The Invisible Man: Special Edition (1933)

Featuring: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Henry Travers. Director: James Whale.

The Invisible Man is probably my favorite of the old school Universal monster movies. The reason is definitely Claude Rains incredible performance. Rains plays a scientist who discovers a serum that turns whoever injects it completely invisible. As with most drugs, there are side effects. In this case... madness.

It's hard to pull off madness without it coming across as campy. Watching this movie now, as opposed to as a kid, I can really appreciate how good of a job Rains did. It's really unbelievable to me that an actor you can't even see can completely command all of your attention on screen. The most comparable performance I can think of to this one is Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Rains and Ledger created characters that were both supremely creepy, insane, and completely unpredictable. The chaos caused by the Joker and The Invisible Man is some of the most random, and wild anarchy you'll see on screen.

This is one of my favorite movies. It's a technical marvel in old school filmmaking with wonderful acting. If you've never seen it and you like sci-fi type horror you really owe it to yourself to queue this one up. You won't be disappointed, The Invisible Man is way ahead of it's time.

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According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 5/1/14. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? It's a classic, it should be in everyone's queue.

Is it artsy? No, but Rains is an evil genius.

What stood out the most to you? Rains performance and spotting Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Ready to witness sci-fi horror madness.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 5 Stars!
 

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Duck, You Sucker (1971)

Featuring: Rod Steiger, James Coburn. Director: Sergio Leone.

Warning: This movie is only supposed to be available for streaming until Jan. 1st. Act fast!

Look at that cover. Look at it. How could anyone not be intrigued by the possibilities? A cover like this one is only found on two kinds of movies. Awful movies, and awfully awesome movies. Luckily, this one is representative  of the latter. I should have known that after I saw the king of spaghetti westerns, Sergio Leone, was at the helm.

The first ten minutes of this film are strange, confronting and to be honest made me a little queasy - in a good way. The rest of the film is partly hilarious, a bit over the top, and disturbingly tragic. Needless to say there is a lot going on this film.

It stars James Coburn as an IRA explosives-man on the run in Mexico during the revolution. Coburn's character meets up with a bandit, played by Rod Steiger, who is out to make the score of a lifetime and just happens to need a man that is good with dynamite. The two are rivals and confrontational at first but eventually build enough mutual respect to become friends. I won't really go into where the story goes from there, except that to say it goes all over the place and not in directions you will expect.

This is one of those movies you find yourself enjoying way more than you thought you would. It's a roller coaster ride, filled with  the ups and downs, the fear and all the excitement that goes with it. Check it out, you'll either love it or hate it. But, you're queue will look much cooler with that cover in it.

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According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 1/1/12. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Look at that cover, seriously.

Is it artsy? Not at all.

What stood out the most to you? From the disturbing opening ten minutes I was hooked.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Looking for something over the top, a little disturbed and different.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 4 Stars.  

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Chocolate (2008)

Featuring: JeeJa Yanin, Ammara Siripong. Director: Prachya Pinkaew.

No, this movie isn't a sultry romance featuring Johnny Depp or the most popular documentary on Netflix once a month. Instead, we have a very enjoyable and original martial arts flick that is part stylish, part Kick-Ass, part adorable and completely awesome.

The story centers around a young autistic girl who has the ability to learn any form of martial arts just by watching it once. She's no Bruce Lee, but if she watches a Bruce Lee movie she can pick up all his moves. In fact, I chuckled uncontrollably when she made Bruce Lee style noises in an ice factory (like Bruce Lee did in The Big Boss) which made me like the movie from early on.

The girl's mother had ties to the underworld and when the mother gets cancer the girl and her well-meaning, chubby, childhood friend go about trying to collect from the bad guys that owed her mother money to pay for treatment. This of course leads to lots of opportunities for the young savant to take baddies out. There's something satisfying about watching a little girl beat up a bunch of grown men. Kind of like in that movie Kick-Ass (except this movie is completely different).

Don't get me wrong, a lot of this movie is kind of sad. But, it makes your eyes so damn happy that if you like martial arts movies at all you should really check this one out. This is a solid movie, with good action, a satisfying conclusion and enough uniqueness to make it worth a view. Give it a try, you won't be sorry.

Click here to add this movie to your Netflix queue.

According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 7/30/12. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? I read the description and my interest was piqued.

Is it artsy? No, but it is subtitled. For some that counts.

What stood out the most to you? The Bruce Lee homage as well as the really awesome fight choreography at the end of the movie.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Looking for some ass-kicking goodness.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars. 

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Election (2005)

Featuring: Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka Fai. Director: Johnnie To.

I'm not sure why but this movie is listed under the martial arts genre by Netflix. Maybe because it has Asians in it? Yes, there is some street-fighting but I didn't see any flying roundhouses anywhere. This is a straight up mob movie. Which is cool, because I like mob movies.

The story revolves around a power struggle between two up and coming triads and is sparked when one of them is elected over the other. A battle erupts over who can control the baton that signifies who the leader of the triad is. Things go back and forth for a while, there are some unexpected developments and a really surprising and disturbing finale concludes the movie.

I have sort of mixed-feelings about this movie. I was really unsure about how I felt about the movie until it was over. The important thing is that it kept me entertained throughout. At times this film seemed too frantic and confusing to keep up with and then all of a sudden it would slow down and show some of the brutal realities of what it means to be a person willing to kill to get what they want. One thing I will say, the director didn't stylize violence the way American directors tend to. The violence was there and it was brutally unapologetic.

Anyone who enjoys mob movies should definitely check this one out and form an opinion of their own. In retrospect, I think I like this movie a lot more now that I'm reviewing it than when I was actually watching it. I didn't know what to think, but now that I know what happened in the end, I have to say I rather liked it.

Click here to add this movie to your Netflix queue.

According to Netflix this movie will stop streaming on 8/18/11. Of course, sometimes they lie.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Cover looked cool.

Is it artsy? No, but it is subtitled. For some that counts.

What stood out the most to you? How much cooler Asians in suits smoking cigarettes look than the rest of us.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? When you realize you've run out of good American mob movies to watch but you still need a fix.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 4 Stars. 

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Blade Runner: Theatrical Cut (1982)

Now, before I get jumped on by any Blade Runner fanboys with my review I want to make it clear that I am reviewing the theatrical cut of the movie. Apparently the directors cut does away with Harrison Ford's awful narration and includes a different ending that isn't quite as cheesy. I'm not reviewing the directors cut because I haven't seen the directors cut and it isn't streaming on Netflix. Now onto the review...

Blade Runner is a dystopian sci-fi movie set in 2019 Los Angeles. Geneticists have found a way to make 'replicants' that are essentially the same as human beings with a much shorter lifespan. The replicants are used as slave labor on other planets but some have escaped and are looking for revenge. Harrison Ford is a "blade runner" who specializes in killing these genetically perfect replicants.

The story is pretty cool and I love the setting and the ambiance. The supporting cast was really good. I thought the replicants were the perfect combination of creepy and sympathetic. My biggest beef with the movie? Harrison Ford sucked. Yea, I said it. Harrison Ford's performance blew chunks. Maybe at this stage in his career he didn't have the chops to play a grizzled cop but his performance was way below par. I love Harrison Ford so I found this really disappointing. The awful narration was part of it but even without it I'm pretty sure he still would have sucked. He was just really boring in this movie even though everyone else was pretty interesting. Maybe I'd change my mind if I saw the director's cut but as it stands I think this was just a pretty average sci-fi movie and a low point in Harrison Ford's awesome career.

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The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? I like sci-fi and Harrison Ford so I thought it'd be a no-brainer.

Is it artsy? Nope.

Best thing about the movie? The replicants were pretty interesting characters.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Looking for a decent sci-fi flick.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars. 

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Bullitt (1968)

I've never seen any Steve McQueen movies before so I thought I'd give this one a try. He's supposed to be another one of those classic bad-ass American leads whose movies I've been reviewing lately. I have to say this was the most boring movie I've watched in a while. There were a couple interesting parts but they'd be over with after a few seconds and then this movie would go back to a lot of blah blah blah. There was cool car chase scene towards the end but that was really the only thing worth watching in this movie.

Like Dirty Harry, this is another cop that plays by his own rules kind of story it just isn't nearly as exciting. I'm sure there are better Steve McQueen movies out there that I'd enjoy but this isn't one of them. If you're looking for an old school cop movie you'll be better off with the likes of Dirty Harry.


Click here to add this movie to your queue.

This movie will stop streaming on 1/1/2011.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Steve McQueen is supposed to be cool, unfortunately this movie is not.

Is it artsy? No.

Best thing about the movie? The car chase, gotta love real American muscle.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Either a car chase enthusiast or someone looking to be bored.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 2 Stars.

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Dirty Harry (1971)

Before Clint Eastwood evolved into the brilliant director he has become today he made his name playing tough as nails characters like the infamous Harry Callahan. I've been meaning to watch some old school Eastwood movies for a while now and since A Fist Full of Dollars wasn't streaming I thought Dirty Harry would be a good place to start.

My expectations were pretty high for this movie. Aside from the legendary "well, do ya, punk?" speech I was expecting non-stop Eastwood kick-assery. Unfortunately, it didn't quite satisfy me. It's not that Eastwood wasn't awesome and didn't kick any ass it's just that the "plays by his own rules" cop movie has been done so many times since this movie came out that the plot just feels way too familiar. That's not a knock on the movie. At the time it was probably original and ground-breaking but it just doesn't blow me away like it would have if I had never seen all of the rip-offs of this movies in the 40 years since. Still, it's a good flick and significant to the action genre, it just doesn't hold up as well as hoped.

Click here to add to your queue.

This movie will stop streaming on 1/1/2011.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? Wanted to watch some old school Eastwood.

Is it artsy? No.

Best thing about the movie? Eastwood's scowl.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? In the mood to watch a cop action movie.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 3 Stars. 

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Black Dynamite (2009)

This has to be one of the craziest movies on Netflix, nay, in the world! It's a send-up of the blaxploitation movies of the 1970's and is probably one of the best spoof films I have ever seen. Most spoof movies of this kind try way too hard to be as ridiculously bad as the movies they are based on - this one is comfortable in it's own skin. It may look campy and ridiculous but if you examine it a little closer you'll be able to tell that this is one slick and well thought out production.

The plot centers around a bad ass black dude looking to find the guys that killed his brother. After that the plot goes to so many wild and wonderful places that I can't really even talk about them anymore or it'll ruin the surprises for you. I'll just say it touches on all the subjects you'd expect a movie like this to touch on and way more. You really, really, really should watch this. It had be laughing with, and at it.

Click here to add to your queue.

The Standard 5:

Why is it in your queue? I saw a preview somewhere and it looked hilarious.

Is it artsy? No, but it is a work of art.

Best thing about the movie? The way the plot goes all over the place.

What mood should I be in to watch this movie? Ready to crack up at some racially insensitive humor.

What rating did you give it on Netflix? 5 Stars!

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