January Movies - Week 2

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

The year 2024 continues... and new exciting things are popping up everyday... and here are some movies that we watched...

January 5 – Highlander 3: The Final Dimension (1994)
 
A few entries ago, I talked about how the original Highlander is a classic 80’s flick… and then the sequel happened and… kinda screwed over the franchise… so a few years later, they basically decided to do the first movie again, but with Mario Van Peebles as the bad guy instead of Clancy Brown. Don’t believe me? There are DOZENS of times you can line up the scenes exactly the same… and guess where you can hear all about it?!?
 
Rating - ???/10 – Everything I Learned From Movies on all the major podcatchers!!! Home Video Hustle joins us for this one!!!
 
January 6 – Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators (2023)
 
When Izzy was recovering from pneumonia (whole story about that with the healthcare industry), she was watching a BUNCH of documentaries… and the only one she suggested to me was this! It was the story of the American Gladiators TV show (HUGE fan when I was a kid & saw the live show) primarily from the point of view of a few directors, producers, and the main stars like Gemini, Ice, Nitro, Laser, etc. Basically they were exploited bodybuilders who were rode hard & put away basically penniless but… yeah, that’s a tale as old as time in Hollywood, right? So then I started wondering… why was this the unauthorized story besides being from the view of the exploited?
 
Rating – 10/10 – If you’re a fan of American Gladiators, check it out! Ice has a podcast too so I’m probably going to start listening to that…
 
January 7 – 30 for 30: The American Gladiators Documentary (2023)
 
This is why! ESPN did a 30 for 30 primarily from the point of the view the exploitive Elvis impersonator creator of American Gladiators… with a few of the gladiators included (Gemini & Malibu I think were the only crossover for both though). In the second half of the documentary, they start looking for the mysterious OTHER creator Dann Carr… and that’s probably the most intriguing part of the documentary. Although it seems like it was edited a very particular way that had me unsettled…
 
Rating – 9/10 – Aside from that though, I’d recommend checking it out too
 
January 8 – Holly Star (2017)
 
Izzy had this movie recommended to her during the Hallmark movie season… and it’s about a broke puppeteer who goes back to her hometown… sassy friend who likes paintball & they couldn’t afford Melissa McCarthy… and she ends up selling Christmas trees with her old “boyfriend” (guy she kissed when she was 7?) and his dad… and hijinx ensue? Look, it was pretty rough… but there were moments… and you know what you’re getting into when you sign up for it. The puppetry pieces were kinda fun too… at least different.
 
Rating – 8/10 – It was kooky enough for a Christmas watch… completely inoffensive
 
January 9 – A Christmas Karen (2022)
 
This one I was worried about… but it’s basically a modern day “A Christmas Carol” but instead of Ebenezer Scrooge, you get a Karen… and I’ll be damned… I actually really enjoyed this movie. There’s definitely the parts where you absolutely wish horrible things to Karen… and yeah, a bunch of things that she does are absolutely unforgiveable (even when we get the white savior moments at the end where money solves everything) but some of the jokes were pretty funny… and yeah, it was a LOT better than I expected going in.
 
Rating – 9/10 – I’d say give it a watch
 
January 10 – The Knight Before Christmas (2019)
 
We had seen this one a few years before… but my wife wanted to watch it again because she recommended it to somebody else and wanted to yell “Old Crone!” at the top of her lungs for the next few weeks. Basically a 15th century knight is sent to modern day Ohio by a witch to find his true purpose or quest or whatever… and he runs into Vanessa Hudgens… and hijinx ensue as he’s a decent human being in a world full of dipshits… and they hook up in ridiculous ways.
 
Rating – 9/10 – Not bad for a Hallmark Christmas movie… and apparently Ms. Hudgens is in DOZENS of them, like a whole cinematic universe
 
January 11 – The Creator (2023)
 
In the not-too-distant future, AI has become self-aware Skynet style and the robots designed to help mankind & build their society have risen up and bombed Los Angeles… so they were banned from America… yet live peacefully in New Asia (Eurasian continent). Hmm… gee, I wonder if they’re really bad guys. However, America is trying to find Nimrata, the AI God who the AI worships… but hijinx ensue when an undercover agent (Denzel’s kid) gets caught up & falls in love with a woman in New Asia… but then the seal team 6 comes in & BOOM! Now it’s a few years later & they bring him back in because… his wife isn’t dead! Yeah, you obviously know how the movie goes from here… and it’s basically what Avatar should be… but apparently on a budget of $25 million (ridiculously good for that amount). It has a very… Fallout meets Chappie kind of feel to it… but yeah, check it out.
 
Rating – 9/10 – Could have been tightened up a bit but… definitely worth a watch on Hulu

Depending on the weather, I may actually get to see a movie in theatres since "Barbenheimer" months ago... but come Hell or high water... allegedly Dune: Part 2 comes out on March 1st so... got that to look forward to as well. Have a great day everybody!!! Stay warm out there!!!

​Steve