TODAY I WATCHED (Movies, TV Shows) 2020

Our local news just ran one of those depressing "People We Lost This Year" recaps. It was so long that the feature didn't even get to finish before the computerized "hard break" kicked in. One of the names they listed that I somehow missed was Conchatta Ferrell - the actress in the role of Aunt Dorothy in "Krampus". When I looked up the date she passed away (October 12) I also looked over the lengthy list of stuff she was in. One of them was the Norman Lear mid 70s comedy TV show "Hot L Baltimore" and that's when I remembered where I saw her before. She played a hooker on that "racy for the time" show.

Continuing my trip thru the Bond series...

"Octopussy" (1983)

A rogue Soviet general and an exiled Afghan prince are smuggling priceless Russian art treasures and auctioning them to fund a Communist expansion into Western Europe. While investigating the death of a fellow double-0, Bond travels to India and East Germany and meets the third member of the smugglers' organization, a lady thief who calls herself Octopussy.
I've never been particularly crazy about this installment, it has a few cool action sequences but it's overlong and relies too much on goofy slapstick comedy (like when Bond has to defuse a nuclear weapon while wearing a clown suit). Actually the movie doesn't even really need the Octopussy character, she's mainly there to give the movie eye candy with her private army of butt kicking warrior women. Roger Moore was already looking to exit the 007 role when he made this one.

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to follow this one up with the "other" Bond film released in 1983, "Never Say Never Again," or skip directly to Moore's finale, "A View To A Kill." Not only because "Never" is not part of the "official" Bond series, but because it kinda sucks too.

A snowy Christmas Day viewing :

Die Hard (1988)



A New York cop arrives in L.A. for his estranged wife's Christmas Eve office party. However, he's in the wrong place at the wrong time when "terrorists" storm the building, taking everyone hostage in an attempt to steal over $600 million in bearer bonds. Avoiding capture, the cop, played by Bruce Willis in a star making role, has to take them down from the inside. A great action film with tons of gunplay, explosions ,etc. and spends several inferior (IMO) sequels.

Soul (2020)



Disney/Pixar film with Jamie Foxx providing the voice of a middle school band teacher longing for a better life. Finally getting his big break, he accidentally falls down an open manhole cover and discovers his soul is headed to the Great Beyond. Not ready to die, he is able to escape to the Great Before, where all young souls are trimmed to join with a living body on Earth. He meets up with a young soul named 22 (Tina Fey) and the 2 embark on a journey and discover what it means to have a soul. Excellent animation as usual, and a fun and entertaining film.

Black Christmas (1974)



Early slasher film produced and directed by Bob Clark (who also brought us Porky's and A Christmas Story) about a sorority house tormented by obscene phone calls and then eventually being stalked and murdered by a psychopath, who's hiding in the house's attic. A good movie with a good cast (including Keir Dullea and John Saxon) although the ending could have been better.

I then finished up the third season of Game Of Thrones.

National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
Muppet Christmas Carol

Yeah, I bit the bullet...

"Never Say Never Again" (1983)

Sean Connery returns to the 007 role for the first time since 1971, a little older and grayer but still capable of kicking butt on a bunch of SPECTRE agents who've stashed two stolen nuclear warheads in the waters around the Bahamas.

This "unofficial" Bond film was the independently-produced result of a 20+ year copyright battle between Kevin McClory, the co-writer of an aborted Bond screenplay that later became "Thunderball," and the Ian Fleming estate. Like "Octopussy," the other Bond film released in 1983, "NSNA" is too long and unnecessarily complicated. It is cool to see Connery wearing the tux again (he's in noticeably better shape than he was in "Diamonds Are Forever" a dozen years earlier) and a young, unknown Kim Basinger provides some decent eye candy but in the end this movie is not much more than a cheap rerun.

If I had to pick between the two '83 Bonds, I guess I'd say I preferred "Never," but honestly I won't be revisiting either one of them anytime soon. 1983 was not a good year for 007...

Smackdown
Kolchak:The Night Stalker

Started Game Of Thrones season 4

I finished "Sint" today. Still a great flick no matter how many times I've seen it; gory as hell!

Thus endeth the Toho Holiday Horrorthon. And now for something completely different; tomorrow I'm going to start Ken Burns' 15 hour documentary about WWII.

Finished Game Of Thrones season 4 tonight

Just watched a cool movie called Black Mirror: Bandersnatch on Netflix. It's an interactive movie where you can pick different scenarios and has multiple endings. Based on a guy that is programming a game in the mid 80's that does the same thing. One of those adventure games where you pick between choices on what you character does next. It's such a cool thing to do with a movie, I was having fun while watching it. I plan on watching it again so I can make different choices to see if anything changes I might have missed. Really cool idea, need to check out other Black Mirror shows next.

"Hayride" (2012)

A serial killer escapes from police custody and hides out in a barn that's part of a small town's Halloween "Haunted Hayride" attraction. You can probably figure out the rest.
Cheap, cheesy slasher junk with idiot characters, minimal gore, and mostly-awful acting. Followed by a sequel which I will make sure to avoid.

Scooby Doo - Where are You? Season 1

Death Ship (1980)



A luxury liner on a Caribbean cruise encounters a black freighter on a collision course, despite the liner's best efforts. A handful of survivors eventually discover the apparently abandoned freighter and board, but soon discover there is more to this ship than meets the eye. An effective thriller with a good cast but it's not essential viewing.

I actually saw Death Ship at a drive-in. It was part of a double feature but I can't even remember the other film. I remember liking the atmosphere of Death Ship

Today I started "The War". It's Ken Burns' 15 hour documentary about World War II. I never thought I'd be interested in watching a lengthy historical documentary but Burns has such a knack for it. He always finds an interesting angle to tell the story. This one opens with interviews from people in Waterbury, CT, Luverne MN, Sacramento CA and Mobile AL. All the people have some connection to WWII. And the film follows not only what happened in the war and the reasons for it but also the impact on these communities and the people in them. It brings a human interest connection to a subject I've always found dusty and boring.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Just watched a cool movie called Black Mirror: Bandersnatch on Netflix. It's an interactive movie where you can pick different scenarios and has multiple endings. Based on a guy that is programming a game in the mid 80's that does the same thing. One of those adventure games where you pick between choices on what you character does next. It's such a cool thing to do with a movie, I was having fun while watching it. I plan on watching it again so I can make different choices to see if anything changes I might have missed. Really cool idea, need to check out other Black Mirror shows next.

I liked that too and went thru all of the endings. Some of the episodes are really good, others not so much. Start off with season 1 and work your way up. Kind of has a modern Twilight Zone feel. You have to watch closely as some of the symbols in the show reappear and there is a song that repeats in many of the different episodes but sometimes it is hard to catch because sometimes it's a pop song and then it might show up later as a rock song.

Episode 1 from season 1 is pretty crazy. Episode 7 "White Christmas" was also pretty good. As I said, some of them are hit are miss and some are really good.

If you like classic Sci Fi space shows, this one was pretty cool. Very cheesy yet still cool.

"Lemmy" (2010)

Immensely entertaining documentary on the legendary Motorhead frontman captures the man on tour and at home, while an endless stream of famous fans and colleagues confirm what we all pretty much knew already - that Lemmy was the coolest rock n roll mofo ever to walk the Earth. This is prob my 3rd or 4th viewing of this flick, which has become one of my favorite "rock docs" in recent years.

Finished season 5 of Game Of Thrones

Star Blazers 2202: Space Battleship Yamato - Part One

watched Ocean's 13 and on season one of Kung Fu

I have this on my Netflix watch list



I have no idea what it's about but will check it out.

Finished the 6th season of Game Of Thrones

"Netflix vs. the World" (2019)

An engrossing documentary about the rise of Netflix, from its humble beginnings as a small mail order movie rental service, to its current status as a streaming powerhouse and major player in movie and TV content creation.
It was particularly interesting to learn that Blockbuster Video once had a chance to buy Netflix when it was in its infancy, for $50 million... and they passed. I bet the guy who made that decision spends most of his time crying in a dark room these days.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Netflix vs. the World" (2019)

An engrossing documentary about the rise of Netflix, from its humble beginnings as a small mail order movie rental service, to its current status as a streaming powerhouse and major player in movie and TV content creation.
It was particularly interesting to learn that Blockbuster Video once had a chance to buy Netflix when it was in its infancy, for $50 million... and they passed. I bet the guy who made that decision spends most of his time crying in a dark room these days.

Never saw this on my suggestions, but will probably watch it soon. I bet Netflix is happy as hell that blockbuster said no lol I do kinda miss blockbuster though. But admittedly, once I got started on Netflix, I saw no reason for blockbuster anymore.

Just started watching a show called The Tudors. Guess the series is all based off King Henry the VIII. Only one episode in, but seems like it's pretty good. It's on Netflix for now, but leaving next week. It's on demand though, so I hope I can still watch it after Netflix gets rid of it.