Moves I Watched in September

Here's the deal: I want to change-up the way I do these movie recaps to make them (a) more timely and (b) more frequent, so I'm going to whip through the September rundown right now in one fell swoop, then zip straight into October in the next post.  Ready? Here goes...


In part of our never-ending quest to find non-kids movies to show Allie (now that she's a non-kid herself), we dug up this 1987 comedy that, of course, is a pastiche/ripoff/tribute to Hitchcock's classic "Strangers on a Train." I saw it in college and remember enjoying it, way back when. This time around? Not so much. Danny DeVito (who also directed) and Anne Ramsey (as the titular "Momma") are both a lot of fun. Trouble is, Billy Crystal is almost unbearable with his constant whining and would-be wisecracking, and as his love interest, Kim Greist brings the same personality vacuum that she brought to "Brazil" a few years earlier. Plus, Oprah has a cameo. Ugh.


Solid pre-Code comedy about a movie star (Jean Harlow) who's pressured on all sides by her studio, her gold-bricking family and assorted other Hollywood headaches. Harlow is perfect as the slowly frazzling center of attention, but the show is stolen (as many of these pre-Coders are) by the great Lee Tracy, who plays her completely amoral press agent. It's fascinating (and funny) to watch how gleefully he wrecks Harlow's life just to get her name in the papers. (And supposedly, this movie was loosely based on the story of none other than Clara Bow.) The strong cast also includes Franchot Tone, Ted Healy, Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz himself), Pat O'Brien and Una Merkel. As a bonus, you also get Louise Beavers who plays a maid (of course), but manages to suggest a whole life outside her job with this surprising exchange (please excuse the vintage 1933 dialect):

Harlow: Hey, I didn't give you that for a negligee. It's an evening wrap.
Beavers: I know, Miss Lola, but the negligee what you give me got all tore up, night before last.
Harlow: Your day off is sure brutal on your lingerie!



So-so thriller that feels like a William Castle movie of the same era, but lacks the zip and zing that Castle brought to even his most average offerings. This is a remake of "The Bat Whispers," a fascinating 1930 film that features some jaw-dropping miniature work. This version lacks all of that, along with, to be honest, much excitement at all. Solid cast, though, including Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead plus ex-Little Rascal Darla Hood in what I think is her only adult role. Spoiler alert: She gets killed by the mysterious "Bat," but this is the sort of emotion-deficient movie where a whole bunch of people die and no one seems to react much at all. Odds are, you won't either.


Technically a TV mini-series and not a movie, but this close to Halloween, who's counting? It's still pretty effective despite the late-70s vibe, with director Tobe Hooper (Mr. Texas Chainsaw Massacre himself) taking his time to put all the pieces on the chessboard so when the spooky stuff starts happening, it has an impressive impact. James Mason is damn near perfect as Straker, the vampire's assistant, but the rest of the cast really works well, too, especially David Soul, Bonnie Bedelia  and Lance Kerwin in the lead heroic roles, supporting stalwarts George Dzundza, Ed Flanders and Geoffrey Lewis in support and even Hollywood legends Lew Ayres and Elisha Cook Jr. adding to the fun. Plus, even though it was a TV movie, it generates a real feeling of dread (Tobe Hooper's speciality) and delivers more than a few genuine scares. "It" gets all the retro love, but this is such a better Stephen King TV miniseries that there's really no comparison.


You've seen it. I've seen it. And I've written about it before. Here, for instance. 


And last, but definitely not least, another Marvel movie, but one pretty different than "Avengers: Infinity War." (For one thing, the entire fate of the universe is not, in fact, at stake.) I was surprised how much I enjoyed the first "Deadpool" movie, having exactly no relationship with or knowledge of the character. And, though I might change my mind, I think I liked this one even better. With the origin out of the way, we can move right on to the story, a violent (of course) profane (of course) romp about a time-traveling killer looking to murder a troubled young mutant. As Cable, the aforementioned time-traveling killer (another character I didn't know or care about), Josh Brolin brings a genuine sense of pathos and gravity, acting as an effective counterpart to Deadpool's (Ryan Reynolds, of course) constant wisecracking. Plus you get Julian Dennison (from "Hunt for the Wilder People") as the young mutant, Zazie Beetz as the preternaturally lucky Domino, and Rob Delaney and Terry Crews as members of the ill-fated mutant team, X-Factor. (That plotline was probably my favorite bit.) And am I wrong to think that these movies, with Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead and a surprising cameo from the other folks at Xavier's School, are the best cinematic treatment of the X-Men? By the way, stick around for the end credits for some funny time-traveling bits and to learn which no-kidding giant actual mega-movie star played the invisible X-Factor member Vanisher.

So that's it for September. I'm going to be rolling out October's movies as soon as I can, in shorter (timelier?) posts. First up? An insane 1970 comedy (?) about a white man who turns black. How insane is it? The race-swap is the least crazy part of the movie.