Posted by Stardate 2020 (I know that’s not how works, Trekkie but go with me here)
For those new to us – this page is a daily update of everything we care to log that we’ve watched or read, or otherwise. Mainly Bob, but the others are more than welcome. You’ll find short reviews and notes over each of these rather than a full blown review you’d see elsewhere on the site.
This should be fun – if you have any thoughts, comments, and/or suggestions, please leave them below. Send any complaints to Cody.
A NOTE FROM May 5th – As I’m working to get caught up, I’m doing slightly shorter reviews and not putting too much of the details. IMDB can help ya if you want.
May 15th update looks April 2nd to 6th: 9 titles!
April 2nd
Nothing to report, captain.
April 3rd
A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon – 2020; Comedy -via Netflix
The first Shaun the Sheep Movie was my favorite movie of 2015. The show, along with the Wallace and Gromit shorts it spun off from, are some of the best comedy to be out there. Ever. Especially the Shaun the Sheep shows, specials, and movies. All of these pull from the silent film greats – Keaton, Chaplin, Lloyd, others to create madcap adventures of physical comedy, visual gags, and a sheer love of the physical medium of comedy. Best of all, none of it panders to the young kids. It’s solid humor no matter the age of the viewer. For this new film, distributed by Netflix, the farm becomes a UFO hotspot as a lost alien child ends up in care of the sheep, and the farmer’s attempt at creating a themed UFO attraction puts him in the crosshairs of a Men in Black type agency. While some of the jokes and ideas are ripped from any other kids movie featuring aliens, ET, Spaced Invaders, even Mac and Me they still work. Everything does.
Fair Game – 1995 – Action.
Would you believe this Cindy Crawford-vehicle (which stalled her film career, for good reason – she’s awful) is from the same source material of Stallone’s Cobra? It is! But as bad as Cobra is, Fair Game is worse. Occasionally stupidly funny (the Crawford mannequin flipping out of the house in the explosion), usually just badly made. It has some of the dumbest plotting and decision-making it could almost be a parody if it wasn’t so damned earnest. (she ordered a pizza with her credit card online! GOT HER!)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – 1999 – Musical
Like just about everyone on my Facebook feed, my wife and I watched the first of the Andrew Lloyd Webber free musicals. This set off a series of musicals, so expect more in the future! Donny Osmond leads a joyfully stagey and cheesy filmed version of the musical based on a sequence in Genesis. It’s bright and cheery, fun, and jovial. Donny Osmond is a great choice for Joseph, but really everyone is spot on.
April 4th
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Volume 1- 2003- Animated Sci-Fi; Owned disc.
This Genny Tartakovsky series is some of the best short form storytelling there is. Told with minimal dialog, and maximum kick-ass action, we see several tales of battles during the early days of the clone wars. It’s highly stylized and always kinetic, with one awesome set piece after another. Obi-Wan faces off against a giant jousting knight made of tentacles and worms (straight out of Akira), Dooku tests Asaaij Ventress and sends her to fight Anakin on Yavin 4 after an impressive space battle, Mace Windu utterly destroys a battalion of battle droids while taking down a World Crusher – using some awe-inspiring moves, and Ki-Adi Mundu and other Jedi try to survive an attack by General Grevious. In his first appearance, he proves to be a hell of a villain, creating a tense as hell segment. Add in simple but perfect animation and it’s a wonderful slice of Star Wars.
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 1978, Musical; Hoopla
For my first pick of our month of musicals, I had to go to one of the worst. Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees heading up a Beatles jukebox musical – often altering the songs into different genres for wildly varying results. Some work, Aerosmith’s Come Together is still played on the radio – more than the original I think, and others like anything George Burns speaks-sings does not. There is a loose collection of several half-formed plots and come and go as the scene needs, with taking musical instruments to different villains, a rebuilding of a town to evil, and who knows what else. It’s a mess that is more boring than it should be, despite being utterly insane (that cover of Mean Mr. Mustard!). Steve Martin as Dr. Maxwell singing Maxwell’s Silver Hammer is my personal highlight, bringing a weird energy to the proceedings that no other song matches.
April 5th
The Platform -2020- Horror; Netflix
As subtle as a brick to the face, this gory metaphor movie is one of my favorites of the year. A man chooses to spend a few months in an unique prison: two people share a level in a giant shaft. Every day a platform of food slowly descends down the levels with the upper levels taking far more than their share, leaving the lower levels to scrounge, fight, and starve. Don’t ask how it works. It doesn’t matter. It’s the metaphor, not the mechanics. The movie is engaging, thrilling, and shocking. It has much to say and more blood to spill. <<Second option: Tony’s review>>
A Chorus Line – 1985; Musical; Owned disc
It almost works. Almost. No doubt this show works much better on stage. But being set almost completely on and around a stage doesn’t make a very cinematic musical (though plenty of enclosed shows can be, this one not). In the same way as Cats, characters introduce themselves and do their bit. At just shy of 2 hours, it feels stretched and repetitive. But then again, the dances and songs are wonderful.
Tiger King – 2020; Documentary. Netflix
Like the majority of the internet, I watched the year’s biggest documentary. Unlike the majority of those who watched it, I really didn’t dig it. While I did appreciate the piles and piles of crazy, I couldn’t quite connect. Although it does go into the crimes, Joe Exotic is too often framed as a cult hero rather than the absolutely awful human being he is. Just about everyone on this show is an awful person. Except the continually misgendered Saff, and yes, Carole Baskins. She is smeared as much as the other cat owners. But she’s legit, seriously. It’s too bad the internet has lifted up Joe Exotic and made her out to be a villain. In many cases, you can’t blame how people react to something, but I do put it on the filmmakers in this case. Think of this – we see Joe make claims against Baskin – about her cage size, volunteers, etc (and yes, her husband. I’m not getting into that here). He’s wrong, wrong wrong. Does the film take a slight moment to refute his claims? Nope. Although coming from crazy pants, it is presenting and gets taken as truth. Besides a few moments in the last episode, nearly everything is presented completely subjectively. There is no outside, neutral voice to give a truth to the situation. It’s sensationalism, not storytelling.
Blow the Man Down; 2020; Crime-Drama; Amazon Prime
This small-town-crime flick, written,directed, and starring women, is one of the best films to fly under the radar of the year. It’s a well-worn plot, an accidental killing of someone related to the local crime circuit, to cover-up, to things sliding out of control. But it’s different and fresh in the way it’s told- just as any Coen-like film would (there is a lot of Blood Simple and Fargo DNA here). The characters are smartly written, avoiding the common tropes and idiotic decisions that plague these films. It’s a very controlled spiral, self-contained, and never getting idiotically huge. Sophia Lowe and Morgan Saylor are stars in the making with their lead performances, and holy fuckin’ shit Margo freakin’ Martindale. Wow. <<More! Tony’s review>>
April 1st
Video Palace – 2018 Via Shudder.
Ok, this is technically a podcast, but it’s available on Shudder as a TV show so ‘shrug’. I love the idea of Video Palace, a man tries to hunt down a series of cursed tapes after he comes across one and it fucks him up. It’s all good for half the run but after a while begin to get repetitive and stumbles into a very underwhelming ending.
Booksmart – 2019 – Written by Katie Silberman & Susanna Fogel; Directed by Olivia Wilde.
This was very high on my best of 2019 (Podcast, written) and it held up on a second viewing. I laughed just as hard this time around. Do not dismiss it as a new Superbad, it is far more than it. There is an honesty in the relationships and the characters behind the glare that comes with parabolic actions of a high energy film. Beanie Feldstien and Kaitlyn Dever may be amazing, but Billie Lourde runs away with the movie as the scene-stealing Gigi. Espeically wonderful is the use of the side-characters. They aren’t one note, we get to know them enough and I loved the turn on the head of the standards of the genre by having them be just as smart and capable as our leads. They aren’t the caricatures Molly and Amy think they are or what the average movie of this sort has them as.The crass or gross out bits (not too many really) are earned and not shoved in just to get a reaction and are played with pitch perfect timing. Watch it on Hulu.
March 31
Toys; 1992; Comedy/Drama; Written and directed by Barry Levinson
Well, that was sure a movie. Another case of a writer-director’s pet project going on so long that any sense of honest goodness is lost down a deep dark whole of pure insanity.I’ve been trying to figure out who this movie is for. It’s too adult for kids and too childlike for adults. I get it’s supposed to be a child-like view of the adult world of corporations and the miliary, but it comes off like a massive trainwreck. From Joan Cusack’s plastic clothes, Robin Willims trying to get laid via a ventriloquist dummy, the whole thing taking place in the Windows 98 background, it’s incredibly compelling in its oddity.
March 30
The Corpse Vanishes; 1942; horror
Bela Legosi! Another cheapy, cheesy flick for MST3k. A series of brides die on their wedding day after being given an orchid by Bela. You think this would be an easy mystery to solve. Nope. Takes a plucky reporter to pretend to get married to solve it. Fun ride. (Mst3k)
The Crawling Hand; 1963; horror
An astronaut’s disemboided hand kills people. Evil Dead 2 or Idle Hands, this is not. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz (Mst3k)
Kedi; 2016; documentary
KITTIES! This lovely documentary follows a half dozen or so street cats in Istanbul. Incredibly simple, but expertly done. Each story of the cats and the variety of humans they come across of all walks of life are engaging and tug at your heart. My wife and I cheered along, and were very vocal in our reactions. Kedi also presents a wonderful view of an ancient and vibrant city. A unique perception of a travel log.(for those sensitive to animal harm and death I note – there is one moment of a cat close to death, but just the one; it’s a very positive piece)
March 29
Kate Plays Christine- 2016; Drama/Documentary; Written and directed by Robert Greene
The other movie about Christine Chubbuck from 2016 (the first is below somewhere). This one is a semi-documentary following an actress researching Christine for a movie. It’s well received, but I really didn’t like it. I found it incredibly pretentious and forced. In many ways it’s meant to be exploring the danger of getting too into character, but everything Kate Lyn Sheil does feels scripted and designed. She’s not the actress to pull this off. When speaking to those around the real woman, she’s really awkward and it’s all weak sauce. I mean, the movie she’s working on isn’t real and she knows it. So her breaking is the idea. Christine herself wasn’t a good reporter in real life, so maybe it’s trying to be meta? If so, it failed.
Stargirl – 2020; Drama; Written by Kristin Hahn, Jordan Horowitz & Julia Hart from the novel by Jerry Spinnelli.
This Disney+ exclusive may be too twee and quirky for many. For the intended audience, it may work better. Stargirl herself is very much manic-pixie-dream-girl, existing to help Leo and that’s a problem. The movie does get a little into the problems of this trope, but also lives by it. That said, Grace VanderWaal as the titular character is phenomenal. Disney has their claws into her now, so I’m sure we’ll see a bunch of her in the future. On the whole, the film is rather enjoyable Sunday-afternoon entertainment.
Congo – 1995; Action/horror. Written by John Patrick Shanley from the book by Michael Crichton; Directed by Frank Marshall.
Jurassic Park was a huge hit in 1993 (and may be the best movie of all time). Of course a few other Crichton projects were green lit afterwards, often to be hit with production issues – Sphere, 13th Warrior, with Congo being the first of these three awful movies. Goddamn, this movie is so fuckin’ stupid. An endless travel trip to get to the titular location gets tiring. The load of single use characters that add nothing. Tim Curry utterly wasted. People in monkey suits speaking computer sign-language. Obvious sets. And finally LAURA FREAKIN’ LINNEY BLOWING UP ATTACKING APES WITH A LASER BEAM. That sentence there makes it worth it, with a single use Bruce Campbell to start and Tim to try to push though.
Pieces – 1982 – Written by Rick Randall, Roberto Loyola, Directed by Juan Piquer Simon. Via Joe Bob Briggs The Last Drive In.
Oh man, I wish I had seen this wonderful artifact of over the top entertaining Italian Giallo slasher cinema. Everything is thrown against against the wall as someone bloodily slashes his way across a “Boston” campus. So many awesome and gruesome kills, over the top bad acting, and BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD.
March 28
nada
March 27th
An Inconvenient Truth – 2006 –
Al Gore’s film and book became iconic and a touch point of culture, but I never got around to reading and watching until this year (read the book back in February). They follow each other pretty directly. It’s heartbreaking what is happening, and it’s even worse now 14 years later. Gore and company present the information straight forward and clearly for general public consumption and it works well.
High School Musical – 2006; Musical; Written by Peter Barsocchini. Directed by Kenny Ortega. (watched with a great Rifftrax)
Sue me, I kinda like it. Catchy, peppy, and fun with a tongue firmly in cheek.
March 26th
Fall of the House of Usher– 1950
A dreamlike atmosphere keeps a mostly hammy take on the classic tale sinking completely. The acting and the addition of a hag charater who exists for jump scares don’t do any favors. Nor does the obvious modern additions to the manor house – hey look, aluminum gutters and new windows kill mood.
Magic Magic – 2013 – horror; written and directed by Sebasitan Silva
Ugh. Shit flick. Juno Temple’s Alicia has been through some shit so she meets up with her cousin Emily Browning in Chile for a weekend away. But Browning leaves the obviously uncomforatble cousin with her asshole friends – including Michael Cera trying to play a creep. Of course things go wrong. Plods along trying to be edgier than it is and just comes off infuriating.
Ares – 2020- Limited Netflix series
Other people liked this, but I hated it. (yeah, not a good watch day, all three are bad). So many twists and turns far past the point of credibility. Feels like there was no overall plan so they came up with plot points on the fly.
March 25
I got nothing.
March 24
The Night Key – 1937; Written by Jack Moffitt, Tristam Tupper, directed by Lloyd Corrigan
Boris Karloff! Karloff plays an inventor of an alarm system who is screwed over the company that buys his patent. So what to do? Help robbers break in to the system he last designed. Karloff is very good in a sympathetic role, and elevates what could be a forgotten B-picture.
Beast – 2018 – Thriller; Written and directed by Michael Pearce
An incredible performance Jessie Buckley leads this small town crime/murder movie. A put-upon odd girl befriends a man who wonders into town as murders crop up. Tensions run high with personal dramas and violence. You may think “I’ve seen this before” and yes you may have but it feels fresh with a strong eye by newcomer to feature films Pearse.
March 23
Tangled – 2010.
One of the best of modern era Disney (Princess and the Frog is my favorite, see below).Great songs – “I have a dream” and “Mother Knows Best” are favorites – and straight up hilarious.
Frozen II – 2019
I didn’t like it in theatres, and I don’t like it on the second viewing. Forgettable songs, a mess of a plot that doesn’t hold up to any scruitany, including wasting so many of characters by pushing them to the side, and then introducing new characters to shove them off to the side as well. Add in a hefty amount of white savoirness and we got let down of a sequel to a movie that was overhyped over the last seven years as is.
March 22
The Beast With a Million Eyes; 1955; Sci-fi Horror; Written by Tom Filer, Directed by David Kramasky, Roger Corman, Lou Pace
Most notable for its title, this is Corman’s take of Color Out of Space, with the meteor being a coffeepot with some shit added to it, and the monster you see in the ads that barely features. Slow, and draggy, I expected more entertainment from the well-known nature of the film.There is some fun in the hokeyness but a lackluster effort.
The Room; 2020; Horror; Directed by Christian Volckman, Written by Sabriana B. Karine, Eric Foreisteier, et al.
No, not the Tommy Weiseau movie. This is a Shudder exclusive starring Olga Kurylenko and Kevin Janssens as a couple who just lost their kid who moves into a big mansion with a mysterious room, and a weird electrical system. Turns out the room can grant wishes – no spoiler, this is like 3 minutes into the movie. As with any monkey-paw situation, things don’t work out well. We know this and the movie knows it too, so it’s a well-told story. It doesn’t quite have enough steam to make it all the way to the end due to that dark issue of having to move the plot to a conclusion. That and one truly awful performance that takes any energy out. But a worthy watch nonetheless with some interesting ideas.
March 21
Mst3k Season 1 Episode 4: Women of the Lost World.
An early classic of a ship of men landing on a pre-historic type planet with scantily clad women. Cheesy enough with good riffs.
Cheetah Girls; 2003; Teen Musical; Written by Alison Taylor from the books, Directed by Oz Scott
My wife picked this from Disney + as one of her teenage favorites. The ups and downs of a set of thinly written high school girls- led by Raven- as they are challenged in friendship and professionalship when they get signed to a contract. So I can’t help but note I’m damned sure this is not how the business works. Its so slapdash on that end it keeps me from letting the movie in. I’m not the audience but it was fine enough for what it is, though there is a feel of “we’re making this for Disneychannel so we don’t need to try too hard.”
March 20
Murder-rock: Dancing Death; 1984. Horror; Written by a whole bunch of people including Director Lucio Fulci.
Also known as Slash-Dance. Tony recommended this (it’s his copy of the movie I watched), but it didn’t land for me. Sorry Mr. Kay. As gorgeous as to be expected but the story was far lighter than normal, which is disappointing with the prospect of the plot.
Get Gone – 2020; horror. Written and directed by Michael Thomas Daniel.
Holy shit. What a POS. This may be the absolute worst movie of the year, competing with Verotika. Lin Shaye is a plus though, Verotika doens’t have her. This also has Nic Cage’s sons. They look so much like him, but they cannot act as well as him – good or cheesy. It’s a rip of The Hills Have Eyes with college students on a bad YouTube show and builders coming onto the repossessed land of a family. For a family that is supposed to be inbred rednecks off the grid, it sure looks like a lived in trailer-home they rented from AirBnB. Lots of death, but no blood and AWFUL makeup to make the Cages into albino. Clown white slathered on the face. No where else. Hands, neck. Etc. Not even so bad it’s good, Mst3k/Rifftrax level. Just bad.
March 19
The Most Beautiful – 1944. Written and Directed by Akira Kurosawa.
It may be propaganda, but a damned good film. The story of women working in a factory during World War II Japan. It functions as part narrative, part documentary. Beautiful and engaging.
Five Guns West; 1955; written by R. Wright Campbell. Directed by Roger Corman
Cheapie western, set during the Civil War, where five criminals are pardoned to search for lost gold. They bicker and fight, good and bad lines are drawn, and they meet up with Dorothy malone. Just ok.
Cabinet of Dr Caligari -1920 – Written by Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz, Directed by Robert Wiene.
Seen this countless times and it holds up. It’s influence cannot be overstated (calling Tim Burton and Rob Zombie). Still an engaging story with a great look and a solid plot.
Freaks – 2019 – One of my favorites of last year. Review here. ON NETFLIX. GO WATCH NOW.
March 18th
Mary – 2019 – Horror – Written by Anthony Jaswinski, Directed by Michael Goi; Starring Gary Oldman, Emily Moritmer; 84 mi. First time watch; Library Rental; Bob
Why the hell is Gary Oldman in this piece of junk? A free trip to the Caribbean? Yeah that’s it. An awful script drags this story of a cursed personal yacht far past the point of interest. Dead Calm (uncursed but still) was able to keep up tension, with less people and blood for the same length of time (and go check that out when you can – early roles for Billy Zane, Nicole Kidman, and Sam Neill!) Characters make stupid decisions to try to create a tension by inserting themselves in danger and keep the plot moving. Skip it.
Star Wars Resistance – All of it – 2 seasons; 2018- 2020
This show was mostly a massive let down. Unlike the previous animated series, Rebels, Resistance is nearly completely separated from the rest of the canon. Sure, Poe and BB8 pop-up, along with other characters from the sequel trilogy (a lot of owing of General Hugs… er Hux) but Rebels built to and retroactively influenced what we see on screen Rogue One and the Original Trilogy and Resistance had that opportunity and didn’t use it. I say that noting The Mandaolorian doesn’t factor in and neither does much of the written canon, but those also completely stand on its own unlike this. Resistance, by continually reminding us The Force Awakens and Last Jedi events it doesn’t commit to connection. It does have arcs and a plot that eventually moves forward but the individual episodes are repetitive and the animation is ugly.
Playing With Fire – 2019- “Comedy”? – Directed by Andy Flickman; Written by Dan Ewan and Matt Leiberman; Starring people wasting their talents.; 96 long minutes; LIbrary rental;
UUUUUGGGHHHHH. Even for a low-aiming family comedy this is a pile of drivel. Slapdash script with actors aiming as broad as they can, it is a waste of John Cena (see him in Blockers to see that he can be damned good), John Leguizamo, Keegan-Michael Key, and the always underappreciated Judy Greer. Not a single joke lands, even they try to skid it down the runway until all the skin wears off by dragging it for several minutes. And it features so many of the awful set ups of “Hey DON’T TOUCH THIS!” … someone touches it. HILARIOUS! Ugh.
Mark of Zorro – 1920- Directed by Fred Niblo. Seen a few times. Owned Disc.
A solid action flick for it’s time and ability. There’s a lot of fun and pretty damned funny. Gotta love Douglas Fairbanks
Gymkata – 1985 – Action – Directed by Robert Clouse, Written by Charles Robert Carner, based upon a book – really! – by Dan Tyler Moore. Starring Kurt Thomas, Tetchie Abgayani
I love watching a wonderfully awful cult film for the first time. I’ve heard of it, but knew nothing that happened and all the better for this ridiculous attempt at making a hero out of a famous gymnast at the time. So much of the details of the plot doesn’t’ make a lick of sense, often contradicting itself within the scene. It’s one of those movies where some sport is the most important thing in the world (like Over the Top and arm-wrasslin’). Lots of wish fulfillment of a 12 year old with an exotic princess, spies, false macho ness, and a heavy dose of Moore Bond. Gotta give something to a movie with the hero beating up 300 insane people. Sounds bad out of context, but watch the movie and you’ll see.
March 16th
16
Torso; 1973; Horror; Written by Sergio Marino, Erneto Gastaldi, Directed by Serio Martino; Starring Suzy Kendall, Taina Aumont, Luc Merenda. 89m. First time watch. Borrowed from Tony.
I loved this giallo. I love most giallos. What I find interesting is they follow the same tropes for each film, with minor deviations – but that gives the subgenre its charm. Torso has darn good kills, several red-herrings in murder and final girl, and a great look. It goes along splendidly, and then the main character makes the decision so many don’t – “I’m getting out of here so I don’t die.” Too bad the killer follows her friends to the villa and the film turns to a claustrophobic cat-and-mouse for the last act. Great choice to make this turn. Thanks Tony!
Furious 6; 2013; Action; Written by Chris Morgan; Directed by Justin Lin; Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, The Rock, Michelle Rodriguez.
After the fun that was Fast 5, I was let down most the run time of the sixth of The Fast and the Furious series. The action sequences were meh, the characters given such macho posturing, and the attempt to draw together a plot was stretched — what the hell was with Paul Walker’s prison exposition sequence??. But the climax with the world’s longest runway was pretty damned awesome (even if the very reason it happened that way is dumb as hell; “we worked on getting us here for 2 hours but just let the bad guy go because he kidnapped my girlfriend”).I is the case with today’s other review for Bad Boys, these aren’t my bag but I like to give it the chance.
Witches of Eastwick; 1987; Comedy Horror; Written by Michael Christofer from the John Updike novel; Directed by George Miller; 1h58m. First time watch; Library rental.
What a wickedly delicious flick! Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer play three best friends in a small New England town who have latent witch abilities. They wish real hard for a perfect man to show up – and he does. Satan. Played by a more-unhinged-than-normal Jack Nicholson. It’s wonderfully perverse and highly entertaining. I loved loved loved it. It does have a few dings I can’t help but mention – some aspects are brought up and not followed up on, such as the pervy principal who is ripe to get revenged upon (to prove this powers perhaps), but nothing came of it. And the climax is so rushed. The story is ripe for a re-do or a sequel.
March 15th
The Mad Monster (Mst3k 1.3); 1942; Written by Fred Myton; Directed by Sam Newfield; Starring Johnny Downs, George Zucco, Anne Nagel, GlennS trange. 2nd watch. owned disc
Cheesy Jekyll&Hyde/werewolf flick starring Glenn Strange! A mad scientiest turns a simple handman into a wolf-man, and gets revenge against the other doctors who said he was MAD MAD MAD! Movie itself is an entertaining cheapie that I’d watch without the riffing. It’s dumb fun and not a bad movie at all. The riffs are solid .
Bad Boys & Bad Boys II (17th) 1995; Action; Written by George Gallo, Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, Doug Richardson; Directed by Michael Bay. 1h59m; Second watch; 2003; Action; Written by Ron Shelton, Jerry Stahl; Directed by Michael Bay. 2h27m. First time watch. Both via neflix
With the surprisingly good reviews for the third entry, I decided to go back and watch the first two. I know I saw the first back in 1996 or so, and not sure if saw the second before. Bad Boys is a very uneven film. Lawrence and Smith have great chemistry and work very well together – I like the fact they’ve been life-long partners rather than the normal buddy-cop trope of shoving two opposites together. The downside to this is the two movies really lean into cringe humor of “people think they’re gay!” (especially in the extended sequence in the electronics store). I’m personally annoyed at one of my least favorite tropes – stretching out a lie for plot and “comedy” when the easier aspect for everyone is dropping the ruse and fill everyone in. The first film was the better of the two. It was tighter and a lot less forced. Shows the difference of Bay’s first film in 1995 to further into a career and already being known for certain tropes. The second is really shaggy at 2.5 hrs long with unnecessary long sequences and so much forced humor to replicate the first film. Let it be said – these two are awful cops, directly and openly resorting to illegalities in front of IA. I get it’s a movie and the movie lampshades it by calling it out but still. An enjoyable couple of flicks. Honestly, not quite my type of movie but good enough.
March 14th
Star Trek Generations; (details below) Commentary 2, this time with Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore. A much better commentary than the first. (March 12th). The men, who wrote the film and many episodes of Next Generation, speak candidly about the process. They speak to the mistakes they made writing, but also what works. It isn’t a slam track, but an honest assessment of a tough project – one that had to balance show fans, the general movie-going audience that might not be familiar, the studio bosses, and the ego of Shatner.
Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall. 2011; Musical, Horror, Drama. Written by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber; Directed by Nick Morris and Laurence Connor; Starring Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess; 2h40m; 2nd time watch; owned disc; review by Bob.
I love me some Phantom. This is a filmed presentation of the musical – NOT the shitty Joel Shumaker film. Being it was essentially a one-off performance, this show lacks the dynamic sets of the normal stage show, instead substituting screens but it gets it across how big and grand and showy this wonderful musical is. For a 2h40m presentation – the show plus an encore with many past performers coming on stage to sing a few of the songs again – including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford- movies. The pacing never stops running thanks to the memorable songs and characters. If you want to see the Webber version, watch this, not the movie. (more Phantom talk in our Musicals podcast episode)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show; 1975; Musical Sci-fi; Written by Richard O’Brien; Directed by Jim Sharman; Starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostick; 1h40m; Owned Disc. Seen probably at least a thousand times by now.
It’s been a few years since I left my shadow casts after nearly 18 years of performances, and I often miss the show. Although I do enjoy sleeping when I feel, along with being able to have plans, on Saturday nights. And by the end, I was rather tired of it. Yet, still, the urge for the show creeps back in like Frank into Brad and Janet’s bedrooms. My wife and I were planning on going to the Tacoma Blue Mouse show on this date, but show was canceled (as is everything at the moment), so we stayed in and watched it instead. It was like riding a bike. We enjoyed still singing along and doing the callbacks again – even if the timing was a little off. So much muscle memory, I’m confident at this point, I could still play any character in the show if you asked me right now.
As for the movie itself – it’s hard to really rate it. I’m too close. I can try a bit – it’s cheesy and has a lot of oddities, but it’s fun with awesome music. The pieces fit in such a unique manner, thus is why it’s held on as it has for 45 years. For more thoughts on RHPS – check out our podcast on the Movies That Made Us.”
March 13th
To All The Boys: P.S. I still Love You. ; 2020; Rom-Com; Written by Sofia Alvarez, J Mills Goodloe; based upon the book by Jenny Han; Directed by Michael Fimognai; Netflix; Review by Bob; first time watch. 1h41m
It’s kinda odd to have a sequel to a rom-com, even if the first was a really solid flick that I really dug despite not being the target audience at all. While the first was very good, this entry (with a third coming next year!) is weaker. Another letter to another crush forces a new love interest into the life of Lara Jean (still played by the incredible Lana Condor), making her reconsider her choice to date with Peter. It meanders a bit and lacks the energy of the first, making the whole thing a little empty. I did like the sweet awkwardness of the first steps of actual dating and the family dynamic is still solid with the little sister stealing the show. Also needed more scenes with Color Out of Space‘s Madeleine Arthur
March 12th-
Star Trek Generations: (movie details below); Commentary 1: Director David Carson and Enterprise producer Manny Coto. A very annoying commentary track. Essentially the two men praise each other and the movie for the length of the runtime. It’s okay to like the movie, especially if it’s your flick, so I’m not digging too much on that aspect but all the comments and discussions are surface deep almost feeling like an EPK interview for each of their careers.
Frida – 2002; Directed by Julie Taymor; written by Clancy Sigal, Diane Lake, Gregory Nava, Anna Thomas; from the Frida Kahlo biography by Hayden Herrera; Starring Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Geoffrey Rush, Diego Luna; R; 2h3m; first time watch; library rental; Review by Bob.
Finally watching this award-winning biopic of the famed painter. Damn, what a great flick. Salma Hayek gives her best performance I’ve seen and Alfred Molina is fantastic as Diego Garcia as well. Julie Taymor puts together a wonderful film, helped along with her unique visual style. There is a life and vigor to the film, with Hayek’s intensity mixing with Taymor’s visuals to create a wholly memorable experience.
March 11th (Bob starts Grad school this day, so expect content to drop)
Star Trek: Generations; 1994; Sci-Fi; Writte by Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga; Directed by David Carson; Starring Patrick Steward, William Shatner, Malcolm McDowell; Seen a few times; Owned Blu-ray; Review by Bob
What a waste of two different iconic Enterprise crews and one of the most entertaining character actors around. Everyone seems annoyed and slumming it. I’d be too if the script reduces TNG’s crew to extended cameos and pulls back years of character development for the sake of the general audiences not familiar with them. You can feel Brett Spiner seething at returning to the over-used “Data wants emotion!” story-line in his over-the-top performance. Our villain, Soran, and his plan are so badly sketched I’m not entirely sure what it was supposed to do and why. What it did do was force Kirk and Picard to meet very anti-climatically and then kill Kirk like a chump. Crushed by a rusty bridge. So ignoble. The Rifftrax sure helps get through.
March 10th
The Whip and the Body; 1963; Horror; Written by Ernesto Gastaldi, Ugo Guerro, & Luciano Martino; Directed by Mario Bava; Starring Christopher Lee, Daliah Lavi, Tony Kendall. First time watch; DVD borrowed from Tony; Review by Bob.
Christopher Lee’s body but not his voice (dumb Italian dubbing…) stars in Mario Bava’s wonderfully perverse gothic masterpiece. Lee plays Kurt, a man returning to his family’s seaside castle to “congratulate” his brother in marrying his ex-lover. Of course, we all know he’s there to stir things up. S&M use of whips, impressive color palettes and wild color use have all the hallmarks you’d expect with the details above. I loved watching this unfold in the Italian Gothic flick styling with long-held family secrets, knife-play, blood and an all around great watch. I’m mad Lee was dubbed over, as we all know his magnificent voice.
March 9th
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before; 2017; Comedy; Written by Sofia Alvarez from the novel by Jenny Han; Directed by Susan Johnson; Starring Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Madeleine Arthur. 1h39m; First time watch; Netflix; Review by Bob
I’m totally not the demographic for this teen romance. But dammit, I really liked this story of a social awkward high school junior who has to deal with the issues of letters she writes to her crushes, past and present, get sent out by accident. It’s very sweet – but not falsely over-sentimental, anchored by solid, natural performances especially in the lead and her family (they feel like a real family and that goes a long way). There’s an honesty of relationships, through the lens of the concept pushing things to the forefront. The film was a very pleasant watch. I’ll catch the sequel soon.
The Wave; 2020; Review soon.
McMillions; 2020; Documetary; Written and directed by James Lee Hernandez & Brian Lazarte. 6h; HBO; First time watch; Review by Bob.
We’ve been watching this weekly as it’s been released. I remember when this story broke – the massive fraud in the McDonald’s Monopoly game- and recall reading about it in other places afterwards. But it’s great to dig in through a six-part 1-hr each documentary. So many big personalities and twists and layers – the things that make an interesting documentary. True, you can go read the straight forward account. But that’s nearly as fun as approaching it from the FBI’s time line. From the first hint of this fraud and trying to crack a bit here, finding a new person over there, it makes a fascinating puzzle to watch it come together.
Not only does it tell the story well, it allows us to get to know the big players. We see the reasons why, and sympathize with them and how it all went down. It’s easy to damn them, claiming them to be criminals setting out to defraud McDonalds for their own pockets, but we see how much more there is to them, how they themselves were used by less-scrupulous people and by the end we feel sorry for them. Outside of those who turned in the pieces, we are reminded of the ramifications of a scheme. You may think “McD’s is a huge corporation? Who can it hurt?” Many people. So many people. While the documentary is often very funny, there is a constant reminder of the damages to small businesses and regular people who committed no crimes in the wake.
I highly recommend giving it a watch and listening to the accompanying podcast. And a good deal of the 3rd episode takes place when and where I went to highschool! Weird to see places I recalled! I don’t remember the events that get talked about, but I was nearby!
March 8th
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles; 2001; Comedy; Written by Matt Berry & Eric Abrams; Directed by Simon Wincer; Starring Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, Jere Burns, Jonathan Banks; 1h32; Amazon Prime; First time watch; Review by Bob
Another watch for “How Did This Get Made?”. Not quite as bad as the other movies they cover, but absolutely not a good movie. I did enjoy the previous two Crocodile Dundee movies (see below), the first more than the second; and both more than this.. Hogan’s charm still shines through a bad script (it’s known the guys writing it slummed it, and then Hogan fought credit, stating he did all the writing) with a surface level take on LA and movie making. It’s weird where Dundee’s intelligence and awareness slides all across the spectrum depending from scene to scene. Some of the jokes are funny but there is so many aspects that don’t work and humor that falls flat. For a real-life married couple, Hogan and Kozlowki have no chemistry. The kid-actor is awful. Every woman in this movie is so damned horny it’s weird. And the plot is a messy, hardly able to follow mess of “sure that’s a thing, I guess.” The movie’s a thing, I guess.
March 7th
The Haunting of Julia aka Full Circle; 1977; Horror; Written by Dave Humpries, from the novel “Julia” by Peter Straub; Directed Richard Loncraine; Starring Mia Farrow, Keir Dullea, Tom Conti; 1h38m. YouTube; first time watch. Review by Bob.
I really liked the book this film is based upon (written about in January) I didn’t like the film. It’s light and airy for a movie about mental troubles and an extreme haunting. It feels like a Lifetime Movie of the Week. I honestly thought this was a TV movie while watching it. It isn’t. Mia Farrow plays Julia, a woman who after accidentally killed her daughter, leaves her husband to start a life in London where she comes across a ghost that looks like her daughter. Farrow almost repeats her Rosemary’s Baby performance, haircut and all, from 9 years before and the film just plods through. Skip it and read the book.
Valley Girl; 1983; Comedy; Written by Andrew Lane and Wayne Crawford; Directed by Martha Coolidge; Starring Nic Cage, Deborah Foreman, E G Daily, Michael Bowen; 1h39m; Owned Disc. First time watch; Review by Bob.
One off the “should have seen this already” pile. Watched for our Nic Cage podcast; (posted soon; link goes to the latest episode). What a great flick. A sincere romance story with strong performances by Cage in his first lead role and Deborah Foreman. They have a great chemistry that burns up the screen. Loved the world of 1983’s LA. Great characters, even if we scream at the friends for telling her to choose the dickhead prep boy, but they feel real. It’s a low-stakes movie and it works out, with a great energy. It’s good to see a movie where the punks are the good people, as they are in real life, rather than asshole villains (I grumble at Troll: World Tour right now). A weird note: the woman on the poster is not Julie, but the woman Randy makes out with at the club.
Warm Bodies; 2013; Comedy-romance-Horror; Written and directed by Jonathan Levine, from the book by Isaac Marion; Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Dave Franco; 1h38m; 2nd watch; own disc; Review by Bob.
We followed up Valley Girl with another Romeo and Juliet redo (as Cage was Randy and she was Julie; here we have R and Julie), this time with people dying like the source. Warm Bodies is a pretty solid, but not a great film. The energy is a little low, kinda fitting as the main character is a zombie who has retained some sort of humanity. Then he meets Julie, and fully reawakens. We have some John Malkovich, but not enough, and he plays pretty low. Maybe it was the budget, but it feels smaller than it should be. A bigger and more interesting movie just out of reach. But still a good flick and worthy of the time to watch it. Hoult is always a good actor, and he has to give a lot in looks and grunts. So he’s a good pick. Palmer does a fine job up against him.
March 6th
Crocodile Dundee II; 1988; Comedy-Adventure; Written by Paul Hogan and Brett Hogan; Directed by John Cornell; Starring Paul Hogan, Linda Dizlowki, John Meillon; 1h48m; Starz; first time watch; Review by Bob.
Further down on March 5th, I talk how I loved the simple story for the first part of this series, no villain, no evil plot. Unfortunately, the sequel does bring that to the table, pushing more of a plot. I suppose it’s needed as couldn’t do the simplicity without being a clone of the first. Particularly since many of the jokes and bits are just that – reposed from the original. Hogans natural charm does do a great deal to keep the film moving along, but the big plot scenes don’t always work and much of it gets repetitive – particularly once the film reversed the first film and moves from NYC to Australia half way through. Not a bad movie, but watching right after the first shows the weakened idea and the repetition. Soon, I’ll get to the third one.
The Aztec Mumy Against the Humanoid Robot; horror; 1958; Written by Gullermo Calderon, Alfredo Salazar; Directed by Rafael Portillo; Starring Ramon Gay, Rosita Arenas; 1h5m. Third time; via owned disc and MST3k Season 1, ep 2
We finish up this awful series. The 65 minute runtime above is not entirely true. The first 45 minutes are recaps of the last two films. As I just watched them, it feels very very family – especially since the the 2nd film is half recap of the first. Eventually, the villain The Bat creates the robot that looks like Awesome-O from South Park. It moves like a man wearing boxes (it is) and fights the mummy with some awful choreography. And finally done with the series. This was for Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and the riffing is quick and wonderful. Lots of a good set-up in the movie to riff on and they score.
March 5th
The Sonata; 2020; Horror – Review coming soon.
Over the Top; 1987; Sport Drama; Written by Stirling Sillipahnt & Stallone; Directed by Menahem Golan; Starring Stallone, Robert Loggia, David Mendenhal, Susan Blakely, Brit Cologne. 1h33; Seen a few times; Owned Disc, Review by Bob.
Hawk! HAWKS! HAWK! One of the many wonderful things about this ridiculous family drama starring Stallone as a truck driver, who is also a world arm wrestling champion, is it never can remember if his name is Hawk or Hawks. Used pretty much interchangeably. But on the bigger level, who thought a story of a truck driver essentially kidnapping the 10 year old son he never met -thanks the mom’s illnesses both physical and mental (remember, she’s the one hiding the letters)- to reconnect with him by traveling across the west in his big rig on the way to an arm wrestling champion.
But asking “why” to the director of The Apple and Delta Force, who was half the Golan/Globus team who gave us all the best cheese of the 80s through Canon Films is a moot point. Why? Because cocaine, er, why the fuck not?
Over the Top is a fitting name. Not just because it references what, in this world at least, is the biggest and possibly only sport – televised in airports after all – arm wrestling, but everything is so melodramatic and over-blown. This a movie where Hawk(s) essentially pimps out his kid for fights, where big sweaty men trawl truck stops not for bathroom hook-ups but massive arm wrestling throw downs with their mortal enemies. Where Stallone is late to reconnect with his son (proving the relationship to the head of the military academy with no paperwork but a photo from the marriage to the mom), but only because he took the time to clean his truck from top to bottom; the same truck he rampages THROUGH Robert Loggia’s giant mansion.
It’d be entertaining without the Rifftrax, but the early riff (just Mike) makes it a double layer of fun. Hell, Rifftrax is how I found out about this flick.
Onward – REVIEW.
Impractical Jokers- Review soon.
Crocodile Dundee – 1986; Comedy; Written by Paul Hogan, Ken Shadie, and John Cornell; Directed by Peter Faiman; Starring Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowksi, John Mellon; 1h37m; Second viewing (first was 2001); on Starz; Review by Bob.
Paul Hogan is charming and charismatic as all hell. He just warms the screen with his effortless presence. You feel it through the screen, and it’s easy to see why his performance as the titular character (based upon his own feelings of being a fish out of water visiting New York for the first time) became a cultural touchstone and led the film to be a massive commercial hit, pulling in 174 million domestically.
It’s a simple story of a journalist meeting a charming man in the Outback, hearing his stories and spending a few days with him in his area; where he is in command of the area around him (even if he tricks some of it a bit for show), and then seeing him in the Big Apple when she takes him home. So we get the humor of a man who has spent his whole life in a small town in the middle of no where interacting with big city people. That’s really it, no villain, no big plot to solve (those are saved for the sequel), just a drawn from life story. It works. It’s funny. Hogan’s easy smile is catchy. And it gave us Knifey-spooney…. :-p
March 4th
The Three Christs; 2020; Drama/true-story; Written by Eric Nazarian & Jon Avnet, based upon the book by Milton Rokeach; Directed by Jon Avnet; Starring Richard Gere, Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins, Bradley Whitford, Kevin Pollak, Julianna Margulies; 1h49m; First time watch; Rented from Amazon; Review by Bob.
The Three Christs, a true story of psychiatrist in 1959 who puts three men who think they are Jesus together to seek a new way to cure them (and of course… cure himself because this is a cheesy melodrama), premiered at TIFF in 2017. The fact it dropped on Amazon in January two and a half years later, but has that cast listed above, shows the quality pretty well. An interesting idea for sure, ripe for great actors to dig into interesting characters with layers and arcs.
And they do try, especially the three actors playing the Christs. Damn do I love Walton Goggins, such an under-discussed actor. It’s too bad the script and direction takes anything that could work and drowns it in melodrama of forced feelings, golden lit shots, and meant-to-have-weight looks. That and the movie eventually pushes the Christs, the far most interesting characters, into the background in favor of Gere’s story. Yes, he’s the lead but not the title, ya know. It’s a shame as the movie does start strong but slides away as it progresses.
The Golden Glove; 2019; Horror, True Story; Written by Fatih Akin, from the novel based upon the true story by Heinz Strunk; Directed by Fatil Akin; Starring Jonah Dassler, Maragrete Tiesel. 1h55; Shudder; First time watch; Review by Bob.
Based upon the true story of German serial killer Fritz Honka, who dismembered four women in the mid 1970s, The Golden Glove has a major Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (ROOKER!) vibe to it. That’s what’s you’re in for, if you’re giving it a thought. Grim, dirty story of a whole bunch of people Monster-ized in ugly make-up living out their shitty lives. That’s about it. It’s an alright film, but while it has the vibe of Henry, it doesn’t have the story and character drive. Honka’s life as we see is a repeated set of scenes of drinking and arguing. Not a lot to build on. And not a lot to keep the audience interested.
March 3rd got nuthin’
March 2nd
Christine; 2016; Drama/True Story; Written by Craig Shilowich; Directed by Antonio Campos; Starring Rebecca Hall, Michael C Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia. 1h59m. Library Rental; First time watch; Review by Bob.
On July 15th, 1974 reporter Christine Chubbuck made history when she shot herself on live TV. This is her story. And it’s so damned good. You know the moment, but not the woman behind it, and Christine explores her life. Rebecca Hall is pitch perfect as the titular character, as she battles depression and the issues she’s facing with moving forward in her career. Our hearts break for her, even as we understand why the career is stagnant. She’s terse, odd, and has trouble connecting with others. The film is a fascinating character study, not just of her, but for everyone around her. It’s a shame this slid under the radar. Going to check out Kate Plays Christine, another look at this same situation soon.
Curse of the Aztec Mummy; 1957; Horror; Written by Guillermo Calderon and Alfredo Salazar; Directed by Rafael Portilla; Starring Ramon Gay, Rosita Arenas; 65m. Owned disc. First watch; Bob
The sequel to the Aztec Mummy, talked about below. Much of the movie is repeating what happened last time. And it’s 65 minutes long. You can probably guess the rest isn’t much to talk about. People talk about jewels and mummys. The best thing is a Santo-like “Angel” shows up. But he’s pretty awful at his luchadore superhero. This is before Santo was really a thing so not a rip, likely a few people at the time were starting to be big into this. Next up for the series is the MST3k one.
Brahms: The Boy II – REVIEW HERE.
Demolition Man: 1993; Action; Written by Peter M Lenkov, Robert Renau, Daniel Waters; Directed by Marco Brambilla; Starring Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Leary. 1h55m; Library rental; First time watch. Review by Bob.
I’ve been watching a whole bunch of Stallone movies lately (Over the Top is around the corner). After the last couple awful Rambo movies, I was glad to watch something so goddamned fun. Demolition Man is a goofy, over-the-top blast of a silly satirical action. So ridiculous with the future-speak, the new world of future Los Angeles and Stallone being love partnered with totally-his-daughter Sandra Bullock (I just listened to the How Did This Get Made and was so glad they picked up on that feel too). For once, it seemed like Stallone got the joke, either that or everyone else was so into it (particularly Snipes) that it just seeped over. The action is pretty solid, the ideas a wonderful, everyone is having fun with the extreme goofiness.
Nothing I can post about for Feb 29th and March 1. Some reading of books not finished yet and two Crypticon Film Festival watches.
Feb 28th
Joyful Noise; 2012; Written and directed by Todd Graff; Starring Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keek Palmer, Kris Kristopherson, Courtney B Vance; Library Rental; Review by Bob; First time watch.
An odd movie for sure. A gospel musical that doesn’t feature much gospel music, some very weird character choices, and feels super cheap despite the stars attached. It’s only one step above a Hallmark film. How the hell is Queen Latifah in this? Dolly, I get it. … Don’t get how she only sings like twice including a weird ghost duet with Kris Kristopherson. Watched for How Did This Get Made, but it wasn’t all that bad, just had some weirdess. Seems misguided and strange, but not bad.
The Invitation; 2015; Written by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi; Directed by Karyn Kusama; Starring Logan Marshall-Green, Emaytzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman, John Carroll Lynch, Toby Huss; 1h40m; Second watch; Via Jennifer Lovely’s Horror Movie Nights; review by Bob.
The Invitation is still a incredibly written, wonderfully performed, tense horror flick, but watching it the second time last Friday I wasn’t as gripped as the first. That’s not to say it’s bad, but does lose a bit when one knows the unfolding. But holy hell what a script and pitch perfect characters. Discount Tom Hardy is solid, but John Carrol Lynch. Wow. He’s chilling. Almost as much as as the end of the film.
Feb 27th
Bob saw The Invisible Man update: Review.
Feb 26th
Aztec Mummy; 1957; Horror; written by Guillermo Calderon, Alfredo Salazar; Directed by Rafael Portillo.Starring Ramon Gay, Rosita Arenas, Crox Alvarado; 1h20m. Owned disc; Review by Bob.
The next film in my MST3k watch through is the third in this series. As I own the trilogy of Aztec Mummy films but hadn’t seem them, seemed like a good idea to watch ’em. What a bore of a film. So much filler for an 80 minute movie. Our plot has a scientist experimenting with past-life-hypnosis. He convinces a young woman to sit for his experiment and she reveals she was a sacrificed Aztec priestess by way of very long flashback – you want to hear six minutes of a flute in a drawn out ritual? you got it! This also reveals another sacrifice of a warrior with a golden breastplate. They decide to go to the near by ruins – ones you can drive right up to, convenient, and get them. Too bad this awakens the mummy. He looks pretty alright. But the movie is a lot of cheap boredom. Oh there is a masked villain called The Bat, but eh.
Feb 25th
Christmas Presence aka Why Hide; 2019; Horror; Directed by James Edward Cook; Written by the same & Karen Taylor; Starring Charlotte Atkinson, Elsie Bennett, Lorna Brown. 85m. Shudder. First time; Bob
Nope. Do not bother with this amateur as all hell kinda-creature-kinda-mindfuck flick on Shudder. A mishmash of poorly shot and acted ideas also tries to be funny but fails. What a mess. What a bore.
The Princess and the Frog; 2019; Animated adventure; Written and directed by Ron Clements & John Musker; Featuring the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Bruno Campos, Jim Cummings, Oprah Winfrey. 1h37m. Disney Plus. I think this is the fourth time I’ve seen?; Review by Bob.
Tiana is my favorite Disney Princess. Unlike her contemporaries, she holds her own for the whole film and does not change what her dream is, instead opening up to allow more to build into it. She’s a self-made, determined woman with such a strong soul and drive. Yes, the film does use the opposites attract between her and Prince Naveed, but it works. While from 2009, the film has a the jazzy energy of the late 60s/early 70s Disney animated films like Junglebook and Aristocats and others of the era. A helluva soundtrack fits the tone and style, even if it is from Randy Newman (he’s easy to make fun of when he’s doing his standard-issue … damn that song from Toy Story 4. Tripe… but when he’s on he’s ON). I do wonder how it’d sound with actual jazz artists working the songs.
Can’t go wrong with Keith David as your baddie! His Doctor Facilier takes a lot of Voodoo Loa Baron Samedi and I love it. I need to look up all the symbols and figures around his layer. I may do that later. He’s a credible threat and “Friends on the Other Side” is one of my favorite villain songs.
I can go on and on how much I love this flick, it’s one of my favorite Disney movies and I’m sad it doesn’t have the following many of others do and didn’t do as well as Disney wanted – it made a great deal of money but ya know…. greed.
Feb 24th
Bob continues through Mystery Science Theater 3000 with the first Comedy Central episode – The Crawling Eye. Fun bad movie – love my creature features- and solid riffing. A good pick to start the show for wider audiences.
Bob finished The Amber Spyglass, the third of the His Dark Materials books. After the feels like bridging story of the 2nd book, the third is much bigger in scope but is weirdly slow in the plotting despite the grand nature of “lets go kill God” as all the forces start to meet up. Fascinating look at these worlds on the whole, especially the utter sadness of the Suburbs and the land of the Dead. Then other parts, like the battle/climax happen so incredibly quick it feels like I’m missing something. Soon I’ll start the next part of the series – of which 2 of the 3 books have been published.
Feb 23rd
Rambo: Last Blood; 2019; Written by Stallone & Matthew Cirulnick, Directed by Adrian Grunberg; Starring Stallone, Paz Vega, Yvette Monreal, Adriana Barraza. 89min. Library rental; Review by Bob; First time watch.
Well this is it. We’re at the end of the Rambo franchise. I’ve not been a fan as the reviews earlier this month will note. With a 26 on Metacritic, I came into the this – set to be the last – with very very low expectations. It’s better than my low expectations but not all that great of a flick. Rambo Last Blood feels like another script with some changes to it to make it a Rambo flick. It just feels generic and underdeveloped; a midrange TV pilot rewritten for Rambo and inspired by Taken.
We pick up 10 years after Rambo’s return home at the end of Rambo (iv). He’s settled down (finally), living at his farm with a friend and her granddaughter who has become a father to. She goes to Mexico to find her absent father, and gets kidnapped by a cartel. Rambo attacks the cartel, loses for once, and then sets up a Home Alone like series of violent traps in the paranoia tunnels under his property. I can’t tell you two things about the villains, except they’re Mexican. All but three of the Hispanic characters in this (all but Rambo are Hispanic) are evil, violent, and murderous. Add in weak borders and this is a Trump dream. Very xenophobic flick.
Throwing all that to the side – hows the action. It’s Rambo, so violent action is expected. For fans just wanting that – you’ll be let down. It’s a good 50 minutes until Rambo takes on the cartel the first time. And 1h7 before they blindly walk into his trap. That’s over about 7 minutes later. It’s bloody but just a videogame like slaugher.
Blah. Series starts strong and weakens entry to entry.
Feb 22nd
The Lodge (2020); The Lodge is a very well made, but hard to watch film. You’re mileage will vary depending how much you go for Aster or Von Trier like films – did you see the writer/director’s previous film Goodnight, Mommy?, and how much go along with things getting rather weird. It has so much atmosphere and tension. Not for everyone, but I was all on board.
Feb 21
After Earth; 2013; Sci-Fi; Written by M Night Shyamalan and Gary Whitta; Directed by M Night Shyamalan; Starring Will Smith, Jaden Smith, David Denman, Sophie Okonedo, Zoe Kravitz; 1h40; Library; First time watch. Review by Bob;
Finally catching up to the one Shyamalan movie I hadn’t’ seen for “How Did This Get Made?”- for an episode that came out the weekend of the movie’s release. A worthy movie for their comments. Let’s lead with Jaden Smith is just awful. Whatever accent he wants to do is so unnatural and his readings are just weird. BUT, he is acting against CG creatures and voiceover of an off-screen Will Smith. No doubt a hard thing to do for a newish actor (I recall liking him in Karate Kid the one time I saw that remake). However, before that, the multi-person scenes are really oddly made and performed by everyone. And directed by a once-great director at the bottom of his fall – before rebuilding (I hated Glass, but others dug it so there’s that). The adventure of young Smith working his way across the Earth landscape could have been interesting if it didn’t look so damned fake. Lots of weird lines, set-ups and payoffs. I grew bored most the way through.
#Cats_the_mewvie. 2020; Documentary; 90m; Netflix. Bob;
No, not the Tom Hooper cat-astrophe of the end of the last year, but a new documentary on Netflix about the internet’s obsession with felines. As cat owners who loves to watch cat videos, of course my wife and I put this on. Light exploration of the subject, highlighting the history of cat-internet and the famous cats of the web.So many cute cats! It’s interesting to see the people behind the cats – and explores why they have tossed into the famous cat world – whether by accident (lil Bub) or trying to curry a life from their cats (a bunch of “influencers” I don’t remember). Kitties!
Feb 20
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil; 2019; Fantasy; Written by Linda Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster; Directed by Joachim Ronning; starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer; 2h; Library rental; first time view; Bob
I really liked the 2014 look at the retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Bad CG, but good character work and an interesting new take on the story with a great set of performers to bring it to life. So I’m sad to say the sequel tosses all that out of the window besides the bad CG, which is doubled down on.
Everything and everyone becomes surface deep, pushing everyone into a minor character role in an underdone script Kinda weird when even the title character goes away a while. Everyone stumbles their way from plot point to plot point and no actor seems like they want to be there. It’s too busy and too green-screened. It’ll be on D+ soon enough I’m sure. If still hold interest, check it then while reading the internet.
Feb 19
Popeye; 1980; family musical; Written by Jules Feiffer from the E C Segar characters; Directed by Robert Altman. Starring Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Ray Walsto, Paul Dooley, Paul Smith; 2hr; Library Rental. Seen a bunch on tv as a kid but forgot most of it; Review by Bob
This film gave me nightmares. Not as a kid when I first saw it, but now, on the night of the 19th to 20th. Not kidding. Say what you will, it got into my head. Popeye is a weird film. It’s overly produced and designed to the point of insanity. The songs are oddly dropped in to the degree people forget it is a musical (as noted on our podcast, which is why I went back to see this again). Its jokes are often so stagy they feel over-rehearsed or as of asylum inmates performing the same action again and again without the ability to stop.
But Popeye is not a bad movie, despite the very odd and awkward feeling opening that made me think “this is going to be a long two hours.” I don’t know if it was shot in order, but as the film progresses, it settles into a tone and feel and starts to come alive. Popeye is the distillation of decades of newspaper strips and animated shorts given life as a live-action film. Remember this, and it is an enjoyable flick. It’s nostalgic and beholden to the youths of those involved; and replicates the characters and gags of these sources.
Throwing all this at the screen makes it a busy mish-mash but also a loving one. It’s obvious how much care was done to be true to the sources – particularly in Feiffer’s script – apparently shot word for word from the writing. The detail put in is astounding. Apparently every person on screen, every sign in the background, every building is from the world created by Segar. This alone makes for a more interesting film that some bland “let’s please everyone” update that eschews the creation for the widest-audience reach.
The casting is spot-on and game for what could be very silly. Robin Williams in his first leading film role as Popeye, Ray Walston as Pappy, Paul Dooley as Wimpy, and Paul Smith as Bluto are all great but holy shit Shelley Duvall is made to be Olive Oyl.
I came into Popeye this time as an adult expecting to have a hellish 2 hours of a mess but found myself really loving it. It’s an unconvential film on just about every level but it’s also a Robert Altman/Robert Evans movie so you kinda expect that.
Fantasy Island; 2020; Horror; etc
Like the others listed here in theatres, I’ll give this a review when I get caught up. But the basic take: an alright idea from the TV show of the 70s;, but an abysmal script and bad acting sink the film.
Feb 18
Rambo (4); 2008; Action; Written by Stallone & Art Monterastelli; Directed by Stallone. Starring Stallone, Julie Benz, Graham McTavish. 93m; Library; First time watch. Review by Bob.
Coming back from a 20 year break, Rambo is now all about making people die with splatter and more splatter. In rescuing an idiotic team of missionaries from murderous rebels, Rambo is ninety minutes of murkily shot over blown action. Further removed from the original, this one is gleeful in its violence, splattering Burmese soldiers all over – it’s like they are made of blood bags and squibs. It’s weird I’m complaining about copious gore when I watch mostly horror flicks but there is no self-reflection or humor – as expected for Stallone. It’s purely gung-ho one-man-army paranoid fantasy.
Feb 17th
Rambo III; 1988; Action;Written by Stallone, Sheldon Lettich; Directed by Peter MacDonald; Starring Stallone, Richard Crenna, Kurtwood Smith, Spyros Fokas. 1h42m. First time watch; from Library; Review by Bob.
Following up on the 16th, we continue into the Rambo series. So, my good will from the first film is gone. I’m honestly annoyed. After the last film, Rambo has gained peace helping out monks rebuild their temple, moving past his violent life. And they start the film by telling him that’s all bunk, he’s a killer, a soldier, and he needs to do it again. Dammit movie, LET THE TROUBLED VETERAN LIVE IN PEACE. Of course, he doesn’t. Off to Afghanistan to fight the Russians to rescue Richard Crenna. He joins up with freedom fighters the US has armed and trained to repel the Russians. The name isn’t said, but yup… it’s the Taliban…. In this bloodsoaked, awfully made, lacking in anything truly interesting action film Rambo joins the Taliban. Ignoring what we know from history later, I didn’t like this at all. It’s silly, mindless, and by the end wholly ridiculous. Meh.
Chernobyl; 2019; Historical horror (it is horror); Written by Craig Mazin; Director Johan Renck; Starring Jared Harris, Emily Mortimer, Stellan Skarsgard. 320ish minutes. Streamed from HBO; Review by Bob
My wife and I finally finished the show, watching about an episode a month for a while. It’s a tough tough story to watch, and we had to be in the right frame of mind to watch. It’s a sad, true story. And one that causes anger, and tears, and horror. This is a horror show. No question. Truth can be stranger than fiction, and it is astounding how this all played out and occurred. I’m not sure how much is exactly right, what was changed for television story, and what is amalgamated (Mortimer’s character was, the end tells us that) but it’s important that it FEELS real and true, as crazy as parts can be. The detail is there. Strong writing explains detailed concepts very well, and it is naturally performed by amazing performers without feeling like exposition. Astounding as when you look at it, there is so much, nearly every line is. But when it doesn’t feel like it, it shows how great it was.
Feb 16th
Rambo: First Blood Part II; 1985; Action; Written by Sylvester Stallone and James Cameron (I had no idea he wrote this until watching); Directed by George P. Cosmatos; Starring Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Martin Kove.; First time watch; 95 minutes; Library disc. Review by Bob.
I watched First Blood for the first time over the summer and it was a great surprise. I expected a mindless action film but instead found a highly dramatic tale of a Vietnam veteran with PTSD being rejected by his own country, forced into violence by asshole rednecks. And it had well made action, with power behind each shot, to back it up. After watching Rambo: First Blood Part II, I see where my preconceptions of the character come from. Taken from prison (after the actions in the first film), John Rambo is given the chance to get closure and move on with his life with a secret mission to rescue some POWs back in the jungle. There’s some good stuff here, some smart snappy dialog and thoughts of Rambo’s headspace and gives voice to many (thanks Cameron), or starts off as such. But it also descends into a paranoid right-wing shoot-em-up by the end. It is possible for a character to devolve? The Rambo from the first film is no where to be seen by the end of this.
The Fast and the Furious; 1955; Vehicle action; Written by Jerome Odlum, Jean Howell, Roger Corman; directed by John Ireland & Edward Sampson; starring John Ireland, Dorothy Malone. 1h13m. On Tubi; review by Bob. First time watch.
To note: very little to do with the vroom vroom franchise currently racing through your mind, but Universal did licence this film’s rights for the 1999 film. So kinda remake? not really. A vacationing woman with a Jaguar stops at a roadside diner where she’s taken hostage by a framed man. Together they argue, fight, and fall in love on the way to Mexico; where they will join a race that crosses the border. Standard drive-in fare. Enough charisma and interest from the main parties not to be bored but we’re talking Corman cheapie here too. A sense of fun comes through and I had a good time. Not likely to see again though.
Feb 15th
Pain and Glory, 2019; Autobiographical Drama; Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar; starring Antonio Bandaras, Penelope Cruz, Asier Etxeandia. First watch; Library rental; 1h55m; Review by Bob;
Bandaras’s Academy nominated performance drives a heartfelt look at a filmmaker looking back on his life. On the whole, I liked the film, but I also feel I’ve seen this same thing a few times, done better with more life and style by Jodorosky in his duology of his life. It’s not a fair comparison as focus is in different ways, but I can’t help but conect. I’m really enjoying the understated Badaras of later years- I hated Life itself, but he tried to do the best he could there. Pain and Glory itself is a fine film, somber and thoughtful. I need to see more Almodovar, perhaps when I do I’ll appreciate it more.
Parasite; 2019; Dark Comedy, Drama, even a little horror. Written and Directed by Bong Joon Ho. Starring Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee. 2nd watch; Theatrical; 2h12m; Notes by Bob.
Like a few other movies on here, I’m going to give this the full review soon. This is my second time and I’m glad to say it’s just as great and still stands as my #2 of last year. Still gripping. Still darkly hilarious. Still wowing. This time I was able to pay more attention to the details in the script and production design and how it all comes together. I’ve also read more of the cultural notes that I wouldn’t get. Now I know and it brings more to the film. This story of the haves and have-nots and how their world’s collide is expertly written and designed, sliding from one wild idea & genre to the next with ease, ramping up with a delicious wit and life.
I also saw Mary Pickford in Pollyanna, Poor Little Rich Girl, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm over the last few days. Not a lot to say, interesting enough silents. Feel I’ve missed details as not familiar with the sources for each of them and many adaptations of the time are assuming the watcher has read. Pickford is wonderful and soooooo tiny!
Feb 14th – happy Valentine’s day!
Texas Chain Saw Massacre; 1974; Horror; Written by Tobe Hooper & Kim Henkel; Directed by Tobe Hooper; Starring Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, Ed Neal, Jim Siedow. With Joe Bob Brigg’s Dinners of Death on Shudder; who knows how many times I’ve seen it; 85m film, 2h40 with Briggs.
Has anyone reading these words (all two of you) not seen Texas Chain Saw Massacre? If you haven’t, go find and watch the classic flick. TCM still stands as one of the most utterly disturbing films. The amazing production and sound design, Daniel Pearl’s cinematography, and iconic performances by everyone involved build to a movie that is still tense, scary, and gripping after so many viewings. LOOK WHAT YOUR BROTHER DID TO THE DOOR!!
The Furies- 2019; Horror; Written and directed by Tony D’Aquinto. Starring Airlie Dodds, Linda Ngo. 83 minutes. Shudder; first time watch.
If you can see my face right now, you’d see a “welllllll” grimace. On the plus side, there is massive amounts of well made gore and blood. On the other side, much of it is context less violence against screaming women. And that’s the point of the movie. Women are captured to be hunted and killed. There is some fighting back, but still feels really misogynist, especially with the character’s actions.
Feb 13th
Bob and Tony saw CALL OF THE WILD
Bob watched SONIC THE HEDGEHOG alone.
Reviews coming for both. But I can give the same notes for much of it – middle of the road family flicks that work well in fits and spurts. But eve the parts that don’t work as well aren’t awful. Both feature CG leads – Sonic is as good as he could look and works. Buck the Dog doesn’t – he’s distracting and takes me out of the film. Neither are great films, but both are just fine afternoons for a family day at the movie and have no regrets about seeing either. Spoilers: both will get C+ reviews.
Feb 12th
Serpent Island; 1954; Adventure horror; Written by Tom Gries; Directed by Tom Gries and Bert I Gordon. Starring Sonny Tufts, Mary Munday; 63 Min. First time watch; Owned disc. Review by Bob
The first (uncredited) film from Bert I Gordon offers little of what makes his movies cheesy fun. Like its discmate Monster From the Ocean Floor (see below), Serpent Island finds a woman on vacation in an exotic place when danger comes through. She hires two men to take her to Haiti to reclaim “her family treasure.” I put that in quotes as it’s clear the former slaves and indigenous people reclaimed what is there’s. It’s called out but dismissed. The film itself is a dull slog of bad acting and melodrama mixed with the Gordon staple of stock footage.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire- 2019; Drama. Written and directed by Celine Sciamma; Starring Noemie Merland, Adele Haenel, Luana Bajrami, Valeria Golina. 2h1m. Theatrical release.
I’m putting this on the slate for a full review when I get caught up (I say that a lot but I will!). Beautifully made, gorgeously shot, impeccably acted, and sharply written – Portrait of a Lady on Fire is one of the best films I’ve seen in the last few years. It’s a film that digs into your heart and mind as you watch it and doesn’t let go. It’s riveting. I’ll cut myself off except to see it as soon as possible as it rolls into your town.
Feb 11th
Crucifixion; 2017; Directed by Xavier Gens; Written by the Hayes Brothers; Starring Sophie Cookson; Corneliou Ulici; 90m; First time watch; Shudder; Review by Bob
A very annoying journalist travels to Eastern Europe to investigate an exorcism that killed a nun, looking to highlight the dangers of zealotism in religion leading to deaths. Of course, she finds it may be realer than that. Are you surprised? Of course not. This exorcism film offers little new to chew on, is highly repetitive, and just lacks any thing to recommend. I’d expect something a bit smarter from the writers of Conjuring, but then again, they also wrote this year’s The Turning and Whiteout (I did like their House of Wax). I’m reminded of the spate of mid-00s cheap horror films that were filmed in Eastern Europe. Interesting real locations – I would love to explore the abbey (I swear in some shots it looked like the one from The Nun) – and lots of people acting oddly. Oddly in our English lead tries to act through an American accent and all the locals in the film are acting in not-their-native language so it comes off weird and stilted. Everything about it is weird and stilted.
In books, Bob finished two. A Lion Among Men (317 pages; wife’s book) is the 3rd of Gregory MacGuire’s Wicked books after that one and Son of A Witch. Having read these three, Lost, and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister – I’ve finally come to the conclusion I don’t like MacGuire’s writing and storytelling at all. I also finished Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarcyuk (272 pages; library). I liked this a great deal more. Fantastic use of character voice to approach a murder-mystery in a different manner. An odd woman gets herself involved in trying to solve murder/accidents around her secluded Polish village.
Feb 10th
For Sama; 2019; Documentary. Directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts; Bob; Amazon Prime. 96min
This Oscar-nominated documentary follows a few years years in the lives of hospital personnel in eastern Aleppo, Syria though the lens of a documentarian making a journal for her daughter Sama, a toddler when filming ends. Fascinating film that puts real faces, voice, and lives to those who are often just glanced by in the news when it speaks of the Syrian civil war. We see amazing good-hearted people who live and breathe, who fight against what the regime and Russia throw at them, who deal with the traumas that come from the fighting (in many heartbreaking and infuriating scenes noting the results of the violence). But we also see the happy moments in their lives, of family and community, of weddings, children, and attempts to find mirth in their situation. Watch this on Amazon Prime to get a look at the lives of those on the ground over there.
Monster from the Ocean Floor; 1954; Creature Feature Horror; Written by Bill Danch; Directed by Wyott Ordung; produced by Roger Corman. Starring Anne Kimbell, Stuart Wade, Dick Pinner (sounds like a wrestling porn pun name). 64 minutes; from owned disc. First time watch.
On the other end of the spectrum is a light early Corman B-picture. While he wrote a draft and was a credited producer on Highway Dragnet (review on Feb 4th), this was the first he was heavily involved with in every aspect; as so far as performing many tasks such as being the set truck driver, setting up in the mornings and tearing down at night. Outside of the Corman’s start trivia, there isn’t much to recommend for this one. A woman is on vacation in Mexico and meets up with a manly scientist – complete with the Science! dialog well parodied in Lost Skeleton of Cadavra who is surveying a bay with his Scuba-submarine. Prepare to see a lot of that sub. So much slow underwater vehicle moving, I felt like watching Thunderball. They hang out, listen to a new legend of a monster eating the locals (new as this is an atomic sourced monster) and eventually get some shots of a one-eyed giant amoeba. It flails around oddly with the drawn on the film itself eye and dies. Very slow moving film, but I did really like Anne Kimbell, who thankfully isn’t written as a damsel in distress. Her career only went 4 more years, and it’s a shame because she has a nice B-movie charm.
Feb 7th — I have nothing to report for the 8th and 9th. I watched the Oscars. so there’s this.
Marriage Story; 2019; Drama; Written and directed by Noah Baumbach. Starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johannson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta. 2h17m. Review by Bob; Netflix.
It took me to Oscar weekend to watch. Late, I know. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put myself through the no-doubt emotional ringer of Baumbach’s story of the dissolution of a marriage. It was a hard film, but a damned fine one. It had an honest script that only a few times felt like it wasn’t truly drawn from life – mostly when we get speeches. I think I’m the only one who didn’t care for Laura Dern’s Mary/motherhood speech. Took me out of the naturalness in everything else. Adam Driver and ScarJo where wholly believable. And fuck Ray Liotta’s character. That guy ruined everything, as I honestly cared for both of our leads. While I feel the movie is more in Charlie’s side, the film is mostly balanced as not not be good-guy/bad-guy and important as through everything Charlie and Nicole love eachother and that’s important. I don’t think it’ll crack my top ten when I update but comes darn close.
Timmy Failure, Mistakes Were Made. 2020; Family Comedy; Written and Directed by Tom McCarthy, from the book by Stephan Pastis; Starring Winslow Fegley, Ophelia Lovegood, Wallace Shawn. 1h39m. Disney+, First time watch, Bob.
Timmy Failure, Mistakes Were Made is a very fun, incredibly charming story of imagination and the fun of a odd-outlook on life. It’s adapted from the book written by Stephen Pastis, creator of newspaper comic Pearls Before Swine, so you know there will be a strong, often-slightly-demented and odd sense of humor (hell, it is in Portland Oregon and leans into its setting’s oddity) through this story of an 11-year-old detective. Timmy has a bad-haircut and a heck of an imagination, he talks to his (thankfully) voiceless imaginary polar bear, and has imaginary story cut-aways like Doug or JD on Scrubs. He seems himself as an Encyclopedia Brown, coming up with an elaborate plot going on his town. It’s sweet and fun and a great family flick. The relationship he has with his mother Lovegood (she was the titular character in Autopsy of Jane Done, good to see her up and about!) is true. There is a dark cloud in their lives of her money-troubles and other issues, and that allows a truer nature to this flick. Yeah, I recommend it.
Yesterday; 2019; Written by Richard Curtis; Directed by Danny Boyle; Starring Himesh Patel; Lilly James; Joel Fry; 1h56m; From the Library, 2nd time watch.
Three for three in movies I really liked today. I saw this in theaters and absolutely loved it, left the auditorium crying like a baby. I have no qualms to admit crying at movies. Another sweet, positive movie about celebrating imagination and creativity. Patel gives a star-making turn as a failing musician who, after a world-wide black out, seems to be the only one who remembers the music of the Beatles. So he takes it upon himself to make-an-unfailure by passing them off as his own. Patel is utterly charming as a man trying to find his place with a whole new world placed in front of him. Should he keep with the lie and take the fame, scale back a while, or just stay in town with his manger/bestie Lily James, obviously nursing a crush on him. James has a rather thankless role but she’s great as always, and I try to steer away from this but I can’t help it, cute as all hell. We see the love and pain in her eyes and performance.
We all know the music of The Beatles is something special, and the film brings that joy of their music in a new way, using them as a celebration of music and love. On this second viewing, it does feel a little of the length in the 2nd act after an astounding first. Many are upset over the end, but I think it works. The actually end is an utter joy, but there is a particular scene with a particular person that is sob-city.
Feb 6th
Troop Zero: 2020; Comedy; Written by Lucy Alibar; Directed by Bert & Bertie; Starring McKenna Grace, Viola Davis, Jim Gaffigan, Allison Janney; PG; 94m; first time watch; Amazon Prime; Review by Bob.
I wanted to see this when it screened at SIFF 2019, but missed it. Glad to have it pop up now. Troop Zero is a sweet family flick, led by McKenna Grace – a strong young actress making a splash recently in Annabelle Comes Home and The Haunting of Hill House. She plays one of a group of misfit children starting their own Not-Girl-Scout troop in rural Georgia in 1977. They face off against snobbish girls led by Allison Janney and of course learn about themselves and gain self-confidence along the way. Troop Beverly Hills vs Ernest Goes to Camp? It’s a bit twee at times, but has a lot of heart and sweetness throughout.
Birds of Prey- Review
Boy Erased; 2018; Drama; Written and directed by Joel Edgerton from the memoir by Garrand Conley. Starring Lucas Hedges, Nichole Kidman, Joel Edgerton, Russell Crowe. 1h55m; First time watch; Library; Bob
Gay conversion therapy is abuse. No dancing around it. It’s awful, demeaning, dangerous and should be outlawed. Fuck you Mike Pense for pushing for it. Anyway, this true-story drama concerns a young college student sent to gay conversion therapy after he’s outed by another gay college student who raped him. As he is the son of a Baptist preacher, this news doesn’t come home well and the boy and his mother go for two weeks. We see how awful these places are – diminishing the self-confidence of young people, telling them they are worthless and beating them with cherry-picked Bible verses. It’s heartbreaking how much hate is thrown at them. Edgerton, who previously directed the disturbing in a different way The Gift, gets the message across without being too “preachy” at those opposed to homosexuality, trying to give a reasons why and their battle against themselves (especially in Crowe). I will say, Hedges keeps getting nominations, but I don’t see it. I find him an uncharasmatic block of wood actor, starring out with a clinched jaw and little emotion until he gets to yell in everything. He reminds me of Jesse Eisenberg minus the Jeff Goldbumness.
Feb 5th
Miss Americana ; 2020; Documentary; Directed by Lana Wilson; Starring Taylor Swift. 85 Minutes. Netflix. First time watch.
Yes, I – Bob, watched the Netflix Taylor Swift documentary. Willingly. And I liked it. It’s easy to hate on TaSwizzle. But she’s a great musical artist. Really. And yes, this documentary is very much a PR thing. Taylor is the main interview subject and she’s all over. So don’t expect a warts and all sort of thing. In fact, it slides right on over the criticisms against her – we all know the joke of series of boyfriends (no shame; as any person is apt to date a bunch of people in their lives) and others. Swift mostly comes out alright – it shines on a light on her life and balancing living and fame and how cognacent she is on all things. I believe she’s an honest, good person; a very intelligent woman and a hell of a song writer. It does get a bit self-congratulation when it comes to her political stance and voicing her opinion in 2018. She should voice her thoughts – she has a platform and it should be used. But there is a heck of a lot of patting herself on the back. But yes, this was an enjoyable doc and I learned insight on her, although filtered through her.
The Last Chase – another KTMA MST3k with Lee Majors and Burgess Meredith. In the future after a gas crisis, a former racer comes across a working car and a nefarious plot. It’s nonsense and boring.
Feb 4th
Sanshiro Sugata; 1943; Marial Arts; Written and directed by Akira Kurosawa (from the novel by Tsuneo Tomita); 1h19 min (used to be longer, but 17 min have been lost); From the Library
Continuing my look at the early works of famous writers/directors/producers, today we see Kurosawa’s first, about one of the first Judo fighters, as he trains and learns humility. As noted with Ghost Stories, there is something lost in culture for many of the character moments, but this is a damned fine movie and it’s no wonder Kurosawa became KUROSAWA. Many of his trademarks are notable, and there are strong characters and moments. He has great control over his scenes and camera. His third film was a sequel to this. Look forward to it.
Highway Dragnet; 1954; Crime drama thriller; Written by Roger Corman, Herb Meadow, Jeome Odlum; Directed by Nathan Juran; Starring Richard Conte, Joan Bennet, Wanda Henderson; 71 minutes; YouTube. First time watch.
And now it’s Roger Corman’s turn, with the first thing he was directly involved with producing (and co-wrote with a zillion others). Highway Dragnet is a B-picture through and through – a Korean War vet is falsely accused of a murder and leads the police across California with two women stuck in his drama. Surprisingly tense with a unexceptional but tight and serviceable script that follows the beats you’d expect. I loved it.
Feb 3rd
9 to 5; 1980; Comedy; Written by Patricia Resnick and Colin Higgins; Directed by Colin Higgins; Starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman. 1h49m; First time watch; Library rental
I’m glad to finally see this fondly-remember comedy, but of course heard the Academy-Award nominated song from Dolly Parton a zillion times (including it’s use in the R-cut of Deadpool 2; didn’t make it into the PG-13 cut). Anyway, I really loved this, and wish I had seen it earlier. A wonderful take down of sexist bigoted corporate culture with three amazing leads. Dolly Parton in her first role would have easily stolen it if not for Tomlin and Fonda both feeding off her energy. everyone’s timing and tone is just perfect. The sequence around body-stealing (something I didn’t expect to find in this) had me rolling. And now the song is back in my head… working Nine-to-five…
February 2nd
Bob saw the 2020 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Review.
Ghost Stories (2020); Horror: Written and directed by Zoya Akhar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap. Netflix; 2h24m. First time watch. not the British same-titled film of 2017.
This collection of Indian ghost stories didn’t work for me. I love to read and hear about the legends and what scares other cultures (Japanese ghosts are frickin’ terrifying), so I was excited to watch this flick. But it was draggy and messy, with each story taking too much time to tell their thread bare narrative. The last one was the only one that came through. I do feel I missed something but not knowing the culture behind many of the lines and legends (I want to learn more about the ghost-werewolf-monsters of the 3rd story). That’s fine, but not the reason I didn’t care for it – I loved The Wailing despite the feeling if I knew the culture more, I’d have a better appreciation – but I still loved it. Ghost Stories, however, feels amateur and under done; like no one involved really knows how a horror film works.
skip it and watch the UK title. I give it a D.
Hickey and Boggs; 1972; Action; Written by Walter Hill; Directed by Robert Culp; Starring Robert Culp, Bill Cosby (…). 1h51m; First time watch; owned disc.
Yes, Cosby is in this. Noted, moving past. He stars with his I, Spy partner Robert Culp (who directed as well) in Walter Hill’s first sold screenplay. This Los Angeles neo-noir detective flick is pretty standard for the genre, but was likely not as rote in 1972. Two private dicks get involved in a case of corruption, murder, bribery and the like, watching as trail of witnesses goes missing or murdered, they sniff in the wrong places and get the bad guys on their tail. They bicker, they piss off their lovers, etc. I like this type of film, so I didn’t mind. Hill has a keen sense of the characters and their world, creating a mold for Shane Black to runaway with later. Culp gives a great style and energy. I dig it. Wish in retrospect we can take Cosby out and put in Plummer.
February 1st
Bob and Cody attended the Grave Plot Film Festival: Run by our friends over at Grave Plot Podcast, Tony and Taylor presented 17 shorts at the Ark Lodge Theater! Fun times and awesome people – we also saw Steve of Bone Bat! Review..
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Commentary 2. … you know all the details and know I’ve seen it a zillion times. A solid commentary that’s really more of a collection of interview snippets than scene specific. Didn’t really learn anything new as have listened to it previously and read all about it over the last lifetime. But still fun to hear the anecodes, background, ideas and shifts. Movie is just as good as ever. I think my wife got annoyed as I chose this time to quote all the lines that were spoken over.
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