G-type

On 4/16/2024 at 6:33 PM, Brickman said:

The acting was your standard B grade acting. I liked the main actress, she wasn't great, but she did a pretty good job with the role. The cop actors were rather bad though.

I looked into the budget for this movie and it was roughly $2mil, which is a decent size for a B grade movie in the 80's, but they have grossed around $7mil, so a pretty good return I'd say.

Even though it ultimately had a decent box office, I think it was a little disappointing when it opened. This was Lucinda Dickey's first movie, but it was released after Breakin' which was a big hit. So Ninja 3 not living up to that, combined with Breakin' 2 completely flopping, led to Breakin' 3 being cancelled and they ended up giving King Solomon's Mine to some actress named Sharon Stone.

from those top 100 or 200 lists... I've probably only played 1/5

I've had a number of perfect days. One that comes to mind is  Friday, January 31, 1997

It was Senior year. A nice sunny day. At the end of the school day, my group of friends met up in the locker bay and headed out to parking lot where we piled into Ryan's 1988 Cadilac, blasting Firestarter by Prodigy at a deafening volume as we sang along. He drove us back to his house (the usual "hangout" house) and played MarioKart 64 while his mom got dinner ready. Pork roast, peas, mashed potatoes and gravy. After dinner, we headed for Multiplex Cinemas... (it was torn down in 2009 to build an upscale shopping district and luxury condos)

we had tickets for Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope - Special Edition. Seeing it in the theatre for the first time with all my friends was a magical experience.

In an interview with the Ninja Golf game developer, he said they were originally intending to make a Caddyshack game and just happened to mix in ninjas because they were popular in the 80s. No mention of being influenced by this movie... Yea, I ain't buying that!

Since it was my pick, I obviously really liked this movie. There is so much to unpack in it, I felt the urge to start this club so I could have a place to discuss it. From the moment you seen that Cannon group logo you know your going to be having a good time. There's something cozy and refreshing about a company that just made unabashed schlock entertainment.

The opening scene with the golf course attack is a strong start! (the first of many ninja fights that happen in broad daylight) The blow dart into the barrel of gun causing it backfire was pretty rad. Some really cool stunt work including him flipping onto a the roof a cop car, swinging to a tree via a grappling hook while a car and motorcycle launch into the water, then climbing up the tree and clinging to the bottom of a helicopter. When the cops go to take out the evil ninja, they pump nothing less than 200 bullets into him. It reminded me of when they shot up Jason in Jason Goes to Hell:

Christie being a telephone linewoman by day who moonlights as an aerobics instructor felt very Flashdance inspired, but I checked the release dates and this was probably filmed around the same time.

A NINJA has just attacked and killed an important scientist, his security guards, and over a dozen cops!!! But it doesn't really seem like that big of deal back at the station when Christie comes in to give her statement. In fact, officer Billy thinks this is a great time to hit on her. He offers her a Coke. Sorry, but she "doesn't use soft drinks!" (She prefers V-8 )

Back at her ultimate 80s warehouse apartment she is playing a lost and unreleased arcade trackball game called "Bouncer" that never made it to mass production due a series of unfortunate events. From the gameplay footage, it kind of reminds me of Picnic Paranoia, except instead of protecting picnic blankets from ants, your protecting bar patron's tables from annoying intruders. This game will later play an important role as the conduit through which the ninja demon spirit takes full possession of her.

I'm also a big fan of the roof ventilation fan she keeps as an ornament on top of her refrigerator.

I could spend a long time only talking about the set decoration of her apartment! I'll have to talk about the rest of the movie later because this is already getting a little long.

Secret of Monkey Island

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I think the cast and crew's hatred of Chevy was a benefit at times, as they drew up plots designed the torture him 

except for the time he walked off the set and didn't film the final scene of "digital estate planning", forcing them to cut the emotional tag to the episode.

As the only movie to get any votes this weekend, it looks like Ninja 3 The Domination is the pick. You can watch it here if you don't have other access to it already: https://www.tokyvideo.com/video/ninja-iii-the-domination-1984

I'm down for a watch party on Discord this Friday if we can get at 3 or more people. 

I commented recently re: Community, how it was too bad Chevy Chase couldn't get along with the cast and enjoy his time there... as Community was probably the best and funniest project he was ever a part of.  People were aghast that I would hold Community above:  Vacation 1-4, Fletch 1-2, Three Amigos, Spies Like Us, Caddyshack. I've only seen the first 3 Vacation movies. The first was ok. I saw European super long ago and don't remember it. I still like Christmas vacation, but it doesn't hold up as well. Never watched Three Amigos because I thought the image of them in their costumes on the horses looked lame. Never watched Caddyshack because I'm not a fan of Rodney Dangerfield.

Last night I decided to watch Fletch. Super convoluted plot, way too much for a light a comedy. The movie was amusing, but not really laugh out loud funny.. Fletch is mostly making sarcastic quips with a running gag of him being bad at making up fake names or coming up with lies for his cover stories (but the people around him rarely call him out on his bullshit). Still the movie had kind of a cool vibe which was definitely helped by the Beverly Hills Cop-esque synth score. Plus Chevy was always good at improvising the physical comedy: schtick like getting his head caught in the light fixture or missing his mouth with the straw really go a long way. I can see why people who watched this a lot on VHS as kids have fond memories of it. Another movie that did this comedy/investigation story thing a little better was The Nice Guys. I'll keep watching more Chevy movies, but so far Community remains undefeated.

1 hour ago, TDIRunner said:

You could have just said "it insists upon itself."  

I love the Money Pit!

I think they've all been about right... 

I haven't spent much time with this one... The introduction of Yoshi was pretty good addition.

Just started watching Fallout. I'm digging it so far.

I also just watched The Godfather for the first time.  This is going to be mostly criticism so I'll preface this by saying I thought it was decent, although I might have enjoyed it more if I had gone in with lower expectations. It's been hyped up as "one of the greatest movies of all time!" and it did not live up to that. It's so penetrated cultural consciousness that there were so many scenes where I recognized the dialogue from quotes I've heard, or knew what was about to happen from other movies/shows doing references/homages/parodies. (this must be how someone watching Star Wars for the first time must feel). That feeling of familiarity is certainly not helped by an extremely straightforward and predictable plot. I remember starting this movie once many years ago, and not making it past the opening wedding scene. (That scene really is interminable!). I wonder if Pacino's more scene-chewing acting style that he adopted in the 80s and 90s came from watching Brando work? Because here, he's playing it much more subdued. His transition from a man desiring a civilian life separate from the family mafia business to becoming all in was a lot more abrupt than I was expecting. And they never gave us his response to his first wife being murdered... did he just forget about it when he came back home? His big move to take out his enemies didn't really show any clever schemes or strategies... just a montage of guys getting gunned down while he's attending the christening. If it was so easy, why didn't they just do that in the first place?

poll added!

personally, I'd go for the White void, where I can load my own preferred world and don't have to interact with other PCs 

I really don't like how the direction of fire changes to whatever was the last direction you moved.

If everyone hates it so much then how did it win?

18 hours ago, xelement5x said:

and of course the courtroom scene when they save the judge.

I'm really not a big fan of the muppet-style ghosts... I prefer when they go for something more horror-based like the librarian in the opening of the first movie. Also, the Judge's performance in that scene is atrocious. And from a story perspective... it just makes no sense why the Ghostbusters would be in trouble when hundreds of thousands of people saw a giant marshmallow man walking through downtown New York.

and also... why was Winston left out of this scene?! They show him at the very beginning of the trial, but then he just disappears!

I can add those options to the poll but I still want to have a vote

just wanted to update folks who don't pay attention to the clubs section, that I started a b-movie club. I'll be accepting nominations for movie watching until Friday and then I'll create the poll.

On 4/8/2024 at 5:12 AM, Brickman said:

This has to be a troll? 2016 Ghostbusters is just a terrible terrible movie. No way that garbage heap rates higher than 2.

I've tried to watch Ghostbusters Answer the Call a couple times, and never made it more than 30 or 40 minutes, before losing interest.

Viggo the Carpathian makes for a fun mid-tier baddie if Ghostbusters were doing a monster of the week type of thing... 

The Good: River of pink slime was cool. Ghost train scene and Egon as a construction worker was funny.

The bad: Bringing back Dana Barret (and her baby) was unnecessary and having the ghostbusters be reduced to fools after saving the city didn't seem right. The statue of liberty walking was just a rehash of the stay puft scene. The Louis and Janine romance didn't really work either

Overall, a pretty mediocre sequel that just goes show how much the first movie was lightning in a bottle and a bit of a fluke.

My first pick:

Ninja 3: The Domination

80s cult classic from the Cannon group. Part Ninja movie, part Excorcist... with a little bit of Flashdance and Poltergeist mixed in, starring the girl from Breakin' and Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo (plus a cameo by James Hong) This scene probably inspired Ninja Golf on the Atari 7800

It's a solid platformer, I just don't know if Mickey is greatest IP for a platformer to begin with... I don't recall watching Mickey Mouse cartoons and being like... "Wow does he sure LOVE apples!!"

Not as good as Aladdin or Ducktales but it gets the job done.