a possible project.... possibly.

I've been thinking about this idea for a long time. I've mentioned it previously in other posts and in some ways, it's always existed.... but in reality, it's just something that I add and remove from but never really have set in stone. What I'm referring to is my imaginary list of the 'Top 50 Films Of All Time'. This list lies somewhere between my 'Top 100 Films Of All Time', 'Top 10 Films Of All Time' and my 'Worst Movies Of All Time'. It's something that is alive and well. It lives and breathes inside my brain, but has never manifested itself for anyone else to see other than myself. I am kind of wondering if it even exists at all or if it should just remain a file hidden in the back of my brain. What do you think? Do you have a similar list? Who's made it onto your collection of films? What are the qualifications of this honor? I wonder these things every time I bring this concept up.

First of all, these would all be films and not movies. Second, they don't have to be something that has re-watchablitiy built into them.... they just have to have made an impression, changed you in some way or proved to be living art on the screen. I'm debating if re-watchability should be included as part of the cirteria, because there are movies that I can watch over and over again.... but I'm not 100% sure that they're films. Does that make them any less worthy of being on this list? I think that this is something that needs to be decided before I start this journey. Or perhaps they're just one in the same thing? I don't know. Maybe this is all just a futile attempt at stroking my own ego or to increase my feeling of film geekiness. Does anyone really care other than me? That's where you all come into play.

What are your thoughts? Would you have any interest in me putting this together? If so, I would love to take the time to do it. It's something I've been meaning to do for a long time. It's just something that has overwhelmed me a bit. I'm a really indecisive guy and I can't imagine all the hemming and hawing that will ensue if I start down this path. I'm sure it's gonna be epic. In the end, I think it's going to produce something that even I'll find surprising. I just don't know if it's anything of any real merit or if I should just stick to posting my thoughts about stuff I see and leave the past in the past. Ya dig?

If you'd like to weigh in on this or would like to submit your own lists to be added to this project (if it happens), post a comment here with your thoughts and if I move forward.... I'll ask you to submit your own lists for everyone else to view. You'll be able to send them to a personal email address to be compiled for the future post. I hope that I'll have the chance to take on this project, I think it'll be fun. It might also shed a bit of light on why I rate things the way I do. Give you some unrequested history lessons on Joel's cinematic backstory. Anyway.... enough of this babbling and carrying on, let's get back to the movie reviews, right? Thanks in advance for sticking it out with me all this time and here's to hoping for a long time together in the future.

(this movie is NOT in my 'Top 50 Films Of All Time' list....)

UPDATE: I went ahead and decided to move forward on this. First issue is trying to decide how to post the 50 films. I think that I would post them in 5 or 10 film sections. That way I could include a DVD cover or still from the film and perhaps the trailer? Second and bigger problem, I started to compile the list.... so far, I have 168 films. That will take a bit of work to shrink it down to only 50. Also, I was wondering if I should include animated films and horror films? Should I break down each list by genre? Or is this supposed to be one all encompasing list of any and all genre's? Thanks for the feedback so far.... it is a work in progress and I'm thinking it'll be interesting once I'm done.

my very brief thoughts on.... 'Deranged'

Ed Gein has been written about, puzzled over, studied, and portrayed on film in many different ways.... not always as himself, but aspects of his life and crimes have been mixed in with other characters.... he's generally considered the first serial killer, however he was more of a grave robber than a killer.... he was only ever convicted of killing 2 people.... but the police think it may have been as many as 15.... therefore, he never qualified as a serial killer.... but regardless, that's the way he's remembered is as a murderer either way.... in 1974, they made probably the most accurate movie about the life of Ed Gein.... it's pretty melodramtic and dated, but if you've read the history of Ed Gein you'll see how closely they match up with the reality.... i've actually seen this movie twice.... not intentionally, it just kind of happened.... and the second time i wasn't sure until the very end that i'd already seen it.... i don't know if i liked it any better or worse the second time around, but i did get a little more out of it....

Ed Gein was a mama's boy.... he loved his mother more than anything else.... and when she died, he had an extremely difficult time coping with her death.... instead of moving on, he went and dug up her corpse and kept it in his home.... this wasn't the end of his graverobbing.... eventually he made it a regular thing.... and his home slowly turned into a museum of the macbre.... full of skulls, bones, severed body parts, lamps made of skin, a full skin body suit, and more.... things just get worse and worse with his obsession until he takes it to the next level and kills.... this proves to be a shocking revelation for the people of his small town.... the fact that a mama's boy like Eddie Gein could commit such horrific crimes....
there have been many better movies based on parts of Ed Gein's life and there may be more made at a later date.... i wouldn't be surprised.... but until that happens, this is the best one to date.... (stay away from the Kane Hodder movie 'Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield'.... it's pure and utter shit.).... i gave this movie a 2 out of 5 star rating.... it's not a good movie overall.... it is what it is....Roberts Blossom does an amazing job of bringing Eddie to life.... he creates a living and breathing man out of a subpar script.... his commitment to the role is intense.... sometimes it's so over the top that you want to laugh, but he's such a presence that you can't stop watching and don't end up laughing.... currently it's not available to rent, but you can watch it OnDemand from Netflix.... that's how i saw it.... before you delve into his depraved world, please do some research on him first.... learn all the details and view the crime scene photos.... it brings the whole story to life and you can see how much time and effort was put into this recreation of his life.... no matter how dark and twisted it was.

if you watch this, then also check out these loosely based Ed Gein movies: 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974), 'The Silence of the Lambs', and 'Psycho' (1960)

my brief thoughts on.... 'National Geographic - Killer Wave: Power of the Tsunami'

ever since the Tsunami of 2004 in Sri Lanka, i've been intrigued by them.... something that disturbs me in a lot of ways as i have a fear of drowning.... yet something i will never have to deal with living in Colorado.... but the whole concept and science behind it is crazy.... the fact that an underground earthquake can set off a chain reaction that causes giant waves that can take out whole cities, villages and towns.... and i think the other thing that increased the interest was the mass amount of footage from the one in 2004.... because any that had occured before that was before the dawn of cell phone cameras, digital video recorders, etc.... there's just so many ways to get coverage on a disaster these days it's amazing.... it's almost like there's nothing that the average viewer can't see.... not just Tsunami's.... but anything....
i came across this National Geographic special by accident and didn't realize that it was produced before the Sri Lanka disaster.... so the footage was limited to some fascinating old school news footage and camera shots.... also a lot of paintings from ones back long before there ever was a way to photographically catch any of this.... it covers the history and science of the Tsunami.... but not in the great detail i was hoping for.... it seemed like it was designed for grade schoolers to learn the basics.... i guess i just expected more from it.... there's nothing really new to learn here.... and that's why i only gave it 2 out of 5 stars.... nothing to write home about.

if you want to see what a Tsunami truly can do, just look up Sri Lanka 2004 Tsunami on YouTube and you'll have more than enough to satisfy your curiousity

(there is no trailer for this movie to embed.)

my brief thoughts on.... 'Nightmares in Red, White and Blue'

there are several documentaries out there about the horror genre.... some are specific to a type of horror.... some are specific to a certain franchise.... this one covers the entire history of American horror from the beginning to almost modern day.... by no means is it all encompassing.... but it does a good job of hitting all the high points.... and even touches lightly on the foreign market.... the movie goes to about 2007-ish with the current horror movies.... it's only got a run time of an hour and a half, so you can imagine that it could have been a lot more involved.... and i would have liked to see more in depth segments on each movie or period of time.... most of the movies were no big suprise, but there were a couple i'd missed along the way.... they interview some of the heavyweights of the genre and discuss not only their movies, but get their thoughts on other peoples work....

the plot is fairly obvious.... it's a documentary.... so there really isn't a plot....
if you're a fan of the horror genre.... then there may not be too much new here for you.... however, it's still worth the watch because it's well put together and the people that made it care about the genre.... and if you're not a fan of the genre, this may be a good jumping off point.... it gives you a lot to chew on.... bring a pen and paper with you so you can take notes.... because they throw a lot of good suggestions at you for movies to see.... ones that will take you through the history of horror cinema and it cuts out a lot of crap in the middle that just isn't worth mentioning.... but i would recommend that you take what you find here and do some branching out on your own.... there are a lot of gems that weren't mentioned and that i had to weed through to find.... but that's part of the fun of the movies.... 3 out of 5 stars....

other horror documentaries: 'His Name Was Jason', 'Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy' and 'Going To Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film'

my thoughts on.... 'Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield'

well, here we go again.... another film from the same folks who brought you 'B.T.K.' and 'Bundy'.... and yet again, it's not really all that good.... i should have known.... and i did.... but i wanted to watch it anyway to see how off they were with the story.... and once again, they remade history.... i mean, some of the facts were right, but so much of it was made up and Kane Hodder as Ed Gein was a very poor choice.... Ed was a fairly lean and small older man, not some beefy younger guy who looks like he'll rip your head off.... i have no idea what they were thinking when they cast him.... but i didn't make the movie so i guess i can't bitch.

the story follows most of the real plot lines.... he was a loner who lived in Plainfield, WI and was a mama's boy even after she died.... he lived in the house he grew up in and kept to himself for the most part.... most people would say he was a nice man, but a bit odd.... Kane's Ed Gein doesn't carry that part off.... he liked to rob newly dug graves containing women who reminded him of his mother.... and do bad things to their bodies.... everything but having sex with them.... that he said he never did.... ("they smelled to bad.").... they don't show much of him with the corpses, which was the majority of his sickness.... he turned their parts into lapshades, chair covers, bowls, pull chains, etc.... in this movie they barely touch on that.... the only thing they show is the full skin suit that he made out of different women's skin and sewed them all together....

all in all, it kept my interest.... but Ed Gein only confessed to killing two people and they only tried and convicted him for one.... they never found that he killed anyone else.... in the movie, they show Ed killing a few more folks than just 2.... granted they show one of the real killings and elude to another.... however, it was just so hard to get past Kane Hodder in the role.... i mean, he did fine.... he proved he has some acting chops.... it just didn't work.... and the ending was just lame.... it's not something i would recommend that you watch.... unless you're a Kane fan or you just have a lot of time to kill....

2 out of 5 stars.... it's available on Netflix OnDemand right now.... so at least it's free.... i think i just know too much about the history of Ed Gein to allow myself to enjoy this movie for what it was, a piece of entertainment.... Ed is shown in the movie to be a serial killer, but the reality is.... he never was. a sicko and a messed up guy, but not a serial killer.... by definition, he would have to kill 3 or more people to qualify for that title.... but he did inspire a slew of characters based on his life and crimes that are the serial killers of little kids nightmares and ones that we all know and love.... so for that i guess he'll always be remembered.

if you dare watch this, make sure and watch these too: 'Deranged' (the much better Ed Gein story), 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974) and 'The Silence of the Lambs'

my thoughts on.... 'Pirate Radio'

as you all should know, i'm a music lover.... perhaps some would say obsessed about music.... and i love a good film about music.... when i heard about this one, i was peaked instantly.... not too mention that the cast was amazing.... a strong group of grade 'A' actors who could all carry the movie just by themselves.... i had no idea about the story behind this.... it just sounded like an interesting story and had 'Joel' written all over it....

in the mid 60's, pirate radio was at it's peak and this is the story of a true pirate radio station.... so much so that it takes place on an actual ship.... where a group of men run a 24 hour radio station that plays all of the rock n' roll music of that era.... according to the story the regular radio stations didn't play the same kind of music and this was the only way for the masses to hear it.... and they had a huge following of listeners who loved the music and the guys who played it.... i don't want to give away too much of the storyline.... as it's a qualiy movie that is well worth the watch....
all of the actors are involved 100%..... the story is wel written and fun.... the music is amazing.... the direction is spot on.... and all in all it's an excellent film for music lovers and regular film lovers alike.... the story may not be totally original.... there are certain aspects that ring true from other storylines.... so it may sometimes feel like a movie you've seen before.... but that takes nothing away from it overall....

4 out of 5 stars for this little gem of a music based movie.... it has a lot going for it and i think it's worth watching and even re-watching.... i would give it the 'Joel' seal of approval.... it's available to rent everywhere and is worth your time to invest in it, because it pays off in spades....

if you like this movie, check out: 'High Fidelity', 'This is Spinal Tap' and 'School of Rock'

my thoughts on.... 'Bundy'

so Parker Lewis can't lose, eh....? well, this movie proves that to be untrue.... what i mean is that Corin Nemec plays the lead role of Ted Bundy and doesn't do to bad of a job.... he's creepy where he needs to be and charming where he needs to be.... not the best retelling of this story that i've seen.... but it's a decent movie with decent qualities.... this movie is made by the same folks who made 'B.T.K.' (which is also reviewed in this blog....) it's obvious this is a slap dash, direct to video piece of filth that is only made to cash in on the serial killer-philes.... people who are fascinated by serial killers and find their stories interesting.... i'm betting, however, 10 to 1 that there are way better books and online articles about this man than this movie.... i'd put money on it.

Ted Bundy was considered a charming serial killer.... a man who could've had any woman he wanted, but instead turned to a life of crime.... (he's not really portrayed in that way in this movie).... he was known for being a smart guy and they make him out to be more of a child in this movie.... they also take some liberties with his method and his madness.... he has a serious hatred for women and kills them in some fairly brutal ways.... i guess i really shouldn't have expected too much from this.... it just fell in line with my theme for the night of serial killer movies and documentaries.....
if you have a spare bit of time on your hands.... it's interesting to watch Corin's take on the character.... and he's charismatic enough to hold your attention for the full hour and a half.... but this is not the recommended version of this story.... and a simple search online would find better fact based versions of this man's story.... he was a sick individual who got what he deserved in the end.... too bad it wasn't any earlier.... a few more lives could have been saved....

again, 2 out of 5 stars.... not a recommend movie.... it's available OnDemand on Netflix along with B.T.K..... but i'd stay away and see what other Hollywood movies you can find that are fictional or the occasional one that is a true story.... these direct to video titles are basically just serial killer porn that serve no real purpose.... just to clutter up the DVD shelves at the video store.... and to sucker in people who just don't know any better.... i knew what i was getting into, but i was curious anyway.... i guess i'm just funny that way....

if you liked this movie, check out these much better films: 'Hannibal', 'Manhunter' and 'Red Dragon'

my thoughts on.... 'B.T.K.'

this is a movie "inspired by the true story".... this is important to realize before you watch this movie.... it's not a true retelling of what actually happened in the B.T.K. case.... i didn't realize this when i went into it.... i just assumed it was going to be a bit more fact based.... sure they got a couple of things right, but overall it's just a reason to have Kane Hodder (Jason from several Friday the 13th films) go around and kill people.... i was less than impressed by it....

their version has B.T.K. as an overzealous compliance officer.... who tends to take his job a bit to seriously.... he's married with two teenage daughters and sneaks out occasionally to kill some women and sometimes men for no real reason.... we're never really given a motive.... he's an upstanding citizen to the outside world and to his church.... but soon all of that comes crashing down in one big mess....
i think Kane Hodder is an interesting fellow.... and as an actor, he's better than i expected he'd be, since mostof the movies i've seen him in he's behind a mask and doesn't say anything.... he does his best with the story and tries to make it interesting, but it all just falls flat.... there is nothing really special about the movie.... nothing really stands out.... its all just kind of there.... you know....? like they made it and just kind of did it for the hell of it....

2 out of 5 stars for this less than stellar movie.... and not something i would recommend to anyone actually interested in the case.... you're better off reading a true crime book instead.... the only reason i would tell anyone to see this is to see Kane Hodder do more than his usual typecasting.... other than that, junk.

if you like this movie, watch something better: 'Se7en', 'The Silence of the Lambs' and 'Zodiac'