Tag Archives: movie review

Review of “The Old Dark House” (1932)

This is our latest Saturday night pizza and bad movie offering. Last week, Svengoolie was unavailable. The cable channel has not explained. Oh, well. The dearly beloved found the film scheduled for then, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, through the library. It should arrive shortly. This week’s film is a bit less cheery. Plot:Continue reading “Review of “The Old Dark House” (1932)”

Review of “Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man” (1951)

We had pizza and watched a bad movie with Svengoolie while waiting for Santa. Fortunately, we had enough leftovers we didn’t have to venture out. Plot: It’s graduation day 1951 at Dugan Detective School. Among those receiving diplomas are Bud Alexander (Bud Abbott) and Lou Francis (Lou Costello). Lou says, “This is the happiest dayContinue reading “Review of “Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man” (1951)”

Review of “A Simple Ad” (2019)

Thoughts:This is a very short film inspired by a six-word micro-short story attributed to Ernest Hemingway. The opening credits roll over shots of a bookcase with family pictures—a baby, a little boy, and a wedding, among others. The viewer hears “Suo Gan,” a lovely traditional Welsh lullaby sung by the Choir of King’s College. ItContinue reading “Review of “A Simple Ad” (2019)”

Review of “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1944)

It’s Halloween, 1941, in New York. Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant), a drama critic and author of such books as Marriage, a Fraud and a Failure, waits in a long line with the girl literally next door, Elaine Harper (Pricilla Lane). A sign above them reads “marriage licenses.” A couple of gentlemen of the fourth estateContinue reading “Review of “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1944)”

Review of “At the Earth’s Core” (1977)

Svengoolie was a rerun once again, so we went to Mystery Science Theater for this gem, an adaptation of an Edgar Rice Burroughs work.  Plot:   Against a backdrop of Victorian Great Britain, scientist Dr. Abner Perry (Peter Cushing) oversees the building of a giant earth-boring machine, “the iron mole.” Accompanying him on its test run throughContinue reading “Review of “At the Earth’s Core” (1977)”

Review of “Starcrash” (1978)

We ducked out on a bad rerun on Svengoolie and chose this gem, a color sci-fi Star Wars rip—er, Star Wars-inspired flick. Plot: The opening shots show the bottom of a white starship passing over the viewer. Where, oh, where has that appeared before? No crawl to set the action a long time ago inContinue reading “Review of “Starcrash” (1978)”

Review of “The Big Sleep” (1946)

Alas! Svengoolie was a rerun last night, so we opted for a bit of noir, The Big Sleep, which neither the dearly beloved nor I had seen. Plot:Ill, elderly General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) hires private detective Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) to settle some “gambling debts” his daughter Carmen (Martha Vickers) owes to a bookseller namedContinue reading “Review of “The Big Sleep” (1946)”

Review of “Romancing the Stone” (1984)

Our Saturday night pizza and bad movie movie was in color for a change. And our usual place for pizza procurement changed hands, which included a big jump in prices. I asked if that meant a pay raise for the worker bees, not realizing I was talking to one of the new owners. He laughed.Continue reading “Review of “Romancing the Stone” (1984)”

Review of “Attack of the Puppet People” (1958)

This week’s Saturday night pizza and bad movie offering is a black-and-white science fiction horror flick involving miniaturized people trying to escape the clutches of the “kindly” old doll-maker who shrank them and holds them captive for his amusement. Yeah, it could happen. Plot:The movie opens with a Brownie troop visiting Dolls Incorporated. The receptionist,Continue reading “Review of “Attack of the Puppet People” (1958)”

Review of “It! The Terror from Beyond Space” (1958)

This week’s Saturday pizza and bad movie offering is a cheap black-and-white 50s space disaster flick, hearkening back to the war movies of a decade earlier. We watched it with Svengoolie. Plot:  The credits roll over an illustration of a crunched cylindrical spaceship on an extraterrestrial plane surrounded by craggy mountains. The viewer is informedContinue reading “Review of “It! The Terror from Beyond Space” (1958)”