glowbugg ramblings by glowbugg

Pretty much what I remembered

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Xtro (1983)

The last time I watched this film was about 25 years ago and it left quite a lasting impression on me. When I was perusing the local dvd store who was going out of business, this was one of the "relics" from my past I was trying to add to my personal "recollection collection". I managed to get "Basket Case" and "Demons", and even found a copy of "Pieces", but never found "Xtro". Managed to find many copies of "Xtro 2", but never the original. I was so stoked to see that it was going to be on sattelite so I recorded it and watched it with glee last night! I never realized the lady from "Hellraiser" was in this and quite a similar love story for her as well. More sexual than I remembered, and not as gory as I recalled either. Still, the shock factor was still intact with a woman bringing a full grown man into the world. Still a favorite from the old days.

Posted Friday, October 17, 2008 2:02 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Unnerving

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The Bridge (2006)

I take a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge about once every couple of months. I enjoy the beautiful view of the city from the bridge and the sheer magnitude of the structure itself. Now that I have witnessed the death that falls from that bridge on a monthly basis, I no longer enjoy the views it has to offer without thinking, sickly, of the many folks who chose to end their lives from this bridge. I first read about this film in the local paper and made a mental note to check it out if I got the chance. I remember the static this film generated due to the subject matter and the rawness of the footage. I never dreamed that his film would affect me in such a somber and sad way. To actually watch people take their own lives right in the broad daylight with people walking right past them was almost too much to watch. Yet I was unable to look away. I recorded this film for a friend and had her watch it. Now I have ruined the fond memories she had of the bay as well. Very disturbing film, but done in a tactful and respectable manner. Worth a watch. Just once though.

Posted Tuesday, August 26, 2008 11:40 PM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Very Cute

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The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007)

Great family film. Not too scary for the little ones, and enough action and fantasy for the older kids to stay entertained. Sometimes it's nice to not have to think too hard to enjoy a movie.

Posted Wednesday, August 13, 2008 3:06 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Tragically beautiful

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The Orphanage (2007)

I am a fan of DelToro from The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, to The Hellboy films, and I was not disappointed at all. This film was very similar in that there is always a tragedy that befalls a child or children. Maybe this has something to do with Mexican/Spanish folklore. It seems a common thread in many stories I have read. This is by no means a horror film but more of a ghost story. The Devil's Backbone was very much the same in that regard. This film spoke to me as a mother. I could fee the pain and anguish of the parents in the film. It was brutal and beautiful all at the same moment. Maybe it was the PMS talking (or crying as it were), but the end of the film actually brought me to tears. Really, I'm not usually so easily moved.

Posted Wednesday, August 13, 2008 2:52 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Save your time

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Botched (2006)

WTF? Either I was very short on patience the night I tried to watch this film, or this was one of the stinkiest pieces of c-rap I have watched in a long while. I could not endure more than the first 30 minutes of this mess. As soon as I saw the "twirling killer", I was unable to continue watching any further for fear of severe mental retardation.

Posted Wednesday, August 13, 2008 2:38 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Wait a second,...what happened here?!

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I Am Legend (2007)

Man, I was so hoping that the anticipation I had built up waiting for this film to be released on dvd would somehow make me like the film more than I knew I would. "I Am Legend" is one of my all time favorite books, and knowing the general rule that the book is almost always better than the film, I was still hoping this remake would really do the book justice. So much for hoping. I really enjoyed the Vincent Price version of the "Last Man on Earth", and thought that it was fairly close to the book in all regards. Too bad someone thought it would be a great idea to stray so far from the already magnificent book and previous remakes. Some things are just better left alone. The cgi zombies were a huge disappointment as was the ending (I haven't seen the alternate ending). I knew the ending already and it was such a shocker that it made the book so memorable and an instant favorite. So tragic and desperate. Too bad Hollywood got ahold of this story and made it nothing more than a PG-13 money sucking machine.

Posted Friday, March 28, 2008 3:19 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

I wish I had done my homework.

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Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

This film was not what I had expected, and I guess I should have read the book first. My eight year old suggested we put this one on our queue after seeing the trailer when it was realeased to dvd. I wish someone would have warned us not to watch this film so close to my "womanly time" and also not until my son was a bit older so he could understand the need for the tragedy in the film. I had to spend the better part of bedtime explaining why things played out as they did so my son could stop crying and get to sleep. I did enjoy the film though I spent the last half sniffling and putting on a brave face for my son.

Posted Friday, February 15, 2008 1:30 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Interesting...

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Cannibal Holocaust (1979)

Okay, I bought into all the hoopla that this film has generated over the years and finally decided to see it in it's original "glory" as it was intended back in the 80's (Netflix states that it came out in 1985). Very interesting on many levels. Brutal to say the least. My first impression was the whole Blair Witch comparison, and then on to the live animal killings. Not really my cup of tea (thankful for fast forward), but I can understand the neccesity of it. The whole documentary feel was okay, but not really great. I did like the film, but not love it simply because it wasn't really a horror film in my opinion. Truely horrorific, but not scary enough in a fictionalized sort of way. Glad I saw it for the experience, but not one I'd care to watch over and over again for the sheer pleasure of it.

Posted Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:32 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Baaaa-rilliant!

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Black Sheep (2007)

I love this film! Hilarious and gorey. Well put together and even a bit unique in it's choice of "zombies". I enjoyed the subtle humor and the story was strong enough to carry the silly premise of crazed, mutant sheep. Very gorey and the effects were nicely done without the help of cgi. I wasn't a fan of mutton before this film, but I love it now!

Posted Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:16 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

different strokes...

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Hostel Part II (2007)

Wow. I'm really in the minority here, but I loved Hostel part deux. I was so completely let down by the first film that I decided to not expect anything spectacular with this one. I found myself loving the comedic interludes and the cameos were also refreshing. I couldn't wait for that horrendously fugly Heather Matarazzo to get killed. She was difficult to watch because she is so damn peculiar looking! And her character was just too whiny and lame. She begged to be killed! I liked the fact that the previous hero was also in this film and involved in a bit of an unforseeable twist. It was also nice to be a bit surprised by the ending. I expected it to be predictable with the reluctant torturer saving the heroine, but alas, I was wrong. Nice. I actually watched all the extras and enjoyed the tour of the real torture museum. Very informative and interesting to watch.

Posted Sunday, October 28, 2007 4:13 PM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

what did I miss?

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Masters of Horror: The Damned Thing (2007)

Okay, maybe it's just me and I'm too expectant of a good film, start to finish. I had a decent feeling about this one. It started a bit slow, but I had faith in Tobe to bring it around. Well, Tobe let me down big time! The story had potential and hey, maybe it was a political comment on society and it's dependence on crude oil, I'm not really sure, but what a waste of an hour. I could have been ironing or vacuuming, or doing something far less painful than watching this dribble! There have been very few of these episodes that were actually worth one's time to view them. I may as well be watching the Scifi Channel's "original films". At least I don't expect much from those films, so therefore I'm not as disappointed by their shortfalls.

Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2007 9:50 PM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Not your average "Vengeful Spirit" flick

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Cello (2006)

I really enjoyed this film. Pretty inventive and I liked the fact that I didn't figure it out in the first 20 minutes. Not very gorey or creepy, but smartly played to the end. I thought the littlest girl was adorable and pretty funny. It was a nice departure from the c-rap I've been watching lately.

Posted Monday, September 17, 2007 2:16 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Why do I keep doing this to myself?!

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Penny Dreadful (2006)

Here we go again. "Penny Dreadful" wasn't a complete waste of time and maybe that had something to do with the competent cast. The acting was some of the best coming out of this "Horrorfest" series so far, and I've actually seen almost all of them from 2006's festival. There were some genuinely creepy scenes, but throughout most of the film I just kept thinking, "How smart is it to keep popping downers when you are being tormented by a raw-meat-kabob eating psycho?" What would happen if the heroine actually used some common sense and didn't act like such a ninny? I guess it would be a pretty short film. This was one that I actually enjoyed for the most part.

Posted Monday, September 17, 2007 2:10 AM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Surprisingly decent

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Unrest (2006)

This film was much better than most of the "8 Films to Die For" horrorfest series. The story (save for the lame ending) was pretty good and the thought of getting into a tank of formaldehyde and cadavers gave me a good heebie-jeebie feeling that no other film from this fest has delivered so far. It had some great effects and shock moments, and I heard that they actually used some real dead bodies in this film. You really can't tell which are real or not, but creepy just the same. A pretty good effort overall.

Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007 7:22 PM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

Dirty little secret

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The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)

Okay, let me just say that I was a teenager when this movie came out and I was also an avid collector of the trading cards and stickers ( I still have all of them) so it seemed like a natural progression to see the film. I actually enjoyed it back in 1987, and now my very own little spawn has formed an odd penchant for the Garbage Pails himself (he's 8). He has rented the cartoon version (never actually released according to Netflix) and again with the "natural progression", he LOVES this movie. Must be the horrendous fashions and hairstylings of the 80's. He doesn't seem to mind the poor acting or the off-sync voices. He just enjoys being entertained by these gross little versions of Cabbage Patch dolls. I actually enjoyed the jog down memory lane myself. Don't tell anyone.

Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007 7:13 PM by glowbugg | with 0 comments

glowbugg ramblings

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