butchM Reviews

Rose Red (2002)

Time for King to retire

[1/10 · 1 February 2002]

Rose Red is awful. King steals from a lot of better horror stories (including his own)to come up with this piece of crap. SFX are not too good, story is so long and drawn out (probably an attempt to hide how potholed the story is) and the actors are horribly miscast. I used to like Travis, but after the first ten minutes of this I was hoping she would get killed ASAP. In fact with such a group of annoying, unlikeable characters, the most frightening thing in the story is that King lets most of them live! Don't waste your time on this.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Absolutely Horrible!

[1/10 · 21 January 2002]

I like stupid comedies as much as the next person and based on the great reviews and cast could not wait to see this. About six of us had a "movie night" and watched it together. I think I was almost lynched at the end of the evening! NOBODY LAUGHED ONCE! I completely get the concept (and it is a good idea) the problem is, every 80's summer movie it lampoons is actually at least a LITTLE funny. This movie has at most two half smiles. It is awful. There is no continuity, bad tech. srtuff all around. There are some very funny people in this film - but they must have owed money to somebody, because there is absolutely no excuse for this crap!

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

For what it is ....great fun!

[9/10 · 28 December 2001]

All I could think of was the old movies I watched growing up and what would have happened to them if they were turned into music videos. It's almost hard to describe without actually EXPERIENCING it. Take a hit of acid and then switch channels back and forth between Camille and Cabaret. Actually, that's not a bad thing! I was never bored and really enjoyed the sentiment behind the whole thing. There is a great sweetness disguised behind the lurid colors, camera work and oft told- cheesy love story. McGregor is awesome and steals the film. What a charmer he turns out to be.

Suspiria (1977)

Rosemary's Baby goes to Satan's (dance) School for Girls ...

[1 November 2001]

and FLUNKS! I haven't seen acting this bad outside of a porn film. The plot is laughably lifted from many other films and held together by, well, nothing. It's no wonder Jessica Harper has disappeared. And Joan Bennet's performance makes her turn on Dark Shadows look award-worthy. Really!

Visually, it's wild to look at ... kind of like a whorehouse in Querelle or a Ken Russell daydream. Otherwise it does not have much going for it. The soundtrack is effectively creepy - but if you have a home theater system, be warned: it is LOUD.

And scary ... Not At All. The only frightening thing is the bizarre adoration some people have for this movie. 3/10

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)

John Leguizamo was so good, I kept thinking he was Rosie Perez!

[7/10 · 8 September 2001]

Fun, harmless entertaining. Nothing to get excited about, but it is amusing thanks to it's strange casting choices. Any movie with Stockard Channing has to have some merit! Swayze and Snipes are fun and Rosie Perez (oops!) is hysterical. Leguizamo deserves a lot more recognition for his body of work.

Making Love (1982)

A fine film for it's time that holds up well

[8 September 2001]

I saw this when it first came out. I was 20. I had never seen a film about gay men before - except Boys in the Band - on late nite TV. That film scared me. This one made me feel good and positive about myself. It is warm and sad and happy and realistic. (well if we were all successful LA tyes, anyway) Credit goes to Ontkean and Hamlin for taking on these roles at the time. Jackson is terrific. She has a scene in the phone with her estranged father that makes you realize why she was first choice for Joanna Kramer in Kramer vs Kramer. Wish this would come out on dvd.

The Ritz (1976)

Very Funny

[8/10 · 8 September 2001]

A comic reflection of a time period sure not to return. Moreno is hysterical as are Ballard and Weston. Definitely worth watching and good for many laughs. There is also a certain melancholy to it now given what came of these bathhouses and their denizens. For those who lived through this it certainly triggers some memories.

Unbreakable (2000)

Piece of C**p

[1/10 · 30 April 2001]

This movie is so bad it is unbelievable. Bruce Willis goes for subtle - which means all he does in this film is whisper. Anyway - it proves that there are movies worse than the idiotic Sixth Sense. I was fortunate enough to see it for free on a flight; don't waste any money on this turkey.

Edge of Seventeen (1998)

80's Gay Life

[10/10 · 28 July 2000]

Anybody who came out and lived through the 80's will find much to love in this movie. Moving, Funny, Sad. A gay version of a John Hughes film .... and if that isn't 80's I don't know what is. I remember those days fondly - but when I see the visuals - wow do the clothes scare me! Soundtrack is perfect.

The Green Mile (1999)

Give me break!

[1/10 · 28 July 2000]

Dull, corny, sappy, predictable .... Where have you ever seen such lovely death row inmates before! Don't kill him - he's just a mass murderer and he has a pet mouse! Hah! And what's with all the urine in this film ... some kind of weird fixation going on.

Cruising (1980)

Not as Controversial as It's made out to be ...

[8/10 · 28 July 2000]

So-so mystery ... good depiction of NYC at that time. The controversy was around the gay S&M stuff ... but let's face it it happened. Not an accurate depiction of the larger gay community - but not unrealistic. Gay people can be serial killers too. Not all straight people are like Norman Bates either...

Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

70's camp chic

[8/10 · 28 July 2000]

What a howl! Not too scary ... but all that glam cheesy NYC late 70's stuff is captured perfectly. It's like looking at one of the photo books about decadant urban nightlife - disco, models, lesbianism, gay b'day parties, Faye-dearest, Tommy lee-needs dermabrasion-Jones,and a token serial killer thrown in. Let's all chant!

Apt Pupil (1998)

It's all about repressed sexuality people!

[2 April 2000]

A boy afraid of his own sexuality finds out a secret about his neighbor and turns it into a psychological power struggle. In this case, the guy is a nazi -- but in this film, he could have been a plain-old serial killer or child molester ... anything.

Leveraged secrets allow an intense psycho-sexual game of S&M throughout this pic. Witness the ending where the boy makes threats to another with the one thing he is most afraid of. As McKellan says, "...we're fucking each other."

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Not too horrible ...

[20 February 2000]

Watch Mia Farrow redecorate her huge new New York apartment while she begins to get a creepy feeling from her neighbors. Watch her cut her hair, have baby-drama, dreams (maybe), crack up and run down the long narrow hallway in the apartment with a butcher knife. Oh wait, it'c Charlize Theron ... oops.

Still kind of fun. Sort of a mirror-image Rosemary's Baby. This time told from the husband's POV.

Arlington Road (1999)

Good Paranoia Flick

[12 February 2000]

This is a fun thriller with a devastating makes-you-think twist that is rises above your formulaic action pic.

Bridges is always very good, different for Robbins, and Joan Cusack stole the best of the "Stepford Wives" for her part.

Exciting, tense, a frightening shocker of an ending and characters who are all very flawed and not always likable. A realistic approach that helped to make it a little less of the clean-cut good vs. bad deal.

Give it a shot.