Movie Suggestions

Went into this cold, just knowing I usually like what TLA Releasing puts out. Didn't disappoint at all -- great acting and writing, short lil WTF film where dialog isn't overused and visual storytelling really leads, all while on a low budget (there's even a joke in the film about it lol). It's definitely An Experience if anything.

If you are not familiar with the works of Peter Watkins, you really should be. Almost all of them are fake documentaries, but by no means funny ones. His film about nuclear war and it's aftermath, The War Game, is so incredibly grim and depressing that the BBC, who commissioned it, refused to show it for decades.

I think this film is scarier. It definitely feels more real.

Synopsis:

In 1970, the Vietnam War is escalating and President Richard Nixon has just decided on a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia. Faced with a growing anti-war movement, President Nixon decrees a state of emergency based on the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950, which authorizes federal authorities to detain persons judged to be a "risk to internal security".

Members of the anti-war movement, Civil Rights Movement, and the feminist movement, as well as conscientious objectors and members of the Communist Party, mostly university students, are arrested and face an emergency tribunal made up of community members. With state and federal jails at capacity, the convicted face the option of spending their full sentence in federal prison or three days at Punishment Park. There, they will have to traverse 53 miles of the hot California desert in three days, without water or food, while being chased by National Guardsmen and law enforcement officers as part of their field training. If they succeed and reach the American flag at the end of the course, they will be set free. If they fail by getting "arrested", they will serve the remainder of their sentence in federal prison.

European filmmakers follow two groups of detainees as part of their documentary; while Group 637 starts their three-day ordeal and learn the rules of the "game", the civilian tribunal begins hearings on Group 638. The filmmakers conduct interviews with members of Group 637 and their chasers, documenting how both sides become increasingly hostile towards the other. Meanwhile, the film crew documents the trial of Group 638 as they argue their case in vain for resisting the war in Vietnam.

Almost all of the actors were unknown and most of the dialogue was improvised. The people being punished were real activists at the time and the people doling out the punishment were real conservatives, so the whole thing feels very believable.

And it feels like it's something that could still happen.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X04-bpHCCCU

Full movie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bRMMdaQ790

Brief (not very good) synopsis:

Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over launching nuclear missiles. But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators.

Longer, a bit spoilery synopsis:

Somewhat cheesy trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmSsXoPxi0M

One of my all time favorite science fiction films, and a surprisingly prescient one. It's a film that assumes its viewers are intelligent people and doesn't feel like it needs to spoon-feed them everything. It's very much about letting the story unfold through realistic dialogue.

It's also beautifully shot in the super wide 2.35 : 1 Cinemascope format.

The cast was mostly unknown at the time, although National Treasure James Hong (always use his full title) has a small role, as does Marion Ross, later to be the mom on Happy Days. The lead, German actor Eric Braeden, went on to have an extremely long career on the soap opera The Young and the Restless.

The director is Joseph Sargent, who I always think of as the director of the Star Trek TOS episode The Corbomite Maneuver, but he's probably more known as the director of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. It's based on the first of three novels by D. F. Jones and the screenplay, written by James Bridges (The Paper Chase, The China Syndrome) is surprisingly faithful to it.

Also, a cool bit of trivia: Every piece of computer equipment in the film was functional and they had to have a huge AC to cool it all.

It is watchable on the Internet Archive. I'm guessing linking to it is not okay, but you can find it there.

Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes.

And now, I'm off to rewatch it!

Saw this last night, and it was fantastic. Over the top combination of seriousness and humor, great practical effects, puppetry, and costumes.

Thelma Post is a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist on the phone. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her.

A low budget film from Joel Haver.

I kind of ignored his feature length uploads after not liking one I saw before but I was surprised by how much I liked this. The premise is very unique and the characters are well-written. Worth a watch!