The only thing worse than a bad action movie is a boring one; even with the “Fast and the Furious” series now reaching that point where it’s becoming self-aware and self-satirical, Justin Lin’s penultimate entry in to the long running movie series is terrible. I rarely see action movies with so much noise and activity that put me to sleep, but lo and behold, “F9” pulls it off. This is a movie that throws everything but the kitchen sink at audiences, bringing in the cast from “Tokyo Drift,” Helen Mirren and Kurt Russell for brief walk on roles, and jumping through hoops to explain away the big plot holes with something vaguely resembling logic.
Tag Archives: Adventure
Pungo: A Witch’s Tale (2020)
The witch of Pungo legend is interesting enough on its own, but when all was said and done, I don’t know if it warranted a movie. Director Cook uses the legend vaguely as a means of setting the stage for a larger scale narrative, as well as paying tribute to Virginia. In fact, the Virginia born director casts all Virginia based actors. It’s an admirable aspect to a movie that sadly falls apart and feels confused both in tone and genre. By the time the climax rolls around it never really makes up its mind.
Five Good (and Five Terrible) Movies Heavily Influenced by “Home Alone”
“Dial Code Santa Claus (aka 3615 code Père Noël),” now available for collectors, is generally accepted as the original “Home Alone.” Also with the reboot now in the works over at Disney+, I thought it’d be fun to harp on Chris Columbus Christmas classic. Originally a huge hit when it arrived in theaters (my brother and I saw it in theaters with my dad three times!), the film inspired a huge slew of rip offs, and copycats from competing studios looking for their own piece of the pie.
I thought it’d be fun to look at four films heavily “inspired” by the classic that were Terrible and five that were actually quite good. There’s a good chance I’m missing a few, so feel free to let me know in the comments what I should have included.
King Kong (1976): Collector’s Edition [2 Blu-Ray]
Now seems around the perfect time and climate to remind movie geeks that in 1976 there was a large scale remake of “King Kong.” And it’s definitely a remake. That is the best thing I can say about it at the end of the day. It’s not great like the original, but it’s not bloated like the 2005 remake, so the mileage varies with director John Guillermin’s treatment of the 1933 classic. After many years without much of a release for the fans, Scream Factory finally offers up a pretty stellar Blu-Ray bound to compliment any fan’s collection, and might even serve as a great chaser for “Godzilla vs. Kong.”
TV On DVD: Garfield
After Viacom acquired Paws Inc. Jim Davis’ orange feline icon has been getting his due on DVD thanks to PBS of all places. For the last few years, PBS has taken it upon themselves to give Garfield fans the treatment of the character that they’ve been asking for, for a long time. The long hard to find releases of the original series are now readily available in crisp transfers. Thankfully, the series is about as good as ever. Even without the nostalgia goggles, “Garfield and Friends” is hilarious and Garfield at his best.
Thunder Force (2021)
Riddle me this: If the media keeps boasting about how much of a brilliant actress you are, and you do nothing but star in crappy movie vehicles created by your husband, are you really that much of an actress? I ask that because I’ve about lost all tolerance for Melissa McCarthy. Maybe at one time in her career, she seemed like she could rise to the top of the heap. But her insistence on allowing her husband Ben Falcone to sabotage her career with consistently awful movies has completely tainted any remaining good faith in her.
TV on DVD: Warner Archive’s Complete Series
I’m a big fan of “Josie and the Pussycats.” I think the theme song one of the most raucously entertaining themes ever made, while the cartoon is one of the better byproducts of the “Scooby Doo” influence. Hoping to continue the series, Hanna Barbera took their franchise to the more obvious setting: Space! And they branched out in to orbit with Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space: The Complete Series, now on Blu-Ray.