During this year’s October viewing I wanted to revisit a few things that I consider lesser movies from directors I like, that I haven’t seen since they came out decades ago. You know – just to be sure.
I started with a forgotten later one from George A. Romero – his last non-living-dead-related movie, BRUISER. I was disappointed in it at the time, but that was 22 years ago, and I’d had high expectations for it since he hadn’t had a movie in 7 years. There was that gap between his Hollywood stint in the early ‘90s and his return in the new millennium, and it was in the middle of that period that I became obsessed with DAWN OF THE DEAD and KNIGHTRIDERS and everything. So it was a big event when he finally came back with this odd French-American co-production starring a dude from LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS. (read the rest of this shit…)
I don’t usually review comedies, especially straight forward romance/family ones like HAPPIEST SEASON, nor do I plan to do it often. But I thought this was a pretty good one and I decided to give it a shot. Sharpen my skills.
HAPPIEST SEASON is new on Hulu and takes place at Christmas time, but is not specifically about any holiday celebrations. It has received some attention as a high profile romantic comedy with a same sex couple, and of a much higher quality than the ones starting to pop up on Hallmark and Lifetime. Sony/TriStar had actually intended this for a major theatrical release before the pandemic and its supporters fucked up the country. It was directed and co-written by Clea DuVall, who we of course know as an actress from GHOSTS OF MARS, THE GRUDGE, ZODIAC, etc., so it’s a pretty good in-joke when a character’s teenage bedroom is still decorated with a sexy poster of Josh Hartnett (THE FACULTY). (read the rest of this shit…)
ARGO is based on an amazing true story, recently declassified and told in this great Wired article. During the Iran hostage crisis, it turns out, the CIA managed to rescue a group of stranded American workers using an unusual cover story: they were part of a Canadian film crew scouting exotic locations for a STAR WARS inspired sci-fi fantasy epic. John Chambers, the genius makeup artist behind the PLANET OF APES series (and played by John Goodman here), had done “some contract work” for the CIA according to the article (let’s hope he gets a whole series of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE style thrillers) and helped to set up real Hollywood producers and offices for the fake movie. The now-worshipped-by-nerds comic book artist Jack Kirby (seen only in a cameo here, played by DEATH WISH V’s Michael Parks) provided the artwork that they used as pre-production set and costume designs. (read the rest of this shit…)
One thing about JOHN CARPENTER’S GHOSTS OF MARS: it’s definitely John Carpenter’s GHOSTS OF MARS.
It has plenty of elements that could be perfect for one of his movies. It’s kind of a siege movie like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, although the simplicity of that type of setup is mired in flashbacks and narration. It’s got a western motif – even though it’s in the future and on Mars there’s a train, and colonists possessed by angry Martian spirits take the place of the Natives defending their land. It’s got a ready-made anti-hero – Ice Cube as the bad-but-not-guilty-of-the-specific-crime-he’s-accused-of prisoner-in-transfer Desolation Williams. It has a pretty good soundtrack where Carpenter melds his style with a bunch of rock n roll dudes with electric guitars and drums, playing Martian tribal rock. It has Ice Cube, Jason Statham, Joanna Cassidy and Pam Grier in the cast! This shit should be great. (read the rest of this shit…)
Some of you will wonder why I choose to watch this kind of crap. The answer is because of the French.
This one is from a series of movies made for cable called Creature Features. They have special effecting by Stan Winston (director of A GNOME NAMED GNORM) and are all based on the premises or titles of old movies produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff. They got SHE-MONSTER, DAN AYCKROYD VS. SPIDERMAN and many others. The one I’m waiting for is actually TEENAGE CAVEMAN directed by Larry Clark, the pervert who did KIDS and BULLY and ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE where the main kid wears his pants so low you can see his fuckin pubes. Jesus, Larry! (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
pegsman on Justified is still good: “The driving force behind the quality of the show is of course Olyphant’s ability to interact with all the other…” Jan 30, 22:39
Gavolt on Tenet: “This was really really cool, except for the parts where the blond lady and her kid were consistently put on…” Jan 30, 21:26
Muh on M3GAN: “Yeah the movie was a lot more interesting than it looked. I actually was even more into it before they…” Jan 30, 17:58
KayKay on M3GAN: “M3GAN is also, like AVATAR2, one of those films that doesn’t bear introspecting about for anything longer than 5 minutes,…” Jan 30, 17:25
KayKay on M3GAN: “So, I liked it, which was a pleasant surprise given that nothing in the trailer enticed me in the least,…” Jan 30, 17:14
Muh on M3GAN: “If you look at that behind the scenes shit, you see the puppet doing the dialogue scenes, then the girl…” Jan 30, 15:21
George Kaplan on M3GAN: “Sorry, Vern, I hadn’t looked back until today. I wasn’t being ill-mannered. The dance scene for one, I know people…” Jan 30, 14:23
Chuck on Babylon: “Definitely his messiest movie but also the one I’ve liked the best. Certainly his “making art is terrible and it’s…” Jan 30, 13:30
Chuck on Babylon: “Definitely his messiest movie but also the one I’ve liked the best. Certainly his “making art is terrible and it’s…” Jan 30, 13:30
burningambulance on Babylon: “I hate “Hollywood sucks its own dick” movies even more than Majestyk hates “A24 horror,” so I’m almost certain to…” Jan 30, 11:54
MaggieMayPie on Babylon: “Vern, Mandy Moore is (was?) a frequent choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance. She did some of the…” Jan 30, 11:13
CJ Holden on 300: “That movie still remains the only one where the dialogue annoyed me so much, that I turned the sound off…” Jan 30, 10:39
Muh on The Woman King: “He said that? Ha ha ha.” Jan 30, 09:41
Bill Reed on Babylon: “I saw this in my local theater in its second week of release, because I knew there would not be…” Jan 30, 08:20
TheFilmist on Babylon: “I agree with much of what you wrote, and I did enjoy the film, but I also found it a…” Jan 30, 08:11
VERN’S “I RECOMMEND THE SHIT OUT OF THIS PRODUCT” CORNER:
During this year’s October viewing I wanted to revisit a few things that I consider lesser movies from directors I like, that I haven’t seen since they came out decades ago. You know – just to be sure.
I don’t usually review comedies, especially straight forward romance/family ones like HAPPIEST SEASON, nor do I plan to do it often. But I thought this was a pretty good one and I decided to give it a shot. Sharpen my skills.
ARGO is based on an amazing true story, recently declassified and told in 
One thing about JOHN CARPENTER’S GHOSTS OF MARS: it’s definitely John Carpenter’s GHOSTS OF MARS.
Some of you will wonder why I choose to watch this kind of crap. The answer is because of the French.
