October Movies - Week 3

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

The struggle continues... yet against all odds, we're well on the way to getting MIL adjusted to Utah and finding her a place to live & finally become an adult. In the meantime, we also watched a few movies...

October 13 – Single White Female (1992)
 
I had never seen this movie before… but I basically have through cultural osmosis. Tale as old as time about the recently-single woman with a rent controlled apartment in NYC (Bridget Fonda) who now needs a roommate to help pay for her palatial accommodations (like 4000 square feet?!?) so she meets this shy applicant (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who slowly but surely starts to destroy her life… while also taking on the other girl’s look… and murderous hijinx ensue when she gets back with her ex-boyfriend (Steven Weber). This movie is… dark… and honestly infuriating with regards to how the main girl handles the situation in the most plot-convenient way possible. That being said… decent suspense… and plenty of full frontal nudity… and scenes that you’ll probably remember for a long, long time. What more can I say?
 
Rating – 9/10 – The ending epilogue almost destroys the rest of the movie… because honestly the “good girl” would probably have to defend herself in a court of law but… nope, just credits and a “I guess I understand it all…” BOO!!! Definitely watch this movie though…
 
October 15 – The Fog (1980)
 
I don’t recall if I’ve seen this movie since I started doing these… but it’s one of Izzy’s favorites. Director John Carpenter and his follow-up to the first two Halloween movies, small coastal town is terrorized by fog on the 100th anniversary of the founding of their town… and apparently pirate ghosts are going around killing people. Tom Atkins (without the moustache) & Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis try to save the day with help from the voice of Adrienne Barbeau… and hijinx ensue. This is a good little 90 minute Halloween flick… as long as you don’t try to think too much about it… I think that’s why it’s good fun watch & one of Izzy’s favorite. It’s just ridiculous enough to be mildly scary but not too real.
 
Rating – 9/10 – I enjoy it too… but yeah, only an annual watch because of the wife. I prefer other Carpenter flicks.
 
October 17 – Duel (1971)
 
Spielberg’s first movie… well, I guess it was a TV movie that they added a few scenes to make feature length… but it’s about a traveling salesman (Dennis Weaver) going across California… when the driver of a trailer starts to terrorize him… and they both seem to lose their goddamn minds on the (completely isolated?) highways of California. For being such a simple premise, you see a lot of the Spielberg tropes in the filming with shots similar to movies like Jaws & Jurassic Park later… but yeah, definitely a decent flick. I recommend checking it out.
 
Rating – 8/10 – Only a few moments where I was checking the time… but you had to pad it out to feature length. The actual tense scenes are legit.
 
October 19 – Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
 
Killer alien clowns land in a small town and hijinx ensue. If you haven’t seen this movie, and you enjoy campy horror flicks, then you need to remedy this on Tubi RIGHT NOW!!! The special effects and hilarious kills are all you want in a horror flick without being really scared. The acting is… over the top in all the best ways… John Vernon plays his character (you know the one) and you even get a nerdy looking Christopher Titus saying “What the heck was that?!?” in his acting debut. Seriously, the Chiodo Brothers made a great flick!
 
Rating – 10+/10 - That’s right! Ten-PLUS!!! We showed it to Katie & Izzy’s Mom and they both loved it… and they soft… watch it with your kids!!!

Until next time!!!

​Steve