Tubi Thursday: The Last Dragon (1985)

 Let's make up for not watching some Cult Classics, especially the ones who just celebrated a big Anniversary last year.

How does this Musical Comedy-Action Film stand up in 2026?

This is Sho'nuff (Julius Carry).
He thinks of himself as the baddest man in Harlem and wants to prove it!

Our Hero Leroy (Taimak) is trying to reach the Final Level and become The Last Dragon.

Hey, that's the Title!

He refuses to fight Sho'nuff, since there's no reason for him to do so.

He gets caught up in a scheme involving a bad guy named Arkadian who wants to use our Heroine's Show.
Vanity keeps needing Leroy's help...and clearly wants more.

Can he become The Last Dragon and find the glow?

Will he finally live up to his true potential?

I mean...duh, right?

You all know how this is going to end.

Even so, don't you want to see the funky journey?

Of course, you do.
Stream it now.

A fun, funky and pretty familiar journey.

The Film doesn't aim to be some major event or have some super deep meaning.

Produced by Berry Gordy, the Film features lots of Music from people he knew and who were part of his label.  The Soundtrack is great.

Taimak, as our Lead, is much better at the fighting- with multiple black belts- than he is at Acting.  He tries.
Vanity does too.

Julius Carry as Sho'nuff is the real draw here as he chews up the scenery at every chance.  He's so much fun and he's really missed.

This Film is dated as hell, but so much fun. 
No matter how silly you may think you look in your old pictures, you've got nothing on William H. Macy here...

A Film that is the true example of a Cult Classic.  It is silly, vibrant and a must-see!

Shudder Day: Horror Noire (2021)

 I love Horror Anthologies.

This is Black History Month.

I'm out of Tales from the Hood Films, so let's do this!

In "The lake,' a woman with a vaguely dark past moves into a new home with a titular lake next door.

She's warned about going in it, but will she listen?

In 'Brand of Evil,' a man must make a choice between profit and people.

When he gets paid, will everyone else suffer?!?

In 'Bride Before You,' a post-Reconstruction household is rocked by a secret that refuses to stay quiet behind the walls.

Will the truth come out while anyone of them is alive to tell it?

In 'Fugue State,' a man investigates a local Church while strange attacks are going on.

These two things are obviously related, but will they make the connection?

In 'Daddy,' a man who has recently married a woman with a young child of her own struggles to do his best.

Can he find the power he needs?

Lastly, we have 'Sundown.'

A bunch of Campaigners end up in a small Town that doesn't want them to stay after dark.

When they have to, what happens?

To find out, stream it now!

************

A fun, if uneven collection of Horror Shorts.

That's always the case with these, isn't it?  Unless it is ones by a singular team- like, say, Creepshow- there's bound to be a variety in quality and tone.

Some of them- like The Lake and Brand of Evil- have not so subtle Themes to discuss.

Others- like Fugue State- try to muddy things a bit.

Thankfully, we have some more simple ones- like Sundown- which just take a real concept- Sundown Towns- and put a good, Horror spin on them.

The ones that tried to be vague and, to be honest, a bit preachy, were not my favorites.
That said, none of them were outright bad or disgusting.

Hell, even ones that I was mixed on, like Fugue State, have their obvious upsides...

A bunch of Tales that will make you shriek and also make you think.  The best tales can do both...and many of these only do one OR the other.

2025 Catch Up: The Day The Earth Blew Up- A Looney Tunes Movie

 A Film that Warner Bros made and then didn't feel like releasing.

In 2025, it finally got released in Theaters and later on Streaming.

Now that it has a UK Release, I've got a Screener to check out...

This is an Origin Story for Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.

In this one, they are raised together by this big old Farmer.

One day, when they are adults, he leaves them to take care of themselves.

As you can see, things are going great!

When an Alien crashes to the Earth, it wrecks their roof and takes over a Scientist.

Now the duo have to fix the roof or be evicted.

Things look up when they meet a new friend, who just happens to work at the Gum Factory in Town.

The job goes well until Daffy sees the Scientist, who is now basically a living zombie.

He sees him put something in the gum and freaks out.

Being Daffy, well, nobody believes him...when they should.

They get help from Penelope and isolate a sample.

It goes...well, I won't SPOIL how it goes.

Sufficed to say, they now know that there's a real threat!

To save the day, they must free the townspeople, stop the Alien and save the Earth itself.

I'm sure they've got this.
Right?

To see how it goes, check it out in Theaters or Stream it on my side of the pond.

A fun, refreshing Film that makes a good use of the Looney Tunes.

This one was a bold pick for a number of reasons.

No Bugs Bunny.
A Sci-Fi Plot.
A Theatrical Release.

By making this one a Buddy Film with Daffy and Porky, it really benefits.  As an ensemble picture, it would mean less time for the growth and less moments for each character.

Said Characters are fun to watch and you empathize with them both.

Peter MacNicol is also great as the Alien.  He has such a great voice for Animation and really goes all out.

The Film goes hard sci-fi in many ways and does feature some scares.  It is still, ultimately, a Looney Tunes Adventure and one I hope that we get more of.

Now open wide...

A fun Film that is a great return to Looney Tunes Animation made for the big screen.  Hopefully, this teaches WB some sort of lesson.

Holiday Flix: Heart Eyes (2025)

 A Holiday based around love and commitment.

A Film about love and death.

This is the most recent Josh Ruben Film known as...

In a (very) Cold Open, we see a pretentious Couple filming their Engagement at a Vineyard.

A masked killer strikes, taking out the Couple, the Videographer and a Cop.

This is the Heart Eyes Killer or HEK for short.
Yes, that is clearly based on BTK.

For the last 2 years, he's had a murder spree of exclusively Couples (plus anyone in the way) in two different Cities.

Now it is the third Valentine's Day and he's, naturally, in the Town where the Film is set.

This is Ally.

She's an Ad Executive whose Marketing Campaign for Jewelry has gone horribly wrong.

She needs to fix it ASAP.

Is it because she doesn't believe in love?

She meet-cutes a guy named Jay (Mason Gooding from Scream 5-6).

He believes in love.
She doesn't.

They kiss.

Unfortunately, that has made them the next target for HEK!

They try to fight HEK.
It doesn't go too well.

They try to flee HEK.
It doesn't go much better.

Things take a turn as Jay is accused of being HEK.

We know that isn't true, but tell it to Hobbs and Shaw (Devon Sawa and Jordana Brewster)- the Detectives on the case.

I won't SPOIL anymore of it, so stream away.

A Film that is a fun blend of Comedy, Romance and Horror.

You shouldn't be able to do all three, but it does.

The Plot plays with conventions, establishing a new killer with a background from the get-go.  We then get Leads that are not the normal kinds of victims.

The whole thing works best once you see the whole Film.  The explanation for the killer makes earlier Scenes make sense.

I like when a twist (or three) actually helps the Movie and not the other way around.

Josh Ruben said in an interview that his goal was to 'shoot the romantic scenes like Nora Ephron and the killer scenes like Wes Craven.'

Sounds crazy, but...yeah, it works.

At its worst, the Film doesn't exactly break the mold.  We'll see what the planned Sequel does.

For now, enjoy this alternate Poster that pays homage to The Burning...

A Film for romantics that like gore OR gore fans feeling a bit romantic.  It's also just pretty damn funny to boot.

Holiday TV: 'Cupid's Quiver' (Friday the 13th: The Series)

 Another Friday the 13th is here.  The first of 3 this Year.

This one comes the day before Valentine's Day, so love is truly in the air!

This is Season 1, Episode 3.  We are checking out...

A man is rejected at a Bar.

In response, he unwraps the Cupid Statuette that he apparently brought with him and uses it to entrance the woman who just turned him down.

Good thing this is Canada- they are too polite to steal it from the bar!

She falls in love with him and they have offscreen sex.

In the afterglow, he tries to choke her to death, spurred on by the creepy Statuette.

He's thankfully interrupted, but a College 'Kid' (who was nearby and called the Cops) takes the Cupid with him.

Our Heroes are now looking for it and we are at the Campus of said College 'Kid.'

We meet Eddie, who is the even creepier version of Langly from The Lone Gunmen and he's fixated on a girl.

He manages to steal the Statuette from the 'Kid' (since he's a lackey who cleans up for the frat).

He uses it at a bar to get what he wants.

In the afterglow, he enacts an elaborate murder plan involving opening a jar of honey, retrieving a Beehive (safely) and locking the woman in the car with said bees.

Foreshadowing the Vampire Bees in Season 2.

He uses it on his unrequited 'love,' but the gang interrupts and chases him off.

He gets Cupid back and gets her to show up...

...but it was actually a trick by our Heroes!

He tries to escape with it yet again, but falls to his death in the process.

Love hurts.

The End.

A tale of an incel decades before the term was coined.

This one is interesting, because they could have made the bad guy pathetic and made you feel sorry for him.  Instead, he's just a creep and you don't.

It is the easier choice, but is it the better one?

The Cupid Statuette is a creepy prop and it is elegant in its simplicity.  The face is creepy.  It moves just enough to let you know that it is magic.

Good work all around.

I appreciate the twists and turns in the tale.  It still goes where you think it will, but I appreciate the journey.
That said, why use bees to kill the girl in the truck?  So random!

All in all, it is a good (and topical) Episode.
Next, you'll tell me that the Director went on to be highly acclaimed or something...

A tale that is about love and rejection.  Just don't reject a chance to revisit this underrated Show.

Tubi Thursday: Ooga Booga (2013)

 A Full Moon has risen yet again.

The Film Company that still thinks that it is 1988 has struck again with another Killer Doll Spin-off Film.

This is...

Deep breath.  Power through it.

We are first introduced to a terrible Kids Show featuring Hambone.

Instead of him, here's his cute Lady Friend.

He's a drunk idiot and he gets fired.  Joy.

He shows off his plan to rebound to his old friend- our Hero.

I won't show most of them, since even the Film calls them 'racist' as part of the Plot.

Thanks to a series of terrible (or terribly written) events, the young black man is killed by a Racist Cop.

As he dies, his soul ends up in the larger version of Hambone's terrible doll, which was given to him as a terrible gift.

He reunites with his Girlfriend and they begin a plan to get revenge.

They have to take out a trio of Racist Drug Dealers, the Racist Cop who killed him, Karen Black (aw...really?!?) and a Racist Judge played by Stacy Keach (aw, really?!?).

This was made in 2013, not 1973.

This Doll is, well, still a doll.

It can do such big feats as stab someone lightly and...that's basically it.

Joy.

The Film is full of Racists- including the one Scene and killed Building Manager- and they die at the tiny spear of Ooga Booga.

Too bad it took them 80 minutes to do this.

The End.

There's a reason that I don't cover Full Moon Films that often.
You see why?

The Film is, I think, supposed to be a Comedy.  I mean...look at the Plot.

A Racist Doll is inhabited by a guy's soul after a malfunctioning slushy machine sparks nears them.
This is all treated seriously.

As noted, every White Guy (save one) is a Racist and gets punished.
The lone exception is the other Cop, who is revealed to have a Black Wife and Biracial Children.

There's one extreme or the other.

Ooga Booga is a Film full of terrible people, good Actors slumming it and very little in the way of proper payoff.
Just...don't.

A Full Moon Film with a killer doll and no Nazis.  In their place, racist jerks and awful writing.

Shudder Day: Dark Match (2024)

 A Film that I nearly did before WrestleMania last year gets a new chance in Black History Month.

And no, it's not just a pun on the word 'Dark' in the Title.
Although I would do that.

This is...

In vaguely the late 80s, a small Indy Wrestling Company takes a big paying gig.

It is in the middle of nowhere, so that's not a red flag or anything.

Little Miss Sunshine 2

The group ends up preparing for a Show at a Church of some kind.

The Heels and Faces (aka Bad Guys and Good Guys) are segregated before it begins.

Thanks a lot, Hacksaw Jim Duggan!

The whole Show is run by a guy called The Leader (not the green guy).

He's Chris Jericho and his Character is the former rival of our main Hero.

Who will make The List?

The matches take a strange turn as the Face Wrestlers now are acting strange.

These are now fights...to the death!

Alliances will be tested.
Lives will be lost.

What is the real reason for this crazy murder Show?

To find out, stream it now.

A Film that has some interesting ideas, but the execution is not amazing.

On the plus side, the Film has a gritty feel.  It is less ridiculous than the Zombie version of this I saw.

The Action is not that great here, as it mostly features non-wrestlers and short bits.  If you come for the Wrestling, this is not for you.

If you're here for the Horror, there's a decent amount of blood and violence.
If you're here to see 'Trevor' from GTA 5, he's definitely here.

The Acting is mostly good to fine.  Nobody is amazing, but nobody sucks.  That said...

We get so many teases of a really interesting Plot.  Maybe a different Film could do more with it.

Oh well, there's always the next Match.

A Film full of promise.  Sadly, it has the Budget of a large cookout and lots of half-finished ideas.