Greetings All - My second year doing this, might make it a regular thing, these are the seven films I was exposed to this year that I liked a lot and recommend. w/trailers, rating and where to stream.
THE FANATIC (2019) - Ok, so it's a like it or lump it...and I happen to like it. Sure, it's not Civil Action but Travolta gives an earnest and I think even at points, admirable, performance as the seriously autistic "Moose" who is obsessed with an actor named Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa.) Fred Durst's third go behind the camera in my opinion deserves more than it got. 3.0 stars/5 Tubi, Roku, Pluto, Plex
NIGHT OF THE RUNNING MAN (1995) - 1995 was a great year for movies, B-flicks included. In master Mark L Lester's world, I place this mob-type thriller second behind Class Of '84. Andrew McCarthy stars as a Las Vegas cabbie who foolishly decides to keep a suitcase full of the mob's money. The chase is on. Like Class Of '84, this one runs on a fuel of action and creative kills. 2.75 stars/2.75 Tubi, Freevee.
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL (2023) - Nicolas Cage has been on one hell of a role the last decade or so. At his insane best, he plays a mysterious passenger who hijacks an expectant father at gunpoint. As the journey moves along, things are not as they seem. A great psychological cat-n-mouse, Cage is phenomenal, the nighttime photography in Las Vegas exquisite. Overlooked, for sure. 3.0 stars/5 VOD
7500 (2020) - The incredible and versatile Joseph Godron-Levitt as a co-pilot whose cockpit is taken over by terrorists. He forced to call in a 7500, the standard code for a hijacking. Another cat-n-mouse one here, not a bad entry to the airline disaster genre, at all. 2.75 stars/5
AUNTIE LEE'S MEAT PIES (1992) - Great one to throw on late at night. Karen Black, still looking fine for her age then plays a sort of madam with three gorgeous nieces that go out and lure men back to Auntie's house. Then, they're baked into the pies, ya dig? Love the originality of this one, also harkens back to Ted V Mikel's The Corpse Grinders 2.75 stars/2.75 Tubi, Plex
AFTERMATH (2017) - Who says Arnold Schwarzenegger can't act? Boy, my appreciation for the man went way up after watching this. He plays a grieving father after his child is killed in a plane crash. Oh, and he's hellbent on getting revenge on the air traffic controller who caused it. Brilliant performance, Arnie. 3.5 stars/5 Tubi, Roku, Freevee
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDYS (2023) - Gotta plug this one again. It's good fortune that I knew nothing about the video game prior to watching this. Although I feel it could use a trimming, especially the last half hour, Five Nights At Freddy's is a fun and engaging horror flick. The set design of the place itself is freaking awesome, the animatronics way better than Willy's Wonderland, let's not forget Matt Lillard, also on a roll last few years. 3.25 stars/5 Amazon Prime subscription and VOD
FOLKS - I'm going to be giving the blog a makeover over the holidays, hope you dig whatever I come up with and Happy rest of the holidays to you and yours.
JANUARY'S B-MOVIE OF THE MONTH - Here are the three hints - 1.
Not as bad as I thought it would be and I made it all the way through -
FIVE REASONS I THINK IT WAS DOOMED
1. I read Night Shift in high school, loved it and still think it's his best collection of short stories but most of the stories in that excellent book don't warrant a full feature, The Mangler a classic example.
2. When the director shows up to set and the front gate guard won't even let him in because he looks so drugged out, it's time to wrap.
3. What a poor waste of Emilio Estevez' always underrated talents.
4. The last time I saw blocking that bad, the Jets lost by 35 points.
5. A wonderful DOP named Armando Nannuzzi lost his shooting eye in an accident, see #2
In a sort-of return-to-form for Alexander Payne (especially after the trainwreck known as "Downsizing,") Paul Giamatti stars in this instant Christmas charmer about a gruff teacher who has to babysit a small group of kids that can't leave their fancy New England boarding school. This small group eventually dwindles down to one - act two features the bonding of this classic history teacher with an older teen boy Angus, played wonderfully by newcomer Dominic Sessa.
There is also a subplot involving a cafeteria manager (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) trying to sort out her own issues after losing a son. Randolph won an Oscar for her performance here which is awesome. David Hemingson also won for his script. I have to be honest, I feel the same way this guy probably did when his phone rang - why does Alexander Payne of all gosh-dang people need a writer, and just to fulfill a story vision he had? But, obviously it worked. I still would have liked to see this written by Payne and Jim Taylor his partner for Sideways, Election and About Schmidt, easily Payne's three best.
In act three Giamatti really turns up the acting chops and his last 20 minutes of the film are to watch a master thespian at work. He's come a long, long way since the five-liner days of films like Donny Brasco. The Holdovers is a great piece for him. It's a little clunky and slow at times and is the only Payne film I can say would have benefited from a trimming. But it's an immediate holiday season classic and a wonderful return to form for the brilliant Alexander Payne. 3.75 stars/5
☝ merry *&#@ Christmas y'all, this is a mega-post, first off, happy holidays to you and yours and starting off the proceedings with
TOP TJREE CHRISTMAS MOVIES THIS YEAR >
1 CANDY CANE LANE (2023) - Eddie Murphy's tour de force could be a lot worse and in general good Christmas movies of any acceptable caliber don't come down the pike every year, Enter this charming world complete with talking and singing ornaments. Many things to love here - top of the list being it's culturally diverse with a nice vibe, it's musical but not a musical, and like a well-decorated tree it;s bas many bells and whistles to marvel at along the way. 3.0 stars/5
2 SCROOGE (1970) This is one of those watch every year one's. You have to be ready for a singing, dancing Albert Finney in a lavish British production along the lines of Chitty Chirry Bang Bang. And, in fact, has some lineage to that previous family classic. This is really a great take on A Christmas Carol and the only adaption ever to feature a now infamous sequence where Scrooge goes to hell shortly. If you can immerse yourself in it's world, this is a wonderful experience of the Dickens fable. 3.0 stars/5
3 I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (1995) - Yeah, I know. Guilty pleasure for sure, but have and still do love this goofball slapstick-y comedy from mid-'90's Disney. Johnathon Taylor Thomas, who went on to become a lawyer later in life, plays a college shyster who can fast-talk his way out of any situation. That it, until he pisses off the jocks, who tape a Santa beard and costume to him and drop him in the niddle of Joshua Tree. He now has to cross country in 24 hours to make it home for Xmas dinner at 6pm and inherit his dad's Porche. 3.0 stars/5
NEXT, ALSO A TRADITION, IT'S THE "CHRISTMAS HORROR TRAILER PARK" PLAYLIST WITH 28 FLICKS
AND SOMETHING I FOUND VERY INTERESTING, VUDU.COM'S TOP 100 CHRISTMAS MOVIES, AN INTERESTING LIST AND LOTS OF GOOD SUGGESTION, NEW AND OLD
