May Movies - Week 3

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