“My friend, you have seen this incident, based on sworn testimony. Can you prove that it didn’t happen?” And then with startling dramatic gleam, our babbling narrator Criswell declares, “Perhaps, on your way home, someone will pass you in the dark, and you will never know it… for they will be from outer space!” Only this sort of sheer nonsense could come from the one and only “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” one of the absolute best films ever made. It’s a film that is so bad you can barely look away throughout its run time. Films of this ilk like “Reefer Madness” and “Robot Monster” must be appreciated in the same vein.
You could reasonably make the assertion that I’ve rooted for “Holliston” to stink. And you wouldn’t be that far off. I didn’t root for it to stink, but I was never an ardent supporter of it from out the gates because I simply had nothing to gain from it. “Holliston” is still a vanity project and is still a bit odd, but thankfully the show has gotten better.
Director John Singleton’s “Shaft” is something of a remake, but also a reboot for modern audiences. Fans of the seventies crime thriller with Richard Roundtree will recognize the name of Shaft, while modern audiences can enjoy the pure machismo of Samuel L. Jackson in an iconic role. Why it never became a full fledged movie series is not at all surprising. “Shaft” takes on all the beats of the action genre, with a lovable hero, brutal villains, interesting sidekicks, and enough action to satisfy easily bored audiences. The problem is, once “Shaft” is done, there simply is nowhere left to go with this character.
Up until “Black Dynamite” came along and proved me wrong, “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” was the best satire of blaxploitation movies ever made. As one of the very few comedies the Wayans brothers ever directed, “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” both mocks and pays tribute to the blaxploitation genre, harping on various tropes of the sub-genre from the seventies that filled many grindhouse theaters across the world. What makes “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” even better is that even if you have never seen a film from the sub-genre, you’ll still pretty much laugh until the final scene.
The role of the grim reaper isn’t an easy one, and the Grim Reaper himself knows it all too well. He’s getting on his years, and is now looking to train his daughter to become the new Grim Reaper. She is a young girl who is obsessed with her own life, and isn’t looking forward to becoming a reaper. She just wants to be like the cool girls in school, the Banshees. But, being the daughter of the Reaper, she will eventually have to keep the scales of life and death balanced, and the Reaper is intent on making her uphold her duties, or endure a terrible grounding.
Pauly Shore?! In the Army?! But–what wackiness will ensue from this mash up? The nineties were a time where Hollywood attempted to thrust Pauly Shore on American audiences. And it seemed for a while that Shore was well on his way to becoming a comedy icon. That is, until America caught on quicker than he could establish himself. It was a case of “He’s kind of funny… wait, no he’s not!” Hell even I kind of liked him for a while. It’s a pretty sad commentary on the decade, when the comedy rebel we’re given is Pauly Shore of all people.
Short and much more succinct, director Donlee Brussel’s “Cabbie” has really managed to change its overall tone, lending to its a bittersweet taste that I thought worked much better. “Cabbie” still has its flaws, but when it was done, the purpose of “Cabbie” seemed much more focused. “Cabbie” is centered on aspiring cabbie Marty, who is a combination of naive and quirky. He sees the more interesting purpose of cabbies as being a noble profession, and wants desperately to be the nomadic cab driver that travels the city looking for new people to take to their destination.