National Lampoon’s Dirty Movie (2011)
Well, this was a movie about a guy making a movie of people telling offensive jokes. There are also naked boobies from time to time. Starring Christopher Meloni, and with a cameo by Cyndi Lauper. She played Little Johnny’s mother. You know Little Johnny:
Two kids at the breakfast table, first kid says to his mom, “Hey bitch, make me some fucking pancakes!” Mom freaks out, smacks him in the head, and sends him to his room. Then she asks Little Johnny what he wants for breakfast, and he says, “I sure as shit don’t want any fucking pancakes!”
Lots of racism, sexism, ableism, you name it. I laughed at some, but I shouldn’t have.
Man there’s a franchise wasted there. I’d have went to see any National Lampoon movie in the 80s (though arguably the less edgy nature of the Vacation movies ruined it), but god they got bad in the 00s (though Van Wilder was ok).
Roku has a daily trivia game and this was the answer a couple days ago and until that moment, I haven’t heard of the movie before. I am a fan of Sam Rockwell though so I want to see it first chance I get.
I don’t want to spoil anything but I recommend it.
I’m a big fan of this. Michael Crichton wanted to make Beowulf “interesting”, and wrote the novel “Eaters of the Dead”, blending some real historical characters and events with a very free adaptation of Beowulf. It came out in the 1970s. The movie came out in the middle of a spate of Beowulf adaptations, and ca hold its own with them (They wisely retitled the movie. “Eaters of the Dead” sounds like a zombie flick)
Hiroshima mon amour
Set in post World War II Japan. It’s about two lovers: the man is a Japanese architect, and the woman is a French actress who’s there to make a film. He wants to continue the relationship, but she’s reluctant. Gradually, her backstory is revealed to make it clear why she doesn’t want to commit.
I can see why this film is considered a masterpiece, but I had some problems with it. It relied on voice-over narration far too much for my taste, and the plot barely advances during the first two thirds of the story. I’m glad I saw it, but I would only recommend it to lovers of classic foreign art films.
Jules and Jim
Directed by Truffaut. Jules and Jim are childhood friends who both fall in love with a woman named Catherine. The relationships among the three of them go through many changes over the course of twenty-five years, with Catherine never fully committing to either Jules or Jim. Somehow Jules and Jim manage to maintain a friendship, and there are times when all three of them live together (though it’s never becomes a ménage à trois).
I liked this one a lot more than Hiroshima mon amour. I found the story compelling, with the relationships between the main characters having a lot of ups and downs. I will say, though, that these three characters don’t act like any people I’ve ever known.
Saw it a couple of weeks ago in an early release viewing. Loads of fun, but has some big plot holes if you think about it too much. I recommend it, too.
I dug into the Otherworlds TV vault (on Roku) this morning and watched 1977’s “Mr. Mean”, with Fred Williamson. Apparently, he “borrowed” the equipment a crew from another movie he was in at the time, “Inglorious Bastards” and filmed it without the permits required. It is one of the crappiest blaxploitation films I have ever seen, and even having the Ohio Players playing the title song in person near the beginning doesn’t make up for the near PG tone, abrupt cuts and stupid plot holes I saw.
I rewatched 13th Warrior a year or so ago after not seeing it since it came out. I remember the movie wasn’t very well liked when it came out but I always thought it was better than the reviews. I still liked it when I rewatched it.
I’m surprised that I’ve never seen Wolf of Wall Street, but Netflix had it listed as leaving at the end of the month and so we watched it. A three-hour long movie, but it goes by quickly. I didn’t expect the extensive drug use and explicit sex, but not enough to make the movie unwatchable. My wife originally didn’t recognize Margot Robbie until I told her she was Barbie, but this Barbie has nipples. She laughed at that line.
I’m going to add my support for this. I thought it was a pretty good take on Beowulf (as opposed to the Ray Winstone CGI-heavy one), and it works much better than you’d think. Not an “unheralded classic” but it’s solid. Would watch again.
That’s Merkin Muffley.
Marty Supreme (2025). This has already been reviewed here several times with mixed opinions. Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) is a table tennis player aspiring to be world champion, but this is almost incidental background to a complicated story of Marty’s aimless life as something of a hustler and con man, his life filled with constant misadventure. I liked it better than I thought I would, and fine performances by everyone involved helped it along, especially Chalamet who is up for Best Actor, and the film itself a Best Picture nominee. Personally I think there are better nominees for Best Picture, but it’s an intriguing story well told and well performed.
Surprisingly good acting by Kevin O’Leary as a wealthy business owner – yes, the same Kevin O’Leary known for his sharp tongue as a panelist on both Shark Tank (USA) and Dragon’s Den (Canada).
I agree with another poster than the ending was weak and rather clichéd, and there are plot elements that don’t seem to make a lot of sense – I’m not sure what the implausible relationship between Marty and the actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) adds to the story line – but overall I would definitely rate this as “recommended”.
Wow, I wasn’t expecting this film being mentioned here. It has been more years than I want to admit since I saw it. I watched it originally for a class where I was also reading a book by Marguerite Duras who wrote the script for this film. I will admit to not remembering that much about it except for some basic parts of the plot and the visuals. I think it is time for a re-watch especially now that I am older and better able to appreciate it.
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The Wandering Earth (2019) on Netflix: this is a Chinese movie based on the novella by Liu Cixin, who wrote The Three Body Problem. It was the 2nd-highest grossing film ever in China soon after release and is now at #6.
At some point in the near future, the sun is threatening to become a red giant and engulf the Earth, so a plan is made to build 10,000 engines to propel the entire Earth to a new solar system on a thousand+ year journey. Most of the film takes place 17 years after they’ve left orbit and are approaching Jupiter for a slingshot maneuver, and things go wrong.
The science is just as ridiculous as you’d expect for something like this, ridiculous things happen throughout, and characters act in some ridiculous ways. Some of it is just general sci-fi wackiness, and some is a different style of movie and storytelling in China. If you aren’t bothered by that, the movie is constant suspense and excitement. Check it out for something different.
I like them both, actually. I’d probably give the nod to the 13th Warrior as well (I liked the source book quite a bit). But I think the more magical, but less heroic vision of Beowulf was a nice bit of plotting. Another thing tainted retroactively by the Gaiman accusations, but I have to admit I have often enjoyed his takes on mythology.
Obviously I meant to say “I agree with another poster that the ending was weak and rather clichéd”.
I think maybe the Kay Stone bits were meant to demonstrate that Marty was aggressively opportunistic and completely unscrupulous.
I had no idea who he was, but I’ve read he is a jerk in real life, so he did fine in the role.
I guess you don’t watch Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den. O’Leary is ironically referred to as “Mr Wonderful” because if he doesn’t like the business presentation of one of the supplicants, his insults are always the most scathing of any of the panelists (ETA: actually, the panelists are rarely insulting. O’Leary almost always is). The only time I’ve seen him not insult a bad business proposal is when he was literally too convulsed with laughter to be able to speak.
I don’t know anything about his real-life persona, but I can easily believe that he’s a jerk IRL.
But he was perfect for the role, because he’s not only an imperious business owner IRL, but the role required someone who was cruel and vindictive, and O’Leary was perfect for it!
I watched two movies yesterday on the trans-Pacific flight from Auckland to Houston:
No Hard Feelings (2023) starring Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman.
Deep Cover (2025) starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom, among others.
Both were mildly entertaining and helped pass the time on the 14-hour flight. I wouldn’t really recommend them, especially if you had to pay to watch. But probably good for an evening’s entertainment from Netflix or Amazon.