TODAY I WATCHED (Movies, TV Shows) 2020

Started my new box set of all 5 Phantasm movies.

The first one doesn't hold up as well as I remembered it. There are a bunch of scenes that make no sense (like Mike and the fortune teller and how the grandaughther apparently finds "The Room" where the corpses are sent to another planet as slave labor). I also didn't remember the acting being as iffy as it actually is.

But I still enjoy the flick; there are so many ideas going on here that it's no wonder 4 more movies were spawned from it.

Yesterday; Kingsman: The Golden Circle

tohostudios wrote:

Started my new box set of all 5 Phantasm movies.

The first one doesn't hold up as well as I remembered it.  There are a bunch of scenes that make no sense (like Mike and the fortune teller and how the grandaughther apparently finds "The Room" where the corpses are sent to another planet as slave labor).  I also didn't remember the acting being as iffy as it actually is.  

But I still enjoy the flick; there are so many ideas going on here that it's no wonder 4 more movies were spawned from it.

Dunno why, but the "Phantasm" series is one horror franchise I could never get into. I've seen the first one a few times but never quite "got" what all the whoop-de-doo was about. The second one didn't grab me either, so I never bothered with the rest...

Watched Platoon early this morning. Seen it a hundred times, but never gets old.

Waxwork (1988)



College students are trapped inside a wax museum created by a magician in an attempt at destroying the world, with the college students to be the necessary sacrifices as the catalyst. Even though the wax figures are clearly actors trying to remain motionless (and for the most part failing), this is a pretty fun film.

"Undercover Brother 2" (2019)


(no, I didn't know this movie existed either, till I stumbled across it on Netflix...)

In this ultra-cheap, years-too-late, who-asked-for-it direct-to-video sequel to 2002's cult blaxploitation parody, ultra-funky secret agent Undercover Brother is in a coma after being injured in the line of duty, so his dorky younger brother is drafted into service to continue the battle against The Man.

The original "Undercover Brother" was a fun action comedy in the "Austin Powers" vein, but "2" was a total waste of time. Absolutely none of the cast members from the original film returned for this go-round (C'mon, they couldn't even lure Eddie friggin' Griffin back to play Undercover Brother? You can't tell me that guy's got anything better to do!) so this "sequel" feels more like a failed pilot for a cheap TV series adaptation, full of unfamiliar faces and stale gags.  

AVOID.

Watching the new Dracula series on Netflix. Only three episodes, and know next to nothing about if that's all there will be, but so far I'm really liking it.

Night before last, I was browsing the indie movies on Netflix and tried this one out:



A group of people wake up to find themselves in a deadly game of deciding who lives and who dies.  Decent little sci-fi thriller with fairly solid acting (though I'm only familiar with one or two of the actors). The script is quite heavy handed in places, and ham-fisted in others, and cliches abound with several characters.  Still, I enjoyed it well enough.  I've seen MUCH worse!

And last night, I FINALLY got off my ass and watched:



I have no idea why it took me this long to see this one.  I enjoyed this one from start to finish. Superb performances, a gripping story, and no wasted shots or scenes. I am quite eager to see how the sequel goes!

Last night I also revisited:



This doesn't hold a candle to John Carpenter's 1982 work (one of my favourite movies of all time).  Being a prequel, there are also some continuity issues (like the destruction of the alien craft, for a GLARING example).  Not to mention the creature is shown to be more aggressive here, instead of relying on deception.  The big knock for me, though, is the HEAVY overuse of CGI.  If they wanted to stay in line with Carpenter's work, they should have elected for MUCH greater use of practical effects.

All that being said, it wasn't a BAD movie.  It was just inconsistent, and didn't quite line up with the movie it wanted to be a prequel to.  I'll give a big thumbs up to the actors, though.  I can't fault their performances

My thoughts on those second two movies (haven't seen "Circle"):

I thought "A Quiet Place" was entertaining and decent enough but way too many glowing reviews for what it actually was.

On "The Thing" prequel, how many times have you seen it? I had exactly the same reaction as you the first time I saw it but I recently watched it again and found it much more enjoyable the second time around.

SideShowDisaSter wrote:

This doesn't hold a candle to John Carpenter's 1982 work (one of my favourite movies of all time).  Being a prequel, there are also some continuity issues (like the destruction of the alien craft, for a GLARING example).  Not to mention the creature is shown to be more aggressive here, instead of relying on deception.  The big knock for me, though, is the HEAVY overuse of CGI.  If they wanted to stay in line with Carpenter's work, they should have elected for MUCH greater use of practical effects.
All that being said, it wasn't a BAD movie.  It was just inconsistent, and didn't quite line up with the movie it wanted to be a prequel to.  I'll give a big thumbs up to the actors, though.  I can't fault their performances

The story behind that Thing prequel is fascinating. Originally they had hired ADI (Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis, the dudes behind the effects for the Aliens movies, for the most part at least) to do practical effects in an attempt to emulate the work Bottin did on the original film. Unfortunately what the script called for was simply too elaborate for practical elements and, after going over-budget, ADI was let go and the studio called for CGI to complete the work. Interestingly enough, ADI would simply regroup and reuse the practical materials in their own independent film Harbinger Down. It's a decent enough little movie with all prosthetic viscera; I believe it's streaming on Amazon Prime.

tohostudios wrote:

My thoughts on those second two movies (haven't seen "Circle"):

I thought "A Quiet Place" was entertaining and decent enough but way too many glowing reviews for what it actually was.

On "The Thing" prequel, how many times have you seen it?  I had exactly the same reaction as you the first time I saw it but I recently watched it again and found it much more enjoyable the second time around.  

This was the second time I tried the prequel Thing. However, I pretty much dismissed it the first time I tried viewing it and left it on as background noise while paying little attention. I actually sat and WATCHED it this time. I will admit I was much more engrossed.

My problem kept coming back to the effects again and again. I think the movie's runtime and pacing also worked against it. A slightly longer movie, with more suspense and paranoia, would have worked wonders. I think that would have helped clear up the feel that the Thing was more aggressive and on the attack instead of bidding its time and waiting for more opportune moments to reveal itself as you saw in Carpenter's film.

Finished Phantasm II today.  Much better than the original one with more gore and much better FX although if you think about it the story still doesn't really make a lick of sense.  

Next up is Phantasm III which must be the one with the cluster of silver balls.  I know I've seen at least three of these films before and I thought 2 was the one with a whole bunch of the brain-sucking balls.  And while 2 does have silver and gold balls that do more than just drill into brains there still wasn't the whole cluster of them huddled together that I remember so I'm assuming that's coming in III.

And in reading opinions about Phantasm II I also found this (it's pretty cool after the growling ends):

"Airheads" (1994)

In this hard rock "Dog Day Afternoon" variant, three doofus musicians (Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler) just want their favorite radio station to play their demo on the air -- but things spiral out of control. Soon they're holding the staff hostage and the place is surrounded by cops and fans, making them into instant rock stars.
"Airheads" was a fun flick but it tanked at the box office in 1994, since it arrived well after the hair metal scene it was parodying had peaked. Since then it's become something of a cult classic thanks to a cast full of familiar faces that includes Chris Farley, Michael McKean, David Arquette, Judd Nelson, and more, plus a rockin' soundtrack and a cameo by Lemmy!

Last night I finished off:



Six separate short stories make up this quirky take on Westerns from the Coen brothers. Sadly, the quality of them is quite uneven, and the first story following the titular Buster Scruggs is (IMO) the best of the lot. Tim Blake Nelson (a criminally underrated actor) hits it out of the park as the title character. The segment is hilarious in nearly all aspects, including the casual violence.

Other highlights include James Franco as a bumbling bank robber that also showcases Stephen Root (another underrated actor) as a wild-eyed, slightly unhinged bank teller. The segment with Tom Waits (always a pleasure to watch him in action) as an elderly prospector is another little gem.

The remaining three are a bit hit-or-miss. The main problem with them is that they are a bit too long, and overstay their welcome somewhat. None are bad, by any means, but after that glorious opening... It's a hard act to follow when the opener is of such quality.

Started Phantasm III today while I was on the elliptical.  I'm sure this is the one with the cluster of "balls" in the ceiling because they've already been featured way more prominently than in the previous two Phantasm releases.

I knew I'd seen "some" of this franchise (1 and 2 for sure) but after that it got kind of fuzzy.  Apparently I've seen 3 too.  We'll see if I recall any of the remaining movies in the series; I'm pretty sure I've never seen the 5th one because I wasn't even aware there was a 5th one.   And I'm sure the 5th one sucks but I guess we'll see...

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Airheads" (1994)

In this hard rock "Dog Day Afternoon" variant...

Holy moly, I've never thought of that before. Woah.

tohostudios wrote:

Started Phantasm III today while I was on the elliptical.  I'm sure this is the one with the cluster of "balls" in the ceiling because they've already been featured way more prominently than in the previous two Phantasm releases.

I knew I'd seen "some" of this franchise (1 and 2 for sure) but after that it got kind of fuzzy.  Apparently I've seen 3 too.  We'll see if I recall any of the remaining movies in the series; I'm pretty sure I've never seen the 5th one because I wasn't even aware there was a 5th one.   And I'm sure the 5th one sucks but I guess we'll see...

I've seen the first three. I gotta say, it's some of the best mindless entertainment of its ilk. Though I find the first one to have this "classic" feel that makes it more memorable. Looking forward to hearing what you think of the further sequels. The fact that Dan Coscarelli never gave up on his creation and kept directing them has me more than curious. One of them is supposed to be apocalyptic.

Maybe I was just in a bad mood or something this time around but I didn't find the first Phantasm movie very enjoyable at all. Lots of stuff made no sense.

I love the blurring of zombie and sci fi genres but if you actually stop and think about the movie, it doesn't make much sense.

Finished up Mindhunter on Netflix and it was awesome. Also finished up "You" which is really good for the first season but the second season drags a bit. I don't really see how they can get another season out of it. It's about an overbearing stalker and is well done and has a lot of first person narration.

Also finished up Manhunt: Unabomber and it was also very well done.

Next up, The Stranger as it looks pretty decent.

Better Call Saul season 4 drops Feb 9 and I am really looking forward to that.

Supernatural

[quote="tohostudios"]Maybe I was just in a bad mood or something this time around but I didn't find the first Phantasm movie very enjoyable at all.  Lots of stuff made no sense.

I love the blurring of zombie and sci fi genres but if you actually stop and think about the movie, it doesn't make much sense. [/quote

One of the weirdest horror movies ever made. But I'm a sucker for those.

You know what's bugging me about the Phantasm franchise this time?

Why does The Tall Man bother killing people?  If the whole point of his being here is to harvest and reanimate corpses then send them back to his home planet as slave labor why does he need to kill people?  I mean, I get that he needs to kill anyone who gets too close to what's going on but he keeps killing random people who are totally oblivious.  What, not enough dead people on the planet?

I guess I enjoyed these films more when I was younger because my brain was much less locked into the logical thinking my career has forced upon me over the years.

"Wheels of Fire" (1985)

Sometime in the not-so-distant future, a gun-toting warrior badass travels across the desert wastelands to rescue his sister from a variety of murderous goons and cannibals.
Yep, it's another low budget "Mad Max" wanna-be, set in one of those post-apocalyptic worlds where everyone dresses like the leather-daddy guy from the Village People and drives a crapped-out, heavily armored pimp mobile. "Wheels of Fire" doesn't have much story and it's obviously not original in the slightest, but lotsa things crash into each other and explode, so I was amused.

Benson
Married With Children
Becker

"Dracula 3000" (2004)

A crew of space salvagers locate a massive space ship that was thought to be lost 100 years ago. When they explore it they discover that they are not alone, as the ship's lone occupant is the last survivor from a planet of vampires. Overacting and cheap gore ensues.
... pretty neat concept, but this flick does nothing to live up to its intriguing premise; instead it just re-creates the director's favorite scenes from the "Alien" saga with a dash of "Event Horizon," on a cheese-and-crackers budget.
I knew I was in for a rough ride when the three biggest names in the cast were Casper "Starship Troopers" van Dien, who has been in more z-movies than I can count; former Playmate Erika Eleniak (who's not as hot as she was in the "Under Siege" days, but she's still holding up pretty well), and ... Coolio.
This thing has been in my Hulu watchlist forever, I gave it a whirl today cuz I kinda felt sorry for ignoring it all that time. Now I wish I hadn't bothered.
In case it wasn't already obvious... AVOID.

That's actually a pretty cool premise.  Too bad it was botched up.