SaitoRyo

Action U.S.A. Now this - THIS - is what a 1980s B movie action film is supposed to be, baby! I'd summarise the plot, but that's really besides the point. I'd talk about the acting, but what good would that do? This is a stuntman's movie. It was directed by a stuntman and written around the particular stunts he wanted to put on film. Cars are blown up. People are set on fire. Buildings are fallen off. It is fucking class. Plus, it has Mac's Dad as one of the main guys and a brawl in a massive Texas honky tonk. Five stars.

I remember about eleven or twelve years ago, I was living in London and my tooth sort of broke when I bit into a sandwich. Went to the dentist the next day and they said I could either get it fixed privately for hundreds of pounds or they'd take it out there and then for (I think) about twenty quid on the NHS. A very easy decision to make. I miss my tooth a lot less than I'd have missed those hundreds of pounds, especially back then. P.S. glad they knocked the pice down but, yeah, it's still an absolute disgrace tbh.

Lest we baguette, et cetera...

As a Newcastle fan, last night was such a depressing watch. Even more depressing than the hammerings by Leeds and Coventry, in a way. Expected a response after the League Cup exit performance and got absolutely nothing. No final pass or even an idea of what to do with the ball in the final third. Scarily easy to play through. It got better with the substitutions later on, but we never looked like scoring and Everton could have been out of sight by then. Fair play to Everton, they managed the game well and were good value for the win. We need a result against Fulham at the weekend because there is an awful run of games coming up after the international break. Not convinced by 'Matthias Jaissle' or his 'vertical football', I must say.

It's really not that bad, is it? I'd read some scathing things about it in the past, which didn't put me off but did make me go into it with an idea of what it was already in my mind. It's very late 70s hicksploitation in spirit and there's an energy about it that I liked. I also tend to like films that take place predominantly in one location. The all-AC/DC soundtrack isn't half-bad, either.

Maximum Overdrive A coked-out-of-his-mind Stephen King directs his sole feature film, which sees earth's inanimate objects come to life and turn evil after a comet causes a radiation storm. A lot of people seem to hate this one, but I couldn't bring myself to. It's just a mad exploitation horror movie by a guy who doesn't really know what he's doing. A hick flick with a big budget. And I like that sort of thing, you know? Not a great film, but an entertaining watch despite all of its flaws (of which there are many). Number One with a Bullet An 80s buddy cop film with Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams as mismatched LAPD vice guys. It's a Cannon Films production directed by a career journeyman, so it has the feel of a made-for-TV movie or an extended pilot for a show that was never picked up. Not without its moments, but it's pretty by-the-numbers fare and lost my interest towards the end.

Galvestone A seemingly terminally-ill hit man is set up in New Orleans, but ends up surviving and rescuing a sex worker and her kid sister. He vows to return to Galveston and seek vengeance before his time runs out. I really, really wanted to like this one more than I did, considering it's a neo-western revenge crime thriller. Right up my street. And it's fine. It's not bad. It's just not very good, in my opinion. I thought Ben Foster and Elle Fanning were both great in the lead roles, but they don't add up to a great film, unfortunately. Felt like something was missing and I can't quite put my finger on what it was. I thought the last five or six minutes were very powerful, however.

Analyze This Hadn't seen this one for an absolute age. It's a lot of fun. De Niro and Crystal are perfect for their roles and play off each other really well. Sharp script boosted by a strong supporting cast. I'll probably re-watch Analyze That on the back of this, though I've read it's meat to be pretty bad in comparison. Shaun The Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom Cinema trip with my son. We had a great time. How could you not? It's just classic Aardman. You're ALWAYS going to have a good time with them. Really fun and done in 75 minutes. Lovely stuff. Joshua Tree 1993 action thriller starring Dolph Lundgren, alternatively known as Army of One. As far as 90s actioners starring Lundgren are concerned, this one is destinctly upper tier. He plays a trucker who is set up and sent to jail, escapes on the way there and then kidnaps a woman as he tries to evade the corrupt cops, not realising she's a deputy sheriff. She is absolutely lush, mind, so you're just counting down the minutes until they have it off big style. Some good, violent action in this one, which is better than you'd expect. Kingpin First time seeing this, though it has been on my list for ages. I thought it was alright. Funny in places, but not especially funny overall. It's a Farrelly Brothers film, so you know what sort of humour you're signing up for. Woody Harrelson, Bill Murray and Randy Quaid are all very good, but I hoped for bigger laughs that never really came. Didn't hate it or anything, mind.

On the Line (1984) Mexico/US border drama about a rookie border patrol agent who falls in love with a Mexican prostitute, while his new boss tries to take down the rookie's ex-agent-turned-human-trafficker uncle. The film's poster sells it as some sort of wild actioner, but it's really not. It also sells David Carradine as being the main star, but he's really not. Despite this, it's not an exploitation film and is actually rather introspective and quite good overall. A good companion piece to the more well-known Borderline and The Border, which were made around the same time. It's currently available to view in reasonable quality on Tubi.

Country music great John Anderson at 71. Incredible voice. Hell of a songwriter. Seems weird to say about someone in the Country Music Hall of Fame, but he's actually probably a bit underrated in the grand scheme of things. Had an up-and-down career as, despite being really talented, he didn't have the marketable 'look' that some of the late 80s/early 90s guys had (George Strait, Garth Brooks etc.). He was enjoying a bit of a resurgence recently because he's a songwriter's songwriter and people championed his work. And at the end of the day, it always comes back to the songs and John Anderson had some exceptional ones. RIP.

Sunset Grill A private investigator (and ex-cop) must team up with his ex-wife's new fella (his former co-worker) when someone close to him is murdered. What a strange film this is. Sort of like a neo-noir, but with a few odd shifts in tone. So much talent there, including Peter Weller and Lori Singer, but it's clearly an undercooked straight-to-video film from the early 90s. If it had a bit more budget and a bit better script, I think this would be more well-known and well-liked. I enjoyed it, but I found my attention drifting towards the middle. There's some fun stuff in there, even if it loses its way. Weller's on really good bizzaro form, too, so I'd recommend it for his performance if nothing else.

Nope, not a mention. It's really not that sort of doc. Very much a 'this guy was hilarious and everyone loved him, even if he was a little bit odd in some ways' thing. To be honest, I only vaguely remember some of that stuff. Was it one or multiple accusations of sexual harrassment? Wouldn't surprise me at all, him being a comedian of a certain generation, but I've not really heard anything since shortly after his passing.

Me and The Wife re-watched Final Destination fairly recently. It's a good time and we enjoyed ourselves, so decided to watch the second one. It was watchable, so we went for the third (which I remembered watching in the cinema) and I think there was an understanding afterwards to just stop there. The premise simply doesn't warrant that many fucking sequels and you can see the diminishing returns coming a mile off. Curious what you hated about Idle Hands so much, mind. Another recent re-watch with The Wife, which we both fell asleep during. Was a Sky Movies classic when I was a kid, though, so I enjoyed what I saw because of the nostalgia factor. Admittedly, it is very daft and a lot of the stoner humour doesn't land and can be grating, but worst film ever? Like I said, curious...

Oh man, I LOVE Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore @gmoney. Might be a top 15 film for me tbh. It's very funny in places, too ("So long, suckers!"). Kris Kristofferson is the man, of course. The Faculty Hadn't seen this for an age. A total VHS/Sky Movies classic back in the day. It's still a lot of fun and has a star-studded cast who are giving it their all. Naturally, some of the late-90s CGI has aged pretty fucking badly but, thankfully, there's not too much of it. Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald I really, really liked this, since it's basically two hour of Norm bits. Didn't appreciate the whole 'This guy's legacy is how many of his YouTube clips you'll watch!' theme, but it got better as it went on. Some amazing archive/behind-the-scenes footage in here. An essential watch if you're a Norm fan. Shadowhunter Burnt-out LA detective Scott Glenn is sent to the Navajo reservation to bring back a murder suspect but, inevitably, it all goes a bit tits-up and he ends up having to track the 'skinwalker' with the help of some locals. This is the sort of thing you'd have stumbled across in a video store back in the early 90s as part of some sort of 3-for-a-fiver offer. Predictible, cliched and actually quite comforting because of it? Flirts with being an out-and-out horror film before settling into a cat-and-mouse thriller. Had the feeling of being an X-Files two-parter. I liked the first half more than the second, but this was a perfectly fine way to kill 95 minutes and I'm glad I was able to find an HD copy after only ever seeing low-res rips.

Tequila Sunrise Very underwhelming effort from writer/director Robert Towne. It's got Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell and 1988 Michelle Pfeiffer in it, yet it somehow manages to be quite boring? It's not awful, just dull and quite blatantly squanders the talent involved. It's too slow and there's just not much there to get into, as far as the plot goes. There is at least a hilarious saxy sex scene, though, and it's well-shot, but I had hoped for more.

@Devon Malcolm Might need to revisit Exorcist III. I remember thinking a lot of it, but it's been years and years. And @gmoney did you check out Fire in the Sky based on my recent watching? I really, really liked it and the ending didn't really stick out as bad to me personally. It had already built up a lot of goodwill with me by that point, mind. Anyway... Special Effects A egomaniacal film director kills a budding starlet and then makes a movie about it, casting her estranged husband in the lead role. A very strange and interesting film, this, directed by Larry Cohen. Sort of like a giallo with a bit of the De Palmas about it. Some incredibly vibrant colours and great set design. Script's not all that and the performances vary, but I was intrigued throughout and I love anything that captures gritty 80s New York. I'd call it 'good trash'.

Always loved the Nightmare on Elm Street films as a kid and the Never Sleep Again documentary is really good, too. Tend to agree about 1 and 3 being the best of the bunch, but I have fond memories of them all. New Nightmare was a good return to Freddy actually being scary again. Anyway... Fire in the Sky A member of a logging crew is abducted in the Arizona mountains in 1975. The rest of the crew are distraught by what they have witnessed, but the local townspeople suspect murder. Based on a 'true story'. Where the fuck did this come from? I'd never even heard of it before but loved it. It's more of a paranoid small-town drama with some sci-fi/horror elements, rather than a full-blown sci-fi film, and that's fine by me. Looking at reviews online, people seem bored/irritated by small town stuff and just want to see aliens, but I liked it all. It's got a very effective atmosphere and there's some great performances in there. Honestly surprised it's not talked up more (or at all), outside of one particular scene. Will definitely watch this one again at some point down the road.

Homegrown A group of dope growers agree to proceed with a big-money deal even after their big boss is killed. They find themselves in way over their heads and double-crossing ensues. Eh, this one didn't do too much for me. It's meant to be a dark comedy/crime drama, but it's not funny or dramatic enough. Absolutely mental cast, mind, as Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria, Ryan Phillippe, Kelly Lynch, John Lithgow, Judge Reinhold, Jamie Lee Curtis and Mr. Bovine Joni himself all star. But yeah, this was just sort of there, with a few standout scenes but not really enough to make the whole movie worthwhile. Billy Bob is good as usual, mind.

I went to see the De Palma doc at the BFI Southbank when it was first released and remember having a really good time with it. I've always been interested by De Palma, even if some of his later stuff is awful. That early 70s to mid-90s era produced some fantastic stuff though. Sisters, Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Body Double, Scarface, The Untouchables, Carlito's Way... I mean, that's a hell of an output, plus stuff like Phantom, Obsession, Raising Cain and more I'm probaby forgetting. He obviously borrows a lot from Hitchcock in certain films, but he's a great director in his own right and doesn't deserve the 'rip-off' tag imo.

The Dark Wind The first (and so far only) feature film from the great documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. Adapted from the book of the same now, which was later adapted into the TV series Dark Winds. This isn't as good as the TV series, but it was alright. It's a fairly low-key mystery/drama. Slow pace, but engaging at times (not so much at other times). Lou Diamond Phillips is decent as the lead. Mr. Woodcock Wife's choice as we couldn't decide on anything and had seen it before a long time ago, so it was somewhat familiar. Apparently everyone hated this when it was released, including the critics, lead actors and director. I thought it was really funny in places, actually, mainly due to Billy Bob Thornton, who gets to play a real asshole and does it well. 80 minutes, too, which is a bonus. The Legend of Billie Jean The poster of this had always confused me and made me think it was some 80s roller derby sports drama or something. It's not. It's a bout a bunch of kids who are accused of doing something they didn't do and run away from the cops, becoming folk heroes to teens throughout Texas. I really liked it and thought Helen Slater was excellent in the title role.