July Movies - Week 2

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Gearing up for the busiest part of the year with regards to art shows... but of course... we find a way for the podcast... as we have appearances to keep!!!

July 5 – Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
 
As you may have heard, I love Ghostbusters. Grew up with the original as one of our few VHS tapes growing up… the second one is great… didn’t particularly care for the 2016 one but I think that’s because of the bad “improv” nature of the comedy… but they won me back with the last one in spades with the Stranger Things / Next Generation angle. My brother went to see this one opening weekend… and he HATED it!!! He told me that it was a bunch of woke BS where instead of busting ghosts 90% of the movie is the teenage girl falling in a lesbian relationship with a ghost and blah blah blah… and I could totally see that being the angle… and I’d still enjoy it. So… we watched it… and I saw the “lesbian relationship” as more of 15-year old teenagers finding a friend while they’re being angsty and… it’s not like anything happened in a sexual manner so… not sure what my brother’s thinking about. There are some definite lulls in the action (and logic for that matter) in the middle of the movie but… you know, movie gotta movie… and they actually bring back Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray & everybody’s favorite Ernie Hudson (can you believe that guy’s almost 80?!?) in small but significant & hilarious roles… plenty of callbacks being back in New York City… and yeah, I really liked it.
 
Rating – 8/10 – I’d probably only rate it above the 2016 one (Answer the Call or whatever?) but still fun…
 
July 7 – Mazes & Monsters (1980)
 
Tom Hanks’ first leading role… too bad it’s a made-for-TV Satanic Panic movie about four college kids who get swept up in the seedy underbelly of role-playing board games that definitely aren’t Dungeons & Dragons… or something like that. Look… the actors are okay for what they’re given. Is even the great Tom Hanks perfect? Of course not… he’s like 19 or something & given a horrible script. Is this movie worth a watch though for some of the ridiculous things that come out of people’s mouths in the early Reagan days?!?
 
Rating – 7/10 – Absolutely! Worth a drunk watch with friends… or we’ll talk about it on the podcast later this month
 
July 9 – Red Sun (1971)
 
This is another Western where Charles Bronson is part of a gang that robs a train, including a ceremonial sword from the emperor of Japan meant for the President… but then the gang double crosses him & blows him up with dynamite. Now the head guard of the Japanese delegation (Toshiro Mifune of “Seven Samurai”, “Yojimbo”, etc) must join forces with him to bring them to justice… and get the sword (and maybe the money) back. It’s your typical odd couple setup… but actually a lot of fun & from the director of the early Bond movies (Terence Young) so he knows how to shoot a shot & bring the story around. Mifune is always amazing… even if he’s in an early version of “Shanghai Knights” sans most of the comedy.
 
Rating – 8/10 – Definitely worth a shot if you’re into Westerns but a lot of cliches
 
July 11 – Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
 
Have you seen Ernest Goes to Jail? Well, have you seen it with Muppets?!? Basically the Muppets go on a world tour with tour manager Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) and the world’s most dangerous frog escapes from a gulag & switches places with Kermit unbeknownst to anyone else. Guys… it’s a Muppets movie… so you know it’s great…
 
Rating – 9/10 – Always fun… and Tina Fey as the gulag director makes it even better

If you're in northern Utah & going to events, you'll probably see us in person... whether it's Ogden Farmers Market, Ogden Pride Festival, Eccles Art Center, Weber County Fair, Craft Lake City DIY Festival in Salt Lake City Fairgrounds, Fiiz Fest in South Jordan, Yart Sale, As Above So Below Witch Fest in Roy... all kinds of crazy stuff!!! See you there!!!

​Steve & Izzy