movie night

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(originally posted May 22, 2021) Lately I’ve been in a weird mood movie-wise. I think it’s partly that Prime has been pushing random superhero and/or adventure movies with maybe a dash of science fiction tossed in for good measure to the front of my recommendations. Gee, I wonder why they would ever think I’d like those? Thing is that they’re all stand-alone and not truly deserving of their own post. So I thought I’d tell you about the ones I’ve seen recently with a small snippet of the listed IMBd descriptions. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) Description: “Adventurer, brain surgeon,Read More →

Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated

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(originally posted June 30, 2022) I am a big fan of Scooby Doo. Not in the fanatical sense but definitely in the “Scooby Doo is comfort food for me” camp.  So usually I downright devour any series or movie they put out. Well, unless they’re absolutely ridiculous. Looking at you Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! That one is just too weird to watch. ‘Nuff said. But when Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated first came out, I actually didn’t like it. At all. In fact, I could easily say I actively hated it. And wondered what the creators were smoking. (Oddly not in the same wayRead More →

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(originally posted April 17, 2021) possible mild spoilers ahead just saying I really liked this one. A lot more than Godzilla (2014) or Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). To be honest, I remember watching Kong: Skull Island (2017), which is also in this series, but that’s about it. Not sure what that says, but apparently it didn’t make a big impression on me. Of course, I’ve re-watched the other two recently so that may be part of it. Not all though. first there are the battles between the two titans The monster fights in Godzilla vs Kong (2021) are absolutely phenomenal. The way theRead More →

Dungeons & Dragons Honor Among Thieves (2023)

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My son and I watched Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves over the Memorial Day weekend and really enjoyed it. I honestly didn’t expect it to be very good. But it was fantastic! And, to be honest, I’m not even sure what makes it fantastic. Okay, let me back up a bit before I try to figure that out. Even as much of a fantasy fan as I am – generally speaking – I’ve never been that big on the D&D stuff. Definitely never played the table games. And only have a passing acquaintance with the movies that have been made in the past. OfRead More →

Star Wars 1977

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Yes, Star Wars was originally released on May 25, 1977. Notice I did not say Star Wars: A New Hope because that was not what it was called then. Anyway, my children and I were talking recently about what made Star Wars such a cultural phenomenon. Looking back it’s really difficult to explain exactly what it was like when the first movie came out. That has less to do with the world at time than it does with the movie itself, I think. No one knew what to expect and what we got certainly wasn’t anything like what we might’ve imagined. So where to start?Read More →

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

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Having grown up on the 1939 movie, literally every Christmas, it’s easy to forget that it was based upon a fairly lengthy series of children’s books by Frank L Baum. The first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was first published on May 17, 1900 and was illustrated by W. W. Denslow, a long time collaborator of Baum.  Having finally gotten around to reading the original books in recent years, I thought it might be fun to celebrate by comparing a couple of images from the original book to the same scene from the 1939 movie. Dorothy in the tornado Okay, honestly those are nothingRead More →

John Wick

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We got a new high speed internet connection a couple of weeks ago so my son & I immediately decided to have a movie DAY since we weren’t busy elsewhere. Of course, the next question was what to watch? We finally settled on John Wick. Ended up watching the first three movies, one right after another. So, I’ll say it again. WOW! The weird thing is that essentially they are very violent, blood and all, movies which normally I don’t like that much. And yet it was more like watching a ballet at times. With guns and fists. My son said that they are probablyRead More →

magnifying glass

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Lately, what I’ve been amazed by is how many new-to-me “quirky” TV mysteries I’ve run across on Britbox through Prime. It must be that time of year or something. I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I love mystery series with a bit of humor and, well, let’s just call it eccentricities to them. And these four have that in spades. So, in the order I found them: Pie in the Sky (1994-1997) This one is an older series that I think I’ve tried before. I liked the premise of a police detective who wants to open his own restaurant but, of course,Read More →

Nick and Nora of The Thin Man movies

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I have the complete set of six The Thin Man movies staring William Powell and Myrna Loy. They are simply perfection, individually and collectively. Periodically I will pull them out and rewatch them in order, usually a couple a night for several nights. They’re only like an hour and a half each so that’s workable.  Occasionally I will get in the mood to go right to my two favorites – Shadow of the Thin Man and Song of the Thin Man. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you which of those two is my top favorite. I enjoy them equally just for different reasons. It’sRead More →

Aang and Po

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Yes, I will admit it, I absolutely adore both the Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series and the Kung Fu Panda movie trilogy. Possibly even more than Scooby Doo. I mean I devour most things Scooby Doo but I also know they have their faults. These two animated “series”, however, are almost perfection personified. Both have to do with martial arts. Each has a level of depth and character development for a children’s series that is incredible to behold. Depth not always found in so-called adult fare, either. The people who put these two series together didn’t just throw some fun at kids. They tellRead More →

The Addams Family

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So have you watched the new Wednesday series on Netflix yet that’s based on the daughter from The Addams Family? If you haven’t, you may be the only one who hasn’t. Just saying. This was really good and I’m not entirely sure why. I know I liked it. My son and I stayed up until around 3 am one night during the holidays to watch all of it. It was one of those “just one more episodes and we’ll stop” situations. Only we didn’t until we were done. So, yeah, I enjoyed it. Although, why? I’m not sure exactly, so I started checking out someRead More →

The Wizard of Oz

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Okay, I’m not even a horror fan but I’m still intrigued. I mean I’ve read the Oz books and I can see where one could find horror in the subject matter. Especially in the later books, there is a lot more downright horror elements than one would expect in fantasy supposedly created for children. So, yeah, I can see it. Now we’re not talking about a feature film here but a short crowd-sourced project. Honestly, I think we’re going to see a lot more crowd-sourcing of creative content in the future. People are just downright fed up with some of the insane decisions major studiosRead More →

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I recently discovered Bergerac, an older nine season detective TV series on BritBox, that I’ve completely fallen in love with. So much so that several times a week I’ve taken to watching an episode right before I go to sleep. I’m on the third season already so it’s definitely keeping my interest. Bergerac was apparently phenomenally popular during it’s original run time in Britain but this is the first I’ve heard of it. The shocker is that it stars a younger, and extremely good-looking, John Nettles of Midsomer Murders fame. I didn’t connect the main character as being played by Nettles initially because of justRead More →