Go for Broke! (1951) 7/10

This movie is about the 442nd Infantry Regiment, from inception and one of their most well-known engagements, where they rescued a group of soldiers surrounded by German artillery.
Another really well done war film, with a lot of action, as well as a surprising amount of humor, but well placed.
I appreciate how the deaths were handled. There were no long lingering scenes with someone crying over the death of a good friend. It's treated like what I imagine it would be in combat. "He's dead." and move on up the hill.
The violence wasn't as high as it was in Gung Ho, but it was enough where you really get the feel for it. The film also made the racism against the regiment a central theme, but as in real life, that was almost completely eradicated by their valor.
Another war movie I highly recommend.

'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943) 7/10

US Marines use tactics learned from the Chinese by a Marine Colonel to take the strategic island of Makin.
This movie is based on the real troop of marines that cleaned out Makin Island. Not sure how much is fact based as opposed to fiction, but I intend to find out. Going to pick up the book Carlson's Raid.
The first half hour or so is about the forming of the unit, training and such. Gives you a little background on some of the troops, so if/when they die you may feel some sympathy.
The characters themselves are about the typical group you find in war films: hothead, cool and collected, farmboy, etc.
This was filmed after the United States' entry in WWII. There are some obvious propaganda included, most notably the colonels speech at the end.
There is a lot more violence than I was expecting. Some of the deaths/wounds were surprisingly vicious.


Recommend if you are into war films. It's a movie I didn't know about.

Another Rant

Wut up, jerks? I haven't rambled in a while, and this is going to suck since I don't have any weed, but whatever.

I'm in a stupid transitional phase right now where I have to move in two weeks, then get a new job, but on the plus side... I finished the necessary courses to get an associates degree in programming.

That's right, bitches! I tried out some college and I kicked its ass! But I still hated it very much and probably wont do any more, but I definitely finished it, and I didn't set foot on campus the entire time. It was all online, and I learned nothing from it!

But I hate talking about myself because we're not here for me. We're here for TRASH, and my upcoming circumstances may enable more trash output on my end. I've had some vague Trash Epics RPG in mind that I'm still fleshing out, but my dilemma is that I can't really explain it well. I've discussed aspects of it with @ballz, but it's mostly theoretical at this point, though I'm defining pieces of it in the TE database. If you ever see me online and wonder wtf I'm doing, it probably has something to do with the rules for this game I'm thinking about.

Fortunately, I'll still have access to various streaming services and a VPN, so I'm also hoping to relapse back into my obsessive movie-watching mode. I hate how few posts there have been lately, and I hope to better incentivize that through some of this garbage RPG related shit, but if anyone has any great ideas, lay 'em on me. I'm fairly desperate at this point, and I'll do anything for acknowledgement.

What's on everyone's mind? RAMBLE ON.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) 8/10

Bio-pic of Wall Street wunderkind Jordan Belfort, who rose from nothing to make many, many millions of dollars, most of it shady.
Interesting flick giving a little insight into the background workings of the NYSE, and how easily money can corrupt an otherwise decent person. Drugs, hookers, alcohol, drugs, insider trading, stock manipulation, drugs. All (allegedly) a big part of Wall Street.
Clocking in at three hours, it does require a time investment. They could have knocked out at least fifteen to twenty minutes pretty easily, but still a really good watch.
Recommend.

Hell in Normandy (1968) 5/10

Three spies infiltrate the German bunkers at Normandy to get info on the defenses. Meanwhile, a group of paratroopers jump before D-Day is postponed, so find themselves trapped behind enemy lines. One of the spies and the troopers eventually group up.If you're a fan of war flicks, you might want to check it out. Not really too much here for the casual film fan or someone who doesn't like war films.

Warhead (1977) 4/10

A U.S. experimental nuclear weapon is accidentally jettisoned over Jordan, and an Air Force officer is sent in to destroy it. Meanwhile, an Israeli task force is operating inside Jordan to eliminate a PLO leader.
Nothing too extraordinary about this film except for the hot blonde sharpshooter with thick glasses.

Stripped to Kill (1987)

Kay Lenz plays Cody Sheehan, a detective going undercover at the Rock Bottom strip club to find out who's been killing the dames!

Right from the start, you'll notice the film likes to be gratuitous with its female dancers. Some of them are pretty flat, but who cares? You'll also notice Roger Corman's name in the opening credits as a producer. He used to produce some great sleazy once he got tired of directing so much, and this isn't an exception.

The kills themselves aren't terribly graphic, but they sure are cruel. Our villain likes to douse its victims in gasoline before setting them ablaze, but the bodycount isn't too high. It may drag a bit in the middle, but our protagonist isn't the worst actress, and it's a rarity to see the lead take her top off.

Not a lot of movies come to mind where this happens. Of course, I instantly recall the heroine of The Funhouse going topless in the shower right at the beginning of that movie, but I can't think of many other examples. Our hero doesn't care though, because it's her job as both an actress starring in this movie and as a stripper IN this movie. Of course, after a while of doing this, her male partner (and likely love interest) starts getting pissed that she'd rather be a stripper than a cop...

By the time the end comes around, it really ramps up with a good and long chase scene. I should have predicted the killer easily, but I'm not a detective. I'm just along for the ride, and it wasn't half bad.

#Review

Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) 7/10

In the Tang dynasty of China (circa the 9th century), intrigue runs rampant in the imperial palace, where evey member of the royal family has secrets they are harboring.
I really liked this movie. But then, I am a sucker for period pieces, as I mentioned before. Especially China, which I think is because of my love for the book and video game series Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li lead the cast. The emperor, empress, the three princes all have personal secrets and secret agendas, not to mention members of the court, who also have their own plans.
The sets are awesome. A good number of fight sequences ranging from one on one up to full army battles. The costuming is beyond belief, with the main actors being dressed in up to six layers, and all of the outfits hand sewn. I guess it took forty people over two months do do.
Ancient Chinese proverb: "Gold and jade on the outside, rot and decay on the inside."

Scenic Route (2013) 6/10

Two friends decide to go on a road trip like they did when they were young, but things spiral quickly out of control.
I think I liked this movie a lot more than I should have. If it had different cover art on the DVD, after the first thirty minutes or so I would have thought it was one of those talk-talk movies.
First one guy tells the other everything that's wrong with his life, then the second guy returns the favor. Then they're friends again. Then they hate each other again. Then they like each other again. Then they try to kill each other. Then they're friends again.
But for some reason, it was better than I think it should have been.

Hulk TV Movie Double Feature

There they were on Prime, so I gave it a go. I had watched a season or two of the old Bixby/Ferrigno show and quite enjoyed it. For some dastardly reason, I never finished, but I figure I wasn't missing much. Every episode has the same structure: David Banner has a random job elsewhere, meets someone, finds out they have a problem with someone, said someone pisses him off, and hulk smashes the problem. The movies are more of the same, but with a twist. They were both failed tv pilots.

The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988) was meant to spawn a Thor tv show. Audiences didn't care for it apparently, but the Thor actor wasn't too bad. They cashed in on Thor's best superpower of drinking many beers, so that was fun. However, his lore is a bit different here than it is elsewhere.

The setup has David Banner running into someone he once taught, Donald Blake. He's a Harvard nerd, but if any of you are familiar with the lore, Don is also the human/doctor alter ego of Thor. The new movies skip this dynamic entirely, but we at least acknowledge it here, albeit in a different way. Our Donald Blake merely summons the actual Thor while some villains (Tim Thomerson and Charles Napier) try to stop him and the hulk for some reason that I already forgot. In the end, it wasn't good enough to spin-off a new series, but people still enjoyed the hulk enough to spin off another movie...

The Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989) was better. We finally bring Hulk into New York City where he's framed for a subway brawl (in which hulk was actually helping in), and who is his attorney? The man with no fear.

Rex Smith did an okay DareDevil, wearing a costume of black spandex that was the basis for DD's ninja-esque costume in the Netflix series, I'm sure. It was definitely cheesy, but it had more potential than a Thor series, I'd say. Our villain is Kingpin, played by John Rhys-Davies. He's okay at best, as is the movie in general.

I think the shows didn't take off because they could yield more intricate stories, and our audience wouldn't want that. We just want to see Bixby turn into Ferrigno and flex. I will say that dream sequences are the ultimate cop-out, and this movie shouldn't have dreamed the hulk trial scene.