Friday, May 31, 2024

Viewings: May 2024

Gutted I didn't manage to see George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) this month; glad I watched Love Lies Bleeding and Eyes of Fire, though. Both of those films were my fave first time viewings throughout May.

A far more erroneous act committed by your host was not having time to watch a single episode of any of the Gerry Anderson shows that have been streaming on YouTube recently.


Film:

The Black Cat (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934)

The Raven (Lew Landers PKA Louis Friedlander, 1935)

The Quiet Man (John Ford, 1952)

Crypt of the Living Dead AKA Hannah, Queen of the Vampires (Julio Salvador & Ray Danton, 1973)

The Education of Sonny Carson (Michael Campus, 1974)*

The Decline of Western Civilisation (Penelope Spheeris, 1981)*

Eyes of Fire (Avery Crounse, 1983)*

The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II: The Metal Years (Penelope Spheeris, 1988)*

The Last Slumber Party (Stephen Tyler, 1988)*

The Decline of Western Civilisation Part III (Penelope Spheeris, 1998)*

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

Haute Tension AKA Switchblade Romance (Alexandre Aja, 2003)

Abigail (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, 2024)*

Civil War (Alex Garland, 2024)*

Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve, 2024)*

Infested (Sébastien Vaniček, 2023/2024)*

Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass, 2024)*


Television:

Dead Set - Series One (Yann Demange, 2008)

Doctor Who - New Episodes (Sydney Newman, 1963 - 2024)*

The Emirates FA Cup Final 2024*

Mastermind - Episode 31 (Bill Wright, 2023/2024)*


*First time viewings.


Dada Debaser Notes:

  • Thought Villeneuve's Dune: Part One (2021) was decent a few years back, but the new one is a snoozefest. Nodded off a couple of times while plodding through it.
  • Alex Garland's Civil War managed to piss off both sides of America's political divide, but much like his previous effort, I'm in the minority who didn't hate it. Most creative use of a De La Soul song since Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
  • French spider horror Infested ought to have been called ACABnophobia after its urban social commentary consumed so much time in the film.
  • Found out the guy who played Wolfe, leader of the Hawks (AKA Tomahawks), in The Education of Sonny Carson was the actual leader of the said NYC gang. His second-in-command is played by Roger Hill, better known for Cyrus from The Warriors (1979). Can you dig it?
  • Boris Karloff's swanky Art Deco crib in The Black Cat might have made it onto my dream homes if it wasn't built on a massive pile of dynamite.
  • Crazy how Spheeris's film trilogy has this unapologetically decadent and hedonistic feature on LA's Hair Metal scene sandwiched between two thoroughly depressing spotlights on Punk bands and its homeless young fans. Massive contrasts. Highlight of the entire trilogy for me was Ozzy Osboure cooking breakfast:
The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II: The Metal Years (Ozzy Scenes)
Penelope Spheeris, 1988

Other Media: Patience paid off and grabbed 40 Years of Scream! cheaper than its RRP. Loved reading a bunch of old strips like ‘Sea Beast’ and ‘Tales from the Grave’ again.

8 comments:

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I randomly watched the Titan Goes Pop episode of Stingray a few months ago.

Apart from The Devil's Chord, I'm liking the new Who series so far. Space Babies is the episode 4 me because it confirms my suspicion that Davies is a Round The Twist fan.

Spartan said...

I was hoping for a standard edition of Stingray to be released last year, but the company sadly went under after its release of an ultra expensive deluxe set.

The Devil's Chord was awful. Fave new Who episode so far was 73 Yards for the An American Werewolf in London vibes at the start. Also for Ruby Sunday looking exactly the same when she's aged forty, other than the Deidre Barlow glasses.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Surface Agent X-20 had the sickest crib.

Spartan said...

Speaking of Gerry Anderson, have you seen his live action film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun AKA Doppelgänger? By no means is it perfect, but it has a great visual aesthetic similar to the puppet shows, with a plot that could have come from an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I've seen the trailer but not the movie.

I bet it'll turn up on Talking Pictures at some point.

Spartan said...

No doubt, definitely fits the bill for Talking Pictures.

Anonymous said...

Abigail cool.

Spartan said...

Ready Or Not meets Let the Right One In.