What I’ve Been Watching

I watch a lot of movies, but only write about a fraction of them. Plus I keep writing about Michelle Pfeiffer’s movies over and over again, so there’s only so much time for other stuff! So I thought it might be fun to do a bunch of short reviews for the movie I’ve been watching over the last month or so. This isn’t everything, just a small selection of films that have moved me to write about them, for one reason or another.

To paraphrase Carlito Brigante, without further ado or to-do, here are some thoughts on a few of the flicks I’ve been watching lately. Interestingly, many of them are first-time watches, including the first one below…

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The Prey (1983)

Filmed in 1979 but not released until 1983, The Prey actually predates the glut of “killer in the woods” slasher pictures released in the immediate wake of Friday the 13th (1980). The story of a group of camping friends stalked by an unseen presence, The Prey’s three-year delayed release killed any chance at success, as the genre was beginning to run out of gas by ‘83. The moment was passing.

Yet it’s worth seeking out. Sure, it’s very slow and drawn out—it feels longer than its 80 minute run time—but the acting is decent-to-good, and the ending is definitely disturbing. Plus, it features my new favorite, gone-too-soon horror character in Gail, played by Gayle Gannes. Urbanite Gail is a seriously dangerous combo of sweet and sexy. She’s also endearingly uncomfortable in the woods, and she keeps trying to warn her friends that someone is spying on them from beyond the trees. Of course, the fools don’t listen to Gail and everyone pays the price later. Gayle Gannes definitely had some onscreen charisma. It’s too bad she didn’t have a lengthier acting career.

Director Edwin Brown—in his first non-adult film directing gig—had an eye for the nature setting, but seriously lacked the killer instinct of a horror director. Curiously, given Brown’s previous work, there’s hardly any of the sexy shenanigans usually found in slasher films. Ultimately though, the movie needed more horror, plain and simple. But it’s an odd little curio, which makes it worth at least a one-time watch for fans of backwoods slasher flicks like the superior The Burning (1981) or The Final Terror (1983).

Bad Boys (1983)

Also turning forty this year, Bad Boys is as visceral a viewing experience today as it ever was. I last saw it in the mid-nineties, but the memories of it never stopped haunting me. My recent rewatch confirmed why: Bad Boys is not only a tense and harrowing prison film, but one that makes room for the possibility of hope and redemption. The early scenes are filled with mounting tension, culminating in explosive violence; once Sean Penn’s teenage character arrives at the Rainford Juvenile Correctional Facility the tension becomes unbearable, as he attempts to adjust to the hard knocks of prison life. That becomes increasingly difficult when an enemy from his past is sentence to time at the same facility.

This is very early career Penn and, no surprise, he gives a committed and dynamite performance. Almost the entire cast give riveting performances, including Reni Santoni, Clancy Brown, Ally Sheedy, Jim Moody, and Esai Morales. Santoni is fantastic as the prisoner counselor trying to keep Penn’s felon Mick O’Brien from staying on the straight path. For as much as violence hovers over every moment, it’s the way Penn’s character works towards some semblance of redemption that makes Bad Boys so memorable. I can’t say enough good things about this one.

Babylon (2022)

The first of two recent Margot Robbie films I’ve watched recently, Babylon most certainly lived up—down?—to the reviews. “Hot mess” is an overused shorthand these days, but if the shoe fits! I didn’t have the same viscerally harsh reaction to this sprawling, historically anachronistic Hollywood epic a lot of my friends did; for as big a mess as it was at times, I still found myself wanting to see where it all went.

The number one reason I watched, of course, was for Ms. Robbie and, as usual, she does not disappoint. She’s ravishing and electrifying and impossible to avert your eyes from. She’s a 1920s movie starlet from the wrong side of the tracks who will never fully fit in with the Hollywood elites. This all plays out in a tour-de-force scene in which Margot completely unloads on a party full of snooty guests. Honestly, it’s one of the most cathartic scenes of its kind that I’ve seen in awhile, and that’s because Margot is mesmerizing. She absolutely goes for broke and it’s glorious.

The movie itself is a sprawling, F-bomb-filled mess, but at least it’s often a highly entertaining one at that. It feels like the kind of movie people will be reassessing in ten or twenty years and adding it to their guilty pleasures lists.

Barbie (2023)

My second Margot movie of late was the one that’s currently setting box office records around the globe: Barbie. For multiples reasons I’m going to keep this brief—-first, the movie deserves it’s one post, so stay tuned; second, I’ve already gone longer than I intended with this jam review post! Simply put, writer-director Greta Gerwig and Barbie deserve all the hype and praise they’ve been getting. Seeing this eye-candy delight in the theater was a wonderful experience, one I’ll always cherish. But the movie is so much more than just colorful set designs and costumes; it has something many movies these days seem to lack: heart. Barbie wrestles with big ideas, leading to some very poignant moments. And Margot proves why she is the only woman alive who could do justice to playing the iconic Stereotypical Barbie come to vivid, vibrant, beautiful life.

This one’s a rarity: a blockbuster that actually has something important to say. Go see it in theaters while you can!

Blue Jay (2016)

Starring Sarah Paulson and Mark Duplass—who also wrote the screenplay—Blue Jay is a lovely, intimate film. As former high school sweethearts running into each other twenty-five years later in their old hometown, Paulson and Duplass remind us how sometimes, when the stars are aligned just right, the people we loved and who loved us as teenagers know us better than anyone else ever will. Blue Jay is a real gem.

Heartbreakers (2001)

The story of a mother-daughter team of con artists swindling rich men out of their fortunes by any means necessary, Heartbreakers is one of my favorite comedies of the millennium—and all time, really. The deliciously devious mother and daughter are played to perfection by Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt, respectively. Weaver has rarely been funnier. It’s also a strong reminder that Hewitt proved to us more than twenty years ago that she was more than a pretty face; she is also a splendid actress with a real gift for slapstick style comedy. The star-studded supporting cast members, featuring Ray Liotta, Gene Hackman, Anne Bancroft, and Jason Lee to name a few, are equally hilarious. Heartbreakers is comedy gold with a heart of gold, too.

Lust for a Vampire (1971)

The second installment in the Hammer Horror Karnstein Trilogy, Lust for a Vampire might by my least favorite of the three, but it’s still a jolly good time for Hammer fans. Plus: Yutte Stensgaard and her heaving Hammer bosoms! Sorry, but if you grew up on Hammer films you know that was kind of a selling point.

Silent Rage (1982)

In the middle of the slasher movie boom, someone asked the question, what would happen if we drop freakin’ Chuck Norris into Halloween (1978) for a battle royale with Michael Myers? Silent Rage was the only film brave enough to answer that question. This movie is nuts! In the best possible ways! Another slasher I missed back in the day, but it was worth the wait.

Infinity Pool (2023)

Look, Mia Goth already cemented herself as the current queen of edgy, unsettling indie horror with her astonishing star turns in a Ti West double-shot: X (2022) and, especially, it’s prequel Pearl (2022). With Brandan Cronenberg’s bizarre Infinity Pool, she simply solidifies her hold on the crown. Did I like the film? I can’t really say I did, but I respected it, or at least some of it. It’s an unpleasant viewing experience, but Goth is wildly entertaining, especially when she becomes fully unhinged. Crazy film, made me feel gross, but worth it for Goth.

Dave Stevens: Drawn to Perfection (2022)

This moving and inspiring documentary presents an artist’s life, as told through archival footage and fond remembrances from his closest friends, colleagues, and family. In an excerpt from Dave Stevens’s diary, he expresses something every artist fears: that he’d never accomplish enough, never use his talents to their fullest. He needn’t have worried. Every line of his was drawn with purpose, something that’s evident in every piece of art or comic book page he ever drew. He left the world too soon, but what he left behind lives on forever, including The Rocketeer and Betty (inspired entirely by Dave’s beloved Bettie Page). I can’t recommend this doc enough.

Supergirl (1984)

This was my first viewing of Supergirl in nearly forty years (!!!), a number that makes me feel incredibly old and decrepit. Anyway, as a little kid seeing it in the theater I was a little disappointed—it was no Superman (1978) or Superman II (1980). Now though, as a forty-something old fart who lives and breathes nostalgia like others do oxygen, I found it a whole lot of silly, campy fun. I enjoyed it! Faye Dunaway, no stranger to camp, is marvelous! Also pleased to announce that my 1984 crush on Helen Slater, as the cutest Kryptonian ever, is alive and well. Huzzah!

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Are you a fan of any of these films? Let me know in the comments!