Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

I watched a bunch of Crimson Ghost serials.



There are some decent, if a little overcranked, stunts and sinister vibes. It is, of course, also the logo for The Misfits, a somewhat venerated American rock n roll combo unit. If you can hang with Fu Manchu and stuff like that, check it out. (basically RC and no one else)

[Dr. Whom]

Back to the Future (1985)

Hadn't seen this since it came out and I was surprised how much I still remembered. It still is an object lesson in setup and payoff, and the main cast is giving a brilliant performance. However, I didn't enjoy it as much because I already knew most of the jokes, and for me they didn't work the second time round. That is just me, of course.
To think that Lea Thompson went from Michael J Fox to Howard T Duck.

[M.10rda]

She married a guy named Howard! He's the same joker who somehow screwed up the endings to PRETTY IN PINK and SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL in diametrically opposite ways. Lea Thompson has some questionable judgment! 

She appeared in the recent-ish DINNER IN AMERICA, still playing a "MILF" 35 years after BTTF.

[Rev. Powell]

RIFFTRAX: HAND-CRAFTED ARTISANAL SHORTS: 10 shorts, over 100 minutes, so a good value. Most are aimed at kids and look like their from the late 60s and 70s, with one b&w number from the 50s. This collection was released on DVD back in the early days of Rifftrax, when they were near their peak (they've declined lately), and I always think they do a good job on shorts. Laughed out loud several times, more than most of their feature work. Includes the infamous (?) short about grass, which asks the intriguing question, "is corn grass?", then never answers it (spoiler: corn is grass). 3.5/5.

[M.10rda]

Includes the infamous (?) short about grass, which asks the intriguing question, "is corn grass?", then never answers it (spoiler: corn is grass). 3.5/5.

Don't tell my students about this one or I'll catch them in the privy smoking corn.

[indianasmith]

THEY WILL KILL YOU (2026) - Saw this one in the theater tonight with my daughter.  A well done dark comedy with lots of gore and some fun twists along the way, slightly reminiscent of READY OR NOT but not a copycat. A young woman, Asia, recently released from prison, tries to track down her younger sister whom she'd abandoned. The sister, Maria, was last reported working at a super-private, ritzy hotel called the Virgil, so  Asia gets a job there - only to find the hotel's exclusive guests are a bunch of immortal, unkillable, devil-worshiping cannibals.  Mayhem ensues.  Deserves an Oscar nod for "Best use of a severed pig head!"  4.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow" (1993)
A teen-aged Angelina Jolie made her film debut in this direct-to-video, mostly-unrelated sequel to the Jean-Claude Van Damme surprise hit. (The only connection is a few brief, random shots of JCVD's character shown on video screens.) She plays a human-like android built by an unscrupulous corporation, who expect her to self-destruct at a meeting with the competition. When she learns the truth about her mission, she goes rogue and runs off with her handler/love interest (Elias Koteas, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"). A variety of bad guys (incl. the always welcome Billy Drago, creepy as usual) pursue the pair across post-apocalypse L.A. as they try to reach the "free zone."
This cheapie sci-fi action flick is way better than it has any right to be. Angelina's action-heroine chops are already in place, and the the sets are pretty effective in a "dollar store Blade Runner" kind of way.
A 3rd movie was released in '95 with a different girl playing Jolie's role, but it was god-awful and can safely be ignored.

[Rev. Powell]

ROBOTRIX (1991): A female detective's mind is transferred into a cyborg body so she can hunt down the evil cyborg that killed her. This sexy ROBOCOP ripoff is silly and earnest, and delivers the nudity and robot kung fu that exploitation fans demand. Fun but forgettable. 3/5. This is as close to nude as Amy Yip gets---a bit of side boob---but the rest of the cast (even the male lead) goes full-frontal. That completes the "Supernatural Shockers" box set!

[Alex]

Anaconda.

We thought that Jack Black and Paul Rudd were playing themselves in this one, a la My Name Is Bruce or the Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, but it turned out not to be. Very few comedies make me laugh out loud, tending to just vaguely amuse me instead and this certainly wasn't any different. I did enjoy it, but I am very glad that we bought a DVD copy of it for £10 rather than renting it on Amazon for twice that.

Pretty sure it would have been a much better movie if they had just played themselves though.