RadishFlix 2021: Highlights of KW25/26

Halfway through the year I am at 116 movies, none of which have been seen on airplanes–or in a Kino (movie theater). They were finally allowed to open on July 1, but there aren’t any in Freising, so we never go.

Our Relations (1936)

Cable, original English
More Dick und Doof (Laurel and Hardy). I liked this one, an identical twins gag, better than Sons of the Desert. There is a scene at the end where they wobble around like Weebles that is the whole reason everyone should watch more old movies.

Top Gun (1986)

Netflix, original English
The last time I saw this one was 2011, in a theater for an anniversary release. The planes–who are the true stars of this movie–look much better on a big screen than on a tablet computer.

I had completely forgotten that a good three-quarters of the dialog ended up being catchphrases in middle- and high-school, or maybe it’s more accurate to say many of the catchphrases from middle- and high-school were lifted from this movie. (The rest came from The Naked Gun, Tim Burton’s Batman, and Wayne’s World. Watch this space, I guess.)

Shrek (2001)

Netflix, original English
The last time I saw this one was 2001, in a theater, with someone who was integral at the time but is no longer in my life, and somehow I could not separate that experience from the film. “It all came flooding back” is overblown and trite, but instead of thinking about the film, I was thinking about the relationship. This could be a data point in favor of re-watching over and over, until external context has no meaning…but I’m going to stay with the once-a-year rule.

I’m a big Mike Myers fan anyway, but I think it holds up. I had forgotten how funny Eddie Murphy’s Donkey was, too.

The Bigfoot Alien Connection Revealed (2020)

YouTube, original English
Dokus are movies, too.

I’m not sure I learned anything I didn’t already know from Earthfiles, but I enjoyed hearing some different first-hand accounts.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

Cable, original English
Another movie I hadn’t seen in years, but remembered all the catchphrases from high school. I will be stealing all the gags for Twitter.

German Netflix has the first and third movies of the franchise, but not this one. I am assuming the German broadcast rights belong to a different synchronization company. This particular cable station never has subtitles, so I can’t speak to the quality of joke translation.

They Were Expendable (1945)

Cable, original English
A story of PT boats in the Philippines in the early days of WWII. It was very well made, but of course it couldn’t *not* be–Robert Montgomery, who played the lead, had skippered a PT boat during the war, and director John Ford had received awards for his documentary work in the Pacific. Also featuring Iowans John Wayne and Donna Reed, who plays a nurse from….Iowa. “Tall corn, you know?” Based enough on real people and real events that Ford and Reed were sued by the nurse, for making her look a bit unprofessional. Heh.

No happy ending but given the time and place I had not expected one. Bonus points for a lucky black cat!