One of the great disaster movies in the history of cinema is the next movie that I wanted to see.  The Poseidon Adventure is filled with stars who spend the entire film yelling at each other.

That is a bit of an exaggeration, but Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine absolutely spend the entire film in conflict with one another which took the form of screaming.

A group of people are trapped after their cruise ship gets hit by a tidal wave and flips upside down, sending the passengers into chaotic desperation trying to survive.

Yeller#1 was Reverend Scott (Gene Hackman) who clashed with police officer and yeller #2 Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine).  The two of them disagreed over just about everything.  Somehow, most of the survivors looked to the Reverend instead of the cop and followed him as they struggled to find their way to the engine room.

My favorite character was Mrs. Rosen (Shelley Winters) who was married to Grandpa Joe… err…ummm… I mean Mr. Rosen (Jack Albertson).  I related to Mrs. Rosen the most and I really found her sweet and compelling.  SPOILER— I actually gasped when she had her heart attack in the movie after swimming to save Reverend Scott.  It was easily the saddest part of the film.

In fact, most of the characters are pretty well developed.  Sure, the female characters are written (except for Mrs. Rosen) to be victims or weak willed girls, scared and needing to be saved, but it was the 1970s.  That is the biggest part of the film that does not hold up.

And… Leslie Nielsen is the ship’s captain.  That was weird.  I mean… I wonder if he starred in the spoof of the film as well.

The Poseidon Adventure was tense and exciting, with characters that I cared about (mostly) and decent effects.  I did spend too much time trying to see if this looked like an upside down ship, though.  This was one of the better disaster films around although that may not say much.

Thank you, Brett Sheridan.

Brett Sheridan is one of the comedians who work on SEN Live, a show on the Schmoedown Entertainment Network along with Kristian Harloff and others. Brett does an imitation of Jon Voight as Paul Serone in Anaconda.

I had not seen Anaconda since the RiffTrax guys riffed it a few years ago,  but Brett’s imitation was funny so I chose today, as I was searching for something to watch, to rewatch the monster movie.

Do you know what?  Brett’s imitation was pretty spot on.  More so than I remembered.  His imitation helped to make this movie more watchable, just as the RiffTrax guys did.

Because this movie is horrible.

There are so many just campy, ridiculous, unintentionally funny moments in this movie that it makes one wonder if they were actually making a comedy.

I mean… flaming snake.  Vomiting Jon Voight up. The backwards waterfall.  Voight’s character in the first place.  Catching Jonathan Hyde in midair.  The inside shot of the anaconda’s mouth as she consumed Voight.

Seriously, there are comedy movies with fewer laughs than this one.

So this is one of those films that are hard to grade because I had a heck of a lot of fun watching it, but it is utterly horrible.  It was not meant to be as funny as it turned out.  It was meant to be a tense thriller.  It was not that.  It was a ridiculous mess.

I mean… that backward waterfall…

But, I laughed.  So it is going to get..

Thanks Brett.

“Don’t be pessimistic.  It’s not your style.” -Melvin Udall.

As Good As It Gets is an Oscar winning movie that is the next film in the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. It features another character whose life is all about social distancing.

Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) is a famous recluse author with obsessive compulsive disorder and plenty of bigoted tendencies.  When his gay neighbor Simon (Greg Kinnear) gets beaten up, Melvin had to dog sit and forms a connection with the dog.  Meanwhile, Melvin’s OCD insists that he is served breakfast by the same waitress, Carol (Helen Hunt) and when he son becomes sick, her absence drives Melvin to do some uncharacteristic things.

I really like this movie.  I find it really charming and it has a ton of heart.  Nicholson and Kinnear are amazing and their developing relationship is one of the film’s best parts.  The writing is extremely smart and witty.  There are a lot of great things in As Good As It Gets.

There is one problem with the movie is the relationship between Melvin and Carol.  In the end, they wind up together, but I just cannot see why she would agree to enter a relationship with him.  Yes, he helped her son, but that is not the basis for a long term relationship.  He is such a rotten person, and, yes, he has troubles, but I find it hard to accept that he would make as much of a change as the movie implies.   I also kept thinking about the age difference between these two. I think it was meant to be closer than what it actually was, but I could not get it out of my mind.

If you can get past that, there is a whole lot to love in this movie.

“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.” -Norma Desmond.

One of the most iconic quotes in the history of movie making can be found in Billy Wilder’s all-time classic Sunset Boulevard, the next film on the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon.

This is another iconic movie that I had never seen before, but know a little about.  Obviously, I was aware, as any cinephile is, about the scene that ends the movie with aging actress Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) descending her staircase through a throng of people.  I had little to no context for the scene, I just knew it existed.

Sunset Boulevard tells the tragic story of struggling writer Joe Gillis (William Holden), who accidentally comes across Norma’s run-down mansion one day, starting up a relationship with the starlet as a companion.  Norma is desperate to make a return to the big screen and has Joe work on a script that she had written.

Norma’s mental status was questionable as she seemed delusional at times and had been shown as suicidal as well.  She was happy with the relationship with Joe and with the chance of her script being directed by Cecil B. DeMille, a director she had worked with in her heyday.

The movie was wonderful.  There was dark humor, depressing moods, and plenty of drama.  It was very similar to the noir films, as we hear Joe’s voice over as the movie progressed.   The film grabbed me immediately with a body floating in the pool, which I had not expected.  It then took a flashback to tell how the story had gotten to this point.  I was fully enthralled from the very beginning.

There were a bunch of cameos from famous people playing themselves, including Cecil B. DeMille, gossip columnist Hedda Hooper, actor Buster Keaton, Anna Q, and H.B. Warner.

Sunset Boulevard is one of the best films about Hollywood ever made and presents the negatives toward the lifestyle even more than the positives.  Norma Desmond was driven mad by her longing for the screen and her life was filled with excesses and money that simple could not fill the hole in her heart.  She desperately tried to hold on to love and the idolization that she had lost and brazenly ignored the realities facing her.

“No one leaves a star. That’s what makes one a star.” Norma Desmond, a character practicing social distancing for a whole different reason.

I have watched my second Alfred Hitchcock film of the day for the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon.  The latest film of Hitchcock that I watched was called Stage Fright.

Another great murder mystery from the Master of Suspense, and another movie that I had not seen before.

In Stage Fright, a struggling actress named Eve (Jane Wyman) tries to help Jonathan (Richard Todd), a friend who had been accused of murdering the husband of a famous actress named Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich).  Jonathan was on the run from the police and wound up getting assistance from Eve and her father (Alastair Sim).

Jonathan claimed that Charlotte had committed the crime and was framing him for the murder.  Eve agreed to help by investigating herself, but after meeting the detective in charge of the case, Inspector Wilford Smith (Michael Wilding), she fell in love for real.

There are several twists in the story as the film progressed.  Some of the story felt a tad implausible, but the acting was solid.  In particular, Marlene Dietrich was the top level diva/femme fatale in the movie.  There is an iciness about her that really makes you believe that she was a cold-blooded murderer.

Jane Wyman is wonderful as the in-over-her-head Eve.  She created a character that was easy to root for, appearing naive, yet strong enough to be believable.  And you feel for Inspector Smith as he is getting the wool pulled over his eyes, which should not happen to the led detective in a murder case.

Meanwhile, the bumbling of Alastair Sim, best known for his role as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, brings a dark humor to the situation.

The film looks fantastic, shot in black and white.  The imagery of the film creates the mood beautifully, helping to continue the feeling of dread that lingers with the audience.  It builds the suspense and the uncertainty of what is happening throughout the movie.

The ending was well done and helped punctuate a solid film.  This is another top notch Hitchcock movie.  Wyman and Dietrich the clear standouts in the well done thriller.

It is Sunday morning on Day Three of the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon (how long will it go???) and it is time for a little Alfred Hitchcock.

The Man Who Knew Too Much was a remake of a previous film by Alfred Hitchcock, a thriller involving an assassination attempt on a Prime Minister.

Dr, Benjamin McKenna (James Stewart), his wife Jo (Doris Day) and their son Hank (Christopher Olson) were on a trip through Europe and Africa, ending up in Marrakesh.  The couple accidentally wound up in the middle of an international assassination plot which led to their son being kidnapped to keep them quiet.

There were a lot of tense moments in the movie and James Stewart and Doris Day were fantastic.  I have not seen the original Hitchcock version from 1934, but this one is very strong.

I especially enjoyed the strength of Jo in the movie.  In a time when women were seen as secondary characters, Doris Day provided a strength to her that was uncommon.  Sure, she had some of the typical “female” tropes of the time, but she also was right in the middle of the plot, coming up with some vitally important information and was central in the storyline.

Plus, she could sing.  I had no idea that this is where the song “Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)” was from. It won an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song.  Songs like that just seem to be forever songs and to see where it came from was amazing.

Hitchcock is the master of suspense and he pulls plenty of it in this film.  The villainous pair that kidnap Hank did a great job as the antagonists here.  Played by Bernard Miles and Brenda de Banzie, the Draytons were impressive as the villains.

The third act of the film was filled with tension and excitement.  It picked up the film that had started to slag a tad.  This is a longer version than the 1934 one and you can feel it.  The 1956 version could probably have trimmed 10-15 minutes off and it would have been more taut.

Still, this was another classic from Hitchcock.  I have been quite the fan of his work and the performances of Stewart and Day carry the film.

A Disney animated film became the next watch in the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon.  This was another film that I had not seen before, though I am aware of it.

The Sword in the Stone is the story of Arthur and his ascent to the throne of England as the one, true king.  In order to do so, young, scrawny Arthur had to pull the sword Excalibur from the stone, despite the fact that no one else could do it.

In this story, Merlin (Karl Swenson) is involved in training Arthur, also called Wart (Rickie Sorenson), and he does it by changing the boy into several different animal forms.  Then they go about their adventures getting in trouble.

This Disney film’s animation looked like it was from the 1960’s for sure.  It looked like any typical cartoon from the time.

The songs are, at best, okay and the film is pretty forgettable. I believe that there is a reason why this one was a Disney film that I had not seen before.

The Sword in the Stone had some moments, but it feels like one of the lower level Disney fares available on Disney +.

Honestly, the whole squirrel stuff was a tad disturbing….

I chose to continue the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon with a movie that I had not seen before.  It was a film that I know caused quite a bit of division among movie fans.  It was Speed Racer.  I heard many people state that they hated this movie and others who thought it was great.  The movie had 40% on Rotten Tomatoes for the critics and the audience score was 60%.  That tells me that everyone was split on this film.

I have to say that I fell on the positive side of the argument.  I was surprised at what I saw and I found myself entertained.

Was it the best movie I have ever seen?  Hardly.  But it was nowhere near as bad as I head heard either.

The early part of the movie had a ton of expedition because it was necessary to set up the world of racing that was on display here.  The story here was not the standout part of this movie.  The story itself was quite predictable.

What was standout in this film was the colorful visuals and storytelling tricks they used throughout the movie.  I am sure that this was what was the most divisible aspect of the film.  If you liked the colors and the candy-coated visuals, you probably wound up enjoying Speed Racer.  If it bothered you, you probably gave up on it pretty early.

I found it very intriguing and visually stimulating.  Now, there may have been too much of it, but that is the fact that this movie was too long.  Two hours and fifteen minutes was excessive in a movie that probably should have run no more than 100-110 minutes.  With so much on the assault for your senses, less of it would have improved it.

Another thing that pulled me out of the movie was not the fault of the movie.  It was the fact that Racer X was being played by Matthew Fox and he always makes me think of LOST and Jack Shephard.  There was a scene where the character Taejo Togokahn (played by an actor named Rain) said to Racer X, “Do not tell me what I can’t do” and all I could think of was…”I wonder if Matthew Fox was having John Locke flashbacks with that line of dialogue as I was?”  There was also Dogan from LOST, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, appearing in the film as Mr. Musha.  With all of these LOST tie-ins, I had a difficult time staying focused.  Again, that is my fault, not the film, but I’m just saying.

The film was distinctly Anime, with some imagery directly from the genre.  The colors and lines are taken straight from the style.  There was a ton of style involved in this movie.  Substance was sketchy at times.

Such as the villains.  None of the bad guys in this movie were more than your typical mustache twirlers.  I have not done a lot of reading of Anime and that might be a genre type, but they were pretty weak for this type of movie.

In the end, I thought this was going to be a movie that I hated, but it turned out to be an enjoyable time.  Too long? Yes.  Predictable?  Sure.  It had enough positives for my low expectations to be exceeded.

Next up on the Social Distancing Binge-A-Thon today is a 1980’s classic from director John Hughes, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, starring Matthew Broderick.

This was a beloved movie for me when I first saw it, but I decided that I would look at it in a different way this time.  I have heard a theory that has been going around the internet that Ferris Bueller was, in actuality, not real, that he was imagined by his friend, Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck).

This is a fascinating theory for this movie and it, surprisingly, fits very well.  I should state that I do not believe that, when John Hughes was writing and creating Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, he had this idea in his head.  However, it is one that really works well.

The idea that Cameron is the main protagonist of this movie and is the person who is always down on himself, lacking any warm or care from his parents, makes a lot of sense.  Cameron is the only character that goes through any significant growth during the film.  Ferris starts in one place and ends in that exact space, literally.  Usually there is conflict among the protagonist which leads to growth.  That only exists for Cameron.

Could Cameron be imagining this entire film as he lays in bed sick?  Could he be going through all the activities on his own after stealing his father’s car?

To Cameron, Ferris is the perfect person.  He is the person he wishes he could be.  Sloane (Mia Sara) could be the girl that he has always had a crush on.  Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), who goes to cartoonish lengths to try and catch Ferris, can represent the desire for Cameron to get caught.

It also explains the mystical power that Ferris Bueller seems to have.  Cameron even says in the film that “Ferris can do anything.”  Ferris can lip sync Beatles songs, talk his way in fancy Chicago restaurants and have the entire community rally to his side, attempting to “Save Ferris.”  Much of this movie feels like a dream and fits into the idea that Cameron is inventing this all in his mind.

Ferris’s way to break the fourth wall when talking to the camera can be taken as Cameron’s internal monologue talking to the audience.

This theory definitely allows you to view Ferris Bueller’s Day off in an alternate manner.  Even if you do not subscribe to this theory, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is an ultimate classic that in undoubtedly entertaining and so much fun.