My HD DVD Collection And A Tip For Movie Watchers On A Budget
Hello folks. Apologies for the lack of activity here lately but life got crappy and I wasn’t up to being outgoing for a while.
Well, I was sitting around and decided to take shots of my HD DVD titles and post them here. I think I must have been one of the very few folks that invested in the HD DVD add on for the XBOX 360. I picked up a few titles when the format was current, purchased a big ol’ box of HD DVDs on ebay, as well as a few titles at garage sales and thrift shops. Despite being a dead format, if you have a way to play them, they are all 1080P resolution and can be picked up for a song. Great way to get some half decent HD titles! You can also either purchase the HD DVD drive add on for the 360 used for cheap (look and you will find one), and if you are lucky (or just try), you can find a crap load of the movies for super cheap.
Hope you enjoy the pictures of my collection, and I promise there will be more movie reviews coming soon!
Eddie The Sleep Walking Cannibal(2011)–Weird Film… Weirdly Excellent Film
Here is another movie that I had not heard of until this week and was pretty much blown away by how much I liked it.
Eddie the Sleep Walking Cannibal tells the story of a Danish painter, Lars (played by Thure Lindhardt), who travels to a small Canadian town in order to both teach art and to hopefully get his muse back and start painting again.
Lars has trouble fitting into the community at first, stating off his adventure by hitting a male deer (a Buck), with his truck – that scene, while grim has a certain morbid humour to it that sets the stage for the rest of the movie. Shortly after starting teaching, one of his students, Eddie, (played masterfully by Dylan Smith), an adult mute with what seems to be a learning disability loses his care giver, his aunt, and ends up in the care of Lars, living in his home with him.
Soon Lars finds out Eddie has an interesting, if disturbing habit of walking and killing (and eating) living things in his sleep. Witnessing this, Lars finds that it drives his creative juices and suddenly he can paint again – the sleep walking Eddie becomes his muse.
Eddie starts off killing and eating a small animal but soon progresses to humans. Each time, Lars is inspired again to paint, and each painting he cerates, he sells and uses the proceeds to help the small community that he now resides in.
Lars soon learns that Eddie only does things when he is upset, and as Eddie becomes more comfortable with Lars, he stops the killing. Lars, feeling the need to create, tries to create a situation that upsets Eddie in order to spur on his nocturnal activities. Lars is becoming addicted to Eddie in a way.
This movie explores a weird and unusual subject. Lars at first is a sympathetic character, but morphs into someone unlikeable. His relationships within the community develop in an interesting manner as does his descent into darkness. Strong performances by the supporting cast helps to elevate this movie from an interesting B movie to something that I strongly suggest you watch. Keep an eye out for Stephen McHattie as Lars’ agent – you might remember him as Elaine’s therapist/lover from Seinfeld.
Check it out! Here is the trailer:
Quartermass and the Pit (1967) – A British Sci-Fi Masterpiece
A classic Hammer Sci-Fi film from 1967, Quartermass and the Pit, a suggestion from a reader – and a great suggestion at that. This is a film that I had planned on watching for a long time, and I am glad I finally got around to it.
Crews working at a London Underground station unearth a some primitive ape-man skeletons. Soon, scientists are called in to take over the dig, and then the military when they find what is first believed to be a bomb, but turns out to be an ancient Martian spacecraft, along what appears to be it’s original, insect like crew. While the aliens have long passed away, the ship itself turns out to be alive in some way, and starts projecting ancient Martian memories to the London public, causing mayhem and panic. It is, of course, up to the scientists to save everyone.
Here is the plot description from Wikipedia, as I am not doing the film justice with 
my description – be forewarned, almost all Wikipedia plot descriptions give away everything:
Workers building an extension to the London Underground at Hobbs End dig up skeletal remains.Palaeontologist Dr Matthew Roney (James Donald) is called in and deduces that they are the remnants of a group of apemen over five million years old, more ancient than any previous finds. One of Roney’s assistants uncovers part of a metallic object. Believing it to be an unexploded bomb, they call in an army bomb disposal team.
Meanwhile, Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) is dismayed to learn that his plans for the colonisation of the Moon are to be taken over by the military. He gives a cold reception to Colonel Breen (Julian Glover) who has been assigned to join Quatermass’ British Experimental Rocket Group. When the bomb disposal team call for Breen’s assistance, Quatermass accompanies him to the site. Breen concludes it is a V-weapon, but Quatermass disagrees. When another skeleton is found in an inner chamber, Quatermass and Roney realise that the object must also be five million years old. Quatermass suspects it is of alien origin, but Roney is certain the apemen are terrestrial.
Quatermass becomes intrigued by the name of the area, recalling that “hob” is an old name for theDevil. Working with Roney’s assistant, Barbara Judd (Barbara Shelley), Quatermass finds historical accounts of hauntings and other spectral appearances going back over many centuries. They deduce that these events coincided with any disturbances of the ground around Hobbs End.
An attempt to open a sealed chamber using a borazon drill fails to make any progress. However, a few moments after the drill is stopped, a small hole is seen, though the drill operator, Sladden (Duncan Lamont), is certain it was not created by his machine. The hole widens to reveal the contents: the corpses of three-legged, insectoid creatures with horned heads. Roney and Judd work to preserve the bodies before they decay. An examination of the creatures’ physiology suggests they came from the planet Mars. Quatermass and Roney note the similarity between the appearance of the creatures and the Devil.
Sladden is overcome by a powerful telekinetic force emanating from the missile and flees to the sanctuary of a church. Sladden tells Quatermass he saw a vision of hordes of the creatures from the missile. Quatermass believes this is a race memory. Seeking proof, he returns to Hobbs End, bringing a machine Roney has been working on which taps into the primeval psyche. While trying to replicate the circumstances under which Sladden was affected, he notices that Judd has fallen under its influence. Using Roney’s machine, he is able to record her thoughts.
Quatermass presents his theory to a government minister (Edwin Richfield) and other officials. The occupants of the missile came from the dying Mars. Unable to survive on Earth, they chose to preserve some part of their race by creating a colony by proxy by significantly enhancing the intelligence of the natives. The descendants of these apemen evolved into modern humans but retain the vestiges of the Martian influence buried in their subconscious. He plays the recording of Judd’s mind as evidence: it shows hordes of Martians engaged in what he interprets as a racial purge, cleansing the Martian hives of weaker members of the race. A disbelieving Breen offers an alternative theory: the missile is a Nazi propaganda exercise designed to sow fear of an alien invasion among the populace. The minister rejects Quatermass’ theory in favour of Breen’s and decides to unveil the missile to the press.
Disaster strikes at the press event. The missile apparently draws power from the broadcasting equipment, and its influence is magnified. The streets of London erupt into violence as those affected go on a rampage. Breen becomes drawn towards the missile and is killed. Quatermass falls under alien control as well, but is snapped out of it by Roney, who is unaffected. The two men realise that a small portion of the population are immune. The psychic energy becomes stronger, ripping up streets and buildings, and the spectral image of a Martian towers over the city, centred on Hobbs End. Recalling stories about how the Devil could be defeated with iron and water, Quatermass theorises the alien energy could be discharged into the earth. Roney climbs to the top of a building crane and swings it into the spectre. The crane bursts into flames as it discharges the energy, killing Roney. With this, the image disappears. As Quatermass and Judd rest amongst the rubble of Hobbs End, Fire Engine and Police bells can be heard ringing in the distance.
This is a true Science Fiction classic that deserves so much more attention than it gets. I cannot recommend this film enough, if you are a real Sci-Fi fan. Intelligently written and well acted with an original plot – more than most movies (especially ones highlighted on this site), it is actually available in it’s entirety on Youtube – so you have NO reason not to see it.
Check out the trailer here:
And watch the whole movie here:
The Adventures Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) – I Should Have Watched This Years Ago
Wow… What a freakin’ trip this movie was! I am not even sure where to start with this movie.
A rip roaring spoof of Sci-Fi classics, this movie is fun from start to finish. Our protagonist, Buckaroo Bonzai is a modern (well, 1984 modern) Renaissance man. A world leading Brain Surgeon, stunt driver, rock star, physicist ladies man that is awesome at everything he does.
While testing a well… ford van capable of breaking the sound barrier, Buckaroo Banzai also tests and proves that matter can pass through matter by taking advantage of the spaces between atoms (I think), by driving right through a mountain. That experiment unwittingly opens a door to the eighth dimension allowing the alien race the Red Lectroids escape from their interdimensional prison to threaten the Earth and the good Black Lectroids. On the brink of a space war, Buckaroo and his band of associates save the world. Along the way he meets and saves a woman (Elin Barkin as Peggy Priddy) first from herself and then from the Black Lectroids, led by Lord John Whorfin who has taken over the mind and body of Dr. Emilio Lizardo (played brilliantly by John Lithgow). 
This is a stylishly fun film that deserves way more recognition that it gets. It is chock full of big name actors putting on great, bizarre performances. Extremely 80s in look and feel, this is a great campy film Fans of the film are rabid, and you can find many fan sites all over the web, I say this film is a must watch for the lovers of the bizarre and fun.
Check out the trailer below:
I Like Bad Movies 