TODAY I WATCHED (Movies, TV Shows) 2020

Started disc 2 of Star Trek ToS.

This one opens with the classic Richard Matheson-penned story "The Enemy Within" where a transporter malfunction splits Kirk's "good but weak" side from his "evil but strong side". 

Shatner overacts as usual but the concept of the story is so good that it doesn't really matter.

The Ninth Configuration (1980)



Stacy Keach stars as Marine psychiatrist is assigned to an army mental hospital in a secluded castle located in the Pacific northwest. It soon becomes apparent that Keach is just as troubled as the patients he's sent there to treat. This one caught me by surprise because I was expecting a horror story (it is based on a novel by he same writer of the Exorcist) but is actually a psychological drama. Not too bad of a film (kind of slow moving) with an excellent cast.

The Comedy Of Terrors (1963)



The late great Vincent Price stars as an amoral and drunken funeral director who decides to take matters into his own hands to save his failing business and stave off eviction. He blackmails his assistant (Peter Lorre) into helping him create his own clients. A surprisingly funny film (I laughed out loud quite a few times) that also has Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone in the cast.

"Rat Skates: Born in the Basement" (2007)

Original Overkill drummer Lee "Rat Skates" Kundrat (who left the band in 1987) compiled this entertaining documentary about the early days of his band, and of the thrash metal scene in general, loaded with vintage pix and video from his archives. Rat seems a bit full of himself (he never mentions any of the other guys' names when talking about Overkill - it's always "I," "me," etc.) and the fact that none of his former bandmates appear makes the flick a bit one-sided, but it's a cool trip down memory lane anyway.

Mausoleum (1983)



Marjoe Gortner stars as a man who discovers that his wife is cursed to be possessed by a demon, who she awakened in her family (Nomed. Get it?) mausoleum. He recruits her psychiatrist for help in saving her. A standard by the numbers possession film, highlighted by the female lead showing off her great body a number of times.

Bog (1979)



A red neck fishing with dynamite accidentally awakens an ancient creature that feeds on human blood to survive. This movie has all the feel of a 50s monster movie, no blood or real violence to speak of and a very cheap looking monster suit (with what glimpses you can see if it; they don't even show the sketch artist's rendition of it). Terrible film.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Rat Skates: Born in the Basement" (2007)

Original Overkill drummer Lee "Rat Skates" Kundrat (who left the band in 1987) compiled this entertaining documentary about the early days of his band, and of the thrash metal scene in general, loaded with vintage pix and video from his archives. Rat seems a bit full of himself (he never mentions any of the other guys' names when talking about Overkill - it's always "I," "me," etc.) and the fact that none of his former bandmates appear makes the flick a bit one-sided, but it's a cool trip down memory lane anyway.

Right on; I just let my buddy borrow my copy (he's an extreme extrovert and bored as pie right now). The home movie footage is a riot! The only thing I never liked about it is Skates' lame sense of unnecessary humor, especially on the directorial side. His ego doesn't help. But everything else makes up for it.

Nightbeast (1982)



An alien spacecraft crash lands near a small rural town and it's occupant proceeds to go on a killing spree, first with a disintegrator ray gun and then,after it's destroyed, by eviscerating anyone it can get it's hands on. A bad film with a bad monster suit, terrible acting and cheap gore effects.

tohostudios wrote:

Started disc 2 of Star Trek ToS.

This one opens with the classic Richard Matheson-penned story "The Enemy Within" where a transporter malfunction splits Kirk's "good but weak" side from his "evil but strong side". 

Shatner overacts as usual but the concept of the story is so good that it doesn't really matter.

Did you ever see the SNL skit with Shatner at a ST convention> He insults everyone there telling them they are losers who will never get laid and they should move out of their parent's basements. When it doesn't go over so well, he claims he was doing an impression of the "evil Kirk" from episode whatever. Pretty funny stuff. I can't seem to find it on youtube to post it though.

Never saw that but that's pretty funny!

Shatner cracks me up.  He now plays up the "hammy actor" tag on purpose and generally for laughs.  Like his role in A Christmas Horror Story; he's deliberately campy and it works great in that context.  I like that he doesn't take himself too seriously. 

Oh and he uses the SoClean to sanitize his sleep apnea equipment you know...

tohostudios wrote:

Never saw that but that's pretty funny!

Shatner cracks me up.  He now plays up the "hammy actor" tag on purpose and generally for laughs.  Like his role in A Christmas Horror Story; he's deliberately campy and it works great in that context.  I like that he doesn't take himself too seriously. 

Oh and he uses the SoClean to sanitize his sleep apnea equipment you know...

Not a "Trekkie" by any stretch, but I always loved the Shatner, especially because he doesn't take himself seriously and is aware of himself and plays that up.

After that one I watched the next episode which was "Mudd's Women".

After doing some research I learned that the actor who played Harry Mudd died in 1986 at the age of 54 which is a shame because he's quite amusing in the two Star Trek Episodes he's in.  He was so good in this episode that Roddenberry brought him back to reprise the character in a later episode, something rarely done in the ToS era of Star Trek.

the sentinel wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Never saw that but that's pretty funny!

Shatner cracks me up.  He now plays up the "hammy actor" tag on purpose and generally for laughs.  Like his role in A Christmas Horror Story; he's deliberately campy and it works great in that context.  I like that he doesn't take himself too seriously. 

Oh and he uses the SoClean to sanitize his sleep apnea equipment you know...

Not a "Trekkie" by any stretch, but I always loved the Shatner, especially because he doesn't take himself seriously and is aware of himself and plays that up.

Is it weird for me to instinctively find William Shatner to be a gifted actor? I mean, I understand why his style is seen as hammy, but I don't necessarily react to it like most viewers do. I find him subtle, nuanced, engaging, and well to blend with his company. Also easily slides into comic delivery like casting a spell--submitting Boston Public as Exhibit A.

tohostudios wrote:

After that one I watched the next episode which was "Mudd's Women".

After doing some research I learned that the actor who played Harry Mudd died in 1986 at the age of 54 which is a shame because he's quite amusing in the two Star Trek Episodes he's in.  He was so good in this episode that Roddenberry brought him back to reprise the character in a later episode, something rarely done in the ToS era of Star Trek.

Great episode! The one that I in fact return to the most. That dude who plays Mudd is solid. He also made his return in an episode of the animated series. You may have seen it.

"Diamonds are Forever" (1971)


After an unsuccessful attempt to transplant George Lazenby into the role, the O.G. 007 Sean Connery briefly returned to the James Bond series (for the supposedly "last" time). This time out, Bond travels to Amsterdam and Las Vegas as he infiltrates a ring of diamond smugglers who are (of course) working for SPECTRE.
Connery was clearly only in this for the paycheck (he looks quite out of shape too) and the slightly campier tone foreshadows what would come in the Roger Moore era. It's watchable but it's definitely not a top drawer Bond flick.

"The Rainbow" (2019)

The history of the famed Hollywood rocker hangout on the Sunset Strip, the Rainbow Bar & Grill (and its sister venue, the Whisky a Go-Go), which has been operated by the same family for three generations, is told via vintage footage and interviews with many of the stars who've called it home, including Ozzy, Slash, Lemmy, Micky Dolenz, Ron Jeremy (!), Lita Ford, and many more. A fast and fun documentary about an iconic site that should be on every rock fan's bucket list of places to visit.

Arthur (1981)



Dudley Moore stars as a drunken man-child multi millionaire who is being forced by his family into an arranged marriage, or lose his fortune. Complicating matters for him is a chance meeting with a shoplifting waitress (Lisa Manelli) and starts falling for her. Sir John Gielgud costars as Arthur's butler/right hand man in this hit comedy.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"The Rainbow" (2019)

The history of the famed Hollywood rocker hangout on the Sunset Strip, the Rainbow Bar & Grill (and its sister venue, the Whisky a Go-Go), which has been operated by the same family for three generations, is told via vintage footage and interviews with many of the stars who've called it home, including Ozzy, Slash, Lemmy, Micky Dolenz, Ron Jeremy (!), Lita Ford, and many more. A fast and fun documentary about an iconic site that should be on every rock fan's bucket list of places to visit.

It is, brother. I have already talked with the wife about heading to Cali and to the strip for my 50th in a few more years. I just want to walk down the strip one time on a Saturday night and pretend it's 1987/88.

I continued my 50's horror movie binge on the elliptical today when I started this Roger Corman "classic":

"Band Vs. Brand" (2019)

A cheap looking documentary that examines the importance of "branding" in the current music industry, and the various methods bands use to keep their names out there. Features words of wisdom  from a diverse group of performers including Dave Ellefson, Nadir D'Priest, Jean Beauvoir, Jack Russell, Marc Ferrari, Nik Turner, and many more.
This flick may possibly be of interest to those studying marketing, but for the average joe-schmoe viewer it's pretty dry stuff. Not recommended.

Watching 'Ready Player One' I was very disappointed in the film, maybe because I had just finished today and the book is still too fresh in my mind,

Unbreakable (2000)



Bruce Willis stars as a sole survivor of a train crash and ends up in a mystery also involving Samuel L Jackson as a man who has a condition that makes his bones extremely brittle. Jackson, a man obsessed with comic books, theorizes that Willis is actually an invulnerable superhuman. This was the first time I watched this and thought it was pretty good.

Good boys (2019)



In this vulgar and somewhat raunchy comedy, three 12 year olds are invited to their first kissing party. A number of events leads to the one kid losing his dad's coveted drone, and their adventure to get it back begins. A rather funny flick and a lot better than I had expected.

manny wrote:

Watching 'Ready Player One' I was very disappointed in the film, maybe because I had just finished today and the book is still too fresh in my mind,

Spielberg can be really amazing, or he can be bland and safe. That movie is in the latter category.

"Nightmare City" (1980)

A TV news reporter and his wife try to escape a city full of radiation-poisoned, blood-drinking, homicidal maniacs spawned by an atomic spill.
Umberto "Make Them Die Slowly" Lenzi's late-inning entry into the "Dawn of the Dead" knock off sweepstakes is a gloriously inept clusterf**k of atrocious acting, "Engrish" dialogue, awkward dubbing, and cheap gore. It sucks, but it sucks so awesomely that you can't take your eyes off of it. Essential Eurotrash!

"The Substitute 2: School's Out" (1998)


Treat Williams takes over from Tom Berenger in this direct-to-video sequel, as another special-ops mercenary badass who takes a job at another crime-ridden inner-city high school to find the car-jackin' gangstas who killed his teacher brother. Predictable shoot-em-up mayhem follows.  
...sooo, yeah, you might as well call this "The Punisher Goes Back to School." It's more or less a retread of the first movie, with a different leading man and set in a new locale (New York instead of Miami). Still, it's entertaining enough in that generic action-flick sort of way.

Necromancer (1988)



A college acting class student (the beautiful Elizabeth Kaitan) is assaulted by fellow students. Because her attacker has evidence of her former affair with her professor, she doesn't go to the police but instead answers an add on a newspaper (!) for revenge seekers. Turns out the ad is placed by a necromancer, and as they always do, things spiral out of control for the girl. A standard cheesy 80s horror flick.

Killer Workout (1987)



5 years after her twin sister was burned horribly in a tanning bed, a woman opens a health club but soon customers begin getting murdered. A weird slasher movie with minimal gore and nonsensical moments, including the spa remains open even after numerous deaths. If you want to keep seeing attractive women aerobicise every 15 minutes or so, then this one is for you. If not, avoid.

mikeinfla wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

mikeinfla wrote:

Ozark Season 3 dropped yesterday. I'm up to the third episode. Great show!

I need to catch up on this. I saw season 3 was out, only to realize we never watched season 2. Not sure what happened as I liked season 1 very much.

The only thing I can think is that we watched the first season, then while we waited for season 2 to come along, we got caught up in something else and just forgot about it.

Blaze thru Season 2 then start Season 3. I should've gone back and watched the last couple of episodes from Season 2 before starting 3 because it's been a while. So far season 3 is as good as the first 2

We finally finished up Season 2 over the weekend. My wife started losing interest and falling asleep and I was just watching them to get thru. There were a couple of plot holes that got me losing interest myself. And an awful lot of cussing. I’m no prude, but whenever Ruth speaks, every other word is an f-bomb. It gets annoying.

I suppose we’ll take a little breather before delving into Season 3.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Nightmare City" (1980)

A TV news reporter and his wife try to escape a city full of radiation-poisoned, blood-drinking, homicidal maniacs spawned by an atomic spill.
Umberto "Make Them Die Slowly" Lenzi's late-inning entry into the "Dawn of the Dead" knock off sweepstakes is a gloriously inept clusterf**k of atrocious acting, "Engrish" dialogue, awkward dubbing, and cheap gore. It sucks, but it sucks so awesomely that you can't take your eyes off of it. Essential Eurotrash!

I wanna say it was about 15 years ago the IFC channel had a "horror fest" or something that ran all of the month of April (?). I caught some killer flicks I hadn't seen in years (Humanoids from the Deep, Bloody Birthday) and then I saw this steaming turd! It was an absolute chore to get through.