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Don’t Torture a Duckling 1972 ★★★˝
A bit of Fulci tonight with 1972's Don't torture a duckling. The story centers around the kidnapping of young children in a village in southern Italy. It's filled with the typical images of that type of rural life where the virtues of hard work and christianity are extolled. The investigation is lead by the police, but the one(s) booking the most results are a reporter named Martelli and a city girl named Patrizia. At one point, a supposed killer is caught (and she confesses), but that turns out to be a red herring in light of the final reveal. Which, apart from maybe a few glances, seemed to come out a bit out of nowhere. Fulci focusses less on the gore and more on the drama. The only real gory scene is when the fathers of the victims take their revenge on the supposed killer. You can safely add her struggle to get to help, which only ends up beside the road where the passing can't see her or ignore her. This movie is no 90 minute bloodbath, but it takes no prisoners nonetheless. Like the POV shot of a child being strangled. Yep, they went there. The story sometimes lags a bit, so it may perhaps not be a four star masterpiece, but it has enough to keep you entertained. Maybe a rewatch will sway me towards that fourth star. Who knows?
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07-14-2023, 11:37 AM
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I just saw the Special Edition and the mention of Ripley's daughter surprised me. The daughter plot does play well in Aliens, but I don't know that it was necessary. When I saw the scene where Burke shows Ripley a pic of her daughter who died much older than Ripley, it was kinda weird for me, because in Alien, Ripley is 29, and she's doing long transport missions, so long they put the crew in stasis. Would a mother, apparently a single mother, being doing that with a young child? Seems unlikely. The Special Edition (SE) did cover an apparent plot hole in the theatrical version (TV). In the TV Ripley says Burke was responsible for the deaths of 157 colonists. But in the corporate inquiry meeting we learn people have been on the planet for 20 years. Nobody knew about the danger until Ripley was found. But Ripley told Burke that Burke "sent them to the ship without warning them". In the TV I didn't know what she was referring to, actually, I didn't even think about it at the time. In the SE there's a couple scenes where we see Newt's parents were sent to specific coordinates for exploration/salvage, and officials okaying the parents can claim what they find. The parents find the ship and the father gets a face hugger. So, we have to put those together to guess Burke requested those coordinates to the alien ship based his review of Ripley's Nostromo story account. I think we can also guess the face hugger Newt's father brought back was the queen. Otherwise, the colonists probably would not have laboratory face huggers in tanks. If it was just one non-queen alien, it would have gone like the Nostromo incident, the colonists would just be wiped out (with no lab face huggers), or they would have killed the alien.
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. . . .   Last edited by Sculpt; 07-21-2023 at 04:56 PM.
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07-17-2023, 08:05 AM
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What would you do? Aliens
Would you nuke the planet and wipe them out? In Aliens, when Ripley and Hicks get back from their first encounter with the Aliens, they decide, "Let's nuke the planet from orbit, it's the only way to be sure." They decide to wipe out the Aliens, possibly the only remaining in the universe. Would you nuke the planet and wipe them out? Once they get back the ship, they're safe. The Alien animals have shown no signs of any technological knowledge. They don't have a spaceship, they haven't even invented the wheel, and we have no indication they ever will. They're stuck on the planet and can be studied. We'd also have to assume there isn't any wildlife on the planet, and so the Aliens will starve to death in a matter of days. The eggs in the ship will last as long as the ship's batteries are active. Ripley may be trying to keep Burke's corporation from retrieving the Aliens for their weapons division. Is that a good enough reason to make them extinct?
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07-19-2023, 01:49 AM
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FULL METAL JACKET (1987)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >> This Vietnam War film seems to improve with age, as do many of Stanley Kubrick's films do. It's really two stories in one opening with boot camp training and being in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive and focusing mainly on "Private Joker" (Matthew Modine), a sardonic and cocky correspondent who is not as bad ass as He might think, especially towards the end, which is full of tension. Of course, the main reason people remember FMJ is the excellent first part dealing with boot camp training under the harsh, extremely profane Drill instructor and his particular "motivating" of "Private Pyle" who can't seem to hack it. oddly enough, most people don't mention how "Joker" gets some mental and physical abuse from the DI as well. As Sargent Hartman, R Lee Ermey (a real life DI) set his career forever mainly playing the same type of person. His profane tirades actually are funny, although I sure would not to be on the receiving end. Vincent D'nofrio playing the hapless Pyle is very good and at times Your heart will break for him (despite his endless screwups) particularly what is described as a "Blanket Party". I do like the scenes where Pyle seems to have gotten the gist of what to do and find Ermy's tone in "What's this weapon's name Private Pyle?" to be almost paternal, although things do go back to "A World of Shit" and the film does decline after the exits of both of them. ****
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07-19-2023, 10:38 AM
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07-28-2023, 10:43 AM
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BEING THERE (1979)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski, BT is about "Chance" who is described as "Simple Minded" in some reviews, but I think "Child Like"is a better description. Chance lives in a big house where his main tasks are tending to the garden and watching TV. In fact, He's never been off the grounds of the house and anything He 's knows is due to television. When his benefactor dies, Chance hs to leave the grounds, gets involved in a minor traffic accident and is taken in a DC power couple. They introduce him to their inner circle (including power brokers and the POTUS) and his quiet ways and answering questions using analogy of gardening and TV make everyone around him think He is a genius and there's talk of making him a VIP. I liked the books better and BT suffers from a too long run time, but good performances by Peter Sellars (His last) and Melvyn Douglas (Oscar winner) help out and there is a charm to the whole loony affair. ***
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07-29-2023, 06:57 AM
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Bloodbath, 1975. 7.5/10
Directed by Silvio Narizzano  Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, 1973. 6/10 Directed by John Newland  Maniac Cop, 1988. 8/10 Directed by William Lustig  Alligator, 1980. 7/10 Directed by Lewis Teague 
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08-01-2023, 01:53 AM
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THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
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08-03-2023, 12:27 AM
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Trilogy of Terror 1975 ★★★˝
As its title suggests, Trilogy of terror presents three separate horror stories that each span roughly the length of sitcom episode. I do however like the idea of how the makers cast Karen Black as a main character in each one of the stories and this for two reasons. First of all, the makers at least try to make her look somewhat different in each story. If you have seen most of her films before, you will probably find it easier to recognize her. But as someone who not that familiar with her work just yet, it gave the desired effect. It also gave her an opportunity to show off her verstaility as an actress. She does a solid job in the three parts, not making it feel as “oh here's so and so doing her schtick again”. I will not go into the stories themselves, since I think it's best to go in unprepared. Suffice to say that we are dealing with three (relatively) slow burns. The first two end with a nice and well set up twist. The third one while ppredictable does offer some fun action and a cool final visual. Maybe no Texas Chainsaw level classic, but definetily worth a watch. Check it out.
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