The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie
February 7, 2014
Warner Bros. etc.
Children's, Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
DVD
B+

I didn't see this at the time it came out, although the trailer looked good.  I didn't see it until this past summer, when I laughed my head off.  I'm not into the Lego culture, and I didn't get every joke in this, but I found it to be one of the best scripts in years, both witty and thought-provoking.  That I had absolutely no expectations made it all the more enjoyable, although on this second viewing I felt it held up very well.  Also, the look is wonderful, all CGI but looking like it's made from actual Lego bricks.

The movie is full of contradictions, like the "Everything Is Awesome" song that is both annoying and catchy, or annoying because it's catchy, with lyrics that boost both mindless conformity and creative teamwork.  It's a corporate production set in a sunny dystopia run by a fascist capitalist, who turns out to be a redeemable bad guy.  Normally, I have a low tolerance for Will Ferrell, but he does well with both his in-universe villain and the live-action father.  There are serious themes, but mostly it's a giddy, quotable, fast-paced ride.  I don't know that it would stand up to multiple viewings and I can't say I fell in love with it, so I won't say A-, but it's definitely at least a B+.

The voice-acting obviously is a big part of the enjoyment of the movie, with the stand-out being Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius, wise and hilarious.  Elizabeth Banks, who voices Wyldstyle, was Beth in 40 Year Old Virgin.  Liam Neeson provides the voices for Bad Cop, Good Cop, and Pa Cop.  Charlie Day is Benny.  Jonah Hill voices Green Lantern.  Dave Franco, who was Perry in Warm Bodies, does Wally.  Chris Romano was Little Druid in This Is Spinal Tap and does the voice of Joe here.

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies
February 1, 2013
Summit etc.
Comedy, Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi
DVD
B-

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2014/01/warm-bodies-novel.html.  The main thing I want to add is that my enjoyment has faded after so many viewings in 2 1/2 years, although it remains better than the book.  I think part of the problem is that as the film goes on, it loses its contrast between R's internal monologue and his inarticulate zombie shell.  The movie becomes more of a standard apocalyptic narrative, although still with moments of humor and sweetness.  And it remains impressive that a zom-rom-com is actually a workable sub-sub-genre.

Dave Franco, who plays Perry, would do the voice for Wally in The Lego Movie.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
August 13, 2010
Universal
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance, Action
DVD
B-

This is based on a graphic novel series I've never read, other than what appears in the movie itself and its DVD extras.  As such, I'm not going to get into a discussion of how well it translates to the screen, but I will note that I like the comic-like elements, such as the sound effects that we can read as well as hear.  There are also elements of video games, especially but not limited to the fight scenes.  And then are bits of less classifiable whimsy, such as some characters' ability to do things very quickly, even if asleep.  It is an interesting stylistic blend.

Unfortunately, the central couple in this anti-rom-com are the two least appealing characters in the movie (well, other than some minor characters we see much less of).  Scott is in a way the typical adorkable Michael Cera character, but he has to do a lot of very un-Cera-like things, including make various women unhappy, although this is admittedly unintentional.  And his dream girl Ramona Flowers has no real personality; she's just as much of a cypher at the end as she is at the beginning.  It's hard to be invested in their relationship, and I'm not even sure if we're supposed to be, but it does get a lot of screen time.  Luckily, the supporting characters are much more vivid and, even when they do unlikable things, entertaining.  My favorites are Wallace, the gay roommate, and Julie, the foul-mouthed friend of an ex.  The title of the movie is somewhat of a misnomer, since Scott battles Ramona's seven evil exes, but there is a sense that everyone, even his friends, is against him.  This viewing, I was rooting for the world, and I completely agreed with Knives Chau when she said that she's too cool for him.

Nelson Franklin was one of Sydney's Buddies in I Love You, Man and has the small but scene-stealing role of Comeau here.  (He's the one who says the comic book is always better than the movie.)  Bill Hader, who is The Voice, would be Kyle in They Came Together.

Dude, Where's My Car?

Dude, Where's My Car?
December 15, 2000
Fox
Comedy, Sci-Fi
DVD
B-

In the sub-sub-genre of bonehead stoners saving the Earth/universe, I'd put this on a level with Spirit of '76 and slightly above Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.  The two dudes in this (the extremely typecast Ashton "Kelso" Kutcher and Sean William "Stifler" Scott) are actually more moronic than any buddies I've seen in any movies.  (Admittedly, I haven't seen Dumb & Dumber among other others.)  There's a scene that is like the most basic version of "Who's on First" you've ever heard, consisting as it does with the guys reading the tattoos on each other's backs, "Dude" and "Sweet," and then asking what their own tattoos say.  And there's a scene where Kutcher's character is enraged by the woman working the drive-through microphone at a Chinese fast-food place.  And then....

Anyway, it's stupid.  There's never really a sense that the film was made by or for anyone much brighter than the protagonists.  But I can't help it, I find the movie funny.  Maybe not as funny as I did almost 15 years ago, but obviously funny enough to get the DVD (with commentary no less).  And, yes, the movie is sci-fi.  Its convoluted and not completely resolved plot-- you never actually see the car tracked down-- involves two sets of aliens and a cult of bubble-wrapped geeks who want to be abducted.  It's tempting to analyze this film as a dream/nightmare of young white men, with their fears and desires about different genders and races all mixed together, with a special section on how instead of hugging each other and then calling each other "fag," as Bill and Ted did more than a decade earlier, Jesse and Chester nonchalantly beat Fabio and his girlfriend in a kissing contest.  But basically it's a stupid, kind of fun movie and I don't feel like spending that much time on it.

Geoffrey Gould, who was an Audience Member in In & Out, is a Cult Member here.  The actor known as Turtle, who plays Cult Member Jeff, would have an uncredited role as a Beatnik in Down With Love.  And Jennifer Garner would have a much serious role in Juno than she does here as one of the dudes' very much not identical twin girlfriends.

The movie that may have the longest title to be frequently dropped.

The Hudsucker Proxy

The Hudsucker Proxy
March 11, 1994
Warner Bros.
Comedy, Drama, Historical, Sci-Fi
DVD
B-

It's a little odd that I own this movie at all, let alone on DVD.  The simple answer is that a friend regifted it to me several years ago at Christmastime.  I like the movie but it never quite gripped me.  I find it a little distant and forgettable.  It's well-made, but I'm not particularly a Coen Brothers fan.  I respect them and get some entertainment out of their comedies (and dramedies), but, no, I'm not drawn in.  I have similar feelings about the three leads here: Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.  It's no coincidence that I don't own any other movies with Newman or Leigh.

The movie presents a highly fictionalized account of the invention and promotion of the Hula-Hoop.  However, although it's set in 1958, the feel is closer to the mid-'40s, with homages to (among others) Preston Sturges and Frank Capra.  (I'm sure that Robbins's character being named Norville is a nod to Morgan's Creek.)  The film has the same themes of time and redemption as Groundhog Day, but with a much heavier touch.  (Its Magical Negro is also much more obviously controlling time.)  The look and sound of the movie are well done, including such touches as a businessman named Bumstead, as in Dagwood.  But not only did I find myself at times wishing I actually was watching Sturges and Capra, but I also started looking forward to the much giddier (and wiser) Down with Love.

Pat Cranshaw, who portrayed old men for decades in movies and on TV, including in Sgt Pepper (1978), here plays the Ancient Sorter.  Richard Whiting, the Ancient Puzzler here, was a priest in Tootsie and a doctor in Zelig.  Robert Weil, who's the Mail Room Boss, was Co-Op Member #2 in Who's That Girl.  Barbara Ann Grimes, who plays Mrs. Cardoza, was a Flat Tire Lady in Groundhog Day.  Of the board members, Gary Allen was a school teacher in Annie Hall; Jerome Dempsey was Sam and Sid in Tune in Tomorrow...; and Richard Woods would be Reverend Morgan in In & Out.

Charles Durning plays Waring Hudsucker, before and after death.  This time Peter Gallagher is Vic Tenetta, the crooner.  Steve Buscemi has a nice little cameo as the Beatnik Barman.

"You know, for kids!"

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day
February 12, 1993
Columbia
Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
DVD
A

This is a modern classic, the only movie I can think of that is on a level with Some Like It Hot.  Like that Billy Wilder movie, this Harold-Ramis-directed-and-cowritten movie has wonderful leads and great supporting players.  (Stephen Tobolowsky is the clear stand-out, as adorably obnoxious Ned Ryerson, but I also enjoy all the little touches Robin Duke adds to her role of Doris the waitress.)  This movie also shares with Wilder, and with Preston Sturges, a successful blend of cynicism and sentiment, although I think this '90s film is ironically much more positive about human nature than many older films.  It goes dark at times-- including in a funny but disturbing suicide montage-- but it also argues that even the most self-centered, miserable man can change his life and the lives of others, if given enough time.

The movie is obviously about time, how it can be an enemy or an ally.  I wasn't sure whether to go with sci-fi or fantasy as the label for one of the film's genres (comedy and romance were easy), because we're never given a definite reason why weatherman Phil Connors keeps repeating the same February 2nd.  There are many theories out there, ranging from the Magical Negro Bartender with his knowing looks to a whack on the head with a snow shovel.  I decided that a time warp is more of a science fiction motif than fantasy, but in the end it doesn't really matter why it happens.  It just matters what Phil does with it.

He does a lot with it, some of it illegal and immoral and fattening, and some of it uplifting.  Over time, Phil falls for his producer Rita and has to figure out how to win her.  He can't just manipulate her, like he does with other women.  She's too smart for that.  So he becomes a better person in every way.

I can't think of any movie that is so simultaneously funny and thought-provoking.  It appropriately improves on repeat viewings.  You know what's coming but you need to see it play out, watch all the variations.  Also, you grow fond of the town, as Phil does, with its Sturges-like eccentrics.

Bill Murray is perfectly cast as Phil, because, as Ramis points out on the commentary, he's got that blend of sweet and nasty.  Also, his ability to improvise serves Phil as well as the humor.  I've never been 100% happy with Andie MacDowell as Rita, but she's grown on me, and this last viewing I appreciated her little reactions when she's not the focus of attention.   I'm not sure if she's why I can't give the film an A+.  I guess a hypothetical A+ movie would have to have all the qualities of both this and Some Like It Hot, like a more memorable soundtrack here.  (Though the Ramis-penned "Weatherman" is cute.)

Bill's big brother Brian Doyle-Murray plays Buster, "the head groundhog honcho."  Rick Overton, who's Ralph here, was Dr. Rick in Earth Girls Are Easy.

Reni Santoni, whose voice was dubbed for the State Trooper, would be a Police Officer in The Brady Bunch Movie.  One of the Flat Tire Ladies, Barbara Ann Grimes, would be Mrs. Cardoza in The Hudsucker Proxy.  Stephen Detherage, who's a News Intern here, would be Al the Concert Shirt Vendor in Music and Lyrics.

The Spirit of '76

The Spirit of '76

October 12, 1990

Columbia

Comedy, Sci-Fi, Historical

DVD
B-

This is even more of a decade-straddler than its peers, since not only was it filmed in the summer of 1989, but it's mostly set in the summer of 1976.  If this sounds a little early for '70s nostalgia, you're correct.  The film was made for a low budget and didn't make much back.  Even "writer 'n director" Lucas Reiner (son of Carl, who plays Dr. Von Mobil, and little brother of Rob, who is the est-like Dr. Cash) admits on the commentary that they should've waited at least another four or five years.  By the mid-'90s, The Brady Bunch hit the big screen, twice, and before long That '70s Show became very popular on the little screen.

The slight premise, in a not quite rip-off of Bill & Ted, is that three people from 2176 (played by David Cassidy, Wonder Years' Olivia d'Abo, and Geoff Hoyle, who was Scoop the Reporter in Popeye) use a time machine (made out of two hot tubs, much more '70s than B & T's phone booth) to go to 1776 and rediscover what America was founded on, but the machine malfunctions by a couple centuries.  Luckily, it's the Fourth of July, and the Bicentennial, and Julie Brown as "lusty Miss Liberty" is among those who "explain" the founding principles.

The movie is full of '70s touches.  In fact, it's arguably all style and not much substance.  There's enough to look at and listen to that you probably won't much mind.  From Pop Rocks to pop music, much of what you remember (or at least have heard of) about the '70s is represented, including very colorful costumes designed by a teenaged Sofia Coppola.  There are also a lot of cameos, from people I associate more with the '80s (Devo, Moon Unit Zappa) to authentically '70s icons like Iron Eyes Cody and Leif Garrett, the latter in a scene-stealing role as "Eddie Trojan," brother to the insufferable Rodney Snodgrass (played by nobody you've heard of).  There are moments when L. Reiner parodies various '70s movie conventions, like the Inevitable Car Chase, but the movie remains more goofy than clever.

Note, the sci-fi is, per budget, not particularly well done, but it is fun to see the hand-held devices that the futuristic trio use to type, call, and take pictures with.  Who knew?

Arnold F. Turner, who's Voice Talent here, would be Officer Axelrod in The Brady Bunch Movie.

Zapped Again!

Zapped Again!
April 14, 1990
Incorporated Television Company (ITC)
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance
VHS
B

This movie is far better than it has any right to be, considering it's a direct-to-video sequel to a movie where Scott Baio uses telekinesis to undress girls.  It's been a long while since I've seen the original Zapped (1982), but I remember it as being much less likable.  Not that this movie's protagonist, Kevin, doesn't abuse his powers in a similar fashion, but that's a surprisingly small part of the action.

Like Think Big, this is a decade-straddler, made in '89, released the following year.  But much more than that movie about twin truckers, this high school comedy shows a surprisingly '90s attitude towards the '80s,  That is, yes, we've got some of the usual high school movie stereotypes, from a shallow cheerleader to a horny football coach (Lyle Alzado).  But the nerds don't at all fit '80s stereotypes.  From wise-cracking Kevin to the gorgeous "plain brainiac" to the heavy-metal couple, this is not your usual Science Club.  (Only Elliott seems traditionally geeky, and even he has been given a good sense of humor.)  And the cheerleader and one of the jocks turn out to be nice people.  Heck, the coach quotes e. e. cummings to impress the female principal!

And throughout, there's an offbeat sense of humor, like in the way that Kevin both mocks and befriends the surfer-sounding President of the Ski Club.  Karen Black, who's more memorable in her small role here as a substitute than she was as the mother of The Invisible Kid, and Linda Blair also tweak their roles a bit.  The sci-fi isn't particularly notable.  The effects are cheesy and/or cheap, but like I said, it's not that important to the movie.

Much of the film is driven by the chemistry between Kevin and Lucy, the smart girl who he somehow sees as just a pal, until one night when they have a silly and not all explicit love scene.  (My copy is off late-night ABC, but I did watch a couple Youtube videos to find out what I was missing in terms of nudity.)  They're both very likable, especially together, which I don't recall being able to say of Baio and Felice Schachter.

The movie ends with a video, a full-fledged music video with a separate director.  The band and the cast sing "She's Gonna Get It," and it's actually pretty good.  (It includes the phrase "Zapped Again" but is not a title song per se.)  Then there's a blooper where the Science Club is throwing things and Lucy tells us to not try this at home.  Even with a videocamera and a small budget, I don't think most of us would get as good results.

Brent Hinkley, who plays Larry here, would be Bif the Patriot in Bob Roberts.  Linda Larkin, who doesn't say much as Joanne, would ironically provide the voice of Jasmine in Aladdin.

Paving the way for a more nerd-friendly era.

Think Big

Think Big
March 1990
Concorde Pictures
Comedy, Action, Sci-Fi
VHS
B-

While this isn't a very impressive movie to kick off the '90s with, I nonetheless find it entertaining.  It gets the job done, even if it's never particularly plausible.  "The Barbarians," twin body-builders, play the main characters (truck drivers hauling toxic waste) and sing the title song (over opening and closing credits).  Claudia Christian (later of Babylon 5) is a psychologist.  Ari Meyers (fresh off Kate & Allie) is an electronics genius who dresses like an average late '80s/early '90s teen.  Martin Mull is a weasely villain, and Richard Moll (with hair) is more recognizable than he was as the Abominable Snowman in Caveman.  John Carradine is a repo man.  Michael Winslow, as the twins' friend, isn't given much to do, not even sound effects.

Peter Lupus, as Bad Guy #1, doesn't look drastically different than he did a quarter-century earlier as Flex Martian in Muscle Beach Party, although obviously less creatively named.  David Bowe, who plays a security guard, was Mountain in Back to the Beach.

Earth Girls Are Easy

Earth Girls Are Easy
May 12, 1989
Vestron Pictures
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance, Musical
VHS
B+

This last of my movies from the '80s was actually made in '87 and released to indifference two years later, but it holds up as one of the gems of the decade.  It is funny, sweet, romantic, sexy, giddy, colorful, and yes, very '80s in the best sense.  When three furry but attractive-when-shaven aliens land in the San Fernando Valley, it's hard to say which side has more of a culture shock.  They specifically land in the pool of the house that Valerie (Geena Davis) shares with her philandering fiance Ted (Charles Rocket).  The aliens are played by Davis's then-husband Jeff Goldblum (as Mac), Jim Carrey (as Wiploc), and Damon Wayans (as Zeebo).  Note, this is even before Carrey was "the white guy" on Wayans's In Living Color.  It's so long ago that Carrey and Wayans are described as "stand-up comics" on the videobox I have!

And of course this movie "introduces" Julie Brown (despite her MTV appearances and indeed earlier movie roles).  Her song inspired this movie's title and concept, and she cowrote this movie.  There are even scenes, notably "Because I'm a Blond," that are basically just music videos.  (The soundtrack also contains a couple B-52s songs.)  But mostly Brown's contribution is as the best friend/boss you wish you had, Candy Pink.  The other cast member of note is the versatile Michael McKean as Woody the pool guy.

I said of Foul Play that I couldn't think of a cuter onscreen couple than Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, but Goldblum and Davis come close.  They both are gorgeous here, and often underdressed, so they're certainly attractive separately, but together?  Hubba-hubba!  While Wiploc and Zeebo are mostly interested in partying, leader Mac is mostly interested in Valerie, and he's kind and sympathetic to her, even when she's confused about her fickle fiance.  The aliens have a "love touch," which in some scenes leads to questionable humor (including two ostensibly straight cops that fall for each other much less naturally than the pair in Who's That Girl), but also leads to a lovely love scene between Mac and Valerie.  You'll wonder why she's hung up on Ted so long, but it gives the plot what little conflict it has.  I almost went with an A- on this movie, because it is such fun in so many ways, but it is a bit too meandering.  But what a journey!

This is pretty obscure, but Larri Thomas is a Curl Up and Dye Dancer and was Woman in Carriage in Mary Poppins.  Another couple of CUaD Dancers, twins Karen and Sharon Owens, danced in Girls Just Want to Have Fun.  Cowriter Terrence McNally plays the Soap Opera Doctor here and was the Policeman in Nine to Five.  And there are a few TV faces, from Larry Linville to Nedra Volz to one of the Head of the Class kids.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
February 17, 1989
Orion
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Historical
VHS
C+

Every time I start to watch this movie (and I've seen it a few times since the original theatrical release, when I was 21 and living in Southern California), I wonder why I never got around to watching the Bogus sequel.  There's that awesome Big Pig song "I Can't Break Away" playing over the then-cutting-edge visuals as the opening credits play.  And there's the Bill & Ted bromance.  (With a typically '80s touch of them cheerfully calling each other "fag" after they hug in relief.)  And there's George Carlin as the coolest big-screen Rufus since Groucho's Mr. Firefly.

But then there's that darn time-travel plot.  Nothing against time travel of course, but so little is done with it.  We're meant to find it automatically funny when two modern dudes travel into the past, which it sort of is.  But we're also meant to find it automatically funny when the historical figures enter modern (1988) San Dimas, CA (actually Arizona).  And it just isn't.  Part of the problem is that the writers (and of course Bill & Ted) seem to have only a superficial knowledge of who these figures are, so we get a Beethoven who can hear well enough to appreciate a synthesizer, and a Socrates who hits on girls at the mall.  And a Napoleon who loves water slides and sundaes?

At this point, the movie is most notable for truly putting Keanu Reeves on the map, and for paving the way for Wayne and Garth and so on.  Note, Stephen Herek would also direct Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, about a very different Bush-Sr.-era teen.

Hal Landon, Jr., who plays Bill's father, was Cornfield in Scavenger Hunt.  Amy Stock was the nameless Girl in Bed in Soul Man, but she had since gotten married (becoming Amy Stock-Poynton) and worked her way up to the more memorable role of Bill's sexy young stepmother.  Philip V. Caruso (who seems to be primarily a still photographer) plays Dance Photographer here and would be War Commercial Photographer in Wag the Dog.

The Invisible Kid

The Invisible Kid
March 30, 1988
Elysian Pictures
Comedy, Sci-Fi
VHS
C

Although this has its share of quirkiness-- Why do they use a picture of Rene Auberjonois for the title character's father? Why does the high school have five mascot costumes?  What's up with the television advice call-in show?-- it also has a lot of predictable moments.  If you know that it's about a teenager who's pursuing the invention of invisibility, and furthermore that this is an '80s comedy, then you know his best friend is going to want to sneak into the girls' locker room.  If there's a chase scene with police cars near the end, then you know they're going to hit a fruit stand and a chicken truck.  If the principal comes across as an insensitive jerk, then you're not going to be surprised that he's a liar, thief, gambler, etc.  And if Chynna Phillips (then 20) is the girl next door, then she's going to have to be dating the star basketball player but end up with the title character.  But you might not predict that Karen Black (as cross-eyed as ever), as the title character's mom, will end up with a love interest.  The movie is mostly innocuous (except when the best friend is spying on and feeling up girls), but it's never quite funny or very entertaining.  I guess watch it if you're into this sub-genre.

Ellen Crawford, who's a teacher here, was a Tiffany saleswoman in Who's That Girl.  

Soul Man

I

Soul Man

October 24, 1986

New World

Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi

I

DVD

B-

This is a well-intentioned, often funny movie that doesn't deserve its bad reputation.  That said, it's also an implausible mess with plot-holes enough to fill the Albert Hall.  Let's talk about genres, because the movie manages to be both formulaic and unsatisfying.

I know, you're thinking Sci-fi?!  How is this science fiction?  It's unrealistic, but it is sort of set in a recognizable world, particularly LA and Boston.  Remember though, how does C. Thomas Howell's character Mark become "black" in order to get a scholarship?  He takes tanning pills that seemingly instantly darken his skin and curl his hair.  (The make-up job is poorly done, not just in that he's no more "black" than Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog, but that it's inconsistently applied, so that the tone varies from scene to scene, like the green make-up in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.).  Mark gets the tanning pills from a druggie friend of his but there's no magical transformation scene, or even a clear explanation.  I can't help thinking that an entirely different movie could've been made in the '80s about the friend, with the tanning pills being just one of his many wacky inventions.

Instead we get several other subgenres of comedy: raunchy college sex comedy (although the sex and nudity happen offscreen); a social-consciousness comedy where the writers seems as naive and as unaware of consequences as the protagonist; and of course a romantic comedy with only one kiss between the central couple, not to mention an unresolved issue or two.  (Nineteen-year-old Howell does convincingly play infatuated with 25-year-old Rae Dawn Chong, which is easy to do, since one, she's stunning, and two they fell in love during the filming, although they were married and divorced within four years.)

Luckily, the movie is also a buddy comedy, and Mark has a loyal buddy in Gordon, played by 26-year-old Arye Gross, who'd later be Ellen's TV buddy on These Friends of Mine.  Gross has great comic timing and he manages to make his character sympathetic, even if it's the equivalent of Hamburger: The Motion Picture's Fred Domino.  (That he's to my taste a heck of a lot better-looking than Howell, particularly blackface Howell, Gross resembling Julian Lennon, especially when he wears a scarf, doesn't hurt.)  I probably would've gone with a C+ on this if not for Gross

I

As in Morons from Outer Space, James B. Sikking isn't onscreen much but still plays a pivotal role, here as Mark's father who cuts him off financially.  John William Young, who plays the banker, had recently been Prestopopnick in Hamburger, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays Lisa here, was in another '86 movie, Hannah and Her Sisters.The rest of the cast is eclectic to say the least, including as it does James Earl Jones, Pink Lady's Jeff Altman, and a 28-year-old Ron Reagan, Jr.  (There are a couple gentle jokes about Reagan, Sr.)  Also, Leslie Nielsen shows up in my movie collection again, 17 years after his relatively straight-man role in How to Commit Marriage, in the interval having done Airplane and Police Squad.  This part isn't that broad, but he does play a rich bigot with no redeeming features.  His biggest scene is a sort of rip-off of Annie Hall, as he and his family imagine Mark fitting various over-the-top stereotypes.  (Oh, and I have to note that he's playing the father of a girl who tells Mark that she doesn't see it as a matter of black and white but shades of gray.  Presumably 50 of them.)

Scott L. Treger, who has an uncredited role as a Harvard basketball player, would also be uncredited as Connie's beach date in Back to the Beach.  Wally Ward, who's Barky Brewer here, would have another alliterative character in The Invisible Kid, as Milton McClane.  Donald Hotton, who plays Mr. Wicher, would be Minister in Hot to Trot.  Amy Stock-Poynton, who's Girl in Bed in the opening scene, would be Bill's young stepmother in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

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It's add your own caption time again!

Hamburger: The Motion Picture

Hamburger: The Motion Picture
January 1986
Busterburger Limited Partnership
Comedy, Sci-Fi
VHS
C+

As you might guess from the title, this movie is sometimes cheesy and often tasteless.  It is funnier than, for instance, Transylvania 6-5000, but it is chockful of politically incorrect stereotypes.  To take the most egregious example, an attractive female freedom-fighter from Guacamole comes into the room of our hero, and she's topless, carrying a machine gun, and demanding sex.  Yes, it's this, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale, of course played for comedy.  He gets out of it by pretending to be gay, it having been established in the opening scenes that women always want to have sex with him, but it keeps getting him kicked out of colleges, and he's trying to change his luck, here at Busterburger University, in order to claim an inheritance.

The jokes involving the university, and fast food in general, sometimes work.  Those playing off the stereotypes-- there's also a nerd, a nun, a fat guy, a black singer who's sort of Rick-Jamesian, and the wacky horndog roommate (Buddy Hackett's son Sandy as Fred) of our too sexy hero-- mostly don't.  The movie had only one writer but often seems schizophrenic, as if one person wrote the crude stuff and the other wrote the parody, not that these don't sometimes overlap.  (The movie actually steals the thudding "Mao Tse-Tung" joke from Americathon, but you probably won't notice because it's during the infamous Fred "eats out" scene.)  I'd probably give the movie a C, but I kind of like the various songs, all of which celebrate, yes, hamburgers.

This time Chuck McCann plays the mad Dr. Mole, and Dick Butkus is the villain Drootin.  Charles Tyner, who plays founder Lyman Vunk, was Uncle Victor in Harold and Maude.  (And he's still alive at almost 90!)  Overweight twins Betsy Lynn and Carol Gwynn Thompson were the Siamese Connection in The Gong Show Movie.  Frequent extra Helen Kelly, here a restaurant patron, had recently appeared in Girls Just Want to Have Fun as Woman at the Park.

John William Young, who's Prestopopnick here, would have an uncredited role as a banker in Soul Man.

Another '80s movie that can't live up to its poster.

Morons from Outer Space

Morons from Outer Space
March 29, 1985
Thorn EMI
Comedy, Sci-Fi
VHS
B-

Written by and starring comedy partners Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith (although they don't appear together till the final scene), this silly but never moronic British comedy doesn't feel as fresh as when I first saw it on cable a few years after its release, but it still makes me smile.  Part of the problem is not just that I've seen it before (after all, that didn't hurt Johnny Dangerously), but also that that style of physical comedy and sight gags, with "surprise" elements popping up, has been used so much since then.  (However, the "brick joke" that goes much faster than the TV Tropes' examples still impresses me with its timing.)  Most of the gags actually work better in the closing credits, set to the title tune (sung by the Morons).  Also, the film references are to movies I've either never seen or haven't seen in decades.

Still, it's an amiable if twisted movie.  It takes balls to cast James B. Sikking as gung-ho Col. Raymond Larrabee, CIA, and then kill him off early in the movie.  (He does show up for one of those dead-guy reaction-shots that were apparently popular in the mid-'80s, cf. Johnny Dangerously.)  The trio of moronic aliens, with their Northern accents (sorry, I can't place them more specifically than that, other than non-Liverpudlian), have no redeeming features but they're fun to watch, especially in their New-Wavey rock concert gear.  My favorite performer is Dinsdale Landen, who remains stiff-upper-lip as Commander Grenville Matteson, even when chaos breaks out around him, until he falls for (and serenades) the female alien.  Smith is "the fourth alien" and Jones is their manager.

This time Miriam Margolyes plays the fat little scientist the other scientists try to push through the air shaft; she would of course later become Harry Potter's Herbology teacher.  And Derek Deadman, who's Man in Car, would be the first Tom the Bartender at the Leaky Cauldron.  Peter Whitman, who's Friborg here, was a Yeshiva student in Yentl.  Space Pilot Robin Driscoll would be Actor in Agent's Office in Smith's The Tall Guy.

Any resemblance to Alannah Currie is purely coincidental.

Meatballs Part II

Meatballs Part II
July 27, 1984
TriStar Pictures
Comedy, Sci-Fi
VHS
C-

What can I say?  I saw this on an early date with my then-new-boyfriend-and-future-ex-husband.  We were 16 and 17 and we knew the movie was crap, but the alien plotline was sort of funny.  (There's also a Belmont Steaks pun that I got this time.)  This is only vaguely a sequel to the Bill Murray movie of five years earlier, although it is about two rival camps and their leaders: Richard Mulligan as Coach Giddy of Camp Sasquatch, and the aptly named Hamilton Camp, who has probably his biggest role in my movies, as Col. Bat Jack Hershey of Camp Patton.  The movie is only very marginally recommended if a) you want a better sense of what Wet Hot American Summer (2001) would go on to parody (the song played over both opening and closing credits manages to cram in every "summer" cliche it can), and/or b) you want to see the random cast.

Nine years and a Hello, Larry after Escape to Witch Mountain, 19-year-old Kim Richards does what she can with the role of virginal Cheryl, who has a Little Darlings lite plot of having to see a "pinky" by the end of the summer.  Rising slightly above the material are 36-year-old John Larroquette, right before he became a star on Night Court, and 31-year-old Paul Reubens, a year before Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (which I've seen but don't own), playing respectively a very stereotypical homosexual and a geek like you've never quite seen before.

This movie is sort of a reunion for Scavenger Hunters Mulligan and David Hollander, who was 14 at this point but lumped in with 12-year-old Jason Hervey and 10-year-old Scott Nemes, later of The Wonder Years and It's Garry Shandling's Show respectively.

Archie Hahn plays both horny counselor Jamie and the voice of Meathead the Alien.  Felix Silla (best known as Cousin Itt, but also appearing in Pufnstuf among other things) is the one in the alien costume.  Vic Dunlop tries to convince us he's a French chef; he was Ralph in Lunch Wagon.  Donald Gibb, who plays Mad Dog, would be Wolfman in Transylvania 6-5000.  Thirty-one-year-old Elayne Boosler, who's thanked in the credits, definitely does not look old enough to be playing the mother of a teenager, but she does have some almost-funny lines.

The Friday the 13th reference made by the Jive-Talking Black Girl Tula Washington (played by an actress who has absolutely no other credits) is an in-joke, as co-writers Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson also did a couple movies in that series.

Don't let the poster fool you.

Super Fuzz

Super Fuzz AKA Poliziotto superpiù AKA Super Snooper
October 2, 1981
El Pico S.A./ TVI/ Transcinema
Comedy/Action/Sci-Fi
VHS
B

This is an Italian production made in America, but that doesn't entirely explain why it's so strange.  In some ways, it's a so-bad-it's-goodie, but it also seems hip to itself in a way that, for instance, Can't Stop the Music isn't.  Let me talk about a sequence that's late in the movie because it's extreme but hardly unique in this movie:

• Officer Dave Speed (Terence Hill) is on Death Row for the alleged murderer of his cranky but good-hearted pal and superior, Sarge (Ernest Borgnine).
• Speed has super-powers but his kryptonite is the color red.
• Film star Rosy Labouche, who's also Sarge's crush, sneaks red roses into Speed's presence.
• Speed asks for gum, which he'll have "later," even though he's about to be electrocuted.
• He gets the flowers out of the room.
• He uses his super powers to divert the electrocution to the witnesses.
• He busts out of the room and into the ocean.
• He rescues Sarge from a sunken boat, using the gum, which inflates to look like a small yellow balloon.
• The gum becomes a huge yellow balloon, big enough for both men to ride, many feet off the ground.
• Speed jumps down on to a plane where Labouche and her boyfriend Torpedo are escaping, with Speed's girlfriend/ Sarge's niece Evelyn as a hostage.
• Speed manipulates the plane until the villains have to land.
• Meanwhile Sarge is still on the gum-balloon, so he tells Dave to catch him.
• As Sarge plummets to the earth, Dave runs to get in place, although Rosy's red boa is caught around his foot.
• He loses the boa right before he catches Sarge, but they still sink deep into the earth.
• Their boss starts to deliver a eulogy, only to be interrupted by a phone call, from Dave and Sarge, in China!
• Dave has Evelyn get on the phone so he can propose to her.
• The last scene is of their wedding, where he lifts her veil, only to find she's dyed her hair red!

This is a lot of suspension of disbelief for only a few minutes of viewing.  And I don't think we're meant to take any of it seriously.  There are other absurd touches to the movie, like the recurring rather disco-ish "Super Snooper" theme song, and the visual pun with a John Wayne poster, as well as the way Speed sounds both sincere and wisecracking.  They don't make 'em like this anymore, but then they seldom did.

Julian Voloshin, who's the old man in fishing boat (at age 71), was Prof. Nep in Birds Do It, which also took place in Florida.  And Jack McDermott was a hit man in that movie.  Marc Lawrence, who plays mob boss Torpedo, was Stiltskin in Foul Play and Webster in Goin' Coconuts, so you could say he's typecast.

C.H.O.M.P.S.

C.H.O.M.P.S.
December 21, 1979
Hanna-Barbera/American International
Children's, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Action
VHS
B-

I'm closing out the 1970s with two very '70s movies.  (I'll get to Scavenger Hunt in a few days, but I'll mention now that it came out on the same day as this one.)  This is also, probably because of the Hanna-Barbera production, a very televisiony movie, with writing, music, and sound effects straight out of any of their cartoons.  (The frequently recurring theme combines "charge," disco, and action music, while being very bouncy.)  Also, look at this cast: 28-year-old Wesley Land of the Lost Eure and 19-year-old Valerie One Day at a Time Bertinelli play an inventor and his girlfriend, while her father and his employer is Conrad Diff'rent Strokes Bain, and Jim Backus is the head of a rival security company.  Furthermore, the two bumbling crooks are played by Red Buttons and Chuck McCann.  The only signs of AIP-casting are Hermione Baddeley (who was one of the servants in Mary Poppins) as the dotty neighbor Mrs. Flower (a role not unlike Elsa Lanchester's Aunt Wendy in Pajama Party), and, as Merkle, Robert Q. Lewis, who was Mr. Pevney, the poor man that Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman drive insane in Ski Party.  

There are not really any of the odd, subversive touches of AIP movies of the '60s (and '50s), no breaking fourth walls, and every cliche is played straight.  The movie is entertaining enough, but not quite cheesy enough to be memorable.  I will note that the whole concept of the Canine HOMe Protection System doesn't seem so amazing, thirty-five years later, but the film might be worth a look for how it presents two elements that would become more significant in the '80s: technology, and fear of crime.

This time, Regis Toomey (then 81, but living on till 1991) plays the chief of police.  African-American actor James Reynolds, who plays a reporter here, was Officer Wilson in The Magic of Lassie.*  Engineer William Flatley was a truck driver in that movie, and Don Chaffey was the director.  Phil Adams, who's one of the "hoods" here, was Tarzan in Thank God It's Friday.


*There are a relatively high number of black men in the movie, with three in one scene.  I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it is compared to some of my other movies, even from the '70s.  To balance that, I couldn't decide if the mean, swearing dog Monster being black was significant (he does say "turkey" at one point), but I think it's just an example of the two-dimensionality of the script.  All of the criminals are white.

Americathon

Americathon
August 10, 1979
United Artists
Comedy, Musical, Sci-Fi
VHS
B

My review of the "fotonovel" is here:
http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2012/11/americathon.html.  I'll add that the music really does make a difference, particularly the Beach Boys, "still together after 40 years," singing over the opening and closing credits.  I also think Monty's (Harvey Korman) answer to "My Way," which opens "My life, I'm loved and hated, yes, even envied because I'm gifted," is near perfect.  I still laughed out loud at the movie, during this umpteenth viewing, although not every joke works.  (There is an audible silence, like we're waiting for the laugh track, after the joke based on the picture below.)  The energy is sometimes off and the timeline makes no sense (Chet and Mouling disappear for days before they're kidnapped, and no one notices.)  Still, there are touches that I like, such as the surprisingly sweet (if not really) developed romance between Riegert's Eric and Chet's "old lady" (wife? girlfriend?) Lucy, played by Ritter's real life wife Nancy Morgan.  And any line about the ventriloquists is gold.

Peter Marshall plays a respected newsman and Chief Dan George the wealthy founder of NIKE, both nice bits of counter-casting.  Howard Hesseman is a sound-booth technician who often seems disgusted by what's being televised.  Meat Loaf is a daredevil who's so popular he comes back.  (Unlike the more dubious entertainers.)

Jerry Maren is still alive at 94, although he was in the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard of Oz and Little Professor Atom in At the Circus.  One of the musclemen, Dennis Tinerino, was Atlas in Hercules in New York, while Kal Szkalak was an athlete in Sextette.  May Boss, who plays Adele Miller (who boxes a young Jay Leno), was "Frail Old Lady" in Rabbit Test.  Rollin Moriyama and Mitsu Yashima, who pretend to be Chinese here, were the Japanese couple in the taxi in Foul Play.  (John Lone and Ben Fong Torres are part of their group of tourists.)

Selma Archerd, who's a "telethon phone celebrity" here, was a passenger in The Big Bus and would be Mrs. Williams in Can't Stop the Music.  Ventriloquist Jerry Layne would also be in Can't StM (and on Three's Company).  Fred Lerner, Commando #3, would be KAOS #2 in The Nude Bomb.  Gene LeBell, who plays the referee, was in I Wanna Hold Your Hand and would be in Going Ape!, while Sosimo Hernandez, who's Juan Flan here, would be "Flugist" in the latter movie.  I don't have the Del Rubio Triplets in any other movie, but I was delighted when they turned up on Married with Children as Peg's aunts.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
October 1978
Four Square Productions
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Musical
VHS
B

As a 1970s parody, I'd put this roughly halfway between Son of Blob and The Big Bus.  I first saw it as a kid, watching Elvira's presentation, and (despite a half dozen very politically incorrect jokes) it probably is best for kids, or those adults who can enjoy intelligent stupidity.  I won't get into a discussion of whether you can set out deliberately to make a bad film, but I will say it's a good job of a bad film, with the giant fake tomato on a skateboard standing out as a cheerful demonstration of what can be done on a proudly small budget.  The acting is generally over the top (except for the elderly couple who casually watch their grandbaby get eaten).  The songs are all classics of some sort, with "Puberty Love" by Ronny Desmond a cruel satire of Donny Osmond.  The script goes in all directions and has only a slight resemblance to linear storytelling.  (For instance, a lot of time goes by before Mason Dixon goes to his rendezvous at 10 a.m.)

Overall, I think it's more interesting than Plan Nine, although after so many viewings, some of the charm has faded for me, unlike my recent experience with The Big Bus, which impressed me more than ever.  This film had many sequels, but I found Return of the Killer Tomatoes (1988) so disappointing that I disliked George Clooney for about a decade.

Understandably, there's not much of a recognizable cast here.  (Jack Riley, of The Bob Newhart Show, is the biggest name.)  Eric Christmas, who's Senator Polk here, was the priest in Harold and Maude.  Alan Scharf, who plays Roberts, would be a clerk in Scavenger Hunt, while Art Koustik, who's the FIA Director here, would be a zoo director there.  D.J. Sullivan, who plays Mrs. Williams, would be "Sister" in Going Ape!