By the Way... I Have Netflix Now

After lusting after Netflix for years and years I finally have it. Well, currently I just started up the one month trial but I intend to stick with it after that. I kind of wish I could get two DVDs out at a time at the base price, but one isn't so bad. Considering how there are a great deal of streaming titles, I think that makes up for it.

I'm really hoping that Netflix will help get me back into peak movie-watching form. What is "peak movie-watching form" to me? Well, a few years ago I tried to watch a movie every day. Either that, or watch 7 movies a week somehow even if that meant doubling up on one day to fix it. While I'm much more able to watch a couple movies a day than I used to be, I still go through movie droughts. Hopefully having Netflix will keep that drought from coming again. There's just so much to watch!

While I know this blog doesn't get much readership that's not what matters anyway. The main point of this site is for me to remember what I've watched and when I watched it (for new films anyway). In the future any movies I watch thanks to Netflix will get the "Netflix" tag. I'm also considering adding numerical ratings to my posts... However, I generally hate them. Possibly I will go with the Netflix style of rating, where things are marked: loved, liked, didn't like, hated. I think that makes the most sense.

I've heard that Netflix may put you as lower priority to get movies on your queue if you are a constant Netflix user. That makes some degree of sense, but seems unfair to us movie freaks! Well, if it happens I'll just watch even more streaming movies. I am determined to make the most use of this service ever.

The Apple

Year: 1980
Director: Menahem Golan
Writer: Menahem Golan
Genre: Musical: Romance

Usually I'm a fan of strange musicals and movies in general. Usually I will pop in movies with an aggregate 2 stars on IMDB and love them. Many times I have sat down to watch marathons of movies described as "so bad they're good". I chose to watch The Apple because it seemed to be perfectly golden and ridiculous for my tastes. I was completely wrong.

It is glamorous. In fact, it seems like the outfits for the Ballet 2000 team were touched up with more sparkles after filming. The movie attempts to be highly futuristic, at least in the outfits department. People are dressed up in gaudy, flamboyant fashion. The clothes aren't all together THAT outlandish though and mostly seem to rely on a future where everyone has really big shoulder pads.

The characters themselves aren't all that interesting. Even for a musical, things seem to happen much too quickly and the songs focus on mundane aspects of the story. All of this could be forgiven if at least the music was good. None of the songs really managed to catch my interest. It's really a shame because even in the worst musicals there's usually at least that one tune you'll be left humming later on. Some of the actors can't sing either, which doesn't help things.

Back to the story, it has the absolute worst ending anyone could ask for. It comes out of nowhere and is the funniest and most obvious example of deus ex machina I've ever seen on film. I'll admit the ending made me laugh but alongside the rest of the movie even it seemed out of place.

I was severely disappointed by The Apple. The best thing about it was that Catherine Mary Stewart had the lead female role (I loved her in Night of the Comet). Barring that though, there's really no reason to watch it. Go check out Showgirls instead for glitzy Hollywood film done so terribly it's a roller coaster of fun.

Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge

Year: 1991
Director: David DeCoteau
Writer: C. Courtney Joyner, Charles Band
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

Somehow within the same year of the release of the 2nd film, Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge also came out. Usually this spells doom for any series in question, but this was not the case at all here. In fact, it seems the 3rd film is the most ingenious and professional of them all thus far.

Puppet Master III takes us back to when Andre Toulon was alive and performing puppet shows with his special puppets. There is a bit of plot inconsistency between it and the first, because in the first movie Toulon would have committed suicide before the 40s. For this film however, Toulon is alive during World War II and in Nazi Germany - only to presumably commit suicide after the events of this film.

This film manages to clear up a lot of confusing points that arose in the first two films. It also manages to make you care very much for the character of Toulon which was never the case before. It shows him as a regular person and not the maniacal freak he would apparently become after his initial death. It also shows the how and why of the puppets which still manages to leave a bit up to "ancient Egyptian magic". The idea that the puppets can live because they were infused with human desire to live is interesting, and a slight take off of how the dolls in Dolls operated. However, it seems rather creepy and more in line with "voodoo magic" that once the spirit is infused into the puppet that it basically becomes psychopathic.

Something really surprising about this film is that it was cocky enough to attempt to pull off a good-looking Nazi Germany set and set pieces. It works very well though. It's almost shocking to me that Full Moon had the money for such high production values. Overall, this was a very solid production and I'm not sure if the remaining features will be able to reach these same heights.

Puppet Master II

Year: 1991
Director: Dave Allen
Writer: Charles Band, David Pabian, David Schmoeller
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

The second of 10 films in a series and so far things are working out. This appears to be a direct sequel to Puppet Master although it seems a very odd premise. After the events of the first film, the puppets attempt to resurrect their old Puppet Master, Andre Toulon, the way he brought them to life.

The question is why would they do this? The climax of the first film was of the puppets turning against Andre as he showed his true, vile colors. After the treatment he gave them it seems crazy they would go dig his body up and bring him back to life so he could continue with his plans. But, the puppets went and did it anyway.

The new cast of characters aren't nearly as creative as before, but at least they all have some sort of life infused into them. The lead of the first was a horribly droll man. The effects are about on the same level as the first and the puppets seem a little less deadly. I say this because unimportant characters are able to kill them which is rather unheard of. But, at the very least there is a new puppet in the ranks who is pretty neat.

For the climax of this film, we are once again shown the puppets are a bit more autonomous then they seem. Still, the reasons for what they did this entire film are unclear. I've heard that later movies clear up the confusion so I hope that is the case. I'd like to get into the story more but it seems it is put together in an unorthodox (or simply unskilled) manner.

Puppet Master

Year: 1989
Director: David Schmoeller
Writer: Charles Band, Kenneth J. Hall, David Schmoeller
Genre: Horror: Evil Dolls

Apparently, this movie is meant to play off the popularity of Child's Play as well as take from the ideas presented in Dolls. Now, Dolls is a much better film than I had ever though it would be, and of course Child's Play is a personal favorite of mine so I was expecting this movie to be better than what IMDB was saying. Generally I ignore IMDB anyway since their 2-5 star films can end up being some of my personal favorites ever. Anyways, I like movies about toys and things coming to life so this was right on the money, or so I thought.

The movie is actually pretty dull. There's a few interesting things here and there but overall the story isn't giving us much new to think over. There's a "Puppet Master" from the 1920s or 30s and he commits suicide before the police can find him. I'm not sure what they were after him for, aside from his use of ancient Egyptian magic to bring life into inanimate objects (puppets!). How would they have even discovered him? Either way, after the little history lesson you're brought up to the current day where a man has just passed away...

For some reason the people who are there for his funeral are all physics of some kind. As expected, the dead man isn't quite dead either and is using puppets to kill off those psychics. Why? Well, there is a reason but most of the movie is left without one making it seem like an awkward slasher film. I did appreciate that the puppets are not purely evil though, although they are still quite fond of killing.

The movie isn't that great but it's a cult hit with certain people. This also happens to be the first film I've seen from Full Moon Pictures. I think that's pretty cool in and of itself since I've been a fan of their wacky trailers for years. After I'm done with this series (if I can bear it) I'm thinking of hitting up some other horror movie series' like Hellraiser, Silent Night Deadly Night, and Child's Play since I only ever saw the first. I'm hoping these damn Puppet Master films get better and not worse, or else I might not make it through.

Notes on a Scandal

Year: 2006
Director: Richard Eyre
Writer: Patrick Marber
Genre: Drama

The 2000s seemed to be big years for movies about teacher-student relationships. Of course, now that I say that I can't think of one, but it felt like there were a lot of movies on the subject matter coming out. I guess part of that had to do with the rise of news discussion about the real-life issues. Anyways, this is one of those movies.

But somehow, it isn't. The premise of the movie initially seems to be about a "perfect" young woman who teaches and inadvertently gets involved with one of her students. She finds herself supremely confused about the whole matter and comes to her older, wiser teacher friend for all kinds of support - and hopes she will keep the secret.

However, at some point the film changes completely enough so that the whole student-teacher relationship isn't even the focus of the film. It struck me as hugely weird that while in most films that plot point would be the focal point entirely that Notes on a Scandal does not take it as such. Sure, it's a big deal, but the real issues are buried underneath the surface and slowly come up until the end where the movie doesn't feel at all like it did at the start.

I really like that the film took the route it did. I wasn't expecting it at all. Maybe it's being overplayed, but it felt like a very large shift and one that no other films depicting the subject matter do. It was really quite something and I think I'd like to watch it again.

Dangerous Liaisons

Year: 1988
Director: Stephen Frears
Writer: Christopher Hampton, Choderlos de Laclos (novel)
Genre: Drama: Romance

Dangerous Liasions is an adaptation of a play, which is in turn an adaptation of a novel: Les Liasions Dangereueses. I've never read the book or seen the play but I'm pretty sure the film uses 100% of the sentences from it. The way each character talks is very elaborate and play-ish, although thankfully understandable.

There was another adaptation of the play/novel in the form of another film called Cruel Intentions. I did something I usually find unspeakable, which was to watch a more recent adaptation first. It came out in 1999. However, it was such a wholly different film (placed in the modern era) that these two films are wholly separate even if they have the same exact base.

While I very much enjoyed Cruel Intentions when I watched it after viewing Dangerous Liaisons I've com to find I prefer this version even more. Unlike the more recent adaptation, it feels much less like a Hollywood movie and like an ornate play. It's able to draw you in despite sometimes confounding ways of speech and that is quite the accomplishment. I'm not sure how a modern movie-going audience would take such a film if it came out tomorrow, but there is definitely an audience to like it.  


I really like this movie. The incestuous themes aren't as outwardly nasty as they are in Cruel Intentions, but that huge plot point is still very much alive here. It's played in a more Victorian fashion though, which makes it easier to distance oneself from it. Either way, it's a fine film. I'd love to watch it again and even side by side with other adaptations to see who really captures the spirit best. Finally, I'll need to read the book.