Neo-Noir Watch: Body Heat (1981)

Watched:  04/03/2021

Format:  Amazon Streaming

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Lawrence Kasdan

I'll go ahead and put this out there:  this may be the best of the neo-noirs I've seen, and most akin to the original noir movement.  

Also: finally watching Body Heat (1981) gives me a big clue as to how neo-noir took a left turn by the late 80's and saw a divergent strain that became the "erotic thriller", which, itself, had several branches on the movie cladogram.

Despite the popular vision of noir, it wasn't always sexy stuff with classy dames showing up in the offices of PI's desperate for help.  The movement encompassed a lot of takes on how things can go badly, and how lust could turn things sideways remarkably fast was just one (if a popular) angle.  Body Heat delivers a 1980's spin on the Joseph M. Cain flavor of crime melodrama that gave us Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice.  No detectives here - just guys in over their head when they see a chance at romance with a woman out of their league (but aren't they all).

80's Watch Party Watch: The Secret of My Success (1987)

Watched:  03/26/2021

Format: Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade: so, so 1980's

Director:  Herbert Ross

I have no affinity for The Secret of My Success (1987).  I saw it upon its theatrical release in 1987, where I was carded as a 12 year old entering a PG-13 movie.  My friend's dad had to come into the box office and tell them it was fine.  So, thanks, Mr. P.

I also remember both the seduction of "Brantley" and the immediate revelation he'd been seduced by a distant sorta relative.  And the use of Yello's "Oh Yeah".*

And, of course, Helen Slater, who I didn't realize was Helen Slater until college or so.  And - the ruse which is the core of the film, which I thought I understood but missed something.  But I am here to tell you here in 2021 AD, I do not understand what Brantley was doing.

80's Watch - Watch Party: Footloose (1984)

Watched:  03/20/2021

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Herbert Ross

Gee, why don't the young people want to stay in small towns?  How did we get to this divide between rural America and urban America?

I mean, Footloose (1984) is a story that seems ridiculous, about a town where "dancing" was made illegal (something that seems so slippery and un-First Amendment-y that it's breathtaking) and one not-even-rebellious teen who's mere existence as an "outsider" is so problematic adults are out to literally destroy him, that all of this seems absurd.  Except that this stuff was very real and happened.  Baylor University in Waco, 90 minutes up the road from my house, didn't allow dancing until the late 90's. 

So, yeah, small towns where no one was going to do much but stop to fill up with gas actually would and did have goofy rules.  This was Satanic Panic time that would culminate in the PMRC and Dee Snider of all people taking down a bunch of crusty representatives looking into literally regulating the music industry.  It was also the time of MTV, and I can just see a movie studio exec looking for a story that will appeal to a wide audience - but bring in those kids who like the MTV, and be very music-video-friendly.  

: The Black Stallion (1979)

Watched:  03/17/2021

Format:  Amazon Prime

Viewing:  Unknown - at least third

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Carroll Ballard

This is a strangely perfect movie.

Watch Party Watch: Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (1986)

Watched:  03/15/2021

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Leonard Nimoy

Until Lower Decks and a few one-off episodes, one of the few attempts at light comedy/action in the Trek franchise, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  (1987) caps off the trilogy that started in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, bringing our crew finally back to Earth after giving us the thrill of seeing them wandering the streets of 1986 San Franciso as a slightly disheveled away team.

I am 85% sure I've written this one up before, so I won't do it again.  It's the one with the whales.  

PODCAST: "Superman III" (1983) - a Kryptonian Thought-Beast PodCast w/ SimonUK, Stuart and Ryan

Watched:  03/01/2021

Format:  BluRay

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Richard Lester

Other ways to listen

We assemble the finest trio possible to take on the third in the Salkind's Superman franchise - this one inexplicably very heavy on very adult comedian Richard Pryor. It's a future-shock story of the magic of computers and how they can make a Superman a grumpy gus. Join SimonUK, Stuart and Ryan as they get super excited over the sharp turn the franchise took into goofiness.

 

The Signal Watch PodCast · 140: "Superman III" (1983)- a Kryptonian Thought-Beast Episode w/ SimonUK, Stuart and Ryan

Music:

Main Title, The Streets of Metropolis - John Williams, Superman III OST

The Struggle Within/ Final Victory - John Williams, Superman III OST

 

Watch Party Watch: Staying Alive (1983)

Watched:  03/12/2021

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  I dunno.  First?  I don't remember 95% of this if I saw it.

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Sylvester Stallone

Staying Alive (1983) is the un-asked-for sequel to the 70's cultural phenomenon, Saturday Night Fever.  If you've not seen Saturday Night Fever in a bit, it's not all about Travolta as king of the disco, it's also a story about directionless young people, misdirected energy, and generational schizms in a traditional family.  

Staying Alive picks up six years later and is terrible.  

Look, the point of the first movie was realizing the world was bigger and better than a disco on a Saturday night, but six years later, Tony has made maybe incremental progress and danced his way to a 0% bodyfat physique.  Stephanie from the first film is just... gone.  She has a surrogate character in Jackie, who is doing her best to look like a JJazzercised  Anne Murray.  Jackie is Tony's friend with benefits.  I thought she was supposed to be the female lead from the first movie, but she is not.  So, we basically know nothing about her aside from the fact that she's a doormat who Tony steps out on and then TELLS HER ABOUT IT.

80's Watch: 48 Hours (1982)

Watched:  03/11/2021

Format:  Amazon Streaming

Viewing:  1st as an adult who could follow the movie

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Walter Hill!

D'aw, hell.  It's a Nick Nolte movie.

On the heels of Coming 2 America, Jamie began pondering what Eddie Murphy movies she hadn't seen, so she dialed up 48 Hours, the 1982 blockbuster starring Nick Nolte and a ready-for-stardom Eddie Murphy.   

Reviewing the movie about 40 years after the fact is a bit of a challenge.  This was in my lifetime, and I remember both the attitudes, the casual racism and names associated.  And, I did actually see this movie a couple of times as a kid, which... maybe wasn't great?  But in the 1980's, who was paying attention to what the kids were up to and we had easy access to HBO at our friends' houses.   

RiffTrax Watch: Space Mutiny (1988)

Watched:  02/20/2021

Format:  Rifftrax on Amazon Prime

Viewing:  Oh, god... 4th?

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Let's let them live in peace

This movie isn't very good.  

Highly recommend checking out the RiffTrax version on Amazon Prime.  Watched primarily because JeniferSF had watched it, and it seemed like a good idea.  It was.

Forget to Mention It Watch: Return of the Swamp Thing (1989)

Watched:  01/28/2021

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Second?

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Does it matter?

We did this one as a watch party, and I often forget to write up watch party movies.  But, yeah, this movie isn't very good.

I...  I don't really think it bears much discussion.

PODCAST: "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982) - A Signal Watch Canon Episode w/ SimonUK and Ryan

 

Watched:  01/22/2021

Format:  BluRay

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade: 1980's

Director:  Nicholas Meyer

for more ways to listen 

SimonUK and Ryan boldly get into a movie about aging, space pirates, sacrifice and making grown men cry when their space pal is taken out. We're tasked with talking about what a big deal this movie is for us, personally, as well as what it meant for Star Trek as a franchise. 

The Signal Watch PodCast · 136: "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" (1982) - Signal Watch Canon w/ SImonUK and Ryan

Music

Main Title - James Horner, Star Trek II OST

Epilogue, Closing Credits - James Horner, Star Trek II OST

Playlists

Signal Watch Canon

The Signal Watch PodCast · The Signal Watch Canon

SimonUK Cinema Series

The Signal Watch PodCast · SimonUK Cinema Series

PODCAST: Aliens (1986) - a Signal Watch Canon episode w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Watched:  01/06/2021

Format:  DVD (Legacy Edition)

Viewing:  lol

Decade:  1980's

Director:  James Cameron

More ways to listen

We're talking the movies in our personal canon - the movies that opened our minds, expanded our horizons and maybe helped inform who we are. And what better way to reflect upon oneself than with a rip-roaring sci-fi action horror yarn about motherhood, alienation, personal interconnectedness, unexpected surprises and who will stand by you when life really tears you apart.

The Signal Watch PodCast · 135: "Aliens" (1986) - The Signal Watch Canon w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Music: 

Bishop's Countdown - James Horner, Aliens OST

Signal Watch Canon

The Signal Watch PodCast · The Signal Watch Canon

SimonUK Cinema Series

The Signal Watch PodCast · SimonUK Cinema Series

Watch Party Watch: The Running Man (1987)

Watched:  01/08/2021

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Paul Michael Glaser

The Running Man (1987) - for being a kinda goofy movie about a gameshow where the contestants are framed-up convincts and convicts with crimes like "not teaching the curriculum to school kids", this movie has some uncomfortably prescient stuff baked in as our janus-faced gameshow host plays to his base of folks who *won* in a prior civil conflict, and are joyfully taking part as people are killing each other for our entertainment.  Not surprisingly, such a dynamic show has cross-demographic appeal, and it's not just the folks who came out on top economically, it's also the folks on the streets who can't look away as desperate men run for their lives.  

80's Watch: Romancing the Stone (1984)

Watched: 12/30/2020

Format:  Amazon Streaming

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Apparently, Robert Zemeckis

As a kid, I have two memories of this movie - 1) I think my parents thought itw as going to be risque, because the first time we watched Romacing the Stone (1984) it was with some family friends who had to tell them it was okay for 9 year old me, and 2) when I watched it again later - running on HBO or whatever, it just made me wish I'd rather be watching an Indiana Jones movie.  

I was, of course, not tuned in at all to what the movie was doing.  I had so clearly missed the point watching this as a kid, that five minutes into it this time (and I don't know if I'd seen this movie since I was 20), I turned to Jamie and said "I don't think I ever realized before that Kathleen Turner is supposed to be a nebbish.  I thought the idea was that she was a fancy lady from New York out of her element."  

So, yeah - TOTALLY missed the point as a kid.  

That Was a Movie Watch: Salome's Last Dance (1988)

Watched:  12/26/2020

Format:  Amazon Streaming

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Ken Russell

So...  I'm always on the hunt for something new to watch with folks during Friday Night Watch Parties.  For some reason unknown to me, Salome's Last Dance (1988) popped up as a suggestion from Amazon, and after reading the description - roughly: Oscar Wilde attends a production of his banned play performed in a brothel - I was like "huh, no idea.  Let's look."  

I got maybe 45 seconds in and saw "Directed by Ken Russell", and know more about Russell's reputation than his actual work, which is always at least *interesting* if you've seen Altered States, Lair of the White Worm or even Tommy.  So - I gave it a whirl.

Watch Party Watch: Blood Beat (1983)

 

Watched:  12/11/2020

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1980's

Director: Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos

Sometimes you watch a movie that is so off the rails, the batshit-ness gains its own power.  

I *think* I basically get what occurred during Bloodbeat (aka: Blood Beat) (1983), but I am willing to hear any interpretation of events which unfold in the film.  

A woman living in rural Wisconsin welcomes home her kids from college for Christmas.  Her son has brought his girlfriend, unannounced.  NBD, but the mom is also on the skids with her rednecky live-in boyfriend, and she's a painter and psychic.  Sort of.  And she gets a weird vibe from the girlfriend.  

The girlfriend also hits a psychic tripwire upon arriving, so... They all go hunting.  The girlfriend does not like.

A samurai ghost shows up when the girlfriend is sexually aroused.  And the sister seems unable to get an outfit together that makes any sense.

Anyway - the samurai ghost kills the neighbors who try to put too many things on a waterbed.  

There's a psychic battle, stock footage of nuclear blasts, and some light nudity.  It all feels like a one off issue of X-Men circa 1984.

I genuinely enjoyed this thing.  DIdn't know where it was going from moment to moment, and was both just confusing and concrete enough to stick with for the 90 minute runtime.  Not a technical marvel, but it had a certain je ne sais quoi.

Merry Christmas.

Watch Party Watch: Yellowbeard (1983)

Watched: 11/01/2020

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  First(ish)

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Mel Damski

I may have seen parts of this as a kid.  I vaguely remember it being on cable during one of the sporadic windows during which my parents would get HBO, see we were watching something very much like Yellowbeard (1983) and then pull the HBO subscription again for a year before they forgot and did it again.

Look, I appreciate that we all bring something to these Amazon Watch Parties, and Jenifer had fond memories of watching this as a kid - and I have a vague memory that told me I'd seen it - but I don't think I ever had.  Nothing looked familiar.  But this is not a much loved movie by critics, the 1983 audience or the folks in it.  If you want a hint - there are very famous, beloved people in this and yet no one talks about this movie.  So.  But they did get to hang out in Acapulco and make a movie - and this seems to have landed them a massive, all-star cast that should have been a hit just by default.

Graham Chapman.  Peter Boyle.  Cheech & Chong.  Marty Feldman. Madeline Kahn. James Mason.  Eric Idle. John Cleese.  Kenneth Mars.  Michael Hordern.  Susannah York. Nigel Planer. And a bunch I'm forgetting.  But, yeah, you have all these people sharing the screen, but the movie seems like they have no idea what is happening or how a movie works.

Anyhoo... I bet they had fun in Acapulco.  But, a weirdly not good movie.

Watch Party Watch: Working Girl (1988)

Watched:  11/27/2020

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Second, I think

Decade:  so, so 1980's

Director:  Mike Nichols (checks notes) huh.

When Working Girl hit theaters in 1989, I remember it was one of those movies everyone saw - both parents and kids.  A lot of kids with their parents.  It had the gloss on New York City business and the glamour that suggested in the late 1980's as being a part of the high stakes world of business at the heart of American capitalism after eight years of Reaganomics was the pinnacle of success - and a lot of pop culture flowed forth from that.  Right up to and including movies like this, Gremlins 2 and the novel of American Psycho.*

HOLIDAY PODCAST: "3615 code Père Noël"/"Deadly Games"/"Game Over" or even "Dial Code: Santa Claus" (1989) - A Xmas Genre Xrossover 2020 episode w/ JAL & Ryan

 

Watched:  11/07/2020

Format:  Shudder Streaming

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Rene Manzor

For more ways to listen

It's French. It's Christmas. It's got a deranged Santa and a kid who has seen a lot of 80's action films. It's like "what if 'Home Alone' were infinitely @#$%ed up?" Justin and Ryan take a deep dive into a movie that feels like it's about to break as a cult classic, and features a very Bonnie Tyler Christmas song. You may know it as "3615 code Père Noël", "Deadly Games", "Game Over" or even "Dial Code: Santa Claus". But it's a frikkin' delight, this thing. 

The Signal Watch PodCast · 129: "Deadly Games" / "3615 code Père Noël" (1989) XMas Genre Xrossover 2020 w/ JAL & Ryan

Music: 

Merry Christmas - Bonnie Tyler

Xmas Genre Xrossover 2020:

The Signal Watch PodCast · XMas Genre Xrossover 2020

Watch Party Watch: Masters of the Universe (1987)

Watched: 11/20/2020

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Gary Goddard

I should start by saying:  I didn't ever really like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as toyline, cartoon, what-have-you.  Maybe because a lot of the material behind the franchise is simply bad.  The Filmation cartoon was goofily animated and the voice actors always sounded like they were recording out of context and in a well-tiled bathroom.  It featured a handful of wildly annoying characters and artists who really wanted to work in a few rotoscoped shots as often as possible.  (I will say - it DID blend American comic book style art very well, and should have shown Marvel how to do this instead of what they did in the 1990's.)  But mostly, He-Man was a lot of nonsense to sell toys, and that's great.  I support that idea.  I just wasn't into their particular gumbo of elements that made up their cartoon and toys (and found the original line of toys frankly grotesque, and not in a fun way).