TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV, etc.) 2023

We're a little late to the party but we finally signed us up for Disney+ yesterday. I started my journey down the Simpsons rabbit hole with about half of Season 1.

I also watched:
"Stan Lee" (2023)

An enjoyable biography of Stan the Man, told mostly in his own voice via interviews he'd recorded over the years. Some critics have called this a puff piece because it glosses over Stan's controversial habit of claiming sole credit for creating certain iconic characters and giving the artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko the short shrift, and completely ignores the various, questionable business dealings he was involved in towards the end of his life (anyone remember "POW! Entertainment" or "Stan Lee Media?" Yeah, me neither), but honestly, I could listen to Stan tell stories about the old Marvel Bullpen days all day long so none of that bothered me. Worth watching if you were ever an old school Marvel fanboy.

Vinyl Nation. A documentary about records and their comeback to popularity.

"Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers" (2022)

A witty Disney+ original set in a world where cartoon characters live alongside humans, ala "Roger Rabbit" (Roger even has a cameo). Decades after their hit "Rescue Rangers" show was cancelled, the chipmunks haven't spoken in years and are living vastly different lives (Chip sells insurance, while Dale makes a living signing autographs on the comic-convention circuit). However, when one of their old co-stars is kidnapped by a criminal gang that specializes in "bootlegging" Toons, they have to reunite the rest of their old gang to rescue their friend. Better than expected, with a great voice cast and lots of cameos by tons of cartoon characters. Fun stuff for cartoon nerds.

Aftermath(2014)-a group of strangers in a small Texas town are forced to seek safety in the cellar of a farm after a nuclear attack. The survivors must deal with radiation sickness, other survivors who are trying to break into their shelter, as well as being cut off from the outside world. This is a pretty bleak and depressing movie and there would be no way for it to end on an upbeat note. Those Mad Max films just made the end of the world seem more fun than it actually would be, I guess.2.5/5

Finished up Secret Invasion

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981)

It's 1936 and two-fisted, bullwhip-toting archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is sent on a globe trotting mission to beat the Nazis to a powerful Biblical treasure. I've seen this a zillion times over the years, but I never get tired of. It's one of the best action/adventure flicks ever made, as far as I'm concerned.

Went with my son last night.



A bit overly long (probably could have trimmed a good 30 minutes out of the film by removing Nolan's penchant for excess), and the pacing gets a bit.... muddled... in the back 1/3. The script is well written, with lots of direct quotes from historical persons. The acting is superb, especially Murphy as the man himself, Damon as General Groves, and Downey Jr. as Strauss.

"Ghetto Blaster" (1989)

After the death of his wife, a man (Richard "Battlestar Galactica" Hatch) moves back into his parents' home in an L.A. suburb. He soon learns that while he's been away, his old neighborhood has come under the control of a ruthless street gang.  When the gangbangers rob and murder his kindly store-keeper father, it's time for him to turn vigilante and takes back the streets.
An enjoyably cheesy direct-to-video "Death Wish" wanna-be that gets the job done in under 90 minutes. Hatch certainly isn't your usual muscle-bound action hero type, which is interesting. It's cool to see a regular Joe getting to kick ass for a change.

"Dave Stevens: Drawn To Perfection" (2022)

A way-cool documentary on the late, great illustrator Dave Stevens, who took his love of superheroes, '30s and '40s aviation, and movie serials and poured it all into The Rocketeer, one of the most successful indie comics of the early 1980s (and which eventually became a film in the 1990s).
Respected by his peers for his tireless work ethic and his ultra-realistic drawing style (particularly his knack for drawing beautiful women), Dave was also responsible for re-igniting interest in pin-up model Bettie Page before his career was tragically cut short by his death in 2008 from leukemia. Dave, we hardly knew ye.

"The Rocketeer" (1991)

In 1938 Los Angeles, down on his luck stunt pilot Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) stumbles across a stolen, experimental rocket pack that allows a man to fly without a plane. He figures he can use it to make a few quick bucks, but ends up getting caught up in a battle with the mob, the FBI, and the Nazis, all of whom want to get their hands on the machine. A fun period piece action/adventure in the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" vein, adapted from Dave Stevens' cult '80s comic book series.  

"Dead Heat" (1988)

Two L.A. cops (Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo) trail a gang of thieves who seem immune to bullets. After some detective work they learn that these bad guys are already dead, and have been re-animated by a mad scientist's machine that brings them back to life. A funny, action packed, occasionally gross horror comedy that really missed a bet by not calling itself "Beverly Hills Zombie."

"Intent To Kill" (1992)

A tough L.A. police woman (Traci Lords) gets caught in the middle of a war between drug dealing gangs. Cars crash, bullets fly, stuff blows up.
A silly early 90s direct to video action flick, Traci looks great (of course) but the former XXX queen still can't act worth a damn. Fortunately, all her role requires her to do is pout and punch/shoot people. Meanwhile, the main villain does a terrible impression of Al Pacino in "Scarface" and Yaphet Kotto (as Traci's captain) sports a distracting, hilarious hair piece. Unless you're an obsessed Traci fan, you can safely skip this one.

Murder In The Front Row
Death By Metal

Rewatched this. A good send off to the original group.

Finished watching the Walking Dead:Dead City

Started watching the 3rd season of Only Murders In The Building

"Hidden Strike" (2023)

A security expert (Jackie Chan) is escorting a caravan of workers out of an oil refinery in the middle of a Mideast war zone. When they're attacked by mercenaries who kidnap the refinery boss, Chan and an American aid worker (John Cena) must stop the bad guys before they can drain off all the oil and steal it for themselves. Naturally, lots of stuff gets shot, blown up, and crushed along the way.
Chan and Cena seem to be having fun in this generic action flick with way too much CGI and a plot that goes in fifteen directions at once. It was better than the last Chan movie I saw ("Bleeding Steel") but that's not really saying much. Watchable, but forgettable.

"Night Patrol" (1984)

A dorky police recruit who also moonlights as a stand up comedian learns that another comic is not only stealing his act, but also committing robberies on the side.
This painfully unfunny slapstick "Police Academy" variant is more or less a vanity project for Murray "The Unknown Comic" Langston, who co-wrote the script and stars as his "real" self and as his stage persona. I think I might have laughed once. Woof, this was bad. Even the presence of Linda "Exorcist" Blair at her busty early '80s peak can't make this movie watchable.
AVOID.

"Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom" (1984)

Harrison Ford's second go-round as the globe trotting archaeologist/adventurer takes him to India, where he battles a kid-stealing, monkey-brain-eating, human-sacrificing death cult. "Temple of Doom" has a WAY bigger mean streak than "Raiders." This flick's heart-ripping and child-abusing scenes were instrumental in the creation of the PG-13 rating. This seems to be the least popular of the first three "Indy" movies, but I've always enjoyed it -- it may be needlessly ultra-violent, over the top and in retrospect, casually racist at times, but one thing it certainly isn't, is boring. This thing hits the ground running and doesn't let up for the entire two hour run time. A worthy follow up to "Raiders."

Ganja & Hess(1973)-when an anthropologist is attacked with an ancient dagger by his insane assistant, he finds that he has now became a vampire like creature and has developed a taste for blood. He begins a relationship with his assistant's widow and they soon marry, only for him to turn his new bride into a vampire as well. This a strange film that comes across at times as kind of a mixture of blaxploitation and an arthouse film with it's weird, dream like moments in the film. A little slow at times, but just interesting enough for me. Spike Lee did a remake of this film called Da Sweet Blood of Jesus which I've yet to see.2/5

I watched a Documentary called, "You See me Laughin': The Last Of Hill Country Bluesmen.

Trivia: "Hill Country Blues" is one chord/rhythmic/repetitive. As apposed to "Delta Blues", which is 12 bar format. It is more traditional to the sound/style brought over from Africa.

Leatherface wrote:

Ganja & Hess(1973)-when an  anthropologist is attacked with an ancient dagger by his insane assistant, he finds that he has now became a vampire like creature and has developed a taste for blood.  He begins   a relationship with his assistant's widow and they soon marry, only for him to turn his new bride into a vampire as well.  This a strange film that comes across at times as kind of a mixture of blaxploitation and an arthouse film with it's weird, dream like moments in the film.  A little slow at times, but just interesting enough for me.  Spike Lee did a remake of this film called Da Sweet Blood of Jesus which I've yet to see.2/5

I "think" this flic is on one of those 9 movie packs somebody gave me as a gift. Got a "Western", "War", "Sci-Fi", and "Horror" in the same box.
Since my @$$ is doing the road crew thing this work season, I will have some time to watch some flics.

"Heart Of Stone" (2023)

Gal "Wonder Woman" Gadot is a member of a super secret spy organization called "The Charter," while also working undercover with Britain's MI6. Her cover gets blown during an attack by a terrorist group who steal an extremely powerful computer with the ability to hack into anything - banks, military equipment, nuclear missiles, etc. -- so it's up to her to stop them before they can unleash total global annihilation.
There's nothin' in this Netflix original that you haven't already seen in any random Mission: Impossible or Bourne movie, but it moves quickly, the stunts and special effects are impressive, and of course Gal Gadot is pure butt kickin' eye candy. I've seen worse.

Been rewatching Lost. Up to the 4th season

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