I don't know about where you live, but around here, Memorial Day weekend is
the start of neighborhood "we can shoot off fireworks when we feel like it"
season for the next two months.
Being the unofficial start of summer movie season, are you planning on going to the theater or are you content to stream the summer at home? Let me know in the comments if you've seen anything good lately, I'm always up for recommendations!
Streaming
Spider-Woman (1979, Disney+)
I thought it would be fun to go back and check this out since I haven't seen
it in 40+ years. Not only can the himbo Jessica works with not
figure out she's Spider-Woman (no matter where in the world they are, she
shows up) but when he's not trying to get a dinner date with her, he's
putting her down for being a woman (it's too dangerous, you're not strong
enough, etc). It's supposed to be a joke between Jessica and the viewer but
yikes! They're also very loosey-goosey with her powers. She has a spider
sense that gives her visions, she can shoot webs, and sometimes has spider
telepathy. If you have a fondness for 70s/80s cartoons, this should hit the
spot for you.
I blew through this over a weekend. This animated anthology is definitely
not for the kiddos. There's a nice variation in the settings of the shorts, some are very
violent but all are a lot of fun! If you're a scifi/horror fan this series is definitely worth your time.
Movies
This is the perfect love child of classic Bakshi rotoscope animation and
Heavy Metal. The story follows a plant that grants wicked magical power and
it's impact over generations. Add to the fantasy setting nudity and brutal
violence and you're in for a treat. You'd swear this came right out of the
80s at you!
Rating: 8/10
I have a few issues with the story but holy cow did I absolutely love this!
Raimi's style is all over it but THIS is what a Strange movie should be
like. Dimension hopping! Magic battles! Raimi Weirdness! I'm excited for the
tease they setup and I would love to see Raimi come back. My biggest
disappointment with it is the villain wasn't who I was really hoping it was
going to be. It would be so easy to tweak the script a tiny bit to make my
dream villain be pulling the strings.
Rating: 8/10
This is right down the middle for an 80s slasher for me. While it's got a
few excellent kills and has the somewhat unique location of a grocery store,
there's some boring buildup to the good stuff. I really can't tell if the
funny parts are intentional! Sam and Ted Raimi have appearances as well as a
blink and you'll miss him Bruce Campbell.
Rating: 5/10
As a generic para-military action flick, this wasn't that bad. As a GI Joe
movie...I wanted more characterization from the Joes. The guy playing Flint
was so generic he could have walked out of a Hallmark movie. Lady Jaye is
there to be "the hot one". The Rock...is The Rock which is fine. Cobra's
plot was overly complicated. But I guess that's Cobra for you? They pretty much
destroy London and it doesn't seem like a big deal to anyone.
Rating: 6/10
I originally saw this when it was released and vaguely remember it being fun
and a little weird. The fact that's it's had a somewhat limited home video
release has only upped it's cult status over the years. It's still just as
much fun and weird as I remember it being. Plus, I'm a sucker for horror
movies set in a movie theater and the fact that it's an homage to William
Castle's schitck. Tom Villard is great in this and it's such a turn from the
bumbling comedy roles you'd know him from.
Rating: 7/10
The title of this documentary sums it up fairly well. I don't know if it
hits on the phenomenon aspect as much as it covers the history of the genre.
If this is your type of flick, I definitely recommend checking it out
because you're likely to discover some movies you may not have been aware
of.
With a title like that, you'd hope there would be gratuitous gore or nudity,
if not both! Sadly, this was made for TV and there's only so much exploitation
you can get away with. It feels like it was written by a 13 year old boy. The
women's "prison" outfits are white tank tops with denim short shorts and when
they get hot pulling up stumps in the swamp(?), they inexplicably pour water on themselves. The prehistoric shark can not only swim in ankle deep water but also tunnel through ground!
Look, this thing is terrible all around but it is good for some laughs. Highly
recommend watching with a group.
Rating: 4/10
I definitely remember passing this in the video store a lot and since the
Halloween is Forever podcast is doing a show on it, it's a good time to finally check it out. The above 4 minute "trailer" is basically a summary of the entire movie. A heavy metal band (who are really demons) comes to a small town and corrupts the youth. They start small but work up to murder and/or becoming demons themselves. Their only salvation is a lame ass teacher who barely saves the day. Being a fan of 80s hair metal, the soundtrack was right up my alley!
Rating: 6/10
Monthly Total
New: 7
Rewatch: 1
Year to Date
New: 36 Rewatch: 2
I vaguely remember the Spider Woman animated show. Will have to watch it on Disney+. Too cool. Will need to check out Spine of the Night as well.
ReplyDeleteSpine is so good! It's the sequel to Heavy Metal I wanted Heavy Metal 2000 to be.
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