Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Spring is officially ramping down with a few scattered showers (all combined at the first Farmers Market of the year) and temperatures picking up to the 80's... but we saw a bunch of movies...

May 23 – Disco Godfather (1979)
 
Rudy Ray Moore returns in his 4th & final movie… about an ex-cop turned Disco DJ who tries to take angel dust off the streets… by any means necessary… and hijinx ensue! Julius Carry shows up in an early role as a basketball player having a bad trip with PCP but… yeah, it’s a ridiculous Rudy Ray Moore movie with poorly executed kung fu & hood tropes… but the ending is absolutely insane… so how did it turn out?!?
 
Rating - ???/10 – Listen to us talk about it with Mikey Bagford on EVERYTHING I LEARNED FROM MOVIES!!!
 
May 24 – Ghostbusters (1984)
 
I forget if I’ve already talked about this movie (definitely did for the 2nd one) but it’s about three scientists who join the private sector to catch ghosts for the city of New York… and yes, OF COURSE I remember Winston is in this movie. Ernie Hudson is the greatest but he doesn’t show up until towards the end of the second act… and he’s not a scientist either from what I gather… but I’ve only seen this movie a thousand times or so… because…
 
Rating – 10+/10 – Possibly the greatest (and most quoted in this house) comedy of all time
 
May 25 – Arizona Colt aka The Man from Nowhere (1966)
 
This was one of the most spaghetti of westerns that I had ever seen… and it’s on Tubi of course… and it’s about a bounty hunter who’s broken out of jail by a bandito leader… but then he’s hired by a saloon owner to protect the town from the same banditos… because the owner’s daughter was killed by then… but of course, he also has another daughter who wants nothing to do with this bounty hunter… until she does, I guess. Yeah, it’s pretty standard but… at least mildly entertaining for how just cuckoo bananas it is.
 
Rating – 7/10 – I’ve seen worse… but if you’re looking for a spaghetti western itch to be scratched…
 
May 26 – Timecop (1995)
 
“It is on TV… all of the time” – Jean Claude Van Johnson… and yes, it’s JCVD as Max Walker, the police officer in charge of stopping time traveling fugitives… but then hijinx ensue when an evil senator (Ron Silver) is out to become the President and veritable Time Lord in the not-too-distant future! The action is… okay. The special effects are… dated. Mia Sara is… underutilized at best. However, I still enjoy this dumb movie.
 
Rating – 8/10 – I don’t have to watch the rest of it every time I see it on TV… but I have been known to…
 
May 27 – Lucky 7, or 7 Xiao Fu (1986)
 
Okay, this movie was brought to us by Bobby of the Grindbin Podcast for June-jitsu… and it’s a Taiwanese movie about 7 ass-kicking martial artist children who get tangled into a plot involving a diamond… and hijinx ensue. There’s really not much that I can briefly say about this movie… but either you can watch it for yourself on YouTube… ORRRRRRR…
 
Rating - ???/10 – Listen to Everything I Learned From Movies on your favorite podcatcher in a fully entertaining upcoming episode
 
May 28 – Quigley Down Under (1990)
 
Quigley is a sharpshooter in the Old West (played by Tom Selleck) who’s hired by an Australian rancher (Alan Rickman), so he makes the three months’ journey… and then instantly finds out he’s supposed to be killing Aborigine people to clear his ranch… and hijinx ensue when he refuses. Oh he also picks up a crazy lady… and this movie is a lot of fun… except for when it’ll throw in a dead kid or two…
 
Rating – 9/10 – I really do like this movie… but yeah, it’s fairly predictable… but Tom Selleck, man!
 
May 29 – The Specialist (1993)
 
Stallone is a bomb expert. James Woods is a bomb expert. Sharon Stone wants revenge & has breasts. Eric Roberts gets to bang her while she’s plotting to kill him. Rod Steiger is a Cuban druglord. This movie is f**king insane. It’s a cheesy late night Cinemax movie with a bigger budget & makes even less sense. “Bullets are imprecise… I hear you can control your explosions.” FOH!!!
 
Rating – 10+/10 – Seriously though… this movie is insane…

Until June, true believers!!!

​Steve

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

It's upon us... Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is coming out this weekend... and Ogden Farmers Market is starting on Saturday for the next four-plus months! Summer has officially arrived... and here are some movies that we watched...

May 16 – Tremors (1990)
 
Izzy wanted to watch this when she saw that it was their 34th anniversary on Facebook or something… and I hadn’t seen it in a while… so we watched the tale of the small town of Perfection being taken over by giant bloodthirsty worm-like creatures starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Michael Gross, Reba McIntyre & more! We interviewed the writer (and director of a few sequels) SS Wilson a few years ago… and he’s amazing… just like this movie. Is it a Jaws knock-off? Yeah sorta… in that it’s a horror movie about a monstrous creature that eats people… but it’s also a LOT of fun… and spawned 6-7 sequels and a season of a TV show.
 
Rating – 10/10 – Always worth a watch… even if you’ve seen it dozens of times
 
May 17 – The Beautician & the Beast (1997)
 
I had seen this comedy back when it first came out… and I remember liking it… except for Fran Drescher’s voice. Sorry, the tone just hits me the wrong way. I blame family members with a similar pitch. That being said, it’s the story of a beauty school teacher who’s mistakenly recruited to teach the children of a Slovetzian dictator (Timothy Dalton) and hijinx ensue… and yeah, it’s a dumb premise… but hey, the comedic timing is okay & they’re easy on the eyes… and you know there’s no stakes. Lots of nods to musicals like “King & I”, “Sound of Music” and of course “Beauty & the Beast” but… yeah, you’ll know if you like it or not.
 
Rating – 8/10 – Could be a LOT worse… and I’m glad the Razzies got revoked because of Fran’s work with SAG-AFTRA this last year
 
May 18 – Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
 
We were there opening night to see the next chapter in the Planet of the Apes series… and basically this one is a new story generations after the death of Caesar… and is basically a sword & sandal movie about a young ape who’s village is destroyed & so he goes on a vengeance quest… but runs into a priest orangutan spreading the word of Caesar… and a human girl thief… and they have to take down the bad apes who enslave other apes to attain the ultimate knowledge… and hijinx ensue. This movie… is pretty damn great! I really enjoyed it! 99.9% of the actors on screen are mo-capped but because the whole world is decently done CGI it’s not distracting… and the character arcs are great… and the nods to the earlier movies… go watch it in theaters!
 
Rating – 10/10 – This is probably 3rd highest in my PotA ratings behind the original & Dawn (2015)
 
May 19 – Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
 
I had seen this movie in theaters when it first came out… and thought it was… okay. Now I’ve rewatched it (on Tubi) and the 4th installment of the John McClane Die Hard series has (should-be retired) detective McClane transporting a cracker criminal (not hacker, look it up!) Justin Long… and hijinx ensue when other cyber terrorists try to shut down every single thing connected to a computer & create chaos… or get money while doing it of course. The action is… very 2000’s with a lot of bad CGI but… hey, you know going into it that it’s stupid fun action & the bad guy is Timothy Olyphant so… yeah, that’s what you signed up for. So did it age well?
 
Rating – 7/10 – Meh… it’s okay… it’s better than the 5th one that’s for sure…
 
May 21 – The Shadow Riders (1982)
 
In the days after the Civil War, two brothers (Tom Selleck & Sam Elliott which makes perfect sense) who represented different sides of the battle return home… but then find out that a few of their relatives have been kidnapped by renegade Confederates… and hijinx ensue! This is based on a Louis L’Amour novel… so you know what you’re getting into… but yeah, it was a nice little Western (been watching a bunch with the MIL in-house) and what made this one unique (besides the brothers Tom & Sam) were that this is where Sam met his wife of the last 40+ years Katharine Ross, and also one of the last performances from by Dominique Dunne before her horribly gruesome death… … …
 
Rating – 8/10 – Has a TV movie feel to it but… yeah, not a bad watch

Happy Summer everybody!!! Get out & have some fun!!!

​Steve

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

MIL has her ID now... that she no longer is interested in getting her own place... or driving... but hey, she's technically an adult now! Here are some movies that we watched:

May 11 – Return to Oz (1985)
 
I was going through Disney+ for something to watch with Izzy & her mom… and thought revisiting a disturbing movie from my childhood would be a good idea… and I was right… but oh man is this movie dark! Basically this is a sequel over a half century after Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) gets committed to a mental institution by her family because of her talking about Oz… and hijinx ensue when they try to FRY HER BRAIN!!! What follows is a confusing tale of talking couches, foot soldiers on wheels, witches with interchangeable heads, artificial intelligence, all kinds of crazy stuff… so would I recommend it?!?
 
Rating – 9/10 – Absolutely! Go check it out! Make your children watch it! I want everybody to have this in their brains!
 
May 13 – The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
 
Followed it up with probably my favorite Muppets movie… where identical twin reporters (Kermit the Frog & Fozzy the Bear) go to London to investigate the theft of Lady Holiday’s diamonds (Diane Rigg) and hijinx ensue when Kermit mistakes Miss Piggy for Lady Holiday and… yeah, it’s a Muppet movie with tons of cameos & hilarity at the Happiness Hotel. This was a VHS tape I had growing up (along with Muppets in Manhattan) so does it hold up?
 
Rating – 9/10 – I’m always amazed when I’m singing along to just about everything though I hadn’t seen it in years
 
May 14 – Zero Charisma (2013)
 
This one was recommended by guest of the podcast Lewis Falkenrath & is an independent dramedy (dramatic comedy) about a nerdy dungeonmaster whose… basically a prick to his other nerdy friends… and then a poser comes in & starts having fun with them… and then family drama comes in when his estranged mother comes back… and hijinx ensue. Sounds like fun, right? Well… it actually is mostly. The D&D stuff is pretty good and some introspective looks at nerd culture (geek chic as I’m told) and then how it can intersect with your own family situation (and with our own stuff coming up recently) and yeah, it’s worth a watch. It’s on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Tubi, Freevee, Plex, basically everywhere & free.
 
Rating – 8/10 – Suffers a little bit from “indie” syndrome where at the end you kind of are left with… “Oh, okay” but at least it’s a tight 85 minutes
 
May 15 – Arcadian (2024)
 
In the not too distant future, the world is in an apocalyptic dystopia that’s never really explained other than a bunch of people died… and there are these mysterious creatures that kill everybody at night. A father (Nic Cage) and his two twin teenage sons struggle to survive day by day… but they’re teenagers… and one likes a redhead while the other is… on the spectrum… and hijinx ensue. The creepy, dark atmosphere & decent natural performances are the best parts of this movie… and the creatures are very weird & creepy and super slowly revealed (and never explained) so this is a great example of mystery creature horror… and I even kinda like that nothing is really explained (you can even go online & it’s all speculation) but… yeah… it’s a unique one in my opinion.
 
Rating – 8/10 – I really enjoyed it… but I can also see why you might poke holes into it a bunch…

Coming soon... more movies!!! Have a great day everybody!!!

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

We had our first show of the year this past weekend with Davis County Pride & it was a lot of fun... and mildly profitable... but we also watched a few movies...

May 3 – Dead Man on Campus (1998)
 
We finally watched this movie about two college roommates (Thomas Everett Scott & Marc Paul Gosselaar) trying to get their other roommate to commit suicide in order to save their grades for the semester (rather than studying or whatever) and hijinx ensue… and apparently, this wasn’t the only movie that came out that year with the same premise? Why would I watch this movie? Well… our guests on an upcoming episode have watched this once per week… for a school year… and so we brought some experts on to break it down with us. So what did we think?
 
Rating - ???/10 – You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out.
 
May 5 – Burnt Offerings (1976)
 
This was another one for the podcast… but I know we had watched a few years ago, probably right before I started this whole thing. Basically it’s one of those haunted house movies about a family moving into an old house sight unseen… and hijinx ensue. The main difference with this one is… the cast is absolutely stacked with Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis, Burgess Meredith & more… and also… this one never gets talked about. You always hear about the biggies like Amityville Horror but… let’s face it, Amityville is boring as all hell. We all know it. Nobody talks about this movie… or Changeling (1980) and the like… but this movie is pretty good… and the last 5 minutes is absolutely worth the other 100 minutes before.
 
Rating – 9/10 – Definitely worth a watch… and go ahead & listen to our episode about it with a REAL movie professor who picked it
 
May 7 – Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
 
Max (Mel Gibson) is just trying to survive in the post-apocalyptic wilderness when the Gyro Captain (friend of the podcast Bruce Spence) pulls him into a scenario where a ruthless band is trying to take over a peaceful outpost that’s the world’s last bastion of guzzoline… and he has to save them in order to get fuel for his car & leave… and hijinx ensues. If you haven’t seen this movie, do yourself a favor & see it TONIGHT!!! Director George Miller is great… and I can’t wait to see Furiosa later this month… over 40 years after this movie!!!
 
Rating – 10+/10 – I own this on many formats… and it’s amazing every time
 
May 9 – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
 
We watched a premiere of this movie at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco with most of the major cast & crew in attendance… and it holds a special place in my heart as I love the Planet of the Apes franchise (yes, even 2001) and this movie… has an ape firing from the top of a tank in a 360-degree pan shot… and the overall story of apes & humans living separately across the Golden Gate Bridge… and through betrayal & overall dumbf**kery leading them into a tale of violence & redemption…
 
Rating – 10/10 – I still get Nick Acevedo & Toby Kebbell confused… and they’re both in this movie, though Toby is mo-capped. This movie is great!

That's right, gearing up for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes this weekend!!! LFG!!!

​Steve

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well, I had my birthday this past weekend... and we had an amazing time with our friends B&K who flew in from the Bay Area... and I got to show them all the sights of Ogden, Utah! We drank at a bunch of breweries in SLC & on 25th Street, Eccles Dinosaur Park, axe throwing, Crystal Hot Springs, Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville, New World Distillery in Eden, Prairie Schooner Steak House, all kinds of fun stuff!!!

That being said... the movies were a little sparse this week...

April 27 – Timerider: The Adventures of Lyle Swann (1982)
 
Motocross rider Lyle Swann (Fred Ward) is testing out his bike when he stumbles upon to a secret time travel experiment & sent back to 1877… and now he not only has to figure out where & WHEN he is… but how to get back… and of course, the local cowboy banditos (led by Peter Coyote) want his “iron horse machine” for their bank robbing. He also meets a lovely strong-willed woman (Belinda Bauer) and hijinx ensue. We had seen this back in the early days of the podcast (about 7-8 years ago) and it’s a tight 80 minutes of fun & craziness… and the ending has one of the best kills in cinema as well as one of the most WTF endings ever.
 
Rating – 9/10 – I really enjoyed it again… and Belinda Bauer is a fetching woman
 
April 29 – Idiocracy (2006)
 
Director Mike Judge (Beavis & Butthead, Office Space, etc.) brings you the story of an average man (Luke Wilson) whose part of a government cryogenics experiment gone wrong… and sent 500 years into the future to where everybody has an IQ of 40 or below due to only stupid people breading… and I’ve seen this movie dozens of times now over the past 18 years… and every single time it gets both funnier & sadder to watch how we’ve regressed in barely a generation. Great comedic performances all around, special effects hold up, and about the only thing that doesn’t hold up is the excessive use of the R-word & the other F-word (dozens of times each) but yeah… it’s an absolute comedic classic… but just be sure to have a few tissues handy for the tears.
 
Rating – 10+/10 – It’s a shame that Mike Judge movies don’t get seen or make money until they’re on home release…
 
May 1 – Leviathan (1989)
 
A deep-sea mining crew is only a few hours away from the end of their months-long gig… when some previously unknown contaminant is found… and hijinx ensue. This was the horror version of “The Abyss” (along with several others) of deep-sea 1989 movies (we did a whole month on the podcast about them) but this forgotten one has a pretty stellar cast with Peter Weller, Hector Elizondo, Ernie Hudson, Meg Foster, Daniel Stern & more… but yeah, it gets pretty Cronenberg when things really kick off… but yeah, I enjoy this more than “The Abyss” and just like the eerie feel of the movie… and yeah, check it out! I think we watched it on Max.
 
Rating – 9/10 – There are a few moments of “Wait, wasn’t that over there?” with all the jump cuts but other than that, excellent flick!

​Have a great week everybody!!!