Saturday, April 9, 2022

PODCAST: 192: "New Mutants" (2020) - A Marvel Madness Episode w/ Danny Horn and Ryan




Watched:  03/26/2022
Format:  Disney+
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2020's
Director:  Josh Boone




Puberty is a challenging time. You're growing, changing, making new discoveries and accidentally murdering bystanders with your newfound powers. Danny and Ryan splice into the genetics of this long-delayed installment in the X-franchise, the arrival of which signaled the last gasps of Fox Studios' X-films. Join us as we ponder what the movie thinks it is, what it is, and try to retain control.


SoundCloud 


YouTube


Music:
The New Mutants Score Suite - Mark Snow


Marvel Madness Playlist

90's Watch: Nobody's Fool (1994)




Watched:  04/05/2022
Format:  HBOmax
Viewing:  Third
Decade:  1990's
Director:  Robert Benton

It's been decades since I've seen Nobody's Fool (1994), but it's a movie I saw in the theater twice and a few times after.  I recalled feeling weirdly and profoundly moved by the film and was unsure how it would sit as I'm closer to the main character's age than the grandson's age at this point.

On first blush, the movie could be read as some smalltown schmaltz, but reviews of the time were overwhelmingly positive and reflect a lot of how I felt about the film at the time.  It takes place within the kind of small town romanticized by politicians in ads, of Main Streets and "working people", but it's also frank that small towns are kind of hard, that it's not always the pathway to the achievement of the American Dream and when you know everyone in your town, it can get weird.*  

To that end, it's a reminder of a kind of film you don't see as often these days as it's a quiet, thoughtful ensemble film where actors seem to be enjoying the work, a few name Hollywood types playing supporting roles just to be there, in the mix with up-and-comers and character veterans.  Of course, anchored by one of the best of the post 1950 American cinema, Paul Newman, still handsome and better than ever when it comes to what he does, which is say a thousand words with a glance or even in stillness.

Friday, April 8, 2022

Friday Watch Party: MY BIRTHDAY SURPRISE!


Next week I celebrate my birthday, and so I think I should pick a movie and SURPRISE the hell out of all of you.

Here is my promise - it will not be gross, there will be a minimum of nudity, and it will definitely be a movie.

Day:  Friday 04/07
Time:  8:30 PM
Service:  Amazon Watch Party
Price:  I promise it won't be more than $4







Thursday, April 7, 2022

Watch Party Watch: Flash Gordon (1980)




Watched:  04/01/2022
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  Unknown
Decade:  1980's
Director:  Mike Hodges

In a lot of ways, Flash Gordon (1980) maybe came out at exactly the wrong time and set the tone for what would be a problem for comic-based material until X-Men in 2000.  

With Star Wars and Superman released to critical and financial success, Dino De Laurentiis began mining the properties that had influenced the creation of both properties and set the tone in Hollywood that Marvel and DC couldn't get anything green lit for years - but somehow pulp characters would get movies.*  As The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman disappeared from TV, Buck Rogers showed up on the small screen, and De Laurentiis went and tapped Lorenzo Semple, Jr., one of the main brains behind the 1960's Batman series, to bring Flash Gordon to the big screen.