Streaming Standard: Saturday Morning All-Star Hits (2022)

 A bizarre, subversive treat for people from my generation.

Kyle Mooney- who just left SNL- has been quietly trying to make his own spin on things.  He started on the Show with his fake-'90s videos with him as a High School Student.
In the At-Home Episodes of SNL, you saw it with a cartoon about Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Now it all comes together with this crazy Netflix Show called...

We are introduced to our two Leads- Skip and Treybor- who are Twins played, of course, by Mooney.

They are the Hosts of the titular SMASH, a Saturday Morning block of Cartoons.

It starts out simple, but you start to see the cracks between the two as one gets more attention...

The first cartoon is Randy, the tale of a talking Dinosaur living in the Modern World.

This riff on Denver: The Last Dinosaur is...not happy or upbeat.

He's depressed and starts drinking.  WTF?!?

Next up is the Create-A-Critters, a riff on Care Bears, amongst other Shows.

In this one, a guy- Paul Rudd!- hides them in the Garage, while he tries to get his work-life balance in order.

It's all fun and games...until you have to take care of your family.

Later in the Show, we are introduced to the Strongimals, an obvious Thundercats parody/homage.

They are violent Characters who came to Earth to create peace...through lots of bloody violence.

Of course, the Show goes through some changes...

Skip is a Guest Star on the first Episode- that we see anyhow- and is suddenly a breakout hit.

Animation doesn't take months to create in this Show, so his role becomes a recurring one in Week 2 and he eventually takes over the Show!

Basically, if you've seen how The Real Ghostbusters turned into the saccharine Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters, it's this.

About 10 other crazy Sub-Plots/Events occur over the run of this Show, so I won't SPOIL all of them.

Sufficed to say, this picture of man in a Strongimals Costume is not even the weirdest or most subversive thing you'll see.

To find out how crazy this gets, watch the Show.

A twisted, but very fun Show.  It's definitely not for everyone though.

For starters, it deals with real issues like Depression and Jealousy, not to mention Murder.  It's not a Kids Show, which is the point, of course.  It just looks like one.

While I know the VHS Filter is working hard on this one, there's alot of other great details that really make this work.  The Animation looks and feels like it comes from the right Era.  It's also not 100% identical, which is how the Show would be.  Likewise, the Voice Acting- Mooney does many voices- is top notch, again feeling like it belongs.

The only critique I could make is that maybe there's too much going on.  By the time the new Shows start to appear, I was worried that things would be too unfocused.  This is definitely a 'We've been working on this for Years' kind of project in all of the good and bad ways.

The Live-Action Segments are a real delight and they get pretty diverse too.  When the B-Plots come in, things continue to look and feel Era appropriate.  They feel just real enough to work, but not so real that its disconcerting/disturbing.  Again- a delicate balance.

So, in summary, if you want a crazy Show that's a love letter to and complete subversion of Saturday Morning Cartoon fare, watch this Show.  Here's the sad version of my 'Go call someone' Stinger...

People who know these kinds of Shows and like twisted humor are in for a real treat.  Don't sleep on this one, so we can get a Season 2!

Streaming Standard: Prey (2022)

 After the last Predator Film was divisive (to say the least) and the whole Fox/Disney deal went down, we finally got this Prequel.

Was it worth all of the drama?

Back in the early days of America, a young Comanche Woman seeks acceptance as a Hunter.

Yep, even in a Native American/Indigenous People Tribe, there's a Glass Ceiling (before there was even really glass!).

She tries to hunt with her Brother, but he's getting all of the attention/fame.

She's also aware of the arrival of something- which the Audience knows to be the Predator- but nobody will believe her.

Soon enough, the pesky Predator starts killing his way up the food chain, starting with small animals.

Eventually, he/it, of course, turns to Humans.

Can our Heroine rise to the occasion and defeat the Creature?
Can she prove herself to be 'a threat?'

Will you need to watch this in the Comanche Dub?

To find out, stream the Film now.

A fun, exciting Film that freshens things up quite a bit.  To be fair, I've always liked the Predator Films.  I don't think that they necessarily made a *bad* one yet.  Yes, there are certainly different quality levels though.

This one- as a Prequel- can do things with a nice, blank slate.  Yes, it will reference stuff from the previous Films- that's just what modern Sequels/Prequels do- but its not beholden to the previous Films.  Setting it in a Forest is a nice spin on previous Films, which used Jungles and Cities generally, as well.

Plenty of (CGI) Animals are in the mix too.  That Dog- which is not CGI- is a real standout.  If this was a non-streaming release, we'd get to see the Making Of to learn how they trained it.  Did they have to teach a new Dog to take Comanche Language Commands?  Did they find one used by actually Comanche People that just happened to train Dogs like that?  I need to know!

The Film gives its Lead- who's a real standout- a nice Arc.  She's not written so strongly that there's no challenge, nor is she written so weak that it seems like she shouldn't be able to win.  It's not always easy to write that balance.

Prey is a solid, entertaining Film that makes the Predator look badass, which is what we always like.  Now we just need him to fight Wolverine already.  He's already got the claws...well, on one side...

Action Fans will really enjoy this one, as fresh Actors and Locations liven this up.  Just don't watch it if you're a big fan of French Fur Trappers though.

Copyright-Infringing Cover Art?: Boltneck (aka Teen Monster) {2000}

 Universal is not a company you want to mess around with!

In 2000, we got a Direct-to-Video Film which attempted to do a 'modern update' on Frankenstein.

How they did it sure seemed familiar in a very important way...

So let's do the Checklist for all of you Lawyers out there...

Green Skin
Head Sewing
Bolts in the Neck

Yep, none of that is from the Book and ALL of that is from the Universal Frankenstein Films.

Also the Title- yeesh.

Is there a better Title to use?

Yes.  It's generic as hell.
Also Ryan Reynolds was 24 when he played the part.

Seriously though, did they get sued over this?

They had to, right?  
Right?!?

Tubi Thursday: Night of the Big Heat (1967)

As everywhere has record high temperatures (but, of course, Climate Change 'is not real'), I find that people need to know why.

Well, this Film from 1967 may have the answer.  It's...

The Fara Island (a real place in Scotland) has some strange weather. 

While it's freezing everywhere else, it is 90 degrees and rising!

So, naturally, this Film was shot in the Winter...where it was actually cold...while they acted like it was super hot.

Strange lights seem to show up and kill people.  I can probably get a Poor Bastards of Cinema induction (or three) out of this.

The heat keeps rising.

A Scientist (Christopher Lee- getting top billing over Peter Cushing for the first time) is up to something.

Oh and a Writer had an affair and now the lady followed him home (at the worst time).

As day turns to night (as the Title implies), things only get worse...

More people die.

Communication is cut off (since heat causes static?!?).

More off-screen events- such as a landing with lights- also occurs.

What is actually going on?!?

Well, strange creatures have come to Earth, following our satellite pinging back to the source.

They create immense light and heat, killing off people and raising the temperature of the Island (and soon the World!).

So, after all of that, a rain storm causes them to short out and die.

Yep.  

The End.

A solid Premise.  A nice location.  A good Cast.  Tension galore.

So what went wrong?

The Film, in a nutshell, is melodramatic when it needs to be serious and pretty cheap when it needed to splurge a bit.  Shall I explain?

The B-Plot with the former Lover showing up and all that was, well, pretty unnecessary.  Was it the best way to build tension between the Characters?  No.  There were plenty of other ways.  This Plot also keeps intruding on things and not in a way that prolongs the Main Plot in a good way.

The other issue is that the payoff and execution of the creatures is...not great.  There seems to have been a trend around this time of making weird, silly-looking creatures.  For instance, 1966's Island of Terror has very similar creatures, but it has Peter Cushing as the Lead and not just a 'Guest Star.'  Little blobs sliding around are just not as scary or interesting as people seemed to think back then.

So, in summary, this is one of those Films where the first 2/3 is pretty interesting as you see the build-up.  When you get the pay-off, it's kind of laughable.  Oh well.  

Don't get so mad at me now that you just see red.... 

A pretty fun and tense Film, even if it gets sillier the more things are explained.  As always, getting cheap when it counts dooms this to be a pretty run-of-the-mill UK Sci-Fi Thriller. 

'80s/'90s Trash: Winterbeast (1986/1992)

 A strange Film for all of the right...and wrong reasons.  This one started out in 1986 with a Production that never finished. 
They finally came back and shot the rest in 1989. 
It was another 2-3 Years before it ended up on Video.

In spite of that, it looks like it was made entirely in the 1970s.

The Plot involves, well, no such Winterbeast, since the Film is set in the Fall.  Seriously, it's in New England and those leaves are falling!  I guess you'd never suspect to find a Winterbeast outside of the Winter Season.

If you like random, unexplained Monsters, barely any Plot and...well, that's it, then check out...

Good luck following this one when it really counts.  So...

A man- our Lead- sees a strange man in the Attic and is attacked by an obviously-Claymation Zombie.

Next thing we see, a different guy is outside and a skull starts popping out of his chest.

That's not how anatomy works!

Now for real this time (how much of that was real exactly?  Dunno), the Lead (The Park Ranger) sees a skeleton and a freaky statue, which they borrowed from a Dokken Video.

No, really.

There's also a random Scene- that appears to have been shot in the '70s- where a woman randomly strips down and is attacked by...Groot?!?

He/it never shows up again.

That's the trend here too.

Our Ranger and company learn vague things about Native Americans and a supposed Winterbeast in between one-off Monsters showing up.

For instance, this Sid & Marty Kroft reject.

In a different Scene, a Cop we've never seen before climbs down a rock wall, only to get grabbed by...giant E.T. made out of chewing gum.

He's turned into clay and killed.

There's also a Zombie, but you get the idea.

Can our Heroes finally get around to fixing what is going on?
Is the Lodge Owner (who's clearly evil) actually evil?

Why is it so blue out all of a sudden?

The- I think- titular Beast finally emerges as a Giant Native American Guy (shot in bad forced-perspective) and unleashes a pair of monsters.

One eats a Hero- after turning him into a paper cutout (see below)- and the other is a giant chicken that...just kind of leaves after its appearance.

They win the day, but did anyone really win here?

What a weird, confusing Film.  These kinds of 'Bad Movies' are a tricky lot.  Are they fun or not?

Crazy, fake-looking monsters- fun.

Random deaths of nobodies to pad the runtime- fun.
Having no idea what the point is- less fun.
A prolonged 'guy acts creepy' Scene with bizarre payoff- also less fun.

For all of the good (read: bad, but fun), there's plenty of bad (read: actually bad and not fun).  For one, the Acting.  For two, the Direction.  The Continuity.  The whole presentation when Monsters aren't around.

To give you context, one Scene cuts from what looks like old footage of the Ranger talking to the Lodge Owner and abruptly-cuts to new footage from a different angle.  The Ranger's mustache is different and we never see the Owner's face.  Was he dubbed?  Sure looks like it.

So here's the pitch- if you like weird and bad Films, but also don't care too much about being able to follow it, Winterbeast is for you.  If you like to follow the Plot and not keep asking 'What's this now?!?' then skip it.

As for me, I finally found the thing to tie my Living Room together.  I'm set...

As noted, I might as well rewatch Desperado for the first time, in, like 20 years.  After all, it is one the other side of the Disc.  Stay tuned...

'90s Class: El Mariachi (1993)

 For the price of a used car, you too can make a Film.  Well, at least in 1993.

This is El Mariachi, the debut of Robert Rodriguez.  He made the Film for $600, but it took the remaining amount to get the Film processed and ready for Cannes.  He made it big there and got 100 times the Budget for the next Film.

What is this Film though?  A poor Mariachi moves into Town looking for work.  He gets caught up in a War between a Drug Czar and a rival.  What's the poor guy to do?

Is this as memorable as his later work or just an historical document?  To find out, read on...

In the Cold Open, a Drug Czar sends his men in to kill Azul- below- who is running a Drug Running Operation out of Prison.

It doesn't end well for him and the man comes for revenge.  

A Mariachi comes into a small Town looking for work.

Confusingly, he narrates at the Beginning and the End, but not in-between.  Weird.

Azul comes to the same Town with a guitar case full of guns- well, okay, one gun- and takes out some of the Czar's men.

They go after a 'Mariachi' (since only the Czar has seen Azul's face).

Of course, if the bad guy just gave them a description of his enemy, there'd be no Film.  Oh well.

I'm not sure that the few Scenes of our Hero having random death-premonition dreams really add anything to the Film, but they sure do make it feel quite '90s.

Also bedhead.

In a curious twist, the 2 'Mariachis' cross paths incidentally and get their cases swapped.

This actually ends up saving Azul.  How bizarre, how bizarre.

Eventually, in that same bit, our Hero is captured by the Lead Henchman and taken to the Czar.

The guy quickly identifies him as 'Not him' and that's it.

Of course, the Actor was only pretending to speak Spanish (reading his lines from Cue Cards), so that might explain the error.

It all comes to a head when Azul uses Domino- the woman who was sheltering our Hero- to get at the Czar.

He turns on her, since she's in love with said Mariachi, and shoots her dead.
Azul was not prepared for, well, anything and is killed too.

Our Hero shows up too late and gets maimed by the Czar when he's shot in the hand.

He's too much of a braggart to see him draw Azul's gun with the other hand and he's shot dead.
As you can see, he does not enjoy this.

In the aftermath, he returns to narrate, going full Renegade riding off into the Sunset.

So does this set up Desperado?  I guess I'll find out.
The End.

A solid and inspired low-Budget Film.  El Mariachi doesn't exactly break the mold too much here, to be fair.  We get an unlikely Hero thrust into action.  That said, he doesn't seem too bad at it when it is thrust upon him, so there's not much of an Arc to that (other than him feeling bad the first time).  He's not quite reluctant (or incompetent) enough, I guess.

The idea of the Film is quite good, overall.  Our Hero seems flustered by the whole thing and has to 'roll with the punches' realistically.  The Czar is good in his limited role since, as noted, the Actor just read his lines phonetically.  You honestly can't tell really, so kudos.  

This is, as noted, a very Low-Budget Film and uses alot of non-Actors (at least seasoned ones).  That said, it's not bad in that regard.  The natural/real performances mostly all work here.

That said, the same Budget restricts how the Action is shot and some of it gets repetitive.  It's also much more focused on the Characters, for obvious reasons.  Just expect different stuff from the $7,000 Film shot in a real Town than the one he made for $7,000,000.  What's one thing that no amount of money can replace?  That glorious mustache.

As noted, I might as well rewatch Desperado for the first time, in, like 20 years.  After all, it is one the other side of the Disc.  Stay tuned...

Tubi Thursday: Gen-Y Cops (aka Gen-X Cops 2)

 Action Films don't get enough love here at Mondo Bizarro Cinema.  I still need it to be weird though.

So let's see what we can get from...

The Film is all about modern technology- of 1999- and what it can bring us.

Chat Rooms- check.

Cell Phones- check.
Robots- check.

What else did we get in the 1990s?   Hmm...

A Police Robot is stolen in Hong Kong- since the Film was made there- and the FBI- led by Agent Ian Curtis- needs it back.

Is there a problem?

One member of the Gen-X Cops (since this is a Sequel) was partially-behind the theft (and the deaths during said theft), so he doesn't trust any of them.

And yes, that is Maggie Q.

So begins a game of Cat & Mouse...and Cat and other Mouse that involves the duo trying to find their partner, while he tries to find the bad guy- who set him up.

All the while, the FBI is after them.

And yes, that is Chris Tucker's Stunt Double from Rush Hour 1-3 on the right.

Can they find their friend in time?
Can their friend stop the bad guy?
Can the FBI bring them all in?

Will I use one Screen Cap without Paul Rudd in it without mentioning it (until now)?

To find out, stream the Film.

This Film sure is dated, but mostly in a fun way.  It's one of those Time Capsule Films.  You know, the kind where you see Cell Phones in their infancy or people answering their Pagers.  The kind where they can't just call their friends on their Cell Phones or even, gasp, text dick pics!

It's also got a very specific '90s feel as the Kung-Fu Excess is all there.  Slow-mo dives aplenty.  Flying kicks every few minutes.  Large, seemingly-unsafe explosions.  Goofy guy who can do Kung-Fu, but mostly does Kung-Fu.  And, in spite of Jackie Chan's name only being a credit here, we get the Famous Non-Kung-Fu Guy Tries to do Kung-Fu bit.  Seriously, Paul Rudd attempts to do Kung-Fu, sadly quite briefly.

If you needed more reason to see this, there's also late-90s CGI in the form of the Robot.  Yeah, they use a deadly robot very infrequently here- once in the escape and once in the finale- but it is some iffy CGI.  They had a real robot, but it clearly couldn't move, so enjoy that sweet, dated CGI.

I will say that the Tubi Version is Dubbed, so you miss the joy of seeing Paul Rudd speaking Cantonese (although you can see the clip on Graham Norton's Show via YouTube).  He was my main hook for seeing this Film, as I never saw Gen-X Cops.  

Speaking of Paul, can I sneak in one more Screen Shot of him?

I guess not.  Sorry, Ms. Q.

It's not a great Film, but it is quite silly.  When it delivers the over-the-top action (and not just humor), it's quite enjoyable cinematic cheese (or 芝士).

New Streaming: The Book of Boba Fett- Episodes 5-7

 With more Star Wars talk recently involving a Film Spin-Off Show on Disney Plus, this seems like a good (and long overdue) time to talk about this Show.

In the first half, we see Boba Fett try to become a strong, but peaceful Leader.  When that didn't end well, the plan, and Show, took a slight pivot.

Let's see how that worked out in...

After 4 Episodes of Boba's journey, told through Flashbacks and in the Present, we now focus entirely on...

The Mandalorian.

That's...hmm...alright then.

Episode 5 is 100% about him, setting him up from where he left Season 2 and beginning to set things in motion for Season 3.

See him try to master the Dark Saber.
See him talked down to by a Forgemaster.
See him...finally connect this tangential Story to The Book of Boba Fett.

The Pyke Syndicate seem to know that Boba is getting help, so they get their own in the form of Cad Bane.

As someone who's not familiar with the Cartoons- save for The Bad Batch- I'm happy.

What evil will he bring?

Oh wait- we still can't wrap up the Pyke stuff since we need to meet, well, Super Deep Fake Luke Skywalker.

He's training Grogu aka Baby Yoda, but the latter is conflicted.

He's going to make the (not really a) kid choose between being a Jedi and helping The Mandalorian.

Back on Tatooine, the big battle between the Pyke Syndicate and their small Army & our Heroes takes place.

It's big, boisterous and full of shiny CGI.

Oh and a few surprises.  To find out how it ends, stream the Show now.

A strong, but definitely convoluted journey to the end.  The whole idea is just kind of strange.  I'm not saying that it's bad necessarily, but it is strange.

Build up a Story for 4 full Episodes and end on a tease.
Spend all of Episode 5 on a different Character before paying off said tease.
Pause final build-up to Finale with long diversion.

I'm not one of those people that apparently disliked Boba Fett and his story.  Those people were all 'yea- Mando is back.'  I was happy to see him too, but the complete switch to his Story for a whole Episode still feels odd.  The other diversion- creepy Computerized Mark Hamill aside- is less bothersome as it more directly builds to the Finale.

So yeah, I enjoyed the whole Show, but that pivot sure was odd.  I'm still smiling at the end though.

A good Show that had some curious issues with Pacing overall.  It's still a good Story that is more than just nostalgia though.