Towering Flixing Terrorizes LJ!

[zrath]

No sooner has the horror of the BigSlab'O'Flixing Post From Monday dissipated than another one looms!
But first, a general announcement:

The Annual SoCal FurBQ will take place on Saturday June 21st at the usual location.
That is to say, the Irvine Regional Park, which is actually NOT in Irvine, it's in Orange. :)
Since I haven't missed a single one of these, I'm planning to attend this one as well.
People interested in learning more can contact me in any number of interesting ways.
I'm planning to bring several bags of those fancy kick-ass Salt and Black Pepper Kettle Krinkle chips.
Yes, I know, pearls before swine. :D
This concludes this announcement. Now back to the Flixing Horror!



Netflixing:
The Monolith Monsters (1957) - "Mammoth skyscrapers of stone thundering across the earth!" (tagline)
Now you know the reason for the towering and looming theme of this particular LJ post! :D
I actually watched this one tonight, and it's not bad! I saw a link in someone's LJ to this article
listing the 20 Strangest Giant Monsters of Cinema, or some such. They were some seriously outlandish
critters on that list, like Recturna (a giant derrière! No, really!), Guilala (aka Giant Space Chicken),
the bat-rat-spider from "The Angry Red Planet", and at number 20 on the list, the Monolith Monsters.
"Monolith Monsters" starts out like yer basic '50s BW Universal International low-budget monster flick.
Piece of space rock crashes to Earth near desert California town, scatters obsidian-like chunks of quartz.
The rocks seem harmless, kinda just sitting there, not doin' nothin'. But get them wet and LOOK OUT!!
They start growing, absorbing the silica all around them, even from living creatures! DA DA DUUUUUM!!
They grow into tall towers of black crystal, then they fall over, shatter, and all the pieces start
growing again. Now, you gotta admit, that's pretty cool! And fairly unusual as movie monsters go.
I mean, they're not radioactive. They don't have superpowers, don't shoot laser beams or anything.
They're just non-sentient rocks, growing and multiplying. You can't shoot 'em, you can't bomb 'em.
Your only hope is to break out the chemistry set and figure out what could possibly stop their growth.
SCIENCE! Science will save the day!
So yeah, cool little flick, definitely deserves a look.
This Netflix DVD is a double-feature with "The Incredible Shrinking Man", a definite '50s sci-fi classic.
The DVD is Disc 2 of the "Classic Sci-Fi Ultimate Collection Volumes 1 & 2" box-set from Universal.

There Will Be Blood (2007) - There will also be creepy strings. And ruthlessness.
14 minutes and 30 seconds. This is the amount of time that elapses between the start of the movie and
the moment when words are actually spoken onscreen. It's just sounds and creepy strings until then.
This movie has one of the worst soundtrack I have ever had the misfortune to seat through.
Aside from the creepy strings, there's also a sequence with disonnant uncoordinated rock-smashing.
I think there's actual music at one point, but it's probably piano-bar ivory tickling.
The movie is about an asshole. After 2 hours and 35 minutes, which is the length of the movie, I tried
to think of other ways he could have been less likeable, and I came up empty. The film pretty much covered
all the bases of assholeishness (is that a real word) for this guy. Mission accomplished!
Yeah, it's about oil. Oil and its misfortunes and the evil that men do for this black gold.
Daniel Day-Lewis stars as the asshole. He's really great at it. This a movie of men, with very few women.
The movie is based on the book "Oil" by Upton Sinclair. This probably explains why it's so unfun.
Not to be seen if you're feeling depressed.

Cloverfield (2007) - Yea, yea, it's like Blair With Project meets Godzilla...
Basically, the whole movie is supposed to be a camcorder videotape being played from beginning to end.
Ever wondered what a Godzilla movie looked like from the perspective of the camcorder-toting lunch on the
street? Wonder no more! If you didn't like the ground-floor 1st-person perspective of the "War Of The
Worlds" remake, you're going to absolutely HATE this! The focus is even more narrow, as the camcorder
is held by a nearly-complete moron with no intention to actually document the monster itself!
I found myself saying things like "no, go back to the monster", and "gee, I almost saw something there!".
Also, "wow, these people are nothing like my friends. My friends would have already armed themselves." :D
Yeah, it's kinda frustrating. As a monster movie, it's still somewhat enjoyable. And you do get to see
the monster eventually. And it IS a monster! A bizarre creature beyond the ken of human knowledge!
Do not rent if you get nauseous when playing first-person shooters. :D

Angel-A (2005) - Luc Besson loves Paris in black and white.
I can't really objectively review this film, because it's got a music track in it by the late Sibling.
But from what others have told me, it's a fun and touching romantic little movie, and I have to agree.
The film centers around French-Arab funny man Jamel Debbouze (known to US audiences as the abused
grocery clerk in "Amélie), who plays a really down-on-his-luck small-time hustler. He owes everyone
money and sees no way out. So he decides to jump off a bridge. Just as he's about to do it, a tall
skinny blond scandinavian chick (Rie Rasmussen) appears near him and jumps in. He jumps after her and
saves her. She starts following him around and helping him out. Hilarity ensues!
The whole film is shot in black and white, in Paris during very early and very late hours, so the town
is virtually deserted and feels like a non-spooky Twilight Zone set. Luc Besson directs.
Jamel Debbouze and Rie Rasmussen (who doesn't speak French) have a pretty good chemistry onscreen.
In French with English subtitles. You should all go rent it right now! Then buy it! :D

Days of Glory (2006) - A rather generic name for a French film called "Indigènes".
This is probably the first time I have had to leave the English subtitles turned on on a French film.
The film focuses on four North African men enlisted in the French army during WWII. We see them fight
the enemy and the discrimination of French soldiers and officers. Thus, the film is in both French
and Arabic. And while I do speak French, I only speak Bad Arabic. :D
Some excellent French-Arab actors star, including Jamel Debbouze (see Angel-A).
Growing up in Northern France, I remember having lunch with my parents evey Saturday at an Algerian
restaurant inexplicably called "Peter Pan". We had lamb couscous with merguez sausages. It was delish!
At home, we used to wear djellabas and we usually had loukoum (aka turkish delight) in the fridge.
Many customers at my parents' clothing stores were Arabs and French-Arabs. We were a pretty xenophilic
family and made friends with everyone. Racism seemed a silly notion to us, something old people did.
French President Jacques Chirac viewed the film and was so moved by it that he ordered that full pensions
be restored to the 80,000 surviving Arab and African veterans who served France in WWII.
While it makes me happy, it also makes me sad it took this long and this film to do it.
If you like WWII movies, you oughta check this out. It's a different perspective on the conflict for sure.

Better Off Dead (1985) - another '80s movie I missed and that people put on their favorites list
I didn't like this one. It's too "wacky" and "zany" for my taste. It feels contrived and fake.
After the sheer shock of "Heathers", this feels like a "Police Academy" movie. A big thumbs down.

Eastern Promises (2007) - Viggo Mortensen! David Cronenberg! Together again! And they rock!
So, after the kinda lameish "A History Of Violence", Viggo and Dave are back with "Eastern Promises".
And I gotta say, this one is a whole lot better! Viggo is unbelievably authentic as a Russian mob driver,
wearing all the right tatoos and speaking Russian and Ukrainian. He did such a good job that a Russian
organization gave him an award for his accurate film portrayal of a Russian character.
It's Cronenberg, so there's blood and gore, though not as much as in the old days. :D
And plenty of violence. French action guy Vincent Cassell also stars as a Russian mobster.
And Naomi Watts provides the love interest, after a fashion.
If you're looking for a well-made mafia film with plenty of excitement and a Russian flavor, this is IT!
It's a good one, trust me. :)



Well, that wasn't too slabby.
Next time: I don't know.
Maybe more Netflixing, maybe general faffing.
It all depends on what happens tomorrow.

Stay tuned, Kzin Believers! :D