Up first this week is a new 4K release of the Neo-noir crime thriller Tequila Sunrise. Originally released in 1988, despite starring two of my favorite actors (Kurt Russell and Mel Gibson), I probably haven’t seen the film since the 1990s. Gibson plays a drug dealer trying to get out of the game and go legit. Russell plays his friend who just happens to be a cop. Michelle Pfeifer runs a restaurant Gibson frequents and who Russell falls for because it’s Michelle Pfeifer in the 1980s. Watching it now, it is very much 1980s. From the camera movement and soundtrack to the wardrobe, payphone use and 80s styled action, there’s no doubt this was a flick from the decade of excess. All three leads are great and the story is believable (it’s from Robert Towne who wrote Chinatown after all). The film has been restored and looks and sounds fantastic. The cinematography was nominated for an Oscar and Los Angeles looks beautiful in 4K. The song “Surrender to Me” from Ann Wilson (Heart) and Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) sounds big as does the rest of score and soundtrack. The bonus features include a really neat appreciation of Robert Towne. If you like the leads, the 1980s or noir and haven’t seen this before or in a long time, check it out.
Sticking with the 80s, we have a 4K release of the Dolph Lundgren starring Masters of the Universe. I was a He-Man kid. I loved MOTU so when this film came out back in the day I was pumped. Is it MY He-Man? Absolutely not. In fact, back then it seemed like the Masters of the Universe movie had never seen the cartoon before. A lot of the characters were different or missing. They traveled to Earth. It was a hot mess. But over the years I’ve grown a soft spot for the film. I’m a huge Dolph Lundgren fan and it wasn’t his fault this wasn’t my MOTU. He does have the size for He-Man, but the cheesy campiness of the cartoon wasn’t there. Despite Frank Langella doing the best he could as Skeletor as well, it’s not a MOTU film. If you watch it as an 80s sword & sorcery film though, well that’s when you can have some fun with it. Don’t think of it as a He-Man flick, but as an 80s sci-fi, sword fighting movie and it’s kinda cool. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far from a good movie, but I can watch it now and have fun with it despite the cheesy music the Cosmic Key makes and there being Earthlings like Courteney Cox being in it. This new collection features a Preview Cut featuring new and extended scenes plus alternate takes and the Original Theatrical Cut. Plus it has some cool bonus features that fans will dig.
Next we have Stop! That! Train! All I should really say about this film is that it’s not for me and move on, but I have to say something. I’m assuming since it got made there’s probably an audience for it, but I can’t tell you who any of the leads are in it. Two drag performers play train attendants who lose their job and immediately start working for a high class railway. That same day a storm approaches and the train has a wild adventure without brakes, with the conductor being stung by a scorpion and more. I don’t know who these people are. I don’t find any of them funny or entertaining. I recognize RuPaul who plays the president, but the leads I don’t know. There are a bunch of celebrity cameos like Joel McHale, Missi Pyle, Chris Parnell as the conductor, Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family and others. The only thing that consistently made me laugh was that no one knew who Sarah Michelle Gellar was over and over again. If you like drag or know the cast you might enjoy it, but it’s not for me.
Speaking of something I’ve never heard of, fourth we have Marshmallow. At first you’re thinking it’s a summer camp slasher flick, but then it takes a hard left and ended up surprising me. It opens with a family in a new neighborhood and the son clearly being an outcast. The grandfather (Corbin Bernsen) has a heart attack and the family sends the boy to camp. He immediately gets bullied, meets some other outcasts and we are introduced to the camp counselors and everything you expect at a summer camp. There’s a story told at a campfire about a doctor who killed people there back in the day and you’re 100% thinking summer camp slasher. But it’s not, but it kind of is at the same time. I won’t spoil the twist which I can admit I didn’t see coming, but there is some summer camp slashing in the meantime. Besides Bernsen the only other person I recognize in it is Broken Lizard’s Paul Soter who runs the camp. It was ok for a while, your standard camp flick, but then the reveal comes and I thought it was pretty smart. It comes with commentary and some other bonus features. It’s a nice, little surprise.
Last we have Enongo, a documentary on Rapper-PhD-Professor-Nerd Core Hero Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo. If you know who that is, the movie is 100% for you. When on stage she goes by the name Sammus from the video game Metroid. She raps about video games and life and all kinds of stuff. I can’t say I’m familiar with her work. The film uses documentary style footage, interviews and performances along with animation to tell her story on stage, teaching, with her partner and more. Both her parents are professors and she goes back to earn her PhD while trying to create art at the same time. I’ll give her credit for trying to tackle so much at one time, but the music isn’t for me.
The Nerds Templar 