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[film] THE MAZE
There are a lot of times when I don't remember a movie (sometimes mere hours after watching it), but I remember a particular scene or vague theme from the movie. All I could remember about Treasure of the Four Crowns was the scene where fireballs on ridiculously visible wires were flying around. With Sword and the Sorcerer, it was "guy falls into room of naked women" and "guy makes witch's chest explode, then catches her heart." Although there are many times when I remembered both the scene and the title of the movie, there are many other times when I have no recollection at all of the film's title. It is in these instances that the Internet has proven to finally be worth all the trouble. Thousands and thousands of years of social and technological evolution finally lead to the moment when I can look up "screaming banshee on moors" and find out in which movie it appears. And the internet was there for me again, very recently, when I was trying to remember the title of a movie about which all I could recall was, "frog man in center of hedge maze."
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[film] HANUMAN & THE 7 ULTRAMEN
When I'm writing about a movie, I'm much less interested in telling you how good or bad it is than I am in justifying the time I spent watching it. As such, I'm looking for those points of interest -- either contained in the film itself or in the circumstances of its production -- that will make the whole endeavor seem worthwhile. Providing a break from the rigors of that approach are those occasions on which I encounter films whose WTF quotient is so high that they exist on a plane beyond simple judgments of good or bad -- the mystery of whose very existence overshadows any questions of quality. Hanuman and the 7 Ultramen is such a film. And like another fine example of the species, the Turkish superhero mash-up 3 Dev Adam, Hanuman achieves that rarified WTF air by means of positioning some very familiar elements within a very foreign context. It's just hard to dismiss a shockingly gory movie that teams the world's most beloved giant Japanese superhero with the Hindu monkey god for not measuring up to some notional standard of "coherence" or "watchability."
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[film] THE HELL OF 50 MOVIE PACK
The Hell of 50 Movie Pack celebrates Teleport City's ongoing journey through the nine circles of Mill Creek Entertainment's 50 Movie Pack. When you're getting 50 movies for $15, you know the quality is going to be high, and while the films in these various collections -- which cover everything from horror to noir to science fiction to sword and sandal -- often live up to one's low expectations both in terms of the print quality and the quality of the film itself, there are also many hidden gems, forgotten films, and other strange stuff you will never find anywhere else. The latest reviews include:
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[film] JET SET CINEMA
Jet Set Cinema is Teleport City's short form salute to the sexiest, swinginest, and swankiest in the world of film of television. From sleuthing with Mr. Moto and Bulldog Drummond to fashion tips from Jason King, all things cinematically suave will find their home here. The latest grooves include:
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[film] SHRIMP CHIPS
Shrimp Chips are short reviews and off the cuff commentary about whatever movie we happen to be thinking about here at Teleport City, but not thinking about so hard that it warrants a full review. This can be vaguely remembered stuff from the past or something I watched last night. For example, the last Shrimp Chips I thought about were:
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[film] B-MASTERS CABAL ROUNDTABLE
And now, the B-Masters pay tribute to that special effects with is almost a sine qua non of sci-fi and horror: The man in the creature suit. Be it alien, mutant, or monster undefined, the arm-waving raaaahring of such under-appreciated thespians was for decades — and to some degree, still is today — the only way that outlandish beings beyond or normal experience could be realized on film. We salute the creature suits and the men (and women) who worked inside them. Rubber Soul proves that you can trust a suit, so long as that suit is covered in scales or mangy fur. Teleport City launches a multi-pronged attack that will see us investigating Thai-produced Ultraman movies, bonkers 80s Hong Kong horror, and atmospheric 50s chillers undone by ridiculous monster suits. Be sure to check out all the B-Master contributions as we honor these, the true bread and butter of the b-movie universe.
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