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Down and Out in Beverly Hills

OK I genuinely put this on confusing it with Trading Places

This is one of those films I was aware as a kid, but don’t recall seeing before (was probably on telly on day though).

It’s actually pretty good! It reminds me of something, a much more sinister film where a stranger enters a family’s life and destroys it all. Visitor Q is that, but not the one I’m thinking of.

It’s a solid comedy, quite low key for its time. On Disney+ in the U.K., definitely give it a watch.

I have really liked all the Tremors movies I have seen but admittedly I do not think I have seen them all yet. Sad as it may sound, to a certain degree I can really relate to Burt Gummer.

There’s a very recent addition to Tremors which is an absolute hoot!

Airplane! - 1980

Ted and Elain are having relationship problems and she plans to leave him when she returns from her flight. Ted buys a ticket on her flight hoping to work out there problems.

Memorial line, " Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. "

Surely Airplane! is an absolute classic.

Sense check on Airplane!

The overtly comedy character in the Air Traffic Control. Unwelcome overblown distraction, or essential part of the ensemble?

Thor:- Love and Thunder

Not too bad, but probably the weakest of the Thor films. It seemed to take the weakest parts of Dark World (Sacrificing a potentially good villain and plot for shenanigans. A failing of, unfortunately, too many Marvel films) and Ragnarok (Focusing too much on trying to be funny all the time), while ditching the good bits (Dark World had a much better side cast while Ragnarok was, IMO, a genuinely good movie underneath all the attempted comedy).

Still an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, if you're a fan of the Marvel films.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Surely Airplane! is an absolute classic.

Airplane! is a classic! and don't call me surely.




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 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Sense check on Airplane!

The overtly comedy character in the Air Traffic Control. Unwelcome overblown distraction, or essential part of the ensemble?

I'm going to say yes because it's a whole cast of what turn out to be wacky characters. We think he's a normal person but it doesn't hold up.

A few things I think about Airplane!, This is the inside of Deadpool's head or well, they did it first. Striker breaks the forth wall and it has an after credits scene.
Which is a little funny because I seem to remember the first after credits scene being credited to Ferris Bueller's in 86', 6 years after this movie. Going back to dead pool, doing a coppy of the end credit scene of that movie was about the first time I read any chatter about the first end credits scene.

This movie has so many reticules scenes it's difficult to pick out a favorite clip. I think they do them well and keep the gags going just long enough. The Girl scout bar fight is brutal but does come to a conclusion. And all the people bothering people at the airport with their religious sects looking for donations, eventually someone's going to have had enough of that.

I really feel like talking about all the fun scenes here would ruin the movie for the first timer. And there's just so much to talk about.

Why did Jive talk fall out of fashion anyway? We should all be talking like that now, on the internet at least...

Even now, every time I watch Airplane!, there’s a new gag, visual or verbal. It’s just so densely packed it’s incredible.

Currently rewatching Shazam!

Thought I’d rented it from Prime, turns out I’d bought it. I’m not complaining either way.

It’s bloody good fun, and probably the first Actually Good DCEU movie.


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The Hunt

Gained some controversy around release, as it was delayed due to real world atrocities.

It is a satire, but I’m not entirely sure who the butt of the joke is, as it takes (often quite literal stabs) at both left and right wing motormouths.

However, it is highly entertaining, and it stars the frankly divine Betty Gilpin. It definitely worth a watch.

Hocus Pocus 2

I was not the target audience for this film. I had no nostalgia for the first one, and I am too old for this one.

Not terrible, but nothing special. A relatively inoffensive family Halloween movie.

The Purge - Election Year

It’s daft. It’s silly. The interesting premise of the original didn’t need more outings. But if mindless violence coquettishly draped in a diaphanous plot and barely-there-social-commentary holds appeal to you, this is still a fun watch.

Certainly I’ve seen a lot worse. But I’ve seen even more films that were just better.

The prophecy - 1995

There's a war in heaven and one side is looking for the most evil human soul they can find to help them turn the tide.

This movie has a wonderful cast.
Christopher Walken as Gabriel is such a fantastic character. With wonderful dialog.

Gabriel : I'm an angel. I kill firstborns while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt. I even, when I feel like it, rip the souls from little girls, and from now till kingdom come, the only thing you can count on in your existence is never understanding why.

I genuinely feel like His Gabriel would make Pinhead uncomfortable.

Viggo Mortensen as The Devil. Again fantastically delivered and almost chilling.

Lucifer : Your war is arrogance. That makes it evil. That's mine.

The best part is that there are 5 movies each not exactly as good as the one before.

Galaxy of Terror

An early 80's sci-fi horror movie in the vein of stuff like Event Horizon, with a surprisingly bleak ending.

Not a great movie by any means, but much better than I was expecting it to be.

Cold Pursuit

You know, I’m sure there was a time when Liam Neeson’s roles didn’t involve revenge killing.

I can’t finish watching this. It’s tripe.

 aku-chan wrote:
Galaxy of Terror

An early 80's sci-fi horror movie in the vein of stuff like Event Horizon, with a surprisingly bleak ending.

Not a great movie by any means, but much better than I was expecting it to be.

Now that may be worth looking into.




Cybertracker (1994)

Sci-Fi action film about privatized law enforcement (ALWAYS a great idea) carried out by robots which are either Terminators or Robocop turned inside out. Starring Don "the Dragon" Wilson and Richard Norton. Here's a bit of an embarassing detail: I always confuse D"tD"W with Scott Adkins. Not that they have much in common at all except they're martial arts men. Somehow I got them both filed under "the Dragon". The name (and kudos to the guy for going through with it) is much more memorable than either of the two.

Richard Norton on the other hand - him I'll always recognize, because he's entertaining in his weird ways. I'm also quite scared of him, because I once watched that EXCELLENT episode of "Through the Night with.." (by French-German culture tv channel ARTE) featuring him and Cynthiy Rothrock being driven around in Berlin, meeting martial artist/stunt people, having dinner and generally chatting. Not only do the two have great chemistry and are old pals, but Norton seems a bit weird in real life as well. He scares me. He's got that legit "that guy could snap me like a twig before I even realize" thing, but also that odd calmness of the self-improved, crazy disciplined person.

Anyway, Cybertracker. It's got several car explosions, "the Dragon" is doing his best, it's cheaply made (and I love me some 1994 near future stuff), it's not all that exciting. It's alright. Nothing noteworthy. All the more surprising that there were TWO sequels.

Pass. Maybe it's somehting for DtDW fans? And if you are, please suggest some good films starring him, maybe that'll help me appreciate the Dragon.



Executive Decision (1996)

Starring Steven Segal, Luigi Leguizamo, Kurt Russel, Halle Berry, David Suchet, Oliver Platt, Dr.Kelso and many more.

Islamist terrorists kidnap a big passengers plane. Kurt Russel is one of these shady military think tank dudes, him and special forces dudes (led by Steven Segal) are sent in in a pretty exciting way to save the day. That's a film from that time when the US army (or airforce, whatever) allowed Hollywood to have stealth fighters on their films. And boy, did they use them around the time. Remember when Ice T stole one? I think that was a bit later on, not sure.

Anyway, yeah, Executive Decision is the one with The Twist.


So once we're on the big airplane things don't stop being exciting. It's a pretty good terrist airplane kidnapping action thriller, and I don't think I've ever seen it in full before. It keeps being interesting, it's a bit of a slow burn but still there's always things going on which keep things interesting.

Watch It. It's good fun.

Be Kind, Rewind

What a wonderful, warm hearted feel good comedy. Not in the schmaltzy saccharine feel good way. A genuine good feeling movie.

The cast are wonderful, and clearly having a great time in making it. Yes Jack Black is largely playing…Jack Black, it here it really works. I feel he’s being well restrained and channeled by the director, and so it turns out really well, rather than really annoying (and I like JB myself. Just….in moderation. I should’ve just said that, shouldn’t I? This film is proof that JB in Moderation is a good thing.

Now, aside from Jerry’s affliction? This really feels like something that could happen. And apparently does to some degree, as Swedeing is now a legit thing.

Absolutely give this a watch.

Evil Dead, 2013. Ironically enough, this film stands as an epic testament to Bruce Campbell's comedic power. I loved the other Evil Deads, and I definitely appreciate this one. It's intimate, gory, and sadistic and wicked in a way that the other films do not approach. The nail gun scene is absolutely extraordinary at showing incapacitating pain.

If you're looking for a gory horror film, look no further. What it lacks is Campbell's chin, and charm. He turns the other movies into horror comedies purely by his scene chewing presence- you can really see that in Evil Dead 2, where they tried to be serious. They had some success, then gave up and embraced the campy horror silliness in Army of Darkness.

This is the Evil Dead I think Sam Raimi always meant to make, and it is great. Much like the Necronomicon, Raimi did not count on running into Bruce Campbell and has been hilariously thwarted for decades.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
Evil Dead, 2013. Ironically enough, this film stands as an epic testament to Bruce Campbell's comedic power. I loved the other Evil Deads, and I definitely appreciate this one. It's intimate, gory, and sadistic and wicked in a way that the other films do not approach. The nail gun scene is absolutely extraordinary at showing incapacitating pain.

If you're looking for a gory horror film, look no further. What it lacks is Campbell's chin, and charm. He turns the other movies into horror comedies purely by his scene chewing presence- you can really see that in Evil Dead 2, where they tried to be serious. They had some success, then gave up and embraced the campy horror silliness in Army of Darkness.

This is the Evil Dead I think Sam Raimi always meant to make, and it is great. Much like the Necronomicon, Raimi did not count on running into Bruce Campbell and has been hilariously thwarted for decades.

The "remake" was really good! We really like it a lot. Remakes are so hit or miss but they did very well.

speaking of The Evil Dead, I made a super cut of Evil Dead one and two based on a Brue Campbell interview. He said his ideal cut would be stuck together at the end of Part 1 where ash is thrown into the big puddle and then again from part two where he come out of the much as a deadite. I'll have to look for the time stamps, the super cut I made is 2.41 minuets long. Easily made with movie maker.
The interview should be easy to find, if anyone wants to make their own.


Last nights movie was The Fallen -1998.
Denzel Washington and John Goodman play detective pulled into what looks like copy cat murders, murders that seem to match the killings done by a murderer recently put to death.

Good casting with an interesting story.
Enjoy.

In the theater, watching Executive Decision, the “twist” earned the entire audience clapping and cheering. Really made the movie memorable. It’s up there with Passenger 57’s “Do you ever play roulette? …Always bet on black!” in the hall of fame for moments that elevate airplane-based action movies. Air Force One never achieved the like.



Tremors 4

Still lots of fun! This one has a lot of the same Big TV Movie Energy from Tremors 3, but the cast and director are more comfortable and the production value looks a lot higher. The special effects are used more sparingly but look better for it. It was nice to see Michael Gross getting a break from playing the same character yet again. A prequel that works.

@Mad Doc Grotsnik: Yeah, I enjoyed that one. It got a bit hollywood-y in the end, but i absolutely loved the montages in which they 'sweded' the films. A really nice flick, that one.

@Gitzbitah: Never seen it, but the Evil Dead remake (heck, has it been 10 years already?) is said to be really good. Nice.

@warhead01: Ooooh, I love The Fallen. Amazing cast, that song will forever be stuck in your head in relation to that very film, and I just love the "Denzel Washington is a straight-laced, possibly a little cocky lawperson and some (supernatural) power tries to ruin his life" genre. Really, really enjoy that film and I'll gladly watch it when ever it's on.

@Bobtheinquisitor: You may have a good point there. I haven't seen Passenger 57 for way too long. Never fully seen Air Force One. It didn't look very interesting.



As for the Tremors franchise - love the first film; good fun. Never seen any of the others I have to admit.

My Best Friends Exorcism

A bit like Goosbumps for those awkward years between youth and adult. And leaning on Stranger Things style nostalgia to boot.

Overall, it’s enjoyable enough, but never really feels like it quite gets going. But, that’s probably more due to Target Audience.

Would this scare or creep out a kid? Probably. Certainly didn’t feel like a waste of time to me.


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Buffaloed

Never heard of this before. Never heard of the cast and crew.

But this is pretty excellent! Indy Dramedy about debt collection. Way better than it sounds.

Last night we enjoyed Horror Express - 1972.

It has a strong cast of faces you'll probably know
Christopher Lee Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas.

It's a fun movie with an interesting monster.
To me the movie feels like a Spaghetti western in the way it was made, acting and casting.
You can almost tell not yon set speaks English much in the same way Spaghetti westers were cast. Which is something I like about Horror Express.

The monster. Well with out spoiling everything I will say the monster has a 1970's equivalent of an mcu style fight scene which I found really well done given what they had to work with and the limits on special effects at the time.

You can find this whole movie free to watch on Youtube if you're up for it.

Air Force One is interesting because the President himself is the ass kicker.

Hellraiser 2022

The arrival of this "reboot" of the storied horror franchise has been much anticipated by fans, so in many ways it's a shame it isn't better, but it is at least respectable, which given the quality of some entries in the series, feels like a win.

I use reboot in quotes because frankly there's little that's rebooted. Sure, Pinhead is a girl now, but who are we to say what limits an avatar of the Leviathan and how they manifest?

Very little old ground is trodden, and what 2022 is, fundamentally, is a simple advancement of the ongoing story. It's more Force Awakens than Batman Begins. There are no (human) returning characters, there is nothing in the story that, to my recollection, draws from The Hellbound Heart or first film. It's just another take of what happens when mortals encounter a certain puzzle box.

Nevertheless, not giving 2022 a subtitle, as well as framing it as a reboot, is going to invite comparisons to the original, and in this it comes up lacking. There's an intimacy to the original, where Julia sacrifices of herself each time she lures a victim back to the house, as well as a tension between her motivations, her actions and the inevitable outcome. The lack of scope makes it taut, claustrophobic even, and this is entirely absent from 2022.

A wider cast and greater scope aren't inherently poor ideas, but there's 2 hours to play with here and none of it is used to try and make you care for the human cast members. Consequently the final act relies purely on spectacle to sell itself, and it very nearly lands it. The cenobites are all reimagined, portrayed using practical effects (massive kudos just for this) and great imagination, they're probably worth the watch alone.

But fundamentally reviews for this movie probably won't matter, if you're a fan it's unlikely anything will prevent you finding out for yourself, if you're not then this isn't the movie to change your mind. There's a lot here worthy of praise, but ultimately it just lacks that little sprinkle of fairy dust to really take it to the next level. I hope it goes well enough to spark another run from the same crew though, as it still feels like they have sights to show us.

The Three Musketeers
A three musketeers movie with Mad Mikkelson as Rochefort, Christopher Walz as Richeliu, and Mila Jovachovich as Milady (I apologize for all the mis-spellings of those respective actors) and I had not heard of it before? How did this escape my notice?

Oh, it is by Mila's husband? That's probably how. The movie is ridiculous and tries really hard to be cool and epic, but ultimately the highlight is the sets and costuming! Mads and the Hero have a great final duel on the top of Notre Dame.

Oh yeah, James Corden is also treated like crap through the whole movie, so you may like that part MDG!

From Beyond
So, I started looking for some fun Halloween night movies to settle down and watch with the fam. They are all adults, but I am not great with scary movies. Last year we watched Vincent Price flicks and that was about the right speed. I ma thinking more Hammer Horror this year? Maybe?

So, I had heard about this H.P. Lovecraft based movie. I gave it a watch, and it is not scary. However, it definitely is not for family viewing either. A bit.... racy.

Miss Leslie’s Dolls

A formerly lost movie. It kind of Martha’d before BvS. And in a way actually more insulting to the audience.

Potted plot? Insane trans woman collects female corpses in the hope of possessing them (as in, spiritual possession). Actor is male, but dubbed with female voice.

When Our Heroes arrive, Miss Leslie is surprised Martha looks like a Martha they knew but died in the same fire that killed Miss Leslie’s Mum.

One to Miss I’m afraid.

The Last Unicorn

Well, this was made in a time when to get a fantasy movie made, it had to be animated; and the creators had to be high as kites!

I remember really loving the last unicorn when I was 10

I remember it being great, but also sad and traumatic somehow, like every other 80’s cartoon.

For some reason, I kept thinking it was related to The Flight of Dragons, like a sidequel or something.


The Flight of Dragons

We rewatched this a couple of years ago. Didn’t really hold up as well as I was hoping.

 Easy E wrote:
The Last Unicorn

Well, this was made in a time when to get a fantasy movie made, it had to be animated; and the creators had to be high as kites!

Mrs. GG and I both love The Last Unicorn. It is a classic.