It Came From The Man Cave!: Watched in 2017

Showing posts with label Watched in 2017. Show all posts

A Wimp will rise

Director: David Bowers

Writers:

Jeff Kinney

David Bowers

Stars:

Jason Drucker

Alicia Silverstone

Tom Everett Scott

A Heffley family road trip to attend Meemaw's 90th birthday party goes hilariously off course thanks to Greg's newest scheme to get to a video gaming convention. This family cross-country adventure turns into an experience the Heffleys will never forget.

As a parent, there is nothing more gratifying than a good book that your kids can truly get into. Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been one of those series and after 8 books and 4 movies later this family hopes they keep on coming. Even if they have to recast. So let's talk about the cast for a few minutes. Many fans of the franchise expressed anger at the recasting for this film, especially Roderick. And I get it the fans that are now teens grew up with the old cast but I feel like this team did a good job picking up where the old cast left off, kind of.

I had no trouble buying into the kids Greg and Rodrick it was the parents that I had some set back with and mainly with *Gulp* Alicia Silverstone. Look I love her too and she was one big reason for me to watch this time around. Sadly she is a terrible mother or just one I do not believe. Somehow she just did not fit the task like Rachael Harris. Aaaaand well Steve Zahn was funny as all get out but Tom Everett Scott yeah not so much and it is not like he has not played the dad before he did those Air Buddy movies and was fine. My grip would be that they tried way too hard to be the other set of parents that they just never let themselves develop with the new cast. Yet still, this movie works, really I mean it. I might not have shed a tear but in the end I...

Still, think this movie is right in all the right places. It's silly it's heartwarming, its a brother movie and one fine road trip movie. I did learn from my girls that they jumped around using story arch's from a few of the other books (Well they skip 5-8 to get to this one) but once they got passed the book was better phase they sat back and enjoyed this movie as well. The locations were fun throughout the movie, as well as the comic, relief coming from another family on there, own family road trip.

Look this is a heartwarming family movie that does not deserve the negativity of the new cast. It was fun to sit and watch this as a family not expecting much. I will say this old man is good at predicting the outcome of movies and this one had me guessing wrong and I love that! If you get the chance give the wimp a chance you just might walk away liking the new family like we did. Besides the altercation between Greg and "Beardo" in the shower is a complete spoof of Psycho how could you go wrong?

4 Ninja Santa's out of 5

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Creator:

Amy Sherman-Palladino

Stars:

Rachel Brosnahan

Alex Borstein

Tony Shalhoub

In 1958 New York, Midge Maisel's life is on track- husband, kids, and elegant Yom Kippur dinners in their Upper West Side apartment. But when her life takes a surprise turn, she has to quickly decide what else she's good at - and going from housewife to stand-up comic is a wild choice for everyone but her. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls).

Oh boy, am in trouble here. See I watched the pilot episode earlier this year (I think) and voted for more, the pilot left me begging Amazon to pick this series up. And over on Rotten Tomatoes, it has this whole 95% fresh thing going on. So I would ask them the Tomatoes did you watch all 8 episodes? Because if you did am pretty sure you would not feel the same way, how do I really feel well read on shall you?

Me around episode 4

Man, the first 3 episodes have it all, love, lost love, heart, soul, and the feeling of being lost all tossed into a blender for a nice smooth no aftertaste kind of show. You really start to feel for the characters and want desperately to see more. And with so many laugh out loud moments this show was turning into a real binge watch. But somehow when episode 4 rolls around I find myself in the same rut as the show. It has become more of the same and the jokes are getting lame. And now the binge-watching me has crawled to a stop for the most part. I started watching in November and just finished before the new year if that tells you something.

My biggest complaint has to be the depression that this show slaps around with a cold fish in hopes for a good laugh. And do you know the main charters have kids? Yeah, we all forget too because they are running around all the time day and night! Is this how it was in the 1950's? My parents worked all the time too but I remember them being around. Did you leave your kids with your parents all the time? I don't know but for me, this was one of the main plot holes that would take me out of the show, kind of like the squirrel scenario, hey look at me doing stand up.... baby in my arms. Wait baby have not see that child in the last 6 episodes. Ugh

Not all is lost tho I really love the feel of downstate New York and its vibe. The colors and clothes the Jazz it all really draws you into the decade giving a warm fuzzing feeling. And the sweet sounds of Sinatra seem to flow through your speakers trapping you nicely into this world. And by far the best part of Mrs. Maisel is not the star of the show and her sparkly outfits but none other than Chicago born Alex Borstein! Her grit would be the one thing that made me stick around until the end and will be the big reason for checking into season two. She is the glue that holds it all together and really knocks it out of the park.

I seriously wanted to love this show but sadly it did not hold together for me, the backstory sucked the life right out of me making the charters lifeless and cold, I just did not like how that felt. The show really does start out great and looks fantastic and that's why I ask to have the writers for the Tomato site really watch all of it? And as for season two, it better find a way for me to stick with it. I am looking forward to Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein taking home so hardware this award season but not much else. Amazon you really need a hit sadly for me this was not it. Thank god for the Tick earlier this year.

2 Smoking Hot Guns overall

2 smoking hot guns for the story

4 smoking hot guns for the look and feel

4 smoking hot guns for Alex Borstein

BC The Frist Thanksgiving

Director: Abe Levitow

Writers:

Johnny Hart

Jack Caprio

Stars:

Daws Butler

Bob Holt

Don Messick

To add flavor to her rock soup, the Fat Broad commands Wiley, Peter, Thor, etc. to catch a turkey. The problem is that no one knows what a turkey is except for the turkey himself. In spite of this, the chase is on. Mostly a series of running gags, this animated special did a superb job of capturing the humor of Johnny Hart's B.C. comic strip.

Wow, who remembers this TV show? I loved reading the Sunday paper comic and I remember all the holiday specials. What I did not remember was how silly this was and how it felt like an hour watching this thirty-minute cartoon.

This story has a basic plot about the turkey that starts about halfway through the show, the first half is mostly unrelated gags strung together. This animated special was made for T.V. that first aired on November 19, 1973, on NBC Television. So I was 3 so pretty sure I'm remembering the reruns at this point. The jazz soundtrack is by Danny Darpino and gives you a nice Pink Panter style vibe. The jazz fits the bill very well.

At one time these were fun for us to watch as a family but fast forward 44 years later and my girls thought I was nuts for watching this old looking cartoon. Well, they had a good point it is not really about Thanksgiving and the pace is pretty slow with gags are no longer funny. And that is sad it still has the charm for those of us that grew up watching these specials. Seventies cartoons sure have an odd look that you instantly know it was from that decade.

On a good note if you have Amazon Prime you can catch this today. But through some quick research, this has fallen into public domain and can be watched anytime for free at the Archive.org website.

Sorry B.C. I can only give you...

2 Turkey Legs out of 5

Trick or treat, fools.

Tyler Perry

Cassi Davis

Patrice Lovely

Diamond White

Madea winds up in the middle of mayhem when she spends a haunted Halloween fending off killers, paranormal poltergeists, ghosts, ghouls, and zombies while keeping a watchful eye on a group of misbehaving teens.

Sure I watched this little gem after Halloween only because it was just added to Amazon's streaming service. And honestly, I was looking for something lite to watch and Tyler Perry movies have always piqued my curiosity so why not start with a little Halloween.

Perry as with his other films wrote, directed, and starred in Boo! The look and feel of the movie is not bad you get the sense of a lower budget on a bigger scale. I'm not familiar with his other movies so I am not sure if the polished look is how these all play out but I will let you know more soon as I will be digging into these a little bit more. Perry and his crew shot this film in 6 days with a $20,000,000 budget. The film would go on to net $74 million domestic and international. Of course with numbers like that, you can go ahead and make Boo 2!

Other than the returning cast of misfits from the past movies this flick is chalked full of YouTube stars. Yeah (hangs head) the only way I knew that was my kids were watching and filling me in. If they were not YouTubers they where Disney cast members. Bella Thorne makes an appearance for what was my guess to show a not so wholesome girl next door charter. Don't get me wrong I really like her its just once she left Disney she went on to do the Scream series for MTV and Amityville the Awaking showing a much more mature side of her career. These seem to happen a lot once these teens leave the house of mouse.

One of those Disney stars Diamond White lit up the screen. Sure she was the sassy paints that will get the story rolling and that is ok she nails the part. As for the rest of the cast, they all seem to be part of the Madea/Perry mix and bounce well-rounded jokes off of each other like they have been together since birth.

So if you are a little like me and have never seen a Tylor Perry movie this was a good one to jump on board with. I defiantly will check out a few more in the series. Boo! A Madea Halloween was well worth it, it is fun and entertaining without going over your head. Let's just say its Ernest for a new generation but with more of a story.

I give Boo!...

4 Bloody Brains out of 5

and why not it was a good story that had me laughing out loud!

What are you afraid of? It's only rock and roll...

Charles Martin Smith

Writers:

Rhet Topham

Michael S. Murphey

Stars:

Marc Price

Tony Fields

Lisa Orgolin

Gene Simmons

Ozzy Osbourne

Hard rock idol Sammi Curr (Tony Fields) burns to death in a hotel fire. His biggest fan, Lakeridge High School student and resident metal head Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) is devastated by the news and turns to local radio DJ "Nuke" (Gene Simmons) for emotional support. After a heated discussion about the deceased rock star, Nuke presents Eddie with a rare demo record, the last ever recorded by Sammi and the only copy in existence. Overwhelmed by Nuke's generosity, Eddie accepts the gift without hesitation, unaware of its dark role in things to come.

Alone in his room with feelings of rage and retribution racing through his mind, Eddie places the new record onto his stereo and is shocked to discover that he can communicate with the deceased rock star when it is rotated backwards. Playing upon both Eddie's loyalty and emotional vulnerability, Sammi instructs the teenager on how to get back at those who have caused him so much pain, instructions that the easily manipulated Eddie carries out, prompting the usual 'underdog gets his own back' results.

When Eddie tries to destroy the record, an evil version of Sammi is resurrected (complete with supernatural powers) and goes on a rampage at the high school Halloween dance, turning Eddie's involvement with the devilish rock star into a spine tingling nightmare not only for the young headbanger, but for his school and hometown as well. Can Eddie stop the demonic Sammi before he sends the entire town straight to hell? One thing's for sure, the teenagers of Lakeridge High are in for a Halloween they'll never forget.

Low on gore and heavy on metal 1986's Trick or Treat fulls a little short 30 years later. As a young metalhead in 86's the movie was everything. I was different as well listing to Megadeath, Metallica and Anthrax like it was religion. I was bullied for being different but never really cared. I was all about the music bringing me happiness. The band Fastway carried the sound from beginning to end with it's pulse pounding riffs and heavy drums ringing in your ears. See my post from earlier this month for Music Monday the soundtrack still holds out.

Despite the big names of Osbourne and Simmons, the real star here is good old Skippy himself Marc Price. Price plays the lovable loser that saves the day. You find yourself really pulling for him just like you did while watching "Growing Pains". For me, the real star is director Charles Martin Smith you know the nerd from American Graffiti that also directed A Dolphins Tale. Smith weaves a story that works and never loses the pace giving us a fast hour and a half movie. The idea worked in 1986 and if you where a kid then you will love the stroll down memory lane.

The other notable actor would be Tony Fields with his height giving him a cool metal look. His back round is fascinating and nothing like the 16-year-old me remembers. Let's just say I do not remember the terrible lip syncing and the great dance's moves. Feilds began touring with Debbie Reynolds in her nightclub act only 3 months after starting at Dupree Acadamy of Dance when he came to Solid Gold, he had had only 2 years of formal training. He was also in Thriller and Beat it music videos. Sadly Feilds died of Aids in 1995.

The movie still Jam's if you were around to enjoy the great hair metal days. If not Trick or Treat will not carry its weight. And if you do go back and watch it remember this came out long before Wes Cravens Shocker as they are pretty similar. So, in the end, the movie is still worth finding and Fastway needs to get off there ass and cough up the music rights to a proper Blu-Ray can come out

3 Bloody Brains out of 5

This was part of the Maddy Loves Her Classic Films blogathon The Horrorthon check out the others that took part.

Ghouls just want to have fun!

Director: Jack Bender

Writer: William Bleich

Stars:

Lee Montgomery

Shari Belafonte

LeVar Burt

Peter DeLuise

Joanna Lee

Phil, Melissa, Mitch, Mary, and Vinnie are high school friends, who unwittingly raise the dead on Halloween night. Once the dead have returned, Pitchford Cove will never be the same again....or will it?

For years now during the Countdown to Halloween I have read about The Midnight Hour so this year I made it a point to track it down. Sadly it was pretty easy to find thanks to YouTube once again. And after viewing The Midnight Hour I immediately kicked my self for not watching this one sooner!

What is not to love about this movie, young 80's up and coming stars, silly small town plot that works if you live in a small town (duh), fun Halloween costumes, witches, vampire zombies and a stellar soundtrack! This movie is so much fun why does it get a bad rap? The film also marks Macaulay Culkin's first screen role as an uncredited trick-or-treater yet I could not tell you who he was.

Director Jack Bender was no stranger to TV movies like High School USA staring Chrispin Glover to a catalog of 29 other made for TV movies from 1980 until now. Bender has also worked on many great TV shows starting his career with Eight is Enough, 90210, all the way to Game of Thrones. But good old Jack could never break away from the small screen with only two theatrical releases Childs Play 3 and Lone Justice 2. But when it comes to the small screen he is pure gold just like The Midnight Hour.

It is also fun to point out William Bleich the writer has given us some great spooky Halloween style flicks to look back on as well. Starting his career with 1980's the Hearse to 1989's Chain Letter and one of my favorite Christmas TV movies Dolly Parton's A Smoky Mountian Christmas. The last thing Bleich has worked on was Poltergeist: The Legacy, in 1986 he was nominated for the Edgar award for best television feature or miniseries Deadly Messages. This man knows his stuff.

Let's talk about this amazing group of actors that brought this movie to life. Some will recognize Lee Montgomery from his starring role in 1972's Ben or maybe the 1985 Sarah Jessica Park's Girls Just Want to Have Fun for me tho it was Growing Pains, With Stephen and Elyse away for the weekend, Alex hosts a wild party and worries over Mallory going off with one of his womanizing friends. Montgomery is our star of The Midnight Hour and he does a fantastic job.

Shari Belafonte is beautiful as the main Witch and even gives us a little homage to Michael Jackson with a dance number even sung by her, "Get Dead" and why have I not put Get Dead on any of my Halloween mixtapes yet!

Oh, 21 Jump Steet how we thank you for all those heartthrobs that graced Tiger Beat Magazine we get Peter DeLuise has the dumb jock. All through this heartthrob has stepped behind the camera more working for the Disney Channel as well as the Hallmark Channel even giving us a Halloween love story Harvest Moon from 2015 that still airs this time of the year.

But by far my favorite actor in Midnight Hour has to be Jonna Lee as a stunning 50's era cheerleader. Lee can be seen in big screen hits Chained Heat with Linda Blair and one of my favorites Quarterback Princess with Helen Hunt and her big role Making the Grade with Judd Nelson. I do not know what it was but she played the innocent role so well as she was searching for love. I just could not take my eyes off of her as she lit up the screen. Sadly Lee has left acting to become an artist I sure would have loved to see more of her.

This movie also has some great cameos from legends like Dick Van Patten, Kevin McCarthy, Cindy Morgan, Mark Blankfield, and Kurtwood Smith. So what is not to love about this movie? And how about the soundtrack In the Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett, Sea of Love with Del Shannon, and Bad Moon Rising by CCR just to name a few. And the soundtrack comes to life thanks to Wolfman Jack as our radio DJ.

The special effects are phenomenal being this is a made for TV special. Nothing really over the top or scary but simple make-up works bringing the many ghouls and vampires to life. And the background visuals really pop to life with much time and effort spent making sure every little detail is there.

If you are an 80's kid like myself or even a 70's kid you owe it to yourself to watch this Halloween treat. I loved the story it was simple but effective with a cast that gets along so well you really feel like your part of the gang. A dream of a soundtrack keeps the pace flowing and of course an 80's style love story. I never lost interest in the story. To the critics that pan this movie you are obviously part of a new generation of fast-paced action games and forget what it is like to have a story that mixes comedy with horror and romance. So slow donw and enjoy life around you!

The Midnight Hour deserves a proper DVD or Blu-Ray release so we can add this to our let's watch a Halloween Movie Collection!!!! I will be revisiting this movie from now on as long as it finds its home on those streaming sites or if I can come up with $235 bucks for an out of print DVD.

Midnight Hour I give you....

4 Bloody Brains out of 5

If anything watch the dance and song Get Dead you will love it.

Man I love the 80's

Man's Best Friend Just Got Spooky!

The Great Halloween Puppy Adventure

Director:

David DeCoteau (as Mary Crawford)

Writer: Andrew Helm

Stars:

Evan Crooks

Stephanie Shemanski

Kristine DeBell

Eric Roberts

Susan Olsen

Light-hearted family adventure. Linda (Kristine DeBell) and her boyfriend Ted (Eric Roberts), along with Linda's son Adam (Evan Crooks) and girlfriend Molly (Stephanie Shemanski), are looking forward to their Halloween break. But events soon take an odd twist when Ted finds himself inhabiting the body of a loveable bulldog after Molly experiments with a spell found in an old dusty book.

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime

What the heck did I just watch? I feel dirty for some reason after watching this train wreck. Was this really for kids, because the sexual tension between the charters was a little hard to handle. How was this a Halloween movie?

So today the weather is cold and dark the perfect time for a Halloween film with the kids. We loved Spooky Buddies and I really like David DeCoteau's low budget entries into the Horror Realm. He is reasonable for Puppet Master 3 of all things! I have seen this movie floating around many of the streaming sites and have always wanted to check it out.

As the opening credits roll (In long form like most Full Moon Features) I was treated to some names that have a nice body of work. Like Harry Manfredini, you know the composer for Friday the 13th. And hitting the editing sweet Danny Draven who directed Reel Evil which is still one of my favorite Full Moon Features. The movie was written by Andrew Helm who seems to look to DeCoteau to direct most of his films also gave us A Talking Cat, Christmas Spirit, and Santa's Summer House.

Sadly Helm's story is so full holes that you just don't care about any of it. We get a teenager in College that is all about Halloween and his neighbor that is super cute helps with a spell that turns his mom's boyfriend into a dog. This all happens the night before Halloween and The day of but we would not know that from the background or the story thanks to a splash title screen we now know. Not so sure how Halloween play's into the story other than the kid liking Halloween and his girlfriend trying to be a Witch.

To the sexually frustrated mother gets a hair up her but to take a trip on Halloween to a cabin so she can work things out with her boyfriend. You know the ones that the teens just turned into a dog. Well, they all wake the next day to find a calm dog on the couch so they take it with them. Ok, first off if I was just turned into a dog I would not be this calm or happy! And once we get to the cabin (That takes forever in a long montage of roads with the three of them dubbed over so boring) we get some really odd scene of both couples. First Mom and the Dog pretty much make love through heavy petting and dog kisses but yet the dog is a female and the last time I checked Eric Roberts was a dude. This was so creepy and hard to watch I mean she gets down on the ground and eats grass with the dog!

Conveniently the other couple walks to the cabin next door that seems to know our college friend. She also seems to know the fact that she is a witch just like her. The new witch is played by Cindy Brady herself Susan Olsen. And thank god for her she was my favorite part of the whole story. So was so wacky and hippy like that she played her role perfectly. She tells the kids how to reverse the spell and they race back home to do so, you know because it is Halloween duh.

So lack of real storyline along with poor acting and a sesame street score that was so wrong matched with no real reason to call this a Halloween type of movie this was one of the worst things I have ever witnessed. Skip this at all cost's! If you have seen it let me know what you thought in the comments below.