September Movie Log

DISCLAIMER: This post is unfinished. I’m publishing it only so I can link to movie titles in future posts. I may or may not flesh it out piecemeal.

Lots of sci-fi this month, and 80s comedies. arte has been letting me down, and tubi has been there to pick up the slack…

RadishFlix on YouTube
2024 on the IMDB

Devil Girl from Mars (1954)

YouTube, original English
Not as good as last month’s ladies of Venus.

Poison Ivy (1985)

YouTube, original English
I think I saw this one when it aired, maybe–was I allowed to stay up until 9 when I was 10? Maybe during summer vacation. At any rate, while I was watching it, I planned out a big riff about the cultural phenomenon of the summer-long sleep-away camp, which dominated so much children’s literature and entertainment at this time despite being the experience of only a tiny number of rich East Coast urban- and suburbanites. I had a five-night stay at church camp that year–not enough time to make any lost-lasting relationships or personality improvements, but at least I slipped and fell in the mud on the way to the toilet in the middle of the night and ruined my new Garfield pajamas. No waiters, no lanyard-making, no sports matches against rival camps, no dances–nothing I had read about or seen on TV. (We did make friendship bracelets out of acrylic yarn. My mother picked me up on Friday and made me cut them all off Sunday morning before church, so her mother’s friends wouldn’t criticize her for letting me wear something that didn’t match my dress. Cough.)

Obviously, I had brain capacity to plan a riff because the movie Has Not Held Up. The best part was the commercials; Mr. T made a few cute ones for the new-improved Whopper. Some OK slapstick, some cute scenes with a camper who has a crush on the nurse’s assistant (Nancy McKeon), but the whole thing was obviously just a vehicle for Michael J. Fox and his two facial expressions/one tone of voice, and that’s not enough. Some TV Memories should stay Fuzzy. YSWIDT.

Eight Men Out (1988)

tubi, original English
This has been on my re-watch list for awhile and I was excited to find it.

Crazy that this story takes place around the time of Babe Ruth’s film debut.

Men in Black (1997)

Netflix, original English
Nostalgia pick–saw it in the theater with someone I miss. I know I was just complaining about CGI, but here it contributed to the overall charm of the insanely disgusting creatures.

I laughed so hard I woke up my cat at the phrase “some friends from out of town” because that’s how Lue Elizondo described NHI in his new book, and now I grok the reference like all the other cool kids.

Missing 411 (2016), Missing 411: The Hunted (2019), and Missing 411: The U.F.O. Connection, (2022)

tubi, original English
If you like the TV/Netflix show Unsolved Mysteries, you will like these documentary films about children and hunters who go missing in the woods.

Roswell (1994)

YouTube, original English
Downloaded this one a long time back, think it might be “unavailable” now.

They Live (1988)

Cable (Warner Film), original English
Mr Radish didn’t know that Rowdy Roddy Piper was a professional wrestler, and says that once you know that, the extended fight scene with Keith David makes more sense.

Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007)

Netflix, original Mongolian with German subtitles

The Best of Times (1986)

tubi, original English

Loose Cannons (1990)

tubi, original English

Men at Work (1990)

tubi, original English

The Conspirator (2010)

tubi, original English

Valley Girl (1983)

tubi, original English

The Survivors (1983)

tubi, original English
Started out funny, with white-collar Robin Williams and blue-collar Walter Matthau losing their livelihoods in absurd incidents, then becoming acquainted in a diner that was robbed at gunpoint.

Nothing But Trouble (1991)

Cable (Warner Film), original English
Dan Aykroyd titled this script, the only film he ever directed, “Valkenvania”, after the town where the story takes place, but the studio thought that would confuse audiences. So naturally, this is the title of the film in Germany. Heh.