TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2021

Season 3 of Twilight Zone started with an episode called "Two". I didn't remember this one at all. It's a post-apocalyptic love story between people who were on opposite sides of a war. It stars (of all people) Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery. It took me a few minutes to recognize Chuck and I never did figure out who the girl was although I knew she looked familiar.

State of Play

Ice Cream Man (1995)



Ron Howard's dorky looking brother Clint stars as a demented man released from a sanitarium after ,as a child, witnessing an ice cream man gunned down in the street. He takes up the work as an ice cream man and begins killing people, grinding them up and adding them to his ice cream. A rather dumb film that somehow landed David Warner, David Naughton, Jan-Michael Vincent and Steve Harvey (!) in supporting roles.

The Eagles - Farewell Tour I Live From Melbourne

What a great show this was, incorporating songs from the band as well as Don Henley's solo career, Joe Walsh's solo career and Walsh's career with James Gang.  It's a shame we'll never see this lineup again as Glenn Frey passed away in 2016.  This show was recorded in Australia in 2004 and the band and backing members sound great.  There are also lots of shots of hot females in the audience (not so many as to be overly distracting but I did keep thinking 'Damn, I wished I lived in Australia.")

Funny side note:  my skittish cat Squirrel perched on the back of the couch next to my head for the whole show even when I cranked it for Disc 2 when the louder tracks kick in.  My normally socially friendly cat Loosie ventured in during "Life In The Fast Lane" on Disc 2 and promptly fled to the basement.  Normally loud noise doesn't faze Loosie very much so I guess she just doesn't like The Eagles.  

What a great show this was and RIP Glenn Frey.

The Gate(1987)-when a fallen tree is removed from a family's backyard, their young son and his friend discover a hole where the tree once stood.  The friend then repeats the words to an ancient spell that causes the hole to turn into an entrance to Hell.  It's up to the kids to find a way to close it before all hell literally breaks loose.  I remember when this movie first came out and this is actually the first time I ever saw it, believe it or not.  The movie kind of plays like a PG-13 version of The Evil Dead, in a way.  Maybe it was because I waited so long to see it or whatever, but I thought the movie was okay for what it is, nothing more.  There is good practical effects in this before CGI took over the industry.  Followed by a sequel a few years later, which I've seen, but remember nothing about.  2.5/5

Loki episode 2

"Passenger 57" (1992)

An airline security expert (Wesley Snipes) finds himself in the right place at the right time, when his flight from Florida to L.A. is hijacked by a terrorist (Bruce Payne) who's just escaped from Federal custody. So in other words, it's "Die Hard" on a plane.
"Passenger 57" is obviously not the most original thing to come down the pike but it's an entertaining, fast paced flick. Snipes' impressive butt kicking moves in this helped turn him into a bankable action star for much of the next decade.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the first episode of the series, The Ripper

Ohio Valley Wrestling

"The Rocketeer" (1991)

In 1938 Los Angeles, a down on his luck stunt pilot gets mixed up with gangsters, G-Men, a Hollywood movie star, and Nazi spies when he stumbles across an experimental rocket pack and becomes a reluctant super hero.
An underrated period-piece action flick in the "Indiana Jones" vein, based on the cult comic book character. "The Rocketeer" features a great cast, plenty of cool aerial stunts, and Jennifer Connelly at her absolute peak of hottie perfection. Lots of fun.

Alfred Hitchcock's 'To Catch a Thief'

Dawn Of The Dead (1978)



George Romero's sequel to Night Of The Living Dead with a group of survivors flying across Pennsylvania in an attempt to find sanctuary in a rapidly deteriorating society during a zombie apocalypse, eventually holing up in a mall. Always fun to watch, especially since it was filmed at the Monroeville Mall, a nearby center I've been to many many times.

"American: The Bill Hicks Story" (2010)

An examination of the life and career of the late Bill Hicks, the controversial stand-up comedian whose ascent to the big time was cut short by cancer, just as he seemed poised for a mainstream breakthrough.
I was only vaguely familiar with Hicks' work during his early '90s rise, but I was interested in checking this doc out mainly due to the constant rumors that Denis Leary (one of my fave stand ups from the same era) stole most of his act from Hicks. I didn't see much resemblance between the two aside from them both smoking a lot of cigarettes onstage and a similar ranting style, but either way this was a cool documentary about an interesting guy, and I'm going to be checking out more of Hicks' stand up in the future.

Like you I know of Hicks early work but I've always been curious about his connection to Tool. Was there anything about that in the doc?

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder

Loki episode 3

Yesterday Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewel

"Clerks" (1994)

Small town New Jersey slackers Dante and Randal experience a particularly hellish day at their low level convenience store and video rental jobs, while keeping up a constant stream of snide, foul mouthed commentary about anything and everything in their path.
Kevin Smith's gloriously cheap B&W indie classic is mandatory viewing if you were a surly twenty something in the early 1990s, if you grew up in New Jersey, or if you've ever worked in retail. I happen to fulfill all three of those requirements, so this movie will never get old for me.

So much quotable dialogue in that flick (although most of it isn't quotable to just anyone).  One of my favorite "safe for work" snippets is:

"Cute cat, what it's name?"
"Annoying Customer."

What makes it extra funny to me is that the cat has a litter box right on the counter and is using it when the customer walks up.

tohostudios wrote:

So much quotable dialogue in that flick (although most of it isn't quotable to just anyone).  One of my favorite "safe for work" snippets is:

"Cute cat, what it's name?"
"Annoying Customer."

Thanks to this movie, I always have to stifle a chuckle when I hear the number "37" spoken out loud

I think I've borrowed my local library's copy of "Clerks" at least seven or eight times during the time I've lived here. I really should just buy my own damn DVD already.

tohostudios wrote:

Like you I know of Hicks early work but I've always been curious about his connection to Tool.  Was there anything about that in the doc?

I didn't know he had any connection to Tool. No, nothing was mentioned about it in this doc.

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

So much quotable dialogue in that flick (although most of it isn't quotable to just anyone).  One of my favorite "safe for work" snippets is:

"Cute cat, what it's name?"
"Annoying Customer."

Thanks to this movie, I always have to stifle a chuckle when I hear the number "37" spoken out loud

I think I've borrowed my local library's copy of "Clerks" at least seven or eight times during the time I've lived here. I really should just buy my own damn DVD already.

"37" is always my go-to quote from "Clerks". Of course, unless you've seen it that makes zero sense. But that's a classic scene.

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Like you I know of Hicks early work but I've always been curious about his connection to Tool.  Was there anything about that in the doc?

I didn't know he had any connection to Tool. No, nothing was mentioned about it in this doc.

Tool dedicated the AEnima album to him and if I remember correctly Bill Hicks picture is even featured in that weird collection of stuff in the liner notes.

Today I watched a Twilight Zone classic:  "It's A Good Life"

This super creepy episode features Bill (Will Robinson) Mumy as a 6 year old child who possesses mental powers that have enabled him to "wish away" everyone else in the entire world outside of his own town.  So now the townspeople (including his parents) do everything in their power to "think happy thoughts" and do whatever Anthony wants.  

Every time 6 year old Anthony exercises his mental powers to wish someone away to "the cornfield" or worse, turn them into some kind of monster, all the people around him say "It's good that you did that Anthony, REAL good" in an effort to save their own hides.  

Just a great episode that can be interpreted on multiple levels but I like thinking of it as a straight horror story of what could happen when a child who has not yet developed a moral compass can just do whatever he wants.

"Willy's Wonderland" (2021)

A mysterious drifter (Nicolas Cage) takes an overnight job cleaning up a long-shuttered Chuck E. Cheese-style family fun center...but he soon learns he's not alone, and ends up locked in a life or death battle against the restaurant's bloodthirsty, demonically possessed animatronic creatures.
(...I swear I am not making this up.)
I'm not gonna lie, "Willy's" was dumb as hell, but a ton of fun. Any resemblance between its paper thin plot and the "Five Nights at Freddie's" video game franchise is totally coincidental, I'm sure (*COUGH COUGH*), but it's got plenty of over the top ultra violence, and Cage is a hoot, though I don't think he's even trying to be funny -- the guy is basically a walking meme at this point.
If you've already seen "The Banana Splits Movie" and need another fix of robotic kiddie-critter carnage, this goofball flick will fill the bill.