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AKB48Fan rated Katyn

 Katyn 6/10

4 years, 12 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

In 1940, at the beginning of World War II, Soviet soldiers conduct a mass execution of captured Polish officers. With Hitler's forces rapidly advancing into Eastern Europe, a surviving Polish officer, Lt. Jerzy, at great risk to his own life, chooses to stay behind with his wife, Anna. As the Germans round up Lt. Jerzy and other officers, propaganda efforts cover up the truth about the Soviet soldiers' shocking brutality. A well done and shocking movie speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves and would be gladly considered never existing by some. Although it's difficult to credibly and adequately convey the horror of such a murder which became a life tragedy for many Polish families and undoubtedly affected the way Poland looked after the war, I think the director made a good job. Especially so, that it happened to be his personal tragedy as well with his father being executed. Despite that, the movie is well-balanced with emotions and atmosphere. Modest colours and anxious music by Penderecki emphasise the horror of those who were waiting. Short cuts of brutal scenes of murder left me speechless. It's hard to comprehend that human beings could do such things to each other. For those wanting a history lesson about one of Poland's darkest days, this movie is difficult to watch at times.

4 years, 12 months ago

AKB48Fan rated Sid & Nancy

 Sid & Nancy 3/10

4 years, 12 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Following their breakout success in England, flagship punk rock band the Sex Pistols venture out on their first U.S. tour. Temperamental bassist Sid Vicious takes his troubled girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, along for the ride. Along the way, the couple's turbulent relationship strains the patience of bandmate Johnny Rotten and manager Malcolm McLaren, while plunging Sid and Nancy into the depths of drug addiction and co-dependency. This movie was a reality flash into the lives of rock star Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. Despite the harsh reality brought to life by a strong performance by Gary Oldman, the movie was extremely dull and ultimately boring. The movie was a compilation of drugs scenes strung together by what could possibly be the trashiest "love story" on the face of the planet. The movie is full of the most repugnant people you'll ever come across. Sid and Nancy are seen as idiotic and in Nancy's case annoying and whiny. By the end you won't really care what's happens to either of them...I didn't anyway. This movie was a load of crap.

4 years, 12 months ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

The Norwegian resistance sabotage the Vemork Norsk Hydro plant in the town of Rjukan in the county of Telemark, Norway, which the Nazis are using to produce heavy water, which could be used in the manufacture of an atomic bomb. What should have been a tense and thrilling tale based on a true story is merely watchable. While it maintains your interest, it is never gripping. The pacing is a bit pedestrian at times at well. The action sequences are competently done. The cast are all fine headed by Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris. Despite extensive and commendable use of the actual places, it's not photographed that well making the locations to look rather unattractive. Some use of black and white stock footage of planes taking off looks out of place in the movie. This is a good story and it was worth telling but such a shame that it wasn't exciting enough.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

While holidaying with her parents at a placid resort, Frances "Baby" Houseman is smitten with the resort's rebellious dance instructor. Her father opposes their relationship which creates a rift between him and her. There was a very good reason why I'd avoided this movie like the plague until now and that reason became abundantly clear when I watched it...it's just bloody awful. How this movie is labelled a so-called classic is beyond me. This is not a good movie by any standards. It is very poorly written and the acting is just a little above par. The dialogue at times is laughable and I just can't see the chemistry between the main leads. The soundtrack is probably the best thing about it. Overall, I don't understand what all the fuss is about this movie. It's unremarkable, boring, predictable, monotonous, and thoroughly mediocre.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated The Atomic Man

 The Atomic Man 5/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

An injured man is pulled from the river Thames. He has been shot in the back and is barely alive. The science correspondent of an illustrated magazine recognises him as a nuclear physicist. But the physicist is alive and well and working at his lab. When the injured man is photographed, his pictures shows a strange glow surrounding him. This doesn't have a sci-fi plot especially if you know the movie by it's other name - Timeslip. It's more of a industrial espionage thriller with some intriguing sci-fi background elements which are significantly under-developed. Both the timeslip angle and the tungsten angle could have been much better developed and turned into a much stronger movie. The actors and direction from Ken Hughes are better than the script. It's your typical British b-movie. Watch out for a very small role for Carry On actor Charles Hawtrey as an annoying lab technician. It's a mildly interesting movie in the end.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Baptiste

 Baptiste 8/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to The 2020 TV Show List list

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated The Boy Who Stole a Million

 The Boy Who Stole a Million 7/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Paco's father Miguel drives a taxi in Valencia but when the taxi breaks down and Miguel is unable to pay for the repairs, Paco borrows a million peseta from the bank's vault where he works to help his father out. When the bank discovers the money is missing and put two and two together, Paco finds himself on the run not just from the police and his parents but villains who would like the money for their own gain. This is more or less a chase movie across Valencia with Paco slipping away from cops and the bad guys searching high and low for the money. No twists and turns in the script at all. There is excellent cinematography showing the sights of Valencia. Maurice Reyna gives a good performance in his role as Paco with Warren Mitchell having an amusing cameo as a petty crook who drinks a lot! The directing by Charles Crichton is also very well done and the pacing never flags. Despite the wafer thin plot, I really enjoyed this movie and found it rather exciting.

5 years ago

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5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Danger Within

 Danger Within 7/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

In a British POW camp in Italy, every escape attempt is met with failure with the Italians seemingly knowing their every plan. The officers suspect that an informer is in their midst. Packed with a British cast giving good turns, this movie serves as both a POW escape drama and a war time mystery thriller. The mystery element is a little undone since the informer is revealed to the viewer at the midpoint, but from there on in the suspense is ramped up by way of wondering if the rat will be found, and if the amazing grand escape planned at the movie's end will succeed. Richard Todd, Bernard Lee, Michael Wilding, Richard Attenborough and Dennis Price all give a great performance along with Peter Arne as the sadistic POW camp commander. You'll even get to see a very young Michael Caine in a bit part. A fantastic war movie.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated The Toy

 The Toy 3/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Unemployed journalist Jack Brown is attempting to make ends meet as the night janitor in a ritzy department store owned by Louisiana millionaire U.S. Bates. On his annual visit to his father's store, Bates' pampered son, Eric, is told he can choose one item in the toy department. To everyone's horror, he chooses Jack. Paid handsomely to spend one week with the troublesome kid, Jack soon discovers the roots of Eric's bad behaviour. This is the Hollywood version of a French comedy that was made in 1976. It's apparently a scene by scene copy of that movie which is held in high regard so I was really disappointed by how this movie turned out. It's a big misfire with a story that kind of loses it way and goes off the beaten path...a path of boredom. I usually like most of Richard Pryor's work in the 70's but not this one. The script is weak and the acting is dismal all round. It has a very few memorable moments, but the well dries up quickly. I found this movie to be a big waste of time.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Operation Bullshine

 Operation Bullshine 6/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

A married couple must hide their relationship when she arrives as a private at the military post where he is a lieutenant. This wartime army comedy was clearly made to cash in on the success of Carry On Sergeant. It's all about what happens when men and women soldiers mix at an army camp. The title of the movie will mean nothing to anybody but it is explained near the end. There are plenty of laughs to be had with most coming from Dora Bryan as a ditzy Northerner whose skirts falls off during a parade! The main stars are Donald Sinden who is apparently a babe magnet for all the female soldiers and Barbara Murray as his wife. The very beautiful Carole Lesley is also great. Such a shame her career was cut rather abruptly and the tragic ending to her short life. Peter Jones has some good fun playing a Gunner whose words are so impenetrable that only 1 man can understand him. Whilst it's not a patch on some of the other army comedies around the time, there's still plenty to entertain most viewers.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Return of the Sister Street Fighter

 Return of the Sister Street Fighter 7/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Detective Sho is attacked and killed trying to deliver a briefcase; a briefcase containing vital documents pertaining to a gold smuggling gang in Yokohama. The detective has his ten-year-old daughter, Rika, with him and his dying words ask Koryu to protect his daughter and find her mother. Rika’s mother, Shurei, is also Koryu’s cousin but she is working for the gold smuggling gang. The 2nd sequel to Sister Street Fighter is a non-stop martial arts/action movie from start to finish. The movie has an entertaining blend of quirky bad guys, martial arts, kitsch 70’s chic and gritty themes. There are Bruce Lee references from a poster seen on the wall to the main bad guy who has a golden prosthetic hand (like Enter The Dragon's Han). Etsuko Shiomi is back as Koryu and proceeds to kick some ass. The movie is fast moving that is overflowing with mind-blowing action sequences. Sonny Chiba’s brother Jiro even makes an appearance. The story might be weak but with so many entertaining action sequences in the movie who really cares? Overall, this is another fantastic entry in the Sister Street Fighter franchise and well worth watching.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

Furuchi finds a portable electric heater whilst foraging in a rubbish heap and takes it home. He removes a seal on the heater which unleashes a demon force inside it that makes it go into full-on killing mode! What a crazy and inventive horror comedy movie this is by director Joji Iida. It's Japan's answer to 80's Troma movies in the US. Only Japan would come up with a movie about a killer electric heater! The movie has some fairly inspired comedy-horror sequences. Not all of the wacky humour works though and there is some overdone slapstick at times. There’s also an opening sequence in which a man is chased and eventually crushed by a giant something that turns out to be the movie’s title, written on the side of a flying boulder! The performances of the cast are great. This is a satire/horror/suspense/concert/slice-of-life movie that unassumingly pokes fun at both comedies and horror movies in one shot. All in all, if you like weird horror comedies you'll get a kick out of watching this one of a kind movie!

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Battle Heater

 Battle Heater 6/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated Sorcerer

 Sorcerer 8/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

In the small South American town of Porvenir, four men on the run from the law are offered $10,000 and legal citizenship if they will transport a shipment of dangerously unstable nitroglycerin to an oil well 200 miles away. Led by Jackie Scanlon, the men set off on a hazardous journey, during which they must contend with dangerously rocky roads, unstable bridges, and attacks from local guerillas. The four fight for their lives as they struggle to complete their dangerous quest. A fantastic remake of the 1953 movie The Wages of Fear which unbelievably bombed at the box office. A confusing title and poor marketing meant that audiences stayed well away. The movie takes a while to get going and sets up the backstory of the 4 men and why they end up in the jungle transporting deadly nitroglycerin. But when the story does get going, it is one of the finest thrillers ever filmed. The sequence on the bridge makes it worth watching by itself and is nail biting stuff. Roy Scheider is excellent in the lead role and director William Friedkin pulled off a masterpiece. This is a compelling and riveting movie. It has a story which you do not want to take your eyes off the screen for one second. Recommended.

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to their collection

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 2 items to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

5 years ago

AKB48Fan rated The Freakmaker

 The Freakmaker 5/10

5 years ago

AKB48Fan added 1 item to A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020 list

A mad scientist tries to bridge the gap between human and plant life. He experiments on his students, with truly gruesome results. This is a middling, mostly forgettable horror movie from the mid 70's. The plot basically follows a carnival freak show who run a sideline in kidnapping innocent victims to be the subject of evil experiments! That's all the plot there is, really, and the movie doesn't really do a lot with it. It just goes through the motions of showing the freak show, showing some victims get nabbed, and then showing the expected climax. The movie has several very silly elements to it. Donald Pleasance comes and goes in his role as a mad scientist and Tom Baker is hardly recognisable as he is under heavy latex makeup as the scientist's assistant. It's an oddity of a movie really, from sideshow curiosity to mad scientist horror to 70's sleaze it never quite decides what it wants to be.

5 years ago