Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

Lester, definitely avoid the more recent STRANGERS: CHAPTER ONE, among the worst new movies I've seen the past couple years. Like the STRANGERS you reviewed, it criminally misuses a nice redhead (Madeline Petsch). 90 minutes of nothing-sandwich, then it ends on a "Cont'd" title, and indeed CHAPTER TWO came out last year and CHAPTER THREE is coming in 2026. Naturally I skipped #2 and the Letterboxd reviews acquit me. If you thought the one you just watched was a drag, imagine that story stretched to 3x's the length!

[Dr. Whom]

Ghostbusters (1984)

Way back, when it came out I somehow decided that this wasn't a movie for me so I never saw it. Perhaps the ubiquitous theme song put me off. In the meantime it has become so much a part of pop culture that you're familiar with its main scenes whether you want to or not. So, although it now holds few surprises, it is entertaining.

When did we stop thinking that car crashes were funny and ought to be included in any chaotic scene?

[M.10rda]

Car crashes went over big for Dan Ackroyd in THE BLUES BROTHERS. GHOSTBUSTERS was originally supposed to be a follow-up w/ Belushi in Bill Murray's role. That's possible to imagine but also what is GHOSTBUSTERS w/o Murray???

[lester1/2jr]

I thought that said "car washes". Yeah, what happened to car washes in movies!

[chainsaw midget]

As the silent Movie Metropolis is public domain and anybody can do whatever they want with it, I found a youtube link that scored the entire movie with various videogame sound tracks.  There was a time or two when it was distracting, but for the most part I enjoyed it. 

I'd never actually watched the entire movie before. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kRkk9ImSFg&t=4735s

[FatFreddysCat]

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" (2018)
Alden Ehrenreich tries to fill some very big shoes as the young Han Solo in this prequel set ten years prior to the original "Star Wars." It's basically an "origin story" showing Han as a youthful thief and wanna-be smuggler, joining up with a criminal crew for his first big score, meeting Chewbacca and Lando for the first time, and taking possession of the famed Millennium Falcon.
I thought this movie was great fun but it wasn't well received at the time. A troubled production and backlash from fan boys made it the least successful of the new "Star Wars" flicks. That's a shame because I would've liked to see more of these stand-alone tales.

[indianasmith]

My weekend double feature:

HERETIC (2024) - This is a great suspense flick.  Two young, female Mormon missionaries are taken captive by the sinister Mr. Reed (played with villainous perfection by Hugh Grant), who proceeds to ensnare them in a deadly game of cat and mouse in order to show them the uselessness of all religion.  Will they be able to turn the tables on him?  This movie keeps you guessing till the last minute - and beyond!  4.5/5

VICIOUS (2025) Dakota Fanning stars as Polly, a troubled young woman trying to pull her life together after the loss of her Dad.   Late one night, a creepy old lady rings her doorbell, says some crazy and ominous things, and leaves her with a wooden box and an hourglass.  If Polly is to survive the night, the box must be fed with something she hates, something she needs, and something she loves. But what is real and what is imagined in the long, nightmarish ordeal that follows?  I must say I enjoyed the heck out of this one.  Great concept, great acting, and lots of twists and turns along the way.  GREAT movie!  5/5

[chainsaw midget]

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" (2018)
Alden Ehrenreich tries to fill some very big shoes as the young Han Solo in this prequel set ten years prior to the original "Star Wars." It's basically an "origin story" showing Han as a youthful thief and wanna-be smuggler, joining up with a criminal crew for his first big score, meeting Chewbacca and Lando for the first time, and taking possession of the famed Millennium Falcon.
I thought this movie was great fun but it wasn't well received at the time. A troubled production and backlash from fan boys made it the least successful of the new "Star Wars" flicks. That's a shame because I would've liked to see more of these stand-alone tales.

I thought Solo was better than most of the new Star Wars movies.  Certainly better than Rogue One, which seemed to be the one that gets all the praise.

[M.10rda]

I think I can vouch for ROGUE ONE being the STAR WARS movie for people who no longer like or care about STAR WARS movies. 

[M.10rda]

THE ELECTRIC HOUSE (1922):
At 23 minutes, this is probably the funniest Buster Keaton solo film I've seen. Like a lot of gag-driven comedy, perhaps Keaton movies just work more affably in short form rather than feature length. It's inescapably founded upon a classic idiot plot, where all action proceeds from a simple yet implausible misunderstanding that would have been avoided had one character invested even the most rudimentary care and attention to their affairs and a second character (Keaton) had bothered for a moment to point out that an obvious mistake had been made. But that's wacky farce for ya', I guess!

Once the action is underway, I laughed out loud twice and chuckled a handful of other times. Most of those resulted from an ongoing bit involving an escalator and a window that is LOL-worthy the first time, LOL-worthy the second time, and still amusing on several more iterations. Although the lightly sci-fi premise is supposed to be somewhat grounded in uhhh "science", none of the engineering science makes any sense, which gives THE ELECTRIC HOUSE an understated quality of surrealism. At one point Keaton falls prey to some automatic doors and there's simply no way he wouldn't be decapitated or at least have his neck broken - but he persists!

I bet David Lynch (now gone from our Earth some 54 weeks or so, incredibly) enjoyed THE ELECTRIC HOUSE or would've enjoyed it if he'd seen it. The pilot episode of ON THE AIR could've been influenced by this one.

3.5/5

Also, this is the second Keaton film I've seen that ends with him attempting suicide, which is such an odd/atonal choice amongst the surrounding frivolity.

[FatFreddysCat]

"PCU" (1994)
Tom, a nerdy high school senior, schedules an overnight campus visit to Port Chester University. His host is "Droz" (Jeremy Piven), who leads the group of misfits who live in "The Pit," the dingiest, loudest house on campus. During his visit, Tom manages to tick off virtually every special interest group on campus (feminists, gays, vegans, hippies, etc.) and the only way to restore harmony is to bring all the factions together for an epic house party!
This silly campus comedy clearly wants to be "Animal House" for the grunge rock era, and it gleefully pokes fun at the "Politically Correct" craze that was prevalent at the time. "PCU" is a fun 90s time capsule and has become a minor cult classic.

[lester1/2jr]

I liked his speech at the end of PCU "we used to fight the man, now we fight each other".

[M.10rda]

SHIP OF MONSTERS (1960):
Mars may need women but Venus needs men in this wacky Mexican sci-fi/horror! And instead of just arranging a diplomatic trade, Venus sends two distaff astronauts in a rocket ship around the solar system, where they abduct a big-headed/bug-eyed Martian, a giant cyclops, a mangy spider thing, a talking skeleton, and (naturally) a helpful robot, none of whom are happy to learn that they will return to Venus for a forced insemination program of its many surviving inhabitants! (...Except the robot, who can't help w/ procreation but seems fine helping them navigate the galaxy.) So at least this 65-year old film is self-aware of its problematic relationship to consent!

The plot picks up when the Venusian vessel lands on Earth and immediately hones in on a ne'er-do-well singing cowboy, who is perfectly willing to to fly away w/ the two space-ladies. One of the ladies is a bland, well-behaved 50s housewife type and the other looks and acts like an eeeeeeeevil Scarlet Johansson (which I guess says something about Mexican men's mid-20th century mother/whore complex). Evil ScarJo checks out Earth and decides it would be a good place to conquer! And even though the Ship of Monsters (tm) find her physically repulsive  she's simply so eeeeeeeevil that they all fall in love w/ her and decide to abet her plans. 

SHIP OF MONSTERS is quite a good time and is another old-timey low-budget flick that seems like it would be ripe for riffing, yet I don't think any of the MSR3K acts ever did it. One reason might be that (to my knowledge) it was never dubbed (I watched it w/ subs). The other reason, though, is that it might be too good for the Riff-folks. It often looks cheap like lots of 50s/60s American genre flicks, and it's full of Bad Movie tropes - an obnoxious hero, pointless musical numbers, a cute child sidekick, and ludicrous SFX. However SHIP OF MONSTERS somehow turns all of those vices into virtues: the hero is quite self-consciously obnoxious (ala a Bruce Campbell type), the kid sidekick can barely stomach the hero's antics, the songs comment on the hero's ridiculous attitudes, etc.

And the monsters!!! They're clearly handmade from used junk laying around the Mexican movie studio... yet they're handmade from used junk with love. They look hilarious and yet a little scary and gross too and I never got sick of looking at them or hearing their over-the-top voices. I couldn't make better (funny, absurd) space monsters from random junk and I bet most of you couldn't either. And if you're gonna' make a movie titled SHIP OF MONSTERS....... well, mission accomplished, Mexico!

3.5/5