TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2019

Smackdown

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

You liked that?  I think it's a one-trick pony and it uses that trick waaaaaay too early.

I enjoyed it, yeah. I'll probably never watch it again but it was a decent enough time waster for a chilly afternoon.

Man I love that movie. Been watching it every Xmas since it came out. It's mean as hell and totally subverts one's expectations. A very strange flick that kind of sits outside the usual Xmas Horror Brutality Movies. Enjoyable cast really rounds it out.

Spoiler:

I agree with your wife.

But I still don't like that movie.

corplhicks wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

You liked that?  I think it's a one-trick pony and it uses that trick waaaaaay too early.

I enjoyed it, yeah. I'll probably never watch it again but it was a decent enough time waster for a chilly afternoon.

Man I love that movie. Been watching it every Xmas since it came out. It's mean as hell and totally subverts one's expectations. A very strange flick that kind of sits outside the usual Xmas Horror Brutality Movies. Enjoyable cast really rounds it out.

Spoiler:

Useless trivia: the chick who played the babysitter and the kid who played "Garrett" the dorky best friend, played brother and sister in M. Night Shamalama's "The Visit."

Fat Freddy wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

You liked that?  I think it's a one-trick pony and it uses that trick waaaaaay too early.

I enjoyed it, yeah. I'll probably never watch it again but it was a decent enough time waster for a chilly afternoon.

Man I love that movie. Been watching it every Xmas since it came out. It's mean as hell and totally subverts one's expectations. A very strange flick that kind of sits outside the usual Xmas Horror Brutality Movies. Enjoyable cast really rounds it out.

Spoiler:

Useless trivia: the chick who played the babysitter and the kid who played "Garrett" the dorky best friend, played brother and sister in M. Night Shamalama's "The Visit."

Yeah, that made me do a total double-take. The Visit was a damn good movie (possibly best since Sixth Sense), and those two are rather good actors, so I think their presence and likability was a driving force behind Better Watch Out. They're a good pair for being cast in WTF situations.

Saw Rise Of Skywalker today. I thought it was good.

Finished "Gingerdead Man" today.  They don't get much worse than this dreck.  Mercifully the entire "film" is only 60 minutes long (including closing credits) so at least it's not prolonged agony.  And it IS pretty funny seeing Gary Busey stoop to this level to get a payday but it's just not worth it.

I forget why I bought both of the Gingerdead Man movies; probably because FF dared me.

Spider-Man Homecoming (2017)



Spider-Man's first MCU solo outting takes place after his appearance in Civil War and dealing with an arms dealer using stolen Chitauri technology, dubbed the Culture (an excellent Michael Keaton). Fun and action ensues. A fine addition to the MCU filmography.

WWE NXT

tohostudios wrote:

I forget why I bought both of the Gingerdead Man movies; probably because FF dared me.

I only ever saw the first Gingerdead Man, and that was plenty. Don't blame me!

Finished "Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4"

This has absolutely nothing to do with the previous 3 SNDN films, in fact it's barely a Christmas horror movie at all; except for a few lights, Christmas trees and other holiday trappings in the background of a few scenes it could be taking place in July.

This is an early Brian Yuzna effort and actually some of the weird, SFX resemble another of Yuzna's early flims "Society" which isn't too surprising because Screaming Mad George is the FX director of both films.  But other than some gross-out FX this flick doesn't make much sense having something to do with a female Isis-worshipping cult and their lackey Clint Howard trying to initiate a would-be reporter into their circle.  Lots of nasty bugs but not a lot to recommend from this flick.

Thus endeth my Christmas horror moviethon for 2019.  I haven't decided what I'm going to watch next; I have several unseen DVDs I've ordered over the last few months while I was watching the Star Trek: Enterprise series plus I have the final season of Gotham to watch on blu-ray.

The Goldbergs
Seinfeld
Jeopardy

Started "Resolution" today.  Weird flick so far and from reviews I've read apparently it gets weirder.

tohostudios wrote:

Finished "Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4"

This has absolutely nothing to do with the previous 3 SNDN films, in fact it's barely a Christmas horror movie at all; except for a few lights, Christmas trees and other holiday trappings in the background of a few scenes it could be taking place in July.

This is an early Brian Yuzna effort and actually some of the weird, SFX resemble another of Yuzna's early flims "Society" which isn't too surprising because Screaming Mad George is the FX director of both films.  But other than some gross-out FX this flick doesn't make much sense having something to do with a female Isis-worshipping cult and their lackey Clint Howard trying to initiate a would-be reporter into their circle.  Lots of nasty bugs but not a lot to recommend from this flick.

Thus endeth my Christmas horror moviethon for 2019.  I haven't decided what I'm going to watch next; I have several unseen DVDs I've ordered over the last few months while I was watching the Star Trek: Enterprise series plus I have the final season of Gotham to watch on blu-ray.

Not gonna do "Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker" to finish out the franchise? It's probably the best of the sequels, though I guess that's pretty faint praise.

Nah, I watched SNDN 5 last year and I still remember it too well; as in too well that I remember how crappy it is.

I actually sort of like SNDN 4 because it does have some cool FX and the lead actress gets nekkid a lot but good grief does it make NO sense.

I got tired of watching football so I flipped around looking for something else to kill a little time and I stumbled across ABC's rebroadcast of the "All In The Family" Christmas episode that was originally live on Christmas Day.

Holy crap!  Woody Harrelson totally NAILS Carroll O'Connor's "Archie Bunker".  I mean he's spot on as Archie.

tohostudios wrote:

I got tired of watching football so I flipped around looking for something else to kill a little time and I stumbled across ABC's rebroadcast of the "All In The Family" Christmas episode that was originally live on Christmas Day.

Holy crap!  Woody Harrelson totally NAILS Carroll O'Connor's "Archie Bunker".  I mean he's spot on as Archie.

I enjoyed that and Good Times. Did you see the Good Times segment?

I missed the Good Times part but I was never a big fan of that show anyway.  However I was a HUGE All In The Family fan; my whole family used to gather around the TV to watch that every Saturday night.  The other actors in that segment were pretty meh but I thought Woody Harrelson was great.

I liked both shows and it was very nice to see a familiar face return:

"Dolemite Is My Name" (2019)

Eddie Murphy stars in this funny, funky period piece as Rudy Ray Moore - who was a washed up stand-up comic in the early '70s until he risked everything to turn "Dolemite," the heroic, ass kickin' kung-fu master and super pimp from his comedy routines, into a low budget "blaxploitation" film.
Murphy's performance is great and he's backed by a fantastic supporting cast that includes Keegan Michael Key, Craig Robinson, Titus Burgess, and even Wesley Snipes (where have you seen him lately?).
Thanks to this movie and his killer performance hosting "SNL" a couple of weeks ago, it looks like Eddie's comeback is in full swing.

Spider-Man:Far From Home (2019)



In this one, Spider-Man is recruited by Nick Fury to help newcomer super-hero Mysterio (Make Gyllenhaal) defeat elemental creatures from destroying the world. Those of you familiar with comics and Mysterio know there's more to this story than meets the eye. Really cool film that ends up the third MCU phase with a bang.

Man, my Xmas movie viewing BLEW. Same for my entire fucking christmas. At least the actual day was cool. Otherwise, I'm writing this year off as not one I really want to remember.

All that said, here's my watch list for the 'season.'

Gremlins - watched this while wrapping presents the Xmas eve. I think this one is becoming my absolute favorite. Gotta love the ultra-violence. A-

Christmas Vacation - this one was fun because I watched it stoned and drunk after HOSTING A FUCKING THANKSGIVING. Dude. I pulled it off so well that Norman Rockwell would have painted me CARVING the fucking turkey. So when Clark says "I did it," at the end? So. Did. I. A solid 'A' rating.

[I hosted a fucking thanksgiving. For my big-ass family.]

Watched Christmas Vacation again with my wife a couple weeks later. Gets better every viewing, which is further confirmation that I'm turning 40 next month.

Bad Santa - this one is actually getting worse with each viewing. We actually tried out the director's cut and it was actually worse. The death of the Bernie Mac character is extended and does nothing else but scream out, without restraint, "HEY CHECK THIS OUT THIS IS A BLACK COMEDY." The movie itself, which was funny due to its irreverence upon first viewing, is really just one of those expensive, well-made Christmas greeting cards with a rather obvious--and offensive yet unfunny--joke. And it's becoming rather dated since most of the offensive lines really aren't offensive anymore, just dumb. Drop this one from a B+ to a C-.

Die Hard - Yes. YES. YES YES YES. WHY IS THIS ARCHETYPE OF AN ACTION MOVE SO WORTHY OF REVISITING?? I don't get this movie, guys. There are a million enough imperfections and missteps but it's so strongly directed (miss you, mr McTerinan) and performed (miss you, mr Rickman, so much. Can you guys believe this was his first movie??) that you just buy it. On top of it all, it feels more like a Xmas movie every year. A+, a truly great movie, the closest we'll ever get to It's a Wonderful Life again.

Iron Man 3. It is a Christmas movie after all, I guess. Still an A-.

Little Match Girl. This one is obscure. Made-for-TV movie that aired in 1986 on ABC. Keisha-Knight Pulliam (remember the little girl on Cosby show?) and William Daniels (voice of KITT and the principal from Boy Meets World) are the stand-out cast. Oh and Jonathon Rhys-Davies for a good bit. An effective period piece with a careful eye toward class warfare. I wish this would get proper distribution, but it is FINALLY available on YouTube (I have a VHS copy). B+. The kids and wife loved it.

Christmas shorts: Garfield Xmas, Charlie Brown Xmas, Rudolph, Grinch, Mickey's Once and Twice Upon a Christmas, and Frosty. All still hold their value, except for Grinch, which I'm getting a little burnt out on.

And that's it. Didn't even have time for Ernest Saves Christmas. But I'm hella ready for Wonderful Life this New Years. Need to grab some Kleenex at the store for that one.

Finished "Resolution" today.  W----T----F????????

Why this thing has so many sterling reviews completely eludes me.  Take out all the weird characters who come and go throughout this movie and serve no actual purpose whatsoever and the already brief 75 minute running time would be down to less than an hour.  This is the cinematic equivalent of the Seinfeld Show - it's about NOTHING.  OMG, does this thing ever suck.  Unfortunately I'm going to be watching the next film from these same producers/directors; I read that it will make more sense if you've seen Resolution first.  Yeah, I seriously doubt that. 

Geez, "Manos - Hands Of Fate" looks like The Exorcist next to this steaming pile.  Yeah, I HATED it!!!  AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!!!!

Tonight I watched two episodes of a new Netflix show called "The Movies That Made Us" (a companion to their earlier "The Toys That Made Us" nostalgia-fest), looking back on "Die Hard" and "Ghostbusters." Lots of cool behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and nerdy trivia about both flicks. Fun stuff.