V (1983)
"How'd someone like that get to be your leader anyway?
-Charisma, circumstances, promises."
Technically a mini-series, but I've looked before and it's generally considered a two-part TV movie if it's 4 hours with commercials (as here) or under.
Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021)
"Tonight is the 100th anniversary of MacGuffin's disappearance."
One more thing about Nigel Kneale. The Quatermass stories were in the science-fiction genre, and his writing was very cerebral. He could have written some great episodes of Star Trek. But he was really a horror writer, and I think that's what makes the Quatermass stories so gripping.
Conceptually, this is very strong, but the execution was just lacking. Like, it sometimes almost felt like a parody of itself. That said, Liam Neeson is always a win, and James Carrey was neat to see. Overall, it was more enjoyable than some of the other DH films, but thematically it was worse than them all, and it's easy to see why it was the last -- they had clearly run out of steam.
Maybe, you'll like it more. I think it's weaker, but fun. The concept of what the crime is is kind of fun. There's also a pretty famous and cool scene involving an explosive (I won't say more).
Yeah, that car chase is easily one of the best ever filmed.
The Black Hole (1979)
"A pint cannot hold a quart."
Had wanted to rewatch this for a while. Although I hope to buy the BD some day, Disney+ gave me the opportunity to stream it sooner.
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
" Men like my father cannot die. They are with me still, real in memory as they were in flesh, loving and beloved forever. How green was my valley then."
Watched for 80th anniversary. The movie that beat out Citizen Kane for the Oscar.
Blue Hawaii (1961)
"I don't want you wastin' your precious time on those beach boys."
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
"I love a good peepshow."
Even though I've seen this in the past year or so, I re-watched for the 25th anniversary because it is TNG's good movie. Saw it at least twice in theaters back in the day, one of which times was my first date (probably says something about my nerdiness that the first time I went to a movie with a girl it was Trek).
Human slaves toil away to feed the endless power supply of an evil robotic master, but a stranger promises them freedom if they follow his plan. One slave has created a device to circumvent the poison air the overlord uses to control everyone, and while he is tortured for his secrets the rebels make a daring raid on the power station. But what they find will shock them to their core!
This was pretty trashy, almost early-1990s levels of schlock. The costumes look like leftovers from a low-budget fantasy flick (which this is clearly trying to be but with post-apoc overtones), the acting is either ham-fisted at best or bone-headed every other time, with dialog that's wholly stereotypical (and without a shred of tongue-in-cheek to alleviate the misery). The "sets" are whichever run-down power plant they could shoot in each day, sometimes with ominous black backgrounds to cover up for a lack of diverse locations (oh, and you can see a not-destroyed modern city in many outdoors scenes).
I think the most pointless bullshit the film had was actually when they introduced the hero: he speaks to a robot using telepathy, but it's only for the beginning and then never again is it used or elaborated upon, meaning it was for no reason whatsoever other than to include something random and waste time in editorial rather than just having the actor speak the damn lines.
Revealing "the Dark One" was supposed to be a big deal but I gotta agree with Joel and the Bots, it was just an avocado costume. My dad joked that it was The Master from Fallout 2. I actually have to wonder if they had another idea and were forced to scrap and half-ass the final product.
As boring and abysmal as this film is, with jokes it's actually watchable. It even has part of a serial in the beginning (Commando Cody, which inexplicably stopped partway through and then they just skipped to the actual film of the week; I kind of want to watch the serial but also feel like I'd really be wasting my time).
I was almost worried this would be as bad as Future War but it's leagues better.
Villain Draft 3: Fourth Place Winner
September 11, 2001; January 6, 2021; February 13, 2021
Pig (2021)
"We don't get a lot of things to really care about."
Excellent and not what I expected. Cage plays a super-reclusive truffle hunter whose pig is stolen and he goes to recover her. But if you're expecting a John Wick-style revenge actioner, you'll be disappointed (or, hopefully, pleasantly surprised by a deeper character study).
Ghostbusters II (1989)
"We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it."
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