Monthly Movie Recap - February 2015

Last month, I decided to make a late New Year's Resolution to watch at least one new to me Roger Corman movie a month.  I took it a little too much to heart this month and crossed off five movies and two "franchises" for lack of a better word.

As always, the linked titles take you to Amazon where you can pick up the movie, and/or anything else you need, and drop a couple coins in our coffers.

Barbarian Queen (1985)
Long before making movies for the SyFy channel, Roger Corman was making movies to capitalize on box office blockbusters like Conan. Unfortunately, even as a B-movie, Barbarian Queen doesn't quite deliver and it didn't hold my attention too well.

Cool: Sword wielding women. I originally had "ass kicking" in here, but I've seen better fights on Xena
Lame: I know Corman likes his nudity but there's too many scenes of the bad guys assaulting women just for the sake of it
Rating: 3/10

Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back (1989)
"Lana Clarkson as you've never seen her before!" Unless you saw the last movie where she's totally not the same character doing pretty much the same thing. As bad as the first one was, this direct to video sequel is even worse! Even trying to introduce some magic can't save this one.

Cool: Lana Clarkson, I guess? There really isn't much to enjoy here unless you're in an MST mood.
Lame: They manage to get her strapped into a torture rack and topless again...
Rating: 2/10

*** NSFW trailer ***

Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
In contrast to the previous films, this is a B-movie done right. Supposedly it was written as a horror spoof, only no one told the film crew! As a result, it's got plenty to satisfy the gore lover and a few genuinely funny moments. And oh yes, there's plenty of time exploiting the slumber party attendees as well.

Cool: The killer is a straight up creeper with a power drill
Lame: There are so many easily portable implements of death, why use a power drill with a crazy long bit? But I have to say it's original.
Rating: 7/10, lots of fun

Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)
Hey look, Crystal Bernard! You'll either love this one or wish you could get the time back. I don't use the term "hot mess" but I will start saying things are a real Slumber Party Massacre II from now on. The trailer sells it as a comedy but it's not very funny. It feels like a Nightmare on Elm St script someone fished out of the trash and reworked a little. The kills don't start till about the final 20 minutes and they're not too inventive, but there is a reason to see this...

Cool: The killer! We're given no explanation as to where this psycho rock n roller with the hybrid guitar/power drill came from but he makes the movie bearable. Hollywood's always redoing things, someone pick this villain up and get him a franchise! He's like Ford Fairlane and Freddy rolled into one!
Lame: The story and characters are a mess. It's missing the gratuitous nudity and killing that made the first one fun.
Rating: 4/10, just watch the last 30 minutes, you won't miss much

Slumber Party Massacre III (1990)
A bit more back to formula that made the original good. Doesn't quite have the same sense of humor though which makes it just another slasher with a drill fetish flick. Not that there's a lot of slasher with a drill fetish flicks....are there?

Cool: Better body count than 2
Lame: I get that you need a "thing" for a franchise but it's time to move on from a driller killer
Rating: 5/10

LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015)
I have yet to see a licensed LEGO movie/TV show that isn't entertaining. It's cute, funny, and has stuff in it for the die hard comic fans too. If you need a diversion for just under an hour, check it out. It's a stand-alone feature so no need to worry if you've missed previous LEGO DC animations.

Cool: Top notch voice cast, as always
Lame: The Bizarro-speak might get on your nerves after awhile. And what's with every other person getting a "-zarro" name and Wonder Woman's clone is just called Bizarra?
Rating: 6/10

Month Total

 New: 6  Rewatch: 0

Year Total

 New: 12  Rewatch:2

Kickstarter - Now Playing: Underrated Movies We Recommend

A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, I discovered the Star Wars Action News (SWAN) podcast that discussed all aspects of Star Wars collecting. At the time it was, as far as I know, the only podcast dedicated to the topic.

I've been listening to it for years now and I've even met the hosts at a couple of conventions. In recent years the man behind the podcast, Arnie Carvalho, has created his own mini-podcast empire under the name Venganza Media. The shows now include Marvelicious Toys (Marvel comics collectibles), Books & Nachos (book reviews),
 and Now Playing Podcast (movie reviews).

They've recently launched a Kickstarter to bring Now Playing into print.
Well, digital print, anyway.

I've been listening to Now Playing since it began. Initially because I really like the people behind it and I always check out anything they do. I stayed because it's a fun show. I even listen to shows where they review movies I haven't seen yet because I like the discussions. That, and I have a 90 minute round-trip commute and it gets lonely in my car.

They review everything from the latest in theaters to full-on franchise retrospectives like Friday the 13th and Alien. They're also doing an on going series to review every movie based on a Stephen King story. If that's not ambitious, I don't know what is!

The book, as they say in the video (you watched it, didn't you?) has the each of the hosts picking out movies they feel are under rated. For every 10% of their goal, they post a few more movies that will be covered in the book. You can check out the current list on the Kickstarter's comment page.

I know I'm pretty excited to see the final result and what movies they'll be talking about. If you think you might be interested, head on over to the Now Playing: Underrated Movies We Recommend Kickstarter page and throw some money at them. And if the reading about movies doesn't sound that interesting, check out the Now Playing movie review podcast. You're bound to find something to grab your attention there.

Adventure Time Playing Cards

What time is it?

Time to play some cards, so c'mon grab your friends!

I found this deck at one of those holiday-time mall calendar/game kiosks that pop up every year. It was post holiday season so I managed to snag this for 50% off.
$3? Yes, please!

What sets this deck apart from most others is that every single card has artwork on it, not just the face cards! I know a lot of the images are variant covers from the Adventure Time comic series. Buying a small deck of cards is a lot cheaper (and easier to store) than a stack of comics with different covers.

While looking for info online, I found out there's also a Fiona & Cake deck that I must own!

They also sell both decks as a set in a tin, which I would definitely be my preferred way to pick them up if it was an option at the time. Tins like this usually end up costing just about the same as getting each deck on its own, plus you have a nice collectible tin to hold them.