Branded Shawn :  I don't know if my time was wasted here or not! I dislike movies that COULD be explained away through mental disorders or drug induced paranoia at the end. Not because they may not have been good, but because I don't want to watch a movie that was a waste of my fucking time after enjoying it. Ha ha. I don't know where I stand on this. It was a real ride, but strange indeed. It did look great, I got the message, but don't really understand the purpose of the film. It definitely isn't Ugly, but I also struggle to find the Good. So I'm going to leave it at a Bad, because I won't watch it again. Not even to attempt to sort it out. Jason: Shawn and I have complained at length about the lack of original material coming out of Hollywood these days. Then along come Branded and John Dies at the End to prove us wrong. Wait, neither was made by a Hollywood studio? Never mind then. I didn't really care much for t...

After years of complaining that nothing original is made in Hollywood , along comes two movies that prove Jason and Shawn wrong. Wait, both are independent movies made outside of the studio system? Never mind then . .  . The Basement Dwellers begin with the Russian/American co-production Branded, a sci-fi/social commentary about marketing and greed. Heady stuff made visually appealing by the talented and sexy Leelee Sobieski (yup, still alive) and some special effects. But is Branded too out there for it's own good? Jason and Shawn will be the judge of that. Then it's time to enter the mind of cult writer/director Don Coscarelli . That's right, the guy who created the Phantasm films and Bubba Ho-Tep. Coscarelli has made something truly unique with John Dies at the End , a movie with a title that's the biggest spoiler alert of all time. It's an original sci-fi/horror/comedy about alternate dimensions and a drug called Soy Sauce . Again, the question must b...