December Movies - Week 3

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Less than a week until Christmas... so I should probably start thinking about presents for loved ones or something... eh, we'll see how it all goes... maybe I'll watch some movies instead...

December 13 – The Keep (1983)
 
As you may have heard, Vinegar Syndrome FINALLY made a decent 4K/BluRay version of 1995’s “Congo” just in time for the 30th anniversary this summer… but there was another movie that they’re releasing on 4K and guys… this is a movie from director Michael Mann (Heat, Manhunter, etc.) about Nazis taking over a KEEP (basically a mountain pass) during WWII but while securing it, may have inadvertently released a demonic power beyond their comprehension that had been imprisoned there… and now they must rely on a Jewish professor (Ian McKellen), his daughter & a mysterious man with glowing eyes (Scott Glenn) to save THE WORLD!!! Well… I wasn’t about to buy this movie for $40 sight unseen through Vinegar Syndrome… so we rented it on Amazon for $4 and… guys, this movie was pretty sweet! Now is it $40 4K version sweet?!?
 
Rating – 9/10 – I’ll probably wait for a sale where it drops to $20 but good for VS that their original run of 6000 copies sold out in a day
 
December 15 – The Final Sacrifice (1990)
 
Another MST3K watch… but this is one that I’d actually seen in a theatre. Let me explain… it was 7 years ago at a late night MST3K viewing in Berkeley… but it’s about a teenager whose father is killed by a cult… and now he’s trying to survive with the help of a stranger in a Canadian tuxedo… and hijinx ensue. This is often a TOP 5 MST3K episode among fans… so that’s definitely the way to watch this movie… but overall as a movie…
 
Rating – 5/10 – MST3K all day
 
December 17 – Brothers (2024)
 
I love Peter Dinklage. If you tell me he’s in a movie, I’m watching it. Period. So when I hear that he & Josh Brolin are playing twin bank robbing brothers going for “the last score” with policeman Brendan Fraser in hot pursuit… and Glenn Close as their mother… you KNOW I’m in!!! First things first… the movie is far more vulgar than you’re probably picturing. Foul mouthed, violent, just horrible characters with mixed motives all around… and then to top it all off an orangutan shows up for no reason (at Marisa Tomei’s house) and… the whole movie has a LOT of sour moments throughout. That being said, it’s a comedy with some decent performances by MULTIPLE Academy Award winners…
 
Rating – 6/10 – Very few people will like it… even fewer will love it… but it’s not inconceivable
 
December 19 – The Beastmaster (1982)
 
I bought the 4K Vinegar Syndrome of this last year… but I hadn’t seen that version yet… and for those who don’t know, it’s a sword & sandals fantasy movie about a young man (Marc Singer) looking to avenge his village’s decimation by an evil cult leader/wizard (Rip Torn) & he stumbles upon his supernatural abilities to communicate with animals, see through their eyes & join up with some friends along the way (including John Amos & Bond girl Tonya Roberts). Hijinx ensue… and it’s so weird to me that this director basically did all of the Phantasm movies, this, and that’s about it really… oh & Bubba Ho Tep… but for a career of over 40 years that seems light. Is it the greatest movie ever made? Of course not… but as far as sword & sandal movies of the 80’s, it’s definitely in the top tier with the like of Conan the Barbarian or even guilty pleasures like Deathstalker.
 
Rating – 9/10 – I didn’t grow up with it like others on HBO (Hey Beastmaster’s On) but still enjoy it…

Happy Holidays everybody!!!

​Steve