08/27/2026
It's the Thursday portion of the week once again! Who's watching what?
Backrooms (2026) - While it took me a while to get into the Backrooms (the first act was a little cumbersome) and I couldn't get into Chiwetel Ejiofor's sad loser boozer guy (who ran the excellently named furniture store Ottoman Empire), once this bizzaro world trip gets into it's groove, I was down for the count. I loved the off-putting sound design and the set construction was wonderful, weird and endlessly inventive.
The addition of the amazing Renate Reinsve (who I didn't know was even in this) as Chiwetel Ejiofor's hapless shrink, made it even better. Her plight I could get behind.
Chiwetel Ejiofor discovers a portal to another dimension in the basement of his furniture store. Will things get weird? You bet! Backrooms has all the vibes and chills and spookiness I was hoping for. But don't ask me what it was about or what even happened as I cannot begin to tell you (I have never seen, nor even heard of, the internet source material from which this is derived). But more of these crazy portals into awesomeness in my future, please! 4/5
Sorcerer (1977) - An under seen gem (came out at the same time as Star Wars - you can see the problem), this William Friedkin treasure finds four sweaty, grimy, filthy dudes, one being 70s king, Roy Scheider, on the lam for various crimes, getting a job hauling nitroglycerine through a rainy jungle somewhere in South or Central America in the jankiest old trucks you've ever seen. Harrowing, intense and gripping, all set to an amazing tangerine Dream score. Amazing film.
I kept the Blu Ray from when we closed the shop four years ago with the intention of doing this for the podcast. We finally did it! Listen in here, if it pleases you! 4/5
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1529882/episodes/19689126
The Kid (1921) - Another Chaplin checked off my list! And while it's not my favourite (that would be City Lights and Modern Times), there's lots to love in this tale of a poverty stricken dude living in squalor who finds a baby on his doorstep and raises him as his own. Some good laughs (the angel dog!) and the usual themes of poor folks trying to get by, the authorities always giving them a hard time, unpleasant food (although there was heaps of it) and doing to the right thing, help to make this another Charles Chaplin gem. 3.5/5
Special Delivery (1976) - I'd never even heard of this film (found it at Video Cat) and the title is so innocuous I had to keep looking it up to write this review. But this fun little crime ditty about a bank robbery gone wrong (do folks still rob banks because if they don't they should) is charming, amusing, well-paced and chock-o-block full of "hey, it's that guy!" actors.
Handsome, large slab of beef, Bo Svenson (Walking Tall, North Dallas Forty, Kill Bill) is a Vietnam vet (terrible flashbacks included!) who leads his mates on a daring bank heist only to be foiled and he resorts to dumping a big bag of cash in a mailbox. So he has to figure out how to retrieve it. A local drug dealing scumbag also sees this and has his eyes on this prize. While waiting he meets the lovely and free-wheeling Cybill Shepherd (Last Picture Show, Moonlighting). They get it on and make plans together (the entire film takes place in one day!). The two charming leads have excellent chemistry and are a good time to hang with. They are aided by supporting actors like a young Jeff Goldblum (playing a biker named Snake who has fantastic boots) and Vic Tayback (playing a mob heavy) to Robert Ito's (Rollerball, Buckaroo Banzai) mob boss. It's not a great film but it goes down easy like some warm stove-top sake on a on a hot summer night. Ask for it by name. If you can remember what that is. 3/5
A Face in the Crowd (1957) - Rags to riches tale finds the lovely and excellent Patricia Neal (Hud, Day the Earth Stood Still) rescuing a loud and obnoxious country boy, Andy Griffith (Andy Griffith Show) from a gross sweaty jail and putting him on the train to stardom. She gets him on her radio show and soon (well not really soon as the film is a long 2+ hours) he's a national superstar with his eye on politics.
Quite daring and cynical for it's time with it depiction of media and how it's manipulated to take advantage of all the poor, uneducated folks out there. It really could have been made today.
Great script, fine B&W cinematography, creepy folks and Walter Matthau makes this a classic for good reason. 4/5
Narrow Margin (1990) - Dull, flat, lifeless remake of the far superior noir from 1952 finds an uninterested Gene Hackman taking sleepy Anne Archer, who seems just to breathe all of her lines, on a train from Banff to Vancouver all while trying to escapes some bad guys (she witnessed a murder). It's quite dumb - they have a cabin but Hackman says that the bad guys know what he looks like but not her. So what does he do? He keeps leaving the cabin to wander around the train, get coffee, may a cruller or bear claw, not once, but at least 4-5 times. So dumb.
And of course it wouldn't be a train thriller if they didn't end up on top the said train. The only bright spot was seeing former Black Dog Video customer and friend of the shop, Susan Hogan, in a pretty meaty role. Even the gorgeous Rocky Mountain scenery doesn't help. But check out the original is it's pretty top notch. Or this one if you're having trouble sleeping. You decide! 2/5
Mutiny (2026) - Jason Statham Jason Statham's his way through yet another Jason Statham movie. He's almost a genre unto himself at this point. For this particular Jason Statham cocktail add equal parts;
- Jason Statham as an ex-military guy now working a different job after something went wrong in his past
- Some innocent folks in need of saving (humans being smuggled on a boat)
- a kindly billionaire boss who's like a father to Jason Statham
- an attractive blond woman Jason Statham can team up with
- lots of killing via guns, knives, hooks, spear-guns, tables, railings, locks and whatever else Jason Statham can get his hands on
Shake well, pour over your eyes and enjoy. 2.5/5
That's it for this week, kids! Happy viewing!
