Superman Batman Public Enemies

 

TITLE-Superman Batman Public Enemies

SOURCE-Warner Premiere DVD

Now I have never read the comic series this  film is based on. Never really been a big Superman fan. And Batman is one I like but depends  on the creative team.

A meteor is heading to Earth,Lex Luthor is President of the USA. Using manipulated footage Luther convinces the US citizens that Superman murdered Mentallo. Leading to a pile of heroes hunting for Superman and Batman. All while Luthor is up to something and this meteor is not that far from hitting Earth.

I love how the animation style used in the film looks like a tweeked version of the Timmverse style. The voice work is well done. And the film isn't too long. 

What I really enjoyed is how many lesser known heroes get to appear. Black Lightning,Captain Atom,Nightshade and so many others get appearances. Then you got Power Girl in a major role. With a sly joke about her best known feature when her,Batman and Superman have to goto a 13  year old genius to stop the Kryptonite meteor from hitting Earth.

I know there is a sequel. Which deals with what was in that meteor. Had that part spoiled for me already. Will track that sequel down soon.

Superman Batman Public Enemies gets a B-

The Cannonball Run DVD

 

TITLE-The Cannonball Run

SOURCE-DVD

Been  slowly rewatching piles of 70s/80s comedies that I saw once  as a kid when we rented them from Video Showboat and never seen  since. Not that long ago at what I have dubbed the Good Junkstore I got the DVD of The Cannonball Run for 50 cents. Remembering enjoying it when I saw it decades ago I added it to my pile.

And like most of my junkstore media purchases it sat in the to be watched pile for months. Getting dug out the day we got snow in late January. Wanting something to watch that none of us has seen in years plus needing a way to kill time before dinner this was perfect.

Got a pile of folks racing from the east coast to California. Fastest time wins. And this is loaded with stars of the era.

Dom Deluise and Burt Reynolds in a suped up ambulance,with Farrah Fawcett added as the "patient" and this one old dude I have seen in piles of stuff as the Doctor.

Adriane Barbeau and Tara Buckman,yes Silent Night Deadly Night/Night Killer star ,in a Lamborgini,who use their looks to get out of tickets.

Sammi Davis Jr and Dean Martin dressed as Priest and in a Ferrari,and also always Shitfaced drunk.

Plus so many others.  Including what I bet is one of Jackie Chan's first big roles in a US movie.Nothing but a long  chase film,and it works perfectly as that.

Having paid 50 cents for the DVD I was of the mind that worst case I consider it a rental and then pass it onto someone. Loved it so much I'm gonna see if there is a Blu ray of it. Then  pass this DVD onto someone.

The Cannonball Run gets a B.

The Substitute

 

TITLE-The Subtitute

SOURCE-Flipper DVD with part 3 on the other side

Yea I had seen pieces of this film on  cable tv back in the early 2000s. Just was never something I wanted to sit down  and  watch in  full. Months back for 50 cents I got the 4 pack pictured above that has the full run of this 90s action franchise.

Tom  Berringer is a mercenary. His latest mission goes bad and he needs to lie lown for a bit. He heads back to Miami to see his girlfriend. Where he learns the school she teaches at is crime ridden. Marc Anthony,yes the singer,is the leader of a gang. The principal,Ernie Hudson,seems to not be able to do anything about the issues at the school.Tom comes in as a subtitute teacher. Where he bonds with his class by telling them stories from his tour in Vietnam. 

Over the top action,a high school so bad you only see it in films. And students that look mid 30s. The perfect blending of action cheese that makes for an entertaining viewing.

Tom just goes nuts,throwing people out windows,beating one guy with a helmet and appears to be having a blast. We get  a rare heel turn from Ernie Hudson. Marc Anthony ain't a bad actor.

While not a huge box office hit this film was a vhs and cable hit and why we got 3 more films in the franchise.

The Subtitute gets a C+

Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This DVD

 

TITLE-Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This

SOURCE-Vivandi DVD

So almost 20 years ago now the classic stoner comedy duo reunited and put out a new film. Now  this isn't like their old films. Nope this is them on a stage in Texas doing a mixture of their old bits and some new stuff.

Growing up I got introduced to Cheech & Chong cause of my older cousins. Yep I was the 8 year old renting Up in Smoke from the video store. 

When I hit my mid teens I started hearing their old records. Which means all the bits on this from those I knew. Thankfully they update them some. 

We get the classic hitchhiker bit. Which they did in Up in Smoke. The bit with Tommy and Cheech as dogs,with Tommy's wife playing Fifi the poodle.

Loved the solo stuff from both in this. Chong does a long bit about getting arrested and going to jail for selling bongs. 

Cheech shows his musical chops two times. First as Alice Bowie,doing  Earache my Eye. Then as Red doing a new song.

Yea if you aren't a fan of them already this won't make you one  I bet. Still if you are a fan this is worth seeing.

Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This gets a B.

Euro Western Double Feature Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe/Any Gun Can Play DVD

TITLE-Euro Western Double Feature The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe/Any Gun Can Play

SOURCE-Alpha Video DVD

As a kid I hated westerns. Mostly cause we had one Color TV in the house,yea I'm that old. And many times I would be watching  something and Dad would walk in and turn the channel to usually some shitty John Wayne movie or Gunsmoke.

Over the past 20 years I have started dipping my toes into westerns. Finding ones I enjoy. And it was thanks to LCOTL over at Sleaze Fiend Magazine that I discovered this channel on YT packed with westerns. 

Late one night couldn't sleep so wanted something brainless to watch. Saw on that YT channel was a martial arts/western combo. The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe was it's title. And I watched it and loved it. Amazing widescreen print and good sound. 

Once the  film was over rushed to Amazon ordered  a pack of 8 westerns,with one of them being Shanghai Joe and his Fighting Fists. 

Got that set and the print on there is a VHS rip. Looks like ass sounds like ass. Made a note to get a better copy one day.

That day was a few months ago. Once  a week I do a circuit of the thrifts,junkstores and pawn shops locally. Buying up stuff. Found sealed at the church thrift the above pictured DVD.

The print is better than my old one. Sound is better but still not as good as what is on YT.

Shanghai Joe is a Chinese worker. He wants to find work. Ending up working for a ranch. Coming into a conflict with a gang that is enslaving latinos they get from across the border.

Basic kung Fu plot mixed with standard Western plot. The fights are what elevates this. The big bad hires a pile of assassins to kill Shanghai Joe. One of whom is the madman Klaus Kinski. 

Now Any Gun can Play is odd. I had never heard of it and before the first reel was over I realized this was a satire of the popular westerns of it's era. A decently done satire. With Edd Kookie Byrnes as a greaser looking cowboy. Yes Edd Kookie Byrnes,best known to anyone under 50 as the washed up Celebrity Peg and Al met on Married with Children,the same episode with Anthrax appearing.

Any Gun Can Play is a widescreen print. With some damage but nothing major. The sound is fairly decent.

Only  extras on this disc is a pile of trailers. For the 50 cents or buck I paid for this I was happy with 2 films.

Now time to continue the search for a good copy of Shanghai Joe on DVD or Blu Ray.

The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe gets a B. Any Gun Can Play gets a C+
 

Lego Justice League Attack of the Legion of Doom

TITLE-Lego Justice League Attack of the Legion of Doom

SOURCE-WB DVD

Late last year while grabbing sharpies and snacks for a indie show at Dollar Tree I spotted a stack of DVDs. This one came with a lego figure of the Trickster. So figured $1.25 for a figure and a dvd I would take the chance.

And like lots of DVDs I buy it sat in the unwatched pile for months. Then the other day was told "Find something goofy to watch before dinner." This was the first thing I thought of.

The Justice League has a new threat. Like in the Superfriends cartoon I loved as a kid it is a grouping of all the big villains. THE LEGION OF DOOM! and they even have thier Darth Vader helmet looking HQ.

This somewhat plays out like 3 connected episodes of a Lego Justice League tv show. With every 24 minutes a conflict being resolved and we get more clues as to why this one General is so against Aliens.

Decently animated and with a pile of inside jokes for the grownups watching,this turned out to be a decent way to pass an hour and a half. 

Only extra is a 20 or so minute look at the foley work done for the movie. At first I figured I might watch 4 minutes of this then skip the rest. Nope it kept my attention it's full run.

Not sure I would have paid the 15 or so bucks this sold for when it came out. But for barely over a buck and I got a Tricker Lego figure,who is on a shelf in the kitchen above one of the two freezers,this was worth seeing.

No clue if this is one of the DC animated movies on MAX. If not check your local Dollar Tree for a copy.

Lego Justice League Attack of the Legion of Doom gets a B-.
 

31 Days of Horror 2023 Day Negative 2 Wolves

 

TITLE-Wolves

SOURCE-Ketchup Entertainment DVD

So anytime we find a cheap horror dvd/blu ray,under 2 bucks,it gets bought and added to the "Hey here's something to watch in October pile". And thanks to Dollar Tree that pile is HUGE.

Looking at that cover I went in expecting a Twilight ripoff but with Werewolves. Instead I got a mash up of MTV's Teen Wolf tv show+The Howling.

Our lead is in  his late teens,wolfs out and kills his adopted parents. On the run as the so called Cannibal Kid,he gets tipped off to goto Lupine Ravine. A near by town.

Yep town with a pack of werewolves,lead by Jason Momoa. Seems Jason is the lead dude's real dad. His real mom killed herself right after he was born.

Lead dude and local bar owner try to recreate The werewolf transformation during sex bit from The Howling. It fails. Just cause the fur appearing on the bar owner's back is the worse CGI in the film.

While not horrible,I have seeen much much worse in some of those later Howling sequels,this isn't worth owning. At the cheap price I paid I consider this a rental.

Wolves gets a C-

31 Days of Horror 2021 Day 25 Killer High

 

TITLE-Killer High

SOURCE-Uncork'd DVD

So last year for Christmas my pretty much mother in law bought me a stack of DVDs she had found at a Dollar General near her home. She knows I'm a huge horror fan. And thought this movie is one of the DVDs she bought me.

Well the DVD got thrown into the unwatched DVD pile and sat there for months. Then earlier today I was looking for a horror film to watch. Saw this and figured hell I will take a chance on it. So went out to my pier and put the DVD into my laptop. 

Made in 2018 and from what I can find premiered in 2019 on the SYFY Channel this is a modern attempt at starting a slasher franchise. In a small town that is almost a ghost town a young lady is planning her 10 year high school reunion. After the hotel she was going to have the reunion at closes she has no choice but to host the reunion at the now abandoned high school. 

At this school someone is wearing the school's mascot outfit,the Wallingham Warthog,and going around the reunion killing people.  So now our lead,Sabrina Swanson played by Kacey Rohl,not only has to deal with all the issues of having a reunion at a building that is falling apart,but she also must deal with there being a killer on the loose.

This film treads a fine line between being a spoof and being serious. In that way it reminds me of films like Waxworks or Evil toons. For being a slasher film the gore levels are not that high. I'm betting when this airs on SYFY they don't have to edit out much.

So if you are a fan of slashers and aren't one of those slasher fans that takes the slasher genre super serious,you know the kind of fan  that seem to think that films like Madman or the Forest are legit good films,this is worth tracking down and seeing. As of right now Killer High isn't streaming on any of the major streaming services in the US. But I have seen the DVD for sale cheap in many Dollar General stores.

Killer High gets a C-.