November Movies - Week 4

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate... and/or watch movies in the week leading up to it...

November 21 – The Lost World (1992)
 
No, not the Spielberg directed sequel to Jurassic Park… this is the Arthur Conan Doyle inspired one from the director of My Pet Monster that came out the year BEFORE JP. It stars John Rhys-Davis as the explorer leading an expedition into the heart of Africa for a “Lost World” that he had heard about from a dying man & his sketchbook on his last voyage… and hijinx ensue. It has a very TV movie feel to it… especially with the dinosaurs being in that low-budget 80’s way… and used sparingly… but the performances… are they enough to pull me back in?!?
 
Rating - ???/10 – DINOVEMBER ON EVERYTHING I LEARNED FROM MOVIES!!! TELL A FRIEND!!! WE JUST TALKED TO CAPTAIN POWER TIM DUNIGAN!!!
 
November 23 – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One (2023)
 
Yes, I finally watched it… nearly 18 months after it came out… and I think it’s been on Amazon Prime for a few months but… it got lost in the shuffle. You know how it is. I think the first half of the 7th installment of the franchise but… they seem to have found their stride since the 3rd one… and this time superherospy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) needs to find a Key (capital intentional) to find The Entity (also intentional, but basically the McGuffin AI that’s going to destroy the world Skynet style) and blasts from his past pop up because they’re working for The Entity… and hijinx ensue. Look, I love an action movie… but if you’re having every line delivered as if it’s the Most Important Line Ever Delivered in Cinema… EXCEPT for the one “comedic improv” driving scene that’s down the EXACT SAME PATH as the one in Fast X… it might just take me out of the movie a little bit… that being said…
 
Rating – 9/10 – I really enjoyed it… and if you like spy movies, then you’ve probably already seen it… but if not, check it out
 
November 25 – Sleepy Hollow (1999)
 
Some have said that this was Tim Burton’s last great movie… and I had a pretty bad experience when I watched this in theaters back in the day… but this nearly two hour retelling of the story of Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) & the Headless Horseman (Christopher Walken) with plenty of other great cast members thrown into a weird & whimsical tale of science meeting magic and just overall cookyness with a drab color pallet… is worth a watch. I noticed this time just how much of a nod to Hammer movies it is (since we watched a bunch a while back) & Depp wasn’t completely annoying in this one…
 
Rating – 9/10 – Not a bad flick & definitely good for the spooky season vibes
 
November 27 – Twisters (2024)
 
It’s a remake of the 90’s action flick about stormchasers Twister (you know, with Bill Paxton & Helen Hunt) but in this one they have the new Pitt McConaughey (Glen Powell) & some random blonde chick (who cares?) who are overcoming their demons of crippling inferiority complex and… I don’t know… handsome rationality? They’re trying to save people from tornados by dumping diaper chemicals into the whirly winds… but will they also find inexplicable love, other than the fact that they’re both kinda cute especially when compared to the people they surround themselves with?!? Look… this movie actually wasn’t that bad. The plot: Pointless & convoluted. The characters: Dull AF. The motivations: Completely lost, especially when compared to the original. In the original, the trauma of the tornado when they were a kid was the reason & drive behind their chasing tornados… in this one, it’s what keeps them from performing the simplest act in the field that they’ve allegedly dedicated their lives to… and yet everyone around them still puts the crux of their plan based solely on their shoulders to differing results. However, still not a bad movie… just made me want to watch the original for a good movie though.
 
Rating – 7/10 – Very fitting that Paul Scheer showed up at the end & had probably the best moment in the film

Have a great long weekend (hopefully) everybody!!!

​Steve