Cube (1997): Hollywood failed Vincenzo Natali. Not that he doesn't have a great career as a tv series director, but with a movie debut like this, he should've been bigger in the feature business. The first time I saw this, it was at my uncle's, he showed us the opening then stopped it right after the guy gets 'cubed', looking at us exclaiming "how awesome is this?". I looked at my brother, then him and exclaimed "put it back on!". We finished the movie and it was everything I hoped it would be. Plus, it was the first time I got to enjoy David Hewlett's acting (Stargate Atlantis).
Tangentially, I'm gonna have to try and find the other Natali movies, I had them on DVD a long time ago, but they're long gone now. I remember Nothing (2003) being funny, and Cypher (2002) being pretty good.
Cube 2 - Hypercube (2002): This very entertaining sequel doesn't even bother with the colored room, it's all white this time. The movie's fun, it's a bit more of the same, but a little extra. The characters argue a lot, try to figure out the cube, travel from room to room and die one by one. Interesting trivia, the director was cinematographer on Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and American Psycho. If we're lucky, Arrow will release a 3-pack of all the Cube movies soon enough. While I saw the original movie a dozen times, this sequel and the prequel were my first time watching.
Cube Zero (2004): The inevitable prequel. Definitely not as good as the others, but still entertaining enough. This one takes a definitive drop in writing, editing, camera work and overall quality. We get to see some behind-the-scene operators of an earlier version of the cube, while a bunch of people try to survive it. They argue, they fight, they die, usual stuff.
Also, I somehow missed the release of Fletch and Fletch Lives Special Edition from Kino last year. And as much as Chevy Chase can be a d*ck in real life, I find these movies very funny. Short story long, they were 15% off on amazon, so I got both. Next is to eventually get Confess Fletch.
I saw Cube in Montreal while on a road trip to Eastern Canada. We just went to the theatre and picked whatever was playing next. It had that guy (Wayne Robson) from The Red Green Show in it (Popular Canadian TV show from the '90s. Not sure how well it's known outside of Canada). Funnily, it's not available digitally at all in Canada. I used to have it on DVD, but I'm not sure what happened to it. I really liked Splice but it's been a while.
I love Red Green Show. I recently managed to acquire the show from an... alternate source. Still funny and ridiculous. I forgot the Robson guy was from that show.
I haven't seen The Red Green Show since probably the '90s. The full series is on Plex. It was one of those shows that was always on, and we only got a dozen or so channels, so it was watched a lot. The early seasons were on CHCH 11 Hamilton, and we lived just outside of Hamilton. The logo brings back some memories! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chch1986.png. It was later on Global and CBC. Surprised it isn't available on CBC Gem considering they produced the majority of it.
Red Green was shown on American public television (at least near me) for many years during the 2000s. I watched episodes now and then. It taught me the value of duct tape. There is a Red Green channel on Roku with episodes being shown in standard definition.
I've been slacking on movie-watching this year as the Star Trek rewatch continues and we near the end of DS9 Season 3.
I did manage to watch Wick is Pain, and enjoyed it. I don't watch a lot of behind-the-scenes movie docs because it can feel like a magician revealing how they did their tricks. Keanu's enthusiasm is always infectious though.
Also finally got around to Black Bag, which of course is really good, but I don't have a lot to actually say about it. I guess maybe I should check out Soderbergh and Koepp's previous collaborations.
I just started Season 3 of DS9 this morning! I've been slacking on Star Trek and movies a bit with the hockey playoffs, but that won't last much longer.
I saw a couple older movies in the theatre with my son:
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) at packed house at the indie theatre. This is probably the first movie that I remember seeing in the theatre. My dad took me to see OG Star Wars, and I begged and begged him to stay and watch the next one. He didn't and still doesn't like Star Wars, but he was a good father so we stayed. I never considered that my first movie theatre memory was actually a double header.
Cineplex had a single day showing of Kingdom of Heaven (2005, director's cut). What a picture. Maybe the best modern day version of the big epic Roman/Biblical/Medieval post WWII movies that I love. Packed house too, despite Cineplex not promoting it at all. It was completely absent from their website, and I just happened to read about it online somewhere. The director's cut is so much better. There are pivotal main characters that are cut whole cloth from the theatrical version.
Great memory on Empire Paul! It goes without saying in the Star Wars universe that that movie is d@mn special. I was there opening weekend and consider the binocular shot into the AT-AT reveal to be one of my fav theatrical moments of all time. Epic.
Also...Kingdom of Heaven eluded me for a long time as im not really into religious stuff. But as a huge Ridley fan i started it this week and am realllllllllllllllllly digging it.
I have been thinking about how it is kind of religious since seeing it. But critical of the religions and how they were intertwined with the politics of the time they and the hypocrisy of a "holy war". I like how it espouses the good things that religion purports to be about while being sharply critical of how it was applied in reality. There have been very few movies about the crusades when you look into it, which is kind of surprising as it was such an interesting party of history.
The original release of Kingdom of Heaven in the theater was my introduction to Eva Green, so even thought the Director's Cut really saves the movie, I still kinda loved it from the start.
DEMONS (1985) At first, I was all, “There’s a random sword now?” Then I was all, “There’s a random motorcycle now?” And then I was all “There’s a random helicopter now?”
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (2013) I appreciate this movie’s big ambition, but it’s so overly serious and self-important that there’s not much adventurous fun to be had.
BLADE (1998) I’m sorry, but I just felt like watching BLADE again.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951) Are we sure Walt never did drugs?
THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982) The planet Thra is lovely in the springtime.
ROMANCING THE STONE (1984) Something something Little Burro something.
Flipper's New Adventure (1964). My favourite thing about this is all the underwater photography of the dolphin and boy swimming. It's maybe fully 20% underwater.
Ice Station Zebra (1968) is a submarine movie directed by John Sturges and based on an Alistar MacLean book (The Guns of Navarone, etc.). Apparently they developed a special camera that could work both above and underwater, so there are tons of shots of the boat submerging and reemerging. Mostly done with real subs, but there's a lot of great model work (subs, planes, paratroopers) in this as well. It's kind of a hybrid of a spy, war, and mystery movie.
The Jungle Book (1994). Wow, how did I miss this one? This movie was a blast. The animated version is still the best, but this is a close 2nd.
I remember watching Ice Station Zebra with my father as a kid. That was definitely the type of film that he liked. I would not be surprised if he saw it in a theater when it came out.
I just came back from the Mahoning Drive-In, driving home while the sky was lighting up in the east. This past night offered the rare chance to watch an Italian gothic favorite, CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964), on a big screen. The rest of the time I tended to focus more on socializing than other two films. I had watched all them before, in any case. Sometimes it is enjoyable enough to be out with people who share your interests. The watches below happened during the week.
VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970, dir. Jaromil Jires) – This is not the first time I have seen this, and I still cannot say I understand it. This is a surreal fairy tale that relies on dream logic, and many of the sequences are quite dreamy. It touches on themes of innocence, corruption, sexuality, and growing up. The horror scenes are menacing in a strangely beautiful way. I find it a beautiful film overall, evoking a sense of wonder that I have long lost in my own life.
JUDEX (1963, dir. Georges Franju) – The director of the French horror classic Eyes Without A Face made this homage to the French serials of the 1910s. Favraux, a wealthy banker, gets threatening letters before a lavish party. He is to give up his wealth to atone for his evil deeds or else! All of the numerous plot points stem from that moment. Included in the story is the avenging Judex, Favraux’s daughter, a gang after the secrets of Favraux, and a bunch of random characters that show up to resolve the story. The film is entertaining despite the dated style.
HEAVY METAL (1981, dir. Gerald Potterton) – My ninth season going to the Mahoning Drive-In commenced on Thursday with this cult animated film. It was a first-time watch for me. All five of the stories are tied to together by an evil crystal ball, and there is quite a bit of sexy content. The weirdness of it sometimes kept me at a distance, but there were some stories that stand out more to me than others. The film noir taxi cab segment -as a film noir fan- was very enjoyable. Even with the fog setting in, the last segment with the female warrior was still visually impressive. Heavy Metal is undoubtedly is a product of its time.
HOT CHILI (1985) – Hearing Mr. Bromley and Mr. Saur joke about this film in the podcast got me intrigued, and I found a full-screen version on Youtube. Well, this is what you would expect from a 1980s sex comedy. The general premise is that of a group of American teens who go to a Mexican resort to work… and get laid. They do a mixture of both. A lot of the humor falls flat- as is not uncommon with ‘80s raunchy comedy- but certainly delivers displays of skin. Not good, but I have seen worse in this genre. File under Teenagers!, Cannon!, and Sex Comedies! for Junesploitation.
Some great movies in there. I love Judex. I bought the Criterion blu-ray forever ago. Always a fun time.
Valerie is a great movie. I don't have the blu-ray, but I always meant to get it
Heavy Metal, I was lucky enough to get the steelbook containing the 4k disc and Heavy Metal 2000. The latter being a very boring movie, but at least I have it.
Also, they rebooted the french magazine Métal Hurlant a few years ago, come out every 3 months. They're thick and filled with old and new comics, full of interviews and articles. It's awesome. And to make sure they get all my money, they did collections of the old comics that were in the original magazines. I'm in heaven right now.
Valerie is one I've been wanting to watch for some time now. I've never seen Heavy Metal, but I feel like I have because it's been referenced so much elsewhere.
Its a big week for not one but two fav franchises! As such im doing some revisiting homework
Final Destination (2000 dvd)
This series may be the most horror comfort food for me as i revisit a bunch...ESPECIALLY the prologue for each movie (i adore me some great prologue scenes). But it occurred to me this weekend that the opening of part 2 is so good, i would say one of the best horror/action scenes in the 2000's, that i havent gone back to the first movie for a long long time. Its absolutely great and actually has a little meat to the story..having the main character be a murder suspect combined with some incredibly basic kills AND wonderfully rube golbergian kills made this trip alot of fun. Gonna jump around the sequels a bit and then go see pt 6 this week. STOKED.
The Towering Inferno (1974 dvd)
70s disaster flicks were a big part of childhood viewage. Especially as in the pre-cable pre-vhs days you were beholden to what flicks your parents took you to or what made it to tv, and in the latter case big budget disasters were a must watch. That being said i didnt remember much of this one and reallllllllllllllly liked it. Its long but so well made. Its filled with fire laden set pieces and crazy stunts. Theres some surprising deaths that gave elements of this flick a horror feeling. And holy cow what a deep bench of 70s actors.
My parents weren't into movies at all, but I saw a bunch of those disaster movies with them. Several of the Airport movies, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, etc. The Towering Inferno is among the best of them. My last rewatch I was remarking on how many "man on fire" stunt work there was.
I had a chance to see The Towering Inferno at the Mahoning Drive-In a few years ago. It plays very well on a big screen. Given the amount of subplots in the film, I was surprised did not feel the running time at all. The scale of the production impressed me as well.
Great stories from both...thanks for sharing. I grew up LOVING The Poseidon Adventure but havent revisited for years. After Inferno im thinking ill revisit.
SUPER fun watching this back to back with pt 1. Beyond the previously mentioned masterclass opening, they have a lot of fun with deaths design for a new group of people and some pretty creative writing tying the two movies together. Plus we get a survivor from pt 1 as our guide and a hilarious Newt/Hicks-from-Alien3 dispatching of the other survivor from pt 1. Also, it contains a personal fav series kill involving an airbag.
Patick and Adam mentioned Q & A (1990, dir. Sidney Lumet) on a recent Friday Night Double Features, and it was excellent! Gritty NY cop movie about a dirty cop and the newbie DA that won't easily go along with dismissing his dirty deeds. Armand Assante is fantastic in this as a minor character, but really steals it. Everyone is good in this.
Looks Who's Talking (1989). This was really entertaining. I hadn't seen a Travolta movie in a couple of years, and forgot how insanely charming he is (sorry Adam). And, to put it simply, it's got a cute infant making funny talk! It really is manipulating the "parent" heart strings in an effectively way. It's interesting how they did the same thing a decade later with Baby Geniuses but made it more realistic with the mouths matching the baby talk, but somehow more creepy, and it didn't work AT ALL (that movie is kind of fun though).
I recently got the Men in Black 4k 4-pack, so a rainy sunday was the perfect time to watch them. I skipped the first one because I saw it recently when I got the super-cool-special-edition steelbook, but is still a masterpiece.
Men In Black 2 (2002): It was not well received, but I always liked that one. Rosario Dawson is always fun to have in a movie, so that helps. It's not perfect, I don't care for the dog sidekick, but there's some bery cool moments and Will Smith was not yet the douche we know today.
Men In Black 3 (2012): Better than expected after 10 years, time travel is fun, the vilain is as weird as it should and Will Smith was starting to loose his mojo, but made it work anyway.
Men In Black International (2019): This was a prank right? Anybody involved is lucky they still have a career.
Cube (1997): Hollywood failed Vincenzo Natali. Not that he doesn't have a great career as a tv series director, but with a movie debut like this, he should've been bigger in the feature business. The first time I saw this, it was at my uncle's, he showed us the opening then stopped it right after the guy gets 'cubed', looking at us exclaiming "how awesome is this?". I looked at my brother, then him and exclaimed "put it back on!". We finished the movie and it was everything I hoped it would be. Plus, it was the first time I got to enjoy David Hewlett's acting (Stargate Atlantis).
ReplyDeleteTangentially, I'm gonna have to try and find the other Natali movies, I had them on DVD a long time ago, but they're long gone now. I remember Nothing (2003) being funny, and Cypher (2002) being pretty good.
Cube 2 - Hypercube (2002): This very entertaining sequel doesn't even bother with the colored room, it's all white this time. The movie's fun, it's a bit more of the same, but a little extra. The characters argue a lot, try to figure out the cube, travel from room to room and die one by one. Interesting trivia, the director was cinematographer on Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and American Psycho. If we're lucky, Arrow will release a 3-pack of all the Cube movies soon enough. While I saw the original movie a dozen times, this sequel and the prequel were my first time watching.
Cube Zero (2004): The inevitable prequel. Definitely not as good as the others, but still entertaining enough. This one takes a definitive drop in writing, editing, camera work and overall quality. We get to see some behind-the-scene operators of an earlier version of the cube, while a bunch of people try to survive it. They argue, they fight, they die, usual stuff.
Also, I somehow missed the release of Fletch and Fletch Lives Special Edition from Kino last year. And as much as Chevy Chase can be a d*ck in real life, I find these movies very funny. Short story long, they were 15% off on amazon, so I got both. Next is to eventually get Confess Fletch.
Are you a SPLICE fan? That's my favorite of the Natali movies I've seen. Bonus points for mentioning Stargate Atlantis.
DeleteI knew you'd like the SG:A mention
DeleteI wouldn't say i'm a fan, but i really liked Splice when I saw it back the . Another one due for a rewatch
I saw Cube in Montreal while on a road trip to Eastern Canada. We just went to the theatre and picked whatever was playing next. It had that guy (Wayne Robson) from The Red Green Show in it (Popular Canadian TV show from the '90s. Not sure how well it's known outside of Canada). Funnily, it's not available digitally at all in Canada. I used to have it on DVD, but I'm not sure what happened to it.
DeleteI really liked Splice but it's been a while.
I love Red Green Show. I recently managed to acquire the show from an... alternate source. Still funny and ridiculous. I forgot the Robson guy was from that show.
DeleteI haven't seen The Red Green Show since probably the '90s. The full series is on Plex. It was one of those shows that was always on, and we only got a dozen or so channels, so it was watched a lot. The early seasons were on CHCH 11 Hamilton, and we lived just outside of Hamilton. The logo brings back some memories! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chch1986.png. It was later on Global and CBC. Surprised it isn't available on CBC Gem considering they produced the majority of it.
DeleteRed Green was shown on American public television (at least near me) for many years during the 2000s. I watched episodes now and then. It taught me the value of duct tape. There is a Red Green channel on Roku with episodes being shown in standard definition.
DeleteI've been slacking on movie-watching this year as the Star Trek rewatch continues and we near the end of DS9 Season 3.
ReplyDeleteI did manage to watch Wick is Pain, and enjoyed it. I don't watch a lot of behind-the-scenes movie docs because it can feel like a magician revealing how they did their tricks. Keanu's enthusiasm is always infectious though.
Also finally got around to Black Bag, which of course is really good, but I don't have a lot to actually say about it. I guess maybe I should check out Soderbergh and Koepp's previous collaborations.
I just started Season 3 of DS9 this morning! I've been slacking on Star Trek and movies a bit with the hockey playoffs, but that won't last much longer.
DeleteAh! I’ve also been doing a ST rewatch! I’m in season 5 of DS9.
DeleteSo excited we finally got a July 17th premiere date for season 3 of Strange New Worlds!
DeleteAbout time...
DeleteI saw a couple older movies in the theatre with my son:
ReplyDeleteStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) at packed house at the indie theatre. This is probably the first movie that I remember seeing in the theatre. My dad took me to see OG Star Wars, and I begged and begged him to stay and watch the next one. He didn't and still doesn't like Star Wars, but he was a good father so we stayed. I never considered that my first movie theatre memory was actually a double header.
Cineplex had a single day showing of Kingdom of Heaven (2005, director's cut). What a picture. Maybe the best modern day version of the big epic Roman/Biblical/Medieval post WWII movies that I love. Packed house too, despite Cineplex not promoting it at all. It was completely absent from their website, and I just happened to read about it online somewhere. The director's cut is so much better. There are pivotal main characters that are cut whole cloth from the theatrical version.
Great memory on Empire Paul! It goes without saying in the Star Wars universe that that movie is d@mn special. I was there opening weekend and consider the binocular shot into the AT-AT reveal to be one of my fav theatrical moments of all time. Epic.
DeleteAlso...Kingdom of Heaven eluded me for a long time as im not really into religious stuff. But as a huge Ridley fan i started it this week and am realllllllllllllllllly digging it.
I have been thinking about how it is kind of religious since seeing it. But critical of the religions and how they were intertwined with the politics of the time they and the hypocrisy of a "holy war". I like how it espouses the good things that religion purports to be about while being sharply critical of how it was applied in reality. There have been very few movies about the crusades when you look into it, which is kind of surprising as it was such an interesting party of history.
DeleteThe original release of Kingdom of Heaven in the theater was my introduction to Eva Green, so even thought the Director's Cut really saves the movie, I still kinda loved it from the start.
DeleteDEMONS (1985)
ReplyDeleteAt first, I was all, “There’s a random sword now?” Then I was all, “There’s a random motorcycle now?” And then I was all “There’s a random helicopter now?”
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (2013)
I appreciate this movie’s big ambition, but it’s so overly serious and self-important that there’s not much adventurous fun to be had.
BLADE (1998)
I’m sorry, but I just felt like watching BLADE again.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951)
Are we sure Walt never did drugs?
THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982)
The planet Thra is lovely in the springtime.
ROMANCING THE STONE (1984)
Something something Little Burro something.
"some motherf@#kers are always trying to ice-skate uphill" -blade
DeleteSome other things I've seen:
ReplyDeleteFlipper's New Adventure (1964). My favourite thing about this is all the underwater photography of the dolphin and boy swimming. It's maybe fully 20% underwater.
Ice Station Zebra (1968) is a submarine movie directed by John Sturges and based on an Alistar MacLean book (The Guns of Navarone, etc.). Apparently they developed a special camera that could work both above and underwater, so there are tons of shots of the boat submerging and reemerging. Mostly done with real subs, but there's a lot of great model work (subs, planes, paratroopers) in this as well. It's kind of a hybrid of a spy, war, and mystery movie.
The Jungle Book (1994). Wow, how did I miss this one? This movie was a blast. The animated version is still the best, but this is a close 2nd.
I bought the blu-ray of Ice Station Zebra back then only because of the cool title. I barely read about the movie. Luckily it was a good one
DeleteI remember watching Ice Station Zebra with my father as a kid. That was definitely the type of film that he liked. I would not be surprised if he saw it in a theater when it came out.
DeleteI just came back from the Mahoning Drive-In, driving home while the sky was lighting up in the east. This past night offered the rare chance to watch an Italian gothic favorite, CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964), on a big screen. The rest of the time I tended to focus more on socializing than other two films. I had watched all them before, in any case. Sometimes it is enjoyable enough to be out with people who share your interests. The watches below happened during the week.
ReplyDeleteVALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970, dir. Jaromil Jires) – This is not the first time I have seen this, and I still cannot say I understand it. This is a surreal fairy tale that relies on dream logic, and many of the sequences are quite dreamy. It touches on themes of innocence, corruption, sexuality, and growing up. The horror scenes are menacing in a strangely beautiful way. I find it a beautiful film overall, evoking a sense of wonder that I have long lost in my own life.
JUDEX (1963, dir. Georges Franju) – The director of the French horror classic Eyes Without A Face made this homage to the French serials of the 1910s. Favraux, a wealthy banker, gets threatening letters before a lavish party. He is to give up his wealth to atone for his evil deeds or else! All of the numerous plot points stem from that moment. Included in the story is the avenging Judex, Favraux’s daughter, a gang after the secrets of Favraux, and a bunch of random characters that show up to resolve the story. The film is entertaining despite the dated style.
HEAVY METAL (1981, dir. Gerald Potterton) – My ninth season going to the Mahoning Drive-In commenced on Thursday with this cult animated film. It was a first-time watch for me. All five of the stories are tied to together by an evil crystal ball, and there is quite a bit of sexy content. The weirdness of it sometimes kept me at a distance, but there were some stories that stand out more to me than others. The film noir taxi cab segment -as a film noir fan- was very enjoyable. Even with the fog setting in, the last segment with the female warrior was still visually impressive. Heavy Metal is undoubtedly is a product of its time.
HOT CHILI (1985) – Hearing Mr. Bromley and Mr. Saur joke about this film in the podcast got me intrigued, and I found a full-screen version on Youtube. Well, this is what you would expect from a 1980s sex comedy. The general premise is that of a group of American teens who go to a Mexican resort to work… and get laid. They do a mixture of both. A lot of the humor falls flat- as is not uncommon with ‘80s raunchy comedy- but certainly delivers displays of skin. Not good, but I have seen worse in this genre. File under Teenagers!, Cannon!, and Sex Comedies! for Junesploitation.
im cackling that Patrick/Brians extended riff has not only placed Hot Chili on peoples radar but actually got folks to watch it. LOL.
Delete
DeleteSome great movies in there. I love Judex. I bought the Criterion blu-ray forever ago. Always a fun time.
Valerie is a great movie. I don't have the blu-ray, but I always meant to get it
Heavy Metal, I was lucky enough to get the steelbook containing the 4k disc and Heavy Metal 2000. The latter being a very boring movie, but at least I have it.
Also, they rebooted the french magazine Métal Hurlant a few years ago, come out every 3 months. They're thick and filled with old and new comics, full of interviews and articles. It's awesome. And to make sure they get all my money, they did collections of the old comics that were in the original magazines. I'm in heaven right now.
Valerie is one I've been wanting to watch for some time now. I've never seen Heavy Metal, but I feel like I have because it's been referenced so much elsewhere.
DeleteLets not forget that John Candy is doing a voice in one of the segment. And the movie is mostly made by Canadians 😎
DeleteThere is a lot of Canadian talent in Heavy Metal.
DeleteIts a big week for not one but two fav franchises! As such im doing some revisiting homework
ReplyDeleteFinal Destination (2000 dvd)
This series may be the most horror comfort food for me as i revisit a bunch...ESPECIALLY the prologue for each movie (i adore me some great prologue scenes). But it occurred to me this weekend that the opening of part 2 is so good, i would say one of the best horror/action scenes in the 2000's, that i havent gone back to the first movie for a long long time. Its absolutely great and actually has a little meat to the story..having the main character be a murder suspect combined with some incredibly basic kills AND wonderfully rube golbergian kills made this trip alot of fun. Gonna jump around the sequels a bit and then go see pt 6 this week. STOKED.
The Towering Inferno (1974 dvd)
70s disaster flicks were a big part of childhood viewage. Especially as in the pre-cable pre-vhs days you were beholden to what flicks your parents took you to or what made it to tv, and in the latter case big budget disasters were a must watch. That being said i didnt remember much of this one and reallllllllllllllly liked it. Its long but so well made. Its filled with fire laden set pieces and crazy stunts. Theres some surprising deaths that gave elements of this flick a horror feeling. And holy cow what a deep bench of 70s actors.
My parents weren't into movies at all, but I saw a bunch of those disaster movies with them. Several of the Airport movies, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, etc. The Towering Inferno is among the best of them. My last rewatch I was remarking on how many "man on fire" stunt work there was.
DeleteI had a chance to see The Towering Inferno at the Mahoning Drive-In a few years ago. It plays very well on a big screen. Given the amount of subplots in the film, I was surprised did not feel the running time at all. The scale of the production impressed me as well.
DeleteGreat stories from both...thanks for sharing. I grew up LOVING The Poseidon Adventure but havent revisited for years. After Inferno im thinking ill revisit.
DeleteFinal Destination 2 (2003 dvd)
DeleteSUPER fun watching this back to back with pt 1. Beyond the previously mentioned masterclass opening, they have a lot of fun with deaths design for a new group of people and some pretty creative writing tying the two movies together. Plus we get a survivor from pt 1 as our guide and a hilarious Newt/Hicks-from-Alien3 dispatching of the other survivor from pt 1. Also, it contains a personal fav series kill involving an airbag.
Patick and Adam mentioned Q & A (1990, dir. Sidney Lumet) on a recent Friday Night Double Features, and it was excellent! Gritty NY cop movie about a dirty cop and the newbie DA that won't easily go along with dismissing his dirty deeds. Armand Assante is fantastic in this as a minor character, but really steals it. Everyone is good in this.
ReplyDeleteLooks Who's Talking (1989). This was really entertaining. I hadn't seen a Travolta movie in a couple of years, and forgot how insanely charming he is (sorry Adam). And, to put it simply, it's got a cute infant making funny talk! It really is manipulating the "parent" heart strings in an effectively way. It's interesting how they did the same thing a decade later with Baby Geniuses but made it more realistic with the mouths matching the baby talk, but somehow more creepy, and it didn't work AT ALL (that movie is kind of fun though).
Woh woh woh, that infant is Bruce Willis. Show some respect 😜
DeleteI recently got the Men in Black 4k 4-pack, so a rainy sunday was the perfect time to watch them. I skipped the first one because I saw it recently when I got the super-cool-special-edition steelbook, but is still a masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteMen In Black 2 (2002): It was not well received, but I always liked that one. Rosario Dawson is always fun to have in a movie, so that helps. It's not perfect, I don't care for the dog sidekick, but there's some bery cool moments and Will Smith was not yet the douche we know today.
Men In Black 3 (2012): Better than expected after 10 years, time travel is fun, the vilain is as weird as it should and Will Smith was starting to loose his mojo, but made it work anyway.
Men In Black International (2019): This was a prank right? Anybody involved is lucky they still have a career.