Had a 24-hour movie marathon with a bunch of friends yesterday and today. We got through 13 movies:
The Thing (1982) 4/5
Still one of Carpenter's best shockers. Of course, being a remake of The Thing made after the Thing-inspired Alien makes it look like an Alien ripoff (and it probably is), but there are certainly worse sources of inspiration.
My Fair Lady (1964) 4/5
Saw a bunch of little details I hadn't noticed before. Also became even more convinced that if there's a love story in this, it's between Higgins and Pickering.
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) 4/5
Truly disgusting movie. Hated that I loved it.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension (1984) 3/5
I have no idea if this is an incoherent mess of a movie or if the Pynchon references are supposed to indicate that it's actually smarter and more complex than it looks. Whatever the case, it's a lot of fun.
St. Trinian's (2007) 2/5
Like a British
Bring It On amped up to 11. Really not a very good movie, but there were a bunch of us and we were drunk and we laughed a lot with rather than at it so what can I say, it worked.
The Princess Bride (1984) 5/5
When I get tired of the Princess Bride, shoot me.
Hoodwinked (2005) 3/5
Surprisingly effective Tarantino-style retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, giving us all four characters' versions. Cheaply but nicely animated.
Red Dawn (1984) 1/5
Ultra-reactionary piece of flag-wavery that makes
Top Gun look like
Battleship Potemkin both in terms of ideology and film-making. But certainly good for a laugh or ten for lines like "Well, when you grow up... then you'll know these things, Danny. Now get up here and piss in the radiator" and the continuing conundrum of "why the hell are the Russians, Cubans and Nicaraguans so hell-bent on defending a small town in the Rockies, and how can they suck so badly at it if they took LA within a few hours?"
Simple Men (1992) 3/5
I keep meaning to get into Hal Hartley, and I keep finding his films pleasant and occasionally brilliant but also far too artificial and theatrical for their own good. Great soundtrack as always, though.
Mirrormask (2005) 3/5
"Hi, I'm Neil Gaiman. Here's what my mind looks like." AAAAAAAAH!
The Last Shark (1981) 0/5
A scene-by-scene ripoff of Jaws that somehow manages to make every scene stink. Quite an accomplishment, and definitely a So Bad It's Good movie. Just check out this scene, for instance.
YouTube - Last shark Hilariously bad. "This was no floating chainsaw!"
The Man Without A Past (2002) 4/5
Probably the best Kaurismäki film I've seen in recent years. A both bleak and warm Prince Mushkin-style story about a man who, after being beaten within an inch of his life, loses his memory and tries to survive as a homeless man in Helsinki.
Six-String Samurai (1998 ) 3/5
Imagine a mix of
Desperado,
Crossroads and Stephen King's
The Dark Tower with katanas and Gretsch guitars. Now imagine it being actually really entertaining.
Welcome
to BookAndReader! 
) - this film is perfect the way it is. Does every movie need to be in English for Americans to watch & enjoy?
