June is no longer Non-Alliterative Silver Screen Classic Movie Month!
Before watching the movie:
Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor (whom I’ve only seen together in one other movie) get thrown in jail for a crime they didn’t commit. Comedy ensues. Escaping? Surviving? I’m expecting both. Other than that, I’m not sure what’s going to happen, because the last time I saw them together, they were playing blind and deaf, which seems like it would make a big difference.
Before watching the movie:
I guess one can look at this movie as the beginning of geek acceptance. It looks like it’s going to be a rehash of all the old awful stereotypes of what geeks are, but they’re the heroes, so it’s already a minor improvement.
Some names in the cast that I recognize: John Goodman and James Cromwell. I don’t expect important roles though. They strike me as mentions because they got famous.
Before watching the movie:
I’ve heard this movie talked up a lot, but I’m not sure exactly how much of it I know. Sometimes it sounds like the most famous development doesn’t have much to do with it, sometimes it sounds like the whole movie.
The theme of glasses or other visual devices showing the true nature of things is a common one in literature, though I can’t think of any notable ones right now, except I think I remember something about a Seeing Stone in The Spiderwick Chronicles, but I haven’t seen that.
I’m going to pretend I chose this movie this week in honor of Google’s announcement of Project Glass.
Before watching the movie:
This is a movie that’s been repeatedly recommended to me for years, but I don’t remember very much of what I’ve been told. I remember one particular scene described to me, but I don’t remember if I was told that the main plot features the women plotting a bank heist.
I want to see more of Jane Curtin’s Saturday Night Live work. I pretty much only know her from Third Rock From the Sun. The rest of the headlining actors I don’t think I’ve heard of.
I’m picturing an inept heist similar to Bank Shot, which I read as a novel years ago and recently learned was made into a movie with George C. Scott, but it’s probably nothing like that. I’ve seen it compared to Nine to Five, which is something I can picture. Except for the heist part. Which seems to be the bulk of the story.
Before watching the movie:
The closer I look at this movie, the lower my expectations sink. Howie Mandel playing a dog-man, Christopher Lloyd playing his slimy brother… I was never clear on when Howie Mandel was a big deal. He had something going for him that let him make Bobby’s World (which I watched as a kid and enjoyed), then disappeared for a long time and resurfaced as the “remember him?” host of Deal or No Deal. Additionally, while I’ve seen Christopher Lloyd play villains before, I don’t expect to enjoy this particular kind of role on him.
Since I only heard about it through an automatically-generated recommendation, it must not be terribly memorable.
Before watching the movie:
Here’s another movie about which I know absolutely nothing, found through automated recommendations. On the one hand, it’s Robin Williams in the 80s, so it could be a wacky fish out of water comedy. On the other, they say that when Robin Williams wears a beard, he thinks it’s a serious film. I’m getting vibes of The Terminal and Being There, a pair of movies very unlike each other.
What I’m ultimately expecting is a comedy with a lot of warmth, patriotism, and jokes stolen from Yakov Smirnoff.
Oh look, yet another Cold War movie. I seem to have grown up from World War II into the next big one.
Before watching the movie:
I saw a little of this movie over a year ago, but I mainly remember a rant Steve Martin delivers. I certainly don’t remember as much in general as a DVD blurb could tell me, but essentially Steve Martin has to cross the country with planes snowed out, and faces a million irritations, many from John Candy, a traveler going the same way.
Maybe I do know as much as the blurb after all.
Before watching the movie:
While I know the basics of the Highlander series, I’ve never seen the television series or movies. I know the fact that there are movies plural is bad, but this is the good one.
I guess the plot is just a bad Immortal hunting a good Immortal, which as I understand it is pretty much the television show boiled down into a one-installment plot.
Sean Connery mentors the centuries-old main character, because he needs training for some reason.
It sounds like an excellent example of modern fantasy or magical realism, depending on how much the Immortals’ magic is involved.
Before watching the movie:
Welcome to Yesterday’s Movies’ Holiday Gift Guide for Adults Who Always Get The Wrong Thing. There are less than ten shopping days to disappoint a young person close to you this Christmas, and if you’re looking for a movie that’s sure to get a reaction, you could do worse (better?) than the 1988 Puss In Boots.
I have never heard of this film before I found it, but if your kid was expecting Ant0nio Banderas’s feisty CG kitty in some kind of adventure involving Humpty Dumpty before Puss ever met Shrek (I haven’t seen it… yet), this is guaranteed to cause some sort of emotional setback. This movie features Christopher Walken as the voice of the cat in Live Action musical telling of the original Puss in Boots story. There’s potential there, but also so much room to fall short.
Before watching the movie:
The concept sounds like fun. A goofy take on Robin Hood, no competence to be found with anyone, Robin needing to take out loans to support a rebellion. There are also some pretty big name stars involved.
The concept sounds like it could be funnier than Men In Tights, but I’m not seeing very promising reviews, and there’s the fact that I never heard of it and it all looks very cheap. We’ll see how this goes.
Yesterday's Movies 