movies

Superman (2025)

I wasn't planning on watching it at all really but it's better than I expected.

Mission Impossible Final Reckoning

It was alright but not as good as I was hoping for. I will say it has a tense feeling throughout the whole movie I just think the ending was the letdown.

Mostly a bunch of watch parties (synchronized viewing among people across the internet, with viewers posting comments live on Mastodon or in-built chat window). A mini "Kurt Russell season" this week.

• Mastodon / Bluesky watch party calendar

• Big Money Hustlas (2000) (seen in Disks n' Flicks) - Amateurish, obscene parody of 70s inner city crime movies starring hiphop duo the Insane Clown Posse. Loved it!

• Big Trouble in Little China (1986) (seen in #KungFuSat - John Carpenter's classic China-themed action-comedy-fantasy. An absolute blast, as always.

• Escape From New York (1981) (seen in #MondayActionMovie) - Carpenter and Russell's first outing, dystopian future where Manhattan is a prison and antihero Snake Plissken has to rescue the President. A great time was had by all.

• John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) - final outing in the action franchise. The first battle seemed unnecessary but I warmed up to the rest of the film.

• The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) & Little Shop of Horrors (1986). I watched the original in #Comedon, light fun with abrupt ending, and then after Big Money Hustlas, watched almost all of the 1986 musical as part of the #Monsterdon "after party" on Miru.Miyaku.Media, with the director's cut ending (kaiju-style!)

• Robot Wars (1993) (seen in VCR Party) - Crappy straight-to-video scifi with stop motion giant robots.

• Used Cars (1980) (seen in #SundayFunnies) - Underrated comedy from the team who later made Back to the Future, with Kurt Russell as an ambitious, unscrupulous used car salesman trying to rustle up the cash to buy his way into politics.

Weapons 4.5/5: I love the trend of comedy writers moving into horror. It's very deliberate and really well made. Not quite as good as Barbarian but I'm looking forward to more

Together 3/5: It's pretty entertaining but it really marks a lot of time. More eldritch horror and less plodding would get this movie where it needs to be

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3.5/5: Honesty until the 4th teen dies I was on Leatherface's side. You're in bum fuck nowhere Texas in the 70s, you ignore a creepy old guy saying "you shouldn't be here", you get stabbed by a drifter, then you break into obviously a hunter's house. What the fuck did you think would happen besides you getting murdered?

Flow 4.5/5: Beautiful. This is what cinema is about, beautiful stories that can universally deliver. Congrats Latvia, you earned this

• Priscilla (2023): How Priscilla met Elvis and how it all evolved from her POV. This is a reflective movie about her rather than a tribute to The King (which is a good thing).
• Freaky Tales (2025): I'm guessing this would be a lot of fun to watch while stoned, but since I saw it straight, I wasn't that engaged. Kudos to set/props/wardrobe for throwing the most stereotypically 80s stuff everywhere.
• Down to Earth (1947): Rita Hayworth is stunning. That's the only thing I liked about this musical. I watched it thinking I was going to watch a bunch of movies related to "Here Comes Mr. Jordon", (Heaven Can Wait, Down to Earth w/ Chris Rock, and less related, A Guy Named Joe, and my favorite: A Matter of Life and Death) but it became a James Gleason week, instead.
• The Meanest Gal in Town (1934): Cute old timey comedy. Barber won't marry the gal he loves until he can get a second chair for his shop. Her business is going well, but not his -- until he hires a hotty to manicure the men who want to make time with her. Chaos ensues. Oh, and James Gleason is in it.

** "Hildegarde Withers" series of whodunit murder/comedies (there were 6, but I only saw 5) **

• The Penguin Pool Murder (1932): Edna May Oliver stars as a prim and sharp tongued teacher who sees a body land in the penguin pool at the Aquarium. James Gleason is the hard boiled NYC cop who has to deal with her smarts. Cute penguin.
• Murder on the Blackboard (1934): Same stars as same characters investigate a murder at Hildegarde's school. Still entertaining watching the the two interplay.
• Murder on a Honeymoon (1935): Same stars/characters but this time outside NYC. Weaker film. The sharp criticisms are fun at the start, but the film drags in the middle. I liked the resolution despite a silly ending.
• skipped: Murder on a Bridle Path (1936)
• The Plot Thickens (1936): Galling because they replaced Edna May Oliver with Zasu Pitts (who played the love interest in The Meanest Gal in Town), but as a movie, it is probably a shade better than 'Honeymoon'. There was no reason to keep the Hildegarde Withers character because not only did they change actresses, they changed her personality. They should have let Inspector Piper deal with a new dame.
• Forty Naughty Girls (1937): Well, at least we get to see the two going out together. I still think it'd have been better with Edna May Oliver, but I don't know if even she could have saved it. There's funny bits, but in both this and the previous flick, Zasu Pitts is too cute and slightly... meek? demure? compared to be the original Hildegarde Withers.

Saw the new fantastic four movie and really enjoyed it. Had old timey comic book movie vibes