November Movies - Week 3

Good Morning,

We've got a wonderful week of our friend Katie coming to visit so some great movies on the way... in the meantime, here's the stuff we watch for fun!!!

November 12 – No Escape (1994)
 
I remember watching this movie back when it came out… and absolutely loving it. Then it just… kinda slipped away from various formats. The Ray Liotta action vehicle where he’s a soldier sentenced to life on an inescapable prison island where there’s basically the crazy horde (led by Stuart Wilson) and the peaceful livers (led by Lance Henriksen & Ernie Hudson) and hijinx ensue. Well, Unearthed Films has just released DVD & Blu Ray versions of this movie with interviews from the cast & crew, making of specials, etc. and it’s absolutely a great rendering of this movie. So does the film hold up? Absolutely! Director Martin Campbell (next up was “Goldeneye” & “Casino Royale” among others) does a great job of world building the distant future 2022 (yeah, that’s pretty sweet) in a Blade Runner esque dystopia if only for a few moments before basically being in the jungle the rest of the movie… but yeah, everybody does this movie justice.
 
Rating – 10+/10 – I can’t wait to talk about this on the podcast but it’s just a good fun action flick!
 
November 13 – Krull (1983)
 
There were three things that I knew about this movie going in. 1) It’s a Star Wars ripoff; 2) Liam Neeson as in it and 3) The Glave! Everybody knows about the 5-clawed boomerang thing known as The Glave! This was definitely one of those sword, sandal & sorcery movies… meeting with a little intergalactic flare (the bad guys were technically alien invaders, but they could have just been ogres with a magical teleporting castle stronghold) and basically… I didn’t hate it. Yes, it was really cheesy and had some dry British wit in it… but it was very similar to Excalibur as far as just kind of an odd, ethereal feel to the entire movie & there are definitely things in this movie that were both ripped off from other movies & then in turn ripped off in other movies of the 80s… but yeah, I kinda liked it.
 
Rating – 8/10 – Not my favorite movie of the ilk but… I wouldn’t mind watching it again.
 
November 14 – The Punisher (1989)
 
Yes, the Dolph Lundgren version of the Marvel antihero… Batman with a gun… Gatman. I purchased the Umbrella Entertainment version with the original cut & director’s cut and a few great interviews… but we’re here to talk about the movie with Dolph as The Punisher & Lou Gossett as his police chief buddy, teaming up with local druglord Jeroen Krabbe… to go against the Yakuza when they start stealing mob bosses’ children! Yeah! That’s the premise! Honestly… I love the movie. Dolph plays a decent broken man who doubles as a behemoth, the violence is a little over the top but it’s a dark comic. I still like War Zone a little better but… this is one of those early comic book movies that deserves a rewatch.
 
Rating – 9/10 – This may move up to a 10 after seeing some of the other versions on this DVD but… pretty dang good already.
 
November 15 – Jeepers Creepers (2001)
 
I had never seen this movie… but I knew a few things. It was a hit with a bunch of sequels… and the writer/director is a pedophile POS and has been for a long time. Basically it’s one of those road trip horrors… brother & sister on the way to a family reunion or something… and they see something they shouldn’t have… and then do a BUNCH of the stupidest things you’d ever imagine to stay there… and hijinx ensue. I wanted everybody in this movie to die quickly, especially the main characters. They’re f**king annoying & frankly deserve it. The story is ridiculously stupid… especially when they start bringing in the annoying psychic or whatever. The creature design is pretty cool. I’ll give it that. I honestly have no idea why this took off & other 2000’s horror trash didn’t…
 
Rating – 4/10 – I really didn’t like it…
 
November 16 – Trucks (1997)
 
Reading the description, this is basically “Maximum Overdrive” without the copious amounts of cocaine from director Stephen King. It’s based on his story, same basic story, same locations, aliens control trucks or something and hijinx ensue around a gas station/diner. This version stars Timothy Busfield (Poindexter from “Revenge of the Nerds”) and Brenda Bakke (“Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight”) and I noticed about three minutes in that… Izzy & I had already seen this before, about a decade ago when we were looking at Netflix in the Presidio or something. Obviously it’s super-memorable. J That being said, it’s not that bad… basically just a TV movie version of “Maximum Overdrive” without the WAY over the top stuff… and young Uwe Boll favorite Brendan Fletcher is a child actor in this one.
 
Rating – 6/10 – Maybe only watch if you really like “Maximum Overdrive”?
 
November 17 – Trapped in Paradise (1994)
 
We’re guesting on an episode of What Were They Thinking? Podcast for this one… and I hadn’t seen this movie in probably 25 years or so… and the TV edit… but I remembered liking it. Nicolas Cage is a reformed criminal… and this brothers Jon Lovitz & Dana Carvey (playing Mickey Rourke with downs syndrome) are fresh out of jail… and basically trick him into going to this small town to rob the bank there. Hijinx ensue. Now, I’ll say this… watching it as an adult… I didn’t think it was possible but… I think the TV version is a LOT better. The original version is 110 minutes… but when they cut it down to 80-85 minutes for the TV edit, that apparently cuts out a LOT of the parts that just f**king drag… and really aren’t funny, just infuriating with bad family dynamics.
 
Rating – 7/10 – It wasn’t horrible… but it wasn’t great either. Moments of crazy Cage before it was a big thing.
 
November 18 – The Hellcats (1968)
 
Yup, another MST3K movie… but this one was about an undercover cop infiltrating a biker gang (think “Stone” or “Stone Cold”) and hijinx ensue… but it’s starring Ross Hagen & people who probably shouldn’t be in front of a camera portraying bikers unless they want their asses kicked. As usual, the MST3K episode was great… the movie itself wasn’t great at all… but that’s the jist of the show.
 
Rating – 6/10 – Definitely watch the MST3K episode on Tubi… that’s a 9.

So yeah, that'll do it... please have a great Thanksgiving in the meantime!!!

​Steve