Wes Craven's A New Nightmare

 

             

            And so, we conclude the seventh and final movie of the Freddy Kruger movie universe. Furthermore, is the seventh film that how I would say it kind of killed the Freddy Kruger binge in my personal opinion granted they're maybe some out there that may or may not have loved this movie but this film in my professional movie watching opinion was like well okay, but I'd rather watch the OTHER Freddy Kruger movie.

            Reality and fantasy meet in unsetting ways in this installment of the long-running horror series, which finds director Wes Craven and actors Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund, all portraying themselves. As Heather considers making another film with Craven, her son, Dylan (Miko Hughes), falls under the spell of the iconic disfigured villain Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund). Eventually, Langenkamp must confront Freddy's demonic spirit to save the soul of Dylan.

            In a strange turn of events when a year ago I claim that out of the five Nightmare films I'd pointed out that the odds were better films than the even films mainly because they had better actors well, sort of better actors as well as a backstory to Freddy Kruger's past and especially his mother. Now the sixth installment was more entertaining than the seventh film and I never expected this to happen, especially when Wes Craven is trying to make Freddy Kruger back to is original form as a scary dude which in all seriousness is a bad idea. I mean sure the first film I would say is a much better film in my personal opinion because Freddy was supposed to be a mysterious character that roams around furthermore you don't have a fully developed Freddy which makes it interesting and also in a sense scary and yet I would still prefer the original Nightmare over Jackie Earl Haley's movie despite not even seeing it. Prior to the films pre-production yes Craven actually wanted to take Freddy serious instead of being a cartoon character but the problem with that is, audiences wanted to see the cartoon version of Freddy that's basically what made him entertaining as well as the only thing worth watching from the second film to the sixth film, and now watching this film with a serious Freddy loses it's flair and more importantly it's worth the watch and having spent four dollars and twenty-seven cents I do feel like this was a terrible idea in terms of renting a movie on my phone, though I'm expanding the horizons of Freddy Kruger so, I had to at least find out. The fact that they even try to keep Freddy in the shadows through the course of the movie kind of like Jaws and Alien also, loses its flair because we all know what Freddy looks like so, why are we keeping him in the shadows? Furthermore this film after watching Freddy's Dead loses it's comedic flair almost like your searching for a woman on craigs list and you see that this woman is extremely hot and you have a massive erection and then later you actually go on this date and it's either Joy Behar, or Whoopi Goldberg looking woman or a woman like the soccer player Megan Rapinoe whose a massive liberal and thinks woman are superior than men, then you realize your erection is deflating like a balloon that's basically what Wes Craven's A New Nightmare is basically. Now having watched A New Nightmare I would strongly suggest if you want to watch 80's horror movies that have comedic taste I would suggest watching Nightmare on Elm Street 1-6 and just forget the seventh movie even existed because right now I wished I never watched A New Nightmare and would say that Nightmares 2 and 4 are way better than A New Nightmare though that's not saying a whole lot to say though look either way I need to get this movie out of my head right now. 

 

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

 

           A year ago, I went on a Nightmare on Elm Street binge going from the first film directed by Wes Craven to its successors for which before you say anything New Line Cinema at the time had to make sequels because they we're an up and starting studio. But with sixth installment to Freddy's adventures, I have to give this film a ton of credit because this film is an example of doing 3D right and unlike Friday the 13th part III who did the absolute worst job of creating 3D and it's been a year since I've seen that movie and I have nightmares seeing the bad 3D effects.

         Murderous ghoul Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) has slaughtered every child in his hometown. He ventures on to a new location, scouting fresh young victims to hack up with his finger blades. Basically, reunites with a long-lost daughter (played by Lisa Zane related and sister to BILLY ZANE) furthermore, creates more rampage than you can possibly imagine also, Springwood, Ohio has turned into the worst places on earth although it's like New York or LA and Chicago being a complete disaster compared to what Springwood is now in the film.

          Like I've probably said this a year ago and I'll say it again, Friday the 13th part III is one of the worst 3D movies ever made although enjoyable to watch at times, but the 3D effects are just, a complete, disaster almost like if you go to Muppet 3D in Disney World or any 3D movie that just pops out of the screen and creates that out of the screen 3D effect, it's like that but without the 3D glasses for which makes it sad and pathetic. Compared to Freddy's Dead, this movie is of course awful but the 3D effects are at least decent compared to Part III of Friday the 13th, and so, this isn't say much but I will rather watch Freddy's Dead over the third Friday the 13th film if it comes to best 3D effects between those films combined. At first watching the movie a band sounds familiar from my youth and I slowly realized that the "Goo Goo Dolls" wrote a song for the film and I was like "holy crap, I haven't listen to them in a coon's age", and that's the same band I use to listen to along with Matchbox Twenty and Creed and some of them are like reliving your favorite movies at your teen's age and are just flat out bad, that's what "Goo Goo Dolls" are like. Like the previous movies there's not a whole lot to say other than I feel like this film is the definitive film where we finally see Freddy Kruger who we all know and love kind of like Jason Lives and I feel like if you bring back Freddy now he's got to be played by a comedian as well as make it a dark comedy either way it's been 16 years since the last Freddy film has been made and I doubt anyone is going to make that possible. If you take away the first Nightmare film and just focus the sequels to Elm Steet in terms of what is the best I would say the third film is the best one out of all of them then Freddy's Dead is second best and then we get to the fifth film for which explores more of Freddy's backstory and to close this all out some of these films are a great breath of fresh air and this was a great comedic piece of unintentional comedy as well as trashy sets that become somewhat of why is that town look like a trash sewer? Or why does Springwood now become like a worst part of Chicago, New York City and LA and this film has all those elements in terms of trashy sets. And Freddy's Dead was a great conclusion to this Nightmare adventure but then we finally get to the seventh installment for which was like Bill Lumbergh repeating "ooh, yeah" then proceeds to leave. 

  

           

The Crazies

 

                So, now having watched the documentary about George A. Romero's Resident Evil. I decided to watch a George A. Romero movie that's NOT Night of the Living Dead. And quite frankly I haven't seen any of George A. Romero's work that's not Night of the Living Dead, for which in all fairness I wasn't all big but I'm pushing the age where I need to expand my horizons. Turns out the Crazies caught my eye, upon which Romero originally directed and created the Crazies for which I had no clue until now. 

                 A Military plane crashes near a small town, infecting the water supply with a deadly virus that causes insanity then death. The army moves in to control the situation, only for the civilians to treat them as invaders and then infect them all. 

                 I won't sugar coat it if you get past the overacting or confused eating an orange, this film is fantastic and shocking horror movie. I remembered another movie titled “The Crazies” sometime around 2010, and I wasn't all big into the horror movie genre because most of them were not great or just lame on so many levels, bottom line didn't have an interest in watching the REMAKE to the Crazies. With Romero's Crazies, this film has a ton of relevant as to today's world especially when we had the Pandemic, we were all forced to stay indoors as to having forced to wear masks all the f**king time and more importantly being two feet away from the other person, so, watching this film almost feels like re-living the pandemic again only no military declaring martial law. So, maybe George Romero was preparing us for the worst and we didn't listen so, now I'm declaring to find many George A. Romero movies for this entire month. Now this movie is not entirely scary but this is one of those films like Night of the Living Dead, Romero is one of those directors that again I respect a lot because when you’re making a horror movie especially making a lower budget but making it work in the best way possible and having did Night of the Living Dead, Romero decides to do the opposite and make psychopaths with an infection but also explores themes of sickness and military forcing in door laws and citizens fighting to survive the government and more importantly having great scenery with limited resources, so, in a strange way George Romero is like the Stanley Kubrick of horror although I can't back that entirely up, but just saying after Night of the Living Dead and the Crazies. The original Crazies is on Tubi for which, yet again Tubi is still the king of hidden gems so, if you’re looking for a shocking horror movie as well as directed by George A. Romero then I'd recommend spending an entire month watching George A. Romero movies until Halloween hits in 2026. 

    

George A. Romero's Resident Evil

 

   

             After watching the latest Resident Evil movie as well as considering it the greatest horror movie of this entire year. I decided to watch another Resident Evil movie, though, not the Paul W.S. Anderson film, GEORGE A. ROMERO'S RESIDENT EVIL. Yeah, apparently George A Romero was hired to write and direct Resident Evil, unfortunately studios and legends have different ways in terms of control. 

              Filmmaker George A. Romero redefines the Zombie genre with "Night of the Living Dead," but his vision for an adaption of the video game "Resident Evil" was never realized.

              Like most documentaries you get to know a lot about the gaming franchise of Resident Evil as well as George A. Romero's film career and strangely enough there's a ton of films in George A. Romero's filmography that I didn't realized he directed such films like the Crazies hell even, I didn't know that was even an original movie to begin with. Though this documentary goes to great lengths of telling the story of how George got involved with Resident Evil such as directing a commercial to the second installment and especially getting involved with Constantin Films a German movie studio that bought the rights to the games of Resident Evil at the time were still making their third installment (though I could be wrong), now I haven't read George A. Romero's script for Resident Evil but having watched Paul W.S. Anderson's version I would most certainly preferred Romero's. Although this was during the early days of Hollywood studio system not knowing how to adapt these video games into movies from Street Fighter to Mortal Kombat and even the Super Mario Bros, they have a different viewpoint or want to go at a different direction now from what I've learned Romero's adaption was of course faithful to the games as well as dark story, but Constantin films wanted a different approach for which is convenient and this is an important lesson tip to all up and coming writers, if your planning pitch a video game adaption, you’re going to have a ton of battles to get the film right and at times video game adaptions aren't always a winning battle. If you’re a huge fan of the Resident Evil games as well as a big fan of George A. Romero, then I would highly recommend watching this documentary for the Halloween season and maybe playing some Resident Evil on the side. 

    

Resident Evil

 

               Well, everyone it's October the month of nothing but scary movies, B-scary movies, scary action movies, hell anything scary we begin to watch on the month of October to get us ready for Halloween. And luckily for me I had the opportunity to finally go to my local Golden Ticket Cinema in my local area, to sit down and finally watch the newest Resident Evil movie and holy crap this makes the last six Resident Evil films look like B-movies but in a good way.

               Tasked about delivering a package to a remote hospital, a courier (Austin Abrams) gets trapped in a sudden outbreak and must fight mutated creatures to survive.

               This is strangely becoming a year of video game movies being taken seriously furthermore being good and great. I mean sure we've had Mario Galaxy movie for which both movies are great I mean they were meant to be cartoon moreover Yoshi was the scene stealer of that entire movie, then we had Mortal Kombat II, I mean sure it was good and entertaining at times though I would wish that there was MORE SCORPION! Like look any Mortal Kombat fan would know that we need more Scorpion it's like a necessity. Then we have Resident Evil for which maybe the best horror movie I've seen this entire year close to Backrooms but this movie is actually scarry and creepy furthermore disgusting for which is everything you need to have in a horror movie hell it's the reason why A Nightmare on Elm Street a great movie. Though with this movie there is really no expectation like, you've obviously seen all the other Resident Evil films and there sure scary but with more action to it which is okay, yeah, you can do but what Paul W.S. Anderson did was just not good, nor taken seriously. But with director Zach Cregger did with the movie is make the movie like you’re playing a game but more modernized, give you great examples taken more from the recent Evil games like RE 7: Biohazard, make the sets as well as the look and feel creepy and disguising that you don't even want to set foot in that place even though you have to set foot in that place because you have no choice but to enter it the disgusting rom and more importantly the monsters look terrifying and so, this film has all of everything you want in a horror movie. I will put a word of warning if you do feel like you ate a whole meal before you go to the movie theater to watch this latest Resident Evil movie, I would highly recommend throwing up before you sit through it because you may feel disgusted or an upset stomach because I order a tub of popcorn and I only ate halfway through. I'd defiantly recommend watching Resident Evil and putting your twenty bucks or even forty bucks if you want to take the kiddo's if you want to teach them a lesson about the end of the world and just see something disturbing. And what's crazy is that this maybe the second-best movie I've seen this entire year first of course is the Odyssey, but with a horror movie like this if you take the time to take the scares seriously as well as the environment and landscapes creepy and disturbing as well as disgusting to see on screen. That's basically all you need to make a great horror movie worth seeing. Now granted I know the latest Street Fighter is going to be great but I wouldn’t hold enough expectation in that movie being better than Resident Evil, if you ask my own personal opinion. 

    

Football Recommendation: Blue Mountain State

 

             Well, it's like this I was just enjoying my typical Sunday afternoon just watching NFL football, along with my brother and his son and as always, we always have are typical gibberish in talking trash and stuff that going to be left in the closet of our minds as well as my brother and son's mind, basically not sharing personal stuff. And then once I brought up Blue Mountain State, and my nephew blurt out that he actually binged on the show and once I heard that I actually felt like a proud uncle in hearing that while my brother felt disgusted for which for me is like trillion points of a lifetime if you ask me. 

             Basically, if you take Animal House with College Football you literally get Blue Mountain State. Where the story centers around a bunch of college football players doing crazy and outlandish things that somehow crazy and stupid but long the way the funniest show to ever watch. 

             I honestly can't tell you when the first time I actually watched this show but I believe it was during the time of 2020, where of course we we're all cut out of the outside world and so, this show came on which I believe to be Netflix and it was strangely funny that I couldn't help but be amused, now I don't know funny would be a right word I would say that this show is like a train wreck, where you don't want to watch but you just have to see the chaos and destruction that these players cause. Speaking of bringing chaos and destruction, this is the show that introduced me to Alan Ritchson who plays a fictionalized well, maybe real-life portrayal of Brian Bosworth although that's sarcasm in terms of real life but you'd know what I'm talking about if you watched College Football back when it was awesome to watch instead of today. Ritchson to me is the reason why this show is a success I mean this guy brings a ton of comedic talent as well as bringing to life a character that I would immediately ban from playing football forever and yet gets away with murder, upon which in all honesty makes the show even better and it's not just Ritchson's character it's everyone that gets away with murder. When I finally purchased this show on my phone I actually showed it to my brother and after two episodes of the first season he couldn't continue to watch because it brought back terrible memories of hazing in high school football for which I wouldn't denning that fact and I would almost say College Football is also responsible for hazing as well but when I played high school ball I didn't think much of it considering I figured it was normal unlike the show where there is a ton of s**t that I would doubt happen in today’s college or high school but that's Hollywood for everyone in terms of storytelling. Even in like season finale of the third and final scene they actually bring up the term the "Death Penalty" which means killing of a college program though not killing it more suspension along with a ton of punishments, and so, if you compare this show with a ton of real life college football teams from the 80's to early 2000's, this show is extremely in the realism if you ask me I mean I could see a ton of the 80's Miami U, to the Boz and Oklahoma Sooners team and this show was made in 2010's so, I would rank this in the realism of craziness and College kids doing the most extreme and stupid things possible. There is a Movie so, if you feel like watching the show I would most certainly recommend watching the show and just avoid the movie version because that didn't need to be made at all and so, that movie alone can me put in the trash can in someone's mind and pretend that movie didn't happen. The show is both on Tubi and Amazon Prime which is a shocker that it's on Amazon Prime for subscription so, if your needing a College Football booster I'd recommend checking out as well as binging on Blue Mountain State as well as being traumatized by Alan Ritchson's high pitch screaming because after watching other stuff he's in I can't unsee him in anything without replying "GET OUT" like a girl through the course of the movie he's in, and to me that's like PTSD if you know what I mean.

            

The Sheep Detective

 

                 My Mom for the past couple of months have been urging me to watch this movie called the Sheep Detective and I've been hearing about this movie prior to Amazon Prime releasing it or MGM Studio's, I mean look there both one in the same studio just like 20th Century Fox merging into Disney and yet they don't a point Corporal Klinger as a Disney Princess. Look at the bottom line is, I finally watched the Sheep Detective, and I have to say that this was defiantly one of the most adorable and fun movies to watch on Prime.

                 George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) is a Shepard who loves to read murder mysteries to his flock, never suspecting they can understand him. When George is found dead under a mysterious circumstance, the sheep (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) decide to solve the crime themselves, even if it means leaving their meadow for the first time and facing the fact that the human world isn't as simple as it appears in books.

                 This is one of those family films that I never quite expect in terms of the amount of really good actors and actresses that would be able to provide a great performance in one movie and the thing about this movie that impressed me the most, is the recognizable actors that my brains begin overriding and slowly recognizing who these actors are like for the sheep you have Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the courageous sheep that's determined to solve the case and is so blinded by the human world and has all the flaws in what makes a hero go onto a hero's journey theme from Luke Skywalker or King Arthur storyline that you can read Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" then you can see the theme of this movie through Dreyfus character, and strangely enough I was hoping for a ton of Veep quotes of her replying "Tuck your shirt in okay, your d**k is hanging out of your pants" though granted this is a family movie so, can't do that I guess. But not just Louis-Dreyfus but Sir Patrick Stewart, Regina Hall, Bella Ramsey aka Lady Mormont from Game of Thrones as well as Brett Goldstein aka Roy Kent as due sheep for which of course while watching clips on YouTube Roy Kent is like my favorite I'd want to be reborn as. And more importantly you have Bryan Cranston as the loner sheep for which again all of these actors and actresses deliver great voice over work that to me is what makes for this family movie to be believable and worth watch because if you had unknown actors playing it would almost be like a meh family movie that you would find on ABC or the Hallmark channel then it would be disappointing to even sit through and watch. Even the human cast deserves a ton of credit and of course you got Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson but Nicholas Braun actually steals the entire movie especially the climax of the movie and for those who haven't seen Succession he was the guy that always hanged out with Matthew Macfadyen through the course of the show. Now I don't want to go into a ton of details on what makes this film great because I want you all to watch this film and enjoy it with your kids, but with this film it strangely has great comedic flair and great Christian themes but more importantly has a great hero's theme that plays great through the eyes of Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character for which I love most. So, if you’re ever looking for a film to watch with your kids then I'd highly recommend watching The Sheep Detective for its pure heart and great comedic talents through the course of the entire film. And more importantly you can find this movie not just on Prime but you can also purchase the film on Blu-Ray if you feel the need to own it as well, for which I would do so, especially when Christopher Nolan tells us that we should all own our own favorite movies and Nolan is always right. 

         

30th Anniversary of Muppet Treasure Island

             Another film in the Tim Curry remembrance is Muppet Treasure Island. Now, when you think of Muppets you think of them as the rock stars of old when it comes to childhood memories especially in media, and like Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island was another film that I also remember growing up and watching from elementary school years. Moreover, I thought about which movie to use in the monthly recommendation and since I realized that Muppet Treasure Island has reached its 30th birthday then I must make this a special one right?

              A reworking of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale in which The Muppets take to the high seas in search of buried treasures. Young Jim Hawkins is given a treasure map by a mysterious sailor and sets sail with his friends the Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat. Among the crew is a mutinous sea dog Long John Silver (Tim Curry), who has his own plans for the loot. 

              After the success of A Muppet Christmas Carol, Disney Studios at that time decided that the next Muppets film would be adapting another classic tale for the next Muppet film, co-writer claimed that the only two tales he had in mind were either Treasure Island or King Arthur. Originally Gonzo and Rizzo were to play Jim and Hawkins, but the studios were nervous about not holding the emotional heart of the movie so, Thatcher just stuck with a human character to play Jim Hawkins and Gonzo and Rizzo to be his companions. A fun fact about the film Frank Oz couldn’t help with the puppeteers with his directorial career, and so, he later provided the voices of the characters while Kevin Clash helped with the Muppets. Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson as well as director of the film) was a big fan of Tim Curry and said that he should be the right actor for Long John Silver, and even Tim Curry wanted to sign on for the movie because he was also a big fan of the Muppets as well, for which explains why this movie is a classic. Unlike Tim Curry's scheming villainous role in the Three Musketeers, this film shows a lot more compassion for Jim Hawkins, furthermore, provides a father and son type of scenes between Silver and Hawkins for which has that great flair almost like a family film of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in a very strange way. I do love Curry's performance in the film just because he's of course having fun with the Muppets but has that great sense of humor of being able to manipulate the Muppets, especially in the scene where they tie him up and give him the black spot from a page of the bible for which is the joke but the way he's able to deliver his lines on screen brings a huge smile to my face. And even when you have that great moment with Kermit and Miss Piggy and Kermit holds Piggy from falling we see his eyes bulge and it's funny but you feel for Kermit and when you mind feels bad for a Muppet than it becomes funny and not just Tim Curry stealing the show but Kermit and his fencing fight with Curry and again it's just so, funny you can't stop but chuckle at that and it just brings back so great memories when these films we're amazing during my childhood, and a year after that the release of Star Wars Trilogy, Special Edition came out for again that's what made the 90's such a great decade. Like sure any of Tim Curry's past films are memorable from Rocky Horror Picture Show to Stephan King's It but, nothing special about them and to me Musketeer's and Muppet Treasure Island are so fun and great comedic moments that you can't help but love it from beginning to the very end. So, if you’re a fan of the Muppets I would highly recommend watching Muppet Treasure Island on Disney Plus and like A Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island is going to be traditional movie for I don't know when but I might watch again and again or maybe when I'm tired and bummed from work I'll put on Muppet Treasure Island although maybe in the summer movie season either way watching this movie again I really want to watch the film again until I'm tired of watching it, though I don't want to overdo it it's like having your favorite pizza and don't want to eat it again if you know what I mean. 

     

September Recommendation: The Three Musketeers

 

             For the past month or two I've been thinking a lot about the late great, Tim Curry, actor most famous for The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the TV mini-series IT. And sure, he most famous for those movies for sure but I was born in the late 80’s, and I didn't even know Curry played a strange drag queen and killer clown. I mostly remembered him from playing Cardinal Richelieu in Disney's Three Musketeers in 1993, as well as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. Now Muppet Treasure Island will get to that later, but The Three Musketeers was one of those films I remembered watching in my high school years and this film still brings back great memories furthermore was Pirates of the Caribbean before Pirates of the Caribbean became a thing.

             D'Artagnan (Chris O'Donnell) travels to Paris hoping to become a musketeer, one of the French King's elite bodyguards, only to discover that the corps been disbanded by conniving Cardinal Richelieu (Tim Curry), who secretly hopes to usurp the throne. Fortunately, Athos, Porthos and Aramis (Keefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Charlie Sheen) have refused to lay down their weapons and continue to protect their king. D'Artagnan joins with the rogues to expose Richelieu's plot against the crown. 

             I honestly don't remember the first time I sat down and watched the movie all the way through I do in fact remember watching parts of the film after school or on the weekend this would most certainly be on the Disney Channel on Dish Network or any Cable Channel that we would switch every three-ish years and granted it could be my final elementary school years and junior high school years, somewhere between the late 90's or the early 2000's moreover it was a time when Disney wasn't the Galactic Empire we know today as well as purchasing Twentieth Century Fox, basically back when those years and decades we an amazing time to watch movies. And like The Musketeer and Man in the Iron Mask, The Three Musketeers was one of those films that was just fun to watch from beginning to end and sure this film is in fact cliche and I remember Tim Curry chewing the scenery but that was all I remember of Tim Curry in this movie was chewing the entire set, and rewatching the film again on Disney Plus, you can tell that Tim Curry was just having the time of his life, with great lines like after killing a prisoner he reply's "One less mouth to feed", for which I chuckled at that because I thought that was funny coming from him and his two infamous lines when he places a bounty on the Musketeers he says dead or alive and then later says "I prefer dead" which I could tell that he was like wait let me rephrase that sentence. and more importantly his greatest scenery chewer is using the queen by his side and she reply's I'd rather die, he out of nowhere just shouts "THAT CAN BE ARRANGED" like he's trying to be scary but for me as a teenager I always replied, "YOU, EIGHTEEN?" And for some reasons it's just funny personally because you can tell that Curry is doing is all playing a scheming antagonist with an evil laughter and all especially being British also, and yet you can tell this man is just having fun and more importantly had that reputation of playing colorful/theatrical villains for which really, he was born for the role especially the way the script was written if you asked me. Granted if you look at this movie for what it was in the mid-nineties, it's basically Disney's answer to 20th Century Fox's Young Guns and surprisingly enough, producer Joe Roth produced both Young Guns as well as this version of the Three Musketeers so, technically Roth was probably up and out of Fox and Disney asked him to produce a movie of his choice and he pitched them young guns meets Alexander Dumas and Disney was like "Sure". Now granted everyone would for sure think of it as Young Guns including Leonard Maltin but I would prefer this movie over the Young Guns movies because this film was at least fun and entertaining and a Disney film that wasn't evil Disney also, this film includes up and coming actor in Chris O'Donnell before he ruins well, Joel Schumacher ruin his career but that's a whole other story and Julie Delpy before she made one of the Sunset films for which I remember watching and was bored out of my mind, though let’s not forget Tim Curry in the best cliched villain ever. The other thing in what makes this film so, nostalgic is that this film brings back to the Errol Flynn movies of the late thirties and early forties as well as almost reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean where it has that sort of Pirates flair of you being transported into this world with a ton of great production sets and it has that great feel of your reliving your favorite swashbuckling film from the past. I will admit that this film is not perfect in anyway it's a hundred percent in the cliched realm of things but of all the movies I remember Tim Curry in this film I would most certainly choose to remember him the most as well as his great cameo in Psych. So, if you have a Disney Plus account, I will highly recommend in watching this with your kids and see if they can love this movie as I did although none of my parents showed me this movie this was the Disney Channel back when I'll say it again, the Galactic Empire. 

   

Uncle Buck

 

 

              Just browsing through my Netflix account finding at least something to watch in terms of movies I've not seen. And after a huge success with watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I figured I give another John Hughes film a chance to watch or rewatch, granted Uncle Buck use to air on the Disney Channel back when they weren't an evil Empire of today and so, deep down I've seen bits and pieces but I haven't really seen all of the film until now.

              When Cindy (Elaine Bromka) and her husband, Bob (Garrett M. Brown), must leave town for a family emergency, there is only one person available to babysit for their three kids: Bob's lazy, carefree brother, Buck (John Candy). While he immediately gets along with the two younger children (Gaby Hoffman, Macaulay Culkin), Buck must change his bachelor lifestyle if he wants to be a responsible caregiver for the angst-filled teenager, Tia (Jean Louisa Kelly. 

              At first I'm not going to lie that this film does have some sluggish moments in terms of sure this could be funny but not ha-ha funny, and at times I felt like the car and his life style is almost like he's living in some sort of trash apartment and sure the fact that he's living next to Wrigley Field is pretty funny but at the time of the film’s release this Cubs were already trash to begin with so, not a whole lot of ha-ha moments, I mean if you’re at least going to make a film set in Chicago in the 80's or late 80's to 90's you can at least show the Chicago Bulls or John Candy wearing a Michael Jordan jersey at least because if your showing a bachelor character and he's a slob as well as wearing an old worn down Ernie Banks jersey, it kind of loses it hilariousness I mean Hughes was a popular director at the time he couldn't at least have a cameo appearance with Candy and Harry Carey at a bar or at a bowling alley because they film at a bowling alley either way there's a million things you could do but really when you have moments of a character living a slob lifestyle and the joke is he's living next to Wrigley Field it just doesn't seem funny at all, and that's all I'm saying. With all the jokes about his car and lifestyle a side this film does have some heartwarming moments and when we get to the midst of both the second and third act, you do see Candy being more responsible and getting along with the kids as well as putting his foot down and telling the teenager no at times and it shows that of all the bachelor lifestyle he has he's trying to improve himself and especially with his girlfriend aka Amy Madigan aka Annie from Field of Dreams and through the course of the movie it does become a heartwarming story for which there is a plus side to Uncle Buck other than the mediocre comedy a side and I think that both of Hughes films in which he directs he at least shows some sense of warmth and care but in all fairness Ferris Bueller is much better comedy than Uncle Buck if I had to rank these films. I would most certainly recommend Uncle Buck if you’re a big fan of the late John Candy and love most of his films or a 49er's fan then I would highly recommend watching Uncle Buck on Netflix. 

         

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

            Well, I'm sure all of you know by now that everywhere you go in terms of stores like Walmart or Dollar General hell, any store around the states or all over planet Earth you'd probably know that Halloween season is already coming around the corner. And granted I don't know what's going around the world in terms of Halloween, but I would doubt the Middle East. And so, I decided to watch Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood? Look, all you know is that it's Jason vs Carrie but it's not Carrie.

            Years after the strange drowning death of her father, Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln) returns to the site of his demise, Crystal Lake. Her developing psychic were responsible for ending his life, leaving Tina riddled with guilt as an adult. While deceitful Dr. Crews (Terry Kiser) tries to manipulate her abilities for his own ends, both physician and patient are in for a shock when Tina's powers unwittingly free camper-killer Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) from his watery slumber.

            I got to say typing in the plot of the movie as well as talking about it now kind of makes sense in terms of a refresher I mean sure they're a lot of things that I would most certainly forget but a few things about the plot of the film and yet to the films credit it does give you a little refresher in terms of what you can get caught up after watching Jason Lives. And it's been close to a year since I last watched Jason Lives and so, this was a good refresher as to what I missed at the end of the film. While watching, The New Blood I did begin to realize through the course of the movie, of this being a sort of Carrie vs Jason type of a film? And looking up the film on Wikipedia, it says that after failed concepts writer of Part VII, Daryl Haney says that Carrie vs Jason came into light for is one of those minor accomplishments in guessing the entire plot right. This film also introduces Kane Hodder in what everyone knows to be as the true Jason Voorhees and there's really not a whole lot to say in terms of what makes his performance great, a side from his performance in Jason X was much better because that film is the creme dela creme of amazingly bad entertainment so, there's that. Like most of the Friday the 13th films there's really not a whole lot to say other than whenever you’re having a s**ty day and nothing going your way I would highly recommend just sitting down and have a Friday the 13th movie marathon because in all honesty these films are just made to be pure entertainment and stupid at the same time and if you take these films seriously then you're just missing the sense of these films and especially the 80's culture in what movies back in those days we're made for. Moreover that's kind of the same reasons as to why the remake of Friday the 13th failed miserably because the producers tried to make it scary but all these films are nothing but terrible teenagers just being horrible to either fat people or nerdy people and Jason does us a favor by taking them all out, for which really when you think about especially when you’re getting older your just rooting for Jason at the end and if it we're me I would remake Friday the 13th as a dark comedy with horrible teens and Jason taking them out although that's already been done because the 80's has already done it. Like the previous Jason films, the pure fun and entertaining to watch from start to finish although the first three films are okay you can watch them only once but if it were me, I would say New Blood, Jason Lives and Jason X are the best Friday movies in my opinion. So, if you’re getting ready for Halloween, I would highly recommend watching the Friday the 13th films and even have your kids watch them because they're going to be going to high school and they should at least get some experience in terms of what they have to experience and these films are at least realistic than the High School Musical movies. Although I would say kids today are making good choices although nowadays kids could possibly be doing at least dumb stuff. Now, New Blood was fun to watch with satisfactory deaths but I'm looking forward to watching Jason taking Manhattan, and hopefully that one will be fun before I get to the nineth film. 

         

 

Number 17

 

           Still going in the simple movie watching sense, mostly finding some movies in the 90-minute range, decided to watch an early Alfred Hitchcock film that was made in the early 1930's England. Moreover, since my Stanley Kubrick journey is coming to an end, I figured it's time to go on another journey but this time finding famous directors’ earlier films that no one has even touched or presented, furthermore Number 17 came into my radar, especially when is sixty-five minutes of runtime. 

             In an empty London house, a hobo named Ben (Leon M. Lion) looks for shelter yet instead finds a corpse. When Detective Fordyce (John Stuart) shows up, he questions Ben but is interrupted when a girl (Ann Casson) falls through the roof. Her father has vanished, and she's received an instructible telegram that mentions both the house and a missing necklace. Soon more suspicious characters turn up, all looking for the necklace, and none of them who they claim to be. 

             I think if you set aside the fast action sequences of the 30's films where the robber or the banker is being chased by the cop and they shot the sequences in a fast pace where they're running in a comedic fashion like someone rescuing a woman from being run over by the train. You'll see a lot of it in this movie, but in all honesty this film has that great flair of being an importantly, good example in knowing how to make your first movie or short film and make it into simplest form possible like you have a warehouse bunch of characters after a robbery or friends hanging out and get caught in the cross hairs of a bunch of killers or bank robbers and their taken hostage and you simply have it set in a warehouse and create drama as well as start your story there. And while watching this film a bunch of times I have to say that this is one of those films that inspire me to want to write a short film and just create a simple story of a hostage situation or an after bank robbery and either way I love the way this film was constructed. While through the course of the film, I had to admit that this entire film was just going to be set in the warehouse and a struggle happens and then that's it that's the film, what I didn't expect is a high octane chase between a bus and a steam engine and of course this is thirties style of filmmaking and you would probably use a train set and small bus toy to make it look like that their driving so fast, and again it's amusingly funny because of what they had to make and the same goes with the fight scenes because I would at least imagine that Hitch had a way to make a normal fight but I guess not, though still believe that these high octane sequences are amusingly funny but is also amazed on how they were able to shoot the movie with very little resources on what they had at the time. This film is free on all types of streaming services with ads from YouTube to Tubi and even Amazon Prime, and so, if you’re looking to watch any of Hitchcock's earlier works then I would highly recommend watching Number 17, it's a great watch of early thirties cinema and more importantly amusing with the action sequences but more importantly I would highly recommend anyone to watch this if you’re looking for a way to start off your film by doing a short film by making it thirty or sixty minutes long for the audience. 

        

The Last Boy Scout

 

           Kind of lost track this past week in terms of movie watching, mostly getting a little off the sidetrack in terms of real-life shenanigans like work and trying to get back on that right track. Anyway, the only way I can get back on that track is watching an entertainingly bad action movie, and so, Tony Scott's the Last Boy Scout came into fluctuant while browsing through my Tubi account, so I figured why not give this movie a shot and surprisingly I actually remembered seeing clips of this movie though it's more of the opening scene where the running back is shooting the entire defense which is the same way O.J. destroyed the entire bronco defense.

           Once a first-rate Secret Service Agent, Joe Hallenbeck (Bruce Willis) is now a gruff private investigator who’s the latest gig is protecting a pole dancer (Hallie Berry). When she's murdered, he grudgingly teams up with her boyfriend, Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans), an ex-quarterback with a gambling problem, and the two go after her killers.

            Surprisingly enough if you heard of the name Shane Black writer and director of hit movies like Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang and The Nice Guys, as well as creator behind the first Lethal Weapon movie as well as the first guy to get knocked off by the Predator in Predator, and fun fact both films came out the same year in 1987. Sometime after these two successes, Black went on to write which would become The Last Boy Scout after a bad relationship in which Black in his own words says, "I was busy mourning my life and, in many ways, the loss of my first real love. I didn't feel much like doing anything except smoking cigarettes and reading paperbacks. Time passed and eventually I sat down and transformed some of that bitterness into a character, the central focus of a private eye story which became The Last Boy Scout. Writing that script was a very cathartic experience, one of the best experiences I've ever had. I spent so much time alone working on that. Days in which I wouldn't speak. Three, four days where I maybe said a couple of words. It was a wonderful time where my focus was better than it's ever been. And I was rewarded so handsomely (1.75 million) for that script, it felt like a vindication and like I was back on track". So, look everyone if you’re having a bad day or taking time off after bad relationships gone wrong, writing what you love to write about, will grant you an amazing come back on life that will be so amazing than a great sports moment you've witnessed on Television. I would say that this is hands down one of the best Tony Scott films a million times better than Top Gun and most certainly Days of Thunder furthermore what I'm trying to say is that any film that consist of Tom Cruise playing the same hot shot and it's in the late 80's is not the movie worth watching. More importantly if you've seen films like Lethal Weapon or 48hrs, as well as just wanting entertaining action and unnecessary explosions that come out of nowhere, and it almost feels like when they cut to a car explosion it almost feels like they shot that car explosion from a different location especially when it's D-Day aka Bruce McGill getting blown up. If you love a fun and entertaining buddy cop movie with less of the police force and more of a rip off of both Lethal Weapon and 48hrs with tons of action than I would highly recommend watching The Last Boy Scout, it's fun as well as crazy action and explosions and more importantly it has the greatest opening of a running back gunning the entire defensive line, which in all honesty is how O.J. got those rushing records because he gunned them down and while testifying at court he hold onto the gun and says, "it's not mine.". And the film is also on Tubi for which setting up an account is free and despite having to sit through a ton of ads, you can also find hidden treasures that you wouldn't believe could be personally good. Also, Tubi is so great that you can also find a ton of entertaining mindless action movies, that would still stand the test of time and for F-sakes this film has Bruce Willis punching a guy’s noise into his entire skull, I mean if you don't find that awesome, I don't know what can keep you entertained.

  

              

Movies I haven't seen in a While: 2001: A Space Odyssey

          Well, everyone we're nearing the long and crazy end of the Stanley Kubrick movie watching journey. And for granted I do feel a little sad though kind of relieved that this journey is coming to an end because I don't know if I can keep this going for another two-ish years. So, now that we're done with all of the Kubrick films that I've not seen, now I have recap the Kubrick movies I have seen and 2001 was one of those films that I have watched but yet don't quite understand by the final frame, although do give this film a tone of credit in the end.

          When Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and other astronauts are sent on a mysterious mission, their ship's computer system, HAL, begins to display increasingly strange behavior, leading up to a tense showdown between man and machine that results in a mind-bending trek through space and time.

           I believe the last time I watched 2001 was most certainly in the early 2010's or 2011, could possibly be 2012 either way somewhere in the early 2010's and at that time I never quite grasped 2001 as well as understood the movie it was most something that I probably missed as well as may have slept through the movie. Either way the film alone I never quite understood as to why this film is better than Star Wars in the AFI top ten Science Fiction films. Now being old and somewhat wise, well not all wise if you catch my meaning, I have to give this film a ton of credit as well as understanding this films full potential as to why this film is an important film in terms of Science Fiction films fully developing into a artistic cinema and if you take a look through time between fifties and early sixties and even the matinee serials from the early thirties or forties with some of the old school Flash Gordon, all of those science fiction films we're okay but were all mediocre trash and a lot of them included alien invasion or Cold War Paranoia. And so, when 2001: A Space Odyssey came into light as well as release this was the first movie that took the seriousness of showing the futuristic world as well as showing real spaceships and actual space colony on the Moon and a lot of the production value is really impressive if you take it see the film for what it was back in the late sixties by the time of the film’s release, and especially the iconic A.I in Hal 9000 whose both great and scary at the same time. So, a ton of this movies credit is Kubrick taking the Science Fiction genre to a whole new level in film and for sure you can say the same with Gene Roddenberry in the Star Trek series in the early sixties, but if we didn't have 2001, we wouldn't have the Star Trek movies be transitioned into Big Screen. And even with a ton of the Ships you know, without these iconic ships or space suits we wouldn't have Star Wars, Alien or even Close Encounters of the Third Kind, so, in all fairness a lot of 2001 is responsible for a ton of the iconic science fiction films be brought to light as well as Kubrick showing studios that "hey, we can do this and the camera work and visual effects, are their" and speaking of Kubrick the way he's able to put the camera from a ton of these amazing shots from like the pen floating in space, they actually taped a pen to a see through glass and rotate it, but even the exercise scene were either Dr. Bowman or Dr. Poole are doing that awesome jogging sideways it's so amazing that I still have questions on how they're able to capture that or able to put the camera in the right place it's just so incredible and I still want to know how they're able to pull that off and this film alone is another great example as to Kubrick being a head of his time from film noir to political satire, him doing a science fiction movie shows that he's once step ahead of everyone else and more importantly a true pioneer for film directing and one of the many reasons as to why he's a true artist. Now with all the pros I can say about 2001, there are some cons I have with the movie and a lot of it has to do with the story of these alien monoliths as well as using both the monoliths and relying so much on the A.I. machines at the same time of the movie, and what I assume what 2001 is, is human evolution the struggles of A.I and the cosmos, but the main problem I have with the film is that we don't know a whole lot of detail on what these Alien Monoliths are or why their watching earth and especially the human race. Now the A.I. story line makes more sense to me than the monoliths because yeah, it's a great theme of us humans relying way to much of technology and you can see that through many of the props as well as the monitors you see in the movie and even when the computer begins to take over the world and really you can use these types of themes but at times you can't have both, either that or you have to give at least some back story on the aliens. Now if you haven't seen the ending to 2001 a short nutshell Dr. Bowman is being experimented and then becomes a space baby and there are interview clips of Kubrick explaining the ending and I can get it, in terms of what he's explaining but the scene the drives me crazy is, we find a monolith in Jupiter, Bowman is of course driving the ship and then we don't get context of him going into one of the pods and then traveling through the worm hole, and at first I felt like I must of missed something or was about to fall asleep but no that's basically how that happens and for me personally sure I can get the ending, but can't you at least have a scene where Bowman is going into the Pod and traveling through the worm hole? At least something that would make sense, now I don't know if Kubrick and this was during the space race between U.S. and Russia I don't know if he was trying to examine the human race pushing way to much of technology or alien life, and granted we can make tons of themes to it but at the end of the day, there's still no proof of alien life in the solar system or aliens trying to make contact on earth and this has a lot to do with both Andy Weir's The Martian, and there is now sense of Alien life so, basically Weir proves that there’s no alien life and even if there is alien life they could be watching us like we're a reality television moreover just enjoying us being so incompetent in terms of government furthermore preventing war as well as trying to sustain peace, for which they don't really want to invade earth because they would look at us as useless people that b***h about everything that's not necessary a big deal, now for sure you can argue with me all you want and this is for the liberals to come and complain but, I just think the Aliens are watching us as if planet Earth is a reality television as well as look at us as a joke. Of all the pros and cons I can talk about 2001, this film gives me a full understanding as well as a ton of respect for A Space Odyssey, it's a science fiction film that still stands the test of time and really pushed the Sci-Fi genre into a respectable movie watching experience that was a pioneer to such great Sci-Fi films as Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Alien would use even into the eighties, and I would most certainly still watch 2001, for its great camera work as well as its incredible visuals of space and if you’re a fan of Science Fiction, I would highly recommend watching 2001 if you have Turner Classic Movies or HBO Max. And so, the Kubrick top thirteen is almost coming into place wonder which will be my top thirteen best Kubrick films well just have to find out, but I still have one last movie to watch hope you’re excited for the full list. 

             

The Blue Miracle

 

             Another typical Sunday where they're nothing better to do, and well just tired of the heat as well as work and so, my mom picked the movie again and picked a family film that's also ridiculous and a hundred percent cliche in terms of seeing one underdog story you've obviously seen them all. Although the one thing that most family films would most certainly not have in their typical family film and that's the ever-great Dennis Quaid who’s the king of making these family films compelling and interesting to watch. 

             To save their cash-strapped orphanage, a guardian and his kids partner with a captain (Dennis Quaid) for a chance to win a lucrative fishing competition. 

              No question this film is the most ridiculous family film that once watching fifteen minutes of the film you can obviously tell where this film is going to go from beginning to the very end. But then again when you cast Dennis Quaid as the washed up Obi-Wan Kenobi type character, then this film at least has some good potential to be good mainly because Dennis Quaid always does great as the mentor in any film, and the same goes with The Rookie as well as The Express where he rocks it out of the park with sports films and fish competition is technically a sports movie so, then again this film can be considered a sports movie when you think about it. Either way this film is based on a true story and sure there are going to be times when you can't stay true to the source material but you more importantly have to have a star in the film in order for the movie to be released by a major studio, because that's the way it is, but more importantly nobody is going to see this if a brand name is in it and that's mainly as to why Dennis Quaid was cast into the movie. Although granted I would also imagine the Studio's at Netflix went to Quaid and they simply asked "Dennis Quaid, would you like to star in our movie"? and Quaid simply replies "No" and then shuts the door, then they knock the door again and tells him that it's a sports movie and you'll get free booze as well as being a mentor, then Quaid of course says yes at the end of the day, because even Dennis knows that he's great at that. For sure this film is a hundred percent cliche in terms of a family/sports movie, and you'll obviously get a lot of the drama that you'll obviously get those cliche moments of drama as well as comedy and you'll get to know the characters in a cliche fashion, but deep down this film has some, heart at the center and you even get to see D-Day in the movie aka Bruce McGill, for which I wished he drove a motorcycle through all of his films he's in but again can't get what we want, though again this film has some heart where you can relate to these characters from beginning to the end, and let's be frank this film is distributed from Netflix so, what do you expect, and of course in all of Netflix fashion not a whole lot of their movies are great or memorable. By the end of the day this film has some good moments along with a hundred percent heart and that's all what matters in this film. So, if you’re looking for a mildly entertaining, family film with so many family cliche storylines then I would most certainly watch this film on Netflix and only on Netflix. 

      

Movies I haven't Seen in a While: Dredd

          There are times when I just want an entertaining action movie, I am sure I can always find them everywhere in the streaming service, but it depends on something that's good and something quick as well as getting from point A to point B quickly. Now all that un-logistics that don't sound right I found the movie Dredd, anyone remember Dredd? You know the movie that looks a billion times better than Sylvester Stallone's Dredd? Moreover, if it we're me between Karl Urban's Dredd this year’s He-Man, Karl Urban's Dredd would demolish him physically and psychologically.

            Mega City One is a vast, violent metropolis where felons rule the streets. The only law lies with cops called "judges," who act as judge, jury and executioner, and Dredd (Karl Urban) is one of the city's most feared. One day, Dredd is partnered with Cassandra (Olivia Thirlby), a rookie with powerful psychic abilities. A report of a terrible crime sends Dredd and Cassandra to a dangerous area controlled by Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), a drug lord who will stop at nothing to protect her empire. 

             I believe the last time I watched this great movie was when it came out in the theaters prior to the film’s release and I haven't seen it sense and although I wasn't all big on Dredd mainly because it's one of those films that technically reminded me of Batman: Arkham Asylum and for me it was okay at the time mainly because I wasn't all big in the Dredd world, especially watching the Sylvester Stallone Dredd it just was meh. That being said now having watched so many movies especially some B-movie treasures as well as going back and rewatching Karl Urban's Dredd, I slowly realized that this movie is fantastic from beginning to end and Karl Urban is a billion times better than Stallone's Dredd mainly because he's like a futuristic Punisher moreover I realized what was I actually thinking in saying that this movie was okay because if there was any time I get to see Lena Headey finally get what she deserves instead of a mediocre death in Game of Thrones, her getting thrown out the window and falling to her death at like 200th floor window is so, satisfying that again it goes back to all those times when I wanted Cersei finally get a satisfying death but not on the very show that made her a star and a first class b***h, but then at the end of the day you have to have at least the little things that get you satisfied. What also makes this Dredd movie fantastic is that Dredd is a walking killing machine whose the combination of both Batman and Punisher, furthermore is a guy that you don't want to mess with but more importantly you also a partner that basically is basically the human center to Dredd's darkness and that's really what makes these kind of films more interesting because if you just have the darkness then the character can't be relatable or much to rooting for and it's the same with Punisher, Batman as well as Daredevil you have to have that human center or side character that the main character can have conversation with. Granted you can make a ton of theories as to why this film didn't do so well at the theaters, mainly it's because the forced 3D effect became more of a pain to other people’s thorn though let's be honest once Cameron's Avatar came out the whole 3D trend became big to immensely annoying and that trend from the 2010's became the most hard thing to watch until Nolan finally perfected IMAX. Sadly will never have a sequel to Karl Urban's Dredd because we all didn't realize the potential to Urban's greatness as Judge Dredd, but reliving Dredd was pure enjoyment and as of right now I'm planning to find the Blu-Ray copy of Dredd so, I can put it into my Blu-Ray collection, and if you have Prime or YouTube account for free movies with ads then I would highly recommend watching Dredd before the summer fun ends and well everyone is getting excited for Halloween and but you can always ignore those cooperate stores, and just watch an entertaining action movie. 

         

 

Porky's

              Having suffered through A Most Boring Year, I decided to take a back to basic's kind of turn, basically finding a more dumb but harmless type of film. Surprisingly the film Porky's was on YouTube in full movie form, and I don't know where I've heard of the movie maybe an episode of Two and a Half Men. But something kind of drove me into watching it basically because I haven't seen it but was 90 minutes long and so, I thought what the Hell, why not. 

              High school friends Pee Wee (Dan Monahan), Tommy (Wyatt Knight), Billy (Mark Herrier) and Mickey (Roger Wilson) want to lose their virginity. But when they're kicked out of a strip club after the owner, Porky (Chuck Mitchell), takes their money, they plot revenge. While they try to get back at him, they deal with other teen troubles, including Pee Wee worrying about his private parts, as well as their sexually opinionated gym teacher (Kim Cattrall) and spy hole in the girl's locker room.

              I slowly realized while watching the movie was that this was the film that inspired the American Pie genre and in fact Porky's and Bachelor Party, we're the inspirations the making of American Pie. Now I haven't seen much of the first American Pie movie, and I've seen short bits of the sequel mainly the lesbian sequences (where they get caught), sue me I'm a guy. Anyway, getting back on track I'm not at all big on the American Pie films because in all honesty I would rather forget my high school years as would any normal person would for many good reasons my high school memories were boring as f**k. But with this movie I believe there's something about it that just capture's my attention mainly, it's the fact that they set the film in the 50's and I doubt that kids back in the 50's would ever do anything that real life kids would of done in the 50's, and I've talk to my parents and my Mom would say that in her high school memoires they didn't do anything exciting considering they grew up more in the sixties and my Dad, well, he smoked so could of been going through a John Travolta phase. Surprisingly enough writer and director, Bob Clark wrote Porky's based on his high school memories in Florida for which he was raised in, unfortunately none of the studios in Hollywood would even touch the movie and so, Clark decided to shoot the film in Canada for mostly to obtain government tax benefits and it's basically to get sole credit or getting final cut of the film. Although strange thing about this movie and sure there's hicks in Canada hence after watching twelve seasons of Letterkenny, as well as Clark setting the film in 1950's Florida in the Canadian swamps I would assume, and yet Clark couldn't afford a Black actor for the movie and decided to go with a Jewish character? For which sure, if that has to do with budgetary concerns in terms of the movie being green lit either way the Southern Hicks hate anything that's not white so, deep down it doesn't really matter but you could make more racial tension and drama in a sleezy comedy with casting a black actor but I would imagine he didn't have enough money or just couldn't afford it, although I doubt any African American's would even want to set foot in 50's Florida so that would make a lot of sense and Bob Clark probably had only one Jewish student he was friends with maybe and granted I could make a ton of theories but let's be frank Porky's isn't available on any streaming service besides YouTube so, let's just drop that. Though yes, this film is the sleaze of sleazy sex comedies especially when the entire film is shot in Canada and yet very creative to have beaches involved when there's not a whole lot of beaches in Canada though I'm just guessing from the many sands I've seen. That being said this film does have really interesting and a few funny moments especially scenes where I'm not sure if the actors are accidently breaking character or Clark wanted those scenes where the actors are laughing, and the infamous scene where young Kim Cattrall is turned on by the boys locker room, for which that's a girl to meet your parents especially when you boy can't clean their rooms. But Kim Cattrall is screaming loudly that all the gym students and coaches are hearing it and one of the coaches is laughing uncontrollably. And the same scene where a butch female, gym teacher is telling the Principal about a boy's yoo-hoo and I'm not going any further in terms of spoiling the story but through the course of that entire scene the coaches are uncontrollably laughing that by end of it the Principal is laughing too and then Clark is zooming to a frame of a past principal maybe, that has a smile on his face, and yet it's so funny because sure you would even laugh uncontrollably too, and again scenes like those I don't know if they were intentional or not but it just makes the scene even better. Look bottom line if I had to make a choice to re-watch over again, I would defiantly be Porky's just because of its uncontrollable cast laughing and the fact that most of these movies you'd never expect a come togetherness and with this film you do and for me that rare and special all at the same time and I would for certain watch this than make an attempt to watch American Pie. 

           

Movies I haven't seen in a While: A Most Violent Year

 

             Doing one last look at the Blu-Ray collection I intend to send over to Goodwill or any thrift store out there. I want to make sure I was making the right choice or better term to see if this would be used for better purposes was A Most Violent Year. And to be truthfully honest I'm making the right choice in sending this movie to exile where all forgotten movies go, I mean who remembers Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky? Anyone, Anybody? Ah hell, what am I even typing about nobody cares.

             In 1981, New York City faces a dangerous year on record. An ambiguous immigrant fights to protect his growing business and family from the city's rampant and corruption.

             If there was one thing I would say is not right about the movie it would most certainly be the title of the film. For which it should be called A Most Boring Year Not a Most Violent Year, because the entire film was a complete bore fest, I mean sure you got to give it a title not something that people can leave or avoid it but the other factor is that I doubt this film was ever in a movie theater. After watching the movie, I had to admit that I don't know why I bought this movie mainly because of Jessica Chastain, and it came out at a local Hastings Bookstore back then when Hastings Bookstore was still a thing, ugh I miss those days. Through the course of the years, I never really got through the whole movie and just left in on my collection for quite some time until now, and there's a good reason as to why I decided to send this movie to a made-up Ark of the Covenant aka Thrift store. I think one of the many, many things that needs to be included in a crime thriller or gangster movie is a shootout scene or at least two or three actions scenes just to keep the movie up, this movie has the record of more talking and making threats and less shoot outs. And in all honesty you could of set this movie in the 90's New York if your wanting to make a character whose moral code is to be an honest business, but if your setting it in the early 80's New York where the entire city was a s**t hole and cops are corrupt as always you have to at least arm your drivers to defend themselves because their obviously their going to be robbed and Oscar Issacs character is still choosing to not defend his drivers or let them be armed because he's trying to make a clean business but let's be brutally honest here oil tycoons are bad but the LEFTIES ARE THE WORST! Which is how this country was found upon isn't it? It started with businessmen building the future and the failed upwards are the ones that b***h and complain about how the conservative or progressive are destroying the environment. And yet for some reason people say that this is one of the greatest movies that came out of A24 Studios and I find that to be insane because this is the most boring film of all time. Moreover, if this is the greatest movie out of A24 why their many plot holes in this movie from Jessica Chastain’s characters background of are being a daughter of a Mafia Boss but we don't even see him or even see her family. More importantly, who were the people that stole Oscar Issacs oil? I mean, I still don't know who stole his oil other than having to seek help from Google and told me that it was small time crooks not rival gangsters, but the ending didn't make any sense at all, but in all fairness this entire film doesn't make any sense. The movie itself is considered to be a slow burn movie and by definition a slow burn movie is supposed to be more of deep character development and tension or build mystery you know something that would get you focused in the movie, but try telling that to anyone who has ADHD who wants at least some action involved or SOMETHING happening, and A Most Violent Year doesn't have any of that all it has is both Oscar Issacs and Jessica Chastain chewing the scenery and sure, but everyone is still going to be bored watching this until you get to chewing the scenery parts. If you’re a fan of Slow Burners then A Most Violent or Boring Year is the film for you and it's also on HBO Max, but this film is a great example of if you’re going to make a crime drama you have to have at least two or three shootouts involved and tell your protagonist that your living in 80's New York City, the s**tiest city along 80's LA because the Cops and District Attorney are corrupt and will obviously never help you at all. And this movie I must tell everyone to avoid this movie and as of right now is going to be thrown into the ugliest parts of a thrift store.