My apologies – I follow this thread more or less closely, but apparently missed your excellent post. Still, this is one of those movies that deserves more than one notice! 
One of the songs on the soundtrack to the movie referenced the octopus that was cut from the final film. Eight Arms To Hold You was purportedly by The Goon Squad, ergo, I think Goonies is a riff on Goon Squad.
In the movie The Goonies, one character mentions that they live in the Goon Docks neighborhood.
I’m a fan of a lot of 80s music, but holy shit that “song” is soooooo bad. It’s just a two-line chorus repeated over and over and over again. And presumably because it has no content, it is massively overproduced. Ugh.
The video is kind of stupidly fun, but why is the cat eating goldfish crackers? I suppose that’s some kind of silly little “cats like fish” joke, but c’mon.
Agree. Good suspense! I like a lot of late 30s/early 40s movies. Maybe because budgets were smaller due to the Depression and the War, a lot of movies from that era are tighter, better plotted, and well-acted. Even the Bs.
The War of the Roses (1989). An amusing farce starring two of my favourite actors, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. Danny DeVito also stars and directs. In the midst of a bitter divorce, Barbara and Oliver Rose are both determined to keep the house. Oliver has moved out but his lawyer finds an old legal precedent where it would be advantageous for him to move back in. Despite Oliver’s efforts to partition the house into “his” and “her” zones and a neutral buffer zone, hilarity ensues when their conflict inevitably escalates. The scene where Oliver crashes a formal dinner that Barbara is holding for her business clients and a renowned food critic is hilarious, as is Barbara’s revenge!
FYI, a remake of that opens in a month, starring Olivia Coleman and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Paranormal Activity
Started out mildly scary, and even at 86 minutes became tedious. I read the plot ending on wikipedia before I finished the film.
I’m not sure if it is me, or the film. Maybe I just find horror movies too unbelievable to be scary? If you’re dealing with supernatural demons of immense power, there really isn’t anything you can do, so it seems counterproductive to get scared. Like a hurricane or Texas flood, just try to stay out of its way I guess.
I read the summations of the other films in the series. If everybody always dies, what’s the point? You need hope.
My expectations were very low because I knew this was a super-low-budget production, really little more than a home movie videotaped with rented equipment and actors from who knows where. Maybe partly for that reason, I was actually quite impressed and found it scary precisely because the scary parts were relatively understated. Even the acting by total unknowns was more than adequate.
To be fair, the unexpected success of the film spawned lots of sequels, with real production budgets, and my understanding is that most or all of them are crap.
The Life of Chuck (2024). Whatever else one might say, this film is creatively original, well acted, and beautifully put together. Apparently based on a short story by Stephen King, who was also executive producer. While it’s true that King has been associated with some really bad movies, he’a also a master storyteller who’s also been associated with some great ones, like The Shawshank Redemption.
ETA: I tried to be careful not give anything away, but in retrospect, for those who prefer to go in completely blind, I’ve spoilered what little I’ve said about it.
I don’t want to give anything away, but I’ll just say a few things. The story is presented in three acts, and the acts are in reverse chronological order, beginning with Act 3. This act depicts a dystopian world where California has been almost entirely decimated by an earthquake of unprecedented power, Florida is under water, wildfires burn everywhere, volcanoes are erupting in parts of the world that never had volcanoes, cellular and television services are sporadic or gone entirely, and so on. It’s intriguing and nicely done and one is anxious to see where this goes.
Be prepared for a complete change of tone as we go into Act 2. It’s totally mystifying what this has to do with what we’ve just seen. That doesn’t become apparent until one has seen the whole movie, and even then some might be left wondering. The hint is in the line of Whitman poetry that is recited several times in the movie.
Not everyone will thoroughly enjoy or appreciate this film, but I definitely recommend it as both a thoughtful examination of our life on this planet and a story hooked into some interesting fantasy.
I’ve discovered another reason why Happy Gilmore 2 is falling flat with me. I saw this YouTube video detailing all the little “cameos” in the film. Cameos? The entire movie is performed by Adam Sandler’s extended family, a bunch of old golfers, his usual cast of pals and that’s about it. He didn’t hire any actors, he just said, “Come on, everybody, we’re putting on a show!”
That’s wearing pretty thin.
Batman 1989 Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger
On Max
I hadn’t seen it since the theater release. The movie holds up pretty well. Jack’s performance as the Joker is ageless.
The rubber Bat suit is problematic. It gives Batman a stiff, blocky movement. He can’t turn his head. I think the TV batman costume moved better than the thick rubber suit.
Keaton is very good as Bruce Wayne. Wayne has more depth and is a more interesting character than his alter ego.
Kim and Michael have great chemistry. The subtle romance is a nice moment in between the fight scenes.
Never rub another man’s rhubarb The Joker
I can;t help it, I like San Andreas and it was on again yesterday. And right in the channel next door was another Rock movie.
Tried to watch Manchester by the Sea yesterday, but gave up about 25 minutes or so in (shameful, I know). It was just so… dreary. I guess I should have expected that since Casey Affleck films always seem to have that sort of feel. I just find the guy rather monotone. Might give it another chance at some point. When a film gets so many critical plaudits you expect better.
Just watched The Sound of Music (1965) on Turner Classic Movies and quite enjoyed it.
Rewatched Wings of Desire (1987) for the first time since it came out. It’s a sweet, gentle movie, and I’d forgotten what precisely Peter Falk’s role was in it.
Some things did hit differently- seeing Berlin just two years before the wall would come down; Solveig Dommartin, who would die at just 45 yo; Nick Cave’s prominent role (I didn’t know who he was back then); and the 20-year age difference between Ganz and Dommartin, which was par for the course in 1987, I guess, but I didn’t like it.
Still, overall I very much liked the slow pace and what Wenders was able to create.
Totally agree. We made it all the way through, but while this movie was highly-acclaimed it tops my list as thee most depressing movie I have ever seen. And it just drags on and on…
Someone came up with the brilliant idea of re-adapting War of the Worlds to a modern, high-tech setting.
It’s streaming on Netflix.
It stars those two great thespians Ice Cube and Eva Longoria.
I’m not wasting my time or yours with a more nuanced review.
Suffice to say…
It stinks.
Last night I watched Escape From Germany on Prime. Based on a true story, it’s an account of dozens of LDS missionaries attempting to leave Germany before WWII breaks out. It’s a great story, but not a great movie, IMO. Would not recommend.
She Rides Shotgun lives up to the trailer linked above. A pretty basic “on the run from the evil meth gang” with the usual twists and turns, but greatly elevated by the performances and chemistry of the two leads, an unrecognizable Taron Egerton (Kingsman) and relative newcomer Ana Sophia Heger as his nine year old daughter. While the plot turns are fairly predictable, the overall narrative is unflinching in its treatment of the characters. Heger gives a deeply felt performance that manages to find the balance of child and proto-adult as a kid ripped from her normal life to go on the run with her ex-con dad. She is brilliant throughout and makes the final scene of the film the most memorable since the final scene of Shoplifters, with a completely silent performance that let’s the audience know there are no winners in this tale. Highly recommended.