Recent Viewings, Part 2

[indianasmith]

HALLOWEEN AT AUNT ETHEL'S (2020)  I had actually seen this one before, but it's a classic, cheesy, suspend-all-disbelief-and-roll-with-it bad movie.
Aunt Ethel is a nasty old lady who kills kids on Halloween and bakes them into Halloween candy (apparently her "pickled chocolates" are loved by all).  Why the police have never come after her is explained by "well, she burns the bones and eats the flesh so no body, no evidence."  So three brave teens decide to take Aunt Ethel down once and for all, all while making out and getting nekkid periodically. The finale is . . . well, probably the only original thing in the movie.   In the words of Instagram: "I didn't say this movie was good, I said I liked it!"

[lester1/2jr]

Summer School aka Mag Wheels (1977) - This isn't the Mark Harmon one. If you liked "The Van" (1977) I would definitely recommend this. I sort of liked "The Van" for it's authentic, slice of life portrayal of more innocent days gone by and yadda yadda, but it was more of a time capsule than a movie. This one is written and directed by Bethel Buckalew, who directed Sassy Sue and other Something Weird delights. It's more hard drive-in than grindhouse, though.

The "hot new girl in town" immediately p**ses off the lead cool guy's girlfriend and basically starts World War 3 in this ridiculous California beach town. It's a lot of pranks, rivalries, and guy- girl drama occasionally broken up by kids hooking up and smoking pot together. I liked the footage of the skate park and also the gang of lesbians who show up and save the main girl all the time. "Aww man, they're lezzies".

It was seemingly designed to be the opener on a summer drive-in bill and it succeeds at that. As an actual movie, it's a bit of a chore to get through. They are in the titular school for about one minute at the very end.

I'll go 3.75 /5

As a background movie, it would be higher.

[indianasmith]

My Saturday double feature, courtesy of Tubi TV:

THE BUNNY MAN (2021) - A guy in a giant white costume kills a bunch of people as a desperate sheriff tries to stop the slaughter.  UGH!  This movie was so poorly lit I couldn't see what was happening half the time, there was ne explanation or backstory about the killer and his motives, and I kept going to sleep.  Dull, poorly written drivel.  1.5/5

BIKINI SHARK (2025) - Pure B movie gold!  Truman Sullivan, a clothing designer who turns out expensive women's swimsuits, cuts corners and weaves toxic fibers into the fabric, which cause painful rashes on the victims and also draws massive sharks that can swim on dry land to come after anyone wearing them.  So Truman goes insane and begins sacrificing women to the sharks, believing that he is saving the rest of humanity from becoming shark bait.  Which makes sense to him, because he's addicted to sniffing the toxins from the swimsuits.  While it lacks nudity or explicit gore, this film makes up for it with some of the most painfully awful dialogue in history, like this gem:
"You need to stop sniffing those bikinis, Truman!"
"The bikinis are TRUTH, mother!"
Awful beyond words, so bad that it exhibits a kind of dreadful grandeur.  And sharks.   4/5

[indianasmith]

IRON LUNG (2025) Watched this last night with my daughter on YT. She loved it; I thought it was incredibly slow-paced and boring.  LSS version: In some distant future all the stars and planets have vanished in a bizarre event called the Slow Rapture. Humanity survives on a handful of space stations; there are still moons drifting around out there with no planets to orbit.  One of these moons is covered with an ocean of blood - and scientists think it holds a clue to the cause of the Slow Rapture.  So a convict is sent in a submarine with an X-Ray camera to record what lies at the bottom of the blood sea.  If you think none of that makes lick of sense, I totally agree!  A few cool visuals cannot make up for the boring awfulness of this film.  2/5

[Rev. Powell]

^Agreed on Iron Lung.

STRANGE JOURNEY: THE STORY OF ROCKY HORROR (2025): This RHPS documentary includes interviews with all the main surviving cast and just about anyone associated with the picture. Divided roughly into thirds covering the genesis and original stage show, the movie production, and the film's afterlife as a cult phenomenon, it's pretty much the definitive celebration of this strange cultural phenomenon. 3/5.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Titan A.E." (2000)
Fifteen years after the destruction of Earth by an alien race, a young man embarks on a mission to find a lost mega-spaceship that could be humanity's last hope for survival.
Don "Secret of NIMH" Bluth directed this ambitious animated sci-fi/action flick which sports an impressive voice cast including Matt Damon and Drew Barrymore, and absolutely gorgeous animation that combines old school hand-drawn art with CGI. Unfortunately "Titan A.E." tanked at the box office, which is a shame because this is some quality stuff. It's worth re-discovery.

[Rev. Powell]

THE NAPA BOYS: The Napa Boys and a slew of friends and hangers-on assemble for one last wine country adventure in this fourth installment of a franchise whose first three movies were never made. An arch, smug anti-comedy that is clever (in its dumbness) rather than funny; still, despite parodying standard Hollywood and indie movie beats, it remains totally unpredictable. The original complete title was NAPA BOYS PRESENTS: THE NAPA BOYS 4: THE SOMMELIER'S AMULET. 3/5.

[M.10rda]

THE NAPA BOYS: The Napa Boys and a slew of friends and hangers-on assemble for one last wine country adventure in this fourth installment of a franchise whose first three movies were never made.

Now THAT is what I call "high concept"! 

[lester1/2jr]

The Conversation (1974) - I saw this 30 years ago in a pretty nondescript film class I took in college. I kind of wish I hadn't because the movie I remembered wasn't exactly what it actually was, if that makes any sense. Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, and Shirley from Laverne and Shirley of all people are the stars in what is sort of a very late film noir meets an early conspiracy movie.

Hackman is an expert phone tapper/ eavesdropper who struggles with the good vs evil aspect of his work. He's proud of his technical abilities, but unscrupulous people can hire him to achieve nefarious ends. The other spy type people he associates with are sleazy and have no integrity, which clearly makes him uncomfortable. He's also paranoid, to ridiculous extent, about his own privacy.

Of course, that obsessive paranoia is part of what makes him so great at what he does. It all gets put to the test when he's tasked with recording the titular conversation, the opaqueness of which bugs him (no pun intended) to no end.

5/5

I'd like to see it again sometime, just to clarify some things. it looks and feels a bit like "Coma" ( ie depressing 70's hues) but is a little more cerebral.


(edit: You could see it as an indictment of capitalism...until you consider that socialist countries spied like crazy on their populations for nefarious ends, too. )

[M.10rda]

MILE END KICKS (2025):
Somehow this is the second film from director Chandler Lavack (I think) I've watched in about a month - the first being the distaff Adam Sandler flick ROOMMATES - both of which were picks by Madame. This indie/hipster romcom has possibly more shortcomings even than ROOMMATES - tons of holes in what feels like a first draft, characters who behave inexplicably and seemingly out of (their vaguely defined) "character", an odd ignorance about the specifics of oral herpes (which are a major plot point)... and the protagonist is young female indie/hipster music critic whose tastes and knowledge about music make it appear rather implausible that she'd even have her job in the first place.

But I digress! The film is ultimately sweet and has its heart in the right place, and a big part of that is the casting of Barbie Ferreira, who I think resembles America Ferrera but is unrelated. Like America, Barbie is a, shall we say, non-traditional female lead, which goes a long way (for me) in this kind of film. Her character has a lot of insecurities, but those insecurities never translate into any dialogue (from Ferreira or any of the other characters) about her (lovely!) plus-sized body. So that's pretty damn cool.

3/5    Also, unlike many other romcoms, it actually put us in an amorous mood!

[FatFreddysCat]

"Sample This" (2013)
Gene Simmons of KISS narrates this documentary about the minor hit "Apache" by the obscure "Incredible Bongo Band," a 1972 studio creation that became one of the most sampled records in early hip-hop. A cool musical history lesson.