The legend and myth of El Mariachi are a lot bigger than the movie itself could ever hope to live up to – even though, ironically, that entire story is predicated on how small the film is. The debut feature from director Robert Rodriguez was famously made on an almost inconceivably paltry budget of just… Read More Guitarra Hero | El Mariachi (1993) Blu-ray
For our Film at 11 podcast this week, I made my 11-year-old son watch the 1980 Flash Gordon for the first time, and he seems to have come away totally baffled by the movie. I think I may have broken his brain a little with this one. To be fair to Thomas, I may not… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 10 | Flash Gordon (1980)
Long a cult item with a highly divided reputation among viewers, Barbarella is simultaneously an awful movie and also kind of amazing. I’ve seen it a number of times over the years and somehow both love it and inevitably feel bored senseless by it well before its short 98-minute runtime peters out. I don’t think… Read More A Primitive State of Neurotic Irresponsibility | Barbarella (1968) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
The inspirational classic The Karate Kid was first released to theaters in 1984, but I don’t believe I caught it until the following year on VHS or cable, right about when I turned 11. Of course, the movie became a cultural touchstone for anyone of my generation at that point. In this week’s Film at… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 9 | The Karate Kid (1984)
Released just shy of three decades since the last installment, Bill & Ted Face the Music is exactly the sort of legacy sequel that every old movie franchise has felt compelled to roll out in recent years, typically to mixed success. The very few smash hits that rekindle the original phenomenon are usually followed by… Read More You’ve Got to Earn the Right to Rock | Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Avast, ye scallywags! For our latest adventure in film exploration, my son and I take to the high seas with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In the new episode of our Film at 11 podcast, we review the movie from both perspectives – a parent who hadn’t watched the movie… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 8 | Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
Watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure become an unexpected phenomenon in 1989, any studio executive with at least half a working brain cell would of course fast-track a sequel to ride however much of that wave still remained a couple years later. And because the characters’ first movie had been so Excellent, it stands to… Read More Most Non-Non-Heinous | Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) 4K Ultra HD
Making a smart movie about dumb characters is no easy business. Overplay their dim-wittedness and the characters become unlikable. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure has always, for me, threaded that needle very skillfully, to deliver an endearing comedy about a pair of lovable doofuses. In this week’s Film at 11 podcast, I take one of… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 7 | Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Even though it basically foundered in theatrical release, the 2005 comedic thriller Kiss Kiss Bang Bang marked a notable career comeback for stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer. Downey’s years of drug problems had left him close-to-unemployable for a while, and Kilmer had a reputation for being difficult to work with that made him… Read More L.A. Don’t Want You No More | Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
For our Film at 11 podcast this week, my young son learns a valuable life lesson from watching the 1984 sci-fi adventure The Last Starfighter, which unambiguously delivers the message that playing video games is the most important skill any kid can ever learn and may literally help save the universe. As a parent, I… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 6 | The Last Starfighter (1984)
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