I usually describe our Film at 11 podcast as my effort to introduce my children to famous movies they haven’t seen. I’m not sure this week’s choice qualifies as famous. Coming from Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon, 1990’s Robot Jox is a straight-up B-movie cheesefest, the kind most fans first discovered back in the day when… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 27 | Robot Jox (1990)
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
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)
Most cult movies that are actively made with the intention of becoming cult movies from the outset just wind up missing their target and alienating everyone, both the multiplex mass audiences who don’t get what the film is supposed to be, and actual cult movie fans who don’t appreciate being pandered to. An argument can… Read More Just Be Cool | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984) Arrow Video Blu-ray
Walter’s Hill’s 1979 The Warriors was a box office hit and has grown to become an even greater cult classic over the years, but was released to considerable criticism and controversy at the time. Unfortunately, that reputation led Hill, decades later, to create a Director’s Cut in 2005 that attempted to water down the content… Read More Miracles Is the Way Things Ought to Be | The Warriors (1979) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD
Arnold Schwarzenegger was already a celebrity by the early 1980s from his bodybuilding career, TV appearances, and featured screen time in the popular documentary Pumping Iron, but his attempts at acting didn’t really take off until he landed the lead in Conan the Barbarian. A screen vehicle well-tailored to both his strengths and limitations, the… Read More Days of High Adventure | Conan the Barbarian (1982) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD
Two decades following its debut, the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers saw its reputation elevated from a cheesy B-movie to a respected science-fiction classic. What Hollywood saw in that was an opportunity for a remake. Of course, the inherent irony of remaking a famous story about evil clone duplicates practically begs for dismissive comparisons… Read More Can’t Stay Awake Forever | Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Arrow Video Blu-ray
Far off, in a harsh desert landscape isolated from the centers of civilization, a small pocket of humanity struggles to claw out a meager existence from the unforgiving environment. As if not difficult enough on its own, that challenge is made nearly impossible by sudden attacks from monstrous sandworms burrowing beneath the ground right under… Read More Underground Goddamn Monsters! | Tremors (1990) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD
If the financial failure of Blade Runner in 1982 posed a serious setback for the director, his next feature project, Legend, was the film that broke Ridley Scott. Although his career would recover and he’d go on to be nominated for several Oscars over time (some of dubious merit, if you ask me), the film’s… Read More No Light without Darkness | Legend (1985) Arrow Video Limited Edition Blu-ray
David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s famed science fiction novel Dune is my favorite movie. This is, typically, not an easy thing to explain to people. The film was a tremendous critical and box office failure in its day. The fact that its recent remake (or re-adaptation of the source material, if you must)… Read More Long Live the Fighters! | Dune (1984) 4K Ultra HD Ultimate Edition
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