Twistin - 45worlds - All Comments

Twistin - 45worlds - All Comments

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Twistin 19th Apr 2022		Cinema Naked Moonshine (1964)	An early take on the "three girls and a cup" sensation of the 2000s?
Twistin 28th Mar 2022		Cinema Billy Jack Goes To Washington (1977)	Rated 2/10 It looks like a corny TV-movie -- and it's still perched up on its self-righteous high horse, but nowhere near as heavy-handed as the previous Billy Jack flick. Laughlin claims the Nixon White House had this film blocked from release because the public couldn't handle the political realities herein. If you have the misfortune to see it, you'll know that is just stupid. Even in 1977, this film was bound for the shelf because word of mouth would kill any remaining interest in the series. The fact remains that after the sermonizing final choruses of "Give Peace a Chance" filled up the final reel of The Trial of Billy Jack, audiences were done with Billy. The reason for the success of the first two BJ movies (The Born Losers and Billy Jack) was that they were exploitation films that had sex, violence, and over-the-top bad guys. The Laughlins believed it was because the of their political subtext. Wrong. The good news? This is where the story ends. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 28th Mar 2022		Cinema Trucker (2008)	Rated 5/10 Yet another flawed indie movie, dragged down by an over-emphasized performance from Michelle Monaghan, who appears to be posing for promo shots in every scene. Like so much modern product from the "new independent cinema", every seemingly normal convention is turned around in an attempt to show gritty reality, and like standard Hollywood cinema, it's so riddled with clichés that it's no more believable. The camera shots, music selections, language -- all meticulously staged and artificial. Benjamin Bratt and Jimmy Bennett deliver good performances in spite of the lousy material. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 20th Oct 2021		Cinema Thank God It's Friday (1978)	Rated 7/10 It was poorly made, badly acted, and pure exploitation of the lamest music genre ever. But dammit, it was fun. Sure, Jeff Goldblum's early performance is an embarrassment, but teenage Terri Nunn is a total hoot. The late disco diva, Paul Jabara, is also a campy treat. Then there's Donna Summer, the Commodores, and a truckload of Casablanca Records disco music. The dopiest scene is perhaps the roadie for the Commodores trying to prove to a cop that he's with the band, completely stupid. Or the dancing Hispanic, Marv the Leatherman, who proclaims, "I love to dance...everything else is boolshit!" Still, I liked the movie, all of it. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 16th Oct 2021		Cinema Terror In A Texas Town (1958)	Rated 7/10 This is the one that started the whole whale harpoon vs. pistol showdown craze. The opening sequence is a trailer for the ending, which was a very strange device in a film not afraid of strange devices. Sebastian Cabot is particularly impressive. Other than the obvious twist, this was a rather generic, if offbeat, western. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 16th Oct 2021		Cinema Jimmy, The Boy Wonder (1966)	Rated 5/10 What a difficult film to rate. For the average viewer, it's an easy 1-star and probably the worst film you will ever see. But for the cult movie fan, how far is too far? Over the years, I have seen this film name-dropped in various psychotronic zines, but I have always turned away and pretended to see nothing. As a fan of H.G. Lewis from way back, it just didn't seem conceivable that he could have a kiddie matinée in his filmography, not the guy who gave us gouged-out tongues, feasts made of internal organs, wacky fun-loving psychotic redneck ghosts, and the first horror film to delve into the wig fetish thing. The only saving grace is the fact that Lewis was at least a competent film maker, albeit in a grindhouse world. Certainly not in the realm of trash like "Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny"! WRONG. It is the first day of school and little Jimmy wishes time would stop, so in true unexplainable fashion, a magical (and portly) woman named Aurora appears, which leads the two on a journey to the world's end to restart time, while a ridiculous adversary, a wizard named Mr. Fig, does everything to hinder their quest. Along the way, the world gets tinted red and then blue (and then red and blue!), they get redirected to a land of slow-motion, stumble upon a fountain of laughing syrup, and inexplicably encounter a group of what we are supposed to believe are hostile Indians who look like frat boys with New England accents, that are ultimately consoled when Aurora creates a shower of beans. The injuns, Aurora, and Jimmy all eat uncooked beans from a cauldron while singing a terrible song detailing the sheer wonderfulness of this tasty snack. Oh, there are other songs, too, all sung barely in-sync and with the same animated gestures you might expect from a play performed by second graders. Like all of the very worst children's films of all time, the origin is yet again, Florida. Why is that? Every time a news story comes on about a horrible crime against children, kids buried alive, tortured by parents, etc. ...it always ends up happening in Florida. And it seems every time an atrocity from the kiddie matinée galaxy is unearthed from someone's basement, the filming location is Florida. I used to like that state when I was a kid and it was all about St. Petersburg, Tampa, Miami Beach, Busch Gardens, and that whole beautiful parrot thing. But now, it's a children's torture dungeon. Like the previously mentioned Santa film, in the middle of the action, we get whisked into another film (presumably because Lewis ran low on 8mm film stock), which turns out to be an imported cartoon. It teaches a lesson to Jimmy only because of H.G.'s clever dubbing skills, but even that lesson is highly suspect: Jimmy complains that he's only eight and a half years old, just a kid, tired and wants to go back home...he's famished from all of this action, but Aurora lies to him and tells him the story of another boy who never gave up. I guess she's pro child labor, I dunno, but the real labor pains are on the screen. It should go without saying that the acting is godawful. How they came to choose young Dennis Jones to star in the title role of a theatrical feature film is mind-numbing. He possesses no charisma, no speaking (or singing) talent, is visually as generic as a faceless window mannequin, and brings nothing to the role that might possibly involve a young viewer to identify or sympathize with him. Oh, like they were gonna hire an actor! My guess is that Lewis cast the son of the guy who owned the cheapo amusement park where they filmed this as a trade-out. I've seen stalks of celery give stronger performances. This doesn't look or feel like what you would expect an H.G. Lewis family film to look or feel like. More like John Waters. If you seek more convincing, heart-warming, feel-good family fare, you'd be better off surfing over to YouTube and searching for old Cracker Jack commercials. In conclusion, this may well be one of the best films ever made. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 30th Sep 2021		Cinema Jubilee (1978)	Regarding bad punk films, I think Suburbia also missed the mark. Times Square is so highly praised and it was, IMO, the worst of the lot with not a convincing moment in the entire film. Never heard of Jubilee until now, but I want to see it, warts and all.
Twistin 24th Sep 2021		Cinema That'll Be The Day (1973)	Yeah, that full date is added for this film, but for some reason, the site chooses to only display the year. Maybe it's only there for sorting on filmographies or something, but having to click "Add Missing Info" to see the full date always struck me as odd.
Twistin 22nd Sep 2021		Cinema C'mon, Let's Live A Little (1967)	Many studios do that and it still happens (I have many a DVD with a copyright date for the DVD itself listed on back, yet it was released early the following year.) That is because they copyright their product well before its actual release date. Usually only happens within the window of end-of-year > early-in-year, although sometimes a film will get shelved for various reasons and released later. (ie, "Billy Jack" was a completed product by 1969, yet never hit the screens until 1971 because it was being passed back and forth between American International, 20th Century Fox, and ultimately, Warner Brothers...no date is seen in the actual film.) The copyright date is actually NOT intended for the first publication, it is for the date the copyright is issued. Otherwise, that intellectual property would not be protected until it's release date. That would be a field day for data thieves.
Twistin 21st Sep 2021		Cinema C'mon, Let's Live A Little (1967)	You're confusing the copyright date, which is what you see in the film (1966), with the release date, which is what determines the date of a film, its first public exhibition. That was (according to IMDb) March 3, 1967. Unless you have information contradicting that date, it should stand as a 1967 release date. Thanks for the Internet Archive tip, btw!
Twistin 31st Aug 2021		DVD Huxley On Huxley - New Video	Rated 5/10 Other than Peter Coyote's narration, the sound quality couldn't be worse. Significant audio cleanup of the archive footage and the Laura Huxley segments, which are mired via her heavy Italian accent, could have changed the entirety of this doc. The lack of subtitles means you lose the majority of the text. Further, there is no excuse for a DVD released in 2009 to present a widescreen film in a non-anamorphic display (meaning black borders on all four sides of the screen). Shot on video, it comes off more like a home movie than a serious documentary. The DVD menus are also quite flat and uninspired. For bonus content, we have a number of extended interview segments, John Densmore has the longest one, as well as the most interesting to watch. There's also some trailers for other Docurama releases (Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back, Air Guitar Nation, A Crude Awakening, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill). 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 26th Aug 2021		Vinyl Album Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Best Of B.T.O. (So Far)	Randy & Fred couldn't have been happy about that back cover live pic -- talk about fashion emergency! What were they thinking in the dressing room before walking out onstage in those threads?
Twistin 25th Jun 2021		Cinema Pink Flamingos (1972)	Yes, Criterion has issued so many Waters films, but are missing the most famous one. (And where the hell is "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid"!!!) In time, it surely will happen.
Twistin 4th Jun 2021		CD Album The B-52's - Funplex	Would it constitute a new / different entry?
Twistin 2nd Jun 2021		CD Album The B-52's - Funplex	I have this and all the details match except the cover, which has lots of pink missing from this entry's scan.
Twistin 5th May 2021		CD Single Avril Lavigne - Smile	Review retro review written May 21, 2011 Avril needs to just adopt pop and get over this ridiculous notion that she will ever be a part of anything resembling edgy. The only thing brazen about Lavigne is her audacity, while if she simply aimed her arrow at the pop that dominates most of her music, she could conceivably be respected. Trying to be a snarky and snotty 14-year-old is as convincing as Mick & Keith believing they still impact the direction of rock music. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 5th May 2021		CD Album The Cowsills - The Best Of The Cowsills	Review A tall glass of milk never tasted sweeter, nor more healing. All the hits are here exept for "Silver Threads and Golden Needles", as well as several non-hits you've probably never heard before, but should have. This CD edition adds two more tracks, "Poor Baby" and "Hair", both essential and exemplary. That said, with the two bonus tracks, we're looking at a mere 42 minutes. There's at least six more A-sides from the MGM period that could have been included with free space to spare. So if you can find this at a good price, it's a perfect listening experience, but you're better off with a more comprehensive collection which will be very much worth the extra cash. 8 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 4th May 2021		Cinema Creep Van (2012)	Rated 4/10 I am not a fan of Troma films for a number of reasons. "Creep Van" is a Detroit-based low-budget Troma wannabe, but it manages to capture all the contrived, unfunny magic of its influences. (Lloyd Kaufman even makes a cameo!) Attempts at humor miss 99% of the time, while the weak cast and their attempts at acting are campy at best and cringe-inducing at worst. The weakest link is the half-baked screenplay which, among other sins, never explains why any of this carnage is happening, instead relying on inconsistencies, plot holes and meandering dialogue. And there are three credited writers! The gorehounds will appreciate the creative kills which are more reminiscent of 80s slashers rather than modern day torture porn and found footage rubbish, but that doesn't forgive the tepid filler that ties it all together. And it's never scary, tension and suspense never make so much as a cameo. Good movie? Not a chance. Loads of gore (no CGI!) with some nudity and mildly twisted sex? Check. I believe Scott McKinlay may have a good film in him one day, but he needs to at least start with a professional script, followed by actual acting talent. "Creep Van" is better than most of those direct-to-video cheapies found on those gutter trash compilations, but that doesn't make it a thumbs up. 8 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 3rd May 2021		Cinema People I Know (2002)	LOL! Yep. Southern accents from Hollywouldn't are almost always wrong, they never reference any Southern tongue except for New Orleans (and even then, only the most overstated extreme.) If it's a cheap TV movie or something, I just roll my eyes, but when the major leaguers go there, I have to call them out. Of course the majority of the critics praised Pacino's performance; I must assume they've never been around a real bona fide Southern person before, either. One review I read stated that the character's accent was a mix of Southern, homosexual and New York. Is there a homosexual accent? And yes, all the examples you noted are one-size-fits-all token accents from an industry that doesn't get out much. ;-)
Twistin 24th Apr 2021		Cinema Mortuary (2005)	Rated 7/10 A lot of people don't care for this film and dismiss it on points which are largely misunderstood. It's not a horror film that lacks logic, believability and sufficient tension. It's another of Tobe Hooper's satirical dissections of the family unit cloaked in outrageous horror tropes. Mind you, "Mortuary" has its share of flaws (notably some poor CGI during the film's climax) , but it's also entertaining in a manner not unlike Hooper's "Eaten Alive", "Poltergeist" and even "The Funhouse", just ramped up a bit more on its own absurdist terms. If you watch "Mortuary" from this perspective, you will appreciate the sometimes laugh-out-loud humor rather than abolish the whimsical direction which is misconstrued as serious horror. Lighten up, horror fans. Even "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" frequently snickered at its own fearful premise. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 22nd Apr 2021		Cinema Who Loves The Sun (2006)	Rated 6/10 Interesting character study that seems to promote the misguided notion that if a wife screws around and has sex with another guy, the husband should get over it. The wife's reason? "Because I wanted to." The screenplay repeats the mantra that the man who walks away from such a situation is the asshole. Solid cast and all the technical aspects are bulletproof, but the crazy free love heart of the film is so hippy dippy and unrealistic that it sabotages what should have been a deep and introspective piece of work. It's worth watching, in spite of the foolish concepts. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 11th Apr 2021		Cinema Manhandled	Rated 6/10 Manhandled could so easily have become a servicable slice of film noir, but instead only gives us a few references to that genre, opting instead to bursts of tongue-in-cheek humor and ham-fisted crime investigations. The film opens with a tasty murder sequence, as a writer (Alan Napier) is explaining to his psychiatrist that this is a recurring dream that has been troubling him. Even in 1949, one would know better than to reveal such a dream to anyone, let alone a shrink with his new secretary (Dorothy Lamour) standing by jotting down notes of the session. That is typical of the implausibility that routinely plagues the storyline. Later, a detective and insurance investigator casually pop pills to test a suspect's story, that taking amphetamines before barbituates will counteract the effect. According to the script, it does. Many lame plot devices later, it's still a fairly entertaining b-movie that doesn't even try to rise any higher than pulp fluff. 5 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 11th Apr 2021		Cinema Outrage	Rated 4/10 Had this been an even-handed film about the role of politicians and their power to vote on issues affecting gay Americans, it would have been fascinating. The topic is ripe for exploration and many valid points are worthy of an investigative approach. Sadly, "Outrage" is yet another partisan hit piece disguised as a balanced documentary. I am anti-partisan and have little use for the two main USA parties destroying each other, never mind their inane movies that posture their talking points into self aggrandizing set pieces. I feared this might be one of them, but only gave it a chance because the DVD cleverly twisted around the description. (Oh, I'm sure they meant well...) The film itself tries very hard to appear unbiased and untethered to any political party. Even a couple of Democrat representatives are outed. And throughout, there are some intriguing discoveries and compelling stories that keep you interested. In the first half, I believed I was watching what I was promised. But somewhere near the middle, the topics become more focused on Republicans than closeted homosexuals and their perplexing bill sponsorships. The last reel or so digs its heels in over the controversial Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This bill and its supporters are described by all interviewees as "anti-gay". Like everything else in the film, it's a one-sided issue and no defender of that bill is given the floor to explain their rationale -- which is what a serious documentary would do, expose both sides of the coin. Needless to say, every targeted politician shown are Republicans and are regularly defined here as "anti-gay" for their stance. And yet the film never makes note that the bill was signed into law in 1996 by Democratic president, Bill Clinton (who was also responsible for the "don't ask, don't tell" military policy.) No mention that Hillary Clinton also supported that bill, and during her 2000 Senate race said "...I think a marriage is as a marriage has always been, between a man and a woman." No mention that Barack Obama during his first presidential run also stated that he did not support same-sex marriage. Lastly, I have gay friends who did not support same-sex marriages, but rather civil unions which gave them the same federal rights and benefits as marriage. That stance is not "anti-gay", yet this dishonest film could not be bothered to address this because of its partisan agenda. (yawn) My issue here is not with any of the stances of the above noted politicians, it's the fact that this pseudo documentary conveniently left these important notes out because it might, I don't know, cause damage to some of their heroes? And yet Reagan and particularly George W. Bush are called out boldly for the exact same views. I didn't need to waste 89 minutes to find out that some filmmaker likes one party and dislikes the other, innovative and clever as that idea might be to him and other fans of discourse. And thus, I don't believe it's possible to find an unbiased American political documentary. Watching grass grow is more riveting (and more honest.) 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 9th Apr 2021		Cinema -30- (Deadline Midnight) (1959)	Rated 6/10 Entertaining, albeit absurd depiction of a newsroom. I've been around newspaper offices off and on most of my life from spelling bee tours as a youth (before achievement was considered politically incorrect), composing advertisements in my teens, and years of slogging through work in layout and camera rooms. Maybe things were different in the 50's, but I never saw a bunch of characters strutting around making endless speeches about the newspaper game with tongues-in-cheek so deep they must have pulled muscles. No, this is closer to the style of drama Jack Webb is best known for on his TV series, Dragnet. Corny but mildly entertaining. There's a whole bunch of familiar faces in the cast, the lot of them chewing so much scenery that dentists would shudder. William Conrad, in particular, is so animated that his hard-boiled city desk editor is played for comedic relief. Fact is, only the subplot about the missing girl attempts any real drama, but ends up as melodrama. Add gobs of sentiment to the other subplot about Webb's character not wanting to adopt a child. If nothing else, the production values are clean as a whistle and the polished black and white lens work is lean and efficient. So nuke up some popcorn and queue up the pseudo noir stylings Mark VII Ltd. was best known for. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Twistin 9th Apr 2021		Cinema The Scorpion King 2: Rise Of A Warrior (2008)	I added the correct title to the DVD as an additional title, so it's here now.
Twistin 8th Apr 2021		Cinema The Scorpion King 2: Rise Of A Warrior (2008)	Title screen is more reliable than IMDb.
Twistin 5th Apr 2021		Cinema On The Waterfront (1954)	I'm not a moderator, I submitted a correction stating that I uploaded the upgrade. In fact, I often see upgrades posted by other users which haven't been switched up (including from you) which I then submit corrections for so that they can flip the images because mods don't typically see them unless that is done. I believe they hide the replaced item to avoid that confusion, yet still keep it here rather than deleting it (unless it's replacing a poor quality image.)
Twistin 5th Apr 2021		Cinema On The Waterfront (1954)	Is it important that the original image uploader know that an upgrade has been added? This was simply an upgrade, just as happens when a trailer title is replaced with the proper title screen. The description need only state what the image is, noting it is an upgrade in the description is meaningless to most users. The fact that it is Blu-ray is only relevant in that the source was higher resolution and thus, clearer (and the slight black bars on the sides are not present in the upgrade). Look, I didn't know that submitting an upgrade was going to be such a source of consternation with the original uploader. I don't understand the possessive attitude about a submitted title screen. I am only trying to share the best source image I can -- not to compete with and one-up any user. In the future, I'll not touch any of your contributions. Who knew an added a title screen could become such a sore spot. All the drama online, I'm spent.
Twistin 4th Apr 2021		Cinema On The Waterfront (1954)	This title screen is in the theatrical 1.66:1 widescreen (from the Criterion Blu-ray); the previous screen was 1.25:1 (almost 4:3).
Twistin 4th Apr 2021		Cinema Treasure Island	I realize that, but again, it's not a British production, it's a Canada / UK co-production. It appears to be top-heavy on the Canadian side and since the (North American) DVD and Blu-ray releases frame it at 1.85:1, it seems unlikely that they change that from region to region. I have seen no indication online of this film identified with that aspect ratio. The UK DVD release from ILC Group... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Treasure-Island-DVD-Jack-Palance/dp/B00004T8VM ...says it is "full screen", which means 1.33:1. IMDb doesn't even show a UK release date, so it's possible it never had a theatrical release there. This is just speculation based on what I have found online, but the crumbs do seem to lead in one direction over the other.

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