Recent Viewings, Part 2

[lester1/2jr]

The Presidents Plane is Missing (1973 Made for TV) - Buddy Ebson is scared s**tless and he should be: he's about to the be made POTUS of the US! or he could be. That's because the president's plane is... not here.

The guy from "The Beginning of the End" who attended University of Minnesota is on the case, while nefarious White House advisors work to implement their own seedy agendas in the confusion. All of this amidst tensions with China makes for a sticky situation indeed for our mostly male, mostly 65+ cast. The plot and story are pretty strong for a tv movie, which is probably why it seems to be rather fondly remembered.

The print on youtube is 8 years old and 480p but somehow pretty clear.

4.5 /5

The one or two women don't have much to do. avoiding sub plots and staying on target was probably a good idea.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Used Cars" (1980)
Two feuding brothers (both played by the great Jack Warden) run competing used-car dealerships right across the road from each other. When one of them dies, his employees (led by salesman Kurt Russell) go to absurd lengths to keep the rival brother from taking over "their" business.
This early '80s cable TV staple from director Robert Zemeckis (later of "Back to the Future" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" fame) has aged pretty well, with a lot of raunchy gags and a fair bit of car crashin' mayhem in the final reel. Silly fun.

[Rev. Powell]

THE BEAST (2023): To get a stimulating job in a dystopian future, a woman undergoes a procedure designed to dampen her emotional responses by ridding herself of past-life traumas embedded in her DNA. Not every idea works in this ambitious art-house science fiction offering from Bertrand Bonello (that did not need to be 150 minutes long), but Léa Seydoux does strong work, and there are some powerful images and mysterious resonances in this era-spanning tale. 3.5/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

Technically DP's FOURTH go-round... 

Nobody counts the first one (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Not even Ryan Reynolds. :D

[M.10rda]

Technically DP's FOURTH go-round... 

Nobody counts the first one (X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Not even Ryan Reynolds. :D

It's the worst X-movie of all... but it appears to be sort of canonical. It gets referred to explicitly in DP2 and iirc there's some subtle references to ORIGINS in LOGAN, which ties directly to DPXW.......  I have no idea why filmmakers keep reminding us of ORIGINS but apparently Reynolds isn't stopping them...

[FatFreddysCat]

"A Disturbance in the Force" (2023)
In November 1978, CBS aired The Star Wars Holiday Special, an infamously awful collision between late '70s Star Wars mania and old-fashioned TV variety shows. It was never aired again and George Lucas himself has said that he wishes he could destroy every copy of the show in existence.
Naturally, the Holiday Special's relative obscurity and reputation as one of the worst hours in television history has turned it into a cult item amongst Star Wars fans. This deep dive into the troubled production of the Holiday Special features tons of hilarious clips from it as well as commentary from those involved in its making and some famous nerd culture fans like Kevin Smith, Seth Green, and Patton Oswalt. This documentary is more entertaining and fun than the Special itself!

[indianasmith]

"A Disturbance in the Force" (2023)
In November 1978, CBS aired The Star Wars Holiday Special, an infamously awful collision between late '70s Star Wars mania and old-fashioned TV variety shows. It was never aired again and George Lucas himself has said that he wishes he could destroy every copy of the show in existence.
Naturally, the Holiday Special's relative obscurity and reputation as one of the worst hours in television history has turned it into a cult item amongst Star Wars fans. This deep dive into the troubled production of the Holiday Special features tons of hilarious clips from it as well as commentary from those involved in its making and some famous nerd culture fans like Kevin Smith, Seth Green, and Patton Oswalt. This documentary is more entertaining and fun than the Special itself!

Nearly ANYTHING is more entertaining than the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL - getting a root canal, licking a razor blade, snorting ground glass, listening to a Trump speech. . .

[pacman000]

The cartoon short with Boba Fett was decent tho.

[indianasmith]

DON'T MOVE (2024) - This was an excellent suspense thriller I found on Netflix.
A young woman named Iris, grieving the loss of her little boy who fell to his death in a national park, decides to leap from the same cliff where he died.  A random conversation with a stranger named Richard convinces her to live another day, but when she returns to her car Richard knocks her out with a taser.  Turns out he is a serial killer who kidnaps and murders young women.  She manages to free her hands and wrestles him for control of the car, causing a wreck.   But as she tries to escape, she discovers she has been injected with a paralyzing drug.  Even as she runs, her control over her limbs fades. She falls into a mountain stream and is rescued by a kindly old man, but Richard is not ready to let go of his quarry just yet. . .
This movie was incredibly well done, and kept you on the edge of your seat right to the end.  Highly recommended!
4.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Nightmare City" (aka "City of the Walking Dead," 1980)
An atomic accident turns city dwellers into a savage horde of burn-scarred, blood sucking murderous fiends. A TV news reporter (Hugo Stiglitz) and his wife struggle to escape the city limits before it's completely overrun by the monsters.
This Spanish/Italian Dawn of the Dead knock-off is my favorite trashy Euro-horror flick. The acting is wooden, the "zombie" makeup sucks, and the dialogue is hilariously awkward and stilted. Nothing in this movie makes a lick of sense, but it's so fast-moving and over-the-top violent that you won't even notice.
Nightmare City is terrible, but in an awesome kind of way.

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Concorde Affair" (aka "Concorde Affaire '79" and "S.O.S. Concorde," 1979)
A reporter (James Franciscus) is summoned to Puerto Rico after the crash of a supersonic Concorde jet liner. He soon learns that the crash was not accidental, and that the heads of a rival aircraft manufacturer are planning to sabotage a second Concorde flight unless he can stop it in time.
A surprisingly competent Italian mash up of the action thriller and air-disaster genres, clearly made to piggy back on the then-current fourth film in the "Airport" series ("The Concorde: Airport '79"), directed by Ruggero Deodato of "Cannibal Holocaust" infamy. Cheesy fun.

"Piranha II: The Spawning" (aka "Piranha II: Flying Killers," 1981)
A bloodthirsty school of flying piranhas -- the result of a failed U.S. Army gene splicing experiment -- are on the loose and munching on the guests at a luxury Caribbean resort. Hilarity ensues.
James "Titanic"/"Avatar" Cameron's directorial debut is living proof that everybody's gotta start someplace. How much of the film is actually Cameron's work, however, is up for debate, because James claims that he was fired during principal photography and the finished film was edited together by the producers.
Whether or not J.C. wants to claim responsibility for it, "Piranha II" makes the most of its absurd premise with plenty of gratuitous boobs, splashy gore, and surprisingly decent creature FX. It's dumb as hell but it's also lots of fun!

[Rev. Powell]

ARMAND (2024): 6-year old Armand has been accused of sexually assaulting another student, but there's no evidence beyond hearsay. Begins as "We Need to Have Multiple Student-Parent Conferences About Armand," but it gets better as the parent's individual skeletons come to light. Renate Reinsve is fantastic as Armand's occasionally hysterical mom, but plenty of audience members found the story confusing and inconclusive. Directed by Ingmar Bergman's grandson in his feature debut. I fell asleep during my first watch, though it's not entirely the movie's fault---I was exhausted. 3.5/5.

NUDE TUESDAY (2022): A middle-aged European couple goes to a New Age sex resort in an attempt to rekindle their passion; the gimmick is all dialogue was spoken in gibberish, and subtitled by the writer later. The gimmick is just a writing exercise that doesn't pay off for the viewer, resulting in a romantic comedy that's surprisingly conventional given its experimental origins. 2/5.

[Trevor]

"Nightmare City" (aka "City of the Walking Dead," 1980)
An atomic accident turns city dwellers into a savage horde of burn-scarred, blood sucking murderous fiends. A TV news reporter (Hugo Stiglitz) and his wife struggle to escape the city limits before it's completely overrun by the monsters.
This Spanish/Italian Dawn of the Dead knock-off is my favorite trashy Euro-horror flick. The acting is wooden, the "zombie" makeup sucks, and the dialogue is hilariously awkward and stilted. Nothing in this movie makes a lick of sense, but it's so fast-moving and over-the-top violent that you won't even notice.
Nightmare City is terrible, but in an awesome kind of way.

Someone here told me years back that NIGHTMARE CITY is a movie where the zombies look as though they've done a face plant into a pile of 💩😳😳😀

[Jim H]

I just watched Crime Zone.  David Carradine has a smallish role in this, as does Sherilyn Fenn.  It's a Corman post apocalyptic, crime drama noirish film?  I dunno.  It's going for a lot.  It doesn't really hit, but some of the visuals are pretty cool and one or two action sequences aren't bad.  Some good photography.  It kind of falls apart, the lead guy sucks, the ending is bad, and it gets boring though.  So, a mixed bag.  The director of this went on to do Anaconda and Sniper, it doesn't surprise me he had some decent stuff in him as the faults in this movie come down more to writing than directing.

Someone here told me years back that NIGHTMARE CITY is a movie where the zombies look as though they've done a face plant into a pile of 💩😳😳😀

They are correct.

[Trevor]

I just watched Crime Zone.  David Carradine has a smallish role in this, as does Sherilyn Fenn.  It's a Corman post apocalyptic, crime drama noirish film?  I dunno.  It's going for a lot.  It doesn't really hit, but some of the visuals are pretty cool and one or two action sequences aren't bad.  Some good photography.  It kind of falls apart, the lead guy sucks, the ending is bad, and it gets boring though.  So, a mixed bag.  The director of this went on to do Anaconda and Sniper, it doesn't surprise me he had some decent stuff in him as the faults in this movie come down more to writing than directing.

Someone here told me years back that NIGHTMARE CITY is a movie where the zombies look as though they've done a face plant into a pile of 💩😳😳😀

They are correct.

😳😳😅😂🤣😀😆😆😄😃😀🧟