PJ - PZ
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Plague Town [2008] Planet Terror [2007] Playback [2012]
Point Blank [2019] Polar [2019] Polaroid [2019]
Police Story [1985] Police Story 2 [1988] Porky's [1981]
The Possession of Hannah Grace [2018] The Possession of Michael King [2014] Possessor (Uncut) [2020]
Possum [2018] The Post [2017] The Poughkeepsie Tapes [2007]
Powaqqatsi [1988] Power Rangers [2017] The Prestige [2006]
Prey [2021] Pride and Prejudice and Zombies [2016] Primal Fear [1996]
Primer [2004] Prince of Darkness [1987] Princess Mononoke [1997]
Project Ithaca [2019] Prometheus [2012] Promising Young Woman [2020]
The Prophecy [1995] The Prophecy II [1998] The Prophecy 3: The Ascent [2000]
The Prophecy 4: Uprising [2005] The Prophecy 5: Forsaken [2005] Prospect [2018]
Proud Mary [2018] Psycho II [1983] Psycho III [1986]
Psycho IV: The Beginning [1990] Psycho Goreman [2020] The Punisher [1989]
The Punisher [2004] Punisher: War Zone [2008] Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich [2018]
The Puppetman [2023] The Purge: Election Year [2016] Puss in Boots [2011]
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish [2022]
Police Story [1985]
aka Ging chaat goo si
            

A policeman is assigned to protect a gangster's girlfriend / witness. This was fun. I'm not familiar with Jackie Chan's older films ...most of my experience with Jackie was his awesome portrayal of The Foreigner. This served as a great primer into his comedic and directing prowess and stunt work early in his career. Perhaps it was the time period but some scenes seemed overly dragged out quite a bit, like the court room scene and the whole telephone gag. But overall, this was very entertaining and I'm looking forward to more Jackie Chan.
Police Story 2 [1988]
aka Ging chaat goo si juk jaap
            

A corporation is under threat to pay up millions to keep the extortionists from blowing up their businesses. Since this is a Jackie Chan film, the action sets are amazing with superbly choreographed stunts and some very cool gags. Unfortunately, for me, although the story is fine and moved along at a descent pace, the film really didn't need to be this long and the time spent on his decaying romantic relationship got pretty old. Overall, this one wasn't a favorite for me but it was very entertaining and I'm still looking forward to the other films in the series.
The Puppetman [2023]

            
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A college student, who's father is about to be executed for killing her mother while being manipulated by an unknown force, begins to unravel the family secrets. As with Still/Born and Z, veteran Shudder director, Brandon Christensen, presents his story in a leisurely pace for some time with mundane scenes, sprinkled with enough exposition to make them seem necessary. Once it takes off, though, it becomes quite creepy with some good kills. Alyson Gorske, the lead, provides just enough angst to be believable and the police station scene is gold. Pretty good.
Prince of Darkness [1987]

            

A priest, a professor and a bunch of students study a container of demonic liquid that's been secreted by a church for centuries. I liked the movie for what is was but it kept teasing that it was going to be far more horrific. We'd see hordes of ants and worms which seemed to promise something but weren't used for anything (the beetle scene, however, was the best in the film, imo). Heavy emphasis on a dream transmission that really went nowhere and, considering what's at stake, I expected the climax to be far more epic. It was good but didn't quite hit it's pretense.
Primal Fear [1996]

            
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Easily included in my Top 5 Legal Thrillers of All Time, this is an exquisitely well-written story of Aaron, a young man who was present during the slaughter of an archbishop but insists he blacked out and doesn't remember anything. Looking for more fame, Attorney Martin Vail takes the case free. What follows is a fascinating ride that takes us though homicide, political corruption, sex abuse, gangsters, madness and a twist ending that is profound and shocking. Edward Norton is absolutely stellar as Aaron and everyone else is fantastic. Must see!
Promising Young Woman [2020]

            

A woman avenges a friend who was sexually attacked in med school ...and misogynistic jerks in general. I may have skipped this one if is wasn't for Carey Mulligan, one of my favorite actresses, and boy, did she deliver! Controlling practically every scene as a woman obsessed with every adversary fully understanding the level of their damage, she held my attention like glue, daring me to look away. There's a dark twist that will definitely throw some into the "should they or shouldn't they have done that" dilemma but what an amazing film.
The Prestige [2006]

            
  
One of the few Nolan films I hadn't seen yet, this one was a very dramatic expose on the terrible obsession of two magicians whose need to outdo each other destroys everything and everyone in their path. Full of familiar faces all doing a stellar job. The writing and directing were awesome hitting all the right notes in every moment. Culminating with a triple twist climax - one I vaguely saw coming - that left the film ending on a perfectly placed final shot before the credits rolled that made me smile. Nolan proves again that he's a master to his craft.
Prey [2021]

         

5 guys, celebrating a bachelors party by hiking in the woods, find themselves hunted. That's pretty much it in a nutshell ...except for a complete lack of any tension, suspense or thrills. Not until the very end of the film did any of our hunted individuals take any sort of pro-active attempt to save themselves. Rather they spent their time bickering and wandering around in the forest. Includes a dramatic subplot that served no purpose but to fill time and filled the rest with long drawn out scenes of why this is happening, which really didn't matter. Dumb ending, too.
Psycho Goreman [2020]

            
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Kids release an alien monster buried in their backyard. This gore monster film, played strictly for gags, is all going to come down to what you think is funny. Terribly silly to the point of ridiculous, this film is firmly made for a 1st to 3rd grade mentality but is decidedly adult in nature and content. The dialogue is simplistic and moronic without a single line of wit to be heard. The main girl (supposedly our heroine) is a mean, obnoxious, little cretin (she finds glee in torturing her brother and breaking a crucifix in half), and I disliked everyone else, as well. Yuck!
Possessor (Uncut) [2020]

            
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An organization implants a device into an unwary victim and then uses an agent to 'possess' them into committing murder / suicide. This extremely slow burn, that was making me edgy at times, is incredibly disturbing it its depiction of the psychological destruction of both parties as the wills of each are constantly vying for control with devastating results. As noted, there's a 50 min section which does not move very quickly but it's worth sticking with it. Exceptional acting with a story (that could have been a disaster) very well presented and quite unique.
Project Ithaca [2019]

            
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A set of strangers, from different time periods, find themselves captive within some sort of alien technology and one girl may hold all the answers. Unfortunately, she's keeping them to herself. There were several interesting ideas and concepts being tossed around in here and presented in such a way as to promise us a climatic explanation but, ultimately, we're left with, "What was that all about?" It kept me locked in enough to be willing to overlook the marginal acting and obvious low budget (the General is a joke) if they gave me a satisfactory ending but alas...
Prometheus [2012]

            

A scientific mission to another planet in search of our creators turns into a rather messy affair. As the 1st film in the Alien franchise timeline, this is a strange one. How things play out is entertaining enough but would only happen in a script; the characters behaved oddly, some events didn't make sense considering what's already happened, and for the scientists, they did some pretty stupid things. Plus, apparently, superwoman is on board ...you'll know what I mean if you see it. So, not very realistic but if you accept it as strictly script driven, it's exciting and fun.
The Purge: Election Year [2016]

            

Leo Barnes, former Police Sergeant, who almost succumbed to vengeance in the previous film, is now the head of security for a senator who's running against the NFFA in the upcoming election and vowing to put an end to the Annual Purge. Let the fun begin. This one centers almost solely on the plight of these two characters and their struggle to survive the night. Well structured with a pretty tight story that doesn't reveal any glaring plot holes, despite the ludicrous scenarios. Not as much madness as the previous films but no less intense. Very good!
The Poughkeepsie Tapes [2007]

            
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A mockumentary of a prolific serial killer whose library of 2400 hours of VHS tapes were discovered. In between clips of these disturbing recordings, we have reporters, FBI profiles, investigating officers, SWAT, even a professor, talking about the history and psychology of this killer making the whole thing ultra-realistic. My problem though is, if he's so smart and organized and prolific, why hasn't he invested in some decent recording equipment. The poor quality of the tapes made them difficult to watch ...besides the subject matter. Very distracting.
Point Blank [2019]

            

An ER nurse and an injured, suspected murderer must team up to save their families and bring down the corruption within the police department. That's pretty much it in a nutshell with things playing out pretty much the way you would expect them to. Our main protagonists were played very well by Frank Grillo and Anthony Mackie making them fun to watch and the action and story elements were handled quite well. No surprises but generally, good, fun entertainment.
The Prophecy [1995]
aka God's Army
            


Your basic horror movie with strong, religious figures and a lot of prophetic stuff. Very entertaining with Christopher Walken and Viggo Mortensen putting in excellent performances and extremely well written dialog but I didn't really see much new ground being broken here. Pretty much exactly what you'd expect.
Psycho II [1983]

            


Released after 20 years in a psyche ward, Norman is all better now ..or is he? An above average example of not being able to run from your past with Anthony Perkins and Meg Tilly putting in excellent performances. Nice double twist ending, too. Not nearly of Alfred Hitchcock quality but a worthy sequel just the same.
The Punisher [1989]

         


Dolph Lungren as the Punisher ...and it didn't age well. 'nuff said.
The Post [2017]

            

Biopic featuring the folks at the Washington Post when the Pentagon Papers (discussing the real reasons we stayed wrapped up in the Vietnam War all those years) were discovered. The historical details on these papers is represented but the incident, and the story itself, takes a back seat to the real focus of the movie which is the incredible mental, emotional, personal, psychological, and financial turmoil involved in answering a simple question... Do we publish this or not? Great performances by everyone.
Proud Mary [2018]

            

A mobster hit woman starts a gang war when she kills a gangster who is mistreating a boy she made an orphan a year earlier. Both my wife and I are fans of Taraji P. Henson so we probably enjoyed the film more than most ...although still not worthy of her talents. It has a lot of flawed logic in the story line but if you take it with a grain of salt and just roll with it, it's actually a fun movie with a lot of excellent gun action, some good characters, and I thought the banter between Mary and Danny was quite humorous and touching.
Possum [2018]

         
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Philip is a disconnected man who carries a bag around with a giant spider puppet thing in it. Is he autistic? a killer? insane? or is this just a fantasy? and what's behind that door? Slow but hypnotic, like being in a bad dream, with a surprise twist ending that was completely unexpected. Matthew Holness' (writer/director) unique vision is beautiful, haunting, and maliciously surreal rivaling anything David Lynch has made. Sean Harris, as Philip, and Alun Armstrong, the cryptic housemate, were bizarrely brilliant.
The Punisher [2004]

            

After the family of an ex-special forces op and undercover cop is slaughtered, and he's left for dead, he decides to take down the entire criminal organization single-handedly. Thomas Jane is great, as usual, as the Punisher. He really gives you an anti-hero to cheer for and John Trivolta does a pretty good job of giving you someone to hate. All the characters are quite colorful and overall, equal parts violent, equal parts humor and a really good, exciting ride.
Polar [2019]

         

An agency's best hit man is retiring in two weeks so the head of the agency's put out a contract on him so he doesn't have to pay his $8mil pension. There were things I loved and there were things I hated. The main character, the hit squad that's after him, the action sequences, were all colorful and exciting. I enjoyed the black humor, as well. However, I hated Mr. Blut, the main antagonist and I simply didn't want to watch him. Also, the subplot with the neighbor girl was well done but it felt like it belonged in a different movie ...the tone was all wrong for me.
Psycho III [1986]

         


There really isn't anything new here. Even Norman is getting a bit stale. Anthony Perkins tried his hand at directing this one and I think he did a very nice job of it but the film really needed a better story for him to work with.
Psycho IV: The Beginning [1990]

            

Both a sequel and a prequel, we live vicariously through Norman's past as he relates how he killed his first victims and his mother via the phone to a news talk radio show. Giving it some credit for being a TV movie, it was actually better than I thought it would be. Some of the scenarios where a bit forced, with some being outright ridiculous, and the ending sequence was a bit cheesy. But, It moved along at a slow but steady pace and keep my attention with adequate acting, dialogue and a fairly good story. Generally entertaining.
The Possession of Hannah Grace [2018]

         

A damaged, recovering alcoholic, ex-police woman, dealing with the guilt of letting her partner die because she froze, gets a job as an intake clerk on the midnight shift for the morgue checking in bodies that arrive. One body decides not to stay dead. I had an issue with the editing. The opening scene, albeit shocking and certainly grabs your attention, would have been much more suited as a flashback later in the film. As it is, it sort of ruins the potential for surprises later. Be that as it may, this film was not original but well made, creepy and certainly worth the watch.
Prospect [2018]

            
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A girl and a prospector form an uneasy alliance in a fight for survival on an alien world after the prospector assisted in getting her father killed. This is certainly not an action or adventure story. It's mostly character and dialogue driven and, as a result, ponderously slow. The story is familiar with no surprises. Mostly we just get to watch the interactions of a pair of people and the problems that occur for 90 minutes. It is interesting with likable characters and certainly a joy to the eyes making it a fairly good movie. Just don't expect anything new or exciting.
Primer [2004]

            

Two physics nerds, experimenting in their garage, are trying to come up with some sort of machine they could patent and start a business with. To their amazement, they make a bizarre time machine. Let the paradoxes begin. For a total budget of $7,000, these guys put out an amazing film. The dialogue is so technical, it would take several viewings to catch exactly what's going on ...maybe. But the point is, they've created something phenomenal and it's pretty clear they are way out of their depth and things are going very wrong very quickly. Excellent!
The Prophecy II [1998]

            

The angels are at war. Danyael (good angel) impregnates a human to bare a son of God. Gabriel (bad angel) is out to get the child. The movie was ok but anything that may have required a practical or special effect was done off screen which probably saved them a ton of money. Because of this, however, the only action in the film was a few average fight scenes. The ending wasn't bad and watching Christopher Walken was worthwhile. That's about it.
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent [2000]

         

The half-angel / half-human, product of a union in the second film, is compelled to confront a God of Genocide while being chased by the angel, Zophael. A bemused Gabriel (Chris Walken) looks on. This really isn't much more than a chase movie with a few good fights, crashes and moments in general. The difference in ability between veteran actors and newcomers is awfully stark. Kudos, once again, to Walken and to Steve Hytner, who has played the befuddled coroner through all 3 films and has many of the best moments. Not great but entertaining.
Punisher: War Zone [2008]

            
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Some films don't succeed for a reason. In this case, for the life of me, I don't know what that reason could possibly be. Well made, violent, high-action, comic book movie with a rather good story and enjoyable, albeit not very deep, characters. Kudos to Ray Stevenson (Punisher), Dominic West (Jigsaw) and, especially, Doug Hutchinson (Looney Bin Jim) for great, twisted performances. Can't ask more from a film made purely for violent, escapist entertainment ...emphasis on violent.
The Prophecy 4: Uprising [2005]

            

This time, the feuding angels are tracking a woman who has a book containing the unwritten verses of Revelations. Surprisingly good drama that, beyond the feuding angels, has no connections with the previous films. Taking place in Bucharest, this film has no Chris Walken, but has Sean Pertwee putting in an excellent performance as an angry and morally ambivalent cop with good performances from John LIght, Kari Wuhrer, and Doug Bradley. The film is mostly dialogue that is rather poetic and well written making this a strong film despite its lack of action.
The Prophecy 5: Forsaken [2005]

            

As the lexicon is busy writing itself, eventually revealing the name of the Antichrist, its protector, Allison, is doing her best to keep the warring angles from finding it. Filmed at the same time as Uprising, with the same writers and directors, it's pretty obvious that the two films are two parts of the same story. Nothing special story wise, we've seen this one in episodes of Supernatural, but the writing is exceptionally good, the acting is consistently professional and it certainly is not a bad film. As with the previous one, no action but still a decent view.
Porky's [1981]

            
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It's been over 35 years since my wife and I first saw this film and the principal's office scene, as well as a few others, still had us rolling with laughter today. I'm normally not one for adolescent humor but this movie did it right. Despite being called the worst movie of the year in 1981 by nearly every critic alive, this movie is just freakin' funny with some absolutely iconic scenes. Pretty good social commentary, as well.
Plague Town [2008]

            
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A family stumbles into a remote community of mutants and very dangerous children. It started off rather cliche with the bloody intro followed by 30 mins of establishing that most of the principals are complete morons. Once things got started, it improved (despite the lousy camera work) but the ending was both contrived and ridiculous. It wasn't all that bad and had a few good moments but I would suggest taking it with a very large grain of salt.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies [2016]

            

The title says it all. I'm familiar with the Pride and Prejudice story so I was certainly curious about this one. This movie had a lot of problems. They really underutilized the whole zombie thing ...it could have been P&P at war and you would have had much the same result. I didn't like the casting so I had trouble buying the characters. Also, the whole idea is farcical but I think this movie would have been improved if they had tried to make it far more serious or just gone for the all-out zombie slaughter. As it is, pretty ho hum.
The Possession of Michael King [2014]

            
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After his wife is killed, indirectly as a result of a psychic's advice, Michael decides to evoke every spell in the book and film it all to prove, once and for all, that none of it's real. Probably not the best idea. This unrelenting horrific film moves along at a break neck pace as we follow what begins as an obsession to debunk demons and becomes an all out spiritual war. Terrifying, violent, exhausting and, at times, cringe worthy, it's almost too much of an assault on the senses. As David Jung's first film, kudos to you, my man ...and just ignore the bad reviews.
Powaqqatsi [1988]

         
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Powaqqatsi (Hopi language): A way of life that consumes the life forces of other beings in order to further its own life. Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass present the second film in a series of visual and musical montages of world life ...in this case the juxtaposition of life in impoverished cultures and the modern life of the privileged. Not as visually or musically stunning as Koyaanisqatsi - I could have done without the '80's pop culture montages and the last 15 minutes were particularly irritating - but still quite compelling, nonetheless.
Princess Mononoke [1997]
aka Mononoke-hime
         

A young man's search for a cure to a curse, received when he killed a boar demon god, leads him into the middle of a war between humans, beasts, gods and demons. This full length Japanese anime was far better than I expected it would be. The characters were very complex, the motives of all the parties involved made perfect sense, making the whole concept of doing the right thing a very fuzzy area, the animation was fantastic, and the story was varied and full. Quite nice.
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich [2018]

         
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30 years after a Nazi puppeteer was killed while terrorizing a town in Texas, a convention for the puppet collectors is taking place and the puppets decide it's time for revenge. Good filmmakers take the ludicrous premise of puppets killing people and turn it into a good film. No surprises here but the characters were likable, the dialogue was loaded with sharp wit, and the killings were gruesome and gory with just the right amount of camp to never take them too seriously. Sad ending but I liked it far more than I thought I would.
Power Rangers [2017]

            

After 65 million years the power stones are dropped into the hands of 5 high school outcasts and a fallen ranger intent on destroying the universe. This film is a good example of expanding an hour's worth of material into a 2 hour movie. It took over 90 mins for the Power Rangers to finally get going and then they had one confrontation and that's it. The last half hour had some good action and eye candy but that barely made up for the investment in time to get that far. Not bad, just badly paced with no surprises.
Polaroid [2019]

            
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People who are being photographed by an old SX-70 Polaroid camera, being passed around as a modern day relic, are dying. This is a very well made supernatural thriller that focuses on the high school students right in the middle of it all. Rather than make them act like immature, hormone driven, goofballs that so many other films seem to find necessary, they came off as normal, intelligent, frightened individuals acting exactly as real people trying to save themselves would act. Low on scares but high on tension with an exciting climax.
Playback [2012]

            
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A family massacre that took place 15 years ago in a small town begins to reoccur when tapes of the original crime are viewed. The beginning was very intense and hooked me immediately. However, I then had to sit through nearly an hour of adolescent high school students being ...well ...adolescent high school students while they set up the next sequence of significant events. It got better after that but they never got the pacing right, the acting was pretty blase and it never lived up to its shocking opening. Pity.
Planet Terror [2007]

            
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This viral infection zombie film is a direct parody to the grind-house, exploitation-style, drive-in, B-movies of the '60s & '70's done to perfection. The film is so finely crafted, it even looks like old scratchy film and includes intentional continuity errors, intermission screens, a movie preview, and even a missing reel. The film itself is campy, it's gross, it's seriously over-the-top, and it's damn near perfect. For a good time, call PLANET TERROR.
Puss in Boots [2011]

            

This Shrek Universe spin-off finds our hero teaming up with Humpty Dumpty and Kitty Softpaws on a caper to steal the magic beans from Jack & Jill and ultimately capture the goose that lays the golden eggs. I love how they mix and match various fairy tales and characters to create a story. This is the weakest film in the Shrek universe that I've seen so far without any real LOL moments that the other films have had. But it's still humorous, endearing and a good deal of fun with some excellent action sequences. Great film for family night with the kids.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish [2022]

            

With Death in pursuit, Puss in Boots discovers he's down to his last life and searches for the fabled wish star to get a new set of 9 lives. This was a delightful and very funny fairy tale that included a multitude of characters and references to the fairy tales of old. The portrayals were spot on and Puss' new 'friend', Perrito the dog, portrayed by Harvey Guillen, was an absolute treasure. The animation and imagination that went into this were fantastic making it the best film in the franchise that I've seen since Shrek 2. Most definitely fun for the whole family.
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