Still catching up on viewing and writing. Most of these were watched in June and July.

172. The Lobster
173. Permanent Vacation
174. MST3K: Reunion Show
175. Playgirls and the Vampire
176. Ghostbusters (2016)
177. Black Sun
178. Fantastic Planet
179. The Room
180. Alien Zone

The Lobster (2015)

Believe the hype about this film. It is incredibly funny, thoughtful, and poignant. It is a strange concept, but used in such a way to demonstrate the truth behind modern relationships. It is also a gorgeously shot film. It excites me to see where the director will go from here.

Standout Moment: There is a wonderful demonstration by the hotel staff as to why everyone should be coupled.

Permanent Vacation (1980)

I love Jim Jarmusch's work, but this one left a lot to be desired. While most of Jarmusch's films give off an air of being effortlessly cool, Permanent Vacation is a combination of his worst tendencies. I was barely able to finish.

Standout Moment: The concept is great, but it just wasn't effective in its execution.

MST3K: Reunion Show (2016)

This was a great show. Funny for fans and non-fans alike. MST3K is a huge part of my childhood, and I have made it a big part of my children's lives. It was really fun to see everyone up there together again and having fun. I hope they release this on DVD.

Standout Moment: Shake hands with danger.

Playgirls and the Vampire (1960)

As far as Mexican exploitation films from the early 60's go, this one was head and shoulders above the pack. It had a few great moments, and remained relatively exciting through most of the runtime. It also has a pretty great twist. After watching several Mexican horror films from this era, I really think that it is a criminally overlooked period in film history.

Standout Moment: The big climax, of course!

Ghostbusters (2016)

This movie was perfectly OK. There were even a few moments that made me laugh out loud, which is much more than I can say for most modern mainstream comedies. Kate McKinnon kills it (in a good way) throughout. The best thing about seeing this movie, though, had nothing to do with my viewing experience and everything to do with who was in the theatre. The majority of those watching this film were young women, and if their responses are any indication-- the majority of them loved it. The movie was really not for me, and that's ok. It inspired people who normally don't have something this big made for them.

Standout Moment: This is one of the few films I have seen that actually uses CGI in a creative and beautiful way.

Black Sun (1964)

The premise of Black Sun is very promising. A Black American soldier is on the run for killing another member of his unit and runs into a Japanese thief who wants to give him a place to hide. The first twenty minutes is actually really good, as well. It builds up the characters and sets up the situation in a really great way. Sadly, the film devolves into extremely racist stereotypes (without much of response to them, although it is ostensibly trying to point out racism), and also becomes one note and boring. The ending feels forced and most of the main moments after the thirty minute mark feel like someone is trying to extend a story for the sake of it.

Standout Moment: Despite everything, this film really does have a great soundtrack.

Fantastic Planet (1973)

There will never be another film like Fantastic Planet. I grabbed the new Criterion edition of this film as soon as it came out. Not only is it great animation and great sci-fi, it is a layered and thought-provoking story. As far as sci-fi goes, it is one of the best films the genre has to offer.

Standout Moment: It is really hard to pick one moment from this film, the whole thing works so well.

The Room (2003)

This truly is the Citizen Kane of bad movies. It is a rare feat to have everything go so wrong that it comes back around and becomes entertaining again. I can't even begin to explain how terrible, yet how entertaining this whole affair can be. You really should just see it yourself.

Standout Moment: "What kind of drugs?"

Alien Zone (1978)

For my birthday, I bought myself a 200 film set. This was the very first I watched from it, and it did not disappoint. It was a bizarre horror anthology that has nothing to do with the title, and had all been shot in the same small town. A lot of it in the same exact house. The connecting story plays out like a dumb Illustrated Man ripoff. It definitely has some fun moments (in a laughing at how terrible it all is kind of way).

Standout Moment: The first segment is quite odd.

365 Films- Post 23