Palmetto (1998) — Effective enough modern film noir that excels mainly for the cast, especially Woody Harrelson and Elisabeth Shue. I had seen this before many years ago and my opinion pretty much remained the same. ***¼/***** (Blu-ray)

The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) — Nothing real stand out about another slasher born out of the success of Halloween (and Friday the 13th, which was made for the same reason), but still watchable enough. **¾/***** (4K Ultra HD)

Moonraker (1979) - This eleventh Bond film is Roger Moore's fourth outing in the role. Apparently, For Your Eyes Only was intended to be the eleventh Bond movie, but the success of Star Wars made the Bond producers postpone it and make Moonraker first to cash in on the space craze. It's not really a good movie, but it's entertaining enough at times. The villain follows the classic Bond archetype--an egomaniacal billionaire with plans to rule the world--or what's left of it after his evil plan is carried out. He's got a couple of henchmen, including Richard Kiel reprising his character "Jaws" from The Spy Who Loved Me. Lois Chiles is great as the astronaut "Holly Goodhead" (pause for snickering). There's not much space action until the final act. The film dials up the campiness even more than previous ones, but there's some good action scenes and the absurdity of it all is kind of fun.

No Time To Die (2021)

Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) — Where the first movie was a cross between Friday the 13th and Halloween, this sequel takes inspiration from Nightmare on Elm Street. This was a slog to get through where the first half is in the main character's head and second half he comes to life and starts making his way through the cast. This was just a bizarre movie with musical scenes thrown in. I guess points for not just being a retread of the first movie... **/***** (4K Ultra HD)

Mars Express Shout! Factory Blu-Ray
Directed by Jeremie Perin. 2023
French with Subtitles/English Dub
In 2200, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera are hired by a wealthy businessman to track down a notorious hacker. On Mars, they descend deep into the underbelly of the planet’s capital city where they uncover a darker story of brain farms, corruption, and a missing girl who holds a secret about the robots that threatens to change the face of the universe.

This is a French SF/Noir story much like the "Blade Runner" films or "Johnny Mnemonic". The characters are very relatable, and the story plays like a Live-Action film that the filmmakers couldn’t afford to make. The character animation gets a lot across with a minimum of linework, but the character movement is quite smooth and believable, and the film is well-paced. The settings and backgrounds are richly colored and dimensional. Like any good SF tale, it occasionally got ahead of me, but it all made sense at the end.

A Family Affair (2024) - Netflix

Love Like the Falling Petals (2022) - Prime (J-Movie)

Tentacles Shout! Factory Blu-Ray
John Huston. Directed by Ovidio G. Assonitus. 1977
A mutated giant octopus wreaks havoc on a California seaside community.

"Tentacles" is an Italian "Jaws" rip-off that currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 0%, and while it is awful, that doesn't mean it can't be entertaining at times. The up-front Talent is American stars and veteran supporting players like John Huston, Henry Fonda, Shelly Winters, Claude Akins, and Bo Hopkins (in the Richard Dreyfuss role), taking a check and playing what's on the page. Everything else is Italian low-budget filmmaking at its finest. It's just silly enough to be amusing for a while. Unfortunately, they can't muster anything close to a giant octopus prop to deliver on the title, and it sort of wears out its welcome long before the final scene. It does have an interesting score, though it seems more suited for a Giallo film. The picture quality of the disc is excellent.

HBO

"An intimate portrait of Michael Chow reveals how he overcame childhood trauma, personal loss, and systemic prejudice to become an actor, artist, and founder of the Mr Chow restaurant chain."

They could make a movie out of this doc

2023

Hulu

"Author Isabel Wilkerson "Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor" writes her seminal book "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents" while coping with personal tragedy."

Get the Kleenex ready for this

This was pretty good and should have gotten some Oscars consideration.

A great supporting cast too with Jon Bernthal. Vera Farmiga, and Nick Offerman wearing a MAGA cap.

2015

This was awful

I watched a part of it a couple of years ago and finished it this year and erased it from the DVR.

Safe to say this will not make the list of annual Xmas classics

Twister


Still so great to rewatch

Reptilicus Shout! Factory Blu-Ray
Brent Mejding. Directed by Sidney Pink. 1961
After copper miners discover part of the frozen tail of a prehistoric monster in Lapland, scientists inadvertently bring it back to life.

This is a Danish knock-off of the exemplary "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", the pretty decent "The Giant Behemoth" and any number of "Giant Monster Destroys the City" movies of The Fifties. The story goes that "Reptilicus" was filmed twice. Apparently, a scene would be filmed by Sidney Pink for the English-Language version, then the same scene would be filmed again by another director for Non-English territories. This is the only version I've had access to and it's just awful, -it's corny as hell, but that could be fun if the monster action were the least bit competent. Unfortunately, the titular "Reptilicus" is a flimsy puppet and who spits out 2-D animated acidic green bile. It was probably best served some years back as a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" episode.

What is interesting is that Vinegar Syndrome, -a company that's really beefed up their reputation lately, -has just announced a three-disc 4K edition of "Reptilicus" that will include the alternate version. They've got quite a job ahead of them, as most of the monster scenes are slightly out-of-focus and have extensive print damage. I won't be buying it, -there's only so much lipstick you can put on this pig, -but I'll be checking out the conversation when it's released.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web…another solid and most likely last story to an unbelievable 8 part journey. I truly love this Lisbeth character and after seeing what turned out to be a 14 hour adventure was just grand. Every story especially in the extended original trilogy was so good. Had no idea it was a detective saga, but that’s what it turned out to be and it was just marvelous. I don’t know if anyone else has taken this journey, but it’s well worth it in all its incarnations.

Beverly Hills Coo: Axel F (2024)

I actually saw this in February. But now I can legally say that I saw it. I signed an NDA. I enjoyed it and posted my thoughts in the review thread.

Beverly Hills Cop II Paramount 4K
Eddie Murphy. Directed by Tony Scott. 1987
Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills to help Taggart and Rosewood investigate Chief Bogamil's near-fatal shooting and the series of "alphabet crimes" associated with it.

"Beverly Hills Cop II" doesn't quite have the charm or the humor of the original, -it's more of an Action Film first, and an indicator of the type of style-heavy films Tony Scott would make for the rest of his career. Still, it's as entertaining as it ever was, if not more so. There's just one tiny thing that's always bugged me, -in the title sequence with the Bob Seeger song, Axel is in his apartment, and he throws a slice of white bread into the fish tank, as if to feed them. Yes, it's a throwaway joke, but it's lazy because no sane person would actually do that.

The Beekeeper (2024) - Prime

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) - Netflix

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Sony Blu-Ray
Paul Rudd. Directed by Gil Kenan. 2024
When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.

What I appreciated about "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is that it took a franchise that was something of a big budget sitcom and tried to give it some real heart and more dimensional characters. "Frozen Empire" gets rid of all that and tries to make the ultimate "Fan Film"; if there was anything, -any character, any ghost, any set, any gimmick, -from the original films that fans might fondly remember, -it turns up in this film, along with endless references and Easter eggs. It's a film that's wall-to-wall with characters and all of them have their own little schtick.

Maybe it was too busy for me, I don't know. I just couldn't engage with any of the characters, and I didn't really respond to the humor. I was just kind of bored with "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire".

The Great Escape Kino Lorber 4K
Steve McQueen. Directed by John Sturges. 1963
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.

"The Magnificent Seven" followed by "The Great Escape" is a stunning one-two punch from Director John Sturges. Like "Magnificent Seven", "Escape" begins with a classic Elmer Berstein title theme that just pumps up your adrenaline and gets you ready for a great film. It has an excellent cast including James Garner, James Coburn, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson and Donald Pleasance. At times Steve McQueen seems like he's starring in his own movie, but that's cool, because he gets his iconic motorcycle scene in the Third Act. Apparently, it fudges some of the facts (What Hollywood film doesn't?), but damn it's an entertaining film!

2020

Starz

Radha Mitchell, Henry Thomas, and Lin Shaye are in the cast.

"In order to stop his bad dreams, a young boy steals a dream catcher from a mysterious neighbour forcing his family to rescue him from a dangerous entity."

You won't miss anything if you skip this

2020

Starz

"Steve Zahn stars as Troy, a troubled but well-intentioned father who has recently separated from his wife Sally (Jillian Bell). Aghast at Sally's refusal to let their trans son Joe (Sasha Knight) live as his authentic self, Troy runs off with Joe into the Montana wilderness. Meanwhile, police detective (Ann Dowd) pursues them, but her resolve about the case is tested the more she learns about Joe's family"

People know Steve Zahn more for his comedies but he can do drama too.