Watchmen

Set in an alternate universe circa 1985, the film's world is a highly unstable one where a nuclear war is imminent between America and Russia.

Superheroes have long been made to hang up their tights thanks to the government-sponsored Keene Act, but that all changes with the death of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a robust ex-hero commando whose mysterious free fall out a window perks the interest of one of the country's last remaining vigilantes, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). His investigation leads him to caution many of his other former costumed colleagues, including Dr. Manhattan, Night Owl (Patrick Wilson), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), and her daughter, The Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman).

Heralded for bringing the world of superheroes into the literary world, Watchmen gave the super-powered mythos a real-life grounding that had been missing in mainstream comics to that point. The film adaptation had languished in one form of development hell or another for years after the book's release, with various directors on and off the project, including Terry Gilliam, David Hayter, and Darren Aronofsky, as well as Paul Greengrass, whose eventual dismissal stemmed from budget conflicts with the studio.

Watch the trailer, below, and the movie on SockShare, FileNuke or NowVideo.

 

Continue reading →

Night of the Templar

Here lies a tale of passion, loyalty, deceit, betrayal...and revenge. They were Warriors. They were Crusaders. Under the leadership of the righteous GREGOIRE, this band of brothers in the Holy Order of the Knights Templar selflessly fought back-to-back, defending GOD and the "True Cross." Until one dark night of utter betrayal...

B-Movie Addiction says...

Night of the Templar (alternatively titled 'Knights Templar') is a unique movie to say the least. It's a medieval revenge story wrapped in a modern-day horror mystery wrapped in a suspense thriller. It's somewhat all over the place, and you do need to pay attention to sort out what's what since there are two parallel plot-lines. If you don't, you'll find yourself wondering what the hell is going on.

The story begins in the year 1095 CE, following a leader of a band of templar knights named Gregoire (Paul Sampson) during the crusades. We see him at the pointy end of a sword uttering a curse to the unseen man holding the sword that he will return from the grave to send him and his accomplices to hell. The film cuts between modern day and 1095 as we learn more about the characters and exactly what happened with the Templars.  As the story unfolds, we learn that the reason for the betrayal is as minimal as the acting from the female cast. Greed. Plain old greed. Templars want to get laid and have money while doing it. Gregoire says no. Murder and betrayal follow.

The modern-day plot focuses on a fantasy-weekend getaway to a European castle, almost in a reality TV show format except that there is a looming purpose over it. Everyone starts to recognize that they are the reincarnations of the templars, good and bad, after reading the story over the course of the night thanks to a conveniently placed coffee-table version of the story left out. It's done in a NeverEnding Story-esque style, the guests read the story out loud between scenes of what happened in the past to Gregoire. Surprisingly, the story begins to come alive! People start getting murdered, the first by... *gasp*... someone dressed as a templar knight. The murder mystery begins to kick in when bodies start turning up in slightly stranger ways: a body nail-gunned to the wall, a cook's tongue removed. The difference in methodology between the templar's holy justice and just plain cruel murder gives reason to believe there is slightly more to the tale. And I do mean slightly.

This movie is not really that complex to figure out if you are paying attention. It's shockingly straight forward as it goes on. The host of the weekend, the reincarnated Gregoire, discovers the bodies and without emotional reaction says brilliant phrases such as "great... I have to cook... and clean..." Not to mention right from the beginning he experiences stigmata-type pains of getting stabbed in the back, literally, by his former comrades. The guests take turns in voicing their opinions on whether they would have supported or betrayed Gregoire, letting you figure out who they are or could possibly be rather quickly.

The murder scenes are laughably bad. The actual killing is done slightly off camera while they zoom in on the faces. Despite the lameness, there's something incredibly satisfying in seeing a Scream-style knifing committed by a templar knight. The big battle at the climax is equally is terrible. "I shall cut you ten times! One for each life of excess!" is screamed by Gregoire as he achieves his justice. The fighting is just as corny as the dialogue. The two big matches are between the young knight and a 60 year old priest and a young girl vs. David Carradine. Not really blockbuster action, it's pretty funny and I think it was meant to be. One of the battles is even won through the power of love.

A big part of the strange allure is the strange cast of characters and their actors as well. Udo Kier plays a mysterious priest, whose motives are unclear through most of the movie. Billy Drago plays the chef named Shauna in full drag. Super creepy. Norman Reedus, a.k.a Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead, makes an appearance as an asshole who enjoys choking himself while receiving fellatio. David Carradine plays the local shopkeeper who has a couple incredibly corny scenes. Awesome to see him in one of his last hurrahs. Paul Sampson has a really unique and awkward screen presence that's strangely addicting to watch. The combination results in a blend of strange awkward creepiness that somehow works.

And with all that said, this review is like the movie itself... All over the place. I actually did enjoy this movie a lot despite the sarcasm. It's allure lies in just how weird it is. From Paul Sampson's strange Boston/Little Nicky accent to his templar speech delivered like an Oprah "...and you get a car! and you get a car!" pointing with his sword at his knights. It's just loveable. A definite guilty pleasure. It looks good too. For an indie film the production quality and camera work is quite exceptional. Interesting semi-twist at the end too, that will give you something to talk about whoever you're watching it with.

Night of the Templar is definitely worth a watch. It will keep you entertained from start to finish. It's a loveable oddity in film, venturing far from the path of Hollywood predictability. Watch the trailer below and the film on PutLocker, WatchFreeInHD, HDPlay or SockShare.

Continue reading →

The Handmaid's Tale

Set in a Fascistic future America, The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of Kate, a handmaid. In this America, the religious right has taken over and gone hog-wild. Kate is a criminal, guilty of the crime of trying to escape from the US, and is sentenced to become a Handmaid.

The job of a Handmaid is to bear the children of the man to whom she is assigned. After ruthless group training by Aunt Lydia in the proper way to behave, Kate is assigned as Handmaid to the Commander. Kate is attracted to Nick, the Commander's chauffeur. At the same time, a resistance movement begins to challenge the regime.

Download the book in mobi or epub, and watch the film here or here.

Continue reading →

The Man Who Changed His Mind

The Man Who Changed His Mind is a classic 1936 science fiction horror film starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee, directed by Robert Stevenson and was released in Great Britain by Gainsborough Pictures. The film was also known as The Brainsnatcher or The Man Who Lived Again.

Boris Karloff has developed a method of transferring not the brain but the incorporeal mind from one being to another.This film has all the right elements for a spooky movie ... mad scientist, crippled assistant, old dark house, beutiful innocent female and bizare experiments!

Watch below or at The Internet Archive.

Continue reading →

Barbarella

In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.

Watch on NovaMov, MegaVideo, PutLocker, SockShare, daClips, GorillaVid or StageVU.

Continue reading →

Soylent Green

In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff. The fantastic cast includes Edward G. Robinson, Joseph Cotten and Charlton Heston.

Watch on SockShare, PutLocker, daClips, StageVU, GorillaVid, VideoWeed or below on NovaMov.

Continue reading →

Fahrenheit 451

In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task. 451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper bursts into flame. This adaptation of the classic novel by Ray Bradbury describes a future in which independent thought is discouraged and "firemen" burn books. The population is distracted and sedated by a combination of wall to wall interactive television and mind altering drugs. But one fireman begins to read the books he is supposed to burn....

Watch on Sockshare or Putlocker one or two.

Continue reading →

Logan's Run

An idyllic sci-fi future has one major drawback: life must end at 30.

Logan's Run is a 1976 science fiction film based on the novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources are managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of killing everyone who reaches the age of thirty, preventing overpopulation. The story follows the actions of Logan 5, a "Sandman", as he runs from society's lethal demand.

The film version, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York, Richard Jordan, and Jenny Agutter, was shot primarily in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (including locations such as the Fort Worth Water Gardens and theDallas Market Center)^[2] between June and September 1975. The film only uses the basic premise from the novel (everyone must die at a specific age, Logan runs with Jessica as his companion while being chased by Francis). The motivations of the characters are quite different in the film. It was the first film to use Dolby Stereo on 70mm prints.

Watch on NovaMov, below, or via PutLocker, SockShare or MegaVideo.

Continue reading →

Nineteen Eighty-Four

BBC Television's live production of George Orwell's "1984". Produced in 1954. Creative Commons license: Public Domain. I've seen the 1956 and 1984 versions online, and I must say this is the best version available, both in terms of watch-ability and faithfulness to the text.

Peter Cushing is brilliant in his live interpretation, bringing Winston Smith to life as a character we can be afraid for and, sometimes, afraid of.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes written 1984) is a 1949 dystopian novel by George Orwell about an oligarchical, collectivist society. Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control. The individual is always subordinated to the state, and it is in part this philosophy which allows the Party to manipulate and control humanity.

In the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue, in Newspeak), protagonist Winston Smith is a civil servant responsible for perpetuating the Party's propaganda by revising historical records to render the Party omniscient and always correct, yet his meagre existence disillusions him to the point of seeking rebellion against Big Brother, eventually leading to his arrest, torture, and reconversion.

As literary political fiction, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a classic novel of the social science fiction subgenre. Since its publication in 1949, many of its terms and concepts, such as Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Newspeak, and Memory hole, have become contemporary vernacular. In addition, the novel popularized the adjective Orwellian, which refers to lies, surveillance, or manipulation of the past in the service of a totalitarian agenda.

Watch below on Google video or via YouTube

Continue reading →