Entries Tagged 'throwback thursdays' ↓

Throwback: Misfits of Science



Everything old is new again. Before Heroes, way back in the 80s, NBC had an action/adventure series about a group of people dealing with their freakish super powers, the Misfits of Science. Here's the part where I usually wax nostalgic about how great it was and should have lasted for more than a season, but I can barely remember the pilot. I do recall that Courtney Cox was a troubled teen with some sort of telekinetic/jinx-like ability; and I thought the coolest character was the rockstar with his electrical powers. Lamest character? The really tall black scientist who could make himself tiny -- what kind of crappy super power is that?

Weird Science


Legend has it that John Hughes wrote this sci-fi comedy over a weekend. Still holds up after all these years...

Queen of the Damned



Amazing soundtrack. Amazingly bad film. I could never get into Anne Rice's novels, but "Interview with the Vampire" was a fairly entertaining adaptation. Hmmm. Maybe "bad" is the wrong word. How about cheap? I believe the budget for this sequel was half of the original, 35 million. Going from Tom Cruise to Stuart Townsend saved the studio a couple bucks, but probably hurt them in the long run. And the late Aaliyah Haughton as Akasha, was the result of stunt casting more than her acting ability -- a trend that continues...

Blade



Spidey gets all the credit, but it was really an obscure C-level character that jump-started the comic book movie renaissance -- honestly, I'm not so sure that was a such good thing these days. It was a perfect storm of martial arts, blaxploitation, horror, electronica and comic book sensibilities. There was something for everyone. The "Blade" and "Underworld" films are what really inspired me to take a crack at a genre mash-up script. Some of the effects, especially in the third act, look especially dated, but it's still a fun romp.


I'm not buying those recent reports that reference a blurb from 2008, about a Deacon Frost prequel/trilogy directed by Stephen Norrington. Cool character, but who the heck is clamoring for a Deacon Frost movie!? If you're out there, speak up!

These days vampires are all sparkly in daylight, go to high school and some don't even feed on humans!? Makes me sick to my stomach. There was talk about a Blade reboot a while back, I just hope they come up with a good story. If anyone's interested, I have an idea...

Animated Buffy


Kind of a cheat for Throwback Thursdays, because it never became a reality. But it would have been fascinating to explore a Buffyverse limited only by the imagination of the writers. Yeah, there's a Buffy comic but it's not the same thing.

Fright Night


Classic flick from the 80s -- okay, "classic" might be a little strong, but a fun romp nevertheless. "Fright Night" is sorta like "Disturbia" with a vampire as the creepy next door neighbor. A rare mix of horror and humor that actually works. Decent special effects for its time. Between this and "A Princess Bride", I've always wondered why villain Chris Sarandon didn't get juicier roles. The film is a lot better than the cheesy trailer would lead you to believe. Plans for a remake taking place at an amusement park (!?!) were scrapped not too long ago.

Throwback Thursdays: Species



Who could forget this B-movie classic from the 90s? Natasha Henstridge -- who naturally looks like a perfect uber babe created in a lab -- totally owned this role as a horny but deadly alien/human hybrid, Sil. Sequels never lived up to the original...

Throwback Thursdays: Bermuda Depths



I was going to start this last week, but I totally forgot to post on time -- and it would've been silly to have a Throwback Thursday on Friday. Basically, a look back at some of the obscure (often cheesy) films that I grew up on. In the olden days, before Al Gore invented the internet, Netflix and six cabillion cable channels, the networks used to crank out tons of tv-movies. I can't recall most of them, but there was a fair share of supernatural stuff. "The Bermuda Depths" was one of the "classics". I couldn't begin to explain the plot, but it involves the Bermuda Triangle, a monster sea turtle and Connie Sellecca as a ghost. As far as I know, it's never been released on DVD, but a lot of Gen Xers have lingering memories of the film -- some attribute it to the music and/or humpback whale sounds. Now through the magic of youtube, you can check out the first ten minutes -- the whole thing might be online for all I know. WARNING: Extreme cheesiness ahead!