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Review of “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” (1988)

We were in the mood for silliness for our Saturday pizza and bad movie night. We got it. Plot: In Beirut (where else?) Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, Ayatollah Khomeini, Yasser Arafat, and Mikhail Gorbachev (Prince Hughes, Robert LuJane, Charles Gherardi, David Katz, David Lloyd Austin), among others, sit around a conference table trying to comeContinue reading “Review of “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” (1988)”

Review of “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961)

The past Saturday pizza and bad movie night was a return to the schlock of yesteryear. Plot:In the sixteenth-century, Englishman Francis Barnard (John Kerr) arrives at a foreboding castle seeking news about his sister Elizabeth’s (Barbara Steele) recent death. His sister’s widower, Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price), and his younger sister, Catherine (Luana Anders), give himContinue reading “Review of “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961)”

Review of “Godzilla” (1954) and “Godzilla King of the Monsters” (1956)

I. Godzilla (1954) In 1954, a Japanese film appeared with a monster named Gojira—Angelized as Godzilla—that terrorized people near the (fictional) island of Odo near the Japanese coast, destroying ships before taking on Tokyo. Survivors describe their disasters: “It was like the sea exploded.” The people of Odo Island see their fishing nets come backContinue reading “Review of “Godzilla” (1954) and “Godzilla King of the Monsters” (1956)”

Review of “The Lady Vanishes” (1938)

The Lady Vanishes is a British mystery thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. Plot: In the fictional European Alpine country of Bandrika, an avalanche has delayed a train and forced a varied group of people to find rooms in a small local hotel. Wealthy English IrisContinue reading “Review of “The Lady Vanishes” (1938)”

Review of “Godzilla Minus One” (2023)

I’d been waiting to see this one for a long time. Everyone I know who’d seen it told me it was a great movie. Long story short, it did not disappoint. It is more than a Godzilla movie. Plot:Near the end of World War II, kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands his plane atContinue reading “Review of “Godzilla Minus One” (2023)”

Review of “Scream Blacula Scream” (1973)

This week’s Saturday pizza and bad movie was a return to the cheesy flick of yesteryear—a vampire pic to boot. Plot: The film opens with the death of voodoo adept Mama Loa. Her son Willis Daniels (Richard Lawson) then claims her place. Others tell him it’s a matter of voting. A favorite is Mama Loa’sContinue reading “Review of “Scream Blacula Scream” (1973)”

Review of “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)

Back home and back to our Saturday pizza and bad movie. We gave the usual monster movies a break and watched the classic The Philadelphia Story, a movie neither of us could remember seeing before. Plot: C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) is packing the car with his worldly goods. Tracy—Mrs. C. K. Dexter HavenContinue reading “Review of “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)”

Mother’s Day: a Rant

Last night, I dreamed several of my closest friends died. I’m at the point in life where I attend memorials with increasing frequency and weddings hardly at all, but the dream was not about that. It was about a Mother’s Day visit with family. We are not close. There are no bad feelings that I’mContinue reading “Mother’s Day: a Rant”

Review of “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” (2018)

We watched an oddball film for our Saturday pizza and bad movie night, a sad movie that dealt with dreams, fantasy v. reality, guilt, and a bit of insanity. Plot: The movie opens the line: And now… after more than 25 years of making… and unmaking. The viewer first sees a storybook of Don QuixoteContinue reading “Review of “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” (2018)”

Review of “Argylle” (2024)

This was a break from our usual Saturday night pizza and bad movie. It was an amalgam of Romancing the Stone, The Kingsman, a little bit (perhaps unintentionally) of Get Smart, and a dash of The Sopranos. Plot: Dressed in a dark green Nehru jacket, suave Agent Aubrey Argylle (Henry Cavill) approaches several elegantly dressedContinue reading “Review of “Argylle” (2024)”