Recent Viewings, Part 2

[FatFreddysCat]

Wow! Surprised at the negative reactions to Caddyshack.
Well, let's just say it looks like the Royal Shakespeare Company compared to....

"Caddyshack II" (1988)
More hijinks on the links, as a loud mouthed real estate magnate (Jackie Mason) tries to fit in with Robert Stack and the rest of the blue bloods at Bushwood Country Club for the sake of his social-climbing daughter. When that doesn't work, he buys the club outright and turns it into a trashy mini-golf course, leading to another slobs-versus-snobs, winner-takes-all golf tournament.
...this years-too-late, who-asked-for-it sequel is kinda like the generic store brand version of Caddyshack. The only cast member who returns from the original is Chevy Chase, making little more than a glorified cameo - the rest of the characters are replaced by cheaper equivalents (Mason for Rodney, Stack for Ted Knight, Dan Aykroyd for Bill Murray). Even the gopher puppet seems to be going through the motions!
"Caddyshack II" is considered to be one of the worst sequels ever made -- Jackie Mason has famously said that he wishes he could buy up every copy in existence so he could burn them. Ouch!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Ape vs. Monster" (2021)
When an experimental space capsule crash lands back on earth, scientists discover that the chimpanzee "pilot" has begun growing to immense size due to exposure to an alien goop. The same stuff has a similar effect on a gila monster near the crash site, which eventually leads to a clash between the two overgrown critters, with a bunch of puny humans caught in the middle.
Obviously this is The Asylum's knock-off of "Godzilla vs. Kong," and it features all of their usual trademarks -- cheap sets, awkward dialogue, terrible acting, crappy CGI, and an appearance by a slumming, D-list star (Eric "Julia's Brother" Roberts). It spends way too much time on talky, scientific mumbo-jumbo dialogue between the human characters and not enough on the creatures, so those expecting serious monster mayhem will be disappointed.
It's not the worst Asylum movie I've ever seen, but it isn't really worth your time, either.

[Dr. Whom]

Over the Moon (2020)

An American-Chinese hybrid trying very hard to be Disney. It is not a bad movie as such, just very predictable. The team was clearly working from a checklist of items that had been successful in previous Disney movies. That being said, it does have its moments and it has the cutest fluffy bunny in the history of animation.

I found it too much by the numbers to appeal to me, but then I also gave up on Frozen after half an hour. However the basic story of loss and family is solid, so it is a question of the glass being half full or half empty.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Wicker Man" (2006)
A police officer (Nicolas Cage) is summoned to an isolated island village to help search for a missing girl, but as he digs into the mystery he discovers that the seemingly tranquil community has a long history of Pagan sacrifice and murder.
This remake of a '70s British horror flick (which I've never seen) was a pretty notorious box office bomb, but it's turned into a minor cult item since then thanks to Cage's performance, which becomes increasingly manic (and therefore unintentionally funny) as the film goes on. When his character first arrives on the island he's all business, proper and polite, but by the three quarter mark he's wearing a bear suit, yelling at everyone at the top of his lungs, and punching women in the face.
I actually enjoyed this, but your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for Cage's overacting.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Star Wars" (1977)
Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi save the princess from Darth Vader and destroy the dreaded Death Star in George Lucas' classic space epic that needs no further explanation, cuz we've all seen it  a million times. I will never, ever, ever get tired of this movie.
As an added bonus, my 13 year old son watched it with me tonight for the first time ever, and he loved it - he sez he wants to see the rest of 'em now. I'm so proud. :D

[indianasmith]

ZOMBIE FIGHT CLUB (2017) - After a zombie apocalypse destroys Taiwan, a former schoolteacher becomes a post-holocaust victim and forces other survivors to fight the zombie horde, and each other, for food and favors.  Sleazy, cheap, tacky, brimming with cheesy dialogue, fake blood and real nudity, this is a bad movie for bad movie lovers!
4.5/5

[pennywise37]

i don't think i've ever met anyone who hated Caddyshack (1980) before the Porky's not Porky lol (1981-1985) are great films and Howard Stern was going to remake it i dunno maybe 10 years ago or more? i think it was shot but than it was Cancelled by the studio i forget who made it and i do not remember who even was in it but it must have been pretty bad for it to get cancelled and than never released at all

[Rev. Powell]

AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS (2018): On Christmas Day, a family finds themselves locked into the homes by an outside force, with instructions beamed in to them through the TV. Nifty little genre parable about conformity that starts out like a Milgram experiment and develops a Cronenbergian dimension. On Netflix only. 3.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The People vs. George Lucas"(2010)
This documentary examines the often complicated relationship between "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and his fans, who are very vocal with their displeasure about how their beloved saga has been handled over the years. Interviews with bloggers, film critics, and nerds of all stripes mix with vintage "Star Wars" related film clips and excerpts from various fan films, some of which are quite elaborate (and often hilarious).
This movie was made prior to Lucas selling out to Disney and the arrival of the most recent wave of "Star Wars" films; it would be interesting to find out what some of this doc's participants think of them.

[Rev. Powell]

JUMBO (2020): A disturbed young woman falls in love with an amusement park ride. There's really not a lot the film can do with it's odd premise, but the highlight has to be the (sorta psychedelic) sex scenes: what man can compete with Jumbo's stamina? 3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"I'm Too Old For This Sh*t: A Heavy Metal Fairy Tale" (2021)
A documentary about the reunion of the long-forgotten Florida metal band SIREN, who broke up in 1986. The guys haven't played together or even spoken to each other since then, but they pick up right where they left off when they suddenly get an offer to gig at Germany's famed Keep It True old-school metal festival.
Unlike a lot of music docs, there's not much in the way of behind-the-scenes drama, arguing, drugs/alcohol or other "issues" for the Siren guys to overcome -- they're just a bunch of regular joes, and we just get to ride along with them as they finally get to live their dream of playing for their loyal European fans. A fun dreams-come-true story.

[zelmo73]

"The Wicker Man" (2006)

I actually enjoyed this, but your mileage may vary depending on your tolerance for Cage's overacting.

I'm in the early beginnings of a re-evaluation of Nicolas Cage's work. After watching him in the surprisingly well done Color Out Of Space (2019), I'm starting to realize that the weirder the movie, the better that Nicolas Cage appears to act in it.

[Alex]

Wrong Turn. 2021

I found it hard to consider this one a remake, it is more of its own thing and for me had more in common with say Southern Comfort or Deliverance than The Hills Have Eyes or the original Wrong Turn movies. I found it entertaining enough. There isn't anything that's going to set the world on fire or overly original in it, although many of the potential hooks for a follow up were shut down (doesn't mean you couldn't make a sequel, just the most obvious routes wouldn't work). I personally thought there was enough gore to appeal to fans of the original series, but that it was enough of its own thing that it should have been released under a different name.

[Rev. Powell]

DEMON SLAYER: MUGEN TRAIN (2020): A group of young demon slayers apprentice to a master and fights a dream-bringing demon on a train. The spectacular art, memorable character design, and zippy operatic duels mean you don't need a good grip on the series' mythology to enjoy this tale of nobility, bravery and sacrifice. Very nice to see on a big screen. You can catch the one-season series on Hulu or Netflix; I didn't have any problem following the story, but other reviewers have warned it's confusing for non-fans. 3.5/5.

[Alex]

Grizzly II: Revenge.

I think I posted a while back that this lost movie had been uncovered and finished, although maybe someone else posted it and I am getting mixed up. Anyway, this seems to be an unusually cheaply made 80s movie. I would hazard a guess that most of the footage of the bear is stock footage, and that at the end of the movie you have a stuffed bear standing in the same position. It has a slightly short running time (around 74 minutes) and a lot of padding to get there. It does feature George Clooney, Laura Dern, Charlie Sheen and John Rhys-Davis. There was someone else in it who would go on to find fame, but I've forgotten who it was already. Other than the scene with its future big-name stars I can't think of many reasons to recommend this, and even then it would only be if you are into "before they were famous", or an 80's horror completionist. The print did seem fairly clean which I wasn't expecting.