. Look, I'm just flat tired of seeing people smoke pot in redundancy for an entire film. Yes, this deals with the volatile nature of the relationship between drugs and violence. The two normally come hand in hand. Does Oliver Stone break any new ground? Oh, man, that voice over from Blake Lively made my ears bleed, and her delivery had about as much life as corpse on a slab. Del Toro is just an unstable lunatic who has a mania on his face the entire time he appears on screen. He has an uneasy fixation on Lively once she is captured. The plot consists of two drug dealers/suppliers with marijuana that has a potency unlike any other crop, seeds brought from Afghanistan by one of the two buddies who purposely enlisted in the Navy Seals just to score the dope. Lively fucks both of them, loves them, and revels in what their lifestyle affords the trio. Stone, as you might imagine, protects Lively, meaning she doesn't appear naked while scr

Well, I did watch the Fright Night remake early this morning, and I will make a comment or two now with perhaps more to say this afternoon. I have to say that despite having zero expectations, it entertained me. I think it was the cast. I loved the girlfriend of Charley Brewster. She has a winning personality, witty and has a cool sense of humor (the actress has good timing, which I also liked), doesn’t act a snob, and her knack for interplay with others (knowing just what to say and when to say it) is something I adore. Okay, enough of her. I liked the Yelchin kid a lot. I really did. He is a subtle actor; even when he tries to tell others about Jerry, the neighborhood vampire, there’s disbelief in his voice because it is even hard for him to accept what is going on. Is the remake spectacular? I didn’t think so. It has recycled vampire scenes from other movies and the ending is as predictable as I expected it to be. Tennent is a hoot; I really found his approach to the magician thea

This blog entry is really a rough draft with little editing so it will probably read pretty poorly. I like having a blog to just kind of present my writing with warts and all. Does it "call me out"? Sure, it does. I don't consider myself a brilliant writer, just someone who has a lot on his mind after certain movies and a desire to articulate my feelings about them hot off the press. I have read through some of it, cringing at certain portions ("...overall cool gal." Yikes.), so I realize myself this entry has its share of problems. I kind of like the idea that others can see what spills out of me before any sort of real *cutting free* takes place. But, all in all, I just appreciate anyone who might be interested in anything I write. Rob Lowe vehicle in the fish out of water formula dramatic college kid angst comedy where he portrays a young man from Vegas who finds himself at Oxford in Great Britain trying to juggle an academic career to prove his p

I actually might go see this simply because of Hayek and especially Benecio Del Toro. I bet those two play their roles to the hilt, Mexican Cartel who aren't  afraid to resort to body mutilation and decapitation (from what I've read) to prove the point that they will kill your ass if conditional surrender of the drug trade isn't negotiated. I do think  Lively is easy on the eyes, but I'm not overly familiar with her work. I like the idea of two American druggies taking on a cartel and Oliver Stone's style and sledgehammer approach to material might enforce that Savages will live up to its title. I don't know when I will be able to see it. The missus is having to work overtime Saturday and I'm watching the kids (this is a blog and I will treat it as such, so I hope my personal life's intrusion doesn't turn you off) so finding time to watch a movie can be difficult under the circumstances. My colleagues in the office tell me Spiderman was actually surp

This is kind of a working draft for the imdb review I plan to drop tomorrow. I will definitely need to trim this down so that it can be more accessible, but the beauty of this blog is to include all that came off the top immediately after the viewing. Watching the extended cut was probably not the wisest choice. It takes a while to get to the good stuff. I guess, the whole point is to build to the big scenes, but it seems to take nearly thirty minutes before even the first demonic paranormal event occurs. The twist regarding the demon’s purpose and why its attracted to baby Hunter is pretty much laid out in this “prequel” to the first Paranormal Activity, in regards to making a deal with a demon in exchange for wealth, the first blood male to be given to the demon. Daniel who owns a chain of Burger Kings and his new wife, Kristi, bring newborn Hunter home, enjoying him with his teenage daughter from a previous relationship (it is hinted that mom has died), Ali. Seemingly harmless