In article <kfqbhu$g3k$
1...@dont-email.me>,
Ubiquitous <
web...@polaris.net> wrote:
> On the 45th anniversary of The Planet of the Apes, I watched:
>
> PLANET OF THE APES
> BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES
> ESCAPE FROM PLANET OF THE APES
> CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
> BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
> A decent set of movies to watch, but I don't think primates would evolve
> that much in 2000 years and there certainly wouldn't be any traces of
> humans left when they did, not even 2000 later!
> Oh yeah, I didn't know Rod Serling wrote the original movie!
>
> What did you watch?
The other (better!) set of movies on TCM!! (I kid (some) - actually, I
like the "Apes" series as much as anyone... ;> ).
Anyway, TCM 'went to town' yesterday (it's the "31 Days of Oscar", and
TCM shows movies from a time when the Oscars were at least in the
ballpark of accurate...), so I spent a good part of the day watching
that:
I woke up too late for "On The Town", unfortunately. But I did wake up
in time for:
An American In Paris (TCM) - Still my vote for the best musical of
all-time. Now, I realize that's not the traditional choice. But if your
preference is for musical *dancing* over musical singing, this is the
correct choice.
This movie probably has the greatest closing 20 minutes of any movie
in film - it's like an impressionist painting of dance, with the
top-notch music of Gershwin (and actual *composer*, not just a
song-writer) to take it over the top.
Love this one, every time I see it (Oscar Levant cracks me up, every
time too!!).
Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (Chiller) - Because I know David hangs
on my every word on these, I'm happy to report that this one is *much*
better than Wrong Turn 3 (WT3, remember, is the one that's so bad, that
even Janet Montgomery can do nothing to save it from wretchness!!).
But this one has a horrific (in the right way) opening, and while the
remainder doesn't stack up to the opening, it's still pretty good (you
don't need "great acting" for horror, folks!!). My only complaint about
this one is the awful (and totally unnecessary) very ending.
golf - Day #3 at the Riviera Country Club in L.A. (specifically Pacific
Palisades) was pretty uneventful - Bill Haas, son of Jay Haas, led the
whole way.
Return of the Living Dead - Arguably the best of all of the zombie
movies, and unquestionably the most ridiculous (indeed, it's probably
the best *because* it's the most ridiculous!!).
In fact, the zombies posited by RotLD are probably the *worst-case*
zombies possible, because they are:
1) "Fast" Zombies
2) Intelligent Zombies (that not only plan, but even can talk!)
3) *Unkillable* Zombies (as they're "reanimated flesh", even cutting
off their heads or destroying their brains doesn't stop them!!)
Add in a zombie cause that's basically undestroyable (more flouting the
laws of chemistry and physics!!), and you've got problems.
Best lines:
"Brains!"
"Live brains!"
"More brains!!"
Random zombie: "Send more paramedics/cops..."
Heh.
Anyway, only James Karen and Miguel A. Nunez are recognizable from
this cast. But you gotta love how they have a buck naked chick run
around for at least half the movie!
Ben-Hur (TCM) - At 4 hours, it's taken me a long time to actually sit
down and watch this, and yesterday was the day. It's definitely
over-long. But the chariot race scene is incredibly impressive (and
gruesome, for a 1950s movie!!). Anyway, this was interesting (if I
learned one thing from this flick, it's that naval warfare in 30 A.D.
was completely pointless!!), and I'm glad I saw it. But I won't be
sitting down to watch it again any time soon!... ;)
The Collector (Siffy) - Highly derivative of "Saw" (to the point that
this movie was originally pitched as a "Saw" prequel!! but they were
turned down on that...), I actually think this flick is more interesting
than most of the "Saw" flicks.
In this one, Josh Stewart from... lots of stuff, is a contractor guy
who has to steal from his employer (Michael Reilly Burke and Andrea
Roth) to bail out his wife (Daniella Alonso) and daughter (Haley Pullos
from GH) from a loan shark (Robert Wisdom). But when he breaks in to the
house to steal from them, he discovers that the house has already been
booby-trapped by some other super psycho sicko, who has taken the whole
family (save older daughter, Madeline Zima, who arrives later) hostage,
and is proceeding to torture them.
Anyway, good suspense/torture porn flick, though, again, I didn't
care for the ending (at all).
Recorded for later: Alien Surf Girls (finally got the episode "Vanished"
so I can see all 30 minutes of it!!...).
--
"Surf-crazed aliens... Of course." - Amber, "Alien Surf Girls",
Episode #1.1, "Wipeout".
Wait a minute... "Of course"?! "*Of course*"?!! Did I miss a step here??!!