What Horror and Sc-Fi films have you seen lately?

[JackFavell]

I still like that part of the movie best, because it reminds me of the pleasure of fear - letting that scream out and how funny it was afterwards.

[intothenitrate]

When I saw it in the theater, my brain had been tricked so thoroughly by the realism of the dinosaurs, I half expected them to walk out between the buildings as I was driving home.

[JackFavell]

Yikes! I think what makes a really good horror film is the fact that they might really happen. You definitely can see someone doing this, cloning dinos for fun and profit. It's actually kind of brilliant to take a theme park as a setting for a horror film.

Oh yeah.... Hitch already did that.

[mrsl]

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I vegged out on a couple of 50's sci-fi movies today, but the one that stood out in my mind was the Monster who Challenged the World, starring Tim Holt. Actually, the reason it stood out is Tim. He got a little chubby by 1957 when this was made. I don't know why that surprised me, but I just thought he would always stay trim. It was quite a movie though. It was a conglomeration of several other movies, it seemed to me. Part, Them, part Mothra, and part The Thing from Outer Space. I can safely say, if you want a few laughs, a little bit of fright, and a couple of hours of completely brainless time spent, those old 50's sci-fi's are what you want. You can just sit back, relax and enjoy while you turn off your brain for a while.
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[Rita Hayworth]

Excellent Observation about Monster who Challenged the World movie ... I did watch that movie today before joining friends for an early dinner before I came home to watch Giant ... I completely agree with you Anne!

[MikeBSG]

Today I watched "A Bucket of Blood" (1959) directed by Roger Corman.

Where has this movie been all my life? I really liked it. I thought it was much, much better than "Little Shop of Horrors." This one is directed with flair and style, and Dick Miller is terrific as the nebbish busboy who becomes a killer. The spoof of the beatnik scene is quite funny as well. "Bucket of Blood" as a great pace, interesting characters (I really liked Barboura Morris as the heroine) and feels as much like a horror movie as it does a horror movie spoof.

The beatnik poet (played by Julian Burton, who apparently went on to have an extensive TV career) interested me. It was as if he were the prototype for the Vincent Price characters in the Poe films.

I'm really glad I saw this film.

[RedRiver]

I like the "so bad it's good" camp by Corman and the like. I think you're right, Mike. This one is just about the epitome.

[MikeBSG]

Today I took my son and my wife to see "Iron Man 3" (2013).

It was good. I was out of step with the rest of American in that I thought "Iron Man 2" was terrific. I really liked Mickey Rourke's performance in that film. I thought he created a very compelling antagonist for Iron man/Tony Stark.

"Iron Man 3" struck me as good but not as intense as "Iron Man 2." There was some clever plotting/surprise twists about the villains in "Iron Man 3," which worked but which gave the movie (to me) more of a spy movie/film noir vibe than a superhero movie vibe. Still, I have to say that the cast was very strong, and the action sequences were first rate. They wisely had the hero have to perform deeds of daring-do without his iron costume, and the relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts was very well-handled and interesting.

Still, I prefer Downey and Rourke going nose-to-nose in #2. But this is a good film and continues Marvel's winning streak.

[RedRiver]

I'm partial to comic book movies, and would consider seeing this. But I haven't seen # 2. What would be the point?

[RedRiver]

Oh, wait. Ms. Paltrow would be the point. Duh!

[CineMaven]

I still like that part of the movie best, because it reminds me of the pleasure of fear - letting that scream out and how funny it was afterwards.

It's been a while since I've seen "JURASSIC PARK" but I bought every moment of it. If one doesn't willingly suspend their disbelief, I'm not sure why go to the movies. "Jurassic Park" was scary and seemed more realistic than "Godzilla" stomping around. "The pleasure of fear..." nicely put. A good director would have to study that in order to make a horror film that resonates. I think Hitchcock knows human psychology better than any director.

"Jurassic Park." When dinosaurs roamed the earth -

I must give that a second look sometime.

[MikeBSG]

As to the question of buying what you see on the screen and dinosaur movies, I haven't seen all of the original "Godzilla," but the scene I did see, a night attack on Tokyo, was surprisingly believable. In part, I guess, the darkness hid the wires and zippers, but also it looked like a war movie (particularly the reaction of the crowds) and I thought that probably a lot of the extras had lived through air raids and such catastrophes and could tap those emotions.

"Jurassic Park" gets us to buy into the dinosaurs because it takes us to an exotic setting and then introduces us to dinosaurs. ("King Kong" works the same way. We go to this remote place, find Kong and the dinosaurs, and only then does the movie unleash Kong in New York, after we have already bought into Kong as a character.) "Jurassic Park" also uses darkness effectively.

[JackFavell]

Hey, I'm with you... I thought Iron Man 2 had it all - a great villain, a deeper plot, and most importantly, he had to battle his own weaknesses as well as the villain. I think an examination of the hero's own psychology is the mark of a good superhero movie nowadays. I didn't care for the original Iron Man much. I haven't seen 3.

[MikeBSG]

That makes 2 of us who like "Iron Man 2." Now if we can just convince the rest of the world...

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday I watched "Never Let Me Go" (2010) directed by Mark Romanek.

I really liked this movie about cloned children and the fate they have been bred for. This movie really worked for me. (Okay, maybe because the heroine was played by an actress who looked like the girl I had a crush on in high school.) But it is a very powerful, thoughtful and sad movie. The only thing I might compare it to is "Children of the Damned" (1964). Or I could be sarcastic and call "Never Let Me Go" Harry Potter Goes to Hell.

But this is a very strong movie about life choices, do we really have life choices, and what makes us happy. Yes, it is a movie about clones, but it is a movie about the human condition and mortality. I really recommend this one.