Movie | Killing Joke XXV Gathering | PASS

One of my all time favorite bands and this is the one and only professionally produced concert footage until the new documentary, The Death and Resurrection Show, is released. Can't wait for that one. Don't miss the interview with Jaz in the extras. I actually bought this one. A spectacular last film of the year.

TV | Ascension | PAss

Pretty darn good.

TV | Prep & Landing | PAss

Lots of fun. We watched both the 2009 original and 2011 shorts. Very clever.

Movie | Rock-A-Doodle | PAss

Maybe not Bluth's best movie, but it's still genius. The style and the quality of the animation, characterization and script were all very impressive.

Movie | Bronies | PAss

Very good and now I understand the Bronie phenomenon a bit better. I'll never be one, that's for sure, but the messages in the movie are really fantastic. It's the day of a better, more "in touch" man...the days of masculinity that's out of touch with the feelings of others and themselves are over. At least, I hope so.

Movie | Maracattack | PAss

Part comedy piece, mostly an actual workout video...with maracas! The workout is some very good aerobic stuff. Again, Miranda Hart is brilliant. I wonder if Americans would get her? Some would, most wouldn't, I'm guessing.

Movie | Miranda Hart: My, What I Call, Live Show | PASS

Brilliant! Just like her self-titled television series, this is absolutely genius, even though it's the simplest of premises. We didn't like the midwife show she did because it wasn't our cup of tea, but I hope she does more like this concert documentary and Miranda. Would love to see her live, too.

Movie | Guardians of the Galaxy | PAss

Basically one big explosion after another and a script written for simpletons, it was still very entertaining nonetheless. It certainly didn't change my mind regarding that I feel that the superhero genre has been beaten to death at this point and needs to be left alone for a while. Odd soundtrack choices were enjoyable, but I couldn't help feeling like folks that championed this movie would make fun of those very songs outside of the film. Considering that the director, James Gunn, also made Slither (which was good) and Super (which was excellent), this was an interesting career choice. I'm sure it will pay off for him.

TV | Live On Mars | Pass

Having already seen the sequel and the American remake, neither of which were we big fans of, the schtick was rather predictable. I think if we'd done it in reverse it would have been a lot more fun. The very end was the best part.

Movie | The Giver | PAss

I liked this. A lot. But I didn't absolutely love it. I think that's mainly because I didn't feel all that emotionally connected to it until the last 30 minutes, which is exactly what this film is all about. Still, I'm very glad we saw it.

Movie | Herbie Hancock: Possibilities | Pass

It had moments, but overall was rather boring and pretentious.

Movie | Red State | Fail

I'm no Kevin Smith fan. Yes, really. No, I didn't think Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back were good. I find his stuff derivative and unimaginative, just like everybody's fave, Quentin Tarantino. Like Tarantino, it doesn't help that Smith gets all the geek cred he gets. That's just me and I accept that. Still, I was compelled to see this because of the cool cast. What a waste. I never even finished it, it was such a hot mess.

BTW, check out who the quote is from on the movie poster. I just threw up a little.

Movie | The Best Offer | PAss

This is all about Rush, who is more than enough reason to see this film. Giuseppe Tornatore also made the marvelous Cinema Paradiso and The Legend of 1900.

TV | Survivors (2008) | PAss

Virus wipes out the population and the survivors have to, uh, survive. Not exactly the most original premise, but the show was still pretty fun to watch.

Movie | Wish I Was Here | PASs

For all the reasons I didn't care for Garden State, I absolutely loved this movie. Bravo.

Movie | Helldriver | Pass

Bonkers J-sploitation sci-fi zombie splatterfest. The homage to chanbara with the buckets of spraying blood, the chainsaw katana and outrageous fight scenes made the thing worth sitting through. But don't go in expecting anything to be well done - just crazy and gory at a frenetic pace.

Movie | Toys | PAss

Basically Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Like any art, this movie is all in the eye of the beholder and I happened to find it very interesting. It took 10 years to make and there's great trivia that goes along with it - like this being Jamie Foxx's first movie appearance, predating In Living Color, for example. I'm nearly positive that I've seen this movie, but I didn't remember any of the scenes when I watched it again. Glad I did.

Movie | Spookies | Pass

Though I've certainly seen worse, the production was pretty bad and I can't think of anything that was much better. The monsters and FX were pretty good, I guess. Nevertheless, there's just something endearing about this bad 80s horror flick. Maybe it was the creatures that looked like they were made out of dried mud that had uncontrollable flatulence. The history behind all of this is more interesting than the movie itself; it's actually two films (poorly) edited together to make one. Which means it's a mess and also means it might be exactly what you're looking for!

Update: It's been a while and I'm still thinking about this movie. That's a good thing. I think, after all is said and done, that the patch job was actually rather clever. Maybe if the editing had just been a little tighter things would have ended up being more cohesive, I don't know. The person they hired to pick up the pieces deserves more than raspberries, though.

Movie | The Clone Returns Home | Fail

Beautiful but just too boring.

TV | The Getaway | Pass

How do you make a travelogue show fun? Here's how.

Movie | Wrong Cops | Pass-ish

Not good and not meant to be. It's supposed to be not a B-movie, but something like a Z-movie, emulating complete trash, starring trash characters, with a trash plot. I've got to admire the effort, though I certainly was disappointed because this is by the guy that made the excellent and adventurous Rubber.

Movie | Under The Skin | PASs

Works hard to be something different and simultaneously super freaky. Success on both counts. The sparse, unsettling audio and Johansson's performance were amazing. If you like classic mind benders like Beyond the Black Rainbow, Upstream Color and Altered States as much as I did, then you must to see this. Not for the Frozen set, for sure. Same director as the brilliant Sexy Beast. I haven't watched a movie this creepy in a long time.

Movie | Color Me Kubrick | Pass-ish

I'm not sure Malkovich's character could be any more irritating.

Movie | Reclaim Your Brain! | Pass

I really like Moritz Bleibtreu and I liked this premise, though I found the script to be a little confusing at times. Or maybe it was the script or bad editing. It's also possible that I didn't get some of the details because I'm not German.

Movie | The Incredibly Strange Creatures...blah blah blah | Pass-ish

Watched this via MST 3K or I never would have gotten through the entire thing. The oddball thing about this were the numerous musical and dance numbers. Mediocre at best, they didn't really have much to do with the general plot. Can't believe I've never gotten around to watch this until now. So bad it was...good?

Movie | I'm Still Here | PAss

Raised more questions than it answered...and while it was difficult to watch, it was ultimately rather brilliant in so many ways.

Movie | The Punk Singer | PAss

Interesting documentary about the feminist musician/artist Kathleen Hanna.

Movie | The Cheap Detective | Pass

Delightful, similar to Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.

Movie | Begin Again | PASS

Absolutely wonderful movie, mainly due to Ruffalo, the director and the cinematography. Knightley is good, but it's hard to see her as anything other than an actor playing a role here. Livine's presence bothered me, though maybe that was the goal. He doesn't play a good guy and he doesn't give you any reason to like him. It was fantastic to see Mos Def and James Corden in action, as usual. And just like Once, it's all about the music. A must see.

This was my 300th post for the year. Yippee. Nobody cares.

Movie | Deathdream | PAss

Deathdream, also known as Dead of Night, is a really interesting zombie flick from Canada, full of no-name actors who were surprisingly good, very atmospheric and contemplative on the subject of returning war vets. Poor editing and animal cruelty were the only things that spoiled it for me. Interesting to note that this film predates Les Revenants, Resurrection, The Revenant and a couple of others, by forty years - yet it's basically the same plot (family deals with a loved one back from the dead). There's truly nothing new under the sun. Still, it's a good premise with plenty of depth to explore.

One thing that I loved about this flick was that there was a 1965 Mercury Comet in it. Mine was a convertible '64, but still...awesome!

A must if you're interested in zombie movies that make you think, a sub-subgenre that most folks don't even know exists. Not that it matters since nobody cares about movies any more, except me.