No really.

More awesome than ninjas riding jet-skies with flame throwers.

The single best podcast that any human being has ever had drift down upon their eardrums.

And then tragedy struck.

Horrible awful miserable tragedy.

Dan’s computer died and the podcast of glory was lost forever.

The boys tried to recapture the previous wonder and joy but alas the podcast you will now listen to is no good.

Yup, the normal standard.

Sorry.

Also sorry for the movie this week…

Next week Lee and Dan continue the trend of not watching the planned films and watching Dawson’s Creek alumni films…

The Mighty Ducks!

You can apparently watch it now right there on YouTube (which doesn’t sound right to us but you know…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czdOpucyuVQ

Bet that video disappears soon, see you all next week!

This weeks three of the best was provided by Claire from Moon in the Gutter, and very good it was too (despite the fact she blatantly cheated). You can also find Claire on twitter as @merialc.

No podcast next week, and very possibly the week after that, as we take a little break to have a think about if/how we need to change the podcast at all due to Dan’s new job and Lee’s paucity of time. We will be back shortly however so stay tuned.

Anyhow, here’s this weeks podcast:

If you have any comments, suggestions, or feedback on the podcast in general, and what you would like to see/not to see going forward then mention them in the comments. I should point out though – we know you don’t like the Star Trek bit (and it’s likely not to return).

To be honest I’ve only just finished editing the podcast and I still can’t remember what we talked about. I’m pretty sure that we were unpleasant about Chris O’Donnel, showed our ignorance of classic French Literature, and spent some time discussing Lego Batman. Something like that anyway.

Lee is far better at writing these show notes, which is annoying as he doesn’t even bother listening to the podcast. Unfortunately due to my general slackness I ended up editing the episode right at the last minute, so as punishment it’s down to me to write the accompanying post.

I’m the bloody Igor of this partnership. It’s a disgrace. “All for one” my arse.

Anyway – I do remember that the marvelous Jeff from Caddickisms did a stirling job of a Three of Best for us on this episode. Jeff’s also recently jumped on twitter, so you should all go follow him @Caddickisms

Here we go:

No podcast next week as we take our regular mid-season break. But we’ll be back the week after with Caddyshack.

When you get unpaid interns to do all the office admin work then you get exactly what you pay for.

Actually it’s just one of those weeks where Dan and I haven’t been able to line up our times and so we never actually got a chance to watch and talk about The Three Musketeers though rest assured next week we will be back swashbuckling our way through another podcast.

In the meantime why not wrap your ears around a super extended Week in Geek as Dan and I chat about everything wrong in comics and some other pop culture thingos:

So next we’ll be back, leave us a comment in the comments below and shed your own light on the subject of The Avengers or defend Green Lantern!

PS I have no idea what Dan was doing with those songs

• Worst director
• Worst screenplay
• Worst picture

“A movie this unspeakably awful can make an audience a little crazy. You want to throw things, yell at the actors, beg them to stop.” is the way some dude from Rolling Stone described it.

Yes that’s right.

Lee and Dan are watching the Bruce Willis comedy caper Hudson Hawk.

Is it as bad as they say it is?  Do Lee and Dan remember it correctly?  Will you learn how to recover from temporal narcosis? Will this podcast give you temporal narcosis?

Listen to find out!!!

Big thanks to Phil for providing his Three of the Best!

Next week Lee and Dan are doing a filler episode!!! So no movie next week but plenty of geeky talking bits!!!

Tell us what you think of Hudson Hawk or if you’ve managed to avoid temporal narcosis thanks to this podcast!!

Also this sentence will end with many exclamation marks much like the last two!!!

Okay enough chit chat go listen to the podcast you’ve been hanging to listen to!

Sigh.

There now, wasn’t that worth it!?

Only another week without the boys and then season three of the Midnight Movie Club kicks off!!!

Big thanks to the Casta La Vista boys and you should add them to your listening selection (here’s one to ease you in… starring Lee and Dan!!)

Be back in two weeks or be… ummm absent… ummm you know, from the podcast…

Damnit.

Now as this is the finale episode there is a remarkable amount of silliness going on and you are not promised a completely coherent podcast like the boys usually serve up…

…well you know.

A big thanks to Andrew of the podcast Podcast Squared for taking part in the Three of the Best.

So the boys are riding off into the sunset for a well earned break, Lee is apparently excited to watch movies made within the last 10 years and Dan is building himself a Blue Beetle costume during his holiday*.

What does this mean for you though?!?

Well if you can just hang on for a week the boys are joining the Casta La Vista boys in another amazing crossover as they come together to celebrate the film Romancing the Stone.

So that’s not next week, but the week after and then you have to wait another week and then Lee and Dan will be back with season 3… or it may be the week after… or ummm ahhhhhhhh

Yay holidays!!!

Share your thoughts or your hopes and dreams in the comments!

*May be a lie.

Oh, and excuse us while we claim-my-podcast-in-podbean{scid-bWlkbW9jbHVi-ecid}

Of course if you are a woman then just reverse the previous sentence and leave your no good man at home whilst you forge an amazing career that he will covet.

Yeah we’re not going to lie to you, this week’s 1983 Michael Keaton comedy Mr. Mom has seen better days but Lee and Dan get quite self righteous and indignant on your behalf and the whole podcast is worth sitting through if only for the last minute so dig in and stick with it!!

A big thank you goes to Ian Marshman for highlighting the deficiencies in Lee’s puppet movie watching and of course being a part of this week’s Three of the Best!

And of course if you want to go over and torment those Geek Tragedy guys for their appalling lack of taste then you can do so here.

Next week Lee and Dan are watching the 1995 comic book adaptation starring Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd, apparently he has some knowledge of the law…

Yes that’s right Lee and Dan venture out into suburbia to mix it up with the military tragics, the irresponsible teens (who are responsibly painting their house so… umm never mind) and of course the local freak fest family who never mow their lawn and only have sardines and pretzels!  The boys are watching the 1989 black comedy starring Tom Hanks “The ‘Burbs”.

All sorts of disaster conspired against Dan and Lee in bringing the podcast to you this week but here it is!

A big thanks also to John from the blog Going Gently for being part of the podcast with his Three of the Best.

Next week Lee and Dan are taking a break despite advertising that they’d be talking about Mr Mom.  Be back here in two weeks where they actually will be talking about the Michael Keaton film Mr Mom!

This is of course the second film in the Michael Keaton extravaganza and it’s not a bad podcast to boot.  We’ve got Erin from the blog The Fierce Beagle sharing her Three of the best and there’s a chance Dan and Lee mock Tim Burton for a good half hour.  Sprinkle an old worn Aquaman t-shirt up for grabs and what are you waiting for?!?!

Let us know the answer to the trivia question in the comments or just tell us what you thought of the movie or podcast!

As always you check out the trailer on the Midnight Movie Club Facebook page so you should also pop over there and be sure to like us and share us!

Join Lee and Dan next week as they watch the Tom Hanks classic The ‘Burbs

Now there was some more slight problems with the synopsis book… again and Lee sacrifices his contribution to Week in Geek to bring you more words of wisdom from Wonder Woman in the workplace (or more conveniently known as WoWfWWitW).  We explore why Dan doesn’t have success in his life and the mystery of herringbone.

So come in, pull up a nice big comfy chair and enjoy the podcast, well tolerate it anyway (at least they’re not blathering about hovercrafts)

We’d also like to thank Scott from the Scifi Diner podcast on the Three of the Best segment and if you’d like to come on the show drop us a line.

As always you check out the trailer on the Midnight Movie Club Facebook page so you should also pop over there and be sure to like us and share us!

Join Lee and Dan next week as they watch the Michael Keaton prostitution / morgue film (how often do you get to write that?!?) Night Shift

The reason for the confusion around the name is that in Australia this film is called Working Class Man which makes no sense apart from the singer of the song Working Class Man is an Australian rocker named Jimmy Barnes and the song is featured in the end credits. Apparently the marketing department suspected that Australians will go to films in the vague hope that they’ll hear the title track song at some point throughout the film.

This week most of the kinks have been worked out of the extraordinarily professional segments and finally the book By the editors of Consumer Guide and Jay A Brown Rating the Movies for home video, tv, and cable New and Revised with over 3500 movies makes an appearance.

If that doesn’t thrill you into listening to the podcast then… ummm errrrr please listen to the podcast (Dan will be your best friend):

There now, see how much better that feels, next time don’t make us beg you to listen! Now you’ve got to make your way down to the comments and leave us some, go on, you can do it!

The Midmoclub would like to thank Whit Honea for taking part in our Three of the Best segment, if you’re intrigued by him then visit his site or stalk… ummm follow him on Twitter.

If you’d like to be in the Three of the Best segment then just head on over to the contact us page and drop us a line!

Remember too that if you want to see the trailer you can pop on over to the Midnight Movie Club Facebook page and have a watch there.  Why not throw us a like and some shares whilst there!!?

Finally be back here this time next week as Lee and Dan watch the John Hughes John Candy comedy Uncle Buck!

Lee is not talking to Dan because he chose this film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDwEXXdiscQ

Go on listen to the podcast, you know you’re curious, Lee and Dan are not endorsing watching this film.

At all.

Have you actually seen Police Academy 7 – you really need to share your thoughts in the comments!!!

Next week Dan and Lee are watching The Running Man in the season finale for the Midnight Movie Club!

This week Dan and Lee are joined by the Chris’s (I don’t know what the plural of Chris is) from the podcast Casta La Vista.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyEr8YX1cnY

So is Jingle All The Way the greatest Christmas film ever or is it one horrible blow after blow against fine cinema?  Check out the podcast to find out the answers and unravel the deep layers of the Sinbad and Arnold Schwarzenegger festive romp.

This was also the Midnight Movie Club’s birthday! So a big thanks for everyone who has made the past year so rewarding for us doing this podcast and we look forward to another year

Next week Lee and Dan are watching Police Academy 7 Mission to Moscow, make of that what you will.

and in thanks to the Casta La Vista boys guesting on the podcast we present:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mayCvk2P4f0

That doesn’t sound like a Midnight Movie Club film!?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2FHICIsStg

…phew that’s more like it. This week Lee and Dan are watching the most triumphant Running Scared from 1986.

Did you catch the point in the podcast where Lee severely damages the space time continuum?  Or the bit that Dan puts his support behind police brutality?

Next week it’s a HUGE podcast as the boys celebrate Christmas and the Midnight Movie Club’s birthday AND have guests from the Casta La Vista podcast!!

…oh yeah and they’re watching Jingle All The Way.

Is it me, or does that feel like a fan made trailer?

This week Lee and Dan watch the 1985 romantic comedy The Sure Thing directed by Rob Reiner and staring John Cusack.

See if you can spot the point where Dan’s massive sulk at Lee’s indifference towards the film has been skillfully edited out.

Next Week Lee and Dan will be watching a forgotten classic – 1986′s Running Scared staring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrRi4saj1q8

Finally we have a movie that forces a divide in the Midnight Movie Club!!

Next week Lee and Dan form their own gang and visit the world of The Warriors.

Remember to leave a comment and share your own thoughts on Pee Wee Herman!

——————-

One last thing, the kind sponsors who provided us with a new microphone last week have just launched a new site. If you’re in the UK and suddenly find yourself in urgent need of a new fridge, dishwasher, oven, or other bit of white goods then head on over to Next Day Appliances who guarantee that they will get one to you by 7pm the next day. Ideal for all your Gremlin microwaving needs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcSN3PEvtQo

Highlights:

• we announce the winner of the Jaws books!!!
• an actually well delivered synopsis, no really, seriously well delivered
• Lee questions Dan’s taste
• Lee questions 13 year old Lee’s taste
• It’s pointed out that there is no below the waist nudity
• Dan talks the film up until he suddenly realises what he’s doing
• Dan and Lee would like to make it very clear that you don’t have to see this film
• There are several new sections to enjoy!!!

Next week Lee and Dan are very excited to be watching the 1989 comic book extravaganza Batman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THV1KkPXIxQ

Highlights:

• Dan is confused by zombies and deadites
• Lee does the bad thing in the synopsis that Dan did last week…
• It wasn’t any better.
• Lee and Dan kind of blame you for the poor quality of the synopsis.
• Dan was a Bruce Campbell virgin.
• The difference in tone to Evil Dead 1 & 2.
• You can’t nitpick the film, it’s an exercise in futility. Nor should you.
• Groovy.
• Bruce Campbell is this film.
• Klaatu barada nikto
• Oldsmobiles and chainsaws
• There are lots of quotes
• Full moon films
• Continue your Bruce Campbell education

Dan’s Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Lee’s Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

Next week Dan and Lee are watching The Untouchables.

This week Dan and Lee go to the world of Kung Fu and hovercrafts in Rumble in the Bronx.  The warning is that they talk about the movie for about ten minutes and then discuss hovercrafts for what feels like hours.

Enjoy!

• Dan discusses the definition of art
• Lee is confused about wallflowers at singles dances
• Rumble in the podcast!!
• Lee delivers potentially the worst synopsis yet
• There is a subtle reference to hovercrafts
• Dan’s mixed heritage is revealed
• Housewife corner with Lee and Dan
• Rats ate Lee’s jacket
• Crappy dialogue
• There is an audio clip missing which may show up somewhere else during the podcast – try and work out where as I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
• Dan doesn’t need a big television
• Racism raises it’s ugly head again
• Brotherhood of the Wolf is awesome!
• The lack of cushions
• Jackie Chan lays some truth on the bad guys
• Another subtle reference to hovercrafts
• Dan turns to Wikipedia Lee turns to Amazon…
• Dan hates Bruce Lee
• Jackie Chan is a classy dude
• Radioactive beer man!!
• It’s a Jackie Chan love-in!
• More tiny references to hovercrafts
• Buying a hovercraft!!!
• More hovercraft related information
• The hovercraft malarkey continues…
• Chickens and the demise of Dan’s second favourite
• Dan and Lee eventually go back to talking about Rumble in the Bronx
• The cup of tea test is back!!
• Lee was wrong twice but you shouldn’t blame the Coen Brothers
• The worst Amazon pitch you’ll ever hear
• Dan and Lee finish on an in-depth discussion of Sylvester Stallone’s buttocks.
• Well actually they end on how Lee still hasn’t finished Dan’s new header image (but there are blueprints!!)

Next week Demolition Man!!

Highlights (?):

• Lee’s opinion on how you are this week
• 1989 in film
• Dan didn’t recognise Rene Russo
• Big baggy jumpers
• Tracey (Lee’s better half) doesn’t like Charlie Sheen
• Dan lies about the films he hasn’t seen
• Lee gets on the edge of his seat in the Mighty Ducks films
• Lee worries about them treating the game like a job
• Dan likes wearing American sports clothes but not so much playing sport
• This week it’s Dan who brings up the topic of balls
• Dan sums up the rules of baseball as “you have to hit the ball and run around a diamond”
• Lee praises Charlie Sheen behind Tracey’s back shhhhh
• There are hair spoilers for Major League 2
• Oh that’s racist
• Dan likes the Dorn character…?
• More mighty moustaches
• Celebrity spotting… well the janitor from Scrubs anyway
• In depth discussion regarding racism and voodoo
• Lee proposes a gender census of the Midnight Movie Club massive
• Frankenhooker
• The podcast does lose the plot a little after the 38th minute
• Captain Archer is a definitive role
• Lee says “Faith of the Heart” a lot
• Lee goes to Amazon
• Dan questions the validity of listening to Lee wandering around online shops
• Despite the general arse’n around during the final 15 mins you should stick around for the special ending of the podcast

Next week the boys are watching Rumble In The Bronx with Jackie Chan… well not with him… on their own…

Fine, here’s the stalking trailer:

Just because Dan and the Hadrian’s walkers are off doing their thing and… umm walking we are still pushing forward to keep you guys entertained!!  Show some love by popping over and donating some sweaty cash!!

• Dan and Lee invented the concept of Cheetos gloves…
• Dan does some major league foreshadowing.
• Lee and Dan declare that Tom Hanks used to be a man of the people and now isn’t.
• Dan and Lee pretty much quote the whole film.
• Is Dragnet the reason we have the Starsky and Hutch film?  Bad Dragnet film, go to the corner!
• A lot of people don’t like Tom Hanks
• The synopsis is lacking… again
• 3 Men and a Baby part 3 – brought to you by the Midnight Movie Club!!!
• Leonard Nimoy coming out of retirement.
• Lee revolutionises the mental wellness industry.
• The eBay segment is back!!!

Next week the boys are watching Major League… um I think ummm I didn’t listen that far… here enjoy the Dragnet rap:

Wow, that trailer really contains a bunch of spoilers!?!

Yes that’s right this week Lee and Dan are watching the 1984 film Gremlins which is a really hard film to classify so it’s been labelled a Science Fiction/Horror/Comedy.

• in a departure from every other week Dan and Lee had technical problems
• behold as the boys screw up Judge Reinhold’s name completely
• Lee potentially creates ‘a famous illustrator’ in his mind and sees him in this film
• was this released in the greatest weekend ever?
• Gremlins scare Dan and Lee (possibly Lee more than Dan…)
• Homages to other films including Spielberg’s
• Lee can’t even remember the town’s name
• Dan and Lee are loving Joe Dante
• Stephen King and the construction of character and then doing something horrible to them
• Dan identifies the connection to The Wizard of Oz
• Lee bangs on about the soundtrack
• The utter ridiculousness of the rules and the absence of science
• Lee explores the metaphysics of the gremlins
• Buffy the Gremlin Slayer – Dan is effing hilarious!!!
• Lee and Dan discuss the mother’s place amongst science fiction heroes Ripley and Connor – she goes all Chuck Norris
• Dealing with the dog
• Dan does a great Gizmo impression!!
• CGI vs Puppets
• Oh, no more points go listen to the podcast already!!!!

Next week Lee and Dan are watching Dragnet!

Don’t forget your goat leggings!!

This week we continue to be without Dan’s. Is this possibly a new era of quality for the Midnight Movie Club because we also have 87% more Jeff’s!

• Is this the nicest film we’ve watched?
• 123% less aliens in this film compared to X-Files
• Film has a special spot in Jeff’s heart
• The absolute newest film watched for Midnight Movie Club
• Lee doesn’t say the ‘f-word’ once!
• Not once do the so called “reviewers” mention the bloody gorilla!?!
• Lee already got more than 1000 followers on Twitter please ignore his pathetic begging…

In other news:

Next week: Dan and friends (not Lee) watch When Harry Met Sally

There is little secret to the reception that the Monster Squad are going to get in this week’s podcast as Dan and Lee have struggled through getting something recorded, in the end the podcast is about as professional as it always is…

• Monster Squad business cards
• Advice on taking very young children to monster’s homes
• Lee only says the ‘F word’ three… maybe four times
• Iron Man toy dildos
• We refuse to refer to Arjan by his real name
• How cool can someone actually be riding a bicycle in a black leather jacket?
• How schools are teaching kids to make silver bullets in home economics now.

The Iron Man figurine dildo:

(listen to the podcast and all will be revealed)

This came with the Iron Man figurine!?

Just to illustrate it's intended purpose

Next week we are watching Highlander and it will be Lee’s very first time!!!

This week Dan goes AWOL and Lee struggles with a film that he compares to giving his extracted eyeballs a salt bath.

He’s a baby.

• Marvel as Lee struggles with the basics of the internet.
• Gasp as he refers to the star of the movie as Justin Bateman
• Stare slack jawed as he demands you leave no comments*
• Sigh in relief as a special guest pops in
• Sigh in disappointment when he leaves again
• Wonder why there’s a huge pause at the start (Lee is)…

Now next week should appeal slightly more to Lee’s delicate tastes: The Monster Squad

*Please note that Lee’s opinions on discussing this movie in the comments does not reflect the policy or opinions of The Midnight Movie Club or that guy down the street who collects plastic bags and yells at the kids as they walk by. Please discuss away.

One of the rules of the Midnight Movie Club is that the film that we’re watching has to be one that we would stay up really late watching despite having work the next morning.  Teen Wolf fits this profile perfectly.

This week Lee and Dan talk about

• the complete and utter wrongness of that basketball team
• Boof
• what they really mean by the Werewolf
• what exactly does one do when surfing on the roof of a van
• does any one really care about werewolves?

If you’re on Skype and would like to leave your own thoughts or reactions to Teen Wolf then please leave a message on Dan’s Skype account with the very catchy user name: dghughes28.

Next week Lee is flying solo and podcasting about the disaster that is Teen Wolf Too (if you’ve recently seen Teen Wolf Two and would like to throw your two cents in leave a message with Skype account dghughes28!!.

Big week this week!!!

We have our special guest Mr Matthew Caverhill from the blog Culture Kills adding his own insights on the 1985 John Cusack film Better Off Dead.

Lee also threatens… well several people actually, we think he might need a stress ball.

Dan hasn’t seen Revenge of the Nerds.

Yes it’s another midnight movie club podcast:

Next week is ID4: Independence Day!!!

Directed by Thomas Schlamme
Starring: Mike Myers, Nancy Travis and Anthony LaPaglia

Apparently Dan felt that the swearing in the podcast has reached an unacceptable high and whilst he may be correct you won’t have to worry because we have our all new, all dancing swear noise!  You can only hear it by listening to the podcast and it should not be missed.

Also hear the boys talk about:

• the eagerly awaited Three men and a baby sequel
• confusing this film with a popular Batman PS3 game
• Lee’s poor jokes requiring explanation
• Dan doesn’t know where the line “I like the night life, I like to boogie” comes from
• and for what seems to be a completely random reason the Staypuft Marshmallow Man

Director: S.S. Wilson

Stars: Fred Ward, Christopher Gartin, Michael Gross, Helen Shaver

Earl Basset, a character from the original movie, is hired to clean up a infestation of giant subterranean worm creatures from a Mexican oil field.

So we watched it, we talked about it, have a listen:

It’s been a big week for the Midnight Movie Club as we slowly find our feet with the podcast and get various stuff organised.

If you cast your eyes over towards the side bar you can see that you can now subscribe to the podcast through:

• iTunes
• Zune
• RSS

If just one podcast a week isn’t enough for you you can also go to:

• The Midnight Movie Club Twitter feed
• The Midnight Movie Club Facebook page

We’ve also set up an Amazon account so if you want to buy a movie that we’ve watched or am about to, a great way to support the club is by buying through our affiliate links.

• Buy the Tremors Box Set at amazon.com
• Buy the Tremors Box Set at amazon.co.uk

Speaking of supporting us, if you liked the podcast why not share it with your friends on the various social networks and bookmarking sites or give us a review on iTunes!

Next week:

You’ll have the time of your life and you’ll owe all to us…

Director: Stephen Herek

Starring: Al Leong, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin

Two teenage slackers: Bill S. Preston Esq and Ted Theodore Logan use a time traveling phone booth to collect historical figures from the past in order to pass their school report.

We know this will disappoint some of you but there are a couple of reasons why we’re changing the format and you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out what they are.

I know.

Sneaky.

This week we are as promised, talking about the 1989 film Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Whilst preparing for this podcast Dan realised that he actually has a page of original artwork from the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book which ran for 12 issues in 1991.

Look, he can even prove it:

Support the Midnight Movie Club:

• Buy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure at amazon.com
• Buy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure at amazon.co.uk

Now in case you can’t get enough Dan and/or Lee you can:

• Follow the Midnight Movie Club on Twitter
• Follow Lee on Twitter
• Follow Dan on Twitter
• Check out Dan’s other blog
• Check out Lee’s other blog
• Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes!!

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Come back next week as Dan prepares to get outraged for the upcoming sequel by watching Tron for the first time!



Have an iPod or an iPhone or have iTunes installed?  Then you should subscribe via the iTunes store!!

]]> http://midmoclub.com/bill-teds-excellent-adventure-1989/feed/ 21 http://midmoclub.com/the-cannonball-run-1981/ http://midmoclub.com/the-cannonball-run-1981/#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:30:18 +0000 The Midnight Movie Crew http://midmoclub.com/?p=179

Director: Hal Needham

Stars: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Jackie Chan, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Dom DeLuise

Has been race car driver J.J. McClure (Reynolds) and mechanic Victor (DeLuise) attempt to win The Cannonball – an illegal cross country race across the width of America. Competing against them are ragtag bunch of con artists and speed freaks.

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Hey, hang on a minute! Has someone somehow secretly switched the beloved Cannonball Run of my youth with this huge great steaming turd?

Far from being the modern classic of my memory, the movie seems to be merely a long and rather pathetic excuse for a series of fairly unimpressive car stunts and poorly written comedy set pieces. Surely this can’t be right?

I’m almost scared to watch Smokey and the Bandit again now.

I’m having trouble believing that they had a good enough reason to make a sequel. The first two films are really mashed together in my memories so I wonder if the second one was much better because frankly, this first one was awfully hard to get through.

It took me five attempts to watch this all through.

I’ve never seen Smokey and the Bandit, I don’t know if I want to now.

Smokey and the Bandit was much, much better than this film. At least I think it was. I’m begining to think I can’t trust my memory anymore.

Someone please tell me Look Who’s Talking wasn’t a duff film too? or Jaws 4? Surely Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure can’t be anything other than a modern classic? Please! Someone!

Caravan of Courage IS a modern classic. Actually now that I think about it, wasn’t it a semi Christmas movie or was that the other one?

I mean there were two Ewok films outside of Jedi wasn’t there? *Sigh* I would look that up if I cared enough

Apparently Steve McQueen was originally cast for the role of J.J, but he died before filming began and so Reynolds took his place. It’s really strange to try and imagine alternative actors in what have become career defining roles. Tom Selleck instead of Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones for example..
Selleck might have pulled off Indiana Jones in my opinion, maybe not as iconic as Ford made it but he could have easily filled those shoes.

As for McQueen, I can’t imagine even he could have elevated this film.

Yes, Selleck would have enough charisma to play a decent Indy.

I quite liked Reynolds in this though, I thought he did the best he could with such a rubbish script and premise. There is something about his laugh which I find wonderful – he just doesn’t laugh like that in his later films. It’s like Ricky Gervais’ laugh, or Eddie Murphy’s – it’s dreadful and annoying, but also quite endearing.

I was listening to my laugh on the podcast last week and I think unfortunately I only managed to hit dreadful and annoying.

In fairness you are right about Burt Reynolds, he does his whole charming thing and works his way through the material, obviously having a good time kicking around with a bunch of his Hollywood friends and messing around with cars. It’s films like this though that cause me to forget that he has been a serious actor.
But if you compare it to a more recent “Hollywood friends kicking around” movie – Ocean’s Eleven, you can see that this movie squandered a massive opportunity to be something really cool. Such a waste.
Dean Martin looked rough in this didn’t he. i know he was supposed to be playing an alchoholic, but I suspect the only reason for that was that it would be impossible for him to play anything else. Sammy Davis Jr was almost literally havingto carry him throughtout the whole movie.
I was really shocked to see the condition that Martin was in, Sammy Davis Jr is generally pretty good in anything so yeah I completely agree he carried their partnership.
I’m not sure I’ve seen Sammy Davis Jr in anything else, but he was very good considering what he had to work with.

I nearly fell off my chair at that “Chocolate Monk” insult thrown at him. I know it was the early 80′s – but wow, casual racism like that in a mainstream film really floored me. Plus it wasn’t even approaching funny, even if the racisim was acceptible.

Yeah I didn’t get the reference so I didn’t really get the joke either.
When I was in high school I thought Cannonball Run was hilarious…
Me too, that’s why I can’t understand how bad this movie is. it’s not like my sense of humor has moved on a great deal since I was fourteen. I still enjoy forcing my sister to smell my farts for example.

You know, I honestly used to think that Dom DeLuise’s superhero “Captain Chaos” was genuinely hilarious. What on earth was I thinking??

Oh gawd, I doubt I ever found any of that funny, I’m with Burt Renyolds on that – I don’t want to talk about “him”.
Da-Da-Daaaaa!! Or is it Duh-Duh Duhhhh? Fanfairs are so tricky to spell.
I’m not sure why anyone would want to write that down, in fact I wish the script “writers” hadn’t.
Apparently the writer, Brock Yates, based the movie on his own experiences in a real life race he founded: The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. He set it up as a protest against the perceived loss of personal freedom in America, in the form of speed limits in particular. The bloody idiot.
I found myself laughing several times throughout the film though, generally stuff involving Roger Moore or the Proctologist. The Proctologist particulary was funny in most of his scenes, there’s nothing quite like finger in the bum humour.

When you examine the film to the same level that I did last week with BTTF other things become apparent which probably wouldn’t work with a film today. I mean at the end of the day they really did kidnap that girl despite the fact that she eventually came around but at the beginning she was held against her will and even drugged.

And as Dan mentions earlier on the racist comment wouldn’t really hold up today in a mainstream film.

That’s not cool.

But at the time I guess it was all innocent enough… I guess?

Was this mainstream back then?

There was no laughter from me. Only grimaces of pain and despair.

You’re right in that the proctologist was generally pretty funny, although I’d have gladly taken a shot of whatever he had in that syringe in order to avoid watching any more of the movie (I’d probably draw the line at the finger in the bum though)

You know what could have saved this movie? Some decent stunts. There wasn’t a single exciting car chase, jump, or pile up in the entire film. Just shots of expensive cars traveling along empty roads. I’m guessing that they blew all the budget on the big name stars rather than the special effects, but it would have been far better spent the other way around.
Actually that’s a good point, for a “car” film there were relatively very few stunts. I mean they drove into a pool in some bizarre aspect of the story and that is kind of it… Oh no actually the same guys jumped over a train? Or something like that, someone go back and watch the film again to confirm because I’m not turning it back on.
That was a different couple of guys I think. If I’m thinking of the right people then one of them went on a bad guy in the TV version of The Stand. As you say, I can’t be entirely sure without re-watching it and I’m afraid the DVD has already gone in the bin.

Perhaps we should hire a team of researchers to look into that sort of stuff for us. I’ll put it on the agenda for the next Midnight Movie Club board meeting.

Yup it was a different set of guys – the train jumping was the guy who does the Nixon impression at one stage.
Oh yes. That was…erm… hilarious? No, no, that’s not the right word. Ah yes! Crap. It was crap!
was he someone famous by the way? I have an impression that we should know he was.
I shall try to dig up some information on him now.
The biggest disapointment of this movie (and that’s saying quite a lot) was the big fight scene towards the end. I had wonderfully fond memories of this, and remember talking about it repeatedly in the school playground. I suspect I might even have had a go at reinacting it on occasion (with me being Captain Chaos naturally).

Even rewatching it this time I kept thinking “Sure it’s terrible, but just wait ’till the fight scene – that’ll save it”. But then when it arrived it lacked vitality, was over in two minutes, and didn’t live up to my over hyped preconceptions about it. It was a bit like when I lost my virginity to be honest.

I enjoyed Cannonball Run as a youngster in a complete vacuum as no one else enjoyed it or even probably knew about it. So there was no discussion or reenactments of the film with my peers at all.
You deprived child. We could reinact it now if you wish. Bagsy being J.J.
I’d rather reinact the Jackie Chan sequences, you know, two guys watching porn on computers and talking in a language I don’t understand… oh look we’re already doing it
You might be looking at porn, but I’m not. I’m still trying to find out the name of that guy who jumped the train. It just so happens that chickswithtoasters.com is the best source of information for movie trivias like that, that’s all.
So final thoughts, there are a sprinkling of scenes that still cause me to grin, not smile and certainly not laugh. Overall though this is another one of those films that if I read it in the TV Guide that it’s on I would probably stay up long enough to watch the credits at the start because I like the song but then I would go to bed without any regret.

Two very hot double shot soy flat whites for the Cannonball.


You’re right. There is a sprinkling of half decent scenes throughout the movie – but those are about as effective as sugar sprinkled on dog vomit. I was hugely disapointed that one of my absolute childhood favorites turned out to be such a turkey when viewed through adult eyes.

Two Diet Coke’s out of Ten. But it only avoids a one out of ten rating because I still have to retain some hope that there must be something worse out there.


Next week Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure?
Aye, but if that turns out to be rubbish then I’m qutiting the club in disgust.
I think that’s fair.



]]> http://midmoclub.com/the-cannonball-run-1981/feed/ 14 http://midmoclub.com/back-to-the-future/ http://midmoclub.com/back-to-the-future/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:30:31 +0000 The Midnight Movie Crew http://midmoclub.com/?p=155

Back to the Future (1985)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson

Teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955 by eccentric genius Doc brown. He meets his parents in high school and accidentaly attracts his mother’s romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by causing his parents to fall in love, while finding a way to return to 1985.

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You do realise that if Back to the Future was made today Marty McFly would be time travelling back to 1980 (that’s 30 years). That makes me feel very old indeed.

I never thought about it like that, I wonder if there would be as big a culture clash? I can’t imagine life without iPods and the internet. My idle time travelling fantasy would be to go back to even as late as 1990 with Wikipedia fully loaded on to my iPhone.

Forget sports books!! Imagine having the knowledge contained in wikipedia in the past!?

I think the culture clash would be lessened. Although you’re right – the absence of information at your fingertips is probabaly the biggest difference. That and the god awful music that the 80′s had. In fact I think “The Power of Love” may be the only decent song to come out of the whole decade (but what a song!).
It’s a great song, did you spot his cameo in the film too?
No, i didn’t realise he was in it
He’s the teacher who says “sorry guys you’re just too darn loud”
Ahh, well I suppose it’s hip to be square.
ZZ Top appear in the third film at the town dance and of course Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers appears in 2 and 3 as Needles.

Plus Madonna plays the waitress in number 2.

Actually she doesn’t, but I was feeling jealous of your astounding cameo knowledge

What about Mr Billy Zane?
Oh shut up.



I think Dan said in last week’s session regarding Scrooged that it was very hard to write something about the film because it was one of those perfect films and I’m finding the same thing happening this week with Back to the Future.

For me BTTF is an incredibly well rounded film that is perfectly cast, perfect pacing, great script, brilliant visuals and more than perfect soundtrack. So what more can you say than that? What is there to say that anyone who has watched this film doesn’t already know in their heart? Well hopefully something otherwise this week’s midnight movie club is going to be awfully bloody short!

So time for final thoughts then?…

Of course not! We’re the Midnight Movie Club! We can witter on about meaningless trivialities for hours without even drawing breath.

Hey, I just remembered some more cameos! Did you notice that Marty McFly’s uncle is the big brother from Wonder Years? Or that his sister is Ugly Betty?

I don’t think Ugly Betty was his sister, remember how old this film is.

I’ll prove it to you:



The actress is Wendie Jo Sperber, she was in 8 Simple Rules for four episodes, she’s actually been in a tonne of stuff apparently. But not Ugly Betty

Actually I’ve got to say that the BTTF wikipedia page is a little lacking.

Don’t those Wikipedia geeks know that we’re relying on them for our entire knowledge base? Come on you guys, get with the program!
There is a photo of the original Marty McFly there, because it wasn’t always Michael J Fox.

Is it me, or has Christopher Lloyd not aged at all in the 25 years since this was made? I saw him in the new Disney straight-to-DVD movie Snow Buddies recently and he looked exactly as old as he did in Back to the Future (*warning do NOT watch Snow Buddies if you can possibly avoid it*).

Perhaps it’s just testament to the skills of the makeup artists that they managed to age him realistically. But if it was then they certainly lost their skills by the time they got to Lea Thompson’s prosthetics. She looked just like Fat Bastard from the Ausin Powers films.

I am avoiding Snow Buddies now. I mean I was going to watch that tonight but now I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

You are completely right, Christopher Lloyd is timeless.

I found his aged makeup surprising actually, I never really paid attention until now that he had the makeup on in the 1985 time period. I’m glad they took care of that in the sequel with a rather clever plot device.

Lea Thompson’s prosthetics don’t hold up as well but are still passible in my opinion.

The problem is that she’s too young really to pass for a 40 year old (or whatever)
Yeah agreed, I think it’s easy to age a man.
It would be really cool if they made a Back to the Future 4 movie, with Michael J Fox as he is now reprising his role and using footage of the first three movies. It would be so intricate it would probably make your head explode.
It would NOT be cool if they did another sequel.
Yes it WOULD!

Dude we are so going to run a poll on this to confirm my absolute right’ness in this matter.

People will point and laugh at you in the street for saying something so absurd, your family will disown you, they will probably deport you… I hope they don’t do what they usually do and send you to Australia, we don’t need your ‘craving a BTTF part 4′ types here.

You know it makes sense man. Back to the Future 4: Back to the Past. I might even start putting together a script right now. I’ll even make sure there’s a part for Al Leong in it.

That’s what would have made BTTF more than perfect, some Al Leong in it.

Every film is better with Al Leong.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Something that completely took me by surprise as I watched this time (I’ve seen this film a lot) was that in the cold harsh light of reflection Biff is an attempted rapist.

I mean that’s what is going on in that car, he’s essentially attempting to rape Lorraine. It’s something that I’ve never really considered before.They make a joke about how if it hadn’t been for Biff they never would have gotten together… yeah because he tried to rape your mother!?!?!?

Oh look the dude who tried to date rape Mum is waxing the car and accepting our packages?!?!?

Yes, very odd. However in the 50′s (and even 80′s) there was a different attitude to date rape and sexual crimes in general. it’s not completely inconceivable that such things would have been swept under the carpet.

But even given the social norms at the time you are right, you wouldn’t have him waxing the car.

When choosing the auto detailing company you’d probably go with the one that has strangers over the one with your attempted rapist, I’m just saying.

Something else that struck me as a little flawed is the home made wooden scooter that Marty takes off that kid, that just happens to have perfect skateboard trucks and wheels and a convenient back pivot point thingie (there must be a proper name for that back pivot thingie).

I wonder what effect on skateboard sales this movie had. Quite a significant one I suspect.

I remember that Michael J Fox did a public service announcement advising that the skateboard stunts in BTTF were heavily supervised and that kids shouldn’t try it at home. I guess there must have been some parent outrage at the time.
I know that even now I’m idly thinking about heading out onto the main road with amy’s Dora the Explorer scooter and and catching a ride by grabbing onto the back of a passing bus. That should be ok shouldn’t it?
worked in part 2 just fine



I suppose we should talk about the absolutely bloody marvel that is the time machine in this film. The Delorean is just an incredibly cool looking movie car. It’s iconic, I love how it looks like a spaceship in the barn when he first goes back in time.

I had the opportunity to go see it in person this spring, as on one of my long distance walks we stopped in a town that had one of the promotional models in a motor museum. But it was a Sunday and the place had just shut. I was devastated . They even had a couple of Batmobiles and an original A-Team van. Oh why is life so cruel?

We could have taken a tour of the pencil museum instead, but it just didn’t feel the same.

I can’t believe you passed up a pencil tour. No wonder you want a BTTF 4.
We’d just walked 15 miles, so we were feeling a little too leaden for a pencil tour (“leaden”! “pencils”! I am a comedy genius!)

Something that adds to the experience of watching BTTF is the attention to detail contained within. Especially with the subtle changes to the timeline. I never noticed it before that the chunk of ledge where Doc Brown nearly falls on the clock tower is missing later in the future when Marty returns to 1985.

There are the more obvious but clever nonetheless changes such as the Lone Pine Mall name change. I assume there’s a bunch more that I can’t summon up as I think about it now.

There’s another neat little reference at the start of the film which always catches my eye. When we first open the movie and see all the clocks ticking away, one of the clocks has a character hanging off the hands of the clock in very much the way that Doc would do so later in the film. It’s a neat little nod.

Actually I did also note the perfection of the opening sequence, where we do see all of the clocks indicating the owner of the room is obsessed with time. We also find out that he has used his family fortune to pursue his research via the news clippings, although why anyone would frame such awful news surprises me. Finally when Marty first enters, on his skateboard, the board rolls over to hit the plutonium case under the desk (or it might be his bed now that I think about it).

There’s just a LOT of set up in that scene which is very well done.

Yes. In fact the exposition in this movie is handled extremely well throughout. There is only one scene where it clunks a bit – the one where they are walking into the school and it is so obviously overdubbed.

And you’re also right about how wonderfully planned it all is. I can envisage the plotting sessions involving a hell of a lot of index cards pinned to a board with string linking up the various references and plot points. The planning for Back to the Future II must have been even more complicated! I imagine that’s why they decided to set number 3 in just one time period – to give their brains a rest.

Number two must have been a nightmare for the editing team having to splice it all together. I’m particularly impressed with the way they reshot the Jennifer scenes in the beginning, in fact there is a video that compares the two scenes and it looks really cool, the timing goes out slightly but it wraps up at the exact same moment which is very impressive.
Are we ready for final thoughts on this one? I’ve got nothing else. As you say, what do you say about a classic that hasn’t been said before.

Yeah I guess final thoughts are in order, I keep feeling like there should be something else for me to write but the proof is there on the screen, maybe we shouldn’t watch such good films

I’m happily going to give Back to the Future ten double shot soy flat whites out of ten. Perfect film, easy to watch over and over, can’t wait for the blu-ray.


Back to the Future may well be the gold standard to which all other Midnight Movies are measured. As you said, perfect plot, perfect script, and perfect cast. I therefore agree with your score: ten Diet Cokes out of ten. Hey, what’s the point of having a top score if you’re not going to use it?


There are one or two films that I plan on breaking the system with

Next week:



]]> http://midmoclub.com/back-to-the-future/feed/ 36 http://midmoclub.com/scrooged/ http://midmoclub.com/scrooged/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:15:38 +0000 The Midnight Movie Crew http://midmoclub.com/?p=126

Scrooged (1988)

Director: Richard Donner

Starring: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bob “Bobcat” Goldthwait

Murray plays Frank Xavier Cross, a conceited, cynical television programming executive, in a modernization of the classic Dickens novella A Christmas Carol.

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I’ve been thinking about it and I’m not sure that there’s anyone in the current crop of movie comedians who holds a candle to Bill Murray in his prime, or Steve Martin and John Candy come to that (not that they are in Scrooged of course)
No I agree with what you are saying, especially Bill Murray although I do enjoy some of his later stuff.

I guess now it is Steve Carrell and the Judd Apatow regulars that are taking on the humour mantle.

It may be just the way films are written these days rather than the quality of the performers.
Maybe, but the quality of say, Ghostbusters, Uncle Buck, Planes Trains and Automobiles does rest a lot on the shoulders of some pretty fine comedians.
Yes, the stuff put out by the original Saturday Night Live crew in the 80′s and early 90′s stands way above the majority of the “Frat Pack’s” efforts.
I just remembered Three Amigos and giggled like a mad man.
Quick, add it to our Midnight Movie List.
Done!!!! OMG I want to bump it up on the list!!!
Shifting things back on topic a little, can I just say that I just love the psychotically violent Ghost of Christmas Present. Is it wrong of me to find her rather attractive?
BAHAHAHA when she hits him with the toaster!! That is gold!! I love her, of course it’s the only film I love her in but she is awesome in this, Bill Murray and her really play off each other really well.
Sexy sexy gold.

It’s Carol Kane isn’t it? The woman from Taxi?

It’s the voice isn’t it!? Yes it is Carol, she was also in Seinfeld, she got hit on the head with the pocket organizer. Her voice grates on me in that episode but it’s a delight in Scrooged.
No, it’s not the voice, it’s the toaster. I have a thing for toasters. I get very excited indeed when I watch Battlestar Galactica.
Oh dear.

Remind me not to order the toast at your place!!!

Hehe. Especially not the slice with the “special butter”
You were that guy who preferred Ghostbusters 2 because of the dancing toaster!!! That’s nasty.
Mmmmm lap-dancing toasters. Show me your bread slot baby.

Ok… I think we probably should move on now.



Do you think Bobcat Goldthwait talks like that at his kid’s parent teacher meetings? He must get through a hell of a lot of throat losenges.
God I hope so!!!! How good would it be him just ringing Pizza Hut!! They would so think he is ripping the piss out of them!
He’s the only man who could be excused for TYpiNG LiKE thiS as it acurately depicts his speaking style.

The other 5 million “wacky” emo types who do it should be shot on sight of course (there I go advocating genocide again)



You are a hard cynical bastard if you don’t get to the end of this film without even a shred of Christmas spirit. That’s easily me at the beginning of the film, I’m generally the one who claims that Christmas is a crock or a con but at the end of Scrooged I’m putting up Christmas trees and humming carols!

Well maybe not carols, I am humming “put a little love in your heart” though.

Oh thanks a lot. I’d only just managed to get that song out of my head.

I know what you’re saying though, that final scene and musical number certainly does provoke the old festive spirit. Although I was surprised to find it didn’t do that as much as it used to for me. Then again I’m generally having a hard time feeling Christmassy at all this year, so it’s probably not anything to do with the movie.

Perhaps I could do with a visit from a few ghosts myself. Preferably one’s wielding toasters (sweet, sweet toasters).

I think we’ve discovered the root of most of your troubles.
Watching Scrooged again reminded me of something that I forgot and that is how good this film is and how much I love it. I remember being so excited as a kid that it was coming out because it had Ghostbuster Bill Murray in it and at that stage anything with a Ghostbuster in it was gold.

Then Coneheads came out.

Coneheads? Quick add it to the Midnight Movie list…

Nah, on second thoughts, let’s not.

It’s a shame, but Dan Akroyd has certainly failed to live up to his earlier promise hasn’t he. Although to be fair it’s only Murray out of that generation of comedians that has managed to consistently forge a respected body of work.

Did you know Murray doesn’t even have an agent? Apparently he fields movie pitches via a private telephone number attached to a answer machine which he checks only sporadically. Mind you I learned that nugget from the mighty Wikipedia, so I could well just have just regurgitated a ton of crud.

He is also reported to have headbutted McG the director of Terminator Salvation, Murray denies this suggesting that he would rather had shot him. I’m going to side with Bill on this one.

Apparently when he was ‘negotiating’ to play Bosley on Charlie’s Angels he gave them the figure he wanted and then just disappeared, no calls, no contact, that was his negotiation.

Finally and this is the last I’ll go on about Murray’s eccentricities is that when he was in negotiations to be in the Ghostbusters game he would only sign if Ernie Hudson’s role was on equal footing with the three others.

This is something I find truly classy.

Whilst it is very clear that Bill Murray completely carries this film, it does not hurt that the rest of the cast is all very good, especially the ghosts. Both the ghosts of Christmas past and present have me in stitches with some of my favourite lines in the film. Of course it comes back to the way Murray interacts with them, they have a really great rapport with them especially with ‘Present’.

I was thinking a while back when writing about Indiana Jones 4 that I couldn’t think of anything else that Karen Allen had been in apart from Raiders of the Lost Ark and here is my answer, I completely forgot she was in Scrooged.

I get her mixed up with the woman who played Lois Lane.
Yeah, I bet I probably did too when I was a kid, although Lois Lane’s voice scares me with its deep rumble.
You’ve got a bit of a thing about voices haven’t you. Do you have very sensitive ears or something?
Toaster-boy.
HEY! Don’t judge me man!
Hey I’m not judging… actually yeah I kinda am.
Another scene from this film that always makes me laugh is the scene where Frank (Murray) is at lunch with his boss and the guy who was in Gremlins 2. The waiter in that scene is classic in the way that he reacts to Bill Murray screaming and carrying on about the eyeball in his glass and the waiter on fire. his eyes are comedy gold and the lines where he misinterprets what Murray is pointing at and advises him that ‘sir wouldn’t want that’.

That guy played Socrates in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Wonderful. I love knowing useless stuff like that.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was a touchstone film for me when I was young and like Ghostbusters before it I tend to recognise or take notice of the actors in other stuff. The guy who played genghis khan was also in Die Hard (and then every terrorist role afterwards)
I was going to say, even I recogniose that guy. He’s in every single action film ever made. Isn’t he even in Big Trouble in Little China?
Never changes his look either. Yes he’s in BTILC.
You should have grown a mo’ like that guy had. That was a classic.
I think he has the copyright, you have to pay him royalties.
I found Scrooged a little scary in parts too though – the trapped souls in the chest of The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, and the bit where Murray gets burned alive in the coffin in particular.
I guess, I mean if you’ve never seen another scary film then sure.
HEY! That’s some scary stuff there man.
I mean if you’re a big baby sure.
Well bollocks to you, that’s what I say. Here I am trying to drag you back on topic before you go off on one about your precious Big Trouble in Little China, and that’s the thanks I get. Bloody charming.
I think you need your bottle and a lie down.
Perhaps you’re right.

Anyone object if I take the toaster with me too?

Good grief.
In fairness though to Dan’s sensitivities, I did find myself wondering about the gun scenes with Bobcat. I mean is he really trying to kill Murray? Then when he is holding the control room hostage and the gun goes off, those people look terrified. I doubt you would get away with that today, I certainly think the ratings board would take a close look at those scenes.

It does make me happy that the ratings board don’t go back and try to re-rate old films.

To be fair though, he was holding people ransom whilst using a silly voice. That’s got to count for something right? At least a few years knocked off the rating scale?
That’s the only voice he’s got!!!!

Even earlier in the film when he is playing normal the voice is still there!! Granted I would have Bobcat no other way.

For the purposes of research I looked into his later career. He’s a bit of a indy film writer/director these days you know. His last movie starred Robin Williams as a dad who faked his son’s suicide note after he died from auto-asphixiation.
Wow. That’s good for him though.

You should have researched that moustache dude’s career. We should at least get a name for him. We should use his moustache as a rating system.

Marvelous plan! He could become our offical mascot (seeing as though he’ll be in 80% of the films we review)
Well at the very least we should do a ‘watch’ for him and acknowledge his presence in each film

The actor’s name is Al Leong. His wikipedia page is great as instead of a photo it is an artist’s rendition of him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Leong

Maybe no camera is big enough to handle that mighty moustache
He looks like he should be in Mortal Kombat.
Listen, I think we’re getting a little distracted here. perhaps it’s time for our final thoughts.
I think it’s fair to get distracted by the mighty Leong, despite him not actually being in this movie. Instead of a Christmas tree I want Al Leong standing in the corner of the living room defending our presents.
With baubles hanging off his ‘tash.
duh, it IS christmas.

…the Christmas spirit seems to manifesting itself in me through sarcasm.



So, to sum up: Scrooged stands up as well today as it did when it was made. In fact apart from a few cheesy 80′s suits and the lack of mobile phones it could be completely contemporary. Bill Murray is at his comedic best, and is ably supported by a cast of great character actors.

I’d even go so far to say that this is the best movie version of the Scrooge story out there, and that includes the Muppet Christmas Carol.

I’m going to give it eight diet cokes out of ten. I’d give it eight and a half except I can’t be bothered working out how to do that in photoshop.


And so all that’s left is to wish a Happy Christmas to you all. See you on the other side.

My final thoughts echo what Dan has already said, I certainly agree that this is the best adaptation of Scrooge out there.

So I will blatantly rip off his rating and give Scrooged eight double shot soy flat white out of the potential ten. If you are looking to watch something this Christmas Eve and you think Lethal Weapon is not festive enough, watch Scrooged!


Oh yeah and Happy Holidays!



]]> http://midmoclub.com/scrooged/feed/ 20 http://midmoclub.com/the-great-muppet-caper/ http://midmoclub.com/the-great-muppet-caper/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:00:46 +0000 The Midnight Movie Crew http://midmoclub.com/?p=79

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

Director: Jim Henson

Starring: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Golez, Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg

Newspaper reporters Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo investigate the theft of a valuable necklace from Fashion Designer Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg). Their search takes them to London, where they soon team up with all the usual Muppet suspects.

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One of the things I like about this movie is that it gives a lot of screen time to Fozzie Bear. I may be courting controversy here, but I think Henson had a tendency to focus far too much on Miss Piggy – who’s really rather a dull character when compared to the rest. Who wants to watch yet another rehash of the Kermit/Piggy romance when there are rubber chickens and “wocka wocka wocka’s!” to be had?

Unfortunately however there’s still far too much of Miss Piggy in the movie. Especially in the middle of the film when the action slows to a crawl. But at least the other characters get a little bit of room to shine whenever the pig isn’t around.

Miss Piggy doesn’t entertain me either, but then that trio of Kermit, Fozzy and Gonzo feels a bit tired (obviously at the time it wasn’t).
Heresy!
Fozzy was better in Muppets From Space.
As the Muppet films progressed it feels like Fozzie became less and less prominent in the lineup. He was criminally underused in Christmas Carol for example. I’m not sure I remember him much in Muppets From Space if I’m honest.
He was one of the commandos breaking into the lab and he was quite funny… for some reason I seem to recall he talked to someone living inside his finger..? I could be wrong.
No, you’re right. I remember now. He was very good in that movie, but then again that’s one of the best Muppet movies anyway, second only to the original.
I think he was good in Treasure Island too, but then there were Ghostbusters and Star Trek references in that film and that delightful Cabin Fever song.
Could I also highlight that at one point Fozzie picks up and plays a ukulele. Now that’s pure class.



Wow, I’m really shocked. I can’t believe I’m about to say this but I really didn’t care for this film. I feel really weird about saying this about a Muppets film as I love all the rest but this one I just wanted to turn off the entire time.

I hadn’t seen the Great Muppet Caper either, it was the one Muppets film that for some reason I had avoided, well maybe not avoided but I certainly never went out of my way to see it until now.

I mean it was nice to see some of the secondary characters but nostalgia will only take you a certain distance and there wasn’t enough for me.

See I think personally I really hated how this film kept breaking the fourth wall and referring to themselves making a movie, something they don’t do so often in the later films. The joke quickly became stale to me.
Really? Because that’s actually another one of the things I liked. I love a bit of fourth wall breaking. Especially as there is a fifth wall that they don’t break (that they are puppets).
Arrrrrg I like a little too but it was like every second minute!?!? Even the opening credits seemed forced. I think I had to go take my diabetic medication because that balloon scene was so sickly sweet and I don’t know… inbred? Can I say that it felt like Deliverence?
It’s not inbred, it’s post-modernism (at least that’s what my cousin told me)
LOL I mean Kermit played the banjo in the first one didn’t he?? It felt like this backwards country aren’t we quaint feeling, I can’t think of the right words. Bleeerg comes to mind.
You’re a hard man Mr Sargent
Did I like anything in this film?

Yes.

John Cleese and the lady playing his wife steal the whole movie. The whole movie. I expect personally that they are representing exactly what the English are like.

In fact I would be disappointed to discover the statement that there appears to be a pig climbing the wall would be met with any more than a slight eyebrow raise and a return to the discussion of the weather.

Well yes, that’s true. We are all like that. Although I’m surprised you noticed that eyebrow raise, what with all the corks hanging off your hat getting in your eyes.
Ouch. At least I don’t have Columbo wandering around my city parks trying to sell watches. That’s creepy. I was worried for a second that we would see Kermit’s face on a milk carton. Actually I wasn’t worried, at that stage nothing had happened apart from me wishing I was watching a different Charles Grodin film… Beethoven maybe?
Blimey, that’s harsh!
Isn’t it interesting though how quickly cameo appearances go out of date. Other than Cleese, Falk, and that guy from Crazy Like a Fox I had absolutely no idea who half of the guest stars were in this movie.
Yeah me too, was that Jim Henson at the club?
The chap with the impressive beard? Yeah that was him. I dream of a beard like that.
It was a very impressive beard!



Oh I did enjoy the ‘bears wear hats’ joke about Kermit and Fozzy being twins. There was little else to enjoy of course
What about that bit when Fozzie tries to pat his head and rub his stomach at the same time? And the whole Museum theft scene which was wonderfully silly. Those both had me in stitches.

I must admit though, despite my massive Muppet bias, I do think there are major flaws. There are far too many boring musical numbers, which seem to be all about Henson pushing the craft of puppetry as far as he can rather than the craft of entertainment. I’m thinking specifically about the bicycle scenes and the synchronised swimming number.

And as I say, there’s far too much Miss Piggy.

there were a few scenes where I don’t think it helped the storyline but they were trying to be super impressive with the puppetry effects which don’t get me wrong, were really bloody awesome just not serving the storyline.
Yes, and they really slowed things down. The pace of muppet films should be madcap, not crawling.
Confession time, I stopped watching with about half an hour to go. I couldn’t do it. I just wouldn’t stay up late watching this movie. I’m going to bed.
Right, that’s it! I’m looking for another Midnight Movie partner. You obviously haven’t got the stamina for it. You do realise we have Police Acadamy 5 on our list? If you can’t take The Great Muppet Caper, then what chance do you think you have with that monstrosity.
I think in all honesty that I have more of a chance sitting through that. I mean fair’s fair I dipped out during Miss Piggy’s water dance number.
I must admit I wandered out of the room for a little while at that point myself.

But by missing the last half hour you missed the film picking back up again. As I said previously, the movie is mainly worth watching for the beginning and the end. The final museum robbery scene is delightfuly anarchic.

I will go back and watch the end, I will if only to be a completist but I won’t promise to like it.



So final thoughts? The Great Muppet Caper is far from Henson’s best work, and the middle section drags horrendously. But for me it still maintains that innocence and, admittedly saccharine, tenderness that has been homogenised out of the franchise since Disney took it over.
I will leave my final thoughts tomorrow after watching the final half hour. I do warn you though if it doesn’t pick up I will savage your childhood favourite like those dogs savaged that woman last week in Moonraker!!
I give the Great Muppet Caper 7 out of a possible 10 cans of Diet Coke. Admittedly if it hadn’t been a Muppet film I’d have probably given it a 5 due to its inconsistency.



Ok I watched the last half an hour and was entertained, if you remove the whole middle of the film and several other indulgent sections then you’ve got a really great short Muppet film.

I thought it interesting that they tied the start of the film with them being in the air for some unknown reason and the end where they have a reason. Interesting, I didn’t say that I liked it.

Ok so my double shot soy flat white rating is a three out of a possible ten cups.



I just wouldn’t stay up and watch this film, I’d easily fall asleep to it.

Next week:



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