TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies. TV) 2022

Happy new year! Tell us what movies or TV shows you've watched lately.

Smackdown

The Love Boat

"Mallrats" (1995)

Two losers (Jason Lee and Jeremy London) both get dumped by their girlfriends on the same day, so they head to the mall, where they plot an elaborate scheme to win them back with a little help from the notorious Jay and Silent Bob... and Stan "The Man" Lee.
Kevin Smith's first attempt at a "studio" film is less profane than "Clerks" but there's still lots of slap-sticky fun. "Mallrats" wasn't the box office hit everyone expected after the success of "Clerks," but Kev's career rebounded nicely with "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma," and "Mallrats" eventually garnered a well deserved cult following.

"The Ambushers" (1967)

Dean Martin smirks, schmoozes, and martini's his way through his third adventure as suave super agent Matt Helm. This time the "agency" sends him and a lovely female sidekick to Mexico to recover a stolen American space craft that can only be flown by a lady pilot, for some reason. As usual, the story is lame, the effects are cheap, and Dino is clearly pickled to the gills half the time, but the scenery is nice, and Dean's constantly surrounded by pretty girls (those Sixties chicks, mama mia!) so I was entertained.

Snakes on a Plane. Saw it was available on Netflix and figured wtf. Still as dumb as I remembered it lol

"Inventing David Geffen" (2012)

PBS "American Masters" documentary on the music and movie biz mogul. He started out managing 70s acts like Laura Nyro and the Eagles, established the iconic Asylum Records label, made movies like "Risky Business" and "Little Shop of Horrors," then started his own label imprint that gave the world Guns N Roses and Nirvana before co-founding the enormously successful Dreamworks movie studio with Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Not a bad track record for one guy!

"Stripes" (1981)

Two losers (Bill Murray and Harold Ramis) with no prospects decide to join the Army, and are assigned to a platoon full of fellow screw ups. They bumble through Basic Training together and eventually are sent to Europe on a special mission, which of course goes horribly wrong.
I hadn't seen this classic in a looooong time and wondered how well (or not) it had aged. Its "edge" has been dulled somewhat by the passage of time but there's still plenty of juvenile laughs in it.

ATM(2012)-three friends leave an office Christmas party and stop at a ATM on their way home. Before they can leave, they are confronted by a hooded killer who prevents them leaving. They try to survive the night by trying to not get taken out by the killer as well as freezing to death from the cold. I have mixed feelings about this little film as while it was well made, I found the killer a little boring and was frustrated by the ending. I chose to watch the director's cut of the film, so I have no idea how to differs from the standard version. 2/5

The first two episodes of The Book Of Boba Fett

"Drive Angry" (2010)

Nicolas Cage escapes from Hell in a souped up car to avenge the death of his daughter and save his baby granddaughter from a murderous religious cult.
Some say that this "Grindhouse" inspired, over-the-top (on purpose), ultra violent supernatural action flick was where Cage's career jumped the shark and doomed him to a life in B-Movie purgatory, but I thought it was tons of fun. Just turn off your brain and enjoy the mayhem.
Side note, the lovely Amber Heard (who plays Cage's sidekick) rocks a pair of Daisy Duke shorts better than anyone I've seen since, well... since Daisy Duke.

"Galaxy of Terror" (aka "Mindwarp," 1981)

Astronauts on a rescue mission to a remote planet are picked off by a malevolent presence that uses their own worst fears against them.
This stylish space horror flick was one of several early 80s "Alien" knock offs from Roger Corman's New World Pictures, best remembered for the infamous scene where the hot blonde gets raped to death by a giant worm. The cast includes Ray "My Favorite Martian" Walston, Erin "Happy Days" Moran, and a young Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund. It doesn't have an original bone in its body, but it's fast moving, gross, and sleazy. Just the way I like'em.

Started season 4 of Cobra Kai

Started watching Shameless the other day. Great show, never even heard about it until my cousin told me about it a couple weeks ago.

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Started watching Shameless the other day. Great show, never even heard about it until my cousin told me about it a couple weeks ago.

That was a great show. My wife got me hooked on it via Netflix a couple of years ago. It's funny, I always associated William H. Macy with nice/nerdy characters, so it was interesting to see him playing a permanently wasted, totally unrepentant scuzz ball....and yet he was still likable! Haha

Fat Freddy wrote:

Wrecked Neck wrote:

Started watching Shameless the other day. Great show, never even heard about it until my cousin told me about it a couple weeks ago.

That was a great show. My wife got me hooked on it via Netflix a couple of years ago. It's funny, I always associated William H. Macy with nice/nerdy characters, so it was interesting to see him playing a permanently wasted, totally unrepentant scuzz ball....and yet he was still likable! Haha

Yeah that threw me for a loop when I saw him playing a role like that. I'm eleven episodes in, so I have a long ways to go, but it's looking like it'll end up as a favorite show. Too early to tell if it gets Breaking Bad status, but so far so good.

Laserium. A film about the history of the laser light show.

"Henry Rollins: Up For It" (2001)


The former Black Flag frontman performs a spoken-word set in London, where he talks about some of the bizarre experiences he's had with international travel, nearly dying while snorkeling in Australia, opening for Iron Maiden, and his brief experience as a wrestler in junior high. Funny stuff.

In honor of Neil Peart, who passed away two years ago yesterday, I re-watched:

"Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage" (2010)

Sam "Metal Evolution" Dunn's entertaining deep dive into the legendary Canadian power trio's lengthy career is one of my all time favorite rock docs.

Smackdown

Been on a music documentary kick this weekend:

"Clockwork Orange County" (2014)

Flashback to the early '80s punk/hardcore scene of Orange County, CA., which centered around a club called the Cuckoo's Nest. Members of Black Flag, TSOL, Circle Jerks, and more share war stories backed by ultra-violent live footage and vintage photos and concert flyers.

"Underground Inc: The Rise & Fall of Alternative Rock" (2021)

After Nirvana unexpectedly blew up in the early '90s, the major labels started snapping up every "alternative" rock band they could find, hoping to duplicate that success. This documentary zooms in mostly on the unsuccessful bands who were chewed up and ultimately spit out by the major label meat grinder like Jawbox, Fishbone, Cop Shoot Cop, Satchel, Handsome (?) and more.

"Death By Metal" (2018)

Deep dive into the life and career Death frontman/mastermind Chuck Schuldiner, who more or less created the template for death metal, and then later devoted himself to pushing and breaking the genre's self imposed boundaries, before his tragic death from cancer in 2001. Lots of cool vintage video clips, photos and interviews with former band members and associates.

"Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC" (2014)

Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, Ian Mackaye (Fugazi/Minor Threat) and more recall the rise and fall of Washington DC's influential hardcore scene, covering the years from 1980 to 1990.

The Hitman (1991)



Chuck Norris plays a cop who goes undercover to take down a crime boss. Darker than the other Chuck Norris roles, and I am pretty sure this is the only movie Chuck Norris has made where he drops the f-bomb.

Dragons Forever (1988)



Jackie Chan stars as a lawyer who, along with two of his friends, uncovers illegal dealings at a Hong Kong chemical plant. Lots of fight scenes ensue. This includes some of the best fight scenes in Jackie Chan's career.

Universal Soldier: The Return



After being brought back to life as a genetically enhanced soldier, Luc Devereaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) helps fight a military supercomputer that has gone out of control. Despite having a higher budget than the original Universal Soldier, this movie actually looks less impressive and is less entertaining. It has a couple of decent action sequences, but it just feels unfinished and rather rushed (despite it being made seven years after the original). Nothing special here.

Becker
Three's Company

Very good film!

"Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's the Fantastic Four" (2016)


Interesting documentary that tells the strange story of the low budget early 90s "Fantastic Four" film adaptation. Roger Corman's production company made the film on a shoe string and then it was permanently shelved right before its release, much to the shock and dismay of the cast and crew. The actors who played the FF seem like a cool group of people who are still fond of the movie and proud of their performances in it, and you feel bad for them knowing that all their hard work went down the drain due to behind-the-scenes wrangling. Hollywood is a dirty business, and this movie is proof.

^^^^^   I remember seeing the trailer for that on the VHS tape of Carnosaur way back when. I thought it looked pretty cool and had wondered what happened to it. Of course it wasn't until a few years later I found out it was shelved. I'll have to check this documentary out.