Directed by Amy Heckerling, who previously made Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless, which also starred Alicia Silverstone. Not as good as those earlier films but I do seek out films by directors whose earlier work I have enjoyed.
The Invisibles. This is quite the movie. It stars Tim Blake Nelson and Gretchen Moll. If you ever wanted to see Nelson as the lead in a movie with a romance component, this is for you.
Nelson and Moll are a married couple on the skids due to a Very Bad Thing that happened. Nelson is a “nobody” who becomes a literal nobody. He starts fading out and is gone. He meets other invisibles. Does he just go with his new life (sans Moll) or can he do something else?
While it has the SF sort of theme, it really comes down to Nelson’s personal journey. And it worked quite well for me. (Just don’t ask too many questions about the SF premise.)
It uses some Bowie songs. Which is a plus if you’re a fan.
Give it 4 spacesuits.
This reminds me of my college experience watching Casablanca. It was during a History of the Motion Picture class, and we were watching it in a classroom, us and the professor, when we came to the part where Rick encourages the band to play La Marsellaise to drown out the Germans who are at the piano playing and singing Die Wacht am Rhein. Out of seemingly nowhere our Professor started singing along at full volume, startling all of us until the end of the song.
He later explained that he was taught that you were supposed to sing with the band to help drown out the Germans in the scene. It was news to me, and I never heard anyone before or after sing along with that scene.
But back to the topic at hand. I just finished re-watching The Fall Guy (2024) and it really is the most fun movie I saw in 2024. Yes, it is is just an action comedy, but there are so many beats that hit and little interactions that work as well as, of course, amazing stunts that make enjoyable.
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If I knew any of the words beyond the first line, I’d be tempted to join in.
Great scene. When Yvonne cries, I cry…every freakin’ time.
The DVD copy I have of Casablanca includes a commentary track by Roger Ebert and I think he mentions that almost every actor in that scene was a refugee from Europe, including those playing the Germans.
Yes! I was in bed looking for something easy to watch as I fell asleep. I don’t normally like animated movies, but I happened to come across it and it looked interesting. I thought, if I fall asleep no big deal. Total opposite. I was mesmerized by it. I loved watching the movements of the cat. I loved the subtle movements made by the capybara while it was sleeping. It was really a cool movie.
During Sophomore year at high school, students got the option to take a Science Fiction and Fantasy class and one of the first things we watched was Who Am I This Time . I remember kind of enjoying it then but not quite understanding why it would be considered science fiction (there were no ray guns!). Looking at it now as a more seasoned fan of fiction, there is a lot to appreciate here. Story from Kurt Vonnegut, directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon, the film is a little cheesy but it’s also great to see Sarandon and Walken act up a storm here. I’m still not sure why you might consider it science fiction (other than coming from an SF writer who was a bona fide literary genius), but it’s definitely worth watching.
This weekend I binged on the Larry Blamire classics (?) The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, Trail of the Screaming Forehead, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again and Dark and Stormy Night. Admittedly the returns diminish the further along one gets in the series but there’s always a few laughs to be had. It’s fun to see the usual gang in their different roles, especially the lovely Fay Masterson and alluring Jennifer Blaire.
While I often enjoy a crappy spoof movie for the lulz, I found The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra to be a nothingburger. I would certainly not watch any more movies along those lines.
I agree with all of the above. Sam Wilson has really grown on me as a character, but the plot of this film - like so many MCU films - feels like it’s just there to tie what happened in previous films and TV shows to what’s going to happen in later films and TV shows with minimal interest in what’s happening now. It’s like a key mid-season episode in a long-running series - it’s good but it doesn’t stand on its own.
I also recently saw a screening of The Gold Rush, which is 100 years olds this year, with a live orchestra performing the score. The slight clumsiness of the story flow by modern standards aside, this is still a hilarious and occasionally poignant film. My daughter even enjoyed it, and the woman behind us was having hysterical conniptions during one of the cabin scenes. Not every Chaplin film is a winner but if you haven’t seen this one, it remains a classic.
Agree! Really enjoyed Flow with its Studio Ghibli-sh meditative mystical feel. Wish I’d been watching it on a big screen, though.
Wow, thanks, a very nice 1hour film to cap off my evening. I’ve always been a fan of Vonnegut & was unfamiliar with this particular story. Walken & Sarandon are precisely tuned into the fire and doubts between Harry & Helene, 2 hella performances to watch 
It’s one of those rare films where I thought the love story was more interesting than the adventure. Two great performances intermittently interrupted by Sigourney and the monsters.
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (Prime, $3) Haven’t seen the classic in a decade but watched it with my young son and it holds up. I still busted out laughing a few times and I can quote nearly the entire film. My son loved it.
What stood out this time was the film was shot in color and everything ‘old time western’ looked fresh and new, then the bicycle scene happened and they went off to the modern New York City and their travels were shown in black and white photographs. I have no doubt that saved the budget as it was a clever way of creating scenes without having to do anything, but I wonder now if the entire film wasn’t trying to say something impactful about modernity. Sheriff Bledsoe tells them straight out Butch is affable but they’re nothing but two bit outlaws out on the dodge and their times are over. It’s the train and interstate cooperation that does The Hole In The Wall Gang up but allows them to travel to Bolivia whos own modernity ends up killing them despite it looking backward.
Yes, I think there was a wave of films exploring the end of the west that came out almost simultaneously (“The Wild Bunch”, “Once Upon a Time in the West” come to mind as well).
I also see in BC&tSK a movie about the Silent Generation saying goodbye to its own heyday inside a story about the Wild West’s.
I watched Flow tonight. Best animated feature I’ve seen in years.
Speed 1994 Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Kenau Reeves
On Max
First time I’ve watched it. What a thrill ride with non-stop action. Dennis Hopper is excellent as the bomber.
Kenau Reeves is awesome as the cop that never gives up. Bullock is good, but she had a smaller role than I expected.
This film has several false endings. Where you think it’s over and everyone is safe. Then something else happens and the action continues. The action is relentless all the way to the end.
Glad that I finally watched.
Btw, Alan Ruck from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has a small part as a bus passenger.
I watched that again fairly recently and was wondering if it would seem cheesy and dated. I was happy to be proved wrong; it’s still a highly entertaining ride.
“We’re at the airport.”
“So?”
“I already seen the airport.”