Friday Movie Night

I am not a fan of movies. In fact, I used to have a blog category called I hate movies. I only went a handful of times as a child, and as I got older, I’d only go if it was part of a group outing or a date. My gripes with movies are plentiful – they are LONG, the audio is LOUD, the theaters are COLD, the food is EXPENSIVE (but so tasty), the seats were sticky and UNCOMFORTABLE, and there’s always a chance you’ll be seated near a group of jerks. But many people adore movies, and to that I say yay! They’re good for you, not for me, that’s all fine.

Luckily (ha?) the pandemic has taken care of the ‘you don’t go to movies?’ question for now. They’re all closed here, because there’s no way we can have people that close together right now, and I’m not going to wear a mask just to sit through a movie.

A few months ago, one of my friends suggested group-watching movies on Friday nights. We started using Kast, but now we’re either utilizing Amazon Watch Party or sharing desktops on Discord. And you know what? It’s been a LOT of fun! I think I’ve seen more movies in the last few months than I’ve easily seen in the theater in the last 15 years.

Here are the movies I’ve seen since June. With the exception of Short Circuit, it was my first time seeing each one.

Cats – The company, Victoria, Mr. Mistoffeles, and Skrimbleshanks were great. The rest of the cast was SO BAD. I don’t know how James Corden’s wife didn’t collapse inwardly in shame at the premiere. I never saw the play, so I’m so bamboozled that an entire franchise was built around a bunch of cats introducing themselves in song.

The Big Lebowski – MY FAVORITE. My God I can’t believe I skipped this one when it came out. I was laughing so hard I cried and now I think White Russians are now my favorite cocktail. I also immediately bought the soundtrack of this absurdity.

Jojo Rabbit – so good, and I lost my mind with grief during one part.

Goonies – Eh. I could take it or leave it. It was nice to see the source of so many real-life references.

Beetlejuice – Adorable and other than the forced wedding to a child, it holds up well. Greedy real estate developers are always timely!

Rocky Horror Picture Show – I have no idea what everyone sees in this. Meatloaf was the best part.
Me: They killed Eddie? He was the best part!
WM: Don’t worry, he gets more screen time.
(10 minutes later)
Me: … what is WRONG with you???

Gleaming the Cube – Christian Slater was so dishy when we were young. (He aged back into his dishiness.) This movie had a lot more plot than I thought it would and I remembered that having adopted Vietnamese siblings was definitely a thing in the 80s. But yeah…Christian Slater.

Rad – This was a movie about BMX biking, also a thing in the 80s. Max Kellerman from Dirty Dancing plays the villain. Here’s an article about how this movie is regaining popularity thanks to streaming.

Xanadu – That was … a movie. Gene Kelly is a delight. My mom listened to top-40 radio so I remembered some of the songs. And rollerskating, which is again a trend in 2020!

Miami Connection – It wants you to think it’s a movie about drug smuggling gangs, but it’s really about a group of orphaned college students and their Tae Kwon Do themed band fighting with another group. There are ninjas, and the assumption that nobody will know that Orlando and Miami are a good 3 1/2 hour drive away from each other.

Dragonslayer – Typical fantasy movie. Peter MacNichol kills the dragon and gets the girl.

The Last Starfighter – Dragonslayer, but in spaceships.

Poltergeist – This was great! I never saw this as a kid but the hype was so big that I remember being afraid of televisions in the dark for a long time. This one also holds up, because greedy real estate developers are always timely!

Spaceballs – It was okay. I saw parts of this growing up and because it’s a Mel Brooks movie, it was quoted ad nauseam by every man I’ve ever come in contact with. Those Jewish American Princess jokes are certainly quite a relic from a past time. I don’t think Mel Brooks could get away with making movies anymore.

Guns Akimbo – Yes, a modern movie! Not for the squeamish. A well-endowed Daniel Radcliffe plays an American game programmer who ends up having guns surgically screwed onto his arms and is entered into a dystopian fight to the death.

Short Circuit – This is the one movie I saw before, probably on VHS. Ally Sheedy is adorable and an El DeBarge song always makes the day better. But … the Indian programmer was played by a white guy in brownface. The Indian programmer was played by a white guy in brownface? The Indian programmer was played by a white guy in brownface! Did we know this at the time? Nobody cared?

When the movie is over, we’ll usually play some Jackbox games until after midnight. (Our friends are West Coast so WM and I burn the midnight oil on Fridays.) I really look forward to Fridays – it’s one of the good things that has come out of pandemic living.