Micro Plugs!

[toysdream]

Noted for posterity, a handful of teensy tiny movie reactions.

Halloween Party: I can barely remember now what thedeadlyhook and I played for our annual Halloween video fest. I think we started with Phantasm, and then it turned out that nobody had seen Jason X so we had to fix that right away, and I was pleased and surprised that everyone seemed to enjoy

Comments

[thedeadlyhook]

I'm starting to think that Shyamalan just can't catch a break these days.

I assume you mean from critics, yes? Because I was looking at his IMDB entry, and he certainly doesn't seem to be having any problems getting studios to back him on new ventures - he's been too consistent of a moneymaker to ignore. Sort of like Michael Bay, although if someone asked me, critically speaking, I'd personally rather back Shyamalan's horse.

[toysdream]

Critics and audiences, really. It seems to be fashionable to beat up on the Shyster in fandom circles. But as you point out, somebody must be watching these movies!

[jwaneeta]

Heh, that was a pretty eloquent denunciation of Cloverfield. I briefly considered renting it the other day, but now I shan't, ever ever! Thank you for sparing me pain.

[toysdream]

You're very welcome! There are so many other good movies you could be watching instead; if you haven't seen The Host, I'd recommend it as a realistic giant monster movie that's roughly a hundred billion times better than Cloverfield. :-)

And by the way, hi! Sorry to have been so quiet recently - I've been super super busy - but I hope you're doing well.

[mazal_]

Years ago I used to do movie marathons for Halloween; I like horror films, but only good ones. Typically I would watch, alone or with a very few friends, The Invisible Man, Rosemary's Baby, the original version of The Wicker Man, the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Angel Heart and The Crow (the last being my favorite film ever).

[toysdream]

All I can say is, you have excellent taste! Which version of Invisible Man is this? If it's as good as the other stuff on your list, I should definitely check it out.

[mazal_]

I'm thinking of the original Invisible Man, which came out in the 1930s. My father saw it as a child and was terrified, and I can understand why. The effect alone are amazing.

[greboguru]

I'm really glad to hear you didn't like Cloverfield. You disliked a LOT more than I did, actually, but I agree that it was... not enjoyable. Blech. You have a brain with smarts in it.

The Happening, though... hmmm. I think I feel the same way about it that I did about Cloverfield, really. I agree that Shymalan has gotten much less love than he should for his recent movies, but I consider The Happening (and Unbreakble) to be his weakest works.

[toysdream]

Reposted to fix an HTML error.

I've been racking my brains to think of the last movie I hated more than Cloverfield. I mean, Sideways made me angry, but it was competently made. Time to look over my NetFlix list and see what else is keeping it company in the coveted "One Star" category.

Hm... Cabin Fever... El Topo... Entrapment... Final Destination 3... Mother of Tears... Mystic River... I might go with High Tension as the last high-water mark.

I think Hookles liked The Happening more than I did. (It didn't help that we watched Silk immediately afterwards, which pretty much blew it out of the water.) If I were expressing my reaction in terms of the San Francisco Chronicle's famous Little Man icons, it would be the one where the guy is sitting attentively upright in his seat but not actually clapping.