PODCAST: "Superman II" (1981) - A Super Film Selection w/ Ryan and Stuart

Watched:  05/21/2020
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Unknown.  A lot.
Decade:  1980's
Director:  Richards Lester and Donner


For more ways to listen.


Everyone loves "Superman II", or at least that's how they remember it. Listen in as two guys who have seen this movie way, way too many times, read too much about it and - frankly - thought more about it than an adult person probably should set about discussing the follow-up to the super-tastic "Superman: The Movie". This one has the big bad-guy fight! But also, weird powers, a shiny disco bed, and will the real Gene Hackman please stand up?

The Signal Watch PodCast · 104: "Superman II" (1981) - a Super Film Selection with Ryan and Stuart

Music: 

Can You Read My Mind? - Maureen McGovern



Playlist:

The Signal Watch PodCast · Ryan's Random Cinema

Noir Watch: The Crimson Kimono (1959)

Watched:  05/24/2020
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's
Director:  Samuel Fuller

One of the deep dives I'm likely to do in the next couple of years is dive into the filmography of director Samuel Fuller.  I've never seen a Fuller film I didn't like *a lot*.  Pickup on South Street, Shock Corridor, The Naked Kiss...  all solid films.  A while back The Crimson Kimono (1959) played the Austin Noir City film festival, but I wasn't able to stay for the movie, and now I'm very mad at myself for not sticking around for the movie (I think Paul saw it). 

Comedy Watch: The Lovebirds (2020)

Watched:  05/24/2020
Format:  Netflix
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2020's
Director:  Michael Showalter

I wasn't sure what to expect.  I don't love rom-coms, and there's a weird sub-genre of "couple gets caught up in a crime and run around downtown" sub-genre that I've never had an interest in exploring. 

This one, however, worked for me.  I generally like Kumail Nanjiani - and that continues on here - and I really liked Issa Rae.  She's pretty great. 

Anyhoo, not going to overthink this one, but it was the right movie for us this weekend.

Tweet Watch: Invasion USA (1985)

Watched:  05/22/2020
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  Unknown.  Probably 3rd?
Decade:  Reagan 80's
Director:  Joseph Zito


I am not wasting my time or yours by writing this up or asking you to read about this movie. 

Kaiju Watch: Rebirth of Mothra/ Mothra Returns (1996)

Watched:  05/20/2020
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1990's
Director:  Okihiro Yoneda

So, this movie was insane. 

Rebirth of Mothra/ Mothra Returns (1996) arrived with those kind of groovy Godzilla films where they were re-doing the earlier movies in a 90's context, and decided to expand the franchise with some Mothra solo flix.  It just happened to be directed by a second unit director who maybe wasn't quite ready for his own picture?

The first half has this weird vibe like an American kids movies of the late 80's - squabbling parents, a bratty younger sister maybe?  But then enter the Twins/ The Faeries from prior Mothra appearances.  And they HAVE NAMES.  (Mona and Lora.  Who figured?)  They also have a gothed out sister who went evil who rides around on a tiny dragon. 

Friday Night Tweet-a-Long: Invasion USA (1985)

Watch at:  Amazon Prime
Day:  Friday 05/22/2020
Start Time:  8:30 Central
Hashtag:  #invadeusa

Pause Video and Wait At:  20 seconds - as soon as the Cannon Logo locks in.

Because:  CANNON - the sign of 80's QUALITY

The 80's were a time of amazing action movies that rarely, if ever, made any sense, but did provide plumes of flame and dudes with automatic weapons taking care of business.  It was also the halcyon days of Chuck Norris before he became a meme.  But how did he become a meme and why?  We're here to find out.

Join us as America works through its paranoia and racism in the form of a land-based invasion force who seems hell-bent on... something.  But apparently a single boatload of guys in camo pants is enough to set Reagan's America on its ear!  You'll wonder how a country need be made great again when you're bad-ass enough to have Chuck Norris around to single-handedly save the nation!

Accidental Quarantine Watch: Jezebel (1938)

Watched:  05/18/2020
Format:  TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1930's
Director:  William Wyler

Y'all should know by now I like me some Bette Davis, and one of her early-career films you hear name-dropped a bit is Jezebel (1938).  In all honesty, all I knew about the movie before hitting Play was that it starred Davis, was a period piece of some sort, a melodrama of some sort, and featured cinematography was by Ernest Haller.   I figured on a big studio budget as Davis was, by 1938, a force.  But I didn't think much else about the production.

Given the year, I assume this was Warner Bros. pre-emptive answer to Gone With the Wind, which would arrive soon after and took so long in all phases of production, Warner Bros. had an opportunity to catch up and did so by adapting a screenplay with very similar themes.  Maybe I'm wrong, but the parallels of a romance about a spitfire of a girl in the antebellum south longing after a man she can't have and playing with a bit of a cad and it all ending badly has a certain echo to it.

PODCAST: "Skyfall" (2012) - Bond Watch 07 w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Watched:  05/16/2020
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Unknown - maybe 4th?
Decade:  2010's
Director:  Sam Mendes

More ways to listen.

We talk a favorite of the entire Bond franchise - "Skyfall"! It's not just a perfect Adele song, it's also a movie! Daniel Craig and Dame Judith Dench protect Mother England and tangle with Javier Bardem! There's a komodo dragon! There's a mysterious island! There's a chase through tunnels! A jail cell with no toilet! Join Simon UK and Ryan as we sort through the film that was better than the films immediately before and after.




Music:
Bond Theme - Monty Norman
Skyfall - Adele



Playlist:

In a Time of Virus: Everything Out of a Can

People went crazy the last few weeks.

I don't really know how else to interpret the furious wrath of church ladies in JC Penny tops screaming about wearing life-saving facemasks.  People told their lives depend on distance and patience rushed to state capitols with rifles to stand elbow to elbow with strangers, their faces bared to cameras and virus particles, screaming hysterically about their right to...  expose themselves and others to illness and death, I guess.

It's now been going on long enough that we're getting reports of these people catching COVID-19, the occasional ironic/ cautionary tale of people's last facebook posts rants about the "hoax" of the virus before the person winds up dead.  70-odd people who went to an "open" rally in Wisconsin are believed to have contracted the virus at the event.  And today I saw something about a church in California that held Mother's Day services exposed over 180 people.

Noir Watch: Mildred Pierce (1945)

Watched:  05/16/2020
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM on DVR
Viewing:  Unknown
Decade:  1940's
Director: Michael Curtiz


It's pointless for a schlub blogger like me to get into writing much about Mildred Pierce (1945) - it's one of the best known and most written about movies out there, still a favorite among even the most casual of classic film fans.  Anyway, there's no shortage of critical analysis out there about the film.