Recent Viewings, Part 2

[M.10rda]

FFC directed THE CONVERSATION. Tony Scott directed ENEMY OF THE STATE starring Hackman and Will Smith. That's an almost great movie - its similarities to THE CONVERSATION made me want to like it more than I ultimately did (it is just a Tony Scott popcorn thriller, really). But Hackman delivers the goods again!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Transylvania Twist" (1990)
An occult expert sends his dorky nephew to Transylvania to recover an ancient book that has the power to "open the door to the other side." Wacky hi-jinks and lots of corny jokes ensue.
Roger Corman produced this cheap "Airplane!" style parody of horror movies, with lots of rapid fire gags, some hot girls, and even a cameo (via stock footage) by Boris Karloff!  Not all of the jokes land, but there are a few good laughs and leading lady Teri Copley (of TV's "We Got it Made") is pure eye candy. Goofy fun.

[Rev. Powell]

ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED (2022): Gallery photographer Nan Golden wages a protest campaign to get the names of the Sackler family (owners of Purdue Pharmaceuticals, developers of Oxycontin) removed from art galleries. There are really two documentaries here that work against each other, as flashbacks to Golden's biography (which might have made an interesting enough doc on its own) impede the development of the more dramatic story of the Sackler's culpability in the opioid crisis. 2.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Bigfoot" (2012)
A South Dakota radio DJ (Danny "Partridge Family" Bonaduce) and an environmentalist (Barry "Brady Bunch" Williams) must figure out how to stop a rampage by the legendary forest monster. As you may have guessed from the brilliant stunt casting, this is an Asylum/SyFy co-production. Other familiar faces in the cast include Sherilyn "Twin Peaks" Fenn and Howard "WKRP" Hesseman, and there's even a brief cameo by Alice frickin' Cooper!  Naturally, since it's an Asylum movie,  it's got a ludicrous story, shoddy creature design and CGI, and plot holes galore (why is Bigfoot King Kong sized, and how does something that big keep sneaking up on the puny humans?). Sometimes I miss the days when SyFy premiered a new creature feature like this  every Saturday night. Make no mistake, "Bigfoot" was terrible, but I enjoyed it anyway.