Ha! Love the thumbnail. Pretty stoked to see how the reboot plays out.
Fight or Flight (2025 blu)
Yet another of the many many films trying to emulate and capture the genius on display in The Raid and John Wick series. One man vs a Zillion. Contained space. Its...fine? Ok? not terrible? fun. I like Hartnett as the protagonist. Also i appreciate that the writing/action-direction teams created a set of rules for the first two acts: what kind of common items are on a plane that can be weaponized in a large scale fight....then they threw it all out the window for a 3rd act of bloody mahem. Also the 3rd act has a creative/funny bit with hallucination. Would only suggest for action fans as a check-your-brain-at-the-door actioner.
Major Payne (1995): who doesn't like a group of misfits banding together to save the thing or their reputation. Marlon Wayans is hamming it up to the max, and there's the older sister from Fresh Prince that's always fun to watch. Plus, I've been watching a lot of the tv show that Marlon Jr did a while ago, so I had Wayans on my mind.
I just watched Major Payne for the first time this year (I'm living my best life). I was surprised at how funny it was. The scene where Major Payne fantasizes an idyllic backyard cookout that includes him dispatching an enemy soldier then laughing maniacally had me laughing very hard.
THE SUBSTITUTE (1986) An oddity. I don't know if the teen drama parts of the movie mesh well with the action parts of the movie. There are some fun bits, but I don't know.
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003) Another oddity. Too long, with Neo and Trinity taking a back seat for a lot of the runtime. My memory is that the fourth movie course-corrects somewhat, but I haven't gotten to that one yet in this rewatch. I wonder how it'll play back-to-back with this one.
CLUE (1985) How did Madeline Khan not get an Oscar nom for this?
FULL METAL JACKET (1987) Stanley Kubrick goodness!
FIRE AND ICE (1983) Ralph Bakshi goodness!
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (2017) Who wants lobster thermidor?
When I think of Madeline Kahn getting snubbed by the Academy... It... it... the flames... flames. Flames... on the side of my face... Breathing... breathing... heaving breaths. Heaving breaths... Heaving...
I, Robot (2004): Alex Proyas wad chewed up and spit out by hollywood, and we never got a proper movie from him after Gods of Egypt. The movie sthinks of studio meddling from the first frame. All the hits are there: Will Smith as the action star, crappy jokes, blue-ish look, female scientist helping our hero, technology bad, motorcycle, Alan Tudyk voicing a cgi robot. Look, I'm here for Tudyk, who was unknown to me back then, outside of Firefly. Apparently they did two shots of almost everything: one with jokes, to please the studio, with test viewing through the roof. And one more serious, in line with Proyas vision, of which Will Smith was on board with. And was never finished, because why bother when the other one is so good. We can only hope they still have the footage and somebody like Arrow gives them money ro re-edit the movie.
I've been too busy to post here much, but went to see Terminator 2: Judgement day with my son and it ruled! It played at my local indie theatre and they projected it in 35mm, which was pretty special. It had been years and years since I've seen real film. It was a little beat up, but looked fantastic. Hopefully they have more movies on film in the future.
Yesterday I was at the Gap Theatre for a pleasant afternoon. In the connection with the Mahoning Drive-In’s Camp Blood weekend, there was a screening of two films from Canadian filmmaker George Mihalka, who is best-known for the slasher My Bloody Valentine. He was present to introduce the films and have a Q-&-A session during intermission. The first feature was his 1980 teen sex comedy PINBALL SUMMER. (Also known as PICK-UP SUMMER). As the summer break commences, high school students who look more toward 30 than 18 engage in hijinks and romance as the championship at the local pinball arcade approaches. It is an entertaining slice of the genre if that is to your tastes. Mihalka talked about the process of getting Pinball Summer made, and it was what got him noticed by the producers of My Bloody Valentine. The second feature was Mihalka’s high-concept 1985 horror film ETERNAL EVIL. Although the film looks great, the script about a man engaging in astral projection and encountering evil souls is extremely muddled. Even with the cinematic requirement of the suspension of disbelief, Eternal Evil asks the viewer to overlook a lot of ridiculousness.
The midnight film was sexploitation maestro Joseph Sarno’s e-r-o-t-i-c melodrama CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (1974). For a fifty-year-old print, it looked great. Being around connoisseurs of this type of cinema, we had a lively discussion after the screening.
I had to kill some time around the area (the Poconos and Lehigh Valley part of Pennsylvania) before the midnight screening. Besides observing some Labor Day festivities, I fulfilled my goal of visiting Jayne Mansfield’s grave in the nearby town of Pen Argyl. Fairview Park Cemetery is small but well kept, and in the middle of it is the heart-shaped headstone bearing her name. 1933-1967.
THE SEA HAWK (1940, dir. Michael Curtiz) – Adventure on the high seas and palace intrigue. In the 1580s, the political tension is high between England and Spain. The actions of Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) and his fellow raiders against Spanish shipping are ratcheting up the pressure on Queen Elizabeth I to maintain an increasingly fragile peace. Deep inside her court, though, are those whose schemes would sell England to Spanish domination. Golden Age Hollywood excelled at these kinds of costume drama adventure films. Though the history is part of the story, it never gets in the way of the entertainment. Errol Flynn is at his heroic best as Captain Thorpe, whose cunning equals his bravery. Composer Wolfgang Erich Korngold contributed a stirring score that rivals his celebrated score for The Adventures of Robin Hood.
BOTTOMS (2023, dir. Emma Seligman) on Prime – As soon as Bottoms begins, the satirical nature of the comedy is apparent. Gender roles are reversed, high school drama tropes are twisted around, and there is a lot of zaniness thrown into the mix. As someone who finds it difficult to connect with 21st-century cinema, Bottoms is not the easiest film for me to appreciate, yet it eventually got me on its wavelength. The comedic chemistry between Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri was the main reason. The casting of former football player Marshawn Lynch worked a lot better than I thought it would.
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1963, dir, Mario Bava) at the Mahoning Drive-In – I could not pass up a 35 mm screening of one of the original giallos. The print was an English version struck for its original release in the United States. Unsurprisingly, it has turned red over the decades, which means those great Bava colors mostly get washed out. Having a long history with the film, though, it was still a treat to see it on a big screen. Shown in the context of the drive-in’s slasher weekend (Camp Blood), most of the people I heard talking about BABL afterward mentioned finding it boring. That sentiment was echoed by many on giallo day this past June. Is the 1960s and ‘70s too far away for modern viewers get on a film’s wavelength now? For the Mahoning crowd, at least, it seems like the 1980s aesthetic has become the “classic” style of horror that they still easily connect to.
About Bottoms, on the extras on the blu-ray, you can see the chemistry between Rachel and Ayo, and the director as well. Everybody seemed to have a great time making it
This movie is aging like a fine wine. LOVED it upon this rewatch, the best it's ever played for me. George Romero forever! I recommend everyone add this to your #SMM stacks.
Ha! Love the thumbnail. Pretty stoked to see how the reboot plays out.
ReplyDeleteFight or Flight (2025 blu)
Yet another of the many many films trying to emulate and capture the genius on display in The Raid and John Wick series. One man vs a Zillion. Contained space. Its...fine? Ok? not terrible? fun. I like Hartnett as the protagonist. Also i appreciate that the writing/action-direction teams created a set of rules for the first two acts: what kind of common items are on a plane that can be weaponized in a large scale fight....then they threw it all out the window for a 3rd act of bloody mahem. Also the 3rd act has a creative/funny bit with hallucination. Would only suggest for action fans as a check-your-brain-at-the-door actioner.
(PS: Speaking of actioners....the trailer for the SISU sequel dropped this week! The original SISU blew me away. OMG...cant. f@#$ing. wait.)
DeleteI didn't need a Sisu sequel, it's perfect as it is, but i'll take it
DeleteMajor Payne (1995): who doesn't like a group of misfits banding together to save the thing or their reputation. Marlon Wayans is hamming it up to the max, and there's the older sister from Fresh Prince that's always fun to watch. Plus, I've been watching a lot of the tv show that Marlon Jr did a while ago, so I had Wayans on my mind.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Blogger is being so weird right now
DeleteI just watched Major Payne for the first time this year (I'm living my best life). I was surprised at how funny it was. The scene where Major Payne fantasizes an idyllic backyard cookout that includes him dispatching an enemy soldier then laughing maniacally had me laughing very hard.
DeleteTHE SUBSTITUTE (1986)
ReplyDeleteAn oddity. I don't know if the teen drama parts of the movie mesh well with the action parts of the movie. There are some fun bits, but I don't know.
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003)
Another oddity. Too long, with Neo and Trinity taking a back seat for a lot of the runtime. My memory is that the fourth movie course-corrects somewhat, but I haven't gotten to that one yet in this rewatch. I wonder how it'll play back-to-back with this one.
CLUE (1985)
How did Madeline Khan not get an Oscar nom for this?
FULL METAL JACKET (1987)
Stanley Kubrick goodness!
FIRE AND ICE (1983)
Ralph Bakshi goodness!
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (2017)
Who wants lobster thermidor?
They recently announced a 4k for Fire And Ice, date unconfirmed yet. I'm already salivating at the idea of that disc
DeleteWhen I think of Madeline Kahn getting snubbed by the Academy...
ReplyDeleteIt... it... the flames... flames. Flames... on the side of my face...
Breathing... breathing... heaving breaths. Heaving breaths... Heaving...
A wed wose...how womantic.
DeleteI, Robot (2004): Alex Proyas wad chewed up and spit out by hollywood, and we never got a proper movie from him after Gods of Egypt. The movie sthinks of studio meddling from the first frame. All the hits are there: Will Smith as the action star, crappy jokes, blue-ish look, female scientist helping our hero, technology bad, motorcycle, Alan Tudyk voicing a cgi robot. Look, I'm here for Tudyk, who was unknown to me back then, outside of Firefly. Apparently they did two shots of almost everything: one with jokes, to please the studio, with test viewing through the roof. And one more serious, in line with Proyas vision, of which Will Smith was on board with. And was never finished, because why bother when the other one is so good. We can only hope they still have the footage and somebody like Arrow gives them money ro re-edit the movie.
ReplyDeleteI've been too busy to post here much, but went to see Terminator 2: Judgement day with my son and it ruled! It played at my local indie theatre and they projected it in 35mm, which was pretty special. It had been years and years since I've seen real film. It was a little beat up, but looked fantastic. Hopefully they have more movies on film in the future.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous, they keep fumbling blu-ray and 4k releases, looking like crap, so I'd very much like to see it as it should be
DeleteMy only criticism was that it was way too loud. Like real loud. The first comment my son made after the movie was "that was *expletive* loud".
DeleteYesterday I was at the Gap Theatre for a pleasant afternoon. In the connection with the Mahoning Drive-In’s Camp Blood weekend, there was a screening of two films from Canadian filmmaker George Mihalka, who is best-known for the slasher My Bloody Valentine. He was present to introduce the films and have a Q-&-A session during intermission. The first feature was his 1980 teen sex comedy PINBALL SUMMER. (Also known as PICK-UP SUMMER). As the summer break commences, high school students who look more toward 30 than 18 engage in hijinks and romance as the championship at the local pinball arcade approaches. It is an entertaining slice of the genre if that is to your tastes. Mihalka talked about the process of getting Pinball Summer made, and it was what got him noticed by the producers of My Bloody Valentine. The second feature was Mihalka’s high-concept 1985 horror film ETERNAL EVIL. Although the film looks great, the script about a man engaging in astral projection and encountering evil souls is extremely muddled. Even with the cinematic requirement of the suspension of disbelief, Eternal Evil asks the viewer to overlook a lot of ridiculousness.
ReplyDeleteThe midnight film was sexploitation maestro Joseph Sarno’s e-r-o-t-i-c melodrama CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (1974). For a fifty-year-old print, it looked great. Being around connoisseurs of this type of cinema, we had a lively discussion after the screening.
I had to kill some time around the area (the Poconos and Lehigh Valley part of Pennsylvania) before the midnight screening. Besides observing some Labor Day festivities, I fulfilled my goal of visiting Jayne Mansfield’s grave in the nearby town of Pen Argyl. Fairview Park Cemetery is small but well kept, and in the middle of it is the heart-shaped headstone bearing her name. 1933-1967.
I got to a few other watches during the week.
ReplyDeleteTHE SEA HAWK (1940, dir. Michael Curtiz) – Adventure on the high seas and palace intrigue. In the 1580s, the political tension is high between England and Spain. The actions of Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) and his fellow raiders against Spanish shipping are ratcheting up the pressure on Queen Elizabeth I to maintain an increasingly fragile peace. Deep inside her court, though, are those whose schemes would sell England to Spanish domination. Golden Age Hollywood excelled at these kinds of costume drama adventure films. Though the history is part of the story, it never gets in the way of the entertainment. Errol Flynn is at his heroic best as Captain Thorpe, whose cunning equals his bravery. Composer Wolfgang Erich Korngold contributed a stirring score that rivals his celebrated score for The Adventures of Robin Hood.
BOTTOMS (2023, dir. Emma Seligman) on Prime – As soon as Bottoms begins, the satirical nature of the comedy is apparent. Gender roles are reversed, high school drama tropes are twisted around, and there is a lot of zaniness thrown into the mix. As someone who finds it difficult to connect with 21st-century cinema, Bottoms is not the easiest film for me to appreciate, yet it eventually got me on its wavelength. The comedic chemistry between Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri was the main reason. The casting of former football player Marshawn Lynch worked a lot better than I thought it would.
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1963, dir, Mario Bava) at the Mahoning Drive-In – I could not pass up a 35 mm screening of one of the original giallos. The print was an English version struck for its original release in the United States. Unsurprisingly, it has turned red over the decades, which means those great Bava colors mostly get washed out. Having a long history with the film, though, it was still a treat to see it on a big screen. Shown in the context of the drive-in’s slasher weekend (Camp Blood), most of the people I heard talking about BABL afterward mentioned finding it boring. That sentiment was echoed by many on giallo day this past June. Is the 1960s and ‘70s too far away for modern viewers get on a film’s wavelength now? For the Mahoning crowd, at least, it seems like the 1980s aesthetic has become the “classic” style of horror that they still easily connect to.
About Bottoms, on the extras on the blu-ray, you can see the chemistry between Rachel and Ayo, and the director as well. Everybody seemed to have a great time making it
DeleteLand of the Dead (2005, dir. George Romero)
ReplyDeleteThis movie is aging like a fine wine. LOVED it upon this rewatch, the best it's ever played for me. George Romero forever! I recommend everyone add this to your #SMM stacks.