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

"42nd Street Memories: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Notorious Street" (2015)

A look back at the grimy glory days of New York's 42nd Street, once dubbed the "World's Greatest Movie Center" due to the large number of movie theaters contained within just a few blocks. The main focus is on the "grindhouse" era of the '60s and '70s, with comments and stories from B-filmmakers and movie buffs like Joe "Gremlins" Dante, Greydon "Joysticks" Clark, porn queen Veronica Hart, Lloyd (Troma) Kaufmann, and more, plus plenty of groovy, gory clips from long forgotten splatter flicks. Lots of fun!

"Nightmare" (aka "Nightmare in a Damaged Brain," 1981)

A dangerous psychotic, troubled by recurring dreams of murder and mayhem, escapes from a treatment facility in New York and heads down to Florida, where he plans to "visit" his ex-wife and kids. Naturally he murders anyone who's unlucky enough to cross his path along the way.
There's not much plot in this semi-legendary Video Nasty sickie but there is plenty of sleaze and gore. The guy playing the killer is effectively creepy in a bug eyed sort of way, and the splatter flows hot n' heavy. Not an essential watch by any means, but slasher completists will get a few sick thrills out of it.

Catching Killers. A Netflix series on catching serial killers.

Devil At The Crossroads. A documentary on blues legend Robert Johnson.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

I enjoyed this one more this time around; for some reason the eco-terrorist plot thread didn't annoy me as much as it did the other times I've watched this flick. Although this time something different bothered me; toward the end after Godzilla is rejuvenated by the humans detonating a nuke in his underground lair, the scientists say Godzilla is going to go "thermonuclear". In fact in the final fight with Ghidorah it seems like Godzilla "exploded" as he stomped on the remaining Ghidorah head. Yet a minute later he's pulling himself out from under the rubble with a Ghidorah head in his mouth. No explanation. I'm not sure what Mothra's purpose in this flick is either. She doesn't really do anything except fight Rodan. But those are minor quibbles amid all the monster mayhem and great FX that this film contains. With all the Monsterverse flicks fresh in my brain now I'm ready for Godzilla vs Kong finally.

Underground,Inc. The Rise And Fall Of Alternative Rock

Planes Trains And Automobiles (1987)



John Hughes' holiday classic about 2 disparate travelers trying to make it from New York City to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving, coming across many problems and issues along the way. Excellent, funny movie starring Steve Martin and John Candy as the travelling companions.

Also watched the first 2 episodes of Marvel's Hawkeye.

Tubi has been an absolute treasure trove of weird shit lately...

"The Horror of Party Beach" (1964)

Radioactive waste dumped in the ocean creates mutant sea monsters that crash a teen beach party. Hilarity ensues.
An utterly bizarro black & white mash up of the bikini-beach and horror genres, with cheap looking creatures, a ridiculous plot and sub-par acting. Cheezy but watchable vintage drive-in junk.
Fun fact: "The Del-Aires," a rock band from Paterson, New Jersey, are featured prominently in several scenes of this film. Aside from their appearance in this movie, their only other major claim to fame is that they happened to be playing a nightclub in Lodi, NJ one night in 1963 when a particularly nasty gangland slaying took the lives of two police officers:
https://www.theaquarian.com/2011/01/19/weird-nj-paterson-nj-and-the-weird-atomic-beasts-who-live-off-human-blood/

And then for something completely different:

"Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" (1979)

A foxy young reporter (Jane Seymour) is assigned to do an expose on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders from the inside, by auditioning and landing a spot on the squad. During the process she gets caught up in the lives and loves of her fellow DCC's, including a bored housewife, a scared girl escaping a bad relationship, and a stuck-up gal who wants to use the DCC's as a stepping stone to Hollywood.
Silly, made-for-TV soap opera fluff with plenty of jiggle, produced at the height of late '70s Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader mania. In addition to Seymour, the cast also includes Lauren ("Love Boat") Tewes, Bert Convy, and even former NY Yankee great Bucky Dent (!), who has the acting chops of a plank of wood.
Followed by a 1980 sequel, which I could almost swear starred Lynda "Wonder Woman" Carter, but that may just be wishful thinking on the part of ten-year-old me.

The Wheel Of Time

I made it through Schlock-Tober, I survived Thanksgiving, which means it's time to start 2021's Holiday Horror Hootenanny, aka The War on Christmas ...

"Black Christmas" (2006)

Stuck-up sorority sisters suffer the consequences when an escaped psychopath who once lived in their house comes "home"  for the holidays.
This splattery 21st century remake of Bob Clark's Yuletide slasher classic has a WAY bigger mean streak than the original (Child abuse! Incest! Cannibalism! Eyeballs as Christmas tree trimmings!) and some primo eye candy via the casting of Michelle ("Buffy") Trachtenberg, Lacey ("Party of Five") Chabert and Mary Elizabeth ("Scott Pilgrim") Winstead. Don't get me wrong, this is not a great movie by any means, but I have never really warmed to the 1974 original, so I kinda dig this version.
I have yet to see the second "Black Christmas" remake attempt from 2019, but if the reviews I've read are any indication, it makes this one look like the Royal Shakespeare Company.

I like that Black Christmas remake. Every time I hear Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies I think of the various scenes where that's a ring tone.

tohostudios wrote:

I like that Black Christmas remake.  Every time I hear Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies I think of the various scenes where that's a ring tone.

Yea, it's an entertaining little sickie.

I have heard nothing but bad things about the 2019 remake (re-remake?) but of course, that sort of thing only makes me want to see it more.

Smackdown

"RoboCop 2" (1990)

Officer Murphy aka RoboCop may have met his match, as those fine folks at OCP have developed the next generation of crime fighting cyborgs - a hulking death machine powered by the brain of a dead drug dealer/cult leader. Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong with that idea...
Action packed sequel (scripted by comics writer/artist Frank Miller of "The Dark Knight" and "Daredevil" fame) isn't quite as balls-to-the-wall as the original, but there's still plenty of tongue in cheek satire and ultra-violent metal mayhem. Tons of destructive fun.

"Doctor Mordrid" (1992)

A sorcerer (Jeffrey "Re-Animator" Combs) has spent 100 years waiting for his arch-enemy to break down the barriers between dimensions and attempt to bring his evil  to earth, and now the battle royale is about to begin.
... if this sounds familiar, it's because this Full Moon Studios production started out as an adaptation of Marvel's "Doctor Strange" ... until they lost their rights to use the character. In true Full Moon style, they merely tweaked the script, changed a few character names, and voila! "Doctor Strange? Who? Nah, never heard of him."
In spite of the off-brand feel, this is actually one of Full Moon's better movies, with decent performances and cheap but charming special effects that have helped it achieve cult status. Worth checking out.

Picking up my "Watch the James Bond series in order" marathon where I left off months ago...

"The Living Daylights" (1987)

In Timothy Dalton's first turn as 007 Bond romances a young cellist and travels from the Czech Republic to Morocco and Afghanistan, on the trail of a rogue Russian general who's partnered with a major arms dealer in an opium-for-weapons deal.  
Dalton's performance is fine, but "TLD" never quite finds the right tone -- the series clearly wasn't sure where to take the Bond character at this point. At times they seem to be trying to hang onto the campy Roger Moore feel, but they also crank up the ultra-violence to give the film a more "modern" action movie tone. Maryam d'Abo is quite possibly the blandest Bond girl in the entire series. I liked this installment when it was current (I saw it 2x during its theatrical run) but it hasn't aged particularly well.

Bond-a-thon continues:
"Licence to Kill" (1989)

Timothy Dalton's second and final Bond outing is an action packed, fast moving adventure that's a vast improvement over the uneven "Living Daylights." This time out, Bond goes rogue from MI6 so he can take down a South American drug dealer (Robert Davi) who nearly killed his CIA pal Felix Leiter. "Licence" has a grittier feel that fits Dalton well, and the usual impressive stunts and pyrotechnics (the tanker-truck chase climax is absolutely insane). Unfortunately for Dalton, financial difficulties behind the scenes at MGM put the Bond series on ice for more than five years after this movie, bringing his 007 era to a premature end. Too bad, cuz he was developing into a pretty bad-ass Bond.

"GoldenEye" (1995)

After a six year absence from theaters, the James Bond series came roaring back in a big way with the debut of new leading man Pierce "Remington Steele" Brosnan, who was seemingly born to play 007. In his first post-Cold War mission, James has to stop a rogue former double-O and a crazed Soviet general who've joined forces to seize control of an orbiting laser weapon. This one had everything Bond fans wanted: non-stop globe trotting action, hot girls, cool cars and gadgets, and tons of stuff blowin' up. It was the best Bond movie since the '70s. I still remember watching this one in a theater, having an absolute blast and saying "HELL yes, Pierce is THE MAN!" He's still my second favorite Bond, right behind Connery.

"The Space Invaders: In Search of Lost Time" (2012)

A nostalgic look back at the early '80s heyday of video games, when Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man and the rest drew hordes of kids with pockets full of quarters into local video game arcades...until the "video game crash" of the mid 80s. This documentary checks up on some of those now-grown video game enthusiasts who are trying to re=create that vibe by collecting vintage machines and setting up "home arcades" in their garages or basements. A fun retro study that's bound to bring back memories.

Masters of Horror:Homecoming -recently deceased soldiers are coming back from the dead not to eat the living or bring upon the zombie apocalypse, but to vote in the upcoming election. Apparently, they feel that they were lied to by the government and gave their lives for a war that didn't have to happen and want the president out of office. Solid episode from MOH that has a decent mixture of horror, humor and political satire. Directed by Joe Dante of The Howling and Gremlins fame. 2/5

Leatherface wrote:

Masters of Horror:Homecoming -recently deceased soldiers are coming back from the dead not to eat the living or bring upon the zombie apocalypse, but to vote in the upcoming election.  Apparently, they feel that they were lied to by the government and gave their lives for a war that didn't have to happen and want the president out of office.  Solid episode from MOH that has a decent mixture of horror, humor and political satire.  Directed by Joe Dante of The Howling and Gremlins fame.  2/5

I have all of the MoH episodes but I don't remember that one at all. I'll need to dig it out.

War on Christmas entry #2:

"To All a Goodnight" (1980)

A group of sorority girls staying behind in their dorm over Christmas break are picked off by a nutjob in a Santa Claus suit. Yup, that's the entire plot.
This obscure mix of "Black Christmas" and "Friday the 13th" pre-dates the far more notorious killer-Santa flick "Silent Night Deadly Night" by a couple of years, so I guess it deserves some points for innovation. It's not a great movie, but it's got a couple of cute girls in it and a bunch of gory kills. Lord knows I've seen worse.

I still have to decide which Christmas horror movies I'm going to watch this year. "Krampus" and
"A Christmas Horror Story" for sure but after that I'm not sure. One thing I'm NOT doing is struggling through the Silent Night Deadly Night sequels like I did last year. Man those are awful.

Last night I watched "The Endless" again.  Such an original movie that proves what can be done with practically zero budget.  It makes little to no sense for about an hour but then the pieces start to come together and form a horrific, original idea.  I need to rewatch the companion piece to this "Resolution" again.  It has a couple of the same characters and involves the same ideas but they aren't nearly as fully formed as they are in The Endless so the first and only time I watched Resolution it didn't make a lot of sense and I hated it.  I need to see if I enjoy it more now that I understand what's going on.

tohostudios wrote:

One thing I'm NOT doing is struggling through the Silent Night Deadly Night sequels like I did last year.  Man those are awful.

Hah! I will probably watch "SN, DN Part 2" at some point, cuz it's all over the various streaming services I have, and it's so enjoyably terrible ("GARBAGE DAAAAYYYY?"). The rest, though... no thanks.

Also, it recycles so much footage from the first "SN, DN" that it's almost like getting a double feature

Revenge Of The Pink Panther (1978)



Peter Sellers' final on screen performance as the inimitable Inspector Clouseau. In this one, Clouseau becomes the target of numerous assassination attempts by the "French Connection" in a plan to prove to their New York partners that they are not a weak, ineffectual cartel. After eliminating who they think is Clouseau, the French inspector must work under deep cover to take them all down. An hilarious film, with plenty of slapstick, sight gags and Clouseau's malapropisms. Sadly, Sellers died a couple of years after this and the Pink Panther film franchise along with it (know quite a few films came after, but they were nowhere near the fantastic films with Sellers.)

War on Christmas entry #3:

"Krampus" (2015)

A dysfunctional family's stressed-out holiday gathering is complicated by a major blizzard and a visit from the Yuletide demon of German folklore, whose job is to punish those who've lost their Christmas spirit.
Michael "Trick r' Treat" Dougherty's tongue in cheek holiday horror story is hampered slightly by its PG13 rating (though I understand a nastier, so-called "Naughty Cut" version now exists), but the black humor and cool creature FX keep it watchable. This has become a Christmas season regular for me.