Spending 8 days on the road in Alberta seriously cut into my movie watching this month but seeing the Rocky Mountains for the first time in my life was one hell of a substitute for sitting back in the movie room attempting to keep up with new releases and the amount of films I regularly PVR from Turner Classic Movies. I did manage two films on that road trip. One in a theater for an evening out in Edmonton and the other a late night showing on TV in my hotel room in Calgary. Before leaving for western Canada I even revisited a lost drive in which was a second highlight of the month.
Here’s a mixture sure to cover most genres.
Assassination – Charlie Bronson and Jill Ireland star in their final film together.
The Doll of Satan – Euro horror always worth a look.
Kill Me Three Times (2014)
Simon Pegg drew me into this so so satire that casts him as a low life hitman looking to score as much money as is possible by taking out whoever stands in his way with little of that “honor among thieves” attitude. Nice to see Bryan Brown in a feature film as it’s been a while since I’ve seen him. I won’t say it’s confusing, but it’s not all that interesting and does it’s best to throw as many characters together headed for a collision in a serious of crazy circumstances. Don’t feel you have to catch up with this one.
Cry Wolf – Errol Flynn plays against type opposite Barbara Stanwyck.
The Red House – This Edward G. Robinson thriller comes with my highest recommendation.
Star Trek 2 / 3 /4 / 5 / 6
Yup, went on a binge before holidays kicked in and seeing them all again did nothing to change my opinion that 2 4 and 6 are wayyyyy more enjoyable than 1 3 and 5 and for you Seinfeld fans, I’m in Jerry’s corner agreeing with him that the Wrath of Khan is the best film of the series. Sorry Kramer. Saw it at the theater with some schoolmates back upon it’s original release. Loved it then and love it now. Totally quotable film. “I don’t like to lose.”
The Valley of Gwangi – Ray Harryhausen amazes me with every viewing
Gun For a Coward – Can’t go a month without a western or two. Or three.
A farewell gallery of posters dedicated to Jerry Lewis.
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Picking a title to catch while in Edmonton, we went with this Charlize Theron action film which is chock full of stunts and gunplay but I thought confusing overall and sadly, kind of left me thinking it doesn’t warrant a sequel though I suspect that’s the goal here. It’s goes for the John Wick feel but comes up short. Theron is sexy, violent and up to the task in what might be the most physical role I’ve seen a woman play since Sigourney tackled Aliens in 1986. John Goodman as I have said before is always a most welcome sight. It’s a rental I suppose and if there is a sequel coming let’s hope they work the script before the action sequences. As it is it’s a missed opportunity.
What About Bob? (1991)
The late night hotel movie of choice. Sure I’ve seen this one but it had been a while. I remember it being funnier but could probably say that about dozens of flicks. What surprised me most is I came away not really liking either Bill Murray or Richard Dreyfuss all that much. Dreyfuss to be expected as his character is a real self centered SOB but Murray’s Bill is rather obnoxious as well. Maybe if I wait another 15 years before my next go around, I’ll flip back to thinking it’s FUNNIER than I recall the first time.
World Without End – Early Rod Taylor feature sees him in outer space.
Angels Over Broadway – Anytime I can gaze at Rita Hayworth is time well spent.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)
Aimed at the box office as opposed to the Oscars, Samuel L. Jackson delivers enough MF’s here to make up for any of his tamer appearances in those super hero movies. Funny for sure but a whole lot more violent than I expected. Ryan Reynolds keeps up with him as his bodyguard and through a series of bloody clashes, the pair team up to take out none other than chameleon Gary Oldman cast as the villain. Oh, and it’s got what might be the sexiest lady in movies (in my eyes anyway) matching Sammy in the foul language department MF for MF. Salma Hayek.
Gone With the Pope – Cult film fans rejoice. A must see.
633 Squadron – Cliff Robertson flies off into the wild blue yonder.
Brief Encounter – remaking a classic with Sophia Loren and Richard Burton.
A Long Ride From Hell – Steve Reeves in a gritty Euro western I quite enjoyed.
Elvis & Nixon (2016)
I loved the premise of this film and it’s overall execution. Yes I’m a fan of the King if that helps explain my affection for this one. Kevin Spacey parodies it up as a grumpy Nixon won over by the rock icon after initially wanting nothing to do with him. Michael Shannon as Elvis is admittedly all wrong for the role of the King. He’s easily the most unattractive Elvis I think I’ve ever seen portrayed on screen and maybe he’s trying not to come off as campy but he didn’t really even adopt the King’s patented voice. PAGING BRUCE CAMPBELL or KURT RUSSELL. Still it’s the whole story and individual scenes involving Elvis that had me enjoying this. Of note is the disappointment of not having any actual Elvis recordings on the soundtrack. I’ll assume they didn’t have Priscilla’s blessing.
22 films in total. So what’s your score? How many of these have you seen?
Mike's Take On the Movies 
That’s very interesting on “What About Bob?” as I was thinking about watching it again myself. It has been a long time. Always had such fond memories of the film but maybe I will feel the same and not like it so much! Having recently re-watched “Groundhog Day” with my twosome, that is still as funny as ever. What About Bob can wait for a rainy day on Netflix.
The twosome will love it I’m sure. Never been a Dreyfuss fan and this role is perhaps a good reason why. He’s just so hard to like for me and that’s despite his appearing in my number 1B favorite film of all time, Jaws. Dirty Dozen is course 1A.
Yeah he’s a funny one, an enigma. Never on peoples best actor list but has been in a bunch of top films, as you mention Jaws and I will always also love Close Encounters. Plus, probably don’t tell anyone but I have a soft spot for Stakeout but that’s more because of my cheesy love for Emilio Estevez. 🙂
Stakeout a good bit of fun,. Been meaning to feature it one of these days.
“Another Stakeout” was pretty pants mind! I will keep an eye for your feature one day 🙂
Dude we really do have way too much in common!! Salma Hayek and her Mexican bandito puppies are to die for! I even watched “Everly” just to admire her fine form. Salma Hayek would tame the wolf!
For the love of Salma. Desperado, Dusk Till Dawn and perhaps the best might be when she teamed with my other “love” Penelope Cruz in the western Bandidas. I so badly wanted to take Steve Zahn’s place when he meets the two in a bordello for some three way shenanigans.
Haha the filling of a Salma & Penelope sandwich. Stick that on the bucket list, you never know 🙂
Yeah Khan is the best, especially propelled by an outstanding Ricardo Montalban. 4 & 6 are a blast and so much fun. I love the ambition of 5 but unfortunately what a mess. My favourite though has still got to go to The Motion Picture. I still have memories of seeing at the cinema, yeah I was probably bored out of my mind as an 8 year old but it etched itself deep into my mind. The colours, the vastness of space and curiously a fascination for a certain sexy bald lady! And to this day I think the Voyager twist was so genius especially so soon after the actual Voyager mission had flown off on their discovery. I’ve been fascinated ever since. I recently re-watched it in HD and it blew my mind. It looked so beautiful.
Montalban shocked the film going youth at the time as all we knew him from was Fantasy Island! Motion Picture gets unfairly criticised. Sure it’s overlong and could have been a 60 minute episode back in the day but I to love the VGER ending. It’s also easy to bypass when binging because the other 5 are a direct story line with Spock’s out of body experience. Here’s one from the vault. https://mikestakeonthemovies.com/2015/12/07/star-trek-the-motion-picture-1979/
I remembered Ricardo’s face as the circus guy in Escape From The Planet Of The Apes. I don’t think I watched that much of Fantasy Island so I just went for a look to refresh the grey matter. Blooming Nick Nack aka Tattoo. Haha yes of course I remember this show. Wow hadn’t thought about it in years.
My Star Trek order 1,2,6,4,3,5 tbh 4,6 could be swapped back and forth both very fun.
My month of August consisted of 14 movies watched, which seems to be about the norm for me; I’ve been keeping track of every movie watched this year, but I don’t have a running total, so not sure where I’m at right now, numbers-wise. As for movies I’ve seen that you’ve watched, What About Bob is one, and a handful of the Star Trek films would be the others. Like you, I remember not caring for WAB all that much because of the unlikable leads.
So was Jaws one of the 14? Or at least a Roy Scheider flick? lol
Nope, Jaws was in July, and sadly, I didn’t watch either of the two films of his I own: Jaws 2 and The French Connection.
I recently got a copy of Night Game with Roy. Looking to give it a go.
Speaking of Scheider ‘Night’ titles, I’ve always wanted to see ‘Still of the Night’, even though I know nothing about it. I’ll have to see if my library has it.
Hitchockian thriller with Meryl. I need to revisit that one. Not since VHS days have I seen it.