November Movies - Week 1

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well... it took THREE Halloweens... but we finally got COVID. Worst part is... we're not sure whether we got it from me going to have dinner with my mom next door, or Izzy hanging with her friends at the Local Artisan Collective as these things happened the same night and BOTH parties went down entirely and tested positive... so it doesn't really matter. Anyway, so we spent Halloween at home watching movies & coughing...

October 29 – Beast (2022)
 
Idris Elba versus a Killer Lion… seriously… what more do you need in a film? However, for those of you that are hesitant to the premise, he’s a single dad with two teenage daughters on safari… and hijinx ensue. Four key things about this movie: 1) There are a lot of long-take shots… but they’re actually done surprisingly well; 2) Yes, the movie becomes a little predictable with all of the things mentioned in the 1st act that you know are coming back in the 3rd act; 3) The CGI Lion is probably the weakest thing about the film… but it’s still not that bad; 4) I don’t know… I really enjoyed this movie.
 
Rating – 9/10 – I was expecting a particular building to be filled with lions like “ROAR” towards the end but… yeah, a fun dumb horror movie
 
October 30 – Barbarian (2022)
 
This is the new tale of a girl who goes to an AirBNB & it’s double-booked with Bill Skaarsgard… and hijinx ensue. Now, I don’t want to spoil anything… but this movie was great at building tension… and has things happen that make you question decision-making to a high degree… but it was a lot of fun to watch. I’d recommend it if you are into the horror genre & the less you know going in the better.
 
Rating – 9/10 – The ending was a little rough but… endings are hard, especially for horror.
 
October 31 – Halloween Ends (2022)
 
I believe that one of the first posts on this site was for the “Halloween Kills” last year and how dumb of a movie it was in almost every way… so I went into this one with zero expectations other than that the movies will end. How do I feel about the franchise as a whole? Halloween 3 is my favorite & I didn’t mind the Rob Zombie ones at all. For this one, it starts off strong with something different to the series… and then picks up four years after the events of H. Kills, and there’s a young man who slowly loses his mind… and he’s banging Laurie’s granddaughter (by the way, the whole movie takes place over the course of like 3-4 days?) and there are some interesting turns that were great… but also some truly baffling dumb stuff too… but whatever, it’s over now, right?
 
Rating – 8/10 – Better than I thought but… yeah… don’t want to give spoilers away. Check it out on Peacock.
 
November 1 – Theodore Rex (1995)
 
Regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, the Whoopi-dinosaur buddy cop movie that was like a weird hybrid of Super Mario Bros & a horrible SNL sketch… but it has dinosaurs involved. Sure, they’re talking dinosaurs that sound like the groom from Father of the Bride and/or Carol Kane… but is it really that bad?!? Find out on our upcoming episode of Everything I Learned From Movies!!!
 
Rating - ???/10 – It really could go either way… because there are dinosaurs involved!
 
November 2 – We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story (1993)
 
Is this the best 1993 dinosaur movie from the minds of Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall & Universal Pictures? I think that I can comfortably say that it is not. However, this is a Don Bluth animated film… so from the creator of “Secret of NIMH” & “Land Before Time” which are for kids but with a dark twist… and he’s bringing dinosaurs into modern day New York City! So what do I think about it? It’ll actually be the week before the “Theodore Rex” episode so… check it out!
 
Rating - ???/10 – It even becomes a musical halfway through…
 
November 3 – Demonoid (1981)
 
This one is a Mexican movie about a killer demonic hand going around and killing people… so what more could you want? Suzanne Eggers is the main actress and it’s not exactly high art… but I really enjoyed watching it!
 
Rating – 8/10 – I have a weird thing with killer hand movies, either I love them or hate them… and I didn’t hate this one.
 
November 4 – A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987)
 
From the director & star of “The Stuff” comes the sequel to “Salem’s Lot” and it’s now on HBO Max!!! Michael Moriarity is a single father anthropologist filmmaker who goes to… I guess his wife’s hometown of Salem’s Lot after she had been away for 20 years, but her aunt left them a house or something… and then things get weird when he realizes that the town is ran by vampires who want him to document their lives to keep a record of them as the superior race living in secret. Things get REALLY weird when his high school sweetheart is still there waiting for him at the ripe old age of 17 (and he’s in his early 40s) and there’s the debut of Tara Reid as his son’s love interest… and yeah, it’s worth a watch in my opinion!
 
Rating – 9/10 – I enjoyed it more than the original… but it was also half the length & more like “The Stuff”

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

​Steve