I love this piece. It brought back memories of my lost year hanging out at CHUD and gave great insight into the numbers involved in film reviewing. I'm impressed Noel pulled up what he pulled up out of memory. I love these little corners of the movie world.
Ngl this DOES sound interesting! It might not be great but I don’t need that all the time, y’know?
This feels like one of those movies my dad’s friend he’s long since lost touch with--who used to (and for all I know still does) obsessively buy DVDs of every new release that struck his fancy from FYE every week--would be into.
I kinda find it sad that Scott Adkins probably couldn't buy a review in the New York Times for his prodigious chop-socky output, and yet a movie like this finds so many legit reviews. 😞 I see that Noel did indeed review Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday. Thank you, Noel!! And thank you, Keith, for this funny and insightful piece. Now I must go fold some laundry...
When I travel internationally and am winding down in my hotel room I love to find these kinds of movies on television, either in their original language (and subtitled for the local audience) or dubbed. Half the fun is guessing the plot when you can't follow the dialogue.
"a fine accompaniment to folding laundry"- Keith Phipps
I'm curious, Keith: would you (or other professional reviewers) watch a movie you were planning to review while folding laundry? I always picture y'all being very dedicated to the movie, like when they were all in theaters. But maybe I have that wrong, and that helps explain how Noel can watch and review so many movies each week. (bonus points for bringing Noel in!)
re: Zyzzyx Road
the wiki plot synopsis ends this way: "Grant chases Joey through the desert with a shovel, and when he finds him hidden in an abandoned mine, he tells Joey a secret about Marissa."
I really hope that's the end of the film, as it gives me some serious Picnic at Hanging Rock vibes
This reminds me of one of the most surprisingly perceptive pieces of film criticism I ever read: Frank Conniff, in the MST3K Amazingly Colossal Episode Guide, discusses the movie Stranded In Space. "It was dazzling in its mediocrity. And I mean mediocrity in its purest sense: neither bad enough to stand out, nor good enough to watch. It was just there...Let's face it. People need to kill time--it's human nature. And for anyone watching TV on the night it was first broadcast, Stranded In Space did indeed kill time. A whole two hours!"
There were good TV movies in the 70s, just like Netflix occasionally produces something like The Power Of The Dog or Wendell & Wild, but ultimately, networks, distributors and streaming services have to fill holes with something. They have to kill time, and so do viewers. It reminds me of all the crap I watched as a kid just because it was there, and it's weirdly comforting.
With the dominance of parking-lot green screen sets, a fresh city setting can make all the difference. While The Empty Man certainly gained a much greater following than this, it being filmed in South Africa was something the really stuck with me. As more countries find new ways to draw filmmakers in, I’m excited to see productions filmed in cities we don’t see very often.
I love this piece. It brought back memories of my lost year hanging out at CHUD and gave great insight into the numbers involved in film reviewing. I'm impressed Noel pulled up what he pulled up out of memory. I love these little corners of the movie world.
Ngl this DOES sound interesting! It might not be great but I don’t need that all the time, y’know?
This feels like one of those movies my dad’s friend he’s long since lost touch with--who used to (and for all I know still does) obsessively buy DVDs of every new release that struck his fancy from FYE every week--would be into.
I kinda find it sad that Scott Adkins probably couldn't buy a review in the New York Times for his prodigious chop-socky output, and yet a movie like this finds so many legit reviews. 😞 I see that Noel did indeed review Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday. Thank you, Noel!! And thank you, Keith, for this funny and insightful piece. Now I must go fold some laundry...
When I travel internationally and am winding down in my hotel room I love to find these kinds of movies on television, either in their original language (and subtitled for the local audience) or dubbed. Half the fun is guessing the plot when you can't follow the dialogue.
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who uses laundry folding time to watch things that don't demand full attention!
"a fine accompaniment to folding laundry"- Keith Phipps
I'm curious, Keith: would you (or other professional reviewers) watch a movie you were planning to review while folding laundry? I always picture y'all being very dedicated to the movie, like when they were all in theaters. But maybe I have that wrong, and that helps explain how Noel can watch and review so many movies each week. (bonus points for bringing Noel in!)
re: Zyzzyx Road
the wiki plot synopsis ends this way: "Grant chases Joey through the desert with a shovel, and when he finds him hidden in an abandoned mine, he tells Joey a secret about Marissa."
I really hope that's the end of the film, as it gives me some serious Picnic at Hanging Rock vibes
Funny, I must have read those reviews, and found something appealing, since this movie is in my Letterboxd Watchlist (along with 1098 other films).
This reminds me of one of the most surprisingly perceptive pieces of film criticism I ever read: Frank Conniff, in the MST3K Amazingly Colossal Episode Guide, discusses the movie Stranded In Space. "It was dazzling in its mediocrity. And I mean mediocrity in its purest sense: neither bad enough to stand out, nor good enough to watch. It was just there...Let's face it. People need to kill time--it's human nature. And for anyone watching TV on the night it was first broadcast, Stranded In Space did indeed kill time. A whole two hours!"
There were good TV movies in the 70s, just like Netflix occasionally produces something like The Power Of The Dog or Wendell & Wild, but ultimately, networks, distributors and streaming services have to fill holes with something. They have to kill time, and so do viewers. It reminds me of all the crap I watched as a kid just because it was there, and it's weirdly comforting.
I just looked up "Enforcement" and "Last Survivors" on rottentomatoes and they both rated high enough to merit a watch so.....thank you, sir!
With the dominance of parking-lot green screen sets, a fresh city setting can make all the difference. While The Empty Man certainly gained a much greater following than this, it being filmed in South Africa was something the really stuck with me. As more countries find new ways to draw filmmakers in, I’m excited to see productions filmed in cities we don’t see very often.