He Saw / She Saw - The Devil's Advocate

Sue:

Once again Al Pacino giving an outstanding performance.  Plot began rather believable in that a top-notch lawyer, played by Keanu Reeves could win every case, even if it meant not telling the truth.  His wife, played by Charlize Theron and her acting was good.  There were many twists and turns which made it difficult to follow, plus blood and gore.  I think a few episodes could have been left out or shortened, but overall, it is one of those movies I would watch again.

Bruce:

A film that gets better with subsequent viewings.  There are a lot of details that the first time viewer will miss and the dialogue can be complex.  As the Devil, Al Pacino can make you question a lot of things, he is that persuasive.  Along with a fascinating script / plot, the production values here are very high.  Some of the scenes of the New York Skyline and Central Park are not special effects.  It cost a lot of money to shoot this film. 

He Saw / She Saw - P2

Sue:

A good film but I did not find it very realistic.  Its all horror with little plot.  The suspense factor just wasn't there for me. 

Bruce:

A better film than I thought it would be, although I am not really into this genre.  The production value in the film is very high and they do a good job at setting the mood and tone.  However, it did seem a little hard to believe.  It can't be that hard to get out of a parking garage on Christmas Eve. 

He Saw / She Saw - The Hitcher

Sue:

I was hoping for a good horror movie.  However, this movie was awful and made absolutely no sense.  I bailed after the first 50 minutes. 

Bruce:

Odd film.  Good production value, camera work, stunts, acting, etc....  But the film fails in the plot / screenplay department.  More of a nightmarish fantasy in a world with suspended reality.  A clear motivation for the 'Hitchers' actions are never fully explained. 

Cinema cycle - Halloween

Better than I expected. A competent film done on a low budget which shows you don't need a lot of money and special effects to engage the audience. While the ending got a bit silly, the overall mood and tone of the work shows what a craftsman John Carpenter is.

Cinema Cycle - Horror Express

Cinema Cycle - The Satanic Rights Of Dracula

Cinema Cycle - The Bride of Frankenstein

Cinema Cycle - The Terror

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 10/27/2017

TITLE:. The Terror

FORMAT: VHS

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 80 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 23.6 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 7817.4 miles

SYNOPSIS: A Frenchy Lieutenant pursues the dead wife of a reclusive count.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Basic film making in the 1950s.  There were blockbusters put out by major studios and then there were these low budget affairs produced for the drive-in movie crowd.

PROS AND CONS:  The plus is, that you get to see a very young Jack Nicholson and a very old Boris Karloff share a lot of screen time together.  

The minus is, this isn’t a well written film that is slow with very little plot.  One thing that is evident, is the large sound stage that they were able to convert into a gothic castle.  Which is probably the star of the film.  

This is one of the films that is in the public domain, so the quality and visual images are not the best.  What is probably most impressive is the box cover art for the series, which, while impressive, does not do the contents justice.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Misery

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 08/14/2017

TITLE:. Misery

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 55 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 23 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 7250 miles

SYNOPSIS: A novelist is held captive and tortured by a deranged fan.  

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Celebrity and the price you pay for it.  We have all known a psychopath at least once in our lives.  This reminds us of that.

PROS AND CONS:  I originally thought this was going to be a boring Cinema Cycle since the horror genre is not really my thing.  I was surprised how entertaining it was once it got going.  

I doubt there is much argument that Kathy Bates deserved her Oscar for her performance here.  She has the deranged / crazy ex-spouse down perfectly.  She is actually creepy to watch on screen, similar to Nurse Rachet in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.  

Although I had seen it before, I didn’t recall just how riveting the last 20 minutes of the film were.  The final scene of the film adds an eerie twist the tale of the author and his concept of stardom and fame.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - The Understudy: Graveyard Shift II

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 12/05/2016

TITLE: The Understudy: Graveyard Shift II

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 31 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 20 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 5720.4 miles

SYNOPSIS: A vampire invades a movie set and consumes the cast.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Disbelief in reality and horror for its own sake.  Seriously, a vampire in a film about vampires that play pool?

PROS AND CONS:  Not a big fan of this genre and if the Random Media Generator had given it to me to watch, I doubt I would have ever seen it.  After this viewing, I have little desire to see the first film in the franchise.

The interesting thing about the plot here, is that it is so linear.  There really is no arch. There is not much character development or background story.  Vampire comes in, bits the film crew one by one and is killed (sort of) in the end.  That is about it.

One interesting aspect of the film is that it deals with the making of a film.  In that regard, you get a good look at what goes on behind the scenes on a movie set.  

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - The Lost Boys

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 09/09/2016

TITLE: The Lost Boys

FORMAT: Laserdisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 38 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 23.8 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 5148.8 miles

SYNOPSIS: A single mother and her two sons move to a new town that is infested with vampires.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER:  Teen youth movie from the 1980s with a lot of style and a very silly story.

PROS AND CONS: I was hoping for something with a little more substance but what I got was a mixture of trendy 1980s high school hip / scary interspersed with silly “Stand By Me” /  “Goonies” comedy.  I was glad when the film was over.

The believability factor just vanished about halfway through the film and from then on it was just boring.  This was meant to be the “Top Gun” of horror movies with rocking musical interludes about every 10 minutes.  The music was better than the story most of the time.

This film tried to target both young adults and pre-teens and fell somewhere in the middle so it didn't hit either mark.  Although Bernard Hughes famous last line of the film is classic.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Cat People

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 08/19/2016

TITLE: Cat People

FORMAT: HD-DVD

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 58 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 25.6 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 4958.8 miles

SYNOPSIS: A secret cult that can turn themselves into cats is exposed after killing several humans during sex.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER:   Sexual ego and denial.  A take on the werewolf / vampire genre with a lot of erotica thrown in.

PROS AND CONS:  While not my cup of tea, this was not a bad film.  It was well acted and directed and walked that fine line between believability and suspense.  

The direction is interesting and Paul Schrader is obviously a director of merit.  His ‘fly-on-the-wall’ style, his use of color and the way he paces and frames the scenes is entertaining to watch.  

That said, I didn’t much care for the plot and arch of the film.  This is a very erotic motion picture that borders on an “X” rating.  So, you get to see a lot of Nastassia Kinski in this film, which isn’t a bad thing.

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

Cinema Cycle - Sisters of Death

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE REVIEWED: 01/22/2016

TITLE: Sisters of Death

FORMAT: DVD

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 29 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 19.5 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 3949.5 miles

SYNOPSIS: Five attractive women in an isolated mansion are picked off one by one.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER:  The often repeated horror genre with a few twists and turns.  Titillating but hardly “R” rated.  

PROS AND CONS:  Actually not a bad film for light horror fair.  The film is a period piece to be sure, set squarely in the mid-1970s with all the attendant bell bottom pants, big hair, sun dresses and wide shirt lapels.

The premise is simple enough.  Get five attractive up-and-coming wanna-be actresses and put them in an isolated location where they are murdered one by one.  There are a few minor plot twists to keep you entertained, but the result is always the same, one girl survives with a surprise ending.  

While I could pick apart technical issues with the film in editing and continuity, I found myself just sitting back and waiting to see what the lame excuse for the next scene was.  I must admit that the Gattling gun at the end was a nice grind-house touche.  Tarantino would have been proud.   

To read an overview of this project, check out this status posting.  

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.