The Thing 2011!!!

WTF!!! (What's This Film)

Ok, this seem to come out of no where!  Another remake or Prequel?! The original movie "The Thing" was released in 1982 staring Kurt Russel. From what I've seen it looks like they are keeping to the original story line. Even some of the movie posters are almost exactly like the orginal movie for the "The Thing". The one big change is that the leading role is now a woman, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I wonder what else they might have changed. Is it a hit or miss? I just don't know. I guess I'll have to wait till it comes out.

Check out the  Trailer here!

Check out my review of the orginal 1982 "The Thing" here!

Blade Runner

Staring Harrison Ford as "Rick Deckard".  He plays the part of a cop that is own as a Blade Runner.  the Blade Runners job is to track down run away clones or applicants as they are called in the movie and kill them.  He as retired and is called back into service to track down 4 replicants that hijacked a space ship and returned to earth in search of their creator.  If your a fan of 1980's SiFi you know this movie!  Its a classic Harrison Ford movie and has a huge fan following.  There are tons of web site and discussion boards on the topic.  There is also rumor that they are going to remake it.  I'm not a big fan of the remakes.  If they are going to remake this one, they have a real challenge in front of them.

Back to the Future

Back to the Future is by far one of my favorite movies from the 80's.  I just watched it.  I came across it and couldn't change the channel.  Its one of those moves that had the perfect cast for the perfect script! And in my opinion its the best movie of the year of 1985.

Released July 3, 1985.  This was perfect timing because this is an all American movie released the day before the 4th of July.  Staring Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, he meets a crazy scientist by the name of Dr. Emmett Brown, played my Christopher Lloyds who builds a time machine.  Marty travel back in time and accidentally prevents his parents from falling in love.  Now he has to fix it!.  There are two sequels Back to the Future II and Back to the Future III,  I love the first one the most.  The next two are OK, but they're not my favorite.  If you haven't seen his movie, you need to!

This is another one of those movies that just blows my mind that you cant watch in instantly on Netflix.  You can get it on DVD but you have to wait a few day.  Its worth it.  If you have Apple TV you can rent it.  Over all I would give this one a 9 out of 10.

The Town

I don't usually review new movies but this one deserves mentioning.  Just watched The Town.  Thank you Netflix.  This is a good movie.  It has every thing, bank robbers, a love story, a twist and even great actors!

The Town, released in September of 2010, this is a must see.  Staring Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, and Jon Hamm.  Its a story about a Boston neighbor hood that is know for having a lot of bank robbers being from this area.  A group of guys continue to rob banks and bank trucks while the FBI is closing in on them. Loyalties are challenged while a girl threatens to brake up a friend ship.  Affleck also directed this one and he did a great job with a great script.  This one is a home run!  If he was ever going to have a come back movie, this is it!

Check out the trailer Here

Space Hunter: Adventures in the forbidden zone

Just watched Space Hunter: Adventures in the forbidden zone and it was awesome.  Released in May 1983, it grossed over 16 million.   It has a great cast and scrip. Staring Petter Strauss, Molly Ringwald and Ernie Hudson.

I watched on a NetFlix DVD.  It was originally released in the theater in 3-D.  This is another one of those movies that should be available to watch instantly but you have to wait and get it on DVD. Oh well, it was worth the wait.  This story is about a space salvage hunter named Wolff, played by Petter Strauss, that get a distress call that has a reward for the return of three women stranded on a dessert planet.  Along the way he meets Niki played my Molly Ringwald, a young girl who he hires as a tracker.  This is one of my favorite movies  from 80's made in true 80's form.  I give it a 8 out of 10.

The Goonies

I've seen this movie about a hundred times.  It's one of those movies that if you was it as a kid it takes you back.  Released in June1985, it grossed over 61 million dollars int the box office.  This movie just seems to have everything  in it.  Its got bank robbers, sword fights, treasure hunting, caves, pirates and monsters.  Theirs even a few crazy gadgets her and there.  Its what I would imagine Indiana Jones child hood would be like.

Like the last movie i reviewed its case is made up mostly of child actors and a lot of the went on to have great carriers in Hollywood.

The story is about a group kids and there costal town is about to be bought up by some corporation to build something, Im not sure what, and everyone has to sell because they don't have the money to stop them.  Their is a legend about a treasure that has been barred near by named one eyed Willy.  They find an old map of their fathers.  The map leads them on a fantastic adventure to treasure.  Along the way they are followed by some wanted bank robbers who also want the treasure.

This is a great movie.  If you haven't seen this movie, you're missing out!  You can get it through Netflix but only on DVD.  You would thing that a movie form 1985 would be available  to watch instantly on Netflix.  You can rent in on Apple TV for $2.99 or buy it for $9.99.

My fovoriet quote from The Goonies "Goonies never say die!"

The Explorers

Boy does this movie bring back some memories.  This is a great movie for kids about the age of 8 to 15.  Its got some great acting considering all the main characters are kids.  With actors like Ethan Hawk, River Phoenix, and Bobby Fite, this movie couldn't help but be awesome.  Ethan Hawk and River Phoenix grew up to be great actors but Bobby Fite didn't really do much after this movie.  There isn't a boy (or girl) who hasn't dream of having something like this happen to them.  Also the special effect are incredible for 1985.

The Explorers was released in July of 1985. Its a adventure, Si-Fi and family movie.  Its about a kid named Ben Crandall who dreams of aliens and outer space.  A dream comes to him from aliens about a circuit board.  He and two other friends build it enabling them to build a flying space ship.  The ship takes them to meet some strange alien and have an out of this world adventure!

The only disappointment form me was that the movie ended in such a way that it could have easily has a sequel.  No sequel! That sux!

The movie only grossed 7.4 millions in the box office.  The block buster "Goonies" grossing 61.4 millions, was released a few weeks before. So I wonder if that had any effect on its popularity.

Over all, I would give it a 8 out of 10.  If you have seen it, or its been a while, see it soon!

The Thing

Watched "The Thing" tonight and really enjoyed it.  This is 1982 Si-Fi at its best.  Complete with aliens made by puppeteers and some great acting.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not big fan of puppets, wires and strings but they did a really good job in this movie.  It has some really good writing and a great plot. I give it a 7 out of 10.

"The Thing" was released in June of 1982.  Directed by John Carpenter, its a horror, mystery and Si-Fi film and I would say it about equal in all three parts.  The story takes place in Antarctica.  An expedition comes across and alien that has been frozen in the ice.  The alien is a shape shifter and can take over the body of  anyone or anything living that it come in contact with.  Some of the special effects are a little week but over all its a good movie.  If you get the chance, don't pass it by. C9K23DMTT9JE

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver has one of my favoriet movie quotes in it "You talkn' to me? You talkn' to me?  Then who the hell else are you talkn' to?"  Ok, its not the greatest quote but its a great scean.  It really gives you a look into Robert De Niro's chearector head.  This guy is a really wacked out.

This is on of those movies that if you're over the age of 20 you've at least heard about it.  I myself had heard it and even seen clips but never saw it till yesterday.  I wasn't disapointed.  It was realeased in February of 1976.  Its about a mentally disterbed Vietnam vet that works as a taxi driver at night.  As a taxi driver he is witness to the sleaze side of the city that he works in.  He attempts to save a teenage prostute and his frustration causes him to become violent.  Its a little bit on the dark side but still a great movie.  Its avable through Netflix by mail only.  Its worth the wait!

The Shining

The Shining, released in May of 1980, has got to be one of the best mystery and horror films ever released.

When I came across this movie it didn't take long before I was hitting play.  I first saw it about 15 years ago and it was much better the second time.  Based on a book my Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick.  It has physics, ghost and one crazy ass leading character played by Jack Nicholson.  He go's to live and an isolated inn to be the caretaker while its closed during the winter.  He brings his wife and son along while he tried to write a book.  The inn is filled with ghost that drive him crazy.  His son is physic and tries to worn them of the evil  within the inn but he's just a kid so they don't believe him.  The wife, played by Shelley Duvall, she was already crazy from the beginning of the movie.  Its a great movie and worth seeing again if its been few years since you last saw it.

In The Beginning!

The last two week I found myself stuck here at home sick.  And it didn't take long before I found myself board to death.  After a few days I couldn't find any "Good" to watch on TV.  Then I cam across Jaws on Show Time.  I had just watched Avatar on Blue Ray (for the 4th time) and it was almost as good as seeing it in 3-D at the theater. But there was something about the movie Jaws that just really appealed to me.  I wasn't really sure what it was about that movie that I just loved but I couldn't get enough of it.  I started really thinking about it and I realized what it was. It was everything!  The acting, the cinematography, the simple but intriguing story line, it was everything about it.  I DVRed it and watched it over and over.

Jaws was filmed in 1975, so I started googling movies that were filmed in the 70's and 80's and struck gold!  There are so many great forgotten movies from this time period that there are just to many to list.  So I decided to start this Blog to share some of these great movies as I watch forgotten ones and discover new ones.  I've found that a great place for finding and watching these movies is Netflix.  You can watch most movies instantly and get the rest in a few day by mail.  Here is some info and my thought about Jaws.

First of all, this is a movie that needs no introduction.  If you don't know or at at least heard about the movie Jaws you're either under the age of 12 or you've been living under a rock your whole life.  Even though the movie is 37 years old, it is a pop culture staple.  There are countless references to Jaws in any number of TV shows and movies.

Basically, a Great White shark begins to terrorize the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and a grumpy fisherman set out to stop it.  Its one of my all time favorite movies.

Favorite Quote "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

If you haven't seen this move, you need to.  Its a must!

D.J. Wyatt