Not So Beasty

Beasties (1991)
Dir - Steven Paul Contreras
Horror Movie Night


Check out my full review over at Horror's Not Dead!

A Very Green Christmas

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Dir - Brian Henson

One of my two favorite adaptations of Dickens' A Christmas Carol so I decided to start my Christmas Day with a repeat viewing. Some great songs, Michael Cane is wonderful as Scrooge, it has all of your Muppet favorites and Kevin as Tiny Tim!

Take it Easy on the Pepsi

Home Alone (1990)
Dir - Chris Columbus

Not much really needs to be said about this film, it's just greatness.

I also picked up my own cheese pizza to each whilst watching. It's the only way.

Turbo Man

Jingle All the Way (1996)
Dir - Brian Levant

This is only the second time, and second year in a row, that I've seen the film but it will become a regular around the holidays for years to come. No, it's not very good but there's something enjoyable about this quest of the hot gift of the season. How can you really go wrong when the leads are Arnold Schwarzenegger and freaking Sinbad?!

JTT + Santa = Awesome

I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998)
Dir - Arlene Sanford
Xmas Insanity 2011

The last XI film is one from Disney starring the Teen Beat heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas and a young Jessica Biel fresh from the set of 7th Heaven. JTT makes a less impressive Santa than Hulk Hogan did last year in Santa with Muscles, but it's still pretty great. Can't really remember too much that I want to say about this, besides the fact that Gary Cole (!) is in it, but there is a pretty chart topping late 90's soundtrack - complete with Smash Mouth poster! Shudder.

Toothbrush Attack!

B-Robo Kabutack: The Epic Christmas Battle (1997)
Dir - ???
Xmas Insanity 2011

Our first move of XI was an epic kid's show from Japan and their hourlong "holiday themed" episode. I put that in quotes because there's very little to do with Christmas. It kind of seems like an afterthought. The joy of this Power Rangers-esque show is the shark robot named, appropriately enough, Sharkler. His weapon of choice is a giant toothbrush. How cool is that?!

A weird show with crazy Japanese antics you would expect and a female Santa who rides around on a flying surfboard.

I. Must. Find. This series.

Snowed In

Jack Frost (1997)
Dir - Michael Cooney

Been a couple years since I watched this one but it's still pretty fun and entertaining. A serial killer is turned into a killer snowman who steals kill scenes from Silent Night, Deadly Night and rapes Shannon Elizabeth with his carrot "nose" in the shower. Nothing says Christmas like that!

It Can't Rain All the Time

The Crow (1994)
Dir - Alex Proyas

I love this movie so much! It's been years since I actually watched it but the new Blu was a great excuse. Back in high school, when it came out, I had t-shirts, the graphic novel, hats, posters and even a ring (!) all based around this movie/character. I couldn't get enough. Still holds up really well and made me smile all the way through.

Devil's Plan

La Setta (1991) aka The Sect
Dir - Michele Soavi
Halloween White Elephant

Another great from the short lived directing career of Soavi.

Read my full thoughts here on Horror's Not Dead!

It's Magic!

Demon Wind (1990)
Dir - Charles Phillip Moore
Horror Movie Night

This was quite an interesting HMN entry that I found myself equally fascinating with and dumbfounded by. On the positive side of things there's a kung-fu magician guy!

Full thoughts next week on Horror's Not Dead!

Drug Child fo' Real

Party Monster: The Shockumentary (1998)
Dir - Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato

A few years before they made the feature film with Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green the filmmakers did a documentary on Michael Alig. This is a very interesting look at the club kid life in NYC. It's way too short but it was made for an hourlong piece for a premium channel, so what do you expect. Very interesting and a must see any fan of the later film.

Psyche Out

BASEketball (1998)
Dir - David Zucker

A comedy starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone before South Park had completely sky rocketed. Really funny and a game that I would actually like to play - though I'm not really sold on having Reel Big Fish as the house band. Full of great jokes and an awesome cameo by Robert Stack!

Dinos Attack!

Carnosaur 3: Primal Species (1996)
Dir - Jonathan Winfrey

Watched this for a new series of reviews we'll be doing over at Horror's Not Dead in October. Full review will be up on the site then.

Putz

Grumpier Old Men (1995)
Dir - Howard Deutch

After watching the first film again a few months back I thought I'd give the sequel another shot. This is not nearly as good as its predecessor. Many of the same jokes, set-ups and plot devices. It's tired.

Still, gotta love Lemmon and Matthau!

Fallen Very Far

Fallen Angels (1995)
Dir - Kar Wai Wong
AFFD

Here is one of the repertory films I saw that people praised. I don't get it. There are some great moments in this film and I can appreciate some of what Wong did but it just didn't really do it for me. There was some quality, something very mid-90s indie, that just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for this type of film at that point in the day. I'll give it a shot some other time and see if my opinion changes.

Out of My Mind

Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Di r - Adrian Lyne

I gave this movie a good eleven years before watching. It was just so the hype would die down... yeah, that's right. Regardless of the reason, all of the good things I've heard over the years are well earned and then some. There are some incredible moments in this movie and Robbins gives quite a performance. Love that all of the special effects were done live and not altered in post. Some pretty skin-crawling imagery.

Betty White is Bad

Lake Placid (1999)
Dir - Steve Miner

Not sure why I waited 12 years to watch this movie, but I did. Nothing too great overall but has some cool moments - it is about a giant killer crocodile after all. Love the bear scene and hearing Betty White call people "cocksuckers" is like sweet angelic music. Guess I'll have to get around to the other two direct-to-SyFy sequels now.

Come to Daddy

Stepfather III (1992)
Dir - Guy Magar

The first two Stepfather movies are great but I figured this one would suffer without the great Terry O'Quinn in the lead. I was wrong. This is now one of my favorite horror trilogies and the final installment has all the ridiculous greatness you could want. Kid in a wheelchair - check. Tons of neon - check. Cutting edge (at the time) computer tech that now is laughable - check. Priscilla Barnes - check. Christa Miller (from Scrubs, Cougar Town, Drew Carey, etc) - Check. Hopefully this will get a DVD release someday soon!

Manly Men, Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
Dir - Mel Brooks

I think I've only seen this one other time, when it came out on VHS, and I remembered very little. It has some really funny moments for sure but not my favorite Brooks film by far. I do love that it not only parodies the Robin Hood tale, but most specifically the Kevin Costner version. HA!

I'm Baby Oopsy-Daisy, Will You Be My Special Friend?

Demonic Toys (1992)
Dir - Peter Mangoogian

Even with my Full Moon obsession in the mid-to-late 90s I somehow missed this movie. It is full of all the makings of a great FM picture - cheesy dialog, questionable acting, a little nudity, some laughs and some badass puppets. A fun time!